New Division III Peak student Kira Benson gives her recent move to Summit County “two thumbs up.” The 17-year old moved from Ohio in August and is experiencing her first Colorado winter as a local, and she LOVES it! “It’s truly an amazing community and I’ve just felt so welcomed and embraced by the people here--I feel like I’ve known them my whole life.” Although Kira grew up vacationing and skiing in Breckenridge, now that she lives here, she has been branching out and skiing at A-Basin with her friends from Peak and she also hopes to ski with her dad, a ski instructor, in Utah this winter.
In the classroom, Kira is a history buff and finds Jeffrey’s approach to teaching her favorite subject fascinating and comprehensive. In the class, students look at different sides of world conflict and political argument so “it’s not like reading history out of a textbook,” she explains, “It’s about experiencing it.”
Kira’s main passion is music, which she decribes as a ‘form of emotional expression,’ and she is working hard to get a band together comprised of Peak students and possibly other kids from Summit County. A trained fiddle player, Kira finds vocals equally as special, and she has branched out to playing the acoustic and electric guitar, and the Viper, a 5-string fretted electric violin. Kira describes her style of music as “a blend of country with influences of classic rock and roll and always has the foundation of strong and unique songwriting.”
Her debut album, The Radio Plays, was released last summer on Soundcloud and Band Camp, and Kira is forging ahead with her music career and is working with her co-writer to create a portfolio of songs to enter in upcoming songwriting competitions. Whether she’s performing by herself on the street, or stage with professional musicians at the prestegous Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp, Kira’s tries to “perform and write songs that have meaning and connect with people’s emotions,” she says.
Kira’s lifelong goal is to win a country music award or grammy and to be writing music and performing at that level. For Kira, it’s not about the attention but about sharing the songwriting and music that has had a tremendous impact on her life.
Nationally recognized educator and speaker Howard Rodstein will speak at Peak on Monday, November 2 from 6 - 8 pm. The event is free and open to the public.
“Kindness costs nothing” is the quote of the month displayed on Peak teacher Kathleen Greer’s classroom chalk board. She is encouraging her middle school base camp and Humanities students to ‘choose kind’ in their interactions with peers, parents, and community members. The quote of the month is just one of many teaching-tools Kathleen uses to engage students is discussion and deliver curriculum. Prior to classroom teaching, Kathleen was an experiential education instructor for three years, working with all ages--young kids to corporate groups--on teambuilding activities, physical challenges, caving and kayaking in Maryland and Virginia along the Potomac River. She transitioned into the classroom as a 6th grade teacher at Edmund Burke School in Washington, D.C.
Kathleen sees a lot of similarities between Peak and Burke, which is also a progressive middle and upper school where she says the students created their own learning. She remembers a guiding principle of Burke was a quote from author and philosopher, Edmund Burke, who said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Kathleen remembers, “The school was all about getting involved and being proactive--not waiting until you’re in college to make things happen,” and she loves that the same philosophy is embodied in The Peak School.
Following her time at Burke, Kathleen and her husband, Ryan, embarked on a two year backpacking journey around the world. They traveled throughout western Europe, through the Czech Republic, Spain, Morocco, Scotland, France, and Ireland, where she taught yoga. The couple settled in New Zealand for a year, living on an apple orchard and working at nearby vineyards. Kathleen loved living in New Zealand, where there are 14 sheep to every person She noted that the landscape is similar to Summit County, rugged and remote in places.
Kathleen and Ryan returned from their travels, and settled in Florida to spend time with family. She knew she wanted to get back to the classroom, and during summer of 2014, Kathleen and her family chose to relocate to Summit County for her job as a Humanities teacher at The Peak School. She and Ryan packed up their young son, Callum, and moved from sunny Florida to the Rocky Mountains. In May of 2015, the couple welcomed daughter Georgie to the party, and Kathleen spent a busy summer mothering Callum (now 21 months) and Georgie (now 5 months).
Some of Kathleen’s favorite pastimes include spending time with her children at the Marina or the Silverthorne Rec Center, and Kathleen and Ryan find Summit County to be “a nice, healthy place to raise kids.” Another passion of hers if cooking! She honed these skills at her family’s restaurant in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where she worked as a cook.
One thing Kathleen hasn’t had time to try yet is Nordic skiing. She is hoping to get out on the snow this winter and perhaps learn to Nordic or snowboard. I’m sure we have some capable Peak students who would gladly show her the ropes!
New to Peak this year, Division II student Natalie Anderson says she is most excited about how The Peak School works. Natalie has been enjoying the project-based learning, hands on assignments, and small classroom environment, and commented that there is “a lot of trust here.” She has already ‘wowed’ teachers by incorporating her love of baking into a STEM project, where she decorated cupcakes with images describing the different steps in the nitrogen, carbon, phosphorous, and water cycles. Natalie really likes all of her classes at Peak this year, but Spanish with teacher Monica Mills stands out as her favorite so far. Natalie is also enjoying her food elective, taught by Adam Brenner. She describes the class as a great balance between learning about food and culture, and preparing food. Students in the food elective have learned how and why people from different regions of the world use the resources available to them to make certain foods. So far, students have prepared shrimp ceviche, smoked salmon pasta, elk tacos, chicken yakitori and ramen, and Laksa, a Malaysian coconut chili noodle soup.
