April 21, 1997
Volume 3, No. 7
A team of Summit students is one of 10 national finalists for the Community Innovation Award sponsored by Bayer Corporation, the National Science Foundation, and Discover magazine. The students — Matt Angiono, Trevor Davis, Cody Hayes, and Taryn Sposato — will receive $250 to further develop their proposal plus an all-expenses-paid, five-day trip to the Christopher Columbus Academy at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World. There, they will get first-hand experience in technological innovation by working with experts in science, technology, and education. They will be accompanied by their faculty mentor, Dr. Sikora.
The Summit proposal, titled "The Old Fashioned Wind Machine," is to build small windmills, about two meters (six feet) tall, capable of sustaining winds of 145 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour) — velocities somewhat higher than those occasionally experienced in Boulder. The windmills would generate electricity, which would be fed back to the electric utility company for credit in order to reduce the utility bills of individual homes and schools. Widespread use of such micro-windmills in a community could significantly reduce its net energy consumption.
The students will present their idea to a panel of judges and Epcot visitors. The members of the three top teams in the Bayer/NSF competition will each receive a savings bond. One of the 10 finalist teams will receive a $25,000 grant to further develop its idea in its community. The winners will be announced on May 31.
Ben Gilman and Antti Koivuniemi earned honors (equivalent to second place for team projects) in the State Science Fair, Junior Division.
Many Summit folks are planning to attend the second annual IB trivia contest at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Saturday, April 26, beginning at 7 PM. Each table of eight will compete in rounds of trivia and other events in an unusual evening of cerebral entertainment. Individuals and teams are welcome. Tax-deductible contributions of $25 benefit the IB program at Fairview High School. Donations of prizes and auction items are welcome. For reservations and complete information, call 530-4555, 786-7865, or 258-0289.
The Summit Odyssey of the Mind team will compete in the Colorado State OM Tournament at the University of Denver on April 26. The team of Lindsay Fox, Eric Gonzales, Wendy Harig, Cara Harmon, Dale Swirhun, and Sara Vink will present their solution to the "Classics . . . Can You Dig It?" problem at 3:15 PM at the Ricks Center for Gifted Children, 2040 South York. The first place team at State will advance to the World tournament at the University of Maryland in June.
The team's performance depicts the Australian aboriginal "dreamtime" and is packed with accurate representations of Australian artifacts and history. Its performance was deemed so authentic by the problem captain, a Martin Park Elementary School second-grade teacher, that the team was invited to perform for the second-grade classes at Martin Park. The teacher felt that her students, who are currently studying Australia, would benefit from seeing the performance and quizzing the Summit students on their research.
The OM Tournament is great fun for participants and spectators. For more information contact Connie Harmon, 499-2061.
This fall, Summit will begin school on August 21, 1997. The complete calendar for the 1997-98 school year will be decided later in April.
At its meeting on April 7, the Summit Board voted to go on the same daily bell schedule as Southern Hills. Classes will be 48 minutes long, with four-minute passing periods.
For the last two Tuesdays, a small but enthusiastic group of parents, teachers, and students have met and sung together under the direction of Mr. Burkhart. We have everything from former college voice majors, to jazz improvisationalists, to shower soloists in the choir, but what they have in common is a love of singing. The choir would welcome a larger group. If you would like to try it out, please come to the auditorium on Tuesdays, 4-5 PM.
The Hiring Committee is seeking new members to help in the selection of additional teachers for the fall semester. If you are interested, call Christa Kastner, 469-4034.
Seventy-two Summit students took over the East Boulder Recreation Center for Fun Night on April 12. They swam, danced, climbed the wall, played basketball and volleyball, ate 15 pizzas, drank 90 soft drinks, and had a great time.
A special part of the evening was a wall-climbing competition between faculty members Krista Brakhage and Chris Koch — a high stakes, interdisciplinary race. The result? She left him in the dust, proving that diagraming all those sentences definitely pays off.
We had a good crowd of volunteers on hand who enjoyed talking with each other. Thanks go to Kate Barberis, Susan and Jack Bruggeman, Tim Chunn, Amy and Mark Davis, Diana Falloon, Patty Hansen, Joan Harig, Barbry Hogue, Paul Koivuniemi, Marina Kushner, and Joan Reed. Faculty members Ms. Ammon, Ms. Brakhage, Ms. Dozeman, Mr. Koch, and Ms. Strong were present as well, as was Jim Strong. The event was planned by Linda Koivuniemi, Marta Turnbull, and Jeff Bradley.
At the end of the evening, the Rec Center personnel told organizers that this was "one of the nicest and best behaved groups we have ever had."
Summit's musical groups presented an enjoyable concert on Thursday evening, April 3. The advanced and beginning bands opened the performance, followed by a lively jazz ensemble. The select string ensemble ended the instrumental portion of the concert. The choir was the first of the vocal groups to perform. These singers then joined Silver Rain, the select vocal group, to perform a piece that the two groups sang in the Fairview Choral Festival in March. Silver Rain ended the evening's entertainment. The choreography for each of their songs was designed by the students. Just as the audience thought the concert over and rose to leave, Silver Rain surprised them by singing So Long, Farewell. Indeed, we all seemed to hate to say good night after such a lovely evening.
Congratulations to Mr. Burkhart for the progress that was evident in all students, both in musicianship and in stage presence. It was no easy task to move the large number of musicians on and off stage and to rearrange the stage after each set. Thanks to the students and parents who helped bring in extra chairs to accommodate the overflow audience.
Summit's musical groups have been active this spring in performing off campus. As mentioned above, the combined choral groups performed in the Fairview Choral Festival. The jazz ensemble performed in the Fairview Jazz Festival on April 18. Select strings, including the flutes from select winds, joined with Silver Rain to entertain senior residents of Golden West. Silver Rain recently sang for the students at Columbine Elementary.
Auditions are currently underway for a production of The Sound of Music in late May.
Ron Goldfarb, Christa Kastner, and Scott Smith were elected to the Summit Board of Directors. Their two-year terms begin June 1. Ron was elected to complete the remaining six weeks of Charlie Demarest's term. (Charlie is climbing mountains in Tibet.)
The Summit Board and former principal Steven Haas have signed a settlement agreement.
Representatives from Summit, Southern Hills, Fairview, the neighbors, and the district met on April 16 to discuss traffic mitigation. They agreed to explore the promotion of carpooling, a speed bump on Knox Drive, sidewalks around Fairview and to the South Boulder Recreation Center, school-bus pick-up points for focus-school and charter-school students, and better RTD bus routes.
Interested Summit students should hurry and apply to the popular Summer Enrichment Program (SEP) at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, July 6-19 (Session I) or July 20 - August 2 (Session II). The cost is $750 and includes tuition, housing, and food. Application forms are available from Corky Strong or by calling 970-351-2683.
The University of Colorado Wizards program is an informal introduction to astronomy, chemistry and physics, for students in grades 5 through 9. Each program lasts about an hour and includes lively demonstration experiments.
All shows begin at 9:30 AM, except the June show, which begins at 10 AM. Parking is available for $1 in the Euclid parking structure. Free parking may be available east of Folsom Stadium and east of the Engineering Center.
Order forms are available in the Summit office for tickets to the June 6, 7 PM, Colorado Rockies-vs.-Florida Marlins baseball game at Coors Field. Sales benefit the Foundation for Boulder Valley Schools.