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bye oh [Music] so [Music] so [Music] please welcome to the 2021 commencement celebration for village high school my name is jonah crawford we are excited to have you join us for the third graduation ceremony of our school we are grateful that we are able to have an in-person graduation ceremony this year and we hope yeah and we hope you all put on your sunscreen brought your umbrella or possibly both since we live in this crazy state at this time would you please stand remove your hats and welcome emma feikert a junior at the village who will be singing our national anthem oh say can you see by the [Music] at the twilight's last gleaming whose brought stripes and bright stars [Music] streaming [Music] gave birth [Music] still there oh say does that star spangled [Music] [Applause] oh you can be seated now thanks emma now i would like to introduce mr nathan gorsh the pretty sweet and awesome principal of the village pretty sweet and awesome we're in the script jonah all right so thanks jonah it is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the commencement ceremony for the village it's hard to believe how fast the last four years have gone and i have very mixed emotions as we see this special group graduate for some of you i remember you coming in as eighth graders to meet with me about this new school and for others maybe you just came for this year but you've all made your mark on our school and we're grateful to have been a part of your journey you've seen our school grow from 70 students to almost 400 students we've been in three buildings in four years we owe a debt of gratitude to you for your resilience your compassion and the way you've taught us to take care of each other class of 2021 congratulations to you and this day is all about you we want to acknowledge your outstanding accomplishments reflect on the last several years and dream about how each of you will make this world a better place as we embark on this journey please remember to silence your cell phones and just soak in the beauty of this day a beautiful colorado day our hope is to share some laughs maybe some tears and to demonstrate gratitude for the opportunity that we've been given to journey together and joining us today in support of our graduates are the district 20 board of education representatives from district 20 administration and the staff of the village but students you're also supported by your family and your friends who are here to celebrate with you and at this point i would like to acknowledge your greatest supporters your parents with the parents of our graduates please stand and be recognized and thank you parents for sharing your most precious resource with us so as you know i meet with each incoming student to talk about our school and explain the differences in our school model and i eat end each of these meetings the same way by talking about our staff while i think we have many amazing elements to our school the best part to me without question are the staff members that you interact with on a daily basis so at this time i'd like to introduce each of our staff miss krista bogenreif math miss kimmy kane counselor ms stacy chavarria the brains of the operation and our and our admin assistant unable to be here because of family obligations they're actually at a graduation for a nephew andy colgate and stephanie colgate mr brandon dale social studies miss sherry dineline art miss maria de la garza spanish miss lori derrickson college and career counselor miss tracy dockwell registrar miss christie eustis physical education miss katie flanagan science miss katie fear special education mr joel hampton math who is also unable to be here dr lori hughes french in english miss grace jacobson the smiling face as our receptionist miss lindsay keller tosa and electives coordinator mr jack kim our district technology technician ms susan nolan english mr nash norris social studies mr tim park our building manager who's probably out doing stuff because that's what tim does mr jeff potts security ms catherine presnahl academic support ms katie redinger science and i'm going to completely embarrass her because miss katie redinger was just named academy school district 20 teacher of the year i'll pay for that later miss sarah reynolds who is under the weather but is our bookkeeper mr phil savage english social studies in spanish and miss carla ray smith science and then miss linda trumbauer asl and she can't be here because she went to las vegas for a wedding and her rv broke down so what happens in state in vegas stays in vegas it's an amazing group of professionals and i truly hope you understand the gift they are to you and the gift they are to me at this time it's my pleasure to introduce mr tom gregory superintendent of academy school district 20.
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[Music] good morning thunder community this is your two minute warning we're gonna get started in about two minutes you can find your seat we'll get started here in just a couple minutes on this beautiful morning so oh i do not want to put it up here perfect if i hadn't had my half a dough so we'll just go through all right you guys can just have a seat good morning i'm dr mark wahlstrom the principal at discovery canyon campus high school welcome family and friends to the discovery canyon campus high school 2021 commencement ceremony please join me in welcoming the class of 2021 escorted by senior class sponsors mr doug jameson ms suzanne smelker and miss katie snyder ladies and gentlemen the class of 2021. [Music] so [Music] my foreign [Music] so another round of applause for mr justin carpenter in the discovery canyon concert band good morning class of 2021 good morning thunder community what a beautiful morning to celebrate the class of 2021.
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okay says oh get up here who is it is okay thank you are all right you guys we're ready let's go hey hey we're ready thank you good afternoon lancer nation families please rise and welcome the liberty high school class of 2021 as we play pomp and circumstance march number one opus 39 by sir edgar elger [Music] so [Music] all right ladies and gentlemen please remain standing for the presentation of colors by the academy school district 20 air force junior rotc color guard under the command of cadet captain luke snyder and the singing of the national anthem by the liberty jazz choir [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] through the barrels [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] you hello everyone please be seated my name is shelby bland and i am a member and soon to be graduate of the lancer nation it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you today to the class of 2021's graduation ceremony before we begin i want to take a few moments to welcome the special guests we have with us today first a special welcome to the president of the district 20 school board mrs karen reynolds vice president mr doug lundberg treasurer mr thomas lavalley director mr will tembe director mrs heather clonginger and our u.s air force academy liaison colonel andre t johnson next i would like to say thank you to our superintendent mr tom gregory and assistant superintendent for administrative services dr jim smith now i offer a warm welcome to mr brett smith principal of timberview middle school finally i have the privilege of introducing our wonderful team from liberty high school who helped to make this day possible mrs alicia donald dean of students and academic interventionist mrs melissa hernandez dean of students and academic interventionist miss kelly hoyle assistant principal mr michael sibley assistant principal miss leanne thiessen assistant principal and activities and athletics director and last but certainly not least mr alan timmight principal of liberty high school from the bottom of my heart i would like to express how grateful i am to all of you for being here today to support the class of 2021 as we take this next step into our future now without further ado join me in celebrating this wonderful senior class good afternoon my name is brianna johnson and i have the privilege of acknowledging and honoring our faculty and staff here at liberty high school the staff at liberty has shaped us into the people we are today prepping each of us and giving us the proper tools needed to be successful our support staff and administration who we did not get the chance to interact with on a daily but who have always helped us start our day off fresh impacted our lives and helped us get to this point without your help and dedication to the school coming back in this person this year would have never been possible not only this year but every year you are the behind the scenes crew that never gets the recognition you deserve part of what makes liberty such a unique place is our administration and building support staff along with the different personalities they all contribute from our attendance secretary dealing with our logging in virtually to ms thiessen working non-stop to guarantee we all got our senior season whether on the field court or stage she made sure we were all taken care of we all appreciate our new counselors coming in at the beginning of the year and even though it may have been a rocky start for everyone we made it these administrators take it upon themselves to make sure we have the best and uncomplicated high school experience ms croker who's not even our class counselor not only helped change schedules but was someone i knew i could go to for advice helping me through the biggest hurdles of high school to our administration team your guidance wisdom and work ethic have not gone unnoticed and allow us to be sitting where we are today so once again we thank you lastly our teachers the men and women we had the opportunity to see almost every day let us call their classroom our second home and treated us more like their children than their actual children during our time at liberty we can agree that we learned a lot retained some of it but a few moments we will never forget mr kanabi taught me electrons are like boyfriends the more you have the more negative you become mr after heidi taught me what cowheart tastes like and mr jones taught me how to make a solid argument against my parents grounds and everything mr skelsey told me if i'm early i'm on time and if i'm on time i'm late while mr jones mr woodson showed me how to successfully play a hand of blackjack mrs alicio taught me perseverance mrs paulin taught me to challenge myself and mrs williams taught me passion faculty staff and administration with your hard work and love for what you do saying goodbye to liberty high school is going to be one of the hardest things we'll ever have to do but how lucky are we to have people in our lives that make saying see you later so incredibly hard none of us would be here today if it wasn't for you so on behalf of the class of 2021 i thank you now mr falcon this is your cue with the faculty and staff of liberty high school please stand to be recognized [Applause] please be seated hello everyone and once again welcome to liberty high school's class of 2021 graduation ceremony my name is angelica v hill many of you may know me by jelly and i am your student body president and that would make me your student body vice president hallie andrews many of you know me by well hallie today we are celebrating each other and what we have accomplished together these past four years throughout our high school experience it has been an eventful one to say the least but we have learned to remain patient strong and ready to adapt to anything thrown our way looking back at freshman year to now a lot has changed but we made change look good the class of 2021 is one for the books and we're talking history books but the best part is is we made it together seniors we have grown to appreciate the little things but with our determination to make this the best high school experience those little things were huge in our eyes four years ago jelly and i attended our very first uh sorry very first kickoff assembly it was awkward for us as little freshmen to be standing amongst was we called them the big kids they were setting off confetti and shouting the party cheer they showed so much spirit and love for spirit for liberty high school that that excitement has stuck with us since then [Applause] all right that's great all right sitting there that day we wondered what on earth was going on but as we stand here today we have come to the realization that we are now those big kids radiating off an abundant amount of love and spirit for liberty high school most of these highlights couldn't have been made possible without liberty's athletics and activities which brought new friendships successes and adventures to us all sophomore year came around quick and so did construction we all looked forward to the new additions at liberty that we would be experiencing in our next two years but let's be real the parking was chaotic and the rest of sophomore year seems to be a blur we will always have the memory from junior year of the time we were told our spring break was extended for two weeks little did we know that two weeks would turn into an entire year that didn't stop us lancers through the transition to online learning the masks the toilet paper shortage and turning our cameras on we made it to this day but we had a few things to keep our heads up the tick tock dances tiger king aka netflix the time-consuming game among us and everyone's weird obsession with timothy chalamet though we had some fun trends to keep our to keep us distracted we also had our amazing teachers administrators family friends and most importantly each other liberty high school is more than students passing each other in the halls it's a family although our time at liberty has come to an end and a lot of us have mixed emotions the final buzzer is sounding the final curtain is closing and the final air high fives are being given with hand sanitizer of course liberty has given us a place to stand the stories we will remember and the experiences we will share will live on to our friends and family thank you for believing in us unconditionally and adjusting to us being home more than usual to our teachers and mentors thank you for guiding us and putting up with our accidental unmuting our poor internet connection and ridiculous procrastination to the class of 2021 let us embrace this year and the memories left in the walls fields and classes of liberty high school seniors we endured history please rise be recognized and give yourselves a round of applause again congratulations to the class of 2021.
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oh um people that's impressive cheers this morning oh yeah ladies and gentlemen please welcome the air academy high school class of [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] at this time ladies and gentlemen if i could please ask you to stand for the presentation of the colors by the academy school district 20 air force jrotc color guard under the command of cadet colonel xadrian camavaloria and the singing of our national anthem by kate grandios and kate raber oh say can you see [Music] we have [Music] stripes and bright stars [Music] we [Music] and the rockets were [Music] gave proof through the night [Music] was [Music] r [Applause] oh thank you you may be seated wow whitney houston has nothing on our cadets huh give it up for that uh national anthem amazing what a great way to start out the celebration this morning i would like to begin our program by giving a few thank yous for the people that made this event happen from air academy high school miss joanie knockbar miss janie olson she's around somewhere dr eric beers miss katie klosterman thank you all and certainly from academy district 20 to make in-person graduate graduation happen with more than two guests this is incredible thank you superintendent gregory board of education and two more thank yous for this event miss mary elsner and dr jim smith joining us on stage we have dignitaries from the district office so i would like to introduce superintendent of schools mr tom gregory assistant superintendent of schools dr jim smith board of education members president mrs karen reynolds mr tom lavalley mr doug lundberg mr will timby and our board liaison mrs heather cloninger i would also like to thank my administrative team that has joined with us today miss liz walhoff miss anna kyleman mr sean whitson and the two that are in the stands helping with the graduates our athletic and activities director mr blue anderson and our dean of students miss julia atheist thank you all for helping put this event together i am so excited to be joined with all of our graduates in person and for the most part mask free it is now my great pleasure to introduce to you our student body president miss pearl joachim let's give a round of applause for pearl you guys hear me okay cool uh good morning and thank you for joining us for the graduation ceremony of the air academy high school class of 2021 my name is pearl yoakum and i'm the student body president today we acknowledge the theme of our last year of high school perseverance a year ago i would have never thought today would happen given the circumstances we have all had to live with during these truly unprecedented times but now i stand here with all of you and we get to celebrate an achievement every graduate will take with them for the rest of their lives so we are so very grateful that this moment can be shared by us all i would first like to thank the academy district 20 superintendent for being with us today without the hard work of everyone in our district office none of this would be possible secondly i would like to thank the parents and families of the students graduating the unconditional love and support you give us is why we are here today you have been our voice of reason our shoulder to cry on and our biggest cheerleaders and lastly i would like to thank the teachers and faculty of air academy to say running a school during a pandemic has been difficult is a major understatement this year has challenged us all beyond anything we ever imagined but with your untiring dedication and commitment to support students you have given us a senior year we will always remember so thank you and finally to my peers i say guys we made it this is a line you almost always hear at a graduation ceremony but this year it really does mean something special it is truly with a lot of blood sweat and tears that we walk away with our diplomas today we have gone through this together and this experience has enabled us to grow both individually and as a larger group i look forward to seeing where life takes everyone and i will always be honored to be able to look back and remember you all so with that being said skodets it is now my pleasure to introduce mr daniel olson thank you pearl congratulations to the class of 2021 you made it from the first day of your freshman year to the absolutely craziest senior year of all time it has all come down to this i am so proud of you and for what you have accomplished during this time it is important to give thanks to all of the people that have helped you along your journey i would like to thank the dedicated staff of air academy high school for the time they have spent teaching guiding mentoring and encouraging you along the way outstanding teachers like the 2021 air academy educator of the year mrs erica riggs and the 2021 senior selected teacher of the year and today's guest speaker mrs ali johnson more on that later but i would certainly like to give a sincere and heartfelt thank you to your parents and guardians for the countless hours they invested in your education you wouldn't be here without them so graduates please please give your parents a round of applause i would also like to take a moment to thank our military families high school is difficult in the best of situations it is challenging when families have to move and relocate so from the bottom of my heart thank you for your service thank you for what you do for our country and thank you for being cadets but most of all seniors i want to thank you thank you for your commitment to the school and helping create the best environment and culture possible thank you for four outstanding years i know this past year was hard and it was certainly not what you had dreamt about but you made it better it will make you stronger and it will make you more prepared to succeed in the future we often hear words tossed around like perseverance determination and grit this year showed us what those words really mean you showed me what those words really mean i have read and watched reports of students all over the state and country who have checked out who have given up on education who just phoned it in that was not the case with the air academy graduating class of 2021.
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feeling between us a little room to move [Music] we got going there's just baby about doing nothing with you there's just something there's just between with us [Music] look down rocky mountains i watched the ridge up into angle glowing like a neon sign [Music] i saw your fire in the asses [Music] watch your grace fall on the mountains and turn [Music] right [Music] i wish you were here beside me watch creation come alive i saw your fire in the aspens watch your grace fall on the mountains and turn [Music] ain't got nothing on you the healing ones that comes with nothing [Music] got nothing got nothing on [Music] you might not find us on a map folks around here is okay with that we don't mind keeping to ourselves is we're the outskirts [Music] that is miss church [Music] now we're [Music] there's [Music] if one is weak is with hope in our eyes keep me is out of our pockets [Music] oh [Music] me [Music] okay [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow [Music] [Applause] so [Music] so [Music] so me uh [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey wow feels absolutely incredible to be in front of a sea of blue and gold excellence again give these guys a round of applause one more time good afternoon and welcome to the 39th annual commencement exercises of rampart high school commemorating the class of 2021.
