January Newsletter - Grand Junction High School

Grand Junction High School 

January 2013 

A Message from the Principal – Jon F. Bilbo 

Dear Members of the GJHS Professional Learning Community: 

Newsletter 

Welcome to 2013! As I reflect back on the 1st semester of this school year, we were successful in so many 

areas that it is hard to list them all. In this newsletter I have tried to highlight some of the most recent of our 

successes. I will provide you a more comprehensive list in February’s newsletter after we have had the 

opportunity to close out all of 1 st semester’s business. Our successes are a direct result of the efforts of so 

many of our students, parents, staff, teachers, advisors, coaches, and administrators who come to school 

every day dedicated to improving student achievement and making Grand Junction High School (GJHS) a 

great school. We have a lot to be thankful for and I personally am grateful for the super team that we have 

at GJHS! Each year we just keep getting better and better and I thank you for making that possible! 

Despite our successes, we have had our challenges and we all were affected by the tragic events that 

occurred in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday, December 14th. As you are probably aware, school districts 

and schools across the country have been reviewing their security protocols and procedures. Grand 

Junction High School is no different. Junction is a safe school, but because of the size of our campus, the 

number of buildings on the campus, our open lunch period, multiple release periods, multiple doors, and off 

-campus programs at the Career Center and the Western Colorado Community College, we do have our 

challenges. As a result of these challenges, we have determined that we need to tighten up some aspects of 

the security of our buildings. Over the past several months, we have increased our visibility in the halls and 

classrooms, especially during arrival, lunch, and dismissal times. We will continue to demonstrate that 

presence daily. We will make a more concerted effort to lock most of our 63 plus doors immediately after 

the start of school, during the school day, and immediately after school until after-school events begin. 

Entrance to the buildings after school will be closely regulated to increase after-school security. We have 

been reviewing and revising our emergency procedures since the beginning of the school year. In light of 

the Newtown tragedy, we will continue to review those procedures, to include those procedures that we 

must use in case we have to evacuate the campus and relocate the student body to our student/parent 

relocation centers. 

Over the next several weeks we will be training students, staff, and faculty on these new procedures. In the 

meantime, we will continue with the scheduled practices of our lockdown procedures and monthly fire 

drills. During the month of December we initiated two lockdowns because of safety concerns. One 

occurred just at the start of lunch. The second started just at the end of the school day. In both instances, 

our students, staff, and faculty were spot on in their reactions to the perceived threats. Although we were 

extremely pleased with the reaction of our students, staff, and faculty, the lockdowns did surface some 

wrinkles that we are working out with the District Safety Officer, Grand Junction Police Department, Fire 

Department, and First Responders. Concurrently, we will also be looking at access control and what we 

can do immediately and through long term prevention planning and prevention programs to improve the 

signage on campus, procedures for entering and exiting buildings during and after school hours, and 

controlling the movement of guests within our buildings, etc. 

Grand Junction High School | 1400 N 5 th Street, Grand Junction, CO 81501 | (970)254-6900 | FAX(970)254-6973 page 1

Personal 

Responsibility 

Respect 

Integrity 

Dedication 

Empathy 

A Message from the Principal – Jon F. Bilbo (continued) 

Successful, safe, and effective schools are those with high levels of parent and caregiver 

involvement. How can you help our security? I encourage you to review the 

protocols for parents and visitors signing in to the building later in this newsletter. 

Please follow those procedures. They make us a safer school. The National Crime 

Prevention Council in its “Caregivers’ Guide to School Safety and School”, lists 

these four things that you can do to improve school safety: “1. Listen to your children’s 

concerns-engage their problems and empower them to make their schools safe. 

2. Educate yourself about school safety and security, both physical and programmatic 

– find out what’s being done and what more can be done. 3. Involve yourself- 

work with school staff, other parents, and the community, including local businesses, 

to improve and strengthen school safety and security. 4. Advocate for and effect 

change. See our website for a link to this document and more helpful information. 

As always, if you have concerns or recommendations, please call me or one of our 

assistant principals. We appreciate your cooperation in our safety efforts. Lastly, 

the GJPD is increasing its presence on school campuses throughout the city. So periodically, 

you will see more GJ police officers on campus at various times during the 

day. Do not be alarmed about this increased presence! 

The beginning of a new year is always a time for reflection on what’s important and 

what goals we want to reach. At Junction, we are committed to providing a safe, supportive 

learning environment for your child. We want our students to have every opportunity 

when they graduate, and we are focused on making sure they have the 

knowledge and skills necessary for whatever their next steps may be. 

I hope 2013 brings prosperity to each of you and your families. Thank you for your 

support of Junction and your children’s education! 

Graduation Rate Goes Up! Dropout Rate Goes Down! 

We just received some good news from CDE. Our graduation 

rate for the 2010-2011 school year went up from 77.8% 

to 81%! This is the fourth straight year that we have shown 

an increase in our graduation rate. Coinciding with this 

increase in the number of students graduating from GJHS is 

a decrease in the number of students who dropped out of 

GJHS. Our dropout rate went from 3.1 in 2009-2010 to 2.6 

in 2010-2011. This is the seventh straight year that we have seen a decrease in the number 

of students dropping out of Junction. We still have unfinished business because we still 

have too many Tigers who do not graduate from Junction. Nevertheless, great job to all of 

the members of our professional learning community for these wonderful statistics that show 

our commitment to a quality education for all students. 


Go Orange and Black! Go Tigers! 

New Newsletter Appearance: 

As you may have noticed, this newsletter has a different appearance and format 

than those in the past. Junction is one of three schools in the district piloting this newsletter 

processed and published by The School Newsletter Company. This new service allows us 

to deliver our important information to the company and then their editors will create the 

newsletter in an appealing, simple and clear format. These newsletters will include paid 

advertisements. Junction will receive revenue from these advertisements. This small 

revenue will be used to purchase safety related items for the school and our professional 

learning community. 

