January Update
THE WRAP-UP
The Latest from Wy'East Mountain Academy
January 2020
Letter from the Headmaster
Dear Families, Friends & Students,
The winter term has finally arrived! Our campus has been full of happy students and staff since the snow gods have blessed the mountain with beautiful blankets of snow. All three local resorts are in full operation, allowing for a nice variety of conditions to practice on. Students are also traveling like crazy with the Big Mountain Team just returning from Japan, the Skate Team in California, and the Free-Ski Team leaving this week for a three-state competition and rendezvous beginning in Southern California and ending in Colorado.
Wy’East is also happy to welcome several new students and employees for the second term. Some students are here for a partial-term experience and others are here for the entire semester. We are always happy to add new students to the mix! Welcome Dante, Hannah, Hazel, Max M, Nico, Orion, Parker, Riccardo, and Slater. Welcome back Angus, Jake, and Rayan. Noah and Max Bardas also spent two weeks of their Australian summer vacation with us. What fun! Each student brings a bit of their home and culture to our academy, which enhances everyone’s experience. Thank you all for attending!
New employees, Emily and Kendel, previously worked for our parent company, We Are Camp, LLC as medics and coaches. We are thrilled to bring them back. Emily will work as a student life coach and help in the classroom. Kendel will spend her time between athletic coaching for our weekend program, and life coaching in the evenings for the academy.
Our Edgenuity platform has been working out well and we have much to celebrate! DJ completed his high school coursework in December and is now enrolled in his first online college class at Southern New Hampshire University. We are also happy to announce the fantastic GPA’s for our high school students using the Edgenuity curriculum. The average GPA for the fall term was 3.15. Breaking this down even further, 40% of our students earned a 3.5 GPA or better, with one student, Josh Herrmann earning a 4.0! Students are challenged daily by learning their grade-level curriculum while and managing their time training and traveling for competitions and extraordinary experiences.
Congratulations to the following students earning 3.5 - 4.0 GPA:
(in alphabetical order)
Leland Broadhurst
Jovani Calo
Shiloh Greenfield
Josh Herrmann
Lorena Kelly
Cayden Wood
Congratulations to the following students earning 3.0 - 3.49 GPA:
Malachi Blaylock
Nathan Crane
Sophie Felici
Max Hunt
DJ Jennings
Jackson Karsteter
Kennedy Lamer (who is in 8th grade and challenged herself by taking four high school classes this past term)
Colin Schubert
Eli Sheppard
Seniors are preparing for graduation on April 23, 2020, at Timberline Lodge. Cap and gown orders have been placed and the event has been scheduled. Dinner following the commencement ceremony is complimentary for graduating seniors and two guardians. Additional plates can be ordered for an additional fee.
Senior photos are a wonderful tradition that are treasured for generations. We have two local options by current and former employees who are skilled photographers. Both photographers will take your student to the mountain or favorite destination for some incredible shots in the natural beauty of the environment.
Topher Newett, our beloved Assistant Free-Ski Coach, is Head Photographer at Timberline Lodge. He will take traditional photos as well as action shots. Contact Topher here. Michael Foushee, whose gigantic photos cover the walls of our indoor skate park, BOB, is a professional photographer who took memorable photos of seniors last year. Contact Michael here. Your student does not have to be a senior to document those fleeting treasured moments. I encourage you to contact our talented photographers any time.
Thinking ahead, summer term at Wy'East Academy is just around the corner! We will be contacting you soon so you can place your deposit and secure your spot. There’s a lot of buzz for this coming summer term after a fun run last year.
Thanks for your continued support.
All The Best, Ann, aka “Academy_Mum”
Skate
Welcome back skaters! January is historically a tough month to be a skateboarder in the NW. Cold temps and lots of precipitation can make it rough going. The crew, however, made the absolute most of it!
Big shout outs to skatepark builder extraordinaire, Jamie Weller, on building one of the best skate parks in the region for us to keep our heads dry during the rainy months! The skate team spent the first two weeks of the semester skating B.O.B., stacking amazing video content, and preparing for our three week tour through California. So far, the trip has been insane. Spots to skate on every corner, and as always in Cali, endless sunshine.
We were all extremely happy to welcome back former students from Oz, Max and Noah Bardas, who joined us for a few weeks during their Australian school holiday. We would also like to welcome Riccardo Iasci to the team!
Happy New Year from the Cali concrete!
- Donovan
Backcountry & Big Mountain
JAPANuary update!!
It was great to have the crew return back to Oregon after a holiday break that blessed our area with an insane amount of snow that seemed to show up over night. Along with 200cm of new snow, our team has grown with the addition of two skiers, Max and Orion, who we are excited to have with us as winter kicks into high gear!
