Lyn,

Thanks for your reminder of the Cave Creek Council meeting tonight about noise, and for emphasizing the value of having those kinds of discussions with appropriate courtesy and decorum. I would only add, as many will remember, that Carefree also dealt with some serious noise issues a few years ago involving a few bad actors on motorcycles and other loud vehicles. Business establishments like Harold’s and the Town of Cave Creek worked positively with us to resolve our noise problems at that time. Bill Vale and his partners at Harold’s were particularly helpful in donating the services of their restaurant and a significant amount of money to helping us find and implement creative and effective solutions for our noise issues. Given that history, I would also encourage those who decide to participate from Carefree to remember the effort they made on our behalf and to extend every possible courtesy as you address this issue.

Lloyd Meyer

 

 

 

Lyn--Good advice--Cave Creek council meetings can be a bit different than Carefree--keep up the good work--HUGH STEVENS

 

Hey Lyn,

Could you put the word out and see if the community have nativity scenes that they would like to loan to the Food Bank to display during the festival. I am lending them mine which is about 80 yrs old...it would be great to have about 100 table-top nativities on display in Los Portales Mall. Details attached. :-)

Also, the Christmas website has been updated...check it out! www.carefreechristmasfestival.com

Jo

xx

Jo Gemmill

English Rose Tea Room

PO Box 5865

201 Easy Street

Carefree, AZ 85377

Tel: 480.488.4812

www.carefreetea.com

“The Nativities”

Nativity Description Form

If you are interested in displaying your Nativity, please complete the description below and return to Karen Pritchard, P.O. Box 7082, Cave Creek, AZ 85327, by November 12, 2011.

Name _________________________________________Phone _______________

Email _________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________________________

Description of Nativity: Please include interesting information, origin, materials or special features.

Set up your nativity at Los Portales Mall on Friday, December 9, between 3-5:00 p.m.

Nativities must be picked up on Sunday, December 11 between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.

If you need more information, please call Karen Pritchard at 480-488 0423.

Insurance Disclaimer Form

“The Nativities” Committee and the Foothills Food Bank will provide monitors during open exhibit hours and the room will be locked when we are not open during the three- day Carefree Christmas Festival, however, we can assume no liability for damage, theft, or other loss at any time that your items are not in your immediate possession (please check your homeowner’s insurance policy for possible coverage). Your signature on the following statement is required:

It is my desire to display my nativities and I agree to assume full responsibility for any loss or damage caused by vandalism, theft, fire or any other cause while at the display site. If the nativity is lost or damaged, I further agree that I shall not seek damages from anyone or any group or persons associated with the display.

Signature

Please print your name

Date: ____________________________________

 

 

Subject: letter to Sonoran news

This took guts for this teacher to write. It is amazing. This teacher is also one of the best in the District (at least in my opinion!)

Date: Thursday, November 17, 2011, 10:52 AM

I’d like to introduce myself to you. It’s funny, I feel like you should know me as I certainly feel like I know you well even though we have never formally met. I’m Alice L. Temnick, a resident of Cave Creek and 14 year teacher at Cactus Shadows High School. I teach AP Economics, International Baccalaureate Economics and Senior regular Economics. I’ve spent a lifetime in school – 12 schools in fact as I have collected almost 300 undergraduate and graduate credits in numerous subjects. While my last degree (Ed.D.) is in education, my area of graduate emphasis is in Economics. I favor free markets, limited government and hold Hayakian beliefs about the importance of personal liberty. I read widely and am involved in multiple academic and professional organizations in a quest to constantly learn.

