Puma Spotlight 2020-21
| June 2021 |
The Peak to Peak High School Girls Golf Team finished 2nd in the 3A Regional Tournament at Estes Park, earning their ticket to the State Championship. The team was led by Noelle Thompson (rising 11th grader) who won medalist honors in the Regional Tournament. Traveling to the State Championship with Noelle are Ella Junker (Class of 2021), Kaylee Craig (rising 10th grader), and Ava Sommer (rising 10th grader).
The following rising 10th graders were selected as one of 16 winning high school and college teams in the T-Mobile Foundation and Ashonka 2021 Changemaker Challenge. Shreya Senthilkumar, Amory Mun, Kourtney Rathke, and Nick Pineda collaborated on their project as a part of the Introduction to Innovation class. Two of the team members will be flown to the Changemaker Lab at the T-Mobile headquarters in Washington where they will be mentored and will receive $5,000 to help make their educational innovation, "Solar Education Center" a reality. Way to go, Pumas! #TMoChangemaker
| May 2021 |
Kourtney Rathke (rising 10th grader) has recently broken two more Peak to Peak school records in Track & Field. In the Triple Jump, she jumped 34' 05.75" which broke the previous record of 33' 06." With this stellar performance, she took first place and qualified for the state meet. In this event, she is in the top five for Girls 3A Track & Field. Kourtney then went on to take second place in Long Jump with a mark of 16' 08," topping the previous record of 16' 05.5." She qualified for the state meet in this event and is in the top 10 for Girls 3A Track & Field.
Class of 2021 graduate Allison Beasley was presented with the Bruce Tashiro scholarship award.
Noelle Thompson (rising 11th grader) qualified for the Colorado Junior PGA with a strong 5th place finish. The Major Championship is being held June 15 to 17 at the Country Club of Colorado.
Grace Fuller, Class of 2021 graduate and new alumna, placed 4th in Congressman Neguse's 3rd annual Congressional Art Competition for students in the 2nd Congressional District. The Congressional Art Competition is meant to encourage creativity and is an opportunity for high school students to be recognized for their artistic talents not only within the Congressional District but in our nation's capital. Grace's piece is mixed media and digital photography and is titled "There Are So Many Holes in My Facade."
Emily Post (11th grade) won the 4th quarter Pumas for the Planet Award! Ms. Kristie Letter nominated Emily highlighting the following:
"This year, Emily's unified students and community members for environmental change. She partnered with Tree-Plenish to have more than 200 trees donated to make up for our school’s carbon footprint, after calculating how much paper Peak to Peak uses in a typical year. Volunteers planted all these trees in our community this April. Now, Emily secured a grant from Adcap to buy seedpaper for kids to do crafts and then plant herbs and veggies to encourage eating from the earth. Not only does she lead the LEAP environmental club and mentor ninth-graders on environmental projects, she also just met with the Lafayette Youth Empowerment Project to encourage young people across the community to volunteer for the environment. She’s even distributing seedpaper crafts for kids at the Butterfly Pavilion, where she also volunteers. Emily doesn't just work for environmental change herself, she inspires others!"
Kourtney Rathke (9th grade), who is nationally ranked for pole vaulting, broke her own record and Peak to Peak’s when she cleared 12' 2" at the Lyons Invitational. She broke another record a week later at 12' 3".
Asher Gannett-Mathews (9th grade) qualified for nationals in Level 10, Men’s Gymnastics where he competed last week in Daytona Beach, Florida. He ranked in the top ten in his session on floor, high bar, and parallel bars for 15-year-olds.
Bryce Li (11th grade) and Cami Sarros (11th grade) helped Peak to Peak with the 2021 Eliza Pickrell Routt Award. Bryce and Cami organized a voter registration drive which registered over 85% of our eligible seniors to vote.
More info about the award can be found here: https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/RouttAward.html
Zach Young (8th Grade) was awarded his Eagle Scout rank in January this year. This is the highest achievement possible in scouting for youth and recognizes many of the same character traits that Peak to Peak emphasizes. He was recognized by the Long’s Peak Council as the Eagle Scout of the Month:
"May’s Eagle Scout of the Month is Zach Y. from Troop 62 in Erie, Colorado.
Zach joined Scouting as a Tiger Cub Scout in 2012. Zach’s Eagle Scout project was to build three buddy benches. A buddy bench is a bench where someone can sit if they are being left out or are lonely on a playground. It took Zach and his team of volunteers 196 hours to complete the project. The three buddy benches were placed at Red Hawk Elementary School, Black Rock Elementary School and Erie Elementary School in Erie, Colorado. “Scouting has helped me learn to be an effective leader by seeing how other leaders were kind and helpful. I also learned how to respect others’ opinions,” said Zach.
Zach is currently in 8th grade at Peak to Peak Charter School. He is involved in club soccer and summer swim team. He hopes to go to college and pursue a career in computer science. Congratulations, Zach."
The National Junior Honor Society has recognized nine Peak to Peak students with their Outstanding Achievement Award! The award recognizes 500 exceptional NJHS students with $500, to be placed in a college savings account.
Tej Mathur (9th grade)
Aisha Ebadi (9th grade)
Kourtney Rathke (9th grade)
Amrita Saini (9th grade)
Adalena Crotty (8th grade)
Siddharth Nareddy (9th grade) (9th grade)
James Kerrane (9th grade)
Chase Brandt (9th grade)
Annaka Rudolph (9th grade)
Ninth graders Warren Chen and Santiago Moreno Ontiveros won the international 2020 AT&T Inventor's Challenge with their innovative idea to curb food waste! They won the Grace Hopper Incubator Prize for the best group entry. You can view their video describing their project here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkAYGVE-f38. You can read more about the competition and awards by clicking here.