Distracted by the winter pace of going to the mountain daily, suddenly it was time to collect our passports and check into our flights.. with J A P A N on the horizon. The crew was ready to have their minds blown with DEEP blower pow, endless bowls of ramen, experimental taste tests from the grocery store, and a good look at the Japanese culture in the mountains of Hokkaido.
We spent the past 13 days experiencing something that most skiers and snowboarders only dream about. It’s what they see in the videos that make them want to drop everything they’re doing, get together with their closest friends, and hop on a plane. Fortunately for us, that was our reality, and something our crew will never forget. We were able to work with a professional guide and media producer to create a short video, along with a portfolio of photographs that the crew can hold onto and display as they represent the special experience of their first time in Japan.
I’m incredibly proud of the team for working hard each day, making good decisions, balancing their school work, and representing our school and themselves with great admiration.
-Brandon & Griff
Freeski
I hope all of you had a great holiday and are enjoying 2020 so far!
Over the break, a few of our athletes were invited to the inaugural Tom Wallisch-Steel City Showdown. Jed, Konnor, and Jackson were entered into the Amateur Qualifier division, where they battled against other up-and-coming skiers. The top three qualifiers moved on to the Pro Qualifier round the following night. While Jed and Konnor received honorable mentions, Jackson made it through to the Pro Qualifier that was televised on the LIVE X Games YouTube channel. Jackson went on to qualify for the Pro Final, placing 8th against some of the best rail skiers on earth!! It was an eye opening experience for our team, getting to ski and mingle with some of the world's most talented and successful skiers.
We started off the year and new semester with an awesome trip to Copper Mountain in Colorado. Copper provided the goods and everyone got some quality time on big and small jumps, working on their slopestyle runs for the competition season that is upon us. Halfpipe competitors got countless laps in the pristine pipe, and we all got to experience every type of weather that we may encounter during our comps.
Back in Oregon it has been a full-on winter wonderland. We have received multiple feet of snow, making for some great pow days and quickly growing terrain parks. Timberline, Meadows, and Skibowl all offer great parks for our training, and have allowed for substantial skill building to occur as a result this past month.
Back at campus, we have continued to grind on the trampolines keeping everyone solid moving forward. Be on the lookout for updated progress reports, and stay up-to-date with our athletic calendar. Rolling into February our team has never been stronger, and everyone has a great attitude, helping to push one another to their best. BIG things to come!!
- Breeze & Topher
Snowboard Freestyle
December was the time to get on the snow! We planned a trip to Colorado as it had been such a slow start to the season in Oregon, and we scored. We had a tight crew with the addition of Luke Leal from Lake Tahoe who joined us and added some great style and flare to the experience. The kids got along instantly and became friends right away.
There were a few bumps though. At the airport, Kennedy brought up the fact that I dislike United as I always get delayed, and sure enough, after we had taken our seats on the flight, we were deboarded for mechanical issues, and spent 5 extra hours waiting. We landed at 1:20am on Sunday morning. Luckily, the airline gave us a free night's stay at a hotel in Denver so we could catch up on our rest.
When we awoke, we headed to the mountain after stopping by Whole Foods to grab some food and water with electrolytes to help with the elevation gain. It was a beautiful afternoon on the hill. That night, we showed up to my friend's house where we were staying, and the whole crew lit up saying, "We get to stay here!?" What a house indeed. With our phenomenal host, we talked about snowboarding and athletics, as well as where we put energy, the benefits of a good routine, and finding determination to get things done even when you’re tired. It was a great discussion.
With a local guide and pass hook up, we had some really nice park days and one of the better powder days on Vail that I have had in years. Smiles from ear to ear all day, and just that feeling of accomplishment from riding start to finish on the lifts. In addition to riding, the crew did a good job at keeping up on school in the evenings after big days on hill, and took turns helping me cook and clean.
In Colorado, we also got to check out part of the World Cup/Grand Prix at Copper and met Toby Miller and snapped some photos with him. The event was awesome- we enjoyed watching the pros throw down. We opted to build a jump on the mountain for the finals with a pretty flat landing, but when it's 5 feet deep, “don’t worry about it sweetheart” says Kennedy Lamer.
We went into our holiday break and new years pumped on snowboarding, and are so happy to start this new decade with such a fun crew and some new faces in the winter term. Excited to get time in with these guys and start pushing their limits more every day. Back in Oregon, the mountains are filling in nicely and it’s time to shred. Team vibe is high and we are ready to fly y’all!
- Elijah
Athlete of the Month: Kennedy Lamer
Her energy is exceptional, and she is a work horse when not overthinking the pressure- she really came into her own at the end of January! She kills it on a snowboard as well :)
