LOCAL

The community of Fort Lupton lined up for the spaghetti dinner in support of school

supplies for the students. PHOTOS BY BELEN WARD

The feature entertainment the Lounge Guy, Allen Bennett singing “ I left my heart in San Francisco,” made famous by Tony Bennett.

Fort Lupton High School Principal Doug Gordon giving a speech thanking sponsors, the school board and the community for raising funds to buy student school supplies. Spaghetti dinner raises funds for school supplies

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Residents came out to be fed and help Fort Lupton Schools Aug. 25 at the 15th annual Spaghetti Dinner at the Fort Lupton Recreation Center.

The annual event raises funds to help pay for school supplies for the Weld-Re8 students.

“This is an incredible honor as the Fort Lupton High School principal to represent the students, “ said Doug Gordon, Fort Lupton High School Principal.

“The students at the high school and the student government, the sacrifi ce they make within the district, we can’t be here without the businesses and the parents that support the district. So without them, we wouldn’t be here,” Gordon said.

For the spaghetti dinner fundraiser, 100% of the net proceeds go directly to purchase school supplies such as backpacks, modeling clay, pencils, computers and notebooks for the K-12 Weld Re-8 students.

The community lined up to have homemade spaghetti and desserts by Wholly Stromboli restaurant. Collision Brewing Company out of Longmont served craft beer and wine. They had a silent auction and featured the Lounge Guy Rat Pack Lounge Crooner.

Last year the spaghetti event brought in over $3,000. Organizers are still tallying the amount raised in 2022.

The sponsors are Bank of Colorado, Aims Community College, Basalite, and OXY Zero On. The community sponsors are Wholly Stromboli and United Power.

United Way announces new CEO and President

STAFF REPORT

Melanie Woolman is the new President and CEO for United Way Weld County, taking over Jeannie Truswell’s position

Truswell is set to retire after 36 years of service this year, according to a news release.

The United Way Weld County Board of Directors announced Woolman would start her new role on Sept. 15.

“We are very excited to have Melanie as United Way of Weld County’s next leader,” said Sara Seely, United Way’s board chair. “She brings strong experience and proven outcomes in developing strategic and collaborative community-wide solutions that improve lives. Melanie understands the importance of the caring power of our community. Her vision, passion and leadership approach will guide the organization as we continue to build on United Way’s substantial role in Weld County.”

Woolman was Vice President for United Way Weld County Community Impact, which manages more than 30 programs and services, leads 27 staff members, and handles 55 grants with a $5.8 million-dollar budget, according to United Way offi cials.

She started with United Way in 2014, working with AmeriCorps VISTA, then in 2015 was hired as Community Impact Coordinator, and then moved up to Director from 2016 to 2020.

Woolman worked statewide to prevent homelessness and helped with the administrative process of the federally recognized Northern Colorado Continuum of Care for Weld and Larimer counties.

She was recognized with multiple community awards for her compelling work to help communities.

The United Way conducted a national search interviewing candidates since the position was posted in May.

West Nile Virus cases confi rmed in Adams County

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment confi rmed three cases of the West Nile Virus in Adams County as of Aug. 25.

Other confi rmed cases have been in Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfi eld, Delta, Denver, Eagle, Larimer, Montrose and Weld counties.

The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes. Birds are the reservoir host and when a mosquito bites a bird with the virus, it can then go on to bite mammalian species to infect them, according to Deputy State Epidemiologist Jennifer House.

Although West Nile Virus is mostly transmitted through mosquito bites, it can spread through blood or whole organ donations. Though, the blood supply is screened.

House said it is not transmitted from person to person.

The symptoms of the virus begin with a fever and followed by a fl u-like illness. House said a small proportion of individuals progress to a more severe illness that is neuroinvasive.

“That means that the virus has gotten into the brain and spinal cord and can cause encephalitis or meningitis encephalitis and those individuals end up hospitalized. They can potentially have severe outcomes from that infection,” she said.

It takes about seven days from the mosquito bite for the virus to become neuroinvasive. However, it also can take seven days for someone to start feeling symptoms.

“You may not know that you have West Nile virus, and then suddenly you’re very ill,” she said.

