For 18 years English teacher Alice Weeda has been mentoring and inspiring students at Thomas Jefferson High School, and she will be greatly missed by both students and faculty as she leaves for retirement at the end of the school year, putting an end to her 28 year teaching career.
    Weeda was born on November 2, 1946 in Denver, Colorado to parents Renie and Bertha Zoetewey. Weeda has 12 siblings, eight sisters and three brothers with whom she spent her childhood here in Denver, and she went to Denver Christian High School where she graduated in 1964.
    After graduating from high school Weeda attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she received a BA in education in 1968 with a major in English and a minor in German.  During her senior year, she married John Weeda.  After a summer in southern California during which she took another class in German at Long Beach State, she and her husband moved to Athens, Ohio where she taught German for two years. “It’s funny really. I never would have gotten my first teaching job if I didn’t have my minor in German,” said Weeda. In 1970 she moved to Oak Park, Illinois, near Chicago, where she lived for over eight years and taught high school English and German for three years before starting her family. She has three children, Chris, Rachel, and Ben (all of whom are TJ graduates). Now she also has two grandchildren, Naomi and Joaquin.
   Weeda returned to her hometown of Denver in 1979 but did not resume her teaching career until 1984 after a 12-year break to raise her children. “I always wanted to return to teaching. I just wanted to wait until my youngest had started school before I returned,” said Weeda. She taught a semester at North High School and four years at Montbello High School before coming to work at TJ in 1990. “I came to work at TJ because the yearbook advisor position was open. If that wasn’t the case I probably never would have worked here,” said Weeda, who was the yearbook advisor at TJ for ten years, from 1990-2000. “I loved being the yearbook advisor, but after becoming the department chair for the English department I just couldn’t handle the extra workload. So, I handed off the reins to Mr. Coleman,” said Weeda, who has been the chair of the English department intermittently for at least ten years of her TJ tenure.

    Weeda has had a passion for literature since high school, and wanted to be a teacher ever since. “I had a terrific high school English teacher, Stanley Cole, with whom I am still good friends. I recall reading The Scarlet Letter in his class and realizing that good literature is universal. The better and more difficult the piece of work is, the more meaningful it becomes. It’s important for students to learn that great books are more than just plot,” said Weeda.
    During her 18 years at TJ Weeda has been able to teach every class except for sophomore English. “What I liked most about teaching here is that I always had a good mixture of students. I was able to teach freshmen who need help with basic skills and behavior issues. But, I was also able to teach upperclassmen in Brit Lit X where we read more classic and profound works of literature, and the students were more enthusiastic, complimentary, and diligent. Both student levels kept me clear and grounded, and reminded me of how great teaching really is,” said Weeda.
    Her daughter Rachel Almond is also a teacher at TJ, and has been for the past six years. Two years ago, in 2006, Rachel married English teacher Jeff Almond, and last year they had a little baby girl, Naomi. Mrs. Almond has been out on maternity leave this past year. “The school will suffer greatly now that Mrs. Weeda is gone. I will greatly miss her professional and mentoring presence, but I am still glad that I am able to have her in my life,” said Mr. Almond.
    Weeda has many people who care for her here at TJ, and she is leaving behind many friends. “Having Alice retire this year fills me with mixed emotions.  On one hand, as a good friend, I am very happy to see her rewarded after so many years of hard work.  I know she’s going to have a blast traveling and spoiling her grandkids…that’s all awesome.  As a colleague, I’m saddened to see her go because she is the quintessential English teacher, and to lose her from the staff is tough,” said Computer Magnet Teacher Matt Spampinato, who began working at TJ in 1990, the same year as Weeda, and over the years has become good friends with her.  "But Alice Weeda has been instrumental in making TJ the great school that it is today, and we’ll all keep up the tradition of excellence that she has worked so hard to create."
    Weeda could not be happier with her time here at TJ. “I could not have asked for a better place to work. There is a great mixture of students, teachers and administrators here in the building. I had great colleagues and the best administrative support a teacher could ask for,” said Weeda.
    When retired, Weeda plans to stay home and help take care of her granddaughter Naomi (daughter of TJ teachers Jeff and Rachel Almond) and grandson Joaquin. This summer she is taking a two-week trip to Switzerland with her husband, not only to celebrate her retirement but her 40-year wedding anniversary as well. She will also be traveling to Paris for two weeks with Gina Sheridan, who retired from TJ six years ago. “I plan on filling my days with reading, seeing many movies and plays, and of course traveling. I am just going to wait and see what happens. If I get bored I’m sure I can find something to occupy my time,” said Weeda.

