Happy New Year from Friends of Colorado Student Leaders Institute!
The COSLI newsletter is written and edited by students on the COSLI Student Advisory Board.
Enjoy student updates, perspectives, events, and opportunities. Happy 2020!
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Letter from the Founding Executive Director
Friends of COSLI is proud to be a Project of the Rose Community Foundation
Last month I explained what COSLI is, our position within the National Conference of Governor's Schools, and the amazing good work we are enjoying with COSLI students and alum. At the end of my letter, I promised to share the story about the mechanics of how we came to be in Colorado--it was a nail biter!
In 2012, my family returned to Colorado after having lived in another state for a few years. It was during that time away that I learned about governor's schools and the incredible impact they provide for a state's high school students--as well as the important economic development through retention of the state's best and brightest. With this in mind, I engaged a group of folks and began months of meetings and consultations with our state's leading figures in education, business, religion, politics, philanthropy--and, of course, with students. Our first Student Advisory Board was formed in 2013; we depended on these inaugural students to help mold a unique program that would be a best fit for Colorado.
Some of the most instrumental folks in these early days were Susan and Leo Kiely, who helped in advisement and with generous funding through the Kiely Family Foundation. Gully Sanford, a long time important voice in Colorado's education, who stayed close to the phone and met frequently in coffee shops to perfect outlines and help frame our narratives. DMNS President/CEO George Sparks who became an integral part of our leadership, and remains Chair of the Friends of COSLI Board. Elizabeth Palmquist was my first partner--serving as chaperone for some of those four day weekends. She remains a member of the Friends of Board, and was appointed to serve on the state board. The Denver Foundation provided an important foundational grant, before we were an official State entity and PEBC served as our early fiduciary agent.
With volumes of input, we met with Senator Nancy Todd (D) and Representative Jim Wilson (R). They became the founding legislative team for COSLI. After two years of four day retreats with student board members, our mini versions of COSLI, SB-290 was shepherded through the 2015 legislature. Senator Owen Hill (R) was instrumental in being certain we made it to the finish line, after having died in the Senate Education committee the first go around. Our late bill success was nothing short of a legislative miracle--we were the last bill of the session, with only minutes to spare before the clock struck midnight.
Following some behind the scenes political shenanigans, negotiation, and important planning, the first COSLI summer session was held at CU Denver in 2016. It was a rousing success, with over seventy students from across the state. Many of the students had been part of the student planning teams--how awesome to see their hard work pay off. Brian Yates, a board member since the beginning and one of the most inspiring educators a person could meet, made sure this first summer's outdoor education weekend was a perfect test experience for each summer to come, as well as serving as an on-the-spot critic for all of the first summer programming. This summer, will be our fifth. We have almost 500 alumni--all of whom have been accepted to post-secondary programs. The first COLLEGE graduating class was last spring. We most definitely are able to boast of an alumni hall of fame!
I would be remiss not to explain how key our private/public partnership is--our kids have to have skin in the game. This responsiblity is key. When the first summer's timing left the first class of students will little time to do their fundraising, The Daniels Fund stepped in. They provided the required private funds to kick the program off. We take our position as part of The Daniels Fund family and all that means quite seriously. It is our honor.
Without a doubt, there are so many more parts of the story--but the long and short is that Colorado was prime for this student-driven and resource developing educational asset. COSLI owes thanks to so many people who were pioneers for us.
Just to give an idea, here are the folks who make up our Friends of COSLI board:
George Sparks, Chairperson, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
Susan Kiely, Founding Chairperson, Women With a Cause
Eric Anderson, SE2
General John J. Barry, Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum
Diane Carlson-Robinson, SMART Colorado
Chrissy Faraci, Faraci Government Relations
Stephanie Flynn-James, MBA, PhD, Regis University
Honorable Heidi Ganahl, University of Colorado Regent
Representative Chris Hansen, Colorado State Representative, Denver
Jason Hanson, History Colorado Center
Matt Kaspari, Principal, Kaspo Inc.
Honorable Jack Kroll, University of Colorado Regent
Pamela Jansma, PhD, University of Colorado Denver
Rich Martinez, Young Americans Bank
Hon. Susan Miller, Jefferson County School Board
Nora Neureiter, Zoeller Consulting
Elizabeth Palmquist, EAMP Consulting
Honorable Theresa Pena, Denver Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services
Luke Ragland, ReadyCo
Honorable Anne Rowe, Principal, La Vie & Company
Darren Spreeuw, PhD, Ratio Wealth Group
Paul Teske, PhD, University of Colorado Denver
Skip Thurman, Communications Consultant
Senator Nancy Todd, Colorado State Senator, Aurora
John Valdez, Director of Resource Administration, Papua New Guinea Tribal Foundation
Elizabeth Whitehead, Children's Hospital Colorado
Representative Jim Wilson, Colorado State Representative, Salida
Brian Yates, ED, Harrison School District
And, we have to shout from the mountains that we are more than honored to be part of the Rose Community Foundation. They serve as our fiduciary agent. We expect a long and prosperous relationship with them. If you are interested in contributing, you can do so here.
