Colorado Academy Journal - Fall 2021

Colorado Academy Mission Statement

About the Cover

The opening of the Leach Center for the Performing Arts transformed the entrance to Colorado Academy. Read more about reaction to the new building on page 8. Learn more about how the Leach Center has given CA’s new Speech and Debate Society a home on page 16.

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

J urnal

Fall 2021 n Volume 49 n Issue No. 1

The 2021 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

DESIGN: Cindi Sherman Sir Speedy Denver

PHOTOGRAPHY: Cyrus McCrimmon

Jacque Montgomery Marc Piscotty Becky Risch

Kathryn Scott

HEAD OF SCHOOL: Mike Davis, PhD

Colorado Academy

3800 S. Pierce Street Denver, CO 80235

Contents

Dear CA Community 2

A Year to Live our Mission 4

The Leach Center Opens to Rave Reviews 8

Six Straight Championships for Girls Lacrosse Team 10

New Playgrounds Delight Students and Honor Teacher 12

The Year Homecoming Came Home 14

The CA Speech and Debate Society 16

Bryan Terrell Clark Brings the House Down—Again 18

The Life of a Historian…and Writer and Teacher and Nonprofit Director 20

From CA to Columbia, from IBM to Facebook 22

AfricAid 20th Anniversary: How CA Changed the World 24

Where a Media Legend is Born 26

Luck and Magic at the Alchemist Dinner 28

This Year’s Horizons Heroes 30

Alumni Association Highlights and Reunions 33

Class Notes 44

Former Faculty News 54 In Memoriam 55 Alumni Calendar of Events Inside Back Cover

Printed by a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified Printer

Dear CA Community:

Ilove connecting with you at this time of the year. Receiving the CA Journal in the fall gives us a chance to share a bit of what’s happening in the current school year, while reflecting on the previous year.

The 2021-2022 school year is off to a great start, as you will see in the following features. We are making the most of our new theater, as hundreds joined in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Leach Center for the Performing Arts. As you read the story of the new Lower School playgrounds, which honor the legacy of beloved Kindergarten teacher Leslie Webster, you can feel the joy that this gift has brought to CA’s youngest students.

While the pandemic pushed us to reimagine just about everything last year, I’m proud of the response from our students, as faculty worked to maintain the academic excellence our families expect. Our athletes fought through additional protocols and brought home state championships, and our clubs kept our students together and spirits high, despite the fact that their time together was often online.

I am grateful for the support we received from alumni, parents of alumni, current parents, grandparents, faculty and staff, and friends of CA, as The CA Fund marked one of its strongest years on record, as did Horizons at Colorado Academy. The commitment and generosity of CA donors never ceases to astound me. Many of you connected out of the blue, just because you thought a little extra would make a big difference to the school year—and it did! Thank you!

If numbers alone are a measurement, it is clear that we are enjoying a year of being together. Our All-School Picnic in August brought the largest crowd ever to campus, as 1,600 registered for the event, and our Alchemist Dinner in September seated nearly 325 guests and marked the most people ever attending this special event. After a year apart, we are navigating a second year of the pandemic with resilience. CA emerged stronger after a trying year, and it’s a testament to all of our families—present and past—who believe in this amazing school.

With gratitude,

Mike Davis, PhD Head of School Colorado Academy

Read my blog:  coloradoacademy.org/about/head-of-school

Letter from the Head of School

2020-2021 Timeline Colorado Academy

A Year to Live our Mission

One year ago, the title of the CA Journal timeline featuring moments from 2019-2020 was “A Year Like No Other.” At that point, we did not know what was yet to come.

Looking back on 2020-2021, we were tempted to title this year’s highlights, “A Year Like No Other, Part 2.”

But as you read the next few pages, take note of the many ways that Colorado Academy preserved “normal” during a time of disruption. Celebrate the many accomplishments— athletic, artistic, and academic—the events, and the traditions that endured, despite the challenges of COVID-19. It’s one thing to talk about being curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders. It’s quite another to prove that you can overcome obstacles and live CA’s mission, even during a pandemic. n

The “first day of school” seemed to go on for weeks, as CA students first resumed learning remotely and then returned to school masked and divided into the Rockies and Mustangs cohorts.

Lower School students were the first to come back to full classes. Safe to say, inperson school never looked better!

Using Zoom, students led PlatFORUM, a day to engage in conversations around diversity, social justice, equity, and inclusivity. The event featured Theo Wilson, a Denver-based speaker, poet, writer, and actor, who encouraged students to help make their school, community, and world a better place by moving beyond words to actions.

SEPTEMBER 2020

The Boys Golf Team, led by Head Coach Beth Folsom and Assistant Coach Jeff Freebury, won the 3A Golf State Championship for the first time in Colorado Academy’s history.

The Middle School Birding Club gave students a new appreciation for feathered friends that make CA their home—even if it’s only a short visit.

The holiday season was a good time to express gratitude for CA’s hardworking health team, whose extraordinary efforts helped keep the school safe and open for in-person learning throughout the school year.

At the first-ever Pre-Kindergarten Turkey Trot, CA’s youngest students raced around Simms Field for an early celebration of Thanksgiving.

Despite the pandemic, the beloved Kindergarten-Senior Buddy tradition returned with masks and air hugs.

For the second year in a row, students were surprised by a Snow Day occurring before Halloween! But only days later, the Halloween Parade went on as scheduled, culminating in a popsicle celebration.

They had no theater and no stage—but never underestimate the determination of Upper School Advanced Acting students. They performed Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind despite setbacks, postponements, and a pandemic.

Pop-up outdoor libraries were just one of many ways that librarians inspired enthusiasm for reading throughout a school year with pandemic restrictions on library use.

Lower School students helped celebrate World Kindness Day by creating a beautiful quilt with personal messages of encouragement.

JANUARY 2021

The work of Senior Gigi Beardsley and Junior Alyssa Wilson was selected as two of 34 winners, out of more than 1,500 submissions, in the “In Pursuit of__” open call for photography at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Both their posters addressed concerns over climate change.

FEBRUARY 2021

Thanks to an innovative on-campus testing program, Colorado Academy began operating with full, in-person instruction for all grades, Pre-K through 12, for the first time since March of 2020.

MARCH 2021

A record 700 Grandparents and Special Friends from all around the country registered to visit CA virtually and participate in classroom sessions. Traditionally known as “Grandparents Day,” the reimagined event had originally been on the calendar for December but had to be rescheduled.

Could you do 21 lunges? Or hold a plank for 21 seconds? The Athletic Department started the year off by helping CA get in shape with the online “21-for-’21 Fitness Challenge.”

For more than 25 years, CA has served those in need with HOPE, a special holiday event run entirely by CA students. In past years, the event has brought more than 2,000 people to campus, but with pandemic restrictions prohibiting groups of people from assembling, students reinvented HOPE by organizing donation drives for area shelters and a gift card drive for the Horizons at CA community.

In-person Portfolio Shows returned to the Ponzio Arts Center in spring, and, to accommodate pandemic protocol, teachers arranged special evening VIP tours for parents of Seniors participating in the shows.

MacArthur Genius and two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward was a special SPEAK Lecture Series guest, engaging in a discussion with Director of Inclusivity Sarah Wright. Ward told listeners that “inspiration and desperation go hand in hand.”

The CA Middle School Future City team won the Colorado Regional competition. Despite all the challenges of the school year, the team triumphed with their vision of “Mångata Subexo,” a city on the moon based on equality and innovative technologies.

For the first time, REDI Lab was offered to Seniors. The course focused on entrepreneurship and design, asking students to identify a problem, find a solution, and name a person who would benefit from this project—all using local resources.

APRIL 2021 MAY 2021

The Colorado Academy All-School Art Festival, “Make & Believe!”, proved to be a fun-filled, all-day event for students, faculty, and staff as they celebrated the making of art at stations set up all over CA’s campus.

In a nail-biter, double-overtime game, the Boys Soccer Team ended a perfect season (14-0) with the 3A State Championship.

JUNE 2021

“Is this amazing, or what?” That’s how Colorado Academy Head of School Dr. Mike Davis opened the final All-School Assembly of the 2020-2021 school year. Of course, what was amazing was that after 14 long months, the entire CA student body was finally together in one place at one time.

Sophomore Maya Vendhan was a top scorer in multiple American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) at the high school level and was recognized with AMC Awards and Certificates for Young Women in Mathematics. She also received several honors from the Mathematical Association of America.

“Rain or shine or snow, we are going to give it a shot.” That’s how Director Maclain Looper approached the Colorado Academy Upper School musical, Urinetown, in the days before the successful (though occasionally windy) performances on the steps of Schotters Music Center.

They had to walk a little farther from Welborn House to reach a socially distanced Commencement ceremony that filled Firman Field, but after a year like no other Senior class had experienced, the CA Class of 2021 finished strong, happy, and classy.

In a socially distanced outdoor ceremony, CA celebrated a large group of Senior student-athletes who had committed to play Division I and Division III college sports.

Fifth Graders took their Images of Greatness presentations outside to the CA Sculpture Garden. They donned costumes and presented their research about some of the great people in world history.

For the sixth year in a row, the CA Girls Lacrosse Team won the State Championship. They took care of business with efficiency and determination, winning 14-3, capping a perfect 13-0 season. CA has won 23 straight post-season games, dating back to 2015, and the Seniors on the team were undefeated for their high school careers.

The Leach Center Opens to Rave Reviews

“Y

ou feel like you are inside the Denver Center for the Performing Arts!”

Director of Visual & Performing Arts Katy Hills was not the first or only person to have this reaction to the new Leach Center for the Performing Arts at Colorado Academy

Quite literally, jaws dropped, as students and parents got their first look inside the building at the ribbon-cutting on August 23, 2021. It had been almost one year to the day that people had gathered at the same location to watch the demolition of the Froelicher Theatre, and now, they were standing at the site of an entirely new facility.

The building is named in recognition of a generous lead gift from current parents Bryan Leach and Jennifer Gaudiani.

“This building is art,” said Bryan Leach. “It is an architectural contribution to the campus. It is beautiful, stately, modern, and it’s inviting and warm. It occupies the space in a way that is the front door to the campus.”

“For us, it’s all about what students want to bring to life here,” added Jennifer Gaudiani. “Anyone who has taken part in theater, as we did, knows that it becomes a world for students to create, and in the process of learning characters and creating sets, they build relationships with each other.”

The quality of the building

There were more than 20 participants in the ribbon-cutting, including students who couldn’t wait to get onstage in the new theater.

“I’ve dreamed of this day for five years,” said Senior Casey Myers. “It was time for a new

theater, so I am glad this day is finally here.”

The Leach Center is more than 21,000 square feet. The theater seats up to 500, doubling the capacity of the former theater. It has high-end digital sound and lighting systems; an orchestra pit; a scene shop, for use by technical theater students, which will support Middle and Upper School plays and musicals; and two features usually only seen in professional theaters: walkable catwalks, so teachers and students can better install lights for shows; and a 48-foot fly loft, which allows full pieces of scenery to be lowered and raised to the stage for speedy backdrop changes during a performance.

The Leach Center also houses a Black Box Theater and Performance Space, which can seat up to 90 people and will accommodate many Upper and Middle School classes. It also offers a classroom for the new Speech & Debate program and the Scherer Rehearsal Room, named for Chair of the Theater & Dance Department Steve Scherer.

“I have been at CA for 28 years, so I’ve been waiting that long for this day,” said Scherer. “Now we can do theater that reflects the quality of the building.”

“It’s everything our students need,” added theater teacher James Meehan. “We can now show students everything they will see if they go into the world of theater. These are the systems they will work with, and we can send them into the future, knowing we have done the best job we can.”

“It’s really going to be thrilling to perform in front of much larger crowds,” said Senior Annelise Agelopoulos, as she prepared to cut the ribbon. “Everything looks very professional.”

Sustaining a tradition

In his remarks at the ribbon-cutting, Head

of School Mike Davis noted that, since he had come to CA, the community had supported multiple building projects: a new Upper School, major renovations to the Welborn House, rebuilding of the Ponzio Arts Center, a new Athletic Center, and now the Leach Center.

“This is a community that recognizes how special CA is, and they want to share it with future generations, so it continues to be a place where all are welcome, and students

can excel in arts, athletics, and academics,” Davis told a crowd of several hundred who had gathered at the Leach Center. “We stand on ground that has hosted hundreds, if not thousands, of performances since the 1970s. Now, this new building will sustain that tradition in the arts.”

Davis also took the opportunity to thank Andy Rockmore and Dan Craig from Shears Adkins Rockmore (SAR+) Architects, Fransen Pittman, the general contractor,

and Jesse Schumacher, Director of Operations at CA.

“This building will benefit not just the students of CA,” added Leach in his remarks to the crowd. “It’s for many other people in the community who might come here. It will be a place where we can gather for thought-provoking conversations that are important.”

As he watched students and parents

stream into the newly opened Leach Center for a first look, theater teacher Maclain Looper reflected on the past and the future. “With the old building, there were so many considerations, so we were always saying, ‘Can we do this?’ Now, the possibilities are endless.”

But it was Leach who got the final micdropping word, when he said, quite simply, “I can’t wait to be in the audience.” n

Six Straight Championships for Girls Lacrosse Team

It was 87 degrees at 8 p.m., but the Colorado Academy Girls Lacrosse Team kept their cool during this unusual late June competition at Legacy Stadium in Aurora. They brought home a sixth straight Girls Lacrosse State Championship to the delight of a crowd of cheering parents, students, and friends.

“The fans were amazing!” said Coach Laura Sandbloom. “Seeing all those kids show up—there were 2020 graduates, more alumni, members of the Boys Lacrosse Team—it just made me so proud of our girls and the CA community. It was an incredible fan presence, and it speaks to everyone’s hunger for a communal experience.”

After a year of competition canceled because of COVID-19, the Mustangs picked up right where they left off two years ago.

For the past five years, CA had beaten teams from Cherry Creek High School every year to take top honors. This year, CA faced Valor Christian High School and took care of business with efficiency and determination, winning 14-3, capping a perfect 13-0 season. CA has won 23 straight post-season games dating back to 2015. The Seniors on the team are undefeated in their high school careers.

No single player dominated CA’s scoring throughout the game, a true testament to teamwork that showcased both experience and future promise.

During the first half, Freshman Zoe Martin had two goals. Freshman Vivian Leuthold also put two in the back of the net. With lightning quick feet, Freshman Charlotte Corkins completed the Ninth Grade triumvirate, adding another goal. No first state championship jitters for these players!

Representing the upperclassmen, Junior Maya Kendall scored, and Katharine

Merrifield ’21, who will play for the University of Michigan next year, found the back of the net twice. Early in the game, CA led by only one goal, but by the end of the first period, the score was 8-2.

Fireworks

By the second half, the temperature on the field had dropped slightly (into the low eighties), but that didn’t stop Jessie Bakes and Ella Freimuth ’21 from catching fire. Both scored twice. Merrifield added a third goal to her total for the night, and Martin rounded out the evening with one more to represent the future of lacrosse at CA.

Megan Zeman, former University of Denver player and now Volunteer Assistant Lacrosse Coach at DU, paid tribute to the CA team in her on-air play-by-play for the NFHS Network.

“If I could sum up the CA team in one word, it would be ‘disciplined,’” Zeman said. “I am really impressed with their composure.”

Zeman also pointed out that many of the key players on CA’s team, including defenders Rebecca Kerr ’21, Marin Bomgaars ’21, Julia Hall ’21, and Maya Rutherford ’21, who will also play for the University of Michigan, were no longer high school students, since they had picked up their diplomas the first week of June. CHSAA and COVID-19 restrictions had moved this final season for CA Seniors long past their commencement.

