WPSD Woodland Weekly
March 7, 2025
⚽ Athletics Schedule
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Columbine Elementary
🐶 Columbine K-Kids is collecting unopened dog and cat treats🦴 as well as Dawn dish soap for TCRAS 🐱(Teller County Regional Animal Shelter). If you are able to donate these items, please bring them to school by 3/20. Thank you!
Summit Elementary
🎉 Congratulations to our Summit Elementary Destination Imagination Teams! 🎭🔬
Our incredible students showcased creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving at the South Metro Regional DI Tournament, earning their way to State! 🌟
👏 Advancing to State:
🎨 The Rockin' Red Apples (3rd & 4th Grade)
🔬 The DI-AIs (Actual Intelligence) (5th & 6th Grade)
Two other 5th-grade teams competed beautifully! While they won’t be advancing to State, they made us proud:
🔬 Project Cerberus – 5th Place
⚙️ The DI Pizza Pups – 5th Place
And a huge shoutout to the Divide community for receiving the prestigious Spirit of DI Award—an unprecedented and well-deserved honor! 🏆
A special thank you to teacher Donna Frick for her dedication and leadership! 💚
WPMS
🔬✨ Ms. Strelec’s 7th grade science students are learning the world of chemistry! 🧪💥
This week, they took on the challenge of creating elephant toothpaste — a foamy, explosive reaction that’s as fun to watch as it is to experiment with. Students got to choose their own variables to manipulate, leading to some bubbly surprises and exciting results! 🐘🪥
Science in action — hands-on, messy, and full of discovery! 🧑🔬👩🔬
WPHS
🌿🥇🥈🥉 Huge Congratulations to our Envirothon Team! 🌿
Our incredible students took 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd place at the State competition and are headed to Nationals in Alberta, Canada, this summer! 🌎🎉
A special shoutout to their teacher, Jennifer Brocious! 👏👏
Way to represent WPHS with dedication and excellence! Go Panthers! 💚
Student Spotlight
🎶 An unforgettable experience at the 80th Top of the Nation Honor Band! 🎶
Seven of our talented WPSD - Woodland Park High School Panthers—Alexis Bateman, Catalina Chess, Shiloh Kramer, Evie Rohman, Midian Stump, Sarah Walma, and Cavan West—took on challenging musical literature in the top group, Symphonic Winds at Adams State University!
✨ To top it off—Catalina Chess and Cavan West auditioned and were selected to perform with the legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra! 🎺🎶 A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Thank you to their incredible Band Director, Kayla Garcia, for her dedication and leadership! 🎵👏
Congratulations to all! 💚
Activities Spotlight
🎶 Western Slope Honor Choir Festival 🎶
A huge congratulations to the 19 WPSD - Woodland Park High School students accepted into this year’s Western Slope Honor Choir Festival! 🎤✨ These talented singers spent three days making incredible music alongside 235 outstanding vocalists from across the state. The festival concluded with an incredible performance for a packed hall on Saturday afternoon!
🌟 WPHS Honor Choir Students:
Mattias Goldberg, Sonia Kettler, Serene Miller, Cora Vandermeer, Ada Vandermeer, Malia Duarte, Ava Boe, Evie Gutierrez, Lilly Carver, Natalie Douglass, Felicia Langenfeld, Eden Fuqua, Olivia-Rae Kingsley, Aurora Wilcken, Seeley Smith, Hannah Ball, Zoie Owens, Aspen Qualls, and AJ Holtorf.
A special shoutout to Mr. Hemingson, who was honored to be this year’s Director for the Director’s Choir! 🎼👏
To view the list of current job openings and transfer opportunities, please visit our website and click on Job Postings; this page provides detailed information about each position, including job descriptions, qualifications, and application instructions.
If you have any questions or need assistance with the application process, please don't hesitate to reach out to Peggy Gonzales, HR Manager at pgonzales@wpsdk12.org.
I would like to provide an update on our district’s financial audit. Despite encountering a system issue that temporarily delayed the weekend upload process, WPSD successfully submitted the final report. The audit financial opinions were completed on time, dated March 1; however, technical difficulties prevented submission on the extended March 1 deadline. With support from the Colorado Department of Education, the final report element was obtained from their system and the audit was submitted to the office of the state auditor on Monday, March 3, 2025.
We recognize that recent transitions in our chief financial officer (CFO) role have raised concerns and adversely affected the business department. The district has contracted CFO services from Cortney Crouch to fulfill the CFO role. We are grateful to have Cortney join us. She has been instrumental in ensuring the audit’s completion and successful submission, demonstrating a strong commitment to financial transparency and compliance. We are grateful for her leadership during this time.
I also want to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our WPHS Envirothon team. Our students took first, second, and third place at the state competition and will now advance to the national competition in Alberta, Canada, this summer. This remarkable achievement reflects their dedication, hard work, and excellence—a special congratulations to Jennifer Brocious for her exceptional leadership and support of the team.
Additionally, I want to recognize the incredible success of our Summit Elementary students at the South Metro Regional Destination Imagination (DI) tournament. These students demonstrated outstanding creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills across multiple challenges. We are incredibly proud of our 3rd and 4th grade Fine Arts team and our 5th and 6th grade Scientific team for advancing to the state tournament. Furthermore, the Divide community received the prestigious Spirit of DI award for its remarkable enthusiasm and support—an unprecedented and well-deserved honor. Congratulations to all the students and their teacher, Donna Frick, for this tremendous accomplishment!
Lastly, it is with mixed emotions that I announce my resignation as Superintendent. I am grateful for my time in this role and have the utmost confidence in the continued success of WPSD. Please understand that operations will flow smoothly as Aaron Salt steps in as Interim Superintendent following my last day. You can read the press release announcing my resignation, here.
