SanTan Sun; 2-7-15: Youth

Kids helping kids makes holiday special for two families

BY MEGHAN MCCOY

Well-known for his philanthropy, Basha High School junior Dustyn Phillips rarely gets the chance to meet those he helps through his Dustyn’s Kids Helping Kids and Basha’s Kids Helping Kids organizations.

But last holiday season, he had the fortune of doing so.

“I always love when we can touch more people and help more people,” says Dustyn, founder and president of Dustyn’s Kids Helping Kids. “We sponsored two families this year and we were able to meet both of them in person and give them gifts.”

He brought together his two organizations to participate in an online crowd-funding campaign that raised more than $1,200 for Operation Santa. The money was used to purchase items for the families.

The first family consisted of four siblings from the Glendale Boys & Girls Club ranging in ages from 9 to 15. The children’s mother died in a motorcycle crash, leaving them under their grandparents’ care.

The second family was comprised of children ranging in ages from 2 to 16 years old, members of Chandler Christian Community Center. Both families received needed items plus additional fun gifts because of extra funds that were available.

Last year, Dustyn’s organization raised more than $300 for Operation Santa.

OPERATION SANTA: Bechet Proto, treasurer, historian Basha’s Kids Helping Kids; Quentin Curry, Dustyn’s Kids Helping Kids member; Dustyn Phillips, founder/president of Dustyn’s Kids Helping Kids and Basha’s Kids Helping Kids; Ethan Curry, Dustyn’s Kids Helping Kids and Basha’s Kids Helping Kids member; Auche King, Dustyn’s Kids Helping Kids and Basha’s Kids Helping Kids member; Azhel King, Dustyn’s Kids Helping Kids member; Nick Duhart, Basha’s Kids Helping Kids member; David Duhart, Basha’s Kids Helping Kids member and Myles Curry, Dustyn’s Kids Helping Kids member. The youth purchased items for two families last Christmas as part of Operation Santa. Submitted photo

Donna Phillips, Dustyn’s mother, says he started the organization in Tennessee after being inspired by his older brother, who donated funds to various places in honor

of his birthday. Dustyn first gave money—$500—to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for his 6th birthday. Through the years, Dustyn’s passion for helping others grew and evolved.

Chamberlain Orthodontics - Partners

From Dr. Chamberlain’s Desktop

Think we all agree that our children are our most valuable resource. They bring us joy and we all hope that they will have more opportunity than we had, no matter our circumstance. However, with education cuts and more administrative costs to run education programs it seems that in many ways, our children have less of an opportunity in school. Many schools have less arts education and other programs

than they had a decade or two ago. We at Chamberlain Orthodontics are hoping to provide a small but significant solution to this problem, at least in our area and in our circle of influence.

I would like to introduce a new way we have thought to give back to the schools in our community.

Dr. Thomas Chamberlain

He followed that initial donation by aiding tsunami relief and Hurricane Katrina efforts, as well as collecting supplies and toys for an orphanage in Kenya.

When the Phillips family moved to the Valley, Dustyn founded Basha’s Kids Helping Kids. The organization has seven officers—10 very active members and 20 semi-active members.

“It has been going on for two years,” he says of the Basha’s Kids Helping Kids chapter.

Dustyn says he never thought the organization would expand as much as it has.

“It made me feel really happy to include this many people and help this many people,” he says.

Dustyn’s goal this year is to continue to improve the organization. He says he wants to make the annual events, such as Operation Santa and the backpack school drives, even bigger.

“I am so excited that he picked up a passion that I had and my parents had...volunteering and giving back to the community,” Donna says.

Meghan McCoy is the Neighbors and Business section editor for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at meghan@santansun.com.

We call it the “Partners in Education” program. In short, our office will give $100 for each child that begins full orthodontic treatment in 2015 to the school that child attends.

in Education 2015

This allows us to give directly back to our community and the schools that so positively influence our children.

I am personally so excited to begin this program and see the potential for good unfold in our schools and community.

If you have any questions or would like us to reach out to a school to tell them about our Partners in Education program, please don’t hesitate to call us at 480-448-2474.

Two Chandler Locations:

3800 W. Ray Road (Ray & McClintock)

1055 W. Queen Creek Rd. (Queen Creek and Alma School)

Primavera open houses offer facility tours

BY MEGHAN MCCOY

Stroll through Primavera’s Blended Learning Center every Wednesday for a personalized tour of the Chandler learning facility.

