Rundown The - Thompson School District R2-J · The Rundown - April 2014 APT Educator of the Year:...

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RundownDistrict News & Notes

Thompson Education Foundation (TEF) continues to honor excellence in educa-

tion with the recognition of six Thompson School District staff members during the foundation’s sixth annual Educator Ap-preciation Breakfast and Educator of the Year awards at Embassy Suites Loveland on Friday, March 7, 2014. An audience of 350 staff and community members gathered to hear who was selected in the six award categories. Award nominations opened in November to staff, parents, students and community members; 61 educators were honored with nominations. Recipients were reviewed by the Educator of the Year Committee and chosen by the Thompson Education Foun-dation Board of Directors. The nominees

were evaluated for excellence in education through their ability to empower, challenge, and inspire. Criteria for selection for the awards included a candidate’s dedication to their work, a high level of skill, and the ability to inspire those they interact with in the course of their work.

Classifi ed Educator of the Year: Danny Davis, Lead Custodian,

Coyote Ridge Elementary School Danny Davis was praised for his posi-tive leadership, compassion for students, and fabulous attitude. “Danny is a fun-loving role model for the kids.” Davis “…is extremely committed to performing his job with excellence every day.” A nominator wrote, “Danny is like a special grandpa to the students and they all look up to him.”

April 2014

A Publication of the Department of

Communication and Community Resources

Thompson School District R2-J

800 South Taft AvenueLoveland, Colorado

80537

Board of Education Meetings

Wednesday,April 96 p.m.

Board RoomDistrict Admin. Bldg.

Wednesday,April 166 p.m.

Berthoud High School

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For more district and school events, please see the calendar located on

the district website.

Upcoming Events

“And the Winner Is...”Thompson Education Foundation Announces 2014 Educator of the Year Recipients

Left to right: TEF President Sean Rutledge, Peter Toews, Danny Davis, Meg Schweitzer, Loretta Martens, Josh Coseo and Theresa Clements

(continued on following page)

The Rundown - April 2014

APT Educator of the Year: Josh Coseo, Systems Engineer, Support Services Center Josh Coseo is responsible for the overall maintenance, installation and computer compatibility of the school bus video system. A coworker said, “Josh goes above and beyond when there are problems with the camera system used in the school buses.” Nominators wrote, “Josh always has a smile on his face and is up for any and all challenges.”

Elementary Educator of the Year: Meg Schweitzer, 5th Grade Teacher, Centennial Elem. School Coworkers say that Meg is “a born teacher and a consummate professional.” One of her gifts is that “she sees, without question or exception, the potential and good in each of her students.” At the same time, her “can-do” attitude makes an impact on her peers who say, “You cannot work with Meg without being a more positive and productive person.”

Secondary Educator of the Year: Peter Toews, Band & Orchestra Teacher, Mountain View High School

Nominators for Peter Toews recognized that “his understanding and profi ciency in music is of the highest caliber.” A parent expressed, “Mr. Toews has been one of the best teachers my son has had. Ever.” Stu-dents also praised Toews, saying “Mr. Toews always says he isn’t our band teacher, he is our life teacher. He just teaches it through music.” And “Mr. Toews wants ‘Greatness’ for all his students.” Principal Educator of the Year: Theresa Clements, Principal, Thompson Integrated Early Childhood Staff note that “Theresa Clements works tirelessly on continuing to make our program the ‘best’ in the state.” They also say “that she is still a teacher at heart, endearing her to her staff members.” Nominators continued, “Theresa’s sincere dedication and passion for Early Childhood is apparent in all that she does.”

Thompson Education Foundation Educator of the Year: Loretta Martens, Counseling Secretary, Loveland High School

Nominators for Loretta Martens recognized “her impact on thousands of high school students in her unrelenting efforts to recognize their individual strengths.” Martens “always has a positive attitude and works harder and more effi ciently than anyone I have ever met.” Coworkers say “Loretta is a clear leader by example” and “exemplifi es all that is good and right about public education.” Loretta Martens is “simply the best.”

The Thompson Education Foundation Educator of the Year was chosen from among the 61 nominees across all of the categories. Each recipient received a glass award and a $200 gift card from TEF’s Board of Directors. King Buick GMC provided 2-month car leases for each category winner and a 24-month car lease for the 2014 Thompson Education Foundation Educator of the Year.

