August 25, 1997
Volume 4, No. 3
This year, Summit again opened the school year with an assembly for all students. As they filed into the auditorium, students and teachers greeted each other with smiles and laughter, an occasional hug, and friendly teasing. Students found seats quickly, and chatted as they waited for the assembly to begin.
When Assistant Principal Adams rose to start the assembly, all students immediately became silent. One student reported, "Last year he taught us the meaning of respect, so we make sure to listen to him when he talks. He told us to treat each other with respect and that he, Principal Dressler, and Counselor Bartley, would resolve any problems. He gave the kind of speech we have come to expect from him, telling us he would take care of us, and telling us how proud he is of us."
Mr. Adams introduced Dr. Dressler as a long-time friend and mentor. He asked the students to greet Dr. Dressler with a standing ovation. Dr. Dressler talked about himself briefly, and built upon the theme of mutual respect and creating a safe learning environment.
Dr. Dressler asked the teachers and staff to introduce themselves, which they did, accompanied by enthusiastic responses from 7th- and 8th-grade "old timers." He acknowledged the contributions of the students who helped with several teacher interviews over the summer. He said that when he interviewed for the position of principal, the student interviewers asked him the toughest questions.
We hope this year will be the best year your student has ever had.
Summit's Back-to-School Night for parents will be held on Monday, September 8, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. This will be a time to meet the staff and especially your student's teachers. A short opening session will be followed by informative meetings with teachers. We look forward to seeing you.
One hundred twenty eight Summit students, most of the faculty, and a crew of parent volunteers enjoyed Summit Fun Night on Saturday, August 23, at the East Boulder Rec Center. Students from all three grades got to know each other, talked informally with teachers, and played with a greased watermelon in the pool. Parents had a chance to meet Dr. Dressler while students played a spirited volleyball game against the faculty. The proverbial good time was had by all.
Thanks to a favorable response from the Boulder Valley Board of Education, and facilitated by the coordination of Summit's and Southern Hills' daily schedules, Summit students may have access to BVSD buses on a space-available basis. Parents interested in applying for a seat for their students on a Southern Hills or Fairview bus routed close to their homes should call Mr. Pat Sandham, BVSD Transportation Manager, 447-5150, or go to the Education Center, 6500 Arapahoe, to request a "Petition for Available Space Busing." The form should be completed and returned by September 15. A lottery will be held, if necessary, on October 1. Accepted students must board buses at existing stops.
Please try to carpool to and from school, or to take the bus, ride a bike, or walk. Each student who arrives or leaves in a single-passenger vehicle adds to the congestion around the campus, and this congestion is both dangerous and an annoyance to the neighbors. Last year, only 25% of Summit students regularly arrived at school in single-passenger vehicles; it would be great if we could do even better this year.
Parents who indicated, on their registration materials, an interest in carpooling should have received recently a list from RideArrangers providing the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the nearest Summit families also interested in forming carpools. If you did not receive a list but would like one, please call Mia Bemelen at RideArrangers, 480-6772. If you have any other questions about getting to or from Summit using alternative transportation, please call Linda Greenberg, 442-6498.
The Summit girls' fall league softball organizational meeting will be held Thursday, August 28, right after school. Meet initially in front of the office. Please call Coach Dale Oesterle, 444-7032, if you are planning to attend.
Students should return their Contract for Learning Success, found at the front of their Student/Parent Handbooks, to their first-period teachers on or before Friday, August 29. Our thanks to Ms. Brakhage for writing the 1997-98 Student Handbook this summer.
The Daily Camera is once again sponsoring the Parent-Teacher Hotline, providing teachers with an excellent way to communicate with parents. To get an update on your student's assignments, call 938-9090. Then enter any one of the following extensions:
| Ammon | Algebra | 0669 |
| Ammon | German | 0670 |
| Avallone | English | 0671 |
| Blakemore | Spanish | 0683 |
| Brakhage | English | 0672 |
| Burkhart | Music | 0678 |
| Cox | Social Studies | 0673 |
| Dozeman | English | 0674 |
| Frohbieter | Math | 0676 |
| Hanckel | Foreign Language | 0679 |
| Koch | Social Studies | 0680 |
| Molenaar | Science | 0677 |
| Mueller | Computer Programming | 0684 |
| Sikora | Science | 0681 |
| Stough | Foreign Language | 0682 |
| Thompson | Math | 0675 |
| Woolsey | Health, Cooking | 0685 |
You may also check the Summit News Line, 6168. The Hotline is designed for parents. Students are expected to write down assignments in class as they are given by the teachers. They may use the Hotline to verify assignments when they are absent or if they have some uncertainty. The Hotline is an excellent way for parents to remain informed regarding their student's school work.
From August 11 to 23, Summit students Ashley Howard, Nicky Demarest, Ben Gilman, and Brough Hansen attended the Concordia Language Villages. This extensive program of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, introduces young people to 10 world languages and cultures.
The four Summit students were residents of El Lago del Bosque, a lakeside residential camp where only Spanish was spoken. With resident counselors from throughout Latin America, campers participated in a number of classroom, cultural, and recreational activities which emphasized Hispanic life.