Eddie Humphreys (6th grade) won a bronze medal for his performance on the vault at the Level 6 USA Men’s Regional Championships which included five states.
Kaden Brooks (9th grade) is a member of a team, "The Wright Angles," which was comprised of four high school students from various Denver/Boulder schools. The team placed first in the ACE Mentor of Colorado tiny home community design project. The four-month project featured lessons from industry professionals on landscape design, engineering, construction, and architecture, culminating in a full community design plan using an actual location in the Denver Metro area. Click here to see their first-place presentation.
Congratulations to Madison Lin (12th grade) who has been awarded a Boettcher Foundation Scholarship, a four-year scholarship that includes virtually all expenses to attend the Colorado school of the recipient’s choice! Additionally, Peak to Peak had two seniors, Andrew Woen and Logan Norman, who were recognized by the Boettcher Foundation, but who have elected to accept other amazing opportunities outside of the state.
We recognize that many of our senior students are receiving recognition for their outstanding achievements in a variety of realms including academic, athletic, artistic, service, leadership, etc. Some are attaining goals they once thought impossible. During the spring semester, our inboxes are bulging with good news about the accomplishments that carry significance to each one of our graduating seniors. Scholarships, such as the Boettcher Scholarship, carry a particular national significance and are celebrated broadly not only because the students have earned it, but also as a reflection of our K-12 program's success.
Shriya Biddala (10th grade) and Yashaswi Bista (10th grade) advanced to the third round in the 2021 TI Codes Contest, in which only 15 teams were selected. Together, they won a TI-84 Plus CE graphing calculator, TI-Innovator Hub, TI-Innovator Accessory Packs, and a $50 Visa gift card to create a prototype of a bionic knee brace. This knee brace will help people going through the knee recovery process and those paralyzed walk.
Gabriella Drozdzewicz (8th grade) placed 2nd on floor exercise, 3rd on bars, and 4th on vault at the Regional Gymnastics Championships, Level 8. The competition was in Kansas City on April 23-25. The participating states were Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Texas. Way to go, Puma!.
| April 2021 |
Charlie Haskins (5th grade) finished first in his age class in the Eldora Mountain Ski Club - Parallel Slalom.
Ria Jansun (12th grade) and Amrita Saini (9th grade) were recognized with awards at the 2021 Colorado State Science Fair.
Ria was awarded an Honorable Mention in the Medicine and Health category for her project: Designing an Internal Whippletree Mechanism in a Prosthetic Hand.
She also received one special award - The Adams State Porter Scholarship for students majoring in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Science and Mathematics.
Amrita received two special awards for her project: Analyzing Most Effective Cotton Species for More Sustainable Absorbent Products and Textiles.
Richoh USA awarded her project with a Ricoh Sustainable Development Award for "develop[ing] brilliant innovations for driving environmentally and socially responsible businesses." The SACNAS, Colorado State University Chapter, awarded her project as one of the "Best projects by students from underrepresented populations who display a well-organized and attractive exhibit, possess a genuine interest in pursuing scientific or engineering studies in college and demonstrates an excitement for the project." SACNAS is devoted to advancing Hispanics, Chicanos and Native Americans and other underrepresented populations in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.
Full results from the Science Fair can be found here: http://www.csef.colostate.edu/2021_Press_Release-Grand_Awards.pdf
Special Award results can be seen here: http://www.csef.colostate.edu/Special_Award_Winner_Presentation.ppsx
Junior, Sophie Steven, who has accepted a full-time summer internship with NASA. She will be computer programming and conducting data analysis on SAGE III, which is mounted onto the International Space Station. SAGE III makes long-term measurements of ozone, aerosols, water vapor, and other gases in Earth's atmosphere. Sophie is one of five interns selected nationally to work on this project out of a pool of over 1,000 applicants.
Sophia Du (11th grade) and Warren Chen (9th grade) participated as a team in the international Purple Comet Math Meet competition, an annual student event. Students across the world participate in teams of 6, but Peak to Peak was represented by this twosome. The questions are grueling and deal with all areas of mathematics. These students answered every question they attempted correctly and did amazingly considering the odds.
This team ranked 241 out of 884 internationally and 122 out of 288 from the U.S.
At the middle school level, Peak to Peak was represented by Tanush Shekhar (7th grade), Saatwik Das (7th grade), and Joaquin Hoffer (6th grade).
This team ranked 184 out of 503 internationally, 83 out of 176 in the U.S., and 5 out of 17 in Colorado.
Isa Brady (8th grade) is featured in this article that appeared in Chalkbeat. Isa is one of several students in Peak to Peak's Heritage Speakers course who worked with Sr. Barbour to create shadow boxes as a part of an exhibit at the Museum of Boulder. The exhibit is a part of a larger project to showcase Latino culture in Boulder County. The shadow boxes in the exhibit were created by students from several Boulder Valley high schools with the intention of allowing young people to tell their perspectives through the use of artifacts and symbols.
“I wanted to give off the sense that I still identify as Latina, but it doesn’t confine me to stereotypes,” Isa said. “At the same time, I also embrace a lot of the culture that is sometimes stereotyped especially in the community that doesn’t have a lot of Latinos.”
The project was a part of a broad collaboration between the Museum of Boulder, graduate students at CU Boulder, and local high schools.
Senior Logan Norman was selected to receive a Certificate of Accomplishment from Princeton University as part of its Princeton Prize in Race Relations program! The selection committee stated that they were very impressed with Logan’s racial equity work and would like him to be formally recognized and commended. https://pprize.princeton.edu/
Peak to Peak has two National Honor Society (NHS) 2021 Scholars, seniors Ayush Shekhar and Andrew Woen. These students were chosen from nearly 10,000 applicants and will receive scholarships toward higher education. Recipients are chosen based on their demonstrated work to support the four pillars of NHS: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. https://www.nhs.us/students/the-nhs-scholarship/
Andrew Woen was ultimately honored as a National Finalist, one of 24 for winners across the U.S. Andrew is Peak to Peak's first ever NHS Scholoarship national finalist.