Most cases in Colorado take place in late August and early September, House said.

There is no human vaccine for the West Nile Virus and residents can protect themselves to avoid going outside during the mosquitoes’ most active times — dusk and dawn.

If someone is outside during those times, covering exposed skin with clothing can help, as well as using an EPA approved insect repellent to avoid bites.

Dumping any standing water on one’s property will reduce mosquito populations. Mosquitoes can breed in as little as a tablespoon of water and fi nish their developmental stages to fl y in seven days, House said. Dumping bowls, cans and other water fi lled containers within a week can prevent breeding.

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Taking charge with Mead grad Austin Zeschin

Petty O cer relies on hometown work ethic to protect country

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

It’s not a bad bargain, according to Navy Petty Offi cer 2nd First Class Austin Zeschin, from Platteville: He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and now he gets to defend his country and see the world.

“My proudest Navy accomplishment is advancing in rank to petty offi cer second class fairly quickly,” Zeschin said. “I’m also proud of my ability to travel and see the world — specifi cally Spain.”

Zeschin is part of a mission called “Take Charge and Move Out”. It’s key to the nation’s nuclear deterrence mission at Strategic Communications Wing One, according to Navy offi cials. It provides airborne communication links to nuclear missile units for the U.S. Strategic Command and transmits emergency action messages.

“The Navy contributes to the National Defense Strategy by assisting our allies and defending against our adversaries,” Zeschin said.

The commander-in-chief issues orders to members of the military who operate nuclear weapons aboard submarines, aircraft or in land-based missile silos. Sailors aboard TACAMO E-6 Mercury aircraft provide the one-of-a-kind and most-survivable communication needed for this critical mission.

Zeschin graduated from Mead High School in 2018 and said he relies on the skills he picked up there, especially the strong work ethic that he brings to his job in the Navy.

“Your work ethic is everything. If you’re not willing to work hard you won’t have anything,” Zeschin said.

Zeschin said he joined the Navy four years ago to take advantage of the military’s fi nancial security and opportunities. He works as a construction mechanic, and his favorite part of the job is the opportunity to learn and work in a wide range of jobs for the Navy.

“I enjoy the fl exibility of being able to work with sailors working with other jobs. It will help me when I become a civilian.”

Mission

Zeschin and his team of men and women of the “Take Charge and Move Out” mission provide the communication links between national decision makers and the nation’s nuclear weapons. The name comes from the original order used during the 1961 Cold War. The Navy adopted this order and the acronym TACAMO, making it the command’s nickname, according to Navy offi cials.

It’s a continent-spanning command, based out of Tinker Air Force base in Oklahoma in the middle of the country and centrally located to both coasts and the Gulf of Mexico. It can deploy an aircraft quickly, insuring the nation’s nuclear deterrence is always sharp and ready to respond.

It’s staffed with men and women who are Wing staff, the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training, and three Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadrons: The “Ironmen” of VQ 3, the “Shadows” of VQ 4, and the “Roughnecks” of VQ 7, according to Navy offi cials.

Strategic Communications Wing One, or STRATCOMMWING ONE, employs more than 1,300 active-duty sailors with 100 contractors to provide maintenance, security, operations, administration, training, and logistic support for the Boeing E-6 Mercury aircraft fl eet, an airborne command post, and communications relay based on the Boeing 707.

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Having spent more than 25 years in the personal and professional development business, working with people in a variety of industries, I have been blessed to have worked alongside some of the most recognized iconic authors, speakers, trainers and motivators in the industry.

Additionally, having spent so much time in the business, I have worked with some of the most phenomenal people, both inside the organizations where I have worked, and with the companies where we delivered training and performance development solutions.