Colorado's kids owe thanks to so many--and we look forward to many more years of gratitude!
Happy New Year to all--here's to a spectacular 2020 session.
Celeste
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Letter from the Student Advisory Board President
Dear COSLI Community,
The new year is underway and the COSLI team is concluding our next edition of the student-driven newsletter. Our monthly newsletter is a wonderful addition to the program, as it provides updates to thousands of folks within Colorado on the COSLI image, mission, and work toward the empowerment of upcoming, bright students. For over five years now, Colorado Student Leaders Institute has shaped the future of over 450 student leaders of Colorado, evolving their education and civic engagement in many ways. For our 2020 resolution, the COSLI team would like to continue the exemplary image the program has carried, and further improve the experience of our attending students each summer.
Additionally, the application for the 2020 COSLI class will close at the end of the month, January 31st! We request you continue to direct students toward the program application process and get them excited about this opportunity.
With kind regards,
Mohamed Ibrahim
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★ Important COSLI Application Information! ★
The COSLI 2020 Application deadline is coming up fast!
But, as an early Valentine's Day gift, the deadline has been extended to February 14 at midnight!
This incredible experience will take place this summer from July 5th to August 1st, 2020, and is a once in a lifetime opportunity for Colorado’s best and brightest high school students.
The application details can be found here, and we recommend that you look into COSLI, whether it be for yourself, a family member, or a friend! We’re looking for driven students of all backgrounds. Current 9th, 10th, and 11th graders will be considered for the program.
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Exciting Scholarship Announcement for COSLI Alumni!
With a large number of COSLI alums graduating this year, we are pleased to announce a new scholarship opportunity! The $2,500 IEA Public Service Scholarship is to be awarded to a student who will be enrolling in The University of Colorado Denver’s Bachelor of Arts in Public Service program, and who successfully completed COSLI or other such K-12 programs.
It is a great opportunity for all COSLI graduates who desire to attend CU Denver and major in Public Services. In fact, preference is given to students who completed COSLI. So, alumni, make sure to check out this scholarship! Students must be enrolled full-time in the School of Public Affairs, and must maintain good academic standing. It will be given in even amounts during both the fall and spring terms.
Deadline: March 31, 2020
More information on the Bachelor of Arts in Public Service
For more information about the program or the scholarship, contact Rebecca Gianarkis
(rebecca.gianarkis@ucdenver.edu).
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Lesson Learned: Dr. Tyler Lyson and Dr. Ian Miller
Authors: Timi Kola-Abiola and Bryce Li
December 22, 2019
Timi with Dr. Lyson and Dr. Miller at DMNS.
In 2016, two archaeologists--Dr. Tyler Lyson and Dr. Ian Miller--from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) answered two of the most prominent scientific questions of our lifetime. One being, how quickly did life rebound after the extinction of the dinosaurs? Dr. Lyson and Dr. Miller started looking for the answer to this question in the Corral Bluffs, which is located in the Colorado Basin. This location was pinpointed for two reasons: first, a DMNS volunteer had previously found vertebrate fossils there; and second, there were a plethora of fossil discoveries in the area over the past few decades.
After choosing the Corral Bluffs, Dr. Lyson and Dr. Miller started off looking for bone fragments in the soil. However, they made little progress, so the archaeologists shifted their focus away from bone fragments to finding concretions, rocks that contain fossils within them. Shortly thereafter, the two discovered four fossils in quick succession that became a critical turning point in the research as more and more fossils began turning up. With this newfound surge in fossil discovery, the next objective lay in the categorization and identification of mammals and plants found in the concretions.
In order to classify the animals found, Dr. Lyson--a specialist on the identification of reptiles in fossils--and a team of sixteen expert scientists renowned in a variety of fields began looking at key characteristics. For example, when identifying animals, the shape of both the teeth and the skull were key, and when identifying plants, vein layout and general shape in comparison to plants nowadays were important.