For the first time in Peak to Peak history, a ninth-grade student won a national Gold Medal in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards! Yosha Gautam handpainted her black and white photograph "Woman in White" to create a stunning piece that took top honors in the national competition. Yosha will be honored at a star-studded ceremony broadcast from New York on June 9th and her work will be published in online galleries. More information can be found in the newsroom on the Scholastic Art and Writing website: https://newsroom.artandwriting.org/…/national-announcement…/
| March 2021 |
Vidya Balachander (9th grade) won the World Series of Innovation with her idea for The Green Careers Training Program! In response to a prompt sponsored by the Citi Foundation for ideas about post-Covid economic recovery, Vidya's innovation addressed post-pandemic economics with a program to train those who lost jobs for green careers. Six other ninth-graders were honored as finalists in this international competition.
You can watch Vidya's video pitch via this URL: https://www.wevideo.com/view/2052504965
Matthew Chen
Paris Kiehl
Sophie Kiehl
Michael Liao
Jenna Plute
Cailyn Smith
Owen Hinrichs (12th grade) photography portfolio titled "Mirrors" won a National Scholastic Silver Key portfolio award. The portfolio contains six original photographs with heavy digital manipulations. This is a significant national accomplishment.
Emily Post (11th grade) and Jeffrey Chen (12th grade) have both won national grants from Adcap! Emily's grant will support art projects using seed paper to encourage Lafayette kids to plant their own herbs and vegetables. Jeffrey's grant will empower ninth graders to make connections in their community.
Peak to Peak's ninth-grade team Honeypack (Xana Scriber, Riley Hall, and Shreya Senthilkumar) has made the international finals of the Conrad Challenge with their innovative idea for a renewable alternative that reduces the amount of plastic packaging foam in waste streams. They use potato foam and bee-based biomimicry to replace plastic and redesign packaging. They will compete in April against teams from around the world.
Other Peak to Peak ninth grade teams were honored by the Conrad Challenge. Avanti Gautam, Ziba Ahamad, Erika Sexton, Bipartap Singh, Annaka Rudolph, Ashlyn Kerrane, Kourtney Rathke, Arihant Swain, and Luca DiScullio have been named alternates in this international competition with their innovative ideas to solve world issues!
Daneca Nelson is one of only 240 students selected as a 2021 Daniels Scholar.
"The Daniels Scholarship Program offers a comprehensive, four-year college scholarship that provides financial and personal support focused on helping Daniels Scholars succeed in college, and in life. The Daniels Scholarship can be used at any accredited nonprofit college or university in the United States. Our goal is not only to help Daniels Scholars succeed in college, but to ensure that they thrive beyond their years in college."
We recognize that many of our senior students are receiving recognition for their outstanding achievements in a variety of realms including academic, athletic, artistic, service, leadership, etc. Some are attaining goals they once thought impossible. During the spring semester, our inboxes are bulging with good news about the accomplishments that carry significance to each one of our graduating seniors. Scholarships, such as the Daniels Scholarship Program, carry a particular national significance and are celebrated broadly not only because the students have earned it, but also as a reflection of our K-12 program's success.
After a cool Q & A session with astronauts, NASA named Peak to Peak's Anjana Radha (9th grade) as the Colorado state semifinalist for the high school Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest. Her creative essay about using "lunar concrete" for a landing pad stood out from over fourteen thousand entries received by NASA and will continue on in the competition with the winners from each other state. You can read her essay via the following link: https://www.futureengineers.org/artemismoonpodessay
Our varsity Speech & Debate team members had an excellent showing at the state meet:
Palpasha Karki (11th grade) - 12th place, International Extemporaneous Speaking
Lauren Wagner (11th grade) - 4th place, National Extemporaneous Speaking
Alvina Zhang (11th grade) - 10th place, Informative Speaking
Bryce Li & Aayam KC (11th grade) - made the top 16 teams in the state in Public Forum Debate
Nivedita Prabhu & Bronwyn Busby (11th grade) - made the top 8 teams in the state in Public Forum Debate
Bronwyn Busby, Bryce Li, Nivedita Prabhu, and Alvina Zhang, this year's IPPF team, are preparing to compete as finalists in the 20th annual International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) global debate competition. The team has advanced to the “Elite 8” round of the IPPF, a global debate contest sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University (NYU).
The IPPF is a one-of-its-kind collaboration between a law firm and major university providing a debate platform through which high school students hone their debate and advocacy skills on issues of public policy in written and oral debates. Students are debating the topic, “Resolved: The benefits of artificial intelligence outweigh the harms.”
The IPPF Finals competition will occur virtually in 2021 for the first time in IPPF history due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure the safety and well-being of IPPF competitors.
The IPPF Finals will take place on Saturday, May 1. Peak to Peak will be one of eight teams – representing schools from five U.S. states and two foreign countries– competing for a $10,000 grand prize and the title of “IPPF World Champion.”
“The students who competed in this worldwide debate program this year reflect the qualities that lead to excellence – effort, energy and enthusiasm,” says William A. Brewer III, chairman of the Brewer Foundation and founder of the IPPF. “We are especially proud of these students who have earned the opportunity to compete in an advocacy forum unlike any other – the IPPF Finals. They will now supplement months of written scholarship with oral advocacy in pursuit of the title of 2021 IPPF World Champion.”
https://www.ippfdebate.com/
Eleventh grader, Sophie Steven submitted this year’s winning essay to the Westminster/Broomfield Optimist Club International Essay Contest. The 2021 Optimist Club essay topic was “Reaching Your Dreams by Choosing Optimism”. Sophie’s club winning essay will be sent on to the Colorado/Wyoming District contest, where she will compete for a $2,500 college scholarship.
