Times Call Salute to Seniors 2023

SVVSD seniors ready for future

By Amy Bounds boundsa@dailycamera com

If Lyons Middle/Senior High School senior Cole Thomas’ four years in high school had a theme, it would be leadership

He’s the school’s student body president, as well as president of the National Honor Society founder and president of the debate club, the yearbook editor and the captain of the cross country and track teams

As part of the school’s science and leadership program, he visited the local elementary school once a month to help with science activities He’s a member of both the St Vrain Valley School District’s and the Lyons’ student advisory boards He’s president of the Lyons Leo volunteer club and the trombone section leader in the school band

“I wanted to be part of clubs I could contribute to and make a difference in,” he said

Thomas joined St Vrain’s advisory board as a junior because he wanted to have a voice in what goes on in the school district ” He expanded his advisory work to the town board as a senior, providing a voice on issues that included regulating concealed carry of firearms and improving mental health resources

In National Honor Society, he organized a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s research His interest stemmed from the death of his grandmother a year ago after she had lived with the disease for four years Along with raising money for research, he’s considering Alzheimer’s research as a future career

“I saw how that really hollowed her out, he said She couldn’t remember me or my dad It just sucked I really want to advance the field and hopefully work toward a cure so people don’t have to go through what she had to go through

While he appreciated that attending a small high school offered more opportunities to take on leadership roles, he’s also looking forward to experiencing a much larger environment when he enrolls at the University of Colorado Boulder in the fall He plans to major in biomedical engineering

“A huge reason why I’m going to CU Boulder is to switch it up a little bit and start that new chapter in my life, he said “I have a blank slate that I can paint in whatever way I want ”

Life Skills ACE: 9:30a.m Wednesday, May 24, Main Street Auditorium

LaunchED: 5p.m Thursday May 25 Innovation Center

New Meridian: 9 a m Friday May 26

Everly-Montgomery Field St Vrain Virtual: 9a.m Friday May 26 Silver Creek High School Field

Universal High School: 11a.m Friday May 26

Silver Creek High School Commons

Erie High School: 10a.m Saturday May 27

Erie High School Field

Frederick High School: 10a.m Saturday May 27

Frederick High Field

Longmont High School: 10a.m Saturday May 27

Everly-Montgomery Field Lyons Senior High School: 10a.m Saturday May 27

John Johnson Football Field

Mead High School: 9a.m Saturday, May 27, Mead High Field

Niwot High School: 10 a m Saturday, May 27,

Niwot High Field Silver Creek High School: 10a.m Saturday, May 27,

Silver Creek Field

Skyline High School: 9a.m Saturday May 27

Skyline High Field

‘My teachers saw potential in me’

Frederick High’s Crystal Rojas Carbajal will not only be one of the first to graduate from her school’s P-TECH program, but also the school’s first P-TECH valedictorian The Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools program combines high

school with two years of community college Frederick s program focuses on biomedical sciences

“I saw myself thriving in this program,” Rojas Carbajal said “I felt like it would be a great fit for me ” She said her parents were raised in Mexico, where her moms family didn’t have enough money to support her finishing middle

school and her dad was only able to go through high school

“My family heavily supported me,” she said “As a first generation student, the program saves my parents a lot of money I had the perfect opportunity to get ahead of it and get my education even further Teachers, she said, also provided support

“My teachers saw potential in me, and that really motivated me,” she said

Another advantage to the PTECH program, she said, is the class became like a family

“Spending as much time as we did together we got really close to one another, she said It has been extremely rewarding to see

Our graduates are advancing future of America

By Don Haddad

As we approach our 2023

graduation celebration, I want to take a moment to recognize the unwavering drive strength of character, and rigorous academic preparation that our approximately 2,000 graduates have demonstrated throughout their time in St Vrain The thunderous applause that they will receive as they walk across the stage to receive their diploma is not only a testament to their many achievements; it also serves as a symbol of our community’s enduring commitment to the continued success of our students, teachers, staff, parents and community

It is an honor to serve with our Board of Education, teachers, staff, parents, administrators, and other community partners to celebrate the Class of

2023 and recognize their high levels of success From their preschool years to the present, these graduates have faced significant challenges, as well as many great opportunities which

have supported them in building a strong foundation for their future

The Class of 2023 has excelled in high-quality instructional focus academics, including Biomedical Sciences Energy, Engineering and Aerospace, Leadership, STEM, Visual and Performing Arts, Pathways to Teaching (P-TEACH), Pathways in Technology Early College High School Associate Degree Program (P-TECH), and more They have been highly engaged in their school communities, participating in co-curricular activities, including the arts, music, athletics, and numerous advanced career and technology programs Their hours spent engaged in work-based internships and community service are nothing less than impressive

Further, our graduates have enrolled in a record number of Advanced Placement Interna-

tional Baccalaureate, and concurrent enrollment college-level courses, giving them a head start on their postsecondary education, as well as thousands of college credits on their transcripts which has saved their families millions of dollars in tuition costs Our seniors have also received numerous recognitions for their academic achievements, talents, and innovative ideas including Boettcher Scholarships, Daniels Scholarships, National Merit semifinalists and finalists, All-State athletes, AllState musicians, and acceptance letters from many of America’s highly competitive colleges, universities and military institutions

Public education is one of the most powerful systems for driving positive change in our society, and we have no greater responsibility than ensuring that every child in our community

receives a rigorous, engaging, and high-quality education Our students are being prepared for a complex, highly-technical globalized world, with a strong competitive advantage and a drive for learning and continued growth They are receiving a modern, cutting-edge education, rooted in rigorous traditional academics, which offers a truly personalized and comprehensive educational experience

To our graduating seniors, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude and wish you the very best in life You are truly a class of compassionate, dedicated, and innovative people who will boldly lead our country into the future Your contributions to our community have enriched our schools and inspired future generations of learners I am incredibly proud of you Don Haddad, Ed D Superintendent

CLIFF GRASSMICK STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Cole Thomas of Lyons competes in the 3200meter relay during the Boulder County Track and Field Invitational at Longmont High School on April 15

MATTHEW JONAS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Frederick’s Crystal Rojas Carbajal poses for a portrait on April 25 Rojas Carbajal is part of Frederick s first graduating P-TECH class and is a P-TECH valedictorian

MATTHEW JONAS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Silver Creek s Austin Brubaker poses for a portrait April 27 in Longmont

Don Haddad

SVVSD GRADUATION SCHEDULE

APEX Homeschool Program

2023 SENIORS

Crossroads School

CONGRATULATIONS SENIORS

Seniors

all of us progress through the program ”

Along with earning an associate’s degree while in high school Carbajal was part of National Honor Society, St Vrain Valley’s Student Advisory Council and her school’s Latino Club