“I am on cloud nine, and I hope the girls are too,” said Sandbloom. “It just feels like all the extra effort after graduation really paid off; I am so proud of how these girls have responded during a really tough year. It’s clear they love their team.”

“It’s been crazy, but this is so nice,” Rutherford told reporters after the game.

“We lost our season last year, but we brought everybody back together, got back on the road, and it just feels so good to be back on the field together and playing. And winning the State Championship, it’s unbeatable.”

“I am so grateful to Coach Laura Sandbloom and her entire staff for giving the team— and especially the Seniors—some great memories tonight,” said CA Athletic Director Bill Hall. “Laura is an incredible role model for these great players, and she is continuing the legacy of this incredible program. The CA Girls Lacrosse Team showed us just how tough they are with a dominating performance tonight.”

With a little more than six minutes to play, fireworks could be seen across the skyline. But who looks at fireworks when the CA Girls Lacrosse team is on the field? n

“The fans were amazing! Seeing all those kids show up—there were 2020 graduates, more alumni, members of the Boys Lacrosse Team—it just made me so proud of our girls and the CA community. It was an incredible fan presence, and it speaks to everyone’s hunger for a communal experience.”

CA

Coach Laura Sandbloom

STATE LACROSSE CHAMPS!

New Playgrounds Delight Students and Honor Teacher

Leslie Webster often said that recess was one of her favorite times of the day because it was filled with unexpected moments of joy and discovery. So what better way to remember a beloved Colorado Academy Kindergarten teacher than marvelous new Lower School playgrounds with two different play structures bridged by an area of decorative boulders, music-making, and a peaceful place to rest. After a year of patient waiting, with more than 300 student-submitted designs, and lots of hard work, the playgrounds were officially opened on the second day of school in a ribbon-cutting ceremony that reflected Mrs. Webster’s love for her students and her belief in always showing genuine gratitude.

“For my mom, this playground was everything,” said Maddie Webster ’16, who spoke to a gathering of Lower School students, faculty and staff, and members of the CA community on behalf of her father, Stephen, and sister, Carolyn. “She was able to watch both me and my sister grow up here, and she was able to meet other parents of other students who would become lifelong friends.”

Lower School Principal Angie Crabtree, who supervised every detail of the new spaces and included all Lower School students in the planning, thanked the many people who made the playgrounds a reality. She gave special mention to Kindergarten teacher Christine West, who restored a flower garden in honor of Leslie, including several plaques with heartfelt quotes from students: “She had a love of life, a passion for children, and a heart of solid gold.”

Webster ’16

Crabtree also acknowledged the dedication of Ian Marzonie, a member of the CA Operations staff, who worked tirelessly to supervise every aspect of the playgrounds project.

“Leslie Webster was someone who recognized the goodness in others and took the time to extend a thank-you to those around her for the big things and the small things too,” Crabtree said. “We are so thrilled to have our new outdoor play areas to remember, celebrate, and honor the life of our friend and teacher.”

Dr. Mike Davis, Head of School, called the play spaces “Leslie’s legacy…a space to honor her amazing impact at CA.”

“From our students who gave their allowances, to our families who provided lead gifts, each of you played a significant part in CA having these wonderful new areas,” Davis added.

So yes, what better way to remember Leslie than in playgrounds which transform the Lower School corner of CA. “I hope that as new memories are made here, for both teachers and students, the playground will serve as a reminder of my mom and her love for her students and the faculty here at CA,” Maddie told the Lower School students. “I hope it will remind you to lead with a smile, just as my mom did, and to never stop learning and exploring.” n

“For my mom, this playground was everything.”

Maddie

The Year Homecoming Came Home

In 2020, Colorado Academy Homecoming was just a fantasy, with all events canceled by COVID-19. Perhaps that is why this year so many students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni found their way to CA for an enthusiastic weekend of spirit, bike riding, baked goods, athletic contests, and to top it off, the dedication of the Upper School which has been renamed the F. Charles Froelicher Upper School.

It’s been more than 50 years since Joel Knight ’67 graduated from Colorado Academy, but stories about the legendary Froelicher are still fresh in his mind.

Knight was a student at CA in the days when CA was an all-male boarding and day school. At Thanksgiving, he ended up staying at school, rather than flying home to Alabama.

“There were a group of us who were left on campus, and I will never forget Chuck Froelicher picking us up in his Bentley

and driving us to the Brown Palace for Thanksgiving dinner,” Knight says. “We thought we were very sophisticated. And I remember thinking, ‘Please let me use the right fork!’”

That Chuck Froelicher mix of serious sophistication and high expectations made an indelible impression on years of graduates. Many alumni from the years 1961 through 1976 returned to CA this year for Homecoming weekend to witness the dedication of the Upper School building.

“Chuck died in 2014, but his presence is felt every day on campus,” said Head of School Dr. Mike Davis at the dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 18, 2021.

“I am proud to say that he was also my mentor,” Davis told a gathering of alumni, faculty, and members of the Froelicher family. “He left a legacy unmatched, and those of us who follow can only try to live up to his ideals.” n

Dr. Mike Davis speaks at the dedication of the F. Charles Froelicher Upper School.

The CA Speech and Debate Society

Should the United States guarantee universal child care?

Should voting be compulsory in the United States?

You may have a strongly held “yes or no” opinion on all those questions, with plenty of evidence to back up your position. But could you argue the opposite side with equally convincing reasoning and passion?

You could if you were Senior Clare Milligan, who has experience doing Lincoln-Douglas debate, just one of the many categories of competition available to students who participate in the National Speech and Debate Association. Starting last year, and continuing with increased participation this year, Colorado Academy’s Speech and Debate Society encourages students who want to take their performance and critical thinking skills to a new level in a new arena.

Last year, when CA first formed a Speech and Debate Club, Milligan, who is a CoLeader of the Society, decided to dip her toe into one-on-one Lincoln-Douglas debate. To her surprise, she qualified for the Colorado state finals. She was even more shocked when she heard that she was headed to the National Tournament, which happened over Zoom because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“Competing was such a terrific learning experience,” Milligan says. “Everyone was more experienced than I was, but I learned from them as I competed, and then I adapted.”

Senior Sarah Preston, who also serves as a Co-Leader of the Society, originally thought she would try debate last year—that was, until she discovered that competing in speech allowed her to create social change through her speeches.

“In my first speech, I wrote about my journey with ADHD and the ways that people often overlook people with ADHD because it is something you cannot see,” she says. “I made the point that people with ADHD might just need some extra help and patience rather than being told to adjust and adapt.”

Why a ‘Society?’

Today, Preston and Milligan are leading a group of more than 25 Upper School students in the newly renamed Speech and Debate Society, with faculty sponsors Upper School humanities teacher Dr. Jon Vogels and history teacher Randall Martínez. Vogels also teaches a class in speech and debate.

The class and the Society have a new home in a new building—a classroom in the new Leach Center for the Performing Arts— devoted just to speech and debate.

The faculty sponsors deliberated (as you might expect) about what to call the group and decided to move from being labeled a “Club” to being named a “Society” because they see speech and debate as more than a series of local, state, and national competitions.

“We decided that “Society” was a name that served as an umbrella under which we could have a class, a club, competitions, and community outreach doing public service,” Vogels says. “We will be involved with groups such as the Urban Debate League, Horizons at CA, and we will also be partnering with California-Polytechnic State University to host Spanish language debates to help students develop Spanishlanguage advocacy skills.”

Vogels has spent the past year making connections to the larger debate community in Colorado. He specializes in coaching students in speech.

“Dr. Vogels taught me that delivering a

speech is more of a performance,” Preston says. “It was a revelation to see that how I moved around and used my hands was important. You’re not just reading a speech!”

How debate opens doors

Vogels says that CA was “fortunate” to find in Randall Martínez both an excellent history teacher and someone with 20 years of experience coaching debate at the middle school, high school, and college levels.

Martínez says that as a high school student (“I was a quiet bookworm, and after discovering debate, I haven’t shut up since.”) and then as a coach, debate was his “gateway to the world.”

“Debate really opened doors for me,” he says. “I’ve coached and competed around the world, and that’s why I want CA students to think about having global conversations—from Panama to Prague.”

He praises the CA students for the way they are embracing speech and debate. “I’ve never seen students take to an activity so effortlessly,” he says. “They come in with a positive attitude, and they have already developed a world view.”

Martínez could be talking about Junior Owen Tilman, who first tried out LincolnDouglas debating last year. To be clear, in a competition Tilman might be assigned to argue the affirmative in one round—and then in the next round of competition be asked to argue in the opposing viewpoint. “I fell in love with the format,” Tilman says. “It literally forces you to acknowledge merit in both sides of any given issue, which appears to have lost its way in the current political discourse. Inevitably, I find myself revising my political beliefs after a season of Lincoln-Douglas.”

The purpose of speech and debate

Vogels believes that experience with

Does a public health emergency justify limiting civil liberties?

speech and debate pays off in the present and the future in myriad ways, and the students and faculty involved are quick to support that idea.

“I have gained so much confidence speaking in front of others. I know how to present in front of a large group. I actually feed off the challenge because I like thinking, ‘I could mess up, but I am not going to.’” Sarah Preston

“This has really helped me become a better communicator, and that will manifest itself in any field I choose to go

into. Even if a job is STEM-based, you have to be able to communicate why an idea has value.” Clare Milligan

“Colleges often have their own version of speech and debate, so students can keep participating in college. And whether it’s politics, law, lobbying, or any occupation where you are expected to do speaking, you will be well prepared coming out of a speech and debate program.” Dr. Jon Vogels

“Debating has certainly helped my writing on a philosophical basis, in addition to my argumentation. Similar to the logic required

for advanced mathematical concepts, approaching complex topics in the debate setting also demands the same brands of logical and analytical processing. Debate, I feel, also merges my love for performance with my love for academic analysis—which I can say has been the only activity in which I have participated that does so and does so well.” Owen Tilman

“Communication is key to having a successful life. Civil discourse is struggling today, and our students need to be the ones to fix it. We can be ambassadors to civility worldwide.” Randall Martínez n

Bryan Terrell Clark Brings the House Down—Again

Broadway talent scouts need look no further than Colorado Academy’s Lower School to discover the new cast for Hamilton. The Lower Schoolers demonstrated their talent when the very popular Bryan Terrell Clark—singer, songwriter, actor, and philanthropist— visited CA in the first week of school—and asked students to join him on the stage for the opening number of Hamilton. Loud and clear, they sang:

My name is Alexander Hamilton And there’s a million things I haven’t done But just you wait, just you wait CA’s youngest students proved that they can sing and rap with the pros—especially after Disney brought Hamilton to the screen in their living rooms this past summer.

Clark, who played George Washington in Hamilton on Broadway, first visited CA early in 2019, right before schools transitioned to remote learning during the pandemic. He brought the house down on his first visit and became a welcome second-time visitor over Zoom last year.

His return in person as the first performer on the Main Stage of the new Leach Center for the Performing Arts was met with enthusiastic cheers by all divisions. When he casually mentions his roles in a movie or Netflix series, students know he is the real deal, but without the ego that often accompanies a star. As much as students enjoy him, he enjoys coming to CA.

“This is one of the truly unique spaces I have ever been part of,” he told an interviewer. “That’s why I love coming back here.”

Bryan Terrell Clark

But even more important is the message he brings to students—“Follow your passion to find your purpose. Being authentic can lead you to fulfilling your wildest dreams.”

Middle and Upper School

Clark is simply brilliant when he works with students—both charismatic and down-to-earth.

He cofounded “inDEFINED,” a project to inspire and teach young people to use their voices to erase constrictive labels in society. At CA, a number of students who shared the stage with Clark proudly went home with inDEFINED hoodies or T-shirts. For Middle and Upper School, he adjusted his message to match the age group.

“At your age, you begin to shrink and hide all the things that make you ‘you,’” he told Middle Schoolers. “I remember trying to hide, so I would lose my uniqueness and be

more like the cool kids. I encourage you to have confidence and courage to be your authentic selves. At the end of the day, you have to be okay with the person you are.”

For Upper Schoolers, he expanded his message to include their role in the world at large. “Ask yourself, ‘What will move society forward in this time of division?’” he told them. “How can you aid healing? I am honored to stand in front of you, and I hope that in future years you remember that guy from Hamilton who came to your school and told you to trust your gut.”

“I remember trying to hide, so I would lose my uniqueness and be more like the cool kids. I encourage you to have confidence and courage to be your authentic selves. At the end of the day, you have to be okay with the person you are.”

Master class

For a group of more than two dozen Upper Schoolers, the most unforgettable experience of the day may have been their chance to have a master class in acting with Clark. He tapped into their dramatic potential with a simple exercise he said that he had first done at the Yale University School of Drama.

It was a two-person scene with what might seem the most ordinary of premises: one person had to hold on to a newspaper, and

one person had to get the newspaper.

What ensued as CA students played out this mini-drama were scenes demonstrating strategy, persuasion, intimidation, and in some cases, sheer force and a lot of speed. Clark confessed that the first time he did this exercise, he ate the newspaper.

“It seems like the most simple activity,” he told the students. “But these are the building blocks to acting. You take objective, action, and stakes, and suddenly

interesting theatrical things happen.”

By the end of the master class, students did not want to leave. They stood around Clark, many thanking him personally for his time, wisdom, and inspiration. But, he said, the pleasure was all his.

“To have a school with this width of age group and personal experiences is remarkable,” he said. “I am impressed by the compassion and respect that students show for each other. I can’t wait to see how you will change the world.” n

The Life of a Historian…and Writer and Teacher and Nonprofit Director

Dr. Tamara Walker ’96 credits almost all of her achievements, which are many, to Colorado Academy.

“I mean this honestly,” says the native of Denver’s Montbello neighborhood, who attended CA from Tenth to Twelfth Grade. “I would not be an historian of Latin America and a nonprofit founder were it not for Ms. [Peggy] Salisbury’s Spanish classes and the Interim trip to Mexico. The CA Interim program changed the entire course of my life and is the reason behind everything I have pursued since then.”

An Ivy League graduate, Fulbright Scholar, and award-winning author, Walker is a history professor at the University of Toronto and leads a nonprofit organization that gives low-income students travel opportunities.

When work doesn’t feel like work

Walker’s scholarly research focuses on slavery, race, and gender in Latin America.

For her 2017 book Exquisite Slaves, she logged hours and hours in the archives. She pored over historical documents, searching for the words and voices of enslaved men and women who could not tell their stories in ways more literate people could. For instance, the criminal trial testimony for a case of stolen clothing revealed the common perception of the time that enslaved people could only ever obtain nice clothing through theft.

Walker shares these discoveries not only in academic writing, but with the college students in her classroom. As her research gives access to previously unheard voices, her teaching helps her students connect to

the lived experiences of people of the past.

“It doesn’t feel like work in a lot of ways,” she says. “It feels really meaningful to me, and I get to talk about things that really interest me, with interesting students from all over the world. We learn about the past, and we think about the present.”

Currently, she’s writing a book about the experience of traveling and living abroad as an African American.

Paying forward a lifechanging experience

Walker says her work combines many of the joyful aspects of her CA experience: culture, travel, research.

“My early exposure to international travel came while I was a scholarship student at CA,” she says. “I participated in immersive programs in Mexico and France, and those experiences nurtured within me an abiding interest in foreign languages and cultures.”

