Colorado Academy Journal - Summer 2020

J urnal

Summer 2020

Volume 47

n

Issue Number 2

A Commencement Like No Other

Colorado Academy Mission Statement

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

About the Cover In the midst of a pandemic, time-honored Colorado Academy Commencement traditions had to be scrapped so that students and faculty could keep themselves and others safe. Undaunted, the CA community planned a celebration that maintained social distancing—the “Diploma Parade.”

You can read more about the parade on page 4. Pictured on the cover, clockwise, from the top left: Adeline de Leeuw ’20, draped in the flag of her native country, the Netherlands; Brian Labra ’20; Ninth Grade Dean and Spanish Preceptor Meg Hill; and Francis Akomeah ’20.

Colorado Academy Journal

J urnal Table of Contents Summer 2020 n Volume 47 n Issue No. 2

The 2020 Journal is published by the Colorado Academy Office of Advancement. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information included in this report 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 Vicki Hildner Jacque Montgomery Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99 Becky Risch Renée Rockford Amy Ventura Gravely Wilson DESIGN: Cindi Sherman Publication Design, Inc. PHOTOGRAPHY: Trevor Brown Vicki Hildner Cyrus McCrimmon Marc Piscotty Becky Risch Renée Rockford Kathryn Scott HEAD OF SCHOOL: Mike Davis, PhD

Colorado Academy 3800 S. Pierce Street Denver, CO 80235

Printed by a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified Printer

Dear CA Community...............................................................................................................................2 The Diploma Parade................................................................................................................................4 Staying True to the CA Mission in a Pandemic....................................................................6 The Future of Froelicher Theatre.................................................................................................10 Education Beyond APs: The Honors Electives..................................................................12 What Makes Pre-Kindergarten ‘Special’................................................................................17 The Advantage of the Arts...............................................................................................................20 An ‘Exploratory’ Way to Learn Math..........................................................................................22 Field Hockey Team Caps Undefeated Season by Winning State.......................26 ‘Sí, Oui, and Yes.’ Graduates Recognized with New Honor......................................28 Middle School Advisory Puts Mission Statement into Action.............................30 From 1978 to 2020: The Pirates of Penzance.......................................................................32 Mustang Mentors....................................................................................................................................34 Climbing Center Comes Alive!......................................................................................................36 The Wisdom of Temple Grandin..................................................................................................38 These Three Graduates Accepted the ‘Challenge’.........................................................40 Why We Give to Horizons..................................................................................................................42 Christina Bradley ’08: Mental Health is her Issue............................................................44 David Kessler ’11: From Elite Athlete to The North Face Designer...................46 Stacey Mitchell ’85: Many Legacies...........................................................................................48 Leslie Webster: A Celebration of Life........................................................................................50 The Class of 2020.....................................................................................................................................52 Boards and Associations....................................................................................................................54 The CA Fund................................................................................................................................................55 Legacy Children 2019-2020............................................................................................................56 Reunions........................................................................................................................................................58 Alumni Association Highlights.....................................................................................................60 Class Notes...................................................................................................................................................68 In Memoriam..............................................................................................................................................82 Former Faculty...........................................................................................................................................83 Class of 2020 Diploma Parade......................................................................................................84 CA Alumni Association Important Dates 2020-2021..................................................85

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Colorado Academy Journal

Dear CA Community:

T

he 2019-2020 school year has been the most unusual and most challenging of my more than 20-year career as an educator.

We recently finished the school’s first-ever Spring trimester of 100% remote learning.

We also ended the year celebrating our Class of 2020 with the school’s first-ever virtual graduation and diploma car parade. No one could have anticipated the changes brought upon us by COVID-19 and the rapidity with which conditions continue to evolve.

With the pandemic, and with an enormous groundswell of support for greater racial equity and justice in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, this is a time for us and for our children like no other. In so many ways, we have been catapulted in new

directions. I can’t tell you how impressed and proud I am of our community’s response in the wake of both of these major forces of our time. Our faculty have responded in untold ways to new teaching challenges; our students and alumni are asking great questions about how we all deepen our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive environment.

We’re shifting from the immediate issues of these crises, and we are now looking ahead. We’re planning for the reopening of Colorado Academy in the Fall with contingency plans and hybrid learning models; we are planning for virtual events as well as in-person teaching; and with great enthusiasm, we hope to harness the energy in our community for deeper learning and

discussions about how we can be a model of excellence around inclusion, equity, and justice.

If we are witnesses to nothing else in our time, it is the power of a single individual to build the world up or to tear it down.

Our goal is to remember that “the power of one, if fearless and focused, is formidable, but the power of many working together is better.” (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) Sincerely,

Mike Davis, PhD Head of School

Summer 2020

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The Diploma Parade

T

he Colorado Academy campus was filled with joy on the afternoon of Commencement, June 4, 2020. It was also filled with the sounds of car horns, shouted greetings, laughter, and applause, as the Class of 2020 officially graduated at CA’s “Diploma Parade,” demonstrating resilient pomp under the circumstances.

Led by newly-retired Director of Security Ed Bleã on his tractor and masterfully

executed by Director of Operations Jesse Schumacher and his team, graduates, who had spent the Spring trimester taking remote classes, made their way slowly and safely around campus. Masked faculty and staff lined the parade route and shouted congratulations.

The graduates’ final stop was the podium on the Welborn lawn, where they received their diploma from a masked and gloved Head of School Dr. Mike Davis.

Earlier in the day, the Class of 2020 attended its Commencement ceremony remotely, with tributes to the students and speeches by Dr. Davis, Board of Trustees Chair David Jones ‘95, and student-elected speaker Holden Ryu ‘20.

In a Spring that many graduates would prefer to forget, CA’s first Diploma Parade was a moment they will remember and treasure. Perhaps one family’s sign said it best: “Mustangs set freeeee!” n

You can watch the Diploma Parade at news.coloradoacademy.org/class-of-2020-diploma-parade/.

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The Diploma Parade

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Staying True to the CA Mission in a Pandemic

T

his Spring, Robert Frost, a redtailed hawk, and rabbits ruled an empty Colorado Academy campus. With no sound of children laughing in the Dining Hall, no players competing on the fields, no students debating in the classroom, and no artists displaying their work in the Ponzio Arts Center, the CA community felt like it had lost touch with its home.

But the school did not lose its determination, its energy, its resilience, and its commitment to excellence.

Seniors pivoted on their Community Impact Projects and began sewing masks and writing letters of gratitude to health care workers. Another Senior launched a weekly talk show with students and teachers which quickly became must-see TV. Lower Schoolers learned online in the morning and took the “Courage and Kindness Challenge” in the afternoon—sometimes creating chalk art messages of appreciation for their teachers. Middle School students pursued their regular academic program and collectively exercised for more than 90,000 minutes. Between the first day of remote learning, March 25, and mid-May, CA logged more than seven million Zoom meeting minutes, the majority in the classroom with students learning. CA even found a way to continue the beloved Senior-Kindergarten Buddy Program during a pandemic.

Much of what the world has seen and lived through in 2020 was certainly not normal, but even during these challenging times, Colorado Academy stayed true

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to its mission—Creating curious, kind, courageous, and adventurous learners and leaders. This is the story of how CA did it.

Ramping up One of the often-noted aspects of the coronavirus pandemic is how quickly it spread. CA began watching the arrival of COVID-19 in January, shortly after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on a pneumonia-like coronavirus traveling from China to other places around the world. Reports from news organizations around the country began confirming, one by one, cases of people testing positive inside the U.S. Working in conjunction with CA’s Health Assistant and consultants at Children’s Hospital Colorado, school leaders began to think about just what a pandemic would look like and how CA could prepare to respond.

Each time there was a cancellation, a postponement, or directive by health or government officials, CA ramped up its response: forming a task force to monitor news developments, increasing cleaning and sanitation efforts, exploring a virtual platform provider, and planning for what was, at first the unthinkable, and then became a matter of course.

Transitioning to remote learning Early on, CA anticipated that the school might have to make a transition to remote learning, with students and teachers all working at home, using either a >>>

Fifth Grader Georgia Roberts attending school at home

CA During the Pandemic

Director of Inclusivity Sarah Wright and Pre-Kindergarten Director Lizzie Rockmore ’90 train for Zoom school.

Avery Lin ’20 attending school at home

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What students say about Zoom school Avery Lin, Senior In my mind, I had the last trimester of my Senior year all laid out— prom, Senior Speeches, doing the Upper School musical—and then it was all canceled. In the weeks since the school closed, it’s been different for every one of us. It’s really sad in some ways, and in other ways that I would never have expected, I have been pleasantly surprised.

In this whole experience, we are all using the principles of improvisation which are “Yes, and….” It’s a disruption for everyone, but the teachers are trying hard. Teachers propose new ways of doing things, and students go along saying, “Yes, and….” It shows what you can do when you have really smart teachers and devoted students.

One positive of Zoom learning is that we have amazing technology that allows us to see people’s faces. It doesn’t replace being in the room with my classmates, but just to wake up every morning and see their smiling faces offers a relief. Also, this gives a routine. Endless Spring Break is not something you want.

The one thing that I like about this Spring is the amount of free time I’ve had. So in an

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odd way, even though I am trapped in my house, this has been freeing.

Harper Hodgson, Grade 7 When I heard the news from Dr. Davis that we would be going to Zoom school, I was happy to have a routine. It’s good to have something to do besides sitting around the house and taking the dog for 30 walks a day.

There are positives to learning on Zoom.

We can go into small groups and do group projects with our teacher dropping in to check on us. The teacher can share a screen, which is just like having a projector on the whiteboard in class, so that’s a good tool.

We can work alone in our own space during school, which I actually like, especially when I am writing English assignments, because there are no distractions.

Georgia Roberts, Grade 5 I saw this coming. If you read the news, you knew that there were more cases of COVID-19 every day, so yes, I figured we might not come back to school, but I didn’t know that it would last this long. I was sad I wouldn’t see my friends. But I was glad that I could sleep in. An extra 90 minutes of sleep every day is definitely a plus.

We have even been able to continue meeting with our Advisory once a week and with the Eighth Grade Leadership team. We play games with them.

The plusses of Zoom school? Well, I like the “themed shares,” because you have to think ahead and have something prepared. I could never bring my two dogs to real school to share! I like short classes, because it gives me more time to do my homework. I feel like everything we are doing is very clear. The teachers show us exactly how to do things. And with Zoom, if you have questions or something doesn’t make sense, you can ask for help. Also, I like that I can see my friends and teachers.

Overall, it feels like the school really has this situation organized and under control. Because I am focused on class, I have less stress, and I am much less worried about the virus. It’s good to have something else to think about.

I miss being in a community doing things together. But it could have been much worse if we didn’t have Zoom, iPads, technology, the internet, and our teachers. n

CA During the Pandemic <<< synchronous or asynchronous model.

With asynchronous online learning, teachers would post materials, lectures, and tests for students to do on their own schedule. There would be little, if any, interaction with students.

With synchronous learning, students and teachers would be online at the same time, continuing a regular class schedule like they had during the school year, learning together.

Because a significant part of the school’s mission is a commitment to staying connected as a community, CA chose to implement synchronous learning. CA was the first school in Colorado to sign a contract with the Zoom K-12 video conferencing platform for Pre-K through Grade 12.

Teachers engaged in intense training as they adapted curriculum to online teaching.

Days before Spring Break, Head of School Dr. Mike Davis delivered his annual State of the School address to parents, beginning with a Question and Answer session about CA’s COVID-19 response. Many parents watched and submitted questions via Zoom.

“The scale and speed of this has been unprecedented,” observes Davis. “One of the many things that independent schools can do is to react and pivot to changing

conditions and to needs in our community.

“It is not just our structure and operation, but it is our faculty and our mindset, and it is exactly what we want to model for students.

There is no doubt, as we look to the future, that tomorrow’s leaders are going to need to know how do the same kind of thing.”

After Spring Break in March, students and teachers returned to school, but not to campus. Classes continued seamlessly in real time while everyone remained safely at home. To support students’ mental health, the school’s online programming was built around a familiar schedule that followed CA’s regular six-day rotation of classes. For additional mental health support, teachers and school counselors provided virtual office hours. Lower Schoolers had a shortened school day so they spent less time on a screen.

CA has been highlighted by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) for its “holistic online strategy.” The independent school trade organization applauded CA’s effort to support and engage students as much as possible during an interruption to daily school life.

“Understanding that learning, development, and social-emotional wellness are about more than classroom

lectures, [Davis] promised parents he would consider creative ways to engage his students,” wrote NAIS. As CA looks ahead to next year, there are many unknowns, but the school will continue to be guided by state and local health and governmental authorities. There may be state orders that limit class sizes and that enforce social distancing at schools.

(Section sizes range from 15-20 students at CA.) There may be additional school closures next year, and the faculty are working to fine-tune their online teaching.

CA believes that reopening the schools is key to getting the economy going. In the same way that school leadership acted quickly and strategically at the beginning of the pandemic, there is now an ongoing effort to evaluate creative solutions for the future.

Living through a pandemic—a time that our children’s children will someday study in history class—is a daily reminder of why bricks-and-mortar schools and in-person learning matter. Although online learning serves a purpose, humans were built for real connections. CA families will not forget this experience, and they will learn from it. As one CA Upper Schooler recently said, “I will never complain about school again.” n

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The Future of Froelicher Theatre

W

hen it comes to Colorado Academy’s project to build the new Leach Center for the Performing Arts, it seems the school has an unusual luxury: a bit of time. Prior to the pandemic, the project was slated to get underway at the end of May 2020. Now, having been given the option of rebidding the project to reduce costs and waiting up to 90 days to begin, the school stands to save some money, while maintaining its plan to build and open a new center by Fall 2021.

“The plans remain unchanged, so this is not an effort to change the scope of the project— it is simply an opportunity to view the project with a new lens,” says Director of Operations Jesse Schumacher. “Prior to the pandemic, Colorado had a booming construction industry, and that made labor and supplies priced at a premium. While there is so much that the pandemic has made more difficult and more expensive, this is one place where we might not have to spend quite as much as we had first anticipated. At the same time, we know that moving forward will help employ dozens of workers and subcontractors.”

At the last Board of Trustees meeting of the 2019-2020 school year, members voted to delay the start of construction until the project was rebid in June. At the same time, trustees restated their commitment to moving forward with the project, citing it as critical to the future of CA and the school’s ongoing commitment to the arts.

The experience of performing arts on a stage was something that students missed in their third trimester of the school year. Student plays and numerous other performances were cancelled, just some of

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the many experiences Seniors missed. In a final school project, Senior Bailey Walker set out to capture how students felt about losing their opportunity to bid farewell to a place they knew so well.

A Farewell to Froelicher

BY BAILEY WALKER ’20

T

he coronavirus pandemic has upended almost everything in our daily lives. As a third tri Senior, I dreaded logging on to class meetings just to watch more and more of our traditions disappear into the ether.

However, the hardest part for me personally has not been the loss of certain dates or scheduled events, but not being able to just be on campus as a Senior. Not being able to lie in the grass during a free block or set up my hammock by the fields is a disappointment I never thought I would encounter. The whole experience has made me realize, if not appreciate, the importance of place in my life. In my own experience at CA, no place has meant more to me than the theater.

As a building, Froelicher Theatre is forever intertwined with the classes, performances, Town Halls, and hangouts that have happened inside its un-airconditioned walls. Since the long-overdue demolition and rebuilding of Froelicher Theatre will most likely happen before I get a chance to re-enter those hallowed walls, I wanted to collect thoughts from the people who loved it and used it the most—not just to serve as a farewell to the building itself, but to remember the spirit of the CA theater community that lives on into the new building and our current virtual world. n

Preliminary rendering of the Leach Center for the Performing Arts

The story of Froelicher Theatre can be found in so many places—each name etched into the walls by hundreds of actors and technicians leaving a lasting memory of their accomplishments…the splatters of paint that make up a chaotic but artful piece on the floors backstage...the cracks on the floor where the tiles have decided to curl upwards, pointing at the lights waiting for their next use that will never come. The applause dies down and the house lights come up. One era ends, only to give birth to another.”

James Doolittle, Junior “Froelicher Theatre has just about always been my favorite place on campus. Even when it was acting up and being an absolute mess of a building, the space was so charming and filled with such great

Froelicher Theatre

The new Leach Center for the Performing Arts will be used by every CA student and will serve as a place for the wider community to gather. We invite you to play a role in CA’s future by making a gift today to support the project. Please visit CASeeItThrough.org or contact Gravely Wilson, CA Advancement Officer, at gravely.wilson@coloradoacademy.org.

memories that it was impossible not to love.

I’ll never forget performing there for the first time and just soaking up the irreplaceable energy of that space. And I will not forget just hanging out on the scaffolding with friends on slow afternoons. Froelicher will definitely be missed.”

Aidan Klingbeil ’20 “I started out in the theater as just the little Freshman girl who operated the spotlight.

I remember thinking that there was no way that the cool Seniors would give me a second glance. But after my first rehearsal, a wonderful Senior girl named Liza came up to me and asked if I wanted to go get Starbucks with everyone. I know it’s the smallest little thing, but it meant the world to me. Later, I remember acting with Justin in Our Town and thinking, “Why am I standing next to this talented actor?” But he showed me how

confident I can be on stage. I hope I was able to do the same for the underclassmen in the program who performed with me.”

Phoebe Cannon ’20 “The place that is hardest for me to say goodbye to is the Basement Theatre. It is less visited and less known, but I would spend every moment there, if possible.

The lessons I’ve learned both in class and in shows have shaped me in ways that academics never will—not to mention all of the singalongs, rituals, tears, conversations, make-up disasters, impromptu performances, sassy comments, and bonds that were forged, which will forever live as some of the best memories I possess. I’ll miss you, Froelicher Theatre, but I know that everything you gave us will carry on in our new space.”

Claire Kenny, Sophomore

“Froelicher Theatre is my favorite place on earth. It is my home, even though I live half an hour away from school. It is a refuge for every bad day and a place to celebrate every good day. I have made all of my best friends there. It has done so much for me that I could never repay it.”

Cooper Kofron ’20 “My home, Froelicher Theatre, is a place to laugh until your stomach hurts, a place to cry until you’re dehydrated, a place to love until your heart feels full. Since my Freshman year Technical Theater class, this place has given me so much more than I can possibly give back. To all of you who have felt the magic of this place: you have a special place in my heart. To all who have not yet: you’re always welcome. The theater is not just a place, it’s a community.

Annabelle Swenson, Junior

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Education Beyond APs: The Honors Electives

E

very Fall, Admission Officers at Colorado Academy hear a familiar question from prospective families.

open-mindedness, and writing. These types of courses are typically only found at the college level.”

says. “It’s about humans and how we move forward as a society understanding each other better.”

“How many AP classes does CA offer?”

To offer a sense of how Honors Elective courses distinguish CA, we spent time observing four different courses, talking to students and teachers.

The students come to that new understanding through a rigorous selection of readings, many of which have been published in the past two years. As times change, Wolf-Tinsman can tailor the reading to societal issues, something students really like. “I took the class because it is relevant to today’s society, like the #MeToo movement, gender discrimination in employment, stereotypes about gender in school and at home,” says Junior Henry Chesley-Vogels.

“I wanted to have thought-provoking discussions that allow me to look at gender with a new lens.”

The answer to the question is easy: 17.

But Director of Admission and Financial Aid Catherine Laskey hopes applicants will also pose a different question. “Ask us about Honors Electives that allow students to brainstorm, analyze, discuss, and apply what they’ve learned on a particular topic— in essence, courses where students can take a deep dive into a faculty member’s area of expertise, making the learning relevant and engaging,” she says.

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Honors Elective: Gender Studies “I don’t think I could ever be a mom!” This declaration—which comes from a male Senior as soon as he drops his backpack and sinks into this seat—starts an enthusiastic discussion before Gender Studies teacher Elissa Wolf-Tinsman has even begun class.

CA offers more than 40 Honors Electives in subjects as varied as “The War on Terror,” “Contemporary Literature of the Middle East,” and “Statistics and Data Science.” Many Juniors and Seniors take Honors Electives in addition to AP courses. They are seeking balance in their education, knowing that both types of courses will be of interest to colleges when they apply and also will benefit their overall education and ability to think critically about issues as college students and adults.

Wolf-Tinsman goes with the flow established by the lead-off remark. “Why not?” she asks. And that’s all it takes for her class to swing into a free-ranging discussion of a wide variety of ideas: How has the role of motherhood changed through history?

How do Instagram influencers lead mothers to feel guilty about their parenting? What did Freud say about the best way to be a mother? How did feminist Betty Friedan give voice to a different view of a woman’s role as a mother?

While AP test scores may indicate mastery of subject matter to a college, students who take CA Honors classes feel like they have experienced a college course while still in high school. “Nearly all secondary schools in the Denver metro area offer either AP classes or an IB curriculum,” says Upper School Principal Dr. Jon Vogels. “CA is proud to also offer in-depth discussion-based Honors Electives where students have the opportunity to sharpen their reasoning, inquiry, conceptualizing, problem-solving,

Every single member of the class, which is sitting in a circle, is intensely engaged. WolfTinsman blends into the circle, prompting the discussion with quiet questions.

The good-sized group is evenly divided between males and females, a fact that delights Wolf-Tinsman. As a student, she studied Women’s History and watched as the field evolved into Gender Studies, which she believes is more inclusive. “Boys are enrolling in this class now because they see it as not just about girls and women,” she

Colorado Academy Journal

The class discussion lands on a new question: “What is the ideal mother?” This prompts a healthy exchange of ideas about the pressure mothers might feel to be perfect. “A mom should take time for herself sometimes,” observes one student.

Wolf-Tinsman challenges the class. “Are dads judged on the same criteria as moms?” More discussion follows. Wolf-Tinsman sits back and lets the students direct the debate.

“They all come in with some preconceived notions about gender and power dynamics in society, and they learn there may be greater nuance than they realized,” she says.

“They develop critical thinking, tackling challenging topics, listening to different viewpoints, and responding with mutual respect.”

“This course prepares you for college discussions where you will be studying and discussing sensitive material,” adds Chesley-Vogels.

Like many in the Honors class, he is also

Education Beyond APs

Tom Thorpe teaches “Literature of the Apocalypse.”

taking AP courses, which he finds equally rigorous but in a different way. “The AP test is coming in May, so it’s important to stick to the text on a schedule,” he says. “The Honors Elective gives me more opportunity to delve deeply into a single topic for a longer period of time.”

Wolf-Tinsman created the course with fellow Gender Studies teacher Emily Perez, and the two teachers collaborate to improve the curriculum each year. The culminating project in the course is a lengthy, college-level research paper on a topic chosen by each student, complete with thesis, outline, sources, rough draft, revisions, and final product. “This course has really elevated my writing skills,” ChesleyVogels says. “I’m more of a math and science guy, but I never loved writing more than doing this paper, because I got to write about a topic that was important to me.”

The class ends with a discussion about the gender pay gap, and now Wolf-Tinsman challenges the students to break into small groups and come back to the larger group with solutions. “Your generation is moving into the professional workforce,” she tells them. “How will you address this issue?”

They return with truly creative ideas. WolfTinsman smiles. “I love this class,” she says. “I so appreciate their honesty.”

Honors Elective: Literature of the Apocalypse English teacher Tom Thorpe would be the first to acknowledge that the Honors Elective course “Literature of the Apocalypse” deals with dark themes.

The readings include Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Road, Tom Perrotta’s The Leftovers, as well as writing from Jewish and Christian apocalyptic and

post-apocalyptic tradition. “The course asks that we think broadly about the human condition,” Thorpe says. “What makes us obsessed with the idea of ‘The End’?”

The topic may seem an unlikely choice for students in Grades 11 and 12, but there are no empty seats in the classroom. Junior Elsa Mushkin explains it simply. “We tend to run away from dark things,” she says. “But in our culture, it’s important to face the darkness, and you feel more protected doing it through literature.”