“For National Honor Society we always have such amazing projects, she said “We helped build the community and supported specific families It feels really incredible to see the school creating events to help the rest of the community

During an internship her junior year, she said, she “just completely fell in love with the field” of biochemistry

It’s something that I was almost destined to do, she said “It just felt right ”

She’s planning to attend the University of Denver to study biochemistry, with a goal of working on vaccines or other pharmaceutical drugs after she graduates

“I’m ready to go and really sad to go,” she said “I look back at my time in high school and remember all these amazing experiences, but I’m really excited to see what comes next ”

‘I just like learning’

Silver Creek senior Aus-

tin Brubaker translated her high school academic success into three prestigious scholarships She was awarded scholarships from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Boettcher Foundation and the Daniels Fund For college, she’s deciding between Harvard and Stanford and plans to major in economics

She took all but three of her school’s advanced placement classes “I take as many opportunities as I can to take all the AP classes I can ” she said Education is very important to me Taking advantage of classes in high school to earn college credit, while it’s free, is a great opportunity”

She said one favorite class was AP psychology, which sparked an interest in the subject that led her to take concurrent enrollment psychology classes at Front Range Community College Another favorite was environmental science

“I just like learning, especially with the great teachers at our school,” she said

Outside of academics, she was the class president for three years, is a member of the school’s environmental club and joined the Longmont Youth Council as a freshman

“We mainly work to get the youth voice out there,” she said

She descried high school graduation is bittersweet

CNC bits are seen on a cart as Frederick High School junior Michael Allred works on the mill during a summer manufacturing class at the Career Elevation & Technology Center in Longmont on July 26 2022

MATTHEW JONAS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

She expects to miss seeing friends and family and even expects to miss the routines of high school, including the ringing attendance bells But she said she s looking forward to the freedom in college, including picking classes that fit her interests “I’m definitely excited for college,” she said

Daneille Ashley Isabelle Granados

Kendrick Coats

Lucie Dolenc

Hadley Everdeen Maya Fahy

Margaret Gillett

Justin Greenidge Nate Herrera Amelia Hess

Clara Coats

MacKenzie Crawford Elizabeth Cunningham

Eli Emming Abigail Francis

Jasper Hutchings Cole Johnson

Austin Johnston

Maggie Keller Ivy Lamson

Caroline Martin

Grace McNeil Gabriel Moore Sam Prucha

James Schmeisser

Braedyn Stricker Ciaran Vaughan

Lindsey Walker

Joshua Oehlkers

Nina Redfield Carson Rumsey

Savannah Sievers

Brianna Waldroup

Lynnsey Wright

Aidan LaWall

Jason Johansen Abby Johnson

Alexander Lopez

Dawson School

CONGRATULATIONSSENIORS

Teacher creates high ropes course refugee simulation

By

Bounds

ture plans derailed because of the pandemic Retiring at the end of the school year, he got the chance on Monday to lead students through the simulation one more time

He said the ropes course holds parallels to a refugee s journey You can t relax while making decisions, he said, but instead need to be in the moment and think on your feet

“This is supposed to simulate what life would be like for a refugee,” he said “You have to overcome fear You can try cooperation versus working alone and see

what works better This makes you think of danger and risk and just how uncertain the life of a refugee might be ”

Two AP geography classes went through the simulation Monday, with help from Challenge Course Manager Chris Schuhmann and other staff members

Each student started with a pile of foreign currency to use to bribe border guards pay their way out of dangerous situations or pay other students for help The students weren’t provided with currency rates, forcing them to guess at values The

student who ends the game with the most money also wins a prize

For the game, the student refugees traveled through six locations, starting on the ground ropes course in Aleppo, Syria, and going through Turkey Germany France, Canada and Pennsylvania before ending in Denver Students roll dice at each location, giving them one of six scenarios that range from arriving safely to being forced to stay put to dying

In Syria, for example, they could be stopped by government troops and

conscripted into the army, captured by human traffickers or arrive safely in Turkey and ride in the back of a truck to Germany, hiding in a 55-gallon oil drum a trip that takes all their money

It’s a dangerous journey, Schuhmann told the students “We don’t expect all of you to make it ”

Students who survive the challenges on the ground move on to the high ropes course, which is 40 feet in the air Their first task is to go up a climbing wall to get to the course, with the top of the wall set as France

Then they must traverse four sections of the course while avoiding an unlucky roll of the dice, to make it safely to Denver at the end Just like with refugees who decide to remain where they are, Angus said, some students decide not to attempt the ropes course

Natalie Korczak said she skipped going through the ropes course because it felt “really scary,” but she was proud to make it to the top of the climbing wall for the first time

“When I go over migration in class, I’ll be able to relate to it,” she said

Olivia Baker Leo Bellanca Owen Belt Emma Berdou Julie Bozzay Tyler Burridge

Kale Carlson

Finn Carpenter Cade Collins Charlotte Commons

Mae DeAnni Bryce Fetter Cayden Fisher Skye Franklund Alexa Gilbert Ashtin Gilio Eden Handler Oliver Hansen Rowan Harral Allison Hoeffler Jacoby Horacek

Badri Damerla Ava McCullick Charlie McIlroy

Tabby

Meere Mac Montgomery

Mateo Oosthuizen

Bennett Opie Ryan Orris

Sophie Sampliner

Anika Sankpal

Sydney Javes Anni Johnson

David Kessler

Blaine Krug

Maylei Leaneagh

Rafa Lecaros

Owen Leidich

Avery Lidge

Sophie Lynn

Tori Schell

Madison Shaw Nolan Silver Finn Soderberg

Margaret Stapleton

Mia Stein Clay Steinfort Ella Stewart Gemma Sutton Anna VonDungen

Isaac Weise Alfie Whitemore

Maddie Wittenberg

Leehman Wood

Hats Off To The 2023 Graduates!

2023 023CLASS OF

2023 202 CLASS OF

Malia Amaya Silver Creek High School

Congratulations Malia! We are so proud of you! Keep your great sense of humor Your determination is inspiring! Can’t wait to see what the future holds!

We love you so much!

God Bless!

Love Dad, Mom and Kaytiana

2023 CLASS OF

2023 CLASS OF

Chloe Kruse Niwot High School

Chloe, you gracefully navigated the years leading up to this milestone We are proud of the genuine and compassionate person you are and how you lead by example Wishing you every happiness as you enjoy many wonderful experiences in the next chapter of your life at W&M Our love goes with you Mom Dad and Carter

2023 CLASS OF Congrats!

Adam - You did it! We are so very proud of you and all you have accomplished Your intelligence and passion for learning have been a joy to watch even when we didn’t know what were talking about Your future is as bright as a quasar and we can’t wait to see how you will shine!

