Photo by Mia Nogueira

Ajani Brown, a sophomore at TJ who is a part of the Multi-Intensive Special Education Program, is well known for his compassion and kindness to others through the volunteer work he does outside of school, as well as for being on honor roll every semester.

“Being a part of the Multi-Intensive Special Education Program is great and very helpful to me.  My teachers, Kerry Black and Michelle Lockhart, help me pass my classes and complete my school work,” said Brown.

“Ajani is a great student who is friendly, outgoing, polite, and easy to get along with.  He is very helpful in the classroom and he always completes his work with a hundred percent effort.  Ajani is the type of student who is always wiling to learn, is open, and is cooperative with everything in class,” said Black.  “I am most proud of Ajani’s dedication to his school work.  He is currently taking a Spanish class, and I know it is a rigorous course, but he is sticking through it.  Every Wednesday during Excel time he is always getting the extra help so that he can complete his assignments.  I am proud of Ajani for his hard work and dedication to what he does.”

Brown has been on the honor roll every semester since elementary school.  “It’s a great feeling to me because it makes me feel like I am achieving something important.  I am thankful for my teachers, because without their support I don’t think I would be as successful as I am,” said Brown.

Brown says his favorite activities to do at TJ are recycling through the Multi-Intensive Special Education Program during first period, and attending his vocation class.   “I like to recycle because I like to stay organized and put things in the right places.  Doing this also teaches me what things I can and cannot recycle.  With vocations, I like that because it teaches me how to get a job, along with living on my own, writing checks, and many other important life activities as well,” said Brown.

Volunteering has been an important part of Brown’s life as he has volunteered at homeless shelters and other places, one of which includes Elderly at Rainbow Bridge (which is for people with terminal diseases), Habitat of Humanity, a homeless shelter, and the Women’s Bean Project, which is a place for women with cancer.  “I volunteer at these places because I love to help people, and I want to make sure that people are okay and satisfied.  While volunteering, I do a variety of things from serving food to cooking spaghetti, selling beans to raise money for a cure, or making art with sick people,” said Brown, who gets involved with the help from his mother, who makes a living by taking care of patients with disabilities.  Brown has been inspired with helping those in need.  “These have been great experiences for me, and it has made me decide that I want to help people for a living,” stated Brown.

When Brown is finished with high school, he wants to become a victim’s advocate.  “I really enjoy helping people and I want to ensure the safety of others.  I want to be a friend to everybody and let him or her know that I will be a true friend in his or her life.  I want to see people happy and enjoying their lives,” said Brown, who demonstrated his determination of helping people when he went over to a classmate’s house who was struggling with making friends.  Brown accompanied the student and let him know that he does have a friend at TJ, and that he is welcomed.  “I wanted him to know that I care about him and that people are here for him,” said Brown.

For the upcoming summer, Brown will be working his first job at the South Flower Market, where his duties will consist of bagging groceries, and returning carts to the store.  “I am very excited for this because I will have the opportunity to earn money and this will be a new experience for me.  I know that this experience is going to make my summer full of great memories that I will never forget,” said Brown.

The person who inspires Brown the most in his life is his mother.  “My mother is an organized person that does a great job at anything she does.  She works hard at everything, and has taught me almost everything that I know.  We have a very close mother-son relationship and she is my best friend.  I can tell her anything and she gives me great advice when I need it.  My mom has helped make me the person that I am today, and for that I am grateful,” stated Brown.

photo by Rebecca Holt

Wednesday night the boys put on a great show with many first place finishes.  Frank Huppurts won the 200 Free, Marcus Allen 200M, Tim Mahoney 50 Free, Mike Mahoney 100 Fly, Daniel Smith 500 Free, Jackson Epstein 100 Back, and Demetrius Allen won the 100 Breast and took first in diving.

The relay teams did amazing with the 200 Medley and the 400 Free, both taking first place.  One of the biggest highlights of the night came from Griffin Black, who took third place in the 100 Back.  This is Black’s first season competing for the swim team and he has done a great job this season.  “It felt really good to win third.  Throughout this season I have accomplished a lot.  I was never really good at competitive swimming, but I have worked hard everyday, and I am glad that all the hard work is paying off,” said Black.

“We went with a different style with people swimming different events that they wouldn’t normally compete in.  We have city coming up and our goal is to be ranked in the top three.  George and East have great experienced teams, but I know we are capable of competing well against them,” said Head Coach Cindy Allen.

