The Weekly Update #4

Dear Summit Families,

We have enjoyed an excellent school year thus far and December will be busy with student talent, creativity, and achievement on display at every turn. Our Community of Scholars is engaged in academic rigor daily through high level learning, deep thinking, and creative expression.

We have arrived at a tremendous milestone as the completion of our new Career and Technical learning community is just weeks away! Our bold vision to expand the impact of a Summit education will soon become a reality. For years we have taught 21st Century Skills through collaborative projects, critical thinking, and community engagement. Now we will bring our project based learning to the next level and provide innovative opportunities for our students to apply academic rigor and prepare for their future. Our robotics team is now one of the best in BVSD. They have competed in two tournaments this year, and improve with each competition. Dozens of parents support this effort and we will be hosting a tournament on Saturday, January 17th at Boulder High School.

We anticipate the full use of our new classrooms when we return from winter break for the second semester. We will have a soft opening on Friday, December 19th so students can view the new area before break. You are all invited to our Grand Opening Celebration on Monday, January 26, 2026 at 6pm. We will gather in Husky Hall to share gratitude for our tremendous achievement, then show off our new learning community with an open house and refreshments.

Monday, January 26, 2026 will mark the official closing of our Design Futures Capital Campaign. Parent support has been nothing short of extraordinary as our Design Futures fundraising efforts stand at over $460k we are so hopeful that we will reach our goal of $500k. Please remember all donations are cumulative and amounts of $2,026 or higher include named donor recognition on our donor wall.

We are so grateful to our families for supporting Summit in so many ways. Every week, we see parents volunteering, contributing, planning, and connecting to make our school community stronger. Thanks also for your generous gifts to our Summit Annual Fund which are pouring in. Have a wonderful Winter Holiday Season.

Sincerely,

Adam Galvin,

Principal

Thank you to those parents and community members who participated in this semester’s book talks on The Disengaged Teen (by Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop). Parents who read this book said it influenced conversations and mindsets at home, and made space to build agency in their students as they could now name the level of engagement they demonstrated throughout the day in their classrooms, with peers, in clubs, and in extracurricular activities. Several of our teachers have used language and concepts from this book in their classroom, and you’ll be able to spot references to this book in Dr. Eastwood’s Capstone slides and in her back to school presentation.

Next semester, I’m honored to be partnering with community member Dave Bonaiuto in facilitating two book talks on Richard Reeves’s Of Boys and Men. Please consider joining us for what I’m calling a “radical yet essential” community conversation around fatherhood, parenting, and new definitions of masculinity either or both mornings. (Wednesday 1/14 @ 9:05am and Friday 3/27 @ 8:05am)

“Doing more for boys doesn’t mean doing any less for women and girls… It’s the kind of zero sum thinking that is doing so much damage to our politics and to our culture. We can think two thoughts at once.” (Reeves)

Thanks to the generous support of many of our current and alumni families, we have raised over $460,000 toward our $500,000 goal. We’re nearly there! The new CTE wing will open in January and will be a wonderful addition to Summit. To those who have supported this project, a huge thank you!

If you would like to help us close the gap and reach our goal, you may donate here Design Futures. The campaign concludes at the end of January, so please donate soon! Families contributing $2,026 or more will have their names displayed in the new wing and will receive an invitation to the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on December 18th. A Grand Opening Event is scheduled for January 26th for the whole Summit community.

Congratulations, Summit community! In just a few weeks since launching the Annual Fund, ninety families have generously donated nearly $50,000 to support our school. Our goals are to achieve 100% participation and raise $100,000. If you haven’t donated yet, please donate here Annual Fund.

The Annual Fund supports:

• Teacher Compensation & Professional Development

• Educational Tools & Curriculum Support

• Student Activities & Enrichment

• Facility Enhancements

To maximize your contribution, check with your employer about matching gift programs or use this Search Tool to find out if they offer one!

Congrats to the Summit Cross Country team on an awesome season! We'd like to give a special shout out to our team top 5 Finishers at the district meet, as well as the 5 athletes who had perfect attendance for the whole season.

