Gilbert Sun News; February 2015 - Youth

Scottsdale entrepreneur designs family board game

BY CURT BLAKENEY

About 10 years ago, Scottsdale resident and businessman Steven Lazar got fed up with the disconnect of modern families: the daughter texting, the son playing video games, the dad watching sports on TV and the wife on the phone chatting with her neighbor. One night, while Lazar was entertaining family and friends, he challenged the younger kids to a verbal trivia game, where participants would earn points by answering questions about animals.

“Everyone loves animals,” Lazar says. “So I would ask them animal questions, and they would get 50 points for an easy question, 75 points for a medium question and 100 points for a difficult question. When they answered the questions correctly, they got really excited. You could see their eyes light up.”

Pretty soon, everyone was huddled around the coffee table to play Lazar’s impromptu animal trivia game. And the light bulb went off in his head... create an actual board game that would not only bring families together, but also teach kids about animals and develop skills like math, reading and logic.

After graduating from SDSU, he moved to Chicago to work with his father, Norman, at the family-owned business AirWize Inc., a residential and commercial heating and air conditioning company. Lazar was responsible for advertising, sales and marketing.

Eventually, he started Speedway Supply, a wholesale supplier of heating and A/C parts and equipment. For seven years, he ran the company in Illinois before moving to Arizona and changing the business model for his new company, Lazco Corp.

“Basically, now we ship surplus parts and equipment from our sellers to our buyers,” he says. “So we have no inventory, which removed our overhead. It’s more efficient this way.”

Focus on Family

It’s not surprising that his new venture, Family Board Games, is a family affair.

and Joyce Lazar have

business and community service in their relationship.

“Education works best when people are having fun,” he says. “But ultimately, we want families to spend quality time together without the TV, the phone and the texting.”

In February 2014, Lazar met with Phoenix-based graphic designer Joshua Kassel, sketching out the board game’s design and details. Several months later, Family Board Games LLC was founded and the “Animal Winner” board game was in development.

Background in Business

Lazar was bit by the entrepreneurial bug as a student at San Diego State University, operating a company (Jobs for Students) that sold ZIP code directories.

“It gave students a great opportunity to make extra money for school,” he recalls. “I learned a lot about dealing in business. I hired 50 students a day in the park. I learned to follow my gut. I had to handle every part of the business, so I learned business smarts. I also learned that it’s important to have integrity in business and in life. How we treat others is so important.”

Lazar, a Chicago native, is the CEO, his wife, Joyce, is the CFO and his father, Norman, is the head of sales on the West Coast. And like any smart man, Lazar tips his hat to his wife.

“Joyce is the brains of the operation,” he says. “She oversees the financial operations so that things run in proper balance.”

Lazar and his wife are influential in the Scottsdale community through their ministry outreach at Temple Beth Yachad, bringing music and prayer to senior centers Valleywide. Lazar’s two daughters from a previous marriage continue the family tradition of giving back. Ariel, 26, is volunteering with the Peace Corps and Red Cross in Cambodia, and both she and younger sister Chloe, 24, participated in Taglit-Birthright Israel, a nonprofit group that takes young people on heritage journeys to Israel.

Determined to bring all families together like he did his own, Lazar is excited about his new venture. Animal Winner helps promote multigenerational bonding. He is also hoping to have schools, children’s organizations, community groups and student camps use Animal Winner in fundraising endeavors.

Animal Winner is available for $24.95 online at www.animalwinner.com and 10 percent of each purchase is donated to charities dedicated to children, seniors, animals and the environment. Amazon is

ROARING GOOD TIME: Animal Winner contains a 10-inch by 20-inch board, nine different animal pieces and 144 animal questions divided into easy, medium and hard categories. Submitted photo

slated to carry the game and the company is in talks with several retailers. The company also has a second game, Bible Winner, in the works.

“Steve is so passionate about helping others and it shows with the development of Animal Winner,” says Joan Wissing, the

company’s operations and sales manager. “He had a vision to create a game to bring families together, and he has done just that. I have never met someone as compassionate and determined as Steve, and I know that with these qualities he will not stop until Animal Winner is a success.”

