Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 98

THE ARIZONA REPUBUC Editor, Laura McBride 444-7122 Wednesday April 15. 1998 MiMllfllllllMhrft klrtilitlliiH r-i r-i Singer's career hits high note Buckeye student wins national competition School bill met with uncertainty Districts worry about giving control to state By Lori Baker, Yojl Cole and Jennifer Barrett The Arizona Republic West Valley school district leaders are cautious about the possible effects of the state's new school finance system. The state, which responded to a state Supreme Court order to mend the school funding process, is now responsible for paying for and maintaining new schools. The Students FIRST measure, which takes effect July 7, calls for $372 million a year to construct, equip and maintain public schools. It also allows districts that would prefer to continue using tax-backed bonds to fund construction to opt out of the state system, with voter approval.

Some educators are pleased that school buildings will be repaired or built without raising local taxes. But others worry that a switch from local to state control could mean overcrowded classrooms and shoestring budgets. Everyone wonders whether the legislation will be shot down in a court challenge, meaning that the Legislature would have to start over. "The main thing is whether the courts will accept the opt-out provision, and if not, then what?" said Paul Koehler, superintendent of the Peoria Unified School District. "The thought of the Legislature having to start all over again if this bill is unconstitutional is not appealing.

It's already taken four years to try to get a bill passed and approved." Under the new legislation, districts that have aheady started projects before June 30, 1999, can issue bonds already authorized for those projects until Dec. 31, 2000. This provision would affect districts like Washington Elementary, Deer Valley Unified and Peoria Unified that have not used all the bonds approved by voters. In addition, three West Valley bond elections slated for May 19 can proceed as planned. They are Avondale Elementary, $14 million; Agua Fria Union High School, Please see SCHOOL, Page 10 Photos by James GarciaTrie Arizona Republic Volunteers line up for their briefing before starting to record.

With five stations, 10 volunteers can work at a time. ByYoJICole The Arizona Republic BUCKEYE When John Wiles was younger, he didn't jump on furniture to measure its spring. He listened to the tones. "At 2 years old, John would move from piece of furniture to piece of furniture, plop himself down and say, 'Do you know different furniture has different said Linda Wiles, John's mother. "He hears things other people don't hear." Now 18, Wiles is Buckeye's first winner of the Music Teachers National Association contest for classical voice.

The contest was held two weeks ago in Nashville. He came in first out of 576 entrants. Each night after Wiles comes home from Buckeye Union High School, he sits at his piano and writes lyrics for about three hours a night. He also tries to write one song a week for his church, Estrella Mountain. "He is an extremely talented kid," Claudia Kennedy, his voice coach, says.

"He's not only a wonderful tenor, but he plays the piano like crazy." Wiles can't remember when he wasn't exposed to music. His mother is a classical pianist and gives private lessons. Linda remembers her son begging her to teach him, but with six to eight hours a day of lessons and an older child to take care of, she didn't have the time. So John, tired of waiting, picked up one of her beginning piano books and taught himself. "At 4 years old he could play and count the whole beginners book," Linda says.

That is when Linda realized she had spawned a gifted child and began to teach him. To reach the national competition in Nashville, Wiles. first won the state tition sponsored by the Arizona State Please see SNGflTS, Page 6 New chapter in reading Textbooks taped for blind in mobile recording studio By Lori Baker The Arizona Republic Inside the 40-foot trailer, volunteers take turns sitting in cubicles recording portions of a textbook. In less than two days, students, faculty and staff at Arizona State University West recorded an audio version of a 140-page book, Gender in Third World Countries, which a visually impaired ASU West student will use in a summer class. The volunteers also helped read a portion of a 600-page human relations book for a student at another school.

ASU West is among the first sites where volunteers used a new mobile digital recording studio provided by the Arizona Unit of Recording for the Blind Dyslexic. The mobile unit, the first of its type in the United States, premiered in February. This month, the trailer will go to the University of Phoenix, Scottsdale Stadium, the Golf Club at Eagle Mountain in Fountain Hills and two Honeywell facilities in Phoenix where volunteers will tape books. "We're able to tap expertise throughout Maricopa County and the state by taking the studio to volunteer readers, such as highly skilled employees in corporate head- Please see MOBUt Page 7 A Sylvia Silva, a dean at Arizona State University West, reads from the text in one of the trailer's five recording stations. E3 jj HIGHLIGHTS finance law particulars The school finance law will: Give districts the option of accepting state funding to build schools, or, with voter approval, continuing to use tax-backed bonds.