    For the 2008-2009 school year at Thomas Jefferson High School there will be a modified block bell schedule, which will replace the one that the school currently runs.

    The purpose of the new scheduling is to support more learning inside the building. Assistant Principal Scott Lessard presented the idea for a new schedule to the rest of the staff. “You have to ask yourself, does the bell schedule support learning, and is it the most efficient use of the time we have, and the answer was no,” said Lessard, who is in charge of putting the schedule together at the school. 

    At the meeting teachers were asked to write things down that they liked and did not like about the current schedule based on student achievement. Lessard, along with a committee of 12 teachers sat down and analyzed the results of the study. They all identified weaknesses in it that could be minimized by a new format. Together they came up with four different options, and then narrowed it down to two. Finally, the committee decided that a seven period day with a modified block would be the best option for the school.
     The new bell schedule that TJ will be following is called a modified block, which several other DPS schools are already employing, including East and George Washington High Schools. During the school week three days, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday will be the same schedule that the school has had in past years, seven periods plus lunch, but the other two days, Wednesday and Thursday, will be block scheduling. On block days each period would be 90 minutes long, lunch will be moved to period 5, and on Wednesdays there will be an early release day.

    It is mandated by the state of Colorado that all students have 252 minutes of instruction per day for the school to able to receive full funding. With the old schedule students were able to do this; however, with the new block schedule kids who do not have a class will not have the required amount of minutes. So, to solve this problem Lessard added an advisement period on early release days. The 30-minute long advisement period will be mandatory for some students, but optional for everyone else. The time will allow for students to meet with teachers, and allow teachers to have staff meetings and have planning time.
     “This new block scheduling will be happening next year no matter what. All of the details have been worked out and this is the final product,” said Lessard.

    More often than not kids (especially teenagers) are not appreciative of many things grown-ups do for them. Whether it is our siblings, relatives, teachers, or friends, but it’s especially true with our parents. We don’t acknowledge much of what they do for us until we’re about 55 years old and are finally not afraid to admit in public that we love them and thank them.
    On April 27, 2008, that trend was broken as the students attending Thomas Jefferson High School’s After Prom had nothing but good things to say to their parents who worked for months planning and putting on the best event that the graduating class of 2008 had experienced in their four years at TJ.
     To pull off such a huge undertaking it took an elite team of TJ parents led by Stacey Zamora and Lynn Nathan. Since the beginning of the school year the after prom committee has been at almost every TJ event selling baked goods, drinks and T-shirts to raise money. The parents began building the decorations for after prom right after the end of winter break, meeting every Monday and Wednesday from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in room 5 every week leading to Prom. The Friday and Saturday before prom they spent the entire two days setting up all the things they had made over the past four months. My mom, Susan Stone, was one of the parents who helped build things and every Wednesday night she would come home covered in paint and glitter. Every time I would ask her what she was doing, and every time she would tell me “top secret” business that she couldn’t tell me about. I must say it was worth the wait.

     The theme for this year’s after prom was Techno Junkies @ High Speed (or TJ@HS). The idea came from how kids now-a-days have moved on from the simple games of the past to the new-age, high-tech games and world of the present. So, when the students were walking into the transformed school they saw old toys and board games like tricycles, Mouse Trap, and Candy Land, but once they entered the gym they were greeted by more modern games like a mechanical bull, a giant inflatable obstacle course, and the ever popular Guitar Hero. Everything at after prom was based on and named after the theme, like the Mega Byte Cafe. The TJ parents did an amazing job decorating the school. On numerous occasions, when I was running around doing all of the activities, I forgot that I was actually in my school. Throughout the night I had to orient myself, and had trouble figuring out where I was in the building. All of the details in the decorations and the carefully laid out sets made after prom all the better.
     There were tons of activities for the students to do, and for everything they did they received fake “Just money”, a little play on words with our principal Sandra Just, who was pictured on all of the bills. At 3:00 a.m. the students were able to use the money they had earned throughout the morning to buy prizes. Prizes included iPods, TVs, stereos and speakers, dorm size refrigerators, many college useful laundry themed baskets, backpacks, luggage and lots of other smaller prizes. Also, throughout the night, three laptop computers were raffled off along with an Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, a Foosball table, and cash prizes.
     After prom is over, but the memory of it will live on forever with everyone who attended. And the people we have to thank the most, and the people who deserve all the credit, are our loving parents. On behalf of the entire graduating class of 2008 I would like to say thank you for all of your hard work and dedication. 2008 after prom committee we salute you:

