Category: Education

In the early 2000s, Dave Phinney took the wine industry by storm with the launch of Prisoner. After selling the label in 2008, a non-compete kept him from making a new zinfandel for eight years.

Now back at it, his Orin Swift Cellars (named for his father’s middle name and mom’s maiden name) has triumphantly released 8 Years in the Desert. A success several times over, one might not guess where he got his start: at UArizona. Phinney was a Wildcat in the mid-1990s. He even planted his first experimental grapes in Tucson with the help of an agriculture professor.

– The Arizona 100 reports

Miacademy, the online homeschooling site, is collaborating with Arizona State University to offer fun and free resources to address “summer slide,” the loss of academic mastery during time away from school.

Many educators expect this to be profound, following so many missed weeks this spring due to the pandemic, which created their own loss of proficiency. Parents can find hundreds of original teaching videos covering every K-8 grade level across every core subject here.

Each of Miacademy’s videos is produced by professional educators together with experienced homeschoolers. The team keeps all learners in mind, including students who have special needs.

– Susannah Skyer Gupta, Miacademy

Spanish-speaking students in Arizona and across the United States will now have access to more affordable options to complete their degrees through a new credit-transfer partnership between Arizona State University and four of Mexico’s top universities.

The program, called Acceso ASU, creates a transfer pathway for students to take classes with four of Mexico’s leading universities — Universidad de Guadalajara (UdeG), Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC), Universidad Tecmilenio and Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) — and transfer those credits to ASU to complete their degrees. The launch includes an initial catalog of 978 approved, transferable courses that are part of 25 undergraduate degrees.

– The Arizona 100 reports

A five-time U.S. News & World Report honoree as “Most Innovative School” in the United States, Arizona State University is among the leaders in research and education in the country.

ASU is in the top 1% of the world’s most prestigious universities as ranked by Times Higher Education in the only global performance tables that measure research-intensive universities in teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. ASU, Harvard, Stanford and the University of Chicago are the only institutions in the nation with elite Rhodes, Marshall and Churchill scholarship winners. ASU graduate programs also place among the best in the nation.

– The Arizona 100 reports

Gov. Doug Ducey has announced a Mobile Hotspot Donation Drive to help K-12 students without home internet access online curriculums during the COVID-19 emergency.

The drive is part of a partnership between the Arizona Commerce Authority and the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and will match donated wireless internet hotspots to students in need.

With schools closed around the world, global demand for hotspots has made it difficult for school districts to purchase the devices directly for students to take home. Students will be able to use the hotspots to access online coursework. To donate 20 or more, click here.

– The Arizona 100 reports

Sunnyside Unified School District, which is located in Pima County, has equipped its district school buses with both mobile Wi-Fi hotspots and grab-and-go breakfast and lunch for students learning from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buses stop at several locations across the district and hand out meals from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. five days a week. The mobile hotspots allow students who may not have internet at home to access their assignments and check for teacher communication as they pick up their meals.

Click here for a full list of stops as well as an interactive map.

– The Arizona 100 reports

The Blue Ridge University of Arizona 4-H Fab Lab is joining the fight against COVID-19 by making personal protective equipment (PPE) and prototypes of new designs for ventilator parts.

A partnership between 4-H and the Blue Ridge Unified School District in Navajo County, the fabrication laboratory – Fab Lab – includes digital fabrication equipment and electronics platforms normally available for use by students and community members. The lab opened in 2018 after Kevin Woolridge, a science and math teacher at Blue Ridge High School, and Navajo County Extension Director Steve Gouker, had the idea to integrate STEM into the county 4-H program.

– Faith Schwartz, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension

Although learning may no longer be taking place in classrooms, students have a variety of opportunities to learn virtually instead.

CHASSE Building Team partnered with the Office of the Maricopa County School Superintendent to participate in STEM Pro Live. The educational webinar  features STEM professionals from CHASSE sharing their experiences with career preparation, what their workplace is like and their career journeys.  The STEM Pro Live experience also encouraged Arizona teachers to submit questions in advance.

This was the first STEM Pro Live broadcast to take place virtually. The video is now available to students, teachers and classrooms across Arizona.

– The Arizona 100 reports

COVID-19 may necessitate changes in the way we learn. It doesn’t change our desire to continue learning or the importance of doing so.

ASU for You includes many no-cost tools such as: virtual field trips; library access; video lessons, labs and simulations in K-12 subject areas; badge and certificate programs in areas such as health and well-being, smart cities and environmental science; tutoring, online courses and training videos for teachers or parents teaching from home; and college credit courses.

This is part of ASU’s ongoing commitment to take fundamental responsibility for the communities we serve, providing access to learners anywhere.

– Michael M. Crow, Arizona State University

In celebration of Career and Technical Education Month, CHASSE Building Team partnered with Lowe’s, Timberland PRO and Generation T for its first-ever Better Building Project. The organizations worked with more than 150 students at Agua Fria High School to build 60 picnic tables, some of which would be used at the school and others that would be donated to other schools and charitable organizations.

The program’s mission is three-fold: to give students a hands-on opportunity to help their community; to teach students trade skills and encourage their passion for the trades; and to help students understand the importance of teamwork.

– Taylor Perkins, CHASSE Building Team