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Sports and clubs keep kids busy

Cindy Ramunno

Editor’s Note: This is the third article in a three-part series on the Eagle County School District’s high school programs. This week’s focus is extra curricular activities. EAGLE COUNTY – Too many choices … not enough time. That’s what you may be thinking if you’re a student at Eagle Valley or Battle Mountain high schools. During their four years of high school, Eagle County students can take advantage of over 50 extracurricular activities. The schools have an open-enrollment policy for those activities, which ensures that students from each school get the same opportunities. That means if a sport or club is offered at only one of the schools, students from the other school may participate. Students from the district’s alternative high school – Red Canyon – can also participate in all of the extracurricular programs at the two larger schools. “District choices allow us to offer a wider range of opportunities and remain competitive,” says director of secondary education Mike Gass, who adds that it also creates relationships between students districtwide.

Jordan VanVorst attends classes at Eagle Valley, but since there is no school hockey team, he – along with Eagle Valley teammate Jake Lammert – plays for Battle Mountain. “Battle Mountain hockey is very competitive and we are happy to have the opportunity to play for the Huskies,” VanVorst says.Hugs and high fivesEagle Valley’s Theater Club is currently rehearsing for their upcoming musical, “Aida.” Close to 70 students are participating in a wide range of roles – from backstage lights to acting and singing. Last year’s “Beauty and the Beast” also involved many students. Director Cathy Strickler says that the club continues to grow with more members every year. “We are really having fun with ‘Aida’ and I expect another great show.,” she says. “It’s very different from last year in that it has much more of a serious plot to it.”East on Interstate 70, one of the many activities Battle Mountain is known for is its speech team. Coach Suzanne Foster started the team 19 years ago with three students, but now has a competitive force of 45. Speech team is the only competitive activity at the school that crosses two sports seasons, therefore allowing more students to participate either after their fall sport is completed or before their winter sport begins. “Several students have competed all year long in speech as well as in sports,” Foster says. This year, 27 students advanced to the State Speech Festival, bringing home to state champions and various other awards. “Speech team competitions are unique in that they allow the competitors to get to get to know one another better and, indeed, become friends,” says Foster. That showed at this year’s state competition. “A school official who sat in on a set of final rounds commented on the positive support that the competitors gave one another in the form of applause, high fives and hugs,” Strickler says. Vail, Colorado


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