Latest news with #Medina
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'Like in Harry Potter': Phoenix Camelback High School freshmen split into 'houses'
Phoenix Union High School District is building a stronger foundation for incoming students by restructuring freshman year. Students will now be split into different 'houses' to build closer relationships with teachers and staff. 'If you're going to be successful with 600 different kids from diverse backgrounds, speaking different languages from different countries, you need a more customized, bespoke approach,' said James Arndt, principal of Phoenix Union's Camelback High School. 'The best way to do that — shrink the school.' Camelback High School receives hundreds of incoming freshmen from 43 middle schools across Phoenix. Freshman houses will create a system where students don't get lost in the numbers and teachers can keep track of their progress, Arndt said. Freshmen will be divided into four houses. Each house will have four core teachers in algebra, biology, English and health who monitor students' grades, as well as counselors, social workers, an attendance liaison and the freshmen house coordinator. 'Think like in Harry Potter — there's Gryffindor and Slytherin and Ravenclaw,' said Arndt. 'Our teams are named Earth, Air, Fire and Water." Students under the same house will have the same teachers, which allows educators to communicate with each other and keep tabs on students, said freshman house coordinator for Camelback High School, Erika Wimble. Wimble gathers data on students' grades and attendance and distributes them to teachers once a week. Teachers will then use one of their free periods to discuss how their students are doing. The goal is to help students connect with their teachers and lay the foundation for the rest of their high school years, Arndt said. 'Camelback is a really, really big school, and high school in general is just really scary,' said Dezzarae Medina, 18, a recent Camelback High School graduate. Medina began her freshman year at Camelback later in the year and found teachers to be supportive inside and outside of school. As a straight-A student, she remembered an instance when her then-English teacher reached out after Medina got a B to offer after-school assistance. 'I felt like the support system my freshman year kind of allowed me to open up enough to feel OK to ask questions,' Medina said. Camelback High School first adopted the house model on a small scale in 2019, according to Arndt. After COVID-19, the school was allowed to implement the new program across its whole campus. They received additional assistance from the Center for High School Success, which connected with Phoenix Union to introduce the 9th Grade on Track program to the district. 9th Grade on Track measures how likely a student is to graduate and continue postsecondary education based on the number of credits they complete during their freshman year. To maximize success, Camelback moved its best teachers to freshmen classes as part of its restructuring, Arndt said. Wimble said she views the program as 'trickle-up education' since freshmen involved with 9th Grade on Track proved to have better grades in their following years. 'I had a senior teacher once tell me, 'I never want to teach freshmen, but I will support you in whatever you need, because if your freshmen are successful, my job is gonna be easier as a senior teacher,' said Wimble. There has been an increase in Camelback High School's "on track" rates, or what determines students' likelihood of graduating, from 39% for the 2019-20 school year to 76% for the 2023-24 school year, according to the Center for High School Success. Camelback High School has also seen chronic absenteeism decrease from 45% in 2019-20 to 25% in the 2023-24 school year, according to the high school's data. The Arizona Department of Education has also increased Camelback High School's state report card grade from D to B and has even been used as a demonstration school by the Center for High School Success for its 9th Grade on Track implementation. Seniors placed in freshmen houses have seen a rise in their ACT scores and received four times the number of scholarships at $22 million, according to Arndt. Arndt said the different freshmen houses would inspire some friendly competition among their teachers, but it was not something they wanted to directly involve their students to keep the new system positive. However, that didn't stop students from trying to better their peers. 'I feel like from first quarter to fourth quarter, we did improve a lot just by that little competition that we had between houses," said sophomore Daniella Lerma, 15. Teachers within Lerma's house would frequently check in on her and how she was balancing school and extracurriculars, which kept Lerma motivated throughout her freshman year. The freshman house also allowed her to connect with her peers and build friendships. 'It's a better start,' said Lerma. 'If I didn't have that support, I wouldn't be where I am today.' Coverage of education solutions on and in The Arizona Republic is partially supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation's Arizona Community Collaborative Fund. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix high school adopts Harry Potter model to help students improve
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Inside the glamorous life of Bill Gates' daughter Phoebe… who publicly mocks her dad's tech skills
Phoebe Gates is just like any other college grad - apart from the fact her dad is a tech billionaire, she founded an app with her best friend, and she regularly attends star-studded events wearing designer outfits. The 22-year-old Stanford University grad has lived a seemingly charmed life - growing up with unimaginable wealth as the daughter of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and ex-wife Melinda. The family grew up in a $131 million mansion in Medina, Washington, that came complete with seven bathrooms, 24 bathrooms, and six kitchens, as well as its own man-made beach, at-home movie theater, gym, and trampoline room. The property, worth an estimated $131 million, is nicknamed 'Xanadu 2.0,' a reference to the fictional estate in the movie 'Citizen Kane.' Her parents' wealth has provided a lavish lifestyle - complete with the finest education - and while older siblings Jennifer, 30, and Ryan, 25, have kept their lives more private, Phoebe hasn't shied away from the spotlight. Her Instagram regularly shows her attending glamorous events, including summits, talks and exclusive fashion events, often dressed by designer labels and dripping in expensive jewelry. But despite her Instagram-influencer persona, Phoebe - who previously interned with British Vogue - has been determined to forge her own path. 