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Students perform at the Oracle Schools Foundation Gala in SaddleBrooke Arizona.
The Oracle Schools Foundation Gala 2016, held on Nov. 5 at SaddleBrooke’s HOA # 1 The Vistas, was a huge success, raising almost $19,000 for the Foundation and the students it serves. Close to 160 people and businesses supported this year’s “Read to Succeed” event, which began with a performance by Mt. Vista Elementary School orchestra, led by music teacher Kaitlyn Miller. Several family members of the students were also on hand to listen to the wonderful performance. District Superintendent Dennis Blauser welcomed everyone and served as emcee extraordinaire to usher us through the evening.
Christine Marsh, Arizona’s 2016 Teacher of the Year, was the keynote speaker. She acknowledged that as an 11th and 12th grade advanced placement English Language Arts teacher at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, she is very privileged. She doesn’t have to contend with many of the resource deficiencies and teaching challenges that many other Arizona teachers do. She talked about how children from higher socio-economic status families, will have heard as many as 30 million more words by the time they enter kindergarten as those from less fortunate families. This dearth of language experience can put our youngest learners at severe disadvantage before they even start school. She lauded those in attendance at the Gala for their contributions to help bridge the gap to give District students more opportunity to achieve their dreams.
Alan Levenson, the Foundation’s Vice-President spoke about the Champion Program which is designed to provide sustainable support to achieve the Foundation’s vision: “ To be a beacon of excellence in public education.” With almost 200 Champions for 2017, the program is off to a great start. He asked the attendees to engage their friends and neighbor because “if we are to continue to have great impact, we must have great support.”
Dianne Ashby, a Doctorate-level Champion of the Foundation, likewise encouraged attendees to consider sponsoring a preschool scholarship for the 2017-18 school year. Studies have shown that preschool is critical and can provide a payback as high as $7 for every $1 spent, especially for children from lower socio-economic families. Arizona only funds half-day Kindergarten and provides no funding for preschool. This means the District must charge $1,500 tuition for preschool and some families’ budgets just can’t cover this cost. The Foundation awarded 16 scholarships for the 2016-17 school year and would like to find even more families who need help in sending their children to preschool next year.
The live auction saw bidders “battle” for some wonderful auction items and their generosity, combined with all those who sponsored, bought tickets or donated, was absolutely incredible and a real testament to the commitment all the communities of the District have to providing a quality education to our children. Foundation President Ed Hartman, an Oracle resident, closed out the evening, telling everyone, “there is more work to be done – by us, by you, and by the children themselves and their parents too” but said he is optimistic because of the incredible support he has seen from all the District’s communities. For more information on preschool scholarships, or the Oracle Schools Foundation please go to www.OracleSchoolsFoundation.com.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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