The next swim meet will be at Manual High School next weekend against all city teams for the final DPS and regular season meet of the year.

photo by Rebecca Holt

The George Washington Patriots are a talented team that swims year round and has many swimmers ranked in the top ten in the 5a district.  The Spartan boys still competed well against the Patriots with a great performances from Tim Mahoney, who won the 50M free style with a time of: 24.89, Demetrius Allen, who took second place in diving with a score of 132.2, and Jackson Epstein, who took second in the 100 back stroke with a time of 1:10.83.

Other top performances came from Daniel Smith, Frank Huppert, and Mike Mahoney.  The two teams were caught on tape by Channel 9 news, which recorded the meet.  “We competed to the best of our abilities, and they were a great team.  We were a little bit intimidated because of their reputation of being a great team, and that bothered us a little.  We aren’t used to being on camera either, so maybe that distracted us, as well.  But once we were comfortable, we were fine,” said Thomas Currington.

“Considering the fact that GW swims year around, and some of our swimmers play three different sports, we competed very well.  I think that during the beginning of the race we were a little nervous because of how good George is.  But I am proud of how the boys competed, and we did very well,” stated Head Coach Cindy Allen.

The boys’ next and finial home meet will be next Wednesday on the 28th against the Montbello Warriors.  This meet will be senior night for seniors Demetrius Allen, Daniel Smith, Thomas Currington, and Eldar Ayutov.

Photo by Kevin Fleming

Demetrius Allen is a well known TJ Spartan who maintains a high GPA, participates in four sports, and was recently crowned King at the Eros dance.  Demetrius is currently on the boys’ swim team at TJ, and has participated all four years at TJ.  He is well known on the swim team and made his first appearance at state last year as a junior, and looks to go back to state and represent TJ well again this year.  Demetrius wasn’t always interested in swimming though, and if not for his mother, Cindy Allen, he might not have ever gotten into the sport.

Demetrius first began swimming competitively during his freshman year at TJ.  His mom Cindy, who is TJ’s swim coach and athletic secretary, asked him to come out to just try it.  Before that, Demetrius enjoyed swimming in local pools during the summer just for fun.  “When my mom had first asked me to try out I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be good at it or not.  But it turned out that I was, and now I appreciate the sport more,” said Demetrius, who is recognized as one of the top swimmers in the state in the backstroke.  Along with swimming, Demetrius competes in football, where he played right guard, in wrestling, where he wrestled at 189 lbs, and in track running the 4-1 relay and throwing the shot put and the discus.

With all the sports activities in which Demetrius competes, it’s amazing that he is able to maintain a 3.7 GPA.  Demetrius is a terrific student who is always challenging himself with classes like AP Literature with Susan Stokely.  However, Demetrius’s favorite class at TJ is Drawing and Painting with Brooke Stoyer.  “Ms. Stoyer is a teacher who is specific with the things she wants, but when it comes to class work, she is lenient and allows us a lot of freedom. In that class I get to express my creativity and that makes the class a lot of fun,” said Demetrius.

After high school, Demetrius will be attending Metro State College, majoring in Criminal Justice.  “I’ve always been passionate about doing the right things in life, which is why I want to get a degree in criminal justice and pursue a career in law enforcement,” said Demetrius, who is entering the Police Cadet Program, which is sponsored through Metro, this upcoming fall.  Being in the Cadet program will give Demetrius the opportunity to experience police work so that he may decide what type of Law Enforcement he will do after college.  “I am excited about the Cadet program because I will have the experience of being a police officer while in college.  What makes the program great is that it will pay my way through college,” said Demetrius, who added that he wanted to become a police officer and hopefully patrol the Denver Metro area.  “There are a lot of people in Denver, and I would like to experience it and see the type of activities that go on downtown,” said Demetrius.

Demetrius is not the only one in his family to have attend TJ, nor is he the only Allen present at TJ today.  Before Demetrius arrived at TJ, his older cousin Pierre Allen, who was a part of the back-to-back state champion basketball team in the years 04-05 and 05-06, along with his older sister, Ivory Allen, who was an amazing softball player at TJ, attended TJ.  The two of them helped make TJ what it is today in athletics, and have represented the Allen family very well.  Demetrius has done an excellent job of doing the same.  At TJ, Demetrius’ younger brother Marcus Allen accompanies him.  Marcus, who is a freshman, participated in wrestling and varsity football team, and is currently participating in both swimming and track.  “It’s fun having my younger brother at the same school as me.  We have a lot of fun together, and I help him with any problems that he has.  In the class that we do have together, we have a lot of fun, but can sometimes mess around too much,” said Demetrius.