'Okay, I'm my parents' daughter, that gives me immense privilege, but it's not what I'm defined by,' she previously told WWD. The budding entrepreneur - along with former Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni - launched her own e-commerce startup app called Phia earlier in the year. The platform offers shoppers an easy way to compare the prices of new and used items across more than 40,000 selling sites. Despite her father's wealth, Phoebe raised the capital independently - first getting $100,000 from Soma Capital, then $250,000 from the Stanford social entrepreneurship grant, and finally $500,000 in angel investments, bringing the total to $850,000. Phoebe is the third child of Bill and Melinda Gates, who divorced after 27 years of marriage in 2001. Although her billionaire Microsoft co-founder-father provided her with a very comfortable childhood, she has admitted it has done more harm than good at times. Last year, Phoebe appeared on Netflix's new docuseries What's Next? The Future With Bill Gates. In the series, Bill asked his daughter if she had ever come across conspiracy theories about him - including that the COVID pandemic was a ploy to allow Bill Gates to put microchips in vaccines that would allow him to track people. 'All the time,' Phoebe responded. 'I've even had friends cut me off because of these vaccine rumors,' she said. While Bill is one of the richest people on the planet, ranked seventh in the world by Forbes, Phoebe keeps a close relationship with him. She often speaks about their bond and, despite her father's impressive background, she recently teased him about his lack of tech awareness in an Instagram post. 'Happy birthday, Dad! @thisisbillgates - my favorite person who now texts me to let me know he's going to send me an email,' she jokingly captioned a picture of herself with her dad. Bill has spoken previously about what will happen to his billions when he dies. In 2024, while speaking with fans on a Reddit Ask Me Anything, the Microsoft founder said that he thinks leaving his vast fortune to his three children would be a mistake. Instead, he plans to leave the majority to charity, including his own, The Gates Foundation. The tech mogul is shuttering the Gates Foundation by December 31, 2045, effectively ending a lifelong project to give away his multi-billion fortune. He announced earlier in the year that he plans to distribute 'virtually all' of his wealth, approximately $200 billion, within the next 20 years. The billionaire announced he will give away 99 percent of his immense fortune, leaving one percent for himself and his children. The Gates Foundation, which Gates founded in 2000 along with his ex-wife who left the organization after their divorce, pours billions of dollars every year into health, foreign aid and other public assistance programs. Gates will hold onto just one percent of his wealth - which still equals out to an estimated $1.62 billion. As for her personal life, Phoebe is currently dating Arthur Donald, the grandson of Paul McCartney, as per Nylon.
Miami Herald
11-06-2025
- Miami Herald
Man smuggling exotic protected birds in cardboard box is detained in CA, feds say
A California man arrived to the U.S. from Mexico with a commercial amount of alcohol, candy, snacks and soda in his car — as well as seven exotic, protected birds inside a cardboard SKYY vodka box, according to court documents. Juandaniel Medina, 24, of Lindsay, planned on breeding or reselling the live Amazon parrots he smuggled into California after traveling through the San Ysidro Port of Entry, a southern border crossing linking Tijuana and San Diego, federal prosecutors said. He was detained after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials found the birds, six of which are Red-Lored Amazon parrots, inside the box on the floor of Medina's car, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California. Now, Medina is charged with illegally trafficking the parrots, which are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a June 10 news release. Attorney information for Medina, who appeared in court on June 10, wasn't immediately available the morning of June 11. Medina is the third person 'charged with illegal trafficking of protected exotic birds through Ports of Entry in the Southern District of California' in the last few weeks, prosecutors said. He was found smuggling the parrots on May 26, according to charging documents. A CBP officer discovered the birds after spotting multiple holes poked into the SKYY Vodka box in which Medina hid them, charging documents say. Medina told officials that he bought the parrots for $700 in cash, according to prosecutors. 'Fortunately, all seven of the parrots are alive and thriving at a quarantine facility managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,' prosecutors said. Medina's arrest is a part of a larger, 'troubling pattern' of wildlife being trafficked into the U.S. through Southern California, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Amazon parrots inhabit Mexico, the West Indies and South America, prosecutors said. About thirty different species of Amazon parrots are all protected by Appendix I or Appendix II of CITES, according to prosecutors. Bringing birds into the U.S. illegally prevents officials from examining and quarantining them, creating potential public health risks, as birds smuggled into the country can carry Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said in a statement that 'Bird smuggling is not a victimless crime.' 'These animals suffer, and the consequences to public health and the environment can be catastrophic,' Gordon added.
Asharq Al-Awsat
09-06-2025
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
MWL Secretary-General Congratulates Saudi Leadership on Successful Hajj
Secretary-General of the Muslim World League (MWL) and Chairman of the Organization of Muslim Scholars Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa extended on Sunday his congratulations to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, as well as to the Saudi people and the entire Islamic nation, on the success of this year's Hajj. He said the pilgrimage was marked by security and seamless service integration. On behalf of all MWL agencies, Al-Issa praised the generous care and exceptional attention provided to the pilgrims. He highlighted the outstanding organization, smooth movement between the holy sites, and the unwavering commitment to ensuring pilgrims' comfort, allowing them to perform their rituals with ease and tranquility.
Saudi Press
08-06-2025
- General
- Saudi Press
Minister of Transport and Logistic Services Inspects King Abdulaziz International Airport's Readiness for Pilgrims' Departure
Islamic Affairs Ministry Begins Distributing the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Gift of Holy Quran Copies to Pilgrims
