High School News and Updates (02/23/25)

Hello Spartan families,

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through the third quarter! We are currently in the process of completing our course selection process. Thank you very much for the time that you dedicated to your students helping them select the right courses. We use their course selections to guide our staffing for next year, which is why we are unable to grant too many schedule changes once the schedules are released.

Shout Outs…

• Shout out to Dorothy Lee and the Spanish team for putting together an amazing Evening at the Wax Museum earlier this month!
• Shout out to our Middle and High School TSA teams for their impressive performance at state! Between the two teams we have 63 kids that qualified for Nationals this summer in Nashville Tennessee!
• Shout out to coach Hager and our Girls basketball team for a successful inaugural season. They competed hard this year, and showed dramatic improvements each week! Congratulations girls!
• Shout out to Coach Munro and the boys basketball team! Although the season is not over, they have already set a team record in wins. Nice work boys!

Wish Week

Wish Week is quickly approaching! This year’s Wish Week is the first week of March. Each year, our National Honor Society partners with the Make A Wish Foundation to sponsor a child and help make their wish come true. To meet our fundraising goals, this is a K-12 event. Currently, our NHS students are putting the finishing touches on the plan for the week, and will release that information soon. However, I do want to draw your attention to a couple of events that we are hosting as part of the week. Please see the messages below.

STEM Olympics

For Wish Week 2025, Student Government will host the first ever STEM Olympics on Monday, March 3rd and we need your help refereeing and supervising our student-led events. We have time slots available from 3:30 to 6:00 for a wide range of events to help kick off/(and or) help raise school spirit and fundraising for our wish kid Max. This is also a great opportunity to get in your volunteer hours! Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you there!

Link to sign up: https://forms.gle/Ve9MYbED6bBvcedm8

STEM Science Exhibition

STEM’s Science Exhibition which will take place on Wednesday, March 3rd. This is a K-12 event and should be a fun way for our students to raise money while having fun with science! Please click here for more information!

Looking ahead…

Saturday, 2/22- STEM First Robotics (FRC) scrimmage in Colorado Springs

Wednesday, 2/25- Girls Basketball vs DSST CollegeView

Friday 2/28- Boys JV and Varsity Volleyball home vs. Rocky Mountain Prep- Smart

Monday, 3/3-Friday, 3/7- Wish Week

Tuesday,3/4 Girls Soccer at DSST College View, Boys JV and Varsity Volleyball home versus Arrupe Jesuit

Thursday, 3/6 Boys JV and Varsity Volleyball home vs Thomas MacLaren

Black History Month

In honor  of Black History, here are a few historical events that I would like to highlight.

Today in History: February 16-18

• February 16, 1857- Frederick Douglass was elected President of Freedman Bank and Trust. The Trust was established as a secure bank for Black soldiers would deposit their money.
• February 16, 1923 Bessie Smith makes her first recording, which sells 800,000 copies.
• February 16, 1970 Joe Frazier defeated Jimmy Ellis to become the World Champion of boxing.
• February 17, 1891- AC Richardson invented the churn.
• February 17, 1963- Basketball legend Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York.
• February 18, 1688- The first formal protest against slavery in America occurred in Germantown PA.
• February 18, 1896- Henry Grenon patented the Razor Stropping Device, which was a device used to quickly sharpen straight edge razors used for shaving. 

Senior Parents

I am writing to you about a senior game that some of our students are playing. Before I go into details, I want to caution you that some of you may find this alarming, and some of the words may be triggering.

The name of the game is “Senior Assassin”. This game is not sponsored or supported by the school in any way. This game is played by high school seniors across the country. Students who have signed up to play this game target one another with squirt guns, and when a student is hit they are eliminated from the game. While I do not know which seniors are playing, it appears that there are a large number of them participating. If you see a student carrying around a pair of swim goggles, they are playing this game. This is a very public game and the kids are playing across the community.

Senior parents, please take a moment to discuss this with your student. As I mentioned, this game is not sponsored or supported by the school. Students cannot play the game here, and school and district policy will be enforced. Squirt guns, or any other gun facsimile is strictly prohibited. The “rules of the game” also list schools as off limits, however we need help getting the message out so our kids stay out of trouble. The Center for Strength is also considered a “safe zone”, and playing this game is strictly prohibited there as well.

