AZ Grown

AzAAP: Staff and students should WEAR FACE MASKS this SCHOOL YEAR

THE ARIZONA CHAPTER of the American

Academy of Pediatrics’ masking recommendations are at odds with a recent state law and executive order restricting Arizona schools from imposing mask mandates in classrooms. The nonprofit, which represents the views of 1,100 Arizona pediatric health care professionals, says all school staff and students “greater than 2 years old” should wear face masks indoors at school, unless a medical or developmental condition prohibits masking.

AzAAP says masks are essential to protecting students because “a significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccination.” There is currently no COVID-19 vaccine for ages 11 and younger, although vaccine trials for these children are underway. AzAAP also said universal masking is “the best and most effective strategy” to prevent the spread of COVID in schools, because the vaccine status of students, teachers and staff “is difficult to monitor.”

“Arizona’s decisions regarding return to school should be guided by data and science and take into consideration the current community spread of COVID19,” the AzAAP said in a statement, adding the state should provide adequate funding to support school safety measures that follow American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Arizona Department of Health Services guidelines.

This week, in light of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID19 that continues to spread rapidly in the United States, the CDC revised its masking guidelines to say even vaccinated people should wear masks indoors in areas where COVID transmission is high. The CDC continues to encourage ages 12 and up to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the best way to end the pandemic and has never wavered from recommending that unvaccinated kids wear face masks in school. The news guidelines went a step further by recommending “universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.”

State Superintendent of Education Kathy Hoffman has expressed frustration with Gov. Doug Ducey and state lawmakers for restricting schools from being able to set their own mitigation

policies, such as mask mandates that follow national health guidelines. “I encourage teachers, administrators and families to listen to the CDC and take individual action to keep themselves and each other safe by wearing a mask during in-person school,” Hoffman said in a statement. “Students, teachers, and parents are ready to get back to in-person learning, but it takes all of us.”

The AzAAP further recommends:

• All eligible school staff and students should receive the COVID-19 vaccine to protect their health and reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. • In general, students and school staff do not need to wear masks when outdoors unless community transmission is high. The CDC recommends unvaccinated people wear a mask indoors and in crowded outdoor settings or during activities that involve sustained close contact with other people who are not fully vaccinated. • Students, teachers, and staff should stay home when they have signs of any infectious illness and should consult with their healthcare provider regarding testing and care. • Unvaccinated students and school staff who have been exposed to confirmed cases of COVID-19 should be expected to follow the quarantine recommendations of their local public health department.

GREAT WOLF LODGE OFFERS $84 FLASH SALE

ON WEDNESDAY, Aug. 4, Great Wolf Lodge in Scottsdale is dropping its prices to as low as $84 per night when rooms are booked with the promo code: 84degrees. This Aug. 4 (8/4) flash sale is meant to celebrate the 84-degree temperature of Great Wolf Lodge’s yearround indoor waterpark resort.

The resort is hoping families will take advantage of the low rates for a local end-ofsummer staycation. The low rate is available for select dates Monday-Thursday between Aug. 4 and Dec. 16, 2021; the majority of the deeply discounted $84-per-night room rates are available after Labor Day.

For an additional $15, guests can add a Flex Trip package (starting at $99) with the promo code 84FLEX that lets families cancel without fees up to two days prior to arrival. Rates do not include taxes and resort fees. Some sale dates coincide with the water park resort’s annual Howl-O-Ween and Snowland seasonal celebrations. Learn more at greatwolf.com

Great Wolf Lodge opened in Scottsdale in October 2019. The 350-room, all-suite hotel next to Salt River Fields features an 85,000-square-foot indoor water park and a Great Wolf Adventure Park, where families can explore ropes courses, play miniature golf and go bowling. The water park offers body slides, tube slides, two raft rides, a wave pool and splash areas.

Great Wolf Lodge Arizona sits on 18 acres — located within the Salt River PimaMaricopa Indian Community’s growing Talking Stick Entertainment District — at 7333 N. Pima Road in Scottsdale. Learn more at greatwolf.com

PHOENIX FILM FESTIVAL FEATURES AWARD-WINNING

AUTISM DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHTING ARIZONA

“IN A DIFFERENT KEY,” a documentary about autism and the struggle to belong, follows Caren Zucker as she tracks down the first person in the United States diagnosed with autism, as well as many other remarkable people on the spectrum, to see what promise their stories hold for her own autistic son Mickey. The film is showing Aug. 14-15 and 17 at the Phoenix Film Festival.