Walker knows that many people from the historically low-income neighborhood where she grew up don’t get these opportunities—or the chance to forge a career from them. So, she’s determined to make the most of them and to bring the same opportunities to other students.

That’s why she co-founded The Wandering Scholar, which provides scholarships and programming to make international travel and learning opportunities accessible to exceptional high schoolers from underrepresented and low-income backgrounds.

“I want to make opportunities like I had accessible to students who can’t afford, or maybe even conceive of, those opportunities,” she says.

Bolstered by full scholarship funding,

students in The Wandering Scholar programs are doing incredible things, she says. They’ve produced educational videos and documentaries, as well as creative projects like art, poetry, and cookbooks. Their international experiences have spurred them to plan to go to college and to think what to study there. Some of them have gone on to pursue graduate study, just like Walker.

A place where possibilities become reality

In addition to the Interim program and Ms. Salisbury’s Spanish class, Walker has gratitude for the support and warmth she experienced at CA.

“It is such a welcoming, warm place,” she says. “The teachers treated us all the same, no favorites. They took us seriously as people and thinkers, capable of grasping complicated topics and talking about them in meaningful ways.”

And they helped prepare Walker to become the first person in her family to go to college.

“I didn’t have a sense of what I wanted to do as an adult,” she says. “Through CA, I realized the possibilities that existed, that I had the abilities to make those possibilities a reality, and that there were no limits to what I could do.” n

“The CA Interim program changed the entire course of my life and is the reason behind everything I have pursued since then.”

Dr. Tamara Walker ’96

From CA to Columbia, from IBM to Facebook

Since he was in middle school, Jesús Reyes ’13 knew where he wanted to go to college: Columbia University. When the Denver native was accepted to the Ivy League institution, he knew it had everything to do with his being a student at Colorado Academy.

“CA prepared me well in academics and test-taking and put me in a good position to be a competitive applicant to colleges,” says Reyes, who attended CA from Ninth to Twelfth Grade. “Not many other schools offer such a great educational experience.”

But then, two weeks before Reyes was to leave for his first year at Columbia, his older brother passed away.

The two had been close. Reyes had told him how much he wanted to go to Columbia, and he knew his big brother was proud of him for getting into the prestigious school he’d set his sights on. Now he wouldn’t be

able to see him go off to college.

It’s the kind of life event that can throw a young student off course.

At his brother’s funeral, Reyes saw two familiar faces: Upper School Director of Admission Dr. Carolyn Ash and Dr. Jon Vogels, who was Upper School Principal at the time. With their presence, Reyes felt their care and support.

Four years later, Reyes graduated from Columbia University with honors.

What the business industry and CA have in common

With a bachelor’s degree in political science and a passion for social issues like immigration, Reyes had thought he might go to law school.

He spent college summers doing internships for public policy entities, including the Migrant Farm Worker Division of Colorado Legal Services in

Denver and the Office of United States Senator Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) in Washington, D.C.

But then he landed a job as a consultant for IBM. And he found an industry that felt like the right place for him.

“The business environment is always changing, so you have to keep developing your skills,” he says.

In this new professional environment, Reyes applied his affinity for technology, along with his ability to continually learn and adapt on the job—concepts that stem back to his experience in extracurricular activities at CA.

“The options at CA are vast, more than at many other high schools,” says Reyes, who was involved in technical theater, basketball, weightlifting, and the diversity club. “This gives you the chance to try new experiences and gets you into an early mindset of trying new things and seeing what you enjoy.”

For IBM, Reyes created data-driven sales plans and advised executives at the multinational technology corporation.

What it’s like to work for Facebook

And now Reyes works for a company with 2.8 billion customers.

“It’s a competitive company to get into,” says Reyes, who is now program manager for Facebook. He provides project management and internal advertising strategy for the ubiquitous social media company.

“The work is really autonomous, and I enjoy that,” says Reyes, who, since he started there in 2019, has received additional

From Left: Alex Rodriguez, Jesús Reyes ’13, Irma Reyes, Jesús Reyes

responsibilities and been promoted. “And it’s exciting, because I’m involved with a lot of different projects.”

While he was living and officing in the Bay Area, he has been working remotely for the past year and a half, which allowed him to move back to Denver.

With a long-time interest in music and sports, he’s eyeing the entertainmentfocused departments of Facebook for his next step. And he’d love to land a position at a Facebook office that would give him the experience of living in another country. He’s angling for Singapore but keeping his options open.

Where you can find your own community

Before CA, Reyes attended a school with a 95 percent Hispanic and Latino student population. He felt like he fit in there. And when he came to the CA Upper School, he felt like he fit in almost immediately.

At a CA event before the school year even began, he met Sam Givray ‘13, his best friend to this day. And once he dug into classes, sports, and extracurricular activities, he felt even more at home.

He helped design and build play sets and worked as a sound technician for the Theater Department. He served as a leader for the Faces of Diversity Club. For his Senior service work, he and his classmates taught an interactive lesson on culture and heritage, with Tlaxcalteca dancing, at a local elementary school.

Nearly a decade after graduating, Reyes is still close with two classmates and his Freshman Buddy from his Senior year.

“It happened naturally that I was able to create a new community early on,” he says. “There was such an open community at CA. Starting all the way from the Head of School, everyone was very welcoming.”

And of course, he’ll always remember how members of his CA community attended his brother’s funeral and were there for him in his time of need.

“That showed how the CA community is so supportive.” n

AfricAid 20th Anniversary: How CA Changed the World

When she was 11 years old, Ashley Shuyler Carter ’03 went on a family trip to Tanzania. While she was there, she kept thinking about Colorado Academy—and how many kids in the African nation didn’t have access to anything like it.

“I was taken with the beauty of the country, the people, and the wildlife, but at the same time, I couldn’t reconcile the fact that I had such incredible educational opportunities at CA and that many kids I saw and met on that trip didn’t have the chance to go to school,” says Shuyler Carter, who attended CA from Fourth through Twelfth Grade.

Many of the Tanzanian kids her age she met were working to make a living for their families instead of going to school. Shuyler Carter returned home determined to find a way to make education possible for kids her age there.

Skip to the final scene: She did it. She founded AfricAid, an organization that is celebrating 20 years of helping secondary school girls in Tanzania complete their education.

But there’s a lot more to the story, and the people in it.

A kid with a dream of changing the world

When she got back from the perspectivealtering trip, Shuyler Carter got to work. By 2001, she had founded AfricAid and established it as an official 501c3 nonprofit organization. Shuyler Carter was just 16.

It didn’t strike her as odd that she had achieved 501c3 status when she was barely old enough to get a driver’s license—because she went to a school where everyone believed in the power of

young people to make positive change in the world.

“It didn’t feel strange, because CA so cultivates that mentality,” she says. “I felt so much confidence, warmth, and support from the teachers and coaches at CA. They went out of their way to encourage me on this path and make me feel like it was possible.”

To complement the organization’s work, she started an AfricAid club at CA. She recruited classmates and her CA Volleyball teammates as members, among them public health leader Elena Harman ’05.

“I looked up to Ashley, so I jumped on board,” says Harman, who was a CA student from Grades 9 to 12.

Club members worked to raise enough money to send 10 girls in Tanzania to four years of secondary school. They organized silent auctions and other fundraising events on and off campus, including one at the Denver Art Museum, where many CA community members showed up to show their support. Club faculty sponsors like Scott Schneider and Dani Meyers supported the students and encouraged their ideas.

“It was a lot of fun to do something so student-led, getting to work with classmates on a project with real impact,” Shuyler Carter said. “We had good and notso-good ideas along the way. We learned as we went.”

Harman agrees.

“We learned that, as a team, we could achieve more than only sports-related goals,” she says. “We could take our teammate relationships and flex them to help other communities and contribute to the larger world.”

From school club to world thought leader

Despite its early success, Shuyler Carter didn’t think then that the organization would still be thriving two decades later—”never in a million years could I have imagined that in those early days.”

Harman couldn’t have imagined it either, but she’s not surprised.

“Ashley is an impressive woman—we knew that then, and you can see that today,” she says of her old volleyball teammate, who went to Harvard University and got an MBA from Stanford University.

The admiration and respect are mutual and endured through the years after they both graduated from CA. So, in 2020 when AfricAid was looking for a board member to help create an evaluation and monitoring strategy, Shuyler Carter immediately thought of Harman.

“Her name was coming up all the time as the person to know in monitoring and evaluation in Denver,” she says of Harman, who wrote the 2019 book The Great Nonprofit Evaluation Reboot: A New Approach Every Staff Member Can Understand. “Elena and I had stayed in touch, and I couldn’t have been more impressed with where she had taken her career, the depth of her work, and how she’d started her own company.”

Shuyler Carter reached out to Harman, and fortunately, the timing was right. Harman had just sold her consulting company, Vantage Evaluation, and was looking for ways to stay engaged with evaluation.

“The board couldn’t have been more thrilled,” says Shuyler Carter, who led AfricAid for 10 years and has been a board

member since 2003. “It’s a gift to have her as part of our team.”

Harman, who has worked with “a ton” of nonprofit organizations over the years, says AfricAid impresses her in more ways than one.

“The organization has undergone many evolutions in response to changing needs, but its mission has always been the same,” she says. “That’s unusual for nonprofits, and it shows a willingness to do the right thing for the community we’re serving.”

Harman also admires AfricAid’s communityled programming. While the organization was born in the United States, it has developed strong partnerships with leaders in Tanzania. These days, the Tanzanian staff makes the decisions about program delivery, and the United States staff fundraises and supports their work.

“We want to equip the local staff with the governance, authority, and resources to bring their vision to life,” Shuyler Carter says, “We very much believe that our partners in Tanzania know what’s right and what’s needed in their communities. We’ve built a real strength in amplifying the work that local leaders do, and we’ve seen really powerful results in terms of academic and health outcomes.”

Now, with Harman helping them use evaluation and data to test their programs’ effectiveness, AfricAid is exploring a thought leadership strategy to share its successful methodology with other organizations around the world. And from idea conception to fledgling nonprofit to global impact, CA has contributed to that success.

“How grateful I am to CA for embracing this work and for the longevity of its support of AfricAid,” Shuyler Carter says. “Over two decades, we’ve gone on this journey together, remaining connected through this common vision of education opportunities for girls on the other side of the world.”

The gift of an incredible education

What empowers a young person like Shuyler Carter to take a risk to try to make

the world a better place? The strong and supportive foundation of a school like CA.

“The teachers and coaches were so invested in helping students flourish,” Shuyler Carter says. “I’m so grateful for how much they encouraged each student to follow their own path, whatever that might be.”

Harman agrees that CA allowed her to explore and find what she loved to do, a process that led her to math, science, and, ultimately, MIT. She credits CA for helping her recognize the education access problem that AfricAid now tackles.

“One thing that really sets CA apart, I think, is the lesson it instills to not take

education for granted and rest and coast on that knowledge,” she says. “There was the expectation that when you’re given the gift of an incredible education, you use that to help the broader community around you.”

And sometimes, as in Shuyler Carter’s case, that broader community becomes the world.

“CA instilled in me a real curiosity about the world and my role in it,” Shuyler Carter says. “It made me hungry for understanding and learning, and that’s a big part of what drove me to get to know these girls in Tanzania, what was different and similar about our lives.”. n

First Row (L to R): Kinley Carter, Liana Carter. Second Row: Phil Carter, Ashley Shuyler Carter ’03

Elena Harman ’05 and Cole Kauffman

Where a Media Legend is Born

Greg Lewis ’65 has shaken hands with kings and queens. He has been inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and was allowed on the infield during the 1988 Olympic Closing Ceremonies in Seoul. He has done interviews with President Gerald Ford, Prince Albert of Monaco, and athletes Arthur Ashe, Mary Lou Retton, and Greg Louganis—to name a few.

It was all part of his 30-year career as an Emmy Award-winning sports journalist and TV commentator—a career that he says was inspired by his time at Colorado Academy. Though he only attended Twelfth Grade at CA, Lewis says the experience was a “gift” to him, and that Upper School English teacher Frank Slevin changed his life.

“Mr. Slevin saw that I had the capacity for writing. He challenged me and opened my mind and heart to something that became the most important part of my professional life,” says Lewis, who lives in Aspen, Colo. “One year at CA was as central to my development as a person and the life I’ve led as anything else in my life.”

Heady days in TV sports journalism

When he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Skiing History Association in 2016, Lewis took the opportunity to recognize Slevin, saying: “Mr. Slevin awakened a force within me that has never waned.”

That force carried him through more than a quarter-century of global travel, reporting on international sporting championships, including Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and six Olympic games. Lewis has worked with almost every major television network, from NBC and CBS, to ESPN, HBO, and Turner Sports Networks.

He says his writing ability—discovered at CA—was the reason he survived for decades in what was sometimes a challenging business. It helped that he could think quickly on his feet and developed a knack for giving powerful, improvised parting lines right before a cut to commercial break.

“Those were heady days in TV, because the networks owned the audience and the airwaves,” he says. “To get TV commentator jobs in the 1970s and 1980s was virtually impossible, so everyone who had them

herished their jobs and worked very hard.”

Although the competitive work and extensive travel could be grueling, he felt grateful to be working with a team of people who not only were outstanding at their work, but also put in 100-percent effort all the time. He also felt fortunate to be part of a powerful industry that sometimes enabled him to make a difference in the lives of those in need.

While covering the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Lewis developed a love for the city and the people. So, when the Bosnian War started in 1992, he was heartbroken.

“It was unbelievable to me that this Olympic host city was now a war zone. The parking area for the Olympic Stadium was turned into a cemetery,” he says. “I said, ‘we need to do something.’ ”

He connected with Olympian Christin Cooper, who had won a silver medal in the women’s giant slalom skiing event at the ’84 games in Sarajevo. Together, they formed the Spirit of HOPE (Humanitarian Olympians for Peace) organization, with the goal of mobilizing the 80,000 living Olympians for humanitarian service. Lewis traveled to Sarajevo during the war to help the International Rescue Committee deliver sports gear to children.

Despite his storied career in journalism, Lewis says his greatest literary achievement is the children’s book he wrote called Chasing Wonder.

A novel written in six-line rhyming stanzas, Chasing Wonder follows the journey of a lovable oyster named Wonder who is thrown out of his oyster bed. Along the way, Wonder—and young readers—face challenges and learn the meaning of friendship and community.

‘The most important writing I’ve ever done’

Lewis at the Closing Ceremonies of the Seoul, Korea Olympics in 1988

“It’s a story about being thrown out into the world and having to figure it out, about seeing the world as it is,” he says. The book has an accompanying teacher’s guide and audio book, which includes original musical by Aspen composer David Melton. Middle School science teacher Sue Counterman has led her class in reading Chasing Wonder, and Lewis visited the class to discuss the book with students.

“That book is the most important writing I’ve ever done,” Lewis says.

The source of success and joy

Lewis connects the writing of Chasing Wonder back to his time with Mr. Slevin, who helped him discover and hone his talent for writing.

“I came of age at CA,” he says, recalling his small Senior class. “We got a lot of attention and freedom. I loved having lunch in the dining room with the teachers. It was a nurturing environment for me all around.”

He competed on the school ski team and learned how to kayak, which remained a passion of his for more than 30 years. He gained appreciation for the natural world through CA outdoor programs, and he made meaningful friendships.

“The success and joy of my life all go back to CA,” he says. “I have gone all over the world, telling stories about great and aspiring athletes and delivering them right into people’s living rooms. That is as rich a life as I could imagine, and none of that would have happened without CA.” n

Luck and Magic at the Alchemist Dinner

Sometimes, life gives you a little luck, and sometimes you feel like life has given you a touch of magic.

