6 AUGUST 2019 By Cody Kennedy Educator Tamara Jagodzinski is not likely to forget May 8. What started off as a normal Wednesday for “Mrs. J” – as she’s known to students – was made memorable when a school-wide assembly surprised her with the Maricopa County Exemplary Principal Award. Along with Hopi Elementary students and faculty, Mrs. J was enveloped in applause from her family, community members, fellow Scottsdale Unified principals and Maricopa County School Superintendent Steve Watson, who presented her with a crystal statue. “Winning this award is pretty incredible. I absolutely love my job and the work that I do. Not everyone has the opportunity to be recognized like this and I feel very honored,” Jagodzinski said. Speeches were given by Watson, as well as SUSD Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Dr. Ibi Haghighat, Assistant Principal Amanda Rand, third grade teacher Whitney Keeler and two students. “Some of her strengths include her ability to be resourceful as well as she appreciates and respects the wisdom from individuals with more experience. She is responsive to the needs of students, parents, community and staff,” Haghighat said. The students also sang a few songs for Mrs. J, including the Hopi Hawks song, For She’s a Jolly Good Principal and You Are My Sunshine . “I am really impressed. I know it’s really hard to get and Mrs. J is so deserving,” said fifth grader Gavin Knaub. “It was pretty overwhelming. To have everyone gathered to participate in this with me was pretty amazing…It was an incredible moment, one I will never forget,” Jagodzinski said. The Office of the Maricopa County School Superintendent begins the process of selecting Exemplary Principals by identifying leaders at schools with high student achievement and growth data. Other criteria include “exemplifying practices and leadership (during the prior three school years) that contribute to high expectations and exceptional student learning, staff, parent and community engagement, utilizes data to guide instruction and decisions regarding staff development, has a history of high teacher retention and demonstrates the ability to successfully develop and inspire others.” Each principal’s superintendent is asked for a statement of support plus the principal’s retention data. Leaders from among Maricopa County’s 1,100 principals are recognized annually. Candidates are chosen from a certain criteria. Fifty were selected this year, based on high student achievement, student growth and teacher retention data. After more deliberation, 31 principals were invited to apply for the recognition program. From the 31 invitees, 11 educators were named Exemplary Principals. “I am so happy and excited for her. She deserves it because she is a great principal,” said fourth grader Kinzie Brown. “It is an honor to recognize Tamara as an Exemplary Principal,” Watson said. “In searching for great principals across Maricopa County, Tamara stood out as a positive force in education and has created a strong school culture that has students and teachers excited to come to school every day.” Hopi leader honored with Exemplary Principal Award Students Ashton, Izzy and Chloe were just a few who made signs to celebrate Mrs. J. PHOTO BY VICTOR BOBBETT FOCUSING ON WOMEN AND THEIR HORMONES, FROM ADOLESCENCE TO MENOPAUSE; BODY, MIND AND CHI. 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7 AUGUST 2019 By Miriam Cruson Arcadia High School’s football program has a new little brother: Arcadia Junior Titans Youth Football Association, which will be the official feeder for the Titans. Arcadia joins a handful of Valley high schools that have official feeder teams. Junior Titans Head Coach Grant Sanders outlined some of the benefits of feeder programs: “They run the same plays, dialed down times 10, camaraderie is built between the two levels and practice and games are on the same fields that the high school plays,” Sanders said. Arcadia’s fields will feel like home to the players when they get to high school. There are also many shared events between the high school and youth. “The kids join the high school in running out of the tunnel during pre-games and walk with the homecoming parade,” Sanders said. “It also affords the youth players to have first-hand exposure to a position role model playing at the high school level.” The idea for the official feeder team came from a post-game discussion among Arcadia High’s coaches. Sanders, John Blanks, Rito Lopez, Matthew Richardson, Larry Jones and Mike LaVallee wanted to form a team that displayed the same beliefs they shared and instill a love of the game to Arcadia’s youth. Sanders is very involved with youth sports. In addition to coaching both the Junior Titans and Arcadia High’s junior varsity team, he also serves as the safety officer for Arcadia Little League Baseball, commissioner for one division and manager of two other divisions. He is partly driven by the role coaches have played in his life, filling a void created at a young age when his father died in a tragic accident. “I want to be that father figure for those who need it. If I can give back even a quarter of what they gave to me, I will really think I’m doing something good,” Sanders said. “I want to be that guy in everything I do.” Sanders is a third-generation Arcadian and second-generation Arcadia High coach. His grandfather coached the baseball team. His father started coaching football in 1975. Sanders ran track, played baseball and played football at Arcadia. When he got out of the Navy in 2008, he came back and became a coach. If you’re looking for him, you’ll find him on the field. The Junior Titans offer several youth tackle teams for ages 9-12 and an unweighted tackle team for junior high students ages 12-14. Official practices begin in August with the first game played the last Saturday of August. For more: arcadiatitansfootball.com. Arcadia welcomes Junior Titans Football By Jennifer Marshall After five years, Julie Ballard can now remove the word “assistant” from her title, as she is now the new principal at Tavan Elementary School. Ballard is one of Arcadia’s own, as her family relocated to Arizona when she was four. Ballard “lived just down the street from Hopi Elementary School,” where she was a student before moving to Saint Theresa and eventually on to Xavier and Saint Mary’s. She holds a dual degree in Special Education and Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University and her first job was on the Apache Reservation in Whiteriver, Arizona. “I lived and worked on the reservation,” Ballard said. “I did my student teaching there, and afterward, I taught fifth grade for a year.” Her next career opportunity carried her cross-country to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she was accepted into a graduate program at Lesley University. In addition to her studies, she taught at an alternative high school in Boston. Ballard then transferred her program to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque where she earned her Master’s in Educational Counseling with an emphasis in children with emotional disabilities. While in Albuquerque, she taught emotionally disabled teens for five years. Married with four children, Ballard felt the tug of home, and realized that moving back to Arcadia was the cure she needed. After working at Pappas, a school that served homeless kids, she was hired at Tavan as a special education teacher. That was 2001 – and she’s been there ever since. Ballard became the assistant principal and held that position for five years before undergoing the rigorous candidate application process to become principal. “The school district wanted a fair selection process,” Ballard said, “as did I. I wanted to earn the position, which I have, and now I’m so excited. All the staff is returning this year, and that’s affirmation they want me as their leader, which is awesome.” All four of Ballard’s kids attended Tavan, and her home is so close she can walk to work. “We’re an A+ school,” Ballard said, “and we’ve worked very hard to achieve that. We focus on each child, and my motto is we’ll do whatever it takes to educate every Tavan student. We’ll give them exactly what they need.” Tavan also participates in the Be Kind Project. “I believe that kindness matters,” Ballard said. “We teach our students what it means to be a kind person and to embrace one another. Since we have taught kindness, we have witnessed a tremendous change in our kids.” However, she is reluctant to take all the credit. “I have the most dedicated and hardest- working teachers,” Ballard said. “We’re a big family who takes care of each other. I’m excited to lead these amazing people who I learn from every day. 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