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March 20, 2014 Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 27, Issue 18 A publication of
highlandsranchherald.net
Voucher case goes to state’s top court Colorado Supreme Court will rule on 2011 Douglas County School District program By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Reid Padgett, 2, rubs his dad Jeremy Padgett’s newly bald head after the KIMN Mix 100 DJ had his head shaved for charity. He raised about $850 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The event, in total, raised more than $18,000. Photos by Hannah Garcia
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St. Baldrick’s fundraiser yields $18,000 By Hannah Garcia
hgarcia@coloradocommunitymedia.com
W
ith freshly shaved bald heads bobbing among the crowd and the occasional tufts of freshly shaven hair drifting across the sidewalks like tumbleweeds, Lansdowne Arm’s St. Baldrick’s Foundation Fundraiser once again drew hundreds for its annual head-shaving festival. Surrounded by Irish dancers, bagpipers and bouncy castles, around 100 participants stepped up March 16 to have their heads shaved by stylists from Floyd’s Barbershop. And each one had a story. Stepping up to the stage set up on the Town Center sidewalk in front of Jimmy John’s, Hunter Worley, 12, raised $1,425 for the St. Patrick’s Day-themed event. He said his friend’s mother died of cancer last year, following two family friends who also died of cancer. “I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose someone important to you like that,” Worley said, rubbing his newly bald head. “So, I decided to do something about it.” KIMN Mix 100 DJ Jeremy Padgett had his head shaved in memory of Austin Williams, who died of a muscle cell cancer a year ago, shortly after the teenager turned 17. Williams had undergone three years of cancer treatment before dying. “It’s just such important research,” Padgett said, after his 2-year-old son Reid had fun rubbing his freshly shaved head. “As a parent, you realize how important this is.” Williams’ mother, Daelyn Larche-Sigman, told the crowd watching and waiting for the popular buzz cuts that her son encouraged her to listen to “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” soon after he was diagnosed. “Pretty soon, it became our theme song,” she said. After he received his dream car, a blue 1972 Chevelle with white racing stripes, Williams and his parents founded a local charity called Rollin’ Dreams. The nonprofit focuses on activities for teens diagnosed with cancer and raising funds. Matt Pilon raised around $500 for the event, where onlookers cheered for him as his wavy, 5-inch locks fell to the concrete. At 15 years old, Pilon’s brother Tyler passed away in December 2005 from Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. “I’ve shaved my head every year since then,” Pilon said. When asked if he would do it again, Pilon simply said, “oh, yeah.” KIMN Mix 100 and Lansdowne Arm’s have hosted the event since 2005. Last year, the foundation raised $22,000 for childhood cancer research. In its eighth year, the event raised more than $18,000 for shaving pledges, donations and a silent auction as of the morning of March 17.
The Colorado Supreme Court will hear the Douglas County School District voucher case. It issued an order March 17 granting that request from several plaintiffs in the original 2011 filing. The case likely won’t be heard until late summer or early fall, an attorney working for one of the plaintiffs said. That distant date — or the 11 months it took the state’s high court to render its decision — didn’t dampen the excitement of some involved with the case. “We’re thrilled,” said Cindy Barnard, president of the nonprofit Taxpayers for Public Education. “We certainly see this as a victory for us. When you look at the way the court has written the writ, it’s very clear they’re looking at all the substantive issues we brought forward.” The pilot program, named the Choice Scholarship Program, allows parents to use state-issued funds toward tuition at private schools. Most of the schools included in the program are religious. Barnard and others, including the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, filed suit after DCSD introduced the program, and Denver District Court declared it unconstitutional in August 2011. Voucher continues on Page 9
Carter Sanders, 8, winces a little as Dre Brown shaves off his blond locks for the St. Baldrick Foundation’s annual head-shaving fundraiser March 16 in Highlands Ranch.
Old schedule back at MVHS Other high schools may follow return to lighter teacher loads, shorter off-periods for students By Jane Reuter
jreuter@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Jonas Nekvasil, 8, cringes as April Lowe shaves off the few remaining patches of his hair during the St. Baldrick’s annual fundraiser in Town Center in Highlands Ranch. This year’s event was in honor of 12-year-old Hope Holloway, a Highlands Ranch girl who is in remission after being diagnosed with a neuroblastoma in 2007, and Aurora youth Justin Miller, who died earlier this year after being diagnosed with a neuroblastoma in 2006. While emceeing the event, Mix 100 program director and DJ Bo Jaxon also went under the clippers, although the stylist left behind a strange pattern of brown, curly tufts. Like the scores of others walking around with news dos, he didn’t seem to mind. “There are some beautiful, bald heads walking around here,” he said.
After two years on a block schedule, Mountain Vista High School will return to the more traditional class periods for the 2014-15 academic year. At least four other Douglas County School District high schools want to follow suit. Mountain Vista parents said the primary reason for veering away from the current 6-of-8 block schedule is to ease teacher workloads, bolster staff morale and ensure quality teachers stay. “Our teachers need to see some victories,” said Curt Coffman, co-chairman of MVHS’ School Accountability Committee. “They need to see that somebody’s really paying attention to what they can do, and that there is some kind of advocacy there. I think this is one step in the right direction.” Schedule continues on Page 9
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