Love Mom, Dad, and Julia

Marcus! You did it It has been so fun watching you grow in all aspects of your life We are proud of your hard work your determination your grit This is the beginning of many good things to come You have built a strong foundation for yourself We are all so proud of your accomplishments

Love Mom, Dad and Payton

2023 CLASS OF

Aiden McVay Silver Creek

Dear Aiden,

Congratulations on your high school graduation! We are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished Watching you grow and mature has been an absolute joy Your dedication to your studies, extracurricular activities, and community is inspiring We love you and wish you all the best Grams and Grandpa

2023 CLASS OF Congrats!

Lakota Taylor Longmont High

So proud of you sweetie! Ya made it! Congratulations!

Love you much!

Nana and Bompa

Bryan

We are so proud of you! Words can’t express the joy that’s in our hearts We know that this journey hasnt always been an easy one for you Watching you hang in there from year to year has been such a blessing Now it’s graduation time and we are so proud of you!

Love Papa & Nana

2023 CLASS OF

Gabriel Lara Zavala Longmont High School

My Son! You have reached a great milestone in your life You put the work and the energy and here we are about to see you walk across the stage and receive your diploma I am so proud of the responsible hard working and caring young man you have become A successful career awaits you! I will always be here for you!

Marcus Garcia Frederick High School

Adam Richardson Niwot High School

Bryan Newby Silver Creek High School

2023 SENIORS Erie High School

Team wins state engineering design challenge

Editor’s note: This article was published originally on Feb 8, 2023

By Amy Bounds

boundsa@dailycamera com

Erie High senior Mack-

enzie Campbell said her jaw dropped when she learned her team won an engineering challenge to design an unmanned aircraft as a solution to the need for more efficient rural package deliveries

“There was a lot of trial and error,” she said “It felt like we were hitting a lot of dead ends But I’m very proud of the project we put together It was a good experience to get an idea of where the industry is at with unmanned aircraft ” Campbell and five other seniors in Erie High’s engineering design class recently won at the state level in the annual Real World Design Challenge, qualifying the team to compete at the nationals in April

The students were the only engineering design class team to chose the Real World competition instead of a rocket building com-

petition as this year’s big project While their competition was tricky because it was theoretical, the students said they also found it more interesting than designing rockets

Four of the seniors are in the engineering program’s computer science track, while the other two are in the aerospace track Along with Campbell, the seniors on the team are Bayley Anderson, Abram Fluckiger, Justin Ely, Emily Frech and Fischer Straub

This year’s design challenge was to “investigate the practicality of using unmanned aircraft to transport cargo to reduce time and environmental impact ” The idea was based on parcel companies working with the federal government on more efficient delivery methods, reducing truck traffic in rural areas

Parameters included a cargo weight of 4,000 pounds, with the cargo required to be stored in two specific containers The unmanned aircraft also needed to travel 300 miles, with 45 minutes of fuel reserve, and cruise at an alti-

tude of 20,000 feet

To prove that their idea would work, the teams needed to calculate the operating cost of flying and analyze how the aircraft performed when compared with a standard cargo flight and a truck Lastly, they had to use a cost-to-benefit analysis to justify choices made in the design of their aircraft

At first, it was quite an overwhelming process,” Campbell said Anderson researched and found an older model

Ukranian plane that fit the needed parameters for the body of the aircraft, then the team redesigned the interior with sensors and autonomous equipment, including using machine learning in their navigation system “I’ve never seen one of those planes in person,” she said “I didn’t know how it would all fit together ” They also made modifications so the aircraft could use regular jet fuel instead of the highly explosive and discontinued origi-

Erie seniors Mackenzie Campbell left Abram Fluckiger, Justin Gly and Bayley Anderson talk about their project

The Erie High School Engineering Team won the Real World Design Challenge state competition and is moving onto the national/ international level in April

CLIFF GRASSMICK STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

nal fuel type

Their project included a 42-page engineering notebook detailing everything from their budget and the specs for the unmanned plane to flight plans and 3D designs Fluckiger said their calculations showed their design was successful, as it ended up both faster and more efficient than traditional cargo planes It also was faster than using cargo trucks, though the unmanned aircraft did use more fuel

While they had just three months to complete the project for the state competition, they have another two months to make a few additions and changes to their original project and develop a 15-minute virtual presentation for the national competition

“I think our chances are good,” Campbell said Fluckiger, who plans to attend the University of Colorado Boulder, is majoring in physics Though he’s not continuing with engineering, he said, the engineering classes were “really fun and useful” and taught him programming skills

Campbell, who plans to attend the Colorado School of Mines and major in electrical engineering, said she signed up for Erie’s intro to engineering class on a whim

“The first year went really well,” she said “It kind of just started to click that I’m good at science and math and I should continue on that path

Editor’s note: The story has been updated to correct the spelling of Justin Ely’s name

Carter Vanek

Amelia Webb

Owen Wixom Logan Zoellner

Anakin Vick Stella Weitzel

Grady Wolchek

Grace Vogt

Mia Welty

Miranda Wood

Eva Wagner Ashton Whisler

Natalie Woodland

Tessa Walker James Whittenburg John Wright

Aubrey Wallace

Zachary Wieczorek Keaden Yamauchi

Kaitlyn Wallace Levi Wiegand Tiffany Yang

Valeria Wall-Navarrete

Serena Wilborn Andrei Yermakov

Hailey Walter Hudson Willard Brendan Young

Caden Walters

Katelyn Wilson Sydona Young

Joey Watts

Susanna Winkler Caz Zampiello

Prince Whiting

Alejandro Torres Kaylee Torres Noah Trutner Colton Turner Taylor Uhing John-Paul Uwalaka Jaelyn Van Hemelryck

2023 SENIORS Frederick High School

Wyckoff

Injured Justice, Frederick fall in 5A semifinals

Editor’s note: This article was published originally on March 11, 2023

By Brent New bwnew@ prairiemountainmedia com

DENVER >> Frederick’s Luke Justice wore a towel over his head and a hangdog look across his face as he headed off the court at the Denver Coliseum This was the other side of the hoops pageantry the Golden Eagles delivered throughout the winter

This seemed cruel

A weakened left ankle betrayed Justice in the Class 5A state semifinals Friday night, though he’d still found a way to form a productive one-two punch with fellow senior Matias Aldana against top-ranked Air Academy It wasn’t enough for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles who lost to the Kadets 74-59, bowing out in high school’s version of the Final Four for a second straight season

“It’s tough,” Justice said “I wish I could have been able to do more Wish I d been at my full ability”

