Recently, 5^th grade English teacher, Ruth Elder approached me with the following news: "Today I gave my students a class period to work on their research papers, and 99% of them sat quietly sorting through note cards and reference materials for the entire 50 minutes." She was ecstatic. While this may not seem remarkable to an outsider, it is a HUGE achievement in our eyes here at BASIS, because our goal is not just to stuff our students full of knowledge and skills, but also to instill in them a strong sense of personal responsibility. In this issue of Kairos, I would like to spend some time discussing the importance of this value - personal responsibility - in the BASIS culture and program.  

 

BASIS seeks to inculcate students with this value beginning in 5^th grade, through a variety of means. Ever wondered why we won't just post homework assignments online for parents to see? The point in teaching and requiring students to keep track of their own assignments, due dates, and test calendars is to help nurture independence, confidence, and innovative thinking, all of which grow from a strong sense of personal responsibility. The child who is able to keep track of his/her own assignments and study schedule is a child in charge of his/her own success in school, and a child who takes ownership of his/her education is a child who values education and him or herself.

 

Here are some examples of the effects of this emphasis on personal responsibility: while our high school students are only required to take 6 AP exams to graduate (which is 6 more than is required by any other high school in Tucson!), our graduates tend to average around 9 exams; when BASIS was recently confronted with an offensive facebook page associated with the school, it was our students who not only informed us of it, but also put together "positive message" signs to counteract the negativity found online; and, finally, if you take a peek at the senior project blog right now (www.basistnsrp2013.blogspot.com), you will find evidence that the students who have been shaped by BASIS are articulate, mature, inquisitive, and creative thinkers, each of whom has embraced the role of scholar in his or her own, unique way.

 

Here's to our incredible, constantly inspiring student body!

 

Julia Toews

BASIS Tucson North

 

  

  

On Friday, February 15, I had the great pleasure of spending time with a group of Boosters as we chaperoned the "Nerd Love/Pride" dance. What an incredibly generous, humble, and talented group of people! Dick Fisher set up his camera to take funny and fabulous photos of our kids (and faculty), Sandra Fisher showed us all the dance moves with Mary Mokhtarian, the Desrosiers actually counted the evening as a date, even though they stayed late to help clean up, and Mittida's son Jacob served up cotton candy until his hair turned silver with sugar threads. There were many, many more Boosters there, and we all really appreciated their help and enthusiasm.  

 

This is just one of many ways in which the Boosters have made their presence known and helped to build our community here at BASIS TN. Every Tuesday and Friday, I look forward to seeing Elisabeth Contreras and the lunch crews who come in to help hand out the pre-packaged lunches and Jamba Juices, and every single day Anne Sauer is at our crosswalk, keeping your kids safe. You may not even know that Mittida Raksanaves meets with our admin team weekly to talk about upcoming events, fund-raising, and ways in which the Boosters can help out. As we speak, a group of Boosters headed by Mimi Maloney and Elisabeth Contreras are organizing and promoting a wonderful Gala event to help raise money for the Annual Teacher Fund.    

 

The Boosters are working tirelessly to make BASIS Tucson North look good, and we are eternally grateful. Thank you so much!

 

  

Finally, a very special thank you to those parents who have donated to our 2012-13 Annual Teacher Fund since the last Kairos:

 

