Colorado Academy Journal - Summer 2022

J urnal

Summer 2022

Volume 49

n

Issue Number 2

Colorado Academy Mission Statement

Creating curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders.

About the Cover

The cover of the CA Journal features a work of art from the Portfolio Show mounted by Senior Walker Briggs. Created using acrylic paint and paint pens, it’s titled Shrieks of Summer. Of this piece, Briggs says, “I tried to go with the flow and commit to my ideas. The abstract illustrations and faces that are displayed throughout my work are my method of playing with details while also considering depth. A viewer would have a different perspective depending on whether they are standing near or far from my work. I have made many so-called mistakes while creating this piece, but it’s these mistakes that make it unique.”

Colorado Academy Journal

J urnal Contents Summer 2022 n Volume 49 n Issue No. 2

The 2022 CA Journal is published by the Colorado Academy Office of Advancement.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information included in this publication is accurate and complete. If you note any errors or omissions, please accept our apologies and notify the Office of Advancement at chris.barnard@coloradoacademy.org, or 303-914-2510.

PARENTS OF ALUMNI: If this publication is addressed to a child who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please send an updated mailing address to our Alumni Office at sue.burleigh@ coloradoacademy.org.

CORRESPONDENCE: Colorado Academy, 3800 S. Pierce Street, Denver, CO 80235, 303-986-1501 WRITERS AND EDITORS: Chris Barnard Jan Beattie Sue Burleigh Niki Camarena Vicki Hildner Jacque Montgomery Becky Risch Amy Ventura Gravely Wilson

Dear CA Community.......................................................................................................... 2 The ‘Pioneer Girls’ Remember 1971-1972.................................................................. 4 A Traditional Commencement....................................................................................... 8 Girls Lacrosse Team Wins Seventh Straight State Championship.................10 Seeing the World ‘Through a New Lens’...................................................................12 A Game-Changer for CA Athletes...............................................................................14 An Evening of Discovery at the Computer Science Festival............................16 How These Fifth Graders are Creating a Better World........................................18 Transformed Doors Honor Black History.................................................................20 Mary Poppins Makes Merry with Two Marys...........................................................22 CA Students Transform Lives as Horizons Tutors..................................................26 CA Concert Breaks Record.............................................................................................28 Steve Scherer Has Left the Building...........................................................................30 A Pioneer in Computer Science Education.............................................................32 A Teacher with a ‘Huge Heart’.......................................................................................34 A Builder of Skills and Games.......................................................................................36 Saying Farewell to Alanna Brown...............................................................................38 The Least Likely Couple..................................................................................................40

DESIGN: Cindi Sherman Sir Speedy Denver

From CA to MLB.................................................................................................................42

PHOTOGRAPHY: Vicki Hildner Cyrus McCrimmon Jacque Montgomery Marc Piscotty Becky Risch Kathryn Scott HEAD OF SCHOOL: Mike Davis, PhD

Business Without Banks..................................................................................................46

Colorado Academy 3800 S. Pierce Street Denver, CO 80235

From Beijing to Wall Street............................................................................................44 Giving to a School and to its Teachers......................................................................48 The Class of 2022...............................................................................................................50 Boards and Associations.................................................................................................52 Legacy Children 2021-2022..........................................................................................54 Giant Relay Day 2022.......................................................................................................56 Reunions...............................................................................................................................57 Alumni Association Highlights....................................................................................65 Class Notes...........................................................................................................................74 In Memoriam.......................................................................................................................85 Former Faculty News.......................................................................................................88

Printed by a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified Printer

CA Alumni Association 2022-2023 Important Dates..........................................89

Summer 2022

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Dear CA Community:

I

I have just wrapped up my fourteenth year as Head of School at Colorado Academy. It was a memorable year, as students who started in Pre-K in my first year were among those whom I congratulated at Commencement. We all have our own memories of what makes CA so special, but there’s something extraordinary about being able to have a shared experience with a particular group of students.

This school year brought some new excitement to campus. We celebrated the opening of the amazing Leach Center for the Performing Arts and two new incredible Lower School playgrounds in the fall. The community came together with record support and attendance at the All-School Picnic, the biennial CA Concert, and our celebration of cultures, the Taste of CA. And we welcomed back Interim for Middle and Upper School with great enthusiasm.

I’m grateful for the unwavering support of CA families, including grandparents, faculty and staff, our alumni, and our parents of alumni who help make these moments possible. Your gifts throughout the year benefit every student and strengthen our school, ensuring a bright future for those who follow.

This year marked a special milestone in our school’s history: 50 years of female students in the Upper School. These first “pioneer girls” joined CA five decades ago, and many returned for this year’s Giant Relay Day and Reunions. Don’t miss their story on page 4.

Our students, faculty, and staff met every challenge posed by a second year of the pandemic and authentically modeled our mission: creating curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders. I’m grateful for our community and the strength and resilience shown this year. Thank you for your role as part of our CA community!

Enjoy summer!

Sincerely,

Mike Davis, PhD Head of School Colorado Academy

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Colorado Academy Journal

Letter from the Head of School

Summer 2022

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The ‘Pioneer Girls’ Remember 1971-1972 Kathy Conklin ’73

D

uring the 1971-1972 school year, Colorado Academy chose A Midsummer Night’s Dream as the Upper School Play. Without any prompting, Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73, who played the character Helena, can still recite all her lines—50 years later.

Call you me “fair”? That “fair” again unsay.

Demetrius loves your fair. O happy fair!

Ann Clinger Bley ’72 had a grand total of three lines, and she also can remember them like the performance was yesterday: “Hail! Mustardseed! Where shall we go?”

Susan Craig ’72

Bley still laughs at her mother’s reaction when she saw her daughter’s thespian efforts. “She said, ‘You needed to practice six weeks for that?!’”

Remembering your high school performance is one accomplishment. But what really made this play memorable is the fact that it was the first major production with CA girls cast in female roles. For decades, CA had been an all-boys military academy and then an all-boys boarding and day school. But times were changing.

Cynthia Ovitt ’73

Erica Pattersen ’74

First women in science

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Starting in fall 1971, Head of School Chuck Froelicher decided to transform the school into a coed institution, with 25 girls enrolled in Grades 10-12. The Class of 1972 had seven female graduates out of a class of 42.

“Chuck was a real visionary,” says Bill Sims, who served as the Chair of the History Department during the era that girls first arrived at CA. “Everyone realized that becoming a coed school was a big deal, but the transition was not a big deal. It went quickly, and it went very smoothly.”

“I think Froelicher’s philosophy was, ‘We are not going to treat you differently from the boys,’ says Bley. “I believe that he thought going coed was best for CA, but he believed that if girls were here, they would be equal to the boys.”

“Coming to CA was one of the best decisions of my life,” adds Susan Boxer ’74, who was a Sophomore when CA started accepting girls. “I felt like a pioneer, and there were so many opportunities for me. It changed my life.”

Girls also changed the life of the school.

The pioneer girls assumed leadership

The Pioneer Girls roles, started sports teams, upended the dress code, and competed with the boys in academics. Many of them have remained lifelong friends with each other and with their male classmates. And in many ways, both tangible and intangible, the pioneer girls set the tone for the next 50 years at CA.

The fall of 1971 The first high school girls to arrive at CA came for various reasons, but many of them were like Boxer, who felt familiar with CA because she knew boys who were attending the school.

“I was very eager to go to CA,” Boxer says.

“I wanted the academic challenge. It was such a small school at the time, and it seemed like there were so many things you could do.”

Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73 had just moved to Denver from suburban Chicago, and her mother felt the transition would go more easily for Terrie and her sister Kathleen Dickinson Tuscherer ’72 in a small private school.

“At CA, there were small classes, and you got to know the faculty, and they got to know you,” Warren remembers. “I just loved my classes.”

To the girls, the campus on the outskirts of the city, with its old cottonwood trees and abundant wildlife, seemed bucolic compared to the monolithic brick buildings many had transferred from. Each girl was

Edith Blakeslee ’73 and Dean Andres ’73

assigned a dorm room (left over from boarding school days), so they had a place to change clothes to play sports. They shared bathrooms with the female teachers.

The inaugural cohort of girls was spread across three grades, so it was not uncommon for there to be only one girl sitting in a classroom full of boys.

“The boys were welcoming,” says Bley. “I had been going to school with boys my whole life, so it was no big deal for me to be the only girl in the room.”

Molly Myer ’72

“I think the boys were ready for this change,” adds Warren. “An all-male school was not representative of society-at-large, so they were really happy to have girls on campus.”

What was remarkable was just how unremarkable the arrival of the girls was for the boys.

“It didn’t really change the way I thought about CA,” says Jake Warde ’72, who was a Lifer. “I do remember that it made the school more vibrant instantaneously. Our Senior year was so much more fun because we could socialize with the girls.”

But Warde also remembers respecting the girls for the changes they brought to CA.

Becky Whealen ’73 Sabra Peine ’73

“It took courage for a young girl to come to an all-boys school,” Warde says. “The girls were great people, and they just fit right in.”

Like his classmates, Warde also remembers performing in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. >>>

1972 Glee Club

Summer 2022

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Julie Woulfe ’72

Field Hockey

<<< “I think I only had one line, and I forgot it during the play!” he says, laughing. “That’s how bad I was.”

One of the immediate changes brought about by the girls had to do with CA’s dress code. The boys were still required to wear blazers and ties, and they were not allowed to wear blue jeans.

Dana Dittmer ’73

“Everybody was pushing the boundaries of what was a tie and what was a coat,” says Warde. “The girls can wear pants, and we have to wear coats!”

The boys seized on that perceived inequity as leverage. and fairly quickly, their daily ties and blazers were a thing of the past.

New opportunities Many of the pioneer girls praise the many ways CA offered opportunities to try new experiences in athletics, arts, academics, extracurricular activities, and travel.

“In a large public school, you had to do a sport, or you could be in theater, but you couldn’t do both,” says Bley. “At CA you could try anything.”

Hilary Wogan ’73

The pioneer girls started a Girls Lacrosse Team and a Field Hockey Team. “I always joke that I made all the Varsity teams,” Warren says. “That’s because we didn’t have enough girls for a Junior Varsity.”

Boxer enjoyed singing in the Glee Club and being the piano accompanist for the Sweet Adelines, the sister group to the boys Ann Clinger ’72

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Colorado Academy Journal

ensemble, Catchers in the Rye. She was CoEditor of the newspaper, along with Preston DuFauchard ’74. Warren also was an editor of the newspaper in her Senior year, an experience, she says, that “would not have happened somewhere else.”

All of the pioneer girls agree that coming to CA meant taking a major step up academically.

“Excelling academically meant a lot to me and my family, so I was competitive,” says Boxer. “The teachers were inspired and inspiring, and they were interested in their subjects. I felt proud to represent girls in a smart way.” Boxer was one of five students in her graduating class to attend Stanford University.

Bley remembers the advantage of being in CA’s small classes after transferring from a school where classes often had up to 30 students. She recalls days spent in the wood-paneled library, with a statue of Icarus hanging above her, studying for her favorite course, which was Russian History.

After 50 years, Warren can still list names of teachers who had an impact on her and even describe their lesson plans.

“The teachers cared that I succeeded,” she says. “My French teacher, Jean Lemire Dahlman, aka Madame Lachkar, convinced me to become an au pair in France after I graduated. She pushed me, called me on my excuses, and made me a much better student.”

The Pioneer Girls

Jennifer Paterson ’72

In short, the girls slipped right into a program of rigorous academics already in place. “CA was a great place to learn,” says Warde. “I was a serious student, and I always felt the school was a good match for me.”

Much of the learning took place during experiences outside the classroom, just as it still does today. Boxer remembers traveling to England with the CA Glee Club and to France with a group led by their French teacher, experiences that “really opened up the world for me.”

The CA boys and girls who studied and traveled together during the early ’70s came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were boarding school students who had found a place to live locally so they could stay at CA. “One of the things I liked about my time at CA was the diverse population of students I met,” says Bley. “They were from all around the country and from varied backgrounds, and I would not have had the opportunity to know them if I had not gone to CA.”

Lifelong friendships CA has come a long way since 1972, when the first class of girls to graduate from CA wore long dresses of any color and received their diplomas in a former airplane hangar that was being used as a combination gym and theater. They thought they would remain friends forever. And they have.

“I have all these women and guys I am still

Susan Boxer ’74 and friends

friends with,” says Bley. “They have stayed with me for the rest of my life.”

Warren plays golf with a foursome made up of three male CA alumni—and her. She remembers a recent mini-reunion, which was planned as a quick lunch and lasted through three hours of “great people and great memories.” She also serves on the Alumni Board, a way to create an “official connection” to CA.

Terrie Dickinson ’73

“I wanted to give back to CA because the school gave me so much,” she says. “It’s a way to reconnect with people and make sure my era remains represented.”

Boxer has remained friendly with her English teacher, Renée Ruderman, and with Dahlman, who was also her French teacher.

“It was important to me that there were creative and vibrant women teachers at CA,” she says.

The pioneer girls remain grateful to Head of School Chuck Froelicher for opening the doors and giving them the same opportunities afforded to boys.

Kathleen Dickinson ’72

“I felt strongly from him that I was important to the school,” says Boxer. “I felt that our presence meant a lot to him.”

“I call myself a pioneer, but when I look back, I just felt so welcome,” adds Warren.

“Girls were not second-class citizens 50 years ago. Nor were we given special privileges. I felt respected and cared for.” n

Amy Bauer ’73

Summer 2022

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A Traditional Commencement

W

hen Colorado Academy planners imagine the perfect Commencement, they dream about a day like June 2, 2022— sunshine, blue sky, no wind, and moderate temperatures. Even better, this was a day when Commencement returned to beloved traditions which had been disrupted by two years of COVID-19 changes.

Families gathered on the west lawn of Welborn House (not in their cars for a parade, as they did in 2020, not on Firman Field in socially distanced groups, as in 2021), and they watched 99 members of the Class of 2022 each stand with pride as they were honored by Head of School Dr. Mike Davis.

The CA mission in the future Chair of the CA Board of Trustees Erika Hollis greeted families and friends of the graduates. Evoking her own life experience, she reminded the Class of 2022 that the future professional plans

they have today may change—more than once. She urged the students to “take the time to reflect on life.”

“What are you grateful for?” she asked them to consider. “How do you want to be viewed by the world, and how do you want to view others?”

Solving the puzzle Head of School Dr. Mike Davis reminded this graduating class that they are special to him because he had started at CA with them 14 years ago. He acknowledged that the global pandemic “transformed your lives.” But he emphasized the ways that students in this class persevered, despite the many disruptions.

“Your leadership and tone have been so critical for saving the core aspects of our student culture: courage and kindness,” he said. “You helped set the tone in the classrooms, the Community Leadership Team, in Senior Speeches, in athletics, and the arts.”

Davis pointed out the unique relaxing hobby this class adopted—collaborating on complex jigsaw puzzles in the Senior Lounge. He used the puzzles to draw a lesson for students’ lives.

“As many of you worked out puzzles in that Senior Lounge, you looked at every piece from every angle to try to put it all together. If you think about the major societal issues you will confront, I hope you do the same. Take that piece, turn it upside down and sideways. Question it.

And figure out how it fits.

“I am so proud of you, and I am so proud to have been part of your educational journey. You are a remarkable group of students who have steadied our ship and brought joy back to our community.”

Maude Tetzeli, Elected Student Speaker Senior Maude Tetzeli, the speaker elected by her classmates, perfectly captured the personalities and memories of her class.

She paid tribute to faculty and staff as unsung heroes who had helped her and her class get through their years at CA. She compared the Class of 2022 to their mascot, the mustang.

“We are mustangs through and through, and we always will be,” she said. “CA’s mission calls us to be curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders. I don’t think our purpose needs to change just because we are graduating. Just like the horses we are named after, we will go forward with the powerful combination of fierce individuality and knowledge that we always have a herd behind us. We are the Mustang Class of 2022.”

The Commencement ceremony ended with traditional tributes to the accomplishments of each individual student, just before they accepted their CA-red diplomas. Then, the celebrating and picture-taking began, on a perfect Commencement Day! n

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Class of 2022

Summer 2022

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Girls Lacrosse Team Wins Seventh Straight State Championship

S

ometimes, people who are superb at what they do make it look like it’s really not that hard.

But have no doubt—winning one Girls Lacrosse State Championship is not easy. Winning seven straight State Championships can only be achieved with years of hard work, practice, focus, conditioning, physical and mental discipline, courage, and determination to succeed.

“I am happy and proud,” says Head Coach Laura Sandbloom. “This is the first full-length season we have had in a while because of COVID-19, and we were challenged throughout the season. It required a lot of hard work from our girls and coaching staff, so this championship feels particularly sweet.”

As the 2022 Colorado Academy Girls Lacrosse Team brings home the State Championship for the seventh year in a row, write the names of the team and their coaches in the history books: Olivia Aguirre (Grade 11) Addie Brown (11) n Emmy Brown (9) n Gigi Brown (9) n Anna Colpack (11) n Charlotte Corkins (10) n Emma Ezrine (12) n Ari Foreman (11) n Estella Geller (10) n Lilly Hall (9) n Maya Kendall (12) n Alexa Lang (9) n Vivian Leuthold (10) n Riley Leversedge (11) n Kate Lichtenberger (10) n Zoe Martin (10) n Alexis May (10) n n

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Colorado Academy Journal

Skylar May (10) Kate Nelligan (10) n Katherine Rhine (10) n Emily Silliman (12) n Addy Smith (9) n Annie Smith (10) n Shea Stone (10) n Brooke Wachuta (12) n Sabrina Wachuta (12) n Addy Westerberg (9) n Head Coach Laura Sandbloom n Assistant Coach Allie Emala Poos n Assistant Coach Casey Bocklet n Assistant Coach Jordan Ulrich n n

First half In a repeat of last year’s State Championship game, CA again faced Valor Christian High School. Sophomore Zoe Martin did not waste any time getting CA on the scoreboard. The game had not yet hit 40 seconds when she scored for CA. Minutes later, Sophomore Vivian Leuthold added to the tally. And in her final game for CA, Senior Maya Kendall, who will play Division I lacrosse for Dartmouth College next year, added a third goal for CA. The team continued to score on many possessions, putting CA in the lead at halftime with a score of 7-3.

Kendall was consistently excellent on the draw. CA’s fast-moving and tireless defense threw Valor Christian off their system. And CA’s goalie, Junior Olivia Aguirre, stopped numerous aggressive attacks throughout the game.

Second half Valor Christian started the second period as fast as CA had started the first, scoring

at 33 seconds. But within the next minute, Colpack found the back of the net, and the CA team never looked back. By the end of the game, multiple players had scored multiple goals: Colpack (3 goals), Kendall (1 goal), Leuthold (3 goals), Martin (3 goals), Skylar May (1 goal), and Addy Smith (2 goals).

Valor Christian made a late-game surge, but CA triumphed 13-9, its 25th consecutive post-season win. This was Coach Laura Sandbloom’s final game at CA, as she prepares to move closer to family in the Midwest. She celebrated on the field with her one-year-old, who was born just weeks after last year’s State Championship win.

Sandbloom has been part of all seven State Championships, first as an assistant coach and then as head coach. She has brought a culture of joy and healthy competition to CA’s Girls Lacrosse program, with an emphasis on maintaining decorum and inspiring young women to be ambassadors for the sport.

“At the beginning of the playoffs, we put the word “Together” on our sticks,” Sandbloom says. “This is what I always preach. They play for each other, and I am so grateful for their hard work and for valuing team over self in their pursuit of something greater than themselves.”

So if you ever start thinking, “How hard could it be to win seven straight State Championships?” remember this—every girls lacrosse team in the state would also like to make history by ending CA’s streak. But on Sunday, May 22, 2022, the dynasty continued, adding one more win to the storied history of the CA Girls Lacrosse Team. n

Girls Lacrosse

Summer 2022

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Seeing the World ‘Through a New Lens’

E

very year, a group of Colorado Academy Upper School students attends the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC). Usually, it means students must travel to another part of the country to meet hundreds of high school students from other independent schools.

For the past two years, the SDLC has taken place on Zoom, due to COVID-19 restrictions. But the four CA students who attended this year believe the digital

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conference was no less enlightening or intense than an in-person one. Each spent the better part of a week meeting students from around the country, divided into three different groups: a neighborhood (half of the 6,000 students in attendance), an affinity group, and a small group called the “family group,” which consisted of randomly assigned students.

The students were guided and encouraged

by CA Director of Inclusivity Sarah Wright.

All returned with new insights and perspectives. Here, in their own words, you can hear how SDLC changed their view of the world.

Julie Marwan, Senior I’ve always been passionate about understanding diversity and inclusion in my school and community. I joined the CA club FACES my Freshman year, and now I am a leader of the club. We spend time discussing current events and CA from the perspective of diversity and inclusion.

SDLC Conference

When I was given the opportunity to learn more about these issues and meet new people at SDLC, I jumped at it. Overall, it felt like a great safe space where you could leave your comfort zone, develop new thoughts and ideas, and people would really listen.

I was in the Middle Eastern affinity group because I identify as Egyptian. One thing that hit me when I entered my affinity group was that there were Arabic songs playing. It shocked me because I had only heard that music played by my mom and dad. I looked around the group and said “Oh my gosh, you guys know these songs too! This is awesome.”

I had never been around a group of people who shared a similar background and experiences, except for my family. Our affinity group still talks on a group chat every day, even though the conference is over. Every minute I spent at SDLC was impactful and prompted me to reflect on how the world works.

I hope to bring back my experiences to FACES and PlatFORUM to share new perspectives and ideas. I would 100 percent recommend that people attend this conference. It was incredible.

Wynn Sharp, Senior I wanted to attend SDLC because I have been interested in work with diversity. I am Co-Leader of the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) at CA, and I saw this as an opportunity to further my experiences with diversity and make a difference at CA. I was in the LGBTQ+ affinity group. This is the first time I had been in a room with only LGBTQ- identifying people, and it seemed like they inherently understood my identity in ways that other people can’t.

We had one speaker who talked about how to handle situations where you see injustice. I’ve always been taught to take

an active role in stopping it, but she talked about ways that you can just support the person experiencing racism or homophobia without having to step in.

I was really changed by SDLC. I thought of myself as empathetic, but being in a group of people who talk honestly with you about their experiences changes you in a way you cannot foresee. It makes you want to stick up for people who don’t have it as easy as you.

I think I brought back to CA techniques on how to have open conversations with people. I’ve learned that it is important to meet people where they are, listen to them, and not try to force anything. We have a lot going for us at CA, including many smart people who want to do the right thing.

That’s put us on a track to change CA for the better.

Michael Malley, Senior SDLC tackles gender identity, racial issues, and what it’s like being differently able in mental or physical ways. I wanted to be more educated and able to hold a good and productive conversation about all of these topics.

I was nervous about applying, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was an educational experience with application to real life and my ability to understand friends, peers, and anyone in the room at any given time.

I joined the white affinity group because even though my mom is Mexican and Spanish, I was raised culturally as white. I began to think more about my identity in ways I had not considered before. There was a girl in my group with the same background and the two of us shared an existential freak-out moment when we talked about the times we have to list our race on any form.

When my mother’s family moved here from Mexico, she didn’t teach her children Spanish. She quickly assimilated into the U.S. culture. If there had not been pressure

to do that, I wonder if I would feel more of my mom’s culture.

There were a lot of brave people at the conference willing to be vulnerable, so that even over Zoom, everyone was engaged, making the digital experience a non-issue.

I learned a lot about identity and race. I can now validate the feelings of people who are different and understand where they are coming from. I see the world through a new lens.

Katherine Pulido, Junior Because I am Filipino, I belonged to the Asian American and Pacific Islander affinity group, but we created a “sub-affinity” group of just Southeast Asians.

It was amazing how much we had in common. I never realized there could be a specific space that felt so comfortable for me. The way it felt to stare at the Zoom screen and see myself reflected back in all the other faces was completely incredible.

In my “Family group,” I talked about how I have always felt intimidated calling myself “Asian” instead of “Filipino” because when people hear Asian they usually think of Japanese, Korean, or Chinese. I don’t feel I can speak for the Asian community because I don’t have typical Asian American experiences, but I am still part of that community.

One of the other members of the group who was Chinese told me that even though I am not “Asian passing,” I was accepted in the community. She followed up by saying, “We recognize your heritage and we welcome you in Asian American spaces.”

It hit me so hard to know that even though I am not at the forefront of typical Asian American experiences, I still belong.

I want to stress how much love was present at that conference. Overall, I give my time there an “A.” it was absolutely the most transformative experience in my life. n

Summer 2022

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A Game-Changer for CA Athletes

W

hen you hear Friday Night Lights, the first thought that may come to mind is the TV series (and film) about a high school football team in rural West Texas. But Friday night lights have now arrived at Colorado Academy— not for football players, but for the many students who play field sports.

Starting in spring 2022, students who play Field Hockey, Lacrosse, and Soccer enjoyed well-lit evening practices and games on Slater Turf Field, thanks to a new lighting system that surrounds the field.

Now, they will have double the opportunity for training and competition after sunset with the construction of a second turf field, also with night lights, scheduled to be completed by fall of 2022.

The land on which the new field will be built was originally part of the Newton family farm. Frances Newton, matriarch of the family, was on the CA Board of Trustees and worked closely with former Head of School Chuck Froelicher in the 1950s and ’60s, as CA transitioned from a military school to a boarding and day school, and finally to an excellent coed independent school.