Outside of school, Natalie participates on the Summit Rugby 8th grade team. She has been playing rugby for two years, but this is her first year on the team, and it’s off to a great start. She plays the position of “prop,” which is in the front row of the scrum, and pushes against the oppositions props. Natalie likes that in rugby, everyone is equal because it’s a team sport, and everyone has to work together. There are no pads, except for an optional scrum cap, which is a foam helmet that helps prevent cauliflower ear during the scrum. Between rugby and school, Natalie is sure to have a busy year, but she’ll still find time to help out at her family’s business, Soupz On in Breckenridge. She doesn’t hold regular hours at the restaurant, but Natalie lends a hand when her mom needs help, someone calls in sick, or she needs some extra cash! We are thrilled to have Natalie and her family as part of The Peak School community!
Other than attending The Peak School, Division II Peak student Jake M. doesn’t spend a lot of time off the ice. He is the goalie on several different hockey teams, including a AAA tournament team based in Denver, the Thunderbirds. At 13 years old, this Breckenridge teen has already been playing hockey for six years. On and off the ice, Jake is being carefully groomed by a goalie coach who meets with him twice each week at the rec center to work on building strength and agility. His favorite part about suiting up to defend the goal? The pressure. Jake says the adrenaline of knowing he is the last line of defense makes him work harder for his teams. Outside of the hockey rink, Jake enjoys the outdoors and spent time rafting and camping this summer. He also plays lacrosse and mountain bikes. Jake recently started his second year at The Peak School, and he said one of the biggest differences he’s noticed is the strong community and always feeling welcome. His favorite subject is Humanities because he loves history (and his teacher, Kathleen), and he enjoys his friends at Peak.
The decision to attend Peak was just the beginning of Jake’s ownership over his education, and he has the Air Force Academy in his sights as a next stop. His goal is to play hockey for Air Force. He’s off to a great start there, as he’s already in contact with the coach, who has watched him play. With a love for planes and flying, Jake hopes to accumulate hours during college toward becoming a commercial pilot. So listen carefully on flights of the distant future, as you just may hear Jake welcoming you to your destination!
Summit Daily News | Monday, November 23, 2015 Read the story on Page 7 here or see below.
Summit Daily News | Monday, March 30, 2015
Summit Daily News | Monday, February 24, 2014 Read the story on Page 2 here or see below.
Summit Daily News | Monday, February 17, 2014 Read the story on Page 3 here or see below.
Summit Daily News | Monday, May 11, 2015 Read the story on Page 3 here or see below.
Summit Daily News | Monday, October 24, 2015 Read the cover story here!
Summit Daily News | Monday, November 23, 2015 Read the story on Page 3 here or see below.
Summit Daily News | Monday, October 19, 2015 Read the story on Page 3 here or see below.
Arguably one of the best Mandarin speakers in the school is not a Division 3 student, or even a Division 2 student. It’s Division 1 student, Piper Miller. Piper’s extensive background and skill in Mandarin come from her seven elementary years at an immersion school, the International School of Denver (formerly Denver Montclair International School), in that language. She remembers the challenge of the early years there where curriculum was delivered in nearly 100% Mandarin. While there, she explored a few instruments too: piano, violin and guitar.
Since coming to The Peak School, Piper said one of the biggest differences she’s noticed is the very close bond and strong relationships students have with teachers. She enjoys being treated as a mature student member of the community and appreciates the opportunities to present to different audiences, as she did with her STEM project and her civil rights movement/MLK project.
Outside of school, Piper has a broad array of interests. While she enjoys snowboarding, soccer, camping, hiking, fishing and even hunting, her real passion is hockey. Piper plays center and left wing with Summit Hockey. She enjoys competing in the regional tournaments; and their team made it to state this year. Piper also will attend the prestigious Shattuck-St. Mary’s hockey school for a week long summer hockey camp. Whether on the ice or in the classroom, we look forward to seeing more great things from Piper over the years!
Like many Peak students, Arel Svenson is smart, active, loves to get outdoors and really enjoys life in Summit County. Along with those things, this Division 3 student has so much more going on. Besides snowboarding, back country experiences and mountain biking, Arel enjoys ultimate Frisbee and, recently, has taken up climbing. As far as time at the climbing gym, he’s been getting some great coaching from friend and fellow Peak student Will Sharp.
Arel successfully transitioned from home schooling to The Peak School. He liked the home school experience because, if he worked hard to complete his studies for the day, he was able to get out and snowboard or bike. Since coming to Peak, Arel has really enjoyed the strong student-teacher relationships and class interaction with teachers and other students alike. After completing his high school education at Peak, Arel intends to pursue studies in engineering, videography and as a pilot.
Uniquely, Arel hasn’t waited for graduation to start his education or experience in videograpy. This full time student also runs a business. He and student Will Sharp have partnered to create and run Ten Mile Digital, where they shoot both interior and exterior video footage for clients like the Breckenridge Nordic Center. He’s already off to a great start!
Summit Daily News | Monday May 4, 2015 Read the story on Page 3 here or see below.
