The Trojan Scoop
March/April 2024
A message from Dr. Gonzalez
Greeting Catalina Trojans!
I hope you had a fabulous Spring Break, and I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather.
I cannot believe we are in our last quarter of the year. We have had a fabulous year full of successes and fun memories. We are ready to finish strong! Continue to come to school every day on time and bring your computers. Be on the lookout for dates for the many events that will be taking place this quarter.
Seniors, you have made it this far and you have ensured that you are passing your classes to get the necessary credits to graduate! I am so proud of you, and I can’t wait for graduation. Take the time to check in with your counselor to make sure you have all requirements completed for graduation.
I wanted to give an update about camera installation at Catalina. We are the last high school to finally get cameras installed. We should have them installed by the end of April. We will have several cameras installed throughout the campus.
Announcements
- Seniors! Many schools like the University of Arizona and Arizona State University have extended their FAFSA priority deadline to May 1st. Please complete the college and career interest form that Ms. Cuadra emailed you or visit the college and career center and speak with Ms. Cuadra, Dee, or Kiernan to get help with completing your FAFSA.
- Attention students who are actively considering attending Grand Canyon University! The Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) has organized an exciting trip to Phoenix on April 11, specifically designed to visit the esteemed GCU College of Business. By participating, you'll have the opportunity to gain invaluable insights into the university's academic programs, vibrant campus culture, and the diverse range of potentialcareer paths it offers. This trip offers a unique chance to experience firsthand what GCU has to offer, allowing you to engage directly with faculty, staff, and current students. See an FBLA Member or Mr. Oxnam for details.
- Students and Staff, we are now down to the Elite 8 in the March Book Madness tournament of books! You have today and Tuesday to vote for your favorites. Stop by the library display or scan the QR codes around school to vote and see which books are now up against each other!
- March is Women’s HERstory Month and the library continues to celebrate with books that highlight the contributions and accomplishments of women from all over the world. Challenge yourself to find out more about women who are rocking it! We will also have an interactive WONDER WOMAN wall in the library where you can post the name of an important woman in YOUR life!
- Seniors and early grads, tickets for the senior trip are now on sale in the finance office. The cost is $25 for the trip which will take place on Monday May 20th.
- Yearbooks are on sale now in the finance office. The cost is $50 per book. Be sure to get yours before they sell out
- Seniors and Juniors Prom season is coming up. Our prom will be held on Friday May3rd from 7-11pm at the Savoy Opera House. Tickets will be on sale starting in April. Tickets will start at $50 for a single and $90 for a couple. The week of prom tickets will go up to $55 for a single and $100 for a couple. On Friday May 3rd all tickets will be $100 each. Off campus guest forms will be available shortly. All guest forms are due to the finance office by Wednesday May 1st.
- Academic tutoring is in the library from 3:30-5:00pm on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for English, History, Science, and Math through Algebra-2. For Pre-Calculus and Statistics, see Mr. Copeland or Mr. TK during the conference period.
- Athletic tutoring is in Ms. Tester's room, M-112 from 3:30-5:00pm. If there are more than 5 students in athletic tutoring, Ms. Tester will place a sign directing students to M-120.
- AP exams begin in May. All AP exams will be given on campus this year.
MESA Club Competition at the U of A
On February 17th, the Catalina MESA Club competed in the Regional Design Challenge. Erwin Rodriquez and Norberto Valtierra represented Catalina in the Paper Helicopter Challenge, placing 1st and 2nd, respectively. Marques Crockett and Alejandro Chavez Franco joined Erwin and Norberto in the On-Site Traditional Design Challenge. The team built an elastic-band-powered car, which swept away the competition, placing first among 18 Southern Arizona Schools. The club is now preparing to compete in the state-wide MESA Day on May 4th in the Cornhole Catapult and On-site Coding challenges.
Track and Field
The 2024 season of track and field is under way! We have seen participation increase by almost double this year, especially on the women's side. Our men's team has won the overall at two midweek meets and took second at two others. We have had two major invites and a few medalists at both. At the Tucson High Invite Laurel Bukuru won the Triple Jump, and David Kagabo took third. Eli Gurnett took second in the Javelin. At the Safford Bulldog Invite James Jerulsalem took 4th in the 200m and the long jump, Emiliano Caldero took 4th in the 1600m and won the 3200m, Chanceline Monyam won 4th in the 1600m, Eli Gurnet took the bronze in javelin and August Abraham took the bronze in high jump. Both the 4x100 and the 4x800 relays won the bronze medals. This coming weekend we are headed to the biggest meet of the year, the Willie Williams Invitational at the University of Arizona stadium and we're hoping for some big performances from your Trojans.
