WY'EAST ACADEMY FEBRUARY 2022 NEWSLETTER
HEAD OF SCHOOL
With all of the chaos happening around the world, it has been wonderful getting to see all of the students back on campus. Our students have already hit the road this semester with many more trips to come, but it has been amazing to watch the progress as all of our students. College applications have continued to go out with more acceptance letters coming in by the day. College application deadlines are rapidly approaching as is the deadline for signing up for the SAT, so please make sure to get registered. Our Student Representative meetings have now moved on to the next step where the students are running their own internal meetings prior to the weekly meetings which has led to increased communication between staff & students. We have had a stretch of perfect weather out here in Oregon, but the snow is set to return in the upcoming weeks so things are shaping up for a great summer. Space is very limited for the summer semester so please make sure to speak with Dan as soon as possible to save your spot. Thank you so much for trusting us with your wonderful children. They have continued to supersede our expectations & we are all looking forward to the helping them reach their goals.
-Mike Hanley
ACADEMICS
Academics are off to a great start. This semester we freshened up the classrooms by adding new decor and some alternative seating options. We also converted a portion of one of the classrooms to a hangout area for students after their scheduled school hours–this space includes a ping pong table, couch, and TV. That being said, with the Covid numbers being so high this month, as a precaution we decided to have students work on school in their cabins.
This semester, we are offering the SAT on campus during the school day: March 23rd. Please reach out if you would like your student to take this standardized test and please supply your student with a graphing calculator. We are also transporting students to a nearby high school for the ACT; please reach out if you would like to register your student for that exam.
With students going on so many trips this semester, we are advising students to strive to be two weeks ahead in all of their classes. Last semester students finished the term with a school average GPA of 3.62—our highest average yet. Currently the average is 3.67. Keep up the excellent work, students!
Joe Medley earned Student of the Month because of his academic performance: consistently ahead of pace paired with a perfect GPA, punctuality, and positive disposition.
Etan Bravard earned Student of the Month because of his positive attitude, his efforts to set and meet SMART goals, and his hard work getting ahead of pace in all of his classes.
–Kayla Hokanson & Alexis Buzzell
STUDENT LIFE
With our first month of winter term in the books we couldn’t be more excited for what’s in store for this next month. January here at Wy’East Academy went by very quickly. We started the term with welcoming our newest staff member Barbara Edwards as life coach. Barbara joins us from Colorado following graduating from college with a degree in journalism and English.
As the kids have settled in to life back on campus we have added some new and exciting things to the schedule. First, we have been taking students to Skibowl on Wednesday nights for night skiing and this has been a hit. It’s been exciting for all residential staff to be able to ride with the students on the mountain. Another new and exciting piece for winter term is the cabin point system where students earn points for keeping their cabin clean and the cabin with the most points every two weeks is awarded a van reservation for an evening to go wherever they would like. We are incredibly excited about the hard work that students are putting in on a daily basis in keeping their cabins clean.
In regards to weekend activities, we have had the chance to go paint balling, go to a driving range, and students attempted three different escape rooms. We are looking forward to many more exciting activities in the upcoming months. In addition, our student representatives have been working closely with staff in coming up with solutions and ideas for things to add to campus life. Lastly, we’ve taken countless videos so don’t hesitate to check out our social media sites for updates of what life on campus looks like.
-Netanya Beard, Luke Giacopelli, Barbara Edwards, Levi Thompson & Will Stephens
FREESKIING
Greeting Freeski Families!
With the first month of second semester in the books it’s safe to say the Freeski Squad is firing on all cylinders! We had an amazing time at Mammoth starting out the semester with the entire team on a trip, and putting some days on our IKON passes. Weather wise we could not have been luckier with a bluebird sunny California week! Mammoth had a plethora of parks and features that suited the needs of everyone on the team. We saw a lot of progression all around and it’s safe to say the trip was a huge success!
January brought the first competitions of the season from the local level to the national level. All of the training has been paying off and our athletes are cashing in that hard work for medals and spots on the podium! With more events on the horizon we are keeping the crew sharp with simulated event warm up blocks and contest scenarios!
We are siked for what the rest of second semester has in store for the crew!
-Brian "Breezy" McCarthy & Christopher "Topher" Newett
SNOWBOARDING
Hello to all the parents out there!
The snowboard team has had a pretty incredible first month of second semester here in Oregon and it’s safe to say that we’re off to a great start. We’ve been training daily with a healthy mix between Timberline & Meadows, and even getting some riding in under the lights at Skibowl (provided their cabins are clean, ofcourse). It’s so good to have the park crew at all three resorts working as hard as they are to create a variety of jumps, rails, rollers, creative features, and everything in between for the kids to push themselves on. Our focus has mainly been on fundamental trick progression and style, which was put on display at the 2 USASA Rail Jam events, and the 2 USASA Slopestyle events that happened at Meadows over MLK Weekend. I’m very proud to announce that as a team, we took home every gold and silver medal up for grabs! Big shouts to Ben, Arianna, Alessia, Willie, Joe, Lyric, and Kennedy for showing up and representing the team. In total, they earned 18 Golds, 4 Silvers, 1 Bronze, and a bunch of prizes from the contest sponsors.
Having those contests in the middle of the month gave some perspective on areas for improvement when it comes to putting together judged runs on a full slopestyle course. For many, it’s learning to link spins in different directions (frontside spin into a backside spin) and having switch tricks on command for both rails and jumps. These events seem to have given the crew more motivation to work through the uncomfortable tricks, which will help to prepare them for a bigger stage when they compete at USASA Nationals in Colorado! I must say, are riding faster, smoother, consistently raising the bar, and are turning heads every day at the mountain.
-Brandon Sorel & Jamie Weller
MOUNTAIN BIKING
Mountain Bike has had a great January that was surprisingly full of sun! Lots of riding and training went down and we are prepared for our trip to Nevada and Utah. While down there we plan on competing at Bootleg Canyon in DH, Enduro, and Dual Slalom, while the freeride kids get to ride some of the crazy skateparks Las Vegas has to offer. After Nevada, we plan on driving 2 hours east to Virgin, Utah for a week of riding with pros, shuttling, and sessioning old rampage zones. Video and photos of our trip to come!
-Asa Howe & Kevin Simpers