Sign-In Procedures for Visitors: 

At Grand Junction High School we try to apply Crime Prevention 

through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles to the school 

campus. One of the areas where we are applying these principles is the 

control of unauthorized access to buildings and grounds. During the 

school day, once school starts, we have two main access points or 

entrances for visitors: the 5 th Street entrance which is across from the 

First Congregational Church, and the Student Common entrance off the 

Faculty Parking Lot on the east side of the building. 

All visitors to the school must have a legitimate reason for visiting us. A student from other 

schools visiting their Tiger friends during the school day is not a legitimate reason for 

visiting Junction. A more appropriate time for this visit 

would be off campus before or after school or during lunch off campus, or better yet, visit 

on the weekends or at home. 

All legitimate visitors to the high school must enter through one of our two access, Visitors 

coming in from the 5 th Street entrance should report to the athletic office or the main office 

and sign in. Visitors entering through the Student Commons Area for counseling office 

issues, attendance issues or to pick up a student should report immediately to the attendance 

office. For other reasons, those visitors should continue on to the main office. At each 

office, visitors will be asked to sign our visitor sign in register. After signing in, visitors 

will be given a Visitor Pass and they must display this pass prominently at all times while in 

the building. Visitors found in the building who have not reported to the athletic office, 

main office or attendance office or who are wandering the halls without an approved pass 

will be asked to sign in properly, if applicable, or asked to leave the campus immediately. 

Uncooperative visitors may be prosecuted for trespass under the provisions of the Act of 

December 6, 1973, known as the "Crimes Code, Section 3503(6)." 

News from the Counselors 

Parents of juniors--Just a reminder that any students 

who took high school courses (i.e. geophysical 

science, math 1, etc.) while in middle school and want 

to have the credit on their transcripts, need to turn in a 

request form by March 1st of their junior year. Forms 

may be obtained from and turned into the Counseling 

Center at any time. Families can check to see whether 

the middle school credit has already been placed on the student's transcript by logging into 

Parent Bridge, clicking on the Course History tab, and checking to see if there are courses 

listed with an MS in front of them. 


National Honor Society- New Member Selection 

The Tri-S Chapter of 

the National Honor 

Society at Grand 

Junction High School 

(GJHS) is a duly 

chartered and 

affiliated chapter of 

this prestigious 

national organization. 

Membership is open 

to those students who meet the 

required standards in four areas: 

scholarship, leadership, service, and 

character. Standards for selection are 

established by the national office of 

NHS and have been revised to meet 

our local chapter needs. 

Students are selected to be members by 

a five member Faculty Council, 

approved by the principal, which 

bestows this honor upon qualified 

students on behalf of our school in 

April. 

Students in 10 th , 11 th , and 12 th grades 

are eligible for membership. For the 

scholarship criterion, a student must 

have attended GJHS for a full semester 

and have earned a cumulative GPA of 

3.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale. 

Those students who meet this criterion 

are invited to submit a Candidate Form 

and a Student Activity Information 

Form that provides the Faculty Council 

with information regarding the 

candidate’s leadership experience and 

participation in school or community 

service is also required. These forms 

must be turned in to one of the chapter 

News from the Nurse: 

advisers by February 15, 2013. To 

evaluate a student’s character, the 

Faculty Council uses two forms of 

input. First, school disciplinary 

records are reviewed. Second, 

members of the faculty are solicited for 

input regarding their professional 

reflections on a candidate’s service 

activities, character, and leadership 

using a Faculty Survey Form. These 

forms and the student’s Candidate 

Form and Student Activity Information 

Form are carefully reviewed by the 

Faculty Council to determine 

membership. 

A majority vote of the Council is 

necessary for selection. Candidates are 

notified regarding selection or nonselection 

within a week of the 

Council’s vote. Following notification, 

a formal induction ceremony is held at 

the school to recognize all the newly 

selected members. Once inducted, 

members are required to maintain the 

same level of performance or better in 

all four criteria that led to their 

selection. This obligation includes 

regular attendance at chapter meetings 

which are the first Wednesday of every 

month either at lunch or after-school, 

and participation in the chapter service 

projects. 

Students or parents who have questions 

regarding the selection process or 

membership obligations can contact 

the chapter advisers, Mrs. Lori 

Holloway, in Room 121, or Mrs. Carla 

King in Room 803. 

On February 19, 2013, the GJHS Health Office, with support from nurses 

and health assistants from across the district, will conduct our mandatory 

9 th Grade Hearing and Vision Screening. The hearing and vision screening 

will be conducted during our first three periods, which is approximately 

7:30-10:00 a.m.. 


Safe2Tell-An Anonymous and Safe Way to Report 

Safety Concerns 

Safe2Tell is for GJHS students who need to report 

threats to themselves or others – in a way that keeps 

them SAFE. 

Safe2Tell is ANONYMOUS – this means your 

identity is UNKNOWN. Anonymity is protected by 

Colorado state law. 

The Toll-Free number is: 1-877-542-7233 (SAFE). 

Enter the number into your cell phone, in case you 

ever need it! Web reports can be made from the Safe2Tell main page. Safe2Tell is for 

serious reports only and saves lives of students in Colorado. It is NOT for pranks or hang-up 

calls. Remember “Telling” is not “Snitching” … Telling saves lives. Think there’s a 

chance it won’t happen? NEVER LET “A CHANCE” TAKE A LIFE! 

Students use Safe2Tell to report: bullying, stealing, threats, fights, drugs, alcohol, weapons, 

sexual misconduct, harassment, stalking, dating violence, cutting, suicidal behaviors or any 

other types of violent or dangerous situations that threaten their safety or the safety of others 

for the purpose of prevention and intervention. 

Show your Tiger PRIDE! – Use Safe2Tell to help keep students safe and healthy! 

FAFSA Night: 

Do you need help completing FAFSA? On four evenings in February each high school will 

be sponsoring a FAFSA assistance event: 

Central High School February 7, 2013 Library, 6:30-7:30 

Fruita Monument HS February 11, 2013 Library, 6:30-7: 

Palisade High School February 12, 2013 Library, 6:30-7:30 

Grand Junction HS February 13, 2013 Room 110, 6:30-7:30 

College Goal Sunday February 10, 2013 CMU Campus, 11:00 to 2:00 

This will be an opportunity for you to get hands-on assistance from CMU Financial 

Advisors to complete and submit your students FAFSA request for financial assistance. In 

order to complete the FAFSA application, you will need to bring your income tax 

information, student’s SSN and DOB, and FAFSA pin #’s, one for the student and one for 

parents. To get your pin numbers go to www.pin.ed.gov. If you are unable to attend your 

home school’s event, you are welcome to attend any of the other programs. This evening is 

for any student attending any college next fall. For questions, contact the GJHS counseling 

office at 254-6914. 

