By Heather Vaughan Williams

Yes, it is that time of year again. A new school year is here, and the back-to-school checklists have arrived. Books, pencils, clothes, shoes…and physical exam! August means back to the classroom, and just as important as new school supplies is your child’s physical, which will prepare him or her for the upcoming year.

School athletic programs require a sports physical every year. Children entering kindergarten, middle school, or high school may need a health evaluation as well. Even though it may not be required, an annual checkup for all children and teenagers should be performed.

At every complete checkup, your physician should calculate your child’s Body Mass Index (BMI)—the weight-to-height ratio. With the dramatic rise in childhood obesity, nutrition and exercise counseling are essential. Overweight children suffer from not only high cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes, but they also have higher risks of depression, lower self-esteem, and more incidences of failure.

If your child has asthma or another chronic degenerative disease, a frequent follow-up to review their medications is crucial. Now that they are older, their dosages could have changed or they could have outgrown their condition.

In addition to disease and illness, there are other issues such as sleep troubles, behavior problems, and stress that can be related to going back to school. Imagine that you have been away from your job for three months, and now you have to go back to work full time after twelve weeks of relaxing, playing, and doing whatever you want to do. That can be stressful. It can be even more difficult for young people if they are switching schools within the same district or moving to a new place altogether.

Creating a connection with your child requires an arena of comfort, a place where you can relax and talk. There needs to exist a stable place where your child can speak to you. Research shows that there are certain times of the day—the drive to school, dinnertime, or just before they go to bed—when children tend to open up. Parents who are consistently around at one or more of these times tend to have children who function better.

If your child had difficulty in school last year, don’t wait until they get behind this year. Plan ahead. Speak to your physician about any underlying conditions that may be inhibiting academic performance. Invest in a tutor for math, or after-school set-aside time to help them with their homework.

When a child has an ear infection or cold, it seems that we can always find the time to take them to the doctor. Sometimes, we can get them in on the same day. A complete physical evaluation takes much longer and needs to be booked in advance. Prepare your child for this upcoming year—schedule a back-to-school checkup as soon as possible.

By Diana Bocco

At a time when other 16-years-olds are thinking about sports, girls, or school pressure, Chef Claudio Urciuoli was already in the kitchen. In fact, he had been there for two years, first as a student at the IPSA cooking school in Liguria, Italy, and then building a career in a series of hotels and resorts across Italy and Switzerland. By the time he moved to California at the age of 23, Urciuoli was already a seasoned chef.

Urciuoli is now the executive chef at Taggia at the FireSky Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, and he has also become well-known for his support of the Slow Food Movement. This project backs local farmers and instills a belief that the food we eat should taste good and be produced in a clean, healthy way that does not harm the environment or our health.

It was, in fact, his early attachment to the Slow Food Movement that led to Urciuoli’s concern with healthy school lunches. “When my daughter started kindergarten, I realized that the school system didn’t pay enough attention to the food that they provide for their students,” he says. He was so concerned that the school’s kitchens consisted mostly of frozen foods and were not prepared with fresh ingredients, that when his daughter entered kindergarten, he went to the school on several occasions and made pizza for the children.

“In Italy, the school’s dining areas are much different,” Urciuoli says. “The children are served in a proper way—by cooks with established nutritional backgrounds who understand what nutrients and vitamins children need. They are served balanced, healthy meals.”

With that in mind, Urciuoli set out to educate parents about what they can do to make their children eat healthier, starting by integrating them to the process itself. “It could be by growing gardens with vegetables in the schools, implementing food education classes where chefs do cooking demonstrations, etc.,” he says. “It’s really important to have children understand what they are eating and to be educated on the preparation of food and where to find seasonal ingredients.”

By making food part of their cultural richness, Urciuoli hopes that children will understand the importance of making time to eat and enjoy their meals instead of rushing through them.

As for parents, Urciuoli believes they can help by including three basic elements in their child’s lunch: fruits, vegetables, and bread. ”I like to prepare my daughter’s meals the night before,” he says. “I suggest seasonal fruit, some form of vegetables such as carrots, celery, baby tomatoes, beets, etc.—anything that can be eaten without dressing. Sandwiches with prosciutto and fresh mozzarella, tuna with beans, rice salad, lentil salad, Faro salad and pasta salad. I prepare the pasta the night before with a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil. Also, it’s important to have a good bread—I usually give my daughter whole-grain bread.”

Urciuoli also suggests adding some kind of fruit juice mixed with a little bit of water—something that is full of nutrients and vitamins. And then, there is the art and custom of cuisine.

“Above all, we should remember that there is a strong connection between plate and planet and that it’s our responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition, and culture,” he says.

By Steven Isham

Parents have more choices than they’re aware of about the education of their children from three years old through their twenty-second birthday. The clock is ticking away the opportunity for your children to receive an education that is appropriate for them during those nineteen years.

