Denver Public School Art Exhibition’s “Best in Show” winner, Morgan Dorn, knows how to work his magic not only in ceramics, but in the rest of his life as well.
     This month, Thomas Jefferson’s Senior Morgan Dorn won two awards: Best in Show and First Place in the Ceramics genre. He submitted an 18-inch coil pot that won over the judges. There were eleven DPS schools involved in the competition, including Denver School of the Arts. Each school was allowed to submit 15 art creations hand-picked by the teachers. Altogether 165 students competed for the title of Best in Show, and Dorn won it. “It’s pretty exciting,” he said. “I had no idea I’d win.”
     Dorn is enrolled in TJ’s ceramics class with Catherine Salazar and the course introduced him to something he turned out to enjoy immensely. His aunt and uncle own the Robischon Art Gallery downtown, which has given him a little exposure to the art world. After joining the ceramics class he gained more interest and passion for the form. “I think it’s fun to build with my hands. You can do a lot of interesting things,” Dorn said.
     The artwork that won Dorn the competition is a coil pot made up of rolled strings of clay stacked one atop the other. He says that the shape of the coils reminded him of snakes, which inspired him to sculpt several detailed snake heads into the piece.     “The cool thing about Morgan is that he built his pot up on just an idea,” fellow ceramics classmate Sean Reifman said.
     When asked where or from whom he gets his artistic inspiration from Dorn replied, “I find inspiration from things, not so much people. I really like doing my own thing and being original.” He also said that much of his art is representative of South American pieces.
     Catherine Salazar’s students have participated in this competition from its inception, about thirty years ago, “Morgan is one of the more stand-out students I’ve had, and I think the only Best in Show winner, so that is exciting,” said Salazar, who added that she is extremely appreciative of Dorn’s presence in her class. “35 Morgans in one class would be heaven,” she jokes.  “He is respectful and hardworking.”
     Art is not the only class in which Dorn excels. He has a respectable GPA and participates thoroughly in all his classes. Dorn also gets along famously with his peers. “He is smart and really easy to talk to,” says Reifman.
     Dorn hopes that he will carry his new-found hobby of pottery into the future. Although he never plans on selling his art, he hopes to display it around his home. “When I create something I put my all into it, all my passion. So, I like keeping it around,” he said.
    Morgan Dorn’s award-winning artwork was on display at the atrium of the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Building at 201 West Colfax Avenue.

    The Spartan baseball boys showed some perseverance and had a number of clutch performances in getting past the district round of the playoffs on Saturday, May 3rd. After blowing by Skyview in the first game by a score of 10-2, TJ battled a talented team from Cheyenne Mountain into extra innings, and came out with a 4-3 victory.
     TJ was a little slow to start with the bats in their first game against Skyview, but they stayed patient behind great pitching from Sophomore Brennan "Bubba" Henry and saw their hitting come alive. Henry had consistent control all game, and allowed only two runs in five innings. Freshman Chris Van Dyke pitched the last two innings and shut down the Skyview offense, leading to a final score of 10-2. The Spartan offense showed the same talent they have all season against Skyview, and they were confident going into the second game behind their ace pitcher Dylan Smith.
     After beating Mountain Range in their first game, Cheyenne Mountain carried some momentum into the deciding match-up against TJ. Both teams were fighting for a spot among the final eight, as the winner would go on and the loser would go home. Both teams came out strong in the first inning, Cheyenne Mountain scoring two runs in the top half, after two solid hits from the top of their lineup. TJ manufactured one run of their own in the bottom of the first, bringing the score to 2-1, where it would stay until the sixth.
(more…)

    After a performance like Chicago what could TJ Drama possibly have up its sleeve? Why, Spring One-Acts, that’s what!
    The One-Acts are student written and directed plays that are presented on the 7th 8th and 9th of May. One-Act drama at TJ is a different style of play consisting of only one act, hence the name. One-Acts are a competitive version of theater where four student directors' plays are chosen and the students cast, direct, write, and work tech without any help from the teachers. The four plays face off in groups of two per night, and one play from each night advances to the final round. On the third night the two top plays from each night compete, a vote is taken and the final play is chosen. The best part about all this… admission is free!
    Four teachers,  Eileen Adair, Sudi Stodola, Michael Palmieri, and, Jaqueline Hudson-Raila judged and selected the finals plays. “After an entire lunch period of discussing the merits of each play, we ranked the plays and came to an equitable decision. While we didn’t all agree on which ones were the best, we did agree that we had a fair decision-making process,” said  Stodola.
    They decided on the top four One-Acts and they are: Tangled by Natalee Pinson, 3:33 by Sinjin Jones, Angeline by Chris Wolter and 2012 by Dan Rios. Auditions were the April 10 and rehearsal began on April 14.
    Student Director Jones said,  "3:33 is a story about when three grizzly murders are committed, one man must find out who the culprit is… before he loses it himself.”  There is also a manic murder mystery, and a zombie outbreak.  Curtain opens at 7:00 pm tonight.
 