Establish a nine-member board to set minimum statewide standards for school buildings and to oversee state-funded construction projects. Allocate up to $50 million a year over two years, and at least $35 million a year in the next three years, to raise schools to standards. Provide $75 million a year for school maintenance. Spend $200 million a year to build more schools statewide. Allocate $36.5 million more a year to pay for such items as computers and library books.

Provide $10.7 million, or $300 per student, more a year to charter schools. Allow voter-approved capital overrides to exceed the amount of construction money provided by the state. to benefit for blind zona's Recording for the Blind Dyslexic, a nonprofit organization that for 47 years has had volunteers produce audio textbooks for students with visual handicaps. The volunteers work in the Phoenix and Peoria studios as well as a new studio in the Scottsdale Airpark. Registration deadline is April 23.

For information, call 443-4580. Golf event recordings The 1998 Charity Golf Event to raise money for the Recording for the Blind Dyslexic will tee off April 23 at the Golf Club at Eagle Mountain in Fountain Hills. Cost is $150 per player and $550 per foursome, and donations are tax deductible. The shotgun start is at 1 p.m. followed by an hors d'oeuvre buffet.

Several prizes will be available. Proceeds will benefit Ari- Deer Valley to celebrate pride days By Peter G. Bourdeau The Arizona Republic PHOENIX Organizers of the third annual "Deer Valley Days" are planning on making this year's community pride celebration the biggest ever. Festivities Saturday begin with the "Deer Valley Youth Celebration 1998." It's a talent show featuring student performers who will sing," dance and twirl their way across the stage at Barry Goldwater High School. Everyone will earn a ribbon for participating, and trophies will be awarded to the most entertaining acts.

Admission is free, and the show runs from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the school, 2820 W. Rose Garden Lane. Because of limited space, the show's organizer, Clancy Jayne, urges audience members to time their attendance with the act they want to watch. "Last year we had a turn-away crowd; people just didn't want to leave," Jayne said, adding that this illustrates the need for a local community center in one of the fastest-growing areas in the country.

Deer Valley Days continue on April 25 with a parade at 9 a.m. The parade route begins at 19th Avenue and Rose Garden Lane. It will head east to Seventh Avenue and then north to Deer Valley Road, finishing at the Deer Valley Airport's entrance. Phoenix Vice Mayor Dave Siebert will be the grand marshal. "The purpose is to give our area a celebration and to help form an identity.

We Please see DEFJ VAUiY, Page 5 follows Silva's reading to catch any Heather Shafe mistakes. Student interns help make Glendale jazz fest a success vacation i where thousands of Valley residents would gather over the next three days for Glen-dale's annual Jazz Festival. But the three wto had helped set up, and seven other students from the advanced event-planning class who came later, didn't have much of a chance to sit back and admire the results of months of work co-producing the festival with the city of Glendale. You might think city officials would be a little apprehensive about leaving many aspects of such a big event to amateurs. But Vem Biaett the city's special events coordinator, welcomed the chance to work with the students.

"With special events, you can go to classes and learn the basics but to find out what it really entails, the only way to do Please see HTBBG, Page 6 By Jennifer Barrett The Arizona Republic GLENDALE The city's jazz festival marked the first time Glendale paired up with a college class to produce one of its showcase events. The event went so well that the city hopes to do it again. The three-day festival, on April 3-5, drew estimated crowds of nearly 13,000 25 percent more than expected. Students from an advanced event-planning class at ASU West put their textbook knowledge to the test, arriving at the park before dawn, chalk and clipboards in hand. As the sun came up, three students compared diagrams and marked chalk Xs in the dewy grass and the pavement around downtown Glen dale's Murphy Park.

Hours later, large multi-colored tents filled the park and Port-o-lets lined the streets. A fence surrounded the grassy place KEE3 uma Republic Columnist Joti OauhrvThe Arizona Republic Ten ASU West event -planning students helped plan and implement Glendale's Jazz Festival earlier this month. Among them were Robin Atchison (left), Louis Adams and Dawn Metvin..