“I am actually less frightened of an apocalyptic event after taking the course,” says Junior Makayla Martinez. “This class asks you to think about the big questions— if it happened, what would it be, how would we react, how would society continue?”

Thorpe maintains that students in Honors Elective Courses have taken an >>>

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<<< important first step in their preparation for college simply by enrolling.

“In college, they will be presented with many options for elective courses with a huge amount of freedom to choose,” he says. “How are they going to figure out what courses to take unless they have had some practice in researching a course?

That’s what our Grades 11 and 12 electives allow them to do—practice choosing.”

In one way, the course is very different from a college course. At the beginning, Thorpe alerts parents to the dark themes that students will confront and suggests that their readings may provide opportunity for conversations at home. “The literature we tackle prompts profound discussions about difficult topics,” Thorpe says. “We do it with safety nets and scaffolding around them, always remembering this is literature created from someone’s imagination.”

In the classroom, Thorpe breaks the students into small groups and assigns quotes from The Road to each group.

Students make a beeline for someone who has a quote that interests them.

“Perhaps in the world’s destruction, it would be possible at last to see how it was made.” McCarthy’s words spark passionate discussion. What does the author mean?

What are the implications of these words for the characters in the context of a postapocalyptic world? The discussion is intense and driven by the students as they move around the room.

“They are learning how to think and how to think about their thinking,” Thorpe says.

“Their responsibility to interact with the material and each other prepares them to take on the next hard text and learn how to deal with the ambiguity of complicated ideas and writing.”

The students embrace the challenge. “This course tests your maturity,” says Senior Lexi Howard. “As we get older, it will be our responsibility to address the problems in the world, so it feels safe to start by reading and discussing a book you know isn’t real.”

“I really like that we are writing on a different

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topic every week in this course, sharing our ideas,” adds Senior Nate Kay. “This course prepares you for college, because you cannot get through with rote memorization.

You are forced to pay attention to the material and do your own analysis.”

By the end of the class, Thorpe gives the students his own thoughts to consider as they go into a bigger world. “The Road is ultimately about morality,” he says. “In an extreme environment, people learn to what extent their humanity can be pushed. What instinct is stronger? Being moral or surviving?”

Honors Elective: Advanced Computer Science: Data Structures “It took me 25 hours to create this assignment,” teacher Kimberly Jans announces at the beginning of her class in Advanced Computer Science: Data Structures. The eight students in the class are riveted as she plays the results of her work, a programming assignment requiring students to add visual and audible elements to a sorting algorithm and create a unique animation. When she finishes, the students applaud enthusiastically.

This is not a class for novices, as indicated by the textbook: Java Methods: Objectoriented Programming and Data Structures.

The students have already taken AP Computer Science, some of them as Sophomores, as a prerequisite for the course. “They picked up great skills in AP, and the work piqued their interest in computer science,” Jans says. “That’s what brings them to this class.”

This Honors Elective is the equivalent of a college freshman’s second semester of computer science. “The course allows you to be creative in the subject,” explains Senior George Davis. “You apply the knowledge from year to year, moving to a higher level and expanding what you can accomplish.”

As Jans leads the group in their understanding of the language of searching and sorting data, the students bounce ideas off each other and off their teacher with

ease and authentic determination to solve the problems. Jans keeps the discussion about sorting algorithms and analyzing their complexity moving with prompts and encouragement: How do we take objects and compare them in Java? Is it worth it to do a binary search? Don’t worry, you will understand this algorithm when we get done!

“I love this class,” Jans says, who has been teaching computer science for 30 years.

“The students are here because they also love computer science, and they want to dig deeper. Even though we have a set curriculum, we have the flexibility to take time out to do projects that interest the students.”

Seniors Walt Jones and Tyler Wolf Williams are a good example of students pursuing an interest. They have just taken two weeks to transform the classic board game “Battleship,” coding it so that a computer-based artificial intelligence plays against another computer.

“Ms. Jans says, ‘Is there any interest in doing this?’ and if there is, she creates the curriculum,” Jones explains. “You are learning because you are curious about the content.

The next thing I want to learn more about is quantum computing encryption.”

Senior Sammy Moore-Thomson sums up student sentiment. “In this class, we have a say in deciding what we are learning.”

Studying computer science with Jans is an aerobic exercise. By the middle of the class, she has everyone out of their chair, and they are engaged in human sorting, acting out an algorithm in groups around the room. It’s tough work, calling for engaged brains. No one is more engaged than Jans, and no one quits. And that may be the ultimate learning experience in this course.

“You feel like you are banging your head against a wall, but you don’t let go, and then finally, the code works, and you have something solved,” Jans says. “The feedback is right there before your eyes, and you feel like you have knocked it out of the park.”

Honors Elective: Environmental Chemistry In Environmental Chemistry, teacher David Frankel makes sure that nothing

Education Beyond APs happens at the beginning of class. In fact, he guarantees it by setting a timer. For two minutes, the classroom is silent as everyone practices Mindfulness, shutting out the distractions of the day. Some students’ heads tilt downward, some eyes close. It is how Frankel starts all of his classes. “This helps all of us focus and be present in the moment,” he says. “Students know there is a predetermined way every class starts. It’s our routine.”

But when the mindfulness minutes end, the class explodes with energy. Frankel doesn’t say much beyond, “Let’s get to it,” and everyone moves to the lab bench to grab beakers, pipettes, testing strips, and water samples. They know their goal. They are safeguarding Colorado’s water.

The previous day, the students traveled by bus to Bear Creek to take water samples. Now they are testing the water for pH, alkalinity, dissolved oxygen, and hardness. They will send their results to River Watch, a statewide citizen science network of more than 200 volunteer groups with this motto: “Real People doing Real Science for a Real Purpose.”

River Watch is supported by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in its mission to gather high-quality data, which will influence the state’s decision-making about preserving and restoring the condition of Colorado’s water.

The students test the water they gathered with a sense of higher purpose. What they learn matters in the state they inhabit.

“I’m passionate about our environment, and I want students to be more aware of their impact on the environment,” Frankel says. “I want to make sure they understand the science of what’s happening around them—what happens when we put salt on the roads, when we look up and see a brown cloud around Denver, when we have ozone warnings.”

In this yearlong course, students study water quality, air quality, toxicology, and the science of climate change. Senior Paul Chandler says students in the class are “freed from a textbook,” because Frankel

asks them to find readings on the topics that interest them and share what they learn with the entire class.

The students break into small groups to discuss their recent reading. One group is talking about the carcinogen chromium-6 made famous by the movie Erin Brockovich that is still present in the water of Phoenix, Arizona. One group is discussing a recent Supreme Court case deciding whether a wastewater treatment plant in Hawaii should be subject to anti-pollution provisions in the 1972 Clean Water Act. Another group is discussing lead leaching into the water in Newark, N.J., and the failure of filters to remove it.

Kimberly Jans teaches “Advanced Computer Science: Data Structures.”

In a discussion with the class at large, Senior Holden Ryu connects the New Jersey water to Flint, Michigan and talks with authority about how heavy metals cross the bloodbrain barrier and cause developmental delays in children. “Lead is in so many things; this is not a simple issue,” he observes. “You have to overhaul our entire infrastructure, costing billions.”

Asked why they chose an Honors Elective, the students have varying answers. “The subject matter is advanced,” says Senior Jasmine Moore, “and you have so much legroom to explore.”

“An Honors Class has an approach individualized for each student,” says Senior Ella Greene.

Elissa Wolf-Tinsman teaches “Gender Studies.”

“The teachers who choose to lead Honors classes are passionate about what they are teaching,” adds Senior Jake Donaldson-Reid.

“They are teaching what they love.”

Frankel would agree. He likes to talk about the “Aha moments,” when students make changes in their lives based on what they are learning—adding a second recycling bin at home or turning off the lights when they leave a room. “They are finding their own carbon footprint and realizing there are things they can do to minimize it,” he says. “Hearing a student say that this should be a required course, because they are all learning about how they impact their environment—that’s when I know the course is a success.” n

David Frankel teaches “Environmental Chemistry.”

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What Makes Pre-Kindergarten ‘Special’

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he Specials at Colorado Academy Pre-Kindergarten are aptly named. These are times of each day when students leave their classroom to do a “special” activity: dance, music, art, physical education, library time, and science. The same kind of learning happens every day inside the Pre-K classrooms, but the additional time outside the classroom offers students a chance to focus on one activity under the watchful eye of a “Specials” teacher.

“It’s like students get a little field trip almost every day without ever leaving campus,” says Pre-Kindergarten Director Lizzie Rockmore ’90. “It takes what we do in the classroom one big step

further, enriches our curriculum, provides a change of scenery, and gives them the adventure of walking around campus and seeing older students.”

Lower School Principal Angie Crabtree sees Specials as CA’s way to expose students to a broad range of opportunities and provide a foundation for future learning. “It may pique an interest or spark a passion for these young students,” she says. “In the future, they will have the chance at CA to dive more deeply into a subject.”

Rockmore likes to refer to the Specials as a source for “hidden curriculum.”

“In Specials, students are practicing skills we are teaching in the classroom, learning

without even knowing it,” she says. She also believes it’s good for Pre-K students to see a variety of teachers—and for teachers to see them—“so many people can contribute to the development of a child and help us meet every child’s needs.”

“These Specials teachers have unique training and are passionate about teaching this age group,” adds Crabtree. She is also delighted to see Mustang Mentors from the Fifth Grade helping the teachers in every Pre-K Special. It’s a chance for Pre-K students to meet older students and learn from them. “And in seven years, the Pre-Kindergartners will be Mustang Mentors,” says Crabtree. “That’s the most exciting thing.”

Pre-K Art Pre-Kindergartners and paint—what could go wrong?

says. “We build on these skills as they progress through the art program at CA.”

In fact, much goes right when Jorge Muñoz is teaching. He starts the art class by gathering very attentive Pre-Kindergartners, all clad in neon-green smocks, to explain clearly what will happen after they disperse to their individual easels. Each will get two strips of tape to stick to their paper.

Then they paint the paper. Finally, they will remove the tape and what remains is their individual masterpiece.

As students begin to paint, personal styles emerge, even at this young age. Every student applies the tape to their paper with slight variations. Some students are careful to keep each primary color separate on the paper, not touching the tape. Others mix the colors to see what color they can produce. Some start the project cautiously and begin taking risks as they progress.

They work independently, but they have many questions. What you hear most often is “Mr. Muñoz? Mr. Muñoz? Mr. Muñoz?”

It may seem a simple assignment, but the students are developing complex art skills and habits by using their imaginations, improving fine and gross motor skills, and engaging in creative problem solving. “I am acquainting them with artistic language and basic foundational art skills like collaging, drawing, and painting,” Muñoz

Their teacher patiently answers each student. He demonstrates what he believes—that art fosters curiosity and wonder, provides an outlet for the imagination that isn’t always present in other areas of learning, encourages creative problem solving, and contributes

to a “whole child” approach to learning.

In Pre-K Art, students build a foundation for their future at CA, where art is of equal importance with academics and athletics.

“Why not start teaching art as early as possible?” Muñoz says. “You get them going on the right track. They create with wonderment and bring their imaginations to life through their art.” >>>

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Pre-K Physical Education CA Pre-Kindergartners spend plenty of time enjoying freedom and activities provided by recess—riding tricycles, building snowmen, flying through the air on swings.

But they also make a regular journey to the CA Athletic Center Field House, where they participate in more organized athletic activities, under the watchful eyes of Coaches Bob Ulrich, Beth Folsom, Dan Pratt, and Hunter Worthley.

Physical Education Special starts off with a burst of speed, as all the students run in a circle around the Field House. It’s a good energy-burning activity. What follows may feel like pure fun to the students, but all the games—whether they involve hopscotch or bunny hopping—help build important locomotor skills. These are the basic building blocks of coordination: walking, galloping, jumping, hopping, side-sliding, leaping, and skipping.

The work students do during Pre-K will create a foundation for Physical Education in Lower School, where the curriculum is built around the study of Kinesiology, with a focus on the characteristics, interests, and needs of the students.

The coaches work with students to organize age-appropriate relay races, with the emphasis on organizing.

“They are learning to listen and follow directions,” says Folsom. “In many ways, that is just as important a part of P.E. as the movement skills.”

P.E. ends with a perennial favorite—the giant rainbow parachute. “Everyone hold it with your right hand and walk in a circle,” call out the coaches. There is some fumbling as students remember right from left.

“Now switch to your left hand and walk

in a circle,” comes the direction. After the Pre-Kindergartners head out the door back to their classroom, the Field House seems unnaturally quiet. Coach Folsom breathes out. “With Pre-Kindergartners every day is different,” she says. “It’s fun because they are seeing all these activities for the first time, and they are always excited.”

Pre-K Library At their first visit to the Library of the school year, some Colorado Academy PreKindergartners aren’t sure what to make of this Special. The experience of sitting in a group and listening to stories may be new to them, and it could feel like playtime in a new environment. But very quickly, that changes as Librarians Allison Peters Jensen and Mary Leyva transform their youngest students into great listeners.

By the time mid-December rolls around, Leyva looks out at a group of students gathered on their listening rug, in their favorite listening positions—most of them with legs crossed, or as they would say, “criss-cross applesauce.” Their voices are turned off and their ears are turned on, and it only takes a gentle reminder in case someone forgets how to be an expert in story time listening behavior. Leyva has picked two holiday-themed books to read.

When she asks what is on the cover of one book, Yowei Guo’s hand shoots up. “It’s a menorah,” he says. And he is right.

Leyva reads the books to the Pre-

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Kindergartners with just the right amount of drama, pausing on occasion to ask questions about the characters and the illustrations, to prompt students to make predictions about the story, and to encourage students to make connections between the stories and themselves.

“The fun of reading to this age is in the unexpected,” Leyva says. “You never know what a child will notice in a story. As we discover and learn together, my goal is to create joyful memories that kindle ongoing interest in books and stories.”

As Director of Libraries at CA, Jensen is establishing behavior in the PreKindergartners that will last throughout their career at CA—and beyond. During story time, she believes they develop a rich vocabulary, view many different kinds of art in the illustrations, and make connections between the words and illustrations in a book. They meet a variety of characters, learn how to follow a storyline, and build background knowledge through stories.

All of these experiences contribute to

increased language development and processing in the young brain.

After Leyva finishes reading two stories, the students get to browse the library. They scatter independently to favorite spots and earnestly look at their options before choosing one special book to check out.

“Apart from brain development and the theories of learning, we think it is important for Pre-K students to learn that reading is fun,” Jensen says. “Already, we are starting them on the path to becoming lifelong readers!”

What Makes Pre-Kindergarten ‘Special’

Pre-K Music Isabella Ubertone’s classroom is a music paradise for Pre-K students, a place where she hopes “I can give them the gift of music.” In every corner, there are different instruments set up, but the students select their favorite within seconds of arriving.

They race to the huge drum in one corner, arrange themselves in a circle, and start drumming together. Ubertone, who is also CA’s flute instructor, uses the moment to teach some basic music skills.

“Hands up!” she calls. All hands fly to the air. “Hands down,” she tells them, and the drumming continues. The PreKindergartners think they are having fun, but they are also learning to keep a beat, work together, and follow a conductor.

Ubertone has decades of experience teaching music to children, dating back to her own childhood when her mother opened a preschool in her home. “Every day I would go to school to learn, but I couldn’t

wait to come home and help her teach,” Ubertone recalls.

After drumming, the students dash to stand on their assigned places, marked with colorful dots on the rug, and sing, first loudly, then quietly. They are learning music dynamics. Then Ubertone segues into what is clearly a favorite activity. She holds a puppet version of Hedwig, the owl made famous by Harry Potter books, and visits each student singing, “Hello, I’m glad you are here today.” The students sing back to her. It feels like fun, but these young students are matching Ubertone’s pitch with their first solos.

Then, it’s time for a new activity as students gather in a circle, each with a glockenspiel in front of them. “Everyone find the orange key,” Ubertone calls out. “That’s the letter A.” Now the Pre-Kindergartners are all percussion players, and what follows

is some enthusiastic improvising. “I am playing the piano with my safe hands,” Pre-K student Dylan Driver announces.

“I love teaching Pre-K Music, because it is an international language that connects us all,” Ubertone says. “My goal is that at the end of the day, my students have a melody or rhythm that has brought them joy.”

Pre-K Science Someday, the CA class of 2033 may produce some of the country’s leading scientists, the kind of researchers who change the future with their discoveries. If that’s the case, those scientists could trace the start of their career to Pre-K Science with Jeff Goldstein ’88, or Mr. G., as all the students call him.

Today is a big day for Pre-K in science.

They spent their last class building a vermicompost bin. Composting with worms requires a “worm bed.” They collected leaves, tore up old newspapers, mixed them together in a bin, and made certain the mixture was moist with water.

They added a “worm sandwich” out of food scraps, including moldy bread, apple cores, wilted lettuce, crushed egg shells, coffee grounds, and other organic matter.

Then they introduced the red wigglers to their home. Today, they will get to hold the worms and study them closely.

But before that moment, Mr. G. takes the opportunity to turn science class into a vocabulary lesson. “Let’s think about our own beds,” he tells the students, who are gathered on a rug at his feet, fixated on him.

“What words would be used to describe our beds?” The hands shoot up and the words come quickly. “Fluffy…cozy…soft… warm…lovey.”

“So now let’s think about a worm bed,” Goldstein asks. “How would you feel lying in a worm bed?” More hands. “Squishy…wet… rough…yucky…pokey…itchy.”

Goldstein brings the vocabulary lesson back to science. “But which bed would a worm rather have?” he asks. “A worm bed!” the PreKindergartners chorus.

The pay-off moment has arrived.

Goldstein distributes small piles of worms from the bed to two-person teams of Pre-K students seated at lab tables. A few make their intentions clear from the start. “I am not going to touch that worm,”

they say, only to be overcome by curiosity and end up closely eyeing the worm in their hand.

The students will continue to feed the worms kitchen scraps, observe decomposition, and study the worms.

Ask Goldstein what makes Pre-K Science special, and it comes down to one word for him. “It’s all magical to them,” he says.

But watching him teach, you begin to suspect that there’s still magic in it for him as well. n

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The Advantage of the Arts

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t Colorado Academy, there are always three “A” disciplines in every student’s life—Academics, Athletics, and the Arts. While some might question the need for art as a required class for all students, CA never Instilling in our students the belief that they can create something out of nothing is of utmost importance. When they do so, they become designers, builders, creators, makers who can solve problems. In a world that changes daily—even minute-to-minute— students who have experience with art are flexible, adaptable, agile thinkers.”

doubts the advantage of the arts—from the studio to the stage, from the dance floor to the choir room, from making a film to playing an instrument.

We talked to Director of Visual and Performing Arts Katy Hills, Director of persevere, whether to complete a painting or learn a new piece on the violin. n

n

Katy Hills, Director of Visual and Performing Arts

“You are trying to make something that is aesthetically pleasing. It has to make sense and that has everything to do with mathematics. Art gives you the opportunity to unwind and take a time-out from stress in your life. And sometimes the results feel like they have more impact than an “A” in a class.”

Ella Freimuth, Junior, Studio Art

“Performing in front of people can make you feel vulnerable, but that is outweighed by the confidence you gain. Sometimes when I am working on Physics, I get stuck, and then I play the piano or sing, and it opens different pathways in my mind. You can’t be thinking about your Physics lab when you are playing Rachmaninoff!”

Colby Lish, Junior, Upper School Choir, Piano, and Musical Theater

“It is no surprise to me that some of the most dynamic professionals in the world are also practicing artists. They have had practice engaging in what we call ‘artistic behaviors.’ n

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They have learned to persist and

Colorado Academy Journal

n

T hey have learned to stretch and explore.

Even if they have never spoken in public, they try a role in a play, reaching beyond their comfort zone, thinking beyond what is obvious, and trying new solutions.

T hey have learned to collaborate, whether with a dance troupe, with a choir, or with an orchestral ensemble. They learn how to hold up their end of the bargain and give constructive, honest, and respectful feedback. They understand that the more perspectives they bring to a problem, the better solution they will find.

T hey learn to understand other people’s cultures, which broadens our perspectives.

More diverse minds examining a problem produce a better solution.”

Katy Hills, Director of Visual and Performing Arts

“Music Theory is very mathematical and has lots of ties to Physics and Math class.

Practicing music creates a solid work ethic.

Music connects people like nothing else.

It’s made me a more social person. Actively trying to get better on my instrument translates into my life, where I am trying to better myself as a person.”

Jack Kuelling, Junior, Academy Jazz

“There is a deeper level of thinking that happens in the Ponzio Arts Center. Art helps you solve problems. You will be painting, and it’s just not working, but there is no answer sheet to tell you if you are doing something

College Counseling Sonia Arora, and to a variety of students to learn how being involved in the world of art carries over to academic work, other disciplines, daily lives, and even college aspirations. What is the advantage of the arts? Here, in their own words, are their answers. n right or wrong. It’s up to you to find answers to the problems and challenges.”

Britt Lochhead, Junior, Studio Art

“Colleges are looking for strong artists to enhance their communities. When students apply to college, they often are allowed to submit art supplements to show off their talents, whether in photography, painting, film, digital media, creative writing, music, or performing arts. CA’s Portfolio Program is perfect for this, because students put together a gallery show demonstrating their artistic vision.

“This kind of work shines through on a college application. It shows that you didn’t just do work to pass a test and get a grade.

You had the passion to create something to pass your own grade.”

Sonia Arora, Director of College Counseling

“Art asks you to take chances. It also demands that you participate and become involved in the process. It teaches you to take the time to improve yourself. You learn you have to keep trying.”

Nate Kay ’20, Studio Art

“Music trains the brain. In our group, we hold each other accountable, just like people do in the real world. In order to play jazz well, you have to explore where it came from.

Learning the cultural significance of jazz and recreating the feelings of people who played it at a certain time is like taking a deeper dive into history.”

Chloe Brants, Junior, Academy Jazz

Arts Advantage “Participating in art helps a student build a lifelong appreciation of the arts. Engaging in artistic behaviors helps develop a willingness to look at a complex problem and make multiple attempts to find a solution. In a tough Ceramics project, there may be multiple failures, but the artist persists until the successes outnumber the failures. That artist brings the same mindset to an AP Chemistry Lab. “To have a successful career, we have to be dynamic problem solvers. Major companies—some of the most influential modern companies—are hiring people who demonstrate artistic behaviors, because they want people exploring ideas that others might think are impossible.”

Katy Hills, Director of Visual and Performing Arts

“Studio Art is about the duality of freedom to create and discipline to complete something. You have to depend on yourself to solve problems. Basically, it’s a good way to learn to be a grown-up.”

Genevieve Howard ’20, Studio Art

“I took Video production courses for eight trimesters and it taught me organization.

To make a video you have to be extraordinarily organized.”

Brandon Cohen ’20, Digital Video

“Many selective and highly selective colleges and universities have built arts facilities, created relationships with arts in the local community, and hired arts faculty to draw students with interest in the arts to their campuses. There, they can become part of a vibrant creative community built around the arts—theater, choir, dance,

studio arts—and that connection is so important, because it keeps students happy and engaged in college.”

Sonia Arora, Director of College Counseling

“Choir activates both sides of your brain.

You are listening, singing, changing pitch, changing dynamics all at the same time, and that gets your whole brain firing. There are neurological advantages of that to other parts of your life. Singing makes you better at multi-tasking.”

Henry Chesley-Vogels, Junior, Upper School Choir

“Performing in Choir has made me more comfortable with public speaking. Singing a solo is just like giving a speech, only with notes. Piano has taught me patience.

The more advanced the piece, the harder I have to work. That teaches you that if there are tricky spots in any project, you will not get to an end product unless you spend the time and work at it.”

Jo Rydberg, Freshman, Upper School Choir, Piano

“When we become overscheduled with busy lives, one of the first things to go is practicing the creative process. It’s important for students to carve out time in their days to keep art in their life. It may be a challenge, but today, make time for art.”