    For Taylor Hargrove, who has been there and back, there is no place like home.
     “It was the spring of 1997 and our baseball team just beat Pueblo East in the State Semifinals. We then went up against a Pueblo South team for the 4A State Championship and lost 8 to 5,” recalled 1999 Thomas Jefferson Graduate Taylor Hargrove. As a sophomore in high school he dedicated most of his time to playing the game he loved, baseball; and many of his teammates did the same. The 1997 team composed of mostly sophomores had given up playing other sports to pursue the dream of a State Championship. Among these young men was Roger Ross, older brother of 2001 TJ grad and current Baltimore Raven Cory Ross.
    It was a series of unfortunate events that cost TJ the State Championship; however, it was the turning point in Hargrove’s young life. “It was the most devastating thing because my whole identity was placed into this sport,” he said. Baseball had defined him all his life; if he was doing well on the diamond then he was happy, if he was doing bad then he wasn’t happy. This holds true for the majority of student athletes, although Hargrove describes his infatuation as something greater. “We let our performance on the field dictate who we were as people. I received all my satisfaction from my success on the baseball diamond,” he said.
     However, Hargrove evolved with the help of his pastor Eric Hause and a Christian Evangelism conference he attended in the summer of 1997 in Washington D.C. It was an emotional ride as he committed himself to being a servant of God with the belief that he must give up his dream of playing professional baseball to do so. To Hargrove’s benefit, this was not the case. “Instead of using the gift God gave me to play for myself, for the first time in my life, I wasn’t playing for me but for God,” he explained. Now that he wasn’t playing for his own fame, stats didn’t matter to him, and the reason why he played was because it was God’s gift to him as well as his love for the game.
(more…)

     Jackie Chan and Jet Li are amazing martial artists; we all know that. However, as the credits rolled on Forbidden Kingdom, I couldn’t help but think that the producers and director may have banked a little too much on that fact.
     Forbidden Kingdom opens with the story of a wannabe martial artist, Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano, Sky High), who religiously visits the store of an old Chinese guy to requisition new martial arts flicks to watch. By some weird string of events that includes bullies, guns, and falling from rooftops that I’m still not sure I understand, Jason finds himself in a strange parallel universe where he must return a staff (which he got from the old man) to its rightful owner (a monkey guy) so that he can defeat the Jade Emperor and release the world from tyranny. Along the way, he meets his teachers: a drunken, possibly immortal beggar (Jackie Chan), and a traveling monk on a mission to free the monkey man (both tackled by Jet Li).
     The most annoying issue with the movie is that I saw absolutely no reason why I should hate the Jade Emperor until at least the middle of the film, and even then it was questionable. Emperors always make examples of people, they always have concubines, and they are always mean to people who disobey; so what makes this guy (played by Deshun Wang) any different, other than his sweet martial arts and Chi power?
     The movie quickly falls into a predictable cycle as everything expected to happen happens, and surprise comes at maybe one or two moments in the film…at most. Of course there is a love interest for the young American in Golden Sparrow (played by first timer Yifei Liu). Yes, she saves their lives, yes, she has a secret, and yes she joins their journey. At this point, a mental image may be forming as to how Forbidden Kingdom ends…yep, that’s exactly how it happens. (more…)