Marcus and Demetrius have a close brotherly relationship, and with the two of them attending the same high school, their relationship is even stronger.  “I like having my older brother at TJ with me.  He has set a great example for me by giving 100% at everything he does, never acting up, and treating everybody with respect.  Demetrius is a role model to this school, and this year has taught me how to stay on track by balancing my schoolwork and athletics the right way.  I’m going to miss him a lot when he leaves TJ, but I want to continue the legacy that he is leaving behind.  I want to show him that I can do everything he has done, and possibly be better than him.  One thing I appreciate Demetrius doing is teaching me from his mistakes, so that I don’t make bad decisions, and that I stay on the right path with my life,” said Marcus, who recalls his favorite memory of he and his brother in gym class with teacher William Burns.  “Everyday in weight lifting class we always compete to see who is better, whether it’s foot racing or bench press.  It’s just a lot of fun, and I’m going to miss him next year when he’s in college.  I’m just glad that he had the chance to show me the ropes of high school,” said Marcus.

Out of all the things that inspire people in their lives, Demetrius is inspired by his mom.  “My mom is a strong person who has been through a lot.  She has never let anything pull her back and she does anything she desires, and I respect that about her,” said Demetrius.

With the swim team going further into its season, Demetrius is looking forward to the upcoming DPS swim meet.  “I’m excited about the DPS meet because it is our chance to show off what we’ve got against the rest of the Denver schools.  The meet will also show us how much we have improved since our first meet,” said Demetrius, who also said that he believes that he has a great shot to participate at state again.  As for the swim team, Demetrius believes that they are going to have an outstanding season.  “We have a lot of talent and kids are eager and energetic, and they are ready compete and demonstrate how good they are.  I believe that all of the hard work that we have been doing this season will pay off for us in the end,” said Demetrius.

Photo by Rebecca Holt

Sarahi Flores is a freshman at TJ who achieves good grades, remains in good standing with her teachers, is president of her youth group, and still manages to get her homework done.  This Spartan always strives to do her best, and is proud of who she is and what she does.

As a freshman, Flores had to deal the transition from middle school to high school.  “High school is different from middle school.  The work is harder and there’s more homework.  But what I do like is the freedom and how there’s less restrictions as to what students can and cannot do,” said Flores, who recalled her first day of high school.  “I was extremely nervous because I didn’t know what to expect as a freshman in a new environment.  What got me through that day was seeing my friends at the same school as me.  I didn’t expect to see any of them at TJ, and it was a little shocking to me,” said Flores.

Like many freshmen, Flores isn’t sure of what college she wants to go to, but she is certain that she wants to major in either cosmetology or psychiatry.  “I want to major in cosmetology because I am good with hair and make up, and it’s something that I love.  I would like to do psychiatry because I like to help the needy.  Whenever I help somebody who is in need, to see that person happy just brings a joy to my heart,” said Flores.

At TJ, Flores’ favorite class is Geography with Jon Poole.  “I like the class because Mr. Poole makes it fun and easy.  He is very knowledgeable with the subject, so he knows how to explain things well to us.  He is funny and nice by letting us work together with friends, which makes the class easy,” said Flores, who also said that Poole is her favorite teacher at TJ.

Coming from Poole, Flores is a good student with a lot of potential.  “She is a bright girl.  She is funny and mostly quiet, but is still sociable. When she puts her mind to it, she can do anything she wants to.  What makes her a good student is her patience, independence, and her ability to pick up on things quicker than most students.  I believe that she will be successful at whatever she decides to do with her life, but it’s all up to her,” said Poole.

Flores has never participated in any sport, but plans to play on the girls’ soccer team next year.  “I’m going to play soccer next year, and I’m nervous because it’s my first time and I don’t know what to expect,” said Flores, who said she was inspired to play soccer by watching the World Cup.

Outside of school, Flores is the president of her youth group at her church, Seventh Day Adventist of Aurora.  She was elected president because she’s reliable, hard working, and is committed to what she does.  As president, Flores’ job is to lead the group every Saturday morning, keep the group members on track by helping coordinate and plan activities, such as bible readings, singing in the church choir, fundraising, and camping trips.  “I am proud of myself for being the president because it shows that people trust me, and that they are willing to rely on me for important tasks,” said Flores, who also helps out at home by baby sitting her younger siblings, and helping to keep her house clean by vacuuming, washing dishes, and dusting.