The open house is held from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through May 27, at Primavera’s Blended Learning Center, 2451 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler. Tours can be given on other days with advance notice.

Primavera’s Blended Learning Center

Director Dr. Kevin Thrasher says his facility hosts weekly open houses to allow families, as well as students, the opportunity to tour the center and ask questions of guidance counselors and advisers.

“It has been a really good turnout,” Thrasher says. “Probably about a third of our current enrollment is made up of people who have come out to the facility.”

So far, the open house attracts one to three families weekly.

“The first impression blows their mind,” Thrasher says. “It doesn’t look anything like a standard school or classroom.”

The center also partners with notMYkid to offer a special program for students and parents during the weekly open house.

“They offer self-help, high-interest topics that are relative to teenagers and the challenges they go through,” Thrasher says. The first program was offered Wednesday, Jan. 21 and it tackled bullying.

Thrasher says other programs include discussions about substance abuse, eating disorders, Internet safety and depression.

“If it is successful, and we have a good turnout, (we will) offer them on a monthly basis,” he says.

The state-of-the-art, 13,000 squarefoot facility allows students to use technology as a learning, presentation and research tool.

Last year the center offered a full-day program that allowed parents to drop off their child and leave them until the end of the day.

“Unfortunately, that model promotes day care,” he says. “That model didn’t really fit with what we are trying to achieve.”

This year the center offers blocks of time for students to come in and work, which promotes a socialization component.

“It increases the commitment level of the family,” Thrasher says. “If you are going to join one of the programs you have to commit to be here every day. We almost have 100 percent attendance.”

The morning session is held from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., with a 30-minute break for lunch or a snack. The program focuses on reading and math.

From 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. the center offers a Homework Helper Club. Thrasher says students can sit at the center with their laptops and work individually on their online course work.

Brandnewfamilyfitnesscenter offering group classes for both children and adults in Yoga, Zumba, Sports and Circuit Training. Over 30 classes to choose from each week! We also offer fun and original birthday parties: Zumba Glow, Yoga Spa, Sports, Yoga Journey and many more options to choose from!

“We are here, and they have tutors here to help. Oftentimes a teacher will pull them into a separate room for a mini lesson,” he says. “The students learn some strategies to learn how to work independently online.”

The last block of time is from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. for the STEM Academy.

“One of the most important things we can promote is curiosity,” Thrasher says. “That is what we want to do within STEM.”

The students collect their own data from a daily experiment. They evaluate

the manipulation changes and put those findings into a presentation to share with the rest of the group to compare.

“It’s very constructive,” Thrasher says. “The kids generate and create their own knowledge.”

For more information, visit www. primaverablend.com/Open, or call (480) 456-6678.

Meghan McCoy is the Neighbors, Business and Spirituality section editor for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at meghan@santansun.com.

Tutor House celebrates new location

Tutor House Tutoring Services is celebrating the re-grand opening of its new location at Central Plaza West, 1256 W. Chandler Blvd., Suite F, in Chandler on Monday, Feb. 9.

To celebrate, Tutor House is offering five hours of instruction, and a free skills assessment to clients who enroll by March 1.

The new office amenities include a larger instructional area, private reception area, easy access from Loop 101, parking near the front door, and a larger office for parent and student workshops that are open to the community.

“We have had the pleasure of working with some of the best parents and students in Arizona since launching Tutor House from my living room in 2010,” says Gina Ferguson, Tutor House owner.

“We look forward to many more years of helping our students reach their true potential.”

Tutor House is a family-owned and -operated learning center helping students reach their full potential by providing an individualized approach to education. The tutoring process begins with a skills assessment that identifies each student’s academic strengths and weaknesses. Test results are reviewed with parents and a program is designed to address each student’s needs.

A wide-range of one-on-one and small group tutoring for students in grades K-12 is also available in reading, math, writing, Spanish, study skills, algebra, geometry, calculus, SAT/ACT prep and more.

For more information call (480) 8571222 or email Tutoring@TutorHouseAZ. com.

SunBird Kare Bears Fair set for Feb. 7

SunBird Kare Bears is hosting a fair with more than 40 vendors, a white elephant table and a 50/50 raffle from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7, in the SunBird Ballroom, 6250 S. SunBird Blvd., Chandler. The fair will also include a discount on breakfast or lunch in the SunBird Horizon Room.