During the 2004-2005 school year, CA purchased 18.5 acres of the Newton farm, including the original Newton home, which will not be affected by the construction of the new field. Slater Turf Field, the first project to be developed on the land, was dedicated in spring of 2006, but CA continued to keep a strategic eye on finding the right opportunity to develop the remaining land. Now that time has come with the Newton Turf Field.

“This is really a game-changer for the school,” says Director of Athletics Bill Hall. “I am so grateful to everyone who has made this possible because it shows that CA

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believes that athletics are important to the education of the whole child.”

What makes this a ‘game-changer’ Hall is not indulging in hyperbole when he uses the word “game-changer.” It was not uncommon for a game on Slater Field to end prematurely because the sun had set, and there simply wasn’t enough light to finish. Now games can be completed, and even scheduled to be played, after sunset.

The lighted fields will enhance the athletic experience of many students at CA. There are 79 Upper School girls playing Field Hockey on four teams, plus additional Middle School girls taking up the sport. There are 70 boys playing Lacrosse at CA and nearly 40 girls playing Lacrosse, many of whom have already played on teams that have won seven straight State Championships.

Newton Field will lie parallel to Slater Field but will be positioned slightly to the north. It will be accessible from South Teller Street, and there will be parking adjacent to the field. The field will be comparable to the top college turf fields in the country, making it particularly attractive to students interested in playing Field Hockey in high school and college.

The new turf field will also benefit the greater Lakewood/Denver community, since it will be available for club teams, college teams, and professional teams to use year-round, generating revenue for CA’s operating budget. It may even bring young club players to the CA campus, who will eventually decide that they want to apply to CA. But for Hall, the most important aspect of having two fields with lights is the support they will provide for CA athletes.

Rendering of Newton Field west of Slater Field

“Students learn so many skills playing sports—real world skills,” he says. “They learn how to set goals, work hard, not give up when things turn against them, and how to be a good teammate and a good human.

These are lessons that prepare students for college and life.”

What makes the new field special You might think that Director of Operations Jesse Schumacher would want to take a moment to breathe after finishing supervision of the construction of the Leach Center for the Performing Arts. Instead, he

Newton Turf Field

says he is “super excited” to take on another new project—for one interesting reason.

“Many of the projects we have done in recent years—the Upper School, the Ponzio Arts Center, the Welborn House, the Athletic Center, and the Leach Center—were a matter of taking an existing building and renovating it or scraping it. This new turf field is a project that starts with undeveloped land and makes it useful with a great new addition to the campus.”

Schumacher has already supervised the installation of four 70-foot poles, which support environmentally friendly LED lights, along the sidelines of Slater Field. The new lights create zero light pollution. The height of the pole actually limits the “spill” of the lights, focusing it downward, so it does not

shine in the eyes of drivers on Pierce Street.

“When we talked with vendors, we kept in mind what kind of players would be using the field with these lights,” says Schumacher. “We made decisions about what kind of lights to use, so that the highest level of athletes playing fastmoving ball sports will be comfortable playing on the field.”

Newton Field will be slightly elevated above Slater Field, producing a terraced effect. It will be lit with the same state-ofthe-art lights. Turf field technology has changed since Slater Field was built, and the foundation of Newton Field will be sand with minimal rubber, making it an even more natural and responsive playing surface.

Hall and Schumacher agree: “It is a firstclass field.”

The veteran trees that border both fields— the ones that Schumacher calls “the most beautiful on campus”—will not be touched during construction.

“We were determined to keep those cottonwoods,” says Hall. “There is good spirit in those trees.”

The good spirit of CA donors, starting with a generous lead gift, supplemented by gifts from additional donors, has made Newton Turf Field possible.

If you are interested in adding your support to Newton Field, please contact Advancement Officer Gravely Wilson. n

Summer 2022

15

An Evening of Discovery at the Computer Science Festival

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bout halfway through the Computer Science Festival, an Upper School volunteer came running up to Computer Science Department Chair Kimberly Jans with a mini-crisis. The check-in desk had run out of maps of the many activities, a reflection of the everincreasing popularity of the annual event. Jans dashed across the room to print more.

She wasn’t surprised by the shortage when she checked the final numbers and saw that 62 families and 189 participants had signed up to attend. That level of interest affirmed Jans’s commitment to all the work it takes to pull off this annual event, which coincides with National Computer Science Week.

“My vision is for everyone of every age to have the opportunity to experience computer science,” she says. “It’s fun, engaging, and challenging, and the Computer Science Festival gives the CA community a chance to come out and learn and play! This is our best turnout so far, and for me it brings such joy to see students engaged in learning about Computer Science.”

Young students made their way around Raether Library, upstairs and downstairs, to try out a variety of challenges which included:

Downstairs: n

F ly a drone or try out virtual reality

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C reate binary bracelets and try binary decoding

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B e a computer program!

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P lay and program robots (Dash, Ozobots, Bee-Bots, Pro-Bots, and Sphero)

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M eet our new iRobot® Root®

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T ry real coding with Hour of Code or BitsBox

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A ttend a mini-workshop with Osmo, LittleBits, Makey-Makey, or Hummingbird Arduinos

Upstairs: n

I nteract with GoPiGo Raspberry Pi robots

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L earn about MS FIRST Robotics team

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S olve puzzles using Turing Tumble Marble Computers

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V isit the MS Robot Petting Zoo

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D esign a paper circuit card that lights up

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C reate an LED circuit bug

Jans had help from five other Computer Science teachers, including Upper School educators Michael McLaughlin and Kyle Gillette, Middle School teachers Laura Farmer and Thanh Luong, and Lower School instructor Travis Reynolds, along with three members of the Technology Department staff: Jared Katzman, Jonathan Ender, and Rory Butler.

But the night could not have happened without 23 Upper School Computer Science students and two Middle School student volunteers who explained, mentored, and occasionally rescued a runaway robot or drone.

“It is so much fun to take my interest in Computer Science and help younger students get interested,” said Senior Ryan Strong, as he checked in students at the front desk. “Computer Science is an important part of my life, and I want to share it with others.” n

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Colorado Academy Journal

Computer Science Festival

From Left: Upper School volunteers Morgan Taylor, Ryan Strong, Clare Milligan, Computer Science Department Chair Kimberly Jans

Summer 2022

17

How These Fifth Graders are Creating a Better World

W

hat is on the minds of Colorado Academy’s Fifth Graders these days? You may be surprised to find out.

Why are people using plastic bags, bottles, and straws even though they know it’s polluting the ocean? How can people in Ethiopia suffering from water pollution and shortages get clean drinking water? Why do female athletes make less money than male athletes? What is the impact of social media on girls? How can we do a better job of treating horses that are involved in racing?

These are samples of the questions students are researching for their Voices of Change capstone projects in Fifth Grade classrooms and Lower School Wonder Workshop. But they are not just asking questions—they are going a step further.

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their work could have impact on real world problems, they become very excited.”

The Voices of Change projects culminated in late May, with students doing a presentation in the Leach Center for Performing Arts, explaining their solutions to an audience of parents, teachers, and students. But before that day, they do months of research, interviewing, writing, problem solving, and critical thinking—and raise lots and lots of questions looking for answers.

Fortunately, there are three classroom teachers and Travis Reynolds, who runs the Lower School’s Wonder Workshop, ready to help Fifth Graders discover or invent solutions by navigating the world outside their classroom.

“Voices of Change is a project that empowers children to take on problems that they see in the world,” says Fifth Grade teacher Sara Wachtel. “It gives them the opportunity to talk to experts and formulate innovative real-world solutions.”

“One of the great things I have seen come out of this is how our students now have learned to write emails and reach out to people at CA and outside the school to research their projects,” says Fifth Grade teacher Chelsea Grantham. “I love that they are seeing that there are all sorts of people with different careers in the world.”

“When learning has meaning and purpose, students can do anything,” adds Fifth Grade teacher Jessica Ohly. “When they believe

“It’s extremely rewarding for me as a teacher to see a Fifth Grader acting like a professional while having a Zoom call

Colorado Academy Journal

with the CEO of a company,” says Reynolds.

“The students are passionate about these projects, and they have been persistent.

That’s what happens when you give students choice.”

Listening to the voices Voices of Change started last fall, with students talking to members of their community about problems in today’s world—with an eye toward developing solutions.

“They have so much exposure to news coverage that is negative,” says Grantham.

“This gives them agency, the opportunity to enact change.”

Harrison Wynne thought about his grandfather, who is a veteran. That prompted him to become interested in providing housing for homeless veterans.

His solution is to use 3D printers to build homes quickly and inexpensively. If that seems like a daunting task for a Fifth Grader, talk to Harrison.

“With Voices of Change, we are trying to fix the world,” he says. “We learn from our mistakes, and we learn from what we did right.”

Voices of Change

Willa Ringham has a family connection to the World Wildlife Fund in Kenya. She feels strongly about the problem of poachers killing elephants for their tusks and rhinos for their horns.

“They are being killed for something they are born with,” she says. “We should do something about that, because without animals, the whole world would fall apart.”

Her solution is the development of a rescue center for animals that are easily preyed on by poachers.

Annika Bhandari is asking the question, “Should students learn about racism?” Her answer is ‘yes,’ and she is taking the first step toward building a curriculum by creating a children’s book for early elementary grades that advocates kindness to all people. “I like embracing these tough topics,” she says.

After students identify the problem they want to tackle, they go through a series of steps. They brainstorm their solution and receive feedback on their thinking.

They write a research paper to provide a foundation for their solution.

“We could limit the assignment to writing a research paper, but when they talk to an expert and start thinking about a solution, they light up,” says Ohly. “They learn research skills in a meaningful way.”

Students write emails contacting subjectmatter experts, who can help them refine their ideas. They conduct interviews with the experts. They also write a persuasive speech intended to make others care deeply about their cause and understand why their solution will have an impact.

Throughout every step, Fifth Graders develop empathy for whomever or whatever may be affected by the problem they have identified, so they can more effectively create a solution. Much of that creativity takes place in the Wonder Workshop.

Working in Wonder Workshop Travis Reynolds has a line of students, many of them holding their iPads, waiting for his attention. They bring him questions, and he, in turn, encourages critical thinking by asking them questions.

“What did you learn from that last step?”

“How can I help you?” “Yes, it’s going to be hard, but it’s a worthy exercise.” “What did the contact you spoke with tell you?” “Do you think we need to keep looking for more information?” “See, you did it all by yourself.”

“You’re going to interview Al Gore?!”

In Wonder Workshop, the Design Thinking process that is at the heart of Voices of Change informs every action between students and teacher. Reynolds is constantly challenging students to define problems, create innovative solutions to prototype and test, and understand the users of their solution.

Cam Vath is researching the damage that light pollution is doing to bird migration and reproduction. His solution is an innovative sensor system that would keep lights in large city parks dark unless they sensed movement, and then they would light up and go dark sequentially. He is learning to program code to trigger the lights.

“I learned that I like coding!” he says. “I thought it would be super complex, but it

isn’t, and now I think I would like to learn more about it in Middle School.”

Owen Thorpe is investigating how wildfires can destroy multiple homes in just days.

His solution is a solar-powered drone with cameras that have thermal detection to identify fires that are just starting or have not been extinguished. He cannot contain his excitement. “I’m going to a fire station for an interview to see the drones they are using already!”

Lydia Blessing has asked the question, “If you walked into a museum dedicated to racism, what would you want to see?” Then, she is taking the next step and creating a virtual museum. Reynolds provides support for the technology that students must learn to implement their ideas: computer programming, 3D design and printing, website and app development, graphic design, and more.

“It all depends on the student and where the Design Thinking process takes them,” he says. “We have a full maker lab available with all the materials they need for prototyping.”

Reynolds says students are doing things well beyond what he expected. “I tell them, ‘We don’t expect you to save the world by May. We just want to see how far you get.’”

The Fifth Grade teachers are learning alongside their students. They say that they feel pride, excitement, and inspiration as they watch the Voices of Change projects evolve.

“These students are demonstrating that, even if you are very young, you can fight to bring change,” says Wachtel. “You are never too young to get involved.” n

Summer 2022

19

Transformed Doors Honor Black History

H

ow would you do on the Middle School scavenger hunt to find answers to questions about accomplished African Americans? Try your hand at some of these questions:

What movie featured Chadwick Boseman nominated for Best Actor and 15 other awards in 2020?

What is the name of the all-Black climbing team preparing to summit Mount Everest?

Who were the Buffalo Soldiers?

Which current leader said, “Our unity is our strength and our diversity is our power?”

On a Thursday morning, Middle School science teacher Kathleen Kirkman’s advisory students raced from one classroom door to the next to find the answers to 17 questions. By the time they returned to her classroom, they were talking nonstop about new information they had acquired during what looked like a game.

“The idea behind this project is to engage students in their own research and in the research done by other students,” Kirkman says. “We want students to learn more about major contributions of Black Americans, and even though this looks like a fun scavenger hunt, it really connects them to all of our history.”

During Black History Month, all the students in the Middle School work with their advisories to decorate classroom doors with information honoring distinguished African Americans and their place in the country’s history. In its third year, this project was originally launched by a Middle School student and has become a tradition appreciated by both teachers and students.

“We want to learn more about our diverse world all year long,” says Sara Monterroso, a Spanish and civics teacher who is a member

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Colorado Academy Journal

of the Middle School Inclusivity Committee, which also includes Kirkman and science teacher Thanh Luong. “Having a history month means we set aside classroom or advisory time to focus on this subject, and that gives us momentum to keep going through the rest of the year.”

The origins of the door project The Black History Month doors project was conceived by current Sophomore Domonique Megginson when she was a Middle School student leader. Director of Inclusivity Sarah Wright helped her develop the project. The original idea was that each Middle School advisory would learn about a single Black historical figure who made a contribution to U.S. history or culture. In the first year, Megginson helped direct students to specific, but often unrecognized people, including a ballerina and a cowboy.

Last year, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Middle School expanded its horizons with a Zoom-friendly project for Hispanic Heritage Month. They also revised the Black History Month project to be more openended and to include categories of people which students could choose and research, including: U.S. History, Activism, Theater/ Cinema, Science, Medicine, Politics, Military, Law, Music, Visual Art/Architecture, Business, Computers/Technology, Education, Literature, Religion/Theology, Media/Journalism, Outdoors/Environment, International/ Diplomacy, Youth, Sports, Engineering, Exploration, and Food Education.

“As we got into the planning, students really got drawn into it,” says Monterroso.

“Everyone has an opinion, so there is a lot of teamwork and collaboration going into creating the door.”

Monterroso’s advisory chose sports as their category this year. As they planned the

door, their definition of “sports” evolved.

Eventually, they researched the Full Circle Everest Expedition, a cohort of climbers who became the first all-Black team to summit Mount Everest this spring.

“Originally, I thought we would research famous athletes like Serena Williams and Pelé,” says Eighth Grader Jacob Miller.

“But we wanted it to be different, so we ended up choosing the Full Circle Everest Expedition, which was interesting because some of the climbers are from Colorado.”

Black History Month

“I think there is the perception that climbing has been dominated by certain races,” adds Maris McPheeters. “I didn’t realize how much there was to learn, and I was really inspired by what these climbers are doing.”

The scavenger hunt answers Through the last half of February, Middle School advisories took turns exploring and learning from each other’s doors. At the end of 30 minutes, Kirkman’s students

had found many of the answers they sought: the late Chadwick Boseman was honored for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; the climbers call themselves Full Circle Everest Expedition; Buffalo Soldiers were members of African American cavalry regiments of the U.S. Army from 1867 to 1896; and VicePresident Kamala Harris spoke about unity and diversity.

Learned through research and discovery, this is history that sticks in the minds of Middle Schoolers.

“If you do a presentation one day in class, you can forget it the next,” says Jacob. “Here you can walk around for a whole month and really learn from each door.”

“This becomes a Middle School communitybuilding exercise, and I really appreciate the buy-in of the faculty and students,” adds Monterroso. “This is important work in terms of our community and the world.

All of our students need to see their lives reflected in our curriculum, on-campus activities, and conversations.” n

Summer 2022

21

Mary Poppins Makes Merry with Two Marys

H

ow many actors does it take to play Mary Poppins in the 2022 Colorado Academy Upper School musical? Well, turns out it takes two.

This year, both Junior Clare Henry and Senior Abigail Shapiro are cast as Mary in the production, directed by James Meehan, choreographed by Melissa Zaremba, with Steve Scherer serving as technical and musical director in his final show at CA.

everything that ‘elementary school Abigail’ would have wanted and more.”

Henry was equally thrilled. “It’s the part I really wanted,” she says. “I was over the moon.”

Each performer has her own interpretation of Mary.

“I love the role, but everything about Bert is flamboyant. Every action is extreme,” Timmers says. “I am reserved and more academic. Bert takes control of the audience, and so it’s a challenge for me to have that experience interacting with the audience.”

Timmers also finds himself stretched in another aspect of the role. While his family loves musical theater, and he has watched dancers on stage much of his life, he is, by admission, “not a dancer at all!” And that’s where Upper and Middle School Dance Instructor Melissa Zaremba makes her entrance.

Meehan points out that the decision to cast two actors, both of whom deliver two performances, was both an artistic and a practical choice.

Henry sees Mary as having two very different sides—one which leads with firmness, and one which leads with her heart. “I think she toes the line between confident and arrogant,” says Henry. “There are moments where you wonder if she should really be looking after children! Then there are moments when her heart breaks through, and you know she really cares.”

“Both Clare and Abigail gave superb auditions,” he says. “In the back of our minds was the possibility of a COVID quarantine at the time of the performance. So we cast both, to be prepared for any last-minute surprise.”

‘Step in Time!’

Shapiro has a candid appraisal of her character. “I don’t think Mary Poppins on the page is necessarily likeable,” she says.

“My hope is to take her off the page and make her likeable to the audience.”

Zaremba has a long history with Mary Poppins. She performed in the show in Chicago in 2014. She choreographed the show for a Texas university in 2015. “I know it well,” she says with a laugh.

For Shapiro, assuming the lead role is a longtime dream fulfilled. “I’ve been doing theater for so many years at CA,” she says.

“Having the lead role my Senior year is

Both Marys perform opposite the same chimneysweep, Bert, played by Junior J.T. Timmers, who says this is definitely not a case of typecasting.

She knows it’s a challenging show, with several long dance production numbers that Disney added when the movie moved to the Broadway stage. The dance styles vary from tap, to basic partner dancing, to classical musical theater. With a cast of 30 in the CA production, Zaremba has her work cut out for her, teaching students who may never have danced before to strut their stuff on the stage.

The students appreciate her hard work.

“I’ve never been a dancer,” says Shapiro. “But Ms. Zaremba has instilled in me a love for dance. She shares her passion for tap dance with other students. We couldn’t do the show without her.”

Zaremba points out that much of the joy in this show comes from the timing. “This is the first time since I came to work at CA that we haven’t been in a pandemic,” she says. “And we get to do a show with a lot of dance! CA has not seen that in a while, and the kids are super excited to be doing it on a new stage.”

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Colorado Academy Journal

Mary Poppins

‘Chim Chim Cher-ee’ Ask Technical and Musical Director Steve Scherer about the production of Mary Poppins, and he keeps coming back to the word “big.”

“The challenge of Mary Poppins is trying to figure out the massive set needs and how they fit on the stage,” says Scherer. “Not to mention where you store the scenery when it’s not on stage.”

A lot of the atmosphere for the show

is established through images that are projected. But other items—a gate, furniture for the house, a “talking shop,” and a bakery where fine china falls off the wall and then resets itself—were engineered and built by Advanced Technical Theater students based on designs by Scherer.

“When you watch this show, you should always remember the hundreds of hours that tech theater students put into making it look professional,” says Scherer. “They design and engineer special effects and

problem solve along the way. They may not be in the spotlight, but their artistic selves are on the stage.”

As Musical Director, Scherer taught all the students what he calls the “incredibly intricate score” of the show. In the new Leach Center for the Performing Arts, an 11-piece professional orchestra played from the orchestra pit for the first time.

But Scherer chose not to be the main director for the final production of his 28 years at CA. >>>

Summer 2022

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<<< “I stepped into the wings to give people the chance to take my place,” he says. “We have talented people at CA who can do the job.”

‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!’

Meehan chose Mary Poppins because it’s a “fun, family musical, and everyone knows it.” Part of what makes it fun is the aerial acrobatics. The two Marys and Bert have a chance to perform in the air, a thrill for any actor, and especially one in high school.

“When Mr. Scherer told me, ‘Abigail, you are going to fly, I think I screamed,’” Shapiro says. “I ran over to Clare and we just jumped up and down.”

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kept the entire cast focused through rehearsals that started in February and ran through April. “The students worked so hard because they really wanted to do a good show,” he says. “They were under pressure, but they responded well, and to see their hard work come together is really rewarding.”

“Mr. Meehan is wonderful,” Henry says. “He has a fun way of directing. He has ideas, but he also likes to hear what we want to do.”

‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ Without a doubt, Mary Poppins is a big show—“exceptionally grand,” says Henry.

“Heights are not a fear for me,” laughs Henry.

“We worked 10 times harder to pull it together to make it look good,” she adds.

“That brought the cast that much closer. We are a giant family.”

“Bert has this great ensemble moment called ‘Step in Time,’ where I get to fly over everyone’s head,” Timmers says. “I think it may be the highlight of my high school career.”

The experience students gain from this performance extends far beyond the stage, far beyond the Leach Center, and far beyond CA.

As Director, Meehan handled lighting, sound, ran projection of images, and

“You learn from the characters as you play them. You learn teamwork, how to

Colorado Academy Journal

communicate and be confident, and you carry that out of the theater with you,” says Henry. “Theater is a gift.”

“I don’t think I would be as successful a student without theater,” adds Shapiro.

“It taught me what hard work looks like, it taught me what success and disappointment feel like, and it taught me how to overcome challenges. All of those skills come to play in all facets of life.”

For Scherer, Mary Poppins is a fitting way to say farewell to CA. “I have many happy memories, no regrets, it’s been a great run,” he says. “And now, just like Mary Poppins, I am going to fly away.”

The ultimate lesson of Mary Poppins may have been timed perfectly for a school and society navigating a new normal during a multi-year pandemic.

“This show is near and dear to my heart because there are wonderful life lessons in it pertinent to our times now,” says Zaremba. “Take time for what’s important.

Be with your family. And never forget the joys of childhood.” n

Mary Poppins

Summer 2022

25

CA Students Transform Lives as Horizons Tutors

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t’s a Thursday afternoon after school in late February, and three Colorado Academy students have made a short drive that takes them a world away from CA’s campus. They are sitting in an upper floor classroom of Knapp Elementary School, a Denver Public School in the bilingual Westwood neighborhood.

At one table, Junior Desi SilvermanJoseph is reading a book with Abigail, a Kindergartner from Knapp. He reads a page and then she reads a page, as he helps her sound out the words, one at a time.

At a nearby table, Junior Jo Rydberg is dividing her time between two third grade students. Paula from Knapp is working on fractions, and Andrew from KIPP Sunshine Peak Elementary is practicing addition.

At another table, Sophomore Yahaira Nuñez-Hernandez is drawing circles and squares to help Knapp student Daniela learn to add, subtract, and do fractions.

Even in the first grade, Daniela is very good at math. “I was impressed!” exclaims Yahaira.

The CA students are just three of the members of the CA Horizons Club, volunteering their time during the school year to help Horizons students achieve

grade-level skills, not just in the summer, but throughout the school year. All three serve as Co-Presidents of the club.

“CA students are involved at a whole new level in the Horizons program” says Jessica Nuñez-Hernandez, who is a Horizons alumna and now serves as Community Liaison and Lead Pre-Kindergarten teacher at Horizons. She also oversees the tutoring program. “Our students get extra help through personal tutoring, and CA students get to see the struggles these students face, build connections with them, and support someone who needs extra help.”

The tutoring program, which has so many benefits for both student and tutor, was born out of the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A win-win idea In March of 2020, Knapp closed its doors and went to full-time remote learning, like most other schools dealing with COVID-19.

Horizons Executive Director Daniela Meltzer and Jessica realized that the pandemic would put students, who were already behind grade level in school, even farther behind.

“The idea for a tutoring program in which

Upper School CA students would help tutor Horizons students came from Head of School Dr. Mike Davis,” says Meltzer. “And we have recently even welcomed some CA parents to help out.”

During the 2020-2021 school year, the ongoing pandemic prohibited in-person tutoring. In some cases, Horizons students did not have the technology for online tutoring, but with the help of CA and some donated iPads, Denver Public School students could be assisted by CA students remotely.

“A lot of students were able to catch up on assignments, even though they were online, because they could share their screens, and their tutor could see what they were missing and where they needed help,” says Jessica. “A lot of the students used the tutoring as a type of mentorship. They appreciated having someone to talk with and to check on how they were doing.”

At the start of the 2021 school year, Horizons did a survey, asking parents how the program could help them. The answer was nearly unanimous—please provide individualized help with homework, so that students could catch up after a year of offand-on remote learning.

Using test scores, Horizons was able to identify those students most in need of help. Working with teachers at Knapp, Jessica provided CA tutors with specific feedback on students to help them move forward. Now, two years after the program started, 33 students are receiving in-person tutoring twice a week and online tutoring on an as-needed basis.

