All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
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An unexpected "glitch" might have sealed the victory for third-grader Sylvia Madry at the 12th annual Niwot Elementary Spelling Bee on Dec. 5, but her hard-fought victory was definitely no mistake. Careful study of the Scripps spelling list, plus a few tried-and-true tricks helped propel the bespectacled eight-year-old through 34 challenging rounds against older and more experienced competitors. "It wasn't the words that were hard, it was standing up and spelling them in front of all those peopl...
Julea and Maedee Trank-Greene are twins and seniors at Niwot High School. They also have had a lifelong interest in helping the homeless. "It makes me very sad to see people living on the street," said Julea. Which is why, for their IB CAS project, the Trank-Greenes are collecting food and winter gear for the homeless through HOPE for Longmont. CAS stands for Creativity, Action, and Service, and it is one of the requirements to graduate from the International Baccalaureate program. Juniors and...
Students of Niwot High School are adding their own two cents to the fight against Polio. Polio (poliomyelitis) is a contagious disease that invades the brain and spinal cord, causing severe paralysis that can lead to health complications and even death. While public awareness, support, and prevention have been successful in the U.S., there are still places in the world where this disease is left untreated. Niwot's Interact Club members have made it their goal to eradicate this disease, emulating...
During a recent summer job, Dawson senior Spencer Sampliner encountered and was moved by the stories of veterans and mental health issues brought on by high-stress battle situations. He then made an important connection: Extensive research has been conducted on how best to treat the troubling symptoms created by extreme stress, anxiety, and depression -- the very same symptoms which lie at the heart of the current teenage mental health crisis. Sampliner also recognized that, in the same way the...
On Nov. 21, third graders at Niwot Elementary School received personal dictionaries donated by the Rotary Club of Niwot. Rotary members Eli Buzas, Kevin Parrot, and Dennis Daly, retired principal of Niwot High School, visited each of the three classes and distributed the dictionaries to each student. "It was a breath of fresh air and sort of invigorating to me," said Daly (pictured) after the visit. "I just wish everyone could experience the positive environment that Principal Nancy Pitz...
The honors just keep coming for Niwot students and budding infosec experts Davita Bird, Julia Curd, and Caitlyn Fong. Last month, the trio was one of two all-girls teams invited to compete in the 16th annual Cyber Security Awareness Week competition, the largest student-run contest of its kind. "It was awesome to be one of the two girls teams," Curd said of the three-day event, which was held at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn, from Nov. 6-9. "We actually ended up making friends...
This past year, Front Range Community College expanded its Center for Integrated Manufacturing and added new programs to fill the need for skilled labor in machining, manufacturing, and automation. In addition to this expansion, FRCC also added a bachelor's degree program for nursing and continues to be a leader in training our state's residents in these vital industries. Colorado philanthropists Suzanne and David Hoover pledged a donation of $1 million, to be dispersed over the next five...
The students of Flagstaff Academy showed that a little Respect can go a long way, after collecting more than 1,000 pairs of new and gently used shoes for Soles4Souls, a Nashville-based charitable organization that distributes shoes and clothing to those in need around the world. Spearheaded by the charter school's National Junior Honor Society, the shoe drive took place during October, when the school was focusing on Respect as a part of their ongoing Dragon PRIDE core virtues initiative....
From Friday, Nov. 15 to Sunday, Nov. 17, Niwot High School will be performing the production "The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon." The book "Grimm's Fairy Tales" was originally published in 1812 by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, and it was a compilation of 86 stories, although the brothers would continue to add stories until the book contained 210. Over the years, these stories have morphed as a result of modern influences such as the Disney films. In Grimm's original story of "The Little Mermaid,"...
Sunset Middle School principal Anthony Barela showed off his new pink hair-do to a crowd of fawning admirers after the Fall Crawl wrap-up assembly on Oct. 31. Barela was once again subject to the salon chair, after his students met their goal for this year's annual Parent Advisory Committee fundraiser, held on Oct. 5. Last year, Barela received his first Mohawk, but didn't get any color to go with it. Through this year's Fall Crawl, the PAC raised more than $15,000 that will go towards...
Keynes Chen stands in his small office in the band and orchestra room practicing his violin. His concentration and dedication to his craft are clear to see by the way he holds his violin gently. His voice is soft as he shares his past: an upbringing shaped by violinist parents, beginning to learn the same instrument himself before the age of five, later studying at the University of Colorado Boulder, and eventually starting his own music school before transitioning to teaching orchestra at Niwot...
