Dysart Unified students perform and report community service, canned-food drive raises more than $10,000

Students and music teachers appeared before the Dysart Unified governing board to provide performances and updates on student-led community service and activities.

The meeting opened with an orchestra performance under the direction of Alan Swanson. Kayla Patnaude, an 11th grader at Valley Vista High School speaking for the Dysart District String Orchestra, thanked the board for support of music programs and said students in music "get higher grades, score higher in math, have higher graduation rates, and have higher test scores." Patnaude told the board that music education benefits students’ academic outcomes and expressed appreciation for arts programs available to students in grades 6–12.

Student Council representative Amelia Escobar, a senior at Willow Canyon High School, told the board that the district-level student council runs an annual canned-food drive in partnership with Valley View Food Bank. Escobar said the council raised more than $10,000 in canned goods and described plans to reward middle schools and host assemblies. She also reported upcoming events: a clothing drive for children in foster care, high school dances at Valley Vista, Willow Canyon and Dysart High School, and an Arizona Association of Student Councils state convention in Tucson that student leaders will attend.

Board members thanked the students and recognized the role of arts and student leadership in the district. The students’ presentations were recorded in the meeting transcript as recognitions and routine student updates; no formal board action was taken on these items.