Photo by Becca Holt

When I first walked into the Bagel Deli located at 6439 E. Hampden at Monaco, I was immediately surrounded by photographs of the people who have devoted themselves to the business. I was greeted by friendly faces, the aroma of fresh baked goods, the friction of people sliding into the booths, and the harmony of the whole Deli singing Happy Birthday to a lucky customer. The Bagel Deli is based off of family, customer service, and kosher foods.

“After the Holocaust, my grandparents came over from Austria and had the opportunity to buy the Bagel Deli in 1967,” said Jared Kaplan who is the grandson of the original owners, Paul and Charlotte ‘Lola’ Weiner. Since 1967 the Deli has been passed down one generation, and is now currently owned by Jared’s parents Joe and Rhoda Kaplan. “I look forward to the inheritance of the Deli. This is my passion. I love people, working, the lifestyle; this is my niche. I don’t think I could bear to see it be passed to another owner outside of the family, I wouldn’t want all the change,” said Kaplan, who has been the executive chef at the Deli for 13 years and counting.

Kaplan and his mother do the majority of the baking; they are always stewing something up. “We are an authentic kosher deli; it is very hard to find good kosher products. There are not many delis that are like us,” said Kaplan. The Deli is kosher with the exception of serving meat and cheese together. When walking into the Deli with a grumbling stomach, one will find it extremely difficult to narrow down the tremendous amount of options. In the bakery one will find various flavors of Rugulach, a bite sized pastry that comes in many different flavors and Homentasch, a triangular pastry often filled with preserves. In the restaurant, one could have anything from a bagel to a Reuben with a pickle on the side. Breakfast is served all day, thus keeping the menu of over 100 options and combinations open. “Since the opening of the Deli, we have incorporated many new things. We have really worked on expanding our breakfast options,” said Kaplan.

One of the Deli’s greatest boasts is its ability to hold onto its employees and welcome them into their growing family. “Most of our employees have dedicated themselves towards helping our business thrive. Our oldest employee had worked here for over 23 years,” said Kaplan. Clara was the oldest employee, who recently passed away at the age of 80. “She was a gutsy New Yorker who had quite the sailors’ mouth. She was the only one who could get away with serving your soup with her finger in it and still be requested by returning customers. Everyone enjoyed her fiery personality. She definitely liked to bust peoples’ chops,” said Kaplan.

At the Bagel Deli, everyday is different; there is always something new to make one’s visit more memorable. “Sometimes the older Jewish women will come in and make an order and while they wait, they will unfold a chair that they brought in, and sit in the middle of the store,” shared Kaplan.

Choosing to eat at the Bagel Deli means one will receive a good and consistent product, and the ability to support local over corporation. When one leaves the Bagel Deli it is with an urge of satisfaction, the want and need to return for more, a great story to share with friends, and a new place full of kinship.

So TJ, keep The Bagel Deli on your list as a great place to eat.  It is just over the highway and across the street from King Soopers. The deli is a close place for you and your friends to enjoy lunch and get back in time for sixth period. Try something new, and give The Bagel Deli a chance.  You won’t regret it.

TJ DECA State Qualifiers at the Broadmoor Hotel. photo by Danny Showers

On February 20th, 27 of TJ’s DECA members headed down to the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs for a weekend of competition and fun.

The State Conference celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. The Broadmoor Hotel has hosted the State DECA Conference for the last 56 years. In 2010, approximately 2,200 students from all over Colorado gathered to compete for the upcoming national competition in Kentucky.

The competition, similar to the districts, consists primarily of a test and two role plays that will create a cumulative score for the student. If this score is high enough the students will then move on to the final round of competition in which they will complete in another role play. The final round will either make or break the DECA member’s chances of making it to Nationals.