Zucker’s journey takes her to Phoenix multiple times to visit Mickey, who lives at First Place-Phoenix, an innovative residential community with supports and amenities for individuals with autism and other neurodiversities. The film is based on the 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist book “In a Different Key: The Story of Autism,” by Zucker and fellow journalist and co-author John Donvan.

The film shows Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone visiting First Place-Phoenix during an autism training session designed for first responders to help them learn how to positively interact with neurodiverse individuals. Daniel Openden, president and CEO of the Southwest Autism Research &

Above: Screen shot of trailer. Below: Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone visits First Place-Phoenix to participate in a training session designed for positive interactions between first responders and people with autism and other neurodiversities. Photo courtesy of Good Eye! Media.

Resource Center in Phoenix, also shares a story of a child with autism who becomes best friends with a neurotypical boy he met through SARRC’s Community School.

Denise D. Resnik, founder, president & CEO of First Place AZ, co-founder of SARRC and mother of a 30-year-old man with autism who lives at First Place-Phoenix, says the film shows pioneering parents and leaders fueling a new wave of housing and community options for those with autism. “Through the power of our example, we are helping more people realize that an autism diagnosis need not stand in the way of friends, jobs, healthcare, post-secondary and lifelong education — and homes of their choice,” Resnik says.

“Because our film aims to show that community is all important for people on the spectrum, it’s wonderful that Phoenix has proven to be what John Donvan and I note is ‘the most autism-friendly city anywhere,’” Zucker says. “The stories we tell add up to a commonsense realization that autism is just one more wrinkle in the fabric of humanity — and that none of us gets through life unwrinkled.”

The documentary earned an Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the 2021 Sedona International Film Festival in June; the Jury Award for Best Documentary at the 2021 Oxford Film Festival in March and the Audience Prize for Best Documentary at the 2021 Sonoma International Film Festival in March.

First Place-Phoenix combines 55 apartments, the Transition Academy residential life skills program and the Global Leadership Institute to advance more independent and community-integrated living options. It also features a sports pool, culinary teaching kitchen, fitness and game rooms and common areas. For more information, visit firstplaceaz.org or inadifferentkeythemovie.com.

Phoenix Film Festival takes place Aug. 12-22 at Harkins Scottsdale 101, 7000 E. Mayo Blvd. in Scottsdale. In its 21st year, the festival has grown from a three-day exhibition to an 11-day celebration featuring more than 300 films, filmmaking seminars, parties and student workshops. Learn more at phoenixfilmfestival.com

Donate bottled water

for those in need Aug. 1-31

WOMEN UNITED is hosting a monthlong Maricopa County Bottled Water Drive in collaboration with Valley of the Sun United Way to support United Way’s nonprofit partners and the individuals and families they serve. Last year, this drive netted 51,000 bottles; this year, the goal is 200,000. The drive helps nonprofits including UMOM New Day Centers, which uses up to three pallets (5,760 bottles) of water each week.

“UMOM is committed to providing the needed water during our hot summer months to anyone in need, being open to the public as a location to pick up a bottle of water,” says AAron Iverson, UMOM’s distribution and donations manager.

To help, anyone can make a monetary donation — $5 for one case (40 water bottles) up to $200 for a pallet (1,920 water bottles) — or drop off bottled water at two locations during normal business hours from Aug. 1-31: • Bryant Commerical Real Estate, 2233 N. Seventh St.,

Phoenix. • State Farm - Mary Contreras Agency, 2146 E. Warner

Road, Suite 101, Tempe.

Valley of the Sun United Way envisions a community where every child, family and individual is healthy, has a safe place to live and has every opportunity to succeed in school, in life and in work. Contact Kelli Fawcett at Valley of the Sun United Way for more information: kfawcett@ vsuw.org or 602-677-3052 or visit donate.vsuw.org/ give/346009/#!/donation/checkout

POPSICLES

make great after-school treats

By Kate Reed

SCHOOL MIGHT BE just around the corner, but the hot temperatures won’t be going away anytime soon. It’s still the perfect time to make these delicious strawberry-kiwi popsicles, and they’ll make great after-school treats! They’re easy to whip up in 15 minutes and freeze overnight. And your kids can help make them! This popsicle recipe was provided by Juicy Juice.