“This program has been like a baby,” says Jessica. “I have watched it grow from nothing to something that has great impact. I hope to reach even more students because we have students who can really benefit from this extra help, and the CA students are great.” n

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Colorado Academy Journal

Horizons at CA

What CA tutors say…

What do CA students get out of tutoring? Here is what they have to say in their own words.

Jo Rydberg, Junior “Last year, I tutored a fifth grader remotely. At first, it was strange because suddenly I was the teacher, not the student! We mainly worked on reading and writing. I relied on what I remembered from being in Suzanne Kolsun Jackson’s Fourth Grade class at CA. She really got me into reading and writing, so I found myself looking back at how she taught.

“Over the summer, I worked at the Horizons six-week program. I was only supposed to be there for the first week, but I loved it so much, I went back any day I wasn’t working my other job. Through tutoring, I had made connections, so I felt like I knew the kids better. I also knew that what I was doing was making an impact, and they were grateful. That is great feeling to have.”

Desi Silverman-Joseph, Junior “Tutoring is both rewarding and challenging. It takes a lot of patience. Especially with reading, it’s best to have one-on-one tutoring because it takes a lot of perseverance on the part of the students. When I am struggling to keep my student focused, I think to myself, ‘Teachers have to deal with 17 students in the classroom.

I can do this.’

“In addition to tutoring, I feel like I am being a mentor and a good role model for younger students. The other nice thing is the sense of community among the tutors. It’s given me the opportunity to make friendships with kids who are not in my grade and meet new people.

So Horizons has also had an impact on my life.”

Yahaira Nuñez-Hernandez

(Jessica’s younger sister), Sophomore “Horizons has been a part of my family’s life for a long time. I started in Horizons the summer after sixth grade. It really helped me stay focused over the summer and get ready for the next school year.

“I always dreamed of coming to school at CA, and I think that being in Horizons helped make that happen, which is amazing. Last year, I tutored a first grader over Zoom. It was wonderful to see him grow academically, and his parents were so appreciative of the CA tutors.

This year, it’s much more fun to be able to tutor in person.

“I think about my experience all the time. I started as a Horizons student, I became a CA student, and now I am tutoring Horizons students and working for the program in the summer. It is truly one big circle. It makes me happy to think about how all these people from CA helped me get where I am today, and now I get to influence the education of younger Horizons students.”

Summer 2022

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CA Concert Breaks Record

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t the 2022 CA Concert, more than 550 people had a great time and did a good deed, netting more than $400,000 for financial aid at CA, a record amount for the seven concerts held in the past 12 years.

with Isaac Slade silencing the crowd, as he commanded a purely acoustic moment mid-performance. With soul-stirring intensity and intimacy, the Grammy Awardwinning duo of Rodrigo y Gabriela owned the room, and the crowd was thrilled to be allowed inside their world.

The entertainment was unforgettable,

General Manager Paul Worley and Chef

Colorado Academy Journal

Chris Kinney from Sodexo Food Service outdid themselves, with tacos, empanadas, sauces to tempt the palate, and bottomless bowls of guacamole.

After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, this was an in-person party with a lot of pent-up joy and generosity—and the result will change lives of CA students. n

CA Concert

Summer 2022

29

Steve Scherer Has Left the Building

M

ost people who know him would assume that it was theater that brought Steve Scherer to Colorado Academy. In fact, it was soccer. You find that hard to believe? Well, here’s the story.

Scherer had just moved to Denver from Chicago, where he had taught drama to everyone from pre-school students to senior citizens. He also had mounted shows at Chicago’s Theater on the Lake, with its breathtaking views of both Lake Michigan and the city skyline. But in Denver, he was a long way from directing elite productions.

In fact, he was working at a home improvement big box store as the Assistant Manager of Hardware.

He was also filling time by giving his sevenyear-old niece piano lessons. Then, one day in summer 1994, his niece’s father called with a last-minute request. He was running late, so could Steve take the girl to soccer practice at a nearby school? Ever obliging (and with nothing better to do), Steve agreed. He still remembers the drive to the soccer field.

“Turn right here, turn left here,” his niece told him. “We ended up on a campus,” he says, “and I thought it was a junior college.”

It was actually CA. Scherer dropped his niece at soccer, parked the car, found the Froelicher Theater, and ran into then-Chairman of the Fine and Performing Arts Department, Angel Vigil.

“If you ever need anyone to teach drama or work with kids, I can do that,” Scherer told Vigil.

“Do you have a résumé?” Vigil asked.

“Sure,” Scherer lied. And he jumped back into the car, raced over to Bear Valley Library, rented a typewriter, typed up a résumé, and took it back to Vigil.

“Well,” Vigil said, “I can give you a part-time job, but it will never be full time.”

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Colorado Academy Journal

And that was 28 years ago—28 years of Scherer having a hand (or both hands) in more than 100 productions at CA, inspiring generations of students to love theater.

He’s served as director, musical director, technical director, or as scene painter or set builder, but now it’s time for Scherer to hand back his title, “Chair of Theater & Dance Department,” say farewell to CA, and retire from full-time teaching.

“Every year, I wanted to wait one more year, until this student graduated or that student graduated,” he says. “But I realized, there will always be another student.”

Let the memory live again Scherer is a unique combination—an autodidact with top-notch training. He has served as musical director on many CA productions, but he never had classical training in music. Self-taught, he learned to play piano by ear on the family’s Hammond home organ.

He had started a Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Iowa, when he realized he didn’t want to read about plays, he wanted to do plays. “I am a maker,” he says simply. And off he went to launch his career in Chicago.

Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, which he directed, collaborating with musical director Cindy Jordan. And of all the shows, in all the years, his favorite moment was in West Side Story, when Jon Davis ’08, cast as Tony, sang “Maria.”

His arrival at CA may have been accidental, but “I knew what I was doing,” he says. “I felt like I saw an opportunity for growth with a good program and good people. There were holes to be filled, and I filled them.”

“He was an incredible singer, and those last two notes of “Maria” just floated throughout the room,” Scherer says. “The audience was stunned. First there was silence and then massive applause. It was the most perfect moment I have had in my career.”

Within two years after starting, Scherer had a full-time job. His first show was Dandelion Wine with the Middle School. His first Upper School show was Dark of the Moon, directed

by Billy Bair, with a set that included a twostory tree that Scherer designed and built.

He started by teaching Sixth Grade drama and went on to teach for decades, including a musical theater course he created.

His favorite show at CA was Stephen

For more than two decades, Scherer dreamt of a theater upgrade, and in 2021 it finally arrived, in the form of the Leach Center for the Performing Arts. The Leach Center includes a much-needed rehearsal room, named in honor of Steve Scherer, thanks to a donation from the Shockley family. “Steve embodies a lot of what is special about CA,” said Ann Shockley when the family made

Retirements

Steve Scherer

the gift. “He should have a permanent place on this campus.”

And a new day will begin In addition to making a name for himself at CA, Scherer has achieved neighborhood fame for the spectacular Christmas decoration and light show at his home. He says he’s been “obsessed with Christmas decorating since he was a little kid.” His family didn’t have money for lights, so when he was a young child, he wandered throughout the neighborhood after Christmas, scavenging discarded decorations to light up the family house.

When he moved to Denver, he kept an eye out for a house with two requirements— close to CA and large enough to expand his annual Christmas display. But now, he is planning to relocate back to Chicago, so after Christmas 2021, he placed an ad on the Harvey Park Facebook page for a

sale of his Christmas treasure trove.

Carloads of people with cash in hand showed up, and within 45 minutes, the decorations were gone.

“I have loved being a mentor to young people, he says, “and I will miss their energy.”

“From a young age, Steve gave me so much more than a love of the theater,” Bhatia says. “He grew in me an attitude that said, ‘Go and accomplish your dreams.’ Steve always championed giving students opportunities and allowing us to think for ourselves. When you turned to him for the answer, he would say, ‘What do you think?’ When we did Seussical, it was such an eye-opening experience for me to think as a designer, as opposed to just a technician. The lessons he taught me during that show are some that I continue to use and spread everywhere I get to go.”

Anshu Bhatia ’06 is one of those students Scherer inspired. Today, Bhatia has a successful international career in scenic and lighting design for theater and opera, and he has also started teaching the next generation of theater students, following in his mentor’s footsteps.

Scherer plans to become re-engaged in the vibrant Chicago theater scene after leaving CA. He served as technical and musical director for his final CA show, the Upper School musical, Mary Poppins. “It’s a good one to end on,” he says. “I’m going to take off and fly, as well.” n

“Now all I have left are 100,000 lights,” he laughs. “But it gives me pleasure to know that my legacy will live on throughout the neighborhood.”

At CA, Scherer’s legacy truly lives through his many students—in the creativity he nurtured and the hard work he encouraged.

Summer 2022

31

A Pioneer in Computer Science Education

I

t was 1984 and a high school in North Bend, Oregon, had just filled a classroom with their exciting new purchase—more than 20 Apple lle computers, an early personal computer.

Then, school administrators were struck by a sudden realization: “Who are we going to find to teach students how to use these?”

The person they found was Kimberly Jans, who saw the job posted, decided that North Bend would be a nice place to live, and knew that she had been very good at her computer science courses in college and could teach the subject.

Jans spent the next six years in Oregon, teaching computer science and math to students, while she earned her master’s degree in computer science education.

She had chosen a field of study with very few other women. Even with a graduate degree, it wasn’t uncommon for her to face skepticism from students.

“I would have students come into my classroom, see that I was the teacher, and say, ‘Do you really know anything about computer science, or did they just ask you to teach this class?’” she recalls. “I would tell them I actually knew quite a bit, but they still assumed they knew more than I did.”

She moved to an independent school in London, where she taught IB Computer Science, ran the school’s network, and did tech repair, but she still had doubters.

“Students would walk in and see me taking apart a computer and fixing something,” she says, “and they would say, ‘Gosh, can you do that?’”

As a pioneering woman in computer science education for more than 40 years, Jans has proved the skeptics and doubters wrong more than once. As she retires, she can take pride in knowing she has inspired countless students—many of them young

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women—to try the subject she loves.

“If you think about the last 30 to 40 years in computer science, you can see that I had to learn so many new skills,” she says. “I had to replace my knowledge every couple of years, learning a lot on my own. And that’s the way I approach teaching—you have things to learn from me, and I have things to learn from you.”

Opening doors with a department When Jans decided to return to her home state of Colorado, she searched for a position in an independent school where her passion for computer science education would be welcomed. At Colorado Academy, she found that school because a woman had paved the way for her—Jan Beattie, who was the technology director who hired Jans.

“Because of the leadership of Jan Beattie, no one doubted my skills as a woman,” says Jans. “Jan was wonderful to work under because she gave me the space to grow a program with my specialty.”

“I have never known anyone who has worked harder to make sure that computer science was accessible to everyone, especially girls,” says Beattie.

“Kim has a way of enticing even the most technophobic student to try and then be beguiled by coding.”

Jans started at CA teaching Tech Tools classes to all incoming Ninth Graders, but she had her eye on the future. “There were no computer science classes offered,” she says. “To me that meant we had the opportunity to develop a new Computer Science Department, with a variety of courses added to the curriculum.”

By the end of Jans’s first year, CA started offering introductory courses in C++.

AP Computer Science was added to the curriculum the next year. During the 21 years it has existed, the Computer Science Department has thrived, with several faculty members teaching more than nine different categories of electives, including computer science, robotics, data science, algorithmic art, and bioinformatics.

Creating opportunities with a requirement In the years after Jans first started teaching computer science, she had watched the professional world of computer science become increasingly dominated by men.

In her mind, it was not good enough to just have computer science course offerings—she wanted to see more women entering the field, bringing fresh ideas, new perspectives, and excellent problemsolving skills.

She lobbied CA for a new graduation requirement—two trimesters of computer science or engineering and design for all students in Upper School. Once instituted seven years ago, the new requirement proved to be transformational. The number of girls taking computer science classes exploded from almost none to 50 percent of the students in Data Structures and AP Computer Science.

“I knew that if students were exposed to computer science, they would fall in love with it,” Jans says. “I can’t tell you the number of girls who say, ‘Thank you! I never would have taken this if I didn’t have to,’ and now they have found a passion they didn’t know they had.”

Every year, a number of Jans’s students receive awards from the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT).

Under her leadership, CA has earned its first College Board AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high

Retirements

Kimberly Jans

female representation in AP Computer Science Principles.

“Kim has had positive impact on both students and adults at CA because of the deep attention she has given to scope and sequence in the program and department she has developed,” says Upper School Principal Max Delgado. “She has set a model for what it means to be a department chair and a leader.”

Saying farewell to students and colleagues During her long tenure at CA, Jans has served in many roles at one time or another.

She has been the chair of the Computer Science Department, CA’s webmaster, the AP exam coordinator, and the Upper School technology support person, helping faculty

and students use technology in classrooms.

She has been a four-year advisor to five different advisory groups. CA is all in the family for her—her daughters Petra Jans Pederson ’11 and Jasmine Jans ’13, as well as her son-in-law Thomas Pederson ’11, graduated from CA. Jans launched the Computer Science Festival for students from Kindergarten through Grade 12 as a culminating activity during National Computer Science Week.

Students from the advanced computer science classes help run the evening, while parents, students, and teachers from all grades play. They have robot stations, pocket drones, virtual reality experiences, unplugged activities, Hour of Code, Makey Makey, 3D printing, and Soft Circuit activities. “This festival starts building the

idea from a very young age that computer science is for all,” Jans says. “Everyone can do it.”

Jans is a Master Teacher who received the Yoeman Fisher Award for Teaching Excellence in 2020 and the Frances Newton Outstanding Faculty Award in 2008. In 2016, she received the Colorado Educator Award from NCWIT. Given those honors, it is no surprise that when she talks about what she will miss about CA, the students come first.

“The students are caring, passionate about learning, and they are smart,” she says. “I have loved working with them, and my colleagues are like family. And I have loved having the freedom to develop a robust computer science program.” n

Summer 2022

33

A Teacher with a ‘Huge Heart’

W

hen Barry Simmons told Head of School Dr. Mike Davis that he was planning to retire at the end of this school year, Davis asked him, “Why now?”

“Well,” Simmons said with a small laugh, “lately, I have noticed that I now have a growing number of students in my Upper School classes who are children of my former students. That causes one to think.”

In his 32 years at Colorado Academy, Simmons has now taught history to two generations of students with an unwavering level of devotion and care.

For him, teaching is a calling, a vocation in the truest sense of the word. Today, he is just as enthusiastic about his profession as he was when he first walked into CA in 1989. He does not say, “I am going to work today.” Instead, he always says, “I am going to school today.”

“When I am sitting in my office at the beginning of the day, I love hearing students’ voices and laughter in the hallway,” he says. “I can’t imagine a better way to start a day. It’s a blessing, and I appreciate it.”

For the love of a school Simmons’ heartfelt commitment to the mission of CA began by chance in August 1989 when he was on the faculty of the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver (DU). A call came into his office from the headmaster of a local independent school in search of a history teacher. “He said to me, ‘I have to fill an opening in three days,’” Simmons recalls.

“So I gave him some names of my students who might work out.”

When the headmaster rejected all of Simmons’ suggestions and kept on calling, Simmons finally made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.

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“I said, ‘If you will stop calling me, I and a DU colleague will each take two of your sections in international studies, and you will have the position filled.”

And that is exactly what happened.

Simmons came to CA and fell in love with the school.

“I loved the energy of the students,” he says. “They were so curious, they had such enthusiasm for learning, and they had wild optimism.”

By the end of the school year, Simmons’ colleague quit. But Simmons came back for a second year, taking on all four sections of the history class, at the same time he was juggling full-time faculty duties at DU—and on top of all that, he led a CA Interim.

By year three, the dean of the DU graduate school told him he would have to make a choice. Simmons remembers peddling his bike home and being greeted by his wife when he arrived.

“I said, ‘Well, Diane, how would you like to be married to a high school teacher?’” he says, with a smile. He never filled out an application, but by his third year, he was officially employed at CA, and he never left.

For the love of teaching In his early days at CA, Simmons taught all three sections of Freshman history, so he got to know every student who entered the Upper School. He also taught a capstone Senior course in International Relations.

“I wrote great letters of recommendation for college,” he says. “I could write about the growth that I had seen in students from Ninth Grade to Twelfth Grade.

He has taught just about every history course CA has offered, including Geography, AP Human Geography, U.S. History, Introduction to International Relations, History of Central America,

History of West Africa, Post-Revolutionary China, and Travelers’ Histories.

“I was always learning along with the students,” he says. “That’s the advantage of being in education.”

In addition to teaching, Simmons coached basketball and volleyball, and when the Upper School Principal left, Head of School Chris Babbs asked Simmons to fill in as the Upper School’s top administrator. “Of course, I said ‘yes,’” Simmons says. “I would do anything for the school.” When a national search for a new principal yielded no suitable replacement, Simmons just kept serving as the Interim Principal, year after year, until a permanent replacement was hired.

Retirements

Barry Simmons

“As Principal, I really liked the level of collaboration I had with the faculty,” Simmons says. “We were so studentcentered, and we communicated really effectively. Every student wasn’t just known to me—they were known to everyone.”

For the love of family CA is occasionally described as having the feeling of a large extended family. For Simmons, the school and his family are inextricably intertwined. Both his children, Jacob ’05 and Julia ’10, started at CA in Pre-K, and his wife, Diane, has taught Lower School science for two decades. He likes to point out that, if you were to add together all the years that a Simmons has been on

CA’s campus, the total is more than 75.

“Barry has a huge heart,” says Upper School Principal Max Delgado. “He has an incredible talent for finding the busy places in the Upper School hallways, and as students walk by, he greets them by name. He’s not rushing anywhere. He wants to give them his time and a part of himself.”

As he prepared to teach his final classes this spring, it was important to Simmons that he have the opportunity to say thank you to all his students and to the faculty he has worked with.

“The students that come here want to take

full advantage of the opportunities here,” he says. “They are deeply appreciative of their parents who sent them to CA and of the faculty who teach them.”

After 32 years, Simmons feels he is leaving a school that is in very good shape, with strong applications, solid enrollment, a campus that has been transformed, and what he describes as “a new, young faculty to push us forward.”

Just as his children are now alumni, he has now joined the ranks of esteemed former faculty. “The alumni always say what they liked best about CA is the connection between students and teachers,” he says.

“That has been true for me, as well.” n

Summer 2022

35

A Builder of Skills and Games

A

sk any CA student from the last 26 years what their favorite game in P.E. is, and they can rattle off a number of top contenders: Alligator, Scooter Highway, Hunger Games, and Jurassic Park will fondly be shared. That’s testimony to the creative genius of P.E. instructor, Master Teacher, and coach Marcia Richards. After more than a quarter of a century at CA, Coach Marcia announced her retirement this year.

A quiet top athlete in her own right, Richards is a nationally ranked racquetball player and holds the distinction of being in the National Masters Racquetball Hall of Fame. In fact, she was playing racquetball at a tournament in Houston when thenHead of School Chris Babbs reached out to offer her a chance to coach basketball and teach P.E. more than two decades ago.

Richards was working at the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, and she saw firsthand how challenging school and sports could be for some students. She loved connecting with those kids who were experiencing real hardship.

That nurturing came naturally for the Air Force kid who always had to work to fit in.

“I was always the new student,” she says, describing how her longest stay in any city growing up was just four years. Her nomadic life ended when Richards landed her first teaching and coaching job. Few can say they’ve worked at just two schools for more than 40 years.

Kudos from her colleagues One of the gifts of working at CA is the length of time some teachers and coaches stay, offering many the chance to create longtime friendships with colleagues.

Fellow P.E. teachers and coaches Bob Ulrich and Beth Folsom, and First Grade teacher Diana Giarusso, have watched how Coach

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Marcia’s connection with students, through sports, has made her so valuable to our school. It’s impossible to just talk about her teaching or her coaching because she so effortlessly blends her talents on the courts with those needed in the classroom.

“She is one of the few teachers who is actually connected to students in all three divisions either by her coaching or teaching.

Her expertise as an instructor in her field is exceptional. She has worked closely with her colleagues over the years to develop a strong physical education program for our young students,” says Giarusso.

It’s that commitment to her students that earned Marcia the 2018 Yoeman Fisher Award—CA’s highest honor for teaching excellence and one of Coach Marcia’s proudest moments at CA. “Marcia’s instincts, intuition, and professionalism in the field of physical education are extensive and serve her well when in the role of coach,” says Giarusso.

“Her teaching skills make her an incredibly talented fundamentals coach. It is not easy to break athletic skills down and to effectively teach them—it’s an art, just like in the classroom for teaching reading or math.”

Richards also has advanced to the faculty rank of Master Teacher.

Helping student-athletes Initially having coached varsity sports, Coach Marcia’s true calling is helping student-athletes, no matter their level, to develop their skills. Through four decades, she has coached Racquetball, Tennis, Basketball, Golf, and Softball (at her previous school). “​​ I realized over time that being a skills coach is my strength,” says Richards.

Stepping away from varsity coaching and turning her attention to lower level

teams and younger athletes, she enjoys helping them elevate their game and find their potential, adding, “I enjoy meeting kids where they are at, and, through skill development, help them reach the next level, and I ask kids to always encourage each other.”

Proudly calling her his friend, fellow P.E. teacher Bob Ulrich has coached alongside Richards for as long as she has been at CA. “I have never seen a better coach working with lower level teams. She is patient, a great motivator. Her forte is working with beginner- to medium-skilled students. Our

Retirements

Marcia Richards

programs are so good because of how she develops athletes.”

It’s no surprise that Richards was instrumental in adding competitive racquetball to CA’s sports mix, giving her a chance to share the game she loves with her students. For the past two years, the Mustangs have competed at the National High School Racquetball Championships.

Off campus, for more than 20 years, Richards was part of Racquet for The Cure.

An original board member, she thinks this small fundraiser has had a big impact for women racquetball players in the Colorado community, bringing in more than

$100,000 before the pandemic interrupted its run. Coach Marcia says, with a little more spare time, Racquet for the Cure may again find its footing.

“She cares about people,” says fellow P.E. teacher and coach Beth Folsom. The two have worked at CA together for 20 years.

Coach Beth has watched Coach Marcia share her expertise with every age of student—young kids up to high school.

“Athletes who have been coached by her know she really cares about them—she can be demanding while developing skills, but cares about the whole person. She has

a special knack for enjoying working with developing skills and making every kid feel like part of the team,” says Folsom.

For now, it’s back to focusing on her own racquetball game and the chance to compete again.

Coach Marcia may be stepping away from a daily routine at CA, but she says she hopes to be available when needed to teach, coach, and even collaborate on the next great game for kids. It’s that creativity while collaborating with her fellow P.E. teachers that Coach Marcia says she will miss the most. n

Summer 2022

37

Saying Farewell to Alanna Brown

I

f you have ever wondered who drives the car that is often the last to leave Welborn parking lot, now you know— it’s Chief Financial Officer and Business Manager Alanna Brown. After 28 years of devoted service to Colorado Academy, Brown is stepping down at the end of June and beginning a well-deserved retirement.

In her nearly three decades at CA, Brown has usually toiled behind the scenes—but the impact of her hard work has touched every student and every member of the faculty and staff. The list of her areas of responsibility fills a page and inevitably leads to the question, “Does one person really do all that?” Yes, she does.

“It’s always been interesting because I do have a wide variety of responsibilities,” she says. “But I am an accountant at heart. The rest I learned on the job by necessity.”

When Brown looks back and remembers the day it all started, she credits then-Head of School Chris Babbs for sealing the deal.

It was August of 1994, and she had come in to interview with CA’s Business Manager for the new position of Controller. He picked up the phone, called Babbs, and said something like, “There’s someone here you should meet.” Babbs was on summer break, but he dropped everything and came in to do the interview. Brown got the job, was promoted to Business Manager within two years, and now, 28 years later, the accountant in her can look back at a long list of successes in her column.

Wearing many hats Before CA, Brown had worked in the Business Office at Pomona College, but she wanted to move back to Colorado to be closer to family. At CA, in her initial role as Controller, she was responsible for budgets and financial accounting.

Through the years, she added a long list of responsibilities: Risk Management, Human Resources, Security, Child Care, Student Health Services, the Bookstore, Operations, the support staff for the Smith Center

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Reception area, and Sodexo, the company with the contract to provide food services at CA. Each responsibility brought with it a learning curve.

“Among everything else, I learned a lot about construction and facilities,” she says.

“The fact that I know something about water rights law is interesting.”

The very first construction project during her tenure was remodeling what is now the Pre-Kindergarten Cottage. After that, she had her hand in remodeling or new construction of every building on campus: major renovations to the Lower and Middle School, building and renovating Smith Center, the renovation of Welborn House, the construction of Schotters Music Center, the Upper School, the Ponzio Arts Center, the Campus Center, Raether Library, the Athletic Center, and the Leach Center for the Performing Arts. She was also key to the development of multiple athletic fields.

“What’s great about this campus is that the Sculpture Garden and Stamper Commons are exactly the same as when I came,” Brown says. “Years before I got here, someone had great insight into the core layout of CA.” Since February of 2020, Brown has been integral to making COVID-19 health plans for CA and enforcing policies—a job for which no amount of training could have prepared her. As she had done for decades, she learned on the job and somehow found more hours in her day to keep CA students as safe as possible during a pandemic.

Putting on her travel hat In 2015, Brown was honored by the National Business Officers Association with the Will Hancock Unsung Heroes Award, which goes to business officers who have made extraordinary contributions to their schools.

