Sunnyside News

Help win cash and supplies for schools. Sunnyside and Desert View high schools are registered in the Avery Give Back to Schools program. You can vote every day until September 14, 2012.

Sunnyside High alum Julio Cesar Felix, Class of 2010, was drafted in the 12th round by the Detroit Tigers. There are 40 rounds in the Major League Baseball draft. Julio is the son of Warehouse Manager Jose "Pepe" Felix and Rivera Cafeteria Manager Marisela Felix.

Sunnyside High senior Mateo Garcia is the first place winner of Pima Federal Credit Union’s IMPACT Youth Scholarship. He won a $2,500 award. The application included an essay on financial literacy, personal accomplishments and goals.

Two Sunnyside High football players competed in the National High School Power Clean Championship. Anthony Peralta finished third in the 123.5-pound weight class with a lift of 215 pounds. Dominic Martinez finished third in the 136.5-pound weight class with a lift of 235 pounds.

This Friday, May 11, Sunnyside High School will host the Noche de las Estrellas Rey and Reina Pageant, which will feature a drawing for a $1,000 Quinceañera Packet (see image). Every middle school student who comes to the pageant will receive a free ticket for the drawing with the admission price of $5. The pageant begins at 6:30 p.m.; doors open at 6 p.m.  More »

Michael Smith, Sunnyside High Class of 2006, has been drafted by the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Michael earned an associate of arts degree from Eastern Arizona College in 2008 and a bachelor of arts degree from Utah State in 2010.  More »

Sunnyside High School student poets won the top awards in all five categories at the annual Valencia Library Teen Poetry Festival April 26, 2012. The winners and their categories were Cassandra Valadez – heartfelt; Zach Taylor - speak up; Marcos Hoyos-Moreno - my family, my culture; Michelle Burruel – hodge-podge; and Teresita Sanchez - best performance. Their teacher is Kurt Fischer.

Sunnyside High School junior Zack Taylor came in second place and Sunnyside High senior Araceli Montano came in third place in the 2012 City Championships of the Tucson Youth Poetry Slam, held on Saturday, April 28 at the University of Arizona Poetry Center.

Sunnyside High School’s fourth annual Future Business Leaders of America/National Honor Society Pantene Beautiful Lengths Hair Drive yielded more than 120 inches of hair. The donated hair is used to create wigs for cancer patients. Many local hair stylists donated their services.

An exhibit of photography by students in Sumaya Frick’s Sunnyside High CTE/JTED photography class will be on display May 2 – July 13 at the Pima County Superior Court’s Courthouse Gallery, which rotates exhibits from Tucson-area high schools. The theme of the exhibit is 300 Years of Photography. An opening reception will be held Wednesday, May 2, 11 a.m. See attachment.

Sunnyside High School senior Josua Govan has been accepted into Project Search, a JTED program in which seniors serve as interns at the University of Arizona Medical Center, South Campus or in the Student Union/Recreation Center. Josh will take one class each morning, then rotate into different training sites such as Transportation, Dietary Services, Radiology or Security.

Sunnyside High School’s Blue Devil News Productions will film and stream the Sunnyside v. Mountain View softball game on April 19. It will be broadcast live at 3:45 p.m. on the AIA 360 website. See BDN media release attached.

Students from Sunnyside and Desert View’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Career & Technical Student Organizations placed at the State Conference and will compete at Nationals.

From Sunnyside:
Alex Lewis placed first in Word Processing II;
Zack Taylor placed second in Word Processing II and second in Computer Applications.

From Desert View:  More »

Sunnyside High sophomore Alan Acosta and senior Omar Lincoln’s band, the TJI Ellington Jazz Band, won first place at the Next Generation Jazz Festival in Monterey, California. Last summer, they toured Europe, playing at jazz festivals in four countries. Omar plays the trumpet and Alan plays tenor and alto sax.  More »

Sunnyside High teacher Rich Mayorga has been selected as a recipient of the Child and Family Resources Champions for Children and Families Award. He will be honored at "A Morning to Remember" on Sunday, May 20.

Sunnyside High School junior Cassandra Valadez was one of the top three winners of the Southern Arizona regional finals of the Poetry Out Loud recitation contest, held March 1 at the University of Arizona Poetry Center.  More »

Sunnyside High School sophomore Jacqueline Felix will represent the Sunnyside District when she travels to Washington, D.C. in March 2012 with the Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition.