(continued from previous page)


Berthoud High School’s top Knowledge Bowl team

(James Wood (Captain), Dominic Loffreda, Bridget Hyde, Sydney Levy, and alternate Jacy McNul-ty) competed against three other Knowledge Bowl teams at the 4A level to advance to the State Knowledge Bowl Tournament, which will be held in Colorado Springs April 17-18, 2014. The team received the third highest total points among the 15 participating schools. This is the fi rst time a Berthoud High School Knowledge Bowl team has qualifi ed for the state event since 2007. Congratulations!

Back row left to right: Coach Jana Cline (Coach Toni Dennis not pictured), Dominc Loffreda, Sydney Levy and James Wood. Front row left to right: Bridget Hyde and Jacy McNulty. Picture and article by Diane Levy.

Thompson School District staff members in the Walt Clark Middle

School kitchen celebrated the great Dr. Seuss, whose 110th birthday was on March 2.

Dr. Paul Bankes, the district’s Execu-tive Director of Elementary Edu-

cation, read to fi rst graders at Garfi eld Elementary School to also celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss.


Turner Students Show Off Science & Engineering Skills

On Feb. 27, 25 Turner Middle School 8th graders competed in a fi eld of 240 junior division com-

petitors at this year’s Longs Peak Northern Colorado Regional Science and Engineering Fair. This year’s participants from Turner included Tyler Adams, Gabe Archuleta, Ashlee Burdette, Keldon Cook, Chris DeSousa, Collin DeVore, Anjelica Gutierrez, Lindsay Guynn, Cole Hemphill, JT Kasten, Skye Kearney, Mor-gan Kenner, Riley Lundgreen, Abigayl Lutz, Nicole Maheu, Henry Mizer, Rebecca Pennock, Isabel Quire, Jake Rafferty, Craig Singiser, Emma Stippich, Sophia Stratton, Sophia Visger, Ty Williams and Jake Yuska. These students spent the day at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley being interviewed about observations they made, procedures they followed and conclusions they were able to draw after having de-signed and tested many different science experiments. Many Turner students were successful and received several awards and prizes. From the American Meteorological Association for excellence in meteorological research, Nicole Maheu received a 2nd place certifi cate. From the CSU School of Biomedical Engineering, Sophia Stratton received the “Rising Star” award along with a certifi cate and prize package for showing future promise in the area of biomedical engineering. The ASM Materials Education Foundation awarded Collin DeVore a medallion and certifi cate for his re-search of materials used in engineering. The Broadcom Masters provided an opportunity for students who displayed excellence in project design, testing and understanding to compete at a national com-

petition held later this year. Students will be compet-ing for many prizes, including a top prize of a $25,000 educational award. Kelden Cook, Rebecca Pennock and Ashlee Burdette all received a certifi cate and invita-tion to participate in the event this year. The Stockholm Junior Water Prize was awarded for excellence in understanding the challenges facing one of our planet’s most vital resources. These competi-tors are invited to compete at a state competition where they could earn an all-expenses-paid spot to compete nationally in Herndon, Va this year. A certifi cate and application were awarded to Nicole Maheu and Sophia Visger. From the U.S. Metric Association for outstanding use of the metric system measurements in solving a prob-lem, Craig Singiser received a certifi cate. From the West Greeley Conservation District for ex-cellence in chemistry, Rebecca Pennock received a 1st place and cash recognition award. For the Longs Peak Science and Engineering Fair main category awards for the junior division, partici-pants each received ribbons: Animal Sciences – Lind-say Guynn received Honorable Mention; Chemistry – Rebecca Pennock received 3rd place;Engineering – Kelden Cook received 2nd place;Environmental Sciences – Chris DeSousa received Honorable Mention and Sophia Visger received 3rd place; Medicine and Health Sciences – Isabel Quire received Honorable Mention; and Plant Sciences – Jake Yuska received Honorable Mention. Congratulations to all!

Congratulations to all of the students at Turner Middle School

who participated in this year’s Longs Peak Northern Colorado

Regional Science and Engineering Fair.


Big Thompson Elementary recently celebrated principal Sarah Walgast’s return to the school. To honor her and to support breast cancer awareness, all of the students and staff wore pink!

Back to School!