She was nominated by Head of School Dr. Mike Davis, who also orchestrated a nice moment for the presentation, bringing all of Brown’s colleagues into an Administrative Committee meeting to witness her honor.

“What’s great about this campus is that the Sculpture Garden and Stamper Commons are exactly the same as when I came. Years before I got here, someone had great insight into the core layout of CA.” “Alanna has served this institution with integrity and a selfless manner,” says Davis.

“The school is in solid financial shape with new buildings and facilities and zero debt. She has guided the day-to-day operations, providing me with insightful counsel. During the pandemic, she has been a rock, keeping CA open and fulfilling its mission. We will miss her greatly and are so thankful for her service.”

Brown and her husband plan to take a year to think about their future plans. They want to see more of the National Parks in the U.S. and do some international travel—no matter what month of the year it is.

“Even the summers in our office are very busy,” she says. “One thing I am looking forward to is not being tied to a school year calendar.”

She says she will miss the people, the excellent food, and the beautiful campus at CA. “When you walk out of Welborn and you look west at the sunset,” she says, “that is pretty nice to see.” Let’s hope she gets a very nice sunset that last day she pulls her car out of the Welborn lot. n

Retirements

Alanna Brown

Summer 2022

39

The Least Likely Couple

P

hil Jones ‘99 and Jill Bible ’99 don’t remember having a single class together at Colorado Academy.

Yet, somehow, the two alumni became a couple and have been together for more than two decades.

“We knew each other by being in the same grade, and I always thought Phil was wonderful, but we just weren’t close,” says Bible, who is now Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Studies at Washington College. “If you could go back in time and tell high school Jill and Phil they’d be married, we would have said, ‘No way!’”

Jones, who attended CA from Sixth to Twelfth Grade, remembers when Bible came to CA in their Sophomore year.

“I definitely noticed Jill. She was so smart, taking all these AP classes, and she was a really great soccer player,” he says of his future wife. “I was an engaged but not incredible student. Jill was blazing away, and I was functioning in relative obscurity compared to her.”

In their three years together at CA, they

hardly even hung out as friends. Yet, 25 years later, they’re together, living in the small town of Chestertown, Md., with their 5-year-old and 7-year-old children.

How did that happen?

‘I thought it was going to end in disaster’ Jones gives credit for his marriage, at least in part, to his friend and classmate Joshua Shulruff ’99. After CA graduation, Shulruff’s parents moved into the same neighborhood as Bible’s close friends, which brought their social circles together.

Bible and Jones started hanging out with the same group of friends when they were home from college on breaks. Jones remembers one night when he made Bible laugh by bringing ridiculous hats for the whole group to wear to a party.

“I’m less fun than I used to be, but I was a fun guy then,” Jones says. “I liked to do goofy things, and Jill got to see that goofy side, and I think she enjoyed my antics. I got to see her goofy side, too—something

I hadn’t seen at CA, because you don’t see that when she’s in the classroom, serious and focused, or on the soccer field kicking ass. That lighter side was what sparked my interest in her.”

They started dating, and by their junior year of college, they were officially together. With Bible at Stanford University in California and Jones at Washington University in St. Louis, they were forced to have a long-distance relationship.

“The long distance was brutal, horrible!”

Jones says. “This was in the time before cell phones with video cameras. We would try to visit each other a lot, and each time we would leave each other, I would be reduced to tears.”

But they made it through a year and a half, and as soon as they were done with undergrad, they left together on a six-month trip to South America. When they came back to the United States, they moved in together.

In 2009, they got married.

“I thought it was going to end in disaster,” Bible says of the long-distance relationship, “but it ended in a marriage, two kids, and a wonderful love story.”

‘Professional question-asker’ While Bible and Jones made their CA memories independently for the most part, they still believe the school played an important role in their relationship.

“The fact that we reconnected after graduation speaks to the kind of connection and camaraderie that CA fosters,” Bible says.

“We both made very close friendships at CA, many of which have persisted ever since.”

In addition to helping her find a life partner, Bible says CA helped her develop her love of science, which led her to a career in environmental science and marine ecology.

Jill Bible and Phil Jones with their family

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“I got a really good background in science at CA, especially in biology and hands-on, outdoor experiences,” says Bible, whose

Jill Bible & Phil Jones

current research focuses on the restoration of Chesapeake Bay’s native oysters. “The teachers really engaged us in our learning, and I grew into a very confident learner.

I went to college and beyond, feeling empowered to ask questions and follow my curiosity.”

Bible says this ability to follow her curiosity, which was nurtured at CA, launched her into academia, where, even though she’s an expert in her field, she sees her job as a “professional question-asker.”

And she loves her job, especially the teaching part.

“I love doing some of what I was able to experience at CA: taking students out into the field, putting on waders, collecting data, looking for endangered species in the stream,” she says. “That shared excitement and curiosity about the natural world is energizing to me.”

Jones agrees that learning and curiosity were an integral part of the fabric of CA. “It felt like a place where that was a cultural thing, like it was a school of young intellectuals,” says Jones, who is an architect.

“We would have interesting conversations about history, art, science, everything.”

As an architect, Jones loves conversing with colleagues and clients about creative design solutions. He has worked on everything from elementary schools and apartment buildings to hospitals and storage facilities.

“The only place I’ve ever felt as comfortable being myself” Today Jones is an architect, and Bible is a scientist. But they didn’t always know exactly who they were or who they’d become.

reassembled an old engine. “I really have so many fond memories of students and teachers there. It’s a great school.”

“It felt so nurturing and safe,” Jones says.

“CA was the only place I’ve ever felt as comfortable being myself.”

As CA students, they remember having the opportunities, freedom, and encouragement to try new experiences.

Bible also loved the Interim program, through which she spent a week learning printmaking with a professional artist in downtown Denver. To this day, she enjoys painting and photography.

Although they live too far away to send their own kids to CA, Jones and Bible are glad to see their niece—daughter of Jones’s brother David Jones ’95, former Chair of the Board of Trustees—enjoying being a student there.

“CA was a place that allowed us to be our age and to have great experiential and off-campus learning options like Interim,” says Jones, who remembers a unique Senior project, in which he disassembled and

And throughout their exploration and discovery, they felt the support of their CA community.

“CA is still a special place for our family,” Bible says. “That makes us happy.” n

Summer 2022

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From CA to MLB

I

n early 2022, it was looking like there might be no Major League Baseball to watch this summer. But by early March, the 99-day MLB player lockout ended, and fans breathed a sigh of relief. For Alex Sunderland ’07, that meant back to work as usual.

A Pro Scout for the New York Yankees for the last seven years, Sunderland lives and works in Tokyo, where he evaluates Japanese players. Before becoming a scout, Sunderland played professionally himself— pitching for the Seattle Mariners and playing in Japan and for independent leagues.

Of course, before all of that, he pitched and played shortstop for Colorado Academy— including on the 2006 Varsity Baseball Team that made it to the Colorado State High School Baseball Championships.

“All of us on the team that year still look back on that as the most fun we ever had playing baseball,” Sunderland says.

Finding the field of his dreams Long before he stepped on the field at CA, Sunderland had his sights set on playing professionally.

“It was always my dream to play in the Major Leagues,” says Sunderland, who attended CA from Second through Twelfth Grade.

But when his name was called in the 2011 MLB draft, at first he didn’t hear it.

MLB scouts had told him he would likely be picked between rounds 15 and 25 of the 50-round process. He’d been watching the live show from home with his older brother, but by day three and round 30, he’d begun to lose hope.

Then, in the 38th round, Sunderland’s dad called him.

“I was waiting for a call from a team, but when I answered the phone, it was my dad,” Sunderland says, remembering. “He said, ‘You got picked.’ My brother and I just hugged.”

Sunderland had been chosen to play for the Seattle Mariners. To get there, he’d had to overcome several injuries and the handicap of playing Division III ball in college, instead of Division I. In a typical year, Major League Baseball drafts fewer than a dozen players from Division III teams.

“It was a long journey, and I was a little bit

of a late bloomer, since I started throwing hard at age 21-22,” he says. “So to overcome injuries, to know all the effort you put in, and to see your time and investment finally pay off, it was certainly very satisfying.”

He didn’t have a lot of time for celebration though.

“I had to pack my bags, sign a contract, and get on the road quickly,” he says. “There were just a few days before I had to report to the Mariners complex in Arizona for spring training.”

Sunderland was “thrown into the fire with talented young players.” After a year with the Mariners, he played for independent leagues in the United States and abroad for three years. Then, he got a new kind of offer.

Life as a pro baseball scout In 2015, Sunderland got a job scouting for the Yankees. Based in Chicago, he watched independent Minor League games in search of talented players looking for a chance to sign a contract.

He enjoyed the “diamond in the rough” nature of the work, as he scouted the lowest level of professional baseball for players with skills that could translate to a Major League career.

“These players are often overlooked, because they’re from a small school,

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Alex Sutherland ’07

learning a new position, or recovering from an injury—kind of like I was,” Sunderland says. “If you sign one of these players, that means you were the first person to see them, to notice them. Of course, the signing is always the player’s success, but it feels like a big success for you as a scout, as well.”

During his first year of scouting, Sunderland spent 250 nights in hotels from March to October. He enjoyed the work, but the travel was grueling.

About two years into his time with the Yankees, he learned of an opportunity with less travel but a home base halfway around the world. The team was looking for someone to scout Japanese players full time, on location.

Sunderland had Japanese connections and language skills from being a player there. He got the job and has lived in Tokyo ever since.

When high school English lessons come back to visit

learned at CA have also served him well in his career. It turns out professional baseball scouts have to do a lot of writing.

As both a scout and a player, Sunderland’s multilingual abilities have served him well.

In addition to the Japanese he learned as a player in the country, he is also proficient in Spanish, which he first started learning at CA.

“I go watch a team play, I write a report on a player, and I have to make a case for why I like or dislike him,” he says. “I wrote so many essays at CA, and I feel like it was drilled into me that you have to be concise in your thoughts, and you have to have evidence from the text to support your opinion. So, I’m able to be a concise and persuasive writer as a scout.”

“CA starts you young in language learning,” he says. “I started Spanish in Fifth Grade, and I had so many wonderful Spanish teachers throughout the years who made the language fun.”

Over a third of the baseball world is Spanish-speaking, so his Spanish skills helped him get his foot in the door in the baseball industry. And when he was playing in the Minor Leagues, he often acted as translator for his teammates from South and Central America.

Sunderland says the writing skills he

As a CA student, Sunderland enjoyed the many academic and extracurricular offerings. In addition to baseball, he played golf and basketball, sang in CA choirs, and played piano.

“Obviously, the academics were quite good,” he says, “but CA also gave us the chance to try different things and grow into a wellrounded person.” n

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From Beijing to Wall Street

W

hen Wei “Elaine” Zhou Shen ’91 arrived at Colorado Academy in Ninth Grade, she knew little to no English. By her Senior year, the native Mandarin speaker received CA’s Award for Excellence in English.

She later earned an MBA from Harvard University and today is Senior Vice President for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

“I wanted to succeed, and CA was tremendously helpful,” she says.

For more than two decades, Elaine has worked in finance everywhere from New York to San Francisco to Hong Kong.

Along the way, she has raised a daughter, Emma, who, she’s proud to say, is a student at Cornell University and already a budding entrepreneur.

Elaine gives much credit for her own success to CA: “The school really did everything to help me.”

A teenager on her own in a new country At age 14, Elaine left her home and parents in Beijing and traveled to her new home in Denver.

“It was the first time I had ever even been on a plane,” she says. “It was a long journey.”

Her first year in Colorado, Elaine lived with a host family. Her brother Yi “Glenn” Zhou ’86 had moved to Denver a couple of years earlier and had attended CA, but their parents remained in Beijing for another year.

So on top of being separated from family, Elaine had to start a new school, learn English, and adjust to a different culture.

She remembers, in her very first CA class, understanding only a single word of the entire lesson. For her first English assignment, she turned in a blank sheet of paper.

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“It was really hard,” she says, “but I didn’t really have another choice. I felt like, ‘You either do it or you go back to China.’”

By the end of her first trimester at CA, her report card showed all As. “At CA, I had very good one-on-one help and patient teachers,” she says.

“It’s really incredible how dedicated the teachers are and how they really care about your success.”

She also received support and academic tutoring from her host parents, Taru and Bill Hays, whose daughter Nina Hays ’91, had attended CA. “So many people helped me succeed,” she says.

A powerful career and work she loves Elaine has come a long way from that young student who turned in a blank assignment. Today, as an executive financial services director, she advises corporate executives and large-scale entrepreneurs on how to manage their wealth.

Her expertise includes asset management, estate planning, philanthropic services, and retirement planning. Her work has taken her to major financial centers around the world. And she loves the work.

“Both my brother and I were given the great opportunity to come to the U.S. and go to such a great school, which led us to future opportunities. My whole family has a very strong connection to CA and very much wants to give back to the school.”

“There’s no way I would have accomplished all that I have without my four years at CA,” she says. “CA was my launch pad.”

A family’s dream comes true

She gets a lot of person-to-person interaction, which she finds energizing.

She’s fascinated by how behavior and psychology come into play in her work, as her clients make high-stakes choices. And in sharing her knowledge, she feels like she’s helping people.

Years before Elaine and her brother came to CA, her father had been a faculty member at the University of Denver. After that experience, he returned to China determined to send his children to high school and college in the United States.

“I’m very proud of being able to choose my own path in my career,” she says. “I did what I wanted to do, and now, I’m in a job I really enjoy.”

With both Elaine and Glenn thriving at CA, his dream had become reality.

While Elaine worked hard for all she has achieved, she believes CA played a large role in her success, as well.

“Both my brother and I were given the great opportunity to come to the U.S. and go to such a great school, which led us to future opportunities,” she says.

“My whole family has a very strong

Elaine Shen ’91 Elaine Shen with her mother Yunshan Wu at the 2021 Alchemist Dinner

connection to CA and very much wants to give back to the school.”

Elaine has found multiple ways to show her appreciation to CA for the opportunities she was given. She is a member of the Musil Society through her legacy gift to CA, and in 2020, she made a gift to establish the Elaine and Emma Shen Endowment Fund.

She also contributed to the See It Through capital campaign in honor of her parents, Guangyuan Zhou and Yunshan Wu, who made her CA education possible. With her See it Through gift, Elaine recognized her parents by naming the east stairway in the Lobby of the Leach Center.

“I thought the new performing arts

center was such a great cause,” says Elaine, whose first experiences in performing arts were at CA. “As a student, I did drawing, painting, and performances. I was very much shaped by my creative experiences at CA.”

CA student, during which she spent the whole week painting with a professional artist at her studio. The piece she created that week still hangs in her house in San Francisco—and once, a visitor to her home offered to buy it!

A place to fall in love with learning

In addition to academics and the arts, Elaine remembers learning about culture and cuisine at CA. And as a member of the Varsity Tennis Team, she learned about teamwork and dedication.

While she went on to a career in finance, art remains an important part of Elaine’s life. She collects art, supports museums, and joins regular local art walks.

“I have a lot of appreciation for the arts, and my education at CA definitely helped to foster that,” she says.

She remembers one Spring Break as a

“That’s what CA is all about, really learning for the sake of learning,” she says. “The fact that I was able to learn and succeed at CA gave me confidence and a feeling that there were no limitations. After CA, I felt like I could do anything I wanted.” n

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Business Without Banks

T

he co-founder of the world’s leading digital assets platform says he got his entrepreneurial start at Colorado Academy.

Blockchain.com Co-founder and Vice Chairman Nicolas Cary ’03 remembers spending hours with classmates in the school computer lab writing code and being “nerdy.” He and a CA websitebuilding team won web-design contests, and some of them started earning income for their work.

“In the early 2000s, everyone wanted a website, so we were winning in a different type of sport,” says Cary, who has also founded two nonprofit organizations that help underserved youth become entrepreneurs.

And the serial entrepreneur is still winning—including the 2015 European Digital Leader Award, as well as media appearances with CNN, Forbes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, TedX, and more.

“I’ve always liked building and creating companies, and I enjoy continual learning and the opportunity to be influential,” he says.

‘I knew it would change everything’ Like a lot of people, when Cary first heard about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, he was suspicious. But then he learned about the blockchain concept.

In Cary’s description, blockchain is like a huge, online spreadsheet that keeps track of all digital transactions. Unlike most databases, the blockchain structure involves an irreversible timeline of data that, once stored, cannot be changed. This, plus its decentralized management, makes it a secure source of record-keeping— something the internet has long needed, Cary says.

In 2013, Cary was introduced to Ben Reeves, an entrepreneur in the United Kingdom.

They started discussing a crypto business venture. At first, they were just exploring possibilities, but then “things got serious really quickly.”

“When I learned what was possible, I dropped everything I was doing, moved to York, and started working on it with him,” says Cary, who now lives in England and splits time across half a dozen offices. “I knew it would change everything.”

“You run as fast as the pack around you, and the community around me at CA inspired my thirst for knowledge.”

With the value of Bitcoin skyrocketing, Cary and his colleagues started Blockchain.com and built the first hosted digital wallet for Bitcoin. Within a few months, they had more than a million users, and their first-round venture funding was the largest in U.K. history at the time, Cary says. Soon, they started working with multiple forms of cryptocurrency in addition to Bitcoin.

So far, more than 80 million people from over 200 different countries have signed up to use the Blockchain.com platform and have conducted more than a trillion dollars in transactions. The company now has 600 employees and has worked with high-profile investors from Google Ventures to British billionaire Richard Branson. It just raised a round of financing valued at $14 billion and plans to expand its operations globally.

“I can’t believe this thing is as big as it is now,” Cary says.

‘We’re entering a very different era’ While technology has changed people’s lives in terms of communication and media, Cary says, it hasn’t significantly changed our relationship with money—yet.

“We inherited a world with powerful financial institutions—including banks,

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Nic Cary ’03

exchanges, and intermediaries—but we’ve been running a concerning financial experiment globally,” he says, citing the steady increase in currency supply since the 2008 recession.

While fiscal packages were passed to prop up the economy during the pandemic, they have also caused inflation in commodities, he says. Prices are going up, but incomes are not keeping pace.

And a reliance on physical cash means that billions of people are only able to transact with the currency of their own government.

“From the dinner table to the boardroom, everyone is starting to learn how painful inflation is,” says Cary, who thinks an alternative, internet-based financial system could be the solution.

“If we can give everyone at least equal access to basic transactional capabilities, that makes the pie bigger for everybody,” he says. “The global economy needs a fluid payment network, so that everyone, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, can send and receive money as easily as sending a text message. It looks to me that the internet is going to be the world’s growth engine going forward.”

As evidence, he uses the timely example of the war in Ukraine. People want to donate money to support Ukrainian refugees, but because of the Russian occupation, it’s difficult to send money there. Despite that, the cryptocurrency community has raised over $100 million for the cause—more than four times what the United Nations has pledged.

“We’re entering a very different era, in my opinion,” Cary says, “an era where internet companies can become publicly owned utilities enabling global commerce.”

‘The first time I was really challenged academically’ Through Blockchain.com and other companies he’s created and led, Cary has had financial success. But the child of a single mom didn’t always have complete financial security.

“We didn’t have the means to afford CA,” he

says, “but thanks to scholarship programs and financial aid there, I was able to attend the school.”

He’s grateful for the experiences CA gave him.

“I benefited from the smaller classrooms, and without exaggeration, I think CA was the first time I was really challenged academically,” says Cary, who attended CA from Eighth to Twelfth Grade. “As students, we were given a good deal of room to experiment and selforganize, to test and try a variety of projects.”

His organizing at CA included forming a ballistics club and a cyber athletics league for video gamers. And he says his commitment to service has its roots at CA.

“The service element at CA really imprinted on me,” he says. “Entrepreneurship is a huge way to serve people by giving them agency over their lives.”

Early in his career, Cary worked as a schoolteacher for outcast youth in rural India.

Today, he leads the nonprofit organizations, Youth Business USA and SkysTheLimit.org, which provide business support, resources, and mentors to more than 45,000 youth.

He credits the CA community for motivating him to achieve as a young person.

“You run as fast as the pack around you,” he says, “and the community around me at CA inspired my thirst for knowledge.” n

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Giving to a School and to its Teachers

U

pper School History teacher Randall Martínez will spend a part of summer 2022 in Berkeley, Calif., learning how to teach digital storytelling skills to his Colorado Academy Ninth Grade Global Perspectives students.

say, ‘I really enjoy a lot of free time!’ That’s why I believe professional development opportunities for external learning and stimulation are a welcome tonic for teachers.”

“For me, this feels like authentic support for my journey to become a better teacher,” Martínez says. “I am incredibly grateful that CA sees the importance of professional development to better serve our students.”

The Benson family’s connection to CA started when their son Erik ’96 enrolled in Third Grade in 1985.

At the same time, Upper School English teacher Emily Pérez, who is a poet and editor, will travel around the country, from Harvard University to Whidbey Island (near Seattle), to present her work, participate on panels, and immerse herself in an artist’s residency.

“This is the thing that feeds me as a person and a teacher,” Pérez says. “Being able to tend to my own creative life makes me excited to bring creativity into the lives of students.”

These opportunities for professional development and engagement are supported by former trustee Bob Benson and his wife Cynthia through a generous gift to Colorado Academy. In 1995, Benson established the Ruth and Ernest Benson Professional Development Fund, and in 2021, he added to his original gift with the Benson Summer Fellowship, which enables two Upper School faculty members to receive grants up to $10,000 to cover professional development and engagement related to their subject matter. Martínez and Pérez are the inaugural Benson Summer Fellows.

“CA is an impressive learning community and the faculty engagement and commitment are off the charts,” says Benson. “The faculty put in so many hours every week. I think very few of them would

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The Benson family and CA

“He had Suzanne Kolsun Jackson,” Benson says. “I don’t even need to say anything more about what that was like. We got off on a great footing.”

Kolsun Jackson remembers Benson visiting her class and joining a group of students who were “reading up a storm.”

“He had a big smile on his face,” she says.

“He is a huge supporter of education.”

Benson’s daughter, Kiersa ’02, was in CA’s first Pre-Kindergarten class, distinguishing her as one of the first Super-Lifers at the school.

What impressed both Bob and Cynthia was the insight teachers had into the personalities and learning styles of each of their children.

“Our two kids were very different,” Bob says.

“Both were respected and supported in their unique needs and interests at CA.” In 1989, Benson stepped beyond his role as parent to become a trustee. For five years, he served in a variety of leadership roles as a member of the Headmaster’s Advisory and Finance Committees, chair of the Education and Strategic Planning Committees, and he spent two years as Vice-president of the Board.

“I have a huge amount of respect for [Dr.] Mike Davis’s leadership and the culture he has continued to enhance at the school,” says Benson. “CA is constantly reinventing itself to keep up and shape society’s perceptions

of what makes for relevant elementary and secondary education, and that shines through in the new mission statement.”

But in any conversation about CA, Benson always circles back to the level of commitment he has observed from faculty—teachers who do the very hard work of truly understanding each individual child at the school. When he asked himself how he could give back to these teachers, the answer came from the example his own parents had set.

The Benson family’s history of professional development Together, Bob Benson’s parents, Ruth and Ernest Benson, spent 65 years of their lives serving students at the secondary level.

Both came from modest means, both were stand-out students—his father at Boston University and Harvard University and his mother at Middlebury College, where she earned both a BA and MA in English—and both found that education could open doors to new opportunities.

“For the two of them, education was the gateway to all sorts of life possibilities,” Benson says. “They decided to give back by having careers in education, teaching and mentoring others.”

Ernest Benson started as a biology teacher at Culver Academy (now Culver Academies), a private boarding military academy founded in 1894 on 1,800 acres in Culver, Indiana. Eventually, the school groomed him for a leadership role—Assistant Dean of Students—by sending him to a semester of professional development at UCLA. Twice during his tenure at Culver, Ernest was tapped to be Acting Superintendent, the first civilian to fill that role.

Ruth Benson, who taught English, became the first full-time woman teacher on the

Cynthia and Bob Benson

faculty. She attended a summer program at Northwestern University, and returned to Culver to develop a program that helped students at all levels improve the comprehension and speed of their reading.

Bob Benson watched his parents’ achievements with admiration, and learned about education, as he says, “from a perspective that was broader than most students’.” He went on to receive his BA, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and an MBA, with distinction, from Harvard Business School. But he never forgot the hard work it took behind the scenes for teachers and administrators to give the most they could to students.

Decades of giving, decades of impact Over a period of 35 years, the Benson family has supported CA in a variety of ways. They have given to The CA Fund, and they are members of the Musil Society.

They have donated sculptures from their personal collection, including Anemotive Kinetic 5/9, the spherical, wind-propelled kinetic sculpture outside the Smith Center, created by Denver-based artist Robert Mangold, and Phoenix, by Hans Van de Bovenkamp, which graces the south side of the Upper School.

Benson also supports the CA Endowment, another lesson he learned from watching his father serve as a school administrator.

“I remember my father singling out a trustee who had donated to the endowment because his gift would have impact for many, many years ahead,” Benson says. “It is understandable that CA’s focus has been on upgrading buildings on the campus, but the school is at a new chapter of its life right now, and it’s important to support an endowment which will sustain the school in the future.”

