A Year to Live our Mission

Colorado Academy 2020-2021 Timeline

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

SEPTEMBER 2020

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.

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.

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. NOVEMBER 2020

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.

At the first-ever Pre-Kindergarten

Turkey Trot, CA’s youngest students raced around Simms Field for an early celebration of Thanksgiving.

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. DECEMBER 2020

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.” 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. MAY 2021

In a nail-biter, double-overtime

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

“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.

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. 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.

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.

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.