Summit News

August 27, 2002
Volume 14, No. 1

SUMMIT CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

Looking Ahead

  • August 29 Summit Board meeting, 6:30 pm
  • August 30 Signed forms due back to school
  • September 2 Labor Day -- no school
  • September 5 Summit Board meeting, 6:00 pm
  • September 11 Vision/Hearing Screening
  • September 10 Back to School Night
  • September 27 School photos
  • September 29 Summit Board meeting, 6:30 pm
  • October 1 Helping Your Child Succeed, 7 pm

BREAKING NEWS STORIES

An Exciting Year Awaits Us
—Mr. Finell, Principal

The new school year is off to a great start! I would like to welcome all our new families as well as our returning families. It is such a pleasure to see so many smiling faces after the summer break. I hope everyone has enjoyed the opening days of school and I look forward to what I know will be a very special year.

I would like to thank the many parent volunteers who have been instrumental in getting the school in shape. From serving food to painting and cleaning to moving furniture to putting together information packets to helping with scheduling, their help has been invaluable. Summit would not be the great school it is without parents helping with so many important tasks.

A special thanks as well to our front office staff, Ms. Simpson, Ms. Taborsky, Ms. Hanssen, and Ms. Cudney. They have worked long hours this summer to make sure things are up and running smoothly for the beginning of the school year, and I wanted to publicly acknowledge them.

We have several outstanding teachers joining our faculty this year: Mr. Zettas in English, Mr. Kilgore in French, Ms. Walters in Technology, and Mr. Ackerson in Music. Though hired by BVSD and assigned to Summit, we are also pleased to welcome Ms. Feinstein in Special Education. I'm sure their unique talents and backgrounds will enrich our school.

One of the special programs we are introducing at Summit this year is Stand Up! This program will focus on creating a safe and caring school community at our school by aiming to reduce incidents of bullying, while strengthening the positive aspects of our school environment.

I welcome you and look forward to a great year!

New Students Meet and Greet

We had a terrific turnout for the new student and parent "meet and greet" evening on Monday, August 19. This was an excellent way for students and their parents to meet other new Summit families and become more familiar with the Summit site. It was great to see so many of you there, even in the waning days of summer break.

A big thank you to Summit parents Susanne Metzler and Cathy Reisfield for planning and coordinating this fun, informal evening event. They contacted all the new families to extend invitations and secured donations of yummy ice cream and Popsicle treats!

Summit In Shipshape

A BIG THANK YOU to all the volunteers who devoted part of their weekend to a very successful cleaning, painting, bushwhacking, and organizing work day this past Saturday, August 24. It's amazing what a difference a concerted effort can make -- about two dozen parents and students pitched in to accomplish many maintenance tasks. Even our principal was spotted, expertly wielding the Summit leaf blower!

Check out the newly-painted benches and exterior doors, the much-improved front landscaping, the spic and span teacher workroom, and a number of other site improvements -- all through the hard work of these volunteers. There will be additional work days later in the fall semester, so we will look forward to putting you to work if you couldn't help out this past weekend.

-- Tom Mahowald, work day coordinator

Safe and Sound in the Parking Lot

In order to provide efficient and safe drop-off and pick-up for our Summit students, we request that parents follow these parking lot guidelines.

When dropping off students: After circling the lot counterclockwise, continue traveling until you are headed south again and pull up at the curb next to the fence by the playground. Pull forward as far as possible or continue around the corner. The sidewalk edge is marked in yellow. For safety, students should exit vehicles to the right (west) if at all possible. Please do not stop in the east/west aisles to let students out as this is unsafe and blocks drivers of vehicles wishing to park or exit.

When picking up students: If you do not see your student, pull into a parking place to wait for your student to walk out then proceed to the west sidewalk or the sidewalk that continues to Hanover. Have your student wait on the sidewalk, which is edged in yellow. Please do not block parked cars or parking spaces, as people may be waiting to exit or park.

New Program At Summit!

This fall, Summit will be launching Stand Up!, a program focused on assuring a safe and caring community at Summit. The program has been developed by Summit staff from materials created by Sally Stoker and Marla Bonds, authors of Bully Proofing Your School. Our goal is to encourage a theme of kindness and respect within the entire Summit community while demonstrating and teaching attitudes and skills that support the development of a positive school climate.