Flores says her biggest inspirations in her life are her parents.  “My parents are always telling me to do my best, and I live by that and it has been great for me.  I’m doing well in school and staying out of trouble through that saying.  My parents are always supporting me whether it’s my homework or a personal issue that I’m dealing with.  My parents aren’t  people who are rich, but they keep our family together, and I respect them for that,” said Flores.

With Flores being a freshman, there are a lot of different things she’ll be looking forward to as she continues her high school career.  But the thing Flores is looking forward to the most is graduation.  “I just can’t wait to get out of high school and start my life.  Academics and finishing school is what my parents have instilled into my head, so it is very important to me that I do,” said Flores.

photo by Rebecca Holt

It was a great weekend for the swim team in the tournament, with a lot of first place finishes.  Before the meet, the team had a meeting that focused the goal of competing strong for the entire competition.  It paid off for them with six first place finishes, including three relays.

Tim Mahoney had a great day, winning the 50M freestyle, the 100M and the 200M.   The relay team with Jackson Epstein, Demetrius Allen, Daniel Smith and Tim Mahoney, won the 200M relay, Tim and Mike Mahoney, Demetrius Allen and Jackson Epstein also won the 200 freestyle relay.  Marcus Allen, Mark May, Mike Mahoney and Mitch Moore took first place in the 400 freestyle relay race.  Overall it was an amazing weekend for the boys’ swim team.  “This was an exciting meet for us and we demonstrated great teamwork.  This win for us definitely gave us confidence in our team’s abilities, and we just want to carry the momentum we have into upcoming meets,” said Epstein.

“We have never been to this tournament, and nobody knew what to expect.  None of the other teams really expected us to win the race.  I am very proud of the fact that these boys achieved their goals of competing strong until the end, and this was just an amazing win for us,” said Head Coach Cindy Allen.

The boys hope to carry their momentum into their next meet against the George Washington Patriots on Wednesday the 21st at 4:15.

Photo by Rebecca Holt

The swimmers swam as well as they could, but it wasn’t enough to beat the East Angels.  Tim Mahoney was the only first place finisher for TJ, winning the 50M race.  The swim team was low in the number of swimmers, so some of them had to swim multiple races, including back to back, which is difficult to do.

However, the boys kept the race close through five events before the Angels took control of the competition.  “We competed well for the first part of the competition.  We were even winning at one point.  We just need to work on the second half of the races more.  Once we finish better we will be an amazing team to watch,” said Thomas Currington.

“We just needed more first and second place finishes.  It is tough for these boys to have to swim back to back.  But we are continuing to develop our speed and technique so that we will be more prepared for the all-city meet.  Even though this is the second consecutive loss for us, we continue to work hard, and we are not comparing ourselves to other teams.  We are focused on us right now, and that is what’s going to get us through this,” said Head Coach Cindy Allen.

The boys’ next meet will be at Englewood High School as they compete in the Englewood Intra State 8 Tournament this weekend.  The next league meet will be on Wednesday at TJ.

photo by Rebecca Holt

The boys’ swim team is hoping to bounce back against the Denver East Angles today at Manuel High School at 4:15 in their first DPL meet.

On Saturday the 10th, the Spartan divers of the TJ Swim Team competed at Manuel High School in the DPL dive meet with some stand-out performances. During the dive meet, an excellent performance came from Senior Demetrius Allen, who took first place with a score of 127.3 and performed a front dive and an excellent inward flip. “It was a great meet for us and I felt comfortable with my diving ability. As a team we did a great job, and we hope that this performance will continue throughout the rest of the season,” said Allen. Other great performances came from Sophomores Luke Fabian and Mateo Rocha, along with Freshman Daniel Webster.

The head coach of the dive team, Amiee Witulski was pleased with the performance from the boys. “It was a good meet, and everybody did well. We even tried new dives like reverses, back flips, and a back dive with a twist. What made the meet even better was having the great support from the swimmers on the swim team,” said Witulski, who is also the assistant coach for the swimming team.

On Tuesday the 13th, the boys swim team took on Arvada West High School, losing the tight competition with a score of 101-81.  All the races were intense, with a five-point difference through the first eight events.  The boys put on a great show with a lot of first place finishes, including back to back to back brother wins from Mike Mahoney, who won the 100M and 100 fly, and Tim Mahoney winning the 50M free style and the 100M free style.  Other first place finishes came from Jackson Epstein, who competed in the 100M back stroke, and the sophomore/freshman 400M relay team taking first in the last event.  That team includes Marcus Allen, Daniel Wakefield, and Mike Mahoney.   Daniel Smith competed in a great race in the 500M free style, but unfortunately came in second place.  “As a team we did great.  The relay teams did great and everybody gave it their all and even though individuals won, as a team we still lost,” said Tim

“Even though we lost the meet, it was still an exciting event with all the highlights.  Unfortunately Arvada was able to pull away in the eighth event.  What made the event really exciting was that Arvada’s head coach used to teach at TJ.  So it was good to see him,” said head coach Cindy Allen.