Summit's Top 5 Boys at District

Drake Kexel (taking 4th place in the whole district!)

Aiden Roza

Adrian Miaja

Will Needy

Zach Wahlert

Summit's Top 5 Girls at District

Nina Kamark

Vivian Hendricks

Ellie Cross

Mila Gulasekaram

Hazel Stelzer

Perfect Practice Attendance

Zephan Childs (2yrs in a row!)

Theo Cilia

Huxley Armitage

Avi Gutierrez

Shia Biegen

Summit A went 3-0 and won the tournament! They were an absolute blast to watch -- every kid stepped up and played the best ultimate that I've ever seen them play.

Our other two Summit teams also had strong showings. These teams ended up very short-handed and had a lot of players who were playing in their first tournament. Despite that, they went 3-0 and 2-1. I heard from their coaches that they were still going strong at the end of the day and that they had a lot of fun.

All of the coaches are really proud of them all!

Hi everyone — I’m Ross Holbrook, and I’m really excited to be the new Summit Middle School soccer coach. Soccer has been part of my life since I was four. I grew up playing competitive club soccer in Colorado with Cherry Creek Lightning/Colorado Storm, and I still play on indoor and outdoor men’s teams because I just love the game.

The skills that soccer gave me growing up is what I want to pass on here: learning to work hard for your teammates, handling wins and losses with humility, pushing through challenges, and finding confidence through effort and improvement. I’ve also spent the last 20+ years in finance and real estate, plus some nonprofit board work, which has taught me a lot about leadership, teamwork, and building strong communities.

Most importantly, I’m a dad of two girls who play and love soccer, and I am passionate about creating a team culture where every kid feels supported and has a real chance to grow. My goal this season is simple: help players build solid fundamentals, compete with heart, and enjoy the process — becoming better athletes and better teammates every day. I can’t wait to get started with this group.

Barbara Stoddard joins Summit Middle School as the new Head Girls Basketball Coach, bringing nine years of coaching experience and a lifelong love of the game. A Boulder High alum who first picked up basketball in middle school, Barbara believes it’s never too late to learn, grow, and fall in love with the sport.

Her goal this season is to build a unified, confident team that plays with energy, strong fundamentals, and resilience—while helping every player grow and contribute.

Barbara played for Boulder High and now proudly cheers on her son, who plays on the Boulder High varsity team. Her coaching style focuses on fundamentals, confidence-building, and creating a positive, supportive team culture.

Inspired by players like A’ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers, Dijonai Carrington, Sabrina Ionescu, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Kiyan Anthony, she brings competitive energy and enthusiasm to the court.

Barbara lives in Boulder with her husband and son and is excited to help Summit athletes develop their skills, teamwork, and love for the game.

Math is gearing up for mid-terms in December. Be sure to check the calendar at the end for all the upcoming dates.

English I just finished their second analytical essays, showing great growth from their first efforts, and are now concluding the semester with a choice reading project, designing new covers and writing plot summaries and reviews.

English II students are brushing up on their oration skills in preparation for their Changing the World speech presentations next week

English III invites you to listen to our This I Believe recordings. Our work is based on the 1950s radio program This I Believe created by American broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow. In this radio broadcast, people from all walks of life were asked to share their beliefs in essays that were personal, positive, and brief. We endeavored to do the same. We hope that you find our recordings compelling and our voices uplifting as we speak honestly about the philosophies that guide us daily. Please listen here with an open heart.

Here are a few student reflections on the project:

"This unit helps build value in ourselves by making us think about what we believe in. I've never thought about what I believe in until now. This helps improve our actions and to stay true to our morals. This builds value in our community as well as others can understand you better and connect with you since everyone has shared a vulnerability."

"It lets us be aware about the things around us. We learn more about people and we can exchange our ideas. There is no judging in this project and it was very fun."

"It puts ourselves in a vulnerable position. When we open ourselves up to the community, we can start to understand each other. That will ultimately form lifelong bonds."