Concordia Language Villages can be reached at 800- 222-4750, clvoffice@village.cord.edu, http://www.cord.edu, or contact Spanish teacher Ms. Blakemore for more information.
Thanks to all the students who gave up some of their summer to attend demonstration classes for prospective teachers. About 20 students contributed their time and expertise in helping us interview new faculty members. Their assistance was an important part of the Summit hiring procedure which helps assure that our teachers are top-notch.
If you would like your e-mail address included in the 1997-1998 Summit school directory, please send an e-mail to olynmawr@aol.com with the word "Directory" on the subject line and your full name(s) and e-mail address(es) in the body of the message. Last chance.
State law now requires that all current seventh graders have their second measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) and all three hepatitis B inoculations by the beginning of the school year. Students with immunization records on file at Summit have 14 days to submit evidence of further immunization or a plan to obtain them. The Boulder County Health Department offers immunization clinics: Mondays, 1-6:45 PM, 529 Coffman, Longmont, 678-6166; Wednesdays, 1-6:45 PM, 3305 North Broadway, Boulder, 413-7500; Thursdays, 1-6 PM, 1345 Plaza Court North, Lafayette, 666-0515. Information and exemption cards may be obtained from the office.
Thanks to the volunteers who painted the Mini-Gym over the summer: Tammy Mencher, Gillian Singletary, Terry Cook, Dr. Dressler, Ms. Fee, and Ms. White.
Science lab fees are now due. Please make your check for $20 payable to Summit Middle School and mail or deliver it to the Summit office. If this is a financial hardship for you, please contact Lisa Singletary, 499-9511.
We know our parent body is very diverse and talented. If you would be willing to share your time and energy through classroom presentations, field trips, or the loan of materials, let Summit know. We are compiling a resource booklet for our teachers. Please send a note to the office with your name, phone number, areas of expertise, times you are available, and whether you can help with a classroom presentation, a field trip, or the loan of materials. Thanks!
The Parent Volunteer Connection (PVC) is up and running for the 1997-98 school year. Along with the realization that each and every one of us is very busy comes the equal realization that a very important aspect of Summit's strong program is the invaluable help of many parent volunteers. We need and value your volunteer time and energy.
Many thanks to the volunteers, both parents and students, who helped in the few days before school began on August 21, organizing classrooms, moving books and other materials between rooms, labeling classrooms with room numbers and teacher names, confirming locker assignments, and several other tasks. Your help meant that our teachers and office staff could focus on their most important work: to be ready for our students to return to school.
Thanks, too, to the parents who have already volunteered to host informal evening coffees with Dr. Dressler.
This is just the beginning, however. We are requesting that you indicate your areas of volunteer interests and your availability during the school year. We have a few specific volunteer needs already identified. All of our teachers can use help with photocopying handouts and other course materials. Our cooking teachers, Ms. Ammon and Ms. Woolsey, have requested help in class and help with shopping for cooking class supplies.
If you are available to work on these or other volunteer tasks, please call Barbry Hogue, PVC Coordinator, 665-3798. We can all pitch in to make the PVC a strong support system for the Summit community.
Applications for free or reduced-price lunches are available in the office.
In an effort to balance the concerns of students, parents, teachers, and janitors, we have revised the guidelines for nutrition break: (1) No "junk" food will be sold at lunch. (2) Parents may send a nutritious snack to school with their students; candy is not allowed. (3) The only liquid permitted is water; students should consider bringing a water bottle to school. (4) Students will be allowed a few minutes at the beginning of 7th period to eat their snacks; the time will be made up from study period which immediately follows 7th period. (5) Students may snack during passing periods.
Many factors went into these decisions, including: (a) the need for students to have a nutrition break, given Summit's early lunch period, (b) the problems the custodians have had with damage to school property caused by candy and sugared beverages, (c) the agreement to be on the same bell schedule as Southern Hills, and (d) the instructional time lost if nutrition break were held during 6th period.
Students should be aware that eating in the classroom is a privilege that could be revoked if it results in damage, mess, or unsanitary conditions.
The YWCA, through its Girls' Empowerment Program, is offering a series of workshops and seminars this fall. One is the "Bolder Girls" project on writing and photography sponsored by the Boulder Planet. Call 443-0419 for information.
The Boulder County Department of Social Services is looking for foster parents to provide a secure living environment and emotional support to adolescents. Traditional and nontraditional families, couples, and individuals, age 21 or older, may apply. Stipends range from $400-$900 per month, depending on the needs of the adolescent. Both short- and long-term homes are needed. Call 441-1089. Brochures are available in the Summit office.
When you come to Back-to-School Night on September 8, be sure to check out the brand-new, state-of -the-art, computer lab our students have this year. The lab is located in room 276 of the main building, which we share with Southern Hills.
