Photo by Kiera Classen

For the first time in a number of years, one of Thomas Jefferson’s very own will be performing in the Colorado All State Choir, which will take place February 5-7, 2012 at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver.

Senior Keith Hussey was one of six TJ students who auditioned at the citywide choir competition in October, along with Sara Gardiner, Robert Sato, Tim Glazier, Christopher Muth, and Ben Schweitzer.  Hussey was the sole TJ performer who qualified for the All State Choir.

Hussey has been singing since he was 10 years old.  “My elementary school music teacher was the one who encouraged me to audition for the Colorado Children’s Choral, which I was in for two years,” said Hussey.  After leaving the choral, Keith continued his singing here at TJ involving himself in choir and the school musicals.

“It’s pretty cool because no one from TJ has made it in a few years, so I’m hoping it will benefit the music department by drawing in more interest,” said Hussey.

In the city competition, which took place at Wheatridge High School, participants were judged by their individual singing skills.  “You’re graded on your solo, triads, scales, intervals, and sight-reading.  It’s a very rigorous audition, and I’m so proud of Keith for making it.  He has worked very hard to learn all the material necessary, and deserves it,” said Choir Teacher Linda Sorenson.

The Colorado All State Choir has existed for over 50 years, and has included prestigious directors each year.  This year, Weston Noble, a very well-known director, will be present at the Wells Fargo Theatre.

Hussey says he spent the last couple of months preparing for the All State Choir.  He learned and practiced six songs which he will perform with the men’s choir on February 7^th.  “The first two days of the All State Choir are like two solid days of rehearsal, where the entire men’s choir just practices.  The final concert is held on the 7^th,” said Hussey.

Photo by Ed Gloor

In a 89-65 lost to Denver East, TJ was unable to overcome a great East frontline and guard Dominique Collier who scored 12 points and had two assists.

“We played well against East actually,” said Head Coach Grant Laman, “They went up 8-0 in the beginning of the game and then at the end of the first half we were only down by eight. We went blow for blow in the middle part of the game.” TJ actually outscored East by three points in the second quarter to give themselves some momentum heading into the locker room for the half. TJ came out strong in the third quarter had a manageable 11 point defect going into the fourth quarter. “We competed with them. They put together a great fourth quarter and that’s part of the reason why we lost by so much. We also got into foul trouble, which seems to be a pattern all this year,” said Laman.

TJ has moved past East and looks towards South on Friday, February 3rd. “I took a look at South the other night and they commit to a full court press, and handle it well. We’ll have to find a way to beat it,” said Laman. South also has a big man in the middle who can terrorize any team. “He’s a rebounding and shot blocking guy who can take over a game. Nate (Brewer), Eric (Andres), and Trey (Andres) are going to have to bottle him up.”

Wins are a premium this time of year as TJ is looking for one final push to make the playoffs. “We’ll need to take care of business and get a couple more wins to make the playoffs,” said Laman.

Artwork by Kiera Classen

On Friday February 3, Dentists across Colorado have volunteered for Give Kids a Smile Day to provide free dental attention to children without dental insurance or the ability to afford dental care.

Colorado mission mercy is a large-scale dental clinic in which dental services are provided at no cost and, on February 3^rd, the Colorado mission mercy (also known as COMOM) is coming to various dental locations in the metro area in order to provide dental care.

It is the nation’s largest project to help children from low-income families with their dental needs, and to draw attention to the problem that many families face when trying to access basic dental care. The free screening includes a dental exam, oral healthcare instruction, fluoride treatments, and free dental hygiene materials, such as toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste.

Nearly one in four children, aged two to 11 years old have untreated cavities in their baby teeth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many children enrolled in Medicaid receive no dental services throughout the year. The Dental Association has a mission to change that and keep kids smiling.

Many kids are expected to show up, so the COMOM is asking for all family members to come early. Doors open at 6 A.M. patients are served on a first come, first serve basis, and no appointment is necessary. The number of participants expected to show up as of January 25 is 405,086 around the nation. There are also 9,507 volunteering dentists.

This year will be the 10^th year anniversary of the American Dental Association Give Kids A Smile program; their mission is to eliminate cavities in children by 2020. “I think this is a really good program for the less privileged,” said Nurse Betty Richmeier.  Doctors around the nation plan to make this an annual event to raise awareness of the need to build local public and private partnerships to increase access to oral health care for children.

Artwork by Mateo Rocha

Being my local skate park, Greenwood Village (GV) has a laid back set-up where skaters – or bikers – can perform flat ground tricks, ride bowls, clear gaps, and enjoy Colorado through the clear view of the Rocky Mountains.

One great element of GV is its transitional bowl (small size, pool-shaped skate-able bowls). All of the vertical features fit inside the single large bowl of the park. The angles of the quarter pipes are very mellow, so for any person who is not feeling comfortable with bowl skating, this makes for optimal training grounds. A downside of the bowls is the fact that the coping (metal tube bordering the tops of quarter pipes) is too small to lock grinds on easily. One has to lock on precisely into the grind or else the board will slide right out.

The transitional bowls include seven quarter pipes, one hip transfer, and one spine-transfer, all measuring a little over five feet tall; ideal for relaxed bowl riding and improvisations. Since the bowls are so smooth, it is optimal for warming up and stretching muscles with out the hazard of pushing too hard right off the bat and pulling a leg.

When riding along the transitional quarter pipes going West one will eventually drop down into the lower half of the bowl, where the vert walls start scaling up to nine feet, and then 13 feet (vert walls and vert skating is vertical riding on large size walls). The coping on these pools are very well placed, even though the angle of inclination could still be shaped better for smoother riding.