Another critical step in the identification of these fossils was to make sure they were from the right time period. To do so, Dr. Lyson and Dr. Miller first tried radiocarbon dating; this method uses radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon, to determine a fossil’s age. However, because carbon dating only works on objects younger than 50,000 years old (the half-life of radiocarbon is only 5,000 years!), this was an ineffective method. Therefore, Dr. Lyson and Dr. Miller turned to paleomagnetism, a process that uses the magnetism in rocks induced by Earth's magnetic field at the time of their formation. Magnetic minerals in rocks align themselves towards the direction of the magnetic fields of that time. Therefore, if one could find the direction of Earth’s magnetic field following the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, one could simply count the number of flips between then and now to determine the duration of time passed. They were able to not only pinpoint what the fossils were, but also when they were from.
When discussing their initial reaction to the massive amount of media coverage they received, Dr. Lyson and Dr. Miller stated that they were both taken aback by the massive media coverage. This is because while they understood how meaningful their discovery was, they did not expect it to attract a lot of attention because they did not explicitly find dinosaur bones or some other breakthrough. Moreover, Dr. Miller described the very first press conference as initially unnerving; however, a sense of excitement existed because it was a golden opportunity for he and Dr. Lyson to tell their stories and discuss the science in general. Furthermore, a huge accomplishment in the media scene was the publication of their findings in the magazine Science, one of the most prestigious academic journals with an acceptance rate of two percent. Lyson describes the rigorous reviewing process: the article was reviewed by five separate scientists who were all experts in their respective fields.
Dr. Lyson and Dr. Miller have many plans for the future. First, they plan to begin categorizing the new organisms found and establish connections between them and modern species. Then, they plan to replicate this process in other parts of the North and South America; they hope to conclude that the recovery of Colorado’s ecosystem will be different than those in other parts of the world. Their hope is to expand the practice of finding concretions to hopefully overtake the common practice of simply finding bone fragments.
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Student Features
Note that all students who successfully complete COSLI are given automatic acceptance to the University of Colorado Denver.
Emma Logan (Class of 2017): Emma has been doing some amazing things since graduating from COSLI. As a senior at Denver Montessori High School, Emma has been accepted into Emerson College, Colorado State University, Sarah Lawrence College, Colorado College, and Wheaton, and is also a semi-finalist for the Boettcher scholarship! Congratulations Emma!
Kat Schwieterman (Class of 2019): Kat, from Paonia, is a semi-finalist for the Boettcher scholarship. That’s an amazing accomplishment, and we wish her luck moving forward! Congratulations Kat!
Charlie Grow (Class of 2018): Charlie, from East High School in Denver, won state for Constitutional Scholars. He is headed to Nationals in April! Great job and good luck, Charlie!
Elora Smith (Class of 2017): Elora Smith, from Monte Vista, was awarded participation in the Global Citizenship Project (GCP), provided to students at the University of Shenandoah. The GCP allows students and faculty to experience another country at no cost. The purpose of the program is to get students to understand the pittance of being a global citizen by staying true to the University of Shenandoah’s mission statement, “Compassionate citizens prepared for the community, the nation, and the world.” Elora was one of seventy chosen from over a thousand applicants. She will be exploring the nation of Bhutan in 2020. Congratulations Elora, keep it up!
Mohamed Ibrahim (Class of 2019): Our student board president, Mohamed, of Wiggins High School, won All Conference for 1A Football, and was selected to represent his school for the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Foundation (HOBY). This is a nationwide leadership conference for sophomores. Mohamed also organized a statewide group of youth to work together to hold a benefit for the homeless, creating 100 care packages. We’re very proud to call you our president, Mohamed!
Mohamed playing football for Wiggins High School.
Veniece Miller (Class of 2017): Veniece, from Fruita, is a sophomore at CU Boulder and received an exciting internship in Washington, D.C. She’ll be working with the International Law Institute. We’re proud of you Venice and good luck!
Veniece (right), with COSLI Associate Director, Kayla (left).
Emma Davis (Class of 2019): Emma, of Aurora, was named a Cambridge Scholar for her performance on the International GCSE tests. Congratulations Emma!
Happy Birthday to our COSLI Alumni! May your day be full of smiles!
Love, your COSLI Family.
Winta Gonye--January 1
Emma Field--January 2
Sofia Garcia--January 7
Isabel Gumee--January 8
Myria Garcia--January 8
Tyson Keller--January 8
Jessica Aggrey--January 11
Veniece Miller--January 13
Alexis Cisneros Flores--January 15
Madeline Yusas--January 15
Nyrobi Manuel--January 17
Giselle Loya--January 18
Andrew Nguyen--January 19
Katya Schwieterman--January 20
Mana Setayesh--January 24
Bryce Li--January 27
Sophia Watkins--January 28
Siena Truex--January 29
Nancy Hernandez--January 31
What else happened in January?
