SANTA FE ELEMENTARY CELEBRATES ARIZONA CENTENNIAL
July 19, 20113/29/2011
To commemorate the countdown to Arizona’s Centennial, Santa Fe Elementary will dedicate a mosaic park bench created by students. The event will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 31 in the school’s “urban forest” that is across the street from the school, 9880 N. 77th Avenue.
The bench, which was donated by former City of Peoria council member Vicki Hunt, will be placed in the school’s urban forest.
“The students came up with symbols for Arizona’s 100th Birthday and symbols for their school,” said art teacher Marleejean Johnson. “They hand-made their own custom tesserae tiles out of clay, then glazed and fired the tiles and grouted them onto the bench.”
Some of the symbols created for the bench representing student life at Santa Fe include, the school name, pencils, the Santa Fe Sun and schoolwork with an A+. Symbols for the Centennial include, birthday cakes and candles, the Arizona flag, a cowboy boot and cactus.
As part of the dedication, Ms. Hunt will say a few words, along with students who participated in the project. In addition, the afterschool Glee Club will sing and the students will get to enjoy birthday cake for the celebration.
Last year, the Urban Forest student group, lead by teacher Michelle Bonner, created an original design concept called the Four Corners of Paradise to beautify the water basin across the street from the school. The school worked with the City of Peoria to design and install the urban forest, and the Santa Fe students helped plant trees and create pathways.
Santa Fe Elementary, part of the Peoria Unified School District, is rated an A+ School by the Arizona Educational Foundation. Peoria Unified is the third-largest school district in Arizona and prides itself on excelling schools, award-winning teachers, high AIMS test scores, specialized signature programs and championship sports programs. The Vision of the Peoria Unified School District is “Every student, every day, prepared to meet tomorrow.” For more information, visit the District’s website, www.peoriaud.k12.az.us.
