February 22, 1999
Volume 7, No. 4
The Summit Board has approved a staff development day for Summit teachers. It will be held on Monday, April 26. The “Summit Day” break is scheduled for Friday, April 23. This means that students will have a four day weekend, April 23- 26.
Elections for three positions on the seven-member Summit Board of Directors will be held in March for two-year terms beginning on June 1, 1999. Successful candidates will be expected to attend Board meetings as nonvoting participants in April and May. The Board has broad responsibility for governing the school. It meets approximately every two weeks, with occasional periods of more intense activity.
If you have an interest in the success of Summit and would like to be involved in the real decisions necessary to run your child's school, consider running for the Board of Directors. Serving on the Board is an opportunity to make a genuine contribution to the development of our children.
Candidates should be dedicated to Summit's educational philosophy and be willing to devote the time necessary to serve on the Board. The Board often benefits from the talents of members with expertise in budget, computer programming, scheduling, law, personnel, grant writing, and negotiation.
The ballot for the election will be prepared in March by a nominating committee. Candidates can be placed on the ballot by selection of the nominating committee or by submission of a petition signed by 10 percent of all Summit families, faculty, and staff. Candidates will prepare written responses to four questions and participate in one candidate forum at the school. If you are interested in serving on the Board, please contact Chris Howard, 303-673-0978, by the first of March.
Donors to Tools for Learning will soon receive Summit Middle School stickers in the mail along with a card thanking them for their generosity. With 88 gifts in hand, our total stands just over $25,000.
Like a marathon, however, the hardest part is the second half. For those families who have not made their contribution, we need to hear from you if we are going to meet our goal of $40,000. We appreciate gifts of all sizes. Lost your pledge card? Pick one up at the office or call Jeff Bradley at 303-499-4275 and he will mail you one.
Income tax time is around the corner and the Fundraising Committee, which normally operates like a well-oiled machine, cannot remember just who got thank-you notes for 1998 gifts. If you need an acknowledgment of your 1998 gift, call Jeff Bradley. This year's gifts will be acknowledged in the next few weeks.
Look for the purple Summit stickers on cars over the next few weeks. There goes a Tools for Learning supporter!
Students in Summit American History classes are participating in this year's National History Day program, "Science, Technology, Innovation in History: Impact, Influence, Change." Projects are due Friday, February 26 and Summit History Day is Monday, March 1.
The Charter Schools National Conference is intended to strengthen charter schools by exchanging ideas and addressing shared concerns. It will be held March 15-17, 1999, at the Adam’s Mark Hotel in Denver. For more information and updates on the conference, call 800-203-5494 or visit the Charter Schools website at: http://www.uscharterschools.org.
The Summit Board of Directors will meet at 7:00 PM on Monday, February 22.
Science Fair award winners were announced at a Summit Awards assembly on Thursday, February 18.
Also honored at the Awards assembly were 47 students who earned a 4.0 grade average. These students received A in all five of their core classes for the semester. These 47 students make up 18% of our student population. We are very proud of their accomplishments.
Galen Bascom, Jessica Boulet, Hildur Boylston, Eryn Callihan, Max Carey, Corrinne D'Ippolito, Chris Dole, Rebecca Dole, Jason Eckstein, Michelle Evans, Katie Fleagle, Tyler Fox, Paul Franz, Erin Grady, Greer Hansen, Eric Hansford, Andrew Herlihy, Jake Hogue, Ashley Howard, Aviva Johnson, Willy Kilkenny-Patrick, Sara Klymkowsky, Taryn Lee, Anna Lindemann, Henry Liu, George London, Parag Mahajan, Heather Manley, Stacy Metzger, Amy Motomura, James Norton, Evan O'Laughlin, Nathan Parkhill, Alice Perl, Heather Perry, Alana Riksheim, Savannah Ross, Caroline Smartt, Layla Smith, Megan Smith, Marek Sotola, Meredith Strauss, Halley Theodore, Vani Vivekanandan, Emilyanne Weigel, Ashley Witt, Alisa Yamasaki.
Summit also recognized our 6th grade student ambassadors. These students have played hosts for us at school tours, parent information nights, elementary school visits and shadow days. They have done a wonderful job and we thank them.
Mara Meaney-Ervin, Hildur Boylston, Tove Smith, Alana Riskheim, Brita Christensen, Halley Theodore, Molly McIntyre, Erika Daley, Nikki Kilbride, Erin Grady, Elise Hogue, Clark Patton, Parag Mahajan, Simon Million-Perez, Kellan Toohey, Colter Hayes, Kent Gonzales, Willy Kilkenny-Patrick, Jason Burchett, Ben Klecker, Andrew Herlihy.
The Summit Science Fair finals were held on Wednesday, February 17. A total of 27 projects were displayed, and 33 students participated. All students were interviewed by three judges, after which 13 projects were selected to represent Summit at the Regional Science Fair. In addition, seven alternates were named.
At the award ceremony on Thursday, February 18, all science fair finalists were presented a science fair T-shirt, designed by Andrew Crocker and printed by Mr. Mueller. The Summit Science Fair winners were awarded a medal.