Katy Hills, Director of Visual and Performing Arts

“When you perform, you have to be true to yourself and grow as a person. You cannot do that if you don’t know who you are. And if you know who you are, you will succeed.

Colby Lish, Junior, Upper School Choir, Piano, and Musical Theater

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An ‘Exploratory’ Way to Learn Math

J

ane Doherty ’19 is really enjoying college, but she has a confession—she misses math at Colorado Academy. A Freshman at Georgetown University majoring in neurobiology, Doherty will have plenty of opportunity to practice the math she learned at CA in collegiate statistics and calculus courses. But she feels prepared for any future challenge because of the years she spent at CA in what she calls a “numerical playground,” where she gained “a deep love for math.”

“The way we learned math reflected the fact that the subject is not just a collection of equations to be memorized,” she says.

“Rather, CA allowed me to appreciate math for the awesome thing that it is—an entire system that leverages small known patterns to solve for large unknowns.”

Doherty describes CA’s approach to teaching math as “exploratory” and “investigative.” And that approach, she readily admits, occasionally led to moments of frustration.

“When new material was introduced in class, we weren’t just handed equations, which would’ve required much less time and brain power,” she says. “Instead, we were expected to manipulate mathematical patterns we already knew to solve unfamiliar problems, which takes much longer and is a lot harder.”

What Doherty may not have fully realized during her years at CA was that the frustration she felt and the occasional struggles she had with math were not accidental. They were a deliberative part of the curriculum for Upper School students, where Chair of the Mathematics

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Department Peter Horsch says teachers look for a balance between struggle and success as students develop their math skills.

“I like hearing students say, ‘I’m not sure, but here’s what I am thinking,’” Horsch says. “We want students to take on problems they are not sure they know how to do, perhaps struggle, perhaps not get to a final result, but they persevere. And ultimately they see even the struggle is rewarding.”

Math in Ninth Grade Step into Horsch’s Math 1 class, a combination of algebra and geometry, and you may feel as though you have taken a wrong turn. The students are seated in small groups of four, talking quietly to each other, as if they might be discussing the themes of a classic novel. Instead, they are talking math.

Horsch floats from group to group offering feedback. You never hear him say the words “that’s right” or “that’s wrong.” Instead, you hear this: “What mathematical evidence supports your conclusion?”

“Your answer is good, but how do we know it’s right?”

“What was your process here?”

Students take new problems and migrate with their small groups to whiteboard walls, where they can fill the perimeter of the classroom with numbers, arrows, fractions, and different approaches to solving a problem. At this point, the class becomes an aerobic exercise for Horsch as he bounces on cross-trainers around the room from group to group, coaching

their mathematical thinking, smiling all the time. “I love watching and listening to students doing math,” he says. “I know that it’s a tool that will allow them to understand their world, whether they go into business, engineering, design, medicine, scientific research, art, or even teaching.”

Some groups of students join others to view their thinking. No one gives up. Horsch moves around the room, reviewing their whiteboard work and asking questions.

“I’m not convinced, are you?”

“That looks like a hard strategy. I wonder if there is another approach?”

“That’s excellent. But does it really work?”

Suddenly, Ninth Grader Dori Beck is jumping up and down at the whiteboard.

“Five works! Five works! I can tell you why!

Can we have more problems?” It is a classic “Aha!” moment.

Beck explains what prompted the celebration. “There are different ways to approach a problem, and Mr. Horsch is interested in how we as a group worked together, using different viewpoints, to get to an answer,” she says. “You start to learn why things don’t work; there is a lot of trial and error involved, and when you get it, it’s rewarding.”

For Ninth Grader Hudson Parks, new to CA in his Freshman year, this approach to learning math is a departure from middle school. “I was used to having a lecture, taking notes, practicing the problem for homework, then taking the test,” he says.

Parks describes the approach at CA as more “interactive,” with communication >>>

An ‘Exploratory’ Way to Learn Math Neethi Venkateswaran teaching Precalculus

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<<< among students and between a student and the teacher. “It’s actually easier for me to learn,” he says. “It’s just more helpful to know why and how you got the answer, because you can build on that mathematical thinking.”

By the time the students hit the third round of problems in the class, they look like athletes who have spent the first period of the game warming up and now are ready to play. They come to their final challenge with speed and focus. Horsch keeps up the questions and concludes with affirmation.

“This was really good work today. We were not just doing the math, but getting better at providing mathematical evidence. We were thinking about the process and finding ways of simplifying it so something that took seven steps might only take two steps.”

The method of teaching Horsch likes to use an analogy to explain how his approach to teaching math has evolved over the years. Decades ago, he would show how a problem was solved, ask the students to practice it, and then perform what they learned on a test. It was, he says, a lot like a music recital or a play, where students practice and then perform.

But with time and teaching experience, he came to believe that math was better viewed as a theatrical improvisation, inventing a play on the fly or as sight reading, playing music you have never seen before.

“What that may mean is that your math may not be as polished as a recital or play for which you have practiced,” he says. “You may miss a note or a line, and students have to understand that’s okay.”

Using this approach means that students are more actively involved in building their own understanding of math concepts. The peer groups they work in are chosen randomly, with no teacher’s hand manipulating who works with whom. “The students learn from each other and they know I don’t control the group,” Horsch says. “The groups are not

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labeled by ability, which emphasizes that everyone has something to contribute.”

What all the students know is that they cannot look to Horsch for the answer. In response to a question, they are likely to get another question: “How did you get there? Will this work again? Why do you think that?”

“From teaching a concept and then practicing the math, we have flipped it,” Horsch says. “We introduce the problem first and ask students to discover the underlying concept.”

Upper School Principal Dr. Jon Vogels compares this approach to the way science classes have been taught for many years.

“You might start with a hypothesis in your science lab and do an experiment,” he says.

“When your lab doesn’t work, you would have to analyze why and try again.”

For individual students who might learn differently, Horsch adjusts his methods.

Also, some math lessons are not driven by discovery. Instead, he teaches in a more explicit way, engaging in targeted deliberate practice. Again, Horsch likes an analogy to explain why a mix of discovery and practice helps a student learn. “If you play tennis, hitting the ball fed by a machine can be really helpful, but if that’s all I do, I won’t be prepared for a tennis match,” he says. “In real play, a ball can come at a different angle, height, or spin.” In short, students need both experiences—practice and discovery—the ball machine and the competition—to best learn the game.

The value of struggle For some students, the challenge of solving a problem they have never seen before and explaining their process— the equivalent of improvising or sight reading—may feel uncomfortable.

Horsch likes to point out that it’s not unlike the struggles competitive athletes go through at any level. Increasingly, education writers are addressing the concept of struggle, particularly in math.

Jo Boaler, the Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Education at Stanford, wrote about

academic struggle in a recent article, excerpted here: “As parents and teachers, we do just about everything we can to make sure that children don’t struggle. It turns out we are making a terrible mistake. Research shows that struggling is absolutely critical to mastery and that the highest achieving people in the world are those who have struggled the most.

“Neuroscientists have found that mistakes are helpful for brain growth and connectivity and if we are not struggling, we are not learning. Not only is struggle good for our brains but people who know about the value of struggle improve their learning potential. This knowledge would not be earth shattering if it was not for the fact that we in the Western world are trained to jump in and prevent learners from experiencing struggle.

“When I was teaching middle schoolers in a research math camp a few years ago one girl stood out to me; she was nearly always wrong in her thinking, but she was always engaged, arguing her case, pushing to understand better. An observer of the class would have described her as a low achiever, but she improved more than any other of the 84 students we taught that Summer. Her standardized test score in mathematics improved by 450 percent after 18 struggle filled lessons. Our messages to the students—that struggle would be valued and mistakes are productive—had helped her feel good about struggle and embrace it.

“Millions of students start the school year each year excited for all they will learn, but as soon as they struggle or see someone solve a problem with ease, they start to doubt themselves and mentally shut down. This starts a less productive learning pathway for them. Instead they should value the time of struggle and know that they are on their way to being better, wiser and equipped with a stronger brain.”

In Paul Tough’s book The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us, he profiles Uri Treisman, PhD, who received

An ‘Exploratory’ Way to Learn Math

Erin Gray teaching Math 2

a MacArthur Fellowship recognizing his work in math education. On his first day in Freshman calculus at the University of Texas-Austin, Treisman tells his students, “Everybody in this class will struggle.

No matter who you are, questions are going to be flying at you that you can’t answer. And when that happens, you’re going to experience stress…. But in fact, that stress is an indicator that your understanding is deepening. It’s not a sign that you’re not learning. It’s a sign that you are learning.”

Twelfth Grade calculus The Twelfth Grade calculus class co-taught

by Horsch and Erin Gray is an example of learning in action. The two teachers had a number of their Senior students when they were Freshmen in Math 1. They have seen the students grow both in their mathematical knowledge and their view of themselves as creators of mathematical knowledge. “Their willingness to engage with difficult tasks and the success they have is one of the most rewarding parts for me of teaching this class,” says Gray.

“The continuity that we, as teachers, can maintain from Freshman year to Senior year speaks to the advantages of being at a small school like CA.” Senior Andersen Dodge describes math as “probably not my strongest subject,” and yet she really likes coming to class because of the one-on-one time she receives from teachers. Her classmate, Senior Seb Parra,

Peter Horsch teaching Math 1

also admits that math is probably not his “favorite” subject, but he chose to take calculus because he wants to major in business in college and he believes that being able to take derivatives of functions will help him as a young entrepreneur.

Like the Math 1 class, Horsch and Gray circulate from one randomly assigned group to the next, coaching and asking questions. It’s a very different approach to calculus than Gray remembers from her days as a student. “My teacher had an overhead projector and he would work a problem or two,” she says. “We sat in rows, took notes, and then we practiced the problems.” But, she says, if you looked at the topics in calculus that she studied, her students are learning the same content, except the learning is driven by student discovery. “This is a shared experience driven by student work,” she says. “And the students have to be effective communicators about their mathematical work. That’s what prepares them for careers where they will need to work on diverse teams.”

“There’s no doubt this is a challenging way to teach,” Vogels says. “It demands both preparation and flexibility.”

Gray agrees. “To a casual observer, it may look like we are winging it, but we have come up with problems that point students in a particular direction, and there is always an element of surprise that requires flexibility, creativity, and communication

among students and teachers.”

She is convinced this approach serves CA students well, because it helps students build a deeper and longer lasting understanding of math. “Students retain the things they figure out better than the things they are told,” she says. “You don’t want to have to memorize a formula for everything you do in math class, because memorizing doesn’t guarantee storage. A deep flexible understanding of a concept— that’s the bigger win.”

In the calculus class, you hear those wins from students as they work problems.

“Wow, that’s crazy!” exclaims one student.

Another chimes in, “That feels like magic!”

“No, not magic,” Horsch says. “It’s magical.”

Later he explains what he means.

“Working through a math problem isn’t magic, like something behind the curtain you don’t understand,” he says. “It’s magical, because it’s fantastic how it all fits together.”

For Jane Doherty, the magical experience of CA math continues in college. “This way of learning ultimately increased my confidence so much, because I learned how to be mathematically self-reliant, resilient, and cognitively flexible,” she says. “I learned that one’s abilities as a mathematician are measured best by how they can puzzle through new challenges by using prior foundational information and patterns. I’m so thankful for the Math Department at CA.” n

Summer 2020

25

Field Hockey Team Caps Undefeated Season

by Winning State

I

n their first appearance at the State Championship game in four years, the Colorado Academy Field Hockey Team returned to All-City Stadium to reclaim the state title on November 5, 2019. The Mustangs beat

“The perfect ending to the perfect season.”

Veronica Scott CA Field Hockey Coach

defending champions Regis Jesuit 2-1.

The team finished the season undefeated at 18-0-0. They are the first championship team with a perfect record since the 2014 Mustangs.

In the semi-final game on November 4, a single goal by Senior Andersen Dodge sent CA to the finals with a 1-0 win over Kent Denver. In the championship game, goals by Juniors Julia Hall and Katharine Merrifield gave CA “the perfect ending to the perfect season,” according to Coach Veronica Scott.

Team Co-Captain Merrifield agreed, saying the championship win “showcased how this team worked as a unit all season.”

Merrifield scored 25 goals this season, making her Colorado’s leading scorer.

Junior Rebecca Kerr and Senior Madeline Gordon shared goalie duties, fending off many shots by Regis.

The championship team was led by five Co-Captains: Camille Doherty, Grace Fuselier, Julia Hall, Rebecca Kerr, and Katharine Merrifield.

As the team ran across the field with their trophy and banner, the crowd at All-City Stadium erupted with cheers, and family and friends hugged the players across the fence.

Words of encouragement Prior to the final game, nearly a dozen CA Field Hockey alumni sent video messages of encouragement to the players, including Eliza Davis ’18, Nellie Turnage ’17, and

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Colorado Academy Journal

Isabel Chandler ’17. The special touch underscored the camaraderie and support among players from one year to the next.

“I’m super excited for this team and group of girls,” says Director of Athletics Bill Hall.

“Coach Scott and Coach Drazdowski did a wonderful job leading the group. It was great to see all of their hard work culminate in a championship. It was also great to see so many fantastic fans in the stands supporting the team. What a wonderful community event.”

Numerous CA players received post-season honors. Seniors Camille Doherty and Madeline Gordon and Junior Katharine Merrifield were named to the 2019 Colorado High School Field Hockey AllConference First Team. Senior Grace Fuselier was named to the All-Conference Second Team and received the CA Captain’s Award.

Seniors Caroline Briggs, Lilly Clowes, Ella Marks, and Remy Sherman and Junior Julia Hall received All-Conference Honorable Mention honors.

CA’s Field Hockey program captured four consecutive State Championships from 2012-2015, another three in the 1990s and one in 1977. The 2019 win marks their twelfth championship game appearance.

The final games of the season were originally scheduled for the last week in October but were pushed to early November after back-to-back October snowstorms. But clearly, a little snow delay did not cool the Mustangs’ drive to bring home state honors to CA. n

Field Hockey Team

Summer 2020

27

‘Sí, Oui, and Yes.’ Graduates Recognized with New Honor

C

an you read, write, and speak naturally and fluidly in two languages?

¿Puedes leer, escribir y hablar en dos idiomas de manera natural y fluida?

“I sat down and read the Colorado bill over and over again,” she says, laughing. “Laws are not written for most people to understand!”

Pouvez-vous lire, écrire et parler naturellement et facilement en deux langues?

Working after school and during the Summer, Todd followed up with the Colorado State Department of Education, navigating its website and contacting key personnel to confirm that an independent school was eligible to award the honor. She presented the Seal of Biliteracy idea to her department, Upper School Principal Dr. Jon Vogels, and Head of School Dr. Mike Davis who, she says, said “Yes!” before she even finished speaking.

More than one-third of the Colorado Academy Class of 2020 can confidently—and now officially—answer “Sí, Oui, and Yes” to that question. They are the 36 Seniors who are eligible to graduate with the new Colorado Seal of Biliteracy Diploma Endorsement, honoring students who are proficient in speaking, reading, writing, and listening in both English and a second language. Francis Akomeah is one of those Seniors.

“It gives me a sense of accomplishment,” he says. “Even if it weren’t on my diploma, just knowing that I qualified for the recognition would, in and of itself, give me satisfaction.”

The diploma seal was approved in Spring 2017 by the Colorado State Legislature. That CA has already earned the right to award it to students who meet the requirements is a testament to the persistent and determined efforts of Upper School Spanish Preceptor Lisa Todd.

“In our global world, it is so important to develop empathy and to be interculturally competent,” Todd says. “The best way to do that is to learn another language. The Seal of Biliteracy celebrates that achievement.”

‘A test that had nothing to do with grades’ Todd first learned about the concept of a Biliteracy Seal at a conference of

28

foreign language teachers in 2017. When Colorado approved the Seal, she started her long journey to bring it to CA.

Colorado Academy Journal

She secured funding from CA so that students would not be assessed the cost of the test—$20. Finally, she worked with Dr. Vogels to find a two-hour window during finals week when students could take the World Language Proficiency Test with an intimidating double acronym—ACTFL AAPPL: The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL).

“In Spring 2019, we offered it to Juniors during a free block in final exams,”Todd says. “I was so impressed that they showed up to take a test that had nothing to do with their grades.”

To be eligible for the Seal, students have the alternative option of scoring 3 or higher on their AP language exam.

To demonstrate proficiency in English, students must achieve a minimum score in either the SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing Section or the ACT English Section.

‘Really, really proud’ The Class of 2020 students have demonstrated eligibility for the Seal in two languages— evenly divided between French and Spanish.

“As teachers, we learn from the results,” Todd says. “We can use what we learn to tweak our curriculum and strengthen our programs.”

Akomeah agrees that, after taking Spanish for six years, the test is informative. “It was a good measuring stick,” he says. “I can see what areas I excel in and which areas I need to work harder at.”

For students who speak a heritage language, Todd says, the Seal sends a strong message.

“As a school, we embrace multiculturalism,” she says. “Being bilingual is a positive thing.”

For some heritage speakers, the Seal means they can show they are trilingual. The Class of 2020 has one heritage Spanish-speaking student who is eligible for the French Seal of Biliteracy. Future CA students may also earn the Seal in Mandarin.

Denver Public Schools awards the Seal of Biliteracy to high school students, but also gives pathway awards in Third, Fifth, and Eighth Grades to encourage students to continue on a bilingual path. CA Admission Officer Karen Chavez sees students coming to CA who are working hard to demonstrate excellence in two languages. “Speaking a language other than English is something to be proud of,” she says. “It is an asset when you are looking for future employment, because more and more employers are seeking people who can communicate in more than one language.”

In early June, Lisa Todd will see the end result of her three-year effort, as the first CA graduates receive diplomas with the Seal of Biliteracy. “We are really, really proud,” Todd says with a big smile. n

Graduates Recognized with New Honor

Lisa Todd teaching Spanish

Summer 2020

29

Middle School Advisory Puts Mission Statement into Action

I

t is Kameron Barthels’ birthday, and his Eighth Grade Advisory group, led

by Middle School English teacher Liz McIlravy, is celebrating. There is the traditional birthday snack, but before cookies, everyone in the Advisory takes time to truly celebrate what makes the birthday person special.

McIlravy gives students a series of prompts to inspire their writing.

“Kam, thank you for…” “You have a great way of…” “I have always admired…” “I appreciate the way you…” “Wasn’t it great when we…”

“In class, I have learned from you that…”

When everyone has finished, McIlravy reads the messages to Kam. Occasionally, he nods and smiles as he listens.

“Kam you are such a unique, cool, creative guy and incredibly good at building and taking things apart. You have a passion that not a lot of people have at this age, and it’s very inspirational.”

“I admire the way you are always so kind to everyone, no matter what.”

“I’m grateful for you always having a positive attitude.”

Birthday well-wishes ended, the Advisory digs into the cookies, and then begins an exercise called “Poetry Scramble.” The warm, light mood established during the birthday wishes exercise continues, as students work in teams to create impromptu poetry from random words.

“They wouldn’t say they are doing social and emotional learning, because it doesn’t feel forced,” McIlravy says. “And yet, that is exactly what is happening.”

On other days, the lesson may be more

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Colorado Academy Journal

direct. “We’ve talked about bullying and about respecting people of different heritages,” says Eighth Grader Abe Kirkpatrick. “I feel like it’s opened my mind to different perspectives.”

How Advisory has changed Colorado Academy Middle School Advisory has always been a place for a group of students to make close friends, engage with an adult who serves as an advocate for the student and a liaison with parents, and most important, have fun.

In 2019-2020, Advisory is still that, but more.

This year, Middle School adopted a program developed by the Institute for Social and Emotional Learning (IFSEL), an organization with an international reputation. The curriculum focuses on five areas of learning: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness.

CA believes these social and emotional competencies help promote a healthful school climate where students can succeed socially and academically, grow into leaders, learn to respect diversity, achieve, collaborate, and develop mindfulness. The many topics students might tackle include technology safety, healthy friendships, bullying and resolving conflicts, giving and receiving feedback, drugs and alcohol, and living with digital media.

“As students have become more adept at using technology for communication and interaction, they have less practice in faceto-face community building and problem solving,” says Middle School Principal Bill Wolf-Tinsman. “Developing those skills is every bit as important to long-term success as the academic challenges we provide.”

‘Lift-Up’ and ‘No-Joke Zone’ lists The Advisory, comprised of 12-15 students, meets daily with an adult Advisor. Exercises may range from improvisation, group building, book reading and discussion, relaxation time, meditation, mindfulness, journal writing, and attending school assemblies. Students know that Mondays and Fridays focus on social and emotional learning. Advisories also meet a second time each day for study hall, so their Advisors can track both emotional and academic progress.

Starting the first day of school, Sixth Grade Advisor Peggy Butler has used a number of exercises to help her Advisory students build friendships. There is a “No-Joke Zone” list compiled by students, listing things people should avoid saying because they are not funny to others: “Making fun of my height.”

“Talking about how I dress.” “Laughing and joking about something online and making fun of me for not knowing what it is.”

“It’s so important that from day one, they know what words might hurt someone else,” Butler says. “It’s been my experience that students often hold on to the comments they hear that first week, and that can impact their work in the classroom.

If they feel safe and comfortable, that pays off in their classwork.”

The students have also built a “Lift-Up” list, to remind each other of behaviors that make them feel good: “When people laugh at my jokes.” “If someone waits for me.” “When I arrive at class, and someone says they are glad to see me.”

All Butler’s Advisory students have written

Middle School Advisory

6-word “legacies” which are posted on the wall to help explain who they are: “Bookworm, cellist, compromiser, learner, runner, writer” “Athletic, funny, kind, smart, empathetic, loving” The students also created and presented “Butler Bunch” posters with details about themselves, highlighting things people might not know about them. Within a short time after the beginning of the school year, this Advisory sees itself as a unit of supportive friends. “CA is a place where you get more than an education,” says Sixth Grader Davinson Harris. “You also learn social skills.”

“Talking to others helps me work with people in groups,” adds Sloan Greenawalt.

“You have to do that when you grow up, and so this is a perfect way to prepare you for life.”

Butler does all the same exercises she asks of her students as a way to “level the playing field.” A veteran teacher of 40 years, she has tried a variety of programs focused on social and emotional learning. “This is, by far, the best I have seen.” she says. “It’s authentic. It’s flexible. I’m so grateful we chose IFSEL, because this program really reaches students.”

Open Session It’s Open Session Friday for Forbes Cone and Jessica Campbell’s Seventh Grade Advisory.

The students are sitting in a circle with small pieces of yellow, red, and blue paper on their laps. They have already submitted

comments that will be the subject of their discussion, indicating on the submission if they want to remain anonymous.

In front of them on the board is the code to the colors they hold: tossing a yellow piece of paper into the circle means the student is asking a clarifying question. Red stands for a comment that expresses empathy. Blue is wisdom. Cone and Campbell read their submitted comments and the students share their responses with the group. Some comments are marked “Joy.” “I’m really looking forward to break to spend time with family and friends and catch up on sleep.”

But many of the comments express deeper concerns.

“I study a lot but I don’t always get the outcome I want.”

The responses from the group—clarifying questions, empathy, and wisdom—come quickly.

“You could go to your teacher during study hall and ask for help.”

“Do you spread out your studying or do you wait until the last minute?”

“I find that repetition helps me remember when I am studying.”

Another comment speaks to a common complaint from students.

“I feel like I am the only person who is stressed.

It would help to know if someone else is.”

The group’s responses make it clear—

whoever wrote this is not alone.

“I’m sorry that you feel that way. Try taking a deep breath and staying calm.”

“I’ve had four tests and homework this week.

You just have to keep trying to get through it.”

“Stress is a natural thing, and it’s going to happen in Seventh Grade, so try to find something to do that helps you relax.”

While Open Session can lead to difficult discussions, Cone likes it, because the topics come from the students. “So often, we pick the topic, but this flips the script,” he says. “This is powerful, because they are choosing what they want to discuss and crowdsourcing wisdom for each other.”

