Aspen Middle School 8th Grade student leaders have three very special holiday drives going on under the leadership of AMS Teacher Georgina Levey and AMS Counselor Andrea Williamson: Soles4 Souls, Holiday Baskets and the Lift-Up Food Drive.

A pair of new shoes can help a kid feel confident. The shoes might be the thing they need to participate in sports or athletic activities. 

Every kid should have a pair of new shoes, said Yukta Mehta, AMS 8th grader.

Yukta is leading a schoolwide shoe drive, collecting new and gently used shoes - all styles and sizes - in partnership with the Soles4Souls worldwide program. 

“For kids who experience homelessness, this helps take away one barrier so they can focus on education and physical activities,” Yukta said. 

“Soles for Souls is a great organization and helps people,” she said. 

Students are encouraged to bring new or gently used sneakers and drop them in the school’s lobby.

A neat thing, Yukta said, is that the shoes could be given to a local child or they could be sent to children in other parts of the world. 

“Your shoes could end up in another country,” she said. “When you give new shoes, it helps kids feel more comfortable.” 

Kate Essig, 8th grader working on the drive, added: “We want the shoes to be usable and in good quality. We want kids to feel good about themselves.”

Holiday Baskets

A small “Giving Tree” with big dreams attached stands in the AMS lobby.

The Giving Tree, with tags of "holiday wishes" filled out by local children, is part of the Holiday Baskets Program and Adopt a Family program.

Holding one of the tree tags, Alex Brands, 8th grader and member of Young Leaders of Aspen, said: “This helps give kids their wish,” she said. “This is an opportunity for kids to have the same amount of joy as other kids and have that feeling when you get to open a gift.”

The Holiday Baskets Program has supplied food and gifts to people in our valley for more than 40 years, according to the organization’s webpage. More than 250 families will receive help.

Alex, Dora Milinovic and Sloane Alexander, 8th graders working on the project, took some time before the holiday break to talk with their fellow students about the holiday drive.

They explained, a student can take a tag from the Giving Tree and buy a gift for the child or classrooms can adopt a family and contribute gifts-  from winter coats to toys - to their adopted family, she said. 

This holiday drive ends Wednesday Dec. 4.

“These are families in need,” Dora explained to one of the classes. “You are spreading holiday cheer.”

Donations also can be sent to: Holiday Baskets, P.O. Box 2192, Basalt, CO 81621

Lift Up Food Drive: Eighth-graders have put collection bins throughout the school where AMS students can donate nonperishable food items.

The AMS students are partnering with the Lift-Up organization, which aims to provide hope and empowerment in our community, said Sloane Alexander, 8th grader working on the food drive. 

And bonus, for every two food items a student donates, they will receive a ticket for a snack at the upcoming school dance.

The idea behind giving snack tickets for donated food is to try to help students understand what it feels like to be hungry and having the experience of giving and receiving food, said Augusta Berg, 8th grader working on the project.

The food drive culminates with the school dance, Dec. 6, which will have a tropical theme and a photo booth, Augusta said.

Lift-Up saw an increase in the number of meals served in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys of more than 128 percent in 2023, according to the Lift-Up organization. 

• 1 in 10 Coloradans experience food insecurity

• 1 in 6 children experience food insecurity

• 1 in 3 Coloradans lack access to nutritious foods

• 2 in 5 adults cutback or skip meals to ensure their children can eat

Collection bins are located throughout the school and in the school’s lobby.

“All of the donated food will go to one of the Lift-Up pantries,” Augusta said. “People can go get food without feeling bad.”

Photo: 8th grade Leaders: Back row, Left to Right: Dalia Muresan and Augusta Berg.

Front row, Left to Right: Mercer Margjeka, Elijah Knight, and Hayden Bailey.

• 5:30 - 5:30 PM WEDNESDAY, NOV. 20. YELLOW BRICK CONFERENCE ROOM, 215 N. GARMISCH ST

This parent workshop is to help develop literacy skills through story book reading. 

Read-alouds have academic benefits and promote emotional literacy. This is something we all can do and can have an impact across a lifespan.

Interactive workshop by Literacy Expert Lynn Kuhn, M.A. CCC SLP

Dinner, Childcare and Storybooks Provided

Spanish Interpretation and books in Spanish.

Members of Aspen High School's Hope Squad have activities planned for Hope Week - Nov, 10-15.

The Hope Squad's purpose and mission is to foster human connections, community and hope.

Learn more about the AHS Hope Squad here.

Aspen Middle School Robotics Teams came home from a weekend of competition with Champion Trophies in hand.

The students competed in the FIRST Lego League Challenge, a friendly competition for teams of students grades 4 - 8 using skills in research, problem-solving, coding, and engineering - they built and programmed a LEGO robot that navigates the missions of a robot game.

They also participated in a research project to identify and solve a relevant real-world problem utilizing the design cycle.

