Teacher Appreciation contest to recognize those teachers that have gone above and beyond under the circumstances of remote learning. Out of over 80 nominations, our First Grade Teacher, Ms. Christie French was one of 10 teachers honored.
Palpasha Karki, Lyric Martin, and Domenic DeCaro (all rising 11th graders) were named Pete Conrad Scholars in the category of Smoke-Free World, Repurposed Farmlands & Tobacco Crops at the virtual Conrad Challenge Innovation Summit last week! Their team, called TobaccOats, was coached by Mrs. Letter and is Peak to Peak’s second team to be recognized at The Conrad Challenge for two years in a row! The Pete Conrad Scholars award is the top acknowledgement in The Conrad Challenge which is a multi-phase STEM & entrepreneurship competition inspired by the legacy of Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad. This year’s Innovation Summit, which is the final round of The Conrad Challenge, included 37 international finalist teams and was held completely online for the first time due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines. The students have been awarded scholarship dollars along with the award. Read more in the Conrad Challenge article .
Andrew Woen (rising 12th grader) received a "Future Leader" award from CBS 4 Denver. Watch the video in CBS news.
Both our Middle School and our High School Yearbook programs have earned the National Yearbook Program of Excellence Awards! This honor is very hard to achieve. Nationally, Jostens prints books for over 15,000 schools and only 350 schools earned the honor.
Three teams of 10th grade students just won big rewards from Adcap to make their innovative ideas a reality at Peak to Peak next year.
Grand Prize went to "The Bite" to promote healthy eating at Peak to Peak, so get ready for Peak to Peak's first healthy food cooking show! A team made up of Milan Hancock, Nivedita Prabhu, Bergen Cloninger, and Kaja Marshall will be producing "The Bite." This Masterchef-esque show will feature healthy cooking competitions (featuring students and staff) and connect nutrition and mental health. This fun, healthy idea won a thousand dollars of seed money.
The two runner-up teams received $250 to get their fabulous ideas started.
The Filtrate-inator:
Using amazing design skills and influenced by our current need to protect our airspace, this team made up of Caleb Foster, Ivan Brazy, Bryce Li, and Ryaan Khan will be prototyping a personal air filter which is small and portable.
Puma Planters
This team, made up of Caroline Gable, Maddie Ball, Grace Langlois., MJ Byrne, and Lauren Hudson, will grow our school commitment to the environment by giving each classroom a plant next year, along with grade-appropriate instruction.
Mr. Benson, High School English Teacher, received Honorable Mention for the Winslow Coyne Reitnouer Excellence in Education Award! This award " honors teachers on the leading edge of best practices that help students with print disabilities succeed in the mainstream classroom."
Several Peak to Peak students won awards for their works submitted in the Lafayette Youth Poetry Prize. In the K-2nd grade division, Dominic Wilson (1st grade) received 1st place, and Linnea Peterson (2nd grade) was awarded 2nd place. In the 3rd-4th grade division, Alessandra Wilson (3rd grade) received an Honorable Mention. In the 5th-7th grade division, Henry Gabriel (6th grade) was awarded 1st place! Way to go, Pumas!
This year, the Peak to Peak Innovation Grant provided funding for a very special project intended to embrace community connections and broaden support for our students' creative passions. The project illuminated the unique skill set of one of our contracted custodians, Robert Leach, while concurrently building the writing and artistic skills of 6th grade students. The projects shown here were descriptive writings produced by 6th graders, Sulaiman Ebadi and Roshan Bharadwaj, that Mr. Leach then chose as pieces for illustration. The intent was for students to learn to write descriptively for an illustrator. The project also included writing stories inspired by Mr. Leach's artwork, and student-created artworks that responded to the written word. Well done all around, Pumas, and special thanks to Ms. Jouzdani, Ms. Hankey, and Ms. Manzanares who sponsored this project!
