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THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON
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This Week
NEWS .............. 6 Superintendent Bebee finishes certification
FEATURES ..... 21 ADOT’s witty messages promote driver safety
BUSINESS ...... 16 Business Briefcase explores Buckeye development
OPINION ...............10 BUSINESS.............. 16 CALENDAR ............18 FEATURES ..............20 OBITUARIES ...........23 CLASSIFIEDS ..........26 NORTH
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June 1, 2022
The Voice of the West Valley for 37 years
Harvard-bound teen thanks TUHSD
BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI West Valley View Executive Editor
R
yan Novoa has been fascinated with Harvard since he was a child. The mythology, the reputation and the programs long appealed to the recent University High School graduate. This fall, Novoa will see his dream comes to fruition, as he begins his freshman year at the Ivy League school, concentrating in human developmental and regenerative biology under the premed track. Monies from Harvard, the Annie Lewis Scholarship, the Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship and the Ethical Cadet Scholarship will help pay the Avondale resident’s tuition. Harvard, Novoa said, is everything he wants in a university. “As I got into high school and I started developing what I wanted to study, I saw Harvard offered the best preparation for medical school.
“It’s also in a big city, which really appealed to me. There are a lot of opportunities for exploration. I really like music and Harvard has a really good music program.” Science is equally as intriguing to him. As a child, Novoa scoured YouTube for anything related to science. “I like things that are related to biology, like animals, why humans are the way they are, anatomy — all of that I found really interesting,” Novoa said. “For example, I was fascinated with what valves open and close and why the vessels are going in the direction they’re going. Medicine, as a discipline, is very hands on. I like applied knowledge, as in you learn how something works and then you work physically to apply that skill. That really appealed to me. That’s why I want to be a physician.”
Harvard...continued on page 4
The son of Peruvian immigrants, Ryan Novoa is headed to Harvard after graduating from University High School in Tolleson. (Novoa Family/
Submitted)
West Point teacher to volunteer in Ukraine BY LAUREN SERRATO
West Valley View Staff Writer
S
chool is out and as campuses throughout the state begin to empty, students and teachers are starting their summer vacations. Third-year West Point High School English teacher Michael Kopczak will spend a month volunteering in Ukraine, his family’s homeland.
After the war broke out in Ukraine, Kopczak quickly decided he wanted to travel the 6,200 miles to volunteer. “The war broke out on Feb. 24, and I have relatives over there, so I wanted to go help,” Kopczak said. “Obviously I was working, I wasn’t going to leave my job, so I decided to not teach summer school and use my summer to go over there to help out.”
Due to the travel restrictions in Ukraine, Kopczak will fly to Warsaw, Poland, on June 2, where he will then travel to meet his aunt in Lviv in western Ukraine. “When I see my aunt, I will help her personally with anything that she needs,” he said. “I will then hook up with any organiza-
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Ukraine...continued on page 3
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