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In this Issue: Jr. High Basketball 1

Letter from the Executive Director 2

Lend a Hand 3

Why Hamlet Matters! 4

Student Spotlight - On Broadway 5-6

Colorado State Free Throw Competition 7

Denver Art Museum 8

Vanguard Ski Trip 8

Congressional Art Competition 9

CMCA Kindergarten 10

PTO News 10

College Acceptance Party 11

Dates to Remember: Mar 3-7 Jr. High Spirit Week

Mar 11 PTO Meeting

Mar 13 Kindergarten Information Night

Mar 20 FDK Salute to America

Mar 21 1st Grade Fiesta Day

Mar 22-31 Spring Break

Mar 31 Teachers return

April 1 Students return

Junior High School Boys’ Basketball 32-0

For more details on these events, and to see additional events, visit

www.cmca12.com/calendar.

The junior high boys’ basketball team ended their undefeated season with a record of 32-0. Not only did they win the Black Forest League tournament for the third year in a row, but they were also the BFL champions for the second consecutive year. To be challenged with additional competition this year, the boys had to go outside their league, playing bigger schools that had upwards of a thousand students. During these competitions, the boys won each game by more than thirty points. Some of the team’s most impressive wins this year were against Caesar Chavez Charter School, Cheyenne Mountain Junior High, Sabin Middle School, and Russell Middle School. Coach Brent Fuqua has coached the junior high team for four years now, and these boys are more than prepared to move up to the high school to start winning in the 3A division next year. Congratulations to the team for a fantastic season!

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From the Executive Director

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Dear Friends and Families of CMCA, This year in the high school, Mr. Fenton and I have been meeting with our students once a month for Virtue Discussions. This month’s topic is Citizenship, one of our school’s five Keys to Success. The definition we provided to students states that “Citizenship is honoring your place in the community by living out the collection of qualities a person is expected to have to be a responsible member of that community.” These qualities include a duty to the community, support to individuals in need, participation, and respect. Central to the idea of citizenship is the concept of being a “citizen,” the notion that one is a member of a community, and that with membership comes privileges and, equally

important, responsibilities. While this seems self-evident, it is a concept sometimes lost – or taken for granted – by longstanding members of a community. We do not always have the opportunity to choose the communities in which we are citizens. We do not choose the families into which we are born, for instance, or our nations of birth. Nonetheless, we are important members of these groups, groups from which we derive benefits and crucial aspects of our identity. In other cases, we choose the communities in which we wish to be citizens: the cities in which we live, the churches in which we worship or the civic groups we frequent, the school communities we join for the sake of our children. The choice to join these communities is more intentional, based in large part on the benefits that come with being members. The results of these choices affect us in significant ways. The benefits and privileges that come with citizenship in a given community are also accompanied, as the definition we share with our students notes, by responsibilities. Choosing to be a member of a school community is significantly different from choosing where one shops for groceries. We often switch stores week to week in search of the lowest grocery bill, or we patronize one for its produce and another for its deli. It is not even similar to joining a gym, where the tie that binds us is perhaps nothing more than a several-months-long contract. Choosing a school is much more comparable to joining a family. The citizens of the school - its students, parents, and staff members - are not just customers of the organization; they ARE the organization. To test this assertion, consider your emotional reaction when our school is defaced with graffiti. It is not the same one you experience when your bank is tagged, distressing as that may be. Rather, it is a reaction much more akin to the revulsion we feel at the desecration of our own homes. Choosing to be a member of Cheyenne Mountain Charter Academy and The Vanguard School – that is, our school community – is choosing an extended relationship built on mutual trust and shared commitment for a long-term goal. It requires investment in getting to know other members of the community – teachers, students, and other parents – all for the benefit of the community and the shared goal of educating its students, our children. So, as we ask our students during discussions on these concepts, “What does this mean to us?,” we begin to more fully understand the meaning of membership in the CMCA community. That membership – or, perhaps more accurately, that citizenship – means that, by making the choice to join the community at Cheyenne Mountain Charter Academy, we do so with the expectation that our children will receive an outstanding education in a physically and emotionally safe

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Sincerely,

Colin T. Mullaney

Executive Director

Lend a Hand

CMCA’s annual Lend a Hand campaign started off strongly in December and has continued to gain momentum throughout the beginning of 2014. Over $20,000 has already been donated by approximately 19% of our families. As a public charter school, we operate on approximately 85% of the typical funding that a normal public school receives. The remainder of the funds needed for the programs we offer originate primarily from the support of our family and friends. A donation of $100 per student would exceed our goal of $100,000 for the 2014 Lend a Hand campaign. The Spring Benefit Bash is the major event fundraiser for the Lend a Hand campaign, and we are still asking for sponsors and silent auction donations for this great event. Every dollar raised from this event comes directly back to CMCA and The Vanguard School. If you would like to volunteer, contribute an auction item, or donate a bottle of wine for the wine pull, please contact Jonathan Dooley at Jonathan.Dooley@cmca12.com for more information. This event will be held on May 2, and tickets go on sale March 17. Please save the date. Thank you for your continued support of CMCA and The Vanguard School.