Dennis Zaritsky

The Horvath Family

Brian & Erin Paradis

Shankar Ganesan

Peter & Elizabeth Mather

Bernadette Higby

Jennifer McKay

Zeenat Chowdhury-Jackson & Wayne Jackson

Brian & Donlu Reilly

Kent R. Johnejack

James S. Martin

John & Claudia Rickel

Christina Davis

Amy & Shane Billings

Vivienne Jane Kattapong

Kandy & William Chimitt

Chris & Catherine Langham

The Bose family

J. Ding and J. Huang

Ron and Hildegard Simms

The Peters Family

Eric & Linda Walk

Craig Westphal

Eliza & Matthew Holland

Christopher Clifford

Allen Reid

William & Suna Mar

Xiaohui Zhang

Linda Caravello

Lisa Eaker

Jiyao Zou

Karl & Teri Kotalik

John Allen & Conie Beck

David and Noriko Nevins

The Conant Family

Michael & Olga Block

Daniel E. Pearcy & Mittida Raskanaves

Craig & Julie Carter

Verne Smith & Katia Cunha

Charles & Vivian VanPeenen

Thu Nguyen

Eric & Audrey Garigan

Paulina Cardenas

Jennis Pickens

Kari McKeown

Jason & Teresa Shorbe

The Warrilow Family

Tatsiana and Alex Krauchanka

Allen Reid

Shannon Mance

Karen & Eric Peters

Chris & Catherine Langham

The Haas Family

David & Ingrid Hayes

Tania Rhodes & Ashley Stinnett

Karl Gast

Rick & Laurel Burrows

Sally Day

Jeannine Mortimer

Patricia Brescia

Bridget & John Ehiri

The Cohen Family (Class of 2013)

Evangeline Jilka

Robert & Rachel Lyman

The Meeks Family

Roni Holzberg & Vincent Tevere

The Roche Family

Berchman Vaz & Cherylyn Dias

The Ipsen Family

Susi & Rich Rubendall

Lori Gross

Dr. & Mrs. Bryan & Elisabeth Contreras

Karl & Teri Kotalik

Holly Harper & Boaz Rabin

Justin & Li Shen Schmidt

Eric & Ginger Cross

Cindy Howell

Michelle & Andrew Wright

The Hendricks Family (Class of 2013)

The Manning Family (Class of 2013)

Dian Li & Martha S. Lee

Angie Baumann

Beth Hancock & Sean Feeney

Rebecca Foley

Richard Wortley

Brian & Erin Paradis

Edward Koenigsberg

The Bryson Family

The Smidt Family

Ronwyn Fritz

Lisa & Dan Jurkowitz

Kymberley & John Moffett

Randy and Lauren Smith

Angela R. Santa Cruz

Christopher Remy

Henk & Kyoko Granzier

Richard & Monica Mangan

Matthew Seby

Ellen Eichler

The Farah Family (Class of 2013)

Jim & Barbara Lacey

The Hatch Family

Ken & Lesley Kontowicz

Dave & Denise Hansen

The Page Family

In-hee Han

The Islam Family

Hamid Saadatmanesh & Mehrnoosh Zarkoob

Amy Wheeler

Mary & Kyle Mohktarian

Jeffery & Tammy Klein

Sivapriya Ramakrishnan

Randi & Chris Kisiel

Mike and Allison Diehl

Abigail Tolby

Regina Nassen

Kathleen & Mark Hertenstein

Clarice Bird

Terence & Christina Moran

Annette & Douglas Campbell

Tammy Juco

Christy Vanscoy

Silvia Vazquez

Lori Pascarella

Bernadette Jilka

Jeff and Mary Gabbitas

Mark & Shawna Hilman

Dave & Helen Diedrick

Diana & Jim Schwiegerling

Robert C. Witham

Bin Wu/Suzhen Lu

The Bass Family

Leila Nassar

Eul Gon Park

Robert T. Hendricks & Judy M. Mannenbach

Renee Calderon

Craig & Julie Carter

Eric & Linda Walk

The Fitzgerald Family

Bryce & Amy Emmendorfer

D. Douglas III & Aubra L.S. Gaston

Lorenia & Alberto Contreras

Ken & Jennifer Sanders

Rachael & Barry Baker

Jeff & Michelle Wohlford

Elizabeth & David Scott

Emergency Medicine Associates

The Hetland Family (Class of 2013)

The Carranza Family (Class of 2013)

The McLean Family (Class of 2013)

The Bertram Family (Class of 2013)

The Maskarinec Family (Class of 2013)

The Longstaff Family (Class of 2013)

The Reinbold Family (Class of 2013)

The Sonethongkham Family (Class of 2013)