Vendors will be selling jewelry, cosmetics, battery replacements, embroidery, soaps, candles, homemade

gifts, leather goods and clothing.

SunBird Kare Bears holds various fundraisers in the winter months, and distributes proceeds to various charities in Chandler, such as the Lions Club, Chandler High Homeless, and two food pantries. Members of SunBird Kare Bears reside at the SunBird Golf Resort.

For more information, contact Shirley Jackson at (480) 883-9018.

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 to 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,” says 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 each of the five final schools.

Since its beginning in 2009, Custom Culture has raised more than $430,000 for the arts. This year’s 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, Truth is the nation’s largest youth smoking prevention campaign and Journeys is a skate retailer. Truth has its own part in the competition—the top 50 semi-finalists will customize a skateboard deck. The designs are to be inspired by Truth’s “Finish IT” campaign, dedicated to end smoking. The winner of that competition takes home $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.

Teachers can register their students through midnight Friday, Feb. 13, 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.

Kelsey Sederstrom is an intern for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at news@santansun.com.

Youth

Chandler-Tullamore Sister Cities seeks young artists and authors

The City of Chandler’s Sister City affiliate, Chandler-Tullamore Sister Cities (CTSC), invites teens between 13 and 18 to participate in the sixth annual Young Artists and Authors Showcase.

The 2014 event yielded a national grand prize in the essay competition for Brandon Thornton, a Hamilton High School student.

The theme for this year’s showcase is “Connecting Communities for Prosperity.” This program is a great opportunity to reach out into the Chandler community and engage local English and Art teachers, and reach our local Chandler student audience.

Young artist entries must be no larger than 24-by-36 inches, including matting. Only 2D art is accepted. Watercolor, oils, pastels, pen and ink, charcoal,

photography, 2D mixed media, and computer-generated art are all acceptable media. Entries must be submitted by Wednesday, March 25.

Young authors—essayists and poets—are encouraged to creatively express the theme. Essays cannot exceed 500 words, and poetry needs to be less than 25 lines. All entries must be typed and in English Winners will be required to also submit a digital copy. Judges will evaluate the work on theme interpretation, composition and grammar. Entries are also due on March 25.

A reception celebrating Chandler’s young authors and artists is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Friday, April 17, at Vision Gallery in downtown Chandler. One piece

of artwork, one poem and one essay from the Chandler entries will be submitted to Sister Cities International, which chooses the national finalists. National-level winners receive $1,000 from Sister Cities International.

The national winners for art and literature embark on a year long tour hosted by local sister cities programs monthly. ChandlerTullamore Sister Cities is hosting the national exhibit for the second consecutive year. It will be held at the Vision Gallery throughout April. Sister Cities International’s (SCI) founder, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, reasoned that by becoming friends, people of different cultures could celebrate and appreciate differences. If people

Chandler High celebrates centennial with book

To mark its 100-year anniversary, Chandler High School will offer a special book that documents its history and growth, alumni memories, curriculum changes throughout the years and its sports Hall of Fame.

The Centennial Book will include letters from City and State officials, memories of events that occurred over the last 100 years, photos of the current graduating class, local business advertisements and photos of alumni with space to submit a quote for publishing in the book.

“Chandler High is one of a small group of Arizona schools that can say they have served their community for 100 years, and this book will provide the most authentic account of that history from those who lived it—Chandler’s alumni,” says Principal Larry Rother.

Chandler High School has a long history of expansion to accommodate the area’s population growth. The school was used as a promotional tool to attract out-of-state residents who were interested in settling in Arizona and providing their children

with superior education.

According to Images of America Chandler, the Chandler High School building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. Not only does Chandler High School have a long history of providing superior education and adapting to the needs of local residents, it is home to notable alumni, including Eddie Basha Jr.

For information about ordering a Chandler High School Centennial Book, visit www.farabeepublishing.com and click

connect across national boundaries and get to know each other, their mutual respect and understanding can transform diplomatic relations and foster peace and prosperity—one individual, one community at a time.

Underwriting for the 2015 Art and Author Showcase is made possible through a grant received from the Chandler Special Events Committee and the Chandler Cultural Foundation.