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heard your watch your voice you nothing on me [Music] got nothing on [Music] so [Music] so [Music] good morning welcome to the commencement ceremony for the class of 2021 ladies and gentlemen please stand and remain standing for the presentation of the colors by the academy school district's j.r jrotc color guard and the singing of our national anthem by senior miss aliyah dashner gentlemen please remove your caps oh oh say can you see by the dawn's early light [Music] at the twilight's last gleaming who's brought stripes and bright stars [Music] were so gallantly gay proof that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled [Music] of the bridge you may be seated thank you reed cast and kylie valdez mason birch and caden shade of the pine creek high school air force junior rotc under the leadership of colonel huber for the presentation of the colors i am pleased to announce that today's ceremony is being live streamed and will be available in its entirety tomorrow on the d20 website good morning i'm colette back principal of pine creek high school members of the board mr gregory fellow staff members parents family and most importantly the members of the class of 2021 welcome to the 22nd commencement ceremony for pine creek high school today we are celebrating the achievements of 386 unique individuals who make up the pine creek high school's class of 2021.
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miss tamaria padilla campus librarian mr joe achampura science mr caleb smith math mr chuck phillips social studies miss pam scott cool school counselor officer matt pesca is wandering around keeping us safe security ms pfeiffer school bookkeeper mr bill baron is back hosting our summer school he's english mr randall thomas campus facilitator mr jack kim district technology technician miss karen wasserman special ed yearbook art and discovery and mr derrick wells senior building manager extraordinaire you'll see him up here in a few minutes seniors you have also been supported by your family and friends who have helped you on this journey we encourage you to acknowledge and thank your greatest supporters your family during this busy season make sure you take several opportunities and find multiple ways of thanking them i too thank our parents for their support and encouragement throughout this eventful year at this time it is my pleasure to introduce mr tom gregory superintendent of academy of school district 20.
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i'd like to call this meeting to order and we'll begin with the pledge of allegiance and i've asked dr wright to lead us in that i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all we are going to kind of shake the agenda up just a little bit the first couple of items our flux are are we are able to uh fluctuate with those so we're going to present an award uh teacher of the of the year to uh yeah be our all-star award too to uh and this is hard to say uh to uh thank you sorry to uh sorry rick george's family it's a lot of emotion here and uh appreciate those that have come and supported frank we i'm gonna turn the time over to uh principal courtney hoffmeyer and and she's going to present the br superstar award this award goes to the teacher the most outstanding teacher that the school year throughout that year we we recognize uh teachers and staff members that exhibit our core our core values and so i am really grateful that court is willing to present this thank you court i figured if i wrote some things down it would be easier for me to say it um so uh coach terrarity nope it's not it's not an easier when you write it down frank gerardi is somebody that you don't really realize the impact somebody has made until he's gone um it has been a different week for everybody and we are grieving the loss and we are so sorry for the loss in your family um coach shardy would come in to the office the front office in the morning and say ta-da and he would tell us that he is his own biggest fan and so it's um we realized that he is definitely as important as he told us he was as far as the students on campus we've had an influx of students coming from the high school from the junior high there are letters all over the place dedicated to coach gerardi with just the amazing amount of love for him and so he will be missed we love him we love your family um and we are just we are so sorry but um he is an amazing man he is amazing thank take a picture [Music] thank you very much thank you benny i think each one of us has a um a special memory that we have of uh coach gerardi and our own personal time with him he touched the lives of many he grew up in my neighborhood he was in my house from five years old up and it's it's like it's too personal but um we appreciate the girardi family and what they've done for this community frank was one that chose to stay here and let his influence be seen in this community and let it be felt by those that he associated with i i see mrs butler shaking her head here she had him in junior high so she knows what he was then and she in high school too so you know we appreciate those of you that have come to support the girardi family and i think it appropriate if we just take a moment now and to meditate on our own thoughts just for a moment thank you all right well thank you uh dr wright we'll just go ahead and continue with the first portion of this meeting and that would lead us to the recognition of the blue ridge high school band yes thank you our miss olney it's hard to find her when she's sitting with the kids she looks like one jennifer come on up here real quickly i believe this group achieved a superior rating just recently correct and are you in your third year with a program or fourth and when she came bless your heart if you were here the whole time they have improved so much and they're they sound great they're wonderful kids and you've worked really hard we need something happy hey we're going to play chronos for you we played it at our spring concert and at festival i don't remember not a festival okay and then we're going to end with fight team because we love blue ridge we are br [Music] are you gonna do this [Music] news [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] now [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] wow [Music] [Applause] [Music] um [Music] um [Music] um [Music] my [Music] i that's very hard she must be [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hello [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] we should all stand for our song now that was amazing thank you so much that's awesome thank you while they're moving just like to excuse jennifer brimhall she planned on being here but got tied up at a meeting and couldn't get here so she was going to try remotely to access us but i don't think she can possibly do that right now either so we'll give her an excuse this time for not being here dr wright you want to take the next item on the agenda which is the blue ridge junior high 4-h physics and engineering club absolutely um mr woolridge come on up we've got this is a byproduct of some of the programs that have been developed out of our fabrication lab or fab lab and a very unique project an award-winning project was developed and i want to turn this time over to mr woolridge i'm going to turn it over to the kids real quick um so junior high physics and engineering club started off the year with the question which is how we always start the year off with samsung the samsung challenge is you know what's a problem with in the community that you can look to solve using stem and the kids started talking about you know woodland lake why is it always empty um wire why can't you catch fish all of these problems with the water we had a volunteer santa chattanov who's recently moved to the town she's a hydrogeologist she volunteered her time every week including paying for babysitters so she could come without the kids just an amazing person and she walked the kids through the entire process essentially through eight months of data collection and research interviewing professionals collecting a real comprehensive body of knowledge on watershed restoration and preservation within our community on the state of the health of our watershed and they found some really rather significant issues everything from buildup of mercury in the lakes to fish die off because of nutrient load water aquifer levels watershed levels dropping up to 100 foot in the past 10 years some rather significant things it got to the point where we needed to pass the information on so james put together a presentation well the kids with uh miss chetnoff and james put together a presentation they presented it to the uh the town council and mayor who received it very favorably and we're hoping that it turns into something lasting and meaningful for our community with the drought we've been having and the limited precept there's there's definitely some stuff that can and needs to be done pretty quickly so were we able to get the presentation up all right so dr wright okay dr wright had asked us to have the kids present i will have them introduce themselves and then we're going to have him go ahead and do the same presentation that he did for the town council for you can you can you go to the podium okay thank you hi i'm james fawcett so i'm an eighth grader at blue junior high and denzel is a seventh grader and this presentation is the ecospartans efforts towards the conservation preservation and restoration of our community's natural resources this is presented by the village junior high 4-h physics and engineering club and this was our samsung solve for tomorrow project submission one for this presentation um the overview will be how it all started who we are watersheds precipitation stream flow groundwater and the conclusion um so this project all started with questions about why woodland lake had no water in it this one simple question led us down a rabbit hole of the many problems with our natural resources such as dry springs algae blooms surface water quality issues declining groundwater levels and that is just a small example of the problems ongoing in our community before i start i want to emphasize that our community boundaries may be small but these boundaries don't matter when it comes to our natural resources when someone pollutes upstream of us it affects us when we pollute we affect the community downstream some of what i will discuss may not be in the pinetop lakeside town boundaries but they are still issues that affect us once we identified all these issues we decided that our samsung software tomorrow submission and school year project would be focusing on the following raising awareness gaining a better understanding of various problems and applying solutions the following are some of the issues we have identified this year our watershed is currently functioning at risk which means that if we do not start implementing measures to reduce pollutants and preserve restore and protect our watershed our watershed could stop functioning properly our watershed is upstream the blue arrow indicates flow direction from other watersheds in our area if our watershed becomes impaired the others around us will be affected by our status and the whole area may be impacted furthermore our local economy is boosted by tourism from the lakes fishing and hunting if our water quality continues to degrade those economic draws will disappear furthermore we have already we are already seeing impacts which have affected our lakes rainbow lake has an exceedance of ph nitrates phosphorus this leads to excessive aquatic plants and algae scott reservoir has high mercury so adeq recommends that adults and children limit consumption of fish so the high nitrates the high excessive aquatic plants and algae suck the action oxygen out of the water meaning the fish can't live in the water believe it or not last summer's rain was out of the ordinary shown here is the amount of rain water at the arizona game infestation as you can see the intensity and frequency of the big precipitation events is decreasing this is the only usgs stream gauge in our region as you can see the intensity and frequency of this discharge is cr decreasing and discharge for this is stream flow this is an overview of the wells drilled and permitted in our community the bigger blue dots represent the wells the department of water resources monitor there are also two important aquifers in our community the shallow pinetop lakeside aquifer and the deeper coconino aquifer based on data from the department of water resources the water level and pine top lakeside aquifer are declining which likely has been a factor in spring flow discharge decreasing or seizing altogether this also affects public supply wells and domestic wells that are in this aquifer we have heard stories of shallow wells going dry but not surveyed or quantified how many this is a water level in one of the coconino supply wells for arizona water that is it well this is a water level in one of the supply wells for arizona water that is in the coconino aquifer water levels are steady which is really good for a secure water future however as the people utilizing the shallow aquifer begin to deepen wells or connect to community supply wells that are in the coconino we could possibly see a decline in water levels although things appear to be going in the wrong direction in our watershed there is hope we are fighting for a better future by identifying issues and formulating a plan during this year we have focused on and have accomplished the following learning about groundwater and surface water relationships learn how to take water levels measurements learned where to find important data such as precipitation data how to graph and excel and interpret trends we have built orb sensors and are currently working on programming them this is an ex inexpensive way to monitor our surface water quality to alert us if the nutrient load in our streams is too high we have brought experts in to help us understand the various issues in our community and ways to resolve them we have branded our project and turned it into a mission to fight for our communities and natural resources working with the town of pinetop we are actively in process of setting up a surface water and weather station site at the covered bridge at woodland park at this site we will have real-time telemetry telemetry that will monitor temperature precipitation discharge of walnut creek and through a generous donation of from geotech and this institute we will also be monitoring ph conductivity temperature and dissolved oxygen of the water coming into woodland from walnut creek as a community we can come together to preserve protect and conserve these wonderful resources for your generation my generation and the next for this we did have this event as a capstone of our urine work of our year of work we hosted a white mountains earth day festival in conjunction with the town of pinetop lakeside many entities joined us to help protect our natural resources i want to give a special thanks to the following people kevin warwick's our club advisor sarah johnoff our project advisor annie derozier who came in and helped us not only brand our club but to come up with our mission and create some really cool logos for us matt patterson who has been not only very supportive of our club but has paved a way for us to work with the town uh monitoring surface water dan grubner who has been very active and supportive of this club and helped me with this presentation john who helped me with this presentation and i navigated usfs resources on watershed work i would also like to say thank you to all the entities participating in earth day festival town of pinetop lakeside u.s forest service az game and fish az water and pinetop lakeside sanitation district the other entities that also participated in the earth festival were z-dig the arizona geological survey and the white mountain nature center and once again we would like to thank geotech and institute for their donation to help us with surface water quality monitoring do you have any questions are you sure you're in junior high yeah it looks like the future's in good hands we're so proud of you thank you [Applause] i look at i look at kevin woodridge back there and he's just like a proud father that's good thank you very much guys those of us who lived here forever know what's happening it's getting drier and drier but now you just proved it so we can label it and start doing something about it so thank you next item on the agenda would be the recognition of our foreign exchange students dr wright did we miss one sorry i'm sorry we should go to the physics that's right sorry i missed one thing on the agenda next one we're going to look at the engineering club solar go-kart team in their second place finish sorry we'll get there [Music] come to the podium [Music] and i'll let the kids introduce themselves and talk so we got this award for innovation um and i think because on last year's we got first place for using a transmission and this year we also use a transmission but i think what got it for us this year was because the solar panel didn't have to be on the car we could do some special things with it so what we did is we did some research and found out that by chilling the solar panel you can increase the efficiency i'm not sure by the exact numbers but so what we did is we ran tubes underneath it with ice water running through them and in the end we could increase the efficiency of the solar panel by 125 percent wow wow who knew that's awesome thanks keep keep going yeah um oh yeah and all the we 3d printing these little sundial things it's because you to keep the also to increase the efficiency you have to keep it like at a straight angle with the sun so we 3d print these little sundown things i have a hole in them in the top and there's like a hole on the bottom and you look through and you make sure the two holes are lined up so it's always lined up perfectly with the sun and yeah that's about it's awesome some some high-tech technology and some old technology right yeah you need to hold those mics right by your mouth um there you go um so we so we figured out like stuff about like the gear ratios that whichever gear ratio you have well so we had like certificate ratios there was some scare ratios that we use that make the silicone cart go faster and it would go slower and then we had like these sprockets and then you would shave down the top to make like teeth so then you use something kind of like a bike chain that would spear like spin around the sprocket and it will help the the thing go for like a bike um and then since we live in a small town we had to like improvise so for the solar go-kart instead of having like a bunch of like fancy metal and buying a lot of stuff from a store we use like a uh like an animal water trough for like the sides so we could like keep ourselves in and safe and protected and it was really light so that helped us with the weight thank you congratulations that's pretty impressive [Applause] okay now marty we can talk about our foreign exchange students dr wright this one um i'm marty harris and i'm your retired counseling department chair after 16 years at blue ridge so it's a privilege to be here again but mainly it's a privilege for me to introduce my two students this year past year and gabby is from france and um carmen is from spain and they'll be introducing themselves but first i'd like to introduce your host families that are here a number of family families that are here so go ahead and introduce your family uh gabby's with a good family so um i'm staying with the good family so there is lois and elise and bruce um they're very nice people and i really enjoyed my time with them i think like we build a great relationship that i will never forget um so i'm hosted by the brim hall family jennie for broomhole and elise right there she's saying hi um ian brimho and it's been such an amazing experience to be part of that family and what marty hold that mic up to your mouth and please explain a little bit about what you've participate sports that you've been in at blue ridge uh so i play soccer [Music] and track i've been doing track this past season and soccer was amazing with coach vogel all the girls [Music] and then my classes government with mr huff right there favorite class yeah me too that's politically correct that's a good answer right there well i'm from the canary islands so they're very close to africa it's like hawaii of the united states so yeah we have to fly to the mainland basically so and i know we're in a short time i'd like to brag about carmen some more because she's just an amazing young woman as a result of getting the opportunity to come to blue ridge and doing well with soccer she's now and we believe there's a strong connection here she's received a scholarship to go to tyler community college which is one of the top soccer programs in the country and may actually be competing with addie who is her host sister that's currently in utah and we believe that because of being here and having the privilege of being with the brim hall family that that's how that kind of evolved and her father and brother and very close friend came to visit and i had the opportunity to meet them too so that's one advantage that we never anticipate but by you allowing our kids to come you open up doors for them that we couldn't imagine without the support gabby oh and also carmen was our homecoming queen prom queen and you're from uh i'm from a little town in france that is called ceresta and it's near to the german border so i got to go in germany a lot too when i was little um so i've been in government by carmen i've taken theater which allowed me to participate in the beauty and the beast play i was a cheerleader at the beginning of the year i tried i tried track cross country a little bit i'm not i'm not that much of an athletic person but yeah i really enjoyed all my classes and i had a really good time here especially with like the activities like podca for like the games like that was my favorite thing about school and yeah also bragging about about gabby is that as a result of being here and having this cultural international experience for herself she's now been selected which is into a very competitive um should be returning to france to finish her high school education but is now going to be going into a very top competitive international high school to finish your high school degree congratulations [Applause] yeah i think when we have foreign exchange students we all benefit thank you for coming i hope we can continue this program for a long time thanks marty next item on the agenda would be our recognition of our br star award dr wright yes thank you for the month of may our be our star is mr david butterfield come on up david come on i appreciate him i've seen him in his class he's an outstanding teacher and i'm going to turn the time over to principal hoffmeyer i thought one of the best ways i can recognize mr butterfield is to share some of the notes from some of the teachers we had during teacher appreciation week so i just picked a couple i would like to appreciate mr butterfield because he makes learning math fun i greatly enjoy his class it is my favorite class of the day i also feel that math teachers need more appreciation mr butterfield is my favorite teacher and one more sorry i'd like to appreciate mr butterfield it takes he takes math concepts that would have originally been very difficult and makes them simple and easy to understand he is very accommodating for the students and makes math fun to learn he is mr butterfield is a steady presence on our campus he has high expectations for both behavior and student academic performance he runs chess club every tuesday but really he runs chess club every single day of the week during lunch and so and the students is a comfortable place for him to be he's just an asset on our campus every day congratulations [Applause] may i have uh is lauren can you come up real quickly to and mr grace for this is the first month we're going to start doing this going forward we're recognizing students every month to be our stars at the student level and so we'll start out at the at the elementary school we'll go to junior high high school and introduce your be our star i've got the plaques for you mr chairman so i brought mr schimerel and miss isabella d'amato up for our br start of the month so i'm going to let mr shim will talk about isabella real quick come on this is bella domato so proud of this young lady i'll just tell you a quick story i hadn't known bella very long she comes into the room on a set of crutches and her legs all wrapped up in a cast and she says yeah i've re-broken my foot and she came up with you know she told me how she did it and she goes throughout the whole day limping around the school and end of the day she says mr schimel you think i could have one minute with the class and i said sure she stands up in front of the class and she throws down the crutches and she says i made that whole thing up but i was really curious to see how people treat people with injuries differently at this school and she never told anybody she did she did the whole day that way and then she went on to thank some particular kids in her class for being so kind and helpful with her and so i knew something was weird about bella from day one she she has a curiosity that is something i haven't seen probably ever i would consider her one the smartest if not the smartest kid i've ever had in my class any class in intelligent she asks questions constantly she is so curious about everything she's curious about not only the physical world but human behavior i mean she's everything a teacher would want and a student humble and kind a good daughter a good friend just an all-around great person i can't wait to see where she goes from here so bella thank you congratulations [Music] this month we are recognizing james fawcett come on up james you just saw him a moment ago [Applause] so not only james is a is a great student he's been involved for well now 10 months probably in the in the physics and engineering club the project that you just saw him presenting but he's also quite an accomplished musician he is he's an orchestra with dr d uh over teacher appreciation week james came into the front office and he played le'veon rose played the so we were blown away by the music he played for us in the office and then he serenaded the entire front office it was incredible yesterday it was yesterday uh for our talent show he broke out his electric fiddle and he played devilwood down to georgia for the entire crowd and sang and it's just been incredible he's involved in so many things he is constantly volunteering to help us out in the front front office i think he takes our coolers back and forth from the office every day but does it with a smile on his face and just is always willing to do something for others so we're so proud to have him here we're going to miss him when he goes on to the high school next year but he's just been such a great student this year congratulations [Applause] if i could invite alexa spinner to come on up hey another one of which hopefully myers students i'm guessing so we're going to present this to alexa spinner she is our first high school vr star student award winner and lexus is chosen because she is an amazing student she not only participates in honors programs ap classes she's a hard-working student some students those the honor ap classes it comes a little easier it may not come as easy for alexis but she works so hard and those that know mrs peterson knows how hard of a teacher she is she commented that this is one hardworking student she was very grateful to be able to have alexis in her class and to see how much she wants to achieve and learn and that's that's alexis and she's always smiling she yes this is what you see in the hallway when you go down the hallway she's always willing to help anybody out she is serving all the time leaving notes up on people's doors so when they come back after a leave of absence she's an amazing student and just like the others find ways to serve other people and that's that's where alexis is so very deserving winner for the high school pr student star award winner congratulations [Applause] dr i think that's a great program honoring those kids every month that's that's a great thing next item on the agenda principal hoffmeyer we'd like you to come back and give us a little presentation you have a busy day it's not over yet either of course yeah that's right last board meeting it was asked what what are some of our substance abuse violations look like and so i just wanted to present some information this is information for the district um so elementary junior high and high school some of the proactive measures that we've taken in the district uh at the beginning of the school year so when we are referencing what i'm referencing are any illegal substances vaping and smoking alcohol we go through a we have an assembly at the beginning of the year and we review all of our expectations for behavior including no no abuse of any substances on campus we also have students and parents sign a policy that recognizes that they've read through what our policy is that they know that there are legal substances and they cannot have them on campus we have multiple reporting measures and we've talked about to we talk at length to those as well with the students multiple reporting measures as far as we tell students at the very beginning of the school year any substances are bought on campus it will be reported to police it will be reported to parents and and there are school consequences that go along with that we have printed policies in place on doors and walls so that's what our on every bathroom door we have this vaping and smoking sign as well as no cell phone use in the bathroom so just some things that reminders of student safety and our expectations on campus we also give new students orientations about our policies and procedures when they come in at the the very first day we sit down we go through the whole planner with them we talk specifically about our expectations for any kind of um so no no illegal substances on campus we go through these in our morning announcements weekly we review some of those we review especially vaping because that's been our most prevalent issue we review these with the students on a weekly basis and then we also communicate with law enforcement and other agencies in the community we've been involved with apache behavioral health we've had ncdp come in for a couple of our events this year with parents that have been coming in and then we also work with changepoint providing some resources for students who might be struggling with some addictions the number of policy violations by school so this one what this is recognizing are vaping violations by school there's also been so two vaping violations at blue ridge elementary school this year vaping violations at the junior high and one alcohol violation and then 37 vaping violations at the high school at the junior high of those 26 eight of those were marijuana and i believe eight at the high school were also marijuana vape so our responses to our alcohol drug and tobacco violation i underst i realize nobody can see what that is on this on the right side of the screen but that is in our junior high consequence chart that's in our planner and it breaks out what different consequences there are for use of alcohol drug and tobacco it does say on here that there is it's a different violation so if you are in possession or you use alcohol drugs tobacco e-cigs vape pens medication or any other illegal items um then it's immediately reported to law enforcement um what we have talked about recently uh we do have so sorry i'm jumping ahead of myself school consequences are issued according to the discipline chart and then also our blue ridge policy so the students are aware so when i when we have a student that has been caught vaping we call them in and we the first thing we say is do you do you know what our policy is they and they all say yes they know what the policy is so it is still it's an issue we've struggled with it quite a bit this year the biggest part of the struggle that we have really seen is that now with the vape pens that are currently out it's difficult to determine whether it's nicotine or if it's marijuana so when we're talking about school consequences we've actually talked about this recently what we've had uh currently use of nicotine on campus their first offense was two days of in-school suspension and they complete an anti-tobacco presentation that we have through a company called everfi where they go through it's quite a long presentation they have to do quite a bit they do some research on what the dangers of using nicotine are by using the use of marijuana on campus the first offense is a five-day out-of-school suspension alcohol on campus that's the same thing the second offense of nicotine or marijuana is going to lead to a long-term suspension or an expulsion hearing trafficking though so trafficking is a that's a higher consequence if students are sharing or distributing with others the first offense is going to be 10 days of out-of-school suspension and a long-term suspension or expulsion hearing because they are either selling it giving it or sharing it with other students that are on campus principal hoffman adds something we're gravely concerned about the fact that we cannot control what are in those devices and it's just a matter of time before fentanyl is makes its way to those devices and so for the parents and the students will know if you are vaping we're considering it to be an illegal substance it already is legal substance but something like marijuana or worse and so we're taking a hard line on this we did the same thing with alcohol five years ago we don't have a fraction of the problem we had with alcohol five years ago and so this is a directive that has frankly come from the board and i am i agree with it as does our administration team this is to take care and and take care of our kids we cannot tolerate kids trafficking selling and giving away drugs it puts kids lives in danger so that's why we're taking the stance thank you miss hoffman thank you it has been um it has been very difficult with so law enforcement will tell us that it can take up to six months to determine what's in the vape um and it's a it's a two thousand dollar it costs them two thousand dollars to get it done um and so it is it is difficult for law enforcement on that end as well to do that so i agree uh with what dr wright says is that just we we are assuming at this point in most of the uh most of the devices we've had recently have been marijuana um and so it is a it is a big concern that we have on our campus and we have a lot of policies in place to try to stop it um and so i do feel the consequences that we are using will help will help that um we do have our school board policy is listed on the policy bridge at the arizona school board association policy bridge and you can find information on the policies in jicg and jich do you have any questions for me it's an ongoing thing it is never gonna quit right and it is not it is not confined to our schools uh where we've talked with uh with people in the valley and people in different states and it is something that everybody is battling right now thank you miss software thank you okay the next item on the agenda is the consent agenda uh any board member like to have anything to comment about the consent agenda chuck yes i uh think i should recuse myself since one of the items is in reference to a relative of mine okay so let that be known that mr waldo has recused himself from the items in the consent agenda which are items 2.1 through 2.11.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
[Music] do so [Music] [Applause] it is my privilege to welcome you as we honor the class of 2022 marana high school's 100th graduating class [Applause] it is my honor to introduce the following leaders who have joined me on stage tonight these individuals are committed to serving our community and assuring our students and staff have all they need to support our amazing children from the members of the marana unified school district governing board we have mr tom carlson and mr john lewandowski we are also joined by members of the marana unified school district administration we have the director of state and federal programs miss denise lincelotta our chief financial officer mr dan contorno assistant superintendent dr carolyn dumler assistant superintendent mrs kristen reedy and our superintendent dr dan streeter i work with some amazing leaders here at marana high and it's my honor to recognize and introduce members of our administration joining us this evening is our friend and former principal dr david mandel [Applause] our athletic director mr rob villanueva and our assistant principals mrs crystal pacina mrs sheila nakarati and mr benjamin rohr the class of 2022 has some amazing student leaders as well it is my honor to introduce first of all sitting in our student section who will but we'll be giving our closing this evening as our senior class president javi hotlavig tonight's student speaker reagan pate the class of 2022 salutatorian charlie olson [Applause] our valedictorian ethan cauley [Applause] and giving our first speech of the evening our student body president asia carzoli [Applause] sorry i was adjusting my cap wow i cannot believe we're finally here it feels like we just started high school you know i'm so grateful for every experience that i've had at this school and i really have a lot of gratitude to many staff students and even clubs for some reason um but i really think i should start this speech off by saying thank you thank you to everyone who saw me sleeping or trying to sleep in a class and never took a picture of me to send the miranna high school caught sleeping page i really appreciate it like actually now i could use my speech to highlight my academic achievements and struggles or even brag about my incredible support system of friends and family but instead i want to thank my classmates for a few other things but before i can do that i need some backstory so for those of you who somehow don't know i have a lot of school spirit and i know it's a big shocker that little miss student body president has school spirit but not a lot of people really know why i attended ironwood ridge high school for the first semester of high school despite having gone to rattlesnake ridge elementary school and miranda middle school for my k-8 schooling this had meant that i had made a lot of friends with in the musd school district and i had known a decent amount of people before leaving at the end of eighth grade to go to another school district and if you had seen me on the last day of eighth grade first off i apologize um you know that it was absolutely nothing but tears i was both physically and emotionally unprepared to go to school without my friends oh there goes my cap while i was away i would see people that i knew via social media and see the funny stories of people having fun in their classes i would see somebody that i viewed fondly giving a funny presentation or i would see memories from a lunch that i wished i could have been a part of i genuinely missed the fun spirit my former classmates and my former school head and if you've ever been to another school just to come back to mhs or even if you are a transfer student you know what i'm talking about marana high school has something special and whatever special thing oh there it goes again we have here whatever special thing that we have here just for some reason didn't exist at ironwood kids didn't do those silly little stupid things that i think we all enjoy and that makes our day worth it the teachers i had over there didn't add into the fun of their classrooms it was honestly kind of weird i was miserably stuck in a repetitive cycle that i desperately wanted to get out of luckily my parents saw how unhappy i was and they cared enough to switch me out of ironwood and make the 30 minute drive every day to and from school since i don't live close enough to a bus route to use as a transportation method so in january 2019 i made the transfer to marana high and without a doubt that's one of the best things that's ever happened to me i finally got to go back to school with my best friends friends and acquaintances again on my first day back i was overwhelmed with the kindness of literal strangers and i finally got to be around and be a part of the infectious spirit our school has from january 2019 to now in may 2022 i have yet to take our spirit for granted and then generally sorry i'm genuinely so grateful for being able to be a part of this in many ways the mere existence of many of you has changed my life forever whether it's just been working on a project together being in a friend group or simply a little kindness most of you have impacted my life in many ways that i could never explain i mean for example there's like a chunk of you that i've literally known since the first day of school in august 2009 which is wild and parents i hope that didn't make you guys feel old anyways to me it doesn't matter if i met you in elementary school on zoom or even two days ago in some ways we have all impacted each other and i'm truly grateful for that and i know we were robbed of some of our time together due to the pandemic but nonetheless we persevered and created some amazing memories together so on our last night together let's make the most of it let's positively impact each other so that we all have fond memories of our high school because realistically many of us will never see each other again and if we do happen to see each other again it won't be like this it definitely won't be all of us together it might be a few of us when we're older and we just got lucky enough to see each other in like a grocery store for some reason i don't know why adults always run into each other at the grocery store it's like a thing but please um cherish these last few moments together of each other our high school and everything because after tonight this is it i truly mean it when i say that i'm so happy to have had the opportunity to come back for my last three and a half years of high school here at mhs and my school pride is truly in debt to that not only am i proud of what i have accomplished but i am so proud of all of you and what you all have accomplished as well i have no doubts that we will all change the world in one way or another especially with the infectious fear that we all seem to carry before i go i would like to give a sincere thank you to my parents my grandparents my brother my cousin my best friends my boyfriend and my student council family my dad always yells out who when i call my boyfriend my boyfriend it's yeah it's a whole thing so yeah i'm thankful to all of those people my student council family miranda high school my fellow graduates and everyone else who has made my high school experience the absolute best thank you [Applause] i am so proud to introduce reagan pate who will be presenting the senior class speech thank you hi good evening ladies and gentlemen you all look beautiful and handsome tonight i'm impressed i didn't realize some of you knew how to clean up that nice i'm just kidding never had a doubt in my mind today we are stepping in to the next stage of our adult lives i don't know about you but i am terrified i mean who wouldn't be we are the future of our country and our world we will be the voices of society which is a scary idea to comprehend as you guys know my name is reagan pay i saw the senior speech application and i told myself why not i truly did this as a fun little adventure for myself i am so glad i was able to have this opportunity to be standing in front of my graduating class a little bit about me is i'm a dedicated student and a former national ranked archer i'm also a daughter to my fantastic parents especially they have always given me strength especially through these past four years i love my family so much and they will always be my main source of confidence peter t mccrine once said confidence comes not from always being right but not fairing to be wrong the reason i want to relay this quote to my senior class is be confidence is the most powerful thing to possess we cannot go through life without confidence we need to go by not fearing our mistakes we'll make millions of mistakes from now on think about all these mistakes we've already made from freshman year to now like not studying for a test we definitely failed and had to read two to three times or going to in and out after every dance and staying out way too late just talking to your friends while your parents blew up your dead phone the amount of memories i have from this place is mind-boggling i bet my class can stay the same from football games to pep rallies from dances to parties and from fun class lessons to boring days that end up being the best times our lives have changed so much through these years the way we have grown makes me realize how precious time really is my junior year one of my teachers convinced me to take two math classes i was very hesitant but he said i could do it and then a pandemic happened and everything was online and i regretted that decision i almost lost hope that year because the fact i wasn't doing too hot in school and i couldn't focus with school being online my class knows this struggle but here we are we fraught through it and persevered even with the odds against us the real reason we got to this day is because we all demonstrated confidence we might think it isn't you all are here today because you didn't fear failing we have done we've been going through life thinking about this day and it's finally here i hope every single one of you has made it worthwhile and i was appreciated every moment each one of us has made the best memories here and all of our memories mean so much to us because because we made them in our own ways this school is filled with so many different types of people i cannot go through one day of school without seeing something different i can walk down these halls and feel like i see a new person every day i have met all different kinds of people at this diverse school i've met anime nerds jocks beauty gurus and everything in between we have come through many different backgrounds and many different stories but we all made it in through our own struggles to be able to walk across the stage we may have different paths but we as a group all completed the battle of getting this diploma today despite our own differences we all have beat this challenge and this is how we're all the same we all are here because as a unit we desired this diploma and we did everything in our power to make sure this day happened for us this is one of the first accomplishments that will forever set us up for success for the rest of our lives no matter where we decide to go either college military or straight into the workforce we can all look back and have this moment in common i couldn't be more proud of our class our teachers and parents would definitely stay the same our teachers have watched us grow in these past years and have taught us all we need to know be to be successful in the real world and our parents they have watched us since we were in diapers and now we're about to be adults to conquer the world these past years have flown by and i wish they went slower but i'm so glad to have such great things to look back on all of us here today wish this day came but not at the same time we have been through so much in these past four years and still have overcome these obstacles the reason we have all these memories and this amazing accomplishment is because we demonstrated confidence in our everyday lives and i have full faith we will do this for the entirety of our lives we have done things no other class has had to do we've had to deal