Betsy Adams
Suzy Baber
Joel Becker
Pamela Becker
Alicia Boyd
Karyn Browne
Candy Cordes
Karen Eye
Bobbie Fitzgerald
Jim Fitzgerald
Kathy Fitzgerald
Tim Fitzgerald
Carol Frank
Don Freeland
Susan Freeland
Lari Gatewood
Sheri Gidan
Dave Hargrove
Beckie Hawkins
George Hearne
Pat Hearne
Melanie Henry
Jessie Hill
Karen Hill
Traci Houghton
Cheryl Johnson
Beth Karlberg
Ellen Kastens
Lora Langlee
Rick Larson
Susan Larson
Richard Lobato
Carmen Loffelmacher
Debra Mahoney
Lisa Maloney
Tom Maloney
Pam McBride
Michael Milstein
Nicole Milstein
Scott Mishoe
Stephanie Mishoe
Deborah Mousolite
Lynn Nathan
Wally Nathan
Jennifer Newman
Doug Nordlander
Shawna Nordlander
Veneta O’Hara
Mary Jane Piccone
Jack Rouff
Lisa Rouff
Don Short
Roserita Short
Paul Smith
Toni Smith
Mary Jo Snell
Shelli Sorenson
Susan Stone
Susan Tara
Julie Thorton
Tim Thorton
Cory Weaver
Tom Weaver
Joseph Webb
Marilyn Webb
Julie Wood
Stacey Zamora
 

    Over the past several months seniors from Thomas Jefferson High School have been competing with other students from across the nation for scholarships, and six TJ seniors have been awarded with several different prestigious awards.
     Christina Danek was awarded the Boettcher Scholarship in mid February. The competition for the Boettcher is very vigorous, and it is only available for students in the state of Colorado. To apply for the scholarship students had to have scored at least a 27 on the ACT, and ranked in the top 5% of their class. The Boettcher is a four year scholarship that pays for tuition, books, supplies and various other costs, and is only good for colleges in the state of Colorado (both public and private). They also look for students who do a lot of community service and extra curricular activities. To receive the scholarship Danek had to write several essays, get numerous letters of recommendation, and go through a long interview process. Danek has decided to take the scholarship, and will attend the University of Denver in the fall. “It was an honor to be awarded the scholarship, and it was exciting to see that all of my hard work over the last four years has paid off,” said Danek.
     Josie Cooper was awarded the Daniels Fund Scholarship, which will pay for a majority of college costs for four years. It is a very competitive local scholarship that can be used for any college in the nation. To be eligible for the scholarship students had to be nominated by a teacher or counselor, and have at least a 17 ACT score. The Daniels Foundation also looks at obstacles that the students had to overcome, and how they were successful despite those obstacles. Cooper also had to write several essays, get letters of recommendation, and go through an interview process to receive the award. Cooper will use the scholarship to attend the University of Redlands in California. “Getting this scholarship was amazing, and I know that going to college will open so many doors for me. Once you are not afraid of trying to improve your life, you can do anything,” said Cooper.
     Both Jasser Mohamed and Mahilet Hailemichael were awarded the Gates Millennium Scholarship, which is a full-ride scholarship that can be used at any college in the country. The scholarship pays for all costs, and in addition can pay for college through a PhD, depending on the student’s major. Like the Boettcher and the Daniels Fund, the Gates Millennium Scholarship is highly competitive. To be eligible for the scholarship the student had to have a minimum unweighted GPA of 3.3, and had to be of an ethnic minority background, whether that be Hispanic, African American, Native American, Asian, or Pacific Islander. Both Mohamed and Hailmichael had to be involved in several community service and extra curricular activities, as well as write numerous essays, have letters of recommendation, and go through several interviews. Mohamed will use the scholarship to attend Colorado State University, while Hailmichael will attend Colorado School of Mines. “I am really excited about learning and getting closer to my future. I am also excited to be the first girl in my family to go to college,” said Hailmichael.
     Philip Karlberg and Danek were also awarded the Denver Retired Teachers’ Scholarship. To be eligible the students had to be ranked in the top three of their class. Both Danek and Karlberg will receive $6,000. Karlberg will be attending Colorado State University.
    Finally, Kelly Hill was awarded the Ethridge Future Teacher Scholarship, which is available for students who have a 3.0 GPA, and wanted to major in teaching. Hill will receive $3,000 per year for four years, and she will also be attending Colorado Sate University.
     Scholarships are still available for seniors who are looking for some more money to help pay for college. Students looking for scholarships can head down to the future center in room 114 to get all the information they need.
    “I am very proud of all the students. They worked hard, and deserve all of the honors they are receiving. They are fantastic role models for future TJ graduates,” said the Future Center Advisor Cynthia Castillo.