More than 300 Colorado Academy donors who attended the annual Alchemist Dinner on Friday, September 10, might have felt they benefitted from both luck and magic.

Good luck gave the event a beautiful (albeit warm) evening and a memorable sunset, which guests could appreciate from the Cindy Jordan Plaza of the Leach Center for the Performing Arts and from a 6,000 square-foot tent at the end of Firman Field.

Just one year after heavy equipment demolished Froelicher Theatre, the Leach Center had risen from its ashes. Hard work and excellent planning played the largest part in that transformation, but workers also benefitted from a little luck—a mostly mild winter kept the project on or ahead of schedule for a year of construction.

But it was Tony Award-winning actor, singer, and dancer André De Shields who conjured true magic at the Alchemist Dinner. With character and charisma, he brought the house down with a rendition of “Believe in Yourself,” which he first sang on Broadway in The Wiz.

De Shields also reprised his 2019 Tony Award-winning speech with words that resonated throughout the 500-seat theater: “One, surround yourself with people whose eyes light up when they see you coming,” he told the audience. “Two, slowly is the fastest way to get to where you want to be. And three, the top of one mountain is the bottom of the next. So keep climbing.”

‘This place is special’

The Alchemist Dinner is an annual event which celebrates CA’s leadership donors,

members of CA’s planned giving Musil Society, and faculty award recipients. This year, leadership donors to the See it Through campaign also attended.

When they were not catching up on the latest news after a year when the dinner was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, invitees could enjoy music provided by CA musicians, wander through the Leach Center and marvel at the magic of its beauty, and enjoy a dinner prepared and served by Sodexo General Manager Paul Worley and his staff.

After dinner, guests returned to the Leach Center theater where they were greeted by Board Chair Erika Hollis and Head of School Mike Davis. Hollis thanked generous donors that helped Colorado Academy “See it Through” with their gifts, culminating in the construction of the Leach Center.

“More than 800 families—many of you are with us this evening—are behind the success of the campaign,” Hollis said. “We could not have done this without you and your generous support and passion for the arts that are taught and performed on this campus.”

Hollis also thanked families who had supported other fundraising efforts, including The CA Fund, the new Lower School playgrounds, the CA endowment, and Horizons at CA.

Davis thanked the many donors who, seven years ago, envisioned and supported a Colorado Academy campus of the 21st century, with the renovation of the iconic Welborn House, the reconstruction of the Ponzio Arts Center, and construction of both the Athletic Center and the Leach Center. But Davis emphasized that what matters most is what happens inside those buildings.

“Among us are many teachers who have

been recognized for their excellence in the classroom with faculty teaching awards,” he said. “They inspire your children to be curious and ask courageous questions and to go out and make the world a better place.”

Davis went on to point out that he had been at CA 14 years, but, he said, “It doesn’t matter if you have been here one year, 14, or 25—this place is special.

Memories are made everywhere you look.”

‘He is a national treasure’

For almost everyone, the evening represented their first experience inside the new theater. It was amazing how quickly their recollections of Froelicher Theatre productions were replaced by new memories dominated by De Shields, who is currently starring as Hermes in Hadestown

on Broadway. He held the audience in the palm of his hand and talked about what it means to be an artist and an activist.

“He is a national treasure,” said retired teacher Suzanne Kolsun Jackson. And when De Shields reached into the audience and found her hand, she “felt touched by an angel.” Whether angel or wizard, De Shields captivated the crowd, especially when he sang, unaccompanied, “What a Wonderful

World,” originally recorded by Louis Armstrong, and when he asked the crowd to sing along with him, “None of us are free, if one of us is chained.”

De Shields’ audience were members of the CA community whose generosity has transformed the Colorado Academy campus. But the generous soul of André De Shields left everyone feeling that, on this night, they had experienced both luck and magic. n

This Year’s Horizons Heroes

It would be impossible to say how many children’s lives Mary Henning touched and changed before her passing in January 2021. But the story of Mary and Jose Martinez provides insight into the countless ways she left this Earth a better place, with her example of kindness to everyone, empathy for those in need, and determination to help children, one intervention at a time.

Martinez was a student at Knapp Elementary School when he started the summer program at Horizons at Colorado Academy. To him, the best part of Horizons was breakfast. “I thought I was in heaven,” he recalls. “You could have as much as you could eat!”

He may have been a good eater, but, by his own admission, he was not a good student. He describes himself as “timid and shy,” the kind of kid who faked illness to get out of going to school—until fourth grade, when Mary Henning, the school nurse at Knapp, sat him down.

“She said, ‘I see you are a bright young man, and you’re not fooling me,’” he remembers. “‘You’re cheating yourself by not wanting to go to school.’”

And with that conversation, Mary transformed Martinez’s future. “Talking to her, I realized the kind of person I had in my life,” Martinez recalls. “I decided to try my best.”

It would not be the last time Mary felt the need to talk with young Jose. When he was in high school, he was getting all As—but only showing up to school once a week. Mary stepped in and oversaw a transfer to a new, more challenging college preparatory school. When Jose told her that he had received a full scholarship to attend Regis University, she burst into tears of joy. During his years in college, they talked weekly. And when he began a teaching career, the two would go to dinner monthly.

“She was like a second mother to me,”

Martinez says. “She was always loving, and she was the reason I stayed in school. She taught me have an open mind, to see the positive in every situation, and not to run away when I am scared.”

Today, Martinez is an administrator at North High School. He is working on a master’s degree in curriculum. He is also a lead teacher at Horizons, and, in the way that life sometimes comes full circle, he has a second role at Horizons—Director of the Henning Health and Wellness Program.

Henning Health and Wellness Program

Mary Henning was involved with Horizons for 23 years. In addition to her service as the school nurse at Knapp, helping families understand the opportunities offered by Horizons, she also sat on the Horizons Board. But she never sought the spotlight, preferring to work quietly, with humility, behind the scenes.

She loved to talk about the mission of Horizons, and through the years, her enthusiasm sparked the interest of her sister Elizabeth Boland. “Mary’s involvement in Horizons was very winning,” Boland says. “I have always loved grassroots programs that are doing actual work.”

Working together, the two sisters created a plan for a health and wellness program which would be supported by donations from Boland and would take Horizons to a new level, adding new activities to an already robust summer program in academics and art.

“The Henning Health and Wellness Program helps our students learn to live a healthy lifestyle,” says Horizons at CA Executive Director Daniela Meltzer. “They learn how to overcome obstacles and gain confidence with experiences they might not otherwise have.”

Since the program launched, students

have had the opportunity to participate in tae kwon do, lacrosse, stand up paddle boarding, tennis, yoga and mindfulness, soccer, and even cooking classes.

“It was something we cherished doing together, and we both also loved how it was amplified within the Horizons family,” says Boland. “I’m personally grateful to Horizons for embracing it and bringing it to life.”

The program in action

Visit Colorado Academy’s playing fields on a hot July afternoon, and you will see the program brought to life. Jose Martinez stands on the sidelines watching several young CA alumni who play college lacrosse volunteering to lead lacrosse drills with Horizons fourth graders.

CA parent and Horizons Board CoChair Catherine Rollhaus is a volunteer supervisor. Two years ago, she handed out donated lacrosse gear to the students and introduced the sport. Last summer, lacrosse went on hiatus because of COVID-19. But as it turned out, the students had taken their sticks home and practiced. They came back ready to play.

“I would say their skill level has just skyrocketed this summer,” Rollhaus says. “Some of them could go a long way in this sport, which I think is terrific.”

If Martinez turns his head slightly, he can watch Horizons students doing soccer drills, discovering, he says, that “Soccer is a team sport—it’s a way to learn how to communicate and cooperate.”

Across campus, Horizons Kindergartners are starting their yoga class, the foundation for future mindfulness training in Middle School. And by the afternoon, Horizons students whose families do not always have the resources or time to teach them to ride a bicycle will get to take their training wheels off and pedal around CA’s campus.

What would Mary say?

For their generosity and vision, Elizabeth Boland and Mary Henning have been named “Horizons Heroes” this year.

“Mary probably wouldn’t like wearing that title,” says her husband, Mark Henning. “This is not something either Mary or her sister sought. But if it is a way for the community to recognize the importance of the program and stimulate the continuation of

the program, then they would accept it.”

And what if this program creates future lacrosse or soccer stars?

“Or just good spouses, mothers, and fathers?” asks Mark. “That’s also wonderful, and Mary would be proud.”

Even as Jose Martinez runs the program named after its creator and benefactor, he misses picking up the phone and hearing

Mary say, “Hey, what are you up to?” He misses telling her the latest anecdotes about students succeeding in Horizons cooking class and hearing her excitement. Like so many, he simply misses Mary. But he knows how he will honor her.

“She inspired me to be a teacher, to give back to my community, so that all students have the opportunities they deserve,” he says. “She’s always been a hero, and she will always be a hero.” n

Jose Martinez graduates from Horizons at CA. First Row (L to R): Margie Martinez, Jose Mendoza Second Row: Daniela Meltzer, Miguel Mendoza Martinez, Ryan Anderson, Andrew Martinez, Jose Martinez, Jenny Leger, Mary Henning

Mary and Jose

Mary Henning (on left) with her sister, Elizabeth Boland

Alumni Association Highlights

Class of 2020 alumni together again!

It seemed like poetic justice when the first in-person alumni event held on the CA campus was for the Class of 2020. After a rainy late afternoon on June 29, 2021, the skies finally cleared, and the sun came out by 6 p.m.

A dinner hosted by the CA Alumni Association brought alumni, faculty, and Head of School Dr. Mike Davis to the Welborn House. The last three months of the Senior year for this class had ended with a campus shutdown due to COVID-19 and led to CA’s first bout of remote learning. The amazing Commencement Car Parade in May 2020 did bring the class together, but socially distant. Not on this day!

Fully vaccinated alumni and teachers were finally able to return to “normal” social interaction. There was a lot to catch up on: college, jobs, and gap-year experiences. It was wonderful to share news, stories, and laughter with classmates and faculty and to just be together. n

Class of 1961 – 60th Reunion

The Class of 1961, Colorado Academy’s second graduating class, was small by today’s standards. Twenty-three students entered the class. Three did not graduate. Five, unfortunately, are no longer living, and four have been lost to classmates and CA, but the 11 who remain are alumni whom any school would be proud to call their own. Of those eleven, four made the trip to the CA campus on Homecoming Weekend in September 2021. We missed seeing those of you who could not attend.

For CA’s first on-campus 60th Reunion, Kent Drummond and Cito Frederickson took part in every event, from the lunches, cam pus tour, All-School Pep Rally, dedication of the F. Charles Froelicher Upper School, and the final dinner at the Headmaster’s former home. Michael Piel and Rory Donaldson joined on Saturday for CA’s traditional BBQ lunch and the dedication of the Upper School in honor of Chuck Froelicher.

Many alumni from the decades of the 1960s and early 1970s joined 1961 in celebrating Chuck’s legacy as the man who envisioned Colorado Academy as it is today. On campus were those alumni who by their presence believed in what Chuck called “the grand experiment” of CA. And that experi ment has proven to be a success. n

“At 80, I’m proud that I may be CA’s oldest living graduate. I took a few minutes to wander the grounds solo, imagining I was running into old friends and teachers who have scattered so far. I really do miss the lot and wish I could smoke just one more cigarette in the old riding ring with them. The riding ring was the only legal spot we could smoke on campus. Corny, perhaps, but I heard somewhere that life goes by in the blink of an eye. True enough. I look for ward to my 70th reunion. Thanks again for all the memories and for creating a place where, for one brief moment, I could look around and see myself as a student once again and see all those beautiful faces one more time. Forward.”

Rory Donaldson ’61

“It was a wonderful day and walking around the new gorgeous campus with Rory Don aldson, reminiscing about the old campus, Chuck, and the wonderful camaraderie of old friends. Very fond memories.”

Michael Piel ’61

“I was very impressed with the condition of the campus, and all the new additions. Mike Davis, and all the staff, have done and con tinue to do an amazing job.”

Kent Drummond ’61

Kent Drummond ’61 & Cito Frederickson ’61 tour the Athletic Center with its climbing wall.

Kent Drummond ’61 (L) and Cito Frederickson ’61 at dinner on Saturday evening

Class of 1961 alumni enjoy the BBQ lunch on Homecoming Day, with everything— except Harry!

From

Left: Michael Piel, Rory Donaldson, Cito Frederickson

Class of 1970 – 50th Reunion – September 17 & 18, 2021

into a vibrant, thriving new school.

So, what of the class of ’70? We need always to start with a sincere thank you to Sue Burleigh. It is her steadfast dedication that holds the entire alumni community togeth er. During 2020, our actual reunion year, she organized two Zoom sessions, which brought together several of us: Bob Jacobs, Tom Minor, Steve Kanatzar, Rod Oram, Bill McMullen, Aston Lee, and me. However, this year, only four of us were on campus: Bob Jacobs, Steve Kanatzar, Taun Nimmo, and me. Bob and Steve pulled themselves away from busy schedules and were able to make it for lunch on Friday, September 17, and part of the campus tour. Taun Nimmo, who had driven from Los Angeles, and I were there for all the events during both days. It was great to see everyone!

By Jeff Lowdermilk

Years ago, maybe our 20th Reunion was on Giant Relay Day. That evening many of us from the early classes gathered in the Dining Hall for a reception. Everyone was busy sharing stories when Chuck Froelicher walked to the south side of the hall and tapped on a glass. The room went silent.

Chuck enthusiastically began by saying, “I want to thank all of you sincerely.” Well, that certainly captured our attention. I recall thinking, “Now, this is an odd twist. Why would he be thanking us?” He proceeded, “During the ’60s and early ’70s, CA was a grand experiment, and you all were the reason this school has succeeded.” His words are etched into my memory, as I had never thought of my years at CA in that way. In truth, he was only partially correct. Chuck was a visionary! He created CA as a school with broad educational and sports opportunities. He believed in developing the whole person and instilling confidence in all of us. What other schools had aca demics with outstanding teachers such as Griggs Dayton, Tom Fitzgerald, and Woody Monte, music with David Woods, theater with Ben Priest, and all the essential sports with Coach Simms of baseball, football, bas ketball, soccer, track, and lacrosse, but also mountaineering with Tap Tapley, and the ski team with Ned Amstutz? Indeed, CA back

then was unique. We all had participated in Chuck’s dream.

It was an honor to be present on Saturday, September 18, for the dedica tion of the Upper School to Chuck. If not for F. Charles Froelicher, there would be no CA. Franz ’72 and Rica ’76 Froelicher attended this heartfelt ceremony for their father. The ever-steady Tom Fitzgerald was there, along with many of his grey-headed former students. Mike Davis’s dedication speech was perfect; he told how Chuck transformed a failing military academy

Our class tagged along with the Class of 1971, their actual 50th Reunion, for the campus tour. During the tour, the memories hit us all like a tsunami. We began with the ultra-modern new theater, followed by the breathtaking sports complex, which holds two gyms, multiple climbing walls, a weight room, a field house, and, amazingly, a phys ical therapy room. In our day, if we got hurt on the field, we hobbled home, took an aspirin, and went at it again the next day!