Because of the connection to his parents, the Benson Professional Development Fund is close to Benson’s heart. He understands that professional development “can look very different from person to person but still be equally valid.” He believes it is a gift that has a ripple effect, as teachers return from their experiences and “enrich their colleagues by sharing.”

The first beneficiaries of the Bensons’ generosity are Pérez and Martínez. Pérez celebrated the publication of two books this spring. Among her many experiences during the summer of 2022, she will spend two weeks in residence at Hedgebrook, a highly selective community that supports visionary women writers, where she plans to work on her next book.

“Nothing is more inspiring for writers than hearing other writers talk about their processes and ideas,” she says. “It gets me fired up and carries over to the classroom.”

Martínez will extend his Benson Fellowship into a second summer, which he will spend at GeoCamp Iceland to learn how to teach students geographic inquiry skills. The Iceland program specifically examines environmental adaptation strategies being used to combat the effects of climate change. When he returns, Martínez plans to have students conduct their own geographic information systems projects, using the Denver area as a laboratory.

“For me, this shows that CA is willing to support teachers who want to get ahead of the curve and not just follow national trends,” Martínez says. “We are not just studying history, we are looking at how to create history. And that makes us pioneers in education pedagogy.”

But perhaps the final word about the impact of the Benson family’s generosity should come from the first teacher they met at CA—Suzanne Kolsun Jackson, who is now retired. “Bob Benson made the many wonderful professional development opportunities I had possible,” she says.

“Really, it was Bob Benson who kept me at CA for 40 years.” n

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The Class of 2022

50

Annelise Lauren Agelopoulos United States Military Academy

Annaliese Nicole Falci Villanova University

Jack Henry Hudson San Diego State University

Jordan Grace Alexander Texas Christian University

Avery-Estelle Allison Farmer Bucknell University

Zara Husain Washington University in St. Louis

Sami Ehtisham Azam University of Colorado Boulder

Stella Porter Fenton Colby College

Campbell Tufano Isherwood Boston University

Christian Charles Barnard Santa Clara University

Braden North Fitzpatrick Colorado School of Mines

Bridget Ruth Jeffries Southern Methodist University

Charles Ashton Beasley Chapman University

Carson Michael Frank University of Colorado Boulder

Davis Morgan Johnson University of Arkansas

Helen Elizabeth Blake Harvard University

Carter James Frankum Tulane University

Maya Isabelle Kendall Dartmouth College

Walker Thompson Briggs Sewanee: The University of the South

Jack Benjamin Gerber Colgate University

Lee Elizabeth Kenney Bates College

Hayden Rory Brigham Texas Christian University

Paige Campbell Gillespie University of Georgia

Holden Wellesley Koch Rice University

Ann Capone Butler Babson College

Levi Michael Gillis Northwestern University

Karen Lucero De LaO University of Denver

Samuel Louis Ceraso University of Colorado Boulder

Sophia Saylor Giordano Syracuse University

Michael Joseph Malley II Indiana University Bloomington

Keegan Hamilton Coatsworth University of New Hampshire

Audrey Elizabeth Gordon Southern Methodist University

Julie Ahmed Marwan The George Washington University

Yenenesh Ashera Cohen Lewis & Clark College

Gabriel Sanford Gottlob University of Michigan

Grace Ellen McHugh Creighton University

Jack William Cook Dartmouth College

Benjamin Alexander Greenberg Chapman University

Madeleine Anne McKean Denison University

Elliott Avery Cravitz Bates College

Sean Ramón Gregg Boston University

Robert Avery McKee University of Michigan

Imad Dar University of Colorado Boulder

Erick Josue Hernandez Najera Gonzaga University

Clare Rainie Milligan University of Virginia

James Oliver Dean Pitzer College

Gavin Reed Hewitt University of California, Santa Cruz

William Churchill Montgomery Northwestern University

Luke Adam Donaldson-Reid Colorado College

Jayden Fredric Hill University of Arizona

Jaden Henderson Moore Harvard University

Andrew Warren Edelmann Loyola Marymount University

Alexander Robert Hindes Santa Clara University

Aileen Murillo University of Denver

Emma McBride Ezrine University of Michigan

Hadley Warner Hodgson University of Denver

Casey Ryan Myers Colorado State University

Colorado Academy Journal

Graduates

Grant Patrick Nelligan Bryant University

Maude Lili Tetzeli University of Virginia

Carson Chikara Okazaki University of Utah

Grace Anne Trembath Bryn Mawr College

Jack Solomon Pashel Davidson College

Barrett Layton Trigg Villanova University

Coulter Daniel Perkins Colorado School of Mines

Nathaniel Minh Truong Boston College

Sawyer Bernard Pinkowitz Tulane University

Frederic Loren Bocock Turnage University of Virginia

Sarah Katherine Preston Miami University

Caroline Pierpont Ungar Montana State University

Cooper Walton Quatrochi Colorado College

Brooke Helena Wachuta Miami University

Lucille Grace Rakowski University of Notre Dame

Sabrina Elizabeth Wachuta Chapman University

Brooks Holcomb Rhine Salisbury School

Mary Ellen Walker Villanova University

Benjamin David Richards Berklee College of Music

Skylar Patricia Walta The George Washington University

Morgan Kariel Romine Chapman University

Nicolas Hideo Watters University of Colorado Boulder

Wyatt Kathryn Rubey The University of Texas at Austin

Baillie Alexander Weil Washington University in St. Louis

Joie Catherine Ruble The George Washington University

Charles Michael Whalen Denison University

Abigail Perel Shapiro University of Pennsylvania

William Dawson Whalen Wake Forest University

Wynn Inman Sharp Pomona College

Adeline Davis Williams The College of Wooster

Cole Bradford Siegler University of Oregon

Alyssa Lauren Wilson Boston College

Emily Grace Silliman Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Amanda Nicole Wilson University of Southern California

Peter Clayton Skinner Santa Clara University

Ahbil Woldeyohannes Chapman University

Sofia Leonora Skipwith Tulane University

Connor Clements Wolfe Vanderbilt University

Ryan McCormick Strong Occidental College

Zachary Ben Wolkon University of California, Los Angeles

Morgan Katherine Valentine Taylor Yale University

Jack Randolph Younger Stanford University

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Boards & Associations Alumni Association Board 2021-2022 Chris Bailey ’02 Andrew Bourke ’04 Austin Carpenter ’05 Katie Cordes ’03, VP of School Relations Caroline Cramer ’11 Lisa Harrison Ellsworth ’79 Brian Fisher ’02 Georgia Grey ’08, VP of Development Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11, President Jared Harding ’97, Co-Vice President of Special Events Isabel Gary Harper ’09 Ben Hock ’07, Co-Vice President of Special Events Emma Harrington Kane ’07 Marcus King-Stockton ’04

Myles McGinnis ’08 Aimée Nieuwenhuizen ’06 Zak Pollack ’08 Brian Pushchak ’04 Kyle Rajaniemi ’07 Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99 Liz Robinson ’01 Evan Simmons ’06 Gordon Smith ’79, Honorary Zach Tucker ’01, President-Elect Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73

ex officio: Sue Burleigh, Alumni Director Mike Davis, Head of School

Parent Association Officers 2021-2022 Kellie Prall, President Jenny Wolkon, President-Elect Meg Braun & Christina Joymon, Lower School Vice Presidents Yama Foreman & Lindsay Miller, Middle School Vice Presidents Brenda Alexander & Marte Timmers, Upper School Vice Presidents

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Gina Kennedy, Secretary Amy Martin, Treasurer Heather Spruell & Sarah West, Communications Coordinators Lyndsey Farncombe, Volunteer & Outreach Reena Majmudar & Vanessa Homuth, Faculty & Staff Appreciation

Board of Trustees 2021-2022 Liz Arnold Natalie Bocock Turnage Carole Buyers Sue Cho Betsy Crane Dalia EL-Prince Jeff Geller Daniel Goldman Erika Hollis, Chair Danny Jimenez Bryan Leach Amy Livingston ’93 George Lochhead Tate McCoy Nina Henderson Moore Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93, Secretary Lisa Osman Kevin Reidy Meshach Rhoades, Vice Chair Andrew Robinson Catherine Rollhaus David Shapiro Rob Stettner ’94 ex officio: Alanna Brown, Chief Financial Officer & Business Manager Mike Davis, Head of School Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11, Alumni Board President Jacque Montgomery, Director of Advancement & External Affairs Kellie Prall, Parent Association President

Thank you for supporting The CA Fund this year!

Your generous support allows us to continue our mission of creating curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders.

By supporting The CA Fund, you are making an investment in everything that makes CA extraordinary: a diverse, motivated, and kind student body, exceptional faculty and staff, academic excellence and innovative teaching, a well-rounded liberal arts education that includes arts and athletics, and a beautiful campus with top-notch facilities.

Save the Date for CA Gives Day on October 20, 2022

For questions, please contact Niki Camarena, Director of The CA Fund: 303-914-2559 or niki.camarena@coloradoacademy.org

coloradoacademy.org/TheCAFund

Legacy Children 2021-2022

C

olorado Academy is pleased to report that 102 students enrolled for the 2021-2022 academic year are the children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews of alumni/alumnae. Current grade shown in parentheses.

Marshall Golden (3) Nora Palenchar Golden ’00, mother Ethan Palenchar ’98, uncle

Matthew Coyle (1) Martha Fulford ’01, mother Scott Fulford ’98, uncle

Ezra Goldstein (11) Jeff Goldstein ’88, father

Lilah Dennis (4) Travis Dennis ’00, father Kendall Dennis Slutzky ’97, aunt

Piper Adams (11) Steve Adams ’91, father Chip Adams* ’89, uncle

Samson Dillon (2) Megan Young ’97, mother Daron Young ’00, uncle

Chloë Barton (2) Alex Barton ’97, father

Emmylou Elkins (K) Sarah Robinson Elkins ’06, mother Brian Elkins ’02, father Jenny Elkins ’99, aunt Brian Robinson ’02, uncle

Tate Behrhorst (10) Nicole Moore Behrhorst ’87, mother Mandy Moore Mischler ’82, aunt Hopi Moore-Sargent ’84, aunt Ava Biederman (6) Lilly Biederman (9) Emily Pederson Biederman ’95, mother Maijur Blanchard (3) Yori Blanchard (9) Tiffany Woodward ’01, mother Charlotte Braun (5) Karsten Braun (7) Alexa Hanke Braun ’95, mother Cecilia Hanke Wolfson ’90, aunt Georgia Burstein (10) Rex Burstein (8) Tatum Burstein (5) John Burstein ’89, father Alli Burstein Kozloff ’94, aunt Lachlan Campbell (PK) Kelly Young Campbell ’98, mother Addie Chandler (9) Thomas Chandler* ‘71, uncle Bill Norris* ’49, grandfather

Charlotte Emerson (6) Fletcher Emerson (8) Julia Völkel Emerson ’94, mother Marc Voelkel ’89, uncle Ella Firman (9) Chris Firman ’93, father Lyz Firman Olmstead ’95, aunt Andrew Firman ’00, uncle Matt Olmstead ’95, uncle Carson Flottman (10) Jim Flottman ’89, father Elise Ford (3) Jeska Horgan-Kobelski ’98, mother Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski ’96, uncle Tim Horgan-Kobelski ’05, uncle Lucy Garnsey (9) Peyton Garnsey ’91, father Michael Garnsey ’89, uncle

Bella Converse (2) Kate Hart Converse ’03, mother

Digby Gile (4) Gia Gile (7) Merritt Gile ’95, father Caitlin Gile Morris ’96, aunt Philippa Gile Taylor ’05, aunt

Joshua Corn (11) Roger Corn ’87, father

Noa Gold (5) Meagan Gold ’96, mother

*Deceased

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Henry Cowperthwaite (8) Kevin Cowperthwaite ’79, father Tom Cowperthwaite ’81, uncle

Colorado Academy Journal

Hayley Greenberg (K) Jackson Greenberg (2) Josh Greenberg ’02, father Daniel Greenberg ’09, uncle Rachael Greenberg ’05, aunt Parker Grossman (5) Nicole Cannon ’03, mother Alix Cannon ’01, aunt Lauren Cannon Davis ’99, aunt Aidan Harrington (9) Brendan Harrington ’89, father Jillian Hills (5) Molly Hills (8) Zach Hills (1) Liston Hills ’95, father Zach Hills* ’01, uncle Hadley Hodgson (12) Harper Hodgson (9) Jennifer Hodgson ’92, mother Ellie Jones (5) David Jones ’95, father Jill Bible ’99, aunt Phil Jones ’99, uncle Natalie Kesselman (K) Rob Kesselman ’03, father David Kimball (8) Tom Kimball ’89, father Allyson Kimball Johnson ’92, aunt Ford Kimball ’91, uncle Avery Koch (6) Ryan Koch ’96, father Alison Koch Mims ’98, aunt Helaina Korneffel (10) Peter Korneffel ’83, father Tracy Korneffel ’82, aunt Cezanne Kumpe (6) Carl Kumpe ’90, father David Kumpe ’93, uncle

Legacy Children Buckley Ladd (1) Sadie Ladd (K) Tucker Ladd ’99, father Bryann Ladd Nourse ’02, aunt Ben Ladd ’95, uncle Beth Likovich (2) Charlotte Likovich (K) Tizzie Considine ’03, mother Tay Considine ’01, aunt Carter Maloy (8) Cate Maloy (10) Brooke Bansbach Maloy ’90, mother Alex May (10) Skylar May (10) Kim Warner ’86, mother Gracie McHugh (12) June McHugh ’80, aunt Burke McHugh ’83, uncle Chris McHugh ’87, uncle Blake Miller (7) Fletcher Miller (9) Wren Johnson Miller ’95, mother Craige Johnson ’93, uncle Clare Milligan (12) Brian Milligan ’75, father Karen Milligan ’80, aunt Hadley Morris (10) Piper Morris (8) Caitlin Gile Morris ’96, mother Philippa Gile Taylor ’05, aunt Merritt Gile ’95, uncle Claudia Nelsen (3) Olivia Nelsen (7) Amy Livingston ’93, mother Katie Livingston ’96, aunt Buzz Oertel (11) Ollie Oertel (9) Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93, mother Elin Olmstead (4) Gus Olmstead (8) Maddy Olmstead (10) Lyz Firman Olmstead ’95, mother Matt Olmstead ’95, father Amy Olmstead ’91, aunt Andrew Firman ’00, uncle Chris Firman ’93, uncle

Coulter Perkins (12) Ellie Perkins (9) Gray Perkins (11) Alli Stamper Perkins ’95, mother Amy Stamper Corrigan ’98, aunt Jeff Stamper* ’92, uncle Josie Pryor (4) Parker Pryor (8) David Knowles ’66, uncle Charlie Rakowski (9) Lucy Rakowski (12) Jill Boat Rakowski ’92, mother Hattie Ralston (1) Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99, mother Chip Newcom ’02, uncle Maddy Reeves (10) Julie Beattie Reeves ’90, mother Jason Beattie ’93, uncle Diana Reidy (11) Laura Reidy (9) Ann Benson Reidy ’88, mother David Benson ’85, uncle Jim Benson ’83, uncle Ben Rockmore (11) Eli Rockmore (6) Lizzie Welborn Rockmore ’90, mother Jeff Welborn ’64, grandfather Cayden Roll (6) Sasha Roll ’02, mother Gavin Ulrich ’02, father Jordan Ulrich ’10, uncle Clark Seaton (9) Danielle Seaton (11) Andrew Seaton ’92, father Conrad Sehl (7) Lola Sehl (10) Meagan Gold ’96, mother Wynn Sharp (12) Amy Sharp ’02, aunt Lisa Sharp ’04, aunt Darcy Simon (5) Finn Simon (2) Dan Simon ’95, father Jordan Slutzky (7) Taylor Slutzky (10) Kendall Dennis Slutzky ’97, mother Travis Dennis ’00, uncle

From Left: Jill Boat Rakowski ’92, Lucy Rakowski ’22

Tula Stettner (6) Willy Stettner (10) Rob Stettner ’94, father Andrew Stettner ’99, uncle Rich Stettner ’91, uncle Bea Wadsworth (9) David Wadsworth ’86, father Abigail Wadsworth Serfass ’94, aunt George West (8) Henry West (6) Jack West (10) Thomas Kerr ’76, uncle Addy Westerberg (9) J.D. Westerberg (10) Jim Westerberg ’87, father Peter Kugeler ’95, uncle Sam Wiechecki (PK) Nicole Sisk Wiechecki ’01, mother Jason Sisk ’98, uncle Ben Zinn (6) Jessica Zinn (9) Ken Zinn ’92, father Jenn Zinn ’95, aunt Dan Zinn ’97, uncle This list contains alumni non-graduates.

If you are not listed and are a legacy, please contact the Alumni Office at 303-914-2584.

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Giant Relay Day 2022

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iant Relay Day traditionally signals to the CA community that summer is just around the corner. Field Day activities, a BBQ in the Sculpture Garden, the Giant Relay Race, and the Alumni-Faculty Party on the Welborn Lawn are highlights year after year. Always memorable, it is the day alumni return to campus for the first festivities of their Reunion Weekend.

The day this year was certainly unforgettable, most notably because of the weather, which included rain changing to snow and temperatures in the low 40s, which combined to produce a less-thanoptimal race environment of slick, soggy grass and scattered mud puddles. Despite conditions, memorable moments happened: Alumni ate the traditional BBQ lunch in the Campus Center, took a guided tour of campus, participated in the Giant Relay Race, and gathered for warmth and camaraderie in the Campus Center for Happy Hour.

Giant Relay Race To race or not to race, that was the question.

Would there be injuries on a wet course?

Would Senior girls playing in the State Championship Lacrosse game on Sunday risk a slip and fall? Could the faculty even field a team with a number of teachers home sick? Could the parent team finally win? As race time neared, and with monitors on the course, only two teams had the gumption and the personnel to participate, the alumni and the parents.

Swimmers enthusiastically warmed up in

the 86oF pool, mountain bikers evaluated the conditions, kayakers donned life vests and headed to Woody’s Pond, and runners stretched, scoped out the shortest route to the next relay station, and took up their positions.

Both teams were winners for even participating under such disagreeable circumstances. Wearing hot pink T-shirts to honor the 50th anniversary of the “pioneer girls” who inaugurated coeducation at Colorado Academy, the alumni team led, almost from the beginning; but in the end, it was the anchor leg parent runner who crossed the finish line first. The parents were finally triumphant after all these years and will see their team name engraved on the Giant Relay Trophy.

Congratulations to parents Lauren Benjamin, Michael Borgelt, Laura Briger, John Briggs, Dan Carson, Colin Dunn, Stephanie Dunn, Meghan Geisler, Mike Hewitt, Christina Joymon, Jesse Schumacher, and Rick Zimmerman!

Hats off to the ever-intrepid alumni: Caroline Briggs ’20, Roger Burleigh ’02, Sabra Peine Fleck ’72, Norm Harris ’94, Walt Jones ’20, Kiah May ’21, CJ Romine ’20, Andrew Seaton ’92, Sophie Sileo ’17, Annabelle Swenson ’21, Terrie Dickinson Warren ’72, and Monika Williams ’19.

We hope to see all teams resume participation in 2023! n See all photos at coloradoacademy.org/ alumni/ca-alumni-association.

Bikers Andrew Seaton ’92 (L) and parent Jesse Schumacher started the Giant Relay Race.

From Left: Swimmers Roger Burleigh ’02, Kiah May ’21, and parents Laura Briger, Rick Zimmerman

Kayakers Caroline Briggs ’20 (L) and her father John Briggs, parent team Alumni Relay Team

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Reunion Weekend

First Row (L to R): 1972 alumni Caroline Boucher, Anne Clinger Bley, Charlie Woolley, Kathleen Dickinson Tuchscherer, Kevin Karstrom, Jim Loup, Karin Woolley.

Second Row: Greg Bley, Peter Boucher, Taylor Owen, Dudley Hulbert, Michael Gray, Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73, Diane Loup at the reunion dinner.

Class of 1972 Reunion – Aloha, CA!

BY DUDLEY HULBERT

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ith the gracious help of Charles and Karin Woolley, and Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11, the class of 1972 celebrated their 50th year of journey beyond the embrace of Colorado Academy with a beautifully set table and gallons of glorious wine.

My journey began in Sixth Grade. There were boarders, no girls, and 13 boys in the Glee Club. I sang first tenor. By 1972 commencement, the boarders were gone, the Pioneer Girls had arrived, and there were 90 people in the Glee Club. I was singing bass.

From Left: 1972 alumni Peter Boucher, Ken Perry, Charlie Woolley at the Giant Relay Day cocktail reception

Embracing the changes and the opportunities was fabulous fun: floating a river; performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, I still cry; playing sports at a high level with great teammates. As a member of a reunion campus tour, I was happy to see a beautiful campus evolving, creating new spaces for humans to build skills and make friendships that will last 50 years.

Reunions, high school reunions!!!???

Vignette from a Giant Relay Race in a wet May snow: holding an umbrella for Sabra

Peine Fleck ’73 and Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73 while they waited for the swimmer to hand off the baton so they could start the three-legged portion of the race. I was cold, proud, and VERY happy.

Thanks to Taylor Owen, Peter Boucher, Ken Perry, Ann Clinger Bley, Kathleen Dickinson Tuchscherer, Kevin Karstrom, Michael Gray, Jim Loup, Charlie Woolley, me, Chris Malo via phone, and spouses Greg Bley, Caroline Boucher, Diane Loup, and Karin Woolley for showing up and joining the fun. Despite their best efforts to attend, Kirk Goeldner, Molly Myer, and Jake Warde unfortunately couldn’t attend.

From Left: 1972 alumni and spouses Karin Woolley, Caroline Boucher, Taylor Owen, Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73, Dudley Hulbert, Diane Loup, Jim Loup, Kathleen Dickinson Tuchscherer, Ann Clinger Bley, Greg Bley, Peter Boucher, Kevin Karstrom, Michael Gray, Charlie Woolley

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From Left: Pioneer Pickleball players Sabra Peine Fleck ’73, Edith Blakeslee ’73, Kathleen Dickinson Tuchscherer ’72, Becky Whealen Pearson ’73, Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73, Susan Boxer ’74, Ann Clinger Bley ’72, Marcia Richards

Pioneer Girls Reunion

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ho were the self-named “Pioneer Girls?” They were the first female students to enter Colorado Academy’s Upper School in the fall of 1971.

Those who were Seniors were the first women graduates of CA. Seven Pioneer Girls made their way back to campus for Reunion Weekend, where they were celebrated at

a cocktail reception on Giant Relay Day. Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93, former Trustee; Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11, Alumni Board President; and Jill Boat Rakowski ’92, former Alumni Board and Parent Association President, honored the alumnae.

Saturday morning found these intrepid

Pioneer Girls gathered at CA. First Row (L to R): Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73, Susan Boxer ’74, Edith Blakeslee ’73. Second Row: Kathleen Dickinson Tuchscherer ’72, Sabra Peine Fleck ’73, Becky Whealen Pearson ’73, Ann Clinger Bley ’72.

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alumnae at breakfast in the Alumni Conference Room and then in the Athletic Center, where they played pickleball with members of CA’s Physical Education staff, Marcia Richards and Beth Folsom.

Read more about the Pioneer Girls on page 4.

From Left: Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93, Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11, and Jill Boat Rakowski ’92 celebrate the first Upper School women on CA’s campus.

Reunion Weekend

First Row (L to R): 1980 alumni Megan O’Reilly, Gregg Anderson, John Mulvihill, Mike Aasheim. Second Row: Jennifer Paul Pearce, Jim Kidder, Leo Rice. Not pictured: Paul Gutjahr.

Class of 1980 Reunion

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fter having to postpone their milestone 40th Reunion (twice!), a small but faithful group of 1980 alumni gathered for dinner at the home of Leo and Lisa Rice to celebrate in person. Local alumni from this group hope to get together again this summer at the Campus Lounge for extended conversation and conviviality.

Class of 1982 Reunion

BY MARLA COHEN AND JAN MARUYAMA lumni weekend started early, with miniature golf at Aqua Golf, followed by dinner at La Chiva Colombian Cuisine on Thursday afternoon, May 19.

Mark Mueller led with a hole-in-one on the very first putt. Not to be intimidated, Mande Moore Mischler, Marla Cohen, spouse Salvador, and Mark’s partner Mary all played a competitive game of 18 holes. Mark won.

Thank you, Sue Burleigh, for joining us for

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1982 alumni attend a Rockies game. From Left: Amy Bryan, Mike McVey (Stacy), Mark Mueller, Reid Benes, John Appelbaum (front), Jan Maruyama, Mona Yen Shriver, Greg Steinthal, Marla Cohen, Alex Gray.

a few minutes. The afternoon was a classic Colorado weather event, starting out sunny and 90 degrees, only to finish the night after dinner being windy and with temperatures dipping into the 50s.

On Friday night, our class closed the school’s cocktail party (We do like our cocktails.) and turned out the lights, only to resume socializing at Saigon Bowl on Federal Blvd. Many memories and stories were shared between Mona Yen Shriver, Jan Maruyama, Mark Mueller, Marla Cohen, and Amy Bryan.

From Left: 1982 alumni Reid Benes, John Appelbaum, Alex Gray

Saturday evening we met at Blake Street Tavern, had a pre-Rockies game cocktail, and took time to catch up after 40 years.