Technical Scholars Update 

On January 14 and 15, 296 sophomores (70% of the Class of 2015) toured the Western 

Colorado Community College (WCCC) campus to learn more about programs they can be 

involved in to earn high school and college credit. Applications were distributed and need 

to be turned in to the counseling office at GJHS by February 1. Families who want to learn 

more about what WCCC has to offer are invited to attend an Open House on the WCCC 

campus on Wednesday, February 6 from 5:30-7:00 pm. Interviews with students who 

submit applications will be held at GJHS on February 22. 


Concussion Management and Our Tigers! 

Grade 

Male 

Grand Junction High School continues to provide a concussion management program that supports the 

student body with return-to-play and return-to-learn protocols for student-athletes and return-to-learn 

protocols for other members of the student body who suffer concussions in PE, on campus not related 

to sports or an activity, or outside the normal school day. 

From August thru December 21, 2012, we had 40 students suffer concussions. Of those 40 students, 

28 were males and 12 were females. Twenty seven (27) of the concussions were school sports or 

activity related, six (6) were non-school sport/activity related or PE related, three (3) were caused by 

accidents and four (4) were due to other reasons. Currently, 19 students are actively being monitored 

while 21 have returned-to-play/returned-to-learn status and are considered inactive. 

Female 

Concussion 

School Sport/ 

Activity 

Grand Junction High School | 1400 N 5 th Street, Grand Junction, CO 81501 | (970)254-6900 | FAX(970)254-6973 page 6 

PE or 

Non School 

Sport/Activity 

Accident 

Other 

Active 

9 7 8 15 8 2 2 3 8 8 

10 15 3 18 14 3 0 1 6 10 

11 3 1 4 4 0 0 0 3 2 

12 3 0 3 1 1 1 0 2 1 

Totals 28 12 40 27 6 3 4 19 21 

China Trip 

In 

Active 

Last year, Mr. Justin Whiteford and our Principal, Mr. Jon Bilbo, took 12 students on an 

educational trip to China for two weeks during which they saw some of the most spectacular 

wonders in the world. This March, Mr. Whiteford, Ms. Read, and Mr. Carris return to China 

with other chaperones, 33 Tigers and several students from the International Baccalaureate 

(IB) Program at Palisade High School. Mr. Whiteford and the 

group will travel to three of China’s major cities where they will 

experience a culture vastly different from our own. They will 

also visit historical landmarks and world wonders that include the 

Terracotta Warriors of Qin Shihuang; The Forbidden City, which 

sits in the heart of Beijing; and The Temple of Heaven in 

Beijing. The group will also visit a portion of The Great Wall of 

China and the Yuyuan Gardens in Shanghai, the “City Above the 

Sea.” This is a truly unique trip that will not be offered for several 

years to come.

Ski Club 

Now that winter has finally arrived, the Grand Junction 

Tigers have assembled a ski and snowboarding club to take 

advantage of the rich opportunities of our state. This club 

includes over 80 students and is run by the students with some 

supervision from Mr. Justin Whiteford, Mr. Steve Brown, and 

Ms. Dawn Wieker. The student officers call ahead and 

receive amazing deals on lift tickets for the entire team. This 

club bonds before every trip with a movie night organized by 

the officers and supervisors. The club allows students to 

spend several days a year making friends, having fun, and enjoying the beauty of Colorado 

together. Want to ski? Want to board? Want to bond with other adventurous Tigers? Join 

the Tiger Ski Club. 

Job Coaches / Disability Resource Alliance 

Classroom teachers, counselors, and parents – Do you have a child/young adult who 

has needs beyond the regular classroom? Concerned about emerging behavioral 

issues? Could you use a break or a short respite from caring for a child with 

significant/moderate needs or disabilities? Would you like to know more about 

services or supports available here in the Grand Valley? Disability Resource 

Alliance (DRA) is here for you and brings together agencies and programs that can 

provide you with resource information and referral contacts. For more information 

or to learn more about DRA, contact Jana Hill at 970.241.0315 or e-mail at 

jhill@cfigj.org 

Mesa County Community Alerts 

Be sure to take a minute to sign up for Community Alerts offered to 

all Mesa County residents. This notification system is free to 

D51parents who can receive notifications about multiple schools, a 

home address, business or any other address that they enter. Learn 

about road closures, fires and other community notifications as well. 

Visit www.gjcity.org to get started! 

Free Website 

District 51 has been working for about a year with a third party to 

host a free website that will contain community news, business 

deals, events and other content geared specifically for our parents, 

students and staff. This is the official announcement that the site is 

up! We encourage you to visit www.d51community.com now! 

Bookmark it as a place to check daily or weekly for new deals and 

events being posted. This site will be THE premier resource for our 

community news. Check it out today! 


Early Graduates: 

Congratulations to the following 21 Tigers who completed their graduation 

requirements in December. These students have chosen to immediately begin 

their post-secondary education, go in the military, join the work force pending 

enrollment at a college or university in the future, or immediately join the work 

force. 

Austin Berk Rikki Crown Nancy Garcia Raquel Scheid 

Calli Bennett James Diamanti Sydnee Kimmel Angela Schultz 

Cody Burvant Shane Doudy Maegan LaFortune Nicole Skeith 

Sage Copenhaver Michael Fejeran Danielle Macinnes Spencer Weinberg 

Olivia Crone Carsyn Fritzler Donna Macinnes Tiana Williams 

Kara Wilsey 

Work Keys Certification: 

Work Keys is a job skill assessment system used in the United States. It was created in the 

late 1980s by ACT, Inc. It is used by businesses to measure workplace skills of employees 

and job applicants and by schools and colleges to help prepare students for the workplace. 