We wandered through the Upper School with its up-to-the-minute Innovation Lab— with its 3D printer—and language >>>

Chuck Froelicher’s family, From Left: Linda and Peter Froelicher (nephew), Rica Froelicher ’76 (daughter), Sarah Emery ’10 (granddaughter), Franz Froelicher ’72 (son)

Campus Tour, From Left: Jeff Lowdermilk ’70, Bob Jacobs ’70, Larry Deffenbaugh ’71

<<< studies—Mandarin—yes, of course, they have it. The conversion of Howard and Stevens Houses into Middle School classrooms and art studios was masterful. Honestly, after visiting the modern dance and the computer-packed music creation studios, it all became a bit overwhelming.

We then spilled out to the spectacular new baseball field east of the Middle School for an all-school Homecoming Weekend Pep Rally to fire up the students for the next day’s games. We all stood in the David Price ’69 memorial dugout box and enjoyed the exciting event. The energy and vitality filled the air and our hearts. CA is alive and well!

Late in the afternoon, we gathered in the Maloy Courtyard on the east side of Welborn (Headmaster’s) House for a reception. We were joined by several members of the Class of 1969. After a brief time, Sue led us all on an important mission to the library. Within the high-ceilinged foyer outside the Raether Library, our old friend Icarus was once again hanging above us on his fall to Earth. The memories flooded back, as Icarus had been suspended from the Kassler Library ceiling in the old Knowles Upper School. I said, “Icarus helped us all get through high school!” It was heartwarming indeed. Read more about Icarus on page 86.

Saturday began with the Upper School dedication, and then after lunch, on seemingly every field, and in both gyms,

games of field hockey, soccer, and volleyball started against the old rivals, primarily Kent Denver and Cherry Creek. It was a long hot afternoon, and the alum ni wandered from game to game. Our ranks began to thin as the day wore on. I remained for the early Alumni Dinner on the lawn in front of Welborn House.

Only a few of us stayed for this delightful dinner; Sue and Tim Burleigh, classmates from 1961, 1971, Taun Nimmo, and myself. Taun and I reminisced about the old days but mostly caught up with the highlights of our past fifty years. A majestic Colorado sunset brought an end to a remarkable 50th Reunion. n

Also displayed in CA’s library is a bronze bust of Griggs Dayton donated by Jeff Lowdermilk ’70. Alumni gathered around to remember their former teacher. From Left: Don Dodge ’69, David Mueller ’70, David Malo ’71, Charles Cavness ’69, Bruce Bistline ’69, Jeff Lowdermilk ’70, Taun Nimmo ’70, Michael Ihlenburg ’78

Homecoming Pep Rally, From Left: Cito Frederickson ’61, Taun Nimmo ’70, Jeff Lowdermilk ’70

From Left: Kent Drummond ’61, Cito Frederickson ’61, Kit Saltsman ’71, Taun Nimmo ’70, David Mueller ’70, Larry Deffenbaugh ’71, Jeff Lowdermilk ’70

CA Class of 1971 50th Reunion, September 17 & 18, 2021

By Bill Nieman ’71

After 18 months of coronavirus limitations, I was ready for a road trip like this. After 50 years, I was ready to go back to Colorado Academy for the Class of 1971 reunion! I knew there would be only a handful of that last all-male CA community to include boarding students. After all, we were a community of teenage boarding students and day students, headed in lots of directions when we left CA on graduation day. But, thanks to coronavirus 2020, the class of 1971 was joined with members of the class of 1970, who couldn’t meet last year, and roughly a dozen members of the two classes reunited on September 17 and 18. The weekend was organized by

Reflections: Class of ’71

By Tim Moore ’71

Fifty years is indeed a long time—I suspect even more so, when you reunite with fellows that you know you spent a far shorter interval of time with at a small country school on the then-edge of Denver. Nonetheless, when I looked at Bill, Kit, Wes, Larry, Vince, Rod, David, and Harry, I did see a group of aging men that somehow had locked inside them the same faces of youth that were at graduation so many years ago. Yes, all of us had changed, all of us had a lifetime of careers, family, and experiences that were not shared within this small group until now, and the stories flowed of our lives beyond the campus of Colorado Academy. When I walked around the school, I seemed to focus more on what wasn’t there any more. The faculty homes of teachers such as Mr. Slevin and Musil were now home to faculty child care; my soccer field is now the home of the new theater. And the origi nal Newton Gym, a combination basketball court without room for spectators, a simple stage closed off with a heavy dark curtain, and a set of locker rooms which only a herd of teenage boys oblivious to the air of rarely washed athletic socks, etc. could ever appreciate—now is only a ghost within the confines of a new athletic complex far superior to that at many small universities.

We toured the campus remembering the old, that was our environment, as it had been integrated into the new, with dance studios, art facilities, digital music labs all evolving out of our old dormitory rooms. It truly is wondrous what change can create from old foundations.

As we wandered, we did catch up on the intervening years—interesting and diverse careers, the joys and challenges of raising families, which for some includes new grandchildren—but also notes were compared about cataract surgeries, the struggles with hearing aids, and the new norm, ear-loop face masks. Yes, the years slip by. But most of all, we shared laughs over all the mischievous pranks that were played on

faculty, fellow classmates, and even Mr. Fro elicher, the Headmaster during our tenure. If one of the missions of Colorado Academy was to encourage creativity, we certainly applied it to these various misdemeanors. Discipline by necessity was handed out, but I suspect behind the solemn masks of faculty and counselors were some chuckles and acceptance that “boys will be boys.”

We were the last year of an all-boys school, but also the end of the boarding element as well, with CA becoming a coed day school in the fall of 1971. We tried to recall even having female teachers. I could remember Lower School faculty including them, but in the Upper School it was rare. Today, the campus is far different, with >>>

Alumni

Director, Sue Burleigh. It gave us time to close some gaps a bit with classmates and to see the dramatic transformation of CA over half a century. n

The Class of 1971, From Left: Taun Nimmo ’70, Larry Deffenbaugh, Rod Lawrence, Vince O’Brien, Bob Jacobs ’70, Bill Nieman, Harry Waters Jr., Wes Schuneman, Kit Saltsman, Jeff Lowdermilk ’70

1971 class members on the campus tour run into Magnus (“Gus”) CA’s mustang mascot. First Row (L to R): Gus, Vince O’Brien, Rod Lawrence. Second Row: Steve Kanatzar ’70, Bob Jacobs ’70. Third Row: Jeff Lowdermilk ’70, Kit Saltsman, Taun Nimmo ’70, Cito Frederickson ’61, Kent Drummond ’61. Fourth Row: Larry Deffenbaugh, Harry Waters Jr., Bill Nieman, David Mueller ’70.

<<< faculty and students comprising a much more realistic gender mix. When I started college in 1971, suddenly there were women everywhere, and I must admit after seven years at CA, it was a startling change. I have been asked, when colleagues find out I went to an all-boys school, whether that was a good thing or not. I had no reference then to compare, as it was all I knew during those delicate adolescent “growing up” years. As I looked around at the new campus and its “inhab itants,” I could just conclude that ALL the changes I was seeing were good.

On a very warm Saturday afternoon, Head of School Dr. Mike Davis led a dedication of the new Upper School in honor of its name sake, F. Charles Froelicher. The only com parison of this new structure to our former Upper School was that it was in the same spot. Mr. Froelicher during our time was a somewhat elusive figure. We did realize that he was THE HEADMASTER, and thus, if you valued your existence, someone to steer clear of. I was very successful at this and was convinced that, after seven years attending CA, I doubted he even knew who I was.

Headmastership was, I suspect, different then. His energy was devoted to pro moting the school, looking ahead with a vision for its successful future, leaving the day-to-day running of curriculum, sports, etc. to his well-selected faculty, coaches, and principals. We learned from Dr. Davis however, of Mr. Froelicher’s devotion to the school, his determination and conviction to make it a premier college preparatory school, his role as a preeminent educator and innovator with programs such as Out ward Bound and other strategies to create a new way to teach young people. Under standably, I never realized nor appreciated this tremendous contribution as a lad of 17. We also learned of his devotion to the community and to environmental causes, even well beyond his direct leadership of CA. The foundation of a school is built more by people than by structures, and Mr. Froelicher is certainly proof of that.

As much as I enjoyed touring the many buildings on the CA campus, I remained most satisfied by the array of students and faculty that occupy them; it is what brings life to a school and a vigorous and vivacious one at that. As we were struck

by all of Headmaster Froelicher’s accom plishments, I believe he would be most proud of the family of students, teachers, coaches, parents, and even alumni, that mingle and comprise what is indeed the essence of Colorado Academy today.

Most of all, reunions are about seeing former classmates. I am sorry there were so few attending, but lives are busy, distances great, and a world pandemic challenging. Many names were mentioned with fondness, smiles, laughter, curiosity, and anecdotes shared. We all wish you well and hope, in your own ways, that you remember your classmates with the same favorable reflec tion. What we did not mention were class mates, former faculty, and coaches that are no longer with us—a sad reality that time does catch up with all of us. Our memories of you remain strong and heartfelt, appreciat ing the contributions that you made.

It would not be correct to say that all of the class of 1971 has the same level of positive memory of CA as mine. To some it was probably just like any other school, a place you were sent because you had to go somewhere to school. The experiences with the diverse faculty were not always positive, and the discipline and rigidity of etiquette was sometimes imposing and restrictive. I remember my classmates and feel that you all played a role during those formative years, and I thank you, whether you realized it then or not. I cannot speak for you.

I can speak for myself and perhaps a nucleus of classmates that made their way back to CA on September 17-18, 2021. It is rare to appreciate an experience at the time it happens. Only on subsequent recall can we

evaluate and gauge the merit of what has passed. I find it easy to be drawn to CA, as my experience there enabled me to be a more accomplished and successful person. I learned the value of education and the nu ance of exploring the previously unknown via, at times, a more creative and often untra ditional approach. I was gently nudged to try something new and to engage in activities I never would have pursued in a public school system: drama, sports, and wilderness adventures, to mention just a few.

The campus has grown, with ours swal lowed up and remodeled, but the energy that was present then exists even more so today. Watching the All-School Pep Rally or being on campus on a Saturday with the school alive with hundreds of students, parents, and faculty, was exciting and gratifying. Along with this enthusiastic crowd was a small group of older but fine men who shared that time long ago where we got our start to what became our future. Thank you, guys, for sharing this weekend together. My congratulations to Dr. Davis, who heads a school to be very proud of, and a special thanks to Sue Burleigh, Alumni Director, who rallies us alumni, makes us feel far more important than we are, but also realizes that a school family is enriched by its elders as well as its youth. Without question, CA has matured, as did we, but it has the good fortune with its endless stream of energetic young students to maintain a certain eternal youth. The education it offers is even more crucial today. May it prosper now and for the many generations of future alumni that will have their own time to reflect on the experience of their lives. n

Homecoming Day, From Left, Rod Lawrence, Vince O’Brien, Harry Waters Jr., Tim Moore, Wes Schuneman, Bill Nieman, Larry Deffenbaugh

Class of 1986 - 35th Reunion

By Marc Friedman, Kim Foster Hresko, and Brette Pond Scott

The Class of 1986 started off the 35th Reunion festivities at Skyline Acres Swim and Tennis Club with a poolside dinner catered by Café Rio. A group of

about 20 started getting caught up with each other, including a FaceTime call to Garret Zallen in Oregon.

Saturday afternoon a crew met up at Bad Axe Throwing for a fortunately friendly competition. Set to the backdrop of ’80s rock music, the teams took a quick lesson from the instructor and then proceeded with the festiv ities. The group thankfully left with the same

number of body parts as when they arrived. The reunion celebration concluded at the staple Campus Lounge. The group enjoyed an outdoor dinner as they continued to catch up on each other’s lives.

A group message to the classmates who could not attend—your names came up, and you were missed. Please plan on being here for our 40th! n

First Row (L to R): Chuck Hornbrook ’86, Rusty Scott, Kendrick McLish ’86, Steve Wullschleger ’86, Lisa Edwards, Pat Neely ’88, Marc Friedman ’86, Mana Friedman. Second Row: Kim Foster Hresko ’86, Tom Cox ’86, Pat Aasheim ’86, Brette Pond Scott ’86, Kerri Bay Cole ’86, Kim Warner ’86, Kiah May ’21, Rick May.

Brette Pond Scott celebrates her bullseye.

Marc Friedman also celebrates.

From Left: Rusty “Axe-tion” Scott, Lisa “So Axe-cited” Edwards, Chuck “Axe Nicely” Hornbrook, Kendall “Don’t Make Me Axe You Again” LaMontagne Peterson, Brette “Axe-cellent” Pond Scott, Pat “Random Axe of Violence” Neely ’88, Tom “The Axeterminator” Cox, Marc “I said ‘Marc’ With a ‘c’” Friedman, Kendrick “Thor” McLish, Kerri “Just You Try And Take This Axe From Me” Bay Cole, Pat “Axe-ident Free” Aasheim.

Kendall LaMontagne Peterson also hit the target. From Left: Tom Cox, Rusty Scott, Pat Aasheim show off their scores.

‘Icarus Freed’ Event: A Success

By Don Dodge ’69

On Friday, September 17, Alumni Director Sue Burleigh hosted an alumni reception and tour to view the famed Icarus sculpture now in its new location, hanging in the Raether Library entry.

Icarus, a long-time featured artwork hanging around Colorado Academy since 1965, was sculpted by William Isaac Mead and was a gift to the school from the Class of 1965. For decades Icarus hung in the Kassler Library in the Knowles Upper School, providing inspiration and calm to all who entered. When the building was demolished in 2012, Icarus was moved to

the Arts Center and hung in a stairwell, visible to only a few.

In the fall of 2019, alumni from the classes of 1964, 1965, 1969, and 1974 started a “Free Icarus Movement” to have the old guy placed in a more prominent location on campus.

Thanks to many, including Director of Visual & Performing Arts Katy Hills and Head of School Dr. Mike Davis, Icarus flew across campus to his new location in Raether Library in the spring of 2020. All who attended the Icarus reception, as well as the Reunion Weekend, agreed that Icarus is indeed in a better place. n

Alumni gather to admire Icarus, From Left: Jeff Lowdermilk ’70, David Malo ’71, Charles Cavness ’69, Michael Ihlenburg ’78, Don Dodge ’69, Bruce Bistline ’69, Taun Nimmo ’70, David Mueller ’70

Bill Gerber ’65, whose class donated Icarus to Colorado Academy, attended the event with his partner Kari Mahran.

Homecoming 2021

Reunions in September? Yes, that is exactly what happened. Following postponed reunions in May, the Classes of 1961, 1970 (twice delayed), and 1971 decided to meet over Homecoming Weekend instead of waiting for Giant Relay Day 2022.

Friday, September 17 saw alumni gathering for lunch in the Alumni Conference Room, after first securing a tray and making their way through the food service line and salad bar. They noted that there have been considerable upgrades in the lunch options from the time of Chef Harry McGinnis. Following the meal, CA’s talented Advance ment Officer Gravely Wilson gave an ex tensive campus tour. She commented that each time she gives a tour to alumni, she learns something new about CA history, the campus, and the antics of former students. Then it was on to the All-School Home coming Pep Rally held on the newly turfed baseball field. C-Club (Spirit) Team Seniors organized and ran the assembly with all three divisions and “Gus,” CA’s Mustang mas cot. Lower School children enthusiastically waved pom-poms and noise makers, to the delight of alumni. CA’s teams were properly fired up to win their contests on Saturday. Alumnus Kent Drummond ’61 said, “The additions/upgrades to the campus since we were there for Chuck Froelicher’s memorial services are amazing. Mike Davis has done, and continues to do, an incredible job. To stand out on the grounds [at the Pep Rally]

From Left: Mike Davis, Kent Drummond ’61, Cito Fredrickson ’61, Larry Deffenbaugh ’71, Jeff Lowdermilk ’70, Rod Lawrence ’71, Bill Nieman ’71 (front), Vince O’Brien ’71, Harry Waters Jr., Tim Moore ’71, Taun Nimmo ’70, Kit Saltsman ’71, Tom Fitzgerald, Bruce Bistline ’69, David Mueller ’70, David Fitzgerald ’84, David Malo ’71, Maggie Fitzgerald

and watch 1,000 very excited kids racing around, and in their classes, was mind blowing for me.”