Unfortunately, the Colorado weather was, well, Colorado weather, and the Rockies game proved to be too cold to stay for the full nine innings. We classmates made our way back to Blake Street Tavern, where we continued to relive our high school From Left: 1982 alumni Mike McVey and Greg Steinthal at Blake Street Tavern

From Left: 1982 mini-golfers Mark Mueller (Mary), Mande Moore Mischler, Salvador and Marla Cohen

From Left: 1982 alumnae Jan Maruyama, Mona Yen Shriver

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First Row (L to R): 1987 alumni Nicole Moore Behrhorst, Jim Westerberg. Second Row: Walter Young, Bill Olson, Nate Miller, Jeff Grout, Roger Corn, Anders Halverson at the Campus Lounge.

years. Who knows whether all the stories were accurate, but they certainly provided us all with a good laugh.

We give a big round of applause to significant others Kathy (Alex Gray), Mary (Mark Mueller), Stacy (Mike McVey) and Salvador (Marla Cohen), who put up with us and all of our stories. They were quite the troopers. Thanks to those who came from afar to attend the reunion: John Appelbaum traveled from Sacramento, Greg Steinthal lives in Los Angeles, Alex Gray came in from Omaha, and Mark Mueller lives in Steamboat Springs. Amy Bryan, Reid Benes, Marla Cohen, Jan Maruyama, Mike McVey, Mande Moore Mischler, and Mona Yen Shriver are the local crew who joined the festivities. Our next get-together may not be far in the future. We’ll keep you posted!!!

Class of 1987 Reunion

BY NICOLE MOORE BEHRHORST

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he Class of 1987 kicked off our reunion celebration at the Campus Lounge on Thursday, May 19. It was great to see a solid group of ’87 classmates.

From small talk about the latest this and that, we quickly jumped into discussions of health, parenting, and global warming.

Searching for answers and open to ideas, I was grateful to be reminded of my intelligent, funny, and thoughtful classmates. All in all, it was a fun night that launched a couple of great days together.

With rainy, chilly weather, the Class of 1987 folks did not make it to campus until the cocktail party that afternoon. We mingled with the class of 1982 for a bit, laughed a lot while we FaceTimed Taylor “Bill” Erickson, who was unable to attend due to COVID,

From Left: 1987 alumni Nate Miller, Dwight Harken, Bill Olson, Amy Byers-Holm, Walter Young, Roger Corn, Jim Westerberg at a downtown rooftop

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From Left: 1987 alumni Bill Olson, Dwight Harken, Walter Young, Jim Westerberg on campus

and enjoyed appetizers and time together.

We ended the night at the yummy Perdida restaurant on South Gaylord. Perdida means “lost,” which felt rather apropos, as we wondered about fellow classmates with whom we have lost touch. If you are one, please know how much this nutty, quirky crew would love to welcome and include you in our 2027 40th reunion.

Saturday night, folks gathered to watch the Avalanche at Number 38 downtown and then finished the night at North in Cherry Creek. Lots of laughs were had by all. Great to reconnect!

We are already scheming for our 40th reunion in 2027 and hope you will be able to join us! Thanks to all who attended: Nicole Moore Behrhorst, Amy Byers-Holm, Roger Corn, Jeff Grout, Anders Halverson, Dwight Harken, Nate Miller, Bill Olson, Jim “Skeeter” Westerberg, and Walter Young.

From Left: 1987 alumni Bill Olson, Dwight Harken, Walter Young, Jim Westerberg, Gray Behrhorst, Nicole Moore Behrhorst, Tammy Westerberg having dinner at North in Cherry Creek North

Reunion Weekend

Class of 1992 alumni with friends and family

Class of 1992 Reunion

BY CRISTA GIULIANI

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ighteen members of the Class of 1992 met at the home of Andrew and Stephanie Seaton on the evening of Saturday, May 21, for drinks, a lovely charcuterie plate, salad, desserts, and barbeque. The conversations were lively, and old and new connections were made. We were joined by a handful of alumni from the classes of 1991, 1993, and 1995, and other friends and partners of the class of 1992. The morning was an unusually snowcovered May day, but the sun peeked out by afternoon, and we were afforded a lovely view of the mountains from the windows of the Seatons’ living room. Guests traveled from as far as New York, Boston, and San Francisco. For those who couldn’t attend, we posted some photos from our high school years to our private Facebook reunion page.

Andrew still had our framed Senior year group photo and a vintage flyer, showing the faces and college choices of the Class of 1992. We missed those who couldn’t join us, but our hearts are full, thinking of all of the great memories we have of our time at Colorado Academy.

1992 Alumni attending, in addition to Andrew and me, were Cheryl Moravek Bach, Matthew Beatty, Tamara Campbell, Zephie Athanasiou Critikos, Cedar

Daniels, Theresa Freeman, Greer Streich Galloway, Jodi Litman Jacobs, Glenn Levy, Nicole Myers, Jennifer O’Neill, Maia Parish, Jill Rakowski, Mark Sheldon, Mark Sloan, and Ken Zinn. Special thanks to Nate Bergmann who helped organize our reunion but was unable to attend due to COVID. On Friday, May 20, Giant Relay Day, a few of the class were also able to join a tour of CA in the snow, which prompted both memories of old stomping grounds and

appreciation of all the changes three decades have brought to campus.

Class of 1997 Reunion

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wenty-five years after graduating from CA, the Class of 1997 leads very active lives, juggling time for spouses, children (some at CA), and demanding careers. It was truly serendipitous that a core group managed to get together to celebrate their 25th Reunion at the ViewHouse in Littleton.

First Row (L to R): 1997 alumni Kendall Dennis Slutzky, Katie Sisk. Second Row: John Bush, Jenni Hohensee Skeen, Lauren Richman, Dan Zinn, Michelle Stevens Zinn, Megan Young at the ViewHouse.

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Classes of 2000, 2001, 2002 alumni with family and friends

Classes of 2000, 2001, 2002 Reunions

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lumni from the Classes of 2000, 2001, and 2002 gave high praise to 2001 alumnae Elizabeth Bragg, Alysha Lascano Messmer, Elizabeth Arnold Parrish, and Nicole Sisk Wiechecki for planning a combined reunion party on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Originally slated to be outside on the Welborn House lawn, the event was relocated inside the iconic structure, which has been beautifully

renovated since they last walked out the west doors to their commencement.

Alumni reminisced about their time at CA, their teachers, and classmates who were unable to join them.

The Welborn House rang with laughter, with over 70 alumni and spouses enjoying the bountiful buffet dinner. Many 2001 alumni came from out of state, including

From Left: 2000 alumni Ty Amass, Julia Richman, Emily Dubin, Tess Vigil, Chris deBree on Saturday

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Whitney Frick and Miriam Shaw Wheeler (NYC), Alysha Lascano Messmer and Caroline Hollis (California), and Jon Sloven (Chicago). Other 2001 alumni who returned to celebrate their postponed 20th reunion were Sonia Arora, Lisa Blattner, Adam Boscoe, Elizabeth Bragg, Sarah Allen Chapin, Danny Dodson, Martha Fulford, Kristen Johnson Kenly, Brent Levy, Charlotte Hoffman Mahoney,

2001 Alumni traveled to Denver for their reunion and met for cocktails on Friday evening. From Left: Jon Sloven, Whitney Frick.

Reunion Weekend Alexis Ritvo, Jared Ritvo, Liz Robinson, Tom Roller, Biz Slyziuk, John Trierweiler, and Nicole Sisk Wiechecki. Former Advisor Steven Hammer was delighted to catch up with his advisees. Check out the photo on page 81.

Class of 2000 alumni who came to celebrate their twice-postponed 20th reunion were Ty Amass, Chris deBree, Emily Dubin, David Harbaugh, Julia Richman, and Tess Vigil.

Class of 2002 alumni returning to campus to reconnect included Roger Burleigh, Kristina Sisk Bush, Brian Fisher, Jess Johnson Keegan, Sasha Roll-Manina, Molly Miner Nakazono, Genevieve Wood Randa, and Brandi Wolff. Weather hampered Brendan Ruddy’s arrival from San Francisco.

Several alumni from all three classes braved the rain/snow mix on Relay Day to take a

guided tour of campus, watch the Giant Relay Race, and mingle at the relocated Happy Hour in the Campus Center. Among them was David Harbaugh ’00, who could only attend on Friday but was impressed by the many campus improvements he saw on the tour.

To those who were unable to attend, we missed you! We know you’ll want to join us next time.

Legacy Giving

Create an impact that lasts beyond your lifetime.

Vertical dance students perform in the Leach Center for the Performing Arts

Join CA’s Musil Society!

The Musil Society welcomes donors who wish to leave a legacy gift to Colorado Academy.

Created in 1992 in memory of former teacher A.J. Musil who left his estate to the school, the Musil Society includes donors who have named CA in their will or trust.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of our curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders.

If you are interested in learning more about legacy giving and the Musil Society, please contact Gravely Wilson, Advancement Officer, 303-914-2543.

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Reunion Weekend

Class of 2011 alumni with family and friends

Class of 2011 Reunion

BY ELSA WOOLLEY HARBERG

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he Class of 2011 reunited at Barquentine Brewing Company for a belated 10-year reunion. Twenty-five members of the class reminisced about their time at CA, which included stories about Chip Lee’s classroom, Middle School dances, tennis matches, and soccer games. Claire Ingebretsen brought the class photo printed large on foam core, so that everyone could be reminded of their hairstyle and clothing sense during our Senior year.

Vitek, Andy Elder, John Pederson, Caroline Cramer, Alexa Culshaw, Clare Burchenal, Parker Davis, Kara Powell, Kurt Oleson, Abby Rosenblum, and Elsa Woolley Harberg. VJ Brown attended, and he begins his new journey as a CA Trustee this fall. Katherine Thomas may have been the most dedicated attendee, as she graduated that morning from DU Law School.

Attendees found that, while 11 years have passed since we graduated, it felt like no

time had passed at all. What began as a three-hour event turned into a five-hour affair, with more catching up happening late into the evening. Many memories and hugs were exchanged; everyone loved looking back on their time at CA and was in awe of the friendships that were formed there. I found myself grinning and full of gratitude during the days that followed, and I look forward to our 20-year gettogether! Here’s to you, Class of 2011! n

Claire was one of many alumni who travelled from New York to Denver for the reunion. Other New Yorkers included: Hannah Goldman, Joe Orzynski, Thomas Sisk, Jonathan Bost, Jono Bentley, and to the surprise of many, Allegra Flannigan.

Allegra is enjoying her career in fashion and was excited to come home and see old faces. Alumni from the left coast were also in attendance: Stewart Jackson, Cody Behan, and Shea Sweeney all flew in from LA to join the celebration. Who could forget our Class President Paige Maney? She traveled from Chicago to provide laughs and share memories.

Many Denver locals were also in attendance, including Olivia Brown, Clayton

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From Left: 2011 alumni Cody Behan, Alexa Culshaw, Paige Maney enjoy a laugh at Happy Hour on Giant Relay Day.

Alumni Association Highlights

Alumni Skating Party Returns

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andwiched between two COVID-19 outbreaks, alumni once again took to the ice and celebrated the return of the annual Alumni Skating Party on December 3. The weather cooperated beautifully, with unseasonably mild temperatures, allowing many families to enjoy their dinner outdoors without masks.

It was so great to see everyone after almost two years of social distancing.

The mood was appropriately festive.

Kid-friendly food and adult beverages kept everyone cheerful. Distributing the meal over three dinner times made all feel comfortable about eating. And, despite the fact that masks needed to be worn at the buffet and while picking up ice skates, no one seemed to mind.

It was fun to see how all the children had grown since the 2019 party, and there were a lot of new babies and toddlers who joined

From Left: Maddie Sun, Liz Robinson ’01, Henry Sun, Alex Sun

From Left: Molly, Charlie, and Jon Cook ’04

Plan to join this joyful alumni event this winter on Friday, December 2, 2022!

See all photos at coloradoacademy.org/ alumni/ca-alumni-association.

From Left: Sebastian, Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99, Hattie, Toby Ralston

From Left: Nathan Trouth, Courtney Gallagher ’09, Isabel Harper ’09, John Harper

From Left: Andrea and Ben Hock ’07, McKenna Kane, Emma Harrington Kane ’07, Eddie Kane, Logan Brown ’11, Katherine Crowley

the fun this year. They always love a sled ride on the ice. As younger children left the rink and headed home for bedtime, teens showed off their skating skills and used one end of the ice for broomball. A good time was had by all!

Kelly Young Campbell ’98 skating with her son Lachlan

The Smith Clan on the ice

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From Left: Gabe Bernstein, Peter Carpenter ’21 (Stanford), Cleo Smith ’19 (Sewanee), Andersen Dodge ’20 (CU-Boulder), Avery Lin ’20 (St. John’s), Czarina Yuffa ’21 (Wesleyan), Rico Moncada ’21 (USC), Mackenzie Wagner ’21 (CC), Henry Chesley-Vogels ’21 (Davidson), Ari Fierer ’19 (Denison), Cooper Kofron ’20 (Princeton), Cathy Nabbefeld

Alumni College Panel

BY SONIA ARORA AND CATHY NABBEFELD n early January, the College Office hosted an alumni panel for current Seniors, held in the Leach Center for the Performing Arts. In attendance were 10 CA alumni who provided a wealth of perspective.

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Enormous thanks go to this year’s panelists for sharing their time and wisdom: Mackenzie Wagner ’21, first-year at Colorado College; Andersen Dodge ’20, sophomore at University of Colorado Boulder in the Presidents Leadership

Class and Leeds Honors Program; Cooper Kofron ’20, sophomore at Princeton University; Avery Lin ’20, first-year at St. John’s College in Santa Fe after taking a gap year; Ari Fierer ’19, junior transfer to Denison University in Ohio; Cleo Smith ’19, junior at Sewanee, University of the South; Czarina Yuffa ’21, first-year at Wesleyan University; Peter Carpenter ’21, first-year at Stanford University; Rico Moncada ’21, first-year at the University of Southern California; and Henry ChesleyVogels ’21, first-year at Davidson College.

With courage and openness, panelists

shared their experiences navigating the challenges of Senior year, choosing a college, and adjusting to college. Here are a few memorable quotes: “Prestige was the initial focus, but it’s important to realize how irrelevant that factor is. The intellectual ego boost gained from being admitted somewhere prestigious doesn’t matter one bit once you get there. What matters is whether you will be happy with the people and place.”

“Listen to your gut. You can make what you want out of any school.”

“It is your world, and you get to build it like you want!”

“Remember, even if you’ve been at CA from Pre-K through 12 and are terrified, EVERYONE is in the same boat and trying to make friends. Greet people, say hello. It won’t seem weird; everyone is doing it.”

From Left: Sue Blattner, Lisa Brinker, Gabrielle Taylor, Beth Robischon, Debbie Rice, Karin Frenz, Libby Dietrich, Sara Carpenter, JJ Rutherford, Sarah Wadsworth, Kris Fraser, Julie Swaney, Catherine Laskey

Care Packages to the Class of 2021

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huge thank you goes to the alumni parents who came to campus to package boxes for the Class of 2021! One hundred packages were sent to last year’s graduates, plus 12 went out to 2020 graduates who had taken a gap year.

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This tradition is a favorite activity of the CA Alumni Association. In addition to CA-baked cookies, snacks, and a gift, each box contained a card from the student’s Kindergarten Buddy. This cheerful parcel is just what every first-year college student needs before finals.

Thanks to Cleo Smith ’19 and Nick Fuselier ’16 (L) for speaking to CA Freshmen and Sophomores about becoming a collegiate student athlete. They joined Athletic Director Bill Hall and Seniors Maya Kendall & Elliott Cravitz (R).

Alumni Association Highlights “Get as involved as possible; find others who share your interests (athletic, music, academic) and connections will happen.

BUT, don’t close yourself off to one type of person. You go to college to meet different types of people; get the most out of your college experience by meeting people with different passions. Be open and try new things, perhaps a sport like rowing you’ve never done before—you’ll meet amazing people.”

“Be patient with yourself. Don’t expect an immediate tight friend group. Friendships take time to develop….You may have thought yourself extroverted at CA, but discover in college you’re introverted. Talk with adults/potential mentors on campus alongside peers.”

“Remember, nearly everyone is getting rejected. Just because you’re hearing about the successes, know that nearly everyone experiences some sort of disappointment.”

“If you are straight out denied, it says absolutely nothing about who you are as a person or student or how hard you’ve worked.

College Alumni Lunch

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hen can we get back to “normal?”

The Alumni Association took a small step on January 6, 2022, inviting college-age alumni back to campus for lunch. Last year’s event had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.

Despite below-freezing temperatures,

Thank you to Josh Estrada ’19, Mali Lopez ’20, and Rico Moncada ’21, who spoke with the FACES of Diversity Club.

A college is spending ten minutes reading your essay, some recs, etc., but they don’t know you as a person. Rejection doesn’t mean you’re not worthy—it just means it wasn’t the place for you. You will be ok, and you will find a place where you’ll be really happy.”

Remember that you’re here at CA and devote yourself to the present. Take a class with your mom, take your little sister to lunch, go fishing with your dad. Those relationships set a great foundation for the following year.”

“Make the most of Senior spring. Have fun and cherish the whole experience.

We applaud these young alumni and can’t wait to hear how their journey continues to unfold!

some hardy alumni showed up to enjoy a meal from Café CA. Unable to gather in the Campus Center due to social distancing requirements for students and faculty, alumni took their lunches to the closest heated tent.

tent to chat with their former advisees and students. Following lunch, alumni dispersed to the Froelicher Upper School, Athletic Center, and the Leach Performing Arts Center to tour the new facility and catch up with faculty and coaches.

Fortunately, an espresso cart was available for warming coffee, hot chocolate, and chai. Several teachers stopped by the

Here’s hoping the pandemic will soon be behind us, so that this winter’s lunch can return to the Campus Center.

From Left: 2021 alumni Sam Ehrman, Cam Swaney, Fernando Prieto Lin, Clark Steinhauser

From Left: 2021 alumnae Sophie Mix, Evie Angevine

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From Left: Parker Davis ’11, Steve Scherer, Christine Pardos ’10, Kristen Bair ’09, Kurt Oleson ’11, Alex Bair ’06

From Left: Dan Zinn ’97, Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99, Aaron Goldhamer ’99, Tess Vigil ’00

A Farewell to Steve Scherer

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fter more than 25 years at Colorado Academy, Steve Scherer is moving back to Chicago. Alumni, their children, and alumni parents came to campus to celebrate Steve, and the many wonderful productions he brought to Colorado Academy, at his final Upper School Musical, Mary Poppins. Nearly 100 fans joined current CA parents and children on Sunday, May 1, to enjoy the performance, including a flying Mary Poppins and Bert, and the reception that followed. Adults and children alike relished the pie buffet in honor of Steve, and featuring one of his favorite foods. The stars of the party were Steve and the many memories he created for alumni.

From Left: Rebecca Popara ‘16, Chloe Nosan ‘16, Alex Medema ‘16, Stuart Mills, Cathy Nabbefeld, Steven Hammer, Katy Hills

From Left: Emmett Schlager ’21, Annabelle Swenson ’21, James Doolittle ’21, Ry Barthels ’21, Maclain Looper

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Former Chair of the Fine and Performing Arts Department Angel Vigil (R) with Dan Roller ’99 and daughters Evah and Clare Gunn-Roller

Alumni Association Highlights

Find Your Path, Alumni Career Panel

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highlight of Senior Launch Week is always the Alumni Career Panel. This spring, the Class of 2022 heard from panelists Brian Fisher ’08, Georgia Grey ’08, Murphy Robinson ’06, Max Shaw ’08, and Erin Fisher Young ’09. The alumni professionals shared their stories of college and careers, some with unexpected turns along the way. Alumni introduced themselves and gave a brief synopsis of their journeys following high school commencement, all offering advice on life after Colorado Academy from the wisdom of hindsight.

Despite the diverse paths taken, success and fulfillment had come to each speaker.

Brian Fisher thought he wanted to be an attorney. He graduated from CU-Boulder and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He was a practicing attorney for almost six years before deciding that career path was not for him. Brian landed in an ideal spot for his skill set and personality, real estate finance and sales. He calls himself a “client guy” and at times conducts business with clients on the golf course.

Brian is now a Senior Vice-President at Northmarq Capital.

Georgia Grey graduated from SMU and became a first grade teacher at a Title I school in Dallas. It was a challenge with 27 children. Moving to Denver, Georgia taught at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal School. Both during college, and again while teaching, Georgia battled debilitating health issues (joint pain, brain fog, memory loss) that went undiagnosed. This led Georgia to study nutrition and to heal her body through food. It was later that she learned her problems were gluten intolerance and Lyme disease. Georgia now has a successful business, Whole Body Healing Nutrition, a Denver-based holistic nutrition practice.

Using her knowledge, she teaches her clients what to eat and how to heal through food. Georgia specializes in autoimmune nutrition, weight loss, athletes, and kid/ family nutrition. She also helps others set up their own nutrition companies.

Murphy Robinson graduated from Xavier University with a degree in criminal justice.

His passion at CA was music with Mrs.

Jordan and music composition, which was his initial major at Xavier. Along the way, Murphy became the third youngest police officer in Ohio, the Assistant City Manager and Chief of Staff for Englewood, Director of General Services, COO, and Deputy Mayor of Denver, and now is the President and CEO of his own security company, SECA Secure. Over the years, Murphy engaged with mentors, including one CA alumni grandparent. Throughout his life, he has applied one simple premise he learned from his mother, “Association brings about assimilation.” Who you associate with reflects your values.

Max Shaw graduated from Davidson College with a BS in Psychology. While in the Upper School, he most enjoyed Ms. Meyers’ physiology class. Max was a seasoned CA camp counselor, which was a natural stepping-stone to a career in child psychology. For over three years, he worked with kids as a behavioral therapist.

Because of Max’s desire to always reach out and help, he completed an MBA at UC-Denver in Health Care Administration.

Following two key internships and a fellowship, he earned a position at UC Health, where he is the manager of Patient Experience. For Max, the management process is the most fascinating.

Erin Fisher Young graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in aerospace engineering. Her choice of a career path began in Seventh Grade when she went to Space Camp for Interim. Always a writer in Upper School, honing her skills with Ms. Strobridge and Mr. Lee, she recalled her first calculus test at Notre Dame, where she earned the score of 54 percent. That didn’t stop Erin. The Society of Women

Engineers helped her gain confidence. An internship at NASA taught Erin she would prefer to work for a small company where she could work on a variety of projects.

After graduation, Erin moved to Wichita, Kan. for two years. It was there she also got her pilot’s license, making it easier to experience the work she was undertaking.

Erin took a risk on a young company based in Colorado and was the tenth employee of Boom Technology, working as the lead of mechanical systems.

A robust question and answer period followed. Here is a sample of their advice: n n

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Develop your “soft skills.”

College is important, so be present in college.

Don’t get a graduate degree just because you don’t know what you want to do.

Learn to think on your feet and creatively because your career path won’t always be linear.

It’s okay to be anxious. Weaknesses can be your strengths.

Your environment can shape you. Seek out bosses and team members you can interact with positively and reach out to many people.

Hang out with different people because you can learn from everyone.

Keep looking for the next thing.

Love what you do, and money will come.

Chase the experience.

Network! That includes the CA alumni and community.

Thank you to our alumni for taking time during their busy day to share their career paths with the Class of 2022.

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From Left: Georgia Grey ’08, Murphy Robinson ’06, Max Shaw ’08, Brian Fisher ’02, Erin Fisher Young ’09

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Alumni Association Highlights

Alumni-Varsity Ultimate Team

Alumni-Varsity Ultimate Game

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ostponed from Giant Relay Day, the game was held on May 31 on Wright Field. Alumni who joined the Varsity were Harrison Buecking ’21, Samuel Ehrman ’21, Jason Evans ’21, Michael Ford ’21, Emmett Schlager ’21, Makayla Sileo ’19, Sophie Sileo ’17, Cameron Swaney ’21, and Annabelle Swenson ’21.

Thank you Alumni Association Board!

T

he Alumni Board administers the activities of the Colorado Academy Alumni Association and upholds its bylaws and mission statement. The Alumni Board helps plan alumni events, focuses on diversity, equality, inclusion, and justice within the alumni community, raises funds for the Alumni CA Fund (annual campaign), and represents CA and the Alumni Association in the community.

Special thanks go to our officers: President Elsa Woolley ’11, VP of Development Georgia Grey ’08, VP of School Relations Katie Cordes ’03, Co-VPs of Special Events Jared Harding ’97 and Ben Hock ’07, and President-elect Zach Tucker ‘01.

Another thank you goes to alumni committees who worked hard this year.

Bylaws Revision: Chris Bailey ’02,

Austin Carpenter ’05, Brian Fisher ’02, Aimée Nieuwenhuizen, and Brian Pushchak ’04 DEIJ: Caroline Cramer ’11, Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11, Jared Harding ’97, Isabel Gary Harper ’09, Emma Harrington Kane ’07, Marcus King-Stockton ’04, Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99, Evan Simmons ’06, and facilitator Aaron Green ’05. n

Meet the 2021-2022 Alumni Board. First Row (L to R): Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99, Caroline Cramer ’11, Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11, Lisa Harrison Ellsworth ’79, Georgia Grey ’08, Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73, Aimée Nieuwenhuizen ’06, Liz Robinson ’01, Andrew Bourke ’04. Second Row: Evan Simmons ’06, Jared Harding ’97, Marcus King-Stockton ’04, Zak Pollack ’08, Ben Hock ’07, Zach Tucker ’01, Brian Fisher ’02, Brian Pushchak ’04, Austin Carpenter ’05.

