Silverthorne Storm gymnasts Eloise Hood, right, and Mia Norden, center, pose for a photo after placing third and first, respectively in the compulsory 4 older division floor competition at the Foothills Flairs gymnastic meet on Saturday, May 20.
Claudine Norden/Courtesy photo

The Silverthorne Storm gymnastics team has reached its 2023 competition season, and local gymnasts have been working hard to qualify to state as things get underway.

For those who may not be familiar, the Silverthorne Storm is a youth gymnastics team that is hosted out of the Silverthorne Recreation Center. Without a middle school or high school gymnastics program in the county, Silverthorne Storm allows student athletes to explore the sport while competing at a high level.

The Silverthorne Storm is made up of local Summit County middle school and elementary school students, and the team competes in the Colorado Association of Recreation Athletics gymnastics meets from May through July. 

“The mission of the Storm is to provide children with the ability to participate in gymnastics at a higher level than classes,” head coach Ben Way said. “Participation in gymnastics helps with so many things — from body awareness, strength, focus, flexibility, self-confidence and more. These are all things that will help them throughout their lives. We want to provide the space for those who want to be more involved with the sport and take it to another level by competing at a recreational level.”

During the competition season, Way — who has coached at the Silverthorne Recreation Center for 25 years — works with the team to perfect its members’ skills they have already learned. But during the fall and winter, the team focuses on learning new skills to foster progression.

Beyond the team placing highly at its first meet of the season, the Storm was able to qualify the majority of the team to the state gymnastics meet, which will take place in July.

“I would say it was a successful first meet,” Way said. “We qualified 22 out of 26 girls for the state meet  with eight of them in all around.” 

The Silverthorne Storm will now prepare to travel to the Broomfield Flyers gymnastics competition, which will take place on Saturday, June 3, at the Paul Derda Recreation Center in Broomfield.

Following the Broomfield competition, the Storm will then host a home meet at the Silverthorne Recreation Center on June 24 and will then close out the season with a meet on July 8 and the state meet from July 22-23. 

I expect more polished routines, more state qualifiers and plenty of trips to the podium,” Way said of the coming weeks.

Members of the Silverthorne Storm gymnastics team pose for a photo before competing in the Compulsory 4 competition. Eloise Hood of The Peak School first from the back for The Silverthorne Storm.
Claudine Norden/Courtesy photo.

Story originally submitted on June 2, 2023 in The Summit Daily. Written by Cody Jones. For the full story click here.

Cain Steinweg and Nina Schamberger, left, begin the second Summit Trail Running Series race on Wednesday, May 31. Schamberger was the first female athlete to cross the finish line in the short course race.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News

As cars started to stream into the B&B trailhead parking lot off French Gulch Road in Breckenridge, thunder started to boom and rain started to steadily pour down from the sky.

While many people peeled out of the parking lot after a jaunt on their bike, others exited the warmth of the interior of their cars in order to compete in the second of six scheduled Summit Trail Running Series races on Wednesday, May 31.

Part of the town of Breckenridge Recreation Department, the Summit Trail Running Series and the Summit Mountain Challenge strives to get people together in the community to challenge their fitness on local trails via trail running or mountain biking.

After hosting the first race in the series in Dillon on May 17, the French Gulch race consisted of both a short course and a long course on the trail system surrounding the B&B trailhead.

The French Gulch short course race was advertised as a 3.43-mile race with over 459 feet of elevation gain, while the long course race was marked for 5.34 miles with 652 feet of total elevation gain.

The short course race ended up being marked short of the prescribed mileage with the race being closer to 2.5 miles with 350 feet of elevation gain.

At the front of the short course race field were several standout Summit High School and Summit Middle School distance runners who were willing to brave the cold rain and slippery course.

Leading the pack was incoming sophomore Cain Steinweg, who completed the course in 18 minutes, 17 seconds in order to win his second 2023 Summit Trail Running Series race.

Steinweg was followed by his new Summit High School cross-country teammates Jay McDonald and Lukas Remeikis, who tied for second place with a time of 18:40.

The Peak School graduate and University of Utah commit Nina Schamberger was the next athlete to cross the finish line. Schamberger showed off her aerobic engine from Nordic skiing by completing the short course in 19:17, earning fourth place.

Originally published on May 28th by the Summit Daily

Originally written by Luke Vidic

Peak School seniors ride on a Copper Mountain Resort ski lift to celebrate their graduation Friday, May 27. The school graduated seven seniors this year.
Tripp Fay/Summit Daily News

Gratitude, reciprocity and community were the tenants of the Peak School’s graduation. The seven seniors graduating Friday at the foot of Copper Mountain Resort heard these words at the end of an unprecedented time to learn.