    On Saturday April 5, the Project Management Institute (PMI) awarded multiple scholarships to Computer Magnet students from Thomas Jefferson and North High Schools, and two TJ students were also awarded the title of Project Manager of the Year for their final projects in their Computer Magnet classes.
     At TJ, seniors in the Computer Magnet program take a Pathways class, sponsored by PMI for high school students. In the class no new skills or concepts are taught, rather the students are to apply all of the knowledge that they have learned over the past three years in the Magnet program. “Pathways has been a good fit here at TJ. We wanted a class that let the students choose what they want to do.  As a teacher I just provide support,” said Pathways Teacher Stacey Fornstrom.
    For the past several months Magnet students have been working on their final projects in their Pathways class, building a successful web-based business. “There is no set curriculum for this class. The students had to come up with the idea themselves and it’s up to them how they design and create their website,” said Fornstrom. All of the students in the class applied for the PMI scholarship. They had to fill out an application where they explained their project, told how they would use their computer skills in the future, and said what extra curricular activities in which they participated. There were ten students, from both TJ and North, who were awarded the scholarship.

    The TJ winners were Jasser Mohamed, Jesse Altum, Ermias Hadera, Derrick Ratcliff, and Katie Fitzgerald. Each of these students will receive $2,000 dollars to the Colorado institute of their choice. The scholarship program was initiated four years ago, and during that time over $70,000 dollars has been given to Magnet students. On Friday April 11, all of the winners attended a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. at the Colorado Convention Center, where Bob Kendrick from Channel 9 News presented the awards.
    During the year all of the Pathways students also compiled all of their work into a notebook, where they recorded things that they have done on their project throughout the year. The students attended a luncheon at the Double Tree Hotel where a set of judges went around and looked at their notebooks and judged them on how well they used the principles and concepts of the Pathways class to build their project. Two TJ students, Altum and Mohamed, were picked as the winners and were awarded Project of the Year. Of all the projects submitted, theirs were the best, giving them the title of Project Managers of the year.
    Altum created a Fashion Company called JA Fashion. He built the website from scratch, and designed and sold his own line of clothing. “Working on this project took a lot of determination and creativity, but the final product of my company, and being able to take the pride in showing it to others, is what made this all worthwhile. Winning Project Manager of the Year has given me a great opportunity to advance my education towards business and entrepreneurship development,” said Altum.
    Mohamed created a printing company called EX-Pass. His business has printed all of the tickets for TJ functions this year. “Working on this project was a lot of hard work, but in the end it all paid off. I am happy with the way it turned out, and I am excited about being awarded Project Manager of the year,” said Mohamed.
    “Students can take the skills and concepts that they learned from the curriculum in the Pathways class, and use it in real life to help them in whatever they do,” said Fornstrom.

    On Thursday April 3, 2008 students, staff, and parents packed the Thomas Jefferson High School Auditorium to watch the crowning of Mr. TJ, the school’s annual talent show and Miss America spoof, that showcases the senior boys.
     This year there were 21 senior boys in the running for the title of Mr. TJ: Ryan Allen, Nelson Barry, Adam Colean, Devon Fitzgerald, Cooper Hearne, Kelvin Henry, Marc Houghton, Kian Jost, Joe Langlee, Jonathan Lobato, Matthew Mankoff, Michael Mankoff, Brett Nathan, Darian Savage, D.J. Short, Dylan Smith, Ian Squier, Justin Tara, Tyler Thornton, Brian Walsh, and Krubiel Workie. The emcees for the night were Erin Anderson, Julia Harrington, and Amanda Weaver.
     The show started off with the boys doing their choreographed Macho Man dance, which they have spent the past several weeks learning and rehearsing. Things moved right along into the swimsuit competition where the boys showed off their favorite swimwear. Next, there was a fashion show where several of the senior girls modeled dresses for prom, and then came the formal wear competition where their escorts led the boys onto the stage. The boys then came up with clever ways to give their escorts a rose, and they answered two questions. Between events there were also several performances that entertained the crowd while the judges were tallying their scores, which included the TJ dance team, the Nick Kaufhold band, and a performance by Ky Snow, the winner of TJ Idol. After all of the events, the judges combined the scores from the swimsuit competition, rose presentation, and questions to come up with the final five contestants: Barry, Hearne, Houghton, Jost, and Walsh.

