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John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Superior, AZ
The Superior Unified School district is the largest employer within the Town Limits of Superior. With close to 70 employees which includes substitute teachers and coaches these employees teach, coach and feed the 365 students enrolled Pre-K through 12th grade.
The District has been in existence for almost a century and has graduated thousands of students over the years, many of whom have made great contributions to this world. The focus of the district is to provide the best education to the students of the district. The actual school district spans west of Queen Valley and east to the Top of the World and south towards the Asarco open pit mine.
With declining enrollment, the number one challenge of the district is to maintain a balanced budget, eighty percent of the school budget is directed towards staffing costs and funding for maintenance and operations are restricted to those categories, that fund continues to be reduced via the state budget.
Superior Jr/Sr High School in Superior, AZ
These challenges do not hold the district back. One of the biggest secrets in the district is the many career and academic programs along with athletic programs offered to Superior students. With support from Resolution Copper, the school is able to provide Nature Club and a Robotics program for students 6-12th grade. The partnership with Cobre Valley Institute for Technology allows high school students to participate in career programs like DECA and Family Career Community Leaders of America. It is not uncommon for Superior to bring home many gold medals from their FCCLA competitions. With the help of the Awesome Possum program, which is operated by Leslie Martin, elementary students have an art program and through a program at the University of Arizona several students are learning guitar.
“The community rallies around our kids, through sports and school activities; we are a community school,” explained District Superintendent Steve Estatico. The term “Once a Panther, Always A Panther” is a motto the school is using and is part of the long term planning for the district.
The school will be working with the Arizona Community Foundation to develop a long term funding foundation that will allow the district to develop another source of revenue through donations and endowment giving to sustain important programs for the district well into the future. Another program that the school administration is working on is a “locally grown teacher” program. The program would provide financial assistance to para professionals to earn their teaching degrees and also encourage local students to consider returning as teachers to their alma matter.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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