In the evening, alumni met on the Maloy Courtyard, the east patio of the Welborn House [formerly the Headmaster’s House] for a reception.

Alumni from several classes joined a party to celebrate the return of Icarus to the library. Please read “Icarus Freed” also in the issue. Also of interest to alumni was the bronze sculpture of Griggs Dayton, former Upper School teacher. The bust is located in the Raether Library and was commissioned by Jeff Lowdermilk ’70.

On Saturday, alumni enjoyed CA’s tradi tional BBQ lunch served on Homecoming and Giant Relay Days. The campus is now equipped with numerous Adirondack chairs for outdoor dining, and alumni took

advantage of them. As one o’clock drew near, additional alumni arrived on cam pus to honor F. Charles Froelicher at the Upper School naming ceremony. Dr. Mike Davis led the obser vance and reflected on Chuck’s many accomplishments, including transforming the Colorado Military Acade my into a boys boarding school and further, to a coed college prep day school. Chuck’s children, Franz ’72 and Rica ’76, his nephew Peter and wife Linda, his granddaughter Sarah Emery ’10, and former teacher and Lower School Principal Dr. Tom Fitzgerald also attended. Of course, there were many “Chuck stories” informally recounted by alumni after the formal ceremony. If you have a “Chuck story” to share, please send it to: Alumni Director Sue Burleigh at sue. burleigh@coloradoacademy.org. n

Read more about the Upper School Dedica tion on page 14.

Alumni honoring Chuck Froelicher

Alumni admire the climbing wall in the Athletic Center.

Alumni Association Board

The CA Alumni Association Board looks forward to the new year of 2021-2022 filled with traditional in-person events and a handful of virtual ones. An annual favorite, the Alumni Skating Party, will return with a few modifications. Please check out the calendar on the inside back cover to see what’s coming this year.

The Alumni Board Committee on DEIJ has enlisted the help of Aaron Green Sr. ’05. Aaron has more than 10 years of professional experience in the field of social work. He is an influential and dynamic social and racial justice expert with a background in educa tion and non-profit mentoring programs.

Aaron received his master’s in social work from the University of Denver. Aaron is the founder and CEO of Aaron Green Sr., LLC, a family-centered, client-based, and culturally inclusive company dedicated to antiracist social work consultation and training ser vices. Aaron facilitates, trains, and provides consultation with grassroot organizations, universities, and government institutions working with Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC).

Currently, Aaron is on the Board of Directors for the Cherry Creek Schools Founda-

tion and is an Adjunct Professor at the Uni versity of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. Aaron is the author of The Color Code: 10 Essential Antiracist Tools and Strategies for Social Work Practitioners and Invisible: The Black & Blues of Child Welfare. He lives in Aurora, Colo. with his wife Traci and their two sons, Aaron Jr. and Elijah.

DEIJ Board Members include VJ Brown ’11, Caroline Cramer ’11, Jared Harding ’97, Isabel Gary Harper ’09, Emma Harrington Kane ’07, Marcus King-Stockton ’04, Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99, Evan Simmons ’06, and Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11. Together we hope to further the Alumni Association efforts with diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

First Row (L to R): Kyle Rajaniemi ’07, Aimée Nieuwenhuizen ’06, Austin Carpenter ’05, Zak Pollack ’08, Myles McGinnis ’08, Georgia Grey ’08, Marcus King-Stockton ’04, Evan Simmons ’06. Second Row: Evan Pushchak ’04, Andrew Bourke ’04, Brian Fisher ’02, Liz Robinson ’01, Lisa Harrison Ellsworth ’79, Caroline Cramer ’11, Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11, Zach Tucker ’01, Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99, Jared Harding ’97. Not pictured: Chris Bailey ’02, Katie Cordes ’03, Isabel Gary Harper ’09, Ben Hock ’07, Emma Harrington Kane ’07, Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73.

Aaron Ross Green Sr. ’05

College Alumni Lunch is Back!

CA and the Alumni Association invite College Alumni to lunch on campus.

Thursday, January 6, 2022

12:30-2:00 p.m.

Join faculty, coaches, and current students at the Campus Center Espresso Cart.

Take a tour of the Leach Center for the Performing Arts before or after lunch. n

Coming to Colorado and want a Tour of Campus, even on the weekend? Contact the Alumni Office at 303-914-2584 or sue.burleigh@coloradoacademy.org.

The CA Alumni Skating Party is Back!

Join alumni on the ice Friday, December 3, 2021, 5-9 p.m., Denver Country Club Skate House at 1700 East First Avenue, Denver, CO.

n Family Skate at 5 p.m.

n Broomball and Adult Skate at 7:30 p.m.

Don’t Delay - RSVP by Sunday, November 28, 2021 to receive the discounted price. Call 303-914-2584, or reserve online at coloradoacademy.org/alumni. Scroll down to Alumni Calendar.

COVID-19 protocols:

n There will be three dinner times: 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 p.m.

n We request vaccinations for those eligible.

n Please wear a mask when picking up your meal and skates.

December 3, 2021

Class Notes

Be Connected

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!

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.

1961

Read about the 60th Reunion on page 80.

1962

60th Class Reunion! May 20-22, 2022

1964

Peter Wien joined the Homecoming festiv ities on September 18, 2021 and attended the dedication of the Upper School in honor of F. Charles Froelicher.

1965

Read about Greg Lewis on page 26.

1966

Bruce Conklin retired from reserve law en forcement after 10 years with the Colorado Rangers Post Shared Reserve Police. He said, “I realized that I don’t need to be strapping on a 35-lb. duty belt and 20-lb. vest at age 73!” Bruce and his wife Mallary have been happily married for 40 years, after meeting in Aspen in 1980. They are considering a move to Texas. Bruce says, “Denver and Parker are growing too big!” Bruce and Mallary’s son Skyler is a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, with 19 years of service, including tours in Iraq, South Korea, and Afghanistan in 2019. “We are very proud!”

1967

Campbell Dalglish spent the summer crossing the country to visit his children and grandchildren. Daughter Ariel, a mid wife and a dancer, lives in Tacoma, Wash. Son Sage and Campbell’s grandson Axel Gray live in Arvada, Colo. Daughter Sierra, her partner Tracy, and his two grandsons Bixby and Rizzo live in Kittredge, Colo. Campbell is still teaching filmmaking at City College of New York and preparing the national launch of his latest documentary, Savage Land, on EPSTV Public Television, in recognition of Native American Heritage Month beginning November 1. Check

Homecoming Day BBQ before the dedication of the F. Charles Froelicher Upper School, From Left: Dick Mandelson ‘66, Owen Locke ’67

From Left: Bruce Bistline ’69, Peter Wien ’64

Homecoming Day 2021, 1967 classmates, From Left: Dr. Tom Fitzgerald, Ted Richards, Rod Lawrence ’71, Joel Knight, John Inglis, Jeff Lowdermilk ’70

out the scheduling and programming at savagelandfilm.com.

1968

Bruce Bistline traveled from Idaho to CA to celebrate Homecoming Weekend festivities, including the Free Icarus Party on Friday, September 17. Joining him were Don Dodge ’69 and Charles Cavness ’69. Read more on page 86.

Steve Gordon reports, “At the height of the pandemic’s first wave, I started telemed icine and enjoyed practicing in 13 states without leaving my basement. That only lasted 10 months. As soon as I got vacci nated, I went back to face-to-face patient care, this time in Southeast Iowa’s Amish country. This facility has the best orga nization of any I’ve experienced. I’ve not done a locums assignment of this length (six months) before. I accepted it because they were willing to give me enough weeks off to help my wife through her knee surgeries. I won’t miss the six-hour drive each way every couple of weeks. There is a lot of politically-driven vaccine hesitancy and religiously-driven vaccine refusal. It was good to physically face patients, but unnerving when the respiratory system crashes abruptly. COVID-19 evaporated for about three weeks, then returned full force a week after the county fair.”

Steve’s stepmother’s funeral brought him back to Denver, and he touched base with family and friends and had breakfast with Jim Campbell. “It was good to see

him. We caught up as much as we could, condensing 50 years into a couple of hours. About CA we agreed that we got a great education.”

Steve doesn’t have plans before his return to Canada in the first week of December. He writes, “The human condition involves a lot of uncertainty: no matter what you plan, it won’t turn out the way you thought, and if it did, there would be no adventure. This phase of my career has led my wife and me to some absolutely wonderful adventures.” Fred Morfit shuttled between Marin County and Maine, having a bi-coastal re lationship, and having a dog, which meant he had to make a cross-continental drive. He reports seeing a lot of America, taking 25 days to come west from Maine in April, and crossing the U.S. three times in the year. Fred says, “What? Am I nuts?”

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At the Free Icarus event, From Left: Don Dodge ’69, Bruce Bistline ’68, Charles Cavness ’69.

Campbell Dalglish ’67

Colorado Academy

1969

Anthony “Tony” Claiborne lives with wife Cynthia in Bellevue, Wash. After a career in private and corporate law practice, most recently 11 years at Microsoft, Tony is now a solo patent lawyer, focusing on individual inventors and technology start-ups. He has four sons: two are engineers, one is a recent ly licensed attorney, and one will receive his MD/PhD from Johns Hopkins Medical Institute next year. The oldest son, living in Fort Collins, has given Tony three grandsons.

1970

Tim Karstom sends his regrets for missing the reunion. He reports, “I still have my Colorado Academy Glee Club album from the 1969 Kansas City Tour. It has not been played for 20 or 30 years. I remember the plurality of the guys from the Classes of 1969 to 1972, at least those from the soccer teams, mountaineering/outdoor rescue

CA alumni who played football will recognize this trophy, Birkenmayer-Reed. The competition between CA and Fountain Valley School is alive and well. CA’s Boys Soccer Team beat FVS to retain the trophy for another year.

team, The Tempest, ski team, etc.” He also remembers most of the great teachers, coaches, and administrators whom Chuck Froelicher brought on board. “It is possible my brother Kevin ’72 and I might attend the reunion next year. Kevin and I grew up in Lake Forest, Ill. but left when each of us was 16 to attend CA. Best regards.”

Jeff Lowdermilk was thrilled to visit with U.S. Olympian Billy Kidd in Steamboat, Colo. near the base of the gondola in front of the Buddy, Skeeter, and Loris Memorial. Rod Oram is currently in the United King dom for two months of climate reporting, culminating in the United Nations Climate

Change Conference (COP26) negotiations in November in Glasgow. Rod was able to spend four weeks in Birmingham, where he was born and grew up. His old school there invited him back to spend a day with the two eldest classes. While there, he ran a mock COP with the students to give them a sense of the intensity of such global negotiations.

Read more about Rod in the October edi tion of the CA’s online Alumni Newsletter. John Wogan sends greetings to fellow Mustangs from the Class of 1970. “I am alive and well in Baltimore, Md. I recently retired from my career in the practice of

Classmates and the family of David Price ’69 con tributed to Colorado Academy in his memory to help renovate the home dugout at CA’s Baseball Field.

From Left: Jeff Lowdermilk ’70, holding Billy’s Olympic medals, Billy Kidd

Rod Oram ’70 with his wife Lynn, daughter Celeste and her husband Keir, at their wedding in January 2021 in Auckland, New Zealand. Given the pandemic, Keir’s parents and many other overseas family and friends couldn’t go to Auckland, so many joined by Zoom. Keir holds an iPad showing his parents, Chris and Sui Li, live from New York City. From Left: Rod, Keir, Celeste, Lynn

Emergency Medicine (at the end of 2020) after 37 years of dealing with urgencies and emergencies, great and small, especially that eventful last year of the pandemic, and playing a variety of physician leadership roles at several hospitals, including an aca demic center here in Baltimore and several local community hospitals. I’m very much enjoying my new life filled with avocations, including outdoor exercise (biking, running, hiking, and swimming), studying and playing music, travel (hopefully more soon), reading, and my role as grandparent to our two new grandchildren, Asher and Leo. My partner Robin and I visited Nepal just before COVID-19.”

Read about the 50th Reunion on page 81.

1971

Read about the 50th Reunion on page 83.

1972

50th Class Reunion! May 20-22, 2022

Franz Froelicher enjoyed Homecoming Day with alumni, former faculty, and Dr. Mike Davis when the Upper School was dedicated in honor of his father, Chuck Froelicher.

1975

Hugh Alexander continues to paint and draw for upcoming shows. A recent paint ing of his favorite teddy bear, “Radcliffe T. Bear” in acrylic is a nod to all the races Hugh attends and paints.

1976

Rica Froelicher came back to campus

Reunion Weekend 1971 classmates, From Left: Larry Deffenbaugh, Bill Nieman, David Malo

John Wogan ’70 with his partner and two guides at the summit of Tserko Ri in the Langtang Valley of Nepal, From Left, guide, Robin, John, guide

Harry Waters Jr. ’71 shows off the 2021 Giant Relay Day shirt. Unfortunately, that Reunion Weekend was cancelled and held on Homecoming Weekend 2021.

Dedication of the F. Charles Froelicher Upper School, From Left: Dr. Mike Davis, Franz Froelicher ’72

Linc Jackson ’75 spent the summer in Colorado.

A painting by Hugh Alexander ’75

to celebrate the dedication of the Upper School in her father’s name.

1978

Abe Simantob had the pleasure of bringing his family to Colorado after 37 years. He showed them around the CA campus and then took them to CU Boulder, where he went to the university and graduate school in engineering. The Häagen-Dazs ice cream store on the Pearl Street Mall where he got his first job in Up per School is still there. Abe writes, “It was a trip full of emotion and memories.”

1981

Ellen Hertzman is the mentor of a Chal lenge Foundation Scholar who started in the Ninth Grade at CA this fall. She is looking forward to spending some time on campus with her mentee, as she competes,

performs, and otherwise takes advantage of the many opportunities available to her. In addition, Ellen is keeping very busy with her job on the administration team for the Mid dle School at St. Mary’s Academy, volunteer work for Oberlin College, gardening, and kitten fostering.

1982

40th Class Reunion! May 20-22, 2022

1989

Tom Kimball and his family Nancy and Da vid vacationed at Lake Tahoe while the PGA tournament was in progress. They were able to follow CA alumnus Mark Hubbard ’07. Mark had an amazing day, and they had so much fun watching him.

Andrew Kirshbaum returned to CA as a Security Officer in fall 2021. He is a recently retired Police Officer, having spent most of his career in the Boulder Police Department, for the last six years as a Detective. He has been a patrol officer, hostage negotiator, Explorer Post advisor, member of the SWAT Team, and received the Department Medal for Lifesaving. Between graduating from CA in 1989 and the Police Department, he earned a BA in Philosophy from Texas Chris tian University, an MA in Liberal Studies from Regis University, was a mortgage broker, and taught humanities, ethics, and literature at the University of Denver High School.

1991

30th Class Reunion! May 20-22, 2022

Abe Simantob ’78 with his family.

Rica Froelicher ’76 sees former colleagues on Homecoming Day, From Left: Rica Froelicher, Barry Simmons, Diane Simmons

From Left: Aziza Diallo (Grade 9), Ellen Hertzman ’81 At Lake Tahoe, From Left: Tom Kimball ’89, Nancy Kimball, David Kimball (CA Grade 8)

Andrew Kirshbaum ’89

1992

30th Class Reunion!

