November 2, 1998
Volume 6, No. 6
Report cards will go home with students on Monday, November 9 or Tuesday, November 10. Please keep the report card but sign the envelope and return it to school by the end of the week.
Summit is looking for a parent of serve on the District's Parent Council. This group meets at 7:30 PM in the Boulder Valley School District Board Room on the 4th Wednesday of each month with the superintendent. It is being chaired this year by a person from Horizons School and is a beneficial committee. This group speaks directly to the superintendent about issues important to them and to their schools. If you are interested please call Summit and leave your name.
For general information about Summit policies on homework, absences, doctor and dentist appointments, etc., please remember that the Summit Handbook is included as the front section of your child's daily planner. The office staff is always happy to talk with you and answer your questions, but by referring to the handbook you might save yourself a phone call.
The fall concert on Thursday October 15th was hugely successful. Over half of the Summit student body performed in at least one of the musical groups.
Terrific job!
Perhaps your dog ate your first newsletter! If this is the case, you are probably wondering what the heck is that envelope in the newsletter for? If you think it’s for donations, you’re right! However, this is a donation that costs you nothing besides a little bit of planning. The envelope that is mailed to you, via the Summit News, is to be used to order Grocery certificates. Through this program, you might say we make 5% from your gross eating!
Here is how it works: You will receive an envelope in your child’s newsletter every two weeks. This envelope will have a date on it. You or your child must return the envelope, with your check, to the office by 10 AM on the date printed on the envelope. The grocery certificates will be available that very next Thursday. You may pick them up at the office any time after 8 AM on that day. Please make your check payable to Summit Middle School and designate on your envelope the dollar amount of certificates you would like to purchase from King Soopers, Leevers or Wild Oats/Alfalfa's (King Soopers certificates may be used at Safeway and Albertsons.) If you have any questions, please call Jackie Ross at 303-499-3629.
The remaining order dates for 1998: Nov. 10 Nov. 23* Dec. 8**
*Due to Thanksgiving, this order must be in on Monday and will be available
by 2 PM on Tuesday, November 24.
**Last order before Winter break!
We will also have some extra certificates available after each order. Please ask in the office if you are interested.
Congratulations to Summit student Anna Lindemann whose original piano composition, “Garden Suite,” has won first place in the Colorado Music Teachers Competition! Anna’s composition will now be sent to the National finals.
Summit has been awarded five Foundation for Boulder Valley Schools Classroom Mini-Grants.
Launching Excitement with Model Rockets: Mery Molenaar
Students will read materials, acquire model rocketry kits and launch equipment, and then build, study and fly their own model rockets in order to understand the mechanics of flight. (Sponsored by Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Inc.)
20th Century Author Project: Amanda Avallone
Language Art students will chose a 20th century author to read, discuss, research, and evaluate. Students will exercise choice in selecting authors and will pursue a much deeper interest level for a survey literature course. (Sponsored by Eastpark Associates)
Learning Spanish - It’s Instrumental! Wendy Blakemore
Students will explore culture and speak Spanish while creating musical instruments and masks pertaining to the Hispanic world. Indigenous instruments include maracas, castanets, palos de lluvia (rain sticks) and tambores (drums). (Sponsored by McGuckin Hardware, Inc.)
Molecular Madness: Sharon Sikora
Students will study how atoms combine to form molecules by building models of common molecules, researching a molecule of their choice, and publishing a photograph and a report on the molecule on a web site. (Sponsored by Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Inc.)
Children’s Bilingual Folklore and Folkart Storybooks: Diana Stough
Spanish language students in Level 3 will connect education to the community by researching the folkart and folklore of Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, creating four bilingual storybooks. (Sponsored by Greenlee Family Foundation)
The next Meet & Mingle is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18. The meeting is scheduled from 1:00 to 2:30 PM in the meeting room at the George Reynolds Branch Library, located at the corner of Table Mesa Drive and Stanford Avenue.
