Ajo Copper News, July 13, 2022, Page 6
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(520)387-5651 | 410 N. Malacate St. | www.desertsenta.org
HEALTH CARE
- Your Center for Healing and Wellness -
Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm
Telehealth Visits Available!
Happy 17th Birthday Angelique 7-11
You are not a little girl anymore but you’ll
always be our little girl! Proud of the wonderful
young lady you have grown into! Love you Mija!
Dad, Mom, Lucian, Gia, , Mila,
and all your family & friends
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Nellie Jo David
Freckles and Bolt are 3-month-old kittens. They are very
playful and friendly, according to Pima Animal Care Center staff.
For more information about adopting homeless pets, call 520-
387-7502. PACC is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from
11 a.m. until 1 p.m. and Wednesday evening from 4:30 until 6:30
p.m. It is located on Well Road with an entrance at the back of
the sheriff’s department building.
The Ajo Store
meets 2022 goal,
seeks volunteers
The Ajo Store, a non-profit
thrift store located in the Ajo
Plaza, reached its fiscal end-of-
year goal of $30,000 from July
2021 to July 2022.
“We set an ambitious goal
of $30,000 last year and we are
so thrilled we made it,” said Pat
Fisher, founder of The Ajo Store.
“Other than our operating costs,
every dollar spent at our store
goes back to the communities of
Ajo, Why, and Lukeville.”
Organizations that have re-
ceived monetary and physical
donations from The Ajo Store in-
clude the Ajo/Gibson Volunteer
Fire Department, Ajo Historical
Society, Bonzai Studio for its
Summer Fun Camp, Shelters for
Hope, Why Seniors Club, and oth-
ers.
“We’re setting our 2022-2023
fiscal year goal to $40,000 so we
can further support our communi-
ty and the work of many important
organizations and clubs around
town,” Fisher said.
Deborah Mullins, manager of
The Ajo Store, pointed out that all
the staff is volunteers. “We have a
lot of fun here,” she said. “We like
to make sure that our volunteers
and customers have a good time
while they’re here.”
The Ajo Store is always look-
ing for new volunteers to sort and
price donations, keep the store
clean and organized, and engage
with customers. Mullins added,
“We’re hoping to have more vol-
unteers in the next year to support
our $40,000 goal.”
The Ajo Store is located at
40 West Plaza Street and is open
from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays,
and Saturdays.
Guthrie wants more discussion
before hiring athletic directors
A boost from
DES will help
fund Ajo Pre-K
In 2021, Pre-K director &
teacher Rona Cotay applied for
grant funding from the Arizona
Department of Economic Security
to help the school district fund the
Pre-K program which is not funded
by the state like other grade levels.
The grant was awarded.
In 2022, Cotay again applied for
the grant. Not only was it granted
again, but the funding amount was
doubled.
Cotay made a proposal to the
school board to use a portion of the
grant for some personnel expen-
ditures including additional train-
ing, benefits, and pay-increase for
Pre-K staff, things that DES recom-
mended. Those expenses require
board approval.
“Ms Cotay deserves a lot of
credit on this,” said school superin-
tendent Dr. Roman Soltero who col-
laborated on the grant request with
Cotay, district secretary Angelina
Valenzuela, and former Ajo super-
intendent Dr. Robert Dooley. “She
really was thinking outside of the
box and was really keeping us in-
formed of what was going on.”
The board discussed Cotay’s
proposal at a Monday board meet-
ing. They are expected to vote on
its approval this week.
During an Ajo school board
discussion on Monday of whether
to approve extra pay positions in
the coming year, positions such
as the two Athletic Director slots,
board member Lonnie Guthrie
made an impassioned request that
additional discussions be had and
added qualifications be required
for school administrators that su-
pervise coaches. He said admin-
istrative decisions made by ADs
that deeply affect sports programs
are not always done with the ben-
efit of the team in mind.
Coaches, said Guthrie, better
know the needs of the teams they
coach, and need more say over
sports programs, with less control
by administration. He highlighted
the high level of responsibility of
running a sports program and the
profound influence it has on stu-
dents.
Guthrie has served as an AUSD
coach in the past. He said he and
other coaches have been locked
out of sports decisions, negatively
impacting student athletes.
As a result of Guthrie’s desire
for further discussion, the approv-
al of some extra pay positions, like
ADs, could be tabled this week,
when they had been scheduled for
approval, until his concerns are
addressed, concerns he said are
shared by other coaches.
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