January 1, 1878: The Great Western Auction House in Leadville was established. It will later become a significant contribution to what is known as modern-day Macy’s.
January 26, 1915: The 28th President Woodrow Wilson takes the final step in preserving the Rocky Mountains by declaring it a national park.
January 3, 1951: Byron G. Rogers, a resident of Denver, becomes the first-ever elected Congressman to represent Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in the House of Representatives.
We are so proud of our COSLI alumni! Contact Izzy McCarty (imccarty2021@esdk12.org) or Sheila Ta (sheilata93@gmail.com) with college acceptances as they start rolling in and any other cool projects or successes!
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COSLI Newsletter Contributors
Sophia Truex, Editor (Crested Butte, CO)
Drew Smith, Editor (Monte Vista, CO)
Hagan Archer (Denver, CO)
Iris Courtney (Thornton, CO)
Emma Davis (Aurora, CO)
Mohamed Ibrahim (Wiggins, CO)
Timi Kola-Abiola (Denver, CO)
Bryce Li (Broomfield, CO)
Emma Logan (Denver, CO)
Izzy McCarty (Elizabeth, CO)
Valeria Miramontes (Denver, CO)
Sheila Ta (Pueblo, CO)
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Student of the Month: Ayanle Nur
Name: Ayanle Nur
Hometown: Denver
Age: 18
COSLI Class: 2016
College currently attending: Yale University
Major: Undecided, but considering Psychology, Cognitive Science, or Neuroscience
Scholarships/recognitions: QuestBridge Scholar
Career aspirations: I am currently Pre-Med, so I am taking classes like chemistry and psychology. I am considering becoming a pediatrician, but I am open to many specialties. I hope to get a better sense of what I want to do as I progress through college and medical school. For now, I am enjoying college, and I am getting involved and finding passions outside of academics. I am currently a member of the Club Archery Team at Yale. I am an advising fellow for an organization called Matriculate, which seeks to help first-generation, low-income high school students with college applications. I was elected as a first year representative for the Yale Black Men’s Union. I am involved in the Muslim Student Association and the Black Student Alliance.
Comments on COSLI:
COSLI helped me realize that a college education was attainable. As a first-generation, low-income student, I did not have someone in my family that I could turn to and ask about college. Because of COSLI, I got the chance to experience college after my freshman year of high school. COSLI helped me realize that there are people out there who care about students like me and are willing to invest in our future. COSLI enabled me to take my education into my hands and pursue my dreams. COSLI gave me a sense of purpose, it reassured me that my hard work in high school would eventually lead to greatness.
The COSLI community is a group that grew together as a family. We laughed, cried, and stayed up late at night having fun and working on homework. COSLI allowed me to truly be myself and not be judged. Everyone respected and valued me. COSLI students are motivated to change this world. Every COSLI student I met had big dreams, and I have already seen some of them make progress as they have headed off to college.
My experience in COSLI really impacted my high school experience. The COSLI community is a passionate and encouraging one. COSLI invests in you and your future. COSLI is a once in a lifetime experience.
Interviewed by Emma Logan and Mohamed Ibrahim
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Opportunities and Events: January 2020
The New Year is just around the corner, and the due dates for those summer programs and internships are getting closer and closer... Maybe you've been waiting for months for the application to open to that one program. Or maybe you're still searching for new opportunities. Either way, here are some different opportunities that open up soon.
The Iacocca Global Entrepreneurship Intensive is a program from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This is an intensive program in which students get to learn about entrepreneurship, develop a business plan, work in international teams, and take core courses on entrepreneurship and business. For current sophomores and juniors. The application for this program is already open, and is due on February 19, 2020. More information here.
The Stanford Summer Humanities Institute is a three-week program at Stanford where students interested in the humanities (philosophy, history, and art) get the chance to dive deep into topics that they care about. Each student gets to experience different activities and courses, and is then able to do an independent research project about a topic that they want to find out more about. Current sophomores and juniors are eligible. The application to this program is currently open, and closes sometime in March. More information here.
You can also check out Stanford's Summer Math Academy (SUMaC). More information here.
The Penn Medicine Summer Program is a summer program at the University of Pennsylvania for rising juniors and seniors. Here, you can spend four weeks taking shortened versions of actual Penn medical classes and gaining exposure to many important aspects of medical training, such as suturing, blood drawing, IV's, and dissections. If you're interested in a medical career, this would be an amazing opportunity for you! The application is currently open, and is due by March 4th. More information here.