The middle school virtual trivia night was a huge success thanks to a special group of teachers and the amazing Puma community who participated! Congratulations to the following trivia masters:
8th grade winner: Siddarth Nareddy
7th grade winner: Katie Willetto
6th grade winners (a 3-way tie): Jacque Steven, Robert Joos, and Andy Gu
The Program Development Committee of the U.S. Figure Skating has awarded Jacqueline Conant the Gold level Graduating Seniors Award! The Graduating Seniors Program recognizes those student-athletes who have worked hard to pursue figure skating while maintaining their academics. During all four years of high school, Jacque has been traveling to Colorado Springs three to four times per week to train, while maintaining her academic standing at Peak to Peak.
Congratulations to the following students who were selected as National Merit Scholarship Finalists:
​Charles Dupras
Ayush Garg
Brandon Guo
Jeffrey Li
Leonard Shearer
Logan Wagner
Angela Weddig
Brandon Guo was selected as a winner of the National Merit $2500 Scholarship.
Out of fourteen schools participating in the district's Battle of the Books competition this year, Peak to Peak students truly shined! Here are the results:
3rd grade placed 4th place
4th grade tied for 1st place
5th grade tied for 3rd place
6th grade placed 1st
7th grade placed 1st
8th grade placed 2nd
April 2020
Pushapman Brar (9th grade) and Anjana Radha (8th grade) each received a 2020 National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) Outstanding Achievement Award for their character, volunteer efforts, and academic achievements. The award includes a $500 529 college scholarship.
Elementary and middle school students participated in Peak to Peak's virtual Battle of the Books competition this week. Students in the top 5 will move on to the district level battle. Well done, Pumas, and congratulations to the following students:
3rd Grade:
Josh Taylor
Emily Webster
Margot McCune
Anders Fitzgerald
Audrey Griepentrog
4th Grade:
Gianna Clark
Jocelyn Fiegland
Aleema Razzak
Levi Hartter
Prisha Jain
5th Grade:
Kyra Rein
Lila Eikel
Riley Day
Smrithi Ganesh
Shibani Senthilkumar
6th Grade:
Naitik Sinha
Amanda Zou
Rajeev Bharadwaj
Roshan Bharadwaj
Ram Mangu
7th Grade:
Aarnav Jain
Lola Graves
Evan Douglass
Fritz Weber
Jude Hartter
8th Grade:
Sidd Nareddy
Shreya Senthilkumar
Imaani Razzak
Ellen Lu
Amrita Saini
Celeste "Zesty" Lythgoe (12th grade) was named as one of Monmouth College's Trustees’ Scholars.
Dhruv Shaji Kumar (7th grade) earned his 1st-degree black belt in taekwondo. Here is what Dhruv had to say, "I feel grateful for the results of my hard work, dedication, and positive attitude. Finally, after 3.5 years of intense martial arts training in taekwondo, I achieved my 1st-degree black belt and accomplished many things along the way that helped me stay one step ahead. This helped me focus, improve my attitude, and improve teamwork. I hope to continue this new journey on a different path."
Alvina Zhang (10th Grade) earned 3rd place in Original Oratory at the CHSAA Rocky Mountain North NSDA National Qualifying Speech and Debate Tournament held on 3/7/2020, which put her as the 1st alternate for Nationals.
Makenna Turner (12th grade) was awarded the Amazon Future Engineers Scholarship which provided $40,000, plus a guaranteed paid internship at Amazon during summer.
High school State Science Fair winners:
Eleanor Gentry (12th grade) was awarded first place in the Physics category.
Middle school State Science Fair winners:
Anjana Radha (8th grade) was awarded first place in the Chemistry/Biochemistry category.
Megan Wagner (8th grade) was awarded first place in the Energy and Transportation category.
Quinn Burns (8th grade) was awarded second place in the Physics category.
Peak to Peak had two teams winning grand prizes in the international World Series of Innovation this year! We also had two teams win runner up and seven teams make the finals for this competition asking high school students to engage UN Sustainability goals to change the world. Watch the video in the World Series of Innovation.
Awards and winning teams were as follows:
Intuit Education Challenge GRAND PRIZE -
Amelia Schantz and Isabelle Pollack - ResMed, a distance learning program that utilizes virtual reality to train health workers for Indian reservations.
PayPal Equality for all Challenge GRAND PRIZE -
Edgar Lozano and Vithika Goyal - UV Smiles, a solar-powered UV light water purification system promoting equality for people who lack access to drinkable water.
