July 23, 2015 VO LUM E 1 1 | IS S UE 8
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Future entrepreneurs tour Olde Town businesses State program teaches students ins and outs of business By Crystal Anderson
canderson@colorado communitymedia.com A mind for business is what some Jeffco students left with following a four-hour business tour in Olde Town Arvada. Stephani Grady, 20, wants to start a shop to sell anime and other animation items. “I’m learning to not get nervous when you’re pitching ideas,” she said. Grady and nine other students, ranging in age from 14 to 21, strolled through Olde Town July 15, visiting six small businesses, as part of the Governor’s Summer Job Hunt, a statewide program helping youth find work that will become a year-round option for Jefferson, Clear Creek and Gilpin County students. The program’s goal, said Devon Reifsneider, a youth outreach ambassador with Jefferson County, is that students will build skills, learn to communicate and leave their program career-ready through job fairs, hiring events, workshops and business tours.
“So much of our economy is based on small business and they don’t really get the opportunity to learn about it in high school or college,” Reifsneider said. “It’s a really cool thing for kids to learn about.” The Olde Town Arvada tour showed students what it would be like to own and operate a small business. “Even if it’s something small scale, like a pet business, lawn care service … those are other opportunities for kids to besides working at McDonald’s,” Reifsneider said. Students visited Rheinlander’s Bakery, La Dolce Vita Coffee Shop, Fuzzy’s Tacos, Global Goods and Coffee Shop, Paws N Play and the Eli Ashby Healing Arts Center. They learned about the varying aspects of small business, including how owners started their businesses, how to staff a company and unexpected challenges and rewards. “It makes people familiar with retail bakers and what they do,” said Maro Dimmer, owner of Rheinlander’s Bakery, when asked why tours like these are important. “It’s a dying art right now and it’s important for people to know this is possible.” Students Slater Thompson and Erika Nicolette were curious about how owners chose names for their businesses, why they wanted to start their businesses and
Ed Dimmer, owner of Rheinlander Bakery, explains to Erika Nicolette, 17, the process of owning and operating a successful small business. Photo by Crystal Anderson learned that entrepreneurship is a labor of love. “I’ve learned about owning and running a self-run business,” said Thompson, 19, who would like to either invent electronics or own a computer store. “It takes a lot of time and patience.” For Nicolette, 17, the tour left her with tasty ideas, such as starting her own eclectic
ice cream shop. “I’m here to learn something in case one day I want to start a business — I would do an ice cream shop,” she said. “And I’ve learned there are pros and cons to any kinds of business you own.” To learn more about the program or sign up for an event, email youthservices@jeffco.us or call 303-271-4613.
Teachers’ union balks at contract length Jeffco school district wants 10-month agreement By Crystal Anderson
canderson@colorado communitymedia.com
Lining the walls of the current campus are tables with information on just a few of the new programs coming to the school because of the $22.5 million health sciences expansion. Photos by Crystal Anderson
Red Rocks breaks ground on new health campus Arvada expansion scheduled to open fall 2016 By Crystal Anderson
Canderson@coloradocommunitymedia.com
W
hen Michele Haney stepped onto the Red Rocks Community College campus in 2008, she envisioned something more — an Arvada campus with an identity of its own. On July 16, that vision came full circle as shovels hit the ground, marking the groundbreaking of the $22.5 million Red Rocks Community College Health Sciences Campus in Arvada. “My vision was to create an identity for the school in Arvada, and I am so excited we are doing just that,” Haney,
president of the college, said. “It’s almost like, for me, a dream come true — we’re there.” The two-story, 50,000-square-foot building, already under construction, will house the college’s health sciences programs such as radiology and phlebotomy, and offer several new sections such as nurse’s aide, RN refresher, health professional, medical assisting and office management, phlebotomy technicians, and sonography. The school also will house the physician’s assistant program through which students can now obtain a master’s degree. “We want to be as flexible and nimble as we can,” Haney said. “We know there’s going to be more and more opportunity for us and our programming to grow. I see the future of this campus being very, very broad because our students’ interests are very broad.” Campus continues on Page 22
The Jeffco school district has offered teachers a 10-month contract, a term the union considers unacceptable. “We haven’t had less than a two-year agreement since the ’80s,” said JCEA spokesman Scott Kwasny. “Teachers want stability. They don’t want their representatives going back to the negotiation table in a few months.” After five months of open negotiations, the collective bargaining agreement’s term remains the main sticking point between the Jefferson County School District and the Jefferson County Education Association. The two entities agree on the document’s draft language. “A 10-month term allows us to revisit the entire contract and make adjustments to the provisions, most of which are completely new to Jeffco,” said Amy Weber, Jeffco’s chief human resources officer and member of the negotiation team. “Having a contract deadline of June motivates both sides to seriously consider what has worked this year and what should be reconsidered. We believe this process will lead to a more successful contract between the district and the JCEA.” The proposed 10-month contract, which would cover the period from Sept. 1 to June 30, includes language about the importance of having effective educators in the classroom, retaining school-level autonomy and optimizing teacher instructional time and schedules. The 41-page document also includes terms of employment between union teachers and the district. Teachers continues on Page 17