Westsider Westsider 5/3/13
North Jeffco
North Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 17
POSTAL PATRON
May 3, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwestminsternews.com
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Spring cleaning set for the city By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com The goal of Community Pride Day is simple: tidy up the town. The event is hosted by the city of Westminster and Hyland Hills Parks and Recreation District. For more than 20 years, residents have come together for a springcleaning session across the city and the district. The fun begins at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 11, as volunteer groups hit the pavement, parks, trails and open-space areas, gathering litter in their designated areas.
Trash bags and the pick-up of filled bags are provided. Afterward, everyone is invited to a free barbecue from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Westminster City Hall. The barbecue features free food, entertainment, door prizes and free rides on an antique fire engine. Patti Wright, open-space volunteer coordinator with the city, said Community Pride Day began as part of the Keep American Beautiful campaign, a national nonprofit organization that combines education with hands-on stewardship to make America’s communities cleaner, greener and more livable. Over the years, Community Pride Day has become more and more popular. More
than 1,500 people showed up last year, Wright said, noting the event is especially popular with Scout groups, church group and entire families. “Community Pride Day is a great way for people to volunteer and make a big difference right away. Winter winds and snow runoff bring in trash and debris that is unsightly and detrimental to our natural areas,” she said. “When trash and litter accumulate, our community looks like no one cares and this accumulation can actually make other people believe it’s okay to throw their trash down.” Volunteers are assigned to areas
throughout the city, as well as to areas in the Hyland Hills District. Some groups are as large as 50, and some as small as one individual. Wright said the before-and afterview is amazing as people end up gathering hundreds and hundreds of bags of trash. Waste Management picks up bags along the streets the day of the event, and the city will pick up the rest of the bags the following week. Wright said she is still looking for volunteers for Community Pride Day. Registration is required and can be done up until May 6 by contacting Wright at 303-658-2201 or by email at pwright@cityofwestminster. us.
State budget rejuvenates programs Funding restored in wake of recession By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Next year’s state budget was signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper on April 29, a $20.5 billion plan that restores funding to many programs that had been cut during the recent recession. Hickenlooper signed the so-called “long bill” at a Capitol press event, where he expressed optimism in Colorado’s economic direction, while also acknowledging the cloudier fiscal period that the state is emerging from. “We are enacting a budget in a unique time in our history where we are comReport ing back from this incredible recession,” Hickenlooper said, with members of the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee standing behind him. “Colorado’s economy is outperforming the nation’s economy and I think we are now ... able to catch up in a number of places.” Funding is not only being restored to areas of last year’s budget that were cut, it also puts more money into savings. Next year’s budget adds $80 million to the state’s General Fund reserve, a 1 percent savings increase from last year. “Our intention is to continue to add to that reserve each year, so we can soften the actions those recessions create,” the governor said. Public schools will see a per-pupil funding increase of about $172 in next year’s budget — an increase that is tied to a tax hike associated with the School Finance Act, which voters still must approve once Hickenlooper signs the measure into law. There also will be more than $5 million added in financial aid for college students, and more than $100 million for higher education maintenance projects. And, state workers will receive a 2 percent pay increase, their first pay raises in years. Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, said the Department of Human Services “is
Capitol
Front Range Community College student Brittani Sievers prepares to launch a baseball with the catapult she built with second graders from STEM Magnet School in Northglenn and the STEM Launch School in Thornton. FRCC physics students teamed up with students from both schools for a catapult competition on April 26 at the Westminster campus. Photos by Ashley Reimers
Students team up for catapult competition By Ashley Reimers
areimers@ourcoloradonews.com It was a test of accuracy, distance and creativity during the spring catapult competition at Front Range Community College in Westminster. FRCC physics students teamed up with second-graders from STEM Magnet Lab School in Northglenn and the STEM Launch School in Thornton for a 12-week catapult project culminating with the students going head-to-head on April 26 using baseballs as the catapult payload. “We always do a pumpkins catapult competition in the fall, so I decided I wanted something for my spring students so I came up with baseballs since it’s baseball season,” said Clara Wente in the science department at FRCC. “And this year we decided to team with the second-graders so the students could mentor them while earning extra credit.” FRCC students volunteered their time to work with the young students for two hours a week for 12 weeks. Over that time period, the college students worked with their team members to
Second graders from STEM Magnet School in Northglenn and the STEM Launch School in Thornton teamed up with physics students from Front Range Community College in Westminster for a catapult project on April 26. All of the teams came together to compete in a catapult competition at the campus. develop a catapult giving the second graders a hands-on physics lesson. When it came time to compete, the
teams put their designs the test and were judged on how far they could launch the baseball, how accurate they were on aiming the ball into a net and the theme of their uniforms. For FRCC student Zach Lamb the choice to help with this project was an easy one. “I already volunteer at Federal Heights Elementary so I like helping out kids,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun, and the best part is seeing them learn new things.” Second-grade teacher Allison Silvaggio at STEM Magnet said it’s been amazing to watch her students learn so much more about physics than the typical second grade standards. Admitting she’s not a physics expert, Silvaggio said it’s been a privilege to have college students with so much knowledge and excitement spend time mentoring her students. “The students learned about potential and kinetic energy and a lot of technology and math skills too, which was great,” she said. “And during the design process of the catapults the student learned that not every design will be successful, which teaches them that failure is a step to success.”
Budget continues on Page 7
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