Not Pictured: Chris Bailey ’02, Katie Cordes ’03, Isabel Gary Harper ’09, Emma Harrington Kane ’07, Myles McGinnis ’08, Kyle Rajaniemi ’07.

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Virtual Events

Top Row (L to R): Paul Krajovic, Maryam Herberger Mercier ’81, Rob Naiman ’77. Middle Row: Paul Gutjahr ’82, Adrienne Link Middleton ’79, Tom Cowperthwaite ’81, Louis Freese ’84. Bottom Row: Marla Cohen ’84, Gretchen Smith Kneen ’84.

Virtual Events

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irtual Events returned in 2022, not only due to the pandemic, but because more alumni from across the country are able to participate and reconnect.

Alumni Book Club Former English teacher and English Department chair Paul Krajovic (CA 1974-1994) chose a book he had taught to Freshmen, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Seeing the novel through adult eyes, alumni brought new perspective to their discussion. As firstyear Upper Schoolers, the students had not thought a great deal about mortality. Now as mature adults, alumni agreed that the novel was better the second time around.

The themes of friendship and parenting loomed large in the discussion. The dualism of mind and body, the soul vs. energy, natural vs. unnatural were explored in a lively conversation. From there the discussion ran from artificial intelligence to big pharma and Ukraine.

Rob Naiman ’77 reflected a sentiment felt by all, “Last night brought me back to a time in my life I remember fondly. Paul was, and is, a great inspiration to me. It was Paul who

taught me to enjoy literature, to consider other points of view, and go deeper in all areas of my life.”

Movie Night with Jon Vogels Ben Hock ’07, Mark Keplinger ’19, and Adam Wiener ’10 joined former Upper School Principal and Colorado Academy’s movie aficionado, Dr. Jon Vogels, to discuss the feature film, The Salesman. Produced in 2016, this Iranian film with English subtitles is a story within a story, as the main characters are actors performing the play Death of a Salesman. Many alumni will remember reading and studying this play while at CA. The Salesman was an Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

Though the group was small, the discussion was lively, and all the questions of plot, character, and motive were thoroughly illuminated, thanks to the thoughtful probing of Dr. Vogels.

Wine Tasting with Maia Parish ’92 Colorado Academy friends gathered around their computers and iPads on a blustery March evening to sip wine,

laugh, and learn at a virtual wine tasting with sommelier Maia Parish ’92. This was a repeat performance for Maia, who this year curated three wines, a 2020 Astrolabe Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, a 2016 Nicolas Barreyre Bordeaux Supérieur from France, and a sparkling rosé, Vin Mousseux JP Chanet, also from France.

To accompany the wine, Maia prepared small bites to highlight each one and further enhance the flavor experience.

Whether you tasted gooseberry or lemongrass, dark cherry or coffee bean, all the wines were delicious and perfect to enjoy, whether with your spouse, family, or friends. Maia shared her wealth of knowledge with alumni, from how to chill wine quickly to handy tools to enhance wine drinking and storage.

Virtual attendees included: Elsa ’11 and Joe Harberg; Nicole Sisk Weichecki ’01, baby Ella, and mom Karen Sisk; Ben ’07, Andrea, and Lily Hock; Taylor Rabb ’13, Regan Beall ’13, and Caroline Nichols ’13; Andrew ’92 and Stephanie Seaton; Jessie Chrismer ’00 and her dad Denny; Caroline Cramer ’11 with her partner, Amy

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Wine enthusiasts

Palmerton, and dear friends, Tessa and Stephen Munson; Austin Carpenter ’05 with his girlfriend Monica, Carter Timbel ’07, and Kyle ’07 and Laura Rajaniemi; Liz Robinson ’01 with her daughter Madeleine; Alli Stamper Perkins ’95, Dani Weily Coplen ’93, Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93, and Julia Völkel Emerson ’94; and Sue and Tim Burleigh—all thank Maia for sharing her unique expert opinions!

With good wine and good company, the

evening passed by too quickly.

Cryptocurrency with Nic Cary ’03 Presenting at 1:30 in the morning from the United Kingdom, Nicolas Cary ’03 took Colorado Academy alumni and parents of alumni on a tour of the fascinating and futuristic world of cryptocurrency on March 28. Nic is the Founder and CEO of Blockchain.com, the world’s most

popular way to buy, sell, and trade crypto.

Since 2011, Blockchain.com has amassed over 80 million wallets, transacting over $1 trillion in cryptocurrency in over 200 countries.

By the mid-1990s, the world was in the midst of an electronic and technological revolution. Think about where the internet was in 1999, and, according to Nic, that is where cryptocurrency adoption is today. The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. Thinking about how far internet technology has come since 1999, one can only imagine how pervasive cryptocurrency will be in 23 years.

Bitcoin is the best-known cryptocurrency and the one for which blockchain technology was originally invented. It is a medium of exchange, similar to paper currencies, but uses a public ledger in the cloud. Blockchain.com offers investors a wallet to store cryptocurrencies.

The Alumni Association, and the 70 alumni and alumni parents who signed up, are particularly grateful to Nic, who stayed online after the presentation to answer everyone’s questions, resulting in a 3 a.m. bedtime.

Nic Cary ’03

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Read more about Nic on page 46.

Virtual Events

Beer tourists

Beer Tasting with Ben Hock ’07 Ben Hock took Colorado Academy alumni and alumni parents on a beertasting journey April 7.

Coast Brewing Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, Pipeworks Lizard King, or Great Divide Yeti Imperial Stout, depending upon where participants lived.

Beer enthusiasts attending included out-of-state alumni: Emily Cohen ’06 with her boyfriend Roger Timms from Chicago; Alysha Lascano Messmer ’01 from California; Hayden Stone ’09 from Washington, D.C.; and Ginger Tallmadge ’06 with her roommate Elizabeth from Knoxville. Locals joining the party were Jessica Chrismer ’00 with her father Denny; Ben’s father Doug Hock; Myles McGinnis ’08, with his brotherin-law Brett; Liz Robinson ’01, with her daughter Madeleine, who was tasting sparkling waters; Max ’08 and Chelsea Shaw, joined by Louis Talesnick ’08; and Zach Tucker ’01.

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The beers were carefully curated by Ben and included Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Cigar City Jai Alai IPA, Stone IPA, O’Dell IPA, North

The brews also demonstrated the latest in craft beer trends:

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American IPAs boasting citrusy, tropical, and piney hops flavors

The revival of old styles like Russian Imperial Stout, with caramel and toffee notes

Ben also shared tips for pouring beer and appropriate glassware for each type, as he presented historical highlights about beer.

The Alumni Association thanks Ben for his extensive preparation, sharing his knowledge, and staying on for an extended period of time to answer everyone’s many questions.

For three alumni, Emily, Ginger, and Max, the party continued on FaceTime, with Walker Shaw ’06 joining the conversation. n Keep an eye on the Alumni Calendar for future virtual events.

Stay Connected LinkedIn

CA Connection: Colorado Academy Alumni & CA Community

linkedin.com/groups/117744 Join the more than 800 CA Alumni already registered!

CA Alumni Facebook Page facebook.com/ColoradoAcademy-Alumni-Association

Colorado Academy Connect coloradoacademyconnect.org

A secure online networking resource for CA Alumni. Connect with classmates, lend expertise, mentor others, or share job opportunities.

CA Alumni Newsletter Do you receive the free online Alumni Newsletter in your email box? There are stories from campus, Alumni features, and more in this newsletter, which is published three times a year: January, April, and October. To subscribe, contact sue.burleigh@coloradoacademy.org at the Alumni office.

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Class Notes Be Connected!

1966

Class Notes is one of the most popular and well-read sections of the CA Journal. It provides a forum for alumni to share their news, from professional accomplishments and accolades, to marriages, births, and anything else fellow alumni might find interesting. Thank you for sharing your updates. We love hearing from you!

Jamie Dalglish has a painting, Strindberg’s Three Graces, included in the Collection Olivier Mosset at the Fine Arts Museum La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. The collection is comprised of works from the private collection of the artist Olivier Mosset and was donated to the museum in 2007.

1967 Read about Owen Locke on page 87.

1968

From Left: Garry Mitchell ’60, grandson Jack Mitchell

1965 Davy Davis and his wife Eloise Marvin attended the CA Concert in April and enjoyed the performances of Isaac Slade and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Steve Gordon recently finished 13 weeks with the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Pierre, S.D., where he saw a “frightening” amount of Parkinson’s disease, approximately half of which could be traced to the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam conflict. Following his stint at the VA clinic, Steve celebrated Passover in the Holy Land.

After almost 20 years of coordinating infrastructure development at Central Park (formerly Stapleton), Charlie Nicola retired from Brookfield Properties Development in 2019. He spent much of his time during the pandemic building a boathouse with living quarters at his second home on Lake McConaughy in Nebraska. Charlie writes, “It was a welcome change, working construction, not just managing it, though actually having to fund the work was new to me!”

Not totally retired, Charlie recently rejoined the Denver Metropolitan Football Stadium District to provide consulting services for infrastructure improvements on the property south of Empower Field at Mile High. The south parking lots and adjoining areas are where the Denver Broncos have envisioned the creation of a commercial and entertainment destination. The project is expected to move forward sometime after the sale of the team.

1969 Bruce Bistline reports, “I’m blessed with nothing but first world problems.”

Bruce retired, surrendered his attorney’s license, and is now disqualified from giving free legal advice. Bruce finally had his knee fixed after nearly 40 years of bone on bone. “What a relief,” he says.

He downsized his house but failed to adequately downsize stuff, so his garage is now a storage area. Bruce’s wife Susan retired from drag racing. Bruce has an agility-crazed dog, so he is learning how to guide her through a course. His dog covers five to seven yards per second, depending on the nature of the course. Bruce is busy acquiring miscellaneous aches and pesky medical problems and is missing the days when he could sleep through the night.

When there is time, he enjoys reading

From Left: Eloise Marvin and Davy Davis ’65 in front of the stage with Rodrigo y Gabriela

Don’t See Your Class Year?

If your year doesn’t appear in the Class Notes, it means we didn’t receive any notes from your class. We really (really!) want to hear from you. Your news and photos are always welcome.

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From Left: Bethany and Steve Gordon ’68 at Jerusalem in the Old City.

From Left: Sherry and Charlie Nicola ’68 at their boathouse

Class Notes mystery novels (Box, Coben, and Childs), and for fantasies, Le Guin and Tolkien are his picks. Bruce fully intends to be in Denver for the Class of 1969 55th Reunion in 2024!

Read about Marc Earnhardt on page 86.

1970 Tim Karstrom and his wife, Luz Maria, keep driving to retirement. His family, including Gabe, Bev, Andrew, Belen, and Martin were together for Easter dinner. He’s thinking about hauling a small trailer with a newer pickup through Oklahoma, and maybe Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois in September. Tim sends his best regards to his brother Kevin’s Class of 1972.

1971 Michael Goodin lives with his wife Zina in Mt. Juliet, Tenn. Together they founded the nonprofit Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary, a second home for canines who can live out their lives in comfort. Over the past 10 years, the sanctuary has outgrown their home.

Michael and Zina now have a new facility that houses 120 dogs.

Read about the Class of 1972 50th Reunion on page 57.

Read about Tom DeMouth on page 86.

1973 John Jennings retired on November 15, 2021 after 24 years with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. During April, John took his first out-of-country trip since COVID-19 started and since retiring.

He spent three weeks in Baja, part of which was a sea kayak expedition down the Sea of Cortez from Loreto to La Paz. The coast there is mostly roadless and undeveloped and had a desert wilderness feel—full of sun, sand, cactus, azure water, and dolphins, pilot whales, manta rays, and sea lions. John then went from the desert sands to the snow.

During April, Mount Hood near Portland received 11 feet of snow and was good for spring skiing.

1974

Jake Warde missed his 50th Reunion but spent his time on the tennis court instead. It was time well spent because Jake and his doubles partner captured the 65 and over Pacific Coast title.

Jacira Paolino (Teresa Harper) was unable to join the celebration of the Pioneer Girls.

Jacira wrote, “I always considered it a badge of honor being one of the first 30 girls to go to an all-boys school, and to tell the truth, it was a lot of fun!” She was disappointed not to be able to attend but had a good reason.

Last summer Jacira bought a medieval house in a medieval village in the south of Italy. She is in the middle of restoring it, including sandblasting down to the stones on the walls and the bricks on the vaulted

Bruce Bistline ’69

Michael Goodin ’71 with Barry

1972

John Jennings ’73 in Baja

From Left: Sabra Peine Fleck ’73 and Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73 were 3-legged racers on the Alumni Giant Relay Team.

From Left: K Thorpe, Leo Weiss ’73 attending the Alumni Skating Party in December 2021

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Linc Jackson’s family attend a reunion in San Sebastian, Spain. First Row (L to R): Nolen Lambrecht, Casey Jackson, Tyler Rebbe, Zoey Rebbe, Chapin Jackson Rebbe ’07, Charlie Rebbe. Second Row: Eliot Jackson ’09, Nathalie Lambrecht, Linc Jackson ’75, Cable Jackson.

ceilings. Jacira reports, “The project has become a mix between a remodel and an archeological dig. We have found hidden archways, as this house used to form part of the wall around the historical center of the village. Apparently, the houses were all connected by tunnels underground in the 1600s. It is a lot of fun, and when all is done, I will have a nice vacation home to get away from the city crowds of beautiful Lisbon, Portugal, where I live. I am looking forward to seeing old CA friends in Italy. It takes a flight to Naples, then rent a car and drive about 2-1/2 hours to Biccari in the province of Puglia. My village is in the Dauni Mountains, which form the foothills of the Apennine mountain range.

Read about Stafford Grey on page 86.

1975 Gary Coombs retired May 2021 and was named Emeritus Professor of Management in January. He taught one last class in the spring 2022 semester, as he wanted a last in-class experience to make his career feel complete. Gary says, “In-person teaching has been good for me. I need the nonverbal cues to be able to read students and whether or not they are getting the concepts. I also get energy from the interactions, whereas staring at a screen just exhausted me. Two years of online teaching felt a bit empty.” Gary’s wife Amy continues to work on her fiction writing for children and young adults. Older son Garth III has accepted a Preceptor position for Harvard’s Psychology Department. Younger

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Walter Levin and his family attend Erica’s graduation from law school. From Left: Walter Levin ’80, Erica, Matt, Alissa

son Kenny is starting an online Master of Data Analytics, and one of his Portland bands, LaGoon, just got signed by a label in Italy to produce their next vinyl album. He plays bass in LaGoon and does most of the songwriting and vocals for Ash Eater.

Linc Jackson is moving to northern New Mexico in mid-July, when his wife Casey takes a new post as a college counselor at a United World College School. UWC’s 18 schools and colleges are set on four continents. UWC USA is in Montezuma, N.M., up against the Rocky Mountains at nearly 6,750 feet in elevation. This is only a five-hour drive south of Denver and is near the small college town of Las Vegas, N.M. Linc writes, “What makes a UWC school is their deliberately diverse student body and their commitment to the UWC mission of making education a force for peace and sustainability. At each UWC school, students come together from all over the world, and from very different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, to live and learn, with each other and from each other, what change is needed in the world, and how they can make it happen. Students are juniors and seniors from all over the globe and most will have tuitions paid by their home countries. As a supporting spouse, I will have many duties, but there may also be opportunities to teach or tutor in the local school system. At the small college in Las Vegas, I could teach or take classes. As you may know, there are raging forest fires in the area. The school has been evacuated and the fires are dangerously close.”

1977 Jack Gustafson has worked a lot of hours for many years and is ready to take it a little easier. His wife Betsy manages the Charlotte, N.C. Visitor Center and, with the tight job market, is desperate to hire more people. Jack may work for her 15 to 20 hours per week. He reports that it will be a flexible and fun job, where many retired professionals are on staff, and he can walk to work from their downtown condo. Travel plans for Jack and Betsy include a trip back to the Republic of Georgia in August.

They went there for Christmas and loved it. Since the Russians attacked in 2008, travel there has dropped off. Jack writes, “It is a beautiful place, and the people are very friendly.” In 2023, Jack and Betsy are planning travel to Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa. Plans for 2024 include a trip to walk El Camino de Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain, which will take about five weeks. Jack also travels to Denver a few times a year to visit family. He plans to come to the 50th Reunion in 2027.

Read about Jonathan Bush on page 85.

1980 Peggy Graham Phillips spent a long weekend this spring in New York City with her three girls. Emma Phillips ’17 is living in Brooklyn for a year before graduate school.

Paige Phillips ’18 graduated from Syracuse, and Abigail Phillips ’21 finished her first year at Bates College and came down for her break. “It was great!” Peggy spent

Class Notes

From Left: Brian Ryall ’81, Tom Evans ’82, Jim Kachidurian ’83, Mike Simms ’73, Brett Ryall ’81, Ned Prosser ’82

February in Beijing, judging the Olympic figure skating competition. Peggy writes, “It was a crazy experience all around! I’ve been traveling a lot for skating and other things, so life seems a bit chaotic.” Peggy and John moved to Denver’s Washington Park last fall and are still getting settled.

Lynne Matthews is in the process of moving to Belgrade, Mont. into a house she purchased with her sister. It sits on two and one-half acres. The best part is that she will be able to have her horses, a big backyard for the dogs, a big garden, and in the future, chickens.

Walter Levin lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife Alisa and children Erica and Matt.

Navid Ghedami is currently designing and building deployable vertical commercial growing systems. He is finishing the prototype and already has interest from grocery stores and government.

Read about the Class of 1980 Reunion on page 59.

1981 Tim Fitzgerald’s op-ed in the Boston Globe, “We Can Eat Our Way out of Climate Change” ran in March 2022 and is still available online.

Alumni from classes in the early ’80s regularly get together with their basketball coach, Mike Simms ’73.

1982 Read about the Class of 1982 40th Reunion on page 59.

From Left: 1982 alumnae Amy Bryan, Jan Maruyama at the CA Concert with Isaac Slade and Rodrigo y Gabriela

1983 Paul Wylie took Middlebury College students on a tour of Lake Placid’s new and improved winter sport venues at Mt. Van Hoevenberg (bobsled, skeleton, luge, XC skiing, and biathlon) as well as the Olympic Arenas and the Oval. The students were on a J-term class on Sport Management taught

by Bill Beanie, MC Hockey Coach. During the tour, Paul learned that one of the students was CA graduate, Isabel Chandler ’17.

1984 Read about Cindy Phelps Adamson on page 85.

1985

From Left: Isabel Chandler ’17, Paul Wylie ’83 at the Olympic Oval in Lake Placid

Pamela Criswell was thrilled to see the celebration of 50 years of women at Colorado Academy. She was one of the first women to have completed K-12 at CA. At one point, Pamela was the only female in her First Grade class, as the other girls left halfway through the school year.

Matt Frederick, visiting Colorado, brought Stephen Char with him to Colorado Academy and toured campus.

1986 After more than a year of being in limbo, Daniel Lopez has accepted a position as Director of International Programs at Maximo Nivel (maximonivel.com/) in Antigua, Guatemala. He will facilitate service learning, study abroad, gap year, TEFL Certification, Adventure and Culture,

From Left: 1985 alumni Stephen Char, Matt Frederick on campus

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On Giant Relay Day, Kim Warner ’86 (L) cheered for daughter Kiah May ’21, who swam for the Alumni Team.

Alumni support the CA Mustangs as they compete for the Colorado State 4A Ice Hockey Championship at Ball Arena. From Left: Jim Westerberg ’87, Nicole Moore Behrhorst ’87, Jim Flottman ’89, Patrick Neely ’89.

and Spanish Immersion programs. Daniel is very excited to get out into the world again.

to advocate for and implement economic structures and policies that facilitate greater racial justice and economic inclusion.

Read about the Class of 1987 35th Reunion on page 60.

1987 Carolyn Cunningham Ash, in addition to her role as Senior Student Life Director at College Track in Aurora, Colo., is a Doctoral Research Associate with the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy (The Institute) at The New School in New York City. The Institute is led by its founder Dr. Darrick Hamilton, a world-renowned economist, professor, and scholar. Carolyn is thrilled and honored to be able to work with and learn from Dr. Hamilton, his incredible team, and other thought leaders across the country. She will be working collaboratively on policy briefs and networking strategies around how best

1988 As Better Call Saul wraps up its final season, Jeremy Shamos, who also played in the first season of the series, plays one of the integral characters, Craig Kettleman, the adorable embezzler.

1989 Scotland exchange students Misti Alders and Kate Brobbel Kettlewell reunited for a week in Colorado. Their trip was capped by a walk down memory lane and a tour of the CA campus. Amazingly, the Lower School

From Left: Misti Alders ’89, Kate Brobbel Kettlewell, Aaron Dallas ’89 at the CA Store

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had remained very recognizable. Misti and Kate were paired as Scotland exchange students in 1982. Accompanying them were Kate’s husband Peter and Aaron Dallas.

Tom Kimball, CA’s go-to auctioneer, was untiring at the spring CA Concert, garnering all available bids on the variety of priceless and unique items being auctioned to support financial aid.

1990 In March, Brendan Dallas travelled from Alexandria, Va. and Will Schoyer from Milwaukee, Wis. to meet for a skiing vacation in Colorado. Joining them was 1989 alumnus Aaron Dallas. Along the way, they stopped to see Nathalie Eddy and her family, including her burros, on a windy afternoon at her house outside of Leadville.

Tom Kimball ’89

Class Notes

From Left: 1990 alumni Brendan Dallas, anonymous burro, Will Schoyer, Nathalie Eddy

From Left: Dani Weily Coplen ’93, Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93, Alli Stamper Perkins ’95 at the 1992 30th Reunion celebration

1991

1994

Read about Elaine Zhou Shen on page 44.

Lauri Keener and her daughter Phoenix were thrilled to see Michelle Sanchez ’93 dancing Ballet Folklórico with Las Adelitas for a Día de los Muertos celebration in Denver’s La Raza Park.

1992 Read about the Class of 1992 30th Reunion on page 61.

The Skating Party returned, and so did the Medinas.

From Left: Renee and Michael Medina ’93

First Row: Lauri’s daughter Phoenix. Second Row: Lauri Keener ’94 and Michelle Sanchez ’93.

Ryan Koch ’96 and Mika Gans ’98 with their families at the Alumni Skating Party

From Left: Samson Dillon, Scott Dillon, Megan Young ’97, Oscar Dillon having dinner at the Alumni Skating Party in December 2021

Norm Harris ’94 after his leg of the Giant Relay Race

Jared Harding and his family get ready to skate. First Row (L to R): Josephine, Lucy.

Second Row: Jared ’97, Rachael, Emma Harding.

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From Left: 1998 alumni Drew McManus, Dominique Cook McManus, Jeska HorganKobelski, Chad Johnson at the pre-party of the CA Concert

1999 Arthur Rader and Leah Berger Jensen are still hanging out together and are up to some of the same shenanigans from high school. Most recently, they were together enjoying live local music in New Orleans and a refreshing Parleaux beer.

Leah is the owner and founder of Parleaux Beer Lab, a neighborhood brewery and taproom in Bywater New Orleans. The brewery celebrated its five-year anniversary in May. Aaron Goldhamer was selected for Super Lawyers, an award from Thompson Reuters given to no more than five percent of Colorado attorneys. Aaron received the award in the Civil Litigation category and has a plaintiff-focused practice in business tort cases. He is also pleased to report that his and Tess Vigil’s

Georgia “Gigi” Goldhamer

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The Jaguar by Sarah Holland-Batt ’00

’00 daughter Gigi has received the “Super Drooler” award during her teething and now boasts three chompers at fourteen months old.

Nat Robinson’s company Leaf was just acquired by a larger publicly traded U.S. company, IDT Corp. He is excited to continue to expand the company’s refugee wallet services to more people all over the world.

Read about Jill Bible and Phil Jones on page 40.

2000 A new documentary produced by Shane Boris, Navalny, was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was made with CNN and HBO Max and premiered in May. Another film Shane wrote and produced, Fire of Love, premieres in theaters everywhere in

The latest film by Shane Boris ’00

July and then will be shown on Disney+ in October. It was a story acquired

by National Geographic and will be distributed theatrically by Neon.

Sarah Holland-Batt recently published two new books: Fishing for Lightning, a collection of the poetry columns she wrote for The Australian newspaper, and a third volume of poetry, The Jaguar. That book she describes as an “act of bearing witness to her father’s long decline and death from Parkinson’s disease.” The emerald green vintage 1980 XJ Jaguar was purchased by her father shortly following his diagnosis.

Tess Vigil joined Promise54, a consulting firm, as an Associate Partner. Promise54 collaborates with organizations to examine and refine their talent systems, structures, and behaviors to build environments where adults can thrive to maximize outcomes in service of social impact and justice.

From Left: Chris and Nicole deBree attend the Class of 2000 Reunion.

Class Notes

From Left: 2001 alumni and Steven Hammer advisees Charlotte Hoffman Mahony, Nicole Sisk Wiechecki, Steven Hammer, Biz Slyziuk, Brent Levy at Welborn House Emily Dubin ’00 (L) skating with her daughter Josie

Read about the Class of 2000 20th Reunion on page 62.

2001 Nicole Hand is thrilled to announce the birth of her daughter, Fiona, in March 2022.

She couldn’t be happier!