Some highlights of the new lab are: twenty five 133 MHz Pentium student workstations with 16 MB memory, Windows 95, Visual Basic, Java Development Kit, Microsoft Works (on order), a 266 MHz Pentium II server with 128 MB memory and a 9 GB disk drive, Windows/NT Server, Microsoft FrontPage Web development software, and a 12-page-per-minute laser printer. All of the computers have hard-wired Internet connections through the BVSD infrastructure.
This new equipment would not have been possible without your generous support of last year's Tools for Learning drive. Additional funding was provided by our grant from the Challenge Foundation.
Thanks to Exabyte Corporation for their generous donation of a tape drive to backup our new server. Finally, thanks to parents Jason Bartley, Doc Evans, George Singletary, and students Jesse Bartley, Anwar Kashem, Chapman McDaniel, John Olson, and employees from IBM Boulder, who spent long hours setting up the lab at the last minute due to the UPS strike.
The board received this note from computer teacher Mr. Mueller: "Wow! I can't thank you enough for all the work you did in the computer lab. The machines are great. It is so nice having state-of-the-art equipment to work with. The kids from my Java class today were so jazzed! On behalf of myself and all the kids, please pass along our gratitude to the board." The Summit board, in turn, thanks all the parents who contributed so generously to Tools for Learning last year.
B.A. Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder.
Mr. Mueller began working with youth in Boulder in 1982 with the YMCA School-Age Child Care Program. As Director of Youth Services at the YMCA, he helped build a successful school-time and summer camp program that served over 20 elementary and middle schools throughout Boulder County. During his time with the "Y," he was instrumental in the establishment of programs for kids from birth through the teenage years, including the Scott Carpenter Skate Park and the JoyCare Infant Center.
Mr. Mueller left Boulder for a year in the summer of 1992 to take a short-term position as Co-Director for an AmeriCorps Service Program in Washington, D.C., where part of his responsibilities included connecting AmeriCorps Members in Texas, California, and New Jersey to the Internet to facilitate better communication. Upon returning to Boulder, he studied computer science for a year at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has programmed in PASCAL, C++, BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, HTML and assembly languages, and is familiar with UNIX and Windows platforms.
Mr. Mueller is currently working as a consultant for the Colorado Department of Education as a School-Age Specialist. He is also a volunteer with Boulder Community Network and with Project Self-Sufficiency, providing technical assistance and public orientation classes to the Internet and World Wide Web. He enjoys cross-country skiing, snorkeling, camping, hiking and traveling with his wife, Michelle. This is Mr. Mueller's second year at Summit.
Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Denver; M.S. Chemistry, University of Denver; B.A. Zoology, Pomona College.
Dr. Sikora works hard to bring her love of science to her students by being an enthusiastic and energetic lecturer. She often uses demonstrations in her classroom to provoke excitement and curiosity while creating an atmosphere where students feel confident to express their ideas. She offers encouragement and promotes critical thinking. Believing that learning is a continuous process, she feels a deep responsibility as an educator to continuously further her knowledge. She was the recipient of the 1996-97 Summit Outstanding Teacher Award.
Dr. Sikora received her teacher certification in the summer of 1997 from the Colorado Board of Education. That summer she also served on the advisory board for a radio show, Sonic Boom, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Science Foundation to communicate science to teenagers.
Prior to teaching at Summit, Dr. Sikora taught at the university level. She received the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year award at the University of Denver. She has also taught at the Denver Museum of Natural History where she developed curricula and taught tens of thousands of students of all ages across the state.
Dr. Sikora is excited about this year at Summit. She looks forward to working with the other science faculty and the principal to create an innovative science program at Summit. She realizes that, although students come to Summit with a variety of backgrounds, they are unified in a fundamental desire to learn. She hopes to nurture that desire within these young scientists.
B.A. History (minor Spanish), University of Colorado, Boulder; School of Education, Teaching Certificate, University of Colorado, Boulder.
While a university student, when she found spare time from her academic studies and sports, Ms. White volunteered in local schools, including Southern Hills Middle School. She spent many afternoons in the classroom, observing and teaching small, supervised lessons, or in the gym, coaching various sports.
This experience culminated in her student-teaching position at Wheat Ridge Middle School. Although this school presented a challenge with its diversity and "at-risk" population, she enjoyed team-teaching subjects such as geography, math, language arts, and history.
Ms. White spent several of her summers in prestigious girls' camps in New York and Maine. In New York, she was a tennis and equestrian instructor as well a full-time counselor to students of all ages. In Maine, she was hired as the head of Land Sports in charge of directing and supervising the program and its instructors.
During 1995-96, Ms. White was a geography teacher at D'Evelyn Junior/Senior High School in Wheat Ridge. During this time, she ran a flag-football intramural program and taught study skills, ultimately implementing a Planner Program to improve student organization skills and overall parent-teacher communication. She served on the interim building leadership team and worked as the head coach for the girls' varsity tennis and basketball teams.
Throughout 1996-97, Ms. White spent some time working as a substitute teacher in various schools, including Thornton High School, where she taught Spanish for three months. In March 199 7 she joined the faculty at Summit as the physical education teacher. This year, she looks forward to working part-time at Summit and spending the rest of her time running her tour operations business for travelers over 50.