Ingredients:

• 1¼ cups kiwi-strawberry Juicy Juice (100 percent juice) • 1 (0.3 oz) package sugar-free strawberry-flavored gelatin mix • 1 cup strawberries (halved) • 2 large ripe kiwis, (peeled and diced to ¼ inch pieces)

Instructions:

1. Chop strawberries into halves. My 8-year-old opted to chop them smaller. I don’t argue with the chef. 2. Peel and dice kiwi; set aside ¼ cup. We left the pieces bigger for the blender and chopped the remaining ones smaller so that we didn’t have to worry about big chunks for the toddler. My 8-year-old needed help peeling the kiwi, but otherwise managed to cut these just fine! 3. Bring 1 cup of juice to a boil, then dissolve the gelatin mix in the boiling juice. Make sure to watch closely — the juice boils rapidly! We learned that the packet of Jello turns into a sticky mess from the steam, so dump it in quickly. 4. Stir in ¼ cup ice-cold juice (we just had ours in the fridge), and pour the cooled gelatin mixture into a blender. We did this while we finished chopping the fruit, so that it could cool a bit more. 5. Add strawberries and three-fourths of the diced kiwi; blend until smooth. 6. Pour remaining diced kiwi into each of 8 ice-pop molds; insert sticks. (We found our MEETRUE silicone popsicle mold on Amazon for $20. We love this one because it uses disposable sticks, which means fewer parts for the kids to lose.) 7. Find space to put the popsicles in your jampacked freezer. We definitely had to do some rearranging! Freeze until solid. 8. Pour your kids a glass of Strawberry Kiwi juice and relax! Just kidding — now you have to wash everything.

Wasn’t that easy? JuicyJuice offers more recipes online, including Cherry Cream Bomb Pops at juicyjuice.com/recipes

Kate Reed is the new owner/publisher of Raising Arizona Kids. She’s the mother of Jackson (8), Grayson (3) and Maverick (2 months).

SARI ON SCIENCE ENGINEERING CATAPULTS!

By Sari Custer

HELLO, ENGINEERS! Before the pandemic, I had a chance to compete in a Guinness World Records attempt at the fastest catapult build and launch. And while my 37-second build was impressive, I definitely did not win. But I did have a ton of fun and was reminded how easy catapults are to build, and how great they are at showcasing the process engineers go through when designing something. Today, you can step into the shoes of an engineer to create your own simple catapult.

Did you know: Catapults were first invented roughly 2,500 years ago. They are relatively simple, yet very effective machines. They were created to launch projectiles, like large boulders, stones or spears more than 300 feet! Catapults work by suddenly releasing stored up potential energy to propel projectiles, so these projectiles could tear down walls. Don’t worry — we’ll only be flinging soft pom poms.

Supplies

• Popsicle sticks (about 10) • Rubber bands (3 or more) • Pom poms or cotton balls • Plastic spoon (Or, try hot-gluing a bottle cap to a popsicle stick instead) • Paper and pencil to record data • Measuring tape • Optional: markers and stickers for decorating your catapult

Safety Note: Never put anything hard in your catapult, and always aim your projectiles away from you and others. Your adults will also appreciate it if you try not to aim at breakable things.

Build Your Catapult

1. Decorate your popsicle sticks first, if you want to. 2. Stack up one or two popsicle sticks, then stack the spoon on top. 3. Wrap a rubber band around the end of the stack where the spoon handle is to secure them together. 4. Stack a few popsicle sticks together and wrap rubber bands around each end to secure them together. 5. Place stacked popsicle sticks in between the spoon and the sticks held together with a rubber band at one end. You may have to wedge it in there! 6. Place a pom pom in your spoon and test your catapult by pulling back on the spoon. How far did your pom pom (projectile) go? 7. Measure the distance and record your data!

What’s Happening?

A catapult works by storing up potential energy when pulling it back to launch. This energy is transferred to the projectile, propelling it out of the catapult and toward the desired target area. A big part of the engineering design process is to both test and improve your design: How many popsicle sticks did you stack and wedge under the spoon? Try adjusting the number of sticks — does anything change? What happens to the pom pom when launched with your new design? What happens if you extend the length of the spoon by rubber banding a popsicle stick to the handle? Which one goes farther? Why do you think that is? What other improvements could you make and test with your design? Remember to record your data!

Want to Learn More?

Want more opportunities to build, test, and tinker? Come visit the Build It exhibit at Arizona Science Center on display now through January 2022. This exhibit allows visitors to activate their inner engineer and practice principles of innovating, designing and constructing. Check it out! For tickets and more information, visit azscience.org.

Sari Custer is a lifelong science junkie, Chief of Science and Curiosity Officer at Arizona Science Center and mom to daughter Carson (7). Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @ SariOnScience.