The boys next swim meet will be today against the Denver East Angles at Manuel High School at 4:15.  This meet will be the boys’ first DPS meet.

photo by Rebecca Holt

Thursday night boys’ swimming competed at Manual High School in the first DPL meet of the season, taking third place overall with a final score of 262.  The boys competed well, with stand-out performances from Demetrius Allen, Daniel Smith, Tim Mahoney, and Mike Mahoney who had a great performance in his race against a swimmer from George Washington High School.  But a real top-notch performance came from Freshman Daniel Webster, who never swam in a competitive race in his life before this meet.  “Everybody swam great and from this meet we all set high goals and expectations for us for the rest of the season,” said Senior Smith.

The coaching staff had higher expectations coming in.  “It’s not what I expected from us, but the good thing is that we got the opportunity see what the other DPS schools have.  So now we can strategize better to be more prepared for our opponents,” said head coach Cindy Allen.  The boy’s next meet will be on Wednesday the 24th against the Montbello Warriors, which will be held at TJ at 4:15.

The Denver Nuggets are no doubt one of the top teams in the NBA and are currently in third place in the Western Conference.  Though the Nuggets play great against teams like the Lakers and Cavilers, they struggle to win against teams with a winning percentage under .500.

Denver is a high paced high scoring team that brings its A game night in and night out.  But why is it that the nuggets are 27-11 against teams with winning records above .500, yet they are 15-10 against teams under.  The Nuggets are ranked third in the entire NBA with scoring per game with 107 ppg, behind the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors.  They are one of the top ranked teams at home with a record of 42-21, and can even compete with out All Star Carmelo Anthony, as they are 7-3 without him.  Leading the Nuggets is All Star Chauncey Billups, who is from Denver Colorado.  Billups has a winning mentality with championships from the Detroit Pistons, and backing Billups up is a very young, athletic Ty Lawson.  A supporting cast doesn’t phase the nuggets as they have players like JR Smith, Kenyon Martin, Chris Anderson (Birdman), Neñe, and upcoming star Arron Afflalo.  Denver seems to have everything going for them, plus they are able to beat the most competitive teams in the league. But why do the Nuggets struggle against weaker teams?

Some factors contributing to the struggle is that basketball is a team sport that requires a team effort in order to win.  When the nuggets are down a player or two for some games, it throws off the team chemistry.  It puts the young, inexperienced players in higher positions that they are not used to being in.  So when players like Melo, Birdman, Martin, and Billups are injured, other players must step up to fulfill those star-player roles.  The Nuggets are in fact an old team, with the leader of the team, Billups, being 34 years old.  Being a basketball player myself, I can tell you that the game is hard on the human body, no matter how great of shape you are in.  So for the veterans of the team, sometimes they aren’t playing to the best of their abilities, which again forces the younger inexperienced players to step up.

In addition to these problems, playing on the road this season has been a struggle for the Nuggets as they are 14-16 thus far, which is bad.  For teams playing on the road it can be difficult because your playing in a different hostile environment, which makes players feel uncomfortable and not as focused.  For the teams that play at home, they are in their comfort zone with the crowd on their side cheering them on, while making the other team not feel welcomed.  Some ways the Nuggets can perform better on the road are to stay as focused as possible and play as a team.

The only explanation to this odd winning pattern of the Nuggets is that there isn’t one.  Basketball is a game where anything can happen, and a team can sometimes have a terrible game where nothing seems to go their way.  It has been demonstrated through history with every kind of sport.  Like when the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs when they were the 8th seed, and Dallas was the 1st seed.  Even here at TJ it has been demonstrated when the basketball team lost to Denver North last year.  Basketball is a game where anything can happen.  A team can be the greatest, but still loose to the worst.  There is a fifty fifty chance of winning or losing for every sport, and that won’t ever change.

So what does this mean for the Denver Nuggets?  It doesn’t mean anything.  All Denver can do is keep competing hard like they’ve been doing.  The Nuggets still have the same chance as everybody else to make it to the playoffs and win the NBA finals.  Not to mention, basketball is a season with 82 games, so a lot of things may still happen. I personally believe that the Nuggets are more than capable of going to the NBA finals this season, but there’s still a lot of basketball to be played.