Inside Mesa

Jineane Ford said goodbye to her television viewers on Midday Arizona today.Jineane Ford has been on the news ever since I’ve moved to Arizona in 1986. She is one of my favoirte anchor-women. She will truly be missed in the Phoenix area. Jineane somehow made this large metropolis feel like a small town community, as she not only came into our homes, she shared her home and family with her viewers. The White Mountain community is lucky to have her as a permanent resident. We hope to see Jineane in special segments in the future. Best of luck to Jineane.

Last week, Fremont Junior High in East Mesa held their winter concert which included a variety of performances from the choir, orchestra and band. I was impressed with the talent of these students as well as their teachers who have instructed them to continually improve their talents. Recently, the Fremont Falcon Band received national recognition for its performance at the National Wind Band Honors competition. The Falcon Band has been selected to perform in an Honors Concert at the Arizona Music Educators Conference in January.You may be wondering how schools are able to afford things like competitions, travel arrangements, and instruments. Good question.There is a program for contributions to your school and your extra-curricular activity of choice basically for free. It’s called ECA tax credit. If you contribute $200 for single or $400 for jointly filers, you get the exact amount you contributed either refunded or credited on your Arizona State tax return. Activities such as sports, visual and performing arts, field trips, clubs, outdoor education, gifted programs, or classroom enrichment programs can be funded with tax credit money. This tax credit is available to all Arizona individual taxpayers regardless of whether or not they have children in school. 100 percent of your donation goes directly to the schools for extracurricular activities that benefit students by enriching campus life and learning. For more information, contact your local school. Investing in our students is an investment in our community. Many Mesa thanks!

Whose responsiblity is it that students come to school in a healthy state of physical and mental ability so they are ready to learn? With state and federal requirements placed on schools to offer healthy food choices, what’s to say about the requirements on parents to provide their children good mental health so they are able to learn and retain information that will assist them down a positive academic career path? Many of us already know that the mind and body go hand in hand when a person is at an optimum level for learning. In today’s schools, teachers are faced with more than delivering innovative learning experiences. Teachers have become social workers, counselors, medical professionals, and physical motivators.Parents… provide healthy meals for breakfast and dinner. Pack healthy snacks in school lunches. Get out and exercise in the afternoon. Play soccer, take a walk or run around with your kids. The more you focus on your children’s overall health will result in healthy minds giving kids the ability to cope with life’s challenges. These kids are our future. Handle with care.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday… What is it about all these terms can lure shoppers into finding the best deals?I like to find a good deal just like the next person but am I missing out on being in the right place at the right time? With the busiest retail season among us, I want to be sure I’ve spent my time shopping for holiday gifts wisely. Now that my children are older, and know who Mrs. Claus is, I’ve put them in charge of being smart shoppers- elves, if you will. I give them the Sunday advertisements, have them make their lists in order of highest priority, and keep them within a budget (wishful thinking but I can have a wish list too). As a Mesa resident, I’d like to keep my sales tax within the community but sometimes a free shipping incentive is too hard to pass up. Anyone else have smart shopping tips for me?

The weather this time of year in Arizona reminds me why I live here. Lately, I’ve enjoyed cool morning walks and challenged hikes at Usery Park. If you haven’t had the opportunity to get out and enjoy the weather, visit Usery Park, the kids would love it on a Saturday morning. Or take a trip to downtown Mesa for lunch, sit outdoors and appreciate the warm surroundings Mesa has to offer.