Certificate Work Keys 

Scores 

Gold 

Silver 

Bronze 

Tigers Roar! 

Congratulations to the following Tigers who 

excelled during the 2 nd Quarter and in January! 

5s and 

above 

4s and 

above 

3s and 

above 

Core Skills for: 

90% of careers 



Work Keys is available in three levels: 

Bronze, Silver, and Gold 

Bronze - The Bronze level certificate holder has scored at least a Level 3 in Applied 

Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information. The Bronze level verifies 

that the job seeker has the necessary foundation skills for 35% of the jobs in the Work Keys 

database. 

Silver - The Silver level certificate holder has scored at least a Level 4 in Applied 

Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information. The Silver level verifies 

that the job seeker has the necessary foundation skills for 65% of the jobs in the Work Keys 

database. 

Gold -The Gold level certificate holder has scored at least a Level 5 in Applied Mathematics, 

Locating Information, and Reading for Information. The Gold level verifies that the job 

seeker has the necessary foundational skills for 90% of the jobs in the Work Keys database. 

GJHS awards 1 to 3 elective credits to those Tigers who earn the equivalent Work Key 

Certificate. During the 1 st semester 43 Tigers went to the Work Force Center and 

successfully earned one of the three certificates. Of the 43 students who completed the 

certification, five earned a Gold Certificate, 31 earned Silver Certificates and seven earned 

Bronze Certificates. Please see the complete list of the certificate recipients on page 15. 


Perfect Attendance: 

Students of the Month 

Congratulations to the 78 Tigers who had Perfect Attendance during 

the 2 nd Quarter. Of those 78 tigers, 21 students had Perfect Attendance 

during the 1 st and 2 nd quarters. 

Please see page 14 for the complete list of the Tigers who earned this 

distinction. 

December 

The Daily Sentinel Student of the Week was Katherine Gibson, daughter of Katherine 

and Richard Gibson. The Kiwanis Student of the Month was Rachel Stahl, daughter of 

Mike and Katrina Stahl; and The Alpine Bank Students of the Month were: Grayson 

Young, daughter of Jennifer and Robert Young, and Andy Bell, son of Barbara and 

Michael Bell. 

January 

The Daily Sentinel Student of the Week is Jessica Deters, daughter of Patty and Dave 

Deters. The Kiwanis Student of the Month is Adam Heldmyer, son of Michelle and 

Joseph Heldmyer. Alpine Bank does not recognize students in January. 

Regional Stock Market Competition 

For the first time in the past six years, students from the Grand 

Junction High School (GJHS) Business Department participated in 

the Fall Stock Market Experience (SME) sponsored by the 

Colorado Council for Economic Education (CCEE). The SME is 

an investment simulation that teaches students about the U.S. 

economic system while conveying and reinforcing basic concepts 

from economics, math, business, language arts, social studies, financial literacy, and 

more. The Fall Trading Period ran from September 24 thru December 7, 2012. 

Congratulations to seniors Tanner Bennett, Stefani Dyer, Amber Higgs, and 

Hannah Perkins in Mrs. Jill Derrieux’s Personal Finance Class for their third place 

finish in the Northwest Colorado Region, High School Category, of the Fall Stock 

Market Experience. Our third place team will travel to Denver to attend the Stock 

Market Experience Awards Ceremony on May 17, 2013 at the Denver Zoo. 

Honor Rolls 

Tiger Roar! (continued) 

Congratulations to the 566 Tigers who earned a 3.5 grade point average or 

higher during the 2 nd quarter. Of the 566 students, 173 earned a 3.5 to 3.74 

GPA and 393 earned a 3.75 or higher GPA. An additional 344 students earned 

a 3.0 to 3.49 GPA. Please see page 16for a complete list of those students who 

earned Honor Roll and High Honor Roll distinction. 


AP Saturday Sessions 


During December, Tigers from our AP Calculus and AP Statistics classes attended the first 

of three Saturday Study Sessions for AP math classes. All three math study sessions were 

held at Central High School. AP students from our AP English Language and AP English 

Literature classes also attended their first Saturday Study Session in November and their 

second session in December. These study sessions were held at GJHS. Congratulations to 

those Tigers who participated in these very important sessions. 

The Saturday Study Session is considered to be one of the most important strategies used by 

schools in the AP Training and Incentive Program (APTIP) offered through the Colorado 

Legacy AP Grant. 

The remaining study sessions for the school year are listed below: 

SCIENCE - FMHS MATH - CHS ENGLISH - GJHS 

February 2, 2013 December 8, 2012 November 3, 2012 

March 2, 2013 February 9, 2013 December 15, 2012 

April 6, 2013 April 27, 2013 March 16, 2013 

CHSAA All-State Academic Recipients 

We are proud to recognize and congratulate the following 29 Winter Sports Student Athletes 

who were selected as CHSSA All-State Academic or Honorable Mention Student Athletes. 

Boys Basketball: All-State Academic-Kyler Beasley-Rose, Nicklas Beightel, 

Zachary Kiel 

Honorable Mention-Trenton Soriano 

Girls Basketball: All-State Academic-Blythe Crow, Elisha Jahnke, Madison 

Marsh, Erika Meister, Shafer Rubalcaba, Sarah 

Wilkinson 

Honorable Mention-Brianna Baldwin 



CHSAA All-State Academic Recipients(continued) 

Girls Swim/Dive: All-State Academic-Ellen Atkinson, Sofie Black, Darby 

Corn, Jessica Deters, Celine Linder, Arianne Martin, 

Trinity Simmons, Madeline Toolen, Taylor Wood, Grayson 

Young 

Pom Pom: All-State Academic-Kassidy Flick, Jessica Green, Amanda 

Summers 

Honorable Mention-Charleen Strother, Shiyan Zhang 

Wrestling: All State Academic-Joseph Crawford, Matthew King 

Honorable Mention-Jeffrey Christeleit 

National Football Foundation 

Congratulations to Senior Kyler Beasley-Rose for being selected as 

one of the 11 recipients of the Colorado Chapter of the National 

Football Foundation 2013 Scholar-Athlete Award. The hard work and 

dedication Kyler has shown to football, academics, and the Grand 

Junction community has placed him among the elite of the 17,000 

football players in the State of Colorado. Kyler and the other 10 

scholar athletes will be recognized and honored at a banquet on 

Monday, February 18, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. at the Denver West Marriott Hotel. 