Entry guidelines and forms may be found at www.chandlerirish.org. For more information, contact Ellen Harrington at chan.to.tull@gmail.com or (480) 6008509. To learn about Chandler-Tullamore Sister Cities’ activities, membership and the organization’s Sister City, Tullamore, Ireland, visit www.chandlerirish.org.

on the Chandler High link. Cost is $65. Funds collected will go to the school in the form of scholarships and other school programs.

For information about advertising in the Centennial Book, or submitting a special memory on your alumni page, contact Farabee Publishing. MBF Laser is offering personalized laser engraved plaque/ paperweights with Chandler High School Centennial icon, the student’s name and graduation year. They can be reached at (602) 316-2818.

Pieceful Solutions hires culinary instructor

Pieceful Solutions, the first K-12 school in Arizona for children with autism spectrum disorders, hired Colleen Poiani as culinary instructor to help students thrive in the kitchen, and perfect everyday life skills taught at the school.

Poiani will teach classes at the school’s Gilbert campus, and work with staff in Mesa and Chandler to incorporate culinary and nutrition-based curriculum in the classroom.

Poiani will teach students about the importance of nutrition, and the science behind food. Students will learn how to

Raising Arizona Kids prepping annual camp fair

For the 12th year, Raising Arizona Kids magazine will provide Valley families with an “up close and personal” opportunity to learn about local day camps and overnight camps in Arizona, the Southwest, and around the country.

At Camp Fair AZ, parents and children can talk directly with staff members from the various camps, ask questions and learn just how fun a summer camp experience can be.

3939 E. Shea Blvd., Phoenix, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, at Chandler Preparatory Academy, 1951 N. Alma School Rd., Chandler.

make healthy food choices along with how their nutrition decisions affect them mentally and physically.

Students also will learn basic baking through a culinary course focused on making cookies, cakes, pies, pastries and breads. The course will help students apply math skills by measuring ingredients. They’ll also learn to use alternative baking ingredients to help maximize their health and reduce allergies.

Poiani has more than 10 years of experience promoting the virtues of raw,

organic, plant-based and process-free foods. She specializes in teaching how what you consume impacts your physical and emotional well-being.

Poiani earned her certification as a holistic nutritional specialist from the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts.

The expos will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at Tesseract School,

Registration packets will be available for popular camps, which fill quickly. Some camps offer on-the-spot discounts on registration fees, while others bring hands-on activities to show kids what they can expect to do at camp. Find a list of participating camps at www.campfairaz.com.

Chandler Unified School District

Feb. 3: Junior High parent/teacher conferences for J1

Feb. 5: Junior High parent/teacher conferences for J2

Feb. 11-Feb. 12: Elementary parent/ teacher conferences

Feb. 16: Presidents Day Holiday—No School

Conley Coyotes

Calendar:

Feb. 11-12: Early dismissal for parentteacher conferences

Feb. 26: Kindergarten open house, 5:306:30 p.m.

—Lisa Boileau

CTA-Independence Hawks

CEF Raffle: Stop in the school office to purchase tickets for your chance to be this year’s raffle winner. The drawing will be held March 17. Winner need not be present to win and gets the choice of up to $27,000 toward any 2015 Toyota vehicle or $20,000 cash. There are also early-bird prizes that will be awarded prior to March 17.

Registration: Registration continues for students who live within the school boundary. Please visit www. mychandlerschools.org/independence, for a list of documents needed to complete registration.

Calendar:

Feb. 10: Dad’s Club meeting

Feb. 11: Feb. 12: Early release at 11:40 a.m. and parent/teacher conferences

Feb. 16: No school, President’s Day holiday Feb. 17: Running Club Meet at Snedigar Park

—Wendi Olson

Haley White Tigers

Tiger Tours: Interested in attending Haley? The administration will be giving tours at 10 a.m. Thursdays in February. Tiny Tigers: Kindergarten open house for incoming 2015-2016 students is from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, in the multipurpose room. Bring your tiny tigers to their future school to meet the teachers and see the classrooms.

Super Speller: Fifth-grade student Julia Shumway won the Haley Elementary spelling bee and represented the school in the district spelling bee at Perry High School held in January. 100th Day Hooray!: Kindergarteners celebrated the 100th day of school on Jan. 14 by doing all things 100. They counted to 100, sorted 100 items, created 100 cup sculptures, and even made 100 day crowns. Hard to believe the school year is already halfway done. Scientific Stuff: Fifth-grade students just finished showing off what they know about the scientific process by developing a question, a hypothesis and a testable project. The students worked

hard together to display their work and presented their findings to their classmates last week.