Seventh Grader Coco Ardell agrees. “It’s good that people feel like they can open up to each other. We have a good community and we can trust each other.”

McIlravy praises the new curriculum focusing on social and emotional development, because it means the Advisory messages are consistent across the Middle School, with the potential for growth each year. Students are seeing this learning as equal in importance to their academics. And Cone points out that CA’s commitment to its mission is not being left to chance.

“In our Mission Statement, we espouse courage, kindness, leadership, but that doesn’t happen by osmosis,” Cone says.

“With this program, we are intentional in addressing these skills and using the exercises to develop them.” n

Summer 2020

31

From 1978 to 2020: The Pirates of Penzance

W

hen the Colorado Academy Middle School performed Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance in February 2020, it brought the Froelicher Theatre full circle—accidentally.

In April 1978, the very first performance dedicating the brand-new Froelicher Theatre was Pirates, the classic 19th century comic opera about a young pirate, young love, and the unintended consequences of Leap Year.

It’s been 42 years since the theater opened, and the Middle School performance of Pirates was one of the last in the space before it is razed to make room for the Leach Center for the Performing Arts. The Pirates of Penzance is the alpha and the omega— what a wonderful, intentional way to honor the long history of Froelicher Theatre!

Except, it wasn’t intentional. “It’s just a crazy coincidence,” said Director James Meehan. “It was as though somebody put the thought in my head, but I didn’t know that Pirates was the first play ever done in the Froelicher.”

The play turns on a single plot twist— Leap Year. Coincidentally, 2020 is a Leap Year—and the play closed on (you guessed it) February 29. None of that occurred to Meehan when he chose it. All he had in mind was the timeless appeal of the show.

“Gilbert and Sullivan were the clever social commentators of their time,” he said. “They spoke truth to power. If they were alive today, they would be writing Hamilton.”

Living up to the legacy The CA students cast in the 2020 Pirates didn’t even seem to notice they were

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Colorado Academy Journal

“Until later, you don’t realize what youth gives you—lungs, a strong diaphragm, and a really fun time.”

Gery English ’78

about himself,” she said. “All the characters are larger than life and funny in a way that is so obvious, it’s ridiculous.”

When today’s students learned they were coming to the end of the Froelicher Theatre’s run with a performance that opened it, they were struck by the symmetry. “We are coming full circle,” said Hero. “We are ending in the same place the theater started,” added Margie. “We are living up to the legacy of those early performers, even if it wasn’t intentional.”

performing an opera that had its debut 141 years ago, a true tribute to the timetranscending appeal of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Alumna remembers ‘a great highlight of my life’

Eighth Grader Hero Clinemills, who played Major-General Stanley, called the plot a “cool story.” She confessed that she had been doing some mouth and tongue exercises to warm up before her showstopping number, “I am the very model of a modern Major-General.”

One significant difference in the 2020 performance was that the Head of School was not cast in a lead role. In 1978, the student performers had to be careful not to steal the scene from Head of School Frank Wallace, who was cast as MajorGeneral Stanley.

Nora Knight, Grade 8, is a fan of modern musicals but called Pirates “fun.” She played Ruth, Pirate Maid-of-all-Work. “I love comedic roles,” she said. “I go over the top and everyone laughs.”

“He was great in the role, so it would have been hard to upstage him,” says Gordon Smith ’79. “It was neat to see the Headmaster as a fellow actor.”

Seventh Grader Margie Timmers had her eye on the role of Mabel from the start.

“I’m usually typecast in an emotional dramatic role,” she said. “I’ve never done comedy, so doing this vain character is new and different.”

Sydney Leach, Grade 8, has a long history with Pirates. It was the first live performance of a musical she saw (at age four), and it became a favorite family soundtrack around her house. She loved playing the Pirate King. “He’s the best character, because he runs around singing

Pirates was Smith’s first performance, and he recalls being a bit of a “deer in the headlights,” trying to figure out what he was doing. He describes himself as having an “okay voice” but generally being pretty average. Yet, 42 years later, he still recalls the play as a “wonderful experience.”

“I remember singing songs that were so much fun,” he says. “I so enjoyed spending time with my friends and teachers outside of a school hierarchy and seeing them in an entirely different light.”

Gery English ’78, who played the lead role,

The Pirates of Penzance

Frederic, in 1978, can still remember having Duain Wolfe and Cindy (Sheppard) Jordan as his vocal coaches. “They did such a great job,” English says. “I wasn’t one of the big talents, and they knew what they had in me. They worked with me, above and beyond regular rehearsal time.”

At the same time he was performing, English was the starting goalie on the Varsity Lacrosse team headed to state playoffs. “As a goalie, my job was to scream

to the defensemen,” he says. “Duain and Cindy literally taught me how to use my vocal chords to yell, so I could still sing in the performance.”

English remembers Cathy Markle ’78, who played Mabel, as the big talent in the show.

Markle vividly recalls the production. “It was a great highlight of my life,” she says.

“The Met just did a production of Pirates on a live Saturday broadcast. I sang along with every word!”

English, who says he would give his performance a solid “C,” says he values CA for encouraging students to try activities that stretched their boundaries, because it’s a chance to “learn about yourself.”

“The thing it did for me is that to this day, music has always touched me,” he says.

“I listen to all kinds of different music and find it inspiring. Until later, you don’t realize what youth gives you—lungs, a strong diaphragm, and a really fun time.” n

Summer 2020

33

Mustang Mentors

I

t’s 8:00 a.m., the time Fifth Grader Georgia Roberts refers to as “rush hour” in the Lower School drop-off circle, as cars swing into the loop one after another to unload children.

Wearing a high-visibility vest that fits her like a dress, Georgia calls a friendly “Good morning!” as she opens yet another car door and helps a younger student adjust backpack straps and head off to class.

“Have a great day,” she waves, bidding farewell to the driver behind the wheel.

Like all Colorado Academy Fifth Graders, Georgia is a Mustang Mentor, and this job, she says, is her “destiny.”

“I call it my destiny, because it is something that I love to do that makes me happy,” she says. “Even when I was little and saw older

Georgia Roberts serves as a Mustang Mentor by greeting students in the Lower School drop-off circle.

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Colorado Academy Journal

students with responsibilities, I couldn’t wait to do those jobs and show leadership.”

‘Working for the mission of the school’ The Fifth Grade mentorship program has long been a voluntary option for students, but under the leadership of Lower School Principal Angie Crabtree, the program is now required and has a new structure, philosophy, and formal name: Mustang Mentors.

“I hope the Fifth Graders see themselves as a cohesive group, working for the mission of the school,” Crabtree says. “The jobs they are doing make a difference. With them we can do more, plan more, and experience more.”

All Fifth Graders now go through a formal

application process for a leadership position. They can apply for one of five different roles: n

n

n

orning Safety Patrol: Students open M car doors, greet families, help younger children, and in the process learn communication skills and poise. re-Kindergarten or Kindergarten P Mentor: Students help teachers of younger students in various ways. They learn how to teach what they know, and they gain a behind-the-scenes appreciation for a teacher’s job. hysical Education Mentor: Students P help execute the P.E. lesson for younger students. They teach sportsmanship, how to win and lose gracefully, and they also tie a lot of shoes!

Mustang Mentors

Wilson Love serves as a Mustang Mentor by helping with PreKindergarten students.

n

n

S pecial Area Mentor: Students help Pre-K and Kindergarten students in the dance program, the library, and in science classes.

F irst Grade Mentor: Students work in a First Grade classroom as a teaching assistant, supporting the teacher by creating materials, decorating bulletin boards, and working with younger students.

“For the Fifth Graders, this is their opportunity to give back to the Lower School and leave a legacy,” Crabtree says. “It is a lesson in gratefulness. Before you depart, you pay it forward and do something to make a difference.”

‘Find what makes your heart sing’ Fifth Grader Wilson Love confesses that being a Pre-Kindergarten Mentor was not his first choice for a Mustang Mentor job, but now that he has the job, he can’t imagine he would like anything more. “I really like being able to interact with the youngest kids,” he says. “It helps you remember when you were

that little, and you say, ‘Wow, that was me once. Now look at me!’”

On a typical day, Wilson hangs student art and helps on the playground, pushing Pre-K students on the swings or helping build a snowman. He has a big smile on his face all the time. “Mustang Mentors was such a good idea,” he says. “Someday, these Pre-K kids will get to the Fifth Grade and remember that I set an example for them.”

Being a Mustang Mentor gives students a taste of life in the real world. Every student keeps a binder with documentation of their assigned job. They fill out a job application which asks them, “As a leader, what is your goal?” The form also asks them to create a six-word memoir, which will inform their approach to leadership. The memoirs are insightful and heartfelt and could serve to inspire leaders of all ages.

“Be true, you only have you.”

“Have fun, remember kindness, love life.”

“Keep on going no matter what!”

After Mustang Mentors finish a task, they

fill out a timesheet, recording the service they provide once every six-day rotation.

They write self-evaluations about their experiences. “Dancing with the Pre-K puts a smile on my face,” writes one student.

The Fifth Graders are also evaluated by an adult team of supervisors who complete a form giving them feedback on their participation, ability to work independently, and attitude. They meet with Crabtree monthly to do team-building exercises and reflect on their jobs. She is already seeing results for the program as students mature, develop independence, and become more invested in their school.

“They truly feel that things won’t function unless they are here!” Crabtree says.

“When this class is in the Upper School preparing to graduate, I believe they will look back at the impact they had on the Lower School.”

No doubt Georgia Roberts will, since she has now had the chance to fulfill her destiny and live her six-word memoir: “Find what makes your heart sing.” n

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35

Climbing Center Comes Alive!

I

t’s hard to imagine that just one year ago, Colorado Academy’s Climbing Center was still under construction, a dark, slightly mysterious space in the front of the Athletic Center. Today, it is brightly lit and packed with students coached by two climbers who followed an interesting and circuitous path to CA.

At different times last Summer, each moved to Colorado, in part, because it would bring more opportunities for outdoor climbing than they would ever find in Long Island. Garey heard about the coaching position at CA and brought Alessi in on the opportunity. Then they saw the Climbing Center for the first time.

Dylan Garey, who is a USA Climbing certified route setter, has a degree in psychology. Michael Alessi’s degree is in music business, with a concentration in classical guitar. The two met at The Gravity Vault, a climbing gym in, of all places, Long Island, New York, where they coached and set routes for more than two years.

“I was stunned, just blown away,” Garey says.

“Dr. Davis and whoever else designed the Climbing Center did a really good job.”

“CA has the equivalent of a small commercial climbing gym,” adds Alessi. “I was like a kid in a candy shop, so I’ve been working extra hours route setting, because

we have this amazing sandbox, and I want to take advantage of it.”

The CA competitive climbing team, with more than 20 students, has won or placed in every competition this year. “I’ve been really impressed by the raw skill and strength of the students,” Alessi says. “They take constructive criticism really well, and they are so willing to learn.”

“They are the most respectful students I have ever worked with,” adds Garey. “The most fun part of coaching them is seeing a student struggle with something one day and then get it the next. That’s the best reward for us.” n

What students are saying Even when there are a lot of kids in here climbing, it feels very big and spacious, and everyone gets time to climb.”

Ford Rollhaus, Grade 8 “The Climbing Center is such a great addition to CA. The slanted walls are very well done. It’s a place where you can learn to climb properly, and that really helps us stay ahead as a school.”

Eleanor Wynne, Grade 8 “It really helps you release your energy after a hard day. It’s relaxing to go and climb, and you look forward to it all day.”

Tyler Schulte, Grade 8 “I like that climbing is unique. You use all of your body, and you have to use your brain to plan where you are going to climb. You problem-solve on the ground and on the wall.”

Sydney Leach, Grade 8 “The coaches help with technique and strength training. I like that we have the

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freedom to climb where we want so it feels like an individualized sport.”

Jack West, Grade 8 “I tried volleyball and basketball and liked the idea of climbing so I could experiment and see what I could accomplish.”

Jessica Zinn, Grade 8 “I’m a climber, so when it came to choosing a high school, the Climbing Center was a really big factor persuading me to choose CA. It really clinched it for me. There is so much creativity in climbing, because you have to decide how to do a route. And then there is such great satisfaction being at the top of the wall.”

Lola Sehl, Grade 9 “With the new coaches, the routes are constantly changing, so we get to work on a lot of different techniques all the time. I’ve always loved the creative athletic challenge of climbing, but you have to think pretty hard also. And it’s great that the Climbing Center is in

the front of the new Athletic Center, so everyone outside can see it. I feel lucky to be able to climb at CA.” Sofie Rossman, Junior “The coaches know what they are doing and set challenging routes for better climbers. You have to be constantly willing to change the position of your hands or body and look at things from a new perspective to get up a route.

Then you can take your training and go outdoors and climb, which really gives you a sense of adventure.”

Will Ungar ’20 “With the new Climbing Center, it’s awesome that we don’t have to leave campus to go to a gym to train. It’s satisfying when you have been working on a route and you finally get to the top. You did it all by yourself, and that is fulfilling.

And it’s so much fun that people can see you from outside the building doing something you enjoy.

Hayden Wolfe ’20

Climbing Center Comes Alive!

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Summer 2020

37

The Wisdom of Temple Grandin

S

pend an evening with Temple Grandin and you will know three things without a doubt: She is passionate in her opinions, she does not suffer fools gladly, and she has a mile-high sense of humor.

As part of the Colorado Academy SPEAK series, Grandin spoke to a record-setting crowd of nearly 600 people. They came to meet and listen to the autistic woman who was made a household name by the awardwinning 2010 HBO film starring Claire Danes—a film that Grandin praised several times during her speech.

A renowned animal behavior scientist, Grandin, who said she did not speak until the age of two, went on to earn a PhD in animal science from the University of Illinois. She is currently a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. The innovations she designed revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses. Time Magazine has named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

‘The world needs all kind of minds’ Grandin’s topic for the evening was “The world needs all kinds of minds,” and her message to the crowd was both simple and complex. “I am a visual thinker,” she said. “I think in pictures not in language.” Her brain, she said, functions like Google images. But other people think differently, she said, identifying the “mathematical thinkers” who might be good at computer programming or music, and the “verbal thinkers” who might be good at facts, writing, and history.

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Thinking in pictures led Grandin to her success designing facilities for cattle.

In the early 70s, she got down into the chutes to see what cattle were seeing.

She could see that a coat on a fence, something flapping in the wind, a hose on the floor, a chain hanging down, a shadow—all items that others might not notice—could cause a herd of cows to balk. She told the attentive crowd that today, half the cattle in North America are handled in systems she designed.

If, like her, you have a different kind of mind, you are not alone, she assured the crowd.

She profiled many well-known success stories, including Michelangelo, Beethoven, Einstein, Mozart, Tesla, Edison, Spielberg.

“How do we make sure we don’t lose these different minds when they are children?” she asked.

How to help a child on the autism spectrum Her belief is that children who may be on the autism spectrum will flourish if they are

taught to use their strengths—by learning art, sewing, cooking, musical instruments, woodworking, theater, welding, auto shop, creative writing—classes that are often the first to be canceled when schools experience budget constraints. “I am so pleased to hear that this school [Colorado Academy] is keeping these kinds of classes,” she said.

Based on her own life, Grandin firmly believes in teaching children to use their hands—to make things. With a characteristic twinkle in her eye that often signaled an upcoming joke, she asked the crowd, “Who would have made the first

Temple Grandin

stone spear in cave man days? The guy with the autistic brain, that’s who! Not those yak yaks sitting around the fire!”

also integrate the skills of using our hands; for we as a species are designed to be manually competent, as well.”

Joking aside, what she said resonated with CA’s Director of Visual and Performing Arts Katy Hills. “The most profound takeaway from Temple Grandin was the reminder of how critical it is to have diverse brains solving problems together,” Hills said. “She also reminded us that we will forever live in a world that requires hands that know how to fix and build things. Educational institutions will continue to stretch our children’s intellectual competence, and we must

Grandin’s heroes “What are the common denominators of success for unique minds?” Grandin asked her listeners. In her experience, she succeeded for these reasons: n

Lots of books and learning

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E arly exposure to interests with hands-on projects that could lead to a career

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Learning a work ethic at an early age

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Not over-specializing at an early age

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Mentors to help on a career path

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Internships to facilitate entry to a career

Grandin was generous with her time and attention, both before and after her speech. Families and children waited patiently to have a book signed or to just meet her. She has become something of a hero in the autism community, but she has her own heroes. “I worship the astronauts,” she said, showing a slide of Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong. “The ‘Right Stuff’ rode to the moon. But it was the kids who are sometimes labeled as “geeks” or “nerdy” who built the machines that got them there.” n

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39

These Three Graduates Accepted the ‘Challenge’

“I

feel like I have won the lottery.”

That’s what Brian Labra Vergara says when asked about being a Challenge Foundation Scholar. “I may not be the richest person,” he adds. “But I have won something much better—the chance to make something of myself in this world.”

Brian is one of three Challenge Foundation Scholars in Colorado Academy’s Class of 2020. All were identified in elementary school as students with potential and underwent rigorous and competitive evaluation before being chosen by The Challenge Foundation to receive funding to attend an independent school. For these three CA students, the education and ongoing support they have received through The Challenge Foundation have been life-changing.

Brian Labra Vergara Neither of Brian Labra Vergara’s parents graduated from high school, but they wanted something more for their children. “Ever since I was young, they said ‘study hard, get a good job, make something of yourself,’” Brian says. “‘You have the right to do what you want, and those opportunities will come from education.’” He “vividly remembers” the day the acceptance letter from The Challenge Foundation arrived in the family’s mail. “My mom was so proud that she cried,” he says. “She said, ‘All the hard work was worth it. Now you will get out of school what you put into it.’”

Brian, who is bilingual, chose to attend CA’s Upper School for a variety of reasons. He knew Monika Williams ’19, another Challenge Scholar, who is now studying at Howard University, and she introduced him to the possibilities the

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school would offer. When he shadowed at CA, he sensed that the teachers would support him as he pursued ideas in different fields. Then he interviewed with Upper School Principal Dr. Jon Vogels, and the deal was sealed.

“I asked Dr. Vogels if I would ever be limited at CA,” he remembers. “I said, ‘If I have enough art credits to graduate, would I have to stop taking art?’ And he said to me, ‘Of course not. We will work with you to develop a program.’”

In Spring 2020, four years after taking his first-ever art class during Freshman year, Brian presented the culmination of his CA art studies at his Senior Portfolio Show. He was also the student director for The Addams Family musical. He took French at CA, adding a third language to his repertoire.

“I’m not perfect at it,” he says, laughing. “But I do have French in my arsenal now.” He was a CA Summer Camp Counselor, beloved by his young wards. He also participated in REDI Lab, the innovative program that allows students to focus on one area of study for a trimester.

“I love being creative, because there is no limit on creativity,” he says. “It’s everywhere, in painting, acting, directing, digital media, graphic design.”

Brian will attend Skidmore College. He would like to be CEO of his own company, a dream made possible by The Challenge Foundation. “They are the most amazing people I have ever met,” he says. “They work day and night, and they have transformed so many lives and families through what they do. I am so grateful I had this opportunity, and that I have made as much out of it as I could.”

Sergio Hernandez The idea of a private school had never entered the mind of Sergio Hernandez’s parents until The Challenge Foundation made it possible. Today, he looks back on his years in Middle and Upper School at CA and says simply, “It’s the best education.”

Sergio knew from the day that he shadowed fellow Senior Chris Wachuta that he was headed to CA. “I was immediately accepted,” he says. “I felt like I belonged right away.” But, he acknowledges, making the transition from his elementary school in Aurora, Colo., was not easy. “Everything was different—including, first off, CA has an actual campus!” he laughs. “I realized how much work I would have to put in to advance my education.” At CA, he found teachers who were willing to help him succeed. “The teachers care,” he says. “I am so thankful that I could always talk with them and trust them.”

He had been at the top of his class in elementary school. True to the name of the foundation that brought him to CA, he says he “needed a bigger challenge” academically, and at CA he found it. Bilingual, he advanced his study of Spanish. He also played soccer and lacrosse, went canoeing on the Green River in Utah for Interim, traveled to Florida to study marine biology, and, during his Senior year, traveled to Spain with a group of CA students. “I had never been to Europe,” he says. “It was so exciting, and I felt very comfortable there.”

The Challenge Foundation was with him every step of the way, and he has never forgotten it. “They are family,” he says. “They saw potential in me, and it’s my job to prove to them that what they saw is there. I put

Challenge Foundation Scholars X

From Left: Brian Labra Vergara, Sergio Hernandez, Sebastian Parra Estrada

it on myself to never let them down. I did that for them, because they were going the extra mile for me.”

he can credit The Challenge Foundation and CA for helping him discover who he is, starting in Grade 6 when he came to CA.

“You don’t feel like CA teachers are just working for a paycheck,” he says. “They are so nice and always there for you.”

Sergio also gives credit to his parents for his success. He remembers how they got up early to get him to the bus stop and helped him with school work. “There was a time when I worried that the academics at CA were too hard, and I didn’t know if I had it in me,” he says. “But they always knew I could go far.”

“I made friends easily, even though I was new and a minority student,” he says. “CA is a welcoming place, and CA made it even easier, because racial issues were discussed openly, and I could feel comfortable with my identity.”

None of this would have been possible without The Challenge Foundation, which has provided more than just the opportunity to attend CA. There has been what Sebastian calls the “extra stuff,” like school books and even a computer charger. He also praises the community of Challenge Foundation Scholars who know each other and get together for Summer programs, led

by Foundation staff. “They are mentors for us,” he says. “It’s like you have a guardian angel flying by your side with eyes on you—in a good way.”

Sergio says his favorite part of CA is the school community, because it has allowed him to “stay true to my roots.” He is filled with pride that his next step will be Colorado College (CC). “If I had not had a Challenge Foundation Scholarship and come to CA, I never would have managed to go to CC,” he says. “I put in the hard work, and now it has paid off.”

Sebastian Parra Estrada Sebastian Parra Estrada hopes to someday own his own fashion design business. If his sense of style originates with his identity,

Ask him about his favorite part of CA as he prepares to graduate, and he doesn’t miss a beat. “The people are my favorite,” he says with a big smile. Sergio and he will be friends for life, they agree. They have become as close as brothers.

Sebastian is bilingual and studied French at CA. He raves about the many opportunities he has had in the past seven years, including lacrosse, soccer, and kayaking on Interim. HIs interest in fashion design was reinforced by participating in the Senior Portfolio Program where he discovered a passion for painting. He also praises his teachers at CA, because they “truly care” about each student.

It is hard to believe that he is already a Senior, Sebastian says, and preparing to head to Colorado State University. Today, he says “I own who I am. I am me.”

And for that achievement, “Thank you to CA. Thank you to The Challenge Foundation,” he says. “I would not be here without them. There is no way I can pay them back, but I will try.” n

Summer 2020

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Why We Give to Horizons Mary Henning and Elizabeth Boland

M

ary Henning has a confession to make. She has a very hard time asking people to donate to a cause, even if it’s something she believes in with all her heart—like Horizons at CA. “When I was a little girl, I couldn’t even ask people to buy Girl Scout Cookies,” she says, laughing. “The only reason I sold any is because I cried!”

But for the past four years, thanks to Henning’s willingness to overcome her reluctance to ask, students in Horizons have enjoyed a variety of activities supported by the Henning Health and Wellness Program, which was created by Henning’s sister, Elizabeth Boland.

“Mary has been passionate about Horizons for so many years,” Boland says. “I am not a child care expert, but I am aware of the benefits of both early education and the importance of caregivers in the lives of children, so I wanted to support what is already a terrific program.”

‘This was their golden ticket’ Henning’s connection to Horizons goes back to the very beginning, when the first class of Kindergartners arrived on the CA campus from Knapp Elementary. As the school nurse at Knapp with a strong background in social work, she worked with teachers to choose the children who could most benefit from Horizons and the families that would commit to sending their children across town on a school bus for eight Summers.

