Westminster Window 050213

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Westminster Window 5/2/13

May 2, 2013

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A Colorado Community Media Publication

ourwestminsternews.com

Adams County and Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 68, Issue 28

Tuition measure passes Measure took years to come to fruition By Vic Vela

vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Cheers thundered inside a packed student area at Metropolitan State University of Denver on April 29, as hundreds showed up to witness a billsigning that will allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates at Colorado colleges and universities. And while Gov. John Hickenlooper’s signature on Senate Bill 33 was the most important part of the event, it was one line in particular that perhaps earned the Report most enthusiastic reaction from the predominantly young crowd. “Today, we’re here to tell you that in Colorado, the doors are open and the dream is alive,” said state Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver. The bill that has been dubbed ASSET — Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow — is finally a realization, 10 years after it was first introduced in the General Assembly, and after several failed attempts to get the legislation through. “It feels I did something, like I accomplished something,” said Val Vigil, a former state lawmaker who was the first legislator to push for this type of proposal. Vigil is now a councilman and mayor pro tem for the City of Thornton.

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Front Range Community College student Brittani Sievers prepares to launch a baseball with the catapult she built with second-graders from STEM Magnet School in Northglenn and the STEM Launch School in Thornton. FRCC physics students teamed up with students from both schools for a catapult competition on April 26 at the Westminster campus. Photos by Ashley Reimers

School project launches teamwork Students team up for catapult competition By Ashley Reimers

areimers@ourcoloradonews.com

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t was a test of accuracy, distance and creativity during the spring catapult competition at Front Range Community College in Westminster. FRCC physics students teamed up with second-graders from STEM Magnet Lab School in Northglenn and the STEM Launch School in Thornton for a 12-week

catapult project culminating with the students going head-to-head on April 26 using baseballs as the catapult payload. “We always do a pumpkins catapult competition in the fall, so I decided I wanted something for my spring students so I came up with baseballs since it’s baseball season,” said Clara Wente in the science department at FRCC. “And this year we decided to team with the second-graders so the students could mentor them while earning extra credit.” FRCC students volunteered their time to work with the young students for two hours a week for 12 weeks.

Over that time period, the college students worked with their team members to develop a catapult giving the second graders a hands-on physics lesson. When it came time to compete, the teams put their designs the test and were judged on how far they could launch the baseball, how accurate they were on aiming the ball into a net and the theme of their uniforms. For FRCC student Zach Lamb the choice to help with this project was an easy one. Catapult continues on Page 9

District receives innovation status for STEM academy By Ashley Reimers

areimers@ourcoloradonews.com Colorado STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Academy in Westminster will be the first school in Adams County School District 50 to be an innovation school. The new designation comes after unanimous approval by the Colorado Department of Education on April 10. It allows the school to offer extended days and an extended year. Becoming an innovation district was not easily attained, and Colorado STEM Academy principal Anthony Matthews said it was an extensive and lengthy process. With state approval he says he can give a sigh of relief knowing he’s able to offer this opportunity to his students. Colorado STEM Academy in Westminster is set to open in August. It will be an innovation school after the Colorado “We would still be able to open the STEM Department of Education approved Adams County School District 50’s request to be an innovation district. Photo by school even if we didn’t get approved,” he Ashley Reimers said. “But now we can accommodate stuPOSTAL ADDRESS dents’ needs and challenge them at new levels. And it will make life a lot easier and allow us to do things we wouldn’t be able to do othPrinted on recycled erwise. ” Colorado STEM Academy is set to open newsprint. Please recycle this copy. in August with 200 students in grades third through sixth. After the first year, the school will increase in size to 250 students followed by a build-out of 300 students by the 20152016 school year with students in grades three through eight. For the past couple months, Matthews has been busy hiring staff. He said

he’s looking to hire 13-and-a-half instructional staff and five-and-a-half support staff, and he’s close to finishing up the process. “Because we are a STEM school, we have to be pretty specific with the type of engineering, science and technology teachers we hire,” he said. “My background is heavily in technology education and I am trying to knock this school out of the park. I want it to be perfect, but perfection is hard.” The old Crown Pointe Academy building at 72nd Avenue and Irving Street will be home to Colorado STEM Academy. Matthews said remodeling inside the building is underway and in a few weeks more renovations will begin. He said overall the project is on schedule. “It’s a pretty tight timeline, but we’ve been doing a lot of pre-work and our district staff has been great about doing a lot of things when they have extra time,” he said. “We also have a lot of equipment and furniture coming in, so once we can get in the building we will start bringing that stuff over from our warehouse.” Since student registration opened in March, Matthews said there’s been a great response from the community. Although he anticipates a small waitlist, Matthews encourages parents and students interested to apply. “I’m not worried about filling up the school,” he said. “People in the community really want to be part of the STEM system.” For more information on Colorado STEM Academy or the application process, visit www.COStemAcademy.org.


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