The following students will represent Summit at the Regional Science Fair:
In the Earth and Environmental Science category: “Angle of Repose” by Tim Burchett, “Tree Rings” by Eirik Ogilvie-Wigley
In the Engineering category: “A Flying Bus” by Courtney Schultz, “Paper Propulsion” by Kevin Reims
In the Health and Behavior Science category: “Are You Left Brained or Right Brained, that is the Question” by Sri Bangaru, “The Effects of Mouth Inhaler on Mouth Bacteria” by Thatcher Heumann
In the Mathematics and Computer Science category: “A French Monk”s Riddle” by Eric Hansford, “Time Tabling using Genetic Algorithms” by Anna Lindemann
In the Physical Science category: “Surface Tension” by Chris Dole, “Honey, I Love You” by Joan Meiners, “Sound Propagation” by James Norton
In the Zoology category: “Spiders Create the Silk” by Hildur Boylston
In the Team category: “To Break a Bridge” by Steve Wilson and James Swirhun
The alternates are: “Somewhere in the Rainbow” by Alana Riksheim, “Who is Walking Whom?” by Maya Pollak, “Passing the Process” by Katie Constantine, “Llama versus Alpaca” by Clark Patton, “Diving: a Study of the Bends” by Gilbert Lemieux, “Territorial Behavior of Conifer Beetles” by Jessy Oreck, “Cigarette Smoke and Plants” by Jason Eckstein
The Regional Science Fair will be held on March 5 and 6 at Centaurus High School in Lafayette. Projects will be judged on Friday, March 5. On Saturday, March 6, there will be public viewing of all science fair projects from 8:00 to 9:30 AM. The award ceremony will run from 9:30 to 11:30 AM, after which the exhibit hall will be open for public viewing until 12:00 noon.
Congratulations to Lleane Grimditch, our Summit eighth grader who made the Colorado State Olympic Development Team for Soccer.
Anna Lindemann’s musical composition, "Garden Suite," won second place in the U.S. National Music Teachers’ Association young composers’ contest, Junior High (grades 7-9) division. We are very proud of Anna and her accomplishment.
The process of registering for high school at all Boulder Valley Schools begins the week of February 22-26. Please check the following list for a description of the registration process for each high school.
Fairview High School - The Fairview counselors will meet with Summit 8th graders to distribute course descriptions and registration packets on Monday, February 22. Students and their parents may attend an academic planning night, “Fairview Evening of Transition,” on February 24 from 6:30 to 9:00 PM. The Fairview counselors will return again to Summit to meet with 8th graders and collect completed registration materials on March 1.
Boulder High School (please note changes to registration dates) - Students will attend a field trip to Boulder High School with Ms. Bartley on Wednesday, February 24, from 1:30 to 3:00 PM. At this time they will pick up registration materials. The following night, February 25, there will be an academic planning session for students and their parents from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at Boulder High School. On Wednesday, March 3 at 2:00 PM, counselors from Boulder High will come to Summit to meet with students and pick up their registration materials.
Monarch High School - Monarch will be hosting an “Academic Planning Night” for 8th graders on Tuesday, February 23, at 7 PM. The Monarch counselor, Mike Riley, will visit Summit to register students on Friday, February 26, during first period. Important note: Students who wish to attend Monarch and who currently attend Summit are requested to submit an open enrollment application even if they live in the attendance area. This will save a spot for them, and get them into the data base and on the mailing list.
Students who need to register at Broomfield, Centaurus, New Vista, Niwot, or Nederland High Schools should see Ms. Bartley to discuss registration plans.
The goal of Expanding Your Horizons is to encourage middle school girls to continue to study math, science and technology by interacting with women whose careers embrace these studies. Parents, teachers and counselors will attend a separate program. This year's conference will be held Saturday, March 6, from 10 AM to 2:15 PM at the CU Engineering Center. A registration form is available in the Summit office or at: bcn.boulder.co.us/community/aauw/aauwb_eyh99.html.Call Susan at 303-530-4890 for more information. The registration deadline is February 27 or whenever the registration limit is reached.
On February 18, Summit's Satellite Science and Technology class participated in a live satellite-broadcast teleconference with NASA about the International Space Station. The class went to the BVSD Education Center, which has the capability to receive direct satellite broadcasts. Summit was one of many middle and high schools throughout the country which participated.
In the teleconference, NASA astronauts, scientists and engineers discussed living and working in space, from their own experiences. They demonstrated equipment, food preparation, training, and engineering and design tools used in conjunction with the Space Station, and discussed their various roles in the program and the preparation required to pursue a career related to space.
Students were able to call in questions directly to the NASA workers. Skylar McKeen had his question, "How do astronauts maintain their body weight in space?" answered live on the air.
The conference was enjoyed by all, including teacher Greta Frohbieter and parent volunteer Monique Czaja. A videotape of the one point five hour teleconference, complete with Skylar, is available for loan in the Summit office.
Volunteers who helped with meals for Parent-Teacher Conferences:
Linda Cowan, Karen Herlihy, Margaret Farrell, Kris Zbranek, Joan Talmadge, Margie Riksheim, Debra Trapp, KK DuVivier, Nina Khosravi, Jenny Lucas, Kathleen Brewer, and Cindy Cederberg.
Volunteers who helped with lunch for Science Fair Judges:
Jackie Ross, Harriet Fox, Jackie Callihan, Astrid Ogilvie, Susan Pollak, Lou Ann McIntyre, Nikki Munson, Shelly Hendrick, Judy Hageman, Cody Oreck, Anne Horlbeck, Anita Gonzales, Leslie Swirhun, Ekta Dudoni, Margaret Harrington, and Cindy Cederberg.
The Summer Enrichment Program at the University of Northern Colorado will have two sessions, July 4-17 and July 18-31. Students who are selected for the program are enrolled in four 70-minute classes which encourage them to explore new topics and expand their interests. Recreational and social programs and time for relaxing and reflecting are also part of the program.
Nominations to the Summer Enrichment Program may be initiated by teachers, parents, or others who have knowledge of a student’s abilities. The deadline for receipt of applications is June 1. Please call Kendra Bartley, Summit Counselor, for more information, 303-499-9511.