Tanush Shekhar (7th grade) participated in two rounds of the Middle School National Mathcounts competition and was rated in the top 15 in Boulder Valley and 38th in Colorado out of hundreds of students.
Vince Cornella (12th grade) won his 4th state championship. Vince wrestles for Monarch, but attends school at Peak to Peak.
Fareed Ahamad is a 2021 Coca-Cola Scholar! He is one of 150 students selected from the 251 finalists, which were previously identified from a field of over 99,000 applicants!
"The Coca-Cola Scholars Program scholarship is an achievement-based scholarship awarded to graduating high school seniors. Students are recognized for their capacity to lead and serve, as well as their commitment to making a significant impact on their schools and communities."
https://www.coca-colascholarsfoundation.org/
We recognize that many of our senior students are receiving recognition for their outstanding achievements in a variety of realms including academic, athletic, artistic, service, leadership, etc. Some are attaining goals they once thought impossible. During the spring semester, our inboxes are bulging with good news about the accomplishments that carry significance to each one of our graduating seniors. Scholarships, such as the Coca-Cola Scholarship, carry a particular national significance and are celebrated broadly not only because the students have earned it, but also as a reflection of our K-12 program's success.
Faith Peddycord (10th grade). Faith recited 870 digits from memory, a new Peak to Peak record, and 270 more than our last record held by Josh Kirkfield (10th grade). It was amazing to have several elementary students and middle say over 100 digits for the first time. The final results were: Faith Peddycord-870 and Josh Kirkfield-602
Special thanks to Jeffrey Chen (12th grade) for his continual presence in this competition over the last 7 years. He was also able to recite over 640 digits.
High scorers in elementary were Diya Shaji Kumar (3rd grade) with 102 digits, and in middle school Michael Lu (6th grade) with 120 digits.
Congratulations to all who participated!
"This was the best year ever!!!!!" - Ms Chakraborty-Spotts (Middle school math club facilitator)
Nivedita Prabhu (11th grade) and Bronwyn Busby (11th grade) earned 2nd place and qualified for nationals in Public Forum Debate.
Aayam KC (11th grade) and Bryce Li (11th grade) earned 4th place and received 1st alternate to nationals in Public Forum Debate.
Senior Logan Norman has been selected as a Danforth Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis. Logan was one of only 15 students selected for this honor from a pool of over 3000 applicants.
https://students.wustl.edu/danforth-scholars-program/
We recognize that many of our senior students are receiving recognition for their outstanding achievements in a variety of realms including academic, athletic, artistic, service, leadership, etc. Some are attaining goals they once thought impossible. During the spring semester, our inboxes are bulging with good news about the accomplishments that carry significance to each one of our graduating seniors. Scholarships, such as the Danforth Scholars Program, carry a particular national significance and are celebrated broadly not only because the students have earned it, but also as a reflection of our K-12 program's success.
Senior Madison Lin has been awarded the Park Scholarship to North Carolina State University!
https://park.ncsu.edu/
The Park Scholarships program is celebrating 25 years of bringing exceptional students to NC State University based on outstanding accomplishments and potential in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. The program develops and supports Park Scholars in these areas, preparing them for lifelong contributions to the university, state, nation, and world. The scholarship includes tuition and fees, room and board, enrichment activities, and additional expenses.
Park Scholarships is named for the late Roy H. Park ’31, an NC State alumnus who created the charitable Park Foundation, dedicated to education, media, and the environment. Approximately 40 scholarships will be awarded this year to outstanding high school seniors for undergraduate study in any discipline at NC State.
We recognize that many of our senior students are receiving recognition for their outstanding achievements in a variety of realms including academic, athletic, artistic, service, leadership, etc. Some are attaining goals they once thought impossible. During the spring semester, our inboxes are bulging with good news about the accomplishments that carry significance to each one of our graduating seniors. Scholarships, such as the Park Scholarship, carry a particular national significance and are celebrated broadly not only because the students have earned it, but also as a reflection of our K-12 program's success.
The students in the THRIVE Leadership Seminar at Peak to Peak Middle School embarked on a collaborative journey of self-discovery by creating a meaningful video to inspire those in the world to be themselves, show consideration and compassion, and persevere during challenging times. The students’ mission is to create a society and community that builds each other up, alongside each person's uniqueness, by accepting their strengths and challenges.
"Be Yourself. Everyone else is taken." -Oscar Wilde
Three 11th graders have qualified for the National Speech & Debate tournament:
Bryce Li - 3rd place, qualifying in International Extemporaneous Speaking
Nivedita Prabhu - 1st place, qualifying in National Extemporaneous Speaking
Alvina Zhang - 2nd place, qualifying in Original Oratory
Senior Sofia Casini has been awarded a full-ride Morehead-Cain Scholarship to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill! http://www.moreheadcain.org/
We recognize that many of our senior students are receiving recognition for their outstanding achievements in a variety of realms including academic, athletic, artistic, service, leadership, etc. Some are attaining goals they once thought impossible. During the spring semester, our inboxes are bulging with good news about the accomplishments that carry significance to each one of our graduating seniors. Scholarships, such as the Morehead-Cain Scholarship, carry a particular national significance and are celebrated broadly not only because the students have earned it, but also as a reflection of our K-12 program's success.
Nattanan Jaraschatrkaew's (11th grade) black and white photograph was selected into the 2021 Month of Photography Teen Exhibit Gen Z: Responses to 2020.
Her work can be viewed in the online gallery: https://cpacphoto.org/GenZ/
The following high school students won awards in this year's Corden Pharma Regional Science Fair:
Thanussh Gnanasegeran (12th grade) and Koki Gunasinghe (12th grade): 3rd Place Biological Sciences for their project: "A Pandemic: 3D Printing the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Understanding its Foundational Basis."