Spring Conferences: The annual spring conferences are Feb. 11 and Feb. 12. Students will be released at 11:30 a.m. both days.

—Stephanie Palomarez Hancock Heat

Book Fair: The Hancock Library is having its annual Scholastic Book Fair Fundraiser from Monday, Feb. 9, through Friday, Feb. 13. Help support the library by shopping at the book fair-25 percent of all proceeds are used to purchase new books and magazines. They will have a lot of great items for sale including paperbacks, hardbacks, posters, bookmarks and a lot more.

Book fair hours are:

8:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Feb. 9-11; 8:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 12; and 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 13.

Kindergarten Registration: The school is registering for kindergarten. Packets will be available in the front office from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Bring the following at time of registration: Proof of residence, birth certificate, and up-to-date shot records. Also, be sure and visit during the Kindergarten Open House from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26.

New Open Enrollments: K-6 Open Enrollment for 2015-2016 began on Jan. 12 for new enrollments, those who attend a different school within the

Chandler Unified School District. Visit www.cusd80.com/openenrollment for more information.

Returning Open Enrollments: K-6 Open Enrollment for 2015-2016 began Feb. 2 for returning enrollments, those attending on an open enrollment and returning. Visit www.cusd80.com/ openenrollment for more information. Calendar

Feb. 9-Feb. 13: Scholastic Book Fair Feb. 10: Spring Picture Day Feb. 11: Early release 11:40 am Spring conferences Feb. 12: Early release 11:40 am Spring conferences

Feb. 24: Running Club Race at Snedigar Park

Feb. 26: Kindergarten Open House 5:30 pm- 6:30 pm March 9 through March 23: Spring Intersession – No School

—Amy

Fricke

Jacobson Jets

HONORING EMERGENCY

PROFESSIONALS: The students and staff at Jacobson Elementary had the opportunity to thank various first responders on Wednesday, Nov. 26, for their commitment and dedication. Sherri Beck, school counselor, and Sgt. Jesse Galvez with the Department of Public Safety, coordinated the all-school assembly. First responders from the Department of Public Safety, Chandler Police Department, Chandler Fire Department and Southwest Ambulance shared with students and staff what it means to be a first responder. Students had the opportunity to view various emergency vehicles and interact with first responders. The highlight of the assembly was watching the DPS helicopter, Ranger, land on the East playground. Submitted photo

—Nicole Estevez

Tarwater

Toros

Tarwater Mandarin DLI Program: The Phoenix Chinese Week Organization selected Grade K-2 outstanding winners in the 2015 Phoenix Chinese Week Art Contest. The following students are kindergarteners from the Tarwater

Mandarin Program:

Addison Jarecki

Brenden Lipinski

Brooke Menghini

Emily Murphy

Giana Noriega

Jacob Ezolt

Lyla Hamlin

Mitchell Bergman

Phillip Cisneros

Renzo Noriega

Sisi Ratshosa

Tyler Chung

The awards will be presented at 12 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, on the Main Stage at the Margaret T. Hance Park (East), 1202 N. Third St., Phoenix.

Kindergarten Registration: Kindergarten registration began on Monday, Feb. 2. If you have a child who turns 5 by Aug. 31, they are eligible to attend kindergarten for the 2015-2016 school year. To register your child, you will need to bring an original birth certificate, immunization records, and proof of residency (utility bill).

Tarwater Running Club News: Running club race day season is here. Tarwater will compete in three races this year— Jan. 29, Feb. 10 and Feb. 19—all of which will be held at Snedigar Park at 3:45 p.m.

Place ribbons are awarded to the top five boy and girl runners in each grade level. The Running Toros are looking forward to participating and competing against other schools in the Chandler district.

Go Toros!

Jump Rope For Heart: Tarwater students are participating in Jump Rope for Heart

on Friday, Feb. 13. Through this event, Tarwater students not only learn how to keep their own heart healthy, but help raise donations to help other people with special hearts. Funds raised support the American Heart Association’s research and education initiatives that save lives in our community. On the day of the event, students will be placed in teams and will spend 45 to 60 minutes jumping rope out on the playground. Restaurant Night: Restaurant Night will be an all-day event at the Ocotillo Pei Wei on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Plan to

enjoy lunch and/or dinner and support Tarwater.

