Good News Bulletin

That's a wrap!

On Wednesday, January 15, Elizabeth School District held its District Spelling Bee in the middle school auditorium. We had 12 students from across the district who had placed in their school spelling bees in December to earn the right to compete in the district bee.

After 19 rounds and an hour of spelling, we exhausted the list of 160 words the students had studied and still had seven spellers in the final competition. After a short break, we reconvened the competition moving to a list of words none of the students had been given.

Round 24 found two remaining spellers in the competition, Maddie Baker from EMS and Olivia Benson from Legacy Academy. Round 26 declared our winner and our sole ESD representative in the state spelling bee, Maddie Baker! Congratulations to all of our participants, and good luck to Maddie at the state spelling bee, the first round of which is February 20, 2025.

(*additional note - A special thank you to Jessica Benson for putting in all of the hard work behind the scenes in helping coordinate this year's spelling bee!)

Did you know that January is School Board Appreciation Month? Throughout the month of January, we will be talking with some of the ESD board members to get to know a bit more about their background, what motivated them to join the board and more!

Our first spotlight is with ESD Board President Rhonda Olsen.

Olsen was appointed to the ESD School Board in the Fall of 2021. She ran for re-election in 2023. She says her motivation behind becoming a board member began when she first heard about an opening. Initially, she had no intention of running for a seat, but after attending some of the school board meetings and getting to know the process more, she decided to go for it and hasn't looked back since.

Now, it has developed into a true passion for Olsen, who says she is determined to ensure that Elizabeth School District students are given a solid academic foundation to help prepare them for their future. She has personally seen and experienced the benefits of higher education and wants to see that all students in the community are afforded similar opportunities, pointing out the value of knowledge and how it will carry them through their adults lives long after graduating high school.

Check out the interview above to learn more about Rhonda Olsen and be on the lookout for our next board member spotlight with Mary Powell.

Thank you Rhonda for all that you do for the Elizabeth community!

The numbers are in and the EHS Cardinal Club Community Pickleball Tournament was a success! The tournament generated roughly $600 which will nearly fund one entire scholarship.

All together nine teams competed in a round robin style of tournament where each team played every other and earned one point per victory. The team with the most points (undefeated) walked away with the Championship.

Thank you to all who participated in the tournament and congratulations to Don Downs and Steve Rohlwing winning the Championship and Coach Ty Barrett and his wife Lori taking 2nd place.

Recently, ESD officials met with the Elizabeth Fire Department, Elizabeth Police Department and the Town of Elizabeth to discuss what a collaboration would look like with fuel resources.

This school year, ESD Transportation added new fuel pumps for the buses, replacing previous ones which were decades old. The idea is for the pumps to not only serve ESD buses, but also police, fire and town vehicles. Since all of those agencies are tax exempt, ESD officials believe it will make the entire process easier than having to go through retail pumps.

At the meeting you see pictured above, the discussion centered around what was needed to get the partnership established, finalization of governmental agreements, billing and future plans of sharing additional resources.

Elizabeth School District is piloting the program later this month and will look to expand it in the near future, eventually collaborating with all of the agencies that have agreed to the partnership.

Typically you can't escape to a starry night in the middle of the day, but that's exactly what happened at Running Creek Elementary.

This week, elementary students were thrilled to receive a special visit and presentation from Fiske Planetarium from University of Colorado Boulder. The staff brought along their portable planetarium dome and a host of exciting traveling activities, giving the students a chance to explore the wonders of space without having to leave the RCE gym.

Students from 3rd grade through 5th grade embarked on an awe-inspiring journey through the universe. They toured the solar system, learned about the moon phases and discovered the secrets of the night sky. Running Creek Elementary Principal Michael Seefried described the day as being filled with curiosity, discovery and plenty of "oohs" and "ahhs".

Thank you to the staff from Fiske Planetarium for this eye-opening presentation!

This week ESD board members and Superintendent Dan Snowberger met with the staff at Elizabeth Middle School as part of a Q&A session. ESD Board President Rhonda Olsen and ESD Board Treasurer Mike Calahan took part in the meeting. This is the latest of the sessions, which previously were held at Singing Hills Elementary and Running Creek Elementary.

The next session will be held in the coming weeks at Elizabeth High School.

The idea of the sessions is to answer questions and concerns and have open discussions with staff about school related issues. Thanks to everyone for showing up and we value your feedback!

ESD officials are hoping for a good turnout this year for Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS). The CMAS testing happens each year and the data that comes from the testing is vital for the school district to determine the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction.

Last year, certain grade levels across the school district saw a lower turnout than hoped for.

While school officials respect the option that parents have to opt out of their student(s) taking CMAS, we wanted to convey the importance of the data. If there was a good turnout this year for CMAS, it would greatly assist Elizabeth School District with crucial data surrounding curriculum.

CMAS will take place in April and we appreciate your cooperation!

Time to get your tickets for the 119th National Western Stock Show going on January 11th - 26th, 2025.

Attached is the flyer for the Elizabeth School District Stock Show Fundraising Program. It contains an active link where anyone can go in, enter the promo code, and purchase tickets at discount rates during the Stock Show.

These purchases also support the Elizabeth Education Foundation as they will receive $2 per every ticket sold through this link.

Check out the stock show while supporting Elizabeth School District at the same time!

Jan 20th - No school - MLK Day

Jan 21st - EHS Boys Basketball JV vs. Sierra 5:30-6:30 p.m.

EHS Boys Basketball Varsity vs. Sierra 7:00-8:00 p.m.

Jan 22nd - EHS Boys Wrestling Varsity Dual 6:00-8:00 p.m.

EMS 8th Girls Basketball game AWAY @ Mountain Ridge 3:45-4:30 p.m.

EMS 7th Girls Basketball game AWAY @ Mountain Ridge 4:45-5:30 p.m.

Jan 23rd - Late Start - Teacher Collaboration

EMS Athletics: 8th Girls Basketball Game HOME vs. Eagleview 4:00-5:30 p.m.

Jan 24th - Hunter's Legacy Tournament at EHS 5:00-9:30 p.m.

(JANUARY IS NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARD APPRECIATION MONTH. BE SURE TO SAY THANK YOU TO OUR HARD WORKING BOARD MEMBERS!)

EMS sports calendar

EHS sports calendar

**Reminder to all parents: Be sure to check the websites of your individual schools for more information about upcoming events.

Elizabeth High School: https://www.elizabethschooldistrict.org/EHS

Elizabeth Middle School: https://www.elizabethschooldistrict.org/EMS

Singing Hills Elementary School: https://www.elizabethschooldistrict.org/SHE

Running Creek Elementary School: https://www.elizabethschooldistrict.org/RCE

The Elizabeth Education Foundation partners with Elizabeth School District in numerous ways throughout the year to support students and teachers. This volunteer-led, independent fundraising foundation provides scholarships for graduating seniors, classroom grants for teachers, and the STARS Awards for outstanding citizenship among students.

Learn more about the EEF at its website.