with going through a pantanic and many other societal issues no other class from the past hundred years has had to go through the same struggles we'll be the strongest part of society and will alter the rest of the world i can't see what we will do to change the world as the great pitfall sam himself been there done that now we can say that about high school congratulations to miranda's 100th graduating class the class of 2022 we have done it and we need to continue to have confidence for our future don't be afraid to be great thank you [Applause] now i am so proud to introduce miranda high school salutatorian for the class of 2022 charlie olson all right good evening parents families friends teachers administrators thank you for coming to celebrate this evening with us my name is charlie olson and i have the honor of giving tonight's salutatorian speech i thought i would introduce myself to my fellow tigers since i have probably only spoken to about 12 of you all on the subject of tigers there's an old chinese saying that roughly translates to if you don't enter the is den how can you expect to get a tiger cub and that's what i'll be talking about tonight how to steal baby tigers without getting your throat ripped out by their angry mothers but of course this is yet another tiger allegory as all stories with tigers are the babies represent earning perfect grades and getting what you want with little to no effort and the bloodthirsty mother tigers represent obstacles like teachers not really what we have here is still no exception to the tiger story rule though this saying actually means that sometimes you've got to do something out of the ordinary to get what you want or need something that is oftentimes dangerous or uncomfortable it's a story about risk it's a story about putting comfort against growth well-being against desire and good against the possibly better risk obviously gives either success or failure but with either outcome there is always a reward of some gravity it is very important to consider the importance of rewards when deciding whether or not to take a risk you've got to be going for something important so what this is about is risks that grow risks that reach risks that improve who you are risk takers are often looked down upon but taking risks is such a necessary part of becoming who you are meant to be you can spend your whole life coming to school never miss a day never get sick never join a club never win never lose never laugh never write a graduation speech that even though you think it's funny people don't laugh at and you will never grow an inch you will learn and physically mature and have mild experience but you will be bleak and sterile never risking never growing never hurting turns out to cost more than it's worth so be flawed screw up be embarrassed but make sure it's for something worth being embarrassed for something worth tripping over something worth losing for risk may be regrettable but risks not taken are even more remorse bring even more remorse and torment nothing can get much worse than passing up an opportunity you might have enjoyed because of fear social pressure or really anything else risk is simply just that risk there are often split second decisions to be made decide now to venture out and change yourself when such a chance arises this wouldn't be a graduation speech if i didn't thank a few people thank you college board for enabling thousands upon thousands of high-class community colleges and prestigious universities to send emails to me non-stop anyone else out there considering a degree from southeastern vermont online community college for the fine arts advice just check no it won't affect your score or which college you end up going to just how many times you click the trash can icon thank you athletes for providing me the mathlete with great entertainment i was a proud mhs tiger watching you all this year thank you ag students for walking your shape and between classes looking at you isabelle it was always a highlight to walk behind you thank you cte teachers for tell learning me uh for allowing me to learn how to fix my car freshman year and roughly ruining about 75 of my good shirts and 50 percent of my brother's good shirts as i learned to weld this year it's worth it mom i promise thank you fine art students for all the plays and performances you put on you took risks of putting yourself out there and it paid off and a few more thank you for all the substitutes who continuously marked me absent even though i was there thank you attendance hotline for letting my parents know without fail i wasn't there even when i really was or was i i i was mom i promise i promise thank you kate buffalo for watching down on me during english and creeping me out every time we made eye contact thank you owner of the cape buffalo mr siegoff you will be missed greatly and finally i would like to thank my academic decathlon coaches mrs edmonds and mr catlin you guys are awesome and finally in the least sarcastic way possible i thank all of you my classmates we are all growing up mhs the world's not what it used to be no more childhood no more studying on sticky yellow plastic swings with rusted chains in the middle of the sweltering summer air no more crawling through tractor tires and up static delay slides on scraped and rough knees and cracked muddy hands no more getting those rubber chunks or wood chips in your shoe but there is still much discovery out there for us there are still things to be learned fixed and changed and mistakes should be made i know it you can do hard things 2022.
⚗ AI-reconstructed · cite from original above
good evening everybody i'd like to call the may 18 2022 um regular meeting of the brookfield board of education to order um will you please join me in rising for the pledge of allegiance i pledge allegiance [Music] all right we have all seven members of our uh board of education here this evening um our first step on our agenda is the student spotlight for wisconsin middle school so dr brill i'll turn it to you to do some introductions thank you mr belden so first of all is my mic working i always want to make sure i can get okay so we have uh mrs cohen and mrs ryan here uh from wisconier the teacher leaders adviser to the inspired club and we have a presentation this evening so i'm going to turn it over to you ladies to come to the podium welcome thank you so we are missing some of our 8 30 members that are very excited to be in pc toyota 7th grade membership yeah okay all right do you guys want to introduce yourselves real quick all right uh i'm matanji daute uh i'm in seventh grader i'm taylor clifford i'm also seventh grader and since we're missing some of our members we have a few videos to kind of show what we've been working on so we'll go through our presentation and then they'll be able to answer a few more questions survey results in other schools show that students are stressed tired and bored these results are very promising but we still wish to empower the student body by eliminating thoughts and feelings such as discouragedness helplessness and movements surveillance these results are promising to whisk in here in our school but there are still room for improvements one area we need improvement is diversity inclusion and equity the panel will address this issue and amplify student voice so just to clarify a little bit we gave two surveys to all wisconsin students one focusing on healthy technology use and one just about climate in general so we learned a lot of important information and we had some coaching on how to analyze those results fire ed program gave us a playbook to help us complete our project it has four steps assessing brainstorming completing and debriefing we are currently in the third step completing the program also gave us videos and questions to help us with our project it has been very beneficial the fire ed program gave us it'll happen every time after the collection of all this information through the surveys we at the inspire ed team have decided to create a panel where ideas can be submitted and reviewed by panel members this can help get in ideas that normally would not be found it can help get representation from the entire school not just the selector of the people but the environment team the panel was made to create a safe environment for students to present their ideas to make lists near a better place the panel is made up of 11 numbers with one student from each grade and one teacher from eighth grade there are also two para professionals or counselors or any other additional support staff and then there is our principal mr the panel panelists draw the monitors to eliminate ideas submitted by students and staff via the google form that seemed totally unreasonable and unachievable we will send out a google form so that students can submit their ideas using technology and there will also be qr codes posted throughout the hallways and classrooms so that students can scan it on their phones but there will also be hard copies in homerooms so that students can answer it on paper we will send out students the monitor is selected to present their ideas and once they presented the panel will discuss event meetings that happen once a month they'll discuss whether to move hold or decline with the project feedback will be given and once the project is approved if it's approved timelines resources needed responsibilities students the monitor is selected our overview is that students and staff will recognize the honor it is to be nominated for this panel and we hope that they will submit ideas often students will be more engaged in investing the whisk in your community while having evidence that their voices are being heard are over-listed okay so that was our quick overview like i said a lot of our students were in dc so they were excited be able to participate if you guys want to share a little bit more about what we're doing maybe put in your own words all right so as mentioned um all review all ideas will be submitted through a panel and uh all ideas will be run through a monitor before getting straight to the panel um we decided on doing the panel because we felt it was an idea that would bring the school together and could also be a way for students to feel more part of a community and feel that their voices are heard anyone on the board no no we don't thank you very much this was great i just i hope you get some great ideas out of it it would be uh and they've done a lot of work they really um uh the students did a lot of work they were the ones who really looked at the data from the surveys and they wanted to make wisconia a place that was really positive and that really enhanced the voice of other students so they really wanted to focus on that and focus on a project that would amplify the voices of their classmates and let their voices be heard and bring more people to the table by kind of collaborating with all different stakeholders at wisconsin cool and share our thanks with all the eighth graders that is if they're listening because they're going to be tired after their trip i think i just want to say i look forward to the follow up um so next on our agenda is a student representative report but as i understand ben has a conflicting sporting event so he won't be with us um uh this time but it will change he doesn't have any urgent messaging to share so he'll be prepared for that okay cool um so uh next up is written correspondence okay kristen joshi wrote regarding coaching evaluations aaron scalera wrote regarding academic support concerns gene jake with ara you pugian james hoffman wrote regarding 5g wi-fi at cles nick schmidt wrote regarding an foia request al smith wrote regarding the braver angels alliance and stephanie lowensbury wrote regarding an employee letter of concern okay thank you um so next up is board minutes i move that the board approved the minutes from the regular meeting on may 4th second okay it's moved and seconded any uh adjustments or comments from anyone on the board okay all in favor okay passed um uh dr bruhl i'll turn it to you for a superintendent's update all right thank you mr belton so one thing that's not on the report i just wanted to update everyone on something exciting and engaging and always a joy to have the june 1st meeting we will be celebrating the top 10 from bhs teacher of the year and staff member of the year so those recognitions will be occurring uh two weeks from tonight so on my report i have four items that i'd like to touch on uh the first one is the candlewood lake planning team we're really excited about this we had our kickoff meeting on may 11th we have about 25 staff members mainly teachers but we have secretarial custodial paraprofessional representation as well to really get ready for the nitty-gritty of the planning we need to do we spend a couple of hours on the afternoon of may 11th planning the plan if you will we spent some time together specifically looking at logistics communications academic goals supporting systems but really getting ready for what we need to accomplish by the end of this school year before we leave for the summer which is climate and culture which is always your first driver working on vision mission values beliefs we're going to spend next monday the 23rd all of us a full day working on just that from there we're going to roll out the ideas that the planning team committee develops at the faculty meeting on the 25th next wednesday and then as part of the agenda work for the 27th which is our plc day next friday before memorial day weekend from there the planning team will come back after they've cascaded out to the staff at their schools and then we'll finalize mission vision values and moving forward with the school so once we have that in place it really gives us a launch point alongside in parallel to strategic planning work that's going on so we'll be doing district work and new school work simultaneously and we're really excited about that that was just a really fantastic meeting a tremendous engagement and you could just feel the the energy was really palpable the other piece was last uh tuesday the bef held its what used to be annual honor and educator recognition ceremony here at the high school it's the first time that we've had an in-person meeting since 2019 so it was great to see the teachers and staff members that were recognized and just a big shout out and thank you to the um bef who puts on a tremendous spread and just a beautiful recognition ceremony a lot of pictures and video and things like that so they do a great job and putting in a plug for them they will be having the gala in november in person at the campbell back in once again so we'll have that this fall i'll really look forward to that um going to move on to um just to let you know the western connecticut superintendent awards uh were on monday night um and uh we had four of our students recognized and mr renda and mr bolando were there and it was just a well a beautiful regional ceremony uh held for everybody so we're really excited about that um it's that season of recognition and then finally uh speaking of recognition i'd like to thank mr begnarick and the the faculty and staff that are on the washington dc trip as you recall mr bednarek was here last time talking about the dc trip the eighth graders left early this morning all's been quiet on the western front so far and as i always say having been a long time chaperone on eighth grade trips when i was a middle school teacher that there is always a place in heaven for anyone who volunteers to take eighth graders on a washington dc trip so we thank everybody we are so glad we are back in person and doing that for the first time in a couple of years the kids should be back eight nine o'clock on friday night so we hope they have a great time out there i'm sure they are and that is all i have mr feldman okay thank you any questions for dr burrell all right um so next up are our subcommittee reports and facilities is up first so joy alternative yeah so we met on may 4th we reviewed the school dude reports and discussed the high school sewer backup and the center school boiler and roof repairs we went over all our capital projects so update on that the hvac the work began during april break so the bulk of the work is going to be done this summer next week um or there should have been a kickoff meeting with contractors administrators maintenance crew et cetera the locker room project at the high school we're still waiting to hear about options for additional funding the guidance wing roof at the high school sampling and inspection are taking place the work will not be able to happen this summer due to material material shortage security screening and film will start this summer probably start with the windows and then maybe add to the cameras the maintenance vehicle is being tabled the whiskaner wall the lowest bidder came in at 1 million 30 000 and he also reported that when the project passes that referendum the nbc will be working with the contractor to possibly identify areas of savings to bring the project down within the amount appropriated custodian staffing update will need to fill one more custodial position also in july there will be a retirement so two will be needed candlewood lake elementary school the cleaning protocol and staffing dan and ken met with hilliard to develop a staffing scenarios for the new school and these scenarios will be presented at our next facilities meeting and the committee also discussed the maintenance of the grounds at wisconia any questions okay thank you um finance rosa okay um so we met on the ninth and um so april as a month was colder than we normally would have expected at this time of year so we went over our yearly allotment of 125 000 gallons of heating fuel so we did have to buy two additional deliveries at market price which was very pricey in addition to that the bhs roof project is also over budget um so essentially you know we're in a budget freeze as of right now we had to deepen that freeze a little bit we would have had a just to kind of give you an idea of how deep we're talking we would have had a 95 000 deficit had we not implemented the spending freeze so that's over double what i had reported last month or our last meeting we did get a small credit for some employees who had helped who had left the health insurance plan there are a number of budgeted positions that are still vacant so we're capturing some savings there but i did have a report last month that ken was going to talk to the building principals see if there was any high priority items that we really needed to purchase this year and there really wasn't that much so if we needed to we could extend our freeze even deeper if we need to go there so um let's see we are still within the range of being able to cover our budget exposures within our current budget um we had ken actually just yesterday or today gave us um an update on some of these accounts that are being affected by the freeze so we're talking books supplies extended duty um and we could go about another hunt two hundred thousand dollars deeper if we needed to go there there's not a lot of time left in the air as you know so hopefully we won't need to do that that said a few merging issues that we're keeping an eye on are still related to outplacement tuition and professional services for special education as well as substitutes so those are very volatile sort of accounts that could take big swings either way with with kind of little notice so it is nice to have a pulse on things and ken was really good about giving us sort of that capture of potential risk the degrees of worry and opportunities for savings as it relates to the 2223 budget we talked about that the state did increase the amount or they changed the formula of how they're going to or they said they were going to change the form of how they're going to reimburse for excess costs for special education it will likely be based on a per capita rank for wealth and brookfield is ranked within the top tier for that so it is possible that we may see a smaller excess cost reimbursement next year but it's not an alarm right now the state hasn't formally communicated any of this or how they will formulate it so it's just somewhat of an emerging issue that we are keeping an eye on but we can hope still so that's it okay any questions for rosa okay hearing none next up is uh is kate mike viddy met on the 11th may 11th we had a lineup of speakers first was jim fitzpatrick who shared the improvements in the math first grade with this results from problem solving and third grade that focused on improvement in attractions jackie whiting shared a video summarizing the integration of technology into the classroom oops all right jackie whiting shared a video summarizing the integration of technology into the classroom highlighting content creation and digital profiles heather batchelor presented an eighth grade project with historical simulations one being the advisor for abraham lincoln during the civil war and the other being a crime scene investigator for the boston massacre which was i thought was pretty interesting so yeah basically investigate and find out what really went down rachel cohen presented on the uh on the bear population uh aimed at developing an ex an explanation of phenomenon so this ties the curriculum in schools to uh the community which was a which was a goal and i think succeeded so i was very nice if you're here today mark jewett presented on assessments for readiness on the progression of materials focused in math david pepsosky presented on teacher assessments and the discuss flexibilities on the assessments provided by pdec the professional development evaluation committee those flexibilities include more informal evaluations instead of the formal so the formal evaluations being that someone sits in a classroom and assesses you versus more informal ways of valuation and the improvement of stakeholder communication and engagement of families we did have a motion for rosa fernandez motioned that the cape committee recommended that the board adopt flexibilities for teacher and administrator evaluations recommended by p deck i second and the cape voted 2-0 in favor of the motion dr marine ruby gave a update on the after school program and the summer program that's all i i just i just wanted to add because i don't i don't think you mentioned it but um so when when the teachers had presented they were um presenting um their it was it exemplified the the coaching model that we had are investing in so that was really interesting to see and it was very it was really worthwhile to see how these teacher coaches are using the coaching model to better their instruction and integrate really applicable things in the real world into kind of infusing that into instruction so it was really really exciting so okay any other comments or questions all right thank you for the update mike appreciate that all right so we're moving on to the consent agenda i'll move that the board approve the items on the consent agenda which are title change new assignment new hire and the april financials second okay it's moved in second and dr burr did you want to um add anything uh yes it's a very exciting evening for the consent agenda we don't get too many exciting evenings on consent agendas but uh but it really is exciting so the first thing i want to want to share is our three rock star administrators that have been holding down the fort either at the district level or the school level and doing great work for years in our district um and share a little bit about each one of them and how proud we are um so under title change um first we'll talk about uh dr rudel uh danielle is over there daniel can you wave so everybody knows who you are over there let me just say a little bit um danielle was our english language arts coach and before that our um curriculum specialist she has stepped up in the situation mid-year when mrs lebrushano left huckleberry and dr pepsovsky was appointed to be the interim principal dr rudel stepped up from her position into assistant