Crismon Elementary is September's Spotlight School! Below are principal Mandi Radakovich's remarks on their spotlight honorees: the RISE/SOAR program at Crismon.
We are proud to spotlight something incredibly special happening at Crismon Elementary: the RISE and SOAR programs and the remarkable students and staff who make them so successful.
Across Mesa Public Schools, we believe every student belongs, every student is capable, and every student deserves the opportunity to grow and succeed. What is happening at Crismon is a wonderful example of those beliefs in action.
Supporting students takes a team, and the team at Crismon is extraordinary. RISE and SOAR teachers and instructional assistants work alongside resource teachers, general education teachers, speech teachers, PE and adaptive PE teachers, special-area teachers, office staff, and support staff to create meaningful pathways for students.
Those pathways matter. Resource classrooms can provide a safe place for students to build confidence and independence as they transition into new settings. General education teachers welcome students into their classrooms with high expectations and meaningful support. And perhaps most importantly, Crismon students welcome one another. They learn together, play together, help one another, and build genuine friendships. That is what true inclusion looks like.
Tonight, we have the privilege of celebrating five remarkable students who demonstrate what is possible when students are surrounded by high expectations, intentional support, and people who believe in them. Last year, these five students successfully exited the RISE/SOAR program, and this year, they are participating full-time in their general education classrooms. We are incredibly proud to recognize:
Phoenix Otero- a future police officer, Emelia Smith- a future author or WNBA player, Orion Talamantes- a future astronaut, Alfonso Chemena- a future astronaut, and Lizbet Rivera- a future mom.
Phoenix, Emelia, Orion, Alfonso, and Lizbet, this is a huge accomplishment, and tonight we celebrate you. You have learned new skills, faced challenges, developed greater independence, built relationships, and shown all of us what is possible when you continue to grow. Your success also tells an important story. You had an entire school community surrounding you, creating opportunities, believing in you, and reminding you every step of the way: You belong here, and we believe you can do this.
To the entire Crismon staff, thank you. Your patience, collaboration, high expectations, and genuine care for students have created a culture where supporting every learner is not the responsibility of one classroom or one program, it is something the entire school embraces. And to Crismon’s students, thank you for showing us that belonging is something we create together.
RISE and SOAR represent much more than specialized programming. They represent opportunity, independence, friendship, belonging, and possibility.
Phoenix, Emelia, Orion, Alfonso, and Lizbet, you are wonderful examples of those possibilities.
What Crismon has created is what we want for every student across Mesa Public Schools: a school where every child is known, valued, supported, and given the opportunity to discover everything they are capable of becoming.
These students remind us why these programs are called RISE and SOAR. Because when every child truly belongs, every child has the opportunity to rise, and every child has the opportunity to soar.