The Voice of Marana since 2007
Volume • Number March ,
www.Maranaweeklynews.com
Treasures await teachers at this nonprofit
INSIDE
This Week
BY KAREN SCHAFFNER Tucson Local Media Staff
W Third place: Sai Manvik Malreddy, eighth grade, age 13, Explorer Middle School, Paradise Valley Unified School District, Maricopa County Region 2 Fourth place: Regina Rascon, seventh grade, age 11, Bogle Junior High School, Chandler Unified School District, Maricopa County Region 6 Fifth place: Alrick James, fourth grade, age 9, Estrella Foothills Global Academy, Laveen School District, Maricopa County Region 3 The 2023 Arizona Spelling Bee event was held at the Madison Performing Arts Center in Phoenix. It was the 25th year the event was
hat looks like trash to the rest of the world is treasure to teachers — literally and figuratively. At Treasures4Teachers, shelves are stacked with bins filled with cast-offs and effluvia. One bin finds bundles of used but unbroken crayons. In another there are scads of pull tabs. Hard plastic floppy disks are placed in another. That’s just a tiny bit of what is stacked on the many shelves at Treasures4Teachers, a nonprofit that bridges the gap between the need for tools and supplies and effective teaching. “The things that we like the most in this store we call loose parts,” said Adrienne Ledford, who opened Treasures4Teachers eight years ago. “Loose parts are a part of the new STEM movement. The more loose parts you can give a child, they can create whatever they want with it. You just give them a whole bunch of things — glue sticks and glitter, foam, nuts and bolts, whatever — and let them just create.” Treasures4Teachers is run on donations and prayer. This month, however, Ledford received good news in the form of a $25,000
see SPELLING BEE page 16
see TREASURES page 8
FEATURES ................... 6 Winter rains bring plenty of color to Picacho
CHOW .......................10 Pasta, sandwiches on the menu at new Pasta Shop
Marana Middle School student Karen Opoku-Appoh won the 2023 Arizona Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 18, by correctly spelling “passage.” (Arizona Educational Foundation/Submitted)
Marana teen wins state spelling bee BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Tucson Local Media Staff
SPORTS ..................... 14 Paulo Bracamonte is Athlete of the Week FEATURES...................................... 6 CHOW ........................................... 10 SPORTS ........................................ 13 HEALTH ....................................... 15 YOUTH ......................................... 16 PUZZLE/HOROSCOPES ............. 19 WORSHIP/CLASSIFIEDS ........... 20 MLS #22301470
K
aren Opoku-Appoh, an eighth grader from Marana Middle School, won the 2023 Arizona Spelling Bee hosted by the Arizona Educational Foundation on Saturday, March 18. The 13-year-old correctly spelled the word “passage” to win the bee. The runners up were: Second place: Opal Mishra, sixth grade, age 12, Basha Accelerated Middle School, Chandler Unified School District, Maricopa County Region 6
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