ARSA REPORTS Official Publication of the Arizona Rural Schools Association SOG OG in this issue... FALL 2020 Message from the Executive Director Thanks to the efforts of ARSA President, Kristin Turner and AzTEA Executive Director, Non Williams, we had a very successful awards celebration on October 28th in which we honored our 2020 Teacher of The Year Finalists and named Vanessa Arredondo the 2020 Arizona Rural Schools Association Teacher of the year. Ms. Arredondo will go on to compete next year in the National Rural Education Association’s (NREA) Teacher of The Year process. State Superintendent, Kathy Hoffman generously provided opening remarks. Page 1 • From the Executive Director Page 3 • GPEMC & AZEMC by Dianne Smith, Executive Director, GPEMC/AZEMC Page 5 • The Story of Mountainside High School by Aspasia Angelou, PhD, Superintendent Nadaburg USD Page 10 • Arizona County School Superintendent Spotlight by Jacqui Clay, Superintendent Cochise County Page 16 • ARSA Executive Board Members We also installed Mr. Tim Carter, Yavapai County School Superintendent into the ARSA Hall of fame. Everyone who has ever worked with Tim knows that this is well deserved and they know of the countless contributions Tim Carter has made to rural education in Arizona. An ARSA first this year was our ARSA-ASU Champions of Innovation Award going to Mr. Glen Lineberry for his extraordinary work in standing up, and growing the Arizona Student On-Line Collaborative (AzSOC). Unfortunately, the pandemic is still a reality of our professional lives with which we, and our school communities will be dealing with for years to come. I know many of you and its heart breaking to see the stress this have caused you all. I promise you; I will do my upmost to make our 26th Annual Conference a celebration of how far you all have come and offer everyone the opportunity to debrief and make plans for the future. I will also feed you as well as possible and offer the very best in meaningful breakout sessions. It will be an event we can all use. In this edition, Diane Smith, Executive Director will tell us about the work her association, G P E M C, does for Arizona Schools. We are also featuring Ms. Jacqui, Cochise County School Superintendent. Our county school superintendents have done a great many remarkable things to support all our schools, rural and urban. We are also pleased to have Dr. Aspasia Angelou, Superintendent of Nadaburg USD share her story of passing a bond and building a high school to create a unified school district. I hope you enjoy this edition and that your holidays are pleasant and safe. Wes Brownfield “Stronger Together!”
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