Principal's Message
Despite having a week off for Spring Break our Knights were extremely busy in March. Our science department hosted the Science Expo where Knights got to show off their knowledge for our families. NAL had their final match in the national tournament. The 4th graders explored the Grand Canyon, Bearizona, and Lowell Observatory while the 7th graders learned about physics and the laws of motion in California. We topped off the month with the International Festival where over five hundred attendees came to enjoy food, games, performances, and fun from countries around the world.- Ms. Wilfert
Mesa Academy's IB Students and Teacher of the Month
Every month teachers are given the opportunity to nominate students and a teacher that exemplify IB Profile Traits. Congratulations to the following MAAS Knights for being recognized as our IB Students and Teacher of the Month: Kylie Thompson and Ify Ubosi (4th Grade), McKenna King (6th Grade), Justin Mix (7th Grade), Grace Garcia (8th Grade) and Sra. Sandoval (teacher).
International Students
IB students have a deep respect for the traditions and cultural experiences of others, and when we can't experience something firsthand, learning from one another is always valuable to us as human beings. At MAAS we have international students and students who have lived in other countries. In our next issues, we will share some of their stories and experiences.
Sasha and Max Dowling- 8th and 4th Grades
Sasha and Max Dowlin grew up in Brazil for most of their lives and moved to the United States a year ago. Sasha was 12 and Max was 9 when they moved to America. Their family moved to the United States for more educational opportunities. When they first came to the U.S. the biggest challenge for them was learning english and adapting to the american culture. They keep in touch with their culture by cooking brazilian dishes.
Marcus Rogers- 8th Grade
Marcus Rogers is an eighth grader at Mesa Academy. He has lived all over the globe, including three different continents. Having spent two years of his life in Namibia, a country in Africa, and another two years in Brazil, Marcus has learned empierced many different cultures. Besides English, his dad is fluent in Portuguese, with the rest of his family speaking it sometimes. Besides the U.S, Marcus says that his favorite country to live was Brazil.
Science Fair Winner
Huge congratulations to our very own Academy Knight, Rebecca Wehrman. Rebecca got second place in the behavioral and social sciences category of the Science Fair. We are so proud of you!
Voices
The annual Voices writing competition is an exciting opportunity for Mesa Public School District students and staff to put their best writing forward. Timely entries are judged by teachers, and Mesa Academy never fails in having excellent placements. Here are the students who received first placements and honorable mentions. In 4th grade, Maddy Hon and Avery Von Burg both received first place, while Margaret Rogers received an honorable mention. The 5th-grade winners included Luis Guerrero with first place and honorable mentions for Lindsay James, Sophia Doulah, and Roxie Cramer. As for the 6th graders, congratulations to Rebecca Wehrman and Preston Rule for receiving first place and Walker Robles and McKenna King for receiving honorable mentions. The 8th graders who won were Gerald Garcia with first place and Amelia Clement with an honorable mention. Congratulations to everybody who submitted entries and great work to everybody who placed! Excellent job, Knights!
Band and Orchestra Festivals
This month's orchestra concert was on March 7th, for Prep, Intermediate, and Advanced Orchestra and Band. Prep Orchestra played the songs Beyond the Thunder, Aeolian Rock, and Appalachian Hymn. The Intermediate Orchestra played 3 songs, including Enigma. In this song, there were two soloists, Preston Rule, chair one violinist, and the other Simon Newmon, chair one cellist. The other 2 songs they played were El Toro and Wildfire. Advanced Orchestra played 2 songs, The Waltz from Sleeping Beauty and Ignite each group played the music beautifully and made it look and sound easy even if it wasn’t. Even though it might have been hard at times, they chose to make it fun.
This month the Intermediate and Advanced Orchestras also went to the ABODA Music Festival on March 2nd to perform the same songs as they did for the concert. They left during school directly after lunch on a charter bus and the Intermediate was set to perform before the advanced. Due to schedule issues, the Intermediate Orchestra was forced to tune backstage and had no time to warm up. Despite these issues, the Intermediate Orchestra got a superior rating, the second to best rating you can get. The Advanced Orchestra had no such issues and received a superior with distinction, the best rating you can receive. They used the comments the judges made to better the songs they performed during the concert, trying to make it the best possible experience. No matter what, both orchestras did their best and did it with joy.
