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Fort Lupton fi refi ghter Jacob Bolger, Benjamin Simper, fi refi ghter Chris Blohm, and Evan Wilson and Fitness Coordinator Lacie Reckard are trying out the fi tness equip-

ment. PHOTO BY BELEN WARD

Polis salutes Fort Lupton for student achievement

BY STEVE SMITH SSMITH@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Fort Lupton High School was among 21 high schools in the state to receive the state’s Bright Spot award from Gov. Polis.

The schools demonstrated strong growth in student achievement and “the ability to advance learning through challenging times” since 2019, according to a press statement.

The framework lists six phases or bands, ranging from insuffi cient data, the lowest band, to the top-tier Distinction Plan. To qualify, schools must have advanced more than two bands on their performance framework since 2019. Fort Lupton, for example, advanced from the Turnaround Plan band – the second lowest rating band – to the Improvement Plan band, which is the third highest rated band.

The use of funds will be determined by each school. Examples of eligible uses of funds include increased mental and behavioral health or tutoring services, preparation and prevention strategies for future health emergencies, faculty development opportunities or school improvements.

“We are honored to receive this award from Gov. Polis,” said Re-8 Superintendent Alan Kaylor. “Our community has demonstrated perseverance throughout the pandemic, and those lessons learned will continue to serve us well. I am proud of the staff at the high school as well as the entire district over the past three years in delivering high-quality education and learning for each student.”

The schools also receive $50,000 of the governor’s emergency relief fund for investments in such things as expanding student resources, faculty development, preparing and preventing health emergencies and other opportunities to benefi t students’ learning experiences, the statement read.

“Congratulations to these schools that have shown strong improvements in results despite the pandemic and to all those that worked to advance students’ learning over the last three years,” the governor said in the statement. “The unprecedented challenges schools faced through the pandemic were diffi cult to navigate. But, your schools, teachers and communities showed incredible resilience, and I am honored to highlight you all.

“I look forward to seeing how you utilize the funding to keep uplifting your students and advance learning,” Polis said. “Investing in education ensures Colorado youth are able to thrive and access the high-quality education they deserve.”

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www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC

over with and join,” Newton said. “I wasn’t smart enough to be in the Air Force and wasn’t tough enough to be a Jar Head (a common nickname for the Marines),” Newton said.

He went to the draft board and asked the lady how many were ahead of him. About 50 were. Newton was wearing his bell-bottom trousers, the kind associated with long hair, hippies and dope smokers. That wasn’t him, he said.

“I ended up in the Army taking a battery of tests and tested out to be trained in one the military occupational status (MOS), so I chose refrigeration air conditioning,” he said.

He went into the Engineer Corps, and when Newton told people that’s what he’d be doing, they laughed at him.

“They looked at me and said ‘Those recruiters lied to you, you are not going to get that, they’re looking for combat arms infantry, armory and artillery,’ “ Newton said.

Newton left for basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri in December 1965.

After base training in January 1966, they sent Newton to Fort Belvoir, Virginia, an engineering school.

Newton said he and 15 other soldiers went through 11 weeks of essential refrigeration, air conditioning, soldering and electrical work.

“Around Memorial Day 1966 I got my orders: Have a nice trip to the tropical breezes and enjoy your onthe-job training in a hostile environment,” said Newton.

Newton trained for combat, but his assignment was to construct a cold storage complex “inside the wire” at Camp Radcliff, not too far from the Drang Valley that he’d read about in high school.

“I did have some survivor guilt because I was inside the wire,” he said. “We went outside the wire twice the whole year I was there. When we did go into the village, we were told that anyone wearing black pajamas was a Viet Cong. There were lots of black pajamas. It scared us.”

Newton said they would only leave the base to re-qualify their weapons and to shoot down range. But they felt like pop-up targets for the enemy when they did.

In June 1967, Newton asked his lieutenant if he should extend his Vietnam rotation to six months to help fi nish work on the complex.

“He cocked his head and looked at me; ‘What’s wrong with you, kid? I think you should get your anatomy...’ he called it something else ‘... and get on that airplane. Get out of here,’” Newton said.

Leaving Vietnam

Newton left for the states in June 1967, arriving at Fort Hood, Texas where he served until February 1968. After Fort Hood, Newton was sent to the Autobahn in Germany and spent his last six months in the service at Darmstadt.

Real-world events back in the U.S. kept him on his toes there, he said. Most daunting was the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King

“The racial situation got really bad when Martin Luth King was assassinated. All the guys went down to the guest house, a tavern, to get drunk on the German beer, which was a lot stouter, and get into fi ghts. I felt safer in Vietnam,” Newton said.

As Newton’s time in Germany wound down, they asked him to reenlist.

“I looked at him and said the contract ink wouldn’t be dry and you are reaching in your back pocket telling me I should have another nice ride to the tropical breezes, “ Newton said. “I said no and I want to go home.”

He got out in November 1968 and returned home to fi nd his high school sweetheart still waiting for him.

“She waited around, as opposed to sending me a dear John letter hoping I’d have a nice life,” he said.

Newton and his wife have been married for 54 years and moved to Brighton in 1984. They have a daughter, 53, and a son, 50, who shares his July 4 birthday.

Rocky Mountain Honor Flight

The Rocky Mountain Honor Flight is a non-profi t organization founded in 2007 that fl ies veterans to Washington, D.C. to honor their dedication and service. The honored veterans get to visit monuments and memorials. Each trip takes about 30 veterans, and they usually offer four trips a year.

“When I started in 2018, we had all the World War II & Korean veterans and our fi rst Vietnam veteran and took them in September of 2019,” said Keith Monte, Board of Directors Rocky Mountain Honor Flight.

Monte said there were no trips in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID.

They accept applications for honor fl ights from all veterans and veterans with disabilities.

Newton said he applied for a Rocky Mountain Honor fl ight fi ve years ago, before the COVID delays in 2020. He submitted a new application with a friend this year when the American Legion restarted the program. His friend went this spring, and Newton went in October.

bands, ranging from insuffi cient data, tinction Plan. To qualify, schools must

He made sure to stop at the memorials for World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Lincoln Memorial and the Marine Corps and the Air Force memorials.

“It was a good trip,” he said. those lessons learned will continue to at the high school as well as the entire delivering high-quality education and last three years,” the governor said in your students and advance learning,”

Steve Newton at the World War II gold star panel memorial saluting to the men and women who died in that war fi ghting for the

freedoms we enjoy today. PHOTO BY KEITH MONTE

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