Everyone with Frederick’s rooting interest did Justice and Aldana each finished with 17 points Al-

dana led the charge early, scoring eight of the team’s first 12 to power a quick start Justice, coming in averaging a team-leading 22 4 points per game, didn t score his first basket until there was 2 minutes, 52 seconds left in the half It was clear he wasn’t 100% On a hard fall in the open-

ing quarter, Justice had aggravated an ankle sprain he said he suffered less than a week ago Frederick was up six at the time His crisp cuts, strong drives, and that ability to scribble through defenses whenever he pleased, things that made him one of the best scorers in state, was

now gone “I couldn’t turn, I couldn’t drive at my full ability, couldn’t use my jab step I couldn’t slide my feet on defense, said Justice, who hobbled and grimaced in pain throughout the night “I just felt like I wasn’t as explosive Even when I shot it, I felt like it was holding

me down ” Frederick stayed close through most of three quarters, anyway Harry Singh gave Frederick its last lead with a 3-pointer early in the second half, making it 36-35 Justice added five straight points a bit later for the Golden Eagles (25-2) to keep

it close including a 3 in which he faded to his left to avoid a defender Air Academy (25-2) responded with a 13-0 run to pull away

“We lacked on our defensive rebounds and our defense kind of slacked,” Aldana said of the gamechanging spurt And our shots in the first half we were just 2 of 17 from 3 That kind of hurt us ”

Frederick finished 6 of 30 from deep and just shot 39 7% from the field

It was its first game held under 60 points this season

“Our guy Max Howery, he’s a terrific on-ball defender and we put him on their best guard every time we play a team like that, said Air Academy senior Corbin Garver, who had 27 points “He just locks up and forces bad shots And their best player’s points per game was cut in half or threefourths That was the key”

Frederick won 20-plus games in consecutive seasons under coach Jeff Conway who took over for Enoch Miller a few weeks into last winter

Last year, the Golden Eagles reached the state semifinals for the first time in 66 years

Kylie Rusco

Ani Shull

Bryan Soto Martell Aydan

Thomas Vanessa Valdivia

Enriquez

Benjamin Wigington

Alena Ruybal

Jackson Sibold Collin Sphar Collin Thompson David Valle Arellano

Paige Wilcox

Kaydence Young

Alexis Sierra Tyler Spotts Emma

Tone

Justin Valois Aurora Williams

Devon Zadel

Alana Ryley

Jozlyn Silva

Savanna Staff Ashlyn Torres Kalob

Van Der Hoeven

Jayden Williams

Cruz Zamudio

Caleb Sabados

Tyler Silva Kaden Storm Ethan Torres Israel Vasquez Mata

Owen Willis

Jeanette ZavalaAvitia

Iram Saenz Ibarra

Yessenia Silva

Vincent Stovall

Laci Trayler Kierstyn Vejrostek

Layton Wilson

Isabella Zeiler

Mikah Sarmiento Vazquez

Katelin Sindelar

Parson Sweeney

William

Triplett Justin

Vick

Daniel Wing

Gabriel Zierlein

Harkaranveer Singh Kimberly Tarin Terrazas

Aidan

Troxel Grace Vigil

Micah Wittler

Lucy Rothe

Jayce Scudder

Danielle Smith Elijah Teaupa

Carlie TrujilloStrange Joseph Villani

Michael Wojahn

Len Royer Alyvia Selby

Destini Smith

Anahi Terrazas Orona

Irina

Tufe

Abigail Weston

Alexis Woodruff

Kael Rundquist

Graciela Serrano Ledezma

Jesus Soto Borrego Gracyn TeVelde Roman Valdez

Kylee Whittenburg Aden

MATTHEW JONAS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Frederick s Luke Justice, center, reacts after fouling out of the class 5A boys basketball state tournament final four game against Air Academy at the Denver Coliseum on March 10

Evan Alexander Shreya Gurung

Zoe Scadden

Osvaldo Barron Mendoza

Elizabeth Gustafson

Kelly Segovia De La Cruz

Ciera Baumann

Dillon Gutierrez

Skyler Snedecor

Jordan Baumgartner Taylor Harrington Sa Valderra

Geraldine Chavez Santos Anastasis Hawke

Samuel Crane Malia Henriques

Anastasia Dudley

Oscar Herrera Bustillos ania ale

Hunter Engstrom River Hoyns-Saylor

Rhonan Geraci

Cooper Johnson

Molly Gioso-Betts

Zachary Karlinsey

Amelia Green

Javier Moreno Rubio Gracie Morford Brianna Olson

BrendaMosqueda Cisneros Ju Ram J R E ily ey Emma Rivard

Michelle Romero

Maxwell Kohl

Joseph Walker Naoki Yamashita

Isabella Rivera Zakkai Smith Joey Schulz

Martinez

Scheuerman

Schneider

Wilcox

Palmer

Rawlins

Rose

Millican

Baron Koenig Rebecca Lock

Lozano Reyes Kyiami McClure Jacob Moats

Nunez

2023 SENIORS Longmont High School

Courtney Wood Braden Wormke Janiah Wright Fiona Yakel Lily Young Stallings

Mesa Strenge Sophia Trahan

Frings Ventura Huaman James Wilson

Timothy Shykula Brynne Sullivan Angelica Trejo Silva Garrison Walter

Camile Siekman Brayden Tate Lisa Turton Maggie Watson

Logan Smith Griffin Taylor Gideon Tutu Jocelyn Weber

Anthony Smole Lakota Taylor Alondra Uvina Perez Greta Wedel

Jose Solorzano Gandara Riley Tengwall Sylvia Valle Liam Weimer

Garrick Spires Alyssa Thorland Jessica Vallejo Ethan Wheaton

Emma Stasko Abigail Tobias

Giselle Vargas De Santiago Jamie Willard

Izaac Stone Jake Torres Jasper Vela Edward Wilson

Bryson Strandberg

Julisa Torres Chach

Vincent Velasquez Ellie Wilson

PHOTOS BY MATTHEW JONAS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER The winter drumline, right, plays during the Longmont High School Band 100th anniversary concert Dec 14, 2022

Director David Merrill, center, conducts the combined bands during the Longmont High School Band 100th anniversary concert

Longmont alumni Lance Scoggins, right, plays with members of the current and past drumline during the Longmont High School Band 100th anniversary concert

Myron Whisman, left, talks with Nancy Smith as they look over the 1980s display during the Longmont High School Band 100th anniversary concert Both played in the 1983 band.