principal role interim assistant principal role at huckleberry she's done a outstanding job we're extremely proud of her and um to that end uh she is no longer interim assistant principal at huckleberry and she is principal uh assistant principal at huckleberry so i want to congratulate her for that and formally put it on the consent agenda for the board to accept tonight so congratulations danielle similarly dr pepsoski who's been in the district uh gosh i think 18 years dave we've talked about 18 years uh dave as we know uh was at whiskey air for a long time about five years ago took took over the reigns as assistant principal at uh huckleberry um again when when our principal mrs labrishano resigned and moved down to reading mid-year dave was asked to step in as the interim principal for this whole second half of the year and he's done an absolutely fantastic job couldn't be happier or more proud of him i know the staff has been really excited about his leadership and um you know really i think we'll follow him in a lot of places so uh dave uh is now uh honored with being appointed as the principal and i'll say that correctly principal of huckleberry for next year rather than continuing with the term interim in front of his name so i wanted to make sure we congratulate dave and move them into that position so dave thank you and congratulations for both danielle and dave it's important and i have to give kudos to mrs labrichado while she was here we all know that candlewood lake is being built and a lot of the property on uh for huckleberry has been taken up before the construction there's limited play area and the teachers deserve compliments for this as well as the kids there's a lot going on a lot of trucks a lot of noise it's exciting definitely for the kids i think it's exciting for the adults most of the time unless it gets a little noisy but but the the administrators working with the uh with facility director dan uh working with me working with the construction manager have really done a nice job uh communicating to the staff communicating with the parents handling uh disruption that is caused in the limited space and we'll continue to do so for the next uh six or seven months as we progress toward uh moving moving into kenwood lake in mid-year so anyway a lot of kudos to the group over there really proud of them and really excited for them tonight so i wanted to just share that the other thing is our district director of instruction deb farias has been with the district as a long-time center school teacher huckleberry teacher curriculum specialist um about five years ago moved into the director of instruction role has been doing a heck of a job all the curriculum work the pd work coaching work working hand in glove with dr ruby and all the incredible pd that's been going on with our staff she went through a process recently with us and um was named principal for next year at center school and so we're just so very proud of her and excited for her to start i know she is she is like like a caged animal she can't wait to get over there and work so deb wants to get back in that school building and work directly with students and teachers so dev congratulations and thanks for all the work and then uh finally i have some prepared remarks that i would like to read partly from the press release that we hopefully will be releasing tonight regarding uh dr anna mann who um we're going to be moving forward on as our assistant superintendent putting before the board to consider tonight anna is with us she's right over there she could give a wave so we can see anna over there welcome anna so dr man has worked for the amity uh regional school district or some know it as region five um it includes the towns of orange woodbridge and bethany for the past 22 years prior to that she was an english teacher in darien at stanford she has been in amity as an english teacher and department chair and then serving as an assistant principal after that and then most recently she has been the principal of amity high school in 2016 dr mann was honored as the connecticut association of schools first year principal of the year she comes highly recommended something very unique about anna that i always am so proud to share very unique anna is a former olympian representing the united states in athens of all places in 2004 she's a hammer thrower dr man's athletic background is unparalleled and her coaching experience has served her leadership well in her role as amity's instructional leader she has been integral to the development of locally created teacher evaluation model wallet emily has served on the portrait of the graduate organizing committee and has helped redesign curriculum in all content areas with a focus on differentiation and engagement which we just saw tonight the engagement with our students anna has supported the development of numerous new courses and programs throughout her tenure at amity things like unified physical education unified sciences research program she also under her leadership her and the team have created mastery based diploma assessment program where students work toward a distribution of credits through standards expectations and they've worked on that for a number of years at the high school she's also developed and worked with the team her team on a senior service learning program that allows 12th graders to spend some time actually in more realistic experiences off campus toward the end of their senior year anna's a commission member of the new england association of schools and colleges or niask as we always refer to it and she serves as chairperson for the ciac our connecticut athletic association indoor track and field committee and is also treasurer for connecticut association of schools ciac border control so there's a lot that anna has been involved with ade she has a very deep interest in developing and coaching teachers her doctoral dissertation which we are going to need to give her a deserved round of applause she just defended her dissertation on monday night so it's a busy week for anna her dissertation has focused on the perspectives of high school principals as they made sense of the implemented connecticut teacher evaluation flexibility plan during the 2021 school year and we all know the kind of year that was with a priority on how our classrooms and schools will need to adjust based on the impacts of the pandemic and is committed to supporting building leaders as they work with teachers to engage their students and build relationships with families her experience and track record for bringing various stakeholders together impress the committee and finally i'd like to share that our expertise in secondary level education direct work with faculty for professional learning opportunities and a laser focus on aligning goals with strategic plans uh has been very impressive we're excited that she's joining the leadership team and anna will be joining us if everything goes well with the board tonight on august 1st so anna welcome come on up say a few words thank you so much dr burlin thank you so much for this warm welcome from the board and from the whole community throughout the process i was so impressed with the passion of the educators and the commitment of the board to support quality education and in the forward thinking of the families and the parents i'm just so excited to have this opportunity to serve with you and work to create our tomorrow together so thank you so much all right very much bob i didn't know did you have any questions or want answers i just want to know if this is the first time in a public meeting we can call you dr mann anna you have to come back up for a second is this the first time the first official meeting where you're dr mann it is the first time congratulations thank you very much it's a little strange but i appreciate it thank you so much okay i'm all set all right great any questions from the board it's an exciting time we've never had this much excitement in our consent board meeting this is exciting okay all in favor of the consent agenda and making these official hi it's unanimous all right so we're going to move on to the new business um and uh the first item on new business is the last day of school for this school year okay i will move that the board moved to establish the last day of school for the 2021-2022 school year as friday june 17th 2022 with an early dismissal as recommended by superintendent dr john burrell second okay it's moved and seconded uh dr bruhl would you like to make a few comments on it sure so um it's interesting not one staff member or teacher ever approached me about the topic of the last day of school in the last couple of weeks or months as we've been leading and leaning in now um but parents have actually approached me and said doc or barrel come on monday what are we going to do with that extra monday and you know we're going on vacation or the kids really aren't going to be their graduation is over those kind of comments the reality is in working with the the principals actually at the last principal meeting and talking to them about june 20th as right now the last day of school and that's the 182nd day of school if we didn't have a snow day on february 25th we we would be ending on the 17th there's a lot of conversation from students and families talking with the principals and connection going on where we are just hearing anecdotally that a lot of students will not be coming on the 20th and we know for sure with high school schedule is at the end of the year and graduation happening at the 18th there really will be a dearth of students in the building but we're hearing the same thing from elementary and middle um so that's one of the pieces um the the other thought was on moving the last day to the 17th um it's tight with a week it works it doesn't interfere with parks and recreation or any of their plans i've already worked with miss knox and the parks and rec doesn't start till the 27th which is the following week in addition to that what i as part of the proposal want to make sure everybody in the public knows is that the teachers and staff would obviously be there on the 17th we'd have an early dismissal but on the 20th we would have a full day a workday for all of our employees and we have lots we can do whether it's school improvement plan you know initiation for next year data entry other closeout things a number of our teachers would have an opportunity to do some early purging and packing for the move and while that's six months away for our huckleberry folks it's never too early to start getting their rooms organized and thinking those things through also doing some of that candle with lake planting that we had talked about so there's a lot of work the principals have already started to start think of think about the things they can be working on to use a very productive use of that time um so i'd like to propose that for for our students families uh that we have the last day of school be the 17th of june okay thank you let's have a question was there any discussion to making that a full day since this is kind of last minute it's less than a month away and um it's kind of really inconvenient for working parents to make it a half day actually there there was some discussion about that um and then the the kind of consensus was it's the last day of school and the typical activities that go on and the thought was uh work it out for an early dismissal okay that's the proposal we can work back and forth any uh any other is that a strong concern or yeah i think it's a valid concern yeah mm-hmm do you gotten any feedback uh dr burrell on half day versus full day on the friday the the conversation was more with the leadership team in terms of the quality of a last day of school regardless of when the last day falls no matter what it falls on a monday wednesday or friday um you know everybody can go i wouldn't necessarily go there but the heat in the building but that could happen this friday it could be very hot in the building so you know that that wouldn't be part of the the rationale for it um if the board feels a full day is better for working families that is something obviously we can work on i don't think it's critical either way but i brought the proposal as is and we're certainly here to have the conversation okay all right any further discussion so we're gonna um we'll vote on the proposal as it is which is a half day and uh and if that doesn't uh if that doesn't pass we'll we'll uh we'll amend and see where we go does that make sense okay um so all in favor of the uh the proposal has moved so you say hi hi all against okay passes five two so we'll go with a half day okay thank you okay so moving on um the 2022-2023 board of education meeting dates i will move that the board approved the 2022-22 board of education meeting dates second okay it's moved and seconded um i think we all got a copy of it everyone had a chance to look at it the only question i had and i didn't have the time to look at look at it did we check it against religious holidays i did uh october 5th is yom kippur and april 5th is passover [Music] those are challenging so we have some conflicts there so um but are either of those non-school days i think they they're still school days they are school days yeah one of the things when we put this out there i think so sometimes in the past bob we've gone through and we've tabled certain uh subcommittees we don't necessarily it's not urgent that we uh put this through as a full vote tonight it might give getting this out there at the full board might give an opportunity to each of the subcommittees to have some conversation about these dates and get started oh you're on the boardwalk yeah which is not together i missed it i apologize yeah yeah i mean there isn't typically usually there's not which date are we looking for october 5th october 5th is that school so we need to switch off uh in in the month of october the next week yeah and you want to move them both in october yeah so they're they're the second and fourth week yeah so we're not doing two weeks in a row okay would everyone be okay with that would we need to move november then because then it would be the last week in october in the first week of november we only have one november meeting so should we move you know um this is gonna sound like kind of a radical idea right now um but do we ever want to think about maybe doing one meeting a month at least maybe for more months than we currently do like maybe we can just take october and have one meeting usually october if i'm thinking about the agendas in october that's usually when we're doing the uh um the year-end result the enrollment reports and also often the uh the standardized testing results and the conclusions from that so those are tend to be busy meetings but then usually the beginning of november is a little light so but i i mean personally i would be okay with one sort of hefty meeting as opposed to two other ones but just preference so should we table this i'm thinking or oh no well what do you guys think about having one bigger meeting in the month of october than instead of two for just october i think we can fit it in we can do that with what you're talking about bob because enrollment a lot of times the enrollment we we have the october one enrollment report we do sometimes on that we wait till the november meeting to go over that anyway because it impacts the next month we start talking about budget right so we wait till november anyway on that so it really would be kind of a a lot of business and then a uh student achievement piece on the 19th if we did it that way so i'm just reading body language i'm just saying rather than table it if maybe an amendment we could do an amendment to remove october 5th from the schedule and uh what was the other one that was a conflict april 5th april 5th is that a school day first night passover the schools are open that day open okay in april is one of those months because of the the week off we have uh it's a one meeting month i feel like if we're gonna go to if we're going to try to pick months where we might only have one meeting then maybe it makes sense to pick months where either there's a lot of other meetings and other stuff going on or not much going on like maybe the december 21st meeting and the june 21st meeting could be eliminated instead of october i mean i don't october does bother me but but october is like there's a conflict with a holiday no i know but there was one suggestion to just move them a week later yeah and then it jams them all up is the problem so well then you could just move november to the middle of the month i'm just saying like christmas week and then the last week of school people are usually like you know there's yeah holiday concerts and other just a thought you're just saying do one meeting for may and june december december december december one in december and one in june if you were looking for months to only have one meeting as you suggested october 26 and then november 16th right that would be fine i kind of i know even if you did it october 16th in like november or november 16th and 39th and then one in december um the november point is thanksgiving this year 24th 24th so that would be one before and one after yeah and then do a mid december one and then december 14th is the middle december 14th november 16th and 30th 30th and october 19th leave it where it is right okay and then in the spring and then to eliminate the december 21st meeting and eliminate the june 21st meeting john's sitting over there thinking oh fewer meetings this is good keyword meetings is always good i mean what's the sense of the board i mean what if we i mean again this is going to make you sound a little radical but so in may considering this agenda and the agenda we just had i feel like we could combine may into one meeting and if like let's say we're in a tough budget year when we have a special meeting you know but then if we don't if we really don't need it which like this month for example like we probably could have combined these two agendas right then we just have one meeting and the same thing for june june's not going to be june's going to be very light as well yeah i'm kind of with the june 21st one yes once graduation happens it's a it's a yeah that's usually a really light meaning yeah the only thing i would submit is that and i i don't disagree with this the december 21st because it's so close to the holidays we do purposely years ago decided to move um the superintendent's budget proposal presentation to the first december meeting it gives the board the extra meeting to have some discussion prior to the holiday break a little bit of a recess and then really getting down to business the boards uh deliberations on the budget in january yeah but the last couple of times we were still in the depth of the the finance committee going through the detail with that that was extra it was very really useful to have the presentation really so we could internalize it but we were still going through a lot of the details and so i'm not sure a meeting the meeting time we had was that useful okay in december to be friends right yeah um the committee time was really useful but not so much the media yeah exactly yeah um and it might lead us to have a special meeting in january if for some reason it's really hard so but we would do that anyhow so i'm just thinking out loud the proposal i would say is on the table is october 19th being the only meeting in october november 16th and 30th in november december 14th may 10th or may someone choose one or the other may 10th and say or may 3rd or may 3rd well to may 3rd may 3rd and uh and june and june 7th only in june what do you guys think about that so january february march april stay the same yes in september and right august july august september yeah what do you guys think about that yeah we'll have longer subcommittee though those will be longer meetings will take longer the meetings will take a little bit longer so yes yes yes i'll just take in kind of the sense before i put it to a vote i like it debbie i'm thinking about policy um it would just alter that yeah it would slow down and that goes to my comments that i mistakenly was making earlier which i'll state that the comments weren't mistaken it was just the timing yeah to talk about we'll talk about because that'll might impact some of the way we schedule the wednesdays yeah when people are out i mean it doesn't mean we can't do that we just have to plan for it we just have to be really organized getting through the policies quickly and efficiently on those meetings [Music] we might have to schedule them separately yeah and i think the policy committee if i can be bold enough to speak for the policy committee we're getting i think more comfortable with cave's recommendations so i think that's that'll make it easier to get more efficient which was the intention [Music] all right so i'm going to put a motion on the table to amend the motion that's on the table to adjust the october meetings to just be october 19th and eliminate october 5th to change november to the 16th and 30th change december to december 14th as a single meeting in december to eliminate the may 17th meeting and to eliminate the june 21st meeting i'll second the amendment any discussion on the amendment all in favor aye unanimous okay that's a that's the second exciting thing though i have never had excitement on um do we want to table the subcommittee meetings given that so we have a chance to go stare at that and see like we'd like to adjust them yeah yeah why don't we table the subcommittee meetings um until the next meeting and i would just ask everybody to um to look at what they given the new schedule right you know how it would best work for the committee for your individual committees so we'll go and we'll figure it out and if each chair if there is a subcommittee between meeting between now and the next meeting have the conversation with the full committee yeah and i'll just ask each of the chairs the rosa joy mike deb um if you go all and and amy if we get back to rescheduling the equity and inclusion that one as well but we ought to um we ought to formally ahead of the next meeting get some feedback to john and to lisa so they can adjust this as appropriate and then we'll just go with the consensus of the committee i'm looking at rosa from the finance committee that the interesting challenge is going to be timing during the month because all of our meetings are generally in the early part of the early part of the year you're going to have a lot of month old data right right being reported on so we'll have to figure out how to handle that [Music] okay okay great all right go to what that uh i'll just i'll make a motion to table um item number uh c um until our next meeting second all in favor hi hi all right we've done it next up is the idea grant i will move that the board approved the annual submission of the district idea grant as required by state law second okay it's moved and seconded um any discussion on this john okay any anything you want to share just a little brief overview or amy okay okay thank you ken this is our kind of our standard one we do every year right it is very standard we use the ida grant to fund two special education teachers uh 17 paraprofessionals and we pay for the services of a transition coordinator it's about 530 000 total and there's a small allocation to uh christian life academy as the only non-public school in town and we use that for tutoring services for any identified students there and this is the same content pretty much as we've done seen on the past year yes okay are there any questions for ken on this okay any question any discussion from the board all in favor moving along um so that's it for new business uh on the old business we're coming back on the title nine policy i will move that the board approve policy number four thousand five one four five four title ix for a final reading is recommended by the policy and communications subcommittee first reading was april 6 2022.
