“Excellence Through Performance” Dear Desert Vista Families, We are fast into our 4th quarter and ready to take the AzMerit writing component this coming Monday and Tuesday. You will find detailed information attached (this is the same information that was emailed to all of our families last week and this afternoon). I highlighted this information with our students on Thursday as well as posting it on all students Canvas announcements. I ask that you partner with us and take some time to review and discuss the following with your son and or daughter this weekend: AzMerit will be administered for the first time online as opposed to paper and pencil. AzMerit Writing will take place on Monday and Tuesday-see attached for detailed information. Bring earbuds as there are listening components to the test. We will have earbuds if student does not have. Cell phones will be turned off due to not over maxing the WiFi. They will be placed in back packs and stored in front of the classroom. No cell phones will be allowed out until testing period is completely over. Get a good night sleep and eat a nutritional breakfast. Importance of AzMerit is as follows: o Assesses higher order thinking skills, some 21st century skills along with a variety of other skills that will allow DV to analyze the results and determine where we need to improve to assist our students with improving these skills that are needed to be globally competitive in the 21st century. o Comparison across the state helps DV determine where we are at compared to other comparable high schools and then determine what we need to do to assist in increasing student achievement. o Our students have worked so hard to put DV on the national map as an outstanding academic school of excellence and we want to carry on this tradition as it attracts like- minded families and students when searching for schools. Families look at state test scores along with other data to determine the school of their choice to send their son or daughter. Great scores will assist in continuing our tradition of academic excellence. o AzMerit also helps prepare students for the PSAT and the SAT as questions of similar skills are on these assessments. I thank you for your continued partnership in making Desert Vista a place where all our welcome and supported to reach their optimal potential. We have many spring events and I look forward to seeing many of you there. ATTENTION SENIORS: UPCOMING Graduation Information Baccalaureate (with cap and gown) 6:00-7:00 P.M. May 14, Dr. Joe McDonald Auditorium Senior Graduation Meeting (mandatory) 8:30-11:30 A.M. May 15, Dr. Joe McDonald Auditorium Awards Ceremony 7:00-8:00 P.M. May 15, Dr. Joe McDonald Auditorium Confirm all debts are cleared 8:30-11:30 A.M. May 16, DVHS Bookstore Final credit check and transcript order 8:30-11:30 A.M. May 17, Guidance/Parchment.com Graduation Practice (mandatory) 7:45-9:30 A.M. May 18, Assigned Classroom/Stadium Senior Breakfast 9:30 A.M.-12:00 P.M. May 18, Cafeteria Graduation Ceremony (arrive 6:15pm) 7:00 P.M. May 18, Assigned Classroom/Stadium Please see the attached for more information and final testing schedules. See Attached for Pecos Road Construction Information QuizBowl Desert Vista’s QuizBowl Team has qualified to compete at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) 2017 High School National Championship Tournament to be held May 26 - 28 in Atlanta. QuizBowl is a game in which two teams compete head-to-head to answer questions from all areas of knowledge including history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, sports, and popular culture. DV national qualifiers: Vinayak Parthasarathy, Connor Greig, Brandon Jiang, Hannah Fuchs, Jeremy Chao, Sang Bo Yoon, Jaeyong Kim and Kai Yin are coached by DV math teachers Mr. John Cook and Dr. Francoise Dastous. Congratulations, team!! Nathan Raju, Junior Please join me in congratulating Nathan for being selected as an apprentice for the 2017 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP). We are so proud!! DV Dance Company Congratulations to the Desert Vista Elite Dance Company for their First place performance at the Arizona State Cheerleading and Pom Tournament on March 5th. This marks the third year in a row that DV Dance has won the title of State Champion for Division 1-3 Varsity Jazz Large Group. The Desert Vista Varsity Dance Line also had an outstanding performance winning 2nd place in the Division 1-3 Varsity Hip Hop Large Group category. Desert Vista Dancer Nicole Kaiden, Senior, was named State Champion for Division 1-3 Soloists and Olivia Gregg, Junior, won 2nd place. Nicely done, everyone!! DV Cheer, AZ State Tournament Congratulations to the DV Cheer Line at the AZ State Cheer & Pom Tournament! The JV Team placed 