Thank you very much for working with us on this. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thanks Everyone!

Go Spartans!

Sincerely,

Ryan Alsup, High School Director

March 12-13th

• Wednesday, March 12 –  4:30-7:30 –  Conferences – Last Name A-L
• Thursday, March 13 –  4:30 – 7:30 – Conferences – Last Name M-Z 

February 27th

Mikron will be here on Wednesday, February 26th during ACCESS to review their summer internship and apprenticeship program. The summer internship is for current juniors and is an exciting opportunity to work for a global company. You can learn more about Mikron by visiting their website. Please reach out to Nicole Ryan at nicole.ryan@stemk12.org for more information and to register for the session.

The Aerospace States Association and Colorado Space Business Roundtable Aerospace Summer Internship Program is currently accepting applications for their summer program.
This is an unpaid internship program for anyone interested in aerospace. Though aerospace is STEM oriented, there are opportunities in many career fields including business, program management, procurement, human resources, communications, legal, and others.

The Internship Program runs for two weeks total. There is a virtual week with students from multiple states participating, followed by an in-person week in Colorado During the program, students will have the opportunity to engage with aerospace industry businesses, university programs, and nonprofits, learning about the opportunities and challenges facing the industry and gaining valuable hands-on experience. Please see the website for more information and to apply.

Applications are now open for Career Week for GIRLs. For one week this summer, participants will travel to five different companies to learn the myriad of careers that lie within transportation and construction. They will come to each location at 8:30am and stay until 3:30pm. The host will provide lunch. There is space for 12 attendees each week. Once they reach capacity with qualified participants, the program will close. Deadline to apply is March 31, 2025. Visit their website for more information.

Are you looking to learn more about science and veterinary medicine? Join CSU’s Natural Sciences Education & Outreach Center this summer as they explore scientific and veterinary practices. Students will carry out investigations, using real tools, and collecting data both in the lab and field. For more information, please visit the CSU website at https://www.cns-eoc.colostate.edu/scivet/

Are you interested in the biomedical engineering field? If so, the University of Colorado Denver, Department of Bioengineering is now accepting applications for their summer camp, BOLT (Bioengineering Opportunities and Leadership Training). BOLT is designed to introduce students to biomedical engineering design and leadership topics. The in-person camp will be held at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. For more information, please visit the CU website or review the attached flyer.

The Medical Career Collaborative (MC2) is a health careers pathway program designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain experience and exposure to the world of healthcare and access ongoing support in pursuit of their healthcare professions. Applications are currently being accepted and must be completed by Wednesday, March 5, 2025. For more information on the program and the application process, please visit the website at https://www.childrenscolorado.org/careers/professional-development/medical-career-collaborative/

Dear STEM Families,

We are dedicated to maintaining a safe environment for our students and staff. Safety is our number one priority and is a layered approach. One of the measures is to ensure that all students, staff, and visitors are identifiable on campus. Student IDs also alert office staff to who has off-campus permissions and allow students to quickly check in and out using our automated system. We ask for your continued support in ensuring your child is wearing an ID to school each day.

As time goes on, we understand that students will misplace their IDs and lanyards. We ordered another shipment of lanyards and ID holders, but our students are going through them pretty quickly.

After Fall Break, students will be charged $5 for replacements. This charge will run through their Myschoolbucks account. Please monitor the account and speak to your child about these charges if they occur.

Spartmart is looking into purchasing nicer, higher quality lanyards to sell as well and you may also purchase lanyards online.

Finally, because IDs are part of our dress code, if a student is not wearing an ID and does not have a temporary ID, they may be assigned a detention. Students have been made aware of this expectation.

Once again, we really appreciate your support. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to one of our building directors.

In partnership,

The STEM Admin Team

Our Math Society students are volunteering to assist with math homework during access periods (11-11:40 a.m.) on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Help will be available in both the Middle School and High School commons. Students who need support or want to catch up on homework should feel free to take advantage of this opportunity. Students should contact either their math teacher or access teacher to add their name to the list for help.