Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 34

The Arizona Republic 32 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2002 PROFILE: Becky Connell, art teacher FtEKFf 8BE8I To submit items to this page, contact Rose Tring, sense of place editor, 602.444.NEWS (6397) or rose.tringarizonarepublic.com v'Y i 1' I Lilt 1229 Today A Celebration of Christmas Memories -The paths of the 1885 homestead will glow with luminarias and the main house will be open for tours. Sahuaro Ranch, 9802 N. 59th Glendale. Free admission $3 for -tours. (623) 930-4200.

Fiesta Bowl National Band Championship High school marching bands from across the nation will compete for the Grand Master's Trophy. 10 a.m. preliminaries; 6:30 p.m. finals. Bank "One Ballpark, 401 E.

Jefferson Phoenix. $12, $17 and $20. (602)462-6000. 1230 Monday Valley of Lights A one-mile drive-through exhibit of over 30 flighted displays. Donations accepted.

6 p.m. to midnight. Fain Park Highway 69 at Prescott East Highway, Prescott Valley. Free. -(928) 772-8857.

Garden Grove Lights Featuring animated and musical 'decorations with 800,000 lights starting at dusk. Moon Valley Nurseries, 14225 N. Seventh Phoenix. Free. (602) 942-7313.

Advent Lighting Display features over half a million lights starting at dusk. St. Timothy Catholic Church, 1730 W. Guadalupe Road, Mesa. Free.

(480) 775-5200. 1231 Tuesday VIAD Fiesta Bowl Ball New Year's Eve black-tie social featuring a silent auction and music by the BCS 'Orchestra. 6:30 p.m. The Phoenician, 6000 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale.

$300. Reservations: (480) 736-3909. Caribbean New Year's Celebration Live entertainment, Reggae music, dancing and Caribbean cuisine. Noon to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

to 1 a.m. Carver Cultural Museum, 415 E. Grant Phoenix. Daytime $5 and evening $10. (623)849-1118 or (602) 404-8196.

Phoenix Symphony The symphony, led by conductor Robert Moody, will perform Mendelssohn's overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Vivaldi's Winter and more. 8 p.m. Symphony Hall, 225 E. Adams Phoenix. $23 to $48.

(602)495-1999. 11 Wednesday City Lights at Arizona Center More than half a million lights will decorate the trees and walkways. Arizona Center, Third and Van Buren streets, Phoenix. Free. (602) 271-4000, Ext.

7007. Auto Show -10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The 2003 Arizona International Auto Show takes place through the weekend. Phoenix Civic Plaza, 111 N.

Third St. (602) 262-6225. Ahwatukee Festival of Lights A light display on Chandler Boulevard, between 24th Street and Desert Foothills Parkway. Free. (480) 460-6169.

12 Thursday Tree of Lights A light can be purchased in honor of someone special for $5. Tempe Historical Museum, 809 E. Southern Tempe. Free admission. (480) 350-5100.

National Livestock Show Arizona State Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall, 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, Phoenix. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. (602)258-8568.

VALLEY BRIEFS 2 men shot to death, 1 wounded at residence PHOENIX Two men were killed and one was injured Saturday in a shootout in front of a Phoenix home in the 2600 block of North 49th Avenue. The man who survived told police two men showed up at his front door and "wanted something," Phoenix Police Lt. Bruce Anest said. Neighborhood residents heard shots about 6:30 p.m., and police arrived to find the home's resident wounded in the street and two men dead in the front yard. The resident was taken to St.

Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and was in stable condition Saturday night. Police believe robbery might have been a motive. Escaped jail prisoner caught in beer heist PHOENIX A county inmate who escaped from Maricopa County Medical Center's detention facility Friday was caught Saturday by police investigating a beer theft. Alex Fernandez, 23, escaped from the facility Friday after prying open a ceiling vent and crawling through ductwork. Phoenix police were investigating a beer theft in south Phoenix on Saturday morning when they realized one of the suspects was Fernandez.

He tried to change his appearance by shaving his head, Tuttle said. Fernandez was originally being held on Arizona charges of aggravated assault on an officer and escape and on a probation violation in Texas. Accused Mesa killer of 5 pleads innocent PHOENIX A Mesa man accused of killing five members of his family pleaded innocent Friday to five counts of first-degree murder. Kemp Horton, 43, is accused of fatally shooting his wife Tammi Meininger and her son, brother, sister and mother on Dec. 10.