Ria Jansun (12th grade): 2nd Place Biological Sciences for her project: "Internal Whippletree Mechanism for Prosthetic Hand." Ria will also be advancing to the State Competition. She also received a special recognition from the US Agency for International Development.
Ethan Mun (12th grade): 3rd Place in Math for his project: "The 5G Technology Impact on the Society and Economy."
Charlie Ray (11th grade): 2nd Place in Computer Science for his project: "Predicting United States Election Results with Data from Social Media."
Mason Rein (12th grade): 2nd Place Physics/Astronomy for his project: "Peak Emission-Density Relation of Solar Flare Formation: Observations of Solar Flare Temperature Emission." Mason will also be advancing to the State Competition.
Amrita Saini (9th grade): 1st Place in Environmental Sciences for her project: "Analyzing Most Effective Cotton Species for More Sustainable Absorbent Products and Textiles." Amrita will also be advancing to the State Competition and is an alternate for the International Science and Engineering Fair. She also received the Ricoh USA Sustainable Development Award and the US Air Force Senior Division Special Recognition.
Here is the slideshow and live stream video from the awards presentation:
Slideshow: https://docs.google.com/…/18IzfwUG-gVbk5xO4O1eYx57kPx…/edit…
Livestream video: https://drive.google.com/…/1pxDyCZZaDJF06_y4RXHYpEZlz…/view…
Sydney Cusack (8th grade) participated in Lafayette's 10th Annual Window Painting Contest. Sydney's artwork was displayed at Chocolaterie Stam.
In addition, Sydney won the Luvin Arms Art Poster Contest for World Day For Farmed Animals in Oct 2020. The win entitled her to a tour of the entire facility with her family. She sold some prints of her picture and donated all profits to Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary.
In December of 2020, Sydney entered the Niwot Window Decorating Contest and won 1st Place in the People's Choice Award.
| February 2021 |
Congratulations to the following students who have received NCWIT awards this year. Every Peak to Peak student who entered the competition received an award! This year is perhaps the best showing ever for our students. Well done, Pumas!
Allison Beasley (12th grade): Affiliate Honorable Mention
Shriya Biddala (10th grade): Affiliate Honorable Mention
Quinn Burns (9th grade): Affiliate Winner
Nicole Kerschner (11th grade): Affiliate Winner
Aveena Rawal (11th grade): Affiliate Winner
Julietta Rozin (12th grade): National Honorable Mention and Affiliate Winner
Cailyn Smith (12th grade): Affiliate Winner
Sophia Steven (11th grade): Affiliate Winner
Lauren Wagner (11th grade): Affiliate Winner
The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit community of more than 1,400 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase the influential and meaningful participation of girls and women—at the intersections of race/ethnicity, class, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and other historically marginalized identities—in the field of computing, particularly in terms of innovation and development. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K-12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers.
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.
Seniors Jenna Plute, Michael Liao, and Cailyn Smith were named as candidates in the 2021 United States Presidential Scholars Program. Candidacy is based primarily on outstanding performance on the ACT Assessment or the College Board SAT. Of the nearly 3.6 million high school seniors graduating this year, approximately 4,000 students receive this invitation. The scores associated with the top 20 male examinees and top 20 female examinees are used to select candidates from each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and from families of U.S. citizens living abroad.
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by executive order of the President, to recognize and honor some of our nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors.
Eleventh graders Alvina Zhang, Bronwyn Busby, Bryce Li, Nivedita Prabhu advanced into the final rounds of competition in the International Public Policy Forum debate. Way to go Pumas!
Sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University, the IPPF is the first and only competition that gives high school students from around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. By advancing, the students remain eligible to compete virtually in the IPPF Finals, when the IPPF World Champion will be awarded a $10,000 grand prize. The Peak to Peak team is the only team from Colorado to advance this round.
Congratulations to the following senior student-athletes who have signed to participate on teams at their respective colleges. Way to go, Pumas!
Alyssa Alverez - Adams State: Softball
Allison Beasley - Western Colorado University: Cross Country/Track
Vince Cornella - Cornell University: Wrestling
Grace Keogh - Coast Guard: Swimming
Jamie Rader - Augustana College: Softball
Karinne Walther - Gordon College: Soccer
Fareed Ahamad (12th grade) advanced as a Regional Finalist in the Coca-Cola Scholars Program! There are just 251 Regional Finalists across the nation, so this is an exceptional accomplishment.
"Reaching this level distinguishes these students as extraordinary leaders in their school and community. 99,403 applicants and 1,609 Semifinalists participated in our program - to be selected as a Regional Finalist is an outstanding accomplishment."
The Scholastic Art and Writing Award winners for 2020-21 include:
Gold Key Art Award Winners:
Sophia Fischer (10th grade)
Grace Fuller (12th grade)
Yosha Gautam (9th grade)
Sophie Graham (12th grade)
Owen Hinrichs (12th grade)
Sophie Hodgson (11th grade)
Nattanan Jaraschatrkaew (11th grade)
Aayam KC (11th grade)
Mandy Lieng (11th grade)
Mia Ritchie (9th grade)
Gold Key Writing Award Winners:
Nattanan Jaraschatrkaew (11th grade)
Lindsay Li-Garrison (11th grade)
Silver Key Art Award Winners:
Lorelei Bell (9th grade)
Kaden Brooks (9th grade)
Grace Fuller (12th grade)
Honorable Mentions Art Awards:
Owen Hinrichs (12th grade)
Frederick Norman (12th grade)
Katherine Uzzle (9th grade)
Tatem Whitehouse (9th grade)
Luke Wolsko (11th grade)
Honorable Mentions Writing Awards:
Jeffrey Chen (12th grade)
Grace Fuller (12th grade)
Alvina Zhang (11th grade)
Six Peak to Peak ninth-grade students are in the international finals of the World Series of Innovation after being chosen by judges as crafting the best submissions of 2021. Currently, they are creating pitch videos showcasing their innovative ideas to help solve one of the U.N.'s sustainability goals. Shreya Senthilkumar is creating clean energy, J.P. Kerrane is pursuing equity in our justice system, Ziba Ahamad and Vidya Balachander are devising strategies for Covid recovery, Xana S. is upcycling textiles, and Kayla Kerrane is helping the unbanked find financial security. Congrats to these hard-working students for their amazing efforts to change the world!
| January 2021 |
Julietta Rozin (12th grade) received a national Honorable Mention for the Award for Aspirations in Computing 2021.