Intent to Play 

On Wednesday, November 14, 2012, Grand 

Junction High School recognized and celebrated 

a National Letter of Intent signing 

ceremony for Lacee Kilgore and Spencer 

Weinberg. Lacee signed to compete in volleyball, 

as a Beacon, at The University of 

Massachusetts in Boston; Spencer signed to 

play tennis at Colorado Mesa University. 

He graduated in December and will begin 

school at CMU later this month. 

On Wednesday December 19, we recognized 

and congratulated Austin Berk 

and James Diamanti at a ceremony in 

the main gymnasium wishing them well 

as they prepare for the next stage of 

their lives. Both Austin and James 

graduated early at semester, and each 

will be enrolling in college and will be- 

gin their college football careers in the 

spring. Austin will attend Colorado 

State University and James will attend 

the University of Wyoming. 

Congratulations to seniors Matt King 

and Kyler Beasley-Rose who have 

committed to play football at the Colorado 

School of Mines. The Orediggers 

are a member of the Rocky Mountain 

Athletic Conference (RMAC). The National 

Letter of Intent Signing Ceremony 

for Kyler and Matt will be held in 

February. 



All State 5A/All Colorado Football 

For the third year in a row, at least one Tiger football player was 

selected to the All State 5A/All Colorado Football Team. In 2010, 

Casey Walker was selected to the All State Defensive Team and in 

2011 Sean Rubalcaba and Jerreon Dennis were selected to the All 

State Offensive Team and junior Austin Berk was selected to the 

All State Defensive Team. 

This year, two senior defensive linemen, Austin Berk and James Diamanti, were selected 

to the All State Class 5A/All Colorado Defensive Team. As we mentioned earlier, Austin 

and James graduated in December and will attend college later this month on a full football 

scholarship. Austin will attend and play for the Rams of Colorado State University, and 

James will attend and play for the Cowboys of the University of Wyoming. Congratulations 

to both of these fine student-athletes, and we wish them the best of luck as they start their 

college careers this month. 

BMW West Coast Bowl – A First for the Tigers 

Congratulations to senior Tiger football player Austin Berk. Austin has been invited to 

play in the 1st Annual South Bay BMW West Coast Bowl! The West Coast Bowl will take 

place Sunday, January 27th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. The country's most 

unique game will feature top Pac-12 recruits and other future collegiate football stars from 

the Western Region. Austin was also selected to the Mile High Sports (Root Sports) All- 

Colorado Team for Defensive Line. 

Flashmob 

On Friday, December 21, 2012, the Tiger Boys Varsity and Junior Varsity Basketball 

Teams played Adams City here at home. Prior to the junior varsity game, students, staff, 

and faculty from Mesa View Elementary School showed up in force to support the Tigers. 

During the break between the junior varsity and varsity games, the Mesa View students, 

staff and faculty, led by Principal Mary Biagini, performed a Flashmob Dance to recognize 

each person’s individuality, uniqueness, and special abilities. Everybody had a great time at 

the game and we now have an avid GJHS Tiger Basketball Fan Club at Mesa View 

Elementary School. 

Booster Club 

Grand Junction High School’s activities and athletic teams would like to thank and 

recognize the Grand Junction High School Booster Club. The Booster Club donated over 

$60,500 last year to our Activities and Athletic Programs. To continue this tradition of 

financial support, parent volunteers are needed. Everyone is invited to the monthly Booster 

Club meetings. Meetings are held the second Monday of each month in room 115 at GJHS. 

If you are interested in volunteering, contact Activities Director Ned Pollert at Grand 

Junction High School, at 254-6919. 

At the December Booster Club Meeting, the Booster Club approved $6,750 in funding 



requests to support the following programs: $6,300 Orange & Black and Tiger Yearbook, 

and $450 for the library. In January, the Booster Club funded one request of $850 for the 

French Club, and paid $1,500 to the Orange and Black for advertising. Thank you to our 

Booster Club and all the volunteers for your continued support of Grand Junction High 

School students, staff, and all of our activities. 

GJHS Volunteers 

Thank you to all of the Volunteers who have given of their time and energy to the students 

of Grand Junction High School. During the month of November, we had 162 volunteers 

donate over 1,075 hours of time, and during December, 126 volunteers donate over 381 

hours of service. It is because of the time and efforts of these 

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Links to the GJHS My Locker site can be found on the GJHS Home Page and on the 

GJHS Athletic Page 

Soccer 

Congratulations to Ryan Gibb for being selected to the Southwestern 

League First Team All-Conference and Marcel Mavangulu, and Josh 

Murdock for being selected to the Southwestern League All-Conference 

Second Team. 

New Scoreboard 

Grand Junction High School would like to recognize and 

give a huge thank you to Mr. Yanus Nelson and Wells 

Fargo Bank for their time and efforts in obtaining a 

donation of $6,300 to go towards the purchase a new 

scoreboard for our junior varsity/freshmen football field. 

The current scoreboard has been inoperable most of this 

year and we can no longer obtain spare parts due to its age. Again, thank you Mr. 

Nelson and Wells Fargo Bank. We look forward to a spring ribbon cutting 

ceremony to show off the new board. 