The debate over private school vs. public school vs. home schooling vs. parochial school is a starting point for your many decisions for your family. Never forget that you know your children better than anyone else does. You know how they act, feel, dream, need, and want, and what is in their best interests. It is as important to choose the setting and the people who will be working with your children every year as it is to decide which doctor will take care of their health.

Your children’s education is a significant and timely priority. Schedule a time to visit your choice of school settings, especially when class is in session. Observe the interactions of staff and students. Check the security of the school and how safe your children are while there. The ease of how you can walk right into and through a number of school campuses would amaze you. I have on several occasions gone into my grandchildren’s schools and picked them up without the slightest delay or interference from anyone. Once, the school “lost” my grandson for five hours during the school day and I had to come to school and call 911 to get them to do as little as address his absence. It scared me, and I have been in education for 31 years.

Do your homework. Talk to the people who truly know what is going on at the school, and not the people trained to tell you what you want to hear. Who are the people who truly know a school’s performance? The children know the most. They will tell you the truth if you know how to ask them and how listen to them. Ask a few of your children’s friends, or the children of some of your neighbors, with their parents’ permission: “Is Mr. Isham a good teacher?”

“Oh, yes! He is the best teacher at our school. We hardly do any work and he tells us jokes.”

Or: “Is Mr. Isham a good teacher?”

“Heck no! He works us all the time and rarely lets us have free time or goof around.”

“Yes, but is he a good teacher?”

“Yeah. He cares about us and helps us learn.”

Statistics and data will give you information, but look at data and statistics that cannot be played with, colored, or explained away: graduation rates, student performance, and student-teacher ratios, for example. Look up student and staff attendance rates, staff turnover and retention rates of teachers, police incident reports, occurrences of school vandalism, and the complaints filed with the Arizona Department of Education for your school and district. The types of complaints are more important and telling than the number.

Finally, know your rights as parents. If you don’t know them, please, for your child’s sake, ask somebody—and be sure to question every single thing you are told, because your child’s future depends upon it. Education is power and freedom.

By Mary Ann Biermeier

A promising trend is emergin around the country, and is evident in our part of Arizona. Educators and communities are redefining the American high school and creating dynamic learning environments designed to prepare students for success in today’s world. Both research and a bumper crop of newly launched small high school initiatives are evidence of this success in the making.

Certainly, the troubles with large, industrial-scale high schools have been the complaint of education critics for years. Richard Riley, the previous U.S. Secretary of Education, has taken a few good shots of his own. In his 1999 speech delivered to the National Press Club, Sec. Riley issued a call to get the word out on what many educators have believed for years: traditional high schools are too large and impersonal to nurture teenagers through the often-tough period of adolescence.

“Now is the right time to challenge ourselves to do some creative thinking about the future of the American high school,” Riley said. “The majority of our nation’s high schools seem to be caught in a time warp from long ago.”

Today’s high schools were conceived at the beginning of the twentieth century to prepare students to work in an industrial economy that looked very different from the economy we have today. In the early 1900s, large comprehensive high schools were designed to efficiently educate all the students within a community, providing different programs, or tracks, based on the students’ perceived academic prowess and interests.

“Top-performing students, although usually prepared for college, often complain that their education lacks relevance and, in many cases, rigor,” says Tom Vander Ark, executive director of education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Low-performing students are often pushed through a watered-down curriculum with virtually no individualized support to develop the skills—such as reading, writing, and problem solving—needed to succeed in life. Average students frequently fall through the cracks, virtually ignored by a system that accepts mediocrity. The bottom line is that we are losing nearly one-third of all our students before graduation day—and nearly half of all African-American and Hispanic youth. It’s a clear signal that the system is broken.”

Perhaps no organization has been more outspoken or proactive in changing the American education system than the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The belief is held within the organization that our schools need to be based upon a new set of 3 Rs: Rigor, Relevance and Relationships.

All students need the chance to succeed at challenging classes such as algebra, writing, and chemistry.

Courses and projects must spark student interest and relate clearly to their lives in today’s rapidly changing world.

All students need adult mentors who know them, look out for them, and push them to achieve.

These new 3 Rs are the building blocks for a redesigned system of high schools, one that will truly prepare graduates for college, work, and global citizenship.

This year, the Scottsdale Unified School District launched a high school/ college preparatory located within the Copper Ridge campus. The Copper Ridge Math & Science Academy is a new approach to high school, drawing students with demonstrated interest and talent into the math and science disciplines. It is the first public school of its kind in the state of Arizona. With its small campus, three core teachers, and class sizes of twelve or fewer students, this high school provides a level of personalization through which all students can receive personal attention and support to achieve at high levels.

It is a school that is rethinking the relationships among the adults in the school community.

Teachers who once felt isolated in their classrooms are now invited to participate in leadership roles. It is a collaborative teaching environment with the inclusion of families and the larger community in the life of the school.

The Academy has open enrollment, attracting students from the surrounding Phoenix metropolitan area. Students are provided with a strong college preparatory program, relevant field trips, and professional presentations by leaders in industry, sciences, engineering, and technology: in short, rigor, relevance, and relationships.

