Calling all writers and creative minds! The Lighthouse Writers Workshop is coming to Mitchell on Monday, March 4 to lead a hands-on creative writing workshop. This is an opportunity for you to work with a university-level writing instructor in a fun, collaborative setting. All styles and abilities of writing are welcome! You can come to get feedback on a story you hope to publish or just to check out what a college-level writing workshop looks like and learn some tips for making the writing process easier and more fun.

Food will be provided. The workshop is 10 a.m. to 12 on March 4 in Room 215 at Mitchell. Please email Mrs. Glynn at Jessica_Glynn@dpsk12.org to sign up. If you have another class at that time and would like to be excused, send Mrs. Glynn your teacher’s contact information too. You can learn more about Lighthouse at lighthousewriters.org/

As part of Denver Public Schools’ licensing agreement with Microsoft, we are now able to distribute Microsoft Office to Denver Online High School students. Any fully-enrolled, active DPS student in grades 9-12 is allowed to install Microsoft Office on one personal computer. We are distributing Office 2007 for Windows users and Office 2008 for Mac users, you authorized to have one copy only.

This software is being distributed through a secure website that requires a student login: https://studentoffice.dpsk12.org. Instructions for this download can be requested from your advisor. Students will have three attempts to successfully download the software. Students will need to utilize Internet Explorer or Firefox to complete the download. Safari is not a supported option.

Denver Online High School is proud to announce Nathan Williams as the student of the month for September. “He is always in constant communication with his adviser, his teachers and is doing an excellent job academically.” Nathan, a senior, has been a student at Denver Online High School for the past three school years.

Nathan is also part of the Denver Online High School National Honor Society chapter. This program recognizes outstanding high school students based on GPA and commitment to the school. More than just an honor roll, NHS serves to honor students like Nathan who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service, and character. Chapter membership not only recognizes students for their accomplishments, but challenges them to develop further through active involvement in school activities and community service.

Nathan has recently applied to CU Boulder and is anxiously waiting for his acceptance letter. Nathan says he plans to study graphic and interior design.

“I love cars,” Nathan said.” I plan to design the interior of cars one day.” Nathan says he wants to add awesome and unique features to cars such as aquariums, strobe lights, and much more. Nathan’s hobbies include: drawing, painting, shooting and editing video.

“Nathan always carries a positive attitude toward his education,” Communications Specialist Cristal Silerio said. “He will make it very far one day! Nathan has also agreed to customize the interior of my car once he graduates school.”

Denver Online High School encourages students to get to know each other and connect. If you would like to learn more about Nathan’s artistic abilities, feel free to e-mail him at
naruto1995@live.com.

Maraya Rashid traveled to Denver in the summer of 2009 to attend a summer dance intensive at the Colorado Ballet. She was invited to return to Denver from Florida to audition at Denver School of the Arts by Mr. Michael O’Banion. Subsequently, she was accepted into DSA as a Dance Major and Maraya and her mother decided to relocate to Colorado.

I began dance classes at two years old with Mrs. Karen Napier of Covenant Dance in my hometown of Panama City, Florida where she instilled in me the love of dance and performing. Since then I have been training and performing for the past 16 years. My concentration is on ballet, contemporary and jazz, although I have also had training in modern, tap, lyrical, hip hop, and Bollywood. I am currently training with Anastasiya Baranova and David Taylor of Denver Ballet Theater Academy.

My proudest and most cherished moment as a dancer was when I was invited to take a bow with a prima ballerina from the Moscow Ballet after I had performed as a snowflake in the production of the Nutcracker. I am also very proud of being accepted into Denver School of the Arts because I know firsthand what an incredible dance program they offer and it was an honor to have been a part of it for two years.

I chose to transfer to Denver Online High School because I was seeking more time and flexibility in my schedule for dance training. The administration and staff of Denver Online High School have worked tirelessly to assist me in achieving my ambition of graduating a year early. I am very grateful to them for their unwavering support and their many efforts to aid me in accomplishing this goal. My plans after high school include attending Community College of Denver and a University dance program, in order to achieve my goal of becoming a professional dancer.