A GREAT SEND OFF TO THE CLASS OF 2009
The 2008-2009 year ended on a high note during the weekend of June 5-6 with the graduation of 40 Thunderbird Adventist Academy seniors.  Some new programs were added to the weekend which seemed to be enjoyed by many, the weather was perfect with highs in the low 90s, the graduates were excited but at the same time a little sad and scared about what happens next. 

Graduation weekend began with a small (with over 200 in attendance) dinner for the 40 graduates and their parents and close family members.  Each of seniors dressed up in formal attire, entered the dining room to their “song”, and then went and sat with their family members.  During the program senior talent was shown through musical selections.  The program also included pre-recorded “Thank Yours” from seniors to their parents and an Honor Recognition where each senior was given their honor memorabilia they would wear during the graduation weekend programs. 

The graduation weekend programs are divided into three programs: Consecration on Friday night, Baccalaureate on Saturday at 11 AM; and Commencement on Saturday night at 8 PM.  There were large crowds for each meeting.  During each program there were many musical selections where the talent of the graduates was showcased.  The class chose three special people to speak at each of the programs: Matt Eaton, Assistant Boys’ Dean, Pastor Ben Lundquist from the Camelback Church, and Oliver Morada, History/Government teacher.

TAA is proud of their graduates and are excited to have these 40 students join the ranks of our other alumni.  We wish the class of 2009 the best as they continue on in their studies or new challenges. 

SUMMER OFFICE HOURS
The TAA Office will be open for business from 9-Noon Monday Through Thursdays and at other times by Appointment Only.

Please call the main number at 480-948-3300 to schedule an appointment with the principal, registrar, or business manager. 

APPLICATIONS BEING ACCEPTED
It is not too late to set up an appointment and make application for the 2009-2010 school year.  Please ask for extension 204 – Recruiting Office for more information about what TAA has to offer your student.

TAA Says Good Bye
Thank you staff for another great year.   But every year we also have to say good-bye to some staff and friends.  TAA will miss the influence of the following people as they have found new places to live and work:

Mr. Matt Teller, math teacher
Mr. Abi Feliciano, cafeteria
Ms. Jenn Davis, Drama
Ms. Bethany Braun, Assistant Girls’ Dean

Princeton Review Summer Courses
Princeton Review is offering three sessions of their SAT course on TAA campus this summer.  To enroll in one of the session, call Alison or Katy at 480-967-1480 today.

• Section 2 – June 15-26 from 9-noon or 9-5 on Mondays-Fridays (SHORT INTENSIVE SECTION)

• Section 3 – July 6-Aug 5 from 10-1 or 10-2 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

Other FREE Programs from Princeton Review
Below is a list of free SAT and ACT events in your area over the summer.  Can you please pass this information along to your students?  Thanks!

SAT Free Practice Tests
Saturday, June 6 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Saturday, July 18 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 9:00 AM-1:00 PM

SAT Strategy Sessions
Wednesday, June 10 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 6:00-7:30 PM
Tuesday, June 16 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 7:00-8:30 PM
Wednesday, July 29 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 6:00-7:30 PM

ACT Free Practice Tests
Saturday, June 6 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 9:00 AM-1:00 PM
Saturday, July 11 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 9:00 AM-1:00 PM

ACT Strategy Sessions
Wednesday, June 10 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 6:00-7:30 PM
Monday, July 20 – The Princeton Review Tempe – 6:00-7:30 PM

Our free tests are proctored, full-scale simulations of the real thing.  The students’ results can be obtained by mail or in person at one of our follow-up strategy sessions.

Athletic Awards from Awards Ceremony May 17

Junior Varsity Volleyball – Coach Mrs. Ery Coffey
Most Improved Player – Hayde Arguelles
Coach’s Award – Signe Anderson
MVP – Hannah Vyhmeister

Varsity Volleyball – Coach Mr. Brent Burishkin
Most Improved Player – Taylor Crosby
Coach’s Award – Mykala Crosby
MVP – Becky Keyes

Varsity Soccer – Coach Mr. Matt Eaton
Most Improved Player – Chong Won “Peter” Shin
Coach’s Award – Dorian Fernandez
MVP – Sam Diaz

Junior Varsity Basketball – Coach Mr. Mark Jewett and Mr. Jay Warren
Most Improved Player – Grant Parfitt
Coach’s Award – Kamaron Davis
MVP – Aaron Jewett

Girls’ Varsity Basketball – Coach Mr. Barry Warren
Most Improved Player - Joanne Fontanilla
Coach’s Award – Evelyn Saravia
MVP – Depeah Nyakondo

Boys’ Varsity Basketball – Coach Mr. Dennis Anderson and Mr. Mark Jewett
Most Improve Player – Sam Valenzuela
Coach’s Award – Sam Diaz
MVP – Zack Anderson

Girls’ Varsity Softball – Coach Mr. Brent Burishkin and Mr. Ed Keyes
Most Improved Player – Katy LaCourt
Coach’s Award – Taylor Crosby
MVP – Mykala Crosby

Boys’ Varsity Baseball – Coach Mr. Jason Coffey, Mr. Grover Hahn, and Mr. Dennis Anderson
Most Improved Player – Benjamen Sheen
Coach’s Award – Aaron Jewett
MVP – Zack Anderson

Best Mile (Men’s) – Brendan Parfitt

Best Mile (Women’s) – Hannah Vyhmeister

Departmental Academic Awards from May 17 Award Ceremony

Science Department –
Chemistry awards to Becky Keyes, Mingmin Wang, Brissa Lujan, Katy LaCourt, Gareth Hunter, Tommy Zirkle, and Allison Melara.

English Department –
High Achievers Frankie Hahn, Karen Escobar, Jeremy Huss, Christy Daniels, Kaitlin Draper, Tommy Zirkle, Allison Melara, Cody Blake.

