Expect More Excellence Tour: First set of Spotlight Awards announced

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Expect More Arizona

award In January, Expect More Arizona launched the Expect More Excellence Tour to spotlight what Arizonans are doing today to make progress toward world-class education and celebrate the kind of excellence we expect and believe must be available to all students.

We asked people throughout the state to submit their examples of excellence on our website. We had nearly 200 submissions and invited people to view, vote and share the excellence. We split the state up into 4 geographic areas with the goal of choosing three spotlights in each area. Yesterday, we held an event in Yuma to celebrate the submissions we received from Yuma, La Paz and Mohave counties. A local selection committee reviewed the submissions to identify the top three that most align with Expect More Arizona’s building blocks for a world-class education. We presented the three identified by the committee with Excellence Tour Spotlight Awards. These are the first 3 of the 12 Spotlight Awards we will be presenting throughout the state.

The video below provides a brief overview of each of the winners. You can read more about them below, and you can click their names to view their original submissions.

Ready Now Yuma is an initiative of Yuma Union High School District (YUHSD) and Helios Education Foundation to ensure every student graduates prepared to succeed in college and career. Their goal is to have every YUHSD student challenged, supported and prepared by a rigorous, high expectations program of study, which are aligned with national and international academic standards, within a college-going environment. Ready Now Yuma is unique because it makes a rigorous program of study available to every student, regardless of past academic performance and post-high school aspirations. It also focuses on helping students master the key content knowledge and skills they need to succeed in beyond high school and in today’s global economy.
(Pictured below from left to right: Linda Thompson, Helios Education Foundation; Pearl Chang Esau, Expect More Arizona; Antonia Badone, Yuma Union High School District; Leticia de la Vara, Expect More Arizona.)

Expect More Excellence Tour Spotlight Award Winner - Ready Now Yuma

I’m Going to College is a collaboration between Arizona Western College and Northern Arizona University Yuma Branch Campus. This innovative program brings 5th graders from across Yuma and La Paz Counties to college for a day. “I’m Going to College” helps light the fire of desire for learning, achievement and excellence and demonstrates to all students that a college education is possible.
(Pictured below from left to right: Tara Cobourn, Northern Arizona University, Yuma Branch Campus; Pearl Chang Esau, Expect More Arizona; Lori Stofft, AWC; Mandy Heil, AWC; Leticia de la Vara, Expect More Arizona.)

Expect More Excellence Tour Spotlight Award Winner - I'm Going to College

Dateland Elementary is located 70 miles from Yuma and is the poorest school district in Yuma County. On average, 60% of their students do not speak English when they start kindergarten. None of the homes in the area have access to the Internet and many do not have television. However, that doesn’t stop them from expecting more and striving for a world-class education for all of their students. In fact, after six years of being a performing plus school, today they are proud to have been awarded an “A” letter grade by the Arizona Department of Education.
(Pictured below from left to right: Leticia de la Vara, Expect More Arizona; Bob Sloncen, Dateland Elementary ; Pearl Chang Esau, Expect More Arizona.)

Expect More Excellence Tour Spotlight Award Winner - Dateland Elementary

Congratulations to our Spotlight Award winners. These three programs truly exemplify world-class education in the community. Click on their names above to view their submissions, and visit the Expect More Excellence Tour to view other submissions from across the state.

As a statewide education advocacy organization, Expect More Arizona couldn’t do our work without the support and partnership of individuals and organizations around the state. We want to acknowledge some individuals from the Yuma area who worked to guide and advise the Expect More Excellence Tour:

Antonia Badone, Yuma Union High School District
Andrea Bereznak from APS
Madeline Coil, United Way of Yuma County
Joe (Jose) de la Vara – Yuma County Public Defenders Office
Dr. Linda Elliott-Nelson – Arizona Western College
Judy Gresser – Yuma Community Foundation
Frank Nuñez – Yuma Union High School District
Pat Romant – Yuma Private Industry Council
Ken Rosevear – Yuma County Chamber of Commerce
Tom Tyree – Yuma County School Superintendent

We would also like to give a special recognition to our Excellence Tour Spotlight Selection Committee:

Dr. Eric Aurand, ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu
Richard J. Tozer – Arizona Western College
Madeline Coil – United Way of Yuma County

And a special thank you goes to the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce for hosting us at this wonderful event. Yuma set the bar high, and we are looking forward to more events across the state in the coming month where we will announce the remaining Spotlight Award winners and celebrate world-class education in Arizona. Stay tuned!

Read more April newsletter Articles:

Expect More Excellence Tour Spotlight Winners Announced in Yuma & Tucson
[INFOGRAPHIC]: Communities Working Together for Education
Arizona a National Leader in Career and Technical Education
Now is the Time to Invest in Arizona Schools
Ensuring Arizona Students are Prepared to Succeed in College, Career and Life

Helping 8th Grade Students Plan for College and Career

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Expect More Arizona

It’s becoming more important than ever that Arizona students receive some type of education or advanced training after high school. Long gone are the days where a high school diploma would open the door to a good career. Now, the vast majority of good paying jobs in Arizona require postsecondary education and training. What’s more, Arizona students aren’t just competing with the other kids in their class for jobs, but now are competing with kids from around the world.