Math Olympiad teams for Summit and Southern Hills sixth and seventh grades are meeting every Tuesday after school from 2:45-3:30 PM in Room 181. Adult volunteers will be available until 3:45 for any students who wish to stay to work on additional challenging problems or who have other questions they would like to discuss. There is still time to join either the sixth or the seventh grade team for math and snacks on Tuesday afternoons. Sixth and seventh grade teams will be taking different tests this year. Our first test date is November 17. Any interested students are welcome to join us on Tuesdays - just come to Room 181 at 2:45.
This year we have a new and different vender, the same vender that supplies books to Bear Creek Elementary school. There will be a better selection and the selection promises to be of a higher quality. Because the Media Center has an established policy of not profiting monetarily from its book fairs, we will offer a discount of 10% off of the published prices. The book fair dates are November 23 from 3:00 to 7:00 PM and on November 24 from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM. Please mark your calendars. Summit Middle School students will have an opportunity to visit the book fair during school hours on Tuesday, November 24, during their language arts class. Purchases may also be made at this time. Pre-written checks should be made out to Southern Hills Middle School. We hope to see you all there!
On Friday, November 6, Summit’s 1998 Bayer/NSF finalist team will present their project, “Melting Ice at Crosswalks,” to the public at the National Middle School Conference in Denver. Eric Hansford, Corinne D’Ippolito, Paul Franz, and James Norton, along with their coach Ms. Molenaar, will be at the Bayer/NSF booth to answer questions about participating in the Bayer/NSF Award for Community Innovation competition. Last year, the team went to Walt Disney World to participate in the national competition. Their project is currently on display at NCAR.
A new chess club has opened in Denver. The Colorado Chess Academy is located at 1062 Delaware Street (11th and Speer.) For more information call Craig Wilcox at 303-669-3228 or visit www.cca-chess.org.
Boulder Valley Rotary Club is collecting coats and books at the school.
With the first quarter of the school year completed, it’s still full steam ahead for volunteer activities and involvement at school. As we thank parents who have helped in a variety of ways the past couple of weeks, please also consider this an invitation to stay in touch with us when you find that you have time available to volunteer at Summit.
Special thanks to:
We’ve had great comments from our teachers and staff about the daily volunteer support provided in the workroom and elsewhere on campus. Thank you to everyone who has committed to helping on a regular basis --- your efforts are noted and appreciated! And thanks in advance to all of you who are contributing to the meals for our teachers and staff during parent/teacher conferences. If you haven’t been contacted yet but would like to help with these meals, please give Cindy Cederberg a call at 303-494-5647.
At a time when many people feel overwhelmed by the problems and challenges facing children and adolescents, hundreds of communities across the country are discovering new energy by working toward a positive vision for young people. At the heart of this vision is a research-based framework of “developmental assets,” factors that are critical for young people’s successful growth and development.
Ideas for Parents:
The Summit Board of Directors will meet at 7:00 PM on November 9, 16 and 30 in the staff workroom. Parents are invited to attend, as always. (Meeting of November 2 postponed.)
NCAR will celebrate Super Science Saturday at the Mesa Lab from 9 AM to 3 PM on November 7. This is a day of special activities designed to promote public science literacy and enrich the science experiences of area students and teachers. Activities include: science wizards performing amazing and exciting demonstrations, science storytime, a weather trail scavenger hunt, balloon launches, activity tables, and workshops on science fair, scientific process, and science photography. For information, contact Linda Carbone, 303-497-8612, or http://www.dir.ucar.edu/iss/dmc/vishome/events.html.
Open Space Communications is sponsoring “Beyond Giftedness VI,” a conference for parents and educators who live and work with gifted children. The conference will be held on Friday, February 26, 1999, 8 AM - 4:30 PM, at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Early Registration, before February 1, 1999, is $75. Registration includes a continental breakfast, lunch, and materials. Contact Dorothy Knopper, 303-444-7020, or http://www.openspacecomm.com, for more information.