Awards and Recognitions

Cache La Poudre Middle School recognizes outstanding students each year with a variety of awards and honors.

Mr. and Ms. CLP Recognized

The following students were nominated for the Mr. & Ms. CLP Award:
Mr. CLP: Keaton Bartlett, Caiden Boyt, Dillon Foster, Parker Gradisar-Jansen, Caleb Maxey, Chase Morley, Ben Oldemeyer, Ben West
Ms. CLP: Koy Ecton, Annelise Sherman, Madeline Towbin, Sydney Wewerka

The winners are: Dillon Foster (Mr. CLP) and Koy Ecton (Ms. CLP). Congratulations to all who were nominated and to the winners!

8th Grade Awards Ceremony

Dozens of students were recognized at the 8th grade awards ceremony on May 10th. See the complete list of all the recipients.

National Columbine Poetry Contest Winner!

Julia Schmidt is the national winner (yes, all 50 states!) of the Columbine Poetry Contest. You may recall that Lachlan Yahn won for the state of Colorado and Julia and Casey Robertson were Honorable Mention. All three poems were submitted to the national contest, and Julia is the big winner! Be sure to congratulate her! Read her poem.

Mr and Ms CLP (1964 - Present)

Criteria for this award is as follows:
this award will be given to one 8th grade boy and one 8th grade girl.

1) the students most show academic excellence.
2) demonstrate good citizenship.
3) willing to help others.
4) involved in extracurricular activities.

Jane Neth Award (2005-Present)

This award was created by Jane Neth, a former Media Center Specialist who worked at CLP for many years. The award was created to recognize the 8th grade student who combined their love of reading and learning with service to the CLP Media Center.

Val Weitz Award (1999-2004)

Background
Val Weitz was a talented and gifted student who attended CLP a few years ago. She was a great athlete, dedicated to her sports and to the team and very competitive. She was also very upbeat and friendly to everyone. Whenever you were down she would also have a smile or a kind word and if you were happy she would be happy with you. She encouraged everyone to do his or her best but never asked anyone to do something that she herself wouldn't do.
You couldn't put Val in a category,
She wasn't a jock but she was a great athlete.
She wasn't a nerd but she was very intelligent and excelled at academics.
She wasn't a student council member but she was a leader.
She wasn't a prep but she had class.
She wasn't a party animal but she liked to have a good time.
She wasn't a hick but she loved the outdoors and the mountains.
She wasn't a teacher's pet, but all the staff loved her.
She wasn't a work-aholic but she knew what hard work was and wasn't afraid to do it.

What was she then? More than anything Val was a friend to everyone she met.
Val died in a car accident late one night coming home alone. She lived in the mountains and it was a long, dark, winding road. She wasn't drinking or partying she was just tired and fell asleep.

The Award Criteria
The family of Val Weitz would like to honor her with a memorial worth $500.00 per year for five years. Half of this award ($250.00) will be awarded at the assembly on Thursday, May 31. This will help to offset athletic costs at the high school. The other half will be used upon graduation from high school, to be used for post-secondary education fees.

The following criteria has been established by the family:
1) the student must be a team leader.
2) the student is willing to help and accept other students for who they are.
3) the student has a positive attitude.
4) the student is determined to be successful.

The CLP Middle School staff will nominate ninth grade students and then vote will taken to determine the winner.

Franco Kintzley Award (1992-2002)

Background
This was written by student council members a few years ago.
Francis (Franco) Kintzley was an amazing person. Although we never had the privilege to meet him, from what others have told us he was an exceptional young man. Franco was born on February 27, 1976 to Tom and Antonetta Kintzley. Franco was a mischievous little boy, who had a smile that if you saw it, the rest of your day would be great. He was also an outstanding athlete. He put forth 110% effort all the time. He persevered beyond belief all of the time.

Franco was one of those "good at everything" kids. One of his best sports was football. His coach, Ted Garfield tells about a game against Blevins Junior High in 1992. "We were down two touchdowns with about 30 seconds left in the game. It was one of those situations where you were sure you were going to lose. I called timeout and went into the huddle. Franco said, `I can beat my man going way deep.' I said, `O.K.' Franco ran deep and got the touchdown on the last play of the game." This is the kind of person that Franco was, always willing to give himself up for the team and for others.

Franco's faith was one of the most important things to him. Members of his family are devout Catholics. Franco, as a little boy, had a knack for getting in trouble, and afterwards, being so sweet and funny everyone simply had to forgive him. He refused to swear. Franco was the type of person who everyone liked, and Franco liked everyone.

When Franco was in fifth or sixth grade, his mom Antonetta, noticed a mole on her son's back. She asked her son, "Does that bother you any?" Franco replied, "Yeah, it itches." Antonetta, being the loving mother, called the doctor and scheduled an appointment to have it removed. The mole was removed the next day.

The day after surgery Franco was right outside in the sunshine riding his bike. He had fixed the covers on his bed, so it looked like he was in bed.

A few weeks after the extraction of the mole, results from tests of the mole came back to Tom and Antonetta. They were told that Franco had melanoma, which is a type of cancer. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. It invades neighboring tissues and cells and kills them. It is the kind of disease where you either cure the patient or you don't. The main cause of Melanoma is the ultraviolet radiation in the atmosphere.

The arrival of the news of cancer had little impact on Franco's daily life. He kept on going full tilt as if nothing was wrong. But slowly, little by little the effects could be seen on Franco's life. He got headaches frequently and was often dizzy. When he was hit hard in football, he often got bloody noses. Lumps started to appear all over his body. Franco underwent many sessions of chemotherapy and many surgeries throughout his body. All through this Franco never ever gave up. He continued to give his all in his sports endeavors throughout his years at CLP Junior High School. Former principal, Mr. Ed Crockett remembers that the day after Franco had brain surgery, Franco showed up at school. He loved being at CLP and loved being around the people.

Finally, on March 24, 1992, Franco Kintzley passed away. The whole Kintzley family, and all of Franco's friends were gathered around him when he died. Tom Kintzley took Franco's hand and said "Franco, we won." By this he meant that Franco had not given up, not let the cancer drag him into depression where there was no hope. The day was very windy, Tom described it as "...the angels beating their wings coming to get him." Franco breathed his last breath, the wind stopped, and he was gone.

Details
The Kintzley family set up an award to be given to a student each year. It is a $1,000 scholarship to further the student's education. The award is given for 10 years. The student must be involved in sports and be someone who is liked by everyone.

Franco Kintzley was a person who perhaps cannot best be described by words, but a person who is remembered in the hearts and minds of all of those around him.

The Award Criteria
The student must have participated In sports.
2. The students shows a lot of courage.
3. The student has a posiibe attitude toward school and life.
4. The student I willing to help others.
5. The student Is a non-complainer.
6. The student I willing to treat all people equally.
The nominees will be voted upon by the entire staff at Cache La Poudre Middle School.