Your School Name Lyons High School 2023 SENIORS

SVVSD students tackle issues, learn from community leaders

Editor’s note: This article was published originally on March 31, 2023

By Amy Bounds boundsa@dailycamera com

About 65 St Vrain Valley high school students took a break from classes Thursday to talk to city council members, business leaders, police officers and other community leaders as they developed solutions to complex topics

I came into this thinking, ‘I will just do a project,’ ” Mead High junior Andrea Flores said “But I’m actually learning things I can use We’re talking to public leaders, and we use their words to make something of our own ”

The Doing Democracy Day program, held at the Longmont Museum, is in its 13th year Organizers asked government teachers from all the district’s schools, as well as the APEX homeschool program, to invite students to attend

“I love seeing students engaged with local leaders, said Justelle Grandsaert, a Silver Creek social studies teacher and Democracy Day program coordinator “Students realize they are problem solvers and critical thinkers They realize that their voice matters ”

About 35 community members participated in the event

“This helps grow the next generation of leaders, said Frederick town attorney Jason Meyers “It’s important to get people involved in local government young It helps empower kids to come to the table with solutions

Grouped together from different schools, students were assigned topics Thursday morning, then conducted research and interviewed community leaders Topics included fentanyl, school safety, homelessness, screen addiction, social emotional learning and Broncos payment money uses

They re giving us a topic

and we get to explore it any way we want,” said Mead

High junior Ben Whitcomb

After researching, each group prepared a presentation to give before judges

The top three presentations were given before everyone at the event, then the judges chose a single winner The winning team gave the presentation on social emotional learning

During the research session, Longmont Police officer David Bonday pulled a dose of Narcan, the opioid antidote, out of his pocket as he answered questions from the group researching fentanyl addiction and overdoses I could Narcan you right

now and it means nothing,” he said as he talked about how the nasal spray is safe to administer, even if it s not known if a person has overdosed “It only bonds to opiates ”

Several students said they didn’t know much about fentanyl before they were assigned to the topic Thursday and, they added, that’s a problem One of their solutions is to increase education about the deadly drug in health classes If you inform people of the dangers, they can be more aware and stay safe,” said Sage Wynja, a junior at Lyons Middle Senior High Other ideas included more treatment centers,

though they noted it’s tricky to find qualified people to staff the centers and to be able to afford to pay them a living wage

“It’s a bad system,” Silver Creek junior Savannah Collier said “It’s hard to get help So much needs to change

The students working on school safety said they support keeping school resource officers as a way to prevent school violence, but think more training on di-

versity would help address concerns that some students don’t feel safe around uniformed officers

“All people would feel safe and heard,” Silver Creek junior Evvie Bowman said The group researching homelessness settled on sustainable affordable housing, with features like solar panels to reduce heating bills, as their main solution Mental health and addiction resources both

online and in person, also would be available

“It feels like we have a lot of resources and not solutions,” Silver Creek junior Kai Quinn said “Not having affordable housing is the main root of homelessness ”

He said he likes that the format is more interactive and self led than a typical school research project

“We can form our own opinions,” he said “I’m enjoying it ”

Robert Baer Anna Felt

Ragan Roberts

Thomas Beckett Alyce Gantzer

Jhoeli Ruiz

Jordan Brownsberger Violet Johnson

Wyatt Simmons

Cambria Burton Henry Jones

Serafina Teasdale

Olivia Chivers

Dequlyn Keller

Cole Thomas

Sophie Claviere Anguita Sierra Lauren

Lucas Wilson

Jeremiah Cronin Jasiah Levernier

Tyler Woelfle

Alexander Dugan Wyatt Levy

Nathan Duran Snow Matthews

Pierce Eddy Jackson Mencin

Brooklyn Enny

Remy Moe Otto Moellenberg

Autumn Olson

Anthony Ortiz

Raeana Ortiz Lochlan Osborne Keara

Ping

Hunter Powell Zane Ramey

Nathanael Richardson

Samantha Rickman

Kylee Roberts

Chloe Mers

MATTHEW JONAS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

From left Longmont Police officer David Bonday founder of the Kiva Center Garrett Braun Frederick junior Rachael Schmidt and Erie junior Abi Umbenhouer talk about fentanyl during Doing Democracy Day at the Longmont Museum on March 30

Mead High School 2023 SENIORS

Editor’s note: This article was published originally on Feb 11, 2023

By Dana Cadey dcadey@prairiemoutainmedia com

For five years Mead High School has raised money for Make-a-Wish Colorado to help wishes come true for children with critical illnesses On Friday afternoon the school closed its 2023 Wish Week with an assembly honoring local Make-a-Wish kid Mila Griffith

Mila, who is 5 and has leukemia was given a frontrow seat to energetic student-led games, like a relay race and a basketball shoot-off with members of the girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams Students also sang Happy Birthday” to Mila in celebration of her sixth birthday Feb 28

A big lover of princesses, Mila spent the assembly next to people dressed as Disney characters including her favorite princess, Elsa

“She had a blast,” said Mila’s mom, Jackie Kucharski Kucharski and Austin Griffith, Mila s dad, live in Broomfield and got involved with Make-a-Wish Colorado in October This summer, the nonprofit will grant Mila’s wish: a trip to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida to meet even more princesses

Hannah Burrin, development manager for Make-aWish Colorado, told assembly guests that MHS raised a total of $30,000 over its five years of participating in the nonprofit’s studentled fundraising program, Kids for Wish Kids This year enough was raised to fulfill four wishes including Mila’s as of Friday

“They go above and beyond,” Burrin said “It’s really special to see this community come together for

kids and make a difference ” The student council was the driving force behind Wish Week, which culminates in a fun run today Student-made posters with supportive phrases like “We love Mila” and “You are the strongest princess there is” lined the school’s hallway

Friday Many students

and faculty also wore shirts reading “Mead for Mila” at the assembly “We’ve been working on Wish Week for a while so it s been really building up, said junior Stella Snead, director of fundraising for student council “We’re excited to be here ” Last year, the Wish Week

celebration was held online due to pandemic concerns. Friday’s assembly saw the school’s gym packed with students and faculty; members of the Frederick High School Student Council even joined the crowd to get pointers for their own Wish Week they’ll be hosting later this year

“I feel like our work pays off when we have

Cole Timian

Nicole Jasmine Vicente Rebecca Wheeler

Tyler Solo

Joshua Tuominen-Collins

Angel Villalobos-Rivera

Maraia Widhalm

Brenna Scheffelmaer Aubrey Spendlove

Tavon

Underwood

Yvet

Villalpando

Katelyn Wiescamp

Thomas Schmid

Billy Steel

Lance Urynowicz Layla

Virtue Ethan Williams

Haley Schmidt Ashton Steele

Ana Valdez Quiroga Zakary Wachter Cody Wilson

Sarah Steere Wilson Valentine Emma Wanecek Haillie Wilson

Luis Sigala Sandoval

Jonathan Steidl

Kenneth Vay Fernando Sophia Wasden Taylor Wright

Zoe Sigg

Christian Stephenson Fernando Vazquez Segovia Paige Wazenegger Natalie Yoder

Cory Simpson Hayley Stienike

Alan Vazquez Jaydon Weaver Ellison Youngs

Haley Slemp Jaden Tanh

Dominic Vela Elijah Weiss

Julia Zamora

Abigail Smellage

Maya Thompson Joslynn Veltien Allison Welch Lindsay Zanini

Matthias Stephens

dressed as Elsa left and Abby French dressed as Anna right help

2023 SENIORS New Meridian High School

High school students make connections

Editor’s note: This article was published originally on April 29, 2023

By Dana Cadey dcadey@prairiemoutainmedia com

In its second year, the St Vrain Valley School District

Career and Job Fair gave hundreds of high schoolers an opportunity Friday to explore what their futures might hold

