Distinguished Alumni

Ted entered District Twenty when the Lindeman family moved to Woodman Valley, in time for him to start 6^thgrade at the 3-room Woodmen Elementary.  He appreciated learning from some great teachers, and being saved from foolishness by wonderful staff at Air Academy Junior and Senior High, including Sue Bornhauser who lined up a helpful college scholarship. In 1967, he was a founding wing on the new hockey team.  

Ted attended Colorado College, majoring in chemistry and climbing mountains every opportunity.

Ted attended Cornell University, earning a PhD in physical chemistry (and meeting his wife Kathy!). He then did further research at CU Boulder.  After one year teaching at Middlebury College, Ted joined the faculty at Colorado College.  He is retired from CC, but still performs science demonstrations for curious young audiences.  He joined the Pikes Peak AdAmAn Club in 1973 and plans soon to make his 50^thNew Year climb with them.  

Leslie Cates Blackham is a retired Air Force Colonel and engineer. 

Honorable Michael McHenry is a District Court Judge for the Colorado 4th Judicial District.

Ron Feingold started touring the nation as a Professional Stand-Up Comedian the day after graduating from Colorado State University – making his parents so proud after spending all of that money on school.  Almost 30 years later, he has opened shows for REO Speedwagon, The Beach Boys, Loverboy, Grand Funk Railroad, jazz vocalist Diana Krall and B.J. Thomas. Ron also toured the world with Holland America, Celebrity and Carnival Cruise Lines including the Bahamas, Caribbean, South America and Australia.  Performing over 200 shows a year for corporations, casinos and comedy clubs worldwide, Ron never forgets where he came from and performs annually at his home town club here in Colorado Springs called Loonees Comedy Club.  He has a wife, Lora, of 21 years and two sons ages 15 and 13 named Drew and Jace.

Ron is not able to attend this evening as he is performing with his charity group that he intimately works with called Laughs for the Troops – performing shows and providing services for Veterans and First Responders with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury.  Ron really wishes he could be here with you all this evening and thanks the Kadet Legacy Association for this honor.  GO KADETS! 

Jeff came to AAHS as a sophomore in 1987.  Upon graduation, Jeff received a ROTC Scholarship and attended UCCS getting a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.  After being commissioned as an Army Aviator, Jeff attended flight school where he was qualified in the UH-1 (Huey) and UH-60 Blackhawk.  Jeff served two combat tours in Iraq as an Aviator and then branch transferred to Space Operations in 2008 bringing him back to Colorado Springs.  As a Space Operations Officer, Jeff commanded the Army’s only Space Control Company and deployed it to Iraq conducting missions in support of ground operations. Currently, LTC Groskopf is serving at Cheyenne Mountain AFS in the Missile Warning Center, providing missile warning to the United States as well as Combatant Commands around the world. Jeff will be retiring this year after 25 years in the Army.  Two of his children are also AAHS Alumni, keeping the Kadet tradition in the family.

Lead by Coach Sharon (Wood) Lauer and an excellent group of seniors the boys’ swimming team won the 4A State Championship.

After graduating from AAHS, Alex had a impactful eye surgery which helped him make the decision to pursue medicine and help others in a similar way. Alex attended UCCS, where he met his wife Sarah playing tennis and graduated in 2013 with a degree in Human Biology.  In pursuit of becoming a physician assistant, Alex attended the Memorial Hospital School of Radiologic Technology, graduating in 2015 as a radiology technologist.  In 2016, Alex was selected from a pool of 1,500 applicants to begin physician assistant studies at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School, and he was awarded a National Western Stock Show Scholarship.  He graduated last May and has since served on a medical mission trip to Guatemala. Alex recently moved back to Colorado Springs from Denver and plans to work specializing in a surgical specialty.