Nicole Sisk Weichecki and her husband Pete welcomed their third child, Ella Grace, on September 21, 2021. Nicole says, “She is the perfect addition to our family. Her big brothers Sam (6 years and CA class of 2034) and Max (3 years) couldn’t be more excited!”

organization in Northern Montana on the Blackfoot Reservation. Classmates might remember Sara was in Peru as a Community Health Volunteer. Following her graduation from DU, she has been doing social justice and humanitarian work.

Read about the Class of 2001 20th Reunion on page 62.

2002

Nicole ’01 and Fiona Hand

Sara Schaffer was unable to attend the 2001 Reunion this year because she was in Poland working with Ukrainian refugees for several weeks at the end of May. Sara went with a group called Global Volunteers.

She has volunteered before with the

Iain Hyde and his wife Katherine Lord welcomed a son, Francis Thompson Hyde, on February 11, 2022. In addition, Iain started a new position in January as Director of the National Preparedness Analytics Center at Argonne National Laboratory.

Brandi Wolff has launched her own real estate team, The Aster Lane Group.

Barron Youngsmith continues to work

From Left: Max, Ella, and Sam Weichecki, children of Pete and Nicole Sisk Wiechecki ’01

From Left: Danny and Mily Dodson attend the 2001 Reunion.

From Left: Iain Hyde ’02 holding his first child Francis, Katherine Hyde

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to handle the House of Representatives national security legislative response to the Ukraine crisis as the European Affairs Staffer for the House Armed Services Committee.

Read about the Class of 2002 20th Reunion on page 62.

2003

Erika Mori ’03 at the BAFTA Awards

Erika Mori was nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Game Award for Best Performer in a Leading Role for her part as Alex Chen in Life is Strange: True Colors. She attended the BAFTA awards ceremony at London in April. The game was also nominated for Best Narrative, Best Animation, and Best Performer in a Supporting Role.

Read about Nicolas Cary on page 46.

2004

From Left: Liam, Jack, holding Nora, the children of Michael Forkel ’04

From Left: Nick DePetro ’04, Samantha, Laura DePetro at the Alumni Skating Party

From Left: Ryan Jones ’04, Rosie, Renae Jones, Oliver at the Alumni Skating Party

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Michael Forkel and his wife Elizabeth are delighted to announce the birth of their third child. Elenor “Nora” Elizabeth Forkel was born on March 30, 2022.

Big brothers Liam (4) and Jack (2) are disappointed Nora was not another boy but are excited nonetheless!

Meryl Wolff Suissa has spent the past six months of her life helping those who were affected by the Marshall Fire that occurred December 30, 2021. By creating MarshallFireCommunity.com, a grassroots group, she has been working with a Facebook group of 6,000, and is now up to 550 fire-affected individuals and families.

The group creates a resource for families and has an amazing group of 10 core volunteers who, like Meryl, know donating money is not enough and have dedicated their lives to this effort. On day one, Meryl started off with typical relief efforts like providing emergency funding, immediate need items, and helping to pay for food and shelter. The next step was furnishing complete houses from silverware to furniture.

The goal and motto through all of the efforts has been “meeting families where they’re at.” Instead of the fire victims driving everywhere, the group comes to them with the needs they have. Meryl created “The Giving Email Movement,” a campaign undertaken by a group of people working together for a cause. The idea behind the giving movement email is to get families the items they used to have in their homes

to make their temporary living situations feel just a little more like home.

If alumni would like to help with these efforts, there is an Amazon wish list at marshallfirecommunity.com/wishlists.

The mission now is to focus on creating a sense of normalcy for the families by sourcing items that are too overwhelming and outside their budgets to purchase.

Efforts for the remainder of 2022 include a summer get-together for all the families and the volunteers. Community support is still needed. If you want to get involved, or you have a business that wants to donate funds, in-kind, or sponsor the 2022 summer get-together, please contact Meryl at marshallfirecommunity@gmail.com Ben Wahl was a Mustang from Integrated Day to Eighth Grade. He graduated from George Washington High School. Ben attended college at Wesleyan and earned a MSW at University of Washington. Ben has dedicated his career to providing excellent services for neurodiverse youth and young adults. As part of his work, Ben has developed The Loop Café, a neurodiversecentered coffee shop in Seattle. “Our baristas are autistic, and they are being trained by a seasoned pro on how to make the very best coffee,” says Ben, who started Ryther’s aspiring youth program in 2006 that is now the largest provider in the Seattle region for social skills groups and therapeutic summer programs for young people who are quirky, shy, have Autism or are “Autism Adjacent.” Other Mustang alumni in this niche or entering this niche are welcome to reach out to Ben to connect.

2006 Evan Simmons was featured in Shoutout Colorado as an entrepreneur and the founder and owner of Panoramic Pro Painting, a premium, customer-oriented painting service that reflects a commitment to integrity, professionalism, and the highest level of craftsmanship in the industry. Many CA alumni are among his satisfied customers.

Aimée Nieuwenhuizen was promoted to Assistant Director of Clinical Services at the psychiatric hospital where she works.

She supervises and trains therapists, is responsible for clinical programming, aids in the development and implementation of policies and procedures related to patient

Class Notes

2006 alumni catch up with their former calculus teacher at the Skating Party. From Left: Steven Hammer, Sarah Goodyear, Ross Smethills.

From Left: Ben Hock ’07, Andrea Hock chillin’ at the Alumni Skating Party in December 2021.

care, and oversees the coordination among departments to aid in crisis and risk management.

Currently, he is in London, filming George Clooney’s The Boys in the Boat. The film, set in the 1930s, centers around the University of Washington rowing team, from their humble beginnings to winning the gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Apart from acting, Luke is producing a documentary series focused on police reform, called Living While American.

2007 Hannah Kleiner O’Neil, MPH, RD is now a Pediatric Clinical Dietitian II at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Read about Alex Sunderland on page 42.

2008 Zak Pollack and his wife Antoinette are thrilled to announce the birth of their first child, Eli Wolf Pollack, born on October 31, 2021.

2009 David Jones will again become a familiar face on the CA campus, as he joins the staff as an Associate Director of College Counseling. Previously David worked as a college counselor at the Wildwood School in Los Angeles.

Luke Slattery recently appeared in NBC’s The Blacklist and New Amsterdam.

2010 Christine Pardos moved back to Denver after completing a master’s in social work at Fordham University in Manhattan. She is currently a mental health therapist.

2011 Joel Berdie graduated in June with a Master of Social Work from the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work-Four Corners in Durango, Colo.

Joel plans to stay in the Four Corners area and offer community-based behavioral health services.

Schuyler Grey graduated with an MBA

From Left: James Proffitt, Natalie Proffitt Lesinski ’09, First Grade teacher Diana Giarusso at the CA Concert

From Left: Zak Pollack ’08, Eli, Antoinette Pollack

From Left: Maureen, Myles ’08, Murphy McGinnis at the Alumni Skating Party

from the SMU Cox School of Business. He recently got a new job in real estate land development for single family homes. He looks forward to his wedding in the fall.

David Kessler accepted a job at Arc’teryx in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was previously with North Face in Denver.

Kiah Williams graduated from Stanford Medical School and is now completing her first year of residency at Stanford as a cardiothoracic surgeon. She is a 2015 graduate of Dartmouth College.

Read about the Class of 2011 10th Reunion on page 64.

The Boys in the Boat, Luke Slattery ’09 center front

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Class Notes

2012 alumnae attend the Giant Relay Day Happy Hour Party. From Left: friend of Juliet, Juliet Norgren, Samatha Schonberger, Sophie Suechting

From Left: Paige Thomas ’18, Ian Thomas ’16, John Kasel ’16

2012

context of an academic museum. Megan writes, “I am so thankful for all the jobs and opportunities I have had in Denver the past few years that prepared me for this position. It is bittersweet leaving Colorado and my family, friends, and colleagues, but I am ready to start my next adventure in Maine. A special thank you to everyone who has supported me through the job hunt process, I appreciate you!”

T.J. Keller is in his second year of medical school in Des Moines, Iowa and although the work is incredibly hard, he is very happy with his choice to go into medicine. T.J. and his fiancé Maia canceled two wedding dates in 2020, not wanting to put any of their family and friends at risk from the COVID-19 virus. Maia graduated from Rush Medical School in Chicago in April 2021 and is in residency for dermatology.

2013 Jessica Pardos is in Chicago pursuing her doctorate at Northwestern University in speech language pathology.

Anna Schwartz returned to school after working as a Registered Dietitian and graduated from an accelerated registered nursing program through CU Anschutz.

She started a job as a Registered Nurse in the Neonatal ICU at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Anna continues to consult as a dietitian, as well as teach wellness classes at the Horizons Program at Colorado Academy through the summers.

2014 Megan Adams started a new position in May at the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine. She is the new Anne Lunder Leland Curatorial Fellow. In this role, Megan will be assisting the Colby Museum’s curatorial department with the museum’s exhibitions and related programs, conducting research, generating content for exhibition didactics, acting as an editor for the museum’s digital magazine, The Lantern, and working with undergraduate students at Colby College. She is excited to work with the amazing staff at the museum and grow in her curatorial career in the

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Theatre Club and is enjoying the organization. The best fringe benefit of her job is the many free theater tickets.

Eliza lives with two roommates from Barnard in West Harlem. They love their apartment and recently adopted a cat named Ralph.

Brison Mondry graduated from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. with a degree in computer engineering. He now lives in Bloomington, Ind. and works for Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, a Federal laboratory under the Department of the Navy.

2018 Hernaldo Piñon is teaching language arts at Strive Prep Middle School in Denver. Hernaldo graduated from the Université Grenoble Alpes in Grenoble, France where he studied linguistics.

2019

Eliza Ducnuigeen is the Development Operations Assistant at the Manhattan

When Seniors took their Kindergarten Buddies to the zoo this year, Gabe Bernstein, Senior Dean, realized the person at the Zoo who organized the school groups was alumna Claire Anderson.

Ben Freeman took home one gold (500-yard freestyle), one silver (200-yard freestyle), and one bronze medal (1650yard freestyle) at the Centennial Conference Championship Swim Meet, while also qualifying for three NCAA D-III races. He swims for Swarthmore College and helped the team take home the conference championship. Ben earned All-Centennial Conference awards and was selected for the First Team for his 500 freestyle and Honorable Mention for his performances in the 200 freestyle, 800 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay.

From Left: Oliver Kendall ’18, College Counselor Cathy Nabbefeld, Upper School Teacher Stuart Mills. Kendall attended the 2022 Commencement Reception before moving to Boston for his new job.

From Left: Claire Anderson ’19, Gabe Bernstein

2016 On a scorching hot day in May 2021, Ian Thomas graduated with the Corps of Cadets of United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. and received his commission.

CA alumni John Kasel ’16 and Paige Thomas ’18 attended the ceremonies. Second Lieutenant Thomas is stationed at Fort Gordon, Augusta, Ga. and is in training for his role as a Cyber Officer in the U.S. Army.

Abel Ramirez returned to the CA campus, joining CA’s Admission staff. Abel will be the Assistant Director of Admission for Middle School and the Spanish Language Liaison.

2017

In Memoriam

In Memoriam Cindy Phelps Adamson ’84

C Ben Freeman ’19

indy Adamson passed away September 27, 2021. She was born in Rock Springs, Wyo. on August 29, 1966, to Gerald Phelps and Corlis Genetti Phelps. She grew up in Colorado and played volleyball for Colorado Academy.

Cindy had a big heart. She was a wonderful mother and loved her children and grandchildren more than anything. Her family remembers, “Cindy was the best gift giver, as loyal as they come, and the ‘class clown.’ There was no one like her, and she will be truly missed. Cindy loved her job, as anyone lucky enough to have her as their therapist could tell you. She was the Cindy Phelps Adamson ’84 as pictured in the 1984 Telesis best around.”

From Left: CA Lower School art teacher Angela Hottinger and Margarita Diaz ’19

Cindy is survived by her three children, Kacie, Taylor, and Justin; five grandchildren; her mother Corlis Phelps; and sister Teresa Brandin Phelps.

Jonathan David Bush ’77

BY GEOFF BUSH ’75

W

ith heavy hearts, we mourn the passing of Jonathan David Bush. On May 28, 2022, Jonathan passed due to a sudden illness. His family and his many friends will dearly miss him.

From Left: 2020 alumni CJ Romine, Jasmine Moore, Chris Wachuta attended the 2022 Commencement at CA.

Alumni and friends attended the Giant Relay Day Happy Hour Party. From Left: Jakob Prichard, Hannah Krueger ’21, Sara Musani ’21.

In 1960, Arthur and Ruth Bush began construction on a home in Bow Mar and settled there to raise their two boys, Geoffrey and Jonathan. Jonathan was enrolled at Colorado Academy in Grade Two, the beginning of a lifelong relationship. At CA, he was active in sports and drama and graduated with the Class of 1977. He enrolled at Bowdoin College and graduated in 1981, after which he returned to Denver and began a long and productive career in commercial real estate development. He started at Coldwell Banker Commercial, followed by several years at Lowe Enterprises, during which Jonathan advanced his skills in commercial development.

Jonathan and Alice Jackson married

in 1994, and after living briefly in the Washington Park area, they returned to Bow Mar in the fall of 2000 to raise their family. Jonathan loved his family and was a devoted father. He was active in the Bow Mar community and at Colorado Academy, where both his children attended school. Jonathan served as a trustee on CA’s Board from 2003 to 2009.

Wanting to establish his own brand, Jonathan, along with his partner Steve Kurtz, formed Littleton Capital Partners LLC in 2004. For the next 18 years, Jonathan pursued his vision of commercial development in Denver. During that time, his company completed 22 projects, along with two more currently in progress in the Denver Metro Area, using his unique approach to mixed-use and redevelopment. Jonathan’s creative approach to development included a number of projects that incorporated murals by local artists. He commissioned over a dozen of them as part of LCP Development projects. Jonathan’s passion for Denver and its many varied communities will be his legacy for many years to come.

Jonathan loved Colorado and the access to the outdoors afforded by living in Denver. Throughout his life, he spent

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Jonathan Bush ’77

Tom DeMouth ’72 as pictured in the 1972 Telesis

Marc Earnhardt ’69 as pictured in the 1969 Telesis

much of his time hiking, camping, and skiing in the Colorado Rockies with his family. He had just begun the next chapter in his life with Emie Watters in their new home.

everyone’s day with a joke or supportive care. He is buried at Ft. Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colo.

had progressive and imaginative ideas; education was also important to him. I fondly recall how, in Fifth Grade, after he’d expressed interest in wanting to attend a midwestern university, a newspaper in that state interviewed him, with a photo of him beaming, as he shook hands with the university president. In fact, he could have gone to any school he wanted to, being one of the students who had attended CA for all 12 years.

Jonathan is survived by son Liam Bush ’15, daughter Addie Bush ’16 (both of Denver), and brother Geoffrey Bush ’75 of California.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests a donation in Jonathan’s memory to either of two causes. Support Jonathan’s love of the Colorado outdoors through cpw.state. co.us/aboutus/Pages/donate.aspx. Support Jonathan’s passion for a vibrant Denver and its street art through rinoartdistrict.org/ support/donate-and-volunteer.

Thomas DeMouth ’72

BY MELANIE DEMOUTH BALL ’74

T

om DeMouth passed away on December 22, 2021, at the age of 67.

Tom is survived by his sister Melanie DeMouth Ball ’74 and brother James DeMouth ’75. With a lifetime of breathing complications, Tom endured a long illness while remaining incredibly strong and kind. He retired from his career at Jefferson County Human Services in February 2021.

Tom actively served in the U.S. Navy, both foreign and at sea, for three and one-half years of his four-year duty.

Tom was insightful, brave, devoted, and respected and loved by his family, colleagues, care team, associates, and neighbors. He was always ready to brighten

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Marc Earnhardt ’69

BY DAVID EARNHARDT ’67

M

arc Earnhardt passed away on November 12, 2021, at the age of 70, due to COVID-19 and other health compromises. A private observance was held.

Marc was complex and highly intelligent.

He had many interests and pursued them vigorously and single-mindedly. I still remember when he would regularly ski off ten-foot-tall boulders at a local ski resort. I recall how he described his early years at CA, when he and fifteen other boys would play tackle football during lunch break on the soccer field behind the old gym and then return to class, to the annoyance of teachers, with grass and mud stains on their knees, and torn collars and elbows of their shirtsleeves.

He was also one of the best running backs on the Varsity Football Team and a fast runner, participating in the 440 and 100yard dash in track.

Marc had considerable musical talent, playing saxophone in CA’s big band, The Preps. Marc had a great sense of humor and often biting sarcasm, which I’m sure his classmates recall. Like several of them, he was a prankster at times.

Marc was thoughtful, humanistic, and

After graduation, Marc showed himself to be a talented sous-chef, a capacity in which he worked for several years.

However, he loved number-crunching even more than food, so he returned to school, got a BA in Economics, and worked as a financial analyst for Utah’s state health department for 28 years, before retiring to Nevada.

Marc had artistic talents, too, which he didn’t talk about until he was in his late sixties, when he revealed that he’d painted some excellent landscapes with oils and also crafted mosaics. How often we discover wonderful aspects about someone after he has passed from this Earth.

Stafford Grey ’74

BY CHUCK SAWYER ’74

H

earing of Stafford’s death was a shock with subsequent sadness.

Stafford attended Lower, Middle, and Upper School at CA. I knew Stafford in pre-school. We all managed to find our way

In Memoriam

Stafford Grey ’74

Owen Locke ’67

Tom Lee

through the adolescent drama and finish high school, to our parents’ surprise.

Owen Earl Locke ’67

Accomplished in many sports, Owen’s favorite pastime was flying fishing, a passion he shared with his family at every opportunity. He loved being in the mountains and was an avid reader. Owen enjoyed researching his family’s history in Colorado and sharing what he learned with his children and grandchildren.

Stafford was a sweet soul. He managed to stay out of trouble, despite the misbehavior of many of his classmates. He lived to do the right thing, and he was loved by all who knew him. Stafford loved sports and was a gifted athlete while at CA. He was a great soccer and lacrosse player. He was the co-captain of CA’s State Championship Lacrosse Team and was selected as an AllState midfielder in his Senior year. Stafford was also elected King of the Prom during his Senior year. Upon graduation from CU-Boulder, he excelled in the sales world.

His honest personality could sell anything to anybody. Stafford gave back to CA by volunteering to coach CA’s Ninth Grade Lacrosse Team.

Stafford supplemented his sales career by becoming a ski instructor in Aspen. Who wouldn’t want that gig? (In 2018, Stafford received the Bob Beattie Award from the Aspen Valley Ski Club for his outstanding dedication to the Base Camp program over a span of several years.) In his thirties, Stafford started competing in marathons and triathlons. Boy, could he ever run!

Participation in these extreme athletic events lasted well into his 60s. Finally, Stafford was a die-hard fan of the CU Buffs and Denver Broncos. You could pretty much find him at every game.

While I have many memories of CA, my fondest are memories of being with Stafford. We’ll all miss him greatly.

O

wen Locke passed away unexpectedly on April 29, 2022 after a brief illness. He was a fifth-generation Denver native, born on January 6, 1949 to Cynthia Bartels Locke and Andrew Owen Locke. Owen and his sister Martha Locke Weiss (wife of Warner Weiss ’61) grew up in the Denver Country Club neighborhood and loved riding bikes, playing golf, playing cards with their parents at the club, and causing all sorts of mischief with neighborhood friends.

Owen attended Colorado Academy as a day student, after Dora Moore and Graland.

A gifted athlete, he led the football, basketball, golf, and lacrosse teams to numerous victories. CA is where he made countless close, lifelong friends. He enjoyed visiting the CA campus, catching up with classmates, and remembering pranks and favorite teachers.

Following graduation from Lake Forest College in Illinois, Owen returned to his beloved Colorado, where he met CU student Debby Cook. The couple married on February 17, 1973 and filled their home with unconditional love, laughter, and a dry sense of humor.

While Owen enjoyed a long career in commercial real estate lending and mortgage banking, he was an entrepreneur at heart, inventing many contraptions, including his infamous potato launcher. His sense of responsibility, commitment, and work ethic were values Owen lived by.

Friends and family will miss Owen’s twinkling blue eyes, huge smile, kind soul, charming wit, and quick sense of humor.

Owen is survived by Debby, his wife of almost 50 years; children Hilary and Owen; four grandchildren; and his dog Fritzie.

A memorial service was held on June 5, 2022. Memorial donations may be made to Geneva Glen Camp, PO Box 248, Indian Hills, CO; St. Anne’s Episcopal School, 2701 S. York St., Denver, CO 80210; Anglers of Honor, anglersofhonor.org; and Project Healing Waters, projecthealingwaters.org.

Tom Lee

Teacher and Assistant Headmaster (CA 1960-1971)

B

orn in Bedford, Ind. on February 26, 1924, Tom Lee died on December 18, 2021 at the age of 97 in Boise, Idaho. He had an amazing life as an educator, musician, author, and devoted Christian. During World War II, Tom was injured in the Battle of the Bulge and received the Purple Heart.

To read more about Tom, go to news. coloradoacademy.org, Alumni Newsletter.

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Former Faculty News

A

fter 25 years teaching at Colorado Academy, science teacher Dani Meyers has decided to leave for new opportunities. She has brought much laughter to the science labs, to the Upper School faculty, and especially, to students, who looked to her to make science accessible and joyful.

Characteristically modest, she asked to stay out of the spotlight in this publication, but she did leave a few parting words.

Academy Glee Club began their Concert Tour of England in 1973. He went to the Queens Hotel where the group stayed on the first night of their Tour. Many memories of the wonderful, talented group came back to him about the CA students who sang their way through England. The year 2023 will be the 50th anniversary of that Tour of England through song. Dr. Woods intends to be at the Class of 1973 50th Reunion at CA on May 19, 2023. Dr. Woods is currently the Dean Emeritus of the University of Connecticut.

From Left: Suzanne Kolsun Jackson, Chris Hertig, Megan Ollett

Linda Lister performed at Heather Gardens in a dance reminiscent of Ginger Rogers.

In the audience was Dr. Tom Fitzgerald.

“It was fun to see her and her pals perform.

They have remarkable energy for they all are 60+ years in age. I got tired just watching them go through their routines.”

Dani Meyers

“I am stepping out for new adventures.

Thank you, CA, for a great career. It will be forever a huge part of me.”

To celebrate two milestone birthdays, Fourth Grade teacher Chris Hertig took former Fourth Grade teacher Suzanne Kolsun Jackson and First Grade teacher Megan Ollett to Hamilton for their birthdays. They were a team for several years and remain close pals.

Dr. David Woods, who taught music at CA from 1966-1974, recently took a trip to Europe and was fortunate to return to Brighton, England, where the Colorado

Sally Blaser, Anne Strobridge, and Milly Nadler met at Sylvia Wesche’s house in Colorado Springs for a delightful reunion.

Sylvia took everyone on a tour of Garden of the Gods and then treated them to a great lunch at her home. They promised to make it a recurring good time!

After the final performance of Mary Poppins, Steve Scherer’s final show at CA before his retirement, a reception was held so that former faculty, as well as alumni and friends, could congratulate Steve on his CA career.

He plans to return to his roots in Chicago.

Read more about Steve on page 30.

Former faculty gathered at the Next Gallery to view Laurie Gibb’s extraordinary fiber art show. n

From Left: Anne Strobridge, Sylvia Wesche, Milly Nadler, Sally Blaser

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From Left: Tom Fitzgerald, Linda Lister

From Left: Billy Bair, Jan Livingston, Judy Zinn at the reception for Steve Scherer

From Left: Suzanne Kolsun Jackson, Laurie Gibb, Ricki Feist, Sandy DuBois, Jan Eckersley, Cheryl Scheer

CA Alumni Association Important Dates 2022-2023 Friday, September 23, 2022

Alumni/Upper School Spirit Breakfast Upper School Lobby, 7:30 a.m.

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Homecoming Varsity Games, BBQ Lunch, Carnival, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

Friday, December 2, 2022

Alumni Ice Skating Party Denver Country Club, 5:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m.

Friday, December 16, 2022

College Alumni Lunch Campus Center, 12:30 p.m.

January & March, 2023

Virtual Alumni-Former Faculty Book Club

February, 2023

Alumni Back-to-School Night On Campus and Virtual, Dinner at 5:30 p.m., Classes at 6:15 p.m.

Friday, May 19, 2023

Giant Relay Day BBQ Lunch, Tour of Campus, The Race, Alumni and Faculty Party, Alumni-Varsity-Faculty Ultimate

Saturday & Sunday May 20-21, 2023

Reunion Weekend 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2013, 2018

Please check the Alumni Home Page on the CA website for updates throughout the year: coloradoacademy.org/alumni.

Summer 2022

Colorado Academy Journal Summer 2022

Colorado Academy 3800 South Pierce Street Denver, CO 80235

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From Humble Beginnings

The girls who were admitted to Colorado Academy’s Upper School in 1971 lobbied CA’s administration for athletic opportunities, leading to the creation of Field Hockey and Lacrosse teams. They changed clothes in former dormitory rooms, and they practiced in jeans on a rough grass field with bare patches. Eventually, they acquired uniforms, as is evident in the photo of Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73. But what they lacked in resources, they made up for in spirit, as they established the foundation and tradition of impressive CA girls’ athletic triumphs throughout the years.

Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73