WEEK OF JANUARY 2, 2025
VOLUME 11 | ISSUE 50
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Cold weather brings heart risks Winter can play havoc with health BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Ellie Reynolds, center, a founding member of the proposed John Adams Academy charter school, speaks to the Douglas County School Board with Colorado Charter School Institute President Terry Croy Lewis about the proposal for her school. Reynolds requested the school district release authoSCREENSHOT OF DOUGLAS COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEETING rization over the proposed charter school to the Charter School Institute..
State will oversee charter school after disagreement
In 4-3 vote, Douglas County School Board relinquishes control over proposed facility due to politics BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A proposed charter school in Sterling Ranch will be overseen by the state’s charter institute instead of the Douglas County School District, following a split vote by the school board to relinquish oversight. The Douglas County School Board voted 4-3 at its December meeting to release authorization for the proposed John Adams Academy charter school to the Colorado Charter School Institute, an orga-
nization that oversees charter schools throughout the state. Releasing authorization for the school to the Charter School Institute means that the district will not be involved in the school’s creation or operations. Ellie Reynolds, the founder of the proposed charter school, said she asked for the release to protect the school from the politics of the Douglas County school board. “We believe that this board currently is pro-charter schools and pro-classical charter schools, (but) we also real-
ize that this board has a tendency to flip,” said Reynolds, who is also the president of the Northwest Douglas County Chamber. “Oftentimes, when this board does flip, it becomes not charter school friendly and that pendulum swing is risking our children and my child, who I would send to this school.” Reynolds said she preferred the Charter School Institute board for its stability because it’s bipartisan and the seats are not elected but appointed. John Adams Academy is a classical school based in Cali-
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fornia. Reynolds’ school would be the first Colorado location, encompassing kindergarten through high school. Reynolds said she is aiming to open the charter school in the fall of 2026. The school’s website describes it as “restoring America’s heritage by developing servant-leaders who are keepers and defenders of the principles of freedom for which our founding fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.”
When snow blankets the streets around the Denver metro area, it’s not just roads that become treacherous — your heart might be at risk too. The combination of cold temperatures, reduced physical activity and sudden strenuous tasks can create a “perfect recipe” for heart attacks, according to Dr. Akhil Reddy, an interventional and structural cardiologist with HCA HealthONE in Denver. Many might assume the cold itself is the problem, but Reddy clarified that it’s not so much the temperature as it is the activity people undertake in the cold. “The more common scenario is people shoveling snow and exerting themselves and having an active myocardial infarction, or heart attack,” he explained. According to the AHA, intense physical effort combined with cold temperatures forces the heart to work overtime. Blood vessels constrict in the cold, causing blood pressure to rise. When paired with the sudden cardiovascular demand of activities like shoveling snow, this can trigger heart attacks, especially in people with pre-existing risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. Physical exertion in cold weather can be deceptively dangerous
Shoveling snow may look like a mundane household task, but research shows it’s a workout that rivals intense cardio.
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