Stand Up! will emphasize non-tolerance for bullying, harassment, and put-downs. Summit staff and parents will be provided information on how to monitor and respond to these types of problem behaviors. In addition, students will be encouraged to take responsibility for each other and they will learn when and how to take a stand for themselves and for others. All participants will learn skills for creating and maintaining a safe and caring school community.

We invite all members of the Summit Middle School community ---students, parents, and staff -- to join us in this effort. For parents, we will be providing a special presentation to introduce Stand Up! during our "Helping Your Child Succeed at Summit" evening for parents on October 1, from 7 to 8:30 pm. We invite your participation and hope you will join us as your involvement is very important for the success of this new program!

Office Staff Handles Week One with Grace

If you visited the school last week, you noticed a flurry of activity in the office. Our very capable office staff for 2002-2003 includes:

  • Shelly Hendrick, finance office
  • Jaime Simpson, office manager
  • Corinne Taborsky, administrative assistant
  • Dorinda Cudney, parapro
  • Debby Hanssen, parapro

Thanks to our office staff for helping us all to hit the ground running in this new school year.

Fund Raising Easy and Important
—John Jacus

Summit has many needs that cannot be fully met with the funding we receive from the state through our charter with the school district. Like all public charter schools, we receive less per pupil operating revenue than non-charter public schools, and we have to buy packaged services from the district that are costly and not tailored to our needs. This all adds up to the need for concerted fund raising by our community. We strongly urge you to contribute to Summit this school year through your participation in our established fund raising programs, including:

Tools for Learning -- Rather than send our children out selling magazines, wrapping paper, candy, or other products -- and seeing most of the money go out of the school to the vendor -- we ask Summit families and friends for direct contributions through our primary fund raising program called Tools for Learning. With Tools for Learning, 100% of funds raised stay with Summit. All contributions are tax-deductible, and Summit parents organize and coordinate our fund-raising efforts under the direction of our Fund Raising Committee. Tools for Learning has the additional advantage of not distracting our students or staff from the important work of education. Watch for more information about this year's Tools for Learning campaign early in the fall semester, and new perks for first time donors and those increasing their donations to help Summit meet its growing needs.

Grocery Certificates -- We also encourage Summit families to participate in our grocery certificate and card program. It's simple, painless, and a great source of continuing income for Summit. Summit receives 5% of the face value of each certificate or each purchase made with a card. When you shop at the grocery store, the certificates work exactly the same as cash, and the grocery card (used at Albertsons) is simply presented at time of purchase. Participating grocery stores are Safeway, King Soopers, Albertsons and Wild Oats. An order form for certificates was in your student's first-day information packet. Also, Albertsons "Community Partners" cards may be picked up at the Summit office. Please call Joan Jacus at 303-499-3013 or Diane Chicoine at 303-581-0754 with any questions you may have about these easy ways to support Summit with your grocery purchases.

Summit Parent Volunteer Forms
—We Need YOURS!

As our returning families already know, and as our new families will soon learn, there are countless projects and tasks that happen at Summit thanks to the amazing contributions of time and energy by dedicated parent volunteers. Our students and staff need and greatly appreciate your support.

You received a Parent Volunteer Connection (PVC) survey in your student's first-day information packet. Please take a few minutes to fill out your survey to let PVC know exactly how you can help out during this school year. We guarantee that there is a volunteer need to fit your skills and availability! Please give me a call if you have questions about the survey and/or volunteer opportunities.

Our sincere thanks to the many parents who have volunteered time already to make sure the school year is off to a great start!

-- Beth McClellan, PVC Co-Chair, 303-938-9338

Hiring Committee Notes and Thanks
—Risa Heywood and Barbry Hogue, Co-Chairs

The parent volunteers, students, and teachers who participated in the hiring of our four new teachers deserve our thanks and appreciation. The hiring of new teachers takes a great deal of time and commitment, and absolutely could not be accomplished without the energy and dedication of many members of our Summit community. You and your students are now enjoying the fine results of the hiring work that began in early May and continued practically non-stop through July.

