Was This the MAI class the Best Class Ever in Arizona?

The MAI class only existed for seven years at Copper Creek. But in that short time it produced the following:

• a student that graduated from Cal Tech
• two class valedictorians
• a class president
• a student that earned a Phd in bioengineering at Harvard
• a student that goes to the University of Chicago
• a student that goes to Notre Dame, Tufts University, Virginia Tech, and a student that graduated from the college of William and Mary
• a student that earned a physics degree from Princeton
• a student that graduated fron the United States Air Force Academy
• several students who became engineers, a doctor, lawyers, a psychologist, a pilot, teachers and other renowned professions
• the class was taught to use an assignment book like the kind college students and adults use and not the school assignment book that had the students recording their assignments on the days they were assigned and not the days they were due
• the class put on a play every year, sometimes two plays in a year
• the class sponsored a school talent show
• the class put on a Candlelight Dinner every year, the students were waiters and waitresses, they performed, they all played their recorders, they slow danced as couples, we put on a slide show of the students throughout the year all the activities
• class projects included: Giant Post Cards, All About Me (autobiography), Historical Fiction Brochures, and a 26 page historical ABC book - these were put on display for Celebrate Excellence open house
• the class finished the math textbooks every year
• this class had third grade students who studied fourth grade math, fourth grade students who studied fourth grade math, fourth grade students who studied fifth grade math, fifth grade students who studied fifth grade math, fifth grade sudents who studied sixth grade math and one fifth grade student who studied seventh grade math and had the higest standardized test score ever at Copper Creek, all in the same classroom all at the same time - awesome
• the majority of students earned reading trophies
• all students read above grade level
• most students scored at or above the 95 percentile in reading and math at the end of the year
• the class got the higest percentage of students into sixth grade pre-algebra
• the class played Silent Ball, the Tire Game, and vocabulary contests
• the classes played a game where we arranged the desks in a square and the students took turns going around the square of desks blindfolded trying to name who was sitting in each seat; some students could name every student in order, a few could go over the names in backwards order and even remember what the students were wearing
• the class memorized poems
• the class completed a one page journal write every day
• the class edited sentences every day
• the class practiced cursive and learned Roman Numerals
• the class predicted and tested how many drops of water would fit on a penny and a dime
• each student was given a Friday folder that had all their work for the week and it had a chrionological list of all their assignment and test grades
• the very last MAI class did everything above and had a fabulous Halloween party that had the room decorated including a coffin and outdoor slides and games, they built and painted plastic model airplanes, they built and fired off rockets and had treasure hunts
• the class took the most tests of any class
• the class had the most visitors of former students
• the class had the most visitors of parents and grandparents
• the class had the most parent volunteers
• the class had frequent visits by the superintendent

The administration didn't support this class and ended the program the year before I retired. Very sad.