4th Grade Grand Canyon Field Trip
Our 4th Grade students had a blast visiting our very own Wonder of the World, the Grand Canyon. Students got a chance to play in the snow and apply lots of the skills they learned this year in their 4th-grade Science class. They also had an opportunity to see our native Arizona animals at Bearizona.
7th Grade Physics and Motion Field Trip to CA
The 7th-grade field trip was an amazing opportunity for our 7th graders to show off their knowledge of Newton's Laws of Motion and test their physics skills. The 7th graders and their chaperones headed to California for 3 activity-filled days. There was no rest for the group. From the moment they boarded the busses they talked about Isaac Newton, and built cars, out of balloons and other small items. At Knott's Berry Farm, they got to see the laws of motion in effect and were given tutorials on how the roller coasters worked before they got to ride them. Students also had an opportunity to visit California Science Center and see the Space Shuttle Endeavour!
Garage Sales in 4th/5th Grades
Spring Talent Show
This year's Spring Talent Show was filled with an array of acts, from juggling to writing their song lyrics. All of our participants proved to be strong and successful risk-takers because of their willingness to share their talents with our students and families. We are glad we didn't have to pick a master act because they were all very impressive. Thank you to Mr. Dixon for once again offering the opportunity and running the show!
The Dark Ages with Ms. Taylor and Ms. Brown
Both Ms. Taylor and Ms. Brown recently finished the “Dark Ages” Unit in 6th grade. This unit talks about not just Europe, which was currently having the dark age but everyone around them. This shows that this time period wasn’t necessarily a dark age. Sure, Europe may have been at a low point, but Japan was flourishing. Even though it was most likely misnamed, that does not mean you would want to live in that time period. This unit was quite interesting because of that.
International Festival
Our 6th Annual International Festival was a huge success! A HUGE shout out to our PTO for putting it all together and providing an exciting night for our Academy Families to get together and share in food, games, and international entertainment. The day started with our International Dress Day put together by our Student Council. Students were very creative in finding ways to express their ethnicities. Then we opened our doors and gates to our Academy families and celebrated the many ethnicities and cultures represented by Mesa Academy.
We had food, games, and entertainment from all over the world! Over 300 people came through our gates on Friday night and everyone had a great time! Our 6th and 7th-grade students played a big part in our International Festival this year. Their research was displayed in the MPR for all to learn a little more about Mexican culture. Students became experts on various parts of the culture from Mariachi to the over 600 types of peppers. It was difficult to pick one favorite display; our International Festival guests enjoyed all of them. What a great way to end March. Thanks again PTO for putting on such a fun event and thank you to all of our families that helped make the event happen. Your time and donations helped in so many ways.
MAAS Staff and their pets
Be ready to fall in love with some of Mesa Academy's favorite pets. Can you guess what pets belong to what staff member?
Did you know that our leader, Ms. Wilfert, is a huge animal lover? Well, now you know. Here are pictures of her 4 animal friends. Can you guess who El Jefe and Chica are?
Mesa Academy at Washington D.C. Close-Up 2023
PTO Information and Calendar
Save the Date
April 19 - Backyard Taco
May 11 6-7pm in MPR Close Up Meeting for current 7th grade parents for the 8th grade trip of 2024.
Interested in MAAS?
Preparing students for life in the 21st century and helping students become life-long learners who understand how to navigate successfully through an ever-changing and increasingly interrelated world is not a secret. Share what we do at Mesa Academy with your family, friends, and neighbors and encourage them to visit our school website for more information.
Your 2022-23 Knightly Newsletter Team: Amelia Clement, Adri Cardall, Anna Reeves, Arianne Rencher, Charlotte Whitmer, Emma Hughes, Hadley Kennington, Jessie Olmedo, Kendall Von Burg, Kira Shultz, McKenna King, Oliva Merrill, Ryan Weinstein, Valette Lara, Xavier Vaughan, Jazzy Pascacio, Helynn Castro, Abi Allport, Alia Cluff, Julia Norton, Layla Spangler, William Taylor, and Mrs. Sandoval.
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