Thunderbird News
Posted on Thursday, May 6, 2010
A crowd of people made up of students and staff from TAA and Thunderbird Christian Elementary along with some parents joined with Arizona Conference President Tony Anobile, Education Superintendent Ivan Weiss, and Education Department secretary, Kelly Sue Blake for the send off of the 21-day, 1300-mile Ease the Journey bike ride. During the next 21 days, Mark Tamaleaa, who has interned with Ivan Weiss at the Education Department and Barry Warren, Principal at TAA, will visit each SDA school in the state of Arizona on the back of his bicycle.
The Ease the Journey campaign began in early March with a special benefit concert that was held on campus at Thunderbird Adventist Academy. The 21-Day Journey takes the focus back to the local school and helps to remind the local supporters that if every SDA member supported Christian education through the Arizona tax credit program every child that wants to attend an SDA school would be given an opportunity.
Tamaleaa commented the other day, “When you look at this journey as one big single trip it looks overwhelming, but if we break it down into smaller pieces than it’s do-able. That is how we need to focus on making Christian education a reality for all of our young people. We break it up into workable pieces with everyone helping.” The goal of Tamaleaa and the Ease the Journey program is to raise the awareness of how every Arizona resident can make a difference in the life of a young person by giving through the tax credit program.
Tamaleaa set off today with two TAA students, Rafael Barboza, Jr. and Kelly Brueske, and two adults, Philip Cookenmaster, a parent of two boys who attend TCE and Leslee Wilson, a Pathfinder leader and an active supporter of youth ministries.
At the end of day 1, the bikers made it to Gila Bend (98 miles down the road) after stopping at Maricopa Village Elementary and met with teacher Jessica Frame and her students. The group rides on towards Yuma on Tuesday.
We will keep you updated of Ease the Journey news over the next few weeks.
TAA 2009-2010 Calendar
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Date |
Event |
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May 3-7 |
Student Association Spirit Week |
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May 7 |
B Class Day 7:30 PM JAM Vespers
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May 8 |
9 AM -Music department to Paradise Valley church 8 PM - Acro Home Show in the TAA Gym |
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May 10-14 |
Student Week of Prayer - Morning and evening |
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May 14 |
(NEW EVENT!) Class Parties
7:30 PM Flower Vespers in the Scottsdale Thunderbird Church |
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May 15 |
11 AM - Consecration Service of Scottsdale Thunderbird Church 8 PM - Spring Music Concert in TAA Chapel |
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May 17 |
7 PM - TAA Academic & Athletic Awards (NEW DATE) in TAA Chapel |
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May 18 |
TAA Board Meeting |
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May 19-20 |
Senior Final Exams |
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May 21 |
Senior Trip Begins |
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May25-27 |
Fresh, Sophomore, and Junior Final Exams |
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May 26 |
Senior Trip returns |
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May 27 |
Freshmen and Sophomores Move Out of Dorms at 12Noon |
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May 28-29 |
Graduation ! Congratulations Class of 2010!
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Congratulations – We Have a Winner!
Mr. Warren, Principal at TAA, is proud to announce that Anthony W. is a National Merit Finalist for the 2009 PSAT course. His score on this test placed him in the top 10% of all high school juniors across the country. Congratulations, Anthony and family!
Upcoming TAA Events
This Saturday night, May 8, is the annual TAA Wings Acro performance. The program will begin at 8 PM in the TAA gym. The Acro group performed during the Visitation Weekend program in February and then again on the tour a few weeks ago in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. This will be an event that you will not want to miss!
Class Parties are back on the calendar this year! Friday, May 14 is Class Party Day where juniors and seniors will be leaving campus at 9 AM and going water skiing for the day. Sophomores and freshmen will have their morning classes and then will have a party on campus beginning at noon. The student body will then reunite on campus that evening for the annual Flower Vespers at 7:30 PM at the Church.
Saturday, May 15 is the Consecration Service for the newly built TAA Church. Sabbath School is at 9:30 and church service will begin at 11 AM. Parents and friends of TAA are invited to attend!
Next Saturday night, May 15, is the final musical performance of the TAA choir, band, hand bells, and octet groups. Every performance this year the groups have sounded better and better and if you missed the Ease the Journey Benefit concert in early March, you missed out. Don’t miss out on the final performance of the school year.