Bank of the West Clean Energy Challenge RUNNER UP -
Catalina Pezzuti and Austin Roeder - FAN-tastic, a residential hydropower solution that harnesses kinetic energy from mini water turbines placed in plumbing pipes.
PayPal Equality for All Challenge RUNNER UP -
Nikita Dutta - Kalokagathia, a nonprofit that places sanitation stations in rural communities where female lack access to menstruation care and birth control
PayPal Equality for All Challenge FINALIST -
Iris Zhang and Vanessa Barazza - Swapp, an online platform for bartering goods and services, taking money out of the equation to promote equality and inclusion.
Keeli Finan and Brennah Friesen - Crop Top, an agricultural device made with recycled textiles that provides a protective cover for crops at risk from extreme heat or cold.
Luke Smith and Michael Free - Disaster Taxi, a taxi service with vehicles specially equipped for snow emergencies and drivers trained in snow driving, first aid and CPR.
EY Belonging Challenge FINALIST -
Samson Baker and Megha Bhattachan - Civitas, a check-your-phone-at-the-door social club that encourages face-to-face interaction and real conversation
EY Belonging Challenge FINALIST -
Izzy Leutenegger and Gavin Looney - Generation BoomerZ, an online platform designed to connect socially isolated Baby Boomers with Gen Zers who want to trade skills.
Moody's Foundation Climate Action Challenge FINALIST -
Sofia Lowrimore and Garrett Shriver - Tree Sox, a tree-saving product made from recycled fabric that protects trees from pine beetles and other harmful insects and insulates against cold.
Mastercard Financial Access Challenge FINALIST -
Makenna Turner and Ryan McCallan - TAP, a new kind of banking hub that utilizes near-field communication technology to serve younger consumers in their communities.
March 2020
Seniors Ayush Garg, Eleanor Lindsay Gentry, and Makenna Turner have received 2020 Boettcher Scholarships! This merit-based scholarship is for Colorado high school seniors and provides what is essentially a full-ride to any four-year institution in Colorado. This scholarship covers tuition as well as laboratory and other special fees. Senior Renesa Khanna was also named as an alternate. Read more about this scholarship in the Boettcher Foundation page.
Sophie Steven (10th grade) was recognized as the 3rd place winner of the overall Colorado/Wyoming Optimist Club International District contest.
Ayush Garg (12th grade) has been selected as one of the 2020 National Honor Society (NHS) Scholarship recipients. Our High School Counselor Linda Bostic had this to say, "Ayush has been a member of our NHS Leadership Council for the past 2 years and he has been a fabulous model leader to his peers--leading with commitment, integrity, generosity and humility. He has spearheaded multiple events, and presided over many morning meetings. He has helped our chapter create and maintain novel systems of organization and communication. We will be sorry to lose your expertise, Ayush, but wish you great success in your future endeavors!" Read more about this scholarship in the National Honor Society page.
Peak to Peak senior Amelia Schantz and her family brought smiles to many faces last week when they found a way to celebrate with a Prom at home. Watch the story that aired in CBS.
Makenna Turner (12th grade) received a Coca-Cola Scholarship. This is an extremely competitive award that goes to only 150 high school seniors from across the nation. Students are recognized for leading positive change in their communities and around the world. Read more about the scholarship.
Sam Celico (12th grade) won the international Teen Dreams video competition addressing action on the United Nation's sustainability goals. Not only has Sam won a prize for his vision on tiny housing, but he will be given a mentor and invited to lead a "dream hub" to enact action on his chosen UN sustainability goal. Watch the winning videos in Teens Dreams.
Lindsay Li-Garrison (10th grade) and Jeffery Li (12th grade) each won a Silver Medal and at the National Level for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Daniel Kohlbrenner (8th grade) is our 3rd Quarter Pumas for the Planet award winner! Daniel and his older brother Benjamin (10th grade) are the co-creators of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable corporation called HELPCO. Two years ago, they came up with an idea to do something good for the environment and decided that the best way for them to have an immediate and positive impact on their community was to clean up their neighborhood. With a box for recyclables and a bag for garbage they began by collecting trash every Sunday. These students have since attended a majority of the over 100 events held by HELPCO. Their Preserve and Enhance the Environment events have resulted in the removal of over 3,000 pounds of garbage and recyclables from area parks and schools. Some of the company's other offerings include Community Wellness Programs that provide free fitness activities and youth sports to the local community.