Colorado is suffering from a shortage of nurses with four-year BSNs degrees - needing as many as 500 new nurses to fill the void. Looking forward, that figure is expected to balloon by 2024, growing to 4,500. Previously, nurses could have successful, financially feasible careers with a two-year associate’s degree but, as the healthcare and job markets become more competitive, requirements for employees and prodivers are changing. Many healthcare companies now require nurses to have their bachelor’s degree and nurses without may have tro...
It's so crowded that you can only shuffle through the doors on either side of the Niwot High School auditorium. People are milling about below, trying to find their seats, catching up with friends, proudly bragging about their students and how hard they work. After a little time, the chatter falls to a hush, the lights dim, and the Fall Musical Extravaganza begins. The Fall Extravaganza has taken place annually for over five years, but in the last two, it has evolved. While various ensembles...
Sporting a collection of tunes from the popular movie The Greatest Showman, the Niwot High School band was a force to be reckoned with at SVVSD band night. The band provided a wall of sound as a result of its abundance of members and energetic performance. SVVSD band night is an event where marching bands from across the district gather to perform in front of judges. This year, the high schools attending included Lyons, Skyline, Erie, Roosevelt, Greeley Central, Frederick, Silver Creek, Niwot,...
On Friday Oct. 5, a cadre of tweenage ninjas-in-training jumped, swung, and climbed their way through a colorful obstacle course that tested the strength and agility of even the most seasoned trainees. In the process, they raised more than $15,000 for the Sunset Middle Parent Advisory Committee, which will go towards upgrades in the school's interior, and a new sound system for the cafeteria. The obstacle course was a new twist to Sunset's annual Fall Crawl fundraiser, and both parents and...
It's been a whirlwind fall for second-year drum major Cole Toothaker and the Cougar marching band, but a scary moment over the summer almost had the talented musician and natural leader watching it all from the sidelines. "I was on a rafting trip in Idaho, and I did a backflip on the beach-I have a gymnastics background and do flips a lot," he recalled. "But I landed on an incline, and put my hands down to break my fall, and ended up breaking both of my wrists, which was a little inconvenient."...
Just one day after leading a large contingent to the Global Climate Strike in Denver on Sept. 20, local environmental coalition The Lookout Alliance co-hosted the Colorado Climate Crisis Teach-In, an event aimed at empowering individuals of all ages to work for climate solutions. Heading up their panel on youth activism was Niwot junior Maya Beauvineau, who is working both in her school and in her community to bring "youth voices" to the fight against what she calls "the greatest threat that we...
Niwot High's Paul Cordts, a Rotary Youth Exchange student from Cuxhaven Germany, hiked Rotary Peak on Sunday, July 8, with other rotary exchange students in Colorado's Rotary District 5450. Paul is shown with his host family, Julie and Scott Stockert of Longmont. Scott is Sergeant at Arms of the Niwot Rotary Club, which meets Thursday mornings at 7 for breakfast, at the Left Hand Grange Hall in Niwot. Guests welcome....
Autumn brings crisp mornings, spiced treats, shorter days, and, for many excited Sunset Middle Schoolers, the annual Spartan Fall Crawl. On Oct. 4th, middle schoolers will get the chance to partake in a little friendly competition in a ninja-warrior style course that encourages the students to stay active. Last year's Spartan Fall Crawl raised $15,000 from pledges and local business sponsors. These funds went towards school improvements such as classroom designs and renovations in addition to...
By Violet Oliver, 8th grade Flagstaff student Special to the Courier Flagstaff Academy received some well-deserved recognition on Sept. 11 at the St. Vrain Valley School District board meeting for its recent Colorado Trailblazer award. The Longmont-based charter school received the Schools to Watch Colorado Trailblazer award in late spring of 2019. Schools can apply for this award through the Middle Grades Forum website, and if the application is approved, teams of administrators personally...
On Sept. 22, the highly anticipated Niwot Trot road race returns once again to the tranquil streets of Niwot.This year marks the 14th annual 5K fundraiser, hosted by Niwot Elementary School PTAC. Runners, joggers, walkers, and even trotters are invited to enjoy this race at their own pace. A fun and flat 3.1 mile course winds through town, giving participants the chance to see Niwot in its turn season. This year, the Niwot Trot will benefit from financial support and in-kind donations from 20...
