Arizona Daily Sun from Flagstaff, Arizona • 25

LEARNING w.ailailMii).niin Sunday, Januaiy 27, 2002 (' Arizona Daily Sun Learning Spanish NAU students have a chance to hone their Spanish skills and have fun hi Granada, Spain, this summer Courtesy photo ARIZONA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS who made the trip to Granada, Spain, in summer take time out for a group photo. 1 By I)AN IUCK Sun Staff Reporter Partying in another county until the sun comes up, eating home-cooked meals every day and experiencing another culture firsthand while earning college credit sounds like most students dream definition of summer school. For the second-straight year, Northern Arizona University professor Gina Santi is making it a reality. Santi is seeking participants for a summer Spanish-language immersion program in Granada, Spain, that she started last summer. Students live with Spanish host families for five weeks and study at Universidad de Granada.

They earn seven credits and are forced to improve their Spanish skills because theyre surrounded by native Spanish speakers the entire trip, Santi said. It depends on the level you go into the program with and the effort you put into your program while youre there, but most students come back very fluent," she said. Students must attend daily classes at the Universidad, which offers different levels of classes that cater to each students ability in Spanish. Two semesters worth of Spanish and a grade point average of 2.5 or better are required to participate in the trip. But Santi said academic matters are only a portion of the program, and the 26 students who participated in summer 2001 also gained a valuable cultural experience, met new friends and had plenty of fun.

June in Spain features a full slate of cultural events ranging from concerts and festivals to dances in the street, she said. Even when there were no special events scheduled, Santi said students NORTHERN 2001 said. It costs $2,215 for the entire trip and financial aid is available. When they get to live with a family and see firsthand another culture, it pays for itself," Santi said. A maximum of 26 students will be allowed to go.

For more information, visit www.nau.eduinstugranada-summer or contact Santi at gina.santinau.edu or 523-9129. Reporter Dan Rice can be reached at driceazdailysun.com or still found plenty of entertainment in the Granada night scene, which is really a morning scene as many of the countrys bars and nightclubs dont open until after midnight. Students went out and had fun and experienced the night life, but they were all there at 8 a.m. for their classes, Santi said. The most common complaint from students, she added, was the host families being too generous.

The senoras wanted the students to eat too much always come, come," she CCC CORNER CCC to host NCA evaluation team Leupp hogan dedicated; FUSD students recognized MITCH STROHMAN on FUSD pSCHOOLBricfs St. Marys celebrates Catholic Schools Week From Jan. 27 through Feb. 1, St. Marys Catholic School will be celebrating Catholic Schools week.

Catholic Schools Week, sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association, is an effort by staff, parents, supporters and volunteers who contribute to Catholic schools. More than 2.6 million students in 8,200 Catholic schools celebrate the week. The week will include a variety of community service projects done by St. Marys students. Today, students will serve dinner at the Flagstaff Family Food Center.

On Monday, students will deliver bagel baskets throughout the community, including one to the mayor. Operation Wish Book collects 3,000 books Staff at Mount Elden Middle School, Renaissance Magnet Middle School and Coconino High School are celebrating the efforts of students in collecting more than 3,000 new and gently used books that went to children in Flagstaff last holiday season. Students worked with Operation Wish Book to collect books and promote literacy in the community. OWB is a national program whose goal is to promote literacy by providing books both directly to kids and places where kids can be found, such as after-school programs, classrooms, pediatric centers, womens shelters, libraries and daycare centers. Throughout November, students and their parents looked through their bookshelves, closets and garages and canvassed their neighborhoods to find books for the drive.

Top contributors were Crystal Fix, Derek Vega and Tommy Casali, whose combined totals reached more than 1,000 books. Rewards for the drive were provided by The Cathy Acheson Literacy Fund. Barnes Noble Booksellers and Outback Steak House have both underwritten recent benefits for the fund. By JoAnn Lane, MEMS teacher CCC student to perform at Olympics ceremony Coconino Community College student Shannon Secody will be a cast member in the Native American por-' tion of opening ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Secody, a Navajo, dances with the Red Moccasin Dance Group from Page, one of six Southwestern dance groups selected to perform at the Olympics.

The group will arrive in Salt Lake City Saturday, Feb. 2, to start rehearsal for the Feb. 8 opening ceremony. Im really not supposed to talk about the details of the ceremony," Secody said. But I can tell you that it is going to be very exciting.