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. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K-12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers.
Bryce Li (11th grade) qualified to compete in the Speach and Debate Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky in April. Bryce will compete in the Extemporaneous Speaking category.
https://ci.uky.edu/UKDebate/2021-tournament-champions
Quinn Burns (9th grade) and Reema Patadia (9th grade) pursue their passion by volunteering their time to offer TechGirlz virtual workshops for middle school students. In these workshops, girls learn the basics of Python programming including simple data types, comparisons, if-statements, and loops in Trinket.io. Using what they learned, students make a fun game. It is a great opportunity for girls to try out the technology and learn the basics of Python Programming in a fun environment.
TechGirlz exists to empower girls to be future technology leaders. According to their website: "TechGirlz’ mission is to inspire middle school girls to explore the possibilities of technology to empower their future careers."
Alvina Zhang (11th Grade) won 3rd place in Informative Speaking and 5th place in original oratory at the Colorado Cup Speech and Debate tournament this past weekend. She also earned 2 bids in Informative and 2 bids in Oratory for NIETOC (National Individual Event Tournament of Champions), which qualifies her for both Informative and Oratory for 2021 NIETOC. NIETOC is a very prestigious national high school speech competition. More information about NIETOC is at www.nietoc.com.
The following band students' extraordinary efforts and talents earned them spots in several prestigious honor bands at the Colorado state level.
Four high school students earned spots in this year's 2021 Colorado All-State Bands. Out of about 800 auditions from across the state of Colorado, the following Peak to Peak student earned the following spots:
Juniors Sophie Steven - Tenor Saxophone & Sartaj Singh - Alto Saxophone, were selected for the All-State Symphonic Band.
Senior, Madison Lin - Alto Sax, & sophomore, Vasilisa Malenkiy - Clarinet, were selected for the All-State Concert Band.
Selected for this year's CU Middle School Honor Band was 7th grader, Jacque Steven on trombone. Jacque secured first chair position of all trombonists earning spots in the CU Middle School Honor Band.
Andrew Woen (12th grade) was named as one of the top 300 scholars in the 80th Regeneron Science Talent Search—"the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and mathematics competition for high school seniors."
In recognition of this achievement, Andrew will receive $2,000, and Peak to Peak will also receive $2,000 to use toward STEM-related activities.
Jonah Baxter (7th grade) is our second quarter Pumas for the Planet winner! His nomination letter says it all!
"My name is Dr. Kim Skattum. Three years ago with retirement on the horizon, a friend and I started a little bike shop in my garage. We named it More Better Bikes. Our mission is to make bike riding possible and more better for anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Over very little time the requests for bikes and repairs began to soar. We built a small building in my backyard and moved the shop there. This past January we had the amazing fortune of meeting Jonah Baxter. At 11 years old Jonah quickly impressed me. I have never met a kid with as much passion, excitement, and expertise in all things biking then I have in Jonah. He is a valuable asset to the mission of our shop and contributes to its forward movement every day.
Here's why I'm nominating Jonah Baxter, Grade 7:
Biking is healthy and earth-friendly on many levels. In our pursuit to take in donated bikes, we refurbish repair, and fine-tune the good frames and make them available at low or no cost. Many of our customers depend on a bike for transportation. Some are reducing car use in favor of commuting on a bike. Others are looking for the joy and freedom of riding a good bike.
Jonah Baxter is a fiercely dedicated team member of More Better Bikes. He researches and looks for solutions to bike issues never accepting an inferior option. He is committed to serving customers, listening to their concerns, and addressing their problems. He uses his vast knowledge of bikes, parts, and functions to repair anything set before him.
He is a fun and inspiring part of the shop and the team. Jonah embodies our mission with enthusiasm and hard work. He is an amazing volunteer. Jonah is always on board for helping out with the twice-yearly community Bike give-a-ways. He gets his hands dirty using his skills many hours a week helping people with bike needs which keeps the shop on a mission.
Now Jonah is 12 and the youngest member of our team by 2 years. In spite of that, he never lets anyone look down on him because of his youth. He knows his stuff, he's a lot of fun and he deserves to be nominated for Pumas For The Planet award.
Dr. Kim Skattum"
Speech and Debate team members advanced to the "Top 32" in the International Public Policy Forum (IPPF): Bryce Li (11th grade), Bronwyn Busby (11th grade), Alvina Zhang (11th grade), and Nivedita Prabhu (11th grade).
| December 2020 |
Ms. Kristie Letter, Innovation teacher at Peak to Peak, was named as a finalist for the National Society of High School Scholars 2020 Educator of the Year award! "The Educators of the Year Award is presented annually to exemplary educators who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to preparing students for success in college and in life. These awardees model best practices in teaching or administration inside and outside of the classroom, are peer role models, and demonstrate outstanding leadership and excellence in education."