Class of 2013 (21) 

Rianna Arnett 

Jacob Below* 

Ryan Beshai 

William Broad 

Lexa Denke 

Casey Farnsworth* 

Katherine Gibson* 

Benjamin Gutentag* 

Benjamin Kelsey 

Daniel Lionsberger* 

Matthew McKay 

Keaton Michel 

Gary Pilling 

Carmen Pipe* 

Johana Quant* 

Montana Reichen* 

Brittnee Roberts 

Maverick Robertson 

Christopher Teal* 

Rachel Trogdon 

Rebeccah Webster* 

Class of 2014 (16) 

Maria Chacon 

Jacob Dodd 

Skyler Frieling* 

William Grace 

Danny Huynh 

Eric Kotris* 

Lundi McGolrick 


Perfect Attendance – 2nd Quarter 

Michael McKnight 

Jacok McSwain* 

Michael Mora 

Joel Nicholson 

Brandon Perry 

Aleah Quast 

Jordan Quintana 

Jake Strother 

Jessica Strothman 

Class of 2015 (21) 

Victoria Baltzell 

Kayla Berry 

Samantha Betzen 

Caleb Coleman 

James Dionne 

Aidan Drayer* 

Ty Gardner 

Michael Hansen 

Anna Harris 

Olivia Huffaker* 

Emmett Johnson 

Alexander Lee 

Bryan Luke 

Thomas Magnuson 

Jacob Ormsby* 

Keri Rogers 

Holly Smith 

Anjana Thapa* 

Raymond Ugalde 

Benjamin Volkman 

Holli Whiting 

Class of 2016 (20) 

Christopher Adams* 

Thomas Driver 

Carli Fluegge 

Jeffrey Ford 

Clarissa Gehl 

Diana Gutierrez 

Nathan Javernick 

Brittany Kadel 

Christoph Kessler 

Sierra Quinton 

Julia Miller* 

Dominic Moya* 

Claire Mundt 

Kristopher Nickel* 

Serena Nuttall 

Arissa Parrish 

Sterli Quist 

Zakary Stortz 

Carlos Vendegna 

Shawn Wade 

*Perfect Attendance 

1 st and 2 nd Quarter 



Key Performance Certification: 

Work Keys is a job skills assessment system that helps employers select, hire, train, develop, 

and retain a high-performance workforce. This series of tests measures foundational and soft 

skills and offers specialized assessments to target institutional needs. As part of ACT's Work 

Readiness System, ACT Work Keys has helped millions of people in high schools, colleges, 

professional associations, businesses, and government agencies build their skills to increase 

global competitiveness and develop successful career pathways. 

Successful completion of ACT Work Keys assesments in Applied Mathematics, Locating 

Information, and Reading for Information can lead to earning ACT's National Career 

Readiness Certificate (NCRC), a portable credential earned by more than 1 million people 

across the United States. MCVSD #51 also awards credits to those students who earn a Work 

Keys certificate. 

The following 44 Tigers earned Key Performance Workforce Center Certification: 

