Mayleen Badilla, a student at the Gallego International School, was announced the statewide winner of the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest earlier this month.
The Tucson Cyber Lions Clubs said in a news release that the contest has run for 30 years and is open for children ages 11-13.
According to the contest guidelines, entries are judged for the students’ expression of the theme, artistic merit and originality.
Badilla’s entry included a painting of a peace hand gesture, and a globe filled with smaller depictions of joyful human interactions, cultural celebrations, flags of various countries and the LGBTQ community, and education.
IRHS band director in Rose Parade
Mark Hodge, the band director for the Ironwood Ridge High School Marching Band, will join band directors from across the country to march in the 133rd Pasadena Tournament of Roses Rose Parade.
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About 300 band directors will lead a custom-designed animated float that will convey the theme, “We teach music. We teach life,” sponsored by the Ohio-based Michael D. Sewell Memorial Foundation. The parade will take place on Jan. 1.
Hodge has taught at Ironwood Ridge since the school opened in 2002. During those 20 years, according to an Amphitheater School District news release, Hodge has led the band in receiving numerous awards and recognitions.
Previously, Hodge taught at Barry Goldwater High School in Phoenix for seven years.
Students receive gift donations
Some students within the Tucson, Sunnyside and Marana unified school districts received nearly $250,000 worth of toy and sanitizer donations as part of a Secret Santa effort organized by a few Tucson-based businesses.
Flores Concepts and Si Charro! Restaurants partnered with Tattoo Manufacturing International to collect and distribute thousands of gifts to children in the Tucson area.
Additionally, toys and sanitizer donations were distributed to local groups tied to United Way, Boys and Girls Club, Ronald McDonald House, Easter Seals and multiple smaller nonprofits and schools.
Teacher honored for excellence
Tucson Values Teachers presented the December Teacher of the Year Excellence Award to Carmen Haber, a teacher at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind Preschool.
Haber, who has dedicated 17 years to teaching, has spent the last four years working with students who have hearing loss. In addition, she mentors new teachers at the ASDB Preschool and serves as a teacher leader with the Tucson Regional Educator Collaborative.
“I love working with our little ones and supporting our parents at the beginning of their journey,” Haber said in a TVT news release. “I have children of my own with a hearing loss, so this is also very personal for me — to be involved and support those who may need support.”
TVT spotlights a Southern Arizona teacher every month for their contributions to their communities. Colleagues, students and community members can nominate a teacher by filling out a nomination form on www.tucsonvaluesteachers.org.
