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E3S U N D AY, DECEMBER 27, 2009W W W. T I M E S C A L L . C O M LONGMONT TIMES-CALL

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By Shari Wilson

LONGMONT — St. Vrain ValleySchool District has reason to cele-brate the many accomplishmentsin fall fine arts programs and ath-letics. Students have found suc-cess in both visual and perform-ing arts and athletic endeavors.School wide programs have alsoearned accolades.

St. Vrain fine artsand athletics highlights

Visual ArtsThe district has been accepted

by The Kennedy Center for thePerforming Arts, Partners in Ed-ucation program. This prestigiouspartnership will offer training toart teachers and outstanding op-portunities for students. DonnaGoodwin, an art teacher at SunsetMiddle, along with the support ofthe Art, Music & PE Interdisci-plinary Design Team (AMPTeam) played an integral part insecuring this partnership. St.Vrain is the only district in Col-orado accepted into this program.

Performing ArtsT h e a t reSeveral high schools held suc-

cessful performances this fall.• Frederick High performed

“Once Upon a Mattress.”• Niwot High performed “The

Wizard of Oz.”• Skyline High performed

“Heaven Can Wait.”• Silver Creek High performed

“Pride and Prejudice.”Spring performances planned.• Erie High will perform

“Yo u ’re a Good Man CharlieB row n . ”

• Lyons Senior High will per-form “Narnia.”

• Longmont High will perform“Bye Bye Birdie.”

All State ChoirNiwot High• Adrianna Adams• Becky Stischer• Katie Stenzel• Kristin Dahlem• Eric Moore• Victor NguyenErie High• Grace Battista• Katie French• Victoria PenaLongmont High• Brandon Mosness• Taylor HubertSilver Creek High• Claire Koerner• Summer Sugg• Andrea Pares• Pete Stein• R.J. Cooper• Brandon CabaelSkyline High• Kyle Meinhart• David Jaynes• Jasper Vue• Patrick Coniway• Jesse Horner• Kate Robison• Sarah CrossAll State JazzLyons Senior High• Andrew Forsberg (vibes)• Stirling Bowlick (baritone

sax)• Nicholas Kalyan (guitar, alter-

nate)Silver Creek High• Ben Sarlo (alto sax)All State OrchestraLongmont High• Alex Chavez (trumpet)Lyons Senior High• Andrew Forsberg (percus-

sion)• Stirling Bowlick (bass clar-

inet)Niwot High• Laura Chren (flute)• Jonathan Lin (violin 2)• Ying Ying Sun (violin 1)• Tara Sugadhan (viola)Marching BandLongmont High• 4A State Marching Band,

quarterfinalist

S V VS Dscho olscelebr atesu cce s s e s

Photo by Bob CliftonTop of the Rockies Corvette Association Vice President Bruce Zuccaro looks on as Shannon, 16, shows her friends her sketch book and drawing pencils.

By Cheryl Clifton

Christmas came early this yearat Mountain States Children’sHome, thanks to the time and gen-erosity of a local Corvette carc l u b.

The Top of the Rockies CorvetteAssociation is a social club for its100 members. But because of theirinterest in giving back to the com-munity, its members often includecharitable fundraising as part oftheir car shows, races, rallies andother events.

For the past few years, the clubhas been raising money for Moun-tain States, a Christian-based res-idential facility for children inneed of stable, nurturing homes.

At Mountain States, the childrenlive with foster families and learnbasic life skills on a 155-acreworking farm a few miles north ofLo n g m o n t .

Since TORCA’s first donationtwo years ago, a close relationshiphas developed between the kidsand the club members, said TOR-CA President Herman Schranz.

“It started out that we were justsending them a check after eachof our events,” Schranz said. “Butthe kids began coming to our carshows, and we were able to get toknow them and to have fun withthem. It made our fundraising ef-forts so much more meaningful.”

In September, club membersvisited Mountain States for a bar-becue and a tour of the facility,

which relies largely on private do-nations. After seeing how muchthe staff accomplishes with so lit-tle money, a few membersthought it would be nice if TORCAcould make this Christmas extraspecial for the children.

At their next club meeting, themembers passed a hat to collectenough money to buy each child amovie ticket — just a small stock-ing stuffer. That worked so wellthat someone suggested that theclub could select a few cookierecipes and buy all the ingredi-ents so that the children couldbake themselves treats during theholiday season. Before long,someone else suggested the clubalso could make sure each childreceived at least one special giftat Christmas.

After passing the hat again andraising nearly $1,000, club mem-bers bought and wrapped gifts forall 17 children, using the modestwish lists collected by the Moun-tain States staff.

TORCA presented these gifts tothe children during a Christmasparty at Mountain States on Dec.13. In addition, the club presentedMountain States with a $400 checkraised during a recent car rally.

Addressing the club at the endof the party, Mountain States de-velopment director Phil Crewssaid, “You have no idea how muchyour generosity means to thesechildren. Believe me, these chil-

Corvette club makes Christmasspecial for local children’s home

Photo by Jim KnappmillerBecky Konshak helps 3-year-old Casea show off her new wand and ballerinaoutfit.

dren are going to remember thisparty for a long time.”

For information about donatingto Mountain States Children’s

Home, see www.msch.org. For in-formation about joining the Top ofthe Rockies Corvette Association,see www.torcavettes.com.

TOP STUDENTSTwin Peaks Rotary Club recently

named its Students of the Month forDecember. The winners are, from left,

Stephanie Cary, Longmont HighSchool; Emma Cavcey, Skyline High

School; Jordana Grolnick, SilverCreek High School; John-Patrick

Murray, Longmont Christian HighSchool; and Katie Hirschfeld, Lyons

High School. Morgan Vick with NiwotHigh School was also recognized.

Courtesy Aubrey Riggs

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