Two blocks, to be exact.

King is finishing his first year as principal at Boulder High School, just down the hill and across the creek from School offices in Macky Auditorium.

"This is really kind of a dream job for me," King said. "I’m really happy to be back in Boulder. The job is exciting and dynamic and full of challenges.

"I feel like I’ve landed at one of the plum schools in the state. We have some amazing faculty and amazing students."

King said the influence of the University of Colorado on Boulder High is even greater than many would image.

"There’s constant cross-pollination with CU. For example, in April we had sessions of the Conference on World Affairs on our campus every day. And many teachers on our faculty are adjuncts at the University."

King was a teaching assistant for mass media writing with Associate Professor Joanne Arnold and Assistant Professor Jan Whitt. At the time, Arnold, who retired in 1995, was running the School’s graduate program. She listened to his interests in secondary education and helped him forge an appropriate degree program.

"It was something that we pieced together, and that’s where Joanne Arnold was so helpful. She had been a teacher in a previous life as well," he said.

And not just anywhere. Arnold taught English at Boulder High from 1957 to 1967.

King put his master’s degree to work in the classroom after graduation.

"I was teaching high school journalism and running school newspapers and yearbooks," he said, adding that reporting and editing classes also helped him with administrative duties.

"The School prepared me well for all the writing I have to do in various reports and other communications. I learned in my master’s program to lose that academic tone," he said.

Prior to becoming principal in Boulder, King worked in the Jefferson County School District and most recently was interim principal of Lakewood High School.

A graduate of Montrose High School, King got a bachelor’s degree in English from Fort Lewis College in Durango.

King was in the School’s graduate program while his younger brother, Mike King ('89), was an undergrad there. Like his older brother, Mike King chose an alternate career path that led to success; he’s an assistant attorney general for the State of Colorado.

In 1996, Christopher King received a Ph.D. in educational leadership from the University of Colorado at Denver.

"I missed the pure PR environment," she said. "Schenkein/Sherman is one of the top public relations agencies in Denver, and they made a place from me on the management team."

After graduation, Clark worked in Denver broadcast media for a few months, then headed for Scottsbluff, Neb., for about two years to work for a television station. Eventually, her focus began to shift.

A key contact at the School helped her switch careers.

"Fred Hobbs was my Newsteam 27 instructor when I was at CU. When I was thinking of leaving TV, I called Fred and we talked about what kind of opportunities there might be in PR. He really helped me get my foot in the door," Clark said.

"Once I found public relations, I discovered I was able to use my media savvy, but also do much more for clients as well," she said. "It’s such a fast-paced, exiting, young atmosphere -- there was no looking back to the newsroom."

"It has really been fun getting back to journalism. I generally look forward to that class every day," he said.

Moles, an offensive lineman for the Buffs football team while at CU, coaches football and teaches American history at Winter Park High, where he puts in a good word for his alma mater when he can.

"I always try to work as a goodwill ambassador for CU when questions arise among students about college choices," he said. "WPHS probably sends three or four students a year to CU; they think its a 'cool school.’ I know it is."

Recently Dakin was promoted to vice president of communications at the Vail Valley Foundation, and he was selected to announce the first-ever Men’s Alpine World Cup races in South Korea, held in February and March.

He also will serve as the chief of press and will be a member of the executive committee for the 1999 World Alpine Ski Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek. Dakin was course-construction coordinator for mountain biking at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta and director of the 1994 World Mountain Bike Championships in Vail.

An avid cyclist in college, she didn’t like how her bike seat would quickly become weathered when left exposed to the elements, which it always was while she was on campus.

Many students protected their bike seats with plastics bags, but a fellow student pointed out a shower cap would do a better job. She tried it, but shower caps deteriorated in sunlight and had elastic too weak to last outdoors.

During her senior year, a retail management class gave Campbell the opportunity to take her idea a step further. She developed the idea for Dry Ride, a seat protector made of heavy-duty material and strong enough to stay on bikes hauled down the highway on car racks.

After graduation, Campbell spent two months in Europe.

"The more plastic bags I saw tied around bicycle seats, the more eager I was to go home and get to work," she said.

Home is Kent, Wash. At first her mother sewed the seats and their carrying cases, and Campbell had to put her logo onto the material at home herself because the coated nylon proved too tricky for silk-screening companies.

"It was a great relief to finally find a company in the Seattle area that cuts, sews and silk-screens the product," she said.

It all paid off, she said, when Recreational Equipment Inc. decided to carry her seat covers.

"I have the satisfaction of knowing that my product was being sold by REI. It’s the premier sporting goods retailer in the world," she said.