English IV is drafting an essay on one of the stories from the short story unit we just finished while reading As You Like It aloud in parts between now and winter break. We like to spend December in the Forest of Arden, where they fleet the time carelessly as they did in the golden world.

We had a fantastic time at our 8th grade Reformers' Tea, where students stepped into the shoes of 19th‑century activists to bring economic change and reform movements to life. After researching and writing biographical profiles, each student dressed up and acted as a real reformer—sparkling conversations about abolition, labor, suffrage, and other responses to rapid social and economic change filled the room. This lively finale to Unit 3 showcased thoughtful historical thinking, confident public speaking, and a deeper understanding of how Americans shaped—and were shaped by—industrial and market changes in the early 19th century.

UNC (University of Northern Colorado) Math Contest – Finalist Announcement

We are excited to announce the finalists of this year’s UNC Math Contest. The competition featured 844 participants from grades 4–12 across the state of Colorado and neighboring states, showcasing incredible talent, dedication, and passion for mathematics. Congratulations to all participants for their outstanding effort and performance.

Summit Finalists
George Lin (6th Grade) – Ranked 1st among all 6th-grade participants
Hansen Fang (6th Grade)
Nalin Goyal (6th Grade)
Derek Li (7th Grade) – Ranked 3rd among all 7th-grade participants
Cathy Zheng (8th Grade)
Chloe Yan (8th Grade) – Ranked 2nd among all 8th-grade participants
Ethan Liu (8th Grade)
Bowen Qian (8th Grade)
Levina Gu (8th Grade)

Each of these students demonstrated exceptional problem-solving ability and mathematical creativity. Finalists will advance to the final round on March 7, 2026, at McKee Hall, University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.

Look for future announcements of competitions coming up in the new year for AMC8 and Mathcounts.

Congratulations again to all!

We just wanted to say how proud we are of all our teams after their first competition! It was incredible to see the hard work, creativity, and resilience shine through on the field. From last-minute repairs to new strategies and the excitement of those first successful(ish) runs, our students truly rose to the challenge.

For many, this was their very first tournament, and we saw so much growth in understanding, confidence, teamwork, and problem-solving throughout the day. That’s what this program is all about: learning to face big challenges with teams ("We Not Me") all while gaining so much knowledge on how to engineer solutions.

Speaking of ""We Not Me", we also want to give a huge shout-out to our amazing mentors and volunteers. Your dedication week after week makes this all possible. This is the most engaged mentor group we’ve ever had, and with so many new and young students this season, your steady guidance and patience have been absolutely essential to our success.

As you noticed no doubt, there are other districts that invest massive amounts of time and money into this program. The last 3 years, the earliest we experienced a tournament was in January and with yesterday's experience, students can see how it all works and will be invigorated to improve their builds for the next round.

Be proud and continue to encourage students to lift each other up by highlighting those successes, even if small.

Example of students lifting each other up at the tournament:

Student C: "We did horrible, we lost."

Student A: "No way!! WE SCORED TWICE!!!"

Cheers,

Coaches John & Peter

Since returning from Alamosa, we’ve been carrying La Puente’s message—“See a Need, Meet a Need”—into our school community by looking closely at what our peers needed and taking action. In November, we gathered 500 pounds of food for Sister Carmen, ran a lunch Homework Club, helped teachers during office hours and club time, mentored 5th graders, and explored ways to strengthen mental health support at Summit. One of the most exciting parts of this work has been seeing it inspire other students—especially 6th graders—to step up and get involved. Thank you to our families for supporting us along the way; whether donating food, cheering us on, or listening as we shared what we learned, your support helped us grow as leaders and make a difference in our community.

It’s been so fun working with the 6th graders in Spanish! They have come so far in such little time! They have mastered the numbers 1-100, colors, months, days and greetings. They are quite good at saying what they want, what they need and what they have! And now we are working in clothing and talking about what we wear.

For Dia de Los Muertos, we made papel picado to make the halls look festive and some skull shrinky dinks key chains and we also watched The Book of Life and ate some pan de Los muertos!