Two student-athletes were recognized on the 2nd team, All Metro League: Aiyana Rockwell (12th grade) - Girls Basketball; and Garrett Shriver (12th grade) - Boys Basketball.
Students participating in Speech & Debate this year have been working hard all year. Seventeen students went to the state qualifying event recently to compete in a variety of categories. The following students have qualified for the state competition:
Kendric Chen (10th grade) - Poetry Interpretation
Aayam KC (10th grade) and Bryce Li (10th grade) - Public Forum
Bronwyn Busby (10th grade) and Nivedita Prabhu (10th grade) - Public Forum
Lauren Wagner (10th grade) - International Extemporaneous Speaking
Gianna Guidado (10th grade) - International Extemporaneous Speaking
Alvina Zhang (10th grade) - Original Oratory
Poetry Out Loud high school winners: Nicole Kerschner (10th grade) in first place, Natti Jaraschatrkaew (10th grade) in second place, and Ali Kerschner (3rd grade) in third place. Nicole Kerschner will be going on to compete in the state level.
Anya Veres (5th grade) is a starting left forward for the Colorado Girl’s Hyland Hills ice hockey team. Last weekend her team beat the Boulder Bison with a score of 3-1 to win the State U10 Championship.
February 2020
The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) announced their Aspirations Awards for 2020 and there are nine students from Peak to Peak who were recognized. Congratulations to:
Winners:
Paige Burns (12th grade)
Nicole Kerschner (10th grade)
Aveena Rawal (10th grade)
Cailyn Smith (11th grade) - Winner
Honorable Mention:
Angela Li (12th grade)
Sophia Steven (10th grade) - Honorable Mention
Rising Star:
Julietta Rozin (11th grade)
Isabelle Ruble (12th grade)
Lauren Wagner (10th grade)
The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) honors 9th-12th grade students who self-identify as women, genderqueer, or non-binary for their computing-related achievements and interests, and encourages them to pursue their passions. Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and plans for post-secondary education. Since 2007, nearly 14,000 students have received an Award for AiC.
Sophie Steven (10th grade) won the local Optimist Club essay contest, sponsored by the Type 1 Diabetes Optimist Club (T1DOC). As a result, Sophie wins the $100 first-place prize, a contest medallion, and her essay will advance to the overall Colorado/Wyoming Optimist International District contest where the winner receives a $2,500 college scholarship.
Click on the links below to see a list of students who made Peak to Peak's honor roll for the Fall Semester, 2020.
Peak to Peak students had a big showing at the Corden Pharma Regional Science Fair which includes students from Boulder Valley and Saint Vrain Valley School Districts.
In the senior division
Eleanor Gentry (12th grade) took first place in the Physics category. Eleanor has qualified to compete at the state level Colorado Science & Engineering Fair (CSEF).
Andrew Woen (11th grade) took third place for Math and Computer Sciences. Andrew's project also received recognition with an award from the Yale Science and Engineering Association.
In the junior division
Quinn Burns (8th grade) was awarded first place in the Physics category.
Ziba Ahamed (8th grade) was awarded second place in the Animal Science category.
Peak to Peak students swept the Chemistry category with Anjana Radha (8th grade) receiving first place, Riley Hall (8th grade) receiving second place, and Kyle Thengvall (8th grade) taking third. Kyle's project also received a Broadcom Masters award in addition to recognition from the STEM Department for Junior Science in the Service of the Community. Anjana's project received the Corden Pharma Colorado Junior Cup Award.
Peak to Peak students also swept the Energy and Transportation category with Megan Wagner (8th grade) taking first place, John Miley (8th grade) in second, and Dante Rozin (8th grade) in third place. Dante's project also received recognition from the Office of Naval Research.
In the Environmental Sciences category Siddarth Nareddy (8th grade) was awarded first place and Lily Sutton (8th grade) took third place. Siddarth's project also received a Broadcom Masters award, the Thorne Nature Experience award, and the Soil and Water Conservation Society Junior Level 1st place award.
