In my borderland area, we are moving to promote scholastic chess. We have made 3 committees and plan on making our very 1st scholastic affiliation in New Mexico! It is hard for other chess supporters in our area to understand our goals, but we will carry on. We plan to register every student with U.S. Chess and eventually hold large rated scholastic events.
Good luck with that effort. Your neighbors in Arizona are already extremely active in the scholastic chess arena. You might be able to lean on them for advice.
Bill Smythe