Mesa Beat

Mike Roelofs, physical education teacher and Track and Field Club sponsor, cheers on fourth-graders Stella Vargas and Katelyn Zito.

Students at Patterson Elementary are participating in a new track and field club. Children from third through sixth grade get together after school twice a week for sprints, long jumps and even long distance runs.

“I love it. It’s fun, and it’s good exercise,” said fourth-grader Katelyn Zito. Her friend Stella Vargas agrees, adding, “It’s okay that it’s hard, because you get better at running, and you learn how to pace yourself.”

The club usually draws more than 90 kids. With such a good turnout, Mike Roelofs, physical education teacher and club sponsor has help from parent volunteers and Skyline High School track and field athletes.

Roelofs notes, “In recent years, the phrase ‘obesity epidemic’ emphasizes the need for programs like the Patterson Track Club. It gives kids an alternative to less healthy lifestyle choices.”

Fifth-grader Dylan Krug puts this best when he says, “You get a lot of exercise out of it. You’re not just sitting at home playing video games.”

Members of the girls’ Skyline High School basketball teams in Mesa are stepping up their game Friday night – for a cause.
Jan. 23 is being dubbed a “Pink Out” to help raise funds and awareness for cancer research, said Rachel Young, a senior at the school and the event’s main organizer.
Young’s dad died seven years ago from lung cancer. When the original organizers of the event backed out, Young was tapped.
“They knew my story and how I have been involved in the cancer community and asked me if my mom and I would be a part of this event,” Young said. “We said ‘we’d be honored to have an impact on this.’”
The Skyline teams will be in pink and the members of the Scottsdale Horizon teams will be in white.
The event includes a silent auction with items such as a basketball signed by Amare Stoudemire, a jersey signed by Kelly Miller of the Phoenix Mercury, and an Olympic watch, Young said.
“Our coolest item is a basketball signed by the 2008 women’s gold-medalist basketball team,” she said.
Tickets to the event are $4, but it is free for cancer survivors, who are being invited and will be recognized at halftime of the varsity game.
The junior varsity game begins at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity game to follow at 7 p.m.
“I really hope it can become an annual event and I really hope we can have a good light on Skyline,” she said. “I hope the community can help raise money for all the cancer awareness. I’m hoping Skyline will have good feedback from the community and I’m hoping people can find a passion. If people come to Pink Out … and one person left thinking, ‘I want to get involved with that,’ I would be ecstatic.”
What: Skyline High School girls basketball games’ Pink Out
When: 5:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23 junior varsity; 7 p.m. varsity
Where: Skyline High School, 845 S. Crismon Road, Mesa
Cost: $4 for tickets, free for cancer survivors

Michael Scozzaro

This news came into the Tribune today:

Arizona athletes in the National Kidney Foundation’s 2008 U.S. Transplant Games brought home a team cup they will present Jan. 21 to Jeffrey Neff, CEO of the Arizona Kidney Foundation.
The athletes - including Michael Scozzaro, a medalist in the swimming games from Chandler and Mesa principal Jill Bowers, a gold medalist in cycling and tennis - captured 52 medals during the four-day Olympic-style event as part of Transplant Team Arizona, the local organization that draws attention to the critical need for organ donation and inspires others to take the first step towards saving a life.

 “Our organizations are uniquely linked with a proud tradition of caring and I am humbled to accept the team cup on behalf of all of the courageous men and women whose lives showcase the success of transplantation while calling attention to the great need for organ donors,” remarks Neff. “I can’t give enough thanks to John Landers, Managing Director and CEO of Transplant Team Arizona, whose tireless efforts make it possible for Arizona athletes to participate in the U.S. Transplant Games.”

Scozzaro is a multiple kidney donation recipient, first from his sister, and the other two he’s had to wait on. He also had to have a hip replaced due to not being helped by prednisone, a medication used to fight kidney disease. 

Bowers received a kidney from her husband, also a middle school principal.

Registration continue today for free G.E.D. and English classes at Rio Salado. In person registration is at the Rio Salado East Valley Learning Center, 1455 S. Stapley Road, Ste. 15, in Mesa.
For information, call (480) 517-8110 or (480) 377-4050 or visit www.riosalado.edu/abe.

This news came into the Tribune today:

Starlight Children’s Foundation, with the assistance of the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Suns Gorilla, will help dedicate a fun center for the children’s hospital at Banner Desert Medical Center, sponsored by the Phoenix Suns Charities. The Fun Center includes a state-of-the-art Wii video game system programmed with all the newest video games, as well as a DVD player and movies. 

The dedication will be held 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 1400 S. Dobson Road.

Starlight Children’s Foundation is a national, 501(c) 3 organization founded in 1983 with the goal to empower and improve the quality of life for seriously ill children. Last year, Starlight Children’s Foundation Arizona touched the lives of more than 50,000 children and their families, statewide.

VISUALS:    PHOENIX SUNS GORILLA and STARRY interacting with kids at the hospital in their rooms and playing games on the new Fun Center.

                     Soundbites about how this new Fun Center will make the stay of a child and their family at a hospital in 2009 and beyond a little brighter, from our Starlight Ambassador Family, who has first-hand knowledge as well as

                    organization and hospital representatives.

If you have a student in the Mesa school system and your family has been faced with a financial hardship, you may be eligible for the Free- and Reduced-Price Meal Program. Applications are in school offices and at www.mpsaz.org/food.

Call now to register for the spring Community Education Prekindergarten program in Mesa schools. Classes are Jan. 12 through May 14. The tuition-based program is located at 13 sites throughout the district. For this and other preschool options, logon to www.mpsaz.org, and click on “Schools.” For information, contact Mesa Unified School District at (480) 472-7257.