The Summer Academy for Arts and Sciences at Carnegie-Mellon University is a program for students from underrepresented communities, encouraging interest in STEM and helping students to learn more about the fields they are interested in. It is six weeks long, and each student gets college credit from attending. Not only do you get instruction in many different STEM subjects from renowned professors, you also get to work in hands-on projects in those fields. Students must be at least 16 to apply, and the University encourages students from underrepresented communities to apply. The application is currently open, and is due March 1st, 2020. More information can be found here.
The Iowa Young Writers' Studio Summer Residential Program is a program for aspiring authors, poets, and short story writers at the University of Iowa. This is one of the most renowned creative writing programs in the country. If you love creative writing, apply to this! The application opens January 27th and is due February 7th. You'll need to include an 8-page sample of your writing for this program. Only sophomore students and above are accepted. More information here.
Mathcamp is a program at Champlain College in Vermont for students interested in advanced math. At this program, you will get to learn and practice advanced math skills. And, for any applicant whose family income is under $65,000 a year, the program is absolutely free. Applications open January 10th and closes March 12th. More information can be found here.
The Women's Technology Program at MIT is a program for girls who are current juniors in high school and interested in learning about computer science and engineering. The program is four weeks long, and you will get to experience a full academic program at MIT, with actual classes and hands-on activities to help you build your skills. Girls from underrepresented communities are encouraged to apply. The program is free for students whose families make under $100,000 a year. The application is currently open, and closes January 15th. More information here.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology Summer Internship. This is a program at NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland for students interested in a STEM career. It is unpaid, lasts eight weeks, and is for high school to graduate level students. You'll get to work hands on with NIST researchers to focus on a specific research project. Applications are now open, and are due by February 1st. More information here.
AMP Global Scholar Program at American University is a program for students interested in working in international affairs and politics. Not only will students get to visit Washington, D.C. for two weeks, they'll also get to experience expert panels, policy panels, and training workshops where they'll get hands-on experience in policy making and international relations. The application is now open. Find more information here.
Inspiring Girls is a tuition-free wilderness exploration program for teen girls who love the outdoors. Girls will spend twelve days with artists, scientists, and others exploring a specific environment and learning about it. One program is in the Swiss Alps, but there are other programs in Alaska, Washington, and Colorado! Applications open for these programs January 31st, and close February 7th. More information here.
Kindness is Contagious (KIC) is a student run non-profit, KIC hopes to represent and be a voice for students throughout Colorado by connecting humans through kindness. By providing leadership opportunities in high school and college, KIC trains the next generations of Colorado leaders. KIC is seeking board members for 2020. For details, visit their website or email kindnessiccontagious.co@gmail.com.
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Alumni Feature: Lindsay Anderson
Hometown: Fruita, CO
COSLI Class: 2018
College currently attending: University of Colorado Denver
Lindsay Anderson, from Fruita, says her favorite part of COSLI was meeting all the different people from around the state, and creating relationships and connections with them. COSLI also allowed her to expand her knowledge and awareness of issues that plague our state specifically. Lindsay says, “Leaders make change and fight for change, and need to be well informed about these issues. I have been able to take the skills I learned from COSLI and apply them to other leadership positions I’ve held and in everyday life situations.”
She was part of the COSLI class of 2018. Her favorite thing to do is to spend time with family and friends, try new foods, and binge watch a good Netflix show. She is currently a freshman at CU Denver, working on completing her general requirements and choosing a major!
Five years ago, Lindsay and a number of other Wester Slope students were given the task of creating an anti-bullying week. They decided the best way to combat bullying was through kindness and lifting others up. Lindsay and two friends, all COSLI alumni, helped create an organization called Kindness is Contagious (KIC). Since then, the movement has grown, involving thousands of students in Colorado. KIC has tackled relevant issues in schools from mental health awareness, to substance abuse, to planning for the future.
As a student run non-profit, KIC hopes to represent and be a voice for students throughout Colorado by connecting humans through kindness. By providing leadership opportunities in high school and college, KIC trains the next generations of Colorado leaders. In an annual week in February, KIC brings communities in Colorado closer together through acts of kindness and service. Their mission statement is simple: "We believe kindness is the forefront of all good that occurs; in a world where a negative act can spiral into millions of similar actions, we aim to reverse that trend. Our mission is to connect students by spreading the message of positivity throughout the world one act at a time."
To be part of this student leadership group working to foster an inclusive community where they live, visit their website kindnessiscontagiousco.com or email KIC at kindnessiscontagious.co@gmail.com . They are now accepting state board members for the KIC 2020 year.
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