Paris Kiehl, Sophie Kiehl, Julietta Rozin, and Cailin Smith (all 12th grade) truly are Enigma Experts. This amazing HS team placed 6th overall in the InteGIRLS global puzzle hunt competition. They had a lot of fun problem-solving 20 challenging mathematical and word puzzles together. The puzzles came in many different forms; the only real commonality is that you usually receive no direct instructions, so it’s up to you to figure out how to make sense of the information you’re given. The Fall 2020 event drew hundreds of teams from close to 50 countries/territories.
Andrew Woen (12th grade) continues to receive accolades for his invention "ReDetect Recycle." He was named a Top 10 Finalist for the fall 2020 Innovator Competition sponsored by the Jacobson Institute at the University of Iowa.
Peak to Peak has 2 Coca-cola semi-finalists: Fareed Ahamad and Andrew Woen.
From the scholarship website:
"1,609 high school seniors have been selected from 99,403 submitted applications from across the country to advance to the next stage of our selection process!"
Allison Beasley (12th grade), with a PR of 17:45:93, earned All-American status at the RunningLane National Cross Country Championships in Huntsville, AL.
Alessandra Wilson (4th grade) was chosen as a winner of the Colorado "Experience Your Nature" Capitol Christmas Tree Essay Contest.
"Ms. Wilson’s essay exemplified this year’s U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree theme, “Experience Your Nature,” which prompted students to share how they’ve spent time outside in Colorado during this challenging year and why the state’s forests are important to them. She writes of her time spent with family in Poudre Canyon, Telluride, and Breckenridge throughout the year, and the feeling of freedom that is brought by breathing freely in nature... Upon hearing the news of her award, Alessandra said "Thank you so much, I wrote this from the heart."
| November 2020 |
Speech and Debate team members advanced to the "Top 64" in the International Public Policy Forum (IPPF): Bryce Li (11th gradE), Bronwyn Busby (11th grade), Alvina Zhang (11th grade), and Nivedita Prabhu (11th grade)!
"Sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University, the IPPF is the first and only competition that gives high school students around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy.
The competition begins in October, as teams submit qualifying round essays on the IPPF topic. The Top 64 teams are invited to engage in a single elimination, written debate tournament — volleying essays back and forth via email. The top eight teams earn an all-expenses-paid trip to the IPPF Finals in New York City!
This international contest is open to all schools - public and private - for free. Teams compete for awards and scholarships. The IPPF World Champion wins a $10,000 grand prize!"
Mr. Eckstein recently acquired two grants that will benefit our library program! First, he received $2,000 from the Voya Unsung Hero Award. This grant will support our QR Code Museum when we eventually return to in-person learning by creating a flexible teaching space in the library. This will allow us to have whole class debriefs and discussions about the QR Code Museum tours. We will also be able to use this space for book talks and other whole-class experiences in the library. When it is not being used by a class, students will get to enjoy this comfortable and fun new furniture to read, study, play games, and talk with friends.
Second, he received $750 from the Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission (LCAC) to bring three guest poets to school (virtually) for a performance and Q&A panel. In the next couple of months, students and staff can look forward to more information about which poets will be coming and when.
Allison Beasley (12th grade) signed to run at Western Colorado University next year.
| October 2020 |
Peak to Peak's National Honor Society inducted 35 new members in the fall of 2020.
Peak to Peak's National Junior Honor Society inducted 91 new members in the fall of 2020.
Oliver Pollock and Peter Trainor, Class of 2020, were encouraged to enter "The Game Plan Challenge" in Mrs. Letter's Senior Literature Class during the spring 2020 semester. Six months later, Oliver and Peter received a letter from the President of the Hard Rock Cafe, congratulating them on their 1st place public service announcement, out of over 16,000 entries, on the effects of video games on teenagers - addiction. They won more that $2500 in gifts including Hard Rock Cafe Electric guitars, case, strap, Fender bluetooth speakers, Skullcandy ear buds, hoodies and t-shirts. Click here to view their video entry.
Congratulations to our fall sports athletes! Way to go, Pumas!
Softball:
Jamie Rader- Denver Metro Senior of the Year/ 1st Team Pitcher, BoCo Preps All-Region Team
Alyssa Alvarez- Denver Metro 1st Team Outfield, BoCo Preps All-Region Team
Alena Carpenter- Denver Metro 1st Team Catcher
Kelsey O'Dowd- Denver Metro 1st Team Infield
Isabelle Entin- Denver Metro 2nd Team Outfield
Peyton Larsen- Denver Metro 2nd Team Infield
Boys Golf:
Aditya Malhorta- Metro League Honorable Mention/ BOCO All-Region HW
William Mitchell- Metro League Honorable Mention/ BOCO All-Region HW
XC:
Allison Beasley- 3rd in 3A State/ Metro League 1st Team
Ryan Kuykendall- Metro League 2nd Team
| September 2020 |
Allison Beasley (12th grade) finished in 3rd Place finish at the 2020 State Cross Country Championships.
Click here to read the article.
Click here to read the article.
Allison Beasley (12th grade) took 1st place and Ryan Kuykendall (12th grade) finished in 9th place at the Regional Cross Country Finals. Both athletes have qualified for the State Cross Country Meet next weekend in Colorado Springs. The girls' team finished in 4th place and boys' team finished in 5th place.
Five of our award-winning innovation students joined Ms. Letter on the EdChat Interactive podcast on October 13th.
Peak to Peak Charter won "Best Public School (K-8) for the City of Lafayette" in this year's Best of Boulder East County reader's survey published by Weekly: Boulder.
Peak to Peak's U.S. Government teacher Meghan Lukens was interviewed in this linked story by 9News about voter registration efforts and the work happening on our campus to engage young voters.