Photography Department-
Photographer of the Year (Photo I A&B, Photo II)[Aleena Guzman, Jenny Joseph, Millea Betts]
C.J. Johnson "Little Slice of Heaven" Award (Photo I A&B)[Gustavo Gonzalez, Rafael Barboza]
Certificate of Completion of the Photography Program at TAA (Photo III)[Damaris Gonzalez, Alyssa Sharpe]

Publications-
"Certificates of Appreciation" (For offices in publication)
Yearbook Editor & Assistant Editors [Christi Daniels, Stephanie Larson, Tucker Anderson, Christer Henderson]
Newspaper Editor & Assistant Editor [Emily McDaniel, Akande Davis]
    
Best in Writing for Publications [Akande Davis]
Best in Photography for Publications [Xylia Capote]
Staff Member of the Year (Publications) [Brissa Lujan]

Skills for Living-
Iron Chef Award (Cooking section) [Depeah Nyakondo]
Top Stitch Award (Sewing section) [Frankie Hahn]

Modern Language
French – Ae - In Koh, Sinead Torres
Spanish – Tommy Zirkle, Alysa Tagalog, John McKee

History
World History Award –Pedro Sanchez
Patriotic award  - Kaitlin Draper
US History Award – Christer Henderson & Gareth Hunter
Government A & B – Akande Davis                   Dante Musa

Summer Reading List or Summer Preparatory Activities
Thunderbird Adventist Academy

ESL Classes

New international students will take the TOEFL before they come to school so that they can present a score the first day of school.  The TOEFL test will be the placement test.

The student should go to Hulu.com and watch any three episodes of the TV show “7th Heaven”. They should take notes as to what season and episode number it is, the characters in the episode and a summary of what happens on that episode.   The purpose of this assignment is to help the student get used to the rhythm of the American speech.

Freshmen English Class

The incoming freshmen student should read the following four books:

• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
• Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
• The Alchemist by Paolo Coehlo

All four of the books are available on Audio CD through Amazon.com or they can download book to their iPod (or other MP3 players) at audible.com if a student needs help reading the books.  I will give a short quiz at the beginning of the year for each book.

10-12 GRADE ENGLISH CLASSES
Mr. Johnson, English teacher for grades 10-12 suggests the students entering the upper level English courses begin working on the following reading lists during the summer and free time.  These courses will be beneficial to the student in their preparation for taking AP English and other English/Literature courses.

Directions:  After reading one of our books from the list, the student should type a 300-500-word report of their reactions and observations about the theme of the story.  Include major characters, events, and meaning of the story in the report.   Summaries should be prepared no later than for the first Wednesday of classes in August.

AP Chemistry Class
It is highly recommended that the high-school chemistry student review during the summer the concepts learned in either Chemistry or Pre-AP Chemistry in preparation for the AP entrance exam.  Please include the following topics to study during the summer:

• Dimensional analysis
• Working knowledge of the metric system
• Writing and balancing chemical equations
• Writing formulas/names for ionic and molecular compounds, acids and bases
• Stoichiometry
• Types of reactions
• Calculating percent error
• Calculating molarity and molality
• Acid/base reactions
• Electrolysis and solution characteristics
• Phases of substances
• Quantum numbers of electrons
• Structure of the atom
• Gas stoichiometry
• Electron configuration of atoms and ions
•  

AP Chemistry Summer Assignment will prepare you for the road ahead, not only by getting your feet wet, but also preparing you for the required entrance exam (a passing score is necessary to be enrolled in the AP Chemistry course).   This summer assignment will be due the first day of class and will be graded as an assignment.

This summer assignment along with other materials will be gone over during the first week of school in August.  The students will take a quiz on all the ions covered in the summer assignment on the third day of class and a full exam a week and a half after school begins on the rest of the Summer Assignment.

There are 6 parts to the Summer Assignment

• As soon as you begin this assignment, email the teacher at kdiller@thunderbirdacademy.org.  I will need your email contact as soon as possible.  Since students are not given textbooks until the school year begins, please feel free to browse some practice problems (with answers that are worked out for you) at http://www.chemistrycoach.com/tutorial.htm#tutorials or http://chemistry2.esudh.edu/homeworkn?/hwintroesn?.html
• Print out the AP chemistry course outline.  Cut off the last section of the document and return to teacher by the first day of class.
• Purchase a 3-inch, 3-ring binder, loose leaf paper, dividers, a laboratory notebook (with graph paper), graphing calculator, pencil, pen, ruler, eraser, and white-out.
• Memorize the ions listed below.  Make 3 x 5 index flash cards of each polyatomic ion.  On side place the formula of the polyatomic ion and on the other side, write the correct name of the polyatomic ion.           

Ions You Should Know
Students should know how to obtain the ionic charge for ions of all elements (except for transition metals). Student should include the following transition metal ions:
Zinc (Zn2+); Mercury (Hg2+); Copper (I) (Cu 1+); Copper (II) (Cu2+); Iron (II) (Fe2+); Iron (III) (Fe3+); Silver (Ag1+); Lead (Pb2+)

Students should know the following polyatomic ions and their formulas including oxidation charges:
Nitrate, nitrite, sulfite, sulfate, phosphate, hydroxide, acetate, bicarbonate (hydrogen carbonate), carbonate, chlorate, chlorite, chromate

• Know all the solubility rules (recall how to write and balance equations) – See AP Chemistry Information Packet
• Answer the two sets of problems found in the AP Chemistry Information Packet on loose-leaf paper.  Please show all work for questions 9-19 in the second set of problems.  Set up all problems even if you are not sure about your answers or the process.  The student is expected to show well-organized work for EACH of the problems (data, generic equation, formula, and answer).