The team is coached by George Helfenstine and mentored by Will Gilmore and sponsored by the Aspen Education Foundation (AEF). (photos by Molly Gilmore)

Here are the results

Lightning Strikes Twice Team:

• 1st place in the Robot Game (out of 40 teams)

• 1st place Champions (that is overall for the whole competition)

• Invitation to the State Championship on December 7 in Denver
• Team Members: Nicco DiMaria, Tamir Finesilver, Sam Gilmore, Ember LaPenna, Lorelei LaPenna, and Hailey Ward

Steep 'n Deep Team:

• 4th place in the Robot Game (out of 40 teams)

• Judges Award recognizing their hard work, core values, and talent as a 1st year team
• Team Members: Isla Gilmore, Beck Dorr, Felix Garfield, Evelyn Van Arsdale

Poached Gears Team:

• 2nd Place Core Value Award
• Team Members: Teodora Milinovic, Sunny Guthre, Liam Daniels, Annabella Maupin, Finn Zubrod, Marcel Miracle, Macsen Hembury

You are inivited to FocusedKids and a Slice!

Nov. 14 at Aspen Elementary School

5:30 p.m. for dinner and 6 p.m. for learning skills presentation

Please join us for a fantastic family-strengthening event that will support your parenting for years to come - with dinner, free childcare and the chance to connect and learn together.

FocusedKids will be presenting a powerful opportunity for social and emotional skill-building for parents and caregivers.

FocusedKids is a brain-Based Social Emotional Skills for Children, Teachers, and Parents.

Aspen Public Education Fund (APEF) is currently looking for a new board member.

A selected individual or individuals will begin a four-year term in March 2025.

Factors for consideration include, but are not limited to previous board experience, financial and/or legal expertise, and school district involvement.

APEF Board Member Roles and Responsibilities:

In November 2012, voters within the City of Aspen approved a 0.3% tax increase for the purpose of supporting public K-12 education in the Aspen School District.

Voters approved an extension of the tax in November 2016 and again in November 2020.

Revenues from this tax total approximately $3.25 million per year and are used to support programs; technology; special education; professional development; and, the recruitment, training and retention of staff.

APEF was formed to act as the recipient and disburser of the designated sales tax revenues. As a Colorado non-profit corporation, the Fund operates exclusively for educational and charitable purposes pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The Fund is governed by a 7-person Board of Directors. APEF was established as an instrument for collecting and disbursing sales tax revenues from the City. It does not receive, or transfer gifts or donations intended for the District.

The Board meets two to three times per year to review the District’s grant requests pursuant to the amount of projected income realized by the annual sales tax.

The APEF Board exists to serve only in an oversight role as it relates to accountability of monies earned through the 0.3% tax allocation. The Board is prohibited from unilaterally adding any item to the District’s list of grant requests or from distributing proceeds for any item not requested by the District. It does review financial information to ensure that the district’s grant expenditures are in the areas approved by the voters and are not unreasonable.

It does not review or comment on district policies, curriculum, administration, alternative funding mechanisms, and so forth.

Conflict of Interest & How to Apply

As a non-profit board that oversees the disbursement of public funds, it is important that members do not have any actual or perceived conflicts of interest. As a result, we will not accept applications from individuals with any of the following:

current district staff or members of the Board of Education, and their spouses or partners; and, members of district-affiliated groups including the District Financial Advisory Board, District Accountability Committee, School Accountability Committees, and Aspen Education Foundation.

Applicants must reside within the Roaring Fork Valley.

For more information about APEF, click here.

Interested applicants should submit a letter of intent and current resume by March 30, 2024, to hwkenny@verizon.net.

Photo: Front row L to R: Mike Timme, Heather Kenny, and Peter Waanders. Back row L to R: Elizabeth Parker, Gwen Levy, ASD Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry, and Community School Principal Casey White.

It was the trifecta of assignments.

Eighth -graders were asked to think about a favorite moment from their recent three-day Outdoor Education trips.

Then, they did some research on artists, their styles and their mediums and chose one they would like to emulate.

Then came the tough part, said eighth-grader Jozy Swallows. She wanted to paint the reflection of the mountains in the lake. "But that was kinda hard,”she said.

She did a slight pivot and focused only on the mountains. But instead of choosing one -- she did a mountain mash-up of sorts. She used both pencil and watercolor. 

“It’s a mix of Maroon Bells, Snowmass and Capital,” she said.

The eighth-grade core was a buzz this week with students showing their art and talking about the inspiration behind it with fellow students, parents and teachers.

“This is me coming out of my solo,” eighth-grader Sloane Alexander said about her painting. “It was one of my favorite moments. The sun was shining and it was just so beautiful.”

She chose artist George Seurat to emulate – she had seen his work in the Art Institute of Chicago. She liked how his paintings were a series of dots and were continuous on the canvas. 

“I don’t know if we will be graded," she said. "But for me, it was about remembering our ODE. If we put effort and thought into (the assignment)  it will be rewarding whether it’s graded or just saving a memory.”

Karl Klavins likes artist Megan Coyle, who uses mixed media for her art. He used Aspen leaves to create the illusion of waves in his artwork. 

Silas DelGrasso liked Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans and Emmy Nelson chose artist Roy Lichtenstein and emulated his graphic art. 

Cat Saul’s self portrait received high praise from visitors. She used spray paint and oil pastels to emulate the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat.

“I like the materials and his style and his use of the materials,” she said.

Her parents are fans of his art and, “they thought this was cool,” she said of her self portrait in the woods. “They said they would put it up.”