Secody is a student at CCCs PageLake Powell Campus, where she is studying business. Free snacks, disability screening for students Flagstaff Unified School District officials are reminding the public that all children enrolled in its before- and after-school program should receive free snacks. FUSD receives federal subsidies to provide snacks for its new Families and Communities Teaming for Students (FACTS) program, which is partly sponsored by the USDA. Anyone who suspects they have been discriminated against by a USDA sponsored program such as FACTS can write to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.

For more information, call Lisa Ruiz in the district FACTS office at 527-6180. The district is also providing free disability screening and evaluation services for anyone age 3 to 21 who lives within district boundaries. For children age 2 and younger who could have disabilities, FUSD provides information about what services are available Schools provide special education services. For more information, call 527-6116. SHS junior to attend summer conference Sinagua High School junior Pernell Begay has been selected to participate in this summers National Student Leadership Conference on Medicine and Health Care in Washington, D.C.

Pernell is part of about 1,500 high school students from about 45 countries who will attend the conference, which is designed to explore the "distinctions of leadership through workshops and classes. In the past, guest speakers including former Attorney General Janet Reno, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have attended the conference. The conference is designed to identify and recognize young leaders from around the world and provide them with a learning environment that promotes academic achievement, diversity, cooperation and social responsibility.

of classes offered and transfer options that are available to students. CCC hopes to attract students straight out of local high schools. CCC faculty members of the year named Businessaccountingeconom ics instructor Paul Holbrook was named this years Faculty Member of the Year. Having students tell me about how successful they are is one of the most rewarding parts of my job, Holbrook said. Its knowing that what I do in the classroom affects students lives.

Education instructor Claudia Platt was named Associate Faculty Member of the Year. The instructors role is to provide a common body of knowledge and to develop the students problem solving abilities. Platt said about her teaching philosophy. The students responsibility is to take advantage of their education by doing, discovering and evaluating the worth of ideas. Meeting highlights During its Jan.

15 meeting, the Coconino Community College District Governing Board approved a proposal to remodel CCCs Fourth Street Campus and Technology Center. The college plans to remodel 42,400 square feet of space for the occupationaltechnical programs during the summer. The plans also include leasing 9,100 square feet of space to house the East Flagstaff City Library. Also at the meeting: Val Cleave was named as board chair, and Dr. Carole Mandino as board secretary for 2002.

The board approved curriculum for a new Associate of Applied Science Degree in Network Engineering and a Network Engineering Certificate. The program begins fall of 2002. The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada awarded CCC the Distinguished Budget Presentation award for its 2001-2002 budget. CCC also received GFOAs Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. Coconino Community College will undergo a comprehensive evaluation April 15-17, by a team representing the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

CCC has been accredited by the commission since 1996. For the past year and a half, CCC has engaged in a process of self-study, addressing the commissions requirements and criteria for accreditation. The team will visit the institution to gather evidence that the self-study is thoroughly accurate. The team will recommend to the commission a continuing status for the college, following a review process. The commission itself will take the final action.

The public is invited to participate. For more information contact Linda Clark, Public RelationsMarketing director at 226-4312. CCC board approves VP appointment Last month, the District Governing Board approved CCC President Thomas Jordans recommendation to reclassify Terree Duncans position from Dean of Student Services to Vice President of Student Affairs effective immediately. Her responsibilities will include leadership with the other CCC vice presidents on strategic planning, program evaluation, as well as representing the college to constituents within CCC and in the community, Jordan said. Duncans immediate responsibilities will include childcare development and library services.

CCC is now looking into expanding its services to distance learners via the Web, including registration, admissions, and advising. Open houses set Student Affairs will be hosting its annual open houses at CCCs Lone Tree Campus and District Offices in mid-February. These open houses are intended to educate high school counselors on the type Some two years in the making, the Leupp School Hogan was dedicated during a special ceremony last Friday. Construction of the Leupp School Hogan was part of the Navajo Immersion Project; a highly successful program designed to intimately involve native culture and language in the K-8 school located in the Navajo Nation community of Leupp. Part of the curriculum involves the building of a hogan on the Leupp School campus.

The project became a true labor of love for the students, staff and Louise Scott, the principal of Leupp School. Care was taken by the builders to consult with Navajo medicine men to insure the hogan was being built according to tribal custom and tradition. Last Fridays dedication ceremony included a special blessing of the new hogan by a Navajo medicine man. The hogan will be used for some classes, community and parent meetings and special cultural events. As you perhaps have read in the pages of the Arizona Daily Sun, FUSDs school on the Navajo Nation has made some amazing strides in recent years, raising student expectations and along with that, student test scores.

