Pikes Peak Prep Foreign Exchange Student Leads By Example

Pikes Peak Prep is hosting Sunander Soderi, an 11^th grade foreign exchange student from Indonesia for the 2013-2014 school year.  Sunander Sonanderi is an adventurous student who is the epitome of leadership at Pikes Peak Prep.  Sympathetic to the plight of the victims of the recent Philippines typhoon devastation, Sunander decided to start up a website, to raise funds to go directly to Red Cross efforts in the Philippines.  He himself remembers the devastation his own home country, Indonesia, experienced in 2004, and the outpouring of support that his country received in their time of need, and wants to give back.  So far, he has raised $401 and has a goal of raising $1,000 to go directly to the Red Cross for their efforts in the Philippines. 

Sunander sets a great example at Pikes Peak Prep of not being afraid to cross borders.   While the Philippines is a dominantly Christian nation and Sunander hails from dominantly Muslim Indonesia, Sunander is committed to helping the Philippines in their time of need, while living in the US for the year.  While studying at Pikes Peak Prep and experiencing life here, Sunander has crossed borders here as well.  While he is a practicing Muslim, Sunander has volunteered at his Christian host family’s church showing how much he embraces diversity.  He continuously challenges himself— he takes a college math class at Pikes Peak Community College, through the Early College program Pikes Peak Prep offers. While experiencing life at Pikes Peak Prep in Colorado Springs, Sunander is excited to see snow and learn more about American culture and education.  Please support Pikes Peak Prep student Sunander Soderi!

Learn MORE about Sunander’s campaign HERE

You may DONATE to Sunander’s fundraising campaign for the Philippines HERE. 

New Robotics Program at Pikes Peak Prep

Students at Pikes Peak Prep are now able to experience engineering hands on through the new robotics program started by Mr. Mark Connell.  Ninth grade students Machelle Irby and Esteban Alvidrez meet twice a week with other students and work as builders and programmers of the robots and hope to enter into country wide and world—wide competitions with the robots they work on through the team.  Machelle participates on the team for fun and has a robot at home and dreams of becoming a veterinarian.  Esteban dreams of becoming an engineer and opening his own business with his own patented products. He is also interested in the video game design industry. Both believe that working on the robotics team will add value to their high school experience and enrich their application to college.

As a former computer science/programming engineer in Silicon Valley, Mark Connell has a rich experience to bring to the Pikes Peak Prep Engineering program through the Project Lead the Way  program.  He became a teacher as a career changer and finished his master’s degree in education in 2006, and began teaching at Pikes Peak Prep in fall of 2012.  Mark Connell took robotics during college and wanted to expose students to robotics as a hands on way for them to get involved in engineering. Math and Engineering teacher Mr. Connell currently teaches the introductory high school Project Lead the Way Course at Pikes Peak Prep, Pathways to Engineering, and George Antone teaches the middle school course, Green Architecture.  In order to market the program, Mr. Connell put together a presentation to introduce 7^th through 12^th graders to the new robotics club. They hope to grow the curriculum into a college accredited Project Lead the Way program at Pikes Peak Prep.  Mark Connell put together a proposal for a robotics program here at Pikes Peak Prep soon after joining, and GEO Foundation supported by purchasing all of the necessary equipment for the school.   As a Project Lead The Way inspired program, the new robotics program is a key part of ensuring that students graduate with a competitive edge in math, science, and engineering.