Puma Spotlight 2014-15 Skip To Main Content

Puma Spotlight 2014-15

May, 2015

Ms. Chakraborty-Spotts received the 2015 Colorado Math Award for Outstanding Service to Students.

Eighth grader, Paige Mowery (pictured in the back row) traveled with the Colorado Children's Chorale National Tour Choir to Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Russia.  This picture is taken in St Petersburg, Russia - Palace Square - in front of the Hermitage. 

See more on the President of Finland's website.

Brian Martinez was awarded Senior of the Year in his Forensic Sciences course at the Boulder CTE (Career and Technical Education) recognition ceremony, not only for his grade, but, in the words of his instructor "his leadership, community involvement, and his work with the cadet program". 

Peak to Peak's Pumas won the Class 3A state title in the girls 3,200-meter relay for the second year in a row! They posted a time of 9 minutes, 43.90 seconds.

Read more...

Congratulations to our Battle of the Books team! These awesome readers won 3rd place at the district competition!

Peak to Peak's athletes continue to impress! Congratulations to the following teams and students:

  • Freshman, Ryan Davis, will be competing at the state swimming championships.
  • The girls soccer team has qualified for the quarter finals of state. 
  • The baseball team successfully won their district play and will head to the state championships.
  • The track team has qualified 8 athletes for the state track meet.

Launched in the 2014-15 school year, the Peak Option Program provides an opportunity for teachers at Peak to Peak to be recognized for their accomplishments and receive compensation that reflects their level of expertise. These master teachers and counselors exemplify all that is excellent about our wonderful teaching staff, and we were so proud to celebrate with them on their incredible accomplishments. This year, 20 teachers qualified for the program! These 20 teachers and counselors will enjoy a 10% salary increase starting with the 2015-16 school year as a result of their successful applications for the Peak Option.

Yearbook advisor McCall Warneke and the Middle School and High School Yearbook Teams, have been named 2015 Jostens’ National Yearbook Programs of Excellence. The National Yearbook Program of Excellence recognizes engaging yearbooks that reflect a broad representation of the student body while helping students develop 21st century skills such as communication, collaboration, and information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy.

Jostens’ National Yearbook Program of Excellence Awards are presented twice a year, in spring and in fall for yearbooks delivered during the school year. The Award was presented to the Peak to Peak yearbook program for achieving the defined criteria in each of three following categories: creating an inclusive yearbook, generating school engagement, and successfully managing the yearbook creation process. 

The following students from Ms. Kristie Letter's class have received recognition from the Colorado River of Words contest:

1st Place:  Marie Spence for her poem, "No, Not a River"

2nd Place:  Maxine Hartnett, "Comparison"

3rd Place:  Meghan Sharma, "Uniting Agent"

Honorable Mention:  Patricia Morreale, "The Surface"

Four students have been named as national finalists (some are also state-level winners):

Anna Brent, "Journal entry:  "10.18.2014":

Maxine Hartnett

Jungkar Ombadykow, "Drop" 

Marie Spence

April, 2015

Congratulations to Peak to Peak senior, Michael Voecks, who has received a 2015 Boettcher Scholarship! 

Since 1952, the Boettcher Foundation has awarded more than $65 million in undergraduate scholarships to many of Colorado’s best and brightest students.  Our merit-based awards provide what is essentially a full-ride to any 4-year institution in Colorado, and the prestigious program is the oldest in the state.

Read more about the Boettcher Foundation.

Isaac Friesen, Peak to Peak class of 2013, received the Outstanding Student Award for the Math, Science and Engineering Division at Seminole State College.  There are only six students, out of the entire student body, recognized each year as Outstanding Students.  Selections are made by the faculty of each academic division.  He will be honored Thursday, April 30, 2015 at the Seminole State College Spring Recognition Banquet sponsored by the SSC Educational Foundation.

Congratulations to these Peak to Peak seniors, who have signed to participate in collegiate-level athletic programs:

Dallas Frisbie - Colorado School of Mines Cross Country and Track
Katharine Kia - Colorado School of Mines Basketball
Nick Kakavas - Otero Junior College Baseball
Elizabeth Peterson - Cal Poly Swimming

We're so proud of our Puma Athletes! Nice work, students.

Read the article.

Congratulations to the following 13 high school students whose scores on their PSAT exams this year have qualified them for National Merit Scholarship recognition in the fall. Congratulations to:

  • Gabriel Bessler
  • Sara Crook
  • Justin Demus
  • Daniel Frick
  • Samuel Giles
  • Kristine Guo
  • Justin Kalloor
  • Jacob Kendrick
  • Emi Lee
  • Regan McMahon
  • Gregory Miller
  • Isaac Ruble
  • Ashlyn Stahly

Peak to Peak eighth grader, Sudeepti Nareddy, has earned her black belt in Karate. Way to go!

Preston Brantmeyer, Peak to Peak freshman and the 2014-15 state president of the Colorado Society Children of the American Revolution, presided over the organization's state conference last month. In this role, he presented the Denver Fisher House with donations totaling more than $3500. The Denver Fisher House provides for a free home away from home for the family members of active and retired military when their loved one is in the hospital. Preston will travel to Washington DC for the Children of the American Revolution's national convention this month.