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you open session to order at 6 17 pm and we will start with the flag salute in recognition of free speech and the following board agenda item we welcome all and would like to note that saying the pledge of allegiance is not a requirement to participate in the business of this public if you do not say the pledge of the pledge for religious political social or personal reasons you are most welcome here as an equal participant in the business of this board for those who would like to participate please stand salute pledged to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay now before there be conversation happening because i cannot we were doing the flag salute can you hear us now she cannot hear us okay one moment everyone technical difficulties okay kelly you got us now can you hear me now okay kelly can you hear us if she can call in on the phone or something can the public see and hear us um yes not on our end you can hear the me either or see the reader yeah [Music] but uh clearly we can't hear any of them so i'm going to leave this to zoom section i got another one on it i'll hold it and and we'll see if this will help yes so the conversation that's happening in the room is what the live stream does that's the live stream there so everybody that's attendee or participant i mean a panelist or an attendee on zoom they're not seeing this we're hearing this problem is the livestream has a slight device oh i'm gonna reboot one of the laptops sorry everybody this is happening you know i i work your computer so much i've just been like oh yeah yeah of course this is gonna happen feels good [Laughter] don't worry there's gonna be someone else in the seat next for for june full time i'm just giving you a hard time i heard that what the preference was last month already and i'm very happy for that too i've got a great staff she did a nice job but in all honesty sodium yes of course zooms and selling updates if windows does it don't do it i'll tell you that i have no choice here you're hearing us yet now can you hear us going yeah okay you can hear to add us okay wonderful okay we just did the flag salute so we are moving on to item seven announcement of action taken and closed agenda so for closed session item number one is there a motion to approve stock staff recommendation for student expulsion number 2122-04 okay we have motion do i have a second and we have a second okay we will do a roll call vote um trustee kelly aye trustee lee hi trustee pope hi trustee anderson hi and the chair of outside it is unanimously approved okay um adoption of agenda do i have a motion regarding that um sure there seems to be some okay okay one moment we will get that um trusty pope making a point of order sorry about that um there seems to be some confusion with the board on when and how to abstain from a boat um so for the people that are unaware or unsure of the reason um board policy 93-23 states the board believes that when no conflict of interest requires abstention its members have a duty to vote on the issues before them so basically the only reason why you can abstain is if there's a conflict of interest also stating decreasing language theme provides our stakeholders and our constituents um the people that elect us of the reasons for the extension okay thank you okay and so trustee kelly you said you would like to pull item 20 20 yes i don't think [Music] um any other changes okay do i have a motion then to adopt the agenda with item 20 poll and consent agenda as amended okay thank you and do i have a second second okay um roll call vote trustee kelly aye trustee lee hi pope hi wesley anderson aye mr chairman the agenda has been adopted okay moving on to organizational reports uh vanessa mason from cuta point of ordering um is the live stream up yet um there seems to be some comments that it may not have live stream is that we have six people viewing it awesome thank you all right good evening i'm here on wacky wednesday western day at dudley um so for my report today i am looking forward to hearing the teachers and their experiences coming up pretty soon for summer school we've negotiated the salary and the working conditions for summer school which begins may 31st so that's exciting teachers are starting to go through their trainings and um the next thing we're negotiating on also on may 31st is salary schedules for our teachers especially bringing us on par with local districts in our area but most specifically our specialist teachers which are paid significantly less than neighboring districts up to like thousand dollars less so we're hoping that we can come to resolution with the district that brings us on par in neighboring districts so we can attract special ed teachers that are equality for our students thank you very maybe someone else on the call could confirm that when speaking to the mic please make sure you're up close to the mic and speaking clearly that could have a lot to do with it kelly can you hear me now or is it cutting out i can okay do you need to repeat my report no i heard i heard about it okay thank you okay next for cse we have naisha harris good evening good evening it is csca classified employees of the may 16th through the 20th the eborn team put together some goodie bags for our members at each school site that was delivered this monday i wanted to congratulate the classified points of the year gift cards were also delivered to our csga members we have elizabeth carrasco espinelli roxanna crowe and north country alina tom gold at dudley john carville at oak hill tracy peratt at wilson's round rounds dyson smith at central high carrie woodson and mccullen and luis alvarez at the district office thank you very much okay moving on to reports and uh presentations diversity in elementary curriculum english language arts from mike jordan mike i turned off the my character all right good evening i'm sorry about the chair i didn't realize there's a table behind me it scared me though anything we're here for the second round of the diversity in uh curriculum uh elementary curriculum and eugene if you would please let me put the powerpoint or does that mean poison up what's up oh thank you oh you want to you want this one right on that one so we can see it it's it's up it's on the screen you guys can't see it they haven't pulled it off they have it in paper okay [Music] thank you thank you so tonight we're going to talk about the ela english language arts curriculum i think we could go to the next slide there we go all right uh so this one's gonna be a little bit easier to follow it's one slide with multiple leaks uh and the way this curriculum wanders in the elementary uh lays it out it's very easy if you click on the first one please so what wonders has done is they put for every grade lk one two three four five six you can see each story and if you look on the on the far except your right hand side it's going to talk it's going to show you what area in the terms of diversity that is being covered by that story um and i don't i don't know if i can't see that here but you guys have this new packet correct excellent okay so it's laid out and the way we work at the elementary level is they're going story by story by story they're just going straight through the curriculum so these will all be covered by the time picked up with us from kindergarten through sixth grade they would go through each one of these and to give you then some examples that's the first one yeah yeah you can't click that that's me clicking oh jesus [Laughter] all right so this is the first story and this is uh this is a hispanic female student who also happens to be deaf so in this story they're going to show her doing sign language teaching the class sign language so they're covering obviously two different categories here uh kids with special needs as well as a hispanic young lady did you do i clicked the interview i got it thank you so we're not going to read the story together just giving you the general idea here then the next story this is from a second grade this is brave bessie and this talks about the first african-american female pilot and actually i read this story a couple days ago it's pretty good it's very interesting um and it talks about how she has to go to france so on and so forth but it's a very uh interesting story about a young african-american female and how she grew up to be the first pilots in the united states with a license public sciences if you could go to the next one and again this is a yoon and the jade bracelet this is depicting a korean female and a story from korea and so it'll go through again if you can kind of click through those pages for me please all right thank you and then the final one uh for not the final one another final one for tonight uh the unbreakable code and this talks about the uh the navajo uh uh code breakers who were obviously famous in world war ii and uh were able to help win the war and it goes through their story and how they were recruited and you know winning the military and what they did in order to uh to help the country win world war ii is this the total reading program or is there more i'm just giving you what one two three four five four examples but it's every ever almost every story so that first slide can we go back to that first slide it's going to show you through the entire curriculum k-6 right but what we have in our book is just exactly expensive than that it's simple pages and stories all the way through correct yeah so that first slide is it gives you an overview of the entire curriculum and every uh every time that uh there's a story in regards to diversity which is what we're talking about tonight uh where that is in terms of the curriculum i'm just giving you some examples four examples right so you can see the actual story as the kids see interesting reading through this you wouldn't think the white boy existed there's not a single white boy mentioned and i know that's going to get me in trouble but i just thought it was interesting yeah because i mean i think we like to acknowledge them too but every single one of these is something different i'm sure there are stories that you depict that that was not what i was understanding from the top of this evening i responded to be honest so the the chart that he showed for all the great stuff yeah this was but this this chart is only through rep show representation there are this is not every story in the book this is not very story this is only if you look at the very title it's diverse literature so to be approved you have to go through uh and show diversity within the curriculum all are represented throughout these are just examples from our curriculum where it would be found and it's probably a tool that they use when you [Music] identify when you go to get approved so wonders to get approved has to demonstrate some different criteria so this would be that so this is just an example of where this is in the frame that's all i was asking is if this was the everything they were here if there was more to it yeah there is more to it these are just the stories that represent diversity okay thank you all right thank you very much thank you okay and then moving on to the next report presentation we have i really spring scores with mike jordan all right so this is our i read scores uh for this spring and what we're going to look at is from our first uh uh assessment back in the fall uh until now and see what the growth was and keep in mind that this year our main goal was completion rates this is our first time through we recognized very early on we were having some significant wi-fi issues i want to personally thank eugene and his crew and we got pretty much all of that uh rectified and corrected by the end which is fantastic thank you so looking at uh testing expectations first we have all students k-8 taking the tests the i ready math and the i-ready reading but when we get to the high school level there are specific groups that we were looking at because we want to look at for the high school level to use these sports for intervention purposes are interventions working which kids need intervention in reading and math so for example if you could click on that oops there we well i'll explain i don't know yeah basically our ap kids if you're in ap english we didn't have you take the i ready reading test if you're an ap cal you're not taking the math test you know you're not going to go into an intervention class if you're in an honors you're not taking the the test because that's not what the test is for and we know we're testing our high school kids like crazy they're testing testing testing so only our kids are in intervention look like they're going to need intervention that's what we needed our scores for so i just want to make it clear when we're looking at these scores at the high school level it's not your independent study kids it's not your home and hospital kids it's not your kids and not public schools there's a whole subset that's not involved in this testing all right let's move on to completion rates so you can see looking through the chart we are up in the 90s uh all the way which is fantastic and again in the 80s but again because the high school level we're not testing every kid so that's fantastic too we were in the single digits in the in the spring at some of the highest level because we just couldn't get wi-fi at work no fault of the high school they were doing the best they could we could not get the test to work with the lifeline now you can see it's been it's fantastic again thank you so we're going to look at some of the scores this is for reading if you can click on the curriculum associates please we're going to look at two different reports yeah that's all associated to your google drive right now and say again i'm sorry this associated to your google drive so it's not getting really into that it's not going to open now uh is there any way for us to open no i will give you the overview the overview is uh we have improved in all areas of all grade levels which is fantastic so what you would have seen on this chart is that the green lines is what we're looking for those are kids that are at or above grade level they've gone up significantly in all grade levels which is fantastic that means we've had tremendous growth since the beginning of the year that's what we're looking for and then they're going to break down into the strands in all areas we've seen a tremendous growth as well which is fantastic and that again that's all students that's not broken down demographically that's what we're going to see in the next slide if not i'll explain that one too but there is tremendous growth so i give credit to all of our teachers who have been working very very hard over this school year uh in in what can only be described as an unusual and crazy year uh to get that much growth is tremendous if we could go back go back up one slide is that gonna let you do the five laps report same story okay that's okay it's not your fault it is what it is uh so the five labs report is going to break this down uh demographically so one of the things that that you can see is uh socioeconomic status how those students did from the beginning of the year until now we're looking at all different racial and ethnic groups we're looking at students with ieps students without ieps students who are english language learners students are not students who are foster students students are necessary it's broken down all those ways so we can look at what's going on and that's what our schools are looking at individually is where where do we need to focus our efforts where are we doing well where do we still need to work and what we found is we still are experiencing some some achievement gaps we recognize that and we are working towards closing those gaps if we could go into oh that's not going to open it uh completion rates again completion rates went way way up that's fantastic uh again when you look at the high school especially when you look at seniors you're going to see only 42 percent took the test because not all seniors take uh math uh so they didn't need to take that test or there's a ton of kids in ap classes that that but whether it's ap study and cal they're not going to take that test yet again our our scores went up uh if we were able to open that slide which i will send you a link to that so you can open it on your own oh you have any friend oh good okay again we want to go to the green if yours are in color we want to see the green our greens have uh extended that's fantastic that's what we're looking for our strands again have expanded not as dramatically as in the ela but that's also to be expected again hats off to the teachers working in a very difficult time very difficult year and getting positive results and again that's what schools are doing now teachers are doing now we're going back we're looking at our results what can we do to improve our results in the coming years now that we've had this implemented for a full year and we're going to go into year two now we can start tracking where can we really focus our efforts now uh to help all students improve in the five lap support you see the same thing can be broken down by ethnicity be broken down by socioeconomic status foster non-foster yield special ed iep non-iep so and so forth all right so what are our takeaways just general takeaways one wi-fi issues that is fantastic that's largely been fixed that's going to help us tremendously next year to start with high completion rates so we can have more accurate data two our completion rates improved from fall to spring and we anticipate now that they're going to continue high as we move forward and three we recognize there are still achievement gaps there are still if not all students are scoring equally high we want to to come up with strategies working with skilly work with our school sites so that we can help all students be more successful i have a question looking at some of the the five labs data okay comparing 2021 to 2022.
