The Weekly Penguin

Good morning! This is the last Penguin of the school year. Thank you all for an excellent year and for all your hard work and dedication to only doing well in school (both students and adults), but being good people. It is a pleasure to come to work each day and I'm grateful for each of you.

SENIORS: thank you for a great last day on Friday. We are looking forward to declaration night, graduation rehearsal, and of course graduation and Grad Night! You're almost there! You have this week to clean up any last business with the school before Wednesday evening's festivities. This includes any items you still need to return such as devices, uniforms, instruments, books, etc., and pay any fees or fines you still owe. REMINDER: you will receive a diploma cover only as you walk across the stage. As soon as the ceremony is done all seniors will be guided off the field to the upper concourse along the third base line to collect their diplomas or receive a bill. You will not receive your diploma until you have paid your balance due. Please contact me or the finance office at catarina.lopez@tusd1.org if you have questions. We will send another reminder today to those who still have a balance. Check Ms. Volkening's messages for any last information you need leading up to graduation.

EVERYONE ELSE: we will be sending out registration information in July for the coming school year. I will be sorting parking permit requests after graduation, keep an eye on your STUDENT EMAIL for notification of your application status. Cheers!

Monday, May 19: Senior Sunset - 6pm, RUHS amphitheater

Monday, May 19: UHS Declaration Night - 7pm, RUHS amphitheater

Wednesday, May 21: UHS graduation rehearsal (12th grade students only) - 7:30am sharp, Veteran's Memorial Stadium @ the Kino Sports Complex

Wednesday, May 21: UHS graduation - 7pm, Veteran's Memorial Stadium @ the Kino Sports Complex

May 21-22: 9th/10th/11th grade device return - during your math class. Your teacher will escort you to the library for device check-in.

Friday, May 23: TEDx Youth at UHS! - 4:30pm, RUHS auditorium...come support some of your fellow Penguins as they present an array of pertinent topics and start those amazing conversations, TED-style!

Saturday, June 7: South Gym Painting and Clean-up - 9am-1pm. Join us as we paint railings, paint walls, clean up the bleachers, and paint the bathrooms and locker rooms in our South Gym. University High School will have all of the necessary painting supplies and materials. Just bring yourselves and a can-do attitude.

Monday, August 4: FIRST DAY FOR STUDENTS, 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR

CCCC (College, Career, and Counseling Center) update

Declaration Night info!

End of year checkout

Graduation regalia, cords

Senior graduation info link

UHSPA update

Yearbook - pickup info!

Bond update: construction planning

New (Old) Instagram for UHS!

Pima County Summer Youth Program

UHSFAA - student microgrants

Students, make sure you are signed up for the Remind for your class, and please remember to check these messages! We post info about scholarships, summer activities, college & career-focused events on campus, and more! Don’t miss out!

Juniors: Come to the CCCC this week to pick up your ASVAB results! This is a great career assessment that could help you with completing your ECAP!

Attention Student Artists – we would love to display your work on our CCCC gallery wall over the summer and into the beginning of next school year! We have many visitors who always comment on the wonderful student art that they see on display. If you would like to submit 2-dimensional pieces of art, either as a loan that we can give you back next year or as a donation, please bring it to the CCCC or to Ms. Cardenas. Nothing bigger than 18” x 24” – thank you for sharing your creativity with us!

12th grade students: check out the information bulletin from Ms. Palos regarding Declaration Night, which this year will take place on Monday, May 19 at 7pm in the amphitheater of University High School. We are so excited to celebrate you!

12th grade checkout:

• Senior checkout forms will be passed out in AP government classes on Monday and Tuesday. It is your responsibility to complete the entire form and turn it in by your last day, Friday, May 16.
• 12th grade students may turn in district-issued devices to the finance office starting Monday, May 12 if you don't need them anymore. You may go anytime during the day, including class time if your teacher allows.
• All debt must be paid prior to the graduation ceremony in order to collect your diploma at the conclusion of the ceremony.

9th, 10th, 11th grade checkout:

All 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students will check in their school devices on Wednesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 22 in the library:

• 9th grade students will turn in their devices during their AP Environmental Science class.
• 10th grade students will turn in their devices during their AP European History and AP World History classes.
• 11th grade students will turn in their devices during their AP US History class.

We are gearing up for graduation, and we are in the final quarter until then! University High School's graduation will take place on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at the Kino Sports Complex, and Rincon High School's graduation will take place on Thursday, May 22, 2025 at the Rincon/University High School stadium. We have some information regarding regalia for each day. Pardon the formality of the language but we want to be clear on what the expectations and requirements will be. Please reach out to your respective administration team if you have any specific questions surrounding your school's regalia and adornments.

The Rincon and University administrations would like to share the cord system that is approved

for graduation regalia. Each school has bought their cords for our respective students for this school year only, and afterward anything specified below will need to be purchased by their respective entities if they want to continue the practice for next year. All other regalia such as sashes, stoles, or other decorative items must be approved through the practices described in governing board policy IKFB-R - Graduation Exercises - Adornments to Cap and Gown. Cultural adornments are also allowed through the same governing board policy. All students must wear their respective school's graduation regalia and can participate in graduation exercises through stipulations described in governing board policy IKFB - Graduation & Promotion Exercises.