environment that does not undermine individual family values; and that they will benefit through their bonds to a community that strives for excellence in all it does. In joining we also signal a commitment to perform certain duties on behalf of this community, to support its individual members as we see they need assistance, to participate in its community life, and to respect and honor it. More specifically, in addition to the duties we each need to perform to support our own children in their education – making sure they complete their homework in quality fashion; making sure they are at school every day, on time; modeling virtuous behavior – our community needs each of us to be involved in ways that support its long-term health. There are always many opportunities for this involvement, including

joining and being part of the leadership for the PTO; learning about the Common Core State Standards and supporting our school’s efforts to

resist these and the onerous testing that accompanies them; and attending the Spring Benefit Bash, or even helping to run it.

Please consider supporting one or more of these efforts, or find another area of our school that can benefit from your talents and efforts. The possibilities are limitless. Thank you for your time and commitment to our school. We are honored to have you as fellow citizens in a community dedicated to the development of our students’ character and academic potential.

by Jonathan Dooley, Development and Marketing Coordinator

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Why Hamlet Matters!

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Student Spotlight - On Broadway

As an English teacher, I often get the feeling that people – students and parents alike – understand the importance of learning how to write well. After all, it improves critical thinking skills, and most of the students will have to be able to communicate well in order to succeed in college and in their future jobs. A working knowledge of grammar and spelling supports this end. Vocabulary, too, is seen as valuable because of how heavily it is featured on standardized tests. All of this is true. The problem arises when we begin to read and even memorize difficult literature. Honestly, how will reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet help someone to land a high-paying job, succeed in the military, or raise a family? Take this example: “Sure he that made us with such large discourse, / Looking before and after, gave us not / That capability and godlike reason / To fust in us unused” (Ham. 4.4.36-39). What does that even mean, and, more importantly, why should we care? Hearing a definition of courage is certainly worthwhile, but definitions fade. They tamely enter the mind like any other fact and sit there, like a plaque on a mantelpiece, first to be looked at and considered, but later to be forgotten because of the blindness of familiarity. Stories, on the other hand, not only instruct, but delight. They provide examples, drawing people into the human struggles of their characters. People are much more likely to remember a friend (or, for that matter, an enemy) than a definition. Courage, says the all-knowing dictionary, is strength in the face of fear. When I need courage, this definition does not quite have enough oomph to inspire me to virtue. To me, courage is Ivan Denisovich suffering in a Russian gulag and not giving up hope; courage is Henry David Thoreau determining to live a simple life to discover what is really important; courage is Sydney Carton. Because it is the accepted standard in academic writing, I teach my students to use the literary present tense when writing about literature. Essentially, that means that, instead of “Hamlet spoke,” the correct tense would be “Hamlet speaks.” Great literature and great characters are reborn with every generation of readers. Hamlet’s problems are our own. The passage above improves critical thinking because of its complexity, demands a good understanding of vocabulary, and, after peeling back those layers of difficulty, expresses an eloquent and profound truth about humanity. To paraphrase the previous excerpt from Hamlet: “God did not give us incredible abilities of observation and reason for us not to use them.” So let’s observe “the best that has been thought and said” and learn from it. These characters and these stories live on as examples for us, whether we turn out to be businessmen, sailors, mothers, professors, or waiters. What matters is what kind of person you will be in any one of those situations. Literature provides an essential guide. That is why characters such as Hamlet, Madame Defarge, Huckleberry Finn, and Beowulf matter. We read these great, difficult works because they provide insight, not only into what it means to be human, but into what it takes to be a good one.

by Carly Stevens, English Teacher

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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT Please submit all student achievements to be considered for next month’s Vanguard Voice to jonathan.dooley@cmca12.com

