Extreme Sports Exhibit Field Trip

Our BSO students had a fantastic time exploring the new Extreme Sports Exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science! Students had the opportunity to experience a variety of extreme sports while meeting classmates and spending some well earned time away from their computers.

Watch your email for more exciting field trip opportunities in the coming weeks!

September Interest Ed

Our September InterestEd sessions were a huge success!  Students had the opportunity to go on virtual field trips, make pumpkin pie play dough, recycle crayons to make a fun project, make a healthy snack and much more!

Mark your calendar and watch your email for the next round of InterestEd opportunities!

Next InterestEd: October 10, 2019

If there is a topic you would like to see presented during InterestEd, please email your ideas to your homeroom teacher.

September's Counselor's Corner

Each month our BSO counselors publish a newsletter that provides important information for our high school students. Please click on the link below to view this month's Counselor's Corner. 

Counselor's Corner

Teacher Spotlight: Liz Wood

Staying the Course: My Track Cycling Adventure

  Recently, I had one of those really big days in life.  I became the national champion in the 2K Pursuit and won the silver in the 500m Time Trial at Masters Track Nationals in Carson, CA. It was a pretty exciting time for me, no doubt, but what I want to share with you is how it came to be.  It was a curiosity that led to an opportunity, then a commitment, a steep learning curve, a whole lot of discomfort and mistakes, consistent questioning and doubt, but ultimately to preparedness and triumph.  

  A year ago, I didn’t race bikes. I'd never ridden a track bike. I didn’t know what a velodrome was or know the first thing about track racing. While I have been on-again, off-again “active” all my life, I hadn’t truly competed in a sport in 30 years. One day I signed up for a bike racing team!!!  It felt random, and it was, but I took the leap. I started riding, getting stronger and meeting a bunch of great people. A friend sent me info on an upcoming class to learn to ride at the velodrome, which is a banked circular track. How hard could it be, I thought and signed up. When I arrived at the class, I learned that track bikes have no brakes!  Yikes! Also, I learned that track bikes have a fixed gear, so there can be no coasting. If the wheels go around, the pedals go around. It wasn’t going to be “just like riding a bike” after all. It was going to be much more intimidating, but also exciting. Over time, I learned the basics but was told that my form and efficiency could use some improvement. So I found myself in a Wattbike class in an effort to learn more about cycling technique and increase my power on the bike.  

  The class was run by a coach who trained very high-caliber international Pro, Elite and Olympic level athletes (not middle-aged moms like me).  I was way out of place but knew that I stood to learn a lot. The workouts were hard and I gave them everything I could, often breathing so loudly that others would comment and laugh about it.  It was a huge shock when one day the coach expressed an interest in training me...the newbie...to go to Nationals in just a few months time. Gulp! Now I was sure he, too, had lost his mind. After all, I still knew nothing about racing and I was that middle-aged mom.  It made no sense, but it was a huge honor and opportunity, so I put my fears and overwhelming sense of inadequacy aside and committed. 

  In addition to the crazy-hard workouts, I had to learn everything about track cycling from the ground up. I had to learn to work on my bike, change out the fixed gears, do standing starts, ride a 333m track and a more slippery, steeper 250m track, race tactics for my different events, training protocols, etc.  The list went on and on. I never knew what I was doing. I often had to swallow my humiliation and ask an unsuspecting stranger to help me with one thing or another that I couldn’t do with my bike. This was the scene over and over. All through the summer, I raced and lost. I made mistake after stupid mistake.  I felt like an imposter...like I had no business being a part of this sport, training with these athletes or taking my coach’s time. But I kept showing up because I had committed and I wanted to see it through. So I focused. I made every effort count. Somewhere along the way, I received an invaluable piece of advice: to trust the process. I took this to heart. Little by little I learned what I needed to know, I got stronger and faster and the pieces came together.  It was an amazing experience that taught me to pursue curiosity, embrace opportunity and get comfortable being uncomfortable.      

I am hoping that by sharing my story I will embolden others to dare greatly in their own lives.

Mrs. Wood