VOICES

Tips for students of all ages

Acolleague of mine encouraged her daughter, a second-year pre-med college student, to reach out and ask the question, “What’s the best piece of advice you’d offer a college student?” When I received this request, I gave it some deliberate thought. And as I wrote these responses out for her, I was reminded that this guidance is applicable to all of us when we stop and think about it. I hope there is a message here that connects with you as well.

“Never settle in life. You are committed to medical school and that is awesome, we need more bright and compassionate physicians. Never settle for less than you want or deserve at school, in life, in your pursuit of the right position when you fi nish school, and never settle when it comes to romance, (these are words I have preached to my own daughters).

“A lesson I learned long ago was regarding `equal stature.’ Even though you are in your second year, your knowledge and wisdom may have you wiser than your years. I share this because sometimes in school and in the workplace, people do not give WINNING WORDS enough respect to younger students or newer employees. Carry yourself with confi dence. There are three keys to success: confi dence, confi dence and confi dence. Confi dence in yourself, conMichael Norton fi dence in your knowledge, and confi dence in your heart and compassion. These will never let you down.

“Always be curious. The smartest person in the room is not the person talking or teaching. The smartest person in the room is the one asking the best questions. This works in school, at work, and in social settings. The person who asks great questions seems to garner greater respect. It’s OK not to have the answers, and it’s even better when we are brave enough to ask the questions.

“Guard your head and heart. We can be, do, and have anything we want in this world. And unfortunately, there is a lot of noise out there, as people try to pressure others into their beliefs. So, watch what information you allow into your head and heart. Our sources of input are critical to life success. This also goes for the people in our lives. Are they toxic? Negative? Do they drain our energy? These are the people you need to avoid, and if they are already in your life, take the time to walk away, as hard as that may seem.

“Lastly, create your word bank. Too often people aren’t ready or equipped when confrontation, confl ict, or disagreements occur. And when we aren’t ready, if we haven’t built our mental model on how we would respond instead of react, and if we do not have our go-to words top of mind and heart, we can miss opportunities to defuse situations. On the positive side, when we have our word bank visible and top of mind, we tend to lean into those words, and they bring joy to our day and into each interaction we have with anyone around us. People love positive people. Some of the words in my word bank include, love, forgiveness, grace, kindness, beauty, humility, generosity, abundance, encouragement, hope (that’s a big one), gentleness, compassion, patience, endurance, determination and trust.

“Thanks for the opportunity to connect. If you ever want to talk through this guidance, please let me or your mom know and I would be happy to jump on a call, as I live by this philosophy that I learned from Zig Ziglar and that changed my life, `You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.’ If you would like, next time we can talk about goals and accountability and accountability partners.”

You probably have even more and maybe better guidance to offer, and I would love to hear what that would be at gotonorton@ gmail.com. And when we can never settle, always be curious, guard what goes into our hearts and minds, and have our positive word bank ready to go, it really will be a better than good life.

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

McLellan held line on truth

Many thanks to Rebecca McClellan and the other Democratic members of Colorado’s State Board of Education who believe that students deserve to learn a lesson that should be beyond the reach of partisan politics: that the Holocaust was committed by the German Nazi Party and their collaborators.

It was board member McClellan who pushed back on a false assertion that the Nazis were anything other than fascist. She, along with her Democratic colleagues on the board, stood up against the replacement of our Colorado Civics Standards with the partisan “American Birthright” text. The nonpartisan Colorado Civics Standards Committee worked diligently for over a year to see that the Colorado standards should not — and will not — be thrown out because of a partisan and dangerous agenda.

Fortunately, the Democratic members of the State Board of Ed look out for teachers, parents, and students. Board members like Rebecca McClellan respect Colorado voices in our state’s Colorado Standards.

Jeffery Moser Aurora

Value children by voting yes

If you value children and their learning, join me on Nov. 8 in voting yes on 5B. This measure will improve learning for students, a competitive wage for teachers, and a better quality of life for all of us. 27J Schools’ funding has lagged signifi cantly behind all but two districts throughout the state with inadequate per-student funding. It is the lowest funded district in the Denver metro area. Other neighboring districts receive much more.

Teachers are leaving in record numbers simply because 27J Schools aren’t paying them a competitive wage. Teachers like West Ridge Elementary School teacher Kristi Reyonlds tell us they can’t afford to work for 27J because our wages aren’t enough to pay their rent and essential bills. This hurts our students. When we lose great teachers, our students miss out on consistent, high-quality instruction.

We live in an increasingly dangerous world and we owe it to our community to step-up our efforts to keep our students safe. 5B will provide every school professionally trained safety personnel to protect our students and staff. We must protect our children.

For less than a dollar per day on a $500,000 house, we can fi x this. 5B is a winning investment in our communities and children.

Let’s keep our schools and neighborhoods strong with your yes vote on 5B by Nov. 8. We’re all worth it!

Dorthy (Dot) Lindsey, Brighton

No school district has done more to earn your vote

27J Schools is on the ballot again this year. The request is for $17.74 million to be raised through an 8 mill increase in property taxes to be used to fund three specifi c needs of our schools and our communities based upon input from our stakeholders:

Better protect our students and staff members from gun violence and threats through the hiring of armed safety offi cers or student resource offi cers at every district managed school

Increase compensation for teachers and hourly support staff members to hire and keep the best possible adults working with our students and families

Hire additional teachers and hourly support staff members and expand programming for our Career and Technical Education/ STEM Centers currently being constructed at Brighton, Prairie View, and Riverdale Ridge High Schools so that our students graduate with career-ready skills that will benefi t the students and our communities.

Our only successful MLO (mill levy override) request was in the year 2000 for $750,000. This will be the 8th MLO request of the 27J Schools community for additional operating revenue in the past two decades. The previous seven MLO requests in 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2017, and 2021 all failed.

During the same time period, the fi ve Denver Metro Schools Districts with the highest graduation rates for the class of 2021 had different experiences and outcomes.

SEE LETTERS, P7

TANDARD BLADESB R I G H T O N SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903 75c I

A publication of

LINDA SHAPLEY

Publisher

lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA

Editor-in-Chief

michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

SCOTT TAYLOR

Metro North Editor

STEVE SMITH

Sports Editor

ssmith@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI

Operations/ Circulation Manager

lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com

TERESA ALEXIS

Marketing Consultant Classifi ed Sales

Columnists & Guest Commentaries

Columnist opinions are not necessarily those of the Blade. We welcome letters to the editor. Please include your full name, address and the best number to reach you by telephone.

Email letters to

staylor@coloradocommunitymedia.com

Deadline

Wed. for the following week’s paper. To opt in or out of delivery please email us at circulation@ coloradocommunitymedia.com

Brighton Standard Blade (USPS 65180)

A legal newspaper of general circulation in Brighton, Colorado, Brighton Standard Blade is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media, 143 S. 2nd Pl., Brighton CO 80601. . PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT Brighton and additional mailing o ces. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: Brighton Standard Blade, 750 W. Hampden Ave., Suite 225, Englewood, CO 80110