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okay good evening this is the chico unified school board meeting for may 18th we will start the meeting with a closed session that will go from 5 to 6. and then the regular meeting will start at six o'clock we have some people who have asked to be speakers and we have them on our speakers list and so i will close the meeting for now and reopen at six o'clock thank you [Music] reality i called the chico unified school board meeting to order and um as you can see we have some talent coming uh to entertain us but we were in closed session we didn't take any action in close section and so let's join for the flag salute i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you all right and with that we have student reports well as you can tell we have a student performance right behind me and i'd like to invite hooker out principal emily mullins up to tell us what we're going to hear [Applause] good evening i'm delighted to present to you our fourth grade music program and i'm so excited that we were just able to hold our scoop and serenade for the first time in three years where we had families on campus to enjoy a scoop of ice cream and listen to these fabulous students serenade them so this is just a small sampling each grade level had a different performance this is our fourth grade performing cups and it's led by our amazing music teacher mrs brianna cisneros [Applause] um bye [Music] my last [Music] is [Music] so hmm [Applause] now so we certainly wanted to uh thank hooker oak for being here that was wonderful the cups i don't know if you got to see that but that was some coordination going on that was great coordination yes so we invite you to stay for the meeting if you want but if you need to go we understand that too okay i'm just gonna move us right on in sorry thank you thank you parents for getting your kiddos here i'm going to move us right on into the superintendent's report and i do want to announce that today chico unified was honored by state california state employees association for our work with our classified employees california school oh you are so right former president here she's going to correct me every single time for our work with classified employees and we did have several administrators shadow classified staff today everything from custodial work to school bus drivers to serving in the cafeteria to working as special education aids in the classroom it was very insightful it was a wonderful day and we really appreciate csea for this opportunity and the recognition so want to thank them for that and then with that i'm going to just jump right on into our recognition portion of the program and i would like to invite chico high school principal doug williams up to the podium thank you kelly uh public and board members and guests and staff members usually when principals are talking to people oftentimes it isn't fun but it's also glorious to give awards out and i would like to recognize two employees that i have and i'm not going to embarrass them but i'm actually going to make both of them come up at the same time miss stephanie starmer and miss robin carrier both of these women have held positions in chico unified since 1989 i don't know if you guys realize that i believe stephanie has a student teacher in 1989 and robin has her first position in 1989.
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your ongoing support of the class of 2022 resulted in their success in academics activities leadership the arts and athletics graduates please give your parents families and friends a round of applause and thank them for their support [Applause] thank you to the entire staff at discovery canyon campus for your hard work and dedication to inspire every student to think to learn to achieve and to care staff please stand and be recognized graduates the staff of discovery canyon campus [Applause] a very special thank you to the staff members here today helping with this great ceremony specifically a shout out to mr david king and miss bonnie holsinger and the many others that put on this great evening event [Applause] thank you to our discovery canyon campus community for your support of all of our students pre-k through 12th grade thank you specifically to our parent leadership groups the parent teacher organization acdcc accountability and the parent advisory group and our athletic booster club thank you let's give them a round of applause thank you to the family members friends and community members who have served and are currently serving our great nation in the armed forces with those who currently are serving or have served in the armed forces please stand and be recognized thank you any graduates who are children in military families please stand and be recognized [Applause] thank you for your sacrifice for our great nation graduates who are entering the armed forces or attending one of the service academies please stand and be recognized [Applause] thank you for your commitment to our country and our freedom i'd like now to invite you to join me in a moment of silence to remember those family and friends that have passed away and are not in attendance today to celebrate with us the success of the class of 2022 thank you to our district leadership team and the academy district 20 board of education for your leadership and support let's please give them a round of applause [Applause] this time i'd like to introduce the members of the academy district 20 board of education the members of the academy district 20 leadership cabinet our discovery canyon campus feeder area principals and our student speakers dignitaries please stand and be recognized from our board of education board of education president mr tom lavallee board of education vice president mr will tembe board of education treasurer ms heather cloninger director of the board of education ms nicole kahns and director of the board of education mr aaron salt from the academy district 20 leadership cabinet mr j thomas gregory superintendent of schools dr jim smith assistant superintendent for planning and engagement dr susan field assistant superintendent for learning services [Applause] from the discovery canyon campus high school feeder area ms victory molina principal at the da vinci academy ms laura cressa principal at antelope trails elementary known as the favorite principal on the campus mr steve scott principal discovery canyon campus elementary see the second favorite principal on the campus mr mario romero principal discovery canyon campus middle school [Applause] giving our student address today anya gutorbson our class presidents for the class of 2022 and giving the president's addresses this evening class president in 2018-19 andrew keegan class president in 1920 anna sucall class president in 2021 grayson yoakam and this year's class president sahil [Applause] i also wanted to recognize the high school administrative team for helping with the ceremony today mr david king assistant principal mr andy little assistant principal miss krista parnell assistant principal miss christy smith dean of students [Applause] also celebrating with his family today a crucial member of our administrative team but he's in the audience today mr ron sukel assistant principal athletic director [Applause] it's a long-standing tradition at discovery canyon campus to recognize the top 10 students in the graduating class due to a tie in the top ten and a credit calculation error in the seventh semester there are twelve students in the top ten i can explain another time and i can't blame it on covid these 12 students have earned the top 10 cumulative grade point averages while at discovery canyon campus high school when i call your name please stand remain standing to be recognized for your outstanding academic performance in alphabetical or order jillian bowles [Applause] who will be attending north park university mary cowan baylor university [Applause] i have varsha ramesh university of rochester new york apparently not in alphabetical order shreya krishnan wharton school of business at university of pennsylvania [Applause] shelani kuninor bernard college of columbia university zach miller tufts university sharma colorado school of minds [Applause] unfortunately at the last minute the next graduate was unable to attend this evening but i'm sure she's watching hopefully virtually let's give a huge round of applause to suhani sharma the university of tulsa congratulations suhani [Applause] mina song liu university of california san diego ravel college nathaniel also known as nate trice colorado school of mines christian wacker duke university [Music] [Applause] and jordan wilcoxon university of california at davis [Applause] congratulations top 10 12.
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mr gregory joined the academy district 20 staff in 1991 as a middle school math teacher at challenger middle school shortly after he transferred to rampart high school where he served for 11 years as math teacher math department co-chair football coach softball coach baseball coach and finally as assistant principal and athletic director for four years in 2009 mr gregory became our chief financial officer and he served in that capacity until when he added the duties of deputy superintendent along with cfo in 2019 right before a global pandemic mr gregory was named the superintendent of academy school district 20.
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welcome again family and friends to the 2021 commencement ceremony a special welcome to those of you joining us virtually please rise and kindly remove your caps as we honor america and those who have served and currently are serving our country this morning the colors are presented by the academy school district 20 air force junior rotc color guard under the command of connect colonel kylie valdez please remain standing and silent until the colors have left the field singing the national anthem this morning senior elia muncie oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars [Music] were so gallantly streaming [Music] gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled [Music] and the home of the [Music] brains you thank you ellia great job give her another round of applause you may all be seated i'd like to take a few moments to welcome you all to the 2021 discovery canyon campus high school commencement ceremony a special thank you to parents family friends mentors coaches of the class of 2021 your ongoing support of the class of 2021 has resulted in their success in academics activities leadership the arts and athletics graduates please give your parents a round of applause to thank them for their unwavering love and support parents and family members thank you for your patience and support of discovery canyon campus high school during these unpredictable and uncertain times thank you to the entire staff at discovery canyon campus for your hard work and dedication to inspire every student to think to learn to achieve and to care staff who are in attendance please stand and be recognized graduates the staff at discovery canyon wishes you well for those staff members not able to be in attendance i'm sure they're watching live via the internet a special thank you to the staff members here today helping with this great ceremony specifically thank you to assistant principal mr king miss bonnie holsinger and miss heather raka along with many others for their work above and beyond to organize this great event let's give them a round of applause also thank you to the countless number of staff members who worked all spring to organize celebrations for the class of 2021 the great celebrations such as yard signs instagram senior highlights custom masks the senior class awards video the flip grid farewell messages the senior posters prom senior sunset and much much more would not have been possible without you please give them a round of applause thank you to our discovery canyon campus community for all your support of all of our students pre-k through 12.
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we did it please be seated thank you everyone mr gregory i would like to thank you for sending the flyovers to the best school in district 20. thank you ladies and gentlemen i am pleased to introduce you to liberty high school's class of 2021 salutatorian kailyn enga kalyn please join me at the podium now before caitlyn gives her a salutatorian address i would like to tell you a little bit about her kailyn is considered a district 20 lifer having spent her entire education career in district 20. she attended explore elementary school school in the woods for fourth grade timberview middle school and then liberty kalyn is very involved in school participating in lancer strong friends of rachel the national honor society environmental club and playing on our ladies soccer team outside of school kalyn is part of the international youth conservation coalition and a member of pride soccer a group she has been with since kindergarten in the fall kalyn will attend colorado college on an athletic scholarship to play soccer where she will major in organismal biology and ecology she has future plans to help people communities and environments maybe even work for the department of the interior kailyn in recognition of your valiant efforts at liberty high school i hereby award you with the salutatorian medal ladies and gentlemen kailyn enger hi everyone thank you for being here today i am kaylen inga a graduating senior here at liberty high school and i will be honest this year has been hard it's been hard for me and a lot of people i know and the fact that our country has been in distress over the past year is not been a secret to us from the troubles created by a global pandemic to the social unrest to the heightened political tensions and even to the recent tragic events within our own state this year has been heavy but i want to highlight something that can easily be lost in the pandemonium of the world yet something that needs to be highlighted community and compassion as a society as a collection of unique and incredible individuals we cannot lose sight of the importance of coming together in kindness high school was a trying and difficult time for most if not all of us we all face different social and academic challenges as we try to find our place in the world and really as we try to define ourselves to discover who we really are and who we want to be however community was all around us if only we would take the first step in opening ourselves up to those sitting next to us in class i have taken classes with people who i have nothing in common with and yet i've learned the most from them and i felt a sense of community with people that are entirely different from myself allowing myself to find community in the most unexpected places has given me inspiration and hope for the future we learn more through our connections with others than through anything else we should feel confident going into whatever our next chapter of life is knowing if we allow ourselves to be compassionate and vulnerable with each other we will find support and love and friendship in the most unexpected places our lives will not be devoid of hardship and failure that is a fact that unfortunately we cannot avoid but opening ourselves up to each other and sharing our love and compassion no matter how different we may be is what will get us through it will find you success and love in whatever way you define it the healing can start with us we can be the powerful wave that washes the beach anew we can display to the world excuse me the importance of community we must know that our lives are made richer by our connections with each other no matter how different we are i encourage you as we move forward in this world to remain open to not let the hardships of today cause you to hide yourself from the opportunities of tomorrow let us find support and community in new places let us share compassion with each other allow each other to be open and live our truths let us inspire each other to be kind to be strong and caring and let us allow each other to flourish into the beautiful individuals that we are meant to be i want to thank those who have always supported me and everyone here thank you to the teachers staff parents coaches and peers who have created an incredible community these past four years at liberty high school i am forever grateful i wish you all happiness in your futures thank you [Music] morning [Music] winds of change are set to blow and sweep this whole land through morning chloe's long pass too [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] good morning [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] i lost [Applause] um a long-standing graduation tuition at liberty high school is the selection of the commencement speaker the keynote the selection is a competitive one and from the many who try out only one can be selected for this honor this year is no exception the committee made up of seniors and teachers chose a young lady who has an inspiring message to share with all of you today ladies and gentlemen please welcome jennifer goldstein now before jennifer gives her address i would like to tell you a little about her jennifer is also considered a district 20 lifer spending her entire career in district 20.
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you leaned into this challenge and you made it work thank you thank you thank you i have watched students like josh maynard and kate grandos lead the choirs to create amazing music through virtual concerts youtube videos and even writing producing and getting their own album published that's what they did during covid great job i have seen our junior rotc program thrive while having to participate in events online and virtually these students led by cadet wing commander nicholas lavelle continued to be a great representation of everything right about schools and about air academy thank you our deca students led by seniors like allison torres and kylene oliveira continue to do amazing things in this difficult situation while covid prevented us from selling our amazing hand-crafted beverages they totally reconfigured their business model and made it work congratulations our athletes navigated quarantines at home learning season changes and all sorts of problems but still we're able to compete at high levels and many of our athletes are taking their talents to the next level athletes like arien burr who will be playing football at the united states air force academy congratulations to our athletes we had students continue to create and display award-winning art pieces when many programs were canceled or postponed or just not done to their best our air academy art community continued to thrive under the leadership of johnny o'lonergan our students swept the academy 20 art show and senior j.c richardson won the top prize at the western spirit show amazing your class is full of smart talented funny incredible people who have changed air academy and made it better class of 2021 i can't wait to see you change the world i am so proud of you congratulations i will miss you all and now it is my pleasure and honor to introduce the superintendent of academy district 20 mr tom gregory born and raised in academy 20 mr gregory has a passion for the educational process and thrives on helping others succeed he was a classroom teacher for 11 years a school administrator for four and completed his 14th year as the leader of the business operations at academy district 20 in 2019 he joined the academy district 20 staff in 1991 as a middle school math teacher at challenger middle school shortly after he transferred to rampart high school where he served for 11 years as a math teacher math department co-chair football coach softball coach baseball coach and finally as the rampart high school athletic director and assistant principal and just a little side note it was about 18 years ago that mr gregory hired me to academy school district 20.
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i am pete alvarez principal of rampart high school and it is my honor to be with you this afternoon please stand for the presentation of the colors by the academy school district 20 air force jrotc color guard under the command of cadet colonel reed cassin and the singing of the national anthem by ramparts sensations oh stay can you [Music] twilight's last gleaming whose brush [Music] [Applause] [Music] through the night [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good afternoon i would like to take this moment to recognize and thank all of the teachers counselors support staff who have helped the class of 2021 reach this point today their dedication to education the art of teaching and to contributing to the growth of these young adults is without equal they do what they do because of their love of students and knowing that rampart students are amongst the best and the brightest i would like to recognize one of our retiring staff members today mrs liz weatherby mrs weatherby moved to the district with her family in 1979 two years before rampart opened when rampart opened in 1982 she started volunteering in the attendance office and accompanying the choirs in the next few years she became the choir accompanist and auditorium director helping build sets and running stage crews for the shows as well as playing for the shows she retired in 1992 and for several years went back to subbing in the attendance office and playing for rampart shows in 1999 the attendance office position came open and she came home to rampart where she's been ever since she is retiring this year and honestly can't imagine having a more wonderful place to work her plan is to spend her days and sometimes evening within the brick and mortar with the people of rampart in her retirement thank you for your service mrs weatherby faculty if you would now please take your seats for the ceremony celebrating the graduating class of 2021.