“It was hard in those early years, because you wanted to help everyone,” Henning remembers. “Like Willy Wonka, this was their golden ticket. You could see how Horizons changed not just individual lives, but also uplifted families and the entire community.”

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Mary Henning (L) and Elizabeth Boland

Henning joined the Board of Horizons almost from the first day of its inception and continues to serve. Through her years at Knapp, she became increasingly involved in developing activities that promoted health and wellness.

“I am a firm believer that besides being literate, you must have physical, social, and emotional health,” she says. “If you don’t, you will not live a fulfilling life.”

‘It’s for my beloved Horizons program’ In 2015, Henning faced her own health challenges. In conversations with her sister, the idea of a multi-year gift to Horizons, honoring Mary, was born. Boland had listened to her sister talk about Horizons for many years, and knew that Horizons

was not a one-time day or activity, but a program that could fundamentally foster the progress of children from Kindergarten through high school.

“Mary has always wanted to help children, and Horizons does that with a committed staff, a wonderful facility, and a clear view of the mission,” Boland says. “Some gifts feel abstract. This feels tangible because the children will take something from it. I have respect for Mary’s articulated advocacy for what works.”

Thanks to the Henning Health and Wellness Program, Horizons students have been able to try a variety of enrichment activities, including kickball, cooking, paddle boarding, kayaking, tae kwon do, biking, bowling, lacrosse, yoga, and racquetball— all of which makes Mary Henning so joyful.

Horizons at Colorado Academy “The gift didn’t need my name,” she says.

“It’s for my beloved Horizons program. You don’t often get a chance in your lifetime to see the long-term impact of your intervention. But every year, I see Horizons children who are now adults—and in some ways big, in some ways smaller—each of them represents their own unique miracle.”

Leslie and Gary Howard

I

t was Leslie Howard’s experience on the Colorado Academy Board of Trustees that first brought Horizons to her attention.

“I could see that the Board really supports Horizons, that Horizons is important to CA,” she says. “That gives me confidence that Horizons will be around a long time and fully supported.”

Leslie and her husband Gary have gone above and beyond, doing their part to support Horizons, because it speaks to their shared philosophy that “education is the way to break the cycle of poverty.”

“We wanted to reduce barriers to advancement through education,” Gary says.

“You can change the trajectory of a family or even a community through education.”

“If we can make the difference in one child’s life, we have done our job.” Leslie adds.

The same opportunity Leslie is the researcher in the family. She remembers reading about the origins of Horizons, which started at a single East Coast independent school in 1964. Today, Horizons serves 6,000 students in 62 programs in 19 states.

“This is such a great use of the CA campus in the Summer,” Leslie says. “I love the connection between CA and this nonprofit, and I’m so impressed that CA students get involved by volunteering with Horizons. It’s just a really great relationship.”

The Howards’ twin daughters, Lexi and

From Left: Gary and Leslie Howard with daughters Alexia ’20 and Genevieve ’20

Genevieve, graduated with the Class of 2020. They are justifiably proud.

“We have sent our children to an independent school, and we want to spread the value of CA,” she says. “Our children are so fortunate to be going here and receiving a well-rounded education with an emphasis on character. Horizons gives other children the same opportunity.”

Global Business Academy The Howards are involved in philanthropy supporting education in a variety of ways, but what Gary likes about Horizons is the age at which students start the program.

“Horizons is a well-run program that targets children at a very young age, and they are supported as they move along,” he says. “We believe in the importance of early intervention.”

He also believes in early education in a field near and dear to his heart—business. He has founded the Global Business Academy, an international Summer program at Colorado State University, where high school Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors can learn basic principles of business that will serve them in whatever career they pursue. In its third year, the program had

130 applications from around the world, from which 50 were chosen, with one-third of that group coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. “Recognizing how well Horizons is run, it is a great place to seek the kind of students who will benefit from this program,” Gary says.

Two Horizons students, both enrolled at CA, have attended the Global Business Academy. Afterwards, Junior Pedro OlivasHolguin wrote, “I would like to thank you for this amazing experience. I learned lifelong skills. This is unforgettable, and words cannot express how much this means.”

Junior Ulisses Rico also thanked Horizons for the opportunity. “I learned a lot about the importance of global business. I hope to further my education in business and entrepreneurship to help our generation and the ones that follow.”

For Gary Howard, this is where he sees the return on his investment in Horizons.

“Having these students achieve success is the perfect reward for me,” he says. “It’s peace of mind, a feeling in your heart.”

“You feel you are making a difference,” Leslie adds. “These young adults will go on and do great things. And they will continue the cycle of giving.” n

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Christina Bradley ’08: Mental Health is her Issue

L

ike the people she serves, Christina Bradley ’08 lives with mental health issues. The nonprofit leader has depression—and she says it’s one of the reasons she’s good at what she does.

“It’s that understanding that allows me to help,” says Bradley, who manages support programs for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of New York City. “That’s what we’re all in need of: understanding. And I’ve learned from the people I serve how to help myself better.”

With a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Haverford College and a Master of Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, she has led research funded by the National Institutes of Health and managed over 150 crisis centers serving nearly 2 million suicidal callers per year.

Her work and research have often focused on communities of color.

“I’m a black woman, so I have that lens,” she says, “but mental illness does not discriminate. It’s universal.”

Her journey with mental illness When Bradley was 25, she had her first significant depressive episode. It didn’t come as a surprise to her.

She has a lot of family members with mental health issues and grew up witnessing many of their struggles. And with her psychology training, she knew she was near the average age for the onset of depression. Still, it changed her forever.

She had to figure out what type of treatment worked for her. And she had to

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let herself mourn the person she was before the onset of the illness.

“Mental illness is a journey, not a linear process, but recovery is possible,” she says.

Since that first episode, she has been able to live a stable, healthy, and productive life.

And that’s her goal for the people she serves.

Her work has shown her that there are different barriers to that goal, depending on who you are and where you live. And those barriers seem to align with what she’s observed in her own family.

“There’s a tendency in the black community to focus on physical health and to neglect emotional and mental health issues,” she says.

On one side of her family are Jamaican immigrants from the Bronx and on the other side are middle class white folks from Indianapolis. Despite these differences, Bradley saw mental illness on both sides of her family.

“I spent my whole life around people, on both sides of my family, who were struggling with depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and addiction. It all went undiagnosed and untreated.”

Now, she has a vision for a better mental health care system: Everyone is more aware of mental health issues at an earlier age, such that the stigma doesn’t prevent people—especially in communities of color—from getting the help they need.

Her vision for mental health care Armed with her and her family’s history with mental illness and her graduate

degree, Bradley is equipped to help others in their mental health journeys.

She has served the New York University School of Medicine and Langone Medical Center, Vibrant Emotional Health, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the U.S. Office of Presidential Correspondence under the Obama administration. She has conducted research in prisons, mental health courts, and hospitals. A native English-speaker and fluent Spanish-speaker, she uses her diverse language skills to reach as many people in need as possible.

“I have a lot of passion for this work,” she says. “There’s a lot of unmet need.”

In her current role at NAMI, she oversees the organization’s helpline and over 30 support groups and classes, which serve nearly 20,000 people per year.

“We promote the idea that you can recover,” she says, “and hope is an essential part of the process.”

Christina Bradley X

Christina Bradley ’08 (left) on NBC’s “Positively Black.”

Her love and appreciation for CA Bradley’s own struggle with depression began years after she graduated from CA. Nevertheless, she says, “CA was so crucial to where I am now.”

A CA student for Grades 7 through 12, she says her interest in public service was born in Middle School civics class with Nancy Landolfi and Upper School history class with Luis Terrazas. Her long track record of supporting others began there, as well, as

she was a student mentor and volunteer tutor. Her experience as captain and #1 Singles Player for the CA Women’s Varsity Tennis Team under Coaches Bob Ulrich and Guy Garcia built her skills in leadership, teamwork, and self-discipline.

“CA is where I first practiced expressing myself and developing a voice,” she says.

“The faculty, in the English Department in particular, pushed me to be curious, inquisitive, and rigorous. They were devoted to helping me excel. To this day, I appreciate that.”

And when she moved to New York City, two of her best friends from CA were there, too.

Having a long-time friend there helped her feel at home and make the transition to the big city.

While she’s doing great in New York, she misses Colorado and CA all the time and could see herself coming back at some point.

“I have so many fond feelings for and memories of that place,” she says. “It’s the physical space itself, which is beautiful, green, and lush, as well the amazing CA community.” n

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David Kessler ’11: From Elite Athlete to The North Face Designer

A

s David Kessler ’11 finished the 75th and final mile of his race at the 2009 U.S. Junior National Road Race Championships, a few different thoughts may have been going through his head…

passion for art, to design high-performance athletic gear.

“It was amazing. I don’t think I would’ve been able to do that anywhere else,” he says.

“Art and design were part of my experience at CA on a very core level,” Kessler says. “My interest in design and my decision to make it my long-term career path started there.”

The Colorado Academy rising Junior may have been thinking about his tough class schedule for the coming Fall.

Student during the week, elite athlete on the weekends

The moment he learned he could create anything he wanted

The future industrial designer for The North Face may have been noting whether his cycling shoes were giving him maximum return on his pedal strokes.

Most likely, the 16-year-old junior professional cyclist was screaming inside, “I won!”

That was one of many victories for the 10year pro-level cyclist who has gone on to apply his cycling knowledge, along with his

Looking back, Kessler—who attended CA from Grades 7 through 12—is amazed he was able to endure the school’s rigorous academics while competing at cycling’s highest level.

He cycled to school every day—even in blizzards—and used study halls and free blocks to fit in 2- to 3-hour training rides in the mountains after school. He’d stay up till 10:30 p.m. doing homework and then get up at daybreak to do it all again. He also managed to make time to participate on the Upper School Community Council and Cross Country team while at CA. “In my pursuit to get to the pro cycling level, CA worked with me to meet the academic challenges at the same time,” he says.

“Teachers helped me one-on-one and gave me work I could do while living and racing in Europe.”

While other college-prep schools tend to emphasize a particular area of education and encourage students to specialize early on, Kessler says, CA offers a perfect balance of athletics, academics, and the arts.

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In addition to giving him space for his elite-level cycling career, he says CA set the groundwork for his current design career.

“The teachers’ love for learning and for their subject area was infectious,” says Kessler, who went on to earn a degree in industrial design from the renowned Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

Before maker spaces and fabrication labs were commonplace in education, Kessler was able to experiment with product design at CA. Then art teacher (now Director of Visual and Performing Arts) Katy Hills helped him learn woodworking and made him feel empowered to follow his interests.

“She really gave me the green light to pursue whatever I wanted,” Kessler says of Hills. “I owe a lot to her.”

With this support, Kessler embraced the idea that, combining his artistic hand and modern design technology, he could build, invent, or engineer anything.

“I had a lot of opportunities to take risks and listen to my heart,” he says. “Every single teacher I had at CA had an uncompromising dedication to putting students and the overall learning environment first. That was so inspiring.”

David Kessler X

David Kessler ’11

What it’s like to work for The North Face After a decade of elite-level road cycling, mountain biking, and cyclocross in the U.S. and throughout Europe, Kessler is still licensed as a Category 1 pro-level cyclist.

But these days, he spends less time training and more time riding for fun with his coworkers. He commutes to work on the same roads he grew up training on.

“I’m focused on my work,” says the materials

and trim designer for The North Face, which moved its headquarters to Denver in 2018.

Colorado, a place that reflects our brand values, is amazing.”

He uses 3D modeling software and prototyping tools to design materials, zippers, buckles, and carabiners, with a big focus on sustainability. Recently, he’s been working on The North Face’s Summit and Steep Series mountain sports apparel lines and designing plaid prints for the entire apparel collection.

Plus, for the Denver native, coming to Denver meant coming home. He lives less than a mile from his mom and not far from CA—the institution that helped cement the core of his identity: cyclist, designer, lifelong learner.

“The North Face is a great company, and my team is fantastic,” he says. “And to be in

“I’m doing exactly what I’ve always wanted to do,” he says. “More than mere college prep, CA is a place that helps you grow into the person you want to be.” n

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Stacey Mitchell ’85: Many Legacies

T

wenty years after Stacey Mitchell’s father received his diploma with Colorado Academy’s very first graduating class, he knew CA was the best school for his daughter. And so she became one of CA’s first legacy children.

“He adores CA,” says Stacey Mitchell ’85 of her father, R. Garrett “Garry” Mitchell ’60.

“He thought the school made him a better human being, and that’s why he wanted me to go there.”

When you learn about Stacey Mitchell’s distinguished career, including decades of work as a high-ranking environmental lawyer in Washington, D.C., it may occur to you that, like her father, she began discovering what it means to be a “better human being” at CA.

Fighting crime to save the world After law school and several years at the New York County District Attorney’s office, Mitchell joined the Environmental Crimes section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). She spent 16 years there, prosecuting pollution and wildlife crimes nationwide.

She says her day-to-day legal work in New York involved the kind of challenges you might see on Law & Order.

“I love trial and litigation work,” says Mitchell, who ascended to Chief of the section and in 2013 received the DOJ’s John Marshall Award for Providing Legal Advice. “It can be stressful, convincing jurors that your case is righteous, but the practice involves a lot of creativity, which I really enjoy.”

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In 2014, she was appointed Deputy General Counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency. While Mitchell says, with a smile, that she never “sat down and chatted” with Barack Obama, it was the 44th U.S. President who appointed her to the position.

She held the esteemed post until 2017, when she joined the international firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as a partner in its environment and natural resources practice.

“It was a great honor to serve the people of the United States,” she says. “And I enjoy what I’m doing now, as well. I always love new challenges. It’s been a really rewarding career, and I am fortunate to have worked with talented colleagues at every turn.”

The makings of an environmental lawyer Mitchell doubts it would surprise many of her CA teachers and classmates that she became an attorney.

“I was pretty outspoken in classes and always willing to express my point of view,” says Mitchell, whom the National Law Journal named the 2018 Energy & Environmental Trailblazer.

A natural outdoors lover, Mitchell grew up skiing at Vail and Copper Mountain (the latter which her father helped open). A CA student from Grades 3 through 12, she feels the faculty and the curriculum helped foster the passion for the environment that led to her high-level career. She remembers examining the species and ecosystems at Woody’s Pond and across CA’s campus as part of science class.

“It was always a really positive atmosphere

on campus,” she says. “The faculty taught you to find your passion and to follow what you believe in.”

On the last day of Mitchell’s Senior year at CA, John Blossom, her Senior English teacher, wrote on the board a final assignment: “Lead an interested life.”

Mitchell took those words to heart, letting them fuel her passion for environmental preservation and empower her to always strive. Though she has lived far away from CA for many years now, the institution remains an important part of her life.

Connections across years and miles Not long ago, she and her father had lunch in D.C. with Head of School Dr. Mike Davis, and another CA alumnus. Her father now lives in Annapolis, Md., not far from D.C., so they get to see each other frequently, often on the sidelines of her 10-year-old son’s soccer games, and share memories of their CA days.

She remembers how her dad was always there to see her sporting events in field hockey, lacrosse, and soccer. The father and daughter feel a shared pride in remembering that they were both on the Red Team for Field Day. “My dad has always been my champion and a sounding board for ideas,” Mitchell says.

Despite her father’s love for the institution—and for his daughter—he didn’t make her live his experience.

“I got my own CA experience,” Mitchell says, “and it’s a fabulous place to have learned and grown.” n

Stacey Mitchell

Stacey Mitchell ’85

Summer 2020

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Leslie Webster: A Celebration of Life

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n her many years at Colorado Academy, Leslie Webster loved and was loved by many children, parents, colleagues past and present, and friends. So it came as no surprise that on a snowy Sunday morning in February, more than 1,300 people filled the CA Field House to honor her life and legacy.

“Today is a day meant for tears,” Head of School Dr. Mike Davis told CA parents, children, and Leslie’s family. “Tears are just one of the many ways that we share with others that we are doing the hard work of grieving for someone we really loved.”

But Davis also assured everyone that it was okay to laugh at favorite stories about Mrs. Webster. “Leslie’s classroom was a place of joy and laughter,” he said. “Her approach with students was to see the best in every child.”

Led by Dr. Davis, CA remembered Leslie Webster through music, songs, readings, and stories.

“We know she loved teaching, she loved her students, she loved dogs, and she loved West Virginia, the place she was from,” he said. “She loved sports. She loved watching West Virginia University football games with her dad, and she loved the university’s Mountaineer Marching Band. She loved lacrosse and being on the sidelines here watching CA’s teams play. She loved her colleagues and her neighbors, and she loved her family—her husband Stephen and her daughters Maddie and Carolyn. She loved her family with all of her heart—a heart that was generous and giving. She loved in big ways.”

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Colorado Academy Journal

Leslie Clovis Webster Leslie Porter Clovis Webster passed away on February 11, 2020. She is survived by her devoted husband and their daughters, who were the light and loves of her life, as well as many extended family members.

Leslie was born on April 30, 1966 in Parkersburg, West Virginia. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Denison University and a master’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. She met her neighbor and fellow Denison alumnus, Stephen, when she lived in Wellesley, Mass.

Leslie found her true calling when she became a mother to Maddie and Carolyn, with whom she had an unbreakable bond. That love carried over to her classroom at CA, where she taught Kindergarten since 2009.

Wherever she lived, Leslie made strong and lasting friendships, but she never forgot her roots. She loved all things West Virginia, a passion she shared with her father and hero, David C. Clovis, who predeceased her by two months.

Once Upon a Time The Celebration of Life included readings from friends and Lower School colleagues.

Mary Singer shared a letter that Leslie had written to one of her Kindergarten classes at the end of the year.

“I hope we see each other again. I hope that when we do whether you are seven or 27, we can look at one another with a smile and remember that Once Upon a Time, you were five, and Once Upon a Time, I was your teacher.”

A video tribute to Leslie evoked tears

and laughter, with the classic moments of a school year—hugs on the first day of school, elaborate Halloween costumes, classic Kindergarten classroom moments with tape and scissors, “Baby Beluga” at Kindergarten graduation, and memories from Harper Hodgson, now in Grade 7.

“The day I walked into Kindergarten, I was nervous until I saw your friendly face. I learned many things from you but most of all, I learned the meaning of kindness and patience. The job you do is not an easy one,

Leslie Webster X

but you make it look easy. Children learn by example, your example. You have created an amazing community just by being you.”

Family love and ribbons Dawn Robinson, a Lower School colleague and friend, read a letter Leslie had written to her younger daughter, praising her courage.

“Carolyn, you are funny, kind, and accepting of everyone. Your desire to help others after college is an example of your giving spirit. I

love you more than words can ever express.”

Leslie Mease, a family friend, read a letter by Maddie Webster to her mother, thanking her for the 22 years they had together, during which her mother shared unforgettable lessons on kindness and love.

Finally, Stephen Webster spoke. He remembered courting his wife in a ’79 VW Beetle, which he still owns. He shared a poem that he had written to her on their wedding day. Again and again, he talked

about his wife, not just as a beloved mother and teacher, but also as his very best friend.

As people left, with the sounds of the Upper School Choir’s performance of John Denver’s “Country Roads” still floating through the Field House, they pinned small yellow and blue ribbons to their coats.

“Wear it,” Dr. Davis explained, “and when your friends or colleagues ask about it, tell them you are remembering a teacher, a role model, and a dear friend.” n

Summer 2020

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The Class of 2020

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McKenzie Grace Abbott Chapman University

Camille Catherine Doherty Claremont McKenna College

Eleanor Jane Greene University of California Berkeley

Christian Marc Agelopoulos Denison University

Jake Hunter Donaldson-Reid Kenyon College

William John Hall Phillips Academy Andover

Caleb Antonio Aguirre Washington University in St. Louis

Willa Zoe Dorgan University of Southern California

Sergio Adrian Hernandez Ramirez Colorado College

Francis Ephraim Akomeah-Sirleaf Princeton University

Olivia Caitlyn Falci Wake Forest University

Sarah Marie Hewitt University of Oregon

Charles Barrett Baker Colorado College

Evan Alexander Fenley Chapman University

Kole James Hicks University of California, Santa Barbara

Kendall Lynne Beall Tulane University

Alexandra Jacqueline Foreman U.S. Naval Academy

Nicolaus Winthrop Hindes DigiPen Institute of Technology

Parker Rollins Beasley University of Colorado Boulder

Jonathan William Fossel Connecticut College

Alexia Jeanette Howard University of Southern California

Jasmine Selin Bilir Stanford University

Anne Elizabeth Freeman Wellesley College

Genevieve Jo Howard Northeastern University

James Frank Bratis Miami University

Anna Courtney Fucarino Indiana University

Elyssa Poole Johnston University of Oklahoma

Caroline Wagner Briggs Rhodes College

Sarah Grace Fuselier Swarthmore College

James Walter Zachar Jones Colorado College

Caroline Grace Burke-Dullinger University of Texas at Austin

Jack Walter Garnsey Whitman College

Marie Wilkes Jordaan Santa Clara University

Phoebe Florence Cannon California Polytechnic State University

Lillian Lyons Gastis Boston University

Lillian Rosemary Jorden Tulane University

Collis Paul Chandler IV The College of Wooster

Lucinda Suzanne Alvarado Geller George Washington University

Alexandra Elizabeth Kaleugher Middlebury College

Lillian Ducayet Clowes Tulane University

William Henry Gerash Colorado College

Nathan Everett Kay Denison University

Brandon James Cohen Southern Methodist University

Cisco Rosario Gonzales Beloit College

Kirby Elizabeth Hodges Kimball Claremont McKenna College

Juliet Michael Cramer Macalester College

Madeline Abigail Gordon Marquette University

Aidan Ray Klingbeil Swarthmore College

George Noble Davis University of Colorado Boulder

Natalie Adeline Gordon Pepperdine University

Cooper Mendel Kofron Princeton University

Adeline Helena Maria de Leeuw Wageningen University

Madeline Elizabeth Gottlob University of Michigan

Brian Labra Vergara Skidmore College

Andersen LaCille Dodge University of Colorado Boulder

Lillian Claire Greenberg University of California Irvine

Peter Simon Erling Lammens University of Colorado Boulder

Colorado Academy Journal

Graduates Mark Steven LeClair Jr. Rollins College

Merrill Grace Rollhaus Denison University

Henry Allan Shaw Lewinsohn Colgate University

Christian James Romine Lafayette College

Jack Robert Walfred Lewis Wake Forest University

Haley Peyton Russell California Polytechnic State University

Avery Peter Lin St. John’s College

Holden Ryu Lewis & Clark College

Amalia Catalina Lopez Colorado College Ella Jamison Marks Dickinson College Jorge Marquez Loya Jr. University of Colorado Boulder Olivia Grace Martinez Tufts University Kennedy Nickole Massey Howard University Kayleigh Maire Milligan Rhodes College Jasmine Henderson Moore University of Southern California Samantha Elizabeth Moore-Thomson Pomona College Olivia Marie Myles California Polytechnic State University Brooke Mariko Okazaki University of Wisconsin-Madison Sebastian Parra Estrada Colorado State University Sean Russell Paton Loyola Marymount University William Gregory Pollock Tulane University

Eva Christiana Sava College of Charleston Patrick Francis Schmid Northwestern University Remy Paige Sherman Chapman University Savannah Lynn Siegler Tulane University Cameron Porter Smooke Boston University Clifton Wyatt Spruell Southern Methodist University Carson Woodruff Stone University of Colorado Boulder Quinn Nicole Taylor Pennsylvania State University Daniela Torres Rivera Colorado State University-Pueblo Delaney Evelyn Troyer Washington University in St. Louis William Montgomery Ungar University of British Columbia Christopher Charles Wachuta Montana State University

Charlotte Burns Pulido Colorado College

Francis Bailey Walker Middlebury College

Nancy Ramirez Dickinson College

Tyler Francis Wolf Williams University of St. Thomas

Gabrielle Marie Ramseier University of San Diego

Hayden Alexander Wolfe Cornell University

Matthew Steven Robinson Clemson University

Preston Holden Zinn University of Miami

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Boards & Associations Alumni Association Board 2019-2020 Chris Bailey ’02 Alex Barton ’97, Past President Vincent Brown ’11 Sue Burleigh, Alumni Director, ex officio Kelly Young Campbell ’98, President Austin Carpenter ’05 Katie Cordes ’03 Mike Davis, Head of School, ex officio Lisa Harrison Ellsworth ’79 Courtney Engle ’08 Brian Fisher ’02 Isabel Gary ’09 Georgia Grey ’08, VP of Development

Jared Harding ’97, Co-VP of Special Events Ben Hock ’07, Co-VP of Special Events Karl Koch ’05 Myles McGinnis ’08 Aimée Nieuwenhuizen ’06 Brian Parks ’96 Ashley Peterson ’06 Max Shaw ’08 Gordon Smith ’79, Honorary Zach Tucker ’01 Terrie Dickinson Warren ’73 Nicole Sisk Wiechecki ’01 Elsa Woolley ’11, VP of School Relations

Parent Association Officers 2019-2020 Jill Boat Rakowski ’92, President Alice Rydberg, President-Elect Alex Band & Alyssa Clarke, Lower School Vice Presidents Ann Benson Reidy ’88 & Jen Wolkon, Middle School Vice Presidents Jeanne Coleman & Dana Gordon, Upper School Vice Presidents

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Colorado Academy Journal

Heather Spruell, Secretary Kellie Prall, Treasurer Allyson Jacoby, Communications Coordinator Meaghan Rubey, Volunteer & Outreach Marte Timmers, Community Appreciation Lil McKean, Gifting Chair

Board of Trustees 2019-2020 Liz Arnold Carole Buyers Kelly Young Campbell ’98, ex officio Mike Colpack Betsy Crane Mike Davis, Head of School, ex officio Jeff Geller Dan Goldman Dickson Griswold Erika Hollis, Vice Chair David Jones ’95, Chair Tom Jorden Bryan Leach Amy Livingston ’93 George Lochhead Tate McCoy Nina Henderson Moore Tricia Noble Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93 Lisa Osman Jill Boat Rakowski ’92, ex officio Meshach Rhoades Doug Robinson Rob Stettner ’94 Tom Wootten Maribeth Younger, Secretary

Help foster CA’s Pre-K through 12 environment aintain CA’s incredible learning M community, whether on campus or in virtual classrooms n Support financial aid for CA students, including those who now have unanticipated needs n Provide professional development for teachers n Enhance students’ arts and athletics experiences n

Make your gift to The CA Fund or the Emergency Tuition Assistance Fund today!

coloradoacademy.org/TheCAFund coloradoacademy.org/emergency-tuition-fund F or more information, contact:

Natalie Ralston ’99, Director of The CA Fund & Associate Director of Advancement, at natalie.ralston@ coloradoacademy.org.