In the junior division, Anjana, Siddarth, Megan, and Quinn have all qualified for state-level Colorado Science & Engineering Fair (CSEF).
Peak to Peak students participated in a meteorology lesson from local CBS meteorologist, Dave Aguilera.
Vince Cornella (11th grade) won a third straight 5A State Championship title in wrestling.
Garrett Shriver (12th grade) broke Peak to Peak's record for the number of three-point shots made in a single game. Garrett hit a whopping 9 three-point shots and scored a total of 27 points against Prospect Ridge Academy.
The following seniors are Peak to Peak's 2020 National Merit Scholarship finalists:
Charles Dupras
Ayush Garg
Brandon Guo
Jeffrey Li
Leonard Shearer
Logan Wagner
Angela Weddig
Peak to Peak's team placed 2nd in the Math Counts competition. Warren Chen (8th grade) placed 6th as an individual and Alex Zou (8th grade) placed 10th as an individual. They are now moving on to the state competition.
The Peak to Peak Innovation team called "ReeHive" was named as one of the 2019-20 Air & Climate Challenge High School Winners. For this challenge, "ReeHive chose to reuse trash in landfills to construct safe, sustainable, and efficient beehives that are made entirely from recycled materials and that can be used in place of traditional beehives." The team has won $10,000 and will now go on to compete in "The Final Challenge." Way to go, Pumas!
Peak to Peak's Ethics Bowl Team took 1st place at the Colorado High School Ethics Bowl.
Peak to Peak student Anna Marie Karr (10th grade) won first place the Northern Conference Diving championships. Anna Marie dives for the Centaurus Warriors and won with a score of 351.45. Read more in the Daily Camera article.
January 2020
The following students received Scholastic Writing Awards:
Lily Dunkin (12th grade): Silver Key - poetry for "Circle the Hawks" and Silver key - critical essay for "To Vote with Your Dollar"
Ellie Gentry (12 grade): Silver Key - poetry for "The End and other Fears"
Brandon Guo (12th grade): Honorable mention - personal essay for "How I Found My City"
Alexis Kerrane (12th grade): Honorable Mention for dramatic script "2075"
Jeffrey Li (12th grade): Gold Key - critical essay for "MSG: Enhanced Racism and Flavor"
Jonathan Lu (12th grade): Honorable Mention for personal essay "Comp Sci"
Leonard Shearer (12th grade): Silver Key - personal essay for "Chaturangas and Crevices"
Makenna Turner (12th grade): 3 Silver Keys - poetry for "Memento," "Mirachio" and "The Ghost I (Mezza)"
Shrikanish Thenral Mani (6th grade) earned 2nd Place in the January event of the "Summit School of Chess Tournament" series.
The Puma Robotics Club went undefeated and took 1st place and won the Innovation Award at the FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifier. Now, they will compete at the State Championship on February 8th. The following team won the "Central Denver Qualifier:" to Matthew Chen (11th grade), Prash Satish (12th grade), Charlie Dupras (12th grade), and Isaac Dupras (9th grade).
Peak to Peak students Ryaan Khan, Milan Hancock, Grace Langlois and Kaja Marshall (all 10th grade) have won two of the top five national prizes in the Super Sleep video contest sponsored by Sleep Number. The contest was to make a video showing teens what they can accomplish if they get enough sleep. Their teams have won prizes which include Sleep Number beds. Read more about the competition in PR Newswire .
The 6th-grade North Region Optimist Brain Bowl team, consisting of Roshan Bharadwaj, Das, Ram Mangu, Nick Griffin, Tanush Shekhar, and Owen Widmar, placed 4th and qualified for the State Championship tournament.
Peak to Peak students Ryaan Khan, Milan Hancock, Grace Langlois and Kaja Marshall (all 10th grade) won two of the top five national prizes in the Super Sleep video contest sponsored by Sleep Number. The contest was to make a video showing teens what they can accomplish if they get enough sleep. Their teams won prizes which include Sleep Number beds. Read more about the competition in PR Newswire.