He is being held in Maricopa County Jail without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 5. Man accused of hitting, killing bicyclist arrested PHOENIX Phoenix police have a man in custody who they say fled the scene after his car fatally hit a bicyclist Friday afternoon. Police say Bradley Stephens, 25, was driving westbound on Union Hills near 21st Avenue when his vehicle struck Frank Schmitt, 60, who was riding his bike in the westbound curb lane.

Compiled from staff reports Michael GingThe Arizona Republic "Children need art in their lives," Becky Connell says. "It fosters creativity and creates balance." Connell volunteers in Mesa Unified's Art Masterpiece program. Painter gives Mesa kids a brush with art, history LOTTERY Guides train to give 20-minute presentations on master artists and their works at participating Mesa elementary schools. More than 1,000 poster-sized prints and accompanying informational packets are available for review. The goal is to teach children how to critique art while fostering an appreciation for its beauty and relevance to history, Connell said.

"How artists express themselves gives you a better understanding of their experiences," Connell said. "So it's no surprise that you can mark changes in history by the changes in art styles." Nearly 600 guides now offer the art classes at 48 schools. Connell and the other council members oversee their training. "Becky has a real gift because it's not always easy to keep volunteers excited," said Edna Gilbert, director of the Art Masterpiece's program. Some school districts lack art education programs altogether.

Mesa Unified launched Masterpiece in the 1970s. Its art classes begin in the fourth grade. Not all Mesa elementary schools have Masterpiece, Connell said, because some lack a volunteer coordinator. "I wish all schools had the program because schools without art are sterile environments," she said. "Children need art in their lives.

It fosters creativity and creates balance." By Mel Melendez The Arizona Republic To most people, an empty ice-cream gallon container shows little promise. But as a child Becky Connell learned that it could be transformed into a beautiful garbage can. That experience, along with other childhood arts and crafts projects, would ignite in Connell a lifelong passion for art that today affects thousands of Mesa schoolkids. "My mom came out of the Depression, so she knew how to make something out of nothing," said Connell, 41, Mesa Unified's Art Masterpiece program coordinator. "But she was very creative.

So while it was functional, it was also art." Recently named the school district's Volunteer of the Month for her commitment to its Art Masterpiece program, Connell also chairs the six-member Arts Masterpiece Council that oversees the program. "This is a full-time job even though she doesn't get paid for it," said Bethany Brinton, a council member. "But Becky works so hard and is so excited about art, which really motivates people." Connell, an accomplished painter, started with the program more than a decade ago as a guide at her daughter's elementary school. Third-place pool: (3 numbers) Saturday's drawing: 071124 25 34 If 10 or fewer players select all five winning numbers, each gets $50,000. THE PHOENIX COYOTES PICK 3 Saturday's numbers 504 Play one game for $1 to win up to $500.

Play 2 games for $1 to win up to $250 on each game. Lottery information is available on the Web, www.arizonalottery.com, or by dialing (480) 829-PICK. POWERBALL Saturday's drawing: 0215 38 43 50 Powerball: 29 Power Play: 5 Jackpot: $12 million THE PICK 'Saturday's drawing: 03101416 25 27 Bonus Ball: 18 Jackpot: $1 million FANTASY 5 Friday's results: 04101113 35 Winner: (5 numbers) Second-place pool: (4 numbers) UNIFICATION New push to merge school districts test scores, although many want the comfort of sending their kids to traditional community schools. A few districts want to continue taking advantage of a state law that allows governing boards of small districts to raise property tax rates without a vote of residents. Cochise County Board Supervisor Leslie Thompson said the state has capped the amount a resident can pay.

But he added that businesses don't have a cap and that taxes levied by a few small schools in some parts of his rural southeastern county are way out of line. "Not only has the tax rate stopped economic development, it's helped run businesses out," Thompson said. Michael Hunter of the business-funded Arizona Tax Research Association points to the tiny Union Elementary School District in southwestern Maricopa County as an example supporting consolidation. The district raised taxes by 262 percent to make up for three years of bookkeeping mistakes that threw the district into debt, he said. A one-school district with 228 stu the state in October.

The idea would be to combine the high schools with their feeder elementary schools to create several K-12 unified districts. "It's too big and it appears to be dysfunctional," said Huppenthal about Phoenix Union. Phoenix Union Superintendent Raj Chopra, hired last year, questions the political reality of unification. "Does the Legislature have the political stomach to do it? I don't think they do," said Chopra, whose last job was with a recently unified Kansas district, Mission Hills. The emotions that accompanied the merger were eased only years later when test scores went up, he said, suggesting that Arizona would need a long-range, strategic plan before parents would buy into it.

