SBA Mobilizes for 3rd Annual Tahoe Lake Century

For the third straight year, Sugar Bowl Academy student-athletes will cycle around Lake Tahoe on May 21st to raise funds for both Sugar Bowl Academy and World Bicycle Relief. For a look back at last year's Tahoe Lake Century, click HERE.

At today's All School Meeting, the older boys' advisory group began mobilizing the campus for the big event, detailing the different legs of the peddle along with the group's fundraising goals. On behalf of Sugar Bowl Academy and World Bicycle Relief, The Fighting Marmot thanks parents and students in advance for their participation in this important, community-building event.

The "Struggle Bus" Days

"Struggle bus" days - that's what SBA student-athletes call Fridays in particular. We have lightened their loads with the iPad, but there is still so much gear for our student-athletes to schlep that they are loaded like buses...

Scene OFF Campus Pic of the Day

What happens when boarding students hit the town?

Argentine Makes SBA Campus Landfall

Argentine culture came alive in Spanish 5 this week.  Thank you to SBA Spanish teacher Aly Kendall for the following report of a rich cultural exchange that she initiated for the benefit of SBA student-athletes.

"Spanish 5 welcomed two guests late this week. Annika Deurlington, a freshman at Claremont McKenna College and graduate of Truckee High, spent the previous school year on a rotary scholarship in Argentina. A true ambassador for study abroad, she modeled lovely Spanish and encouraged our SBA students to take advantage of any similar opportunities that might come their way. Her friend, Martín Benavides, a native of Argentina who is visiting Annika during a break from his college studies, was eager to share with the class as well. It was wonderful to see Chris, Chuck and Conner welcome these guests and show genuine interest in their lives. Annika and Martín shared a little bit of their perspectives with us, allowed us to practice Spanish with a native speaker, and generally expanded our visions of the Spanish-speaking world. It was a special opportunity for us, and we were grateful for their visit.”

SBA Represents the UK at the RHS Model UN

Fifteen Sugar Bowl Academy student-athletes and two teachers recently traveled to San Francisco to take part in the 16th annual Regional High School Model United Nations Conference. Led by Andy Knox, Corbin Prychun, and SBA senior Conner Evans, the group represented the United Kingdom. Thank you to Corbin for the following retrospective:

"Some great moments were seeing our kids standing in front of forty to fifty other delegates presenting their ideas/solutions to key issues, watching Taylor and Conner try to convince Russia to implement stronger sanctions and actions to the Syrian regime, and allowing the kids to enjoy the sights, sounds, restaurants and stores of San Francisco." - Corbin Prychun

Is it Graupel? Hail? Snow? Rime?

"Graupel" has been the word of the week on campus this week. 

Since spell check on Blogger doesn't even recognize it, you might not, either (but it is in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary - click HERE). 

Donner Summit has seen it all lately: snow, graupel, rain, probably even rime. In Monday's All School Meeting, Head of School Tracy Keller had advisory groups conduct smart phone and iPad-assisted Web searches to learn about and articulate before their peers the properties of the various kinds of precipitation we see from our campus at the base of Sugar Bowl Ski Resort. The following is an iPhone photo essay from the meeting. 

Scene on Campus Pic of the Day

Trips program groups have begun meeting to organize and to allow for student-athlete input into these experiential learning opportunities. Click HERE to learn more about our Inaugural Trips Program. 

Andy Knox and Andy Giordano will be co-leading a coastal scuba-diving trip. Below, Andy and Andy confer with their group. 

Scene on Campus Pic of the Day

Student Council sponsored its first All School Meeting challenge today. Stay tuned for more scenes from the "cookie challenge," but here's a little taste...


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Springing in to the new school year...

Springing in to the new school year, here is a look at physical testing, along with some insight into how our student/athletes spend their summers. Enjoy!

SBA Sends Delegates to Model U.N.

Alex Alvarez, Conner Evans, and Chris Fitzpatrick represented Sugar Bowl Academy on May 19-20 at the University of California-Davis Model United Nations conference. SBA students served on the Arab League Crisis Committee as delegates representing Tunisia, Iraq, and the U.A.E. The focus of this session of the Model U.N. was the Arab Spring in Egypt and Syria.

Scene on Campus Photo of the Day, 5/14

Student Council and a few guests...

Scene on Campus Photo of the Day, 4/18

With spring here and the temperatures rising, reading block is an outdoor affair. 

SBA-TV Reports from Schweitzer

Sierra Sun Coverage of Conner Evans' Scholarship

Click on the image below to go to the article:

Evans to Represent the U.S. in Cambodia

"It is such incredible news that I got selected to be included in this great program and it is truly surreal. I look forward to my travels to Asia and to sharing my experiences with the community!"  - Conner Evans

Conner Evans (photo by Andy G)

SBA has had a lot to celebrate in athletics lately, with podiums coming regularly from both the Alpine and Nordic skiing communities.

