January 15, 2004
Volume 17, No. 1
Summit will be offering a "Life Change" peer support group for students to discuss issues related to changes in their families due to parent separation or divorce. This group will provide an opportunity for participants to develop self-awareness and problem-solving skills. In addition, students will focus on identifying personal strengths and ways to experience their life situations more positively. The group will be led by Kendra Bartley, Summit counselor. If you are interested in having your student participate in the group, or if you would like further information, please call Ms. Bartley at Summit, 303-499-9511.
Please note that Parent-Teacher conferences are coming up next month, February 12th and 13th. This is a great time to connect with your child's teachers!
This is an exciting and rewarding opportunity to help run your child's school. Two board positions will be opening this spring. No experience required, two year term. Legal or financial training is helpful, but all backgrounds are valuable. Please consider giving of your time and expertise to support Summit. For more information, contact Ashley O'Connor, 303-499-2410 or Tom Mahowald 303-543-8903.
Parents…please check those backpacks! Recently a re-enrollment form was sent home with your 6th or 7th grader. These are very important forms which indicate your student's intention to return to Summit for the 2004-2005 school. Please send them back right away as they provide our Board with the information necessary to plan for next year's enrollment. Thank you!
The Colorado League of Charter Schools announces its 2nd Annual Exceptional Charter School Teacher Awards. This award celebrate teachers of exemplary personal integrity and character, those who mentor and teach children successfully, develop collaborative and positive relationships with parents, colleagues, and others within the school community, and serve as models of life-long learning. Three "Exceptional Teacher" awards will be given, one each at the elementary, middle school and high school levels.
Nomination forms are due by January 23rd and available by contacting the Colorado League of Charter Schools, 303-989-5356. Please send completed forms to the League office, 1601 Vine Street, Denver, 80206, or fax the nomination information to Lindsey Friedman, 303-984-9345.
Congratulations to all of our history students for competing in the 2003-04 National Geographic Geo Bee in December. Classroom winners are Jonathan Baer, Andy Cowley, Thomas Davids, Erin Dickson, Natalya Fearnley, Matthew Green, Kayla Hayes, Ian Heinzman, Chris Jarmon, Megan Kostanick, Paul Lemieux, Samantha Luce, Carrie Morgan, Max Saal, Catherine Seltz and Kelvin Zhang.
Our school winner was Thomas Davids, and his worthy opponent and first runner-up was Kelvin Zhang. Congratulations Thomas! Thomas has taken the written exam and we have mailed it to Washington D.C. If his score is in the top 50 for Colorado, he will compete at the state level.
Thanks again to the many families who are purchasing grocery certificates on a regular basis. Through December, we have sold more than $28,000 worth of King Soopers and Safeway certificates which translates to a profit of more than $1,400. We have also received a dividend from Albertsons and a dividend from the eScrip program! This is an important fund raising opportunity for the school. We appreciate your support.
Our next parking lot sale will be on January 23rd during morning drop off. If you wish to be added to our e-mail reminder program (you will receive an e-mail each week that we are selling certificates), please send an e-mail to Dolly Dean (dohdean[at]travelandsports.com).
We met with Dr. Black again, and he told us that there was no sign of any tumor or growth --- no histiocytosis, and definitely not anything cancerous! There is some uncertainty about what might happen in the future, but it's a real relief to know that she doesn't have to go through chemo or radiation.
Thank you all again so much for helping us to get here, and for your thoughts and prayers for Julia.
Knowing that you were all there thinking of us has really eased our burden and made things go so much better. HOORAY !!!
--- Tim, Kris, Eric, and JULIA!
The next CU Wizards program is January 17th, 9:30 a.m. in the Chemistry Building #140. The topic is Biochemistry for Kids, presented by Professor Deborah Wuttke. On February 21st, Professors Zoya Popovic and Dana Anderson will present Waves That Changed the World - Duane Physics Building #G1B30 - at 9:30 a.m.
Thanks to the wonderful Summit parents who helped make our December concerts a great success. Special thanks to the following parents (if your name was inadvertently left off this list, we apologize!) who toted, chaperoned, organized and performed the dozens of tasks needed to run our concerts. We couldn't have done it without: David Dunn; Cindy Zhang; the Peshocks; the Hayes; Ana Marie Hernando; Barbara Demmig-Adams; Colleen Seltz; Bonnie Lucara; Yuming Han; Suzana Brown; Dolly Dean; Brenda Bowman; Laurie Kuelthar; Viki Lawrence; Ping Chen; Patty Eckstein; the Shearer-Coopers; Jill Hobson; the Holloway-Hydes; Laura Rubi; Isabel Echenique; Shushila Kompala; Agata Piskorz; the Leggetts; Greta Thomsen; Jim Adams; Barb Kostanick; David Schermerhorn; Michelle & Neil Eckstein; the Van Loons; Gary Schmitz; Cheryl Runyon; Jeff Erickson; Paul Harstad; Wendy Goldner; Janet Winchester; Dale Kling; Mary Copeland; Suzanne Metzler; Shari Wind; Debby Hanssen; Hillary Johnson; Sharon Atcheson; Alaine Lerner; Nancy D'Ippolito; Joan Nagel; the Weidleins; the Reisfields; Karen Forman; Barb Silk; Debbie Feyh; ; Radhika Menon; Mary Ann Williamson; Mark Podrez; Wayne Seltzer; Wendy Block; Stuart Ollanick; Andy Dickson; Loretta Melhado; Dorinda Dercar; Cynthia Anderson; Lisa Li; Marianna Gnedin; the Evans; the Repuccis; Yuanfu Xie; and the Oatmans.
Like I said at the show, I couldn't have done it without a "little help from my friends."
The response of our school community, during the first three months of our 2003-2004 Tools for Learning campaign, has been wonderful! As of January 8th we have received more than $75,000 in donations from 160 families (including a number of alumni families). These donations moved us that much closer to our goals of $100,000 and 100% participation. Through last week we have processed pledges from about 50% of our currently enrolled families. Thanks for your support.
If you have not yet contributed, PLEASE RETURN YOUR PLEDGE CARD TODAY! Additional pledge cards are available in the office. We accepted VISA and MasterCard and you can spread your pledge over multiple months if that is more convenient for your family. Thanks also to the many families who have obtained matching grants from their employers.
We will list donors in each issue of the newsletter and all donors will be listed in the Annual Report at the close of the campaign. The following is a list of the donors whose donations were processed between December 12th and January 8th :
* Denotes alumni family