Citizen CENTENNIAL 12.21.12
Centennial
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 5
December 21, 2012
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcentennialnews.com
Centennial finishes roundabout project Local motorists, merchants warm up to work as traffic flows By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews.com Centennial has completed reconstruction and intersection improvements to one of the most congested areas of the city. The $1 million project, which began Sept. 17, was split into two phases and included the installation of new concrete pavement on Peoria Street between Arapahoe Road and construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Peoria and Peakview
Avenue. At first, some irritated commuters weren’t warming up to the idea of the roundabout, but now seem to see wisdom in the city’s decision. Mark Allen, who used to commute from Aurora to Centennial, admits he’s not as opposed to the idea as he was when the project was first announced. “Yeah, I hated the one up north at Caley, and still do, but this one isn’t so bad,” said Allen of the roundabout. “I still think I would have rather seen a traffic light, but things do seem to move, and I’ll take that over the alternative.” Even local merchants in the shopping Project continues on Page 12
After a three-month project, the construction at Peakview and Peoria is complete, yielding a new roundabout that improves and regulates traffic flow in the normally congested area of Centennial. The roundabout, seen here looking to the north on Peoria, is part of a larger project that improved drainage and added more turn lanes in the area. Photo by Deborah Grigsby
Education plan outlines alternatives Superintendent finds flaws in Littleton man’s proposal By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@ourcoloradonews.com
Ella Arendale and Sasha Lipkind look over a few letters addressed to Santa. Students and Brownie Scouts from Cherry Creek Academy collected more than 2,700 letters for the Macy’s Believe campaign that donates $1 per letter to Make-A-Wish. The students delivered their special correspondence to the Macy’s in Centennial on Dec. 14, National Believe Day, and received $2 per letter. Photo by Deborah Grigsby
A very special delivery Letters to Santa help grant wishes to kids in need By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews.com They came with hope in their hearts, and letters to Santa in their hands. More than 20 Cherry Creek Academy students and Brownie Scouts from Troop 3977 packed the Macy’s at The Streets at SouthGlenn Dec. 14 to stuff a special red mailbox with letters to the big man up north. However, the 2,700 letters they delivered were not so much about toys and games, but more about an effort raise money for kids with life-threatening medical conditions. Now in its fifth year, Macy’s “Believe” campaign donates $1, up to $1 million, to
Make-A-Wish for every stamped letter to Santa delivered to official red Believe stations around the country. An additional dollar per letter was added on Dec. 14, Macy’s National Believe Day. “This is such a great way for kids to give back to the community,” said Michelle Spickard, Centennial Macy’s general manager. “All they have to do is write a letter to Santa and drop it in the mailbox. Macy’s handles the rest.” Tricia Kilzer, who helped organize the student effort, knows the importance of Make-A-Wish firsthand. The Phoenix-based organization granted her son’s wish to go to Disney World. “Preston was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 5,” said Kilzer. “We took his Make-A-Wish trip when he was six and a half.” Preston, who prepared the group’s official letter count for Macy’s, said, “It was
really cool that my school and friends were able to make such an impact on a child’s life.” Kilzer credits the success of the students’ efforts with “exceptional” support from the school’s director, Jay Cerny, and assistant director, David Loomis. The Macy’s Believe campaign was inspired by the story of 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon, who in 1897 wrote a letter to the New York Sun newspaper, questioning the existence of Santa Claus. Editor Francis Church replied, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist …” The Believe campaign continues through Dec. 24, and people of all ages are encouraged to participate by writing letters, or by forming letter-writing campaigns at schools, churches and other community organizations. Letters must be delivered to the official Macy’s Believe station located inside each store.
John Conlin believes education is the civil-rights issue of our time, and he’s started a nonprofit to tackle it — provocatively called End the Education Plantation. “In a very real sense, our children are slaves to a broken school system robbing them and us of our future,” says Conlin on his website. “It’s time to free the slaves once more.” He’s been spending time in Washington, D.C., lobbying for a federal law that would give education funding directly to parents in the form of what he calls “Educational Freedom Accounts.” They could spend that money on any school they choose. His plan is based on a free-market premise, in which groups of like-minded folks could band together and start their own schools. Conlin postulates ones that work would thrive, while those that don’t would go away. “It would transform the whole definition of what a public school is,” he said. The self-employed management consultant says he had a “Rosa Parks moment” when he realized he was fed up — despite the fact that his grown son got through Littleton Public Schools just fine. “You could say I have no skin in the game, but I do. I’m an American,” he said. LPS Superintendent Scott Murphy agrees that education should matter to all Americans, and he would put the U.S. education system up against any in the world. “In the ‘70s, we did an extremely bold thing,” he said. “We decided all children deserve an education … and we gave them the type of education that they should expect in American society.” Murphy notes there is choice already — open enrollment, vouchers, magnet schools, charter schools, private schools — Education continues on Page 12
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.