Awards and Achievements
The Thompson Education Foundation awarded Creativity Grants to teachers and other professional staff for new, innovative projects to enhance the learning experience of students in the Thompson School District. Six grants were awarded for the 2009-2010 school year totaling $5,625.
The district celebrated ribbon cuttings at three sites that were funded by the 2005 bond: An education facility at Van Buren Elementary; the Early Childhood Center at Monroe Elementary; and the Transportation Services facility at 2500 E. 13th Street complete with meeting rooms, offices, vehicle maintenance bays for buses and service vehicles, and a large group meeting room that can accommodate 150 people.
Berthoud High School science teacher Jane Ballard was honored as a Boettcher teacher at the Boettcher Foundation Annual Teacher Recognition Awards Program July 26 at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. She was nominated by Gabe Buckley from BHS who was a Boettcher recipient in 2009.
Mark Johnson, principal of Thompson Valley High School, received a Merit Award to an Educator at the Colorado Association of Career and Technical Education summer conference in Fort Collins. Former district CTE coordinator Elizabeth Garcia received an Outstanding Service by a Member Award at the conference.
Not only did the district show improvement in all areas of the state-required ACT test, but Loveland High School student Amana Moin received a perfect score. She was one of eight in the state and was recognized by the Colorado Department of Education. The ACT was part of the state testing requirement for all juniors. In 2009, Thompson School District 11th grade students outscored the state in all areas tested.
The Loveland High School newspaper, The Smoke Signal, was a 2009 recipient of a Silver Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The newspaper was one of sixty-two papers to receive this honor nationally and submitted their first issue of the 2009-2010 school year to Columbia University for consideration for the Gold Crown Award.
Cheri Clymer, district transportation safety trainer, was honored by the Loveland Fire & Rescue Department and the City of Loveland Office of Emergency Management on Aug. 12 for her public education efforts in emergency preparedness planning. City Fire Chief Randy Mirowski along with Assistant Emergency Manager Pat Mialy presented Clymer with a plaque honoring her for her efforts.
Two Thompson School District students were named National Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) Scholars by earning an average grade of 4 or higher on a five-point scale on all AP exams taken last spring and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more exams. The two 2009 seniors were John Fenske from Mountain View High School and Amber Verser from Thompson Valley High School. More than 120 district students were named AP Scholars.
The Early Childhood Program received an expansion grant from the State of Colorado. They are now able to serve an additional 60 students in the Early Childhood Program, which increased the Colorado Preschool Program slots from 120 to 180.
Kayla Lesperance, a senior at Thompson Valley High School, was one of two Colorado high school students to receive the national Marie Sharpe Art Foundation Scholarship. After a rigorous scholarship application process, two high school art students from each state were selected to attend the Summer Seminar held on the campus of The Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The seminar is designed as an art institute offering an intensive visual art studio program for the students. The session ended with an art show at Colorado College.
The following students from Thompson School District made the Concert Orchestra of the Youth Orchestra of the Rockies. This is an auditioned group for orchestra students from Fort Collins, Windsor and Loveland. Students from Conrad Ball Middle School were: Isaac Rosen, cello, and Hannah Drier, cello; from Mountain View High School: Jessica Lang, violin, and MarLee Johnson, cello; and from Lucile Erwin Middle School: Victoria Massey, violin.
Loveland High School 2009 graduates Rachel Buchmeier, Elena Malkov, Jessica Ryan and Emmy Koons were each awarded a Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship. This four-year renewable scholarship is given to promote student excellence and achievement and to recognize exceptionally able students who show promise of continued academic excellence. The judging criteria included class standing, ACT/SAT test scores and service to community.
Mary Blair Elementary was awarded a $1,000 grant from Wal-Mart to support the use of iPods for classroom literacy instruction and intervention.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Loveland High School had 16 out of 19 students who took the diploma test pass for the program’s first graduation, far exceeding the average of 50 percent in other first IB graduations.
Thompson Valley High School students Kelsie Fairbanks and Carissa Wolf were award winners in the Colorado International Invitational Poster Exhibition–High School Poster Exhibit at the Hatton Gallery at Colorado State University. TVHS Graphics Arts teacher Joy Shaw had 13 students juried into the show, including the two winners.