The Academy also has an impressive and talented advisory board that includes Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross; Dr. Edward Motikcka, Scottsdale Healthcare research director; Jan Belt, executive director of Oxford Learning; Dr. Susan Bradley, dean of education for Wayland University; Richard Harrer, attorney for Dial Corporation; Liz Harvey, senior vice president and general manager of Dial Corporation; Ted Tyler, Lucent Technologies; and Dr. Candice Nulsen, Translational Genomics Research Institute Program Manager.

There is no denying the level of commitment required to transform our high schools. For the transformation to occur and remain sustainable, huge investments of resources, time, and expertise are needed. The time for change is now. The challenge is great. Believe in the possibilities.

To learn more about Scottsdale Unified School District’s unique Copper Ridge Math & Science Academy, visit us online at susd.org/crmsa or call Dr. Mike Wolf at (480) 484-1559.

By Cassaundra Brooks

Many parents frequently urge their children to attend college, stressing the importance of education and perhaps pointing out key benefits, such as better jobs and higher wages. However, many high school students have restrictive visions of academic life. They expect college to be all work or all play: a chance to build a better life, or a chance to put off responsibility for a few years. With these mindsets, they fail to realize the momentous potential of the opportunity that lies before them.

Balance is key. “Experimenting” has gained such a negative connotation that parents threaten, caution, or beg their college-bound teenagers to play it safe. But experimentation can be a wonderful thing.

Experiment with classes! High schools demand the basic subjects, but colleges throw the door wide open to areas that students never before have had a chance to explore. Occasionally, college freshmen have considered their majors, but even so, minds can change. Say, for example, you enter college as a biology major. Perhaps your interest in the subject deepens with each class you take. But there is also a good possibility that one of two things will happen: you discover you don’t like biology after all, or you find your interests slipping away toward an entirely new area that you may have never before considered or even heard of. Five of my friends who focused on psychology had each begun college with a different major. Another graduated with a degree in speech pathology, something she knew little about before our sophomore year. Degree programs should contain room for sampling new classes. Just make certain you stay on track with your core classes so as not to fall behind.

Experiment with extracurriculars! Follow your love of reading to the Literary Club, or your affinity for airplanes to the Aviation Club. Do you like sports, but aren’t a star athlete? Try intramurals, or club sports. Maybe you don’t know much about sailing or Latin dances, but what better way to learn about such activities than testing out a no-pressure organization or club that accepts all levels of experience? Whatever your points of humanitarian or environmental concern, you can usually find an organization in which to volunteer. Interested in politics? Run for student government. It is important to tailor your college experience to yourself as an individual. Music, theater, art; history, science, math, English; religion, politics, sports, medicine; there is something for everyone.

Experiment with programs! Studying abroad may just be one of the most underappreciated college experiences. For people who have never before traveled outside the country, traveling abroad might sound a little scary or overwhelming. However, nothing can take its place. Thankfully, many universities offer a variety of programs, and some students do just as well planning a trip on their own. Typically, you can choose from a long list of destinations and time spans. Go for a semester. Go for a summer. Go for spring break. Just go. You not only see, taste, and hear magnificent new things, but you also meet fascinating people, open your eyes and mind to other cultures, and create within yourself a stronger sense of independence and personal strength. And start early in your college career, because the longer you wait, the harder it is to make it work with your schedule—and you just may want to take more than one trip!

Internships are another fabulous way to gain life experience. Whether you decide to continue on with school after your first degree or choose instead to join the work force immediately, you eventually will need to secure a steady full-time job. Of course, you will want to use the education you just spent years (and a fortune) acquiring, but the degree you earned often constitutes only part of your appeal to potential employers. Depending on your desired field and position, you will also need experience. Internships provide a means of gaining that experience with little inconvenience to you. Internships can be a foot in the door, and can help you eliminate or highlight jobs of interest. If you are so fortunate as to obtain a paid internship, wonderful! But if not, though you may have loans out or bills to pay, taking an unpaid internship while still in school is far more practical than trying to once you’re out.

And if traditional academic education does not appeal to you? Your parents may dream about you becoming a doctor or a teacher, but you long to work as a mechanic, a massage therapist, or a chef. In fact, aren’t you the one your parents and friends call on to help fix the car, or rewire the stereo when they blow out the speakers? Trade schools offer education, training, and experience in multiple areas. In addition, students are prepared to step out into the job market with confidence and a set of skills that make them valuable to potential employers—as well as to themselves, with a rather nice salary. There’s always a demand for tradespeople. Who’s going to call an economics major to solve their plumbing problems? And as long as there’s electricity, people are going to need electricians.

Everyone is different. We all have our own interests and personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Use your education not only to secure your financial future, but also to learn about and strengthen yourself, to build your confidence, and to help you capitalize on your interests and talents. Use it to learn about other people. The rewards are great, and you will have shaped yourself into a person who is positioned to benefit the lives of others and make your mark on the world.