Congratulations to “Team Thompson,” which hosted yet another successful St. Baldrick’s event.

St. Baldrick’s is a volunteer-driven fundraising op-portunity benefi tting childhood cancer research. This year, the team raised a grand total of $11,018. Because children with cancer often lose their hair during treatment, “shavees” for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation show their support by shaving their heads voluntarily and inspiring friends and family to donate money to support childhood cancer research. Pictured is Mike Jones, TSD Assistant Superinten-dent of Human Resources and School Support. Mr. Jones participates in each year’s St. Baldrick’s event and also emcees the festivities.

The Lucile Erwin Drama Department will present “High School Musical, Jr.” on April 16 at 4 p.m. and April 17-18 at 7 p.m. in the LEMS cafeteria. Everyone is invited to these performances. Admission is

$5 for adults and $3 for students.

Congratulations to Josephine Buckley, a senior at Berthoud High School who has been named one of only 40 2014 Boettcher Foundation scholarship recipients!

Boettcher Scholars are awarded full-ride merit-based scholarships to attend a college or university within the state of Colorado. The scholarship Buckley has been awarded includes virtually all college expenses: full tu-ition, fees, a book allowance and an annual stipend for living expenses. The award is granted for eight semes-ters at either a public or private four-year college or university in the state.


Superintendent Stan Scheer visited the Loveland Rotary Club’s KidsPak program last month, where he helped pack food for hundreds of TSD children in need. KidsPak is a weekend hunger relief pro-

gram for children in the Thompson School District. The program partners with each school in the district to provide much-needed packs of food that meet the nutritional requirements for children. The program works with the Food Bank for Larimer County to create a specifi c menu each week to meet these needs. “It is truly wonderful to see a local group recognize an issue within the community and then do something about it,” Scheer said. “It says something very positive about the character of our community.”

Staff members at Mary Blair Elementary School presented a “TCAP Pep Assembly” to prepare for stu-dent assessments in the building. Staff members presented a skit with teachers encouraging students

to GROWL on the test: Go over your work before you’re done; Re-read questions, passages and answers; Organize your thoughts; be Willing to work hard; and Leave your best on the test! The MBES TCAP Fairy even made an appearance at the assembly for moral support!

The Rundown - October 2013The Rundown - April 2014

“Stir Loveland” Young Professionals Launches Junior Leadership Loveland

Stir Loveland, the Loveland Chamber of Com-merce’s young professionals group, will launch

Junior Leadership Loveland, a program for all Loveland area high school* students inspired by the chamber’s successful Leadership Loveland program for business professionals. The week-long program is available to students between their sophomore and junior years in high school and will continue to be held annually. The inaugural program is slated for June 9–13, 2014, and will have many similar concepts to Leadership Loveland, a program that has developed emerging leaders in order to supplement and encourage high quality local leadership for the past 25 years. “The Stir steering committee is eager to help organize this new and exciting program for the Loveland Chamber of Commerce. As young pro-fessionals, we understand the value of creating strong leaders in our community who are invested in Loveland’s success,” said Leah Johnson, chair of Stir Loveland. “We want all young people to recog-nize the value of community involvement and how that leads to the continued success of our business community and the community at large.” The students will be exposed to many aspects of the Loveland community including industry, eco-nomic development, public safety, state, county and local government, arts and leisure, health and human services and natural resources. The goal is

to give these students an overview of the important aspects of Loveland so that they can learn to engage in areas that interest them as informed young lead-ers. “When the chamber launched Stir Loveland in 2009, our goal was to equip the next generation of business and community leaders with resources to ensure northern Colorado’s future economic and cultural vitality,” said Mindy McCloughan, presi-dent of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce. “We are proud to see Stir take on that challenge and extend that mission to Loveland’s youth.” The cost to participate is $200 per student. Schol-arships are available. Businesses that are interested in sponsoring students should contact the chamber as soon as possible. Applications are available through each high school in Loveland, at the cham-ber and at loveland.org/JuniorLeadership/ and are due back to the chamber by 5 p.m. April 11. *Participating high schools include Ferguson High School, Loveland Classical Schools, Loveland High School, Mountain View High School, Thompson Valley High School and Resurrection Christian School. For more information on the program or the Loveland Chamber of Commerce, please call 667-6311 or visit www.loveland.org.

