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Thanks to everyone who came out and supported the Desert Vista High School band car wash at Sonic on April 20, they raised more than $750 to donate to the music program at Bay Head school in New Jersey that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. Anyone who would like to make additional contributions can contact the band boosters at dvmb.fundraising@gmail.com.

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Students ambassadors from the Everest College Phoenix Mesa campus hopped to help the Easter bunny this year by providing more than 100 Easter baskets for children at Cardon Children’s Medical Center. This marks the fourth year in a row that the Everest College Phoenix Mesa campus has helped to give the children at the medical center a surprise on Easter morning.

Casey Bolena, a 2009 Desert Vista High School graduate, has accepted a football scholarship to the Naval Academy. On April 12 the Navy football team (including Casey) traveled to the White House where they received a private tour and then President Obama presented the Commander-in-Chief trophy to the team.

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Seattle Pacific University 2013 winter quarter dean’s list has been announced.

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Dr. Neal Lester, author and professor of English at Arizona State University, was honored with an achievement award for the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of West Georgia 36th annual Alumni Association Awards Gala. A native of Jefferson, Ga., Lester graduated from the University of West Georgia in 1981 with a bachelor of arts degree in English.

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Cyan McFarlane, a 2009 graduate of Mountain Pointe High School, received the presidential service award from New York University this spring.

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Phoenix Conservatory of Music received a three-year $120,000 grant to support its City Music Program from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. The Phoenix Conservatory of Music’s City Music Program is a free college preparatory program for grades 4-12.

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An Andean bear cub recently had its first check-up with Phoenix Zoo vets. After patiently waiting for more than three months, they found out the cut is a boy. Rio, the mother bear, is doing an excellent job raising her young cub. Recently, for the first time in the presence of zookeepers, Rio let go of the cub, stepped away and allowed the cub to be briefly on its own. Keepers were able to capture video of the cub taking some of his first steps, which you can watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkwv-n9KspU.

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Charles Robinson passed away peacefully on Monday, April 15. He was 82 years old. He was born in Hamburg, Iowa, to Charles and Ruth Robinson. He was married to Sylvia for 58 years before she passed in 2010.

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Former State Sen. David Schapira has been appointed assistant superintendent at the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa (EVIT).

The Kyrene Family Resource Center supports students in need at all 25 schools in the Kyrene School District. In just one month, Feb. 1-28, the Resource Center distributed 114 food boxes serving 502 individuals.

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In the months of February and March Cerritos students made appreciation cards for Ahwatukee firefighters and police officers. More than 100 firefighters and 40 police officers cards were made using Cerritos student’s handprint and their own personal note of why they are thankful for firefighters and police officers. Students from the Kids Care Club then delivered the cards to their local police and fire stations 43, 46 and 38.

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Summit School of Ahwatukee middle school teachers, Andrea Yocum, Christy Menard and Amy Lecky, are recipients of this year’s Xavier College Preparatory Golden Gator Award for Excellence in Teaching. Xavier High School recognizes junior high teachers who have been inspirational to Xavier freshmen students. This is the third Golden Gator for Lecky, who teaches middle school language arts and literature, and the second for both science teacher Andrea Yocum, and math teacher Christy Menard. In previous years Summit teacher Melissa France has also received this award.

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Air Force Airman Kevin A. Ray graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

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After a community-wide fundraiser, the staff at CK’s Tavern and Grill in Ahwatukee were able give a check for $8,500 to one of their own.

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Jo Ann Anderson passed away peacefully in her home in Ahwatukee on April 8. She was 73 years old. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa, to Ernest and Ruth King. She was married to Dr. Gorlyn Anderson for 55 years. She was mother to Bradley Joseph and twins, Sherry and Shelly.

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Dr. Maria Harper-Marinick, executive vice chancellor and provost of the Maricopa Community Colleges, has been named one of the most influential Hispanic business leaders in Arizona by AZ Business Magazine. As the executive vice chancellor and provost, Harper-Marinick is chief academic and student officer for more than 265,000 students who attend each year.

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Girls from Girl Scout Troop 1538 in Ahwatukee are getting their hands dirty while taking action and helping out in the Ahwatukee Community Garden Project’s Children’s Garden.

Everest College Phoenix – Mesa Campus recently celebrated the graduation of nearly 100 students. During the graduation ceremony, director of the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, Joey Strickland, was recognized for his life-long commitment to serving his country and fellow veterans. He was awarded with an Everest College Phoenix distinguished honorary doctorate degree, doctor of humanities for public service.

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Ahwatukee resident Kylie B. Crawford made the academic dean’s list at Azusa Pacific University in California. Crawford was honored for the fall 2012 semester for having a 3.5 GPA or better average. Crawford is a psychology major.

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For the fifth time in eight years, a Drury student has been named to the prestigious American Advertising Federation (AAF) Vance L. Stickell Memorial Internship Program. Drury junior Tinsley Andrews is the latest recipient. The internship program recognizes the top 15 AAF students in the nation.

Benjamin E. McKinnon of Ahwatukee has earned the dean’s list for the 2012 fall semester at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. To be eligible for the dean’s list, students must be enrolled full time and maintain a 3.25 or better GPA on a 4.0 scale.

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Darcy Frear, a Desert Vista High graduate and biomedical engineering major in Arizona State’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and Barrett, the Honors College, has won the Greater Phoenix Area 2013 Outstanding Engineering Student award.

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Students of all ages were captivated by lively dance and folk songs from Russia. The dance ensemble was lead by “Misha,” a spirited master of ceremonies, who told folk stories and entertained while he also taught the students simple Russian phrases. The music and dance was a blend of old world traditional folk songs, as well as classical ballet. The ballet came in the form of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. In Russia, the bear is an important cultural and political symbol of statehood.