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many of you are proudly wearing academic regalia signifying your high school academic achievements the highest honor bestowed on a graduate is the recognition of excellence in academics in the class of 2021 149 seniors will graduate with academic honor or distinction their academic success is significant and on behalf of the pine creek high school staff we offer you and your parents sincere congratulations those students wearing a blue green and white academic cord please stand this group of students has earned a 3.75 to a 3.99 grade point average and are designated as honor graduates please join me in congratulating them you may be seated based on class rank the top 20 percent of the class are recognized as graduating with distinction and are wearing medallions to signify their high school academic achievements 92 members of the class of 2021 have earned between a 4.0 and a 4.9 gpa with those students wearing an academic medal with a blue green or white ribbon please stand please join me in recognizing all the pine creek seniors graduating with distinction you may be seated this class is scholarly indeed we have 17 seniors who have earned straight a's for all eight semesters of high school will you please stand and be recognized additionally we would like to honor 77 students in the class of 2021 who have persevered despite changing between synchronous asynchronous and virtual learning navigating daily quarantines and of course senioritis which kicked in sometime in early september they have earned straight a's for both semesters of their senior year please stand to be recognized congratulations you may be seated student council members are wearing pins on their stoles student council representatives will you please stand thank you for your leadership and service to pine creek you may be seated at our senior celebration on friday curricular departments honors seniors in the class of 2021 for their excellence in academics each of these students are wearing pins on their stoles will all department award winners and eagle eager award winners please stand to be recognized congratulations you may be seated some of you are wearing a special red white and blue cord signifying that your parent has been deployed military during your high school career please stand so that we can honor you and your family for your sacrifices and service to our country thank you you may be seated we have a special group of students wearing the flight of the eagle medallion today flight of the eagle recipients would you please stand and remain standing as i read about this special award please stand the flight of the eagle recognition is exclusive to pine creek high school and was established to recognize no more than 10 percent of the graduating class who have achieved in multiple areas of criteria this group of seniors have demonstrated achievement and commitment in a broad range of endeavors students are academically successful earning above a 3.75 gpa all staff voted and seniors receive nominations by more than five departments to include curricular departments individual athletic teams and activity programs at pine creek these students continually exhibit characteristics of integrity positive attitude leadership responsibility care and concern for others and the ability to achieve above and beyond simply stated pine creek high school is a better place due to their contributions please join me in recognizing these students for being honored with this prestigious award thank you you may be seated please join me and recognize excuse me in your program you will find a list of honor cords and their corresponding honor societies students earning accord have met the requirements of the national organization and have excelled in areas of leadership community service and academic achievement would all seniors wearing a cord please stand to be recognized for your accomplishments congratulations you may be seated thank you class of 2021 for the impact that each of you has made on our school i would like to introduce the dignitaries assembled here to honor the class of 2021 please stand and be recognized as i read your name assembled today as the finest high school staff they are dedicated passionate and caring this school year in particular educators like students were challenged daily and faced unprecedented changes and requirements i would like to thank you for your dedication to your craft and our students you were teachers counselors technical experts and friends with the staff of pine creek high school please stand and be recognized you may be seated thank you among this dignified group is this year's educator of the year from our academic success team mrs melanie black mrs black organized and offered targeted help sessions on wednesdays and saturdays her dedication to students ensured that all seniors are sitting here today please congratulate miss melanie black our classified staff member of the year mr ron lovato was our building manager he kept us all safe by meticulously following state and county cleaning guidelines and ensured that we could be in school each day that was possible thank you mr lotto our team of the year the academic success team would you please stand to be recognized this team of talented educators worked daily with staff and students in all academic areas together they offered access wednesday and saturday met with students to help them develop a plan for success and ensured that all students finish the school year with a positive experience thank you i'd like to recognize staff members retiring graduating if you will with the class of mr back would you please stand marketing teacher and deca advisor retiring after 38 years as an educator mr beck is the last member of the pine creek high school cadre to leave the school and we thank him for his work to create a school that is rich in tradition and excellence congratulations joining me on stage when i call your name would you stand our national anthem soloist miss aliyah dashner student speak speaker gage mater senior class president rachel souter executive student council president sarah conroy honor graduate and salutatorian eugene pock honor graduate and valedictorian lauren schrack faculty advisors for the class of 2021 miss stephanie cornelio our college and career counselor miss annie brandt french teacher miss maria boycek french teacher and mr mitch boycek counselor for the class of 2021 from our counseling team mrs kelly stewart counselor for the class of 2024 ms sarah king counselor for the class of and mr d'angelo ned counselor for the class of 2022.
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mr gregory joined academy district 20 staff in 1991 as a middle school math teacher at challenger middle school shortly after he transferred to rampart high school where he served 11 years as a math teacher math department co-chair football coach softball coach baseball coach and finally as rampart's assistant principal and athletic director for four of those 11 years in 2009 mr gregory became chief financial officer and served in that capacity until 2016 when he added the duties of deputy superintendent along with being cfo in 2019 mr gregory was named the superintendent of academy district 20. mr gregory earned his master's degree in educational leadership and his principal licensure from the university of colorado at colorado springs he earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and his secondary school teacher licensure from the university of southern colorado please welcome mr gregory thank you mrs cold and heaven i would like to start by acknowledging dr jim smith and all of our high school principals for their continuous efforts to plan replan and plan again graduation ceremonies over the last few months to keep up with ever-changing guidance their focus was always centered on developing a traditional graduation ceremony with as few restrictions as possible dr smith and miss koldenhoven on behalf of academy district 20 community thank you for making this day a celebration possible i also want to thank class of 2021 student kayla shaw for participating on my student advisory council this past year kayla not only did you represent the aspen valley student voice with honor and pride your perspective regarding website effectiveness online learning covid frustrations equity and inclusion graduation ceremonies and many other topics was valued and constructive thank you kayla well class of 2021 congratulations you've made it you've now navigated some of the most difficult circumstances faced by students in decades you sacrificed the end of your junior year and continued that sacrifice through your senior year and your senior year has been like no other remote learning in-person learning online learning and hybrid learning that's a lot of learning and all of that learning included a host of new norms such as mask breaks cohorting social distancing quarantines hand sanitizer more quarantines more hand sanitizer and more quarantines you endured shortened athletic seasons online concerts and plays outdoor proms numerous cancellation and dare i say it not one single snow day that was not all your senior year was by was marked by some of the most contentious social and political events in history your senior year has been one of historical proportions you've made history in 10 20 50 or more years students and teachers will read about your journey in their history classes but through it all you persevered you were patient flexible and you showed grit in short you've demonstrated resilience resilience is described as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties or the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape or simply put being elastic resilience is now part of your dna and frankly that is a good thing because resilience is a characteristic you will need to lean on throughout your life i wish i could tell you that life will get easier and resilience is a trait you only needed in 2020 and 2021 but the truth is whether your job your education or your relationships you will face challenges you overcame the challenges of your senior year and you will continue to overcome future challenges because you are adaptable you are persistent you are resilient and you are creative problem solvers excuse me an article in the journal of medicine from 2016 reads resilience is an individual's ability to adaptively respond to hardship stress and adversity it is the ability to bounce back that describes each of you that same article also says individuals who report high levels of resilience typically portray an optimistic outlook positive emotionality curiosity and openness towards new experiences they were able to emerge from a challenge stronger wiser and more powerful resilience correlates strongly with success interpersonal satisfaction happiness and hope as you leave here today prepare to make your mark on this world i ask that you use the events of the last 16 months to propel you forward no matter how much the world tries to hold you back challenge you or knock you down always continue with a belief that what you want to achieve is possible do not lose hope stay confident believe in the possibilities channel your curiosity seek solutions to problems that others can't you find your hope through many means hope can arise from simply taking in new information or gaining new knowledge sometimes it may just be the smile of a trusted friend the friend who trusts in you or in your ability to find a creative solution to a new problem as described in the story of the lone shark and the daughter the story goes in a small italian town many years ago a small business owner owed a large sum of money to a loan shark the loan shark was an old rough looking guy that just so happened to fancy the business owner's daughter the loan shark offered the businessman a deal that would dissolve the businessman's debt however there was a catch the catch was he would only forgive the debt if he could marry the businessman's daughter needless to say this proposal was met with disgust but they didn't have many options as the story goes the lone shark proposed that he would place two pebbles into a bag one white pebble and one red the daughter would then reach into the bag and pick out a pebble if the pebble selected was red the debt would be forgiven and the loan shark would marry the daughter if the stone selected was white the debt would still be forgiven but the daughter would not have to marry the loan shark standing on a path strewn with red and white pebbles in the business man's garden the lone shark bent over and picked up two pebbles as he was picking them up the daughter noticed that he had picked up two red pebbles and placed both of them into the bag he then asked the daughter to reach into the bag and select one naturally the daughter had three choices as to what she could do one refused to pick a pebble from the bag which certainly would not help her father two take both pebbles out of the bag and expose the loan shark for a cheater which would also not help her father or take a chance pick a pebble from the bag full well knowing it was red and sacrifice herself for her father's financial freedom so she reluctantly drew a pebble from the bag and before the color was discovered she appeared to quote unquote accidentally drop it to the ground undetectable amend amid all the other pebbles she had quickly engineered a fourth option after a short pause she said to the loan shark oh how clumsy of me but if you look into the bag for the pebble that is left you will be able to tell which pebble i dropped the pebble left in the bag was obviously red and seeing as this loan shark did not want to be exposed he had to play along as if the pebble the daughter dropped was white her father's debt was cleared and the loan shark defeated her creative solution saved the situation in an instant the father and daughter went from feeling hopeless to feeling hopeful as a result of a short moment in time when she saw solutions others did not as martin luther king jr stated we must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope you are graduating today from a great school in a fabulous district in a terrific community in a wonderful state in the greatest country in the world you have every reason to be hopeful and optimistic as you reflect and celebrate on your time in high school remember you did not make it here alone please take time to thank the friends teachers parents grandparents and or anyone else who pushed or perhaps pulled you to this day congratulations aspen valley high school class of 2020 i wish you a successful hopeful and fulfilling future be well and be safe thank you thank you mr gregory at each graduation members of the senior class are asked if any of them wish to speak this year we have three senior speakers catherine geiger is our newest senior having just joined us this year kat is creative smart and loves animals katherine has been accepted to texas a m in galveston texas where she will study marine biology catherine the stage is yours a senior this is my last year and frankly i wish i had found out about this school sooner this is a place where i have felt most happy out of all the schools i have attended in my life being here i have gotten a glimpse of what could have been my school life i have made real friends here for life people who i will come in contact with for a long time to come this environment is one that more schools need to have it's a special community and has something more schools should try to copy there are so many teachers who care about the students and are passionate about their jobs and i have had previous experiences that are far different often times teachers would over assign homework until you work yourself into the ground just working on assignments after a full day of assignments i have to say everyone here thank you thank you for everything for the memories and for the total experience of being accepted and embraced for the teenager i am thank you catherine good advice our next bridge our next speaker is bridget vossen bridgette has attended aspen valley since seventh grade and is planning on joining the navy after graduation for now you will often find her working hard at garbanzo's restaurant alongside her mother she and her mother just served us lunch for the aspen valley staff last week delicious bridgette hello everyone i am bridget vossen i have been at aspen since seventh grade and time has truly flown by so in saying that i would want to congratulate the class of 2021 we made it this adventure has not been an easy one but the loss of classmates and family members fortunately i have received amazing support from aspen which has been like a second home to me i have received so much love and support over the years thank you to all the amazing staff especially miss chavez ms hemingway and many others without all of you i do not think i would have been able to become who i am today your support and guidance has made the difference there are so many fond memories i will never forget like listening to monster by scaling in the back of the class with audrey and miss chavez was just laughing at us i really do miss her traditions are established and carried by on by those who follow i remember the lip syncing battle during hogwarts week so much fun and i had a memory that that was a memory i will never forget hogwarts is one of the most is one of the many traditions at aspen this one lasts an entire week where different competitions are sponsored by student council putting puma pumas against pumas to determine which class will take the victory i love the lip sync battle because my puma class chose to do a song from beetlejuice which i love in closing thank you to aspen valley for all the memories over the past seven years it has been a crazy ride and i can't wait to see what our future holds and in saying that may we meet again thank you bridget well done our last senior speaker is one of our student leaders and under her guidance student council hosted several student events this year michaela shaw is familiar with the stage as she was the district's senior speaker this year welcoming all of academy 20 back at our kickoff event in august kayla is taking a year off before possibly pursuing work in business or maybe in the english field please welcome michaela okay thank you golden oven and thank you bridget first i'd like to thank the staff and teachers for making this year possible and memorable i'd also like to thank our family friends peers and of course staff for joining us and celebrating this moment okay so here we are congratulations guys we made it after countless sleepless nights ridiculous high school drama our fair share of mistakes and of course fisher's endless dad jokes we've made it so good job i don't know about the rest of you but this is a moment i have been dreaming about since i was a freshman sitting in the groudout of the graduation i was in awe of these ready to go no fear against the world seniors and now that i've been one i realize we're all just kind of like this little cat hesitating for this huge jump hoping we don't splat on the ground beneath and become a mildly funny venue on youtube more or less okay maybe it's just me here we are 2021 and i can't quite round my head around where time went 2021 was always just the year i knew we were going to graduate it was just another year i saw on people's instagram profiles and to be honest it didn't really mean much until it was here i never would have imagined this year as so abnormal so trying but developing that it would be the making the makings of national history yet gone in the blink of an eye i had been dreaming about this the big senior year i was sure it was going to be something incredible but like many over romanticized expectations i was kind of disappointed with the actual outcome although i've recently figured out why and i actually kind of love every crazy bit i was disappointed because i let years of unrealistic and cloudy expectations dictate what this year should have looked like for me in the process i think i just forgot to look at everything and take it as just as if not more incredible than everything i had expected of it i had told myself that i was going to live in the moment this year really soak it up because i knew how important it was going to be to me but in the end i think i was just too ready for this day too ready for it to be over and i let it slip by me i had my sights set on this day like many of us it was all i was really working towards now granted you could say i did it with a pretty job because as surreal as it may be this is real right now for all of us but i had to question while i was working up to this day and sometimes okay most of the time clawing my way to the stay what else did i lose sight of along the way did i lose sight of every crazy aspen moment that in some way made me who i am today did i lose set of how a high school taught me how to lead persevere fight for my stance and there was one last thing i was putting off to oh procrastinating like a boss might i add well maybe you question this too or maybe not but let me thought set that thought straight sure you may have taken some things for granted but let me reassure you you did not miss any of it this will all always be with you whether you like it or not the next or the last 12 or more specifically four years have made you into who you are sitting here today and without any of it you wouldn't even be here today so don't regret taking for granted whatever you did and we all did with something don't wish you could do that one night over or wish you never did it at all don't clink into that random mistake that i promise won't matter once you've got the your hands on those diplomas instead i implore you to recognize it embrace it learn from it and cherish it because true you will never get these years back or get to redo them but you will always hold every valuable experience memory and moment with you in who you are sometimes we can't help but miss the things right in front of us because we're too ready to graduate too ready to rush life sometimes we just miss it but that's okay sometimes it's just hard getting fixated on that fast forward button of life yes there's a lot to look forward to in life and you should get excited for those things just don't get stuck waiting for them think of it like this if all you ever do is wait for the cookies to be done how can you stop and smell the warmth of the baking in the oven how can you take a piece of the dough just to test it and how can you enjoy those delicious cookies if you're just waiting for the next batch so now from now on set your sights on something that really counts not the weekend not your next paycheck or vacation not even what life has in store for you once you've got those diplomas but right now be in the moment this moment look around you at the peers that most of you have spent four plus years growing with laughing with grieving with even fighting with but hey we always learn something and now getting ready today to say goodbye to learn to love right now see what is in sitting right in front of you waiting for you to recognize soak up this moment because you've earned it you fought for it and you deserve it graduation isn't just a sell about celebrating the fact that you finally earned your diploma it's also about looking forward to all the places life will take you after this ceremony so do that look forward to life just don't get stuck waiting for it get ready because you all have so many so much potential in all of your plans although it might suck to feel like you might have missed something like high school you do not want to wake up one day and feel like you miss life so enjoy right now and enjoy every moment from now on oh and while we're living in the moment remember to be grateful for all the staff family and friends that got you to this moment i know i am so thank you everyone and again congratulations nicely done kayla before we confer our diplomas i too would like to share a few reflections from the year my second as principal at aspen
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