Annual Open Enrollmentfor TSD Benefi ts

April 25 – May 10Log on to “Employee Online” via the district website

for more information!


AN EXHILARATING FOOT RACING EVENT FOR RUNNERS OF ALL AGES. RUN OR WALK A 5K OR 10K COURSE; KIDS CAN PARTICIPATE IN A NON-COMPETITIVE FUN RUN.

GIVING KIDS A RUNNING START TO EDUCATION

SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2014, 8:00 A.M.DAVIDSON-GEBHARDT CHEVROLET-SUBARU CENTERRA MOTORPLEX, 3880 TEST CIRCLE, LOVELAND

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER ONLINE, GO TO WWW.THOMPSONTEF.ORGPROCEEDS BENEFIT THOMPSON INTEGRATED EARLY CHILDHOOD & THOMPSON VALLEY PRESCHOOL

Mountain View High School teacher Ryan Barron was presented with the “K99 Teacher Tuesday” award on March 25. Pictured with Mr. Barron are students Connyr & Devin

Hennings. Mr. Barron teaches math at MVHS. He makes it enjoyable and understandable for the students in his class. He is also there to tutor after school when students need extra help. Con-gratulations, Mr. Barron!

Loveland High School’s top two bands, Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony, both competed at

the recent Northern Colorado Bandmaster’s Associa-tion Regional Festival at Fossil Ridge High School. The Symphonic Band earned an “excellent” rating. The Wind Symphony earned a “superior” rating and advanced to the CBA State Finals, which will be held in April at Colorado State University. In the Northern Region, which includes schools in the immediate area of Loveland, Fort Collins, Long-mont and Windsor and schools as far away as the Adams Five Star District (Legacy High School), Love-land High is one of only four schools that advanced to the state level.


In memory of Alex Sabados, a young man from Berthoud who passed away from childhood cancer four years ago,

Berthoud proclaimed March 23 as “Alex Sabados Day of Kindness.” A student assembly was hosted at Berthoud High School featuring Tyler Carron and Nikko Landeros, who recently won the sled hockey gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games. A variety of other events were also held in the town in recognition of the special week.

Harlem Globetrotter “TNT Maddox” visited Van Buren Elementary School on March 26 to present the “ABCs of Bullying Prevention” to students.

Maddox, whose hometown is Colorado Springs, joined the Globetrotters in 2011 and became the fi rst woman to don the red, white and blue uniform since 1993. Her anti-bullying message of “Action,” “Brav-ery,” and “Compassion” was followed up by a quick demonstration of her supreme basketball skills!


Lincoln Elementary Student Council Organizes Support for Glen Haven

From the TSD Title IA coordinator comes this reminder about the availability of what had

been formerly mailed out as the “District Report Card” from the Colorado Department of Education (CDE): The federal law that brings extra funds to eligible schools for disadvantaged students began in 1965 as “The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965,” with far reaching goals and require-ments for school reform. Last reauthorized in 2001 as “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB), it mandated requirements for testing and reporting results to the community about progress by all students toward reaching high achievement standards. Many of the NCLB reforms have been surpassed by Colorado law, especially recent waivers that gave schools and districts some relief from unde-sirable side effects of the annual tests. Among oth-er things, those waivers gave schools and districts credit for getting student growth toward reaching high achievement rather than punishing them for not getting all students to high scores. However, districts still have to “mail letters with links” to where growth and achievement data can be found. That data is at the following website:

www.schoolview.org/performance.asp When you get to the Schoolview page, scroll down and select “1560 - Thompson R2-J” on the left, then skip over to the right and select “2013 - 1 Year DPF Report” or “2013 - 3 Year Report” to see how the district did overall with test par-ticipation, academic achievement, growth toward achievement and growth gaps of students not yet reaching academic achievement. For secondary schools, there is added information about gradu-ation rates and “postsecondary and workforce readiness.” Thompson’s one-year district school perfor-mance framework (SPF) for 2013 TCAP scores can be found at: http://bit.ly/1dFH8Le Thompson’s three-year district school perfor-mance framework (SPF) for 2013 TCAP scores can be found at: http://bit.ly/1fTqxDF Below the boxes with names of districts, schools and their data, you will fi nd a link to an online tutorial about the SPFs or at: http://bit.ly/1ghkZaO If you have any questions about district assess-ment or accountability, you may contact Carmen Williams at 613-5000.