Monday, May 17 at 7 PM is when the TAA Academic and Athletic Awards program has landed. Both programs will be in the TAA Chapel. Parents and students mark your calendar for this event.
College Counseling Corner
SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
May 28 is the deadline for a non-academic $1000 B. Davis Scholarship offered at http://www.studentawardsearch.com/scholarships/htm. High school juniors and seniors along with college students are eligible to apply for this scholarship.
Application Procedure: Write an essay of less than 1000 words on the following topic:
Describe three characteristics of leadership you value most. Discuss whether you believe you possess some or all of these qualities, and describe an experience where you developed and/or demonstrated some or all of these traits.
PSAT TEST – October 2011
Besides being known as the “preliminary SAT”, the PSAT is the nationwide exam that is given to high school juniors to determine their eligibility for the National Merit Scholarship program that will allow the scholarship winner to have college doors opened across the country. If a student does well enough on the PSAT, partial and complete scholarships from both public and private colleges will be available to the student.
It is not too early for freshmen and sophomores to begin studying and practicing for the PSAT test that will be given on October 13, 2011 at TAA. TAA offers the test to both sophomores and juniors.
The PSAT includes the same type of critical thinking questions that are offered on the SAT Reasoning Test in the areas of reading, math, and writing skills. The test format is multiple choice.
Check out the link: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/psat/prep.html to get more information about the PSAT, how to study for it, links to practice questions and tests.
ACT TEST DATES FOR 2010-2011 SCHOOL YEAR
Thunderbird Adventist Academy is an approved Sunday test site for our students and other Sunday test takers in Arizona. TAA is committed to helping to make sure that all of our students are ready for college.
This year’s juniors and even sophomores need to plan on when they will take the ACT or SAT next school year. Colleges and universities use these tests as college entrance exams. Besides having a direct effect on acceptance into college, many universities also will grant scholarships based on ACT and SAT Test Scores. Prospective college students need to know the college admission deadlines and make sure that the ACT or SAT test is taken before the deadlines for college admission.
SAT test dates have not been released yet, but listed below are the 2010-2011 ACT test dates that will occur on the campus of TAA.
The testing application and study materials will be found in the TAA Library later this summer or contact the College Prep counselors, Mrs. Warren and Mrs. Leavens for more information.
|
TEST DATE |
REGULAR DEADLINE |
LATE FEE REQUIRED |
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Sept 11, 2010 |
Aug. 6, 2010 |
Aug. 7-20, 2010 |
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Oct 23, 2010 |
Sept. 17, 2010 |
Sept. 18-Oct 1, 2010 |
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Dec. 11, 2010 |
Nov. 5, 2010 |
Nov. 6-19, 2010 |
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Feb 12, 2011 |
Jan. 7, 2010 |
Jan. 8-21, 2011 |
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April 9, 2011 |
March 4, 2011 |
March 5-18, 2011 |
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June 11, 2011 |
May 6, 2011 |
May 7-20, 2011 |
Cafeteria Lunch Menus
Week of May 3-7
Monday, May 3: Spaghetti & meat sauces, Caesar salad, broccoli, bread stick, mandarin oranges, and salad bar.
Tuesday, May 4: Super nachos, salad bar
Wednesday, May 5: Taco, Spanish rice, refried beans, white cake, and salad bar
Thursday, May 6: Pepper steak, buttered noodles, steamed vegetables, rolls and butter, salad bar and fruit
Friday, May 7: Calzone, veggies, salad bar, and cherry cobbler
Week of May 10-14
Monday, May 10: Chick noodle casserole, oven roasted potatoes, asparagus cut and tips, dinner rolls & butter, salad bar, and chocolate pudding.
Tuesday, May 11: Chili cheese dog, baked beans, seasoned vegetables, salad bar, and cookies
Wednesday, May 12: Sweet and sour steaklets, steamed brown rice, vegetable, dinner rolls and butter, salad bar
Thursday, May 13: Cold sub sandwiches, potato salad, chips, salad bar, and chocolate chip cookies
Friday, May 14: Vegetable lasagna, Caesar salad, garlic bread, fresh fruit, and salad bar