April 20, 2000
Volume 9, No. 7
The Summit Board of Directors Election has taken place and the ballots were tallied on April 7 by diligent ballot counters Cathy Burchett, Julie Dotson, Barbry Hogue, and Eric Lindemann. Thanks to everyone who voted.
We had seven excellent candidates running for four board positions. The strong slate of candidates is testimony to the talent in the Summit community and dedication to Summit's success. Those elected to 2-year terms are: Jim Cederberg, Chris Howard, Hunter McDaniel, Betsy Phelan. Jim, Chris and Hunter were each re-elected, and we welcome Betsy as a new member of Summit's governing Board.
Special thanks to Eric Lindemann for coordinating the election logistics, and to everyone who participated.
The 1999-2000 Summit yearbooks are now for sale. The yearbook will be about 40 pages in full color and features student portraits, sports, clubs and competitions, music and drama, 8th grade superlatives, and much more!
The yearbook costs $16 if ordered before May 1 and $18 if ordered after this date. Books can be ordered through Maggie or Shelly in the Summit office, or via Ms. Molenaar - checks should be made payable to Summit Middle School.
In order to include graduation photographs, the books will be delivered to school in August, but a separate autograph insert will be available by the end of May. We will organize a day for current 8th graders to pick up their yearbooks.
The teacher-hiring season has begun! Summit's Hiring Committee is hard at work screening applications and scheduling interviews for candidates for the teaching positions we need to fill for next school year. We are currently seeking applicants for positions in Math, Social Studies, Physical Science, English and German.
Thank you to the dedicated team of volunteers working with us on our Hiring Committee: Jeanne Aguilar, Jim Cederberg, Ron Goldfarb, Chris Howard, Tom Jarmon, and Eileen Patrick.
We are also looking for top-notch applicants for a full-time administrative assistant position and for a full-time equivalent para-pro position. We very regretfully will bid farewell at the end of the school year to Maggie Rankin, who's off to the sandy shores of Oregon, to Deb Ford, who's off to the quiet of her rural abode and no more commuting to South Boulder, and to Moira Woolsey, who's returning to her "roots" in Merrie Olde England.
We need your help in identifying qualified candidates for these positions. If you are interested in applying for any of these office staff positions, or know of someone who might be, please contact Bernie Grove at the Summit office as soon as possible. Thank you.
--Barbry Hogue 665-3798 & Cinda Graubard 444-4851, Summit Hiring Committee co-chairs
Summit has received a Science and Math Improvement Grant from the Toshiba America Foundation in New York City in the amount of $9,330.00 for the SHINE (Student Hands-on Interdisciplinary Explorations) project. The SHINE Project was developed by Dr. Sikora and the Summit Science faculty. Mr. John Fenske, general manager of Toshiba Medical Systems (Englewood), presented the award during a ceremony at 2:30 on Friday, April 21 in the Southern Hills/Summit gymnasium.
The SHINE grant will enable 75 8th grade students to participate in hands-on interdisciplinary explorations in environmental and physical sciences. Students will work with teachers and volunteer scientists to choose a project based on their interests, to design experiments, and then to determine which parameters to investigate. Students will also decide how to best present their results and demonstrate their mastery of the technology. Possible topics for exploration include: biotechnology, environmental science, physics, chemistry, robotics, lasers and optics, and racing cars.
At the Friday, April 21 Awards Ceremony, the Summit Student Council presented a check for more than $1,900 to the Thailand House of Grace. These monies were raised by the Summit student body during the "penny war" held earlier this year. The donation will be used to fund activities to support youth programs in Thailand.
The Summit Board has approved a proposal developed by our math teachers for a realignment of the sequence of math courses, beginning with Fall 2000. The new sequence is a result of suggestions and comments from staff, parents, and alumni. The Board and our math teachers believe that this realignment will assure more comprehensive math instruction for our students while they're at Summit and better preparation as our graduates go on to high school math classes.
The current Pre-Algebra course remains unchanged. There will be a new 2-year algebra sequence, with the first year covering algebra more thoroughly (fewer topics, in more depth) than is currently possible. The second year of the sequence will continue to focus on algebra and will also include an introduction to geometry, trigonometry and other relevant math topics. The new course titles will be Algebra (first year of sequence) and Advanced Algebra/Introduction to Geometry (second year).
The sequence of honors math classes will remain unchanged, though two name changes better reflect the content of those particular courses. The honors sequence will be Pre-Algebra Honors, Accelerated Algebra (previously Algebra I Honors), Proofs Geometry (previously Geometry Honors) and Algebra II / Trig.