The Lincoln Student Council has selected the community of Glen Haven, Colo., as the recipient of their fundraiser for the year.

The council has a goal of raising $150 to help families who were affected by the fl oods. Glen Haven is still struggling to repair roads, homes, businesses, and more. A fundraising jar has been placed in each classroom. Lincoln Elementary teacher Miss Casebeer had special T-shirts designed by a Glen Haven community member. Progress is being tracked on the bulletin board outside the school offi ce.


Kudos To... The following individuals were presented with “Inspiring Students” awards by Superintendent Stan Scheer at the March 19 Board of Education meeting:

* Coach Karin Nichols, Coach Krisha Sibrel and Coach Alison Cheney-Mountain View High School-They were thanked by a parent for their amazing work and dedication to her child * Sherry Allerheiligen-TSD Transportation-For her unwavering support in arranging transportation for homeless students in the district* Clara Houghteling-Loveland High School Student-For placing fi rst in the Colorado Congress of Foreign Languages state essay contest* Becca Bollinger-Thompson Valley High School-Becca was the recipient of the New Teacher Scholarship to attend the Colorado Congress of Foreign Lan-guage Teachers conference in Loveland* Charla Varner-TSD Substitute Coordinator-For her dedication to helping staff members arrange substitute teachers and going above and beyond expecta-tions* Danny Davis-Coyote Ridge Elementary School-For his overall job excel-lence, including playground inspections, facilities work, and dedication to help-ing students in any way possible

A Read-A-Thon was held at Ponderosa Elementary School in celebration of March being designated as “National Reading Month.” The children had a goal to each read 600 minutes, with an over-

all school goal of 250,000 minutes. If the children met their goal, principal Kandi Smith promised the students that she would hold a 7-foot-long red-tailed boa snake! The goal was easily met and Principal Smith fulfi lled her promise.


Gardening ~ A natural stress relieverBy Elizabeth Scott, M.S.

Planting a beautiful garden can be a great way to relive stress! Whether you have a small patio to decorate or a vast amount of space to tend, the act of making your particular stretch of nature into a haven can be a stress reliever in itself, and the gar-den that you create can bring you even more peace. Visit http://stress.about.com/od/generaltechniques/a/gardening.htm for more information.

Stride with Pride, TSD! TSD’s wellness program with sponsorship from Healthy Kids Club is proud to announce “Stride with Pride, TSD!” The program is a wellness initiative designed to get staff outside exercising, connecting with their colleagues and training for a 5K that benefi ts a great cause! Participants agree to train together at least two times per week and complete a 5K of the team’s choosing. Each partic-ipant receives a paid race registration, a Stride with Pride, TSD T-shirt and the satisfaction of complet-ing a goal! 120 employees from elementary, middle and high school as well as administration-formed teams ranging from 5 to 25 participants have com-mitted to training for and completing the New Vision 5K, Bob Turner Classic, Cinco Cinco or Sierra’s Race. If you see them out training, be sure to cheer them on!

Area Health FairsLoveland Community Health Fair

McKee Wellness and Conference CenterApril 5 from 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Offers free and low-cost screenings, educational booths, health counseling and referrals, and more. Screenings include: Acupuncture, Asthma , Bal-ance, Blood Pressure Checks, Biofeedback/Stress

Management, Central Nervous System, Diabetes, Ear Canal, Endurance Tests, Body Fat and BMI, Lung Function, Mental Health Screenings, Oral Cancer Screening and Skin Cancer Screening. For many of the screenings, you must be at least 18 years of age or age 16-17 with a parent present.

9Health Fair Campion Adventist Church May 4 from 7 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Offering free and low-cost screenings including Blood Chemistry (Blood Draw), Blood Pressure, BMI, Metabolic Syndrome, Nutrition, Oral Health, Prostate Specifi c Antigen (men only), stress man-agement, and MUCH more. Pre-registration avail-able: https://onlinereg.9healthfair.org/9Health/info.aspx?siteid=202

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Follow the TSD Staff Wellness Facebook page! Like us on Facebook for updates on community events, wellness tips and to connect with teachers and staff within our district.

To get started, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/TSDstaffwellness

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