We have the holiday season right around the corner and the kids are going to make their own piñatas! If anyone would like to donate some newspapers for paper mache, that would be AWESOME!!!!! Also, some empty toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls are always helpful as well! Please use the button below and let us know if you can help.

Muchas gracias y Feliz dia de las Gracias! Senora Nina

The World Language Department will be participating in the National Spanish Exam and National French Exam in the spring. Participation is voluntary, but this is a good chance to see where students stack up in their language acquisition compared to students across the country at similar levels. Students who are interested in taking the test should talk to their world language teacher. Registration will occur in January. Testing will take place in the spring one day after school.

Happy December!

Our 8th graders are in the exciting "create" phase of their Pinnacle Projects — the heart of the experience where ideas become real. Across all three tracks (Capstone, STEM, and National History Day), students are hard at work designing, building, writing, and rehearsing. While each track follows its own requirements and deadlines, this shared phase is where curiosity, persistence, and creativity come together.

What you’ll see happening now:

Students should be working on their projects over the weekends and holiday breaks. It’s ok if you’re traveling, have a conversation with your teen about what they need to make progress on their project while you’re away.

How families can help

Offer time and space: Encourage a consistent work routine at home and a quiet place for focused creation.

Ask open questions: students often just need you to listen, not problem solve. By asking open-ended questions you can help students think through the intricacies of their project and find new connections.

Try some of these questions to open a dialogue with your students about their Pinnacle Project:

What are you most proud of so far with this project?

What is one specific thing that would make your project feel easier to work on?

What’s one problem you ran into this week, and how did you try to solve it?

If you had an extra hour this weekend, what would you work on next?

What’s one thing you wish I understood about your project?

Is there anything you need from me to keep going? (materials, time, someone to listen)

Key reminders

Each track has its own checkpoints and deadlines — see your teen’s course in Schoology for all pertinent due dates and rubrics.

The create phase often involves trial and error; setbacks are a normal and valuable part of learning.

We’ll celebrate completed projects at Pinnacle Conference Night on Wednesday April 22, 2026.

Capstone students specifically are preparing for the Community Expert Event on Wednesday January 21, 2026. We are looking for community volunteers to meet with a few students during this event and provide constructive feedback on their projects. We welcome everyone - you do not need to be an 8th grade parent or even have a student at Summit! If you are interested in participating please fill out this form and I will reach out with more details. Please note: your area of interest does not need to be your profession, and often our most successful volunteers are those with interests or hobbies in the areas that students are exploring.

Thank you for supporting our students through this hands-on, meaningful phase. Their determination and creativity are what make Pinnacle Projects a highlight of 8th grade.

Warmly,

Erin Eastwood

Summit Middle School proudly presents its Fall Drama production, Off the Script: Red Riding Hood Edition — an original AI-derived comedy created especially for our students.

Please join us for two evenings of laughter and creativity:

• Wednesday, December 10 at 6:30 PM — Period 7 Cast

• Thursday, December 11 at 6:30 PM — Period 5 Cast

Free admission but donations appreciated. We can’t wait to see you there!

December 18 • 6:30 PM

Join our advanced choir for a gorgeous lineup of choral pieces—then stay for our show-stopping concert performance of Wicked!
You won’t want to miss this extraordinary evening.

We are thrilled to announce that several members of Silver Rain, Summit’s Advanced Choir, have been accepted into the Colorado Middle All State Choir!

Their commitment, talent, and countless hours of practice have paid off in a big way. Statewide, 1,653 students auditioned across 153 participating schools. Please join us in celebrating these outstanding musicians who will represent Summit on the state stage this winter. We’re so proud of them!

Serena Xiao

Jasmine Gapinski

Ana Schoppa

Kate Jaimes

Madeline Cheung-Springett

Seldron Yeh

The art room has felt more alive than ever! Drawing classes have been working on creating large scale collaborative pieces that merge the styles and themes from contemporary artists with their own original visions. Working on a 4-5 foot scale, they have to create in a whole new way, make decisions together and teach each other in the process.

