Throughout the month of July, CHSAA looked back on various accomplishments throughout the 2022-23 academic year. This Year in Review series concludes with a celebration of the highlights in CHSAA-sponsored activities throughout the year.
Over the course of the last year, the Colorado High School Activities Association hosted 21 Music Festivals around the state, implemented the Sweepstakes – similar to a team championship – in speech and debate, crowned its first-ever sanctioned state champions in esports, held a number of student leadership summits and conferences and partnered with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) to host our first-ever National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society Conference.
“Participating in extracurricular activities builds teamwork, communication, relationships and a sense of belonging,” CHSAA Commissioner Mike Krueger said. “I am so proud of the work that CHSAA has done, particularly our assistant commissioner for activities, Rashaan Davis, to elevate our involvement with activities. It was such an honor to be a part of the first-ever Sweepstakes for speech and debate and the four sanctioned esports championships. I look forward to seeing how we can continue to expand our opportunities and work to impact even more students throughout the state of Colorado.”
Music
Once again, the CHSAA Music Festivals showcased the top musical talent throughout the state of Colorado, hosting 21 festivals at various locations around the state. The CHSAA music festivals are an educational opportunity to showcase the student’s talents, and to grow from the experience of receiving feedback from trained adjudicators. CHSAA has around 40,000 students that participate in music throughout the school year, and Colorado offers many opportunities to showcase a plethora of disciplines. This was the first year that CHSAA used a new and improved registration/scheduling/scoring system, and this technology improvement was an exciting feature to our festivals this past year. The CHSAA Music Festivals would not be possible without the support and hard work of the directors onsite, and CHSAA is extremely grateful for their organization and planning.
Speech & Debate
Due to a growth in involvement in speech and debate, over 125 teams across three classifications, CHSAA increased its classifications from two to three and implemented the Sweepstakes awards. The Sweepstakes are the speech and debate version of a team championship. The scoring is set up to give points to competitors in each round, irrespective of the total number of team participants each school has the ability to take home the championship trophy. Eagle Valley High School (3A), Delta High School (4A) and George Washington High School (5A) were this year’s state champions in the Sweepstakes.
In addition, Loveland’s Aiden Hurst won second place in extemporaneous debate at the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Championships in Phoenix in June.
Esports
This was the first year that esports was a sanctioned activity by CHSAA, with the organization crowning four state champions throughout the year; a champion for Rocket League and League of Legends in the fall, and a champion for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart in the spring. Grandview won the inaugural League of Legends title, while Cherry Creek captured the Rocket League championship. In the spring, Rocky Mountain swept the two titles, winning both Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart.
Overall, participation numbers were outstanding this year, as over 1,200 students participated, representing 119 schools.
Student Leadership
CHSAA takes pride in doing its part to help develop its student leaders, as it not only hosts a four-day CHSAA Student Leadership Summer Camp, it also puts on an Advisor University (Advisor U) meeting and three leadership summits throughout the year.
- At the Student Leadership Summer Camp, students were presented with a “What’s Your Story?” theme. The camp featured a college tour, a Colorado Mesa student-led panel on college preparation and a speaker series by leadership professionals. Students left the conference looking forward to building on their personal story and the stories of their schools and communities.
- The eighth-annual Advisor U was held at the University of Colorado – Boulder, where advisors took part in sessions on time management, the cost of saying yes, and what it means to lead students. CU provided a session on what it takes to be a member of “Ralphie’s Handlers https://cubuffs.com/sports/2022/11/4/tryout-info.aspx).”
- CHSAA also introduced student leaders and advisors to great mental health resources from www.work2bewell.com.
- The three summits were held at Mountain Range High School, Liberty High School and Fruita-Monument High School. Featured speakers included Adrienne Bulinski and Lori B. Hayes.
Hall of Fame
For his impact on activities here in the state of Colorado, longtime Durango High School Student Leadership advisor Dale Garland was introduced into the CHSAA Hall of Fame in January. As a student leadership advisor, Garland set the standard for how to grow young leaders. For over a decade, Garland’s program was recognized as a National Council of Excellence by the National Student Council office. Over his 25 years as an advisor, Garland was recognized as the CHSAA Advisor of the Year, he served multiple terms as a Student Leadership Advisory Committee member and he led workshops at many CHSAA student leadership camps and conferences.
Garland is only the second Student Leadership inductee into the CHSAA Hall of Fame, as he joins Earl Reum, a 1990 inductee.