1-Color
April 17, 2014 Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 27, Issue 22 A publication of
highlandsranchherald.net
GOP assembly pares down field Former JeffCo lawmaker Kopp earns top line on primary ballot in gubernatorial race By Vic Vela
vvela@coloradocommunitymedia.com It took Republican delegates just one ballot over the weekend to pick from a crowded field of hopefuls looking to challenge Gov. John Hickenlooper this November — and one candidate in particular emerged as a surprise force in the race.
Delegates who converged on Boulder for the Republican State Assembly on April 12 also picked candidates for other key statewide races. The results included the clearing of opposition to U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, who can now set his sights exclusively on Democratic incumbent Mark Udall in the race for a Senate seat this fall. Coming into the assembly, at least one gubernatorial candidate looked like a sure bet to get on the ballot — Secretary of State Scott Gessler. But delegates made room for another hopeful: former state Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp.
In a crowded GOP field, Kopp will have the top line when Republican voters fill out their ballots in the gubernatorial primary in June. That’s because Kopp surprised many by emerging with the top vote count among the 3,900-plus delegates. “It’s always nice to have the ‘big Mo,’ “ said Kopp, who represented the southern part of Jefferson County in the state Senate from 2007 -11. “Our message worked, our organization worked. So, phase one is complete and now we’re excited to move into phase two.” Kopp’s nomination speech — held in-
side the University of Colorado’s Coors Events Center — took on a fighting theme. Kopp talked about being an underdog who takes down “giants” and referenced his own background as an Army ranger who doesn’t know the meaning of the word surrender. “Surrender is not a Ranger word and it’s not a conservative word,” Kopp said. Kopp’s 34 percent of the delegate vote tally edged Gessler’s, who also made the primary ballot by garnering 33 of the Kopp continues on Page 6
Rock Canyon teacher gets national nod Biology educator a finalist for Shell Science Teaching Award By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Jillian Bryscka holds up a stick for her leaping Jack Russel mix named Bandit as Major, a friend’s Great Dane, eyeballs in envy at the Rover’s Run dog park at Redstone Park on April 11.
DOG (PARK)
DAYS
With the weather reaching for spring in Colorado, dogs of all sizes — from a Great Dane the size of a small horse to palm-sized miniatures — brought their owners out into the sunshine for some playtime at Rover’s Run, a dog park in Redstone Park, on April 11. With the warmth, it didn’t take long for tongues to wag along with their tails.
PHOTOS BY HANNAH GARCIA
Rachel Walker bends to pick up a tennis ball for Pixel, an Australian Shepherd mix she rescued, as the dog dances around her feet.
School funding measures forge ahead House passes bills that pump about $500 million into K-12 schools By Vic Vela
vvela@coloradocommunitymedia.com A pair of funding measures that will provide schools with nearly $500 million in new revenue passed the House with bipartisan support last week. Although the bills received Republi-
can votes, several House GOP members raised concerns that the efforts don’t go far enough in backfilling recession-era budget cuts, or giving school districts more control over financial and transparency matters. The bills passed the House on April 1o, with lawmakers first giving overwhelming bipartisan support to the Student Success Act. The bill would provide $20 million aimed at helping kids meet mandated third-grade reading standards and adds $13 million in funding for charter school facilities. The bill also incorporates $40 million in retail marijuana revenue that will go to-
ward school construction in rural parts of the state. The legislation will also provide schools with $110 million of the money that was stripped away by the Legislature during lean budget years. “(The bill) begins the process of rebuilding K-12 funding that was struck hard during the past five years of Colorado’s recession, within the parameters of our current state budget,” said Rep. Millie Hamner, DDillon, a bill sponsor. The House also passed the annual School continues on Page 6
Shawndra Fordham refuses to set limits for her students or herself. That’s likely the attitude that earned her third place among hundreds vying for a coveted national science teachers’ award. The Rock Canyon High School biology and biotechnology teacher was among the top three contenders for the Shell Science Teaching Award, which recognizes one K-12 teacher nationwide for exemplary classroom Fordham science instruction. “We do a lot of really innovative things here at Rock Canyon,” said Fordham, a 2013 Douglas County School District Apple Award winner. “We’ve done some high-level labs I’ve been told you can’t do with high school kids. And I refused to believe that.” One of those labs, now in its third year, has become a regular part of Fordham’s instruction. Students shut off a gene in a microscopic worm, and by assessing the resulting mutation, determine the gene’s purpose. “That’s a senior-level lab in a lot of universities and college,” Fordham said. “I want them to do the highest level, coolest stuff, so that we can get them really excited. “We inevitably fail at something every year because we’re doing such hard science. But they get so much from that too. I teach them to take a risk, be willing to fail, because maybe something will work and how amazing would that be?” Fordham has influenced hundreds of RCHS students since she began teaching there in 2004, just one year after the Highlands Ranch high school opened. While she didn’t earn the $10,000 top prize, her third-place finish did come with a free trip to the National Science Teachers’ Association Conference in Boston that provided fresh inspiration for her work. “The kids in the biotech program here (at RCHS) are at such a high level,” she said. “To find other biotech programs that are teaching at the level we are can be really difficult. But they had so much there. I came home with so many ideas for my classroom.”
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.