If you happen to read this column regularly, you will recognize the name Zig Ziglar, as I quote him often. I became a fan of Zig’s long before I partnered with him to launch a business and then becoming a part of his organization from 1998 through 2010 in some capacity, eventually becoming the president of the company. When people ask me what that run was like, I always respond the same way: It was a tremendous experience and I was blessed to have worked alongside some incredible people within the organization, including Zig’s son Tom Ziglar, who is still the CEO today as well as one of my partners. As Mr. Ziglar retired, I joined the Sandler Training organization led by David Mattson. I had known David for several years as he was a partner in one of our businesses with Zig, so making the decision to join Sandler was an easy one. Again, I worked alongside some tremendously talented people at Sandler, and continued to learn so much more about the corporate training environment. Sandler has a vast network fi lled with men and women who are at the top of the list of corporate training professionals, speakers and coaches. Sandler’s global presence provided me with an opportunity to build upon and expand my international experience, learning so much more about the cultural nuances of the many different countries we served.

Why am I sharing this? Having spent 12 years with the Ziglar organization and nearly 10 years with Sandler, I never lost touch with the people that I worked alongside at either organization. As a matter of fact, it went deeper than just staying connected, I was able to partner with Sandler while at Ziglar, and then partner with Ziglar while at Sandler. Several weeks ago, I wrote a column about the importance of not burning bridges, and instead looking for ways to stay connected for the benefi t of all parties. That lesson and the spirit of working cooperatively is demonstrated here.

In 2019 I branched out to launch my third start-up, a personal and professional development consulting organization. Ziglar and Sandler were both partners, as were several other of the leading training and development companies in the industry. I have so much respect for those companies and the work that they do and the difference they make in the lives of the people they teach, train, motivate and coach.

Bringing it all back full circle. Living and working with the attitude of abundance and in the spirit of true partnership, I was always able to call upon my friends in the industry, even my competitors, and talk openly about what we see happening in our industry. Coopetition instead of competition. And as I was ready to re-launch our start-up in a new way, and reached out to our partners, including David Mattson at Sandler, he posed an interesting question. He asked me if I would like to come “home” to Sandler and pick up where we had left off together.

Some people say that we cannot go around the block again, or it’s a bad idea to try. But when we live and work in a way where we can do great work together keeping our options open, we will most likely be able to come full circle, working, partnering, and changing lives alongside the people you love and trust. I would love to hear your story about coming full circle at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can keep ourselves, our employers and partners connected, it really will be a better than good life.

Coming full circle

WINNING WORDS

Michael Norton

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.

The result of pandemic chaos on education

While we all knew intuitively that students’ education suffered during the pandemic, it was still sobering to see the latest standardized test results across Colorado. The results document that student test scores declined since the last pre-pandemic tests were administered to all third through eighth grade students in 2019.

While standardized tests are not particularly popular and while there have been bi-partisan legislative efforts to scale them back, test results do show us trends of how students are doing on a macro level. Tests were canceled in 2020 and administered to a limited group of students in 2021.

As would be expected given the disruption to schools, the 2021 tests showed signifi cant declines, but those results provided limited chances to fully evaluate the results because the tests were not administered to all grades and participation levels were much lower than usual. All regularly tested students took the 2022 tests and participation levels equaled pre-pandemic levels, so they give us a chance to examine how the chaos of the pandemic on our kids’ education affected their progression.

And when we add how the pandemic affected teachers and how they both do and feel about their jobs, these test results should be another wake-up call about the need to continually prioritize the importance of public education and our societal need to prioritize it in our lives and to make sure our educational institutions have suffi cient resources to do their jobs.

There are federal resources related to the pandemic that we should use to address specifi c defi ciencies that are a result of the disruptions in our kids’ studies so that they can catch up, but any conclusions about the impact of the pandemic on student achievement is incomplete unless it continues on to acknowledge when it came to K-12 education, we had plenty of work to do before the pandemic.

While standardized tests are not the do all and be all for measuring student achievement, they can be a helpful tool to measure trends in how students are meeting educational expectations. In both 2019 and 2022, less than half of all students who were tested in every grade (3rd through 8th) and for both English and math met or exceeded expectations.

As this new school year starts with fewer COVID restrictions and a much more traditional operation of our schools than in the last two years, the results of this year’s standardized test scores is a good reminder that we owe it to our kids and to our collective future to make schools and student achievement a priority.

GREG ROMBERG

Columnist

Greg Romberg had a long career in state and local government and in government relations. He represented corporate, government and trade association clients before federal, state and local governments. He lives in Evergreen with his wife, Laurie.

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