The Winter Sports School in Park City’s Class of 2009, the second largest in the school’s history, graduated Friday, November 20th, at the Prospector Lodging and Conference Center.  At the ceremony 23 seniors received their diplomas.

The students come from a wide geographical area including Park City, Salt Lake City, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Hampshire, and New Mexico.  The class proved to be very accomplished academically and set a high standard of academic achievement at the school through their classroom performance and also their results on the various college placement tests.  One senior, Steven Nagie, qualified as a National Merit Semifinalist and is currently being reviewed for finalist status.

Jesse Hunt, the new director of the Park City Ski Team, gave the graduation address.  He spoke about his experiences with USSA and how he was able to take a mediocre team and motivate them to a much higher level of performance.  His remarks included quotes from his fellow Vermonter Calvin Coolidge about the importance of persistence.  Hunt made it very clear that talent and skill were no guarantee of success from his experience.  Success, he said, can only be achieved through persistence and hard work.

Graduates Amanda Veth, Kelly Mackenzie, and Colin Carrig were selected by their classmates to speak.  All three attended the school for the past four years.  The talked about the uniqueness of their experience at The Winter Sports School, where classes are held from mid-April to mid-November to accommodate the young athletes’ competition schedules.  Each said the school had been an intimate and motivating experience.

Mackenzie and Carrig both described how the teachers made the school’s environment through their caring and willingness to go above and beyond the normal expectations in order to ensure each student’s success.  They all noted how competitive their class had been academically and how they felt that they had set a new standard for the school based on their grades and standardized test results.

Two major awards for outstanding academic performance were announced.  The most prestigious is the Kay Wright Memorial award which is given to the most outstanding senior as selected by the faculty.  It is given in memory of the school’s first Head, Dr. Kay Wright.  This year’s recipient was Amanda Veth of Taos, New Mexico.

The second major graduation award, the Dave Seiger Memorial Award, given to the senior with the highest level of achievement in the study of Mathematics and Science, went to Delainey Ackerman of Denver, Colorado.  This award is given in memory of Dave Seiger, who was the original math and science teacher at the school.

Both awards are accompanied by scholarships of $1,000 and $500, respectively.  There were also awards given for academic achievement in the subject disciplines offered by the Winter Sports School.  The recipients of those awards were Steven Nagie for academic achievement in History, English, and Mathematics.  Brandon Booth-Dunbar received awards for academic achievement in Spanish and Science.  Sam Dupratt received the academic achievement award in Art.

Kelly Mackenzie received an award from the Winter Sports School faculty for achievement in leadership.

This graduation marks the completion of the Winter Sports School’s 16th academic year of providing a college preparatory curriculum to dedicated athletes.

Keep watching this space for more features on members of the graduating class of 2009.  Congratulations to all of you, and please stay in touch.  We’ll miss you!

The Winter Sports School would like to congratulate Steven Nagie, 2009 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist!  As a result of his outstanding performance on last fall’s PSAT, Steven was chosen as one of 16,000 semifinalists nationwide, 142 of whom were selected from Utah.  He is now eligible to compete for one of 8,200 scholarships which draw from a fund worth more than $35 million.  We wish Steven the best in his pursuit of this goal!

The Winter Sports School in Park City is holding its second annual “5K to Fight World Hunger.” This fun run will raise money and awareness for the ongoing world hunger crisis. All proceeds go to the Friends of the World Food Program. The cost for adults is $25 and $10 for all those 15 and under. The event will be held at Willow Creek Park in Snyderville Basin at 9:30am on Saturday August 8^th. Registration begins at 8:45am. There will be prizes, a raffle and t-shirts.  This is a family event and all ages are welcome.

Following the race, starting at 11:30am, we’ll have our annual school BBQ at the same location in Willow Creek Park.  All members of the Winter Sports School Community are invited — students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and trustees.

Please give us a call at the school if you need more information, and we’ll see you there!

The Youth WinterSports Alliance (YWSA) was established to create a legacy to the 2002 Winter Olympic Games by spearheading a community-wide effort to increase the number of children who actively participate in winter sport programs from the greater Park City area, as well as Summit and Wasatch Counties.

Each year, the YWSA Circle of Excellence honors junior athletes from the Park City community who have attained noteworthy accomplishments in their respective sports, ranging from making the U.S. National team to winning major elite competitions.  In 2009, several WSS alums and active students were honored at the Circle of Excellence ceremony hosted by Ted Ligety, WSS Class of 2002.  They are:

Kieran Adams ‘11, Alpine Ski Racing
Avery Ardovino ‘09, Nordic Ski Jumping
Brandon Booth ‘09, Alpine Snowboard Racing
Chris Cammarano ‘08, Freestyle Skiing - Moguls
Anders Johnson ‘06, Nordic Ski Jumping
Annie Serra ‘06, Freestyle Skiing - Moguls
JJ Tomlinson ‘10, Snowboard Cross

Many congratulations to our proud honorees, and many, many thanks to YWSA for performing such an admirable mission and for taking the time and effort to honor our communitee’s brightest athletic stars.

(Photo courtesy of the Youth Winter Sports Alliance)

(If you’re reading this message in e-mail, be sure to click on the title link to visit the WSS news blog — the group photo for the Circle of Excellence ‘09 will be visible.)

Dear Parents and Student Athletes of the Winter Sports School:

June is upon us and that means the start of off-season conditioning. Our conditioning program — managed jointly by WSS and the PCST — is a critical stepping-stone in the process of proper athletic development and something the staff at both programs feel is necessary for young athletes to participate in. Our program has been periodized for the next five months and will guide the athletes through thoughtful steps in order to achieve proper fitness and education to compete in the upcoming season. I will be heading up the conditioning program from the WSS side and Chad Wolk will be coaching from the PCST side. Both of us have solid backgrounds in training athletes, on and off the snow, and we look forward to working with our current athletes.

