Neighbors

10 Chandler teachers get their wishes, $2,500

SanTan Sun News Staff Ten Chandler teachers are among the 400 recipients of $2,500 each as part of the Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities’ annual Wishes for Teachers program. The program is part of the Fiesta Bowl...

BASIS Chandler junior a prodigy on the chess board

By Egan Adler Cronkite News At the end of every match, Sandeep Sethuraman looks his opponent in the eyes and mutters one word: checkmate. “The expectation is 36-0 every year. Winning every game I play within the year. The goal...

Sun Lakes Rotary names teachers of the month

By Dr. Honora Norton Guest Writer The Rotary Club of Sun Lakes presented the Club’s September 2022 Teacher of the Month Award to Linda Murphy, music teacher at Chandler Unified School District’s Elementary Connect and the...

Tarwater teacher gives her $5K prize to her school

By Ken Sain Managing Editor Tarwater Elementary School teacher Sophia Limjoco said it didn’t take her long to figure out how she wanted to spend a $5,000 check she had been given. “I knew immediately,” the second-grade...

Chandler entrepreneur goes ‘old school’ with kids

By Melody Birkett Contributor Fifth-grade students in the Chandler Unified School District are learning the art of public speaking for about 30 days under a pilot program. “In some ways, public speaking is a lost art,” said...

Sun Lakes Rotary’s successful dictionary project

By Gary Whiting Guest Writer In the summer of 2002, Rotary Club of Sun Lakes Rotarian Dwight Grotewold visited the Rotary Club of Logan, Utah and learned about their elementary school project called “A Dictionary for 3rd...

Chandler Girl Scout earns Gold Award

By Justin Liggin Contributor As student body president at Hamilton High School, Girl Scout Megan Finder noticed that hardworking classmates often went unrecognized despite their big impact on the school’s community. To earn the...

Chandler girl named ‘kid reporter’ for national outfit

By Ken Sain Managing Editor A Chandler girl is wading into journalism. Zoya Siddiqui, a 7th grader at Arizona College Prep, was selected in September to be a “kid reporter” by Scholastic Kids Press. “I get to report on...

89-year-old artist inspires her hospice team

By SanTan Sun News Staff Avinell MacDonald isn’t kidding when she says “it’s never too late to try something new.” She was 60 years old when her husband asked if there was anything in life she wanted to do, but hadn’t...

Chandler teacher turns 100K run into class project

By Ken Sain Arizonan Managing Editor Bright Beginnings School teacher John Mahnke recalls a time he went back home. “I graduated from college in 1992 and by 1997. I was not exercising very much,” the Chandler school physical...