Graland Country Day School Spanish Teacher Christi James received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Colorado Congress of Foreign Language Teachers (CCFLT). The honor was bestowed upon her at the 48th Annual CCFLT Spring Conference in Colorado Springs at the end of February.

 

Each year, the CCFLT presents its Excellence in Teaching Award to one world language educator in Colorado who has excelled in classroom instruction. James, who joined the Graland faculty in 1988, was nominated by Graland art teacher Andrean Andrus with letters of support from other colleagues, including Head of School Veronica A. McCaffrey, Head of Lower School Nan Remington and Latin teacher Phil Hickey.

The Lower School is beginning a Service Learning Project called “Penny Harvest.”  Penny Harvest is the largest child philanthropy program in the United States.  It is a program that started in New York in 1991 that includes students harvesting (or collecting) pennies, identifying community needs and organizations that meet those needs, and granting money to those local not-for-profit organizations (www.PennyHarvest.org). 

Today, students are bringing home a flyer further explaining the program as well as a penny collection bag.  Please help our community by gathering up all those pennies lying around and bringing them into school now through November 20. Every single penny we collect matters! 

Thanks to everyone who helped make Sunday's Gallop such a great event. It was a spectacular Colorado morning in Washington Park! More than 600 people participated in this year's race including competitors and more than 100 volunteers from the 8th grade, Graland's Student Council, the faculty and the Graland Parent Association. We also want to salute our generous sponsors: The Fries Family, the Graland Board of Trustees, Benson Orthodontics, Stylelicious Kids, EveyK Boutique, Hogan & Hartson, the Bock Family, the Epstein-Seman Family, the Fox Company, the Grier Family, the Lawrence Family, the McDermott Family, the Siegel Family, and Sunflower Market. Numbers are still being calculated, but it is safe to report that over $10,000 was raised to benefit the Graland Financial Aid Endowment and the Denver Zoo's Red Apple Scholarship Fund, a partner of Graland's service learning program for many years.

Click here to see photos from the event.

Complete results from the 2009 Graland Gallop are available at active.com at http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?pubID=3&eventID=1799797.

Click "Read More" to see the list of winners.

Early on the morning of Saturday, September 12, 62 eighth graders and eight chaperones gathered at the Delta ticketing counter at DIA ready to embark on a journey that would take them to many of the cities and sites made famous by the American Civil Rights movement. This journey began in Roswell, Ga. at a plantation and ended in Memphis, Tenn. at the Lorraine Motel and in between we took a long look at the events that happened between 1955 and 1968 that shaped our nation.

They take students on virtual field trips halfway around the world, help them make sense out of complex scientific theories, and link them to Google Earth so they can map class trips. Interactive white boards are changing the way Graland teachers teach, and providing opportunities to enhance learning for students.

We are pleased to announce that we recently received a grant from the Morgridge Family Foundation to add another SMART Board to our toolbox. The package includes an interactive white board, projector, document camera, interactive response systems, and other add-ons. In addition, interested Graland teachers have the opportunity to participate in the Morgridge Family Foundation’s 21st Century Classroom Collaboration program training and professional development.