May 20-22, 2022

1995

John Beich and his wife Elif had their second baby on October 10, 2020. Maple joins her brother Hudson, who is in Kin dergarten this year. John says, “They are wonderful kids. I’m a lucky father and hus band.” John is currently the Deputy Head of School at York Prep, right on Central Park in New York City. John is starting his fourth year there. Prior to that, John was at Stephen Gaynor School as a teacher for eight years and the Middle School Director for seven years. John’s experience has been in learning disabilities, which is what took him to New York City originally, to get his master’s degree from Columbia Teachers College in learning disabilities. Initially, John thought he would be in in the city for two years to get his degree. It’s now been 20 years. “Hard to believe!”

1996

25th Class Reunion!

May 20-22, 2022

The Denver Post featured a story about Troy Bowen’s establishment, Noble Riot, being named to Esquire’s Best Bars in America list. His is one of only 27 listed nationwide and the only one in Colorado.

Read about Tamara Walker on page 20.

Read about James Jackson in the October edition of CA’s online Alumni Newsletter.

1997

25th Class Reunion!

May 20-22, 2022

Megan Young’s work at Boom contin ues to go well. In June, United Airlines announced that they are purchasing 15 Overture aircraft from Boom with an op tion for 35 more. The jets will be net-zero carbon emissions, flying on 100% sustain able aviation fuel. Megan’s team led the announcement and were featured on the “Today” show.

1999

Adam Chanzit and his wife Dana are delighted to announce that Maia Dylan Chanzit was born on February 28, 2021. Big brother Ian (almost 3 years old) is taking good care of her with a little help from mom and dad. The family lives in the LA area and are always excited for alumni visits, as that becomes more possible.

Nat and Sarah Robinson enjoyed a wedding celebration in July 2021 because they could not have one last year. Nat was able to catch up with Kit Sawyer, Chris Robinson, Phil and Jill Bible Jones, and Jeff Hollis.

The Beich family, From Left: Hudson, Elfi, John ’95, Maple Twin daughters of James Jackson ’96

The Chanzit family, From Left: Ian, Dana, Adam ’99, Maia

Class of 1999 alumni, From Left: Nat Robinson, Kit Sawyer, Chris Robinson, Phil Jones, Jill Bible Jones, Jeff Hollis

2000

Abbi Hills married Pete Leazott on June 12, 2021 at the Vail Golf Club. Betsy Wagner officiated the wedding ceremony. Also in attendance was Julianne Wu Ashlock. Sarah Holland-Batt is thrilled to an nounce her recently published book, Fishing for Lightning: The Spark of Poetry. The book is a compilation of 50 essays on 50 poets, first published in Sarah’s column in The Australian newspaper. Sarah writes, “This is a book for anyone who wants to learn more about poetry, and why poets do what they do. David Malouf says it’s ‘boldly insightful.’ The cat thinks it’s a giant snore. Read it and decide for yourself!”

2001

20th Class Reunion! May 20-22, 2022

2002

20th Class Reunion! May 20-22, 2022

Sarah Brill and Michael King-Stockton ’04 welcomed Zaiyan King-Stockton into their family on August 8, 2021. Mom, dad, and son are all healthy and happy.

2003

Read about Ashley Shuyler Carter on page 24.

In September, Phoebe Coleman began her new role at the Library of Congress as the Master Plan Program Manager for Visitor Experience. As the Center for Exhibits & In terpretation (CEI) Program Manager, Phoebe works in partnership with the Director of CEI to oversee all CEI programs and the visitor experience initiatives approved by Congress in September 2019. This includes a Treasures Gallery, Orientation Gallery & Welcome Area, and a Youth Center. In conjunction with the Director of CEI, Phoebe actively participates in the planning and management process, assists in the budgeting process, and assess es performance improvement initiatives.

2005

Classmates from 2005 enjoyed sweet sum

Class of 2000 alumnae, From Left: Julianne Wu Ashlock, Abbi Hills Leazott, Pete Leazott, Betsy Wagner Sarah Holland-Batt ’00

2005 classmates at Hudson Gardens, From Left: Caitlin Jackson, Courtney Davis, Kelly O’Donnell, and Noah Aptekar

From Left: Michael King-Stockton ’04, Sarah Brill ’02, their son Zaiyan

mer reunion. They attended the Central City Opera’s production of Carousel at Hudson Gardens, which was the site of their Junior Prom. Caitlin Jackson, Courtney Davis, Kelly O’Donnell, and Noah Aptekar en joyed a delightful evening. They talked a lot about CA and reminisced about their Senior year musical, A Little Night Music, a favorite memory for all of them!

Read about Aaron Green on page 88. Read about Elena Harman on page 24.

2006

Carter Grey Feldhoff and her husband Ryan are thrilled to announce the birth of their son Calder Stephen Feldhoff on May 28, 2021. A healthy baby boy, Stephen weighed in at 9.7 lbs!

2007

Mark Hubbard and his wife Meghan are excited to announce the birth of their first child, Harlow Leigh Hubbard, born on March 27, 2021. Mark’s brother, T.J. Giorda no, is a current Junior at CA.

Poone Shoureshi moved to Beverly Hills, Calif. following the completion of her residency program in June 2021. She is currently in a two-year fellowship at Cedars-Sinai for female pelvic medicine and reconstructive urology.

2009

Andrei Semenov defended his PhD thesis in Developmental Psychology from the Univer sity of Minnesota Institute of Child Develop ment in June 2021. He has started a National

Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) postdoc toral program at Minnesota in August 2021. Andrei’s thesis was about developing a par enting intervention that supports children’s executive function skills and autonomy-sup portive parenting practices. He implemented the intervention nationwide in Head Start facilities. The NIMH postdoc is a two-year program. This training grant will allow Andrei to stay at Minnesota and focus on learning new methods like fMRI imaging (generating maps of human brain activity) and working with clinical populations.

Steele Sternberg entered his ninth year as a high school history teacher in September 2021. This is his second year at his current school, Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols,

in Cambridge, Mass. (This is the school that Dr. Tom Fitzgerald, former Lower School Principal, graduated from.) Steele moved to Boston during the pandemic last year to live with his girlfriend, Emily Tragert, who is a librarian at another Boston independent school. Steele has deeply enjoyed being able to spend more time with fellow 2009 CA classmates Julia Newman, Katie Ozawa, and Hunter Davis Ozawa, who are all also in the Boston area.

2010

Logan Bowen made the transition from working as a fly fishing guide to working in the medical field as an intraoperative neu romonitoring technician. He currently lives

Calder Stephen Feldhoff, son of Carter Grey Feldhoff ’08 Harlow Leigh Hubbard with her dad Mark ’07 and Meghan Hubbard Steele Sternberg ’09 (R) with his fiancé Emily Tragert

Logan Bowen ’10

in Laramie with his girlfriend Rachel and his two dogs Finn and Bleu. Logan is training to complete the 2022 Leadville 100 mountain bike race.

Peter Macartney and his wife Jenna are living in Denver and are the proud parents of baby Miller, born on April 17, 2021.

On June 12, 2021, Claire Peterson married Kevin McCormick at a ranch in Calistoga,

Calif. Their family and friends filled the cab ins and yurts on the ranch for a full, special weekend celebration. A handful of CA alum ni attended the wedding, but a few of them were special guests. Ashley Peterson ’06 was Claire’s maid of honor. Ian Peterson ’13 was the officiant, and Jordan Davis ’10 was one of Claire’s bridesmaids. Claire and Kevin met in 2014 in San Francisco and lived there for five years, before moving back to Denver in fall 2020. Between San Francisco and Denver, they had a brief stop in Vancouver, Canada for nine months, and they got engaged at Banff National Park in January 2020. They are excited to be back in Denver and live in the Highlands/Berkeley area with their French bulldog, Stanley.

2011

10th Class Reunion! May 20-22, 2022

Elsa Woolley married Joe Harberg at the top of Aspen Mountain on Septem ber 25, 2021. CA alumni attending were Elsa’s father Charlie Woolley ’72, uncles Tom ’75 and Chris ’76 Woolley, brother Hank Woolley ’09, Sarah Emery ’10, Kurt Oleson ’11, Joel Berdie ’11, Emily Sturm ’10, Paige Maney ’11, Ken Perry ’72, and Peter Boucher ’72. Other members of the CA community celebrating with Elsa and Joe were Cindy Jordan, Elsa’s aunt Susannah Bristol, Brett and Lauren Aber nathy, Tom and Nina Sisk, and Mark and Ruchi Brunvand.

2012

10th Class Reunion! May 20-22, 2022

2013

Max Lies began as a senior advisor to the U.S. Treasury’s Acting Assistant Secretary for International Markets, Larry McDonald, in June 2021.

Maeve L. Moynihan, happy to be back home in Denver, started her first year of law school at DU as a Chancellor’s Scholar in September 2021.

Read about Jesús Reyes ’13 on page 22.

2014

Megan Adams is an MA candidate in Art History and Museum Studies at the University of Denver, an Exhibition Project Manager & Collections Coordinator at the Madden Museum of Art, and a Collections Assistant at the Denver Botanic Gardens. She had the privilege of participating on the jury for a grant opportunity for womxn and non-binary artists and creators in Colorado. The inaugural Sharon Prize for Colorado was $10,000. The prize was open to artists working across multiple disci plines, including visual arts, music, dance, literature, film, and theater, as well as across the entire state and was established by Towwn’s (Take Only What We Need) founder & CEO Denise Horton, and Kathleen Economos in honor of Denise’s mother and

The wedding of Claire Peterson McCormick ’10 and Kevin McCormick

Miller Macartney, daughter of Peter Macartney ’10

On their wedding day, Elsa Woolley Harberg ’11 and Joe Harberg

Kathleen’s sister, Sharon Riordan McAvoy. CA graduates were offered the opportunity to apply for the grant.

2015

Nick Bigger is a software engineer at Apple.

2017

Grace Ingebretsen is participating in a yearlong graduate program that started in the fall of 2021. The program is a master’s in human rights law with a specialization in transitional justice in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Isra el. Up to 25 academic courses are offered with top legal experts from Israel, Europe, and North America. Courses cover interna tional humanitarian law, counter-terrorism law, international courts and tribunals, transitional justice, the law of the United Nations, legal aspects of the Middle-East conflict, international criminal law, and in ternational human rights law. Grace writes, “The program has a focus on the Israeli-Pal estinian conflict, so it definitely promises to be incredibly interesting.”

Hidai Olivas-Holguin came to campus in June 2021 to celebrate her brother Pedro Olivas-Holguin’s ’21 graduation from Colorado Academy. Hidai was on her way to New York City to take a job with American Express as a software engineer. She is a graduate of MIT.

2018

There was an inaccuracy in the following

class note printed in the Summer 2021 CA Journal. We regret the error.

Avery Niles took a gap year from film school at Emerson College to work in Los Angeles as a colorist for music videos, commercials, and short films. He is simulta neously training with artists at Company 3,

where projects include Superbowl ads and big Hollywood blockbusters like Marvel, DC, and HBO’s Euphoria. Avery has found many clients of his own. He is currently attending USC’s school of cinematic arts for film and television production, which provides a wide scope of connections and clients.

First Row (L to R): Abby Alem (Grade 11), Dori Beck (Grade 11), Gerry McManus (Grade 10). Second Row: Nathan Truong (Grade 12), Luke Donaldson-Reid (Grade 12), Oliver Dean (Grade 12), Sam Reisch (Grade 10). Third Row: Garrison Ebel ’21, Mackenzie Abbott ’20, Teri McManus ’21. Fourth Row: Davis Ebel ’19, Olivia Lutz ’18, Carter Coatsworth ’19, Colby Lish ’21. Not pictured: Ry Barthels ’21, Jamie Bratis ’20, Jason Bratis (Grade 10), Keegan Coatsworth (Grade 12), Aidan Collins (Grade 11), Zoe Cope (Grade 11), Josh Corn (Grade 11), Thomas de Leeuw ’21, Jake Donaldson-Reid ’20, Avery Farmer (Grade 12), Anne Freeman ’20, Andrew Koclanes (Grade 11), Thanh Luong, Casey Myers (Grade 12), Lauren Preston ’19, Sarah Preston (Grade 12), Nicholas Rodriguez ’21, Danielle Seaton (Grade 11), Abigail Shapiro (Grade 12) , Brian Labra Vergara ’20, Mackenzie Wagner ’21, Connor Wolfe (Grade 12).

From Left: Pedro Olivas-Holguin ’21 and Hidai Olivas-Holguin ’17

2020 classmates From Left: Avery Lin and Brian Labra Vergara

From Left: Walt Jones ’20, Aiden Klingbeil ’20, Anne Freeman ’20 at the 2020 Class Dinner

Many of CA’s Summer Programs counselors are alumni or current students who spend the summer on campus guiding campers and teaching a variety of activities and sports. It’s a great way to spend summer break!

2020

Read about the Class of 2020 dinner in June on page 79.

2021

Evelyn Needham left on June 23, 2021 to hike the Appalachian Trail. The trek covers more than 1,000 miles from Maine to Georgia. Evelyn hopes to complete the trail in early December. Please contact the Alumni Office if you are located on the trail and can offer her a hot shower or a chance to do laundry!

Former Faculty News

Former Faculty joined current students, teachers, and parents, on campus in August to celebrate the dedication of the new Lower School Playgrounds in memory of Leslie Webster, beloved

Kindergarten Teacher. Read about the dedication on page 12.

Retired Lower School teachers still enjoy getting together. This summer several met to renew their friendship. n

From Left: Dr. Tom Fitzgerald, Suzanne Kolsun Jackson, Mary Hatfield, Cullen Brink, Lyric McKnight, Marcy Lister

First Row (L to R): Terri Otto, Ruth Larson. Second Row: Jan Eckersley, Sandy DuBois, Suzanne Kolsun Jackson.

2020 classmates, from Left: Carson Stone, Jack Garn sey, Jamie Bratis

2020 alumni return to campus, From Left: Genevieve Howard, Alexia Howard, and Director of College Counseling Sonia Arora ’01

In Memoriam

challenges, Justin loved master puzzles, both crossword and jigsaw, and appeared on the popular TV show “Jeopardy!” in 2017. Justin and Kim loved to travel and spent 10 days in Paris in 2019. They had planned to travel to China this past spring until COVID-19 derailed those plans, and they had looked forward to going to Spain in 2021 where Justin could use his Spanish talents.

Justin Michael Braddock ’95

Justin Braddock, 44, passed away October 24, 2020. He was born in Denver on October 11, 1976, and spent his youth in Evergreen, Colo., where he enjoyed the outdoors and skied almost every weekend in winter. While attending Colorado Academy, Justin was a member of the Hack and International Clubs and participated in the technical theater crew. After leaving CA, he worked in New York City in the sporting goods industry. Justin then returned west and worked with his father in waterway restoration for paper mills and large cities in the Pacific Northwest. He became a project manager for Synagro, Inc., a national firm performing similar work to what he had done with his father. This career led him to Tennessee, where he met the love of his life, Kim, in 2005. They married in October of 2007 and settled in the Chattanooga area. With Kim’s support, Justin attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he graduated with high honors, earning a BS in Applied Mathematics and a BS in Electrical Engineering. He was a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society, a member of Pi Mu Epsilon, and a member of Tau Beta Pi. He returned to the university and completed an MBA with an emphasis in data analytics. Justin began his career at Tennessee Valley Authority as an intern in 2010 and since 2012 worked as a systems control engineer.  Always inquisitive and seeking new

Justin was gentle, kind, and compassion ate. He loved everyone he met, with a particular soft spot for the underdogs and strays of both the human and canine variety. Justin will be forever loved and remembered by his family and friends for his kindness and contagious laughter. Justin is survived by his loving and adored wife, Kimberly Scalley Braddock; parents, Robert and Carolyn Braddock of Ojai, Calif.; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Donations in his name may be made to the Humane Educational Society of Chattanooga or the animal shelter of your choice.