ALL CORDS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED THE WEEK OF GRADUATION, EITHER ON DECLARATION NIGHT OR AT GRADUATION REHEARSAL.

Top 20 (Rincon only): gold

National Honor Society (Rincon only): white

AVID scholar (Rincon only): turquoise

AP scholar: royal blue

AP scholar with honor: blue/white twist

AP scholar with distinction: blue/gold twist

Elected student council officer: silver (student council responsible to purchase for SY 25-26)

Competitive club officer: orange (club responsible to purchase for SY 25-26)

Interest club officer: red (club responsible to purchase for SY 25-26)

Any athletic honors, fine arts honors, or other academic honors will be purchased by the individual students through Jostens, such as letters, school graduation year numbers, pins, etc.

CLARIFICATION: random decoration of mortar boards (caps) and robes is not permitted. Come speak to Mr. Ranjel with any questions regarding the information provided or with questions about approved regalia, adornments, and decorations. Stay alert for any further information regarding graduation!

For the most up-to-date information on UHS Graduation, visit the UHS Graduation Info Page and/or join the mailing list at Graduation Info Mailing List. There will also be an informational Zoom meeting at 6:30 PM on April 24. Zoom Link.

Thanks!

Lisa Volkening

UHS Physics

Senior class sponsor

Pronouns: she/her

Email Lisa Volkening

We need YOUR help to make Grad Night 2025 a success...

If you are a senior or parent of a senior, please buy your ticket as soon as you can. Funds from ticket sales are needed to cover the cost of the event. See the link below. Buy your tickets now! We currently have 72% of the class registered for grad night! Help us get everyone on campus to celebrate together one last time...

We also need A LOT of volunteers to make Grad Night happen. Please consider signing up to help with the event, set up, and cleanup. We currently have 45% of our volunteer spots filled. Please see our signup sheet on ways you can help. This has always been a pay it forward event where underclass parents volunteer on graduation night so senior families can enjoy graduation and seniors can celebrate with their friends but there are several tasks needing support before graduation night that anyone can help with. Please spread the word and help us fill all these spots.

We are grateful for the numerous PayPal and prize donations provided by UHS friends and families. We are still able to accept PayPal Donations but are closing down our Amazon wishlist. If you want to drop a prize for the senior raffle off at the office through Wednesday, we are close to declaring we have a prize for a senior attending Grad Night!

All yearbooks will be distributed in Ms. Wheeler's classroom, room 102. Here is the yearbook pickup schedule for all paid orders:

12th grade students - lunch starting on Wednesday, May 14

All other students - Before school, during conference periods, at lunch, and after school starting on Thursday, May 15 through Friday, May 16.

There are only a handful of yearbooks available for sale through the finance office for $120. Seniors will have priority to purchase a book before May 14th. If there are any additional books, underclassmen may purchase a book in the finance office starting May 15th. You can also check with Ms. Wheeler directly in room 102.

Exciting News for Tucson Unified Schools!

The Tucson Unified School District is thrilled to announce that Davis Bilingual Elementary Magnet School, Rincon / University High School, and Tucson High Magnet School will soon see significant improvements in their instructional learning spaces, thanks to the support of the Bond Oversight Committee, the Tucson Unified Governing Board, and Tucson community. At Davis and Rincon/University, the bond program will replace portable classrooms with modern, permanent learning spaces for students. For Tucson High, the bond program will focus on long-awaited renovations and repairs to the Vocational “V” Building modernizing classrooms spaces for students.

The conceptual and design-build phase will run from February 2025, through June 2025. During this time, the Design-Build team will collaborate with each school’s administration to provide conceptual classroom designs for new learning spaces to meet both current and future enrollment needs.

Construction is expected to be completed by the 2027-2028 school year, providing students and staff with state-of-the-art facilities to support their educational journey.

Stay tuned for updates on this exciting project as we work together to create better learning spaces for our community!

Sincerely,

Dr. C

Charlotte Carter, MBA, PMP, Ed.D.

Bond Program Manager

Tucson Unified School District

Last week we announced our new Instagram page due to issues logging into and accessing the previous page. As soon as we advertised it, Instagram considered us imposters, and promptly killed the site. So, we did some serious digging and tracked down the login for the original page, and it's back up! Follow UHS on our new OLD Instagram page for all the latest news, accomplishments, and day-to-day happenings of the school!

Check out the below flyer for the Pima County Summer Youth Program. Get job skills and earn credit!

The UHS Foundation and Alumni Association (UHSFAA) seeks to support UHS students, particularly those who are first generation college bound and who are focused on building opportunities for themselves. Through this, the UHSFAA student microgrant is offered for application. Microgrants are awarded to students in need of anything that furthers their educational development. Grants of up to $500 per student per year are available at the discretion of the UHSFAA board of directors and UHS principal, and are based on available funds. Microgrant awards are through application, and can be given for many different kinds of needs: classroom needs including costs associated with internet access, textbooks or personal academic supplies, summer programs, professional education and internship needs, such as travel and public transportation costs, lunch costs, supplies or clothing needs, immunizations, and more. Requests for funding should be for proposals that can be 100% covered by the grant; requests to partially fund larger projects will not be considered. Please provide at least ten days lead time before the funds are needed so the UHSFAA can have adequate time to consider your application.