Student Spotlight - On Broadway

On February 13, 2014, the second annual “On Broadway Night” hit the stage of the Vanguard School cafetorium, hosted by emcees Ryan Hughes and David Lendzioszek. The show consisted of several numbers from a variety of musicals, beginning with the high school choir’s performance of “There’s No Business Like Show Business” from the musical Annie Get Your Gun. Other highlights of the first act included sophomore Dominic Jackson’s performance of “New York, New York,” as well as senior Emily Collier’s “Someone Like You” solo from Jekyll and Hyde, which was accompanied by senior Justin Luu. An audience favorite included a dance number to Rent’s “Seasons of Love,” a dance choreographed by Audray Flood and performed by the Lyrical Dance Group. The second act started off powerfully with a rousing rendition of “Footloose,” a song performed by thirteen Vanguard students and choreographed by Holly Palmer. Act two also included Craig Cornelia’s duet “Flight,” which was sung by juniors Cheyenne Garrison and Annie Halterman and accompanied by Elizabeth Bowman. Senior Jordyn Arcuri’s performance of “Don’t Rain on my Parade” from Funny Girl, and senior Jacob Evangelista’s “Bring Him Home” from Les Misèrables were also included in the line-up, both accompanied by Ivan Middleton. Concluding the show, the high school choir took the stage to perform “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray. Once again, Vanguard students and staff came together to prove that Vanguard excellence reaches far outside the classroom alone, and that there truly are no people like show people.

Emma Card, Esther Lepore, Cheyenne Garrison, Alyx Callahan, Danielle Herd, Annie Halterman, Elle Sandvik, Susie Kwak, Anette Tennfjord, Rachel Hough, Jordyn Arcuri, Hannah Yu, and Emily Collier

by Annie Halterman, Junior

Joshua Leasure and Annie Halterman

Jordyn Arcuri

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On Broadway Vanguard School Survey

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Kailey Nickel Ryan Hughes

Rachel Hough

Jacob Evangelista and Aaryn Callahan

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Vanguard School Survey

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Colorado State Free Throw Competition

by Dina Fuqua, Athletic Director

On Sunday, March 2, eight of our Vanguard students traveled to Denver to compete in the finals of the Colorado State Free Throw contest. These eight students started out at their local competition on February 1, competing at the Vanguard school in their individual age divisions. Each one of them shot fifteen foul shots at the local level, and both Seth Fuqua and Dominique Clifford shot a perfect fifteen out of fifteen, thereby winning their age divisions and enabling them to compete at the district level. On February 8, the athletes traveled to compete in the district competition where each player had to shoot twenty-five foul shots, and the best shooters moved to the state finals on March 2. Each of these finalists had to compete against ten to fifteen other winners from their district in order to win the title of Colorado State Free Throw Champion. Below are the finalists and the results of the contest. 10 year-old girls- Alexis Garcia finished 2

nd at state.

10 year-old boys- Freddie Wallace finished 2nd

at state. 11 year-old boys- Dominique Clifford won the state title for the second year in a row. He shot nineteen out of twenty-five free throws to win the title this year. 12 year-old boys- Cody Cantrell and Grant Shandy were both finalists at the state competition. 13 year-old boys- Dieudonne Chea won the state title for the first time, shooting eighteen out of twenty-five free throws to win. 14 year-old girls- Hannah McReavy was a finalist at the state competition. 14 year-old boys- Seth Fuqua won his second Colorado title as a free throw shooter. He shot twenty-four out of twenty-five free throws to win the title.

Seth Fuqua, Grant Shandy, Dieudonne Chea, Cody Cantrell, Hannah McReavy, Freddie Wallace, Dominique Clifford, and Alexis Garcia

Vanguard Ski Trip

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Denver Art Museum Vanguard School Survey

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Leslie Duggin, a junior art student at The Vanguard School, is having

her “Self-Portrait” drawing displayed at the prestigious Denver Art

Museum student exhibit. This honor is an extension of the Colorado

Scholastic Competition that was held last month where Leslie won two

gold keys for her works. The museum hand picks only a select group

of art pieces from this show in order to showcase the top art students in

the state. This show will be on exhibit throughout the month of March.

by Greg Custer, Art Teacher

At The Vanguard School at 6:00 A.M. on a

Saturday morning, a hearty crew of half-asleep

snow-shredders met before dawn and loaded

onto a bus for the annual ski trip to Monarch

Mountain. The twenty-three students,

accompanied by Mr. Fenton, Mr. and Mrs.

Augustin, and Mr. Dooley, enjoyed a full day of

skiing at all ability levels. Some students

immediately took to the double black diamond

slopes, while many began the day stretching

their snow legs on the beginner slopes and the

long groomers. Powder flew, and only a few

students tumbled down the slopes. After

meeting for lunch, the students attacked the runs as a low pressure front pushed in, and snow

began to fall. Unfortunately,

the day had to come to its

eventual conclusion, and the

tired skiers and boarders

loaded back onto the bus for

the (seemingly twice as long)

ride home with the sounds of

games and laughter

emanating from every part of

the bus. The entire trip was a

huge success, and everyone

looks forward to next year’s

exciting ski adventure.

by Jonathan Dooley, Development and Marketing Coordinator

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Vanguard School Survey

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Congressional Art Competition

The Vanguard art students recently took part in the Congressional Art Competition. This is a

contest that has a thirty-five year tradition and is heavily attended by all of the regional high

schools. The competition allows five entries from each school to be judged within five categories.