Name Level of Name Level of 

Certification 

Certification 

Aspen Coleman Gold Melody McCreary Silver 

Kylie Heringer Gold Lundi McGolrick Silver 

Kinsey Moore Gold Trentin McNeely Silver 

Taylor Pridy Gold Danielle Miranda Silver 

Vail Chardonnay Gold Jesse Price Silver 

Roberto Aragon Silver Elvis Purser Silver 

Tresa Balerio Silver Guy Ramos Silver 

Calli Bennett Silver Shawn Reiner Silver 

Brenna Beyerbach Silver Raquel Scheid Silver 

Marissa Brunswick Silver Britni Schneider Silver 

Taylor Cadden Silver Robert Staab Silver 

Aspen Coleman Silver Rawn Takacs Silver 

Brianna Compton Silver Danielle Valdez Silver 

Delaney Dawson Silver Michael Van Ness Silver 

Catherine Dolan Silver Rebecca Wilson Silver 

Ian Gault Silver Jeremy Allen Silver 

Brenda Herrera Silver Deven Blanton Bronze 

Cesar Herrera Silver Luis Guillen Bronze 

Myah Kerchner Silver Josh Rodriquez Bronze 

Cody Levering Silver Hannah Ruiz Bronze 

Jesse Love Silver Dallas Terry Bronze 

Thomas Martindale Silver Desiree Trujillo Bronze 

Elisa Martinez Silver 


GJHS 2nd Quarter Honor Roll – 2012 - 2013 

GPA 4.0 and above 

Seniors 

Ellen Atkinson 

Zachary Barger 

Kyler Beasley-Rose 

Ryan Beshai 

Sofie Black 

Laura Bloom 

Carson Brown 

Kenna Brown 

Sydnee Cooper 

Alec Cowan 

Olivia Crone 

Alexis Cunningham 

Ann deBoer 

Emily Dederick 

Derek DeRush 

Jessica Deters 

Paul Dohm 

Luke Dohm 

Casey Farnsworth 

Chancelie Fink 

Annealea Flynn 

Scott Foster 

Maya Freismuth 

Juanita Galvan 

Caleb Gartner 

Greta Gebhard 

David Gibb 

Katherine Gibson 

Heather Gossage 

Jessica Green 

George Gromke 

Sandra Gutierrez 

Damon Harding 

John Hegstrom 

Adam Heldmyer 

Briana Hendrickson 

Emma Holt 

Max-Olivier Houtris 

Zachariah Huggett 

Alice Ireland 

Taryn Irvin 

Richard Jull 

Zachary Kiel 

Lacee Kilgore 

Matthew King 

Krista Lally 

Alexander Langley 

Nichole Lanzl 

Marshall Lee 

Daniel Lionberger 

Luciana Madison 

Keaton Michel 

Noah Miller 

Joy Moran 

Royce Neely 

Alice Nelms 

Brittany Noland 

Eric Oakley 

Carmen Pipe 

Franklin Proctor 

Bailey Reiners 

Christian Richardson 

Lucy Rieves 

Brittnee Roberts 

Maverick Robertson 

Sofia Robinson 

Andrew Schlechten 

Rachel Stahl 

Natalie Sufka 

Amanda Summers 

Elizabeth Switzler 

Christopher Thornton 

Dillon Thurstin 

Madeline Toolen 

Danielle Valdez 

Kaitlin VanMatre 

Samuel Videlock 

Stephanie Wahlers 

Anna Wedekin 

Grayson Young 

Juniors 

River Adams 

Brendan Boardwine 

Andrew Bowen 

Rebecca Bryan 

Lyssa Caires 

Larissa Cox 

Joseph Crawford 

Blythe Crow 

Darcy Dackonish 

Jenna Dandurand 

Molly Findlay 

Kassidy Flick 

Sophia Fortner 

Andrew Foutz 

Rachel Gallagher 

Alexus Gallegos 

Taren Garcia 

Lindsay Gnesios 

Cassandra Grigware 

Edgar Gutierrez 

Kylie Heringer 

Taro Komori 

Johnathan Kyle 

Samuel Lapkin 

John Lewis 

Emily Luker 

Madison Marsh 

Lundi McGolrick 

Erika Meister 

Soraya MoralesNunez 

Courtney Morris 

Joshua Murdock 

Joel Nicholson 

Kalen Potter 

Mariah Prinster 

Aleah Quast 

Jordan Quintana 

Kayla Roberts 

Shafer Rubalcaba 

Carissa Russell 

Neil Ryan 

Nicole Seibold 

Megan Sherman 

Katharine Smith 

Trenton Soriano 

Madalyn Stewart 

Jessica Strothman 

Theron Verna 

Alexander Weaver 

Katherine Whiteside 

Sarah Wilkinson 

Natashia Willden 

John Wiman 

Aubrie Wood 

Zoe Wright 

Sophomores 

Benjamin Arja 

Melissa Atchley 

Kristen Balke 

Victoria Baltzell 

Kayla Berry 

Samantha Betzen 

Shyanne Bisnett 

Rachel Black 

Cassidy Bordon 

Rebecca Butler 

Blaine Cahill 

Julie Campbell 

Taylor Chaffetz 

Ryland Curtsinger 

Parker Davis-McDougal 

Aidan Drayer 

Benjamin Eisenhauer 

Omelia Emmons 

Jake Farnsworth 

Stephen Foster 

Max Fransen 

Matthew Fuerst 

Hannah Galvan 

Ty Gardner 

Jaryn Gibb 

Gregory Gibson 

Aaron Gossage 

Jordan Hahn 

Michael Hansen 

Anna Harris 

Seaira Hickman 

McKenna Hiler 

Claire Hobika 

Jonah Howe 

Jacob Howell 

Emmett Johnson 

Tyler Jones 

Taylor Kidd 

Mary King 

Donny Kinnaman 

Kacie Kuhlman 

Abigail Leinbach 

Brian List 

Camille Lohr 

Ryland Mahre 

Alicia Maslyk 

Eric Pipkin 

Shannon Reeve 

Kassidy Roberts 

Stockton Rock 

Nathan Rockwood 

Jasmine Sawyer 

Madison Schlechten 

Benjamin Shettler 

Marina Silva 

Caroline Straw 

Kathryn Sufka 

Anjana Thapa 

Bao Tran 

Nicole Troester 

Raymond Ugalde 

Benjamin Volkmann 

David Wells 

Hunter Whaley 

Jonah Wilson 

Ryan Zinke 

Freshmen 

Maximilian Adamson 

Andrew Barton 

Caylin Boardwine 

Azleigha Bryan 

Wendy Burchfield 

Carolena Campos 

Zachary Carris 

Tori Catlett 

Annaliese Cole-Weiss 

Shannen Cook 

Sarah Erb 

Rebecca Fairbanks 

Carli Fluegge 

Rhiannon Friel 

Diana Gutierrez 

Jared Harrison 

Alexis Hessel 

Patricia Hill 

Malik Jackson 

Jariah Jaramillo 

Amelia Karsten 

Jenna Kretschman 

Mauryn Lard 

Madison Leal 

Andrea Lielkoks 

Naomi Lohr 

Caleb Lone 

Andrew Luker 

Monica Maas 

Michael Martinez 

Steven McKenzie 



Taylor Meer 

Chad Meister 

Alondra Mendoza 

Catherine Mercado 

Jordan Merrill 

Kyle Mills 

Claire Mundt 

Celeste Parker 

Arissa Parrish 

Benjamin Potter 

Brook Rajnowski 

Mary Rankin 

Michael Rogers 

Julio Saenz 

Kristina Sewell 

Rainy Shaball 

Samuel Shaver 

Larita Skidmore 

Cassandra Smith 

Zakary Stortz 

Jennifer Strothman 

Bailey Summers 

Amanda Sweet 

Trevor Urban 

