Herald
Englewood 10-24-2013
Englewood
October 25, 2013
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourenglewoodnews.com
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 93, Issue 36
Group working to boost schools Professional development, more student time are goals By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com
The team of juniors and seniors bursts through the Pirates banner for the homecomng powder puff football game. The juniors and seniors played a team of freshman and sophomore girls in the annual clash. Photos by Tom Munds
Nothing gentle about
POWDER PUFF Homecoming week busy at Englewood High School
Schools continues on Page 23
Board denies bid for charter
By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com The Oct. 16 midweek homecoming activities turned the normally dark and quiet Englewood High School Stadium into a beehive of activities. All the events were part of the Pirates homecoming schedule that continued with the parade the afternoon of Oct. 18, followed by the football game against Weld Central that evening. Homecoming week concluded with the dance on Oct. 19. Activities kicked off as the Oct. 16 sun went down, with a chance to batter an old car to show determination to defeat Weld Central in football. The sledgehammer slammed repeatedly into the vehicle as Pirates sought to reduce the car into a pile of battered metal. The scene shifted to the gridiron about 6:30 p.m. for the annual powder puff football game. In keeping with tradition, the flag football game matches a team of junior and senior girls against a team of freshman and sophomore girls. Since the girls were playing football, it seemed only right that guys don the proper attire and be the cheerleaders. “It’s fun to do this,” said Andrew Montoya, one of the cheerleaders. “It’s all about school spirit and having fun. It’s chilly in this short
Many teachers around the country express the desire to have more time with students and more professional development. Englewood is collaborating with Generation Schools to make that happen. “We know we have a lot of kids who are behind and we know teachers don’t have enough time to help get those kids caught up. We also know there isn’t really enough time in the school year for teacher development,” said Brian Ewert, school superintendent. “We heard about the work Generation Schools is doing in those areas, looked into it and are developing a contract to have them work with our district.” Generation Schools Network was founded in 2004 on the East Coast and came to Colorado about four years ago, establishing a key office in Denver. It is a nonprofit organization that states it is dedicated to the whole school and systematic innovation to try to solve
Supporters plan no appeal but vow to return next year By Tom Munds
tmunds@ourcoloradonews.com
Elijah Daughtry uses her speed to outrun defenders as she scored a touchdown on the opening kickoff of the Oct. 16 powder puff football game. The game was part of homecoming activities. skirt but being here to cheer on the girls is still fun.” It is flag football, but there is a lot of emotion and hard collisions by members of both teams, and many of the players brought away bruises from the rough play on the field. The Oct. 16 game belonged to the upperclassmen. Elijah Daughtry took the opening kickoff for the juniors and seniors and raced about 70 yards for a touchdown. The upperclassmen set the tempo of play as the piled up points, eventually winning the game, 74-0. Maddie Smith, a member of the winning
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team, smiled as she came off the field. “This is the highlight of my year and the most fun I have all year,” she said. “There is so much rivalry between the members of the teams and then you get to come out here on the field to back up the talk. It was a whole lot of fun tonight because we were able to score so many points.” Tori Harper played for the underclassmen and she said it was sort of fun, but she felt her team had things planned and could have done better if the guys hadn’t tried to coach them and change everything. There were hugs and handshakes when the game was over and the focus shifted to the pep rally. The marching band was in the stands and students filled the seats to the west. There was singing and cheering before everyone filed out of the stands and did a snake dance around the track and moved out behind the stadium for the annual bonfire that wrapped up the evening’s activities at the stadium. However, another traditional activity was going on as EHS cheerleaders traveled to the homes of the Pirates football players and festooned the lawns and trees with toilet paper.
The Englewood School Board unanimously voted to deny the application to establish a charter school in the district. The vote came during a special Oct. 22 meeting in the boardroom at the school administration building. The only agenda item for the meeting was consideration of the charter school application. Brad Miller, an attorney, was the only person to address the board. He urged the board to approve the charter application. The 28 people in the audience listened as the board members discussed the draft resolutions and voted 4-0 to deny the charter school application. Mary Zachariah, Lloyd Carlton Academy charter school founding board president, said after the meeting that the academy supporters were disappointed by the school board’s decision. “We are disappointed, but I think we expected to have the application turned down,” Theresa Martens, board vice president, added. “The reasons they gave for turning down the application are flawed. But we are not going away. If we decide not to appeal tonight’s decision, Charter continues on Page 23