Back To School

Gilbert's school system fires up again today after what seems like a really long break. It only seems that way because they got out just 2 days before Christmas; nonetheless, I've heard lots of groaning from the kids, and not a few sighs of relief from the parents who are eager to get back into a routine.

There's a nice article about a kid at a small school in today's AZ Republic:

Surrey Garden Christian School, a K-12 private 1A school in Gilbert, is the smallest of small schools in Arizona.

It has 27 high school boys. Twelve play soccer. Eleven play basketball. And one has a special story.

Ivan Villegas is a 6-foot-5, 205-pound junior forward who is legally blind in his left eye. He shed 45 pounds since last summer and is averaging 28 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots for a 6-3 team.

"He's one of the best shots I've had in basketball," said coach Steve Currier, who has coached in Ohio. "He learned to get that depth perception."

Villegas said when he was 8 years old, he had a cancerous tumor removed from behind his eye. He said he lost the lens, which made him legally blind in the eye.

"If I didn't have (the tumor) removed, it would have killed me," he said.

Villegas, who puts a brown contact in the left eye to match the color of his right eye, said he remembers what it was like to see out of both eyes. He said he uses that recall on the court.

"I can see fully," he said.

But Villegas knew he had to change his body. He was a load at 250 pounds as a sophomore, but he said he was no help to the team, because he was too slow.

He said he stopped eating Mexican food, started eating salads and protein, worked out with weights and in the gym with former Arizona State assistant coach Russ Pennell, who runs Arizona Premier Basketball Academy in Mesa.

Pennell has given Villegas the confidence to believe he can ultimately play at a four-year college.

Villegas wonders how dominant he would be if he was at a big school, but his parents wanted him out of the public-school system three years ago to pick up his academics.

"I was told by Russ, it doesn't matter where you play, if you can play the game, you can play anywhere," Villegas said.

It was the first sentence that caught my eye, of course - "the smallest of small schools in Arizona." I know this from firsthand experience, since my third daughter and future son-in-law both graduated from this school (and his parents hold the positions of principal and teachers). I've been to towns I never knew existed in AZ to watch these kids play their hearts out in various sporting events; towns that are anywhere from one to four hours driving time for the parents and coaches hauling the kids to the events. It was great fun to watch them compete; and the long hours in the car were worth it compared to the alternative, which was NO competition. I wish young Mr. Villegas well and have no doubt that his talents will get some attention from scouts.


As I think about our family, we've enjoyed quite a sampling of the schooling available in Gilbert. The Mister and I feel strongly that our kids' education is our responsibility, and so have worked to find just the right situation for each of them to excel. Gilbert has some of the best schools in the state, as measured both by scoring systems and parental satisfaction.

And GPS is adding a new elementary school, right here in Morrison Ranch. They've begun construction on the new school in Higley Groves, at the intersection of Park and Cole. I'm unsure of its name, but I understand that it will open next fall.