    The All-City Comprehensive Exam Competition pitted the TJ JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) against nine other schools in the Denver district on April 10th at TJ. 
    The competition is based on an exam that covers basic knowledge of military, every-day, and historical concepts.  The cadets are tested on this knowledge based on their Leadership Education Training level, or LET, and the scores from each unit are combined for an overall average for the corps.  The LET levels correspond with the number of full school years cadets have been active in the program, and include levels one through three, as seniors are not tested.
    Each JROTC Corps in the Denver district took a similar exam on April 10th; the scores were then taken to the Director of Army Instruction for the Denver Public Schools for assessment.  After the scores of the exams had been tallied, the mighty Spartan JROTC proved to have an elevated level of expertise, coming in 2nd place overall, dominating South, who came in 3rd, and following closely behind 1st place Kennedy.
    The win meant much for the Spartan cadets as a corps.  “It’s more of a pride thing. We will achieve not individual recognition, but team recognition,” said Major Joe George, the retired Army Instructor who heads the TJ JROTC. “This is a first for us.  Kennedy got first place, but we beat out all of even the heavy hitters,” said George. 
    Spartan Cadet Corporal Daniel Cole, an LET One and freshman at TJ, was also excited by the accomplishment.  “JROTC is going to help me get to college, and I want to be in the military so it’s good practice.  The marching, the protocol, the style of leadership, preparing for the test, these are all things that I have learned from JROTC, and will take with me for the rest of my life.  Our success in taking the exam shows that motivation and dedication will take us, take me, anywhere I want to go,” said Cole. 
    The high marks on the exam also will help to gain TJ’s cadets more points toward winning the Denver Board of Education Trophy, which is awarded to the Denver JROTC program with the most combined points from other JROTC competitions throughout the school year.  TJ’s JROTC will find out whether or not they won the trophy after the All-City JROTC Competition held on May 1st.

    When most people think about cars, words such as performance and speed seem to rarely be associated with efficiency and safety, but ironically, the high performance car world may be the best place to look for the automotive security and economy solutions that we need. 
    As the automotive industry is at a crucial point in its journey, with efficiency and safety becoming more and more important every year, it seems unlikely that the answers needed should come from the motorsport world.  Typically, racing is seen as dangerous, and it is true that most racecars suck down fuel faster than a Mack truck (some dragsters go through 12 gallons in a 1/4-mile), but in reality the performance car industry and the conservative car industry are much more similar than many would suppose.  If we are going to solve the energy problem brought on by sky-high gas prices, and improve safety on increasingly congested roads, we will have to learn some lessons from the world of speed.

Lesson #1 - Power and efficiency are not so different
    With gas prices ballooning and wallets shrinking, efficiency is the big buzzword in the automotive industry.  Typically, high performance cars are not very high on the efficiency list but this is simply because they are pursuing a different kind of efficiency.  Efficiency is defined as getting as much power possible out of as little fuel as possible, which is somewhat the goal of both the Ferrari and the Prius.  In the case of performance cars, the designer tries to get as much power as possible out of the amount of fuel available and in efficiency oriented cars, the goal is to use as little fuel as necessary to get an acceptable level of power.  Simply put, the goal of both is to improve efficiency; the only difference is whether to minimize fuel or maximize power. (more…)

    An excursion to Hawaii held more in store for one TJ teen than just sunshine and surf.
    From January 8th –13th, 2008 TJ Senior Jasser Mohamed participated in the making of a reality show called Gospel Journey Maui, put on by Dare to Share Ministries International. The trip involved getting together six young men and women between the ages of 18 and 23 of all different faiths, and encouraging them to talk about their beliefs. Mohamed explained, “It’s a show where we go down and live in Maui for seven days, and do activities every day, and they ask us a question of the day. How did life start? Is there a universal God? Why do you believe what you believe? The message of the show was not to prove that Christianity was right, or Islam was right, or Mormonism. They just wanted us to come together in the environment of Hawaii’s beauty, and have us sit down and be ourselves with each other.”
     Dare to Share (D2S) was founded in 1991, and is headquartered in Arvada, Colorado. The Maui expedition was the second Gospel Journey of its kind, and the original Gospel Journey was nominated for Outreach Magazine’s 2006 Best Outreach Resource. Dare to Share’s ministry is that of bringing faith and the gospel to teenagers. Since teens are often at home watching MTV and different reality shows, a proposal was made to make a reality show that involves religion. “On those shows there are always people doing challenges and fun activities, and in a way that’s what GJ Maui was. Every day we’d ask a question, and we’d talk about God and challenge ourselves to understand one another, but in the end we were ziplining, rappelling, snorkeling and surfing, too,” Jasser recalls. (more…)

 The Spartan baseball team is on a roll, coming off their sixth consecutive city championship after romping the East Angels in their last regular season game on Monday.  TJ came out of the gates swinging and never cooled down, as they finished off their DPL rivals by a score of 17-4 in the sixth inning.  After a tough loss against 5A Doherty on Saturday, April 26th, the boys bounced back, and are now carrying some strong momentum into the state playoffs. 

    TJ's offense has been working well for them all season, and they showed their talent at the plate against East on Monday.  They got out to an early lead, and were up by a score of 13-4 after five innings, with help from a home run by Brett Nathan, his seventh of the year.  The final blow came when Michael Mankoff hit a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning to end the game by the 10-run rule, and to give TJ the outright city championship along with their (more…)