June 10, 2016
FAMILY TIME
VO LUM E 1 4 | IS S U E 32 | FREE
Longer work weeks make spending time with loved ones a challenge. PAGE 14
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Kidney donor emerges for teacher
Community, youths come together for educator in need
By Tom Skelley tskelley@coloradocommunitymedia.com When doctors told Molly Wright to register for a kidney transplant waiting list, she didn’t waste any time. According to the National Kidney Foundation, the average wait time for a donor match is 3.6 years, though in some cases it can be much
longer. Wright didn’t need to wait nearly that long. After hearing of her need, many of her students at Prairie Crossing Elementary in Parker organized an awareness campaign in February. The “Help Molly Find a Kidney” project included fliers, T-shirts and bracelets that students made to spread the word. Other friends and family had been doing campaigns of their own, spreading the word in their neighborhoods and churches.
Ultimately, it was a friend of Wright’s mother who came forward and was found to be a match, but the search was a community effort. “I’m just blown away,” Wright said of her students’ campaign. “They’re not just thinking outside of the box, they’re thinking outside of themselves.” Wright suffered a series of complications, including seizures and a stroke, during the birth of her son, Nolan, in May 2015. As a result, she lost 90 Teacher continues on Page 13
Nolan, left, Tom, center, and Molly Wright, right, thank students at Prairie Crossing Elementary School in Parker for their efforts in the Help Find Molly a Kidney project on May 23. Students made T-shirts, bracelets, business cards and an informational video to raise awareness about Wright’s search for a donor. Photo by Tom Skelley
Apps offer cardiac arrest help One notification summons help; other function points to nearby defibrillators By Alex DeWind adewind@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Peter Mason, 11, left, shows off the game he designed with Logan Given, 11, center, as Porter Otteson, 10, right, distributes prizes at the Pine Lane Elementary Planet Protectors Carnival. Students at the school raised $1,100 for charities addressing world hunger, endangered animals and other causes at the event. Photos by Tom Skelley
Prizes and profits to protect the planet
Nikolas Tucker, 11, makes final adjustments to the game “Drifting Driftway” that he and his partners created for the Pine Lane Elementary Planet Protectors Carnival on May 31. Forty-two students designed games, did research and promoted awareness of global issues for the event.
Pine Lane students host fundraising carnival to address global problems By Tom Skelley tskelley@coloradocommunitymedia.com Ask any elementary school teacher and they will tell you that the last week of school can be a little bit chaotic. The fifthand sixth-grade classes at Pine Lane Elementary are no exception, but on May 31 they turned pandemonium into a chance to do some good. The classes, part of Pine Lane’s Discovery program
for gifted children, held their second annual Planet Protectors Carnival, three days before the end of the school year. As excited as they were to be free of tardy bells and homework, the students were just as enthusiastic about raising money to address global problems such as pollution, endangered animals and hunger. “Creativity and collaboration for the greater good, it’s a beautiful thing,” said Margaret Condron, a fourth- and fifthgrade teacher in the Discovery Program. All of the games were designed, built and tested by 42 Pine Lane continues on Page 13
South Metro Fire Rescue is the first fire district in Arapahoe and Douglas counties to activate two smartphone applications that firefighters hope will improve sudden cardiac arrest survival rates by alerting CPR-trained professionals and pinpointing medical equipment in the community. Once 911 is called for a patient experiencing sudden cardiac arrest in a public place, citizens who install the PulsePoint app on their smartphones will be alerted if they are within 400 meters of the patient. The PulsePoint AED app points users to the nearest automated external defibrillator, a portable device that sends an electric shock to the heart to restore a normal rhythm. App users also have the ability to place an AED’s location on a Apps continues on Page 12
PRIMARY VOTE Ballots are being mailed to registered voters this week. Read Q&A responses from local candidates on PAGE 4.