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Language school offers online learning BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
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he International School of Arizona, a private school in Scottsdale that offers French and Spanish language immersion programs will offer a flexible hybrid teaching model this school year. The model combines innovative technology for remote learners and a slew of new safety measures and protocols for students and staff returning to campus, including mask requirements. The school offers programs to kids 18 months old through eighth grade. “We reached out to our families and listened to their needs and realized that we had to offer both in-class and remote learning,” said ISA Headmaster
Micheline Dutil-Hoffmann, headmaster of International School of Arizona stands in front of one of her Promethean ActivPanel Boards that allow for educational live-streams and online instruction. (Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)
Micheline Dutil-Hoffmann. This summer, ISA sent two surveys to families to gauge their comfort level with returning to campus and about half of the respondents said they prefer remote learning over in-person. Scottsdale resident Lyrna Schoon was one of those parents. Schoon’s two daughters attend ISA; one is enrolled in the French track, the other in the Spanish track. “With the current COVID-19 caseload in Maricopa County, my husband and I feel safer having our children take classes online. Our family situation allows for our two daughters to stay home,” Schoon said. In response to the surveys, ISA invested
see ISA page 18
Scottsdale woman in running for author award
BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
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cottsdale resident Crystal Waltman has been nominated for a 2020 Author Academy Award for her book “Quitting to Win.” Released July 7, “Quitting to Win” is nominated in the health category. “It is a true honor and a surreal feeling,” Waltman said. “I don’t see myself as a literary genius, but after losing a best friend to mental illness, I realized there are so many people who are suffering quietly. Turning tragedy into triumph is a daily choice.” Described by Waltman as a book about sports, spine surgery, and sobriety, “Quitting to Win” shows readers how to let go of the past and release the shame of guilt. It teaches how to feel physical and emotional pain while also maintaining spiritual fitness and how to love the
person they are and are meant to be. “’Quitting to Win’ stems from the simple phrase: ‘Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?’” Waltman said. “Success can sometimes come from what you don’t do.” Waltman is a fourthgeneration Arizonan and a former first baseman for the 1997 Central Arizona College softball team that won the the NJCAA national championship. In 2015, she broke her back in three places and now lives with a metal cage, two rods, eight screws and three spacers. Waltman also battled alcoholism and described
Scottsdale resident Crystal Waltman’s book “Quitting to Win” was published July 7 and is currently nominated for a 2020 Author Academy Award. (Author Academy Elite)
she entered that battled with a “competitive, sports-like mentality.” “I couldn’t picture myself past the age of 40,” she said. “When I made it to 40 years old sober, I felt a calling to write it all out and release the shame and guilt and show compassion for others.” Since the release of “Quitting to Win,” Waltman has received messages from readers daily – and it’s this reader feedback she said is the most rewarding part of writing the book. “Hearing stories of how mothers and daughters became closer, because ‘Quitting to Win’ opened
the dialogue of some uncomfortable life lessons,” she said, adding: “How couples after reading the book together were able to share their stories with their partner which brought them closer. The process of being vulnerable opens me up to criticism, so faith has been my pillar of strength.” Waltman’s goal is to get the book in recovery centers in all 50 states “to remove the shame and guilt of addiction, alcoholism and raise awareness to mental illness.” “Quitting to Win is designed for small group study with discussion questions in the appendix,” she added. And if the book wins the Author Academy Award, Waltman hopes it’ll help raise awareness of those suffering from emotional and physical pain. “Crystal’s proven path gives you the tools you need,” said Kary Oberbrunner, founder
see WALTMAN page 18
