Herald Englewood
November 2, 2012
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourenglewoodnews.com
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 92, Issue 38
$16M plan unveiled for school makeover Chenango location will be new home of alternative facility By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com
Craig Hospital patient Rex Haskins straps in for a flight in a small plane as therapist Claire Cahow looks on. Photos by Deborah Grigsby
Small planes help spirits, hopes soar Volunteer pilots, ground crew take therapy to new level By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews.com For people with spinal cord injuries, recovery can be a long and difficult challenge, but a new program at Englewood’s Craig Hospital has some patients literally flying through the process. CraigFlight Mission, a unique partnership between Craig Hospital’s therapeutic recreation program and the Jeppesen Employees Flying Association, puts patients with spinal cord injuries into the cockpit of a small airplane for a short flight around the Denver skyline. Volunteer pilots and ground crew Flight continues on Page 9
Craig Hospital patients Jake Nelson, left ,and Rex Haskins, right, visit with pilot and Jeppesen employee Scott Kennedy outside the Denver Jet Center at Centennial Airport. CraigFlight Mission is a partnership between Craig Hospital and Jeppesen employees to provide patients with brain and spinal cord injuries the chance to see Denver from the cockpit of a small plane.
Food donations can erase library fines Inter-Faith benefits from twice-yearly program By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com The Englewood Public Library offers the opportunity to help needy families while clearing past-due fines off the books through its semiannual Food for Fines program. Through Dec. 9, a patron bringing two non-perishable food items to the library can cancel one fine for keeping a library
item beyond the turn-in date. The food is turned over to the Inter-Faith Community Services food bank for distribution to families in need. Deb Parker, library executive assistant, said because the library is changing to a new computer system in December, the staff is encouraging everyone to take advantage of Food for Fines before Thanksgiving, although the library will continue to accept food for fines through Dec. 9. “The program has worked well since it was started it in 1990,” Parker said. “The program does reduce the money we collect in fines. But the program encourages
POSTAL ADDRESS
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.
people to bring materials back to the library while donating food that will be used to help feed needy families in our area.” She noted that donations to the Food for Fines program doesn’t apply to the obligation of paying for lost or damaged items. Patrons taking part in Food for Fines are asked to bring the food items to the library’s circulation desk on the first floor of the Englewood Civic Center, 1000 Englewood Parkway. That way, the staff member on duty can make sure the fine can be canceled in the computer. The Food for Fines program has been an Englewood tradition since 1990. Originally, it was a once-a-year program. But in 2003, then Library Director Hank Long got permission from the Englewood City Council to hold the event twice a year. Since it began in 1990, the Food for Fines program has collected food donations for Inter-Faith valued at more than $47,000. For information on the Food for Fines program, call the library at 303-762-2560.
The plans are completed for a project to transform Englewood Middle School into a new location for Colorado’s Finest Alternative High School. “This projects fits in with project under way to construct a seventh- through 12th-grade campus on the current Englewood High School site,” said Brian Ewert, school superintendent. “When the campus is completed, the middle school students will move there, and we now have plans for the makeover of the middle school building so it can be the new home of Colorado’s Finest Alternative High School.” The work at the middle school building at 300 W. Chenango Ave. is a $16 million project funded by $8 million from the voter-passed bond issue and an $8 million state grant. Ewert said the outside of the building will be spruced up, but about the only major change is that the entrance will be moved from its present location on the north side of the school facing Chenango Street to the west side of the school facing the parking lot. “However, there will be a lot new inside the building,” the superintendent said. “We are excited that the project will once again make it possible for Englewood schools to have a cosmetology program.” Englewood used to have a similar cosmetology program, but it was closed down a few years ago. Now, when the project is completed, Colorado’s Finest Alternative High School building will have all the equipment so students who take and complete the cosmetology program will be prepared to take the tests to be licensed, so they can immediately apply for jobs cutting hair, plus they will be qualified to give pedicures or manicures. Ewert said the new CFAHS building will also have a fully equipped STEM lab for students focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Also, when the project is completed, it will mean, for the first time, students at the alternative high school will have a gymnasium, locker rooms and the facilities to serve a full lunch program. There will also be equipment and studios for students studying video production. The superintendent said moving the alternative high school to the Englewood Middle School location will provide a safer location than the current site at Baker Avenue and Zuni Street, plus it will mean students will have ready access to public transportation that isn’t available at the current CFAHS location. School continues on Page 10