The fair was split into morning and afternoon sessions, held simultaneously at the SVVSD Innovation Center, 33 Quail Road, and the Career Elevation and Technology Center, 1200 S Sunset St UCHealth, Amazon, the city of Longmont, Aims Community College, and the U S Navy were just five vendors out of dozens manning booths at both locations

“We try to have companies that are representative of the opportunities we have here for our students,” said Eric Berngen coordinator of workplace development and innovation programs with SVVSD

Berngen, who oversaw the Innovation Center’s fair, said having two locations this year allowed more partners to join the fair Students could also have their resumes reviewed at workshops and have their professional portraits taken at the CETC location

“Even if they don’t leave here with a job, they leave with some sort of insight into what their career could be,” said SVVSD internship programs coordinator Rebecca Vincent, who helped run the fair at CETC Berngen said the career

fair is both a chance for students to network and explore future careers and for businesses and colleges to learn what high schoolers are interested in

“It’s been quite remarkable to see the level of interest on both sides ” he said

“I really see this as a winwin opportunity for our students as well as our business community and our collegiate community”

Erie High School junior Kiara Welch recently attended a three-week career prep series at the In-

novation Center, where she learned about resume building and interview skills As someone interested in biomedical engineering, Welch said Friday’s career fair connected her to potential employers and higher education programs

“They’ve all been super nice, she said What are you interested in?” is the first thing they ask And even if it’s not even close to what they’re talking about, they still give me information about how they can help me ”

Kristi Vang, representing software development company Anark, talked to visitors about Anark’s internship program for Innovation Center students, which connects them with mentors and gives them hands-on programming experience Vang, who went to school in SVVSD said she wished there was a fair like this when she was a student “I think it’s really important to be able to meet them in person to provide some more context about what we do, she said “Being in front of them, they can actually ask questions about the programs or companies ”

Niwot High School sophomores Meleah Perez and Will Becker also enjoyed the in-person element of the fair, saying it gave them more guidance than simply reading a job description on a website

“You get a better idea of what a job would look like when you get to meet face to face with the person who actually has that job,” Perez said

Mason Agras Gabrielle Duncanson

Evelyn ArredondoGonzales

Carson Bettencourt

Anthony Cerna Porras

Valeria Cuamea Martinez

Liam Dike Lizette Huerta

America Gonzalez Chavez

Jovani Guillen-Baez

Angel Dunn Brissa Espinoza Morales

Aaliyah EsquivelAguilar

Julian Guzman

Leslie Flores Lemus Aiden Gebauer

Ivan Gonzalez Guzman

Asia Alaniz

Savannah Bartz

Austin Bell Katelyn Borough

Fernando Delgado Castro

Garrett Johnson Ryan King

Talea Michell

Alexandrea Ninnis

Megan Olson

Autumn Palmer

Tal Johnson

Peter Kubiak

Alexia Mares

Alyssa Muniz

Diego Ordaz

Caden Pandolfi

Sam Perkins

Bryan Ramos Castruita

Ruby Rodriguez Nicolas Rodriguez Salas Jr

Jeniffer Romo-Zapata

Israel Pena Ayala

Jesus Puentes

Jack Raleigh

William Rieder

Amy Rogers

Ruby Sanchez Nevaeh Tyler

Jacob Wack

Eden Zavakos

Cesar Torres Aguero

Esmeralda Uribe-Morales Santos Vazquez Jr Quinn White

CLIFF GRASSMICK STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Riley Hrchert, right, a student at Silver Creek High School, talks with Ryan Williams, left, and Boon Leong, of Micron SVVSD hosted its 2nd annual job fair for students to explore career opportunities with industry professionals April 28

Niwot High School 2023 SENIORS

Niwot girls win their fifth straight cross country title

By Brent W New bwnew@ prairiemountainmedia com

COLORADO SPRINGS >> Sophomores Ella Hagen of Summit High School and Cloe Ruth of Silver Creek found themselves in a green mess Saturday afternoon They knew that meant they were in good shape Hagen and Ruth sandwiched around five Niwot runners in the top seven of the Class 4A girls race at Norris Penrose Event Center as the Cougars went on to win their fifth straight state cross country title

Scoring five runners, the Cougars tied their own class record from last year with 20 points Battle Mountain placed second with 122

The girls had come in with a national cross country title in December followed by its third straight state track championship in the spring “That was exactly the plan, just run as a pack, stay together and honestly just have fun together,” said Mia Prok who finished third in 18 minutes, 18 seconds her third straight top-three finish at the state cross country meet “It’s just another kind of more high-stakes workout We

were just having the mindset of staying calm and running together ”

As part of their twothrough-six finish, freshman Addison Ritzenhein the daughter of CU Hall of Famer and former American 5,000-meter record holder Dathan Ritzenhein finished eight seconds behind winner Hagen (17:48) in 17:56

Mia Prok, Bella Nelson (18:24), Madison Shults (18:29) and Lex Bullen (18:35) followed, while Mia’s younger sister Anna Prok was just behind Silver Creek’s Ruth (18:44) in eighth (18:45)

On the course, Ritzenhein and Hagen were stuck together through two miles before the Summit runner pushed out to a noticeable lead in the third The firstyear runners Ritzenhein and Anna Prok became the fourth and fifth freshmen to place inside the top 10 for Niwot over the past five seasons

“I was so excited to join this team,” freshman Ritzenhein said “When I was in middle school I always saw the high school team running around town and I was like ‘Oh my God, I can’t wait to do that next year ”

In the boys’ 4A race, which was highlighted by

the surprise individual victory from Mead’s Nolan Hoffman, Niwot finished second in the team race to Cheyenne Mountain for a consecutive year

Without All-American runner Zane Bergen, who is now at Stanford, and another runner suffering an injury on the course Saturday the Cougars finished 16 points behind the RedTailed Hawks (92-76)

Freshman Rocco Culpepper, brother of former two-time state champ Cruz Culpepper finished 10th (16:01) Their other scoring runners were Carlos Kipkorir Cheruiyot in 15th (16:08), Jeremy Gillett 19th (16:23), Gavin Engtrakul 25th (16:33) and Frederick Ambrose in 31st (16:42)

“We haven t had a healthy year,” Niwot coach Kelly Christensen said “We have one boy in the tent right now with the ambulance and one of our seniors has had heart issues