Oak Tree named Arizona Recycling Coalition’s School of the Year

BY IRENE MAHONEY-PAIGE

An exciting and innovative program is growing at Oak Tree Elementary School. In just one year, it has embraced an amazing project of sustainability.

Students in grades K-6 are learning how to help the environment with a very hands-on approach.

In the cafeteria, you’ll find buckets for liquids and bins for cartons as well as a slop bucket for compost materials. Coach Steve Murphy spends every Friday at lunchtime recess teaching students how to care for the gardens and how to use compost.

For these efforts, Oak Tree Elementary was named Arizona Recycling Coalition’s School of the Year.

Thanks to a grant from CenturyLink, Oak Tree has been able to build a garden box for each grade. Students are learning about recycling and composting at lunch, and using that compost to help feed their gardens.

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Riggs Elementary brings Boosterthon to Gilbert

Riggs Elementary School will host the Boosterthon Fun Run on Wednesday, Feb. 4.

The Boosterthon Fun Run is a nine-day program that helps local schools raise needed funds for education while inspiring students to live healthy, character-filled lives. This year’s Boosterthon character theme is Rock’n Town Live. This theme challenges more than 900,000 students in 1,300 schools across the nation to build community where they live and play. The organization feels technology at home is pushing students into isolation, and teaching about community is a healthy answer.

challenging students to build community in their schools and neighborhoods.”

Instead of selling a product, students simply gather pledges from friends and family for the number of laps they will run at the Boosterthon Fun Run. To adapt to schools’ changing needs, Boosterthon introduced new service options with its Preferred Choice program. Schools can customize their fundraising experience for the best fit. Also, Boosterthon recently introduced a sliding-scale fundraising model, which means the more a school raises, the more it keeps.

“Boosterthon exists to strengthen schools,” says Chris Carneal, Boosterthon’s founder and president. “We do this by increasing funds and inspiring students through engaging character themes like Rock’n Town Live. As a parent, I’ve seen how important community is in my children’s lives. That’s why we’re

The Rock’n Town Live character theme includes music videos that teach students five character lessons about building community: “Plug in to Serve,” “Amplify Others,” “Listen for Feedback,” “Play Hard” and “Thank Your Crowd.” Boosterthon also extends character development throughout the year by giving each classroom a free media pack, which includes a Rock’n Town Live DVD,

CD and student workbook that fulfills five national education standards.

As the most inclusive fundraising option for schools, every student is invited to the Boosterthon Fun Run, whether they participate financially or not. Also, when parents register on www.funrun.com, their student receives a free gift. And to make pledging easy for sponsors, Boosterthon offers a new mobile-optimized pledging site.

“When schools choose to partner with us, we are committed to delivering a remarkable experience,” Carneal says. “With the best financial results in the industry, Boosterthon enables our school partners to dream big and provide the best educational opportunities for their students.”

Boosterthon’s 2014-15 giveback program, KidFit Salute, provides financial support for military kids hoping to play a fun sport. When students reach a certain level of pledges, Boosterthon will make a donation to provide a kid fitness grant through Our Military Kids, with the goal of donating $25,000.

Arete Preparatory Academy gets LED lighting Happy

BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON

In January, Arete Preparatory Academy became the first Arizona high school to have LED field lighting. It follows in the footsteps of University of Phoenix Stadium, which upgraded to LED lighting for the Super Bowl.

“We are very grateful to not only have a lighted field, but to also maintain a positive relationship with our community,” says Amy Arnold, the school’s athletic director.

Valentine’s Day

The field lights were funded by the school’s capital campaign, she says.

“Incredible donors with huge hearts made this happen,” Arnold explains. “Our community is pretty special.”

LED lighting reduces glare for players and spectators, and also prevents light from disturbing the neighborhood just south of the campus. The school is part of the Great Hearts Academy network.

“Field lights were part of the original campus plan, but LED lights were a huge bonus,” Arnold explains.