Hiring of teachers and staff is one of our most important responsibilities as a charter school and simply could not happen without the extraordinary efforts and dedication of the parents and staff members who serve on the Hiring Committee. We observed and interviewed nearly twenty prospective candidates for the English, French, music, and technology teaching positions and we sorted through many times that number in phone inquiries, e-mail inquiries, applications, reference checks, etc.

This year's Hiring Committee was incredible, and we hope you'll make a point of thanking members of the committee when you talk with them. The committee members who worked with us and went above and beyond to get this important job done deserve sincere thanks: Carol Baum, Marilyn Carol, Debby Hanssen, Carol Hermann, Tom Mahowald, Ann McCormick, Ashley O'Connor, Betsy Phelan, Cathy Reisfield, Margaret Sparks, and Barbra Weidlein.

Special thanks to Joan Jacus, Steve Goldhaber, Andrew Hein, Cynthia Kolanowski, and David Liebowitz for volunteering their time and expertise as needed for subject-specific demonstration class observations and evaluations.

Stellar, Sensational Students Help with Hiring

More than 70 Summit students and recent graduates helped with the recently-completed hiring of new teachers by sitting in for demonstration classes and candidate evaluation debrief sessions. We are very fortunate to have students who are interested in making an important contribution for themselves and their fellow students by participating in teacher hiring. We believe you'll be as impressed as we are to read through this list! Names of students who helped with more than one demonstration class are indicated with an asterisk.

The Summit Hiring Committee extends very special thanks and our sincere appreciation to these students for their invaluable help:

Delora Abedzadeh, Theresa Adams*, Aaron Allen, Hannah Alpert*, Ben Alpert, Elaine Atcheson*, Colleen Atcheson*, Joey Baum, Rachel Baum, Michael Beggs*, Kate Blake, Sarah Blake, Erika Burkhart*, Martha Carol, Terence Cudney*, Thomas Davids*, Michelle D'Ippolito, Allison Filderman, Maddie Filderman, Anna Fine*, Elizabeth Fleagle, Mia Fuhrman, Sam Galler, Sebastian George, Danny Goldhaber*, Tanya Goldhaber*, Erik Hanssen, Peter Hanssen*, Stephen Harmon*, Anna Heiderer, Anna Hermann*, Amanda Heywood*, Rebecca Heywood*, Matt Inman*, Ruth Jacobs, Andrew Jarmon, Christopher Jarmon, Quentin Karpilow, Steffani Kitayama, Katie Kopel*, Megan Kostanick, Sabine Kunz, Annie Lewis*, Matthew Licht, Mark Mahowald*, Sam Nagel*, Rebekah Olstad, Geoff Parkhill*, Sam Psihoyos*, Stephanie Reese, Alex Reisfield*, Meredith Reisfield*, Aja Ringenbach*, Rachel Robinson, Heather Rubi, Julia Sallo, Hannah Sawitsky*, Ryan Schmitz, Anna Sergeeva, Erin Silk, Annie Smartt*, Betsy Smartt*, Tim Smith*, Michelle Sparks*, Tamara Sparks*, Paul Swirhun, Haley Thurston*, Jesse Thurston, Paul Weaver*, Daniel Weidlein*, and Emily Woods.

"A" and "B" Days

Most elective classes at Summit are attended every other day. Each day is designated as an "A" or a "B" day. An "A" day is always followed by a "B" day on the next day classes are held, even if there are weekend or vacation days in between.

NEWS FROM THE STAFF

Library News
—Mrs. Woods

In the last Summit News issue for 2001-2002 we mentioned several wonderful donations to the library. We missed this one, but we are equally thankful for the donation of these additions to the library.

From the Beylkin family:

  • Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece was donated in honor of Cheryle Kapsak
  • The Head Bone's Connected to the Neck Bone: The Weird, Wacky, and Wonderful X-Ray was donated in honor of Stephanie Donaton, Haydee Phelps, Peter Teasdale, and Sharon Sikora

… And Library Volunteers Are Needed

Don't forget, if you like to work with students and enjoy working with books and computers, volunteering at the library might be the job for you! Last year's volunteers worked anywhere from an hour every other week to more than four hours a week. If you are interested, please e-mail Cathy Woods at cathy.woods[at]attbi.com.