Today, The Fighting Marmot celebrates academics with a post from Conner Evans, who learned late last week that he is one of only 30 recipients nationwide of a U.S. Department of State-sponsored scholarship to represent the United States this summer in Cambodia.

Congratulations, Conner!

The following is what Conner had to say about the distinction and what will happen leading up to and during his time in Cambodia.

***

The American Youth Leadership Program with Cambodia is a program of the United States Department of State managed by Global Explorers, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire responsible global citizenship by sharing life-changing immersive travel opportunities with students of all abilities and backgrounds. 

Since this is a program of the U.S. Department of State, I received a scholarship that covers all airfare and program fees (lodging and meals included). I was chosen as one of 30 students selected from a nationwide pool of 160 applicants to represent the United States this June in Cambodia. The application process was very rigorous and included an interview round where I talked one-on-one with the program director. 

This program is meant to immerse students in a completely different culture and to learn about global issues. One of the main themes that we will be focusing on this trip is the environment, climate change, conservation, and sustainable development. Throughout the trip, I will be traveling to multiple regions in Cambodia, from the capital of Phnom Penh to the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat. Some of the activities that I will be involved in throughout the trip will be leadership and service activities, community site visits, and visits to high schools and local cultural activities. 

"The application process was very rigorous and included an interview round where I talked one-on-one with the program director. "

There are also pre and post-travel activities involved in the trip. Before I leave in June, I will participate in five video teleconferencing meetings learning about the country of Cambodia and responsible tourism. After the trip, I will be involved in a service project in my community (Truckee) to share what I have learned about Cambodia and the environment. It is such incredible news that I got selected to be included in this great program and it is truly surreal. I look forward to my travels to Asia and to sharing my experiences with the community!

Role Play Today at SBA

Joanne Knox submitted the following photo of a Humanities class production. Said Joanne: "Students are reading Mark Twain's Puddn'head Wilson, a story that deals with the bucolic town of Dawson's Landing, Missouri around the time of the Civil War. Students today presented skits incorporating plot elements, characterization, and textual support in costume."

Sierra Sun Covers SBA's Foray into World Affairs

Click on the screen capture to go to the full article...

Lost Videos of the Performance Training Center, Pt. 5

Marmots Storm United Nations

Solving complex global issues might seem relatively manageable from the comfort of the classroom setting during normal waking hours.

But being awakened at 2 a.m. to react in concert with other countries to an emerging global crisis can be quite another matter altogether.

Eighteen Sugar Bowl Academy student-athletes who recently returned from the International Model United Nations Conference in San Francisco learned how unreachable consensus might seem when all the world’s stakeholders - each with its own competing interests and political agendas - gather to weigh matters that potentially impact all of the planet’s inhabitants.

Chuck Klein, Riley Plant

“I learned a lot about what politicians go through, particularly in solving international crises,” said SBA student-athlete Taylor Elicegui. “Being woken up at 2 am to solve a hostage crisis in the Philippines provided me with great insight to real international affairs.”

Hosted by the Parc 55 at San Francisco’s Union Square, the IMUNA (International Model United Nations Association) Conference ran from December 1-3.

According to IMUNA’s Web site (imuna.org), the goal is simple: "Education through Simulation."

Grace Hutton, Taylor Elicegui

For SBA students, simulation took a variety of forms, even pre conference. In preparation, students were required to write position papers - in SBA Model U.N. Club Founder Conner Evans' case, 7 pages long! -  regarding the issues central to their respective committees.

“Through research, discussions and lecture with the SBA History Department faculty and group meetings, Model U.N. members worked to understand complex global issues ranging from human rights of displaced persons to threats of bioterrorism,” said Andy Knox, SBA Social Studies Department Chair and one of three SBA faculty members including Corbin Prychun and Kelly Farrell to travel to the event.

During conference proceedings, SBA students represented the South African and Ugandan delegation in one of seven United Nations committees.

Said Knox: “Students worked in committee to discuss and debate their assigned world issues. The simulation had students using the same language and terminology of the U.N. while additionally following the same protocols as the actual United Nations of moderated debate, drafting resolutions and making amendments to resolutions.

“The Model U.N. experience attempts to simulate real world international discussions. Students must understand and play the role of their assigned country/delegation, form diplomatic alliances with likeminded nations as well as work under real time constraints.

“One of the more extreme, but very real, examples was when two of the seven committees were awakened at 2:00 am Friday morning and asked to dress and report to a conference room to be briefed on an evolving world crisis situation.

“The committees then proceeded to work until 6:30 am until they had successfully dealt with the issues at hand.

“This part of the Model UN experience aims to simulate the reality that - for world leaders and diplomats - a full nights sleep is certainly not guaranteed, and that if and when a crisis should take place that they need to be present to deal with the issue in real time.

“Overwhelmingly the feedback from SBA students was that this was a positive and fun new learning experience. The Model UN Club at SBA is already beginning to think about the next conference to attend.”

Scene on Campus Photo of the Day

By popular demand, a photo of the entire advisory group...




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