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A new year of TAP service kicks off
It was a joy to witness students engaged and enthusiastic in their service projects as the first TAP Service Day took place on December 6.
Highlights of the day for some of our 7th graders included walking and socializing with animals, making dog treats, and assisting with various projects at the animal shelter. Another group of 7th graders made lunches for the Interfaith Community Shelter, while others pruned dead chamisa for wildfire mitigation and dug holes for new trees at the Randall Davey Audubon Center. Elsewhere, middle and upper school students helped out with grounds clean-up at the Albuquerque Botanical Garden and learned about facilitating group tours and art lessons at SITE Santa Fe.
A group of 21 students also participated in Continental Divide Trail maintenance training. Prep has adopted a 9-mile stretch of the CDT and will undertake erosion control work in April. As part of the training, students traveled to Santa Clara Pueblo where they planted more than 100 trees in the burn scar from the Cerro Grande fire and helped build a retaining pond to slow water flow in the fire/flood-damaged Santa Clara Creek.
Kudos and gratitude to the faculty, staff, and our entire student body for the many ways they participated in our first TAP Service Day of the year!
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Middle schoolers excel in spelling bee & chess competitions
Camila Carreon '26 came out on top as Santa Fe Prep’s Spelling Bee champion on December 9 in a 20-round competition with seven challengers from the middle school. The winning word — “ad hoc” — propelled Camila to the championship, with runner-up Sasha Smucker '26 correctly spelling “counterfeit.” Both girls will advance to the Santa Fe County Bee this month as the next step in a series of competitions that ultimately leads to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, held in Washington D.C. in June. Holden Harvey-Romero '27, Elison Quirante-Bonnell '27, Lucia Reyes Newell '27, Jaden Sawunyama '27, Olive Biedscheid '26, and Elizario Rivera '27 also delivered noteworthy performances and earned certificates of participation in an event that encourages spelling precision, vocabulary expansion, and language knowledge.
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On December 29, Wyatt Yadzinski '27 won the 2021 Santa Fe Mayor's Cup chess tournament. This extracurricular chess club meets every Wednesday, typically at the Santa Fe Public Library and, more recently, online. Wyatt joins noted Griffins Asher Nathan '23 and Harsh Bhundiya '16 as winners of the Mayor's Cup. Wyatt regularly practices chess during lunch at Prep and will be representing Griffins Chess at an upcoming tournament this month.
Congratulations, Wyatt, Camila, Sasha, and all participants!
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| Climate Science class welcomes NASA scientist
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Tyler Bodine's Climate Science class recently hosted NASA and NCAR scientist Dr. Mike Coffey. An atmospheric physicist who worked for over 35 years at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, Dr. Coffey gave a talk on his work studying the ozone layer in the 1980s. This work included a two-month stint in the Antarctic during which he flew in a NASA aircraft for 12 hours every other day collecting ozone data in the stratosphere. He and his team proved there is a hole in the ozone layer and were pivotal in causing governments to ultimately ban Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
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Around the quads
On January 10, middle schoolers participated in an Experimental Education Day for hands-on learning. Students were offered a wide variety of exciting opportunities — from dissecting a dogfish shark in order to learn about its unique anatomy and physiology to hiking Picacho Peak, creating renewable art, writing Shakespearean sonnets, and making Chinese dumplings. A huge thank you to the teachers who organized these special offerings!
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Parent & student education forumsWe invite you to participate in these upcoming forums for both parents and students, presented by the New Mexico Department of Health and covering drug and addiction issues:
- SFP Parent Education Forum — A conversation about emerging trends with regards to Cannabis, THC, etc.
WHEN: January 19, 5:30-7pm
WHERE: Via Zoom (link to be circulated via email)
- SFP Student Forum (all grades) — A conversation about making informed choices with Erica Abeyta from NMDOH
WHEN: January 26, 1-2pm
WHERE: Students will participate in the forum from their 7th period classrooms - SFP Student Forum (all grades) — A personal story from a former addict
WHEN: February 2, 1-2pm
WHERE: Students will participate in the forum from their 7th period classrooms
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SFP Monthly News is distributed September-June to all school parents, students, and faculty and staff. Please send story ideas to news@sfprep.org.
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| ANNUAL FUND:
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!
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| The Advancement team is seeking parent volunteers to act as ambassadors to the annual giving effort! Volunteers will participate in a training session followed by a designated week of calling and thank-you-note-writing to encourage 100% parent participation in the Annual Fund. Please contact Michael McNeill to learn more and to get involved!
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Help us spread the word!
It's not too late to sign up for our Virtual Admissions Open House on January 13 from 4-5:30pm. We invite prospective students and parents to join us for this interactive event. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in mini-classes and to hear from current Prep students, teachers, and administrators. Register here!
The Admissions staff is also happy to meet with families and to give tours of the campus. Contact admissions@sfprep.org with any questions or for more information.
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Senior Ayla Taylor is working with the Santa Fe branch of Lutheran Family Services to organize a clothing drive in support of incoming Afghani refugees. The drive is collecting hats, gloves, and jackets —children through adult sizes — as well as shoe vouchers from Savers, Payless, or Famous Footwear. There will be a collection box in the front lobby of the Admissions building for the next two weeks. Please email Ayla with any questions. Your donations are greatly appreciated!
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Is getting out the door in the morning a challenge? Does it seem like your student has everything they need for school in their backpack only to find their binder, planner, or water bottle stayed home? One suggested solution from Learning Specialists Claire Romero and Rebecca Allahyari is the same as that used by airplane pilots before takeoff — refer to a checklist. It might look as simple as this:
☐ Lunch
☐ Water bottle
☐ Binder
☐ Planner
☐ Books
☐ Pencils/Pens
Creating the list with your student may make them more amenable to using it. It can then be posted by the front door or might best be used before bedtime so backpacks are ready to go in the morning!
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