Click on the links below to see a list of students who made Peak to Peak's honor roll for the Fall Semester, 2020.
|
Student Honor |
Requirements |
|
MS Honor Roll MS High Honor Roll MS Dean’s List HS Honor Roll HS High Honor Roll HS Dean’s List |
3.0 – 3.499 GPA 3.5 – 3.899 GPA 3.9 – 4.0 GPA 3.3 – 3.699 GPA 3.7 – 3.899 GPA 3.9 – 5.0 GPA |
The Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission (LCAC) has awarded two Peak to Peak teachers with grants to complete exciting projects.
LCAC awarded our Innovation teacher, Ms. Kristie Letter, $1000 to create Makerpacks - backpacks full of prototyping and design supplies so that ALL students can do hands-on innovating at home. We will be ordering backpacks and filling them with materials so that our students can put their design thinking into tangible form! The Makerpack resources will then serve as an "Innovation Library" when we are back in person, so that students can always check out necessary supplies to design solutions after the school day is over, ensuring equity in innovation. These backpacks will be distributed to all ninth graders this year, starting with the new semester.
In addition, LCAC has also awarded another $1,000 for Ms. Colleen Mylott, our theater and performing arts teacher for a Theatre Production Video Recording Project to be implemented this school year.
Several Spanish students from Peak to Peak attained national recognition for excellent performance on the 2020 National Spanish Examinations.
Madelyn Baldwin (8th grade) - Bronce ( bronze)
Maren Bradley (8th grade) - Oro ( gold)
Alexandra Eschmeyer (8th grade) - Honor ( honorable mention)
Lola Graves (8th grade) - Plata ( silver)
Lindsey Liu (8th grade) - Bronce ( bronze)
Tyler Roy (8th grade) - Bronce ( bronze)
“Attaining a medal or honorable mention for any student on the National Spanish Examinations is very prestigious,” said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, National Director of the Exams, “because the exams are the largest of their kind in the United States with over 140,000 students registered in 2020.”
The National Spanish Examinations are administered each year in grades 6 through 12, and are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.
Peak to Peak's Cross Country team competed in the 3A Metro League championships. The boys' team placed 9th overall and were led by Ryan Kuykendall (12th grade) who has received 2nd Team All Conference recognition.
The girls' team placed 6th overall and were led by Allison Beasley (12th grade) who won the race with a time of 19:25 and has received 1st Team All Conference recognition.
The Peak to Peak Boys Tennis team ended their season with a strong finish at the regional tournament. The #3 doubles team took 3rd place and the #4 doubled team finished in 2nd and qualified for the state tournament. Owen Hinrichs (12th grade) and Caleb Harris (10th grade) will compete in the Boys 4A State Tennis Tournament.
Click here to read the article.
The Peak to Peak Boys Golf Team competed in the 3A State Regional tournament on Monday this week. William Mitchell (12th grade) led the team with a solid performance and a personal top 10 finish. Overall, the team finished in 4th place. Congratulations to William, Aditya Malhotra (12th grade), George Grady (9th grade), and Raseesh Bhandari (9th grade). William and Aditya have qualified for the state tournament, and Raseesh finished a three-hole playoff to earn a 1st Alternate position.
Andrew Woen (12th grade) has published a single from start to finish. He composed, sang, played all the instruments, recorded, produced, and published the song all on his own!
Link to his music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
| August 2020 |
Siddharth Nareddy (9th grade) and Anjana Radha (9th grade) have been selected as two of the Top 300 Broadcom MASTERS in the 2020 Broadcom MASTERS® National Competition. This honor places them among a select group of 300 MASTERS named from 3,476 entrants throughout the United States.
"The Broadcom MASTERS seeks to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators to solve the grand challenges of the 21st Century. 30 finalists will be chosen from this select pool to compete for more than $100,000 in awards and prizes."
In the spring of 2020, the Peak to Peak Key Club led our student body in the Soles4Souls Shoe Drive. While the pandemic put a pause on the project and the results weren't tabulated until August, the school community collected 509 pairs of shoes! To understand the impact, it is helpful to know that one pair of shoes can provide 5 meals; 20 pairs of shoes can provide shelter for about a year; and 30 pairs of shoes can provide a year’s worth of schooling.
Andrew Woen (12th grade) presented his Recycling Device and Mobile Application at the Summit for Recycling Conference hosted by Recycle Colorado. The annual Summit for Recycling is a conference and exhibition that brings together businesses and organizations dedicated to the principles of the circular economy and material waste reduction, recovery and diversion. Andrew was given a limelight time slot that immediately followed the Governor.
| Summer 2020 |
Sophie Steven (rising 11th grader) has been recognized as an honorable mention winner the nationally sponsored 2020 Kaplun Foundation essay contest. Additionally, she was invited to serve on the prestigious Kaplun Teen Foundation Board where the top essayists get to help allocate other foundation funds to non-profits.
Peak to Peak high school artists won the most photography and digital art awards possible from any school for the Art Attack 2020 Exhibition. Aiyana Rockwell (Class of 2020) received a second place award for her piece titled "Arcade."
An online gallery of the winners can be seen here: https://www.artattackboulder.com/
Congratulations to the following students: Maguerite Ford (Class of 2020), Isabelle Pollock (Class of 2020), Katie Perez (Class of 2020), Amelia Schantz (Class of 2020), Thad Krusinski (Class of 2020), Taylor Johnson (Class of 2020), Ella Junker (rising 12th grader), and Taya Kendrick (rising 12th grader).
Meredith Rupe (Class of 2020) and Anna Sparling (Class of 2020) each received an honorable mention in Cooper Hewitt's 2020 National High School Design Competition for the work they created in the Communication Innovation Honors course. Nineteen designs were selected for the honor, and Meredith's and Anna's projects were two of them! A total of three finalists will be selected from the field of nineteen. The winner will have the opportunity to travel to New York City in October, to attend the Teen Design Fair. The theme of this year's challenge focused on inclusiveness.