Kids vote through KidsVoting USA
Daniel Rohrbacker, a Sewell Elementary School fourth grader, was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal story about children interested in the electoral process this year.
Students at Sewell Elementary School don't understand why everyone doesn't vote on Election Day. After all, on Nov. 3, the day before Election Day, they all voted – no exceptions. And none of them were undecided. When each student filed into the school library to pick their candidate for president of the United States on the computer screen, each was sure who would get their vote.
Second-grader KyLynn Escalante said she'd chosen the Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, because, "He did the speech and said what he thought he'd do as president. He'll help our state and make sure our schools and libraries will look much better than they are now."
Classmate Nevaeh Karuhe said she and her mom both supported Obama. Justin Lusteck chimed in, saying he'd chosen Obama because "he's really smart and he'd change things. He'd help people have better houses." Read more
Robins second-grader wins poster contest three years in a row
Second-grader Rico Robles has never met a Post It note he didn't like. They've been his canvas from the time he could first hold a crayon. Now, it's not only his family that admires his artwork. So do the judges.
For the third consecutive year, he's taken first place in the Hispanic Heritage Poster contest for kindergarteners, first- and second-graders.
His family isn't surprised. "He'd always draw pictures and stick them everywhere, like on the fridge and door to his room," said his mother, Marnie, who is a Pueblo Gardens Elementary School resource teacher. "Now we've graduated to spiral notebooks. I have about a hundred now. We'll have to add a room to the house because I don't want to get rid of them."Read more
Halloween competition morphs into hallways, cubicles and offices
Ghosts and goblins and cobwebby creatures sprang from cubicles and hung from hallways as employees at the Tucson Unified School's administration buildings competed in the first Halloween decorating contest.
The event began as a simple door decorating competition, but morphed into a full scale makeover of work areas and hallways. A half-dozen fourth-grade honor roll students from Roskruge Magnet School judged the 18 entries.
"I was shocked at the number of participants during our first year of this contest," said Laura Emslie, a Human Resources Department analyst and the contest coordinator. "Everyone really got into the holiday spirit and it was really fun to watch different areas trying to one up others. For our first test year, this contest was a huge success."Read more
Miller student recognized for following fire safety rules at home
Roman Goode, a Miller Elementary School third-grader, received a certificate of achievement on Oct. 23, from the Drexel Heights Fire Department for helping his family respond to a fire at their home.
Goode alerted the department on Oct. 14 to a fire at his home in the 7000 bock of South Camino Libertad. Although the small fire that was caused by a bathroom exhaust fan had been extinguished before firefighters arrived, department spokesmen credited the 8-year-old child with keeping his family safe.
Goode has participated in the Drexel Heights safety program for the last four years, learning the actions to take if fire should break out at home. He told fire department officials that when he realized there was smoke in his home, all he wanted to do was get outside and call 9-1-1. Drexel Heights firefighters said the fire could have spread through the attic space without warning, destroying the home and possibly injuring or killing family members.Read more