"You can't pass a law," Chopra said, "and then wash your hands of it." Business taxes rise Rural school districts are not eager to combine with neighbors, either. Some don't want to merge with a district that has higher tax rates or lower From Page 151 Rep. John Huppenthal, a Chandler Republican, is not convinced of the benefits. He is chairman of a legisla- tive committee appointed last session to research unification. He hasn't seen any studies showing that combining districts improves student achievement or parental involvement.

"And the idea that it would save money is a figment of someone's imagination," Huppenthal said. The state pays schools per student. It's the same amount whether that student is one of 5,000 in a district or one of 10,000 in a combined district. Huppenthal also worries about cut- ting administrators. For example, if a principal in charge of 500 students is suddenly responsible for 1,000 stu-dents, he or she will have twice the work and half the time to attend to individual kids.

But Huppenthal and several other lawmakers support a plan to break up the Phoenix Union High School District, which saw seven of its 10 high schools labeled underperforming by dents, Union has no reason to be independent, Hunter said, and should be unified, along with several other small area schools, with Tolleson Union High School District. Dick Foreman is a Southwest Gas lobbyist and has served on the Tempe Union High School District Board for eight years. He scoffs at the suggestion by some that utility companies and other big businesses are pushing for consolidation to save money in property taxes. "I don't think Southwest Gas could care less," Foreman said. "Very few people look at it as a money issue.

It's a student achievement issue." Foreman was originally elected after promising what many had been talking about for decades: a Tempe Union High School District combined with the Tempe and Kyrene elementary districts to form one Tempe Unified K-12 district. "I got the ball rolling," Foreman said. "Then it rolled back up the hill, rolled over me and left a pancake in its wake." Foreman said there were talks and committees, but nothing happened. "We don't play well together," Foreman said about district boards. "We all ran for our seats, and we're loyal to that district." Success and a caveat One district has made it work.

In 2001, Mohave Union High School in northwestern Arizona and its largest elementary district merged to create the Kingman Unified School District. It took 10 years and a change in state law. Before 2000, unifying would have required a ballot vote in each district. Now, district governing board members have the power to decide. "When you have one philosophy, one mission, one vision, that in itself is a step to improve education," said Kingman Unified Superintendent Michael Ford, who cautioned that consolidation can't be forced.

"If it's something legislated, it's not going to work," Ford said. "You're going to have animosity, discontent and hate." Reach the reporter at pat.kossanarizonarepublic.com. Consolidation is a fighting word in Cochise County A rural scenario There are 20,000 students in 23 independent school districts, some in the same town and some without teachers or buildings. GILA I Phoenix mn A uj i I PINAL GRAHAM I COUNTY San COUNTY Simon Bowie get each year from the state's general fund to pay Elfrida to educate their students, pay for a part-time accountant to keep their books straight, a part-time bus driver and buy supplies. About 20,000 Cochise County students attend school in 23 districts, but consolidation is a fighting word in this rural county in southeastern Arizona.

"A district with a low tax rate doesn't want to consolidate with a high tax rate," said Trudy Berry, Cochise County schools superintendent. But rural residents say it's often more than just money. Maintaining tiny districts is also about loyalties, rivalries, independence and cultural differences. Elfrida Elementary District has 200 students and its own superintendent and is located in the same small town as Valley Union High School District, which has 200 students and its own superintendent. It's unlikely Elfrida Elementary will unify with Valley Union any time soon.

Piper sees nothing wrong with two superintendents for 400 kids, saying their superintendent is excellent and brings in twice as much in grant money as she costs. Piper thinks it would make far more sense for Elfrida Elementary to combine with the tiny McNeil Elementary School District, which has abbut 35 kids and is 10 miles away. McNeil residents would pay far less in taxes if they'd consolidate with Elfrida, but they want to remain independent, Piper said. This time it's not about taxes because everyone in the district pays for elementary and high school taxes, Elfrida board member Betty Piper said. "We don't get along that well," said Piper, a retired accountant and six-year board member.

The districts have had problems coming to terms about sharing a music teacher, lunch program and buses, she said. "We'd like to know what they're doing with the money we give them," Piper said. By Pat Kossan The Arizona Republic Rucker School District in Cochise County has a govern-ing board, a business manager, -a bus and six students, but no schools and no teachers. Residents of the so-called empty district send its handful of students to the Elfrida District, about 20 miles away. Residents in the Rucker District pay no school property taxes and want to keep it that way.

They use the $53,405 they Tucsoir 10 jCOCHISE PIMA COUNTY I CW BisbeeV) S3 Bustoslhe Arizona Rppublic.