So what does this mean for Arizona students?

It means that high school is no longer the finish line. All Arizona students need to be prepared for and to complete postsecondary education or training once they graduate from high school. For some students this will mean going to a community college or a four-year university. For others, it will mean pursuing a license or certificate, apprenticeship, or advanced training in their field of choice.

To help students better prepare for and understand all of these options they can pursue after high school, Expect More Arizona and Northern Arizona University’s GEAR UP program have recently released an updated version of the College and Career Planning Guide.

Developed for Arizona’s 8^th grade students, the Guide helps students set high expectations for their future by asking them to dream, plan, work hard, and track the progress they make towards their goals. It educates students about the types of educational opportunities they can pursue after high school and the types of credentials they can earn. The Guide also offers checklists to help students track their progress in 8th through 12th grades, gives tips on finding financial aid, and offers advice on the type of courses needed to graduate.

The Guide can be used by teachers, advisors, counselors, or other adults to have meaningful conversations with students about their career interests and the education or training they’ll need for those careers. Parents and families can also use the Guide with their children to help them plan for their futures.

To download the Guide and access an interactive Guide, click here.

Read more November Newsletter articles:

Arizona’s Public Universities Fuel Economy

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Arizona Board of Regents

Nearly $1 billion infused into Arizona’s economy from research at Arizona’s public universities last year

2011 research report details economic impact of research at ASU, NAU and UA

Last year, nearly $1 billion was infused into Arizona’s economy as a result of research at Arizona’s public universities, according to the recently released Arizona Board of Regents 2011 research report. The report details research expenditures as well as the economic, social and scholarly impact that results from research in the Arizona University System, indicating a significant positive impact on the state through new jobs, knowledge and dollars reinvested in the community.

“Research leads not only to transformational discoveries that directly benefit the people of this state and beyond, but it generates jobs, facilitates partnerships, reinvests dollars into the community, attracts top faculty talent, and makes the undergraduate learning experience richer through instruction and hands-on learning with elite faculty,” said Regent Rick Myers, chair of the Arizona Board of Regents. Research at our universities is a very complex but extremely successful enterprise and its international reputation is a point of pride for our state.”

Last year, the Board of Regents adopted a series of performance metrics to manage and measure university and system productivity and progress in four key areas, including research excellence. Research metrics measure progress in total research expenditures, number of doctoral degrees awarded, number of invention disclosures transacted, number of patents issued, intellectual property income and national public research university ranking. In fiscal year 2011, the Arizona University System met or exceeded the research enterprise goals in invention disclosures, U.S. patents issued, intellectual property income, and start-up companies. Research expenditures fell just short of reaching the 2011 goal of $1,009.3 billion by 1.3 percent. The universities are implementing measures to ensure the 2012 goal of $1,045.6 billion is met.

Much of the innovation that improves people’s lives springs from university research and Arizona’s public universities are critical incubators for such innovative research and activity. Stories of university research and its impact on the state and global community were featured in a video at the top of this post, “Exploring Challenges, Discovering Solutions,” that was presented at the Regents’ board meeting.

Increasing the research capabilities and performance of the Arizona University System to a level of competitive prominence with peer rankings of top American research universities is a significant part of the Regents’ overarching goal to contribute to the vitality of Arizona’s future. The Enterprise Executive Committee, composed of the system and university presidents, is charged with implementing strategies to reach the research metrics by the year 2020. Click here to link to the full news release with metric statistics as well as research stories from the universities.

Expect More Arizona Expands Partnership with NAU GEAR UP

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Expect More Arizona

Helps Arizona Students Prepare for College and Career

Expect More Arizona is pleased to announce the expansion of its partnership with Northern Arizona University’s GEAR UP program. Together, the two organizations will work together to create a postsecondary-going culture in Arizona by engaging parents, families and students across the state.

The collaboration is possible with the support from a seven year, $30 million US Department of Education grant recently received by NAU to continue the Arizona GEAR UP program.

“By 2018, 61 percent of Arizona’s jobs will require education or training beyond high school,” said Teena Olszewski, Director of Arizona GEAR UP at NAU. “The new GEAR UP grant substantially increases the odds for low-income and underrepresented students in our state to prepare for accessing and persisting in the higher education these jobs require.”

Through the partnership, GEAR UP and Expect More Arizona will extend the reach of the College & Career Planning Guide, which was distributed to 220,000 Arizona students in 2010-11, and will develop new ways to connect with parents and families, create a high expectations culture at home, and become more actively engaged in supporting their children’s success.

“The partnership we have had with NAU GEAR UP has been vital to Expect More Arizona’s work in championing a high expectations culture in Arizona education,” said Pearl Chang Esau, President and CEO of Expect More Arizona. “This opportunity to strengthen our partnership will ensure we have a greater presence in communities across our state and that we are able to rally more Arizonans faster to demand excellence for all of our students.”

The partnership will also support educators, parent organizations and non-profits by providing relevant tools and information to help them further engage parents and families. Through these efforts, Expect More Arizona staff will work to establish a post-secondary going culture that ensures Arizona students are prepared for college and career.

For more information on NAU GEAR UP and the grant award, click here.