If you have questions about these changes in our math courses, please contact any Summit Board member. Thank you to all parents, students and staff who provided input and hard work in making these improvements to better educate our students.
If your Summit student has access to the Internet and the World Wide Web at home, please take a moment and send an e-mail to marthagorman@att.net. Put "Summit Survey" on the subject line and enter the number of Summit students in your household who can use Internet-accessible resources evenings and weekends. Thank you.
The move to the Majestic Heights facility means that our students will no longer have access to the materials we have invested in over the past four years during our tenure at Southern Hills. So Summit finds itself in the rather unique position of being a mature, academically rigorous school - and having to start from scratch to create a school library and media resource center in less than five months.
We have developed a plan that we hope will ensure adequate access to research materials and resources for both students and faculty by the start of the 2000-01 academic year. It involves a three-pronged approach that relies on public-private partnerships and digital resources, particularly during the first year.
The Boulder Public Library (BPL) has agreed to work closely with us to make the George Reynolds Branch Library an extension of our in-school facility for many print and digital materials. BPL Librarians will assist in the development of our Core Resource List, search for inexpensive ways to help us acquire items on that list, and orient our faculty and students on the wealth of resources that will be available to them via BPL's new computer system, available as of June of this year.
We are also forging an agreement with NetLibrary to make Core Resources available to our community in digital form at a very reduced cost, in exchange for our assistance in helping them develop a Core Resource Collection that they can make available as a package for start-up secondary schools across the nation. These digital resources could be used outside of school hours by students who have access to the Internet at home.
However, print is an essential resource medium, even when digital resources are available. We are thus interested in reviewing all potential donations. Please contact Marti Gorman at 303-494-4488 or marthagorman@att.net if you have books and periodicals that you feel would be useful to our students and faculty. We will not have access to the Majestic Heights facility until August, so you may be asked to store these books for the school until this time, once they have been identified and provisionally catalogued.
A number of very able individuals have stepped forward to help with this Project. Also, grant funding is being sought for this project. If you wish to volunteer or if you know of potential funding sources, please call Marti Gorman. Thanks!
The list of students who received A's in at least all five of their core classes for the 1st semester had two typographical errors. Congratulations to Heather Manley and Nora McDaniel, who should have been on that list.
The Boulder Valley School district and Summit students did an outstanding job at the Colorado Science and Engineering Fair! Several Summit students were among those representing BVSD at the fair.
Congratulations to each of these Summit scientists and to the other BVSD winners. We are proud of you!
On Saturday, April 15th, Student Council sponsored the second annual Free Night at the Rec Center for Summit Middle School students. About 120 students came to enjoy a fun evening of swimming, basketball, dancing, and rock-climbing with their friends. There was even a surprise visit from former Summit teacher Chris Koch, who brought the watermelon water-polo game.
Many thanks to Ramona Brown, Joyce and Don Brookins, Jim Cederberg, Carol Dressely-Thomas, Stella Engles, Sam Havens, Lori Jones, James Krall, Jenny Lucas, Mary Helen Miller, Shirley and Joe Nemanic, Joan Reed, Randy Reims, Jon Riksheim, and Stu Walker for chaperoning. Thanks also to Margie Riksheim and Roxy Walker for organizational help. Finally, Kate Majack-Sweet volunteered to open the climbing wall, so we could offer it at a reduced rate. She had help from David Sweet, George Smith, Carron Meaney, Linden Majack, Mara Meaney-Ervin, Gilbert Lemieux, and Brendan Horton. A thousand thank-yous to all those who helped bring this together!
Coach Adams will have a student and parent informational meeting for his annual student overseas excursion for the summer of 2001. The meeting will be held at the Southern Hills library from 7:00 to 8:00 PM on April 25. The meeting will cover the upcoming itinerary for the 10-day trip to Egypt, which will include a 4-day cruise down the Nile.
Come see all kinds of cool projects and interactive displays - be an engineer for a day. Saturday April 29, 1-3 PM, Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory, College of Engineering and Applied Science, CU.
The Parent Professional Partnership is a BVSD program for Special Needs Students. Upcoming forums include:
Information is available from Kathy McBride at 303-447-5176 or 303-499-4781.
The next Summit Board meeting will be held on Monday, May 1 at 7 PM in the faculty workroom.
The next deadline for Summit News is May 1. Articles may be sent to LDParkhill@aol, or left in the box in the staff workroom.
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/univ_school/summit/