Full-day kindergarten programs have been available in the local school districts for more than a decade, but often came with a steep monthly tuition fee. Starting this school year, those programs will be free to families in all Colorado public schools, thanks to a bill signed into law last May by governor Jared Polis that funds kindergarten at the same per-pupil rate as the other grades. For principals at Heatherwood and Niwot Elementary Schools, the move to make full-day schooling available to...
Mountain Shadows Montessori School in Boulder is honored to announce that Joni Perry will be joining their teaching team in the 2019-20 school year. Perry is known both nationally and internationally for her passion, expertise, and creativity in working with elementary children. Perry has over 20 years’ experience and has spoken around the world at professional conferences. She holds her AMI Elementary certificate as well as a K-12 Art Credential, uniting two of her passions—art and supporting e...
Niwot graduate (‘17) Yannick Lee-Yow didn’t enroll in the University of Colorado at Boulder hoping to become one of the most accomplished undergraduate researchers in the biochemistry department. In fact, the talented jazz pianist wasn’t looking to study science at all. But after dropping in on a “cool and interesting” biology lab meeting during a spontaneous summer tour, Lee-Yow knew he had found his life’s work. “A lot of it was going over my head at the time, but a lot of the science they...
Nothing energizes a project team like a last-minute and potentially catastrophic failure. So when a routine maneuver to reset their robot's climber somehow went wrong during the final round of the FIRST Robotics Colorado Regional, both students and mentors from Longmont's Up-A-Creek Robotics crew flew into action. "It was super-stressful," Niwot senior and team software lead Nevin Gilbert said of the rush to repair a snapped release lever before the decisive match. "We really thought we had it i...
College is expensive. The average total cost of public colleges in the United States is $25,290 for in-state tuition; $40,940 for out-of-state tuition, and about $50,900 for private colleges. More than 19.9 million students are projected to attend American colleges and universities in the fall of 2019. That money has to come from somewhere. Fortunately, there are local scholarships designated for helping out students who need a boost to their college coffers. The Longmont Community Foundation...
In March, Dawson students K-12 embarked on the school's renowned Winterim program. Dawson School's Winterim is an experiential learning program that provides students an opportunity for a deep dive into a special topic, culture, or activity. Each year, over seven to 10 days, every Dawson student further cultivates a current passion or discovers a new one; Winterim is known as one of the key experiences that set a Dawson education apart from other schools. Seventh through 12th grades explore a wi...
To call a snow day or to not call a snow day? That is the question that plagues St. Vrain Valley School District Superintendent Don Haddad anytime it snows in the district, and the answer to that question does not come easy for him. “If we cancel school, there will be many parents and students saying “Why are you canceling school? It’s easy to get there,’ and if you don’t cancel school you get many people saying ‘Why don’t you cancel school?’” Superintendent Haddad never makes the decision light...
March can be a tense time of the year for ambitious high school students waiting on college acceptance letters, but so far that hasn’t been the case for Niwot’s Aidan Peairs. The Rotary Student of the Month has already been accepted to two of the top schools for his intended major, so he isn’t exactly hurting for attractive options. “I applied early to Harvard and got deferred, and I’m waiting for Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Tufts, NYU, Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt,” he said. “My number one is...
For Niwot freshman Francis Bunting, flying isn’t just a hobby, it’s a lifelong passion. So when he learned that his new school didn’t have an Aviation Club, he decided to take matters into his own hands. “My dad is a United pilot, and my grandfather before him was an Air Force pilot, so it runs in the blood,” he said. “I wanted to involve other kids who are passionate about the same thing. So, as soon as school started, I went to my math teacher, Ms. Rickley, and got a sponsor.” Bunting recru...
On Sunday, Aug. 26, the Niwot Cub Scout Pack 161 held its annual rocket launch at Niwot Elementary School. More than thirty excited scouts and potential recruits built and then launched the projectiles, with assistance from several older boys from Troop 161 as well as adult volunteers. The rockets were capable of altitudes up to 400 feet in the air, although the prevailing windy conditions were sometimes a hindrance....
Twin Peaks Charter Academy announced the addition of an elementary and secondary principal to the administrative team. Amber Coniff joins the staff as K-5 Principal. She has a history of working at Charter Schools and first-hand knowledge of the Core Knowledge Curriculum. David Yu, current interim 6-12 Principal, has accepted the full time position as Principal moving forward. He brings a wealth of knowledge on Classical education and has already made a positive impact on secondary students,...