For TJ DECA, the weekend began with a night at the Air Force Academy’s bowling alley. The students were able to play up to three games and purchase an array of snacks including pizza and cheese fries. After the night of relaxed fun it was lights out by 10:30 to prepare for Sunday’s main event – the test. TJ’s group was escorted to Colorado Springs by the two advisors, Danny Showers and Matthew Nicolo. “My favorite part of the conference is watching the students interact in a professional environment and demonstrate maturity, class and character,” said Nicolo.

The test is unique to each event of competition.  The test distributed to the Restaurant and Food Service Management competitors is different from the one given to the Apparel and Accessories competitors. The questions range from every day situations to mathematical problems involving revenue or inventory intake.

After the test was completed everyone assembled in the Broadmoor Hall for the opening ceremonies. Each state officer was introduced and congratulated for their successes in DECA. Then a motivational speaker, Steve Hawkins, reminded everyone to treat their peers with respect and to be original instead of following the crowd and trying to fit in. He spoke inspirationally about becoming and staying leaders in DECA and in life.

The following day brought on the role plays, which are designed to simulate situations in which the DECA competitors have to solve a problem involved in their area of business. This can range from anything to meeting with a manager about an unhappy customer to deciding how much product to buy when starting a business from scratch. Each student participated in two role plays where they are given a 12-minute briefing period and eight minutes to meet with the judges. Each one has specific performance indicators that are used to help the students express and channel their knowledge.

On Monday night the students were allowed to mingle and dance with their peers at the annual gathering. The music and dancing gave them a chance to relax before the early morning mini-award ceremony. It was here that medalists and finalists were recognized. TJ had seven medalists and three finalists (see individual results below).

After the final role plays were finished there was only the final ceremony before the close of the conference. TJ Seniors Tommy Moehlman and Justin Racine placed fourth in their event, Travel and Tourism Team Decision, and they will have the opportunity to attend the DECA International Career Development Conference in April 2010. The ICDC takes places in Louisville Kentucky, and will host more than 14,000 competitors from around the world. “It was a big relief after so many years of being top performers to finally achieve what we have always wanted,” said Racine.

“This was one of our best years in all aspects: performance, behavior and overall representation of Thomas Jefferson High School,” said Nicolo.

The following students were awarded medals in their respective events:

Top Performers (Medalists):
Alex Gustafson – Hotel and Lodging
Tanya Milam – Quick Serve Restaurant
Tino Lamorie – Food Marketing
Colette Hernandez – Apparel and Accessories

Finalists:
Rhea Boyd – Restaurant and Food Service Management
Tommy Moehlman and Justin Racine – Travel and Tourism Team Decision
National Qualifiers (Louisville, KY April 20 – 25, 2010):
Tommy Moehlman and Justin Racine – 4th Place, Travel and Tourism Team Decision

TJ Administrators presents proposed changes for 2010-2011 to community.

Photo courtesy of Danny Showers

The Denver School Board believes that individual school performance is a crucial aspect of education in DPS, and therefore it is highly stressed in many areas, with the chief measurement being the  School Performance Framework evaluation (SPF). Presently, TJ remains in the yellow or “on watch” category of the SPF, meaning the school does not meet the district’s expectations in certain areas. On February 11th, TJ faculty, parents, and alumni congregated to discuss why this deficiency exists.

Principal Sandra Just assured the assembly that TJ is a better school than what may be reflected in the SPF, and that her staff has every intention of proving that to the community.  “TJ has a proud history.  As we plan our celebration of 50 years in this community, it is important to reflect on how to build and strengthen our core values and priorities,” she said.

The first issue brought up during the meeting was CSAP, which remains to be TJ’s weakest point on the SPF. More specifically, TJ has an unacceptably high racial gap on the CSAP, meaning the differences in scores between different races are significant. “The gap is a reflection of student grades at TJ,” said Assistant Principal Scott Lessard. “TJ has great cultural diversity and integration. The challenge is getting everybody to excel.”