New Faculty Member Introductions

Doug Ackerson, Music

Mr. Ackerson spent the first third of his life in Minnesota, the second third in the Chicago area, and hopes to live out the rest of his life in the mountains. He plays 10 instruments, loves taking his guitar or fiddle to an Irish pub on session nights, and now lives in Longmont with his wife, Linda, and their dog, Nemo. Mr. Ackerson graduated from Bemidji State University in the north woods of Minnesota, did graduate work in String Development at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and believes work is just a way to get paid for having fun doing what he loves best. A serious amateur astronomer, he has hosted numerous "star parties" for his students and their parents. Mr. Ackerson has several original compositions and music arrangements to his credit, and often writes for his performing ensembles. Being a traveler, he has seen much of the world, collected many artifacts, and eaten many interesting foods with more legs than his dog.

Sondra Barton, German

Ms. Barton was born in Elko, Nevada, and grew up in California and New Mexico. She came to Boulder in 1969 to attend the University of Colorado, where she received MA degrees in German and Latin. Ms. Barton has taught German at the elementary, high school and university levels, as well as to business clients. Ms. Barton taught German at Summit for the last several months of the 2001-2002 school year. She has worked as an interpreter in cross-cultural training programs for German-speaking children. Ms. Barton is married with three children, and after many years of home-schooling she is very excited about being part of the Summit team. Her hobbies include hiking, skiing and dancing.

Chris Kilgore, French

After studying French and anthropology in Virginia, South Carolina, and California, Mr. Kilgore went on to study Francophone literature while earning his MA at the University of Georgia. He specialized in the identifying role that music plays in defining characters in the literature of the French Caribbean, specifically Martinique and Guadeloupe. Since moving to the Boulder area a year ago, Mr. Kilgore has devoted time to freelance writing and exploring his surroundings. His interests include hiking, camping, winter sports, cycling, travel, and music.

Heather Walters, Technology

Ms. Walters is originally from Virginia and graduated from MIT with a degree in computer science. She has worked in the computer industry on software systems doing sonar, speech recognition, and satellite image processing. Ms. Walters' teaching background includes teaching programming at MIT, working with high school students in math and computer science, and working with elementary students in science. In addition to her work at Summit, she has a consulting business providing technology education to small business owners. She loves working with the middle school age children and has coached girls soccer in this age group for many seasons. Her husband is also in the technology field and they have two girls, ages four and five.

Neal Zettas, English

Teaching is a second career for Mr. Zettas. Before going back to college, he was a purchasing manager for an industrial wholesale company. He earned his BA degree in English at the University of California, Berkeley, and his MA degree in Education from the University of San Francisco. In his free time he enjoys coaching the sports teams of his three active boys. In addition, he likes to camp, bike, hike, and play ultimate Frisbee. Mr. Zettas says that regardless of how little time he has left at the end of his day, he always saves enough time to relax and read a good book.

OTHER SUMMIT HAPPENINGS

Summit Board Meetings

The Summit Board meets regularly through the school year, on an every-other-week schedule with a few exceptions. Meetings are held in the Summit library and begin at 6:30 pm unless noted otherwise.

We always include an agenda item entitled "parent concerns" early in the meeting, and we welcome attendance by parents (staff members, too!) at any of our meetings. This is an excellent way for you to offer comments, questions, suggestions, and/or compliments directly to the members of the Summit Board.

Please remember that we volunteer as representatives for all of you, and we appreciate your feedback about Summit. We look forward to seeing you at our Board meetings and to hearing from you by phone or e-mail.

-- Tom Mahowald, Betsy Phelan, Debbie Feyh, Barb Kostanick, Paul Atcheson, Barbry Hogue, John Jacus

Parent Volunteer Starts Up Where She Left Off

No, she was not a safe cracker in a former life, but Joan Jacus knows her way around a lock. The recipient of the 2001-2002 Outstanding Volunteer Award, Joan hit the ground running again this year. With hundreds of locks needing to be organized for Summit students, the "locker mom" job more than makes up in importance what it lacks in glamour. Joan spent many hours at the end of the summer and during the first few days of school making sure that this task was done -- and was done correctly. As a result, locker mania was kept to a minimum so students and staff could focus on their classes. To Joan we say: "Thank you. It's a safe bet you did a great job!"