The rest of the season will be filled with more invitationals and attempts to get qualified to the district state meet. Currently Laurel Bukuru, David Kagabo, August Abraham, James Jerusalem and Eli Gurnett have marks in their events that qualify them to go. We appreciate everyone's support as these athletes train hard to get there.
Please keep your eyes out for more information on our senior night and athlete showcase event being planned for April 10. This will be an opportunity to see some of your Trojans in action and celebrate the contributions of our seniors to the team.
Go Trojans!
Coach Chelsea Duran
From the Library
Our new display outside the library is about the March Book Madness tournament of books. The theme is Oldies(previous winners) vs Newbies and there are 16 books pitted against each other in a bracket format and students get to vote every week for their favorites (whether they've read them or not...). Go ahead, judge a book by the cover!! 🙂
There will be QR codes on posters around school for them to vote or they can go to our library website; Voting for 1st round starts tomorrow and every week between a Wednesday and a Tuesday. (More info on the website link above). Feel free to show students if you want to drum up excitement. There is a slide show on the March madness page that has links to book trailers and/or information on the books, and the books are on display for check out in the library.
We are also celebrating Women's History Month and have a bunch of displays of books up around the library: fiction and nonfiction. You can check out the front page of our website for book collections and an informational video.
March 2024: News from the Library Media Center
This month we are celebrating Women’s History Month and the incredible accomplishments of women from all over the world. We have fun displays up in the library highlighting good books to checkout!
March Book Madness Tournament of Books is in full swing!
Students vote every week for their favorite books and we are now down to the final 4!
Check out our Library Website for more information on the books and how to Vote! The Winning Book will be announced April 3rd!
Some Library Collections from our catalog to consider looking at this Month:
The Trojan PageTurners, the Catalina student book club, meets every other Friday during lunch to read and discuss books. Students can join any time. We will be purchasing books for our club members this month!
Library STATS for 3rd Quarter:
693 books circulated
9th graders checked out the most books this past quarter: 90 total!
Top Titles checked out:
Ace of Spades
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Eleanor & Park
Four for the Road
All the Bright Places
Our Library Media Website is the best place to get the most updated information about what’s going on in the Media Center as well as information on our books, research, events, and digital citizenship.
Contact Karin Bernal if you have any questions or concerns. Office hours are: Monday - Friday 7:40AM to 3:30PM Office phone: 520-282-8424
Civics Matters Arizona Trip
- Congratulations to the 8 students who were selected to travel to Washington D.C. to represent Catalina High School. These students submitted essays for a chance to earn a spot on this trip with Civics Matters AZ. Click here for More Information.
Skills USA Competition
If you were wondering how the construction event went, we had about 120 students from all over Southern Arizona. Catalina, CDO, Sahuarita, Duncan, Wilcox, Pima Jted, Thatcher, San Manuel competing in construction trades events (Electrical, Plumbing, Carpentry solo and 2 person team, Masonry, Teamworks 4 person team, Cabinetmaking).
We had 8 of our own in competition.
Yusuf Dinow- 1st place Plumbing
Angel Borboa Bringas- Plumbing
Salomon Nkurunziza-Plumbing
Izaiah Alexander-Wheeler-Plumbing
Victor Abnoy-Plumbing
Jeremiah Ngandu-3rd place Cabinetmaking
Abdul Hematkhel-3rd place Carpentry solo
Minhaj Jamshidi-3rd place Carpentry 2 person team (his partner didn't show)
Catalina brings home 4 medals from 8 participants!
Huge shout out to the Culinary team for the amazing lunch as they catered the whole event to feed all the participants, judges, and volunteers (around 200 people).
Annual School Quality Survey
Dear TUSD families,
It is time once again for our annual School Quality Survey. Please disregard this message if you have already completed this survey when we sent it out two weeks ago and thank you for your submission!
If you have not already completed this survey, we hope that you will take a few minutes to provide us with your thoughts by completing this electronic survey. Please fill out a separate survey for each one of your children who attend a TUSD school. We greatly appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to serve you and all our TUSD Families. Thank you!
You can access the links on the document below.
Summer School
Please see attached form for information about Summer School