“The good relationships that Great Hearts Academies has with vendors allowed us to procure this innovative LED lighting for thousands of dollars less than other private and public high schools would pay. We weren’t expecting LED but after discovering the benefits of LED

lighting, we were thrilled to receive them.”

The soccer teams are the first to benefit from the new lighting. Four soccer teams can practice on campus, eliminating the need for an off-campus facility. Home varsity football games will be a possibility, too.

“If one of our teams has a home game, the other three teams are unable to practice or are forced to go off campus,” says Arnold of the days of pre-lighting practice.

“Next year, our weekday home soccer games will be under the lights, allowing the other teams to still practice.”

Arete Preparatory Academy and Archway Classical Academy grade school are located at 4525 E. Baseline Rd., Gilbert. Visit www.areteprepacademy.org or call (480) 222-4233 for additional information.

Sunrise Preschools’ president is proven leader

BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON

Dana Vela understands preschools from every angle. As president of Sunrise Preschools since 2008, Vela instills a culture of trust, respect and love for learning in everything she does.

The Gilbert resident, wife and mother of three has been with the company since 1988 and stepped up the ladder to president. She was invited to apply for a position at Sunrise Preschools while working at Palo Alto Preschools, now known as Childtime Learning Centers.

“I was home on maternity leave with my oldest child,” she says.

“I had worked my way into an assistant director position and I got a call from a headhunter company. They said, ‘Will you at least come and talk to this company?’”

disconnected. But Sunrise Preschools has a family-like atmosphere.

“Everybody—every child, parent and staff member—mattered,” she says.

She took a job as an administrative assistant at a West Phoenix Sunrise. Soon after, she was promoted to director at that center, promoted again to area manager and transferred to Honolulu, Hawaii, in December 1989 to help Sunrise schools that were losing money.

“I did some troubleshooting. We all discovered I had a brain for multiple potential solutions,” explains Vela. “We were able to turn things around pretty quickly.”

STUDENT CHRONICLES

Krystin Newman of Gilbert was one of the first graduates of Benedictine University at Mesa. She and fellow graduates were honored in a brief reception at Gillett Hall. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in theology. Students are invited to come back to campus for the formal commencement convocation on Saturday, March 9.

With Palo Alto Preschools changing names and hands, she felt a little

While she was there, she worked to correct what she calls “massive inefficiencies.” She created custom Sunrise educational programs that were used in some

SWEET SUCCESS: The 2014 WNBA Champion Phoenix Mercury honored the four 2014 Arizona Girls Basketball State Champions by taking the Mercury’s championship trophy to the four high schools for upcoming games. One of the schools was Gilbert Christian High School (Division IV), which won a state title in girls basketball in 2014. The team, pictured here, took on Antelope Union on the evening of the visit. Photo courtesy Phoenix Mercury

churches, and worked with nearby military bases to educate their staff’s children. After five years in Hawaii, Vela returned to Arizona.

Vela oversees 24 Sunrise locations, including the four in Gilbert that educate more than 5,000 children daily. Her duties encompass keeping an eye on and streamlining budgets, working closely with regulatory agencies, supporting staff members and assisting individual school locations with challenges as they arise.

‘It did not take long to determine that she was very knowledgeable about the preschool industry,” says Bob Orsi, who co-owns Sunrise Preschools with Randy Gusikoski and has known Vela since 2001.

“I was most impressed with the management culture she had developed with leaders at each school. All the Sunrise managers worked together to deliver the best experience for the children and the parents, even when their corporate support was minimal. I have come to learn that the ‘can do’ spirit that runs through Sunrise Preschools is a product of the culture that Dana has nurtured and grown.”

She even stepped up to the plate when Sunrise acquired Tots Unlimited in 2005.

“Dana has faced many challenges, but the integration of another local child care chain into Sunrise was her greatest challenge and accomplishment,” Orsi says.

“She brought together two different companies with two different cultures and made them one. It was not easy or fast but she did it the correct way. The outcome is a larger and stronger Sunrise that can continue to grow and adapt to a changing world.”

Vela anticipates smart growth for Sunrise Preschools and continuity with the mission of Sunrise to educate and intensely value its students, while embracing differences and giving children wings to fly.