Antelope Canyon, an awe-inspiring and spiritual slot canyon near Page, went from seeing millions of visitors every year to seeing zero when the pandemic hit. We were two of those visitors before COVID-19 set in, participating in a tour of the upper canyon that left us eager to bring our kids back with us.

On that tour, our Navajo guide told us how water and wind formed the swirling sandstone canyon, demonstrated it for us on a smaller scale and shared with us how his ancestors believed in a spiritual presence there. It was an unforgettable experience, for sure. One of our favorite photos from that tour hangs over our entryway, and the kids see it every day. Just about as often, they asked when they could go see it for themselves.

Because the canyon is located on the Navajo reservation, it was closed throughout the pandemic. The impact the pandemic has had on the Navajo is well documented, and we followed along with updates, anxiously awaiting good news about the health of the people who lived there, the progress they made with vaccinations (they were actually lauded as a national model) and the sentiment from tribal leadership on when and how the canyons would reopen.

After being closed for more than a year, the Navajo reservation recently voted to open the canyon again to tours — right after we returned from a trip to the area to visit Lake Powell and Horseshoe Bend, two other Instagram darlings right alongside Antelope Canyon.

But, before we went, we lucked out. We learned of a waterbased entry to the canyon, accessible from Lake Powell. So, we seized the opportunity to get back in there and allow the kids to experience a place they already seemed so familiar with.

Having experienced a guided, land-based tour and now an unguided, water-based tour of Antelope Canyon, we thought it would be helpful to share how to do either. Because now that it’s open again, it’s time to get out there and experience it while respecting the sanctity of the canyon and what it means to the Navajo tribe. The best part about both? The trial is relatively flat and sandy, free of major obstacles or boulders to scale, so kids should have no problem exploring Antelope Canyon.

Visiting Navajo Nation

East of Page, Arizona, in the LeChee Chapter of Navajo Nation, Antelope Canyon includes two separate, scenic slot canyon sections: Upper Antelope Canyon and Lower Antelope Canyon. Photos of these sandstone slot canyons are beautiful and iconic, and the area is considered a spiritual place to the Navajo people. Antelope Canyon is visited through guided tours in part because rains during monsoon season — even rain several miles away — can quickly flood the slot canyons. Visit navajonationparks.org to learn about tours into Navajo Nation’s scenic destinations at Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly. NOTE: The Navajo Reservation has a mask mandate, requiring ages 2 and older (even ages 12 and older who are vaccinated) to wear a face covering while on Navajo land.

By land. There are a few options to choose from if you decide to explore Antelope Canyon as part of a guided, land-based tour. All of the land-based tours are guided, and there is so much value in learning from the Navajo guides who share ancestral stories and interesting insights about the formation of the canyon. We have only experienced the Lower Antelope Canyon tour, which required us to descend a steep metal ladder to the canyon floor. Our guide, with the Dixie Ellis tour company, let us know that backpacks weren’t allowed in order to protect the canyon walls and that the summer season is typically the busiest. If you want more time to take photos, consider looking into a photography tour, but we came away with dozens upon dozens of incredible photos despite taking a standard tour.

By water. If you have access to Lake Powell, consider getting to Antelope Canyon by water. A narrow canyon south of the Antelope Point Launch Ramp (not far from Antelope Point Marina) leads directly to the trailhead. There are no permits required to access the trailhead, and hikers do not need a guide — but as people who value these special places, we encourage common sense and respect for the area. We were able to drive our speedboat back to the trailhead and anchor it, using our jet skis to ferry our crew from the water to land. To our surprise, we saw someone in there with a houseboat, which we wouldn’t recommend. But, if you don’t have access to a speedboat, there is a tour company that rents kayaks from the Antelope Point Launch Ramp. If kayaking, whether you own or rent, plan to go early to avoid afternoon wind and choppy water, and expect to need about five hours to complete the entire trip.

The hike through the canyon is an out-and-back style hike, which means whatever you missed coming in, you can catch on the way out. We packed snacks and carried water bladders because we were unsure about how exposed the trail was, but we found out it offered shade about half the time. The best part about the hike, besides the otherworldly landscape, is that you decide how far to go. We hiked until the swirling sandstone came to an end and then chose to explore a side canyon for a while. But your ending point is entirely up to you, so long as you don’t trespass on protected land.

Lisa Van Loo is a Gilbert freelance journalist. Ron Abelar is an avid outdoorsman and photographer. Together, they are parenting five children. Follow them on Instagram @ RaisingOutdoorKids