Jennifer Jacobs Class of 2006

Confidence. This is the emotion I felt as I stood in front of the entire school and their families waiting to recite a poem in the third grade. The ability to have confidence when speaking in front of crowds was only one of the gifts that Silverwood gave me. Not only could I recite a poem in front of the school, I could present my Young Authors story and sing with my classmates.

Another gift that Silverwood gave me was many vivid memories. Of these, the moment that stands out the most to me was gliding down the river on my back with my sixth grade friends on our trip through the red-rock country of western Colorado. On this trip, I recognized that learning is easy when you're having fun.

A unique opportunity at Silverwood is that every sixth grade class gets a chance to travel somewhere together, as a final farewell. On our trip, we were able to meet with an astronomer, which was great because unlike here, you can actually see the constellations in the Colorado high country. We also went into a limestone cavern, and I got to experience pure darkness for the first time. The memory of this trip is now the envy of my friends.

Another unusual gift that Silverwood offers is learning a foreign language. I am now in fourth year Spanish at the high school, and having taken Spanish throughout my life has been a great advantage to me. (I can roll my R's.) But this is not the only way that Silverwood has given me an advantage.

At an early age, I gained close relationships with remarkable people, our Silverwood teachers. The confidence I learned from those relationships has enabled me to be comfortable speaking with teachers and adults now.

I also gained a close connection to my peers at Silverwood, who are now my best friends. The people at Silverwood form a unique close-knit group that acts as a second family. This family has come to help me immensely as I grow older because I can rely on them.

I knew I could rely on my second family when it came to our Halloween walk. In my opinion, ours was the best ever, but I'm probably biased. We had three sections: the mine, where I was a tour guide, the aliens, where you could experience all sorts of alien culture, and the pirates, where swords clashed and smoke filled the air from the cannon fire. The teamwork and creativity required from us and the parents was incredible, but we handled it well.

These gifts that Silverwood gave me are now the advantages I have over other students, gifts which have enabled me to rise to any challenge I face — and I have friends to back me up in any situation.
As a sophomore now, I still have yet to get a B....or a C...or a D. I am taking two AP classes; I am involved in National Honor Society, Key Club, ski school, the swim team, and the sailing team. Many of these activities I do with Silverwood alumni. And I still like to come back and help out with admissions evenings and at aftercare.

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