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August 21, 2014 VOLU M E 1 3 | I S S UE 31
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Sky Ridge finds CEO from within Longtime administrator Susan Hicks replaces Maureen Tarrant as hospital’s leader By Jane Reuter
jreuter@colorado communitymedia.com Almost ensuring a seamless transition, longtime Sky Ridge Medical Center chief operating officer Susan Hicks was named
the hospital’s new president and chief executive officer Aug. 18. Hicks steps in for former CEO Maureen Tarrant, who recently accepted a position as CEO of Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s. “I’m very, very honored to take on this role at Sky Ridge,” said Hicks, who’s acted as COO since the hospital’s 2003 opening. “I’ve been here since the beginning. To be able to take this role and go to the next level is very exciting.”
Hicks
A South Dakota native and Parker resident, Hicks has lived and worked in the Denver area since 1977 in a variety of capacities. She worked at Denver’s Rose Medical Center for 20 years, serving as chief nursing officer and director of surgical services,
among others. She and Tarrant worked together there. Both came to help open Sky Ridge in 2003.
“Susan has been an integral member of the executive team at Sky Ridge since the hospital opened in 2003,” said Sylvia Young, CEO of Sky Ridge owner HealthONE. “She has been instrumental in developing comprehensive programs in neurosurgery, orthopedics, cardiology, stroke and surgery, to name a few. The Sky Ridge team and its medical staff have given her leadership, clinical depth and business CEO continues on Page 28
Reform impact debated Pace of change, new demands cited as factors in teacher turnover By Jane Reuter
jreuter@colorado communitymedia.com
Castle Rock’s Jim Wojtkewicz, left, gets a taste of Denver’s Strange Craft beer during the Aug. 15 Art & Ale Brew Festival at The Wildlife Experience.
ALL HAIL ART & ALE The 11th annual Art & Ale Brew Festival sold out this year, drawing about 2,000 attendants Aug. 15 at The Wildlife Experience. The gathering featured tastings of both beverages and food from about 50 breweries, wineries and spirit vendors, as well as 22 restaurant and food vendors. Booths were scattered along the museum’s front lawn and more tables were set up inside the building. In addition to the neverending flow of spirits, highlights of the evening included a live ice sculpting demonstration, chocolate fountains and dancing to the music of the 1980s Denver cover band “Flock of Beagles.”
PHOTOS BY JANE REUTER
Crowds pack the grounds of the Wildlife Experience during the sold-out 11th Annual Art & Ale Brew Festival on Aug. 15.
Parker resident and ice sculptor Mike Bichelhaupt, of Colorado Ice Sculptures, carves a fish as the 11th Annual Art & Ale gets underway at the Wildlife Experience.
Parker residents Lynnette and Chris Adams sample beer from Pug Ryan’s brewery in Dillon during the Aug. 15 festival.
Education reform may be accelerating the pace of teacher turnover not just in Douglas County but throughout Colorado, some experts say. And while some say changes can be made to soften the impact and slow turnover, others maintain it is part of the process involved in reshaping American education. Colorado and most other states adopted the Common Core initiative — a national effort to improve education standards that specify the skills and knowledge students must learn at each level. The state integrated the Common Core with its Colorado Academic Standards, and began implementing the changes with the 201314 academic year. The Douglas County School District designed and introduced its own version of the standards, called the Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum, in 2012. Teacher turnover is up for both entities, though the rate at which they are leaving rose more sharply in DCSD than at the state level. Colorado teacher turnover for 2013-14 was 16.65 percent, and in DCSD it was 17.28 percent. From 2012 to 2013, the pace at which teachers left their posts statewide rose 13 percent. In DCSD, it increased by 30 percent. Those numbers, compiled by the Colorado Department of Education, do not include employees who left after Dec. 1, 2013, in-district transfers or in-district promotions. The changes and added job duties the new standards entail, combined with the impact of a now-fading recession that contributed to pay freezes for many teachers, are feeding those increases, one state education official believes. Under the reforms, teachers are faced with changing curriculum, new planning methods, increased testing and self-evaluations. “It’s already a complex job,” said Bruce Caughey, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives. “If you lay in a combination of no raises and significantly changing demands, I think it’s taking a toll. “I do think educators are typically optimistic people who want to do the work Reform continues on Page 10