“I get up every day and come to work and really feel lucky that they let me do this. It’s awesome,” Vela says.

Around the district

Have school news? Send items to christina@gilbertsunnews.com

Boulder Creek Elementary School

Boulder Creek Elementary School is hosting a “Be Part of the ASU Dream Academy” discussion on Saturday, Feb. 17. This meeting will provide an outlet for parents to discuss academic standards and performance requirements, ways to help children succeed and how to help children prepare for college down the road. For more information, see the parents’ newsletter at www. gilbertschools.net.

Carol Rae Ranch Elementary School

The Carol Rae Ranch Relay for Life team is offering a “Parents’ Night Out” from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6. For more information, see the flier in the announcement section at www. gilbertschools.net/Domain/28.

Gilbert Elementary School

Gilbert Elementary School’s PTSO is hosting several events in February including the Goodwill Donation Drive, Tigerpalooza and Dine to Donate. For more information, email tigerptso@gmail.com.

Mesquite Elementary School

Mesquite Elementary School is

celebrating “Love of Reading Week” from Monday, Feb. 9 through Friday, Feb. 13. The week ends on a high note with a visit and family reading night from beloved author Conrad Storad. Check www. gilbertschools.net/Page/68 to keep up with the school’s calendar.

Playa del Rey Elementary School

Playa del Rey Elementary School will be hosting its “A+ Book Fair” and “PTSO Read-a-thon” during the week of Feb. 9 through 13, as well as a literacy night on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Check the calendar at www.gilbertschools.net/Page/80 to stay up to date on school happenings.

Settler’s Point Elementary School

Settler’s Point Elementary School has released its calendar for February. It is as follows:

Feb. 4: Early Release Day, 2:15 p.m. Feb. 5: Dad’s Club meeting, 7 p.m. Feb. 6: Fun Run, 8:28 a.m.; Movie Nite, 6:30 p.m.

Feb. 11: Early Release Day, 2:15 p.m.; PTSO meeting at 3:45 p.m.

Feb. 12: First Grad Program, 6 p.m. Feb. 16: Presidents Day— No School Feb. 18: Early Release Day, 2:15 p.m.; STEM Club parent meeting, 5:30 p.m. Feb. 19: Spring class pictures, 9 a.m. Feb. 20: Sock Hop, 6:30 p.m.

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Feb. 27: STEM field trip; fifth-grade state capital

Campo Verde High School

Campo Verde High School will be having a blood drive at 7 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, as well as celebrating MORP Spirit Week from Feb. 23 through Feb. 27. The week will end with a MORP Spirit Assembly on Friday, Feb. 27, and the MORP Dance at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28.

Desert Ridge High School

Incoming freshmen are invited to an open house for the Project Lead the Way program at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9 in the Lecture Hall. Project Lead the Way is a nationally recognized pre-engineering program during which students are prepared to enter a university-level engineering program through four years of intensive coursework. For more information, call (480) 984-8947. Congratulations to the students of Desert Ridge High School for their performance at the DECA District Competition. Desert Ridge walked away with 26 Role Play Medals, seven Test Medals and four First Place Medals.

Gilbert High School

Congratulations to the Gilbert High School Chess Team who won the 2015 United States Chess Federation Arizona State Grades High School Chess Title on Saturday, Jan. 10 in Flagstaff.

The Freshman Registration Review Night will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9, and a MORP Dance will begin at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28.

Highland High School

Baseball tryouts start on Monday, Feb. 9. Students interested in playing will need to submit a completed athletic clearance packet to the Athletics Department. See Coach Cook for more information.

Donations of gently used jeans will continue until Saturday, Feb. 14 and will be collected outside Room 1140. The school that collects the most jeans will win $5,000 as well as a meet-and-greet and private concert with The Vamps.

Mesquite High School

The Special Education Talent Show is Friday, Feb. 20, during third hour.

Mesquite High School’s next blood drive will be Wednesday, Feb. 4, and those interested in donating should contact Mr. Massey’s room, G-229.

The junior and senior girls’ Powderpuff Game will take place on Friday, Feb. 27.