“During your four years in high school, which were my years in college, we lived through a lot of personal and societal trouble,” keynote speaker and 2017 alumnus Grant Morgan said. “And I see that. Going to high school when you did was not easy.”

Despite the challenges, the students made the most of their high school experience.

“Our seniors really have tried to take advantage of the limited opportunities they have,” head of school Travis Aldrich said.

The seven graduating seniors completed a range of senior projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, from making an animated movie to raising awareness for ​​chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Each one combined a personal interest with an area of study.

“These are kids that are trying to figure out how to operate under these new guidelines and create experiences for themselves that are truly unique,” Aldrich said.

Morgan tied each student’s project to two ideas — gratitude and reciprocity — and the Peak School annual guiding question, “What impacts community?”

“Good communities don’t make themselves … and we all have to do our part to keep it going,” Morgan said.

Graduate Maximillian Duffy raised awareness for traumatic brain injuries, making the world a little bit safer for those around him, Morgan said.

Graduate Jessica Canter made an animated movie and gave it to the world for others to enjoy.

Graduate Lucas Caniglia made a business plan for a guided fly fishing business.

Graduate Kamilla Stone traveled to Costa Rica and connected cultures.

Graduate Jacob Hood learned about the manufacturing of skis and making goods for others.

Graduate Chaney Walker became a certified yoga teacher and helped others feel calm and present in their bodies.

Graduate Alexander Elston learned foreign language, and, as Morgan said, reciting an Arabic proverb, “Learn a language and you avoid a war.”

Each student selected a representative to speak on their behalf. They could choose a friend, teacher, councilor or someone else with a personal connection. Speakers highlighted unique personal traits, hardships and quirks about each student.

Students also received tote bags intended to carry toiletries for the students headed off to college dorms. The students from this class are headed to Colorado State University, Westminster College, Colorado Mountain College, Utah State University and Full Sail University. Some will be taking a gap year.

Families could ride with graduates at the Peak School’s graduation Friday.
Tripp Fay/Summit Daily News

“Peak cultivates a special and unique human, and nothing defines that better than this class,” teacher Steven Craig said.

Following speeches, students and families hopped on Copper’s Super Bee lift to receive their diploma at the top of the mountain. The novel tradition began during the pandemic to keep the event outdoors and socially distanced. The tradition continued this year with the addition of in-person speeches and gatherings.

“One of the nice things about this format is that you graduate, get your diploma and then as you’re coming down everyone’s coming up and they can cheer for you on the way down,” Aldrich said.

Written by Jefferson Geiger on July 9, 2021 - Originally published in the Summit Daily

Read the full article here: https://www.summitdaily.com/news/relocation-of-the-peak-school-might-go-to-spring-ballot/

The Peak School is hoping to relocate to Frisco’s Peninsula Recreation Area along with expanding education offerings to pre-K-12. However, the move requires a ballot question.
Photo by Hugh Carey / Summit Daily archives

After meeting with Frisco Town Council last year, representatives from The Peak School met with council again during a work session June 22 to discuss the possibility of moving its operations.

The Peak School wishes to leave its old building at 40 W. Main St. and lease land on the Peninsula Recreation Area’s boneyard to relocate and expand its facility and offerings.

There, the school hopes it will transform from a sixth through 12th grade school to a pre-K-12 school. The Peak School also would be able to take advantage of the recreation area and boost its outdoor education. Estimated to be 20,000 square feet, the proposed building would also house community spaces available for the town of Frisco or area nonprofits in addition to public restrooms and lockers.

The Peak School’s Head of School Travis Aldrich stressed that the new school would be built at no cost to residents. The old location would likely be sold, giving businesses the opportunity to use the Main Street space.

“Let’s work with you guys to develop a really awesome community building that The Peak School just happens to occupy during the school year,” said Chris Guarino of design and construction company Artaic Group. “That’s really the approach to how we want to plan this. … We’re just desperate for preschool facilities, and having that independent option here in town frankly could be a real draw for residents.”

However, under the town charter and state statute, park property may not be sold or leased unless first approved by a local election. Town Council believes the timeline to put the question on the November ballot is too tight.

For the fall timeline, the last day to notify the county would be July 23, a secondary reading of the ballot question would happen at the last regular meeting prior to the certification deadline Aug. 24, and the deadline to certify ballot content to the county would be Sept. 3.