     After a 15-minute intermission the five finalists performed their talents, which ranged from singing to dancing. After that the contestants changed back into their formal wear for their final questions. The judges combined the contestants’ scores from their talent and how well they answered their final questions, and ranked the contestants from 5th to 1st place. 5th place went to Barry, 4th place went to Jost, 3rd place went to Walsh, 2nd place went to Hearne, 1st place and the title of Mr. TJ went to Houghton. Other awards were also given to Lobato and Colean. Lobato won Mr. Talent and Colean won Mr. Congeniality.
    Mr. TJ marks the beginning of the senior traditional events leading up to graduation.  Next up is Prom on April 26.

   During the week of March 17-21, Thomas Jefferson High School is sponsoring the annual Buckle-Up campaign, a program designed to inform students about the importance of safe driving.
    Student and parents from TJ will be helping educate teens and the community on the importance of traffic safety at several events during the week. All of the work is in preparation for keeping students safe during the DPS spring break. The week’s activities are sponsored by CDOT and coordinated by The BACCHUS Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to health promotion, and prevention education. The events will include a poetry contest, daily safety announcements, and seat belt checks.
    For the poetry contest students were to write a poem about the dangers of teen alcohol use, the dangers of impaired driving, or seatbelt use. The deadline to enter was March 11, and the winner will be announced on March 19. First, second, and third place winners will be receiving cash prizes for their poems. There will also be a crashed car displayed outside of the school as part of a comprehensive educational program for the entire week. 
    On the morning of March 18th, students and parents will be displaying signs near and around the school safety zone, which includes the Hampden Avenue and I-25 intersection. The signs will display messages to remind motorists to use caution when driving around the school zone during their morning commute, and to encourage them to wear their seat belts.
    There will also be a big banner inside the school that will display a number of different pledges. The students will be encouraged to sign the banner and honor the pledges for the entire week. The pledges that will be on the banner are as follows:
 

I pledge:

• To make healthy, positive choices in my life.
• To treat myself with the utmost respect and not do anything to put myself at risk or in danger, including the use of any type of drugs or alcohol.
• To respect others and to accept others for who they are.
• To take a stand against negative attitudes and behavior.
• To refrain from violent behavior.
• To always buckle up whenever I drive or ride in a vehicle.
• To not ride in a vehicle with someone who is impaired by alcohol or other drugs.
• To be a positive role model to others, especially those younger than me.

    Thomas Jefferson High School has several different tutoring options designed to help students, the biggest of which is located in the library where the tutors are dedicated to improving students’ grades.
     Wauneta Vann and Liz Buffington head the tutoring in the library. Both Vann and Buffington are teachers in training, and both did their student teaching at TJ last year. Vann is studying at the University of Denver, and gained her field experience with History Teacher Gordon Heaton. Buffington has graduated form Metro and was a part of the Teacher Quality Enrichment program (TQE) there, and is now a licensed teacher.  She did her observing with Dean of Students Mary Hayhurst and History Teacher Linda Estlund. “We are here to be advocates for the students and help those who have lower grades, or undesirable grades, get them up and maintain them,” said Vann.
     Both Buffington and Vann will be available for tutoring in the library Wednesdays and Fridays every period, including lunch, and will also be available in the lunchroom during late- start Wednesdays from 7:30-8:20 a.m. They also have other tutors who will be available in the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m., and there is a math tutor available on Tuesdays and Thursdays in room 108 from 2-4 p.m. as well. “We want students to realize that education does not have to be a terrible, traumatizing, boring thing; it can be fun, and that’s what we want students to walk away with,” said Vann.
     The tutors are here to help the students, and can assist them in any subject. Both Vann and Buffington are studying to be History teachers, but they are more than capable of assisting students with other subjects like math and science. If there is a question that the tutors can’t answer they will direct the student to a teacher who will be able to help them.
    “We want to help students become organized, help them use their time more wisely and efficiently, and give them a positive learning environment to work in. We truly care about helping students, and their academic outcome is in our best interest,” said Buffington.