Sunnyside High School will be the site of Relay for Life del Sol April 27-28. Sunnyside High’s Law Enforcement class is leading this event to bring the community together and raise funds for the American Cancer Society. Get involved by joining a team, participating in the planning committee, or organizing your own Relay activities.  More »

Blue Devil News Productions will stream Sunnyside High games live online on the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s site, www.aia365.com. Games are filmed, edited and streamed by students in Sunnyside High’s Multi-Media Technology Intern class, Blue Devil News; Nick Duddleston is the teacher. On Friday, Dec.  More »

Sunnyside High Academic Decathlon competed in a 10-event scrimmage at Buena High School . Carlos Sanchez of the Scholastic team took first place overall. Teresita Sanchez, on the Scholastic team, took first place in Interview and had the highest interview score at the competition.

Judges needed  More »

Sandra Ahern, Sunnyside High Class of 1983, was promoted Sept. 23, 2011 to Chief Master Sargeant, the Air Force’s highest enlisted rank. The 162nd Fighter Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard now has five chief master sargeants who are Sunnyside High grads: Chief Master Sgts. Sandra Ahern, Edisa Salcido, Gil Quiroz, George Silvas and Rene Lopez. Chief Master Sgt.  More »

Sunnyside High School is a partner with the Univeristy ofArizona College of Medicine in a several million dollar grant, AZ-HOPE (Arizona Health Opportunities Pathways to Excellence). Sunnyside High will receive more than $16,000 in services each year of the initial three years of the grant.  More »

Forty-eight volunteers from Raytheon tutored 78 Sunnyside High students at the school’s September 22 Math Night. Math Night will be featured in a week-long series beginning October 10 on KVOA-4 TV to celebrate Raytheon’s 60th anniversary. The next Math Night at Sunnyside is October 20. Challenger Middle School’s Math Night with Raytheon tutors is October 4.

Sunnyside High School’s Academic Decathlon team – 25 students, grades 9-12 – will be holding a T-shirt fundraiser. Being a sponsor is easy - for $20, a sponsor receives a shirt and is named on the back of the T-shirt (up to 30 characters including spaces).  More »

The Helping Hearts of Sunnyside High School will be collecting food at the next two football games at Sunnyside High School on September 16 and September 23. All food will go back directly to the Sunnyside community. Thank you for making a difference.

Raytheon volunteers will be at Sunnyside High School Thursday, Aug. 25 for one-on-one math tutoring at Sunnyside Math Night.

The Helping Hearts of Sunnyside High School Club is a group of students who participate in community service to give back directly to the families of the Sunnyside community. Helping Heart will be collecting canned food items at the Sunnyside-Desert View game this Friday, August 26 at Blue Devil Stadium.  More »

Sunnyside High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) photography teacher Sumaya Frick has been awarded a three-year fellowship from the Association for Career and Technical Education AZ. She will be involved in state- and federal-level activities regarding CTE.

Sunnyside High School’s Health Occupations Students of America traveled to Anaheim, California for the HOSA National Leadership Conference June 22-25. U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin presented HOSA’s Heroes Award to Sunnyside High alum Daniel Hernandez, and Sunnyside High teacher Cathy Monroe, who was Daniel’s teacher, was also honored for her work in the classroom.  More »

The students in the Life Skills program will be sending coupons to the Marine base in Japan again next year. They can use expired coupons, so if you have any coupons that you don’t use this summer, please send them to Dora Nice at Sunnyside High School.

Arizona Daily Star May 23, 2011, "Turnover cuts experience among county prosecutors" includes photo of Deputy County Attorney O.J. Flores, a Sunnyside High graduate who played football for the Blue Devils for four years and was on the 2000 state runner-up team.

The Kino Rotary established the Character Awards this year for students from Desert View, Sunnyside High, STAR, Pueblo High and PPEP TEC High School. Recipients of the awards in the second semester include Tanya Lugo-Torres of Desert View; Alejandra Mendoza of S.T.A.R. Academic, and Velveth Makepeace of Sunnyside High.