This competition will be capped off with an awards ceremony on March 7 at the Cottonwood Art

School in downtown Colorado Springs. Senator Doug Lamborn will be present to pass out the

awards to the winning artists.

I am proud to announce that two of my students won awards in this presegious art competition.

Javier Padilla (sophomore) won first place in the watercolor painting category, and Anette

Tennfjord (senior) won second place in the drawing category for her “Self-Portrait.”

by Greg Custer, Art Teacher

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CMCA Kindergarten Science Night College Acceptance Party

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by Amy Stephens, Kindergarten Teacher

CMCA has a fantastic PTO! As an organization, they have been able to provide the following for our students, teachers, and CMCA community: Pizza Day, Spirit Wear, Skate City events, Knowledge Bowls, Uniform Resales, Scholastic Books, School Supply Pre-Packs, Teacher Appreciation events, Dances, the Holiday Shop, Fall Carnival, Movie Nights, Original Works, Holiday Bazaar, and Family Eat-and-Greet nights. In addition to these fun events, the PTO has also been able to support the school by funding a variety of purchases that include iPads, technology items, updates to the high school sound system, field trips/family assistance, classroom Smartboards, perimeter fencing, Health Office needs, the high school sidewalk from the lower lot, and so much more throughout the past years. We are an AMAZING school and our student body, staff, families, and teachers deserve all of the great things the PTO helps to facilitate. If you would like to help continue the amazing programs and funding, please consider applying for a PTO Board position. Letters of Intent are due by March 15, 2014, and voting will occur at the PTO meeting on April 11. Please don't hesitate to contact any of the current Board members if you have any questions. Sincerely, 2013-14 CMCA PTO Board Veronica Hughes, President Detra Duncan, Vice-President Crystal Levesque, Treasurer Amy Williams, Secretary

On February 4, despite a menacing snow storm, the kindergarten building was open and eagerly welcoming brave families to Science Night. Quarterly, the kindergarten staff host a special night to reinforce scientific concepts that the students are learning in class, but with a more hands-on approach. During this fun event, the students traveled to a new room every twenty minutes to explore scientific topics. Liz Smith taught about animals, Sheryl Blondin led an experiment about germs, Amy Stephens helped students discover magnetism, and Jen Valenzuela welcomed all of the students and served as the event photographer. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time, and all of the students absolutely loved the magnets that the PTO provided for each child to take home. We hope many kindergarten students and their parents will be able to come to our next special evening event, Geography Night, scheduled to take place during the fourth quarter.

PTO News

Tucker Berry and Oliver Scott

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College Acceptance Party

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by Lisa Frenzel, College Counseling Assistant

Vanguard seniors followed the streaming sounds of college fight songs into the college counseling office on Thursday, February 27, to celebrate their college acceptances and completion of the counseling office’s College Scavenger Hunt. Students gathered to eat pizza and couldn’t get enough of Mrs. Custer’s homemade confetti cupcakes which were decorated with college pennants. Seniors shared their experiences with the college application process and scholarship awards while feasting on the cupcakes. Victor Torres confessed he ate too much pizza, while Hannah Yu raved about the salsa. Seniors who completed the College Scavenger Hunt enjoyed prizes including Prom tickets, Sadie Hawkins dance tickets, homework passes, jeans and hoodie passes, college pennants, and other assorted collegiate goodies. Additionally, Mr. Adducci generously donated a variety of Class of 2014 themed items to be given to the seniors. Erika Kazee said, “The prizes were something everyone could enjoy,” while Angel McNulty and Amanda Jesse agreed that it was a wonderful way to celebrate all of the hard work and achievements put forth by the seniors. Mrs. Custer always enjoys hosting the seniors and welcomes the open door policy of the college counseling office where all high school students are encouraged to drop by to discuss scholarship opportunities, the college selection process, and more. Anna Mohr summed up the celebration, reflecting on it as “a victorious bonding experience for the seniors.” Well done, Vanguard seniors!

Ashlyn Williams, Hannah Rawson, and Anna Mohr

Andriy Lutchenko, Anette Tennfjord, and Jill Custer, College Counselor

Cheyenne Mountain Charter Academy 1605 S. Corona Ave Colorado Springs, CO 80905

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