August 18, 2016 VOLUME 93 | ISSUE 1
LET THERE BE BEARDS There’s more to facial-hair fashion than meets the eye. PAGE 10
LakewoodSentinel.com J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
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New year starts at Jeffco schools Superintendent Dan McMinimee says district excited and looking forward to ‘positive start’ By Christy Steadman csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com From new playgrounds and schools to a new way to help credit-deficient students graduate, Jefferson County Schools have myriad new programs for its 86,000 students as they start the new school year. “There’s always that excitement about the start of the school year,” said Jefferson County School District Superintendent Dan McMinimee. “Who’s my teacher? Who’s in my class?” The district, McMinimee said, is looking forward to a positive start. The first day of classes for most of Jefferson County’s 155 schools is Aug. 18. And there are some highlights to look forward to in the 2016-17 academic year, said the district’s chief communications officer Diana Wilson. A new charter school opens this year The ribbon-cutting for Doral Academy, 7100 Wadsworth Blvd. in Arvada, took place Aug. 15. The school, according to its website, focuses on an arts-integrated curriculum and is serving students from School continues on Page 13
FIRST DAY Today, Aug. 18, Jeffco Public Schools will post first-day school pictures from years past on its Facebook page. Be sure to check them out. Everybody is invited to post his or her own first day of school photos, from the past and present, as well.
Lakewood city staff, Jefferson County Open Space and Great Outdoors Colorado leaders, and well as student campers, celebrated the ground-breaking of Lakewood’s first universal playground at Carmody Park. Photo by Clarke Reader
Playground to welcome all Lakewood begins work on first universal playground By Clarke Reader creader@coloradocommunitymedia.com The City of Lakewood recently tilled the first pile of dirt on the way to its first universal playground, which will have features that make it accessible to visitors of all ages and abilities. City officials, Jefferson County Open Space and Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) staff, and student campers were on hand Aug. 10 at Carmody Park for the groundbreaking — along with root beer floats. “This is a special day for all of us,” said Kit Newland, director of Lakewood’s community resources department. “This is the start of the first phase of the Carmody Park master plan.”
Carmody Park, located at 2200 S. Kipling Street, southeast of the Green Mountain area, features include musical instruments, a sand box, climbing challenges for all abilities, swinging and spinning equipment, sensory play and beams, tunnels and steppers for balancing. The project includes a year-round restroom facility, multi-use court, picnic shelters and an expansion of the current parking lot. The project will be completed around December. “We rely on the cities we partner with to do these kinds of facilities, since our parks are more nature-centered,” said Tom Hoby, director of Jeffco Open Space. “Between ourselves and the cities, we provide the full spectrum of activities.” As part of the groundbreaking, Jeffco Open Space presented a check for $700,000 and GOCO presented one for $350,000.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Mayor Adam Paul. “It is the partnerships we have that make this community so special.” According to information provided by the National Center on Accessibility, playgrounds that cater to all are extremely important to childhood development. “When we design for these purposes and apply the Principles of Universal Design, we design for inclusive play where every child, regardless of ability or disability, is welcomed and benefits physically, developmentally, emotionally and socially from the environment,” the information states. The city and its partners are well aware of this importance. “We know this is all about the young people out there today,” said Jim Spaanstra, GOCO’s executive director. “We hope to inspire them into activity, and into getting out in the parks.”
Nonprofit group supports students by handing out supplies Annual distribution event benefits 5,500 kids Staff report Back to school shopping for a family can be daunting, but imagine shopping for 5,500 students. The Action Center, a Lakewood-based
nonprofit, does just that on an annual basis. Aided by a small army of volunteers, and a lot of corporate and individual financial support, the Action Center has been helping Jefferson County-area students have all the school supplies they need. “It shows the power of community, Action Center Executive Director Mag Strittmatter said. “Everybody does a little
bit, and a lot gets done.” The distribution happened last week, at Stevens Elementary School, 7101 W. 38th Ave. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, for six days in a row, hundreds of families would fill the cafeteria area, and wait their turn to enter the gym, where piles upon piles of school supplies, already
DID YOU KNOW Parents are spending an average of $1,239 a household this back-to-school season, according to the latest “American Express Spending & Savings Tracker” survey. The survey shows an increase of 8 percent over 2014.
Supplies continues on Page 13
LAKEWOOD | AUGUST 21, 8AM–8PM | WADSWORTH + BELLEVIEW