Using Students First state funds, construction of a new $2.8 million dollar school is scheduled to begin this summer. FUSD made sure the Leupp community and Leupp School teachers were deeply involved in the design of the new school, giving everyone in the community a sense of pride and ownership in the new school. Lets see, what else is going on around the school district? How about congratulations to Flagstaff High School senior Ethan Hansen? Ethan has been nominated to compete in the national Principals Leadership Award Scholarship Program. Only 150 high school seniors from across the country will be awarded $1,000 PLA college scholarships. Ethan was chosen as a PLA scholarship finalist for his outstanding academic work and community service.

FHS Principal Beverly Hurley says Ethan is flat-out an outstanding student and role model. Good luck, Ethan! How about more congratulations, this time for two students at Renaissance Magnet Middle School. Im talking about seventh-grader Veronica Benally and eighth-grader Sara Hooker. Veronica took second place and Sara took third place in the annual statewide Focus Polly Rosenbaum Writing Contest sponsored by APS. For those of you who may not know, Polly Rosenbaum served 46 years in the Arizona House of Representatives before retiring in 1995.

Polly was a fierce advocate for education and the expansion of libraries in rural areas of our state. Veronica, Sara and their families have been invited to an APS Celebration Brunch next month in Phoenix and Polly Rosenbaum has been invited to present the awards. Are you a Jeopardy! fan like I am? Cant get enough of Alex Trebek and responding in the form of a question? Well, I have an event for you right here in Flagstaff this weekend! How would you like to see high school kids take part in a competition thats like Jeopardy! on steroids? Its called the Academic Decathlon and the Region One competition, with more than 150 students from 17 schools (including students from Sinagua and Flagstaff High Schools), will be held this Friday and Saturday (February first and second) at Sinagua. This is a super-cool and very exciting event. Students are picked to take part based on grade point averages and inschool competitions.

The two-day competition has seven written tests in different academic disciplines, essay writing, participating in interviews and giving both prepared and off-the-cuff speeches. The competition wraps up Saturday afternoon with the Super Quiz. Thats a team event in the S1IS Auditorium that is open to the public. If you like trivia, if you like this event is for you! It gets under way at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 2.

By the way, if youd like to help as a Speech Judge, call the SHS Counseling Office at 527-5520. This Wednesday night, Thomas School Principal Tom Ziegler and several of his teachers will be servers at the eastside Flagstaff Sizzler Restaurant from 6 to 8 p.m. If you come into Sizzler during that time Wednesday night, grab a Thomas coupon (which theyll have at Sizzler) and buy dinner, 20 percent goes directly to Thomas. Finally, thanks to Barnes and Noble bookstore for donating 20 percent of sales yesterday to FUSD Library Services. That makes a very big difference for our kids! Mitch Strohman is the director of marketing and public information for FUSD.

lie can be reached at 527-6013 or you can e-mail him at strohman apscc.org. NAU forensics team ranked second in nation NAU prose interpretation and communication analysis. Porters award was voted on by both coaches and competitors. The Coach of the Year award is presented to the coach who voters feel contributed the most to the forensic community predominately in the Rocky Mountain Region during the past year. Under Porters direction, the NAU team has earned many awards and has consistently placed among the top ten colleges and universities in the country.

Eight NAU students have won individual national championships. The list of institutions that field NOTES teams each year includes Arizona State University, Brigham Young University, Clemson, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Stanford, University of Oregon and the U.S. Air Force Academy. The NAU Forensics Team is lixiking forward to future competitions. Preparing for these comXtitive events is always challenging and exciting, but students on the team see it as a learning experience that allows them to develop their communication skills.

Roger lmry is dean of the School of Communication at Northern Arizona Unmrsity and Pete Cammill is a School of Communication stiulent. by lavtjiy and pirn: gammii.l Special to the Sun One of the hardest working competitive groups on campus is not a collegiate varsity sports team but the Northern Arizona University Forensics competitive speech and debate Team. Members of the Forensics Team log more hours and sacrifice more of their weekends than just about anyone on campus, and they win and win and win as a result of their efforts. NAUs team was recently ranked second in the nation behind Cal Berkeley in a pool of 311 teams competing in parliamentary debate nationwide. The NAU Forensics Team, which is open to all university students, is coached by Professor of Sxech Communication Dr.

Sharon Porter. In recognition of her many coaching successes, Porter was recently awarded Coach of the Year at a recent University of Wyoming tournament where her team ranked first among 13 teams participating, with NAU students taking first place honors in extemporaneous speaking, persuasive impromptu speaking, dramatic interpretation,.