Students on the "ReHive" team in this year's innovation course have won the first round of the 2019-20 Lexus Eco-Challenge! Each student on the team earned $1,000 in scholarship money, and the class earned $3,000 to continue their push to develop creative projects that help the Earth and all of us on it. For their project, students are raising awareness about colony collapse disorder and ways to help bees. They also prototyped a beehive made out of trash. Read more about their project, research, and ideas.
The team included the following 10th grade students:
Sophia Dunkin
Caleb Foster
Domenic DeCaro
Caroline Gable
Nicholas Copanas
Milan Hancock
Arya Nandyal
This year's 2020 Colorado All-State Band students went above and beyond to earn their spots. Out of about 800 auditions from across the state of Colorado, five of our students have been selected. Congratulations to:
Ben McCloskey (12th grade) - Trumpet
Prash Satish (12th grade) - Trumpet
Madison Lin (11th grade) - Alto Sax
Sophie Steven (10th grade) -Tenor Sax
Sartaj Singh (10th grade) - Alto Sax.
From Mr. Spicer: "Congratulation on such a well deserved achievement and way to represent Peak to Peak!"
Members of the Middle School Innovation club presented at Future City in Golden this weekend. Using what they learned about water and design, the students built a water-conserving, biomimicry-based model city from trash. They were selected to be featured on an upcoming podcast discussing how biomimicry can help save water in Colorado. Team members include:
Teagan Trasky (6th grade), Ty Matthews (7th grade), Drew Matthews (4th grade), Violet Nelson (6th grade), Penelope Letter (6th grade), Ivy Letter (4th grade), and Josephine Gaarder (6th grade).
There was a record number of participants at this year's Middle School Spelling Bee with 43 students. The winner was Lola Graves (7th grade) and the runner-up was Ava Sommer (8th grade).
Peak to Peak has two student playwrights in the top ten of the Denver Center's AT&T High School Playwriting Competition. Brandon Guo's (12th grade) "God's Not Dead, He's Just an Admissions Officer" and Angie Weddig's (12th grade) "Human" both have made the top ten for one-act plays. Now, their works are being evaluated by professionals to see who wins the grand prize. Read more about the competition in the Performing arts page.
Brandon Guo (12th grade) was selected as one of three top winners in the 2020 Denver Center for the Performing Arts High School Playwriting Competition.
Peak to Peak student, Vince Cornella (11th grade) wrestles on the Monarch High team. As the two-time 5A State Champion, Vince is one to watch again this year. Read more in the Daily Camera article.
Brandon Guo, Ayush Garg, Leonard Shearer (all 12th grade) have advanced to the “Top 32” round of the International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) debate competition. Sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University, the IPPF is the first and only debate contest that gives high school students around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. Read more about the competition.
December 2019
Andrew Woen (11th grade), Quin Burns (8th grade), and Rishi Hancock (10th grade) won 1st, 2nd, and 5th place, respectively, for the 2nd Congressional District in Congressman Neguse’s first annual Congressional App Competition. Read more about the competition in their website.
Andrew Woen's app is able to recognize whether objects are recyclable or not through machine-learning image recognition with a hope to bring more awareness to what is recyclable and what is not recyclable. Watch a video about Andrew Woen's app in Youtube.
Courtney Daniel (3rd grade) and Madison Daniel (Kindergarten) made it to the podium at the Western Regional Irish Dance Championships! Madison placed 1st in her mini-competition (6 and under). Courtney placed 5th in her first major Irish Dance Championships (8 and under) dancing three rounds in front of five judges. She qualified for the Celtic Steps Irish Dance Elite Team and will travel to Ohio in Jan and Nationals located in Nashville this summer.
Three of Peak to Peak's softball players were recognized locally on the 2019 BoCoPreps All-Region Team! Jamie Rader (11th grade) made the first team as an infielder. Alyssa Alvarez (11th grade) and Julia Coates (12th grade) received honorable mention. Read more in the Daily Camera article.
Sophie L. Sims (5th grade) recently volunteered for the Denver Health Hospital to create a video demonstration of the proper use of a metered dose inhaler (MDI). These videos were filmed when she was in 4th grade and can bee seen on denverhealth.org/asthma. Sophie has a history of asthma and wanted to make a difference in her community. The video is designed to help asthmatics improve their medication delivery and improve their quality of life.
