Herald HIGHLANDS RANCH 2.7.13
Highlands Ranch
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 26, Issue 12
February 7, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourhighlandsranchnews.com
Metro District backs C-470 tolling Motorists would only pay when driving in new lanes By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com With the finish line in sight for C-470 expansion discussions, the Highlands Ranch Metro District Board of Directors offered up some direction on how to pay for the project. The district determined with a 4-3 vote on Jan. 29 that it would support tolling of the planned additional lanes in both directions between I-25 and Kipling, while
keeping the existing lanes free for drivers. The Metro District is one of 19 public and private entities that make up the C-470 Corridor Coalition. After much research and public polling for the past seven months, the option, also known as “Option A,” has been determined by many to be the most popular of the three the coalition has presented. Other options include tolling all the lanes and raising property and/or sales taxes. The coalition is scheduled to vote Feb. 7 on whether to narrow its focus to only “Option A” as it continues its study into the summer months. “Basically I need to know if the board approves of me voting `yeah,’ on `Option A,’ ” said Metro District Board Member Allen Dreher, who represents the district on the
coalition. The board’s discussion was quick but not without some difference of opinion. “When the tolls don’t make the money, then who is left holding the bags for the bonds (that pay for the construction),” asked board member Nancy Smith, who didn’t support the option. “There is still additional work to be done and there will be a toll lane and rate study,” said Jeff Case, Public Works director for the district. “If conditions change, if assumptions change … then there is room for reconsideration throughout.” Unsatisfied with the answer, Smith asked about the possibility that the findings come back and say the tolling will pay for construction, but that doesn’t actually
happen. “I’m still not convinced,” she said. “The people that I talk to say they don’t want toll roads and they wouldn’t use them. “What if they build the toll roads and five years down the road it is obvious people aren’t using it, then what happens, who is left holding those bonds?” Case reiterated that the topic would be addressed in the next stage of the study. “This isn’t saying this is the definitive answer,” added board Chairman Rick Owens. “This is just to go forward with the study to see if it is feasible and if they can fund it.” Dreher, Owens, Kelly O’Sullivan, and Vicky Starkey all voted in favor of pursuing the option, while Smith, Nick Robinson and Carolyn Schierholz did not support it.
IB program aims to open students’ minds Helps prepare youths for global market By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
With the help of Unified basketball student partners and a modified basket, Highlands Ranch’s Jack Newman scores two points during the Jan. 30 game against ThunderRidge. Photos by Courtney Kuhlen
Special stars get chance to shine Unified basketball contest draws big numbers, smiles By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Baylee Ginther’s nickname is the “Dancer.” And you can understand why if you’ve ever watched her run down the court after making a basket. In the Unified basketball contest against Highlands Ranch High School on Jan. 30, the ThunderRidge freshman scored multiple times, got her name chanted by the Grizzly cheering section after scoring the first points of the game and even smashed a pie in her teacher’s face at halftime. When asked what part was her favorite, the budding basketball star said, after some slight hesitation, “I loved everything, it was so exciting!” Unified basketball gives special-needs kids a chance to shine in front of their peers, and at ThunderRidge High School during “Wish Week” they pack more people into the stands than they do for an average varsity basketball game. “Once a year we get to play in the big
gym,” said ThunderRidge teacher/coach Patty Kruz. “This is a big deal for us. We get a lot of support from the student body.” Roughly 1,000 people came out to cheer on the two teams, which were assisted on the court by members of the ThunderRidge DECA team, who helped shag rebounds and hand the ball off to eager players chomping at the bit to take a shot at the basket. In Unified, certain rules such as traveling and double dribble don’t apply, and it is likely the only brand of basketball where you will ever see a defensive player rebound a missed shot and hand it back to an offensive player and cheer for them to try again. It is also probably the only time you will see a wheelchair player race down the floor and dunk the ball into a trash can for two. The feel-good affair featured quarter and halftime entertainment from the Mile High Tumblers, the TRHS pom team and cheerleaders, as well as four teachers who raised the most money for the Make-AWish Foundation. The reward for the top-grossing teachers? A halftime pie in the face from the players. There was also a halftime donation drive in which spectators chipped in $834.69 in one minute’s time to help send the school’s sponsored Make-A-Wish child, Malena, on a Disney Cruise.
Baylee Ginther, a player on the Unified Grizzlies basketball team for ThunderRidge, celebrates a point. And yes, score was also kept. ThunderRidge won 70-38. And every time the Grizzlies scored, Grayson “The Rockstar” Hoops continues on Page 7
Language describing the International Baccalaureate program echoes the Douglas County School District’s explanation of its world-class education curriculum. But IB is only a piece of the district’s relatively new approach, officials say. “IB is one of the programming options we have available to us, but we never believe one size fits all,” said Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, the district’s chief academic officer of secondary education. “As we try to personalize and customize education for students, we have to offer choices,” she said. “Our world-class education is the broad umbrella for all the other programming options that are available. IB is one of those stems in the umbrella.” The curriculum is designed to keep pace with a rapidly changing world, so “students will be able to compete against students across the nation and the world for the most sought-after careers,” according to the DCSD website. It emphasizes critical thinking, collaboration, civic responsibility, global awareness, ethics and civic responsibility. IB, a European-developed program with tiers aimed at specific age groups, helps “develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world,” according to its website. It places a strong emphasis on foreign language, cross-cultural understanding and research. “Most of the tenets of IB are part of a world-class education,” Jefferson-Jenkins said. “But there are other models of instruction that get to the same world-class targets that IB does. “Some students and parents in Douglas County may not want that much emphasis on a foreign language. They may want an emphasis on something else.” STEM-specific, career-focused and technical education programs offered in DCSD all are part of the world-class education curriculum, she said. STEM students focus heavily on science, technology, engineering and math. For teachers, IB encourages backward design — starting with the desired educaIB continues on Page 11
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