Hop on board: Skate culture collides with creativity

BY KELSEY SEDERSTROM

The challenge: Be as creative as possible. The material: Vans shoes.

Vans encourages high school students to use the canvas shoes as literal art canvases via its national Custom Culture art competition.

Vans, with the help of an online public vote, will choose a winning shoe design. The top five finalists will travel to New York City and present their designs to celebrity judges. The winning design will be available for sale at www.vans.com and at select Vans retail locations.

The art competition celebrates creativity in young minds, giving students the opportunity to express themselves and “to show the world who they are through the arts,” comments Sarah Crockett, vice president of Vans global consumer marketing.

To incentivize participation in the competition, Vans will donate $50,000 to the winning school’s arts program. The runner-up schools will be awarded $4,000. In addition, the Laguna College of Art and Design has committed to offering $125,000 in total scholarship awards to a student from the five final schools.

Student gives inheritance to animal organization

BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON

When 9-year-old Matthew McCaleb’s great-grandmother died and left money to the family, he knew immediately what he wanted to do with his share of the funds.

“There are a lot of animals that are homeless, abused and hurt. I want to make sure they are taken care of,” Matthew says. “I really love animals.”

Matthew, a Finley Farms Elementary School fourth grader, is a born animal lover. He and his family share two rescue dogs, a rescue cat, a fish and a bearded dragon.

On Jan. 28, Matthew presented a $500 check to Michelle Ramos, director of education at Arizona Animal Welfare League and Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in the facility’s Phoenix location. As Arizona’s oldest and largest no-kill animal shelter, the organization rescued more than 4,000 adoptable dogs and cats in 2014.

“My grandmother died at age 99 and left her money to my dad and aunt,” explains Matthew’s mother, Teresa McCaleb.

“My grandmother had a lot of real estate and my dad sold all her properties in California and gave a portion of that money to 11 grandkids and five kids.” She says.

Most of Matthew’s share of the money was put into a college fund.

“I said, ‘Now, I’ll give you this amount to spend any way you want,’” Teresa says. “I was pretty impressed when he said, ‘I want to give this to a shelter. I want to help dogs and cats.’”

was a pretty big deal,” explains Ramos. “We think it’s really important to bring focus on these children that are making these kinds of sacrifices for animals. These are very grown-up decisions.”

When Matthew handed over the check, it was the first time he had visited the league’s facility.

“It’s really cool with all the dogs, the cats and the noisy bird,” he says referring to Oliver, the giant white cockatoo that enthusiastically greets guests. Matthew also said he’d like to have a birthday party at the facility, which thrives on donations.

“Donations like what Matthew gave to our shelter help with everything from daily food and care to extreme medical care,” Ramos says.

Since its beginning, Custom Culture has raised more than $430,000 for the arts. The sixth annual Custom Culture art competition has partnered with Americans for the Arts, Journeys and Truth.

Americans for the Arts is an organization that advances arts education, and Truth is the nation’s largest youth smoking prevention campaign. The final partner is Journeys, a skate retailer. Truth has its own part in the competition—the top 50 semifinalists will customize a skateboard deck. The designs are to be inspired by Truth’s “Finish IT” campaign, dedicated to end smoking. That competition is for $10,000.

Vans’ hope for an arts revival and renaissance is coming to pass. In 2010, just 326 schools participated. In 2015, an expected 3,000 schools will participate. Through 12 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, high school art teachers can register their students for the 2015 competition at the Vans Custom Culture’s website, http:// sites.vans.com/customculture/. Students will be provided with four pairs of blank Vans shoes, with each shoe representing the four themes of the Vans’ “Off the Wall” lifestyle: Action sports, arts, music and local flavor.

Ramos was equally as impressed.

“Matthew’s mom, Teresa, reached out to us and expressed that her son wanted to donate the money he had inherited to the animal shelter, and we thought that

“You name it—we provide it for the animals here. We treat things that other shelters don’t and can’t treat. We also work with animals’ behavior that other shelters won’t. That funding goes toward helping to go the extra mile for these animals that are most in need.”