“I’m supportive of the ballot initiative as a Step 1, for sure,” council member Andrew Aerenson said. “Do we have the time to work through whatever details are necessary to make us comfortable going forward with that approval of a ballot initiative between now and what effectively would be — let’s just call it Aug. 1?”

Council member Melissa Sherburne said she thought it would take several months to hammer out a deal and recommended bumping it to the spring ballot. She said there would be a greater chance of success when taking the process more slowly.

“A benefit of waiting is that in order to reach the deal, the public needs to be involved,” Sherburne said. “… I think the community really needs to be a part of it. … In a deal like this, there is going to be a lot of people who want to know about it in order to support it. The way they’re really going to know about it is being part of that deal negotiation in public through several meetings over several months. For me, it’s a little bit too fast. I totally support what you guys are doing. But if we’re going to do it, I want it to succeed.”

Town staff will work with the Peak School to better establish a timeline and terms of the arrangement before council will decide to move forward with the spring ballot process. Aldrich said November would be better in a perfect world, but Guarino added that waiting for the spring isn’t a deal breaker.

“I think (April) absolutely still works for us,” Guarino said. “At the end of the day, The Peak School doesn’t want to leave Frisco. That’s the bottom line. … I think we’re willing to do what it takes so that our council, our mayor and our staff are all comfortable with moving forward.”

The Peak School’s proposed facility would be an estimated 20,000 square feet. It would offer outdoor education opportunities for students as well as meeting areas, restrooms and locker rooms for the public.
Image from town of Frisco packet

Elli VanDeYacht
Courtesy of Elli VanDeYacht / Special to the Daily

Originally published in the Summit Daily on May 30, 2019. Read the original article here.

The Peak School in Frisco, Summit’s only private secondary school, will be seeing off the eight members of its 2019 graduating class Friday. The small class size is a hallmark of the prep school in the mountains, where curriculums are built around students who are given freedom to be themselves and pursue their dreams.

Students at Peak School come from a variety of backgrounds and tend to have unique circumstances requiring a different kind of education. Two of Peak’s graduates, Elli VanDeYacht and Cassidy Citron, benefited from Peak’s flexible approach to secondary education.

VanDeYacht has been figure skating for more than 14 years. The demands of her training schedule meant she had to find a school that could work around it while giving her a full education.

“I transitioned to a different coach in Vail, which meant I was driving over there five times a week in the mornings and afternoons,” VanDeYacht said. “School had to be flexible, both for me and Peak.”

While the flexible scheduling helped, VanDeYacht was responsible for being on top of the academic routine, which instilled a clockwork mentality and put her in more control of the direction of her education.

“Because of how demanding my schedule is, it meant I had to be thoroughly on top of my academics,” VanDeYacht said. “Peak allowed me to have more control over my schedule, but I was also talking to teachers and making sure I was getting my assignments and not missing important information. It made me a more proactive with academics.”

VanDeYacht is now a single U.S. Figure Skating gold medalist, which requires a grueling series of trials before passing the senior, or “gold” test, in one of several skating disciplines. She is one test away from becoming a double gold medalist, with an ambition to become a triple or quadruple gold medalist later on.

VanDeYacht also has played hockey with Summit Hockey as part of its under 19 women’s squad, although a history of concussions is making her reconsider whether it’s something she’d want to do competitively again.

Cassidy Citron
Courtesy of Cassidy Citron / Special to the Daily

As for her future, VanDeYacht will be attending and skating at the University of Denver, where she’s on the fence between pursuing psychology or business and accounting.

As for Citron, dancing has been her passion for 14 years. But for her, it wasn’t just Peak’s willingness to accommodate her dancing that made it the right fit.

“When I was in grade school, I was a little accelerated,” Citron said. “My parents decided to move me to Peak School in the sixth grade since it’s a school for people who were a little different, and I’ve been there ever since.”

After graduation, Citron will take a gap year before attending the University of Puget Sound in Washington state. She will spend the first half of the year working in Summit and the second half in a program doing service work and homestays in the Pacific Islands with Adventures Cross Country.

Citron is excited about the next chapter of her life and believes that Peak’s environment helped her get where she wants to go. She believes Peak is an ideal place for Summit kids like her, who have unique needs and need more room to thrive.

“Summit County has a lot of people who are just a little bit different; it’s the reason why they came up here,” Citron said. “Peak has a really nurturing environment that allows them to grow in any way they can.”