Fiscal year ends June 30, 2020

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Legacy Children 2019-2020

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Henry Cowperthwaite (6) Kevin Cowperthwaite ’79, father Tom Cowperthwaite ’81, uncle Annabelle Dennis (5) Travis Dennis ’00, father Kendall Dennis Slutzky ’97, aunt Lilah Dennis (2) Travis Dennis ’00, father Kendall Dennis Slutzky ’97, aunt Samson Dillon (K) Megan Young ’97, mother Daren Young ’00, uncle Fletcher Emerson (6) Julia Völkel Emerson ’94, mother Marc Voelkel ’89, uncle Ella Firman (7) Chris Firman ’93, father Andrew Firman ’00, uncle Amy Olmstead ’91, aunt Lyz Firman Olmstead ’95, aunt Matt Olmstead ’95, uncle Carson Flottman (8) Jim Flottman ’89, father

Ezra Goldstein (9) Jeff Goldstein ’88, father

Harper Hodgson (7) Jennifer Hodgson ’92, mother

Maijur Blanchard (1) Tiffany Woodward ’01, mother

Elise Ford (1) Jeska Horgan-Kobelski ’98, mother Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski ’96, uncle Tim Horgan-Kobelski ’05, uncle

Yori Blanchard (7) Tiffany Woodward ’01, mother

Grace Fuselier (12) Chris Fuselier ’82, father

olorado Academy is pleased to report that 94 students enrolled for the 2019-2020 academic year are the children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews of alumni/alumnae.

Current grade shown in parentheses.

This list contains alumni non-graduates.

Piper Adams (9) Steve Adams ’91, father Chip Adams* ’89, uncle Chloë Barton (1) Alex Barton ’97, father Violet Beattie (5) Jason Beattie ’93, father Julie Beattie Reeves ’90, aunt Grady Behrhorst (11) Nicole Moore Behrhorst ’87, mother Mandy Moore Mischler ’82, aunt Hopi Moore-Sargent ’84, aunt Ava Biederman (4) Emily Pederson Biederman ’95, mother Lilly Biederman (7) Emily Pederson Biederman ’95, mother

Charlotte Braun (3) Alexa Hanke Braun ’95, mother Cecilia Hanke Wolfson ’90, aunt Georgia Burstein (8) John Burstein ’89, father Alli Burstein Kozloff ’94, aunt Rex Burstein (6) John Burstein ’89, father Alli Burstein Kozloff ’94, aunt Tatum Burstein (3) John Burstein ’89, father Alli Burstein Kozloff ’94, aunt Paul Chandler (12) Bill Norris ’49, grandfather Bella Converse (K) Kate Hart Converse ’03, mother Joshua Corn (9) Roger Corn ’87, father * Deceased

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Jack Garnsey (12) Peyton Garnsey ’91, father Michael Garnsey ’89, uncle Lucy Garnsey (7) Peyton Garnsey ’91, father Michael Garnsey ’89, uncle Digby Gile (2) Merritt Gile ’95, father Caitlin Gile Morris ’96, aunt Philippa Gile Taylor ’05, aunt Gia Gile (5) Merritt Gile ’95, father Caitlin Gile Morris ’96, aunt Philippa Gile Taylor ’05, aunt Noa Gold (3) Meagan Gold ’96, mother Marshall Golden (1) Nora Palenchar Golden ’00, mother Ethan Palenchar ’98, uncle

Jared Goldstein (11) Jeff Goldstein ’88, father Aidan Harrington (7) Brendan Harrington ’89, father Spencer Harvey (11) Libby Crosby Harvey ’84, mother Ned Harvey ’84, father K.K. Harvey ’88, aunt Kent Harvey ’86, uncle Jillian Hills (3) Liston Hills ’95, father Zach Hills* ’01, uncle Molly Hills (6) Liston Hills ’95, father Zach Hills* ’01, uncle Zach Hills (PK) Liston Hills ’95, father Zach Hills* ’01, uncle Hadley Hodgson (10) Jennifer Hodgson ’92, mother

Ellie Jones (3) David Jones ’95, father Jill Bible ’99, aunt Phil Jones ’99, uncle David Kimball (6) Tom Kimball ’89, father Helaina Korneffel (8) Peter Korneffel ’83, father Tracy Korneffel ’82, aunt Buckley Ladd (K) Tucker Ladd ’99, father Ben Ladd ’95, uncle Bryann Ladd Nourse ’02, aunt Mali Lopez (12) Michelle Sanchez Hernández ’93, mother Jennifer Sanchez ’94, aunt Carter Maloy (7) Brooke Bansbach Maloy ’90, mother Cate Maloy (9) Brooke Bansbach Maloy ’90, mother Maggie Maloy (11) Brooke Bansbach Maloy ’90, mother

Legacy Children Alex May (8) Kim Warner ’86, mother Kiah May (11) Kim Warner ’86, mother Skylar May (8) Kim Warner ’86, mother Gracie McHugh (10) Burke McHugh ’83, uncle Chris McHugh ’87, uncle June McHugh ’80, aunt Clare Milligan (10) Brian Milligan ’75, father Karen Milligan ’80, aunt Kayleigh Milligan (12) Brian Milligan ’75, father Karen Milligan ’80, aunt Hadley Morris (8) Caitlin Gile Morris ’96, mother Merritt Gile ’95, uncle Philippa Gile Taylor ’05, aunt Piper Morris (6) Caitlin Gile Morris ’96, mother Merritt Gile ’95, uncle Philippa Gile Taylor ’05, aunt Claudia Nelsen (1) Amy Livingston ’93, mother Katie Livingston ’96, aunt Olivia Nelsen (5) Amy Livingston ’93, mother Katie Livingston ’96, aunt Savanna Nelsen (1) Amy Livingston ’93, mother Katie Livingston ’96, aunt Buzz Oertel (9) Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93, mother Ollie Oertel (7) Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93, mother Elin Olmstead (2) Lyz Firman Olmstead ’95, mother Matt Olmstead ’95, father Andrew Firman ’00, uncle Chris Firman ’93, uncle Amy Olmstead ’91, aunt Gus Olmstead (6) Lyz Firman Olmstead ’95, mother Matt Olmstead ’95, father Andrew Firman ’00, uncle Chris Firman ’93, uncle Amy Olmstead ’91, aunt

Maddy Olmstead (8) Lyz Firman Olmstead ’95, mother Matt Olmstead ’95, father Andrew Firman ’00, uncle Chris Firman ’93, uncle Amy Olmstead ’91, aunt Coulter Perkins (10) Alli Stamper Perkins ’95, mother Amy Stamper Corrigan ’98, aunt Jeff Stamper* ’92, uncle Ellie Perkins (7) Alli Stamper Perkins ’95, mother Amy Stamper Corrigan ’98, aunt Jeff Stamper* ’92, uncle Gray Perkins (9) Alli Stamper Perkins ’95, mother Amy Stamper Corrigan ’98, aunt Jeff Stamper* ’92, uncle Parker Pryor (6) David Knowles ’66, uncle Charlie Rakowski (7) Jill Boat Rakowski ’92, mother Lucy Rakowski (10) Jill Boat Rakowski ’92, mother Hattie Ralston (PK) Natalie Newcom Ralston ’99, mother Chip Newcom ’02, uncle Maddy Reeves (8) Julie Beattie Reeves ’90, mother Jason Beattie ’93, uncle Diana Reidy (9) Ann Benson Reidy ’88, mother David Benson ’85, uncle Jim Benson ’83, uncle Laura Reidy (7) Ann Benson Reidy ’88, mother David Benson ’85, uncle Jim Benson ’83, uncle Ben Rockmore (9) Lizzie Welborn Rockmore ’90, mother Jeff Welborn ’64, grandfather Eli Rockmore (4) Lizzie Welborn Rockmore ’90, mother Jeff Welborn ’64, grandfather Cayden Roll (4) Sasha Roll ’02, mother Gavin Ulrich ’02, father Jordan Ulrich ’10, uncle Clark Seaton (7) Andrew Seaton ’92, father Danielle Seaton (9) Andrew Seaton ’92, father

Lewis Sharp (11) Amy Sharp ’02, aunt Lisa Sharp ’04, aunt William Sharp (10) Amy Sharp ’02, aunt Lisa Sharp ’04, aunt Darcy Simon (3) Dan Simon ’95, father Finn Simon (K) Dan Simon ’95, father Jordan Slutzky (5) Kendall Dennis Slutzky ’97, mother Travis Dennis ’00, uncle Taylor Slutzky (8) Kendall Dennis Slutzky ’97, mother Travis Dennis ’00, uncle Owen Stettner (6) Rob Stettner ’94, father Andrew Stettner ’99, uncle Rich Stettner ’91, uncle Tula Stettner (4) Rob Stettner ’94, father Andrew Stettner ’99, uncle Rich Stettner ’91, uncle Willy Stettner (8) Rob Stettner ’94, father Andrew Stettner ’99, uncle Rich Stettner ’91, uncle Bea Wadsworth (7) David Wadsworth ’86, father Abigail Wadsworth Serfass ’94, aunt Ellie Wadsworth (11) David Wadsworth ’86, father Abigail Wadsworth Serfass ’94, aunt George West (6) Thomas Kerr ’76, uncle Henry West (4) Thomas Kerr ’76, uncle Jack West (8) Thomas Kerr ’76, uncle Ben Zinn (5) Ken Zinn ’92, father Dan Zinn ’97, uncle Jenn Zinn ’95, aunt Jessica Zinn (8) Ken Zinn ’92, father Dan Zinn ’97, uncle Jenn Zinn ’95, aunt If you are not listed and are a legacy, please contact the Alumni Office at 303-914-2584.

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A Virtual Reunion

BY BRIAN SIBLEY ’90

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he coronavirus pandemic threw a wrench in the works of a great many events this year, and class reunions were no exception.

But one CA class was undeterred, and made the best of the situation, even though no in-person reunion was possible this year.

A natural topic of discussion was a comparison of the various local and international responses to the coronavirus pandemic, differences in local schools, and work experiences, as well. The class certainly found out that a lot of us were going through this in very similar ways, but there were also many key differences.

On Saturday May 9, the class of 1990 held a virtual reunion over Zoom, hosted by Brian Sibley, who was joined by 14 of his classmates. A lively conversation was had by all, catching up on events since the last reunion in 2010.

Overall, everyone is looking forward to May of 2021, when the rescheduled (31-year!) reunion can take place on campus, and we can see each other in person.

This particular group was truly global, including members from across the U.S., along with three members from overseas: Adrienne Whitelaw Batkin in Brisbane, Australia; Akio Nishikawa in Tokyo; and Patricia Vriesendorp in Biel, Switzerland.

Thanks to those international classmates

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for getting up early or staying up late to join us!

Colorado Academy Journal

“A lot of things have moved online now,” said Sibley. “I’ve been encouraging a lot of people to find ways to connect during this time when we’re all having to stay physically distant from each other, so when Sue asked if I’d be willing to host a ‘virtual’ reunion, it was an easy decision. I’m glad so many were able to make it! I hope other classes will find ways to reunite online this year too.”

In addition to the main reunion, the class of 1990 went into smaller breakout rooms to have smaller conversations. Most folks appeared from their living rooms and kitchens, but Joe Giersch took his video camera outside for the afternoon and impressed us all with his views of Glacier National Park in Montana. And no Zoom meeting these days is complete without livestock, it seems: at one point, a couple of Nathalie Eddy’s goats made a guest appearance, and Jane Sinclair Petersen introduced us all to the bevy of newborn chicks temporarily taking up residence in her living room, while her husband and kids were out back building them a chicken coop.

Other classmates who joined the virtual reunion were Julie Beattie Reeves, Jeff Burroughs, Brendan Dallas, Julie Ivker Dubin, Maud Kernan Lonergan, Gene O’Neill, Lisa Miller Robert, and Will Schoyer.

We hope to see you all next year! n

Virtual Reunions

50th Reunion in the Age of COVID

BY JEFF LOWDERMILK ’70 kept checking my watch and thinking to myself, “fifty years!” It all seemed so surreal; how could it be fifty years? Who would be on the virtual call? Yes, I was anxious.

I started fumbling with Zoom for about ten minutes before 4:00 p.m. and had to call Sue Burleigh for help to make the connection. Then suddenly I was on, and could see my old friends. In a large square in the lower center of the screen sat Sue with a grand photo of Welborn House in the background. One of CA’s first few virtual reunions was underway! There were only five of us from our graduating class: Bob Jacobs, Tom Minor, Rod Oram, Steve Kanatzar, and myself. David Mueller also joined, who was in our class during the 1960s, but did not graduate. We all started by thanking Sue for making it all happen. I told everyone this had been Rod’s brainchild and thanked him.

We all took a moment to honor all those in our class who had gone before us. Too many have made that journey.

We started by each of us giving a broadbrush account of our families, careers, and what we were currently doing.

Bob lives in Santa Fe, N.M. with his second family. Prior to Santa Fe, Bob owned an Alaskan wilderness guiding service for many years. He still flies his own plane, and he and his wife are busy raising their two teenage sons. Bob’s first wife was the sister of Bill Keller ’70, and their son lives in Denver.

Tom and his wife live in Phoenix, Ariz.; however, much of his ongoing career as an architect/engineer has been working in New Mexico at the Los Alamos labs. I’m sure he can’t tell us about very much of what he does. Tom has made the weekly commute from Phoenix to Los Alamos for years, living there Monday-Friday. Due to COVID, he is working from home and for the first time is actually living at home.

Rod and his wife live in Auckland, New Zealand, and their daughter (engaged)

Class of 1970, Top Row (L to R): Tom Minor, Sue Burleigh, Rod Oram. Second Row: Bob Jacobs, Steve Kanatzar, Jeff Lowdermilk. Not pictured, David Mueller.

is finishing her PhD in music in San Diego. Rod continues with his lifelong career as an international financial journalist. Rod recently rode his bike from the northernmost tip of New Zealand to the southernmost point. With great enthusiasm, he announced he is planning a 2021 or 2022 bicycle trip from Australia’s southernmost to northernmost points. He eagerly invited any and all of us to join him.

Certainly caught my interest. Maybe!

I found Steve’s history most interesting. He has built a restaurant in Colorado Springs from an enormous KC 97 Boeing airplane.

He said it was the first plane to have an elevator. He had the plane shipped section by section and assembled it on the south end of the Springs near Peterson Air Force Base. It is appropriately called the Airplane Restaurant. He has been operating it for over twenty years. He gave us a visual tour, which included a wall of photographs and signatures of astronauts and high-level Air Force officers. Outstanding! Going to see Steve is certainly high on my list.

David Mueller lives in Denver and is heavily involved in the world of opera and he worked for Opera Colorado. He certainly knew many of the old stories.

As for me, my wife and I have two beautiful daughters, a great son-in-law, and two delightful granddaughters, ages six and four. We currently live in Santa Fe, but are in the process of moving to Denver to be closer to our family. Most of the last twenty years of my life has been devoted to

studying World War I, and I have published a book about my grandfather’s World War I diary titled: Honoring the Doughboys.

Among all the stories and laughs, we recalled our teachers, most of whom are on the A team: Griggs Dayton, Tom Fitzgerald, Bill Matassoni, Lew Elsey, Tap Tapley, Steve Marx, Ben Priest, Coach Bob Simms, David Woods, Woody Monte, Ian Jewett, Dylan Evans, and of course, Chuck Froelicher and Thomas J. Lee.

BY ROD ORAM ’70

O

ur impromptu 50th class reunion online was a fine sign of our COVID times. Although we were far apart, we Zoomed together for our two-hour gathering. We caught up on highlights of each other’s lives; we shared news of other classmates; and we recounted stories of our time at CA.

As a pretty feisty class, we were shaped in many ways by the Vietnam War and all the related social, political, and cultural upheavals it caused. Speaking personally, my CA education helped me make some sense of all that and set me on a professional path I follow to this day.

In the same spirit, the newly graduated Class of 2020 has gone out into the world well equipped by its CA education for these far more extraordinary times of pandemic and turmoil. Over the decades ahead, each of them will make their distinctive contributions to humanity’s renewal. I wish I could hear their stories at their 50th Reunion! n

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Alumni Association Highlights Alumni Skating Party

T

he annual Alumni Skating Party, an 18-year-old tradition, saw alumni from the 1970s to late 2000s enjoying the festivities, fun, and food on a lovely December evening at the Denver Country Club Skate House.

Family Skate began at 5:30 p.m., giving little ones an opportunity to glide around without worry. Sleds were also available for the youngest guests. Most alumni families then took the 6:00 p.m. dinner option to feed their families at the barbeque buffet before heading onto the ice for a final spin. Moreover, why not top off the evening with the ice cream sundae bar and hot chocolate?

A second dinner service began at 7:00 p.m., mostly attended by alumni with older children and younger alumni. Starting at 7:30 p.m., broomball players took to the ice.

All ages and abilities had fun with the stick, called a “broom,” and ball. It was obvious that many alumni and their children were no strangers to the sport.

Colorado Academy competed in Ice Hockey for years, with many students being on club teams, including the one sponsored by the DCC. Photos of CA alumni in their DCC uniforms were at the Skate House. CA has reinstated their Hockey program. The family of Liz Buckingham Oertel ’93 had to leave the party early so their son Buzz could play in CA’s season opener. David Kimball, son of Tom Kimball ’89, came off the ice to enjoy his birthday celebration, complete with a cake.

Each year new alumni join the fun at this great venue. If you have never attended the CA Alumni Skating Party, come out in 2020 on Friday, December 4! n See all the photos on the CA website Alumni homepage.

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Alumni Association Highlights

Summer 2020

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College Alumni Lunch

S

ince 2007, CA’s college-age alumni have returned to campus to join faculty and coaches for lunch at Café CA before the winter break. For faculty, it is one of the best days to reconnect with former students and advisees. Current CA students also welcomed back the alumni, who were excited to catch up and reflect upon their years at CA and their life at college or their experiences during a gap year. Plan to join us this year on Thursday, December 17! n

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Alumni Association Highlights

Alumni College Panels Share Wisdom For Successful Freshman Experience

T

he College Counseling Office hosted two Alumni Panels, one for Seniors and one for Juniors, in January. In addition, Bill Hall, CA Athletic Director, hosted a third panel via Zoom in late April, specifically for current CA student-athletes. Thank you to all the alumni who shared their wisdom and experiences with CA students. Your knowledge is invaluable. n

Bill Hall with collegiate alumni athletes >>> <<< First Row (L to R): Jared Miranda ’19, Sophie Sileo ’17.

Second Row: Justin Ferrugia ’19, Ali Altman ’17, Claire Greydanus ’17, Emilio Teran ’19, Mia Cravitz ’19, Nick Fuselier ’16.

<<<

From Left: Sonia Arora ’01, Sara Purviance, Graham Osman ’19, Davis Ebel ’19, Elide Rojo-Gutierrez ’18, Ella Bittman ’19, Emily Dawson ’19, Cleo Smith ’19, Micah Rydberg ’18, Eliza Davis ’18, Andrea Gonzalez ’18, Winston Palmeri ’16, Gabe Bernstein, Cathy Nabbefeld

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Alumni Back-to-School Night

T

he Colorado Academy Alumni Association’s mission statement says that one goal is to provide alumni with significant opportunities for intellectual and social enrichment. That’s what Alumni Back-toSchool Night is all about!

From Beer Tasting to Bouldering, and Gut Health to Punishment & Justice with “Mr. T,” alumni and alumni parents came back to school, learned a lot, and had a fun and interesting evening.

“It was great fun reconnecting with CA friends. We didn’t expect to run into so many we knew. Both our “classes,” wine tasting and charcuterie, were actually very interesting!” said one participant.

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The evening of February 20 started with dinner, drinks, and conversation in the Upper School lobby. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up with people you hadn’t seen, perhaps in years. Guests then went to their first class, some heading to the Smith Center, Schotters Music Center, Athletic Center, and kitchen, while others met their teachers in Upper School classrooms.

A 30-minute break between classes gave everyone the chance to meet again for more food, dessert, and time to compare notes about what they’d learned during the past hour or to show off their flower arrangements. Then on to the second class.

Thank you to the Back-to-School Night

“teachers” who shared their knowledge and expertise for the event this year: Ben Hock ’07, Beer Tasting; Chef and CA parent Nelson Perkins, Charcuterie; Digital Video Instructor Gwylym Cano, Chinese Tea Tasting; Jenni Hohensee Skeen ’97, Floral Arranging; Georgia Grey ’08, Intuitive Eating & Gut Health; History Teacher Luis Terrazas, Punishment & Justice; Spanish Teacher and Freshman Dean Meg Hill, Latin Dance; Music Composition Teacher Brian Golden, Composing Music; Third Grade Teacher Jay Leeuwenburg, Origami; CA Climbing Coaches Michael Alessi & Dylan Garey, Bouldering; Former Science faculty member Dr. Charles Coleman & CA alumni parent Bill Elder, Scotch Tasting; and Kyle Schlacter, Wine Tasting. n

Alumni Association Highlights

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Icarus transfers to his new location and is free again to inspire students!

Icarus in its former location at the Ponzio Arts Center

Icarus Has Been Freed!