AAA Committee Wants You!
—Paul Atcheson

Would you like to be actively involved in maintaining Summit's excellence? We need a few parent volunteers to be members of the Summit Accountability, Assessment, and Accreditation (AAA) Committee. This group supports the school in numerous functions that are crucial to our success, including:

  • Providing assessments of the school through annual student, parent, faculty, and alumni surveys
  • Preparing the School Improvement Plan (submitted in the fall to the BVSD administration) and the end-of-year Annual Report (submitted to the BVSD Board of Education) for Summit Board review and approval
  • Performing the functions of the School Improvement Team (SIT) as required by the Colorado Department of Education, and
  • Supporting the school accreditation process within BVSD.

This committee meets formally once a month. A fair amount of involvement is needed periodically during the year to support the data collection and analysis, the report development, and the survey efforts. If you are interested in helping as a member of this crucial school committee and, in the process, getting a good insight into the school's academic operations and our academic interaction with the district, please give me a call at 303-581-9013 or send e-mail to me at PASummit[at]aol.com.

OTHER NEWS TIDBITS

Vacuum Cleaner Wanted

Ms. Kapsak, one of our wonderful social studies teachers, is hoping that someone can donate a vacuum cleaner in good working condition for her classroom. Contact her directly if you can help out.

Electronic Distribution of Summit News

Please note that we are shifting to electronic distribution of Summit News whenever possible. Printed copies are available in the Summit office, and newsletter issues, current and past, are also posted on the Summit web site. If you are not yet receiving your newsletter via e-mail or if you would like the newsletter sent to a different or an additional electronic address, please send a message to t.mahowald[at]summitmiddleschool.org.

If your student has graduated from Summit and you wish to be taken off the newsletter distribution list, please send a note by e-mail to Tom Mahowald at the above e-mail address. Otherwise, we'll keep you on our alumni distribution list so that you can stay in touch with Summit!

Weighty Subject

Improper backpack use can cause injury, especially to children with young, growing muscles and joints, according to the American Physical Therapy Association. Injury can occur when a pack causes harmful postures such as arching the back, leaning forward or, if only one strap is used, leaning to one side.

To avoid problems, children should not carry backpack loads heavier than 15% of their body weight and wear it as it was intended. Tips for safe backpack use include:

  • Wear both straps
  • Make sure the backpack fits. Shoulder straps should rest comfortably on the shoulders and under the arms, so that the arms can move freely. The bottom of the pack should rest on the contour of the lower back. The pack should "sit" evenly in the middle of the back.

When selecting a backpack, consider packs with:

  • Straps that are padded and contoured to help reduce pressure on the chest and shoulders
  • Waist belts that help distribute some of the load
  • Compression straps on the sides or bottom of the backpack that, when tightened, compress the contents of the backpack and stabilize the articles
  • Reflective material so that the child is visible to drivers at night.

If wheeled backpacks are chosen, physical therapists recommend that the extended handle is long enough so that the child is not forced to twist and bend, and that the wheels are large enough so the backpack doesn't topple.

Look for the following signs that may indicate that the backpack is too heavy:

  • Pain when wearing the backpack
  • Tingling or numbness in the arms
  • Red marks on the shoulders

Visit the web site of the American Physical Therapy Association at www.apta.org for more information.

Summit E-Mail Directory

  • Principal -- summitprincipal[at]summitmiddleschool.org
  • General information -- information[at]summitmiddleschool.org
  • Hiring -- hiring[at]summitmiddleschool.org
  • Webmaster -- web[at]summitmiddleschool.org

Summit News on the Web

To see the current or back issues of Summit News, information about Summit, links to other charter schools, and related education information, refer to Summit's web site via the handy, easy web site address: http://www.summitmiddleschool.org

Next Issue

Our next issue of Summit News will be released after Labor Day. If you have news or information for the newsletter, please email it to me at pat.hyde[at]attbi.com or drop it off in the folder in the office by the end of the school day on Wednesday, September 4. Thanks, and, if anyone would like to assist with the newsletter, please let me know. Proofreaders would be most welcome.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
-- Aristotle