Carole Jo McLeod Buschmann Lower School Art Teacher

1989-2008

Carole Buschmann, artist, art educator, and long-time resident of Denver, died on September 23, 2021 in her home in Kansas City, Mo., with her family at her side.

Carole was born in Madison, Wis., on December 10, 1944, the first of three daughters of Harr y and Josephine McLeod, both of whom were career educators. Carole attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence, earning a BFA in Printmaking, a BA in Education, and later an MA in Museum Education from George Washington University.

While exhibiting her work at a Salina, Ks. ‘Art in the Park’ summer event, Carole met Lt. John R. “Jack” Buschmann, an officer stationed at Schilling Air Force Base. They were married on August 13, 1966, in Salina. For much of the next 15 years, Carole and Jack lived wherever he was stationed— on Cape Cod, in Okinawa, in Virginia, in Washington, D.C., and in Colorado.

Even as a child, Carole was drawn to color and light. As a mature artist, she particularly loved color and travel. She spent many summers traveling in Italy and southwest France with fellow artists. In recent years she and Jack spent part of each spring in Guatemala, working as volunteers. Many of her paintings arose from these journeys. Carole wrote, “While traveling with fellow artists and family, I have made colorful observations sitting and painting in the corner of small town cafes, busy markets, the shade of Roman aqueducts, quiet gardens. I am always influenced by the vastness of the beauty of the west, and I carry that with me wherever I go.”

Carole’s pastels have been exhibited and collected in the U.S. and Europe and have received multiple awards and honors. Carole was particularly proud to have been designated a “Signature Member” of the Pastel Society of Colorado.

As a teacher, Carole enabled students to recognize themselves as artists. She taught at the Stanley British Primary School in Denver and, for eighteen years, at Colorado Academy. In 2000, Carole received the Yoeman Fisher Award for Teaching Excellence. She was also awarded the McHugh Family enrichment grant and earned the faculty rank of Master Teacher.

Carole is survived by her husband Jack Buschmann; sister Kathleen (Gary) Brown;

Justin Braddock ’95 as pictured in the 1994 Telesis

Carole Buschmann

daughters Kathryn Fath ’97 (Peter) and Johanna Gee ’02 (Ryan); grandchildren Wyatt, Juniper, Josephine, and John Peter; sister-in-law Mary Buschmann O’Neill (John); and brother-in-law Joseph Mercier. She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister Krista Mercier.

Donations in Carole’s memory may be made to the Pastel Society of Colorado Education Fund, PO Box 9361, Denver, CO 80209; or to the ALS Association MidAmerica Chapter, 6405 Metcalf Ave, Suite 205, Overland Park, KS 66202, or online at: alsa-midamerica.org

Condolences may be sent to: Lt. Col. Jack Buschmann 221 E. 74th St. Kansas City, MO 64114-1419

Memories of Carole Buschmann “Carole was a colleague, dear friend, and younger daughter’s art teacher. She developed an exemplary art program that not only taught young students ageappropriate art skills, but more importantly, encouraged their creativity, appreciation for the process, and self-confidence. She was that rare combination of practicing artist plus experienced and knowledgeable teacher who understood children and their development. After leaving my full-time teaching job (Grade 5) at CA in 2000, I did subbing for the next 16 years and found myself many times in Carole’s classroom. Trust me when I say that what she made look easy, was definitely NOT! She was a master at time management, chaos control, and clean-up organization.

Carole lives on in my home, with one of her beautiful pictures gracing our living room wall, and my daughter’s Fifth Grade art project, a sculpture of a ‘Figure in Motion,’ on display as well. Carole made everyone’s lives more beautiful. She will be missed by so many.”

Sandy DuBois

“When I was hired to teach in the Lower School in 1990, Carole’s art room was across the hall from me. Her classes were a hive of activity, and her classroom was perpetually in a state of disarray, but it was in that setting that Carole thrived. She moved gracefully and with endless patience, from student to student, as she offered

suggestions and answered their questions. She made each of her students feel as though the piece they were working on was the most important piece in the room. When she needed to get the attention of her students, her calm voice would say, ‘Now boys and girls…’ and shortly, work stopped, and attention was focused onto her.

Carole was born and raised in Kansas, and sunflowers were often a theme in her teaching and in her own personal art. Sunflowers grow along the Hampden service road on the way to CA, and when I pass them, I never fail to think of my colleague and friend Carole.”

Peggy Butler

“Carole Buschmann was a Master Teacher. I learned so much from her. She painted with pastels, and I was fortunate enough to join her in the great outdoors when she was engaged in plein air painting. It was a privilege to watch her work, whether it was in the rose garden on Bemis Street, at the Littleton Historical Museum, or at an idyllic little church called St. Phillip in the Field in Sedalia. As an art teacher at Colorado Academy for many years, she brought imagination and creativity to her work with children.

Carole traveled the world to paint and shared pieces from the south of France and Guatemala at the many shows where her work was exhibited. I will miss our endless conversations about art and writing. She was a master at displaying artwork in the Lower School hallways and would begin each year by adorning the walls with prints by the great masters accompanied by a thought provoking quote about art. The world has lost a master artist and teacher and I a beloved friend.”

Suzanne Kolsun Jackson

“I first met Carole when I was a teaching intern at Stanley British Primary School in 1994. She was teaching classes on child development and art, all of which left an impression on me right away. A few years later, when I became a teacher at CA, I was able to witness Carole teaching in her classroom. Watching her, I came to deeply appreciate the talented, gifted, and brilliant educator she was. I recall her sitting in her wicker chair, with a captive audience of children, engaged in a rich conversation

about art. Carole’s understanding of art and art education meshed with her knowledge of child development in ways that enabled and encouraged her students to produce authentic and inspired work. Children were always autonomous and focused during her class, and the art they created was invariably layered, textured, and deep. She could guide and finesse children to produce art that stretched their ability, their self-expression, and the quality of their final work. The presentation of the work was of equal importance for Carole. She spent hours on the weekend hanging art with her discerning eye. To this day, Carole is the benchmark by whom I measure great pedagogy of children.

When Carole wasn’t in the classroom, her fingers would be powdered with the rich colors of pastels from a weekend of plein air painting: landscapes, flowers, old buildings, a bicycle, Monet’s Garden…. The Parisian influence in her work was always present, as were trips to Guatemala, the Southwest, and gardens near and far. The colorful lens through which Carole viewed the world was divine. She brightened the lives of so many in the CA community, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from such an elegant, smart, and wise individual and artist.”

Jeff Goldstein ’88

Bernice Knight

Upper School Math Teacher 1983-1995

Bernice Knight died peacefully in her home in Colorado on September 14, 2021, surrounded by family. She taught at Colorado Academy and was

Bernice Knight

the Department Head of Upper School mathematics when she retired in 1995.

Bernice was born in Plymouth, England, on October 10, 1936. She lived an interesting and fulfilling life. During World War II, many of the homes on the street where she lived were destroyed during bombing raids. As a safety measure, Bernice was evacuated to a small village deep in the country. After the end of the war, she returned to Plymouth and attended one of the best girls schools in the area.

Following very successful completion of the national exams at age 16, her father prevented her from furthering her studies and told her to find employment.

Bernice worked for the local council for a couple of years and then “escaped” by entering a nursing school at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.

Bernice married Tony Knight in 1957, and the couple moved, with their growing family, to different parts of England. Bernice, Tony, and their five children came to America in 1966, first living in Ann Arbor, Mich. and then permanently in Denver from 1970 on.

Bernice always wanted to teach but was told that she would be unable to get a job unless she taught mathematics or science. Her husband was a scientist, and so she took a degree in mathematics, mostly covered by a scholarship, at CU-Denver. She continued her education and followed with a master’s in mathematics education at the age of 45.

Bernice enjoyed hiking and camping in the mountains, skiing, scuba diving, and on one occasion escorted a group of CA students to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. She was also active in charity work. Bernice will be greatly missed by many people, especially her husband Tony of 64 years.

Lauri Keener ’94 - “I remember Mrs. Knight believed in me during a time that I didn’t even believe in myself. That meant a lot to me. and I never forgot it. She had a great spirit.”

Condolences may be sent to:

Tony Knight

2370 S. Brentwood St. Lakewood, CO 80227-3141

James William Kugeler ’63

Jim Kugeler passed away August 22, 2021, after a valiant struggle with cancer. He was born on March 15, 1944 in Denver.

Jim Kugeler was certainly blessed with a fulfilling life. He attended Colorado Academy from 1961 to 1963. Jim was a member of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. Following graduation, Jim received a degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of Denver. He worked in the hospitality industry for over 20 years, followed by a very successful career with his wife in the direct marketing industry. Together, they created a team of business associates across the United States.

Jim enjoyed traveling, skiing, hiking, and biking, but his true passion was the enjoyment of fine food, accompanied by carefully selected fine wines. He was regarded by many as a wonderfully talented cook and started the Denver and Vail chapters of the Chaine Des Rotisseurs. He was the proud recipient of the highest Chaine award as a member of the Council de Honor.

Jim is survived by his wife Bobbie Kugeler after 50 years of marriage, a brother Fredrick J. Kugeler, nieces, nephews, and countless friends. He was preceded in death by his brother Hermann C. Kugeler and parents Hermann C. Kugeler and June F. Joyce.

A memorial service was held on Thursday,

Condolences may be sent to: Mrs. Bobbie Kugeler 21689 Cabrini Blvd. Golden, CO 80401-9487

Lindsay Sage LaRock Lumpkin ’94

Lindsay LaRock Lumpkin, 44, died September 23, 2021 in Littleton, Colo. Born September 30, 1976, in Denver, her family says she was an unstoppable force of grace, humility, accomplishment, and selflessness in everything she pursued. Lindsay leapt from figure skating, to swim team, to a boys hockey team, and eventually to the freestyle slopes on the U.S. Ski Team. Of course, she did this while maintaining straight-A report cards from Colorado Academy, Goddard Middle School, Littleton High School, University of Colorado Boulder, and the University of Denver.

Lindsay’s magnificent smile and contagious laughter could be heard and felt throughout Bow Mar and Bow Mar South neighborhoods where she grew up, throughout her worldwide travels with her best friends, in her Chi Omega sorority house, and through the halls and classrooms of Douglas County High School and Valor Christian High School where she taught. A passionate English teacher, Lindsay unlocked the unique potential

September 9, 2021. Donations may be made in Jim’s name to St. Jude Research at stjude.org

Jim Kugeler ’63 as pictured in the 1963 Telesis Lindsay LaRock Lumpkin ’94

in each of her students, inspiring them through her faith in Jesus Christ, always at their side on paths of self-discovery. Head of School at Valor Christian Dr. Gary Fisher remembered, “Many of us have been touched by her life; by her kindness, sense of humor, and love. She is adored by hundreds, if not thousands.”

A bright light, Lindsay lit up everything and everyone around her. She pulled us all into her adventurous spirit, love of people, cultures and traditions, taking us with her literally and figuratively.

A fierce friend, daughter, and sister, while Lindsay graced us all with her boundless sense of humor, a “smooth-move” story-ofthe-day, and the feeling that she was our biggest fan, nothing compared to her love and devotion for her family. She is survived by her ever-loving and faithful husband Andrew and their two children, Clayton and Annika. Lindsay stopped at nothing to ensure they had every opportunity (not things) she had growing up, pursuing passions, and discovering new talents.

Lindsay is also survived by her parents, Bill (Pat), and Kaycie (Sherwin); her brother, Brody ’89 (Lindsey, Eden, Kora), whom she greatly admired and adored; aunts, Linda and Peggy; uncle Jack; cousins, Jenna and Sarah, Taryn, and Mark.

Condolences may be sent to: Kaycie Artus 2429 Bitterroot Lane Golden, CO 80401-8078

Edwin Arter Norris Jr. ’47

The Very Rev. Edwin Norris Jr. D.D. died June 25, 2020, in Mesquite, Texas. He was born on September 4, 1929 in Akron, Ohio to Elizabeth Palmer Chappell and Edwin Arter Norris. Edwin was the Protodeacon Gregory St. Catherine of Siena.

Edwin was baptized into a nominally religious family, and while serving in the Army during the Korean War, he rediscovered his religious roots and became involved in the Episcopal Church. After graduation from the University of Denver, he entered St. Gregory’s Benedictine Monastery in Three Rivers, Mich. The Abbot sent him to finish his priestly studies at Nashotah House, after which he was ordained at Three

Rivers, taking the religious name of Dom Gregory Norris, after the famous English Benedictine, Dom Gregory Dix. After 13 years, Edwin was released from his vows and became the Rector at the Church of the Ascension in Chicago, one of the great Anglo-Catholic parishes in the Episcopal Church. He served there for 24 years. Edwin served with distinction in many capacities in the Episcopal Church.

Following retirement, his spiritual pilgrimage led him to the Orthodox Church of America, where for the last 24 years of his life he served faithfully as a Deacon and recently was elevated with the honor of Protodeacon. Edwin was a renowned spiritual advisor and director. A violist by avocation, he played for many years in both the Irving New Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra. He was deeply compassionate and socially conscious, as reflected in his marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Ala. Edwin was known to say, “All the way to heaven is heaven.”

He is survived by several brothers; Clifford, John, and Phillip Norris; numerous nieces and nephews, devoted friends, and his best friend of many years, The Rev. Canon George W. Monroe. His beloved brothers William and Michael predeceased him. A memorial service was held on July 1, 2020.

Memorial gifts may be made to St. Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral, the North Texas Food Bank, or a charity of your choice. n

Edwin Norris Jr. ’47

CA Alumni Association

Important Dates 2021-2022

Friday, December 3, 2021 Alumni Ice Skating Party, Denver Country Club, 5-9 p.m.

Thursday, January 6, 2022 College Alumni Lunch, Campus Center, 12:30 p.m.

Wednesday, January, 19 2022 Alumni Movie Night with Dr. Jon Vogels, Virtual February 2022 Alumni Faculty Book Club with Elissa Wolf-Tinsman, Virtual

Thursday, February 17, 2022 Alumni Back-to-School Night, On Campus, Dinner at 5:30 p.m. Classes begin at 6:15 p.m.

Thursday, March 3, 2022 Alumni Faculty Book Club with Paul Krajovic, Virtual

Friday, May 20, 2022 Giant Relay Day BBQ Lunch, Carnival Activities, The Race, Alumni-Faculty Party, Alumni-Varsity-Faculty Games

Saturday & Sunday Reunion Weekend

May 21-22, 2022 1962, 1972, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012

Please check the Alumni Home Page at coloradoacademy.org/alumni for updates and new events.

Colorado Academy

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Playgrounds Past

Have Colorado Academy playgrounds come a long way? Well, take a look at the playground that was available to students in 1948, when CA was the Colorado Military School and had an all-male student population. Yes, there were some swings available for students—and not much more. What a difference 70 years can make, when a school has the vision and community commitment to create playgrounds which offer opportunities for joy and discovery every day. (Story on page 12)