November 2019
A handful of Peak to Peak high school students had the opportunity to provide feedback on a new kind of test that may one day replace or complement traditional college entrance exams. Peak to Peak has partnered with Imbellus, the company developing these assessments, to pilot some of their early stage models. The representatives from Imbellus shared that they were delighted with our students' engagement in the opportunity and with their ability to provide constructive feedback. Watch the ABC news story or Read more in the Daily Camera article.
Peak to Peak students took part in a Model UN conference where they tackled the issues of Central American Migration and Deforestation in the Americas. The conference was inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. Peak to Peak’s delegates assumed the role of ambassadors from four different countries (China, Russia, Kuwait & Guatemala) and engaged in debate incorporating many different views of the problems. Resolutions were passed and students came away with a deeper knowledge of these important world issues and hopefully, a better understanding that there are many sides to a conflict that must be considered and respected in order to move forward toward resolution. Awards were presented at the end of the day to two Peak to Peak delegations: Tate Browder & Josh Kirkfield (9th) took home Honorable Mention for their work as the Russian delegation and Emily Post & Alisha Kumari (10th) took home Best Position Paper and Outstanding Delegation for their work as Guatemala.
Terra Sutak (4th grade) was the November the Pumas for the Planet Award winner. Terra is extremely passionate about the environment, and more specifically, litter. Terra is constantly collecting trash and recycling items that have been thrown carelessly on the ground. She actively searches for any garbage she finds, collects it, and throws it away where it belongs. She is passionate about taking care of the earth and our environment, and is dedicated to cleaning up open spaces and anywhere she may be.
The Lafayette Ultimate Frisbee Club fielded two teams at the state tournament, held over Veterans' Day weekend. The teams finished second and third in their respective divisions and featured Peak to Peak students Charlie Dupras (12th grade), Gabe Fromme (12th grade), Gibson Friedman (11th grade), and Prash Satish (12th grade).
The following high school fall sports student athletes received recognition for their talents:
Boys Golf
Davis Long: Metro League 1st Team - Honorable Mention All State
Suchit Sharma: Metro League 2nd Team - 2nd Team All State
Boys Soccer
Michael Crotty: Metro League Honorable Mention - Goalkeeper
Patrick Grady: Metro League 1st Team- Defender
Volleyball
Paige McSavaney: Metro League Honorable Mention
Isabelle Pollock: Metro League 2nd Team
Calla Winner: Metro League 2nd Team
Softball
Coach Becher: Metro League Coach of the Year
Alyssa Alvarez: Metro League 1st Team Outfield
Alena Carpenter: Metro League 2nd Team Infield
Julia Coates: Metro League 1st Team Catcher - Honorable Mention All State
Jamie Rader: Metro League 1st Team Pitcher - Honorable Mention All State
Audrey Wilcox: Metro League 2nd Team Infield
Cross Country
Allison Beasley: Metro League 1st Team - 1st Team All State
Ryan Kuykendall: Metro League 1st Team - Honorable Mention All State
Alvina Zhang: Metro League Honorable Mention
Andrew Cusack (5th grade), Luke Slater (4th grade), Jake Brinkman (4th grade), Noah Baldwin (4th grade), William Fischer (5th grade), and their team, The Ravens, won the National Flag Football League-Madden Division Championship game after finishing an undefeated season.
October 2019
Allison Beasley (11th grade) finished in 6th place at the High School Girls 3A Colorado State Cross Country Championships race. Ryan Kuykendall (11th grade) finished with a top-30 time to put the Pumas to 20th place in the boy's race. Read more in the Daily Camera article.
Ms. Harlow, our teacher-librarian, completed her most recent 50-mile run with a personal record! With Ms. Manzanares joining her for a portion of the race and numerous other staff members supporting Ms. Harlow toward this goal, it is wonderful to see the joy on her face and hear the pride in her voice. Read more on her blog where she captures the emotion in her words and has also posted a number of photos.
The October winner for the Pumas for the Planet award is Marielle Brooks (6th grade)!
