October 27 was Pueblo Pride Day, a time when our Warriors and other volunteers met after school in the cafeteria at 3:30 p.m., and for an hour, they cleaned and better our Pueblo community.
Volunteers participating in Pueblo Pride Clean-Up Day
This event, which was started by the Science Club (sponsored by Dr. Lolita Levine) was bigger and better this year. CCLC provided snacks and water for participants who worked hard to beautify our campus.
Students and volunteers performed duties such as weeding the garden, picking up trash and painting the red drive way curve.
“Everybody is smiling, and that’s the best part,” Levine said. “It’s nice to see teachers and students working side by side.”
Students were separated into different groups in the cafeteria, which will each be led by their own leaders for different sections at school.
Ms. Elizabeth Raizk hauling off some brush.
One of the group leaders is Ms. Elizabeth Raizk, one of Pueblo’s science teachers, and she was in charge of the garden group.
“This is how we show our Pueblo community that we are doing more things [community service] to make Pueblo a better place,” Raizk said. “Pueblo gets cleaner, and it shows our community how great we are. This event is a win-win scenario.”
“I really want to emphasize our school and nourish our soul,” Levine said. “This is not just a school—it is our home.”
Congratulations to the following students for their work in partnering with the House of Neighborly Service (33rd street & 8th Avenue) and providing a garden and it’s produce for elementary age students all the way up to Sr. Citizens to enjoy. They prepared the garden and planted it in September and the garden is still going strong.
Warriors Volunteer Their Time
The team consisted of Mario Acosta, Mina Van Gorder, Bernadette Romero, Conrad Jones, Joey Caicedo, Anyssa Garcia, Marina Padilla, Ezra Valenzuela and Eddie Flores
Many thanks to Maria Bicknell, Dolores Carrion, Travis Klein, Lolly Levine, Liz Raizk, Elaine Straub, Emma Tarazon, and our partners at HNS, Josefina Ahumada and Michele Orduna for making the garden a reality for the community.
Warriors Jahlil Anderson, Dulce Cordova, Enrique Garcia, Vero Robles and Gardenia Tapia represented the Pueblo Team for the United Way-Days of Caring. The Pueblo Team was joined by United Way Representative, Mike Vogt, and C.E. Rose Principal, Steven Trejo.
Gardenia Tapia helping out.
After arriving at school at 7:00 a.m., the team represented Pueblo at the rally at Hi Corbett Field and then proceeded to C.E. Rose to collaborate on breaking ground for the new primary playground. C.E. Rose is a natural site for our service learning as it is one of our feeder schools. They are recipients of the fieldwork by Pueblo students from our Education Professions class and our Early Childhood Education class under the excellent instruction of Ms. Bonnie Stull.
As University of Arizona Baseball Coach Andy Lopez said at the United Way Rally, “everything you do in life is a value statement”. Today the Pueblo Team showed that we are willing to work to make our extended community a better place for children.
During the summer, almost 150 incoming freshmen (Class of 2016) got the chance to experience high school classes through the Freshman Academy Program at Pueblo. For eleven days students took scheduled classes in Math, Statistics, English, Science, and Study Skills learning a multiple array of subjects and the organization of the campus to help them prepare for their first year in high school.
All the summer program classes laid the foundation for the future academics these students would encounter at Pueblo, with an emphasis on the Core Standards and STEM projects. For example, in science, the students were challenged to design and create a pond ecosystem to replace the old drained cement pond located in the area of the new campus community garden.
Pond in Community Garden before renovation.
First, student teams used classroom laptops to research about the ecological aspects of pond wetlands. Then they brainstormed about different pond designs. Nathan Novak, a local landscaping expert and owner of Canyon Pondscapes, worked with the student teams to draw out pond design plans that were within the renovation parameters. Each class voted on team proposed designs and a consensus was reached. For four days each class eagerly participated in bringing this design to fruition despite the June heat. Under the direct supervision of Mr. Novak and Mrs. Straub, their science teacher, the students used a jackhammer and sledgehammer to break apart two feet of concrete to deepen the pond and remove the loosened concrete.
Students use jackhammers to loosen concrete.
The students then carted in dirt to shape the pond to their design and laid down a liner to prevent water seepage. Rocks and gravel were placed in and around the pond to hold the liner as well as create a natural look.
The next step was the creation of the water fall. Every class wanted to see this to be the main attraction of the pond. This meant the coordination of many dirt toting wheelbarrow teams and lots of dust. Before they knew it, a hill of dirt was ready for rock placements to create the waterfall.
Students hauling dirt to shape pond.
Finally water was added, the pump turned on and manure was placed along the edges of the pond for future planting of flowers. A pond and waterfall emerged from the ideas and hard work of these new Pueblo Warriors.
The students felt a great accomplishment not only in completing a student driven project, but in learning how to work as a team to benefit the community by building a wetland pond ecosystem.
Rocks going into place for new pond.
As a final assignment, the students wrote about their experience. Overwhelmingly they wrote that despite the oppressive heat the experience was exciting, fun, and rewarding (the following student names are changed for privacy). Sam cherished the fact that he got to, “know how it feels to work like a grownup.” As Lisa pointed out, “a lot of sweat and hard work went into building something pretty that didn’t work and was plain before”.
Finished Pond in Pueblo Community Garden
Many students also wrote about how they found the teamwork rewarding in accomplishing this goal, as well as, a great chance to meet their fellow classmates. A few talked about the ecological and physiological benefits of the finished product and the hopes to use this area in their future at Pueblo. As Ana wrote, “a successfully built pond provides a feeling of restfulness in an area of interest”. So many voiced their interest in visiting the pond when they return in August, like Lucy who wrote, “getting the chance to see a pond come alive was (an) amazing experience, every day we saw it get better and better. Our pond will be so beautiful I can’t wait to see the final product.”
The students did not get to see the addition of plant and animal life, but water plants and fish will be added this summer in order to balance the pond ecosystem. Thanks to the Freshman Academy 2012 students, this new wetland pond ecosystem can be visited and studied by Pueblo students as well as enjoyed by those using the community garden for years to come.
Pueblo Fire Service students woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, September 24th for National Public Lands Day. At 6:30 a.m., these volunteers were ready to work. We praise their efforts and dedication to the City of Tucson with their participation in restoring the beauty and vitality of our public lands.
On the top of A-Mountain. Can you see Pueblo in the background?
Student volunteers that helped clean A-Mountain were: Carlos Meraz, Blanca Valenzuela, Hector Ortega, Angel Tellez, Luis Mendivil & Juan Aguilar. (From Left To Right)
Thank you for representing Pueblo! You too can get involved!
The YES! Club and Future Teachers of Arizona collaborated this weekend to give our parking lot a little makeover. Members of both clubs came on Saturday morning to paint the curb barriers with Pueblo colors.
Painting barricades Pueblo colors
The following spirited students worked very hard on this project:
Philip Alvarez, Yahaira Barcelo, Angel Barcelo, Peter Casillas, Chantelle Contreras, Manuel Encinas, Brandon Garcia, Alejandra Gonzalez, Adilene Guevara, Oscar Hernandez, Laura Karina Lopez, Yaritza Martinez, Jazmin Nogales, Rheannon Olvera, Alvaro Oquita, Ben Rios, Gabrielle Rios, Clarissa Romero, Lauro Soto, Brisenia Sosa, Gardenia Tapia & Brianna Valencia.
The painting crewParking lot painting project
It’s a work in progress and we look forward to the completion of the project. Great job Warriors! Thank you Mrs. Avila-Miranda & Mrs. Stull for pictures.