My career as a high school teacher has been rewarding. It has enabled me to raise a fantastic daughter (now a senior at CSHS) while my husband travelled extensively. I work with some outstanding educators and wonderful friends. While administration changes have been a constant during my tenure, the team of teacher leaders and those serving in administrative capacities have always respected me and my colleagues who have chosen to dedicate our lives to the honorable vocation of teaching. I’ve met many fine minds over my years in academic realms; however the most extraordinary, brilliant minds I have come across in my lifetime have been in my classroom at CSHS. It has been an honor to introduce the unique social science of the economic way of thinking to many special people. Incredibly, some of these students have gone on to study the subject at some of the finest colleges and universities in the world including NYU, American University, Pomona College, Bentley, University of Chicago, UCLA, Columbia University, The American University of Rome and more. Whatever small role I may have played in those students’ lives, I savor.

I’m lucky, Don. I never have to wake up and wonder if I “make a difference.” I don’t feel like my time is wasted. I enjoy going over and above for terrific kids in assisting them with the ominous college application/negotiation process. In fact, I have a track record of pitting schools against each other in Spring to get maximum financial (merit) awards for students. I stay in touch with them; they send me updates. I know their families. I teach siblings and cousins and cherish the relationships I have in my community. It’s been satisfying work and has made me a better person than I would have been without my tenure of teaching, mentoring and understanding teenagers. There’s angst, tragedy, celebrations, closures and laughter. Lots of laughter. I laugh almost every day – at work. I hear there are a lot of jobs out there where the laughs are few and far between.

Over the years I’ve read curious reports of salary information about CCUSD teachers. I’m going to share mine with you. My base is $41,522. I will receive $3230 from the pot of 301 monies that is soon to run out. Career ladder has been another source of annual revenue for some teachers in our district who do additional work; I will make $4180 from that this year before it is gone forever as another budget cut. I’m just about making my age (which is 49 on December 8.) I’m at the top of the pay scale ceiling, including the $1500 annual stipend for the doctoral degree. That’s $50,432 for 2011. More salary news: I made more a few years ago. My salary in 2007 was $53,490 and in 2008 was $55,158 (that’s not including a small stipend I received for serving as the advisor for National Honor Society, a responsibility I’ve passed to a younger teacher.) Hardly an increase from five years ago. Next year will be lower than this year as will each successive year.

To ensure a reasonable standard of living and, more importantly, to reach the goal of sending my daughter, an outstanding student, theatre participant and dancer to a prestigious college (a dream of mine) I do a few “side” jobs. I teach 3 online classes a year for Mesa Community College. I teach yoga 2 to 3 days/evenings a week at a local gym and in the summer I co-teach week-long teacher graduate courses in economics for The Foundation for Teaching Economics (3 years). Two summers ago I served as a grader for the International Baccalaureate program and have applied to do that again this summer. I have also worked as a supervisor for student teachers through Ottawa University and edited textbooks for South Western Publishing. I present workshops on occasion for The Arizona Council for Economic Education and voluntarily run an economic book club for teachers and professors in the Phoenix area. I’m grateful for the many opportunities for part-time employment that surround me. I will finance my daughter’s education no matter what it takes.

So that’s my story, Don. I’m nothing special and am certainly not attempting to impress you. I make typos, get stumped on a really hard AP macro problem from time to time, lose the community spelling bee on “lederhosen” and complain about returning to school each year before Labor Day in triple digit heat. I also dedicate my heart and soul to a generation of young people and am passionate about the important subject matter I teach. So judge me. I mean, really bring it. Tell me why I should be punished. Tell me why I should be paid less for the work that I do. There will be more students in each class. Some programs that benefit our best and brightest will face the chopping block. I will do more than my nine-hour school days with a minimum of two hours of grading/planning each weeknight, and be paid less. (Teachers park up at the east campus, not the front parking lot). Straighten me out here, Don. Do I have an overinflated view of my role in this community? In the belief that education fits the bill of a public good a free market economy must provide to prepare productive and informed citizens?

I wish that you would print this and provide your response for your readers. I am sending you a current picture in case you want to print my image.

Alice L. Temnick, Ed.D.
Cave Creek, AZ

(Lyn's note: This was sent to me by one of my readers, and was reprinted here with permission from Ms. Temnick.)