Kellon Voth 

Haley Walker 

John Whiteside 

Jasmine Willis 

Cosmo Wright 

GPA 3.75 to 3.99 

Seniors 

Mariah Anderegg 

Rianna Arnett 

Tristan Bates 

Katie Bremner 

Amanda Cook 

Brittney Davis 

Shiloh Fox 

Carsyn Fritzler 

Rebecca Hansen 

Margaret Harris 

Brian Jacob 

Kasey Kostelecky 

Kristina Leeds 

John Mariz 

Brenna McAtlin 

Clayton Nelson 

Mykaila Norbeck 

Mikayla OBrien 

Nicholas Park 

Austin Stewart 

Spencer Weinberg 

Bethany Wood 

Juniors 

David Applegate 

Nicklas Beightel 

Taylor Cadden 

Ciara Carver-Gallegos 

Matthew Costigan 

Jacob Dodd 

Daniel Dodero 

Jordin Early 

Edgar Gonzalez 

Darian Green 

Elisha Jahnke 

Brennon Keller 

Eric Kotris 

Erin Martin 

Autumn Mason 

Kenzi Medina 

Isaac Meyer 

Eric Mills 

Michael Mora 

Cheyenna OBrien 

Tanhia Ponce 

Ashley Preuss 

Maxwell Proietti 

Juan Rodriguez 

Reanne Rogers 

Savannah Smith 

Cierra Smith 

Jake Strother 

Aspen Tibbetts 

Kayla Voeltzel 

Whitney Young 

Sophomores 

Allen Adair 

Emily Adamson 

James Antonucci 

Marisa Arrieta 

Ashley Baker 

Thomas Beightel 

Holden Boggs 

Joseph-Ian Bongar 

Sydni Brandon 

Amber Broad 

Abigail Casey 

Milena Castaneda 

Gabriella Cecere 

Coral Copenhaver 

Jonathan Dorr-Widdop 

Ridge Droskin 

Roessler Eisenhauer 

Robert Fairbanks 

Hayden Herbert 

Brittany Houtris 

Olivia Huffaker 

Damian Johann 

Jesse Lanzl 

Alexander Lee 

Connor Martin 

Angelica Martinez 

Tanner Mast 

Shianne Mooers 

Briggs Oakley 

Michael Poland 

Jaime Rodriguez- 

Roggie 

Keri Rogers 

Charles Ruckman 

Jessica Sopher 

Nicole Stahl 

Alexus StatesBrown 

Joshua Townley 

Jacob Trujillo 

Viviane Turman 

Richard Wise 

Freshmen 

Ethan Angel 

Alexis Archuleta 

Maria Avila 

Amelia Bergen 

Audrey Bissonnette 

Julia Bremner 

Anna Bruce 

Carly Burkart 

Jannike Caspari 

Dana Clukey 

Kadan Cummings 

Clairissa Gehl 

Michael Gentile 

Sheridan Grace 

Jordyn Hand 

Jordan Hart 

Avery Hill 

Maia Honeycutt 

Logan Jacobson 

Ashley Jahnke 

Brittany Jones 

Caroline Jones 

Samuel Jordan 

Brittany Kadel 

Ashley Leroux 

Kristopher Nickel 

Colton OGara 

Jacob Park 

Mykenzie Porter 

Ellie Raaum 

Rebecca Rathburn 

Mitchell Schurman 

Zoe Shanahan 

Bricen Sorrell 

Carlos Vendegna 

Shaylin Wakefield 

Joseph Wezensky 

Jacob Wilcox 

Rebecca Wilkinson 

GPA 3.5 to 3.74 

Seniors 

Cameron Betz 

Cody Burvant 

Cavell Carpendale 

Ismael Carrillo-Lara 

Kassidy Church 

Joeanna Cisneros 

Sage Copenhaver 

Natalie DeRush 

Rachel DeWitt 

Arrianna Diaz 

Shane Doudy 

Jordan Drake 

Kaytrianna Edris 

Benjamin Fairbanks 

Joshua Felix 

Nathaniel Garcia 

Rachel Goodrich 

Cheyenne Grace 

Megan Gromke 

Alexandria Grossnickle 

Benjamin Gutentag 

Morgan Herwick 

Cameron Honnen 

Forrest Huffaker 

Whitney Jackson 

Kacie Jay 

Erin Lielkoks 

Cordero Marez 

Arianne Martin 

Matthew McKay 

Emma McNulty 

Lane Melott 

Michael Merluzzi 

Joshua Moore 

Taylor Peters 

Jeremy Poland 

Johana Quant 

Annika Raaum 

Shelby Squires 

Matthew Vigil 

Daniel Walsh 

Nathan Way 

Rebecca Wilson 

Juniors 

Trevor Abbott 

Alayna Adamson 

Cassandra Arcieri 

Izaac Armstrong 

Ryan Baker 

Brianna Baldwin 

Christopher Brown 

Nathan Bryner 

Shannia Case 

Kassidy Chism 

Baylee Christopher 

Ramon Cordova 



Darby Corn 

Justin Fay 

Danielle Fleig 

Emily Flukey 

William Grace 

Gina Guzman 

Elizabeth Havlik 

Kaleb Johnson 

Nickolas Jones 

Tristan Lafferty 

Victoria Lara 

Celine Lindner 

Evin Lone 

Ashley Long 

Maria Maas 

Michael McKnight 

Jalen Onsrud 

Kyla Oracion 

Blake Orr 

Richard Penny 

Delaney Robison 

Alexandra Schoellgen 

Kuria Smith 

Domonic Tafoya 

Owen Taylor 

Kayla Vigil 

Zeb Wagner 

Kenneth Welling 

Matthew White 

Steven Whiting 

Milla Wong 

Morgan Zanski 

Kiana Ziola 

Sophomores 

Michael Acord 

Steven Adams 

AnaLaura Ambriz- 

Garcilazo 

Brittany Arcieri 

Patrick Baier 

John Bumgarner 

Reis Caldwell 

Gabriela Chacon 

Malcolm Davis- 

McDougal 

Forrest Diaz 

James Dionne 

Aryana Gorman 

Austin Gray 

Katy Hargraves 

Halle Harrison 

Mark Hartshorn 

Sarah Jennings 

Taylor Kochevar 

Corey Lans 

Maria Guadalupe Leon 

-Torres 

Kia Marez 

Zoe Martsolf 

James McAlister 

Samantha Melchor 

Nicholas Morris 

Joshua Nelson 

Joshua Nelson 

Laura Ponce-Campa 

Jubilee Quigley 

Marisol Quintana 

Madison Ragar 

Taylor Rivas 

Jacob Romero 

Sabree Stewart 

Kaitlyn Talley 

Caleb Vagher 

Sienna Watkins 

Abigail Whiseant 

Jason Wood 

Freshmen 

Aimee Armantrout 

Angel Bautista-Ponce 

Alissa Belcastro 

Susan Bissonnette 

Jo-Nah-A Brown 

Michaela Capewell 

Jose Ceballos 

Amber Church 

Kellan Costigan 

Brody Cupp 

Mayson Davis 

Savannah Denke 

Christopher Diamanti 

Sarah Erskine 

Ryan Ferguson 

Jeffrey Ford 

Rose Gilfillan 

Shalee Harrah 

Kaden Heinsma 

Austin Jones 

Emma Kearl 

William Kerrigan 

Christoph Kessler 

Cody Lacy 

Jacob Lapkin 

Emily Lengerich 

Tayllor Mariolle 

Aliyah Martinez 

Jordyn McElroy 

Sierra McQuiston 

Peyton Miller 

Dominic Moya 

Rebekah Nielsen 

Danica Odermatt 

Christopher ONeill 

Joshua Park 

Jill Payne 

Mason Cameron Pridy 

Morgan Russom 

Payton Staats 

Brandon Story 

Bailey Tate 

Dylan Thomas 

Blanca Vazquez-Salas 

Marcos Whisler 

Tyson Zanski

January Newsletter - Grand Junction High School

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