No Sleep 'Til June.

I just found the time to turn my phone off and go to Yoga for the first time in almost a month. It was well worth it; I just wish I had more time to find the balance to keep me even this spring. It amazes me how many great things I am fortunate to be a part of right now; the difficulty lies in discovering the time to enjoy them. Oh well, here's the latest...

Our baseball team is off to a screaming start in the league, outscoring our opponents 31-2. Come to think of it, I've seen a ridiculous amount of runs scored in the past four days... sixty-three to be exact. Monday - we beat Englewood (15-2), Tuesday - I witnessed the Rockies destroy my New York Mets (11-3) at Coors Field, Wednesday - we shutout Arvada (16-0) in their yard, and then I saw the Mets drop another one at Coors (6-5 in ten), and today, the Mets finally picked up a win (5-0) against the Rockies. So, at least I'm getting to spend a lot of time on and around the diamond... that always keeps me happy!

In other news, Studio 23 was selected as a finalist in the nationwide VANS Custom Culture Contest yesterday afternoon! This is a pretty big deal and I'm so proud of my students and their ongoing dedication to the project. There were roughly 360 schools, and now it's down to twenty finalists! So, starting today, the voting is live on the Vans website for three days. Please stop by to cast your vote for the Wheat Ridge artists (the only school from Colorado). We are vying for the sole finalist spot of the Southwest Region, and for a trip to LA for the grand event at the Vans Headquarters. These are the shoes that got us here... painted by Cary Frank, Iris Vollmer / Shuk-yee Poon, Kristie Han, and Steph Routzon (respectively)... Dig.

I also recently found out other great (but totally terrifying) news... I was selected by the graduating senior class to speak at the commencement ceremony on Friday, 21 May at the Buell Theatre in Denver. I was shocked to learn this, but I am totally grateful and feel honoured. I honestly never gave the notion much thought, as I kind of assumed it would always be Heim or Rossi or Goudge or Tommy Dowd or somebody like that... somebody that's been there for a while and is full of knowledge and stories, etc. They're amazing and I enjoy hearing them speak; I have no idea what to say and I honestly am petrified just thinking about it... but at the same time, I've gotta do it... this class is awfully special to me as it's the first class I started with as freshmen my first year at WR and they are an incredible group of kids.

It's been a lot of late nights followed by early mornings in April and I expect it to carry on through the State Championship baseball game on Saturday, 29 May, and I sure hope / believe we'll be playing at All City Stadium in Denver that day! Then, school will let out that first week of June and I'll hit the road. Somewhere on my travels, I'll stop and take a nap (hopefully not while I'm driving)... until then, no sleep 'til June!

WRHS Art Show and Jeffco Senior High Exhibition.

The annual Wheat Ridge High School Art Show went down Thursday in Studio 23 in epic fashion. This year's outstanding AP Studio Class produced the show and impressed the several hundred supporters that walked in the studio doors. The sixty pieces were among the best I've seen in my four years at WR. All of the students should be proud of the show, I know I'm proud of them.

And, then the sixty pieces went on to the Arvada Center to be jurried for the Jeffco Public Schools Senior High Show this morning. The jury spoke this afternoon, announcing that WRHS once again stole the show with the most awards from any school in the entire district! Among these were Studio 23 artists Shuk-yee Poon, Cary Frank, Julie Echter, Kelly McCarthy, and Jessica Doig. Congratulations to all of the winners and artists in this year's show! The exhibition will be on display at the Arvada Center from 15 April until 12 May. Check it out if you have a chance; you'll be impressed!

Wheat Ridge Rebound: Success in Arizona.

After losing a heartbreaker at Coors Field on St. Patrick's Day to Monarch 2-1, we bounced back strong in Arizona this week. Though playing at Coors is always a treat, we left with a bitter taste last week and had to live with it for ten days. We had a chance to regroup and work to get better, which we were able to achieve over Spring Break.

We came out strong with two big wins on Saturday at Boulder Creek High School in Phoenix (beating host Creek and local Prescott). Monday, we dropped another one run game (our third in three losses this season), this time to Chandler High, but closed strong against Apollo pulling out a win in the seventh. It feels promising to see the team taking shape as we approach the league next week...