One way the TJ community hopes to reduce the gap is through CSAP tutoring courses taught by Intervention Teachers Wauneta Vann and Liz Buffington. The courses occur every Wednesday during excel for approximately 45 minutes, and have been taking place since January. “Our hope is that it will help students who are on the edge move up to the next level in CSAP,” said Buffington. “We do a lot of group work, activities, and games covering the central ideas that CSAP assesses.”

The meeting also discussed TJ’s deficient scores on specifically writing and math on the CSAP. In CSAP math, TJ scored 10% lower last year than the year before. Presently, TJ is classified as not meeting expectations in math, and is “approaching” district expectations in writing. Lessard noted that progress is already being made to improve CSAP writing by implementing more vocabulary in all language classes. “Language comes first,” said Lessard. “All English classes are doing more grade-appropriate vocabulary. We strongly believe vocabulary development will improve the scores. We’re putting all our eggs into that basket. So far, it’s been proving to be effective.”

After reviewing TJ’s performance on the CSAP, the group discussed strides being made to improve ACT scores by creating an ACT prep class. Lessard noted that TJ’s present ACT scores are quite good, but still have room for improvement. “I would argue that kids who participate will raise their scores anywhere from 2-5 points,” said Lessard. “Our ultimate goal is to increase the number of students who get at least a 20 on the ACT by five students. The district’s line in the sand is for over half of the school’s students to get at least 20, so we’re hoping to exceed that.”

The ACT prep class is primarily an online course that will be led by Science Teacher Kirk Hammond and Math Teacher Lispin Kuruvilla. The class will be one day per week for seven weeks, and is reserved for Juniors. “The class has 50 slots, and most of them are filled. But there’s still room for anyone who wants to join,” said Lessard. “It seems to be quite popular. People want to do it.”

Community night attendees also commented on the vast improvement TJ is making in AP courses, including an overall increase in attendance, participation, and passing of AP tests. Over the past few years, TJ has made a 60.7% increase in scores above three on AP tests.

In addition to escalating AP participation, TJ is also excelling in overall attendance, with the average being approximately 88%. This is just short of the district expectation of 90%. However, TJ’s attendance rates are presently some of the highest in DPS, and currently exceed all schools except for East High School. “Most high schools don’t meet the district expectation in attendance,” said Lessard. “It’s a tricky category.”

Following the meeting’s discussion regarding the SPF came a short video created by the Computer Magnet concerning TJ’s plan to achieve excellence. The video, presented by a culmination of students and teachers, affirmed that TJ, “…must reaffirm and strengthen our core elements, and deepen areas where we are not meeting our academic expectations.” In order to improve these areas, the video proposed a plan to exemplify TJ’s potential.

The initial aspect of the plan is the creation of a pre-magnet program for 8th graders attending Hamilton Middle School, where they will be taught the 9th grade curriculum. This would allow incoming students from Hamilton to enter the program at a higher level, providing them with the opportunity to expand their knowledge of technology even further. This program is expected to commence this upcoming Fall semester.

The plan also proposed weekly core instruction meetings at TJ, where teachers would meet and develop unified plans that would “…ensure student academic success.” These meetings would use data regarding student success and progress to create plans best suited for student achievement.  Principal Just stated that examining data is something that the TJ staff is steadfastly committed to.  “Looking at data helps us to understand our strengths, and also to identify areas where growth is needed.  It helps us to create a comprehensive plan,” said Just.

The video also mentioned the formation of  “…enrollment courses in partnership with Arapahoe Community College,” and “a two-week AP summer seminar program for students taking an AP course to prepare students with skills for success.”

Along with a plan to improve student achievement, the video also presented academic additions that TJ will be offering. This included a “Career and Technology 21rst Century Foundations of Communication” class that will be taken by all incoming 9th grade students. This class will teach a plethora of communications and technology skills, including web page design, desktop publishing, blogging, and video production. Not only will students enrolled in this course gain “…technology communications skills that will put them head and shoulders above their peers,” but they will also receive three college credits upon completion of the course.

