Paradise Valley schools approve teacher travel

By Stacy Mantle
Mail

Three Paradise Valley Unified School District educators will attend national conferences this fall to strengthen instruction in world languages and science following unanimous governing board approval Oct. 8.

Two Pinnacle High School teachers will attend the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Convention and World Languages Expo in San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 19-23.

The conference is expected to draw about 6,000 educators and offer more than 600 sessions addressing language instruction, assessment, technology and emerging teaching practices.

French teacher John Trenton and Spanish teacher Suzanne Hunt are both National Board Certified Teachers at Pinnacle High School.

Hunt serves as Pinnacle's Seal of Biliteracy coordinator. District officials said 80 Pinnacle students earned the Arizona Seal of Biliteracy last year, a 57% increase from 2022.

Trenton teaches French courses ranging from introductory language classes to Advanced Placement French Language and Culture and dual enrollment advanced French.

District officials said the school is working to establish a path allowing French students to earn the Global Seal of Biliteracy.

The teachers will use the conference to identify instructional strategies that support student achievement and improve performance on Advanced Placement exams.

They also plan to share their learning with the district's world language curriculum specialist and other educators, including those involved in dual language immersion programs.

The estimated $6,432 travel cost will be paid entirely through dual enrollment funds, with no direct expense to the district's M&O budget.

The board also approved travel for Amanda Cherry, a CREST bioscience teacher at Paradise Valley High School, to attend the National Science Teaching Association's National Conference on Science Education in Indianapolis, Indiana, Nov. 3-8.

Cherry was invited to participate because of her work as an adviser for eCYBERMISSION, a virtual science, technology, engineering and mathematics competition administered through the Army Educational Outreach Program.

The association will cover her registration, airfare and lodging, while the district will pay for meals and substitute teacher coverage.

Cherry will attend sessions focused on STEM competitions, problem-based learning and student engagement. She will also work with the Army Educational Outreach Program at the eCYBERMISSION conference booth.

District officials said Cherry will collaborate with the secondary science curriculum specialist to share what she learns with other teachers.

Board member Susan Christensen praised the presentations for explaining how the travel would be funded.

"I just wanted to say thank you for the detail, the explanation, and including where the funding is coming from," Christensen said.

The board unanimously approved both requests.

Editor’s note:   A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Stacy Mantle
Education Solutions Reporter

smantle@iniusa.org

Meet Stacy
Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.

Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.

Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!

Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.

Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.