Ten Summit students were nominated and selected into this year's BVSD Honor Band. We'd love to see you at their concert at Monarch H.S. on Saturday 1/24 at 3pm! Congratulations to:

• Ashlyn Kozura (Flute)
• Alanya Jordan (Flute)
• Ronnie Pfeil (Oboe)
• Joseph Levy (Alto Sax)
• Cal Purshouse (Alto Sax)
• Zachary Wahlert (Tenor Sax)
• Kaitlyn Flynn (Trumpet)
• Odin Jung (Trombone)
• Cathy Zheng (Trombone)
• Adrian McIntosh-Schwartz (Baritone)

Four Summit students auditioned for and were selected into this year's CU Honor Band, comprised of some of the best middle school musicians from all over Colorado. We'd love to see you at their concert at Macky Auditorium on Saturday 2/21 at 6pm! Congratulations to:

• Howen Qian (Flute)
• Ronnie Pfeil (Oboe)
• Vivian Hendricks (Clarinet)
• Joseph Levy (Alto Sax)

Robotics Students created sumo bots. Here are what the students said these were the biggest improvements they needed in order to make their robot better with the design process takeaways from our sumo bot challenge:

Most common suggestions:

• Add more weight or stability
• Refine code - especially turning or backing up after sensing
• Better sensor placement - color sensor height, distance sensor position
• Simplify or strengthen design

Recurring takeaways:

• The importance of weight balance and testing
• Better understanding of if/then logic and loops
• How torque vs. speed trade-offs affect performance
• That small adjustments (sensor position and code tweaks) can make major differences
• Learning teamwork, patience and problem solving

Summit’s next 10% Giveback Day with Abo’s Pizza, 637 S. Broadway, is on Monday December 8th, 3-10pm. 10% of sales support Summit each second Monday, excludes January. Applies to take away, delivery, and gift cards. No need to say Summit, just pop in and enjoy pizza!

Winter Teacher Appreciation Week!

Help us kick off Teacher Appreciation Week, beginning Monday, December 15th through December 19th! We’ll welcome staff back to the final 2025 school week with a warm beverage from the Rising Tide Trailer on Monday. Please see volunteer opportunities and ways we’re celebrating our awesome Summit crew here, and thank you for showing Summit staff all the love this week!

Day 3, Teacher Appreciation Week: Please help us treat our incredible Summit teachers and staff to a delicious breakfast burrito!

Purchase a Brunch Burrito to keep Summit staff going :)

Please help us show the amazing Summit Teachers and Staff how much we appreciate their hard work this school year! Parent Connections is asking Summit families to consider donating $25 via Venmo, which will purchase one $25 gift card for each Teacher and Staff member at Summit. That's 46 amazing people! Parent Connections will purchase the gift cards and make our best attempts to align with each Teacher or Staff member's favorite spot (if we know it) and if not, we will purchase a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s gift card. Thank you!

Feel free to open this image and print it out at home to make sure you know all the important dates this quarter.

Link your loyalty card to Supporters of Summit!

Over the years, Summit has received thousands of dollars from King Soopers because parents have linked their loyalty cards to Summit. If you haven’t done this yet, please follow the directions below.

1. Click on King Soopers rewards program

2. Scroll down to #2 “Link your card to an organization”

3. Log in to your account

4. Choose “Supporters of Summit”

Supporters of Summit Inc (SOS) is the non-profit 501c3 organization that supports Summit Middle School. SOS contributions are tax-deductible. (Tax ID 84-1487925).

If your student will be absent for three or more days, please have your student come to the office for a prearranged absence form.

Saturday, December 6, 2025

9:30 to 10:30 am

Cristol Chemistry

CU Boulder

***

"CU Professors Kelvin Bates and Steven Brown travel the world to study the amazing, invisible, ethereal stuff that blankets our amazing planet and makes life on Earth possible.

Have you wondered...Why is the Sky Blue!? Why are sunrises orange? What is air made of exactly? How can you make your own cloud? Did you know the Earth wears sunglasses!? And what's the story about the greenhouse gases and what do they do?

This show will bring air down to Earth! It's geared for young students who are eager to learn about the science of our atmosphere."