Because of the range of ages and abilities of the athletes, our expectations will vary for individuals, and progress and success will be judged individually. Despite these differences we require that all athletes participating be healthy and without new or chronic injuries or illnesses. Activities will include some impact and physically demanding movements, making it critical that injuries are not hampering workouts. If there are any questions regarding this matter, please contact me and we will discuss this issue on an individual basis.

Prior to starting the conditioning program, we do require that each athlete have the following equipment and memberships:

1. Athletic running or cross-training shoes
2. Water bottle
3. Membership to Basin Recreation Field house (mention that you are a WSS student for a price break: $275 for the year, or $30 per month)
4. Mountain and/or Road Bike, including

• -Hydration system
• -Helmet
• -Bike repair kit
• -Cell phone

5. Heart rate monitor (strongly recommended)
6. Strong work ethic

The conditioning program will begin June 1, 2009, 3:30pm-5:30pm, meeting at the City Park. The program will run Monday through Friday through November 20, 2009. Schedules on where to meet and what activities we will be doing each day will be posted on the WSS web site. Please see the directions below to navigate the site.

I’m very excited to begin working with all the athletes. Please stay in touch for any questions or issues that may arise.

Sincerely,

Cameron Chin
WSS Group Conditioning Coach
cchin@wintersportsschool.org
(435) 640-8743

Conditioning Schedule web site:
Go to www.wintersportsschool.org
Click the “calendar” link in the Quicklinks section of the homepage
Click the “Conditioning” button on the desired date and a pop up will show what that day’s activities are.

Parent/Teacher conferences will be held at the Winter Sports School campus on Wednesday, May 27th from 4pm to 7pm.  Parents who would like to make an appointment with a specific teacher should call Megan at 435-649-8760 to get on that teacher’s schedule.  Teachers will also be available for less formal chats during their unscheduled time slots.

On the same day, all are warmly invited to drop by campus between 5pm and 7pm for our spring open house.  If you’re a long-time friend of WSS, we’d love to see you and catch up.  If you’re in the process of learning about us, we’d love to meet you in person and show you around.  The concurrent scheduling with parent/teacher conferences will allow attendees the opportunity to meet and ask questions of parents and students in addition to faculty and staff.  See you then!  Be sure to call us at 435-649-8760 if you need additional information.

To Winter Sports School Students, Parents and Teachers:

After contacting and speaking with the Summit County Health Department Commissioner  the Winter Sports School was advised that we are allowed to reopen for classes. We will resume classes on Thursday, May 7, 2009 at our normal hours.

Thanks to the teachers for publishing their assignments and distributing them to their classes via the website and email. Those assignments are available and everyone should be on task with them. If you are having difficulty finding the necessary assignment please call the school. It is critical that all students are keeping up with their work to avoid the addition of school days in the upcoming weeks. The faculty will be assessing the level of completion for all these assignments on Thursday to insure that our course work is on track.

This has been an extremely unusual time for the Winter Sports School. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We all look forward to school as usual and to resuming our normal daily schedules.

If you are feeling ill at all please see a doctor and follow the doctor’s recommendations. Anyone with special circumstances that will impact their return to school on Thursday should contact the school at their earliest convenience.

See you Thursday.

Rob Clayton
Head of School
Winter Sports School in Park City

To all Winter Sports School students, families and faculty.

The Winter Sports School will remain closed until Sunday, May 10, 2009. We will reopen for classes at 8:00 am on Monday, May 11, 2009.

This is a precautionary measure based on the confirmation of the H1N1 influenza virus being present within the student population of the Park City School District. We are complying with the guidelines being administered district wide by both public and private schools.

The faculty of the Winter Sports School will be meeting Monday morning to devise strategies for school work to be provided to all students during this closure. This is being done to minimize the amount of makeup days we will have to add in order to complete our course requirements. With this closure we will have to make up the work missed during this five day recess. Please be prepared to receive communication from your teachers regarding the assignments that require your attention. Eric Janes and Andrea Juskaitis will be responsible for coordinating this effort.

The office of the school will be open during the usual school hours this week to answer any questions.

The school has been completely cleaned and sanitized and we will review CDC prescribred hygiene protocol upon your return.

The more work that is completed to the satisfaction of the teachers over the next week will limit the amount of days that we would have to extend the second Block.

Thanks for your understanding and cooperation during this extraordinary circumstance. We want to be sure all of our students are safe and healthy.

Sincerely,
Rob Clayton
Head of School

Due to several potential cases of “Swine Flu” reported in Park City early this morning, the Winter Sports School has elected to follow the public school district’s decision to cancel classes for the remainder of this week.  While we currently plan to re-open on Monday, May 4th, we will stay apprised  of the situation and take further action if appropriate.

As we ready ourselves for the start of another academic year, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the WSS students and recent alums who’ve proudly gained acceptance to the college or university of their choice in 2009.  Students’ names are not included here for privacy reasons, but the list is impressive — many congratulations to each of you (you know who you are)!  And many thanks to WSS college counselor Joanne Duffy for helping to guide our students through the grueling admissions process.

The list of colleges and universities extending offers of admission to WSS students and graduates so far this year are:

Arizona State University

Boston College

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Dartmouth College

Montana State University

St. Lawrence University

St. Mary’s College of California

Stanford University

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Denver

University of New Hampshire

University of Oregon

University of Utah

University of Washington

Westminster College