Donate to schools by Dec. 31, get tax credit
The deadline for taxpayers to donate up to $200 to a public school and receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on their 2010 state income taxes is Dec. 31.
Single taxpayers or heads of households can donate up to $200 to support extracurricular activities that charge a fee, field trips, or character-education programs at district or charter schools.
Married couples who file a joint return can contribute up to $400.
Taxpayers also can donate to private schools through school tuition organizations.
Single taxpayers can donate up to $500 and married couples filing jointly can donate up to $1,000 to tuition organizations.
These donations provide scholarships or grants to qualified schools to fund scholarships and financial aid for students.
People are also reading…
Contact individual schools to inquire about making contributions.
Writing contest open to Arizona students
A statewide writing contest is accepting entries from public school students in grades 7-12.
The Arizona Educational Foundation's annual Polly Rosenbaum Writing Contest accepts poems, stories or plays, based on a theme.
The theme for the 2011 contest is "Sustainable Communities: What That Means to Arizona."
Students compete in categories for grades 7-8, grades 9-10 and grades 11-12.
Contest entries must be postmarked by Jan. 14.
Go to the Arizona Educational Foundation's website at www.azedfoundation.org to find contest entry and criteria forms.
Richardson teacher is nationally certified
Debbie Young, a teacher at Flowing Wells Unified School District's Richardson Elementary, 6901 N. Camino de la Tierra, has been named a National Board Certified Teacher.
Young is the first teacher in the district ever to earn the certification, Superintendent Nic Clement said.
As part of the certification process, she completed 10 assignments that were reviewed by teachers trained in specific areas. Young's assessments included four portfolio entries that featured teaching practices and six exercises that assessed her content knowledge.
Help needed to begin community project
Flowing Wells Junior High School computer teacher Gregory Burch is looking for support to start a community-service learning project at the school, 4545 N. La Cholla Blvd.
His goal is to have students help design and build a fountain as well as landscape the empty space under a ramada.
Burch is looking for community businesses that could help students with the beautification process through financial or material donations.
The project would teach students about giving back to the community, he says, and all students would receive a math license to use Study Island, an online educational tool.
If you know of a business that could help, contact Principal Pete Wells at 696-8555.
To find out more about the project, attend the next Site Council meeting at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 18 in the school's front office.