3rd and the Varsity Team placed 6th! "CHEERS" to the 2016-2017 lines! Great job, DV Cheer!! Speech & Debate For the 13th time in 14 years the Desert Vista Speech and Debate Team won the AIA 6A Speech and Debate State Championship! The Thunder dominated the competition throughout the weekend, defeating the second place Brophy Broncos 354 points to 144 points. DV held a comfortable lead throughout the weekend and won an astounding 10 individual state championships. Team captains Alex Wakefield, Lucas Selby, Lauren Barney and Elise Lange provided key leadership and kept the Thunder focused and poised throughout the tournament. The Thunder was lead in scoring by Senior Erica Lane and Sophomore Margaret Braun. Desert Vista was bolstered by an incredible showing by its freshman class. For the second year in a row the Thunder had 9 freshman appear in state final rounds. Desert Vista will now turn its attention to attempting to qualify to represent Arizona at the National Speech and Debate Association National Championship Tournament. Great job, everyone!! Full Results Team Sweepstakes State Champions: Desert Vista - 354 points 2nd Place: Brophy - 144 points 3rd Place: McClintock - 137 points 4th Place: Hamilton - 77 points 5tt Place: Mesquite - 51 points Congress House 1: Alex Wakefield - 3rd Margaret Braun 2nd Ethan Fiber State Champion Congress House 2: Erica Lane 5th Elyssa Gosswick 3rd Monica Essig Aberg State Champion Public Forum: Alex Wakefield - Ethan Fiber - Quarterfinalist (Top 8) Johanna Crowl - Aashney Shah - 3rd Tomas Bencomo - Kyle DeLashmutt - 3rd Lincoln Douglas: Lauren Barney State Champion Policy: Isaac Quah - Animesh Gupta - 3rd Extemp: Sana Gill- Semifinalist Emma Horn- Semifinalist Margaret Braun- Semifinalist Aashney Shah - 6th Monica Essig Aberg - 5th Erica Lane -State Champion Humorous Interpretation: Kaitlyn Laibe- Semifinalist Daanish Dundi- Semifinalist Daniel Nelson - 4th Hanna Dawson - 2nd Alex Parra - State Champion Oratory: Sarah Jalaghi- Semifinalist Kathleen Maro- Semifinalist Anika Porwal 5th Hanna Dawson 2nd Impromptu: Claire Van Doren- Semifinalist Erica Lane - 5th Alex Wakefield - 4th Margaret Braun - State Champion Expos: Sarah Jalaghi- Semifinalist Aditi Chaudhari- Semifinalist Lucas Garnand- Semifinalist Lindsey Brannen- Semifinalist Madeline Fiber - 5th Hanven Yang - 3rd Poetry: Joe Deignan - 3rd Sana Sabuwala - 2nd Lucas Selby - 1st Prose: James Rooney - 5th Ashley Tse 4th Regina Guisto - 3rd Samantha Davis - State Champion Dramatic Interpretation: Morgann Kelly- 6th Taylor Gilliam - 5th Maritza Kozicki - 4th Elise Lange - 2nd Duo Interpretation: Lindsey Brannen and Ashley Tse - 5th Elise Lange and Bronwyn Doebbeling - 3rd Lucas Selby and Raquel Willert - 2nd Duet: Sabrina Tu and Aditi Chaudhari - 6th Sushil Sudhakar and Samantha Davis - 5th Regina Guisto and Raquel Willert - 4th Daanish Daudi and Llana Cruywagen - 3rd Joe Deignan and Zach Hills - State Champion Oratory: Anika Porwal - 5th Hanna Dawson- 2nd POI: Meiven Yang - 5th Kaitlyn Laibe - 4th Bronwyn Doebbeling - 3rd Taylor Gilliam - State Champion Softball Congratulations to the Varsity Softball Team as they opened the Desert Mountain tournament with two victories. The ladies defeated Campo Verde 14-0 in five innings behind a 2 hitter from Jackie Traughber. In the second game, the Lady Thunder defeated Shadow Ridge 6-5. Kiara Kennedy and Rion Simms hit homeruns leading the way. Way to go, ladies!! Track & Field Congratulations to Jenna Figueroa! The Ladies' Triple Jump record is on the move again. The season has only just begun and we haven't seen the last of these records fall. Stay tuned! Our rookies were finally able to put up their first marks setting a standard to grow from. Junior varsity came back strong with a slew of new personal records. Great job to the varsity team, with the boys once again taking 1st place and our girls taking another very respectable 2nd place against the fierce Chandler Wolves. Full results are linked in our schedule, or can be accessed here (wed) and here (fri). 1st place individual finishers include: Ryan Bender 200, Haley Wolf 1600, Elijah Mason SP & DT, Sevanna Hanson PV Congratulations to everyone who set a new PR (Personal Record). It's a reflection of your hard work and dedication. Pinnacle Dual PRs Tyler Bailey Discuss 127’2 Justin Carter 200M 25.64 Jackson Crumm 100M 14.84 & 200M 28.64 Jason Cullen 200M 26.74 Kolbe Dumas Shot Put 38’7 Kevin Fairchild Shot Put 38’4 Tomas Halvorsen 3200M 12:15 Morgan Higginbotham 100M 14.24 & 200M 29.84 Thomas Hunt Pole Vault 10’ Youssef Koudssi Discus 129’6 Josh Koury 3200M 11:14 Sean Longley Shot Put 31’11 Milan Patel 3200M 11:19 Marshall Smith 3200M 11:14 Alexander Soto Shot Put 38’10.75 Alexander Turner Shot Put 43’8 Brandon Vongsachang