Marielle was chosen as a finalist in the 2019 International River of Words Poetry Contest. She was one of 35 finalists chosen from over 4,000 entries K-12th grade. River of Words is a program of The Center for Environmental Literacy and the contest’s theme was to explore the human experience and its impact on the natural world around us. She volunteers as a service dog sitter through Canine Partners of the Rockies and volunteers with Lafayette Birds Open Space program as a teen program helper. Always looking for ways to lessen her impact on the planet, she brings wooden utensils, metal straws, and cloth napkins in her lunch every day.
Chloe Doubrava (12th grade) won 2nd place in her division at the Thornton Arts Sciences and Humanities Council's Young Artist Fall Festival.
Sixteen Peak to Peak students competed at the Boulder High Model UN Conference. The first conference of the season saw delegates debating world issues such as climate change, the South Sudan Civil War, the spread of infectious diseases, and Brexit. For many, this was their first experience with Model UN. Each delegate worked hard in their council to come to an agreement by listening to all sides of the issues and working together to solve problems. The conference attendees also heard a speech from Major Losuba Wongo, a South Sudan rebel commander.
Congratulations to the following students for their accomplishments at the event:
Zach Danzo (9th grade) and Catalina Hiller (9th grade) won an award for Best Position Paper.
Mattie Stevens (10th grade) & Maddie Ball (10th grade) won an Outstanding Delegation award.
Lauren Wagner (10th grade) & Palpasha Karki (10th grade) won the Best Delegation award.
Nicole Kerschner (10th grade) won Honorable Mention for her work in an intermediate World Health Organization council.
September 2019
Mihika Tagare (2nd grade) she was awarded 5th place in the "Summit School of Chess Tournament."
Tanishka Tagare (7th grade) recently won the "Summit School of Chess Tournament" There were five rounds in the tournament and Tanishka won every round. Last spring, Tanishka also won the "Colorado Girls State Chess Championship."
Click on the links below to see a list of students who made Peak to Peak's honor roll for the Spring Semester, 2019.
High School English teacher Ms. Amidon has been named by Teach Plus as one of sixteen effective teachers for a Statewide Policy Fellowship. Read more in the Julesburg Advocate article.
Nathan Madachy (12th grade) who was named The Apprentice of the Year in Advanced Manufacturing at the Front Range CareerWise Apprenticeship Rising Award Ceremony.
Summer 2019
The Steven sisters, Sophie (10th grade) and Jacque (6th grade) represented the state of Colorado at the 2019 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Children's Congress in Washington, D.C. this past July. There were 160 children selected among thousands of applicants to meet with national legislators about the need of renewal of the Special Diabetes Program, support for reform on insulin pricing, and the need for continued research to support a cure for Type 1 diabetes. Sophie and Jacque met with Senator Michael Bennet and Senator Cory Gardner's offices, and they spent some one-on-one time with Congressman Joe Neguse. Additionally, they were selected to discuss the impactful research study work they've participated in with top-level members of Health and Human Services.
Five Peak to Peak students, Jack Wilson (12th grade), Amelia Schantz (12th grade), Nadia Majd (12th grade), Iris Zhang (12th grade), Shawn Mather (11th grade)) along with Ms. Meghan Lukens (Social Studies teacher) had the unique opportunity to travel with the BVSD delegation to the 2019 EF Global Leadership Summit in Davos, Switzerland, July 10-21. Students used the design-thinking process to create and present their own solutions to this year's global challenge The Power of Communication. Students were split up into 164 international groups to create a solution, a prototype and a 60-second pitch for this challenge. Amelia Schantz's group made it to the Top Ten Innovation Finalists where they presented on the Global Summit Stage to over 2000 people.
Marlo Scherr (3rd grade) won the High Point award in the Boulder Valley Summer Swim League 8&U Girls Division. This award is for the most points scored out of all of the swimmers in her age group. Marlo had the only perfect score - 72 points - which means she won first place in all her events!
Paige Burns (12th grade) received a grant to help middle school girls learn about coding. She and several other local high school students took time this summer to teach classes to middle school students. Read the full story in the Times Call article.
Sister Carmen Center selected Peak to Peak's Key Club for their Group.