F

or a little over three decades, Icarus, Colorado Academy’s first sculpture, hung in the Kassler Library in the Knowles Upper School building, watching over students. Students of Greek mythology will remember that the fabled Icarus failed to heed the advice of his father, Daedalus, and flew too close to the sun, melting his wax and feather wings and falling into the sea. The statue depicts Icarus in freefall.

Alumni remember while reading, studying, or conversing in the library, Icarus invited contemplation and inspiration to all who entered. Certainly, for many of our alumni from the sixties, seventies, and beyond, this piece of art meant something special.

The Icarus sculpture was donated to CA from

the Class of 1965 to commemorate the new Knowles Academic Center, dedicated on March 14, 1964 by Dr. Milton Eisenhower, president of Johns Hopkins University. With the opening of the new Raether Library in 1998, the former Kassler Library space first became the Senior Lounge and then a science lab. Icarus was moved, for safekeeping, to a stairwell in Stevens House, now transformed into the Ponzio Arts Center.

Fast forward 20 years. While on a campus tour on Giant Relay Day 2019 with Dr. Tom Fitzgerald and Gravely Wilson, CA’s Advancement Officer, alumni chanced upon the sculpture of their old acquaintance Icarus hanging in the stairwell. It was then that many alumni from earlier years, who were quite familiar with the sculpture, began a

discussion about moving the sculpture to a more prominent place on campus. Some in the Class of 1974 even wanted to move it stealthily that evening! After everyone calmed down, the Free Icarus Movement began. Thus, a formal request was made to Head of School Dr. Mike Davis and Director of Visual and Performing Arts Katy Hills.

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 stayat-home order, Ian Marzonie, a member of CA’s operations crew, transported Icarus to a prominent location in the two-story entryway of the Raether Library, where he once again hangs in allegorical splendor, inspiring all who enter.

Look for an invitation to celebrate Icarus in your inbox. (The original event was postponed from its previous March 25, 2020 date.) n

Free Icarus Committee: Representing the Class of 1964: David Irving Representing the Class of 1969: Bruce Bistline Donald K. Dodge

From 1965, Icarus hangs over the main study table in Kassler Library.

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Representing the Class of 1974: Matthew B. King Rob Tallmadge

Alumni Association Highlights

Finding Your Path: Alumni Career Panel

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enior Launch Week looked very different this year. Instead of a Denver Zoo outing, Seniors and their Kindergarten Buddies explored the San Diego Zoo and Monterey Bay Aquarium in virtual Zoom outings. Some in-person social gathering cancellations were necessary, but many events were capably switched to virtual venues. Thanks to Zoom, the Alumni Career Panel, “Finding Your Path,” took place as scheduled. The unseen benefit of hosting the event online, versus on campus, was that alumni who live out of state were able to participate.

This year, four alumni professionals shared their stories of college and career, Trier Bryant ’02, Murphy Robinson ’06, Nat Robinson ’99, and Hannah Williams ’11.

Some left CA with very specific plans— college, graduate school, and/or jobs in a chosen field. For others, their paths took many unexpected turns, with career changes along the way. All the alumni offered advice on life after CA from the

Top Row (L to R): Senior Dean Gabe Bernstein, Junior Dean Steve Hammer, Murphy Robinson ’06. Second Row: Hannah Williams ’11, Nat Robinson ’99, Trier Bryant ’02.

Challenge your university or workplace to become better and to create a positive culture.

wisdom of hindsight. Despite the diverse paths taken, success and fulfillment came to each speaker.

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Here is a sample of their advice:

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Don’t be discouraged; there are always jobs available to those who seek.

Don’t be afraid to move across the country for a new opportunity.

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Explore the world with programs such as Semester at Sea.

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Take chances, go exploring, and never stop learning.

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Join clubs and meet people.

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Build your professional relationships, find a mentor, and use Twitter to network.

Always bring your best by helping others in a collaborative way.

Read more about career panelists in the July edition of the online Alumni Newsletter. n

Care Packages Sent to the Class of 2019

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ith the help of alumni parent volunteers, members of the Colorado Academy Class of 2019 received care packages from the CA Alumni Associ-

ation before their first college finals.

Cookies made by CA’s own food service staff and other treats, plus a CA alumni luggage tag, were carefully boxed by the parents and shipped by priority mail.

For most of the alumni, their box included a special card from their Kindergarten Buddy. Despite the number of packages, the volunteers worked in an efficient assembly line and finished in less than one hour! n

From Left: Bonnie Liu, Martha Smith, Tracie Preston, Alison Gallagher, Lisa Bain, Jeanne Coleman, Lisa Brinker, Mona Ferrugia, Ming Hall, Kim Ela, Stacey McKee, Marissa Keplinger, Tricia Schmid, Nora Freeman, Jennifer Goldman, Laura Lee Gastis, Phyllis Allen, Catherine Laskey. Not pictured: Jeanine Hughes, Natalie Schafer

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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.

on it. It has really put fun back into cycling.”

Cito Fredrickson, his wife Amy, and their three children continue to do well. Up until the pandemic, Cito continued working two jobs, as the owner of a historic seasonal hotel in Williams, Ariz. and a flight attendant with 20 years of experience. These are temporarily on hold. Cito remembers, “I am saddened by our collective loss of Chuck Froelicher, our friend and mentor. In 2011, I was able to attend our 50th class reunion.

I can tell you how pleased I was that this collection of late 60-year-olds were all still gainfully employed. Our group was, and are, nothing exceptional, except we were some of the early classes under Chuck’s vision. If you are reading this, you have been influenced by Chuck as well.”

1960

1965

While attending a November 2019 conference in Washington, D.C., Head of School Dr. Mike Davis met alumni for lunch.

Joining him were Garry Mitchell ’60, Patsy Helmetag, John ’65 and Pam Korbel, and Stacey Mitchell ’85.

Tom (Marcus) Wynbrandt writes, “Here in New York City, Judy and I are at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s like living through Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year. My world stretches from the lobby of my building, where I pick up deliveries, to the roof—my exercise yard. It’s not an uncomfortable prison, and I know I’m fortunate compared to many. I work, write, play guitar, and watch news and Netflix. I’d be surprised if life goes back to what it was, at least until there’s a vaccine.

In the meantime, let’s all stay safe!”

1961 Kent Drummond reports “Life pretty much continues the same for me. Hiking just about every day, but I have a new passion now, which is a fat-tire e-bike. I acquired it in February 2019 and have over 1,700 miles

From Left: Stacey Mitchell ’85, Mike Davis, Garry Mitchell ’60, John Korbel ’65

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Tom (Marcus) Wynbrandt ’65

1968 After his sabbatical in Colorado, Fred Morfit returned to Marin County, only to recover from a year of medical emergencies which sidelined him from action. Fred broke a foot in a “stupid” household accident in June 2019, which put him on crutches for most of the Summer. This was followed quickly by an emergency appendectomy and then the discovery of atrial fibrillation and a surgical procedure to correct it. Happily Fred writes, “I’m back at the helm now, tan, rested, and ready; making the world safe for the American homeowner from my desk at Guarantee Mortgage, where our motto is ‘We steal from the other guy and pass the savings on to you!’ Operators are standing by.”

Kent Drummond ’61 with his e-bike

Class Notes

1969 Bruce Bistline reports that the last year brought many changes to his household, punctuated by a new home with a rapid cash sale of the old home and all of the associated downsizing, packing, and unpacking trauma associated with the move. They now live in a smaller, newer, single-level home out of the foothills. His wife Susan retired from motorcycle drag racing. “Anyone want to buy a sweet little ten second Sportster?” Bruce retired from practicing law after 44 years. He says, “This is well over enough to crush idealism and foster a healthy dose of cynicism, and thanks to a single class action case, a decent retirement account.”

Bruce checked off a bucket list item, to see the Aurora Borealis. For Bruce it was such a moving experience that it went back on the bucket list for a repeat visit somewhere down the road. Bruce’s long overdue acceptance of the need for total knee surgery scheduled for April was unfortunately postponed due to the pandemic. With motorcycle racing moving off the horizon, autocross racing seemed like a logical alternative, so Bruce and Susan are PCA members, and had scheduled a 3-day Porsche Track Experience, also in April, which also became a victim of COVID-19. Instead, Bruce is getting in some flat water paddling every day and starting to rebuild his strength so that he can head back to white water. While Bruce and Susan have

suffered inconveniences and some medical issues, on balance, they “have had more than our share of good fortune.”

Jana and Don Dodge sheltered in their Arizona home during the Spring, occasionally golfing, taking long walks, reading, exercising, and watching Netflix.

Before the pandemic, Don and Jana traveled to South America.

1970 50th Reunion Rescheduled for May 21-23, 2021 Classmates held a mini-reunion in Santa Fe, N.M.

1971

Jana and Don ’69 Dodge at Machu Picchu

50th Class Reunion May 21-23, 2021 Peter Theodore moved to Leesburg, Va. two years ago from New York. He is mostly semi-retired; however, Peter still teaches music, guitar, bass, and ukulele. In addition, he plays small jazz gigs at local venues.

Peter continues to concentrate on building his O scale model railroad and living a “pretty mellow life.” Sad news to report is the loss of his second golden retriever of eleven years due to cancer. The dog was Rio, as in Grande, since Peter is from Colorado.

Like many alumni, Peter is lying low due to the virus, which he feels will affect all of us in one way or another.

Bruce ’69 and Susan Bistline at Whitehorse, Yukon, August 2019

Peter Theodore ’71

From Left: Dan Newman ’66, Bob Jacobs ’70, Jeff Lowdermilk ’70, Tom Miner ’70, Rob Tallmadge ’74

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Karl Soderstrom ’73 receiving the Minouri Yasui Community Volunteer Award

Class of 1975, Top Row (L to R): George Looms, Linc Jackson, Peter King. Second Row: Tom Woolley, Reed Myer, Peter Sherwood

1973

their loneliness and isolation, then perhaps we are helping the people in the community as well as the animals. The award came with a cash amount that I was able to donate back to the shelter’s general fund.”

In February, Karl Soderstrom received the Minouri Yasui Community Volunteer Award for his work at the Humane Society of South Platte Valley. Anne Clinger Bley ’72 attended the ceremony. Karl acknowledged the distinction, saying, “It was an honor to get the award, which recognizes volunteers in the community who, in all fairness, do much more than I in terms of financial contributions to the various causes in the area. I do feel that by helping to get dogs adopted out to worthy families, the shelter is perhaps providing two benefits. Yes, it helps the dogs, but if the dogs, being the social lubricants that they are, can help someone get out for more exercise, or help the children learn about empathy or responsibility, or even help people overcome

1974 A Reunion Paddle Trip for the Class of 1974, planned for May 2020, has been postponed until May 2021. Jenny and Rob Tallmadge, Katie and Clancy Burson, Jacira Harper Paolino, Bev and Dick Gast, Chuck and Mary Sawyer, Chuck Willyard, Tee Cowperthwaite, David Matthews, and possibly Jeff Kleiner were eager to run the Yampa and Green Rivers. With the change of date, Melanie DeMouth Ball might now be able to participate. Rob asks, “Is anyone else interested? It will likely be a three- or

Class of 1974 Zoom class meeting, Top Row (L to R): Will Matthews, Rob Tallmadge, Chuck Sawyer.

Second Row: Matthew King, Dick Gast, Clancy Burson. Third Row: Susan Boxer.

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four-night trip. Will and I will research the best deals, but the cost should be around $1,000 per person. Partners/spouses and adult children are welcome.”

1975 Linc Jackson and Casey love their new post in Phuket, Thailand. Casey is the College Counselor at British International School, and Linc is the computer teacher for the lower grades at a newly built school in the south of the island, also BIS. Linc commutes an hour by mountain bike each way, including a mountain pass with very little busy traffic. They live across the street from Casey’s school, so swimming and tennis are easy to access when they are not in lockdown due to the pandemic. Despite that, they can mountain bike dirt roads and single track in the mountains right behind the school. Some of that riding is through rubber or palm oil plantations, but higher up it just turns into jungle. Linc recently came across a king cobra, over a meter long, that raised its head to take a look, then slithered off into the brush. Linc and Casey also love being so close to the ocean and hope to do more snorkeling. Their son Cable is taking a gap year from DU and is with them.

Inspired by the lockdown, Linc has had video chats on Zoom with several classmates from 1975, including Peter Sherwood, Peter King, Reed Myer, George Looms, and Tom Woolley. Linc writes, “It was really great to catch up. We have actually met twice and we plan to meet again.”

Class Notes

Randy Stein ’75 and Blitz

Randy Stein is now a commander with the Colorado Rangers K-9 Unit. His dog Blitz is a German shepherd certified in narcotics detection and patrol. According to his bio, Blitz loves playing in the water and snow and finding drugs and missing children.

He really dislikes bad guys who try to assault his fellow police officers. In addition, Blitz appeared on the first season of the television show “America’s Top Dog.”

1978 Read about the 1978 CA production of the Pirates of Penzance on page 32, also the first musical performed in the then-brand-new Froelicher Theatre.

1979 Lisa Harrison Ellsworth and her husband

Buzz and Lisa ’79 Ellsworth

From Left: 1978 Classmates Gery English and Schuyler Grey practice social distancing in Boulder, Colo.

Buzz joined alumni and parents of alumni at Back-to-School Night, where they enjoyed Latin dance, beer tasting, and a lecture on healthy eating.

1980 40th Class Reunion Rescheduled for May 21-23, 2021

1981 40th Class Reunion May 21-23, 2021 Tanya Muftic published her first book of poetry, Two Souls Collided: A Poetic Journey. In July 2019, Tanya married Linda Wheeler in Winter Park. Classmate Bobbi Tolchinsky Smith attended the

From Left: Tanya Muftic ’81 and Linda Wheeler on their wedding day

wedding. Tanya is currently teaching in the Boulder Valley School District at the Community Montessori School. She teaches an upper elementary classroom with fourth and fifth grade students. Tanya also started a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ educators, their colleagues, students, and community members, The Tie Tuesday Project. Anyone can follow it on FB and @thetietuesdayproject.

1983 Suzanne Lippstreu Dugan’s son Zachery graduated with his A&P (airframe and power plant) Mechanic License and was hired as an airplane mechanic for Frontier Airlines.

1985 Read about Stacey Mitchell on page 48.

Zachery Dugan, son of Suzanne Lippstreu Dugan ’83

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Indigo Prasad, daughter of Che Prasad ’87

Erik Kreider ’93 in March 2019 in Antarctica

From Left: Fletcher, Charlotte, and Julia Emerson ’94

1987

frog dissection. She was interviewed by Psychology Today for her work. Che is very proud of his daughter’s contribution to science and the ethical treatment of animals.

primary site, kabanaskincare.com or the dedicated site, C19USA.com that launched in early April. For Erik, it’s been a very busy 2020 despite the economy, and quite a contrast in terms of activities compared to his travels last year of sea kayaking the Antarctic peninsula (and the compulsory polar plunge into 30° F seawater), Philippines for diving, and exploring Australia with his dad in December. Erik writes, “Though I have no wife/family of my own, I’ve been having a blast.”

Lee Feldshon is still loving living in NYC. In addition to growing his entertainment law practice (feldshonlaw.com), he is excited to be a co-producer of the new Broadwaybound (fingers crossed for luck), stage musical Austen’s Pride: A New Musical of Pride & Prejudice (austensprideamusical.com).

He says it has beautiful music and is really funny, moving, and romantic. “It sparks joy in a weary world.” The developmental production of the show at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle last October was terrific.

“The audiences loved it, and we got great reviews!” Drop him a line through his firm’s website to catch up.

Che Prasad’s daughter Indigo won a national award, Humane Student of the Year, from Animalearn for her seventh grade science project on humane alternatives to traditional

From Left: Kimsey, Locklyn, and Colin Gumm ’94 enjoy the annual Alumni Skating Party.

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1990 Read about the Class of 1990 Virtual Reunion Party on page 58.

30th Class Reunion Rescheduled for May 21-23, 2021

1991 30th Class Reunion May 21-23, 2021

1993 Erik Kreider has shifted gears and production capacity with Kabana Skin Care toward producing personal protective equipment, specifically a neurotoxin-free hand sanitizer formula called C19. He’s gone from product concept and formulation to product launch, including packaging design, modern website, and FDA NDC product registration in less than two weeks, in order to address the shortages. Erik donated C19 to Colorado Academy for use by faculty and staff once campus opens.

The C19 Antimicrobial Hand Sanitizer is made with food-grade ingredients (unlike the competition, which almost universally uses poisonous denatured alcohol) and is the latest addition to the Kabana line of products. You can check it out both on Erik’s

1994 Julia Emerson and her family stayed in Taos, N.M., during the COVID-19 crisis to be close to her parents. In between her three CA children’s remote learning, the family is hiking.

1995 25th Class Reunion Rescheduled for May 21-23, 2021

1996 25th Class Reunion May 21-23, 2021 Meagan Gold, a CA parent, has been working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic in Denver. She is an anesthesiologist at St. Joseph’s, Rose, and Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospitals in emergency surgeries and labor and delivery. Meagan also holds an MPH in epidemiology, which has been very useful.

Class Notes

From Left: Noa and Meagan Gold ’96 at the annual Alumni Skating Party

1997 Jenni Hohensee Skeen led a large group of alumni in the art of floral arranging and helped them create a unique custom centerpiece at Alumni Back-to-School Night in February. Jenni is the founder and owner of Goodnight Violet, Denver’s only floral design studio specializing in memorial floristry. Her mission is to provide clients with a visual voice for their final goodbye.

Jenni provides services for Celebration of Life events, traditional memorials, green memorials, pet memorials, sympathy arrangements, and “goodnight blooms” for a loved one’s final moments. You can find her at goodnighviolet.com.

1999

From Left: 1997 alumni at Back-to-School Night, Alex Barton, Kendall Dennis Slutzky, and Jenni Hohensee Skeen

campaign, Shane said, “I care deeply about our community and will work hard to focus on Silverton’s efforts on affordable housing, job opportunities, access to meaningful health and social services, economic diversification, and history preservation.”

As thrilled as they are to be planning for their wedding in September 2020, Aaron Goldhamer and Tess Vigil ’00 are weighing the effects the pandemic might have on guests coming from out of town and gathering in a large group.

They were looking forward to Shane Boris ’00 officiating their ceremony. Stay tuned!

Aaron and Tess got engaged over New Year’s 2019. This romance rekindled almost twenty years after their 1999 CA Prom date!

Shane Fuhrman was elected Mayor of Silverton, Colo. in April 2020. During his

Scott Hills moved back to Colorado with his wife Michelle in late 2019. He is working at Ball Aerospace in Boulder/Broomfield after

Shane Fuhrman ’99

Aaron Goldhamer ’99 and Tess Vigil ’00

15 years with Boeing. Michelle has continued with Northrop Grumman. On January 5, 2020 Scott and Michelle celebrated the birth of their first child, Josephina Lillian Hills, weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz. The couple lives in Westminster and enjoys their new role as parents to a very sweet baby girl.

In January, Ben Skeen received the Donald E. Cordova Distinguished Service Award from the Faculty of Federal Advocates, for his participation in the FFA’s Bankruptcy Pro Bono Program. This program provides free legal representation to low-income debtors in lawsuits that arise in the context of a bankruptcy filing. During the pandemic, Ben and his daughter Imogene have been creating art together. They were featured on Colorado Public Radio’s “Colorado Matters” in April in a story about Coloradans taking up “crisis crafts” to get through the

From Left: Scott Hills ’99, baby Josephina, and Michelle Hills

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stay-at-home order. Ben reports, “Imogene was already a very active and talented artist before this started. I’ve been inspired by her to get over my insecurity about not being able to make something that looks exactly right, and to just create.”

2000 20th Class Reunion Rescheduled for May 21-23, 2021 From Left: Imogene and her father Ben Skeen ’99 creating art

Shane Boris, producer of the Edge of Democracy, won a 2020 Academy Award nomination for best documentary.

It is available to view on Netflix.

Maggie Ruddy Crane and her husband Eddie are excited to announce the birth of their third child, Fiona Mae Crane, born on December 20, 2019. Maggie and Eddie’s son Finn (5) and daughter Olivia (3) are excited to have a baby sister.

From Left: Finn, Fiona, and Olivia Crane, children of Maggie Ruddy Crane ’00

The daughters of Megan DuBois Loucas ’00, From Left: Elliot (4 ½ years) and Olive (2 years, 4 months)

Julia Richman ’00

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Emily Dubin and her husband Chris had a great reason to miss the annual Alumni Skating Party. She delivered a baby boy, Remy, on the day of the party. Big sister Josie loves her new brother.

Megan DuBois Loucas’s first project at Trillium Architects, a small boutique architectural firm, was featured as the Fine Homebuilding House of 2020. The house is an 80-year-old home located in Greenwich, Conn. It is Megan’s first passive house project and it has been an insightful learning experience, not just in the importance of very technical design, but also in the thoughtful selection of materials that have minimal impact on our environment.

Betsy Wagner ’00 with her foster dog Montgomery

Helen Phillips received two awards in the past several months. First, Time magazine listed her book The Need, in the top-10 best fiction books and one of the 100 must-read books of 2019. This Spring, it was announced that Helen had received the 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship.

The Fellowships are grants to selected individuals made for a minimum of six months and a maximum of twelve months with the purpose of providing Fellows with blocks of time in which they can work with as much creative freedom as possible.

The grants are made freely with no special conditions attached to them, and Fellows may spend their grant funds in any manner they deem necessary to their work. Helen will have the Fall 2021 semester off from teaching. This is very much appreciated at this time of the pandemic. Helen has had little time for creative work, between trying to teach remotely this Spring and homeschooling her children. She is thrilled to know she will have a pool of time in the future. Helen and her family spent the quarantine period hunkered down with Adam’s parents in Maine. She writes, “What a hard time for NYC and for the country, and I’m filled with grief for our city and world. Many of my students are very directly affected. We are healthy and together and filled with gratitude for that.”

Julia Richman was recently named by the State of Colorado’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) as its new Chief Strategy Officer. She will focus on the convergence of strategy, product management, business architecture, and marketing and communications. Julia spent her last two years working for the city of Boulder, Colo., as Chief Innovation and Analytics Officer, and then as Boulder’s Chief Technology Officer.

Betsy Wagner has made a career move, resigning from her job at Wagner Equipment to focus on her passion for philanthropy and product/app development. Still living in Denver, she is currently developing an app to help people understand and identify healthy patterns in romantic relationships (stage5.app). Betsy continues to be involved in nonprofits that help the Colorado community thrive.

Additionally, she is fostering dogs and

Class Notes

Chase Thomas, son of Brian Fisher ’02

Laura Goldhamer ’02

Phoebe Coleman ’03 introduces Kevin Kwan at the Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress.

helping them get adopted throughout the Front Range region. Betsy currently owns three dogs and fosters a one-year-old dog with special needs. Montgomery was born without part of her brain. Betsy writes, “She’s the sweetest pup in the world, but it’s been a challenge as well as fun!”

new music which will be released soon. So stay tuned to lauragoldhamer.com for her new compositions.

business owners is more relevant than ever.

In fact, we’re built for this moment.” Over the past weeks, Skysthelimit.org has launched a comprehensive response to the crisis: a small business relief fund, entrepreneur marketplace, emergency hotline, and guide for young entrepreneurs operating under pandemic conditions.

2001 20th Class Reunion May 21-23, 2021 Louise Hills Davis is enjoying her work at Lockheed Martin in their planning department.

2002 Brian Fisher and his wife Jamie are thrilled to announce the birth of a son, Chase Thomas Fisher, in March 2020. Big sister Riley is excited to have a baby brother.

As Spring set in, from her front porch, Laura Goldhamer shared a video of a season song she wrote called “One Day at a Time.”

People she did not know were walking by when she played. They were smiling and waving at the music. For Laura, it was a sweet connection with strangers. The song is a sing-a-long and very fitting for our current conditions.

Brendan Ruddy and his partner Christy Soran welcomed Cecilia Ruddy into the world in January 2020 in San Francisco.