Thirteen Future Business Leaders of America students from the Advanced Business Operations class at Desert View High School attended the 2011 FBLA State Leadership Conference April 18-20. The following students placed out of almost 2,000 students at this conference.
Maria Mata, second place in Spreadsheet Applications, qualifies to compete at Nationals in Orlando June 26-July 2.  More »

Sunnyside High senior Theresa Perkins is the recipient of a $500 scholarship in the Dollars for Scholars 2011 Community Volunteer Service Awards program. This award, which honors students’ volunteer activities, is sponsored by William and Margaret Nelsen. Dr. Bill Nelsen was instrumental in the design of the Learning Communities Coalition.

Sunnyside District students swept the Valencia Poetry Festival, with all seven awards going to Desert View and Sunnyside high students. Desert View winners are: Sadiya Buta, Alyssa Shestko, Luis Borboa and Santos Flores (Joanna Peled Award). Their teacher is Maria Elena Wakamatsu. Sunnyside High winners are: Araceli Montaño, Jennifer Schmidt and Alexia Vazquez. Kurt Fischer is their teacher.

Eighteen students in Sunnyside High’s Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) program have completed the 200-hour after-school program at CareGiver Training Institute to become Certified Nursing Assistants. Sunnyside’s HOSA teacher is Cathy Monroe.

Sunnyside High students Jessica Gonzalez and Aaliyah Tovar have been selected as delegates to Girls State.

The Sunnyside High hip-hop dance team Blu Dvl Cru took first place at the 7th Annual Tucson Hip-Hop Explosion showcase/competition on March 19, 2011.

Sunnyside High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) students performed very well at the Regional Conference Competition. Luz Parra took first place in Word Processing II and Chapter Sign. Sunnyside’s FBLA teacher is Ana Danehy.

Sunnyside High wrestling coach Bobby DeBerry has been named a finalist for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association 2011 National Coach of the Year. He will be honored at the National Awards Banquet in Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 22, 2011.  More »

The Washington Post, "Giffords intern handling sudden fame after speech" featured Sunnyside High graduate Daniel Hernandez.

Sunnyside High student Jesus Hurtado won 2nd place in the UA Corrido Contest. Four Sunnyside High students were semi-finalists: Ilse Diaz, Yulyana Arvayo, Gilberto Barrera and Andres Carrillo. Their teacher is Zelika Araiza.  More »

Sunnyside High students Araceli Montaño, Antonio Corral and Shelby Graham took first, second and third place respectively at the Tucson Youth Poetry Slam. Their teacher is Kurt Fischer.

Sunnyside High alum Alda Dominguez—former Academic Decathlon champion and anchor for the Sunnyside Update cable TV show—will be graduating from the Navy and reporting to Japan in January.

A scholarship will be awarded in the spring of 2011 to a graduating senior at Sunnyside High whose parent has served or is currently in the armed forces. Applications will be accepted through the Alumni Association’s Dollars for Scholars application process. For the online application, see: susd.dollarsforscholars.org.

Sunnyside High students Rena Barba and Susan Keovongsa were two of only ten Tucson-area students selected for the Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition. Students participate in youth activism, culminating in a trip to Washington, D.C.

Sunnyside High Academic Decathlon students competed in an eight-school scrimmage and Sunnyside had five students with top-five finishes in various categories, including a first-place in math for Andrew Hagen. Their coaches are Valerie Heller and Geoff Thames.

Elora D. Diaz, Sunnyside High Class of 2008, has earned an internship with the State Senate. She was selected after several interviews, and will begin her internship in January 2011. She is a junior at Arizona State University and will graduate in 2012 with a degree in Pre-Law/Criminal Justice. She is the daughter of Sunnyside High administrative assistant Rachel Vasavilbaso.

UApresents has developed a new educational outreach program, In the Schools, to replace the school matinee program. As part of UApresents In the Schools, approximately 1,500 students at Desert View and Sunnyside were treated to performances Nov. 8 and 9 by Calle Sur—a musical production which teaches students about the culture, history, languages and geography of Latin America.

Now on display at the Administration Building’s Rising Star Gallery is a collection of Dia de los Muertos pieces created by 4th- and 5th-grade students at Drexel Elementary. Nancy Murray is the art teacher at Drexel. Also on display is the black-and-white photo collection, "Light Painters," by Sumaya Frick’s photography students at Sunnyside High.

Sunnyside High is promoting health and nutrition awareness by participating in Apple Crunch Week, Nov. 1 – 5, 2010. The P.E. Partners Club will visit classrooms with samples of different apples for students to try.