National Merit Semifinalists from Thompson School District were: Nate Faber and Alexander "Sandy" LaTourrette from Mountain View High School and Amani Moin and Amelia Parmidge from Loveland High School. Commended students include: Bree Gardner, Daniel Lee, Caliana McMurtrey and Aaron Moore from LHS; Emily Hessler, Emma Howard, Shaylin Muhonen and Kevyn Young from Thompson Valley High School; and Darryl Beemer from MVHS.
Debra Lucero, a 2nd grade teacher at B. F. Kitchen Elementary, was honored by Office Max as their "A Day Made Better" program winner. Office Max "adopted" her classroom and surprised her with a $1,000 donation of classroom equipment and supplies.
The Loveland High School and Thompson Valley High School marching bands earned 1st and 2nd place respectively in 4A marching band competition at the Northern Regional Qualifying Event at Ray Patterson Field. LHS was named "Most Improved" from last year in 4A and topped all 21 bands with the night's high score. TVHS hosted the event sponsored by the Colorado Band Masters Association. Their placements earned them a spot in the state competition Oct. 24 in Parker. The LHS Crimson Regiment was directed by Matthew Arau and Aaron Vogel. The TVHS Eagles Band was directed by Rob Pippin. The Berthoud High School Marching Band, under the direction of Russ Massey, also competed.
The Loveland High School Crimson Regiment Marching Band took 1st place in the Colorado State Marching Band finals at Legacy Stadium in Aurora. They also won caption awards for high visual and high general effect. The band was under the direction of Matthew Arau and Aaron Vogel; the drum majors were seniors Emily Halvorson and Lydia Bosch.
Loveland High School student Alexander Clinkenbeard was selected as the Mike, Gene & Maurice Reidy Award recipient for 2009. He will be honored Jan. 29 at the Colorado Tennis Hall of Fame Gala & Annual Awards Celebration in Denver. He is being acknowledged for his sportsmanship, leadership and achievement. He is a two-time state 2nd place tennis singles champion for Colorado high school tennis.
Jen Bouska, 5th grade teacher at Carrie Martin Elementary, applied for a grant from the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Loveland and was awarded a $1,000 check for technology in her classroom.
Lucile Erwin Middle School’s honor choir and 7th grade choir attended the annual American Choral Director’s Association middle school/junior high choral festival. Both groups achieved Superior ratings for their performances, not only because of their choral excellence but also because of their conduct on stage and during the entire festival. In addition, both groups received Superior ratings on the sight reading portion of the day.
Greta Zaring, a district Reading Recovery teacher, and Lisa Englund, Title 1 teacher at Sarah Milner Elementary and Thompson Council of the International Reading Association president, were awarded Geri Stone Memorial Scholarships from Reading Recovery Council of North America to fund their attendance at the 2010 conference in Columbus, Ohio, in February.
Loveland Mayor Cecil Gutierrez proclaimed Nov. 17 as Loveland High School Crimson Regiment Band Day in recognition of its placing 1st in state in 4A competition as well as having the highest score of all bands at the state competition. The proclamation noted that the 101-student band performs community service by providing musical entertainment at various community events throughout the year; mentors middle school musicians; and practices thousands of hours collectively to reach and maintain a high level of excellence.
Thanks to the generous support of the Rockley Family Foundation and the hard work of Mountain View music and arts volunteers, the Mountain View High School music program received three new Joseph Pramberger pianos and 10 new Ethernet/synthesizer keyboards for the music teaching lab. The Rockley Family Foundation included money for maintenance and tuning of the pianos throughout the year. This provided MVHS with a new performance grand piano for the main auditorium, a new baby grand piano for the choir room, and a new professional upright piano for one of the practice rooms.
Michael Moy, Loveland High School junior clarinetist, was selected to be first chair clarinet out of 125 clarinetists who auditioned for the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle. He was also one of four WIBC students selected to travel internationally and represent the U.S. Moy was selected to travel to Brazil next summer to attend a Music Festival at the Conservatory of Tatui in Brazil.
The Loveland High School Wind Symphony was selected to be the headlining high school performing group at the Western International Band Clinic in November 2010. One high school is selected from the entire world through audition. The selected group this year was Iwakuni H.S. Wind Ensemble from Japan. The LHS group is the first ever selected from Colorado to perform at WIBC.