As a community, the video exhibited the intention for TJ to become a “…true center of this community.” In order to do this, TJ will require that all students [beginning with the class of 2014] must carry out at least 80 total hours of community service. This graduation requirement is intended to “create a mutually respected environment” within TJ.

After the video, the meeting came to a close. “Our goal is for our school to excel,” said Lessard. After all, as Lessard stated during the meeting’s closing, “TJ is a great school.”

Click below to watch the video:

Photo by Rebecca Holt

After working as a math teacher in Adams County and Douglas County High Schools, Nicholas Tussing brings his vast knowledge of Math to TJ. This will be his fourth year teaching at the high school level.

During his time as a student at Eagle Crest High School in 2003, Nicholas Tussing was a well-rounded and involved student. “As a high school student I ran track, cross-country and was part of the German Honor Society and the National Honor Society (NHS),” said Tussing. On top of a busy extra-curricular schedule, he also managed to take more than 12 Advanced Placement classes in subjects ranging from Math to Literature. He is still working to further his education at the University of Colorado in Denver, where he will complete his Masters Degree in Statistics and Related Math within the next year.

At TJ, Tussing teaches Statistics and Geometry to upperclassmen and has found it an enjoyable experience so far. “I like the school spirit and the atmosphere. Students have been good so far,” he said.

Some students find the change from Sperry’s relaxed teaching style to Tussing’s more direct approach challenging. “Class is really different, but I feel like this semester I have been learning a lot. Mr. Tussing’s class is a lot of work but if we really try we will be able to do a pretty good job,” said Sara Olan, a senior in the Statistics class.

With many surprises for students, Tussing dedicates much of his time to their education as well as his own. He will be completing his Master’s in Mathematics this year as well, graduating during the same time as many of his students. Despite teaching not being his first-choice career, he is enjoying his job. “Teaching was my second choice for a career; I became a teacher because I think it is an honorable service to the community. My first choice was to be an Officer in the USAF (United States Air Force), but it interfered with my family plans,” said Tussing, a father to 3-year-old Avery.

On top of teaching, and attending school, Tussing finds time to dedicate to his family and hobbies. “I write novels. I have not yet published, but it is a goal for the future,” says Tussing who is hopeful to some day see his name on the cover of a science fiction book.

Literature is a large part of Tussing’s life. “I really like to read science fiction and fantasy,” said Tussing. “It is fun to escape into a world that is completely different than our own,” he added.  Tussing began writing during his first years of college and found the genre very interesting. “The science fiction and fantasy in my mind are more creative; like I’ve said, it’s an escape from this world.”

Looking forward to seeing how his first semester at TJ unfolds, Tussing encourages his students to be motivated and involved in his classes. “It’s really exciting to be able to have a new math teacher and I hope he stays in the school for a really long time, “said Olan.

photo by Rebecca Holt

The game started off sluggish, as both teams struggled to score points. The Spartans took a 7-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the second quarter was a much different story, as Sierra found a good rhythm and was able to outscore the Spartans 22-15. Sierra also got to the free throw line often, which netted them easy points. However. there was optimism at half time, as going into intermission the Spartans trailed by only four points to the defending 4A champions, 26-22.

The third quarter was tightly played as each team could only muster 13 points each. But the fourth quarter is where the Sierra Stallions made their push, as they came out firing and connecting on many shots. The Spartans could not stop them, and their offense was able to do little against the tough Stallion D.

Sierra went on to win the game 65-43. “This was a good game. Each team battled hard, and I could not be more pleased with out effort. Guys played until the end,” said Junior Forward Ian Melnicoe.

The only Spartan to score double digit points was Senior Shane Oliver, who finished with 14 points.

This loss spells the end for four Spartan seniors including Chris Carter, Billy Sprague, Zach Jackson, and the aforementioned Oliver.