School Cents: All month long, shoppers can earn triple points for School Cents by shopping at the following stores: ALDO, Ann Taylor, Aveda, Banana Republic, Ben Bridge Jewelers, Brighton Collectibles, Coach, Francesca’s, GAP, LOFT, Radio Shack and White House | Black Market. Log your receipts at Guest Services, or turn them into the Tarwater office.

—JoAnne Cawley

Youth

Bogle hosts Running Club Invitational

In an effort to have fun and promote healthy lifestyles, Bogle Junior High School officials have invited Tarwater, Conley, Jacobson, San Marcos, Hancock, Basha, Knox, Fulton, and CTA Independence elementary schools to participate in its second annual Bogle Junior High School Running Club Invitational.

The race is set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, after the last running club race has been completed. Athletes must be able to run the 2-mile course, regardless of age or grade level. This is an invite-only race, and all runners have been recommended by

their running club coaches based on their past successes in district races. Athletes can expect a friendly, timed, competitive 2-mile cross-country course through the Bogle campus and Dobson Park.

Officials will score the race like a cross-country competition to see if the Jacobson boys and Fulton girls can defend their championship cups. They will also recognize top individual finishers.

Bogle Junior High is located at 1600 W. Queen Creek Rd., Dobson Park is located at 1625 W. Ryan Rd., Chandler. For more information, contact Bogle Junior High at (480) 883-5500.

Local host families needed for exchange students

ASSE International Student Exchange Programs (ASSE) is seeking local host families for international high school boys and girls.

The students are 15 -to-18 years of age, and are coming for the upcoming semester or academic year. These personable and academically selected exchange students are conversant in English, bright, curious and anxious to learn about this country through living as part of a family, attending high school and sharing their own culture and language with their newly adopted host family.

The exchange students arrive from

their home country shortly before school begins, and return at the end of the school year or semester. Each ASSE student is fully insured, brings his or her own personal spending money, and expects to contribute to his or her share of household responsibilities, as well as being included in normal family activities and lifestyles. The students are wellscreened and qualified by ASSE. Families can choose their students from a wide variety of backgrounds, nationalities and personal interests.

For more information about becoming a host family, call (800) 733-2773.

STUDENT CHRONICLES

Haley Barraza of Chandler was named to the dean’s list at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri. She is a sophomore business administration major.

Chelsea Brumby of Chandler is among the first graduates of Benedictine University in Mesa. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice.

Kevin T. Carr of Chandler was named to the honors list for the Fall 2014 semester at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Loren Carrier of Chandler was on the dean’s list for the Fall semester at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont.

Jared Fleming of Chandler was named to the dean’s list for the Fall 2014 semester at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Kayla Forlin of Chandler was named to the dean’s list at Central College in Pella, Iowa.

Garrett Keith Holle of Chandler earned a place on the Fall 2014 dean’s honor roll at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas. Garrett is a senior majoring in biology/pre-physical therapy.

Hannah Laflin and Jessica Laflin of Chandler were named to the dean’s list at Central College in Pella, Iowa.

Tara Larsen of Chandler was on the Fall 2014 honors list at Concordia University, Nebraska. Tara is a junior.

Alexis Odle of Chandler is a Fall 2014 graduate from Arizona State University—Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Alexis graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in education, early childhood and early childhood special education and was on the dean’s list.

Aaron M. Oleson of Chandler was named to the Fall 2014 dean’s list at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Katrina Ottesen of Chandler was named to the Fall 2014 dean’s list at Lincoln Memorial University at Harrogate, Tennessee.

Patric Pray of Chandler excelled during the Fall 2014 semester at Hofstra University, achieving a GPA of at least 3.5 to earn a spot on the dean’s list.

Christopher Sardynski of Chandler was named to the Champlain College President’s List for the Fall 2014 semester. Students on the president’s list have achieved a 4.0 grade point average. Sardynski is majoring in computer forensics and digital investigations.

Dillon Sterling of Chandler graduated from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, on Dec. 20. He earned a bachelor’s degree with a major in business administration.

Allen Thigpen of Chandler started coursework at Fort Lewis College on Jan. 12. Allen’s major is business administration—management option.