This semester middle school art students went to the Denver Art Museum to look at Fauvism "Matisse and Friends" and then created their own paintings based on their museum experience. These paintings were displayed at the Lafayette Public Library during the month of March. The project was made possible by a grant Katy Mathes, Peak to Peak art teacher, received from the City of Lafayette.

MARCH, 2015

Students from Peak to Peak's Speech & Debate Team participating in the national qualifying tournament placed as follows:

  • Kaushik Yeturu in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, 4th place
  • Navami Manangi in Original Oratory, 5th place
  • Vyas Muralidharan in Original Oratory, 2nd place

Vyas Muralidharan will go on to compete in the national tournament in Dallas, Texas this summer. His hilarious and insightful original oratory discusses how his dislike of cats and his dislike of racism are related. Competing at the National Tournament is the highest honor in High School Forensics and Vyas will be pitted against hundreds of students from across the U.S. 

Peak to Peak World Language teacher, Keri Dunphy, has earned National Board Certification. National Board Certification is the highest mark of accomplishment in teaching.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is recognized as the source for the highest standards and practices that lead to improved teaching, leading and learning. This voluntary assessment program is designed to develop, retain and recognize accomplished teachers, and to embed ongoing school improvement in schools nationwide. Completion of the National Board Certification process (which takes one to three years) signifies that teachers have developed and demonstrated the skills required of an accomplished education professional.

The following Peak to Peak students qualified this past weekend to compete at the Colorado Speech & Debate State Championships March 20th & 21st:

  • Kaushik Yeturu in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  • Vyas Muralidharan and Sarah Soloway in Original Oratory
  • Ilse Meiler in Dramatic Interpretation of Literature
  • Orion Pilger in Humorous Interpretation of Literature
  • Mayank Mishra in Extemporaneous Speaking

Peak to Peak senior, Chris Chen, is a National Merit Scholarship finalist!

More than one million juniors in the nation took the qualifying exam, PSAT, in the fall of their junior year. Only 15,000 were selected to become National Merit Scholarship Finalists. All finalists have an opportunity to be awarded a scholarship of $2,500 and, depending upon the sponsoring corporation, Finalists may receive up to a full scholarship. Additionally, many colleges and universities actively recruit National Merit Finalists for their schools by offering them additional scholarships.

All Finalists will be considered for National Merit Scholarships to be offered in 2015.

For more information about the National Merit Scholarship Program, visit the NMSP website.

Peak to Peak senior, Katharine Kia, was featured as one of three Positive Coaching Alliance’s Triple Impact Competitor Scholarship winners. Read more...

Five Peak to Peak eighth graders received recognition at the Boulder Valley National History Day competition. William Alexander, Georgia Dauzvardis, and Kate Tracy, won 2nd place in the performance category for their presentation titled The Evolution of Charles Darwin: His Work, His Theories, and His Legacy. Catherine Li and Emily Struck won 3rd place in the performance category for their presentation titled Emmeline Pankhurst: Leading Women to Equality. These students will all move on to the state competition in May.

Sohan Sur, seventh grade student, has been notified that he is a semifinalist eligible to compete in the 2015 Colorado National Geographic State Bee.  The Colorado state finals will be held in Denver on March 27th, 2015. More information about this competition, the awards for the state and national champions, and about the National Geographic Society is available in the press release. 

FEBRUARY, 2015

2015 Scholastics Art and Writing Award Winners

Gold Key Portfolio:

  

Benjamin DeYoung, Out Of Your Comfort Zone 

  
Ryan O'Dowd, Imagining Reality  

Gold Key:

  

Ty Estler, Sunflower Sunrise

  

Rebecca Shu, Bait

  

Rebecca Shu, Home

  

Rebecca Shu, Breach

  

Silver Key Portfolio:

  

Zander Harrigan, Freak Show

  

Silver Key:

  

Reine Defranco, Dimensional Muscle

  

Talbot Jenkins, Catercorner

  

Rebecca Shu, Morning

  

Rebecca Shu, Dissipate

  

Emma Tocci, Aquaphobia

  

Honorable Mention Portfolio:

  

Harpreet ChamdalIn, Nature

  

Reine Defranco, Converging Particles

  

Honorable Mention:

  

Grayson Brasier, T-Shirt Design

  
Harpreet ChamdalIn, Nature  
Emmalee Harper, Kal-eye-doscope  
Zander Harrigan, Lakshmi and Avonmora   

Peak to Peak 8th grader, Anna Shults, brought home a victory in the HS Challenge Races.

Read the article.

Sarah Maher placed third in her recent diving meeting with the Boulder High Diving Team and qualified for the state meet. 

Ashley Song was accepted into this years Colorado All State Orchestra to be held at Colorado State University.  She was selected through an audition process and competed against 500 other students from all over the state of Colorado.  Only the best of best were chosen. 

Kai Stahoviak was the 8th grade winner of Peak to Peak's spelling bee and semi-finalist in the regional spelling bee competition.