I think they’re going to be disappointed It’s a big letdown, they wanted to win Cheyenne Mountain is a great team but I think it speaks to the expectations and the culture they have ”

Before their runner-up finishes, the Cougars won the boys’ XC team title in

and

Juliana Strope

Julian Vock

Angela Wu

Sawyer Smith Mateusz Swat

Sean Wyatt

Walter Snowden

Karen Swendson

Hannah Waldron Angelie Xu

Jordan Tajchman

Eric Walker

Tiffany Yie

Jack Solomon Caroline Tusek Ruby Walker Niko Yozell

Alexandra Solovyev Katherine Tyrrell Julia Warder

Sophie Spalding Uliana Ukrainchuk

Addison Wardle

Henry Stauch Teresa Valdez

Luke Weber

Elinor Steele

Tiffany Valdez

Evan Welding

Paris Stephens Alexandra Varga Kian White

Molly Stokes

Cesar Velasco Ramirez

Anastasia Williams

Jamison Weise

Jacie Zou

Mia Von Minden

MATTHEW JONAS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Niwot High School s girls cross country team celebrates its Class 4A first place team title after the 2022State Cross Country Championships at the Norris Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs on Oct 29, 2022

2023 SENIORS Silver Creek High School

COMBINED SCHOOLS

Drumline places sixth at Winter Guard world championship

Editor’s note: This article was published originally on April 23, 2023

By Dana Cadey dcadey@prairiemoutainmedia

com

The Longmont combined schools drumline placed sixth at the Winter Guard International World Championships, the first time the group has made it to the finals of the competition in over 10 years

After a strong performance in the semifinals Friday morning, the drumline was one of 15 groups in its class competing in the finals that night, held in Dayton, Ohio “We were so happy with the placement said director Dave Marvin “Just to make finals here is a rare occurrence for groups, so we’re really proud to do it ”

The ensemble features 28 students from schools

around the St Vrain Valley School District including Skyline, Silver Creek, Mead and Longmont high schools and Lyons Middle/Senior

“It was honestly shocking, because I had no idea we could do it,” said Rachel Kramer a Silver Creek High School junior and marimba player

Simon Von Hatten, a Longmont High School junior and section leader alongside Kramer said the

group went into the competition with the goal of reaching the semifinals Learning they’d made finals, he said, was a “dream come true ”

“It was pretty emotional to have the realization that we should probably give ourselves some more credit, and that people are really seeing our show for what it is ” said Von Hatten, who plays snare drum “My biggest hope was to play our

last show and have it be the best show for everybody and I really think it was

Since the ensemble attends the competition every other year, coupled with the competition going virtual during the coronavirus pandemic none of the group’s students had traveled to the championships before

“We missed about two years of the students being able to really play live ”

Marvin said “To get the ability level back up and the work ethic it takes to make that happen this group was just spectacular at that ”

The students have been in Ohio since Tuesday and will return to Colorado on Sunday afternoon Marvin said he expects word of the drumline’s success to spread, potentially bringing more members into the ensemble going forward

2023 SENIORS Skyline High School

SVVSD embraces early college program

Editor’s note: This article was published originally on July 30 2022

By Amy Bounds

boundsa@dailycamera com

Abraham Tinajero was an eighth grader when he saw a poster in his Longmont middle school s library advertising a new program offering free college with a technology focus.

Interested he talked to a counselor to learn more about P-TECH, an early college program where he could earn an associate’s degree along with his high school diploma Liking the sound of the program he enrolled in the inaugural PTECH class as a freshman at Longmont’s Skyline High School

“I really loved working on computers even before P-TECH, he said I was a hobbyist P-TECH gave me a pathway”

He worked with an IBM mentor and interned at the company for six weeks as a junior After graduating in 2020 with his high school diploma and the promised associate’s degree in computer science from Front Range Community College,

he was accepted to IBM’s yearlong, paid apprenticeship program IBM hired him as a cybersecurity analyst once he completed the apprenticeship

“P-TECH has given me a great advantage ” he said Without it, I would have been questioning whether to go into college Having a college degree at 18 is great to put on a resume ”

Stanley Litow,

a former

vice president of IBM, developed the P-TECH, or Pathways in Technology Early College High Schools, model The first P-TECH school opened 11 years ago in Brooklyn, New York, in partnership with IBM Litow’s idea was to get more underrepresented young people into tech careers by giving them a direct path to college while in high school and in turn create a pipeline of em-

ployees with the job skills businesses were starting to value over four-year college degrees

The program, which includes mentors and internships provided by business partners, gives high school students up to six years to earn an associate s degree at no cost

Skyline High a pioneer in program

In Colorado St Vrain Valley was among the first school districts chosen by the state to offer a P-TECH program after the Legislature passed a bill to provide funding and the school district has embraced the program

Colorado’s first P-TECH programs started in the fall of 2016 at three high schools, including Skyline High Over the last six years, 17 more Colorado high schools have adopted P-TECH, for at total of 20 Three of those are in St Vrain Valley, with a fourth planned to open in the fall of 2023 at Longmont High School Each St Vrain Valley high school offers a different focus supported by different industry partners

Skyline partners with IBM, with students earning an associate’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Front Range

Along with being the first, Skyline’s program is the largest, enrolling up to 55 new freshmen each year Programs at the other schools are capped at 35 students per grade Frederick High’s program, which started in the fall of 2019 has a bioscience focus, partners with Aims Community College and works with industry partners Agilent Technologies, Tolmar, KBI Biopharma, AGC Biologics and Corden

Pharma Silver Creek High s program started a year ago with a cybersecurity focus The Longmont school partners with Front Range and works with industry partners Seagate, Cisco, PEAK Resources and Comcast

The new program coming to Longmont High will focus on business District leaders point to Skyline High s graduation statistics to illustrate the program’s success At Skyline, 100% of students in the first three P-TECH graduating classes earned

a high school diploma in four years

For the 2020 Skyline PTECH graduates, 24 of the 33, or about 70%, also earned associate’s degrees

For the 2021 graduating class, 30 of the 47 have associate’s degrees with one year left for those students to complete the college requirements

For the most recent 2022 graduates, who have two years left to complete the college requirements, 19 of 59 have associate’s degrees and another six are on track to earn their degrees by the end of the summer Jumping at an opportunity

Louise March, Skyline High’s P-TECH counselor, keeps in touch with the graduates, saying 27 are working part time or full time at IBM About a third are continuing their education at a four year college

Of the 19 who graduated in 2022 with an associate’s degree 17 are enrolling at a four year college, she said

Two of those 2022 graduates are Anahi Sarmiento, who is headed to the University of Colorado Boul-