Their older son Julian couldn’t be happier.

2003 Nic Cary is offering support to thousands of underserved young adult entrepreneurs during the challenging times of the pandemic. He is the founder and chairman of a tech nonprofit 501(c)(3) Skysthelimit. org. The organization offers one-on-one support, resources, and mentors, so that job seekers become job creators who can help build a stronger economy for everyone. His team currently supports vulnerable and hard-hit small business owners in America. Nic writes, “Everyone is struggling to adapt to COVID-19. While other nonprofits are canceling classes, programming, and closing their buildings, our digital service delivery model for small

Phoebe Coleman is the president of the Library of Congress Asian American Association. She organized the 25th anniversary of the LCAAA, which included a commemoration of the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the appearance of Kevin Kwan, the author of Crazy Rich Asians. Phoebe is Grants Management Specialist in the office of COO for the Library of Congress.

2004 Austin Nunn married Candace McLellan in Vancouver, Canada on September 28, 2019 and was lucky enough to have CA classmates in attendance. Austin met Candace through a colleague at a tennis

Take Care and Take Heart Underneath the stars, Enjoy every night, anywhere we are, It is there we’ll be, making a great team, It’ll be alright, one day at a time.

Laura has been very creative and productive during the pandemic, producing

From Left: 2004 alumni at Austin Nunn’s wedding, Nick DePetro, Brian Pushchak, Sarah Olsen, Candace McLellan Nunn, Austin Nunn, Austin Haugen, Travis Sawyer, Andre Delsol

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Cali Pfaff ’04 Poone Shoureshi’s wedding

From Left: Ben, Marisa, and Grant ’04 Tallmadge

From Left: 2005 alumni, Sam Allen, Sam’s wife Laken, Karl Koch

From Left: Logan Brown ’07 and Katherine Crowley at the annual Alumni Skating Party

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tournament in Palm Springs, Calif., where they hit it off. Austin writes, “The wedding was a blast and a lot of fun.”

Cali Pfaff launched her own landscape architecture studio in Denver. She has a field office in Oregon. The firm takes on residential and commercial projects, focused on outdoor living and natureinspired design. Get in touch at info@ studio-campo.com or studio-campo.com.

Lisa “Tana” Sharp, has her master’s in Education and is an extern at the Air Force Academy. She is a Doctoral Extern in Clinical Psychology at University of Denver Peak Performance Center, USAFA. Lisa served briefly in the Navy, but is no longer in the service and was a member of Senator Bennet’s Service Academy Panel. She is happy to speak with current CA students who are interested in the service academies and might either to talk to them or guide them through what they may face in interviews during the selection process.

Each panel runs quite differently.

McKenna Kane, daughter of Emma Harrington Kane ’07

Grant Tallmadge and his wife Marisa are happy to announce the birth of their first child, Ben. He was born on January 14, 2020.

2005 Adrian Michael Green has written a new book, He Was Taught to be This Way. Carly Jones lives in Denver and is the VP of Talent Acquisition for Salesloft. She travels back and forth to Atlanta.

Karl Koch went skiing in Jackson Hole, Wyo. in January 2020. He was able to ski with Sam Allen and his wife Laken.

2007 Poone Shoureshi married James Bierbower II in Portland, Ore. on July 27, 2019 at the Waverly Country Club. CA alumni from 2007 attended the wedding, including Kalin Hennegan, Meg LaFarge, Kelly Wehrle Anderle, Lauren Barrows Duncan, Alec Devereaux, and James Nelson. The happy couple met at a New Year’s Eve party during Poone’s final year of medical school at George Washington University. She is currently completing her urology residency at Oregon Health and Science University.

James Hills started his sixth year as a mechanical engineer with Lockheed Martin.

He recently moved to a new program and works just down the hall from his sister Louise Hills Davis ’01.

Emma Harrington Kane and her husband

Class Notes

Tate Quinn, daughter of Anne Quinn O’Donnell ’07

Charlie Grace, daughter of Chapin Jackson Rebbe ’07

Eddie are thrilled to announce the arrival of their first child, McKenna Kane, born on March 17, 2020, St. Patrick’s Day. Emma reports, “We feel very lucky to have such a great distraction at this tough time and that we were in and out of the hospital at the beginning of the virus. We are extremely fortunate that Eddie was able to be in the delivery room.”

Chapin Jackson Rebbe and her husband Tyler are delighted to announce the birth of Charlie Grace Rebbe born on March 15, 2020. Charlie weighed 7 lb. 2 oz.

Anne Quinn O’Donnell and her husband Ryan welcomed daughter Tate Quinn O’Donnell on March 25, 2020, at 8:06 p.m.

Tate weighed 9 lbs. 9 oz. and was 21.25 inches long. “Everyone is doing well!”

PJ O’Neil, Hannah Kleiner O’Neil, Molly O’Neil ’14, and Jeff Kleiner ’74 attended Peter O’Neil’s retirement party in early March 2020. Peter served as the Colorado Outward Bound School’s executive director for years, bringing the organization back to its core values and financial stability.

Georgia Grey ’08

2008 Georgia Grey INHC moved her holistic nutrition business, WBH Nutrition Co. into the new shared wellness space, Nurture, located in the Highlands. She meets with her clients one-on-one in person (when possible) or on phone/video chat, teaching what to eat and how to heal through food. Georgia specializes in autoimmune nutrition, weight loss, athletes, and kid/ family nutrition. Follow Georgia on Instagram @wholebodyhealing and subscribe to her newsletter through the website wbhnutritionco.com.

Farrah Peek now lives in the greater Salt Lake City area, working on the

From Left: Will O’Neil, Molly O’Neil ’14, Peter O’Neil, PJ O’Neil ’07, Hannah Kleiner O’Neil ’07, and Jeff Kleiner ’74

Farrah Peek ’08

Class of 2008 alumnus Trip Stoddard is the ultimate Nikola Jokic fan.

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Facebook Data Center builds with Mortenson Construction.

Max Shaw married Chelsea Roseri on February 15, 2020 at the Woodlands in Morrison, Colo. CA groomsmen included Walker Shaw ’06, Paul Britton ’08, Louis Talesnick ’08, and Andrew Spickert ’09.

Max and Chelsea enjoyed their honeymoon in Telluride, Colo. The couple lives in Denver, where Max works in hospital administration at UCHealth, University of Colorado Hospital, and Chelsea is an accountant.

Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell Shaw ’08

Check out the latest feel-good recording by Jon Davis, “Easy!” Listen on Apple Music, Google Play, or Spotify. Expect to hear more new songs from Jon as he quarantines in New York City.

Read about Christina Bradley on page 44.

2009 Katarina Niparko is now working as an attorney at Fisher Phillips LLP in their Denver office. Her practice focuses on trade secrets protection, employment discrimination claims, and general employment counseling for employers, including crafting employment policies and handbooks and advising employers on compliance with federal and state laws. Since her law school graduation, Katarina is coaching one of CU Law’s mock trial teams. She competed for the CU mock trial team in national competitions and was president of the program.

Jon Davis ’08

Jordan Loyd is excited to share his newest venture. September 2019 marked

the last month with the Tiësto team as tour manager. Jordan was thankful for all the experiences and projects they accomplished together. Now he’s launched TWENTYFIVE/SEVEN. His company aims to create a new industry standard by optimizing the entertainment space globally, using strategic partnerships to create a truly all-encompassing platform. His flagship partners include TripActions, a four-billion dollar travel management company revolutionizing travel; Expensify, the world’s leading application for expense management; and VisaHQ, the leading online visa and passport application solution. Learn more at twentyfiveseven.com.

Cody Shultz graduated from Worcester Polytechnic University in Worcester, Mass. with dual BS degrees in Computer Science and Robotics Engineering. During college he held leadership positions in his fraternity, Sigma Pi, and continues to remain involved by helping to charter the Eta-Sigma chapter at CSU and serving as their Chapter Director.

Cody works as an engineer at the family business, the RoCaam Corporation, which is a manufacturer’s representative for large industrial equipment based in Northglenn, Colo. Most recently, Cody joined the Marine reserves and graduated from basic training at the MCRD in San Diego and was recently promoted to Lance Corporal. He will continue his combat and occupational specialty training this Spring and will take his orders at Buckley Air Force Base while continuing his career at RoCaam.

2010 10th Class Reunion Rescheduled for May 21-23, 2021

Cody Shultz ’09

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Maria and Sam Stein ’10

Sam Stein married Maria Sanchez-Calzada at her family’s home in the small town of Malinalco, two and a half hours outside of Mexico City, on November 9, 2020.

The estate sits below a cliff holding a historically significant Aztec temple. Sam felt fortunate that family and friends joined the celebration from around the world, including CA alumni Josh Hursh, Logan Bowen, and Ben Weiner.

Class Notes

Joel Berdie ’11 in San Mateo Rio Hondo, the southern mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico

From Left: Slide Kelly ’13, Tyler Kelly ’15, and Susan Andrews

2011

professional services firm in the areas of risk, strategy, and people.

10th Class Reunion May 21-23, 2021 Joel Berdie left his job working at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless in May 2019 before leading field studies trips for high school students in Tanzania, walking with the Maasai, service learning with an orphanage/school, and summiting Kilimanjaro twice. Joel then moved to Oaxaca, Mexico with his partner, where he facilitated business/money management and empowerment classes for Zapotec women entrepreneurs and artisans in small indigenous villages. Joel also worked as a food tour guide to make money on the side and share the depth of Oaxacan cuisine and culture with Mexican and international tourists. Joel is now back in Denver amidst COVID-19 and helping to build a community garden with Village Exchange Center alongside Spanish-speaking community members. Meanwhile, Joel has been accepted to and is contemplating a degree program for a Master of Social Work in Durango this coming Fall.

Read about David Kessler on page 46.

Paige Roth and John Pederson have enjoyed a complicated engagement due to the ongoing pandemic and have hopes of marrying in the Summer of 2020.

Seven members of the wedding party

are classmates from the class of 2011, Petra Jans Pederson, Karlee Rajaniemi, Caroline Cramer, Austin Holmes, Alex Rajaniemi, Cody Behan, and Thomas Pederson. The couple is hopeful they will be able to see everyone.

2012 Brooklyn Batey is the Director of Advocacy and Partnerships of the national nonprofit organization, Honored. They are dedicated to keeping great teachers in the classroom and inspiring a new generation of teachers.

Brooklyn is currently working to adapt programming to be as responsive and supportive as possible to teachers, students, and schools across the country during school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to help boost morale during a trying time for students and educators. Honored hopes to celebrate the amazing teachers going above and beyond to serve students through remote teaching. They will feature dozens of these teachers from across the country in upcoming months, but they need your help in finding them. Please nominate a CA teacher at honored.org. Or tag Honored on Facebook and LinkedIn as @Honored.

2013 Anjali Mehta is a consultant at Marsh McLellan & Co. in Boston, Mass., a leading

Maeve L. Moynihan has been in England during this time of the pandemic. She is a researcher of Europe’s stories at University of Oxford and a Project Administrator with the Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Center for International Development.

2015 Mac Connolly departed Deloitte Consulting in June to work for Metis Strategy in Washington, D.C. as an Associate Consultant in the IT sector. His startup, Agentless, was acquired in the Fall of 2019 by a fellow Y Combinator company called Open Door.

Justin Connerly feels fortunate to be doing well during this pandemic. The only tangible impact is that he is now working from home, which is still in California. Justin is currently enrolled at the National Test Pilot School as a graduate assistant, which is a scholarship program through which he works as engineering support for the school part-time and attends classes parttime toward a master’s degree in Flight Test Engineering. Justin has been able to keep up with a handful of his friends from CA. Tyler Kelly rode his bike across the USA and met up with his brother Slide Kelly ’13 and former Lower School teacher Susan Andrews in front of the U. S. Capitol.

Ellicia Tovar came to campus in November

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From Left: Meg Hill, Lisa Todd, Ellicia Tovar ’15

Annabel Collins ’17

From Left: 2018 classmates Thomas Messner and Jayne Kay

2019. She was headed to basic training in the U.S. military on December 2.

consecutive quarter, Annabel has had an internship at the UC Davis goat facility, where she assists with births and care for the newborn babies. She was one of few students remaining on the Davis campus over Spring Break and was helping the barn manager with pretty much everything. Annabel has gotten a lot of hands-on veterinary experience, including vaccinations, blood draws, bottle-feeding, and ultrasounds. She has helped care for over 50 babies so far, is definitely thinking about veterinary school, and is currently on the pre-vet track.

2016 5th Class Reunion May 21-23, 2021 Former Lower School teacher Susan Andrews was able to see Justin Bassey play several basketball games last year when Harvard was playing in the Washington, D.C. area vs. Georgetown. Susan wrote, “What fun to follow his games!”

From Left: Justin Bassey ’16 and Susan Andrews

Angelina Leonardi graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Skidmore College and was named the recipient of the 2020 ACS Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry, in recognition of her success in courses and her achievements in research. Thank you to Suzie Jekel for her influence and impact on Angelina’s love for and desire to learn science!

Max Messner graduated from the United States Military Academy West Point and is stationed at a NATO training base in Bavaria, Germany, the post he had been hoping for.

2017 From Left: 2016 classmates meet at the Young Alumni Lunch in December, Nick Schneck and Nick Fuselier.

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Annabel Collins is enjoying her animalscience related activities. She placed first in the UC Davis intercollegiate horse show in the Fall of 2019. For the second

2018 Thomas Messner is attending the United States Military Academy West Point and asked CA classmate Jayne Kay, who attends the University of Georgia, to the 2020 West Point Winter Military Ball. Jayne also had the opportunity to stop in New York City and visited with Will Bomgaars, who is attending NYU.

2019 Margarita Diaz met Cathy Nabbefeld at San Diego State. She is enjoying her time at SDS and her studies in the civil engineering program.

Sachin Mehta is a freshman at Johns Hopkins University, which is a perfect fit for him. He continues to fence for the Division I Blue

Class Notes

Alumni at the Young Alumni Lunch in December, Alex Kim ’19, Kim Jans, and Eric Bear ’18

From Left: Margarita Diaz ’19 and Cathy Nabbefeld

Ben Freeman ’19

Jay team. Unfortunately, the NCAA Fencing Championships were cancelled this year.

Leadership. Makayla reports she has made lifelong friendships through the Presidents Leadership Class, with countless conferences, backpacking trips, and realworld exposure that has really developed her confidence, relationships, and life. She will live in an apartment next year with sister, Sophie ’17, and two good friends.

Conference Most Outstanding Rookie of the Year for Men’s Swimming. Ben swims for Swarthmore College and made three NCAA qualification times. Unfortunately, the NCAA meet was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Makayla Sileo still loves CU and is studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Science with a minor in Sociology and Leadership Studies. During the past semester, she had an internship doing Colorado outreach for Girls Leadership. This Summer Makayla will work in San Francisco, also with Girls

Ben Freeman was named the Centennial

Stuart Mills has been hosting a Zoom Advisory Meeting with his 2019 advisees who are home finishing their first year of college. n

Mr. Mills’s 2019 Advisory, Top Row (L to R): Davis Ebel, Stuart Mills, Máire McHugh. Second Row: Mari Annest, Will Smart, Carter Coatsworth Third Row: Alex Ford, Nina Hall, Charlie Selby.

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In Memoriam remembered, “Mary always had her ‘eye on the prize,’ and children in her care were going to be good readers when they moved on to the Second Grade. Her passion for books was legendary.”

Mary Squires Day

Mary Squires Day

M

ary Squires Day, a First Grade teacher at Colorado Academy from 1976-1992, passed away December 18, 2019, one day after her 95th birthday. She was preceded in death by her husband of 71 years, David Day. They had six children, seven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Mary and David enjoyed a home in Breckenridge, as well as their travels around the U.S. and abroad.

Mary was born in Champagne-Urbana, Ill. on December 17, 1924 and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1945.

Mary was a beloved CA teacher who, once she retired, missed the students so much that she continued to substitute teach until the age of 78. Current Fourth Grade teacher Suzanne Kolsun Jackson had worked with her. “Mary was one of the brightest, kindest, hard working women I have ever known. She was a mentor and role model to all who taught with her. She was a brilliant math teacher and a First Grade teacher of the highest skill. She loved CA,” she said.

Among Mary’s favorite things at CA was the Lower School Library and how children received a wonderful introduction to books from then Lower School Librarian Cheryl Scheer. Former Lower School Principal Dr. Tom Fitzgerald

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“She patiently survived the many innovations that came her way in the 80s and beyond. There was “the whole child syndrome.” It was suggested we embrace “creative writing,” and “inventive spelling,” and “dictation” to help kids move through school. We had long discussions about the 800 words Lower School children needed to know how to spell before they moved on to Middle School and how to use these words in a proper sentence. Mary, without a bit of fuss, would fold into her teaching what seemed to make sense and move on. For some who needed extra help, Mary would say, ‘I keep chipping away at trying to make a more perfect final product.’ ” Among Mary’s other favorite CA memories, she appreciated CA’s assembly program, and the wide range of opportunities students had—from the performing arts to the outstanding speakers provided for children of all ages. In addition to teaching, Mary spent ten years as a parent educator for Parents as Teachers, a program that helps children enter school with a greater degree of success through home visitations promoting growth and development of children from birth through five-year-olds. Thanks to Mary, among the gifts they received from her, families learned about books and how to acquire a library card.

At Mary’s request, donations may be made in her memory to the CA Lower School Library at 3800 S. Pierce St., Denver, CO 80235.

Alecia “Lisa” Monico O’Donnell

L

isa O’Donnell passed away on December 28, 2019 after a long illness. She is survived by her

Lisa O’Donnell

husband, Tom, and their two children, Kelly and Kevin (Kelly) O’Donnell.

Lisa worked at CA for 21 years starting in 1991. For nine of those years, she served as a Third Grade teacher, and after that as a librarian in Raether Library.

Lisa received her undergraduate degree in education from Central Connecticut State University and her graduate degree from CU-Denver in library media sciences. She served as the president of Colorado Independent School Librarians, and she was a member of the American Association of School Librarians and the National Council of Teachers of English.

She received CA’s Frances Newton Outstanding Faculty Award in 2006 and was appointed a Preceptor in 2009. She officially retired from CA in 2013.

Amazingly, Lisa and current Fourth Grade teacher Suzanne Kolsun Jackson grew up together on the same street in Bristol, Conn. On the occasion of Lisa’s retirement, “KJ” wrote about her lifelong friend and the serendipitous way that they both landed at CA: We were both born in 1952, so it is a delight to have reached the 60th anniversary of knowing one another and sharing many of life’s adventures. Our parents were friends. We are friends, and our children carry on this long tradition of family camaraderie. We >>>

Former Faculty

S

usan Andrews enjoys living in Northern Virginia near her grandchildren, to whom she teaches high school literature, composition, and middle school English. She also teaches a few other homeschooled children. Susan says, “I use Chip Lee’s book on composition.” She has remained in touch with many of her former students. Last Summer, she had lunch with Tyler Kelly ’15, after his bike ride across the USA, along with Tyler’s brother Slide Kelly ’13. Susan attended a book release talk by Eli Saslow ’01 at a Washington, D.C. bookstore, and she writes, “Eli is writing a COVID series that is published on the front page of the Washington Post every Sunday.”

Susan and her husband Virgil were also able to attend several basketball games of Justin Bassey ’16, when Harvard was playing in the area. In 2019, Harvard advanced during March Madness, and Justin got them tickets to see a playoff game with Georgetown. Susan says, “What fun to follow his games!” Susan also traveled to Brown University last May for the graduation of Michael Fuller ’15. “He’s been in Denver this past year with Teach for America, Susan adds. “I feel for the students who are graduating this year, but a note from Loida Luna ’16 lifted my spirits when she described the way Boston College brought closure for students in March as they packed up and left campus. Schools are doing a remarkable job.”

Susan Andrews (L) with Michael Fuller ’15 at Brown University

In Memoriam <<< played school together on the front porch of the house at 50 Fifth Street. We probably always knew that we were going to be teachers when we grew up. I think we both framed it as professional calling and a wonderful way to spend a lifetime. We can regale you with shared school experiences from Mrs. Hardy’s Kindergarten, where we marched to the music of her piano, to painting dinosaurs in First Grade and going to the Bronx Zoo. We can talk about taking tap dancing lessons together and performing the ‘monkey to the chimp’ song.

These stories continue all the way through high school, where Lisa was a cheerleader and athlete, and I was a thespian and editor of the school newspaper. Lisa completed her undergraduate degree at Central Connecticut State University and joined me on the Pine Ridge Reservation in Porcupine, S.D. in the late 1970s. She worked as a reading specialist for the Shannon County School District and became an expert on horseback riding as well, fulfilling another childhood dream of both of us wanting to become more like Annie Oakley.

Then, our lives took different geographical

turns. Lisa was living in San Francisco in the early 1990s, and I was teaching Third Grade at a wonderful school in Denver called Colorado Academy. Lisa and her husband, Tom, relocated to Denver with their two children, and Lisa began to substitute teach here at CA, taking over for a teacher on maternity leave.

That position became a full-time job teaching Third Grade. She taught in the Lower School for nine years and then began working in Raether Library in 2001, completing a Master of Library Science at CU Denver and working as the Middle School Librarian until her retirement.

Her 21-year career at CA was punctuated by her strong work ethic and a true love of children and good books. Liston Hills ’95, a current Middle School English teacher writes, “Lisa’s passion for engaging Middle School readers is inspiring. She never failed to remind teachers to schedule library time for hearing her book talks and checking out independent reading books. Knowing that such actions were not enough to reach every Middle School reader, she also organized school-wide read-ins and invented the Poetry Idol

competition for Sixth Graders. She deserves credit for capturing the interest of young readers and a few old ones, too.” Middle School English teacher Peggy Butler adds, “Lisa O’Donnell was the Middle School Library. By that I mean that any Middle School student could ask her for a book recommendation, and off the top of her head, she would rattle off titles to match a student’s interest and genre. Lisa was always reading, keeping the students and staff abreast of the latest books. She was an invaluable resource to teachers as Summer booklists were put together. Lisa would let us know what was available in paperback, as opposed to hardcover, which helped families immensely.” Others note how Lisa’s “perennial positivity” and upbeat attitude were contagious. We know for certain that the many lives she touched through her love of literacy will remain enriched forever.

Condolences may be sent to Tom at the family home at 7900 West Purdue Avenue, Lakewood, CO 80235-1905.

Read about Leslie Webster on page 50.

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Graduates

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CA Alumni Association Important Dates 2020-2021

Friday, September 25, 2020

October 2020 Friday, December 4, 2020

Alumni/Upper School Spirit Breakfast* Upper School Lobby, 7:30 a.m.

Alumni Happy Hour* Alumni Ice Skating Party* DCC, 5:30–9:00 p.m.

Thursday, December 18, 2020 College Alumni Lunch*

Campus Center, 12:30 p.m.

February or March, 2021

Alumni Night at a Nuggets/Avalanche Game*

Friday, May 21, 2021 Giant Relay Day*

BBQ Lunch, Carnival for Children, The Race, Alumni-Faculty Party, Alumni-Varsity-Faculty Games Saturday & Sunday, May 22-23, 2021

Reunion Weekend* 1970, 1971, 1980 1981, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011

*Subject to change due to social distancing orders Please check the Alumni Home Page on the CA Website, coloradoacademy.org, for updates and new events.

Summer 2020

Colorado Academy CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Printed by a Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified Printer

“Teddy Bear Tuesday” During Spring remote learning on Zoom, Kindergarten teacher Sarah Ingham planned a new theme for her students each week. In the course of the week devoted to learning about bears, students read fiction and nonfiction books about bears, and they drew pictures about bears. Mrs. Ingham thought it only appropriate that the Kindergartners let their bears awake from hibernation for the Summer. And so, “Teddy Bear Tuesday” was born.

“I knew the class would love Teddy Bear Tuesday,” she says. “And so did I!”

Colorado Academy Journal Summer 2020

3800 South Pierce Street Denver, CO 80235