Photo by Mateo Rocha

One has to be creative when street skating at GV. The park provides a gap known as two-block, because of the two large stair-like steps measuring about seven feet high. The landing of the two-block is angled downward; so that it’s not a ramp, but it is significant enough that if you don’t land just right you can slip out violently (you can also just clear the entire angled landing to the flat part and you won’t have this issue). A low, long ledge borders the park along the East side, measuring over 30 feet, where skaters execute countless combinations of grinds, slides, and manual balancing acts.

Being creative is what makes GV entertaining. If one can’t open their mind to seeing a feature differently, GV will only seem mildly amusing. One perfect example of ingenuity in this park is the “Colorado rock,” a large rock that acts as an extension to the east facing quarter pipe, where skaters charge at it to execute wallies (wall ollie), spins, or grabs.

Photo by Mateo Rocha

If given the chance to remodel the park, most local riders would take it without hesitating. GV skater Wade Novotny comments on the issue: “This park needs to have a larger street section. We could add stair sets, pyramids, rails, and walls to the East side of GV. Regardless, this park is pretty chill, but I would add so many new features,” said Novotny The feeling is pretty mutual between all the locals at the park. A street-oriented addition to GV would change the park scene from being a mellow little park to a more highly cherished place to skate.

I realize entirely that GV is a pretty low-scale park compared to the other colossal parks in Colorado, but when there’s nothing to do on a Wednesday afternoon in Southeast Denver, GV seems like a pretty ideal place to be. The openness of the park, the smooth concrete, and the people make Greenwood Park pretty welcoming. As a skater there is nothing more I can ask for from GV than this.

Most people who come through the skate park might consider it to be “lame” because of the amount of features it does not have. Contrary to popular belief, GV still manages to attract one skate crowd, including myself, back to it’s grey concrete. Something about the relaxed nature of the park, with the beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains, and being surrounded by trees, makes this park what I like to call my local park.

Photo by Mateo Rocha

Favorite Color: Turquoise
Favorite TV Show: American Idol
If you could be any superhero…: Superman! Then I could fly
Activities at TJ: Volleyball and Interact Club
Activities outside TJ: Club Volleyball and singing
Music Interests: I’m a country girl, but I like Indie and Christian music, too.
Favorite Memory at TJ: Challenge Day
If you could live in any time period…: The 1930s; I really like their style and fancy dresses.
Life philosophy: “Stand up for what you believe in, even if you’re standing alone.”

Photo by Kiera Classen

After TJ won 66-12 against Evergreen on Friday, January 27th, the wrestling team is looking forward to league, which TJ has won the past four years.

“We went into the Evergreen match knowing we were going to win; they brought like seven guys and forfeited so many matches, we would have won even if we lost every match,” said Head Coach Mike Laurita. “Really the best thing was we had a good hard practice that day and ended with a good win. The team did well,” said Laurita.

As for the league, TJ is hosting it and looks to win the tournament for the fifth straight time. “This is really the only time we see any of the DPL teams, so the winner of this tournament will be league champ,” said Laurita. TJ doesn’t look to have much competition  going into the meet, according to Laurita. “East would only be the other competitive team. Lincoln was supposed to match us and stay with us, but we dismantled them when we saw them earlier this season.” Laurita oozed confidence for the team saying, “We know we’ll win if we simply out-prepare the rest of the teams.”

The League Tournament is on Friday, February 4, starting at 9 a.m. in the gym.

Photo by Kiera Classen

On Wednesday, January 18^th, the girls’ swim team competed against their rivals George Washington and Lincoln, coming in second place behind GW.  Although the girls didn’t win the meet, their coach still has good things to say about them.  “Everyone swam very well and we were prepared and professional,” said Head Coach Cindy Allen.  “They showed great integrity.”

A few days later, the girls swam in the Fountain Fort Carson Invite.  They came in 14^th out of 18 teams, but not all of their victories showed up in their score.  “It was a new meet and many of the girls bettered their times by three or more seconds,” said Allen.  Sophomore Sarah Orr improved her backstroke time from 123.43 seconds to 120.11 seconds, Junior Juliana Alford got 1^st place in the 100-breast stroke, and Freshman Angelica Hawley got 3^rd place in her heat in the 100 freestyle race.
Lastly, on Wednesday, January 25^th, the girls had a quad meet against West, South, and North.  The meet was held at North High School.  The girls came in second place behind South and beat West and North.  “The girls were nervous and quad meets are always hectic in a small area, but they swam really well and they stepped up and made me proud,” said Allen.  “They worked as team and were willing to make changes for their team.”

Wednesday 12/7 DPS Girls Relay Meet @Manual 4:15 p.m. (5^th Place)
Wednesday 12/14 Montbello/East @Manual 4:15 p.m. (2^nd Place)
Friday 12/16 Harrison @TJ 4:15 p.m. (1^st Place)
Saturday 1/7 Valor Invite @Colorado School of Mines 12:00 p.m. (16^th Place)
Wednesday 1/18 George Washington/Lincoln @TJ 4:15 p.m. (2^nd Place)
Saturday 1/21 Fountain Ft. Carson Invite @Fountain Ft. Carson 9:00 a.m. (14^th Place)
Wednesday 1/25 West/South/North @North 4:15 p.m. (2^nd place)
Saturday 1/28 DPS B Meet @Manual
Friday 2/3 DPS Girls League Swim Prelims @Manual 4:15p.m.
Saturday 2/4 DPS Girls League Swim/Dive Finals @Manual 9:00a.m