Natasha Quiroz

Brittany Rosales Frankie Sanchez

Danson Stephens

Ezequiel Valdez

Collin Wright

Marlenne Ramirez Renteria Ian Ringman

Logan Rosebrock Ryer Schendel Bradlee Swenson

Nathan Vaughan Jeffrey Wright

Martha Ramirez

Stephanie Rivas Jared Roylance Liam Seplavy

Janell Tarma Camposano

Leonardo Viguerias Renteria

Zoie Wurtz

Viviana Rangel Paige Robinson

Amy Rubio Jillian Shrider Karina Toledo Lara Anaid Villareal Delgado Asa Young

Brandon Recinos Zavala

Ariana Rodriguez Cortave Juan Ruiz Villanueva

Adan Sidas Dimoulas Mireles Byrge Trent Tourscher Owen Walters Fernanda Zavala Mosqueda

Reagan Reed Ariel Rodriguez Michael Salazar Cortes Briseida Sifuentes

Kevin Tran

Cameron Wessley William Zimmerman

Dulce Reyes Escobar

Joren Rodriguez

Isaac Salazar Savannah Slater

Ashley Trosper

Erik West

Veronica Rodriguez

Amber Salisbury Kegan Snyder Logan Trosper

Kaden Wilson

Brenda Reyes-Zamora Vaughn Roethemeyer

David Salomon

Alin Solis Maldonado

Landon Troupe Faith Wiltshire

Caius Riale

Edwin Rojas Renteria Armando Sanchez Hernandez

Charlie Staver

Grayce Wojniak

Alan Ricalday Antonio Romero Brandon Sanchez

Mason Steffen

Alyssa Wolf

Brihana Rojas-Flores

Emma Short Jared Sotelo

P-TECH

MATTHEW JONAS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Frederick High School junior Olyvia McCallon checks the corners of a metal die with a square during a summer manufacturing class at the Career Elevation & Technology Center in Longmont on July 26 2022

2023 SENIORS

St. Vrain Virtual High School

Additional

Twin Peaks Classical 2023 SENIORS

der s Leeds School of Business, and Jose Ivarra, who will study computer science at Colorado State University

“I’m the oldest out of three siblings, Ivarra said

“When you hear that someone wants to give you free college in high school, you take it I jumped at the opportunity ”

Sarmiento added that her parents, who are immigrants, are already working two jobs and don’t have extra money for college costs

“P-TECH is pushing me forward ” she said “I know my parents want me to have a better life, but I want them to have a better life, too Going into high school, I kept that mentality that I would push myself to my full potential It kept me motivated ”

While the program requires hard work, the two graduates said, they still enjoyed high school and had

outside interests Ivarra was a varsity football player who was named player of the year Sarmiento took advantage of multiple opportunities, from helping elementary students learn robotics to working at the district’s Innovation Center

Ivarra said he likes that

P-TECH has the same high expectations for all students, no matter their backgrounds, and gives them support in any areas where they need help Spanish is his first language and while math came naturally, language arts was more challenging

“It was tough for me to see all these classmates use all these big words and I didn t know them, he said “I just felt less When I went into P-TECH, the teachers focus on you so much, checking on every single student ”

They said it s OK to struggle or even fail Ivarra said he failed a tough class during the pandemic, but was able to retake it and passed Both credited March, their

counselor, with providing unending support as they navigated high school and college classes

“She’s always there for you, Sarmiento said It s hard to be on top of everything You have someone to go to ”

Students also supported each other

You build bonds, Ivarra said “You’re all trying to figure out these classes You grow together It’s a bunch of people who want to succeed The people that surround you in P-TECH they push you to be better Support systems are key

P-TECH has no entrance requirements or prerequisite classes You don t need to be a top student, have taken advanced math or have a background in technology

With students starting the rigorous program with a wide range of skills, teachers and counselors said, they quickly figured out the program needed stronger support systems

March said freshmen in the first P-TECH class struggled that first semester, prompting the creation of a guided study class The every other day, hour-anda-half class includes both study time and time to learn workplace skills, including writing a resume and interviewing Teachers also offer tutoring twice a week after school

“The guided study has become crucial to the success of the program,” March said

Another way P-TECH provides extra support is through summer orientation programs for incoming freshmen

At Skyline, ninth graders take a three-week bridge class worth half a credit that includes learning good study habits They also meet IBM mentors and take a field trip to Front Range Community College

They get their college ID before they get their high school ID,” March said

During a session in June, 15 IBM mentors helped the

students program a Sphero robot to travel along different track configurations

Kathleen Schuster, who has volunteered as an IBM mentor since the P-TECH program started here, said she wants to “return some of the favors I got when I was younger ”

“Even this play stuff with the Spheros, it s teaching them teamwork and a little computing,” she said “Hopefully, through PTECH, they will learn what it takes to work in a tech job ”

Incoming Skyline freshman Blake Baker said he found a passion for programming at Trail Ridge Middle and saw P-TECH as a way to capitalize on that passion

“I really love that they give you options and a path,” he said

Trail Ridge classmate Itzel Pereyra another programming enthusiast, heard about P-TECH from her older brother

“It’s really good for my future,” she said “It’s an exciting moment, starting

the program It will just help you with everything ”

While some of the incoming ninth graders shared dreams of technology careers, others see PTECH as a good foundation to pursue other dreams

Skyline incoming ninth grader Marisol Sanchez wants to become a traveling nurse, demonstrating technology and new skills to other nurses She added that the summer orientation sessions are a good introduction, helping calm the nerves that accompany combining high school and college

“There’s a lot of team building,” she said “It’s getting us all stronger together as a group and introducing everyone

At Skyline, incoming 10th graders in P-TECH are getting paid to teach STEM lessons to elementary students while earning high school credit Students in the fifth or sixth year of the program also had the option of taking computer science and algebra classes at Front Range

Elizabeth Anglund Chloe Arndt Ian Landenberger

Zeke Baker

Sarah Martinez

Paul Morkunas

Benicio Chavez-Rietveld

Evodio Chico

Hanna Palomo

Stephan Choron Melanie Paul

Aryan Gurung

Amelia Hayden

Jazmine Pereyra

David Hayes

Emily Richardson Jason Shipp Elena Sickau

Giorgio Spensieri Noah Stadler

Anna Tep Anny Tep Alexander Valdez Cabrera Robert Van Alyne Riley Wilson

Khaeli Reynolds Emily Mosqueda-Orona

Nathan Rudd

Noah Johnson Nolan Kayton

Rylan Kinzle

Maya Montes deOca

Ashlyn Zavattaro

Tapia

Taya Harbaugh DJ Gallegos Ash Blue Maddox Brown Ianna Dukes

TOINFINITYANDBEYOND

Just as President John F Kennedy inspired a generation to reach for the moon, our students are driving innovation and achievement in a world of infinite possibility Public education is the catalyst from which our future is born

EXCERPTS FROM PRESIDENTJOHN F KENNEDY’S1962SPEECH