CSMNG & CSBJ Education Guide Dec. 6, 2019

An advertising supplement to the Fort Carson Mountaineer, the Peterson Space Observer, the Sch riever Sentinel and the Colorado Springs Business Journal

education

guide

December 2019

CSMNG COLORADO SPRINGS MILITARY NEWSPAPER GROUP

2B December 6, 2019

Education Guide

An advertising supplement to the Fort Carson Mountaineer, the Peterson Space Observer, the Schriever Sentinel and the Colorado Springs Business Journal

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Higher ed is worth expense (if it’s completed)

By Erinn Callahan

Even in the face of mounting student debt and rising tuition costs, a college degree is still worth the price of admission — but that value is not without its caveats, according to a report prepared by the Colorado Department of Higher Education.

The inaugural “return on investment report,” an annual cost-benefit analysis mandated by the state Legislature in 2018, aims to help Coloradans understand their options and maximize their higher education investment (tinyurl.com/CDHEstudy18). The report’s data “clearly shows” that

higher education is worth the investment “as long as students finish what they start,” according to the report’s introduction, signed by Gov. Jared Polis and Angie Paccione, CDHE executive director.

“A credential’s worth isn’t neatly expressed in spreadsheets and numbers — it depends on where a student goes to school, how long they attend, what they major in and, most importantly, if they graduate,” the letter reads.

The report found that the proportion of students taking on debt, as well as the average amount, has leveled off at four-year colleges and even declined at two-year schools. Countering national trends,

just 10 percent of Colorado undergraduate students at four-year institutions took on more than $40,000 in debt, with even lower rates and averages for community college students.

About 75 percent of all Colorado jobs and 97 percent of those at the top — those with high growth rates and that pay a living wage — require advanced education and training, according to the study.

Arts, humanities and communications programs made up 38 percent of enrollment among Colorado public college students in fall 2017. But of the seven program categories analyzed in the

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Education Guide

December 6, 2019 3B

An advertising supplement to the Fort Carson Mountaineer, the Peterson Space Observer, the Schriever Sentinel and the Colorado Springs Business Journal

report, that one had the second-lowest earning potential, with the typical graduate making an annual salary of about $50,100 after 10 years.

“Throw in education degrees ($45,200) and social and behavioral sciences and human services ($52,900), and 50 percent of all four-year college graduates earn less than the average person with a two-year associate’s degree ($54,600) after 10 years in the workforce,” according to a July 30 analysis published by The Colorado Sun. However, although liberal arts graduates typically earn less immediately after graduation, they boast a higher longterm earnings profile than graduates with more vocationally oriented degrees, and many liberal arts students take time to give back after graduation, says Leslie Weddell, director of news and media relations at Colorado College.

Schools like CC have high enrollment rates among organizations such as the Peace Corps and Teach for America, Weddell said, and CC offers the Public Interest Fellowship Program, which allows students to work for a variety of nonprofit organizations in Colorado.

“...the value of a college education is far more than one’s income after graduation.”

— Leslie Weddell

“I can’t stress this enough — the value of a college education is far more than one’s income after graduation,” Weddell said.

Conversely, UCCS officials felt the report established that a degree from the public research institution remained one of the top higher education investment choices in Colorado.

“We believe that with our combination of academic rigor, affordable tuition and robust financial aid, we set our students up for success,” UCCS Chancellor Venkat Reddy said in a statement.

The median salary for a UCCS alum working in Colorado one year after graduation is $37,764 — higher than the median salary among all other state educational institutions, according to a report compiled by Jared Verner, UCCS director of communications.

Those graduating from UCCS with a master’s degree earn a median salary of $50,996 one year after graduation, and a UCCS doctoral graduate will earn $88,660 — 41 percent above their doctoral peers — one year after graduation, Verner said.

In the past five years, factoring in inflation, the average

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debt load for an undergraduate degree at UCCS has dropped 9 percent to $16,589 — the fourth-lowest in the state, Verner said.

Two-year degrees allow people to enter the workforce more quickly while incurring far less debt — but even a student pursuing a four-year degree could end up saving the equivalent of an entire year’s tuition at most four-year colleges or universities by taking those first two years at

Pikes Peak Community College, as PPCC’s tuition is less than half that of a four-year university, said Karen Kovaly, PPCC communication coordinator.

PPCC offers certificates and associate degrees in many in-demand skilled trades, including HVAC, construction, welding, diesel mechanics and auto body repair, Kovaly said.

These students very often have jobs lined up even before graduating, she said.

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4B December 6, 2019

An advertising supplement to the Fort Carson Mountaineer, the Peterson Space Observer, the Schriever Sentinel and the Colorado Springs Business Journal

Education Guide

School Liaison Offices provide support for military parents

By Griffin Swartzell

Raising children challenges every parent, and the requirements of a career in the Armed Forces adds yet more unique challenges. Fortunately, service members have help. Enter the school liaison offices, where five dedicated civil servants work to connect service members to the resources they need to make choices about their children’s education. Peterson Air Force Base has Victoria Henderson, who works under the authority of Child and Youth Services on base. She and her counterparts are tasked with knowing all there is to know about the school districts in and around the Springs.

To provide the best possible service, Henderson works with four counterparts: Ruth Moore, who works at Schriever AFB; Lawrence Johnson, who works at the Air Force Academy; and Stephanie Gillotte and De’Anzo Williams, who both work at Fort Carson. Between the five of them, they’ve divided up all 10 of the school districts they’re responsible for knowing and attend board meetings.

“What we’ve been doing is meeting monthly, and we basically have a meeting exchange,” says Henderson. “Since we divide that up, we meet together and just tell each other what’s going on in the key districts so that we’re all kept abreast of what the changes are.”

Air Force Child and Youth Education Services operates from a framework of seven Cs: Connect schools, families and communities to meet military-connected students’ needs; cultivate communication between families, schools, community and the military; customize solutions for military-connected students to support them academically and socially; collaborate with community stakeholders to build a platform for enhanced educational opportunities and partnerships; provide comprehensive professional development to help educators understand the military lifestyle; construct a network of resources for building resilient communities; and create a system of support for military-connected students.

Henderson and her colleagues’ expertise helps them turn that framework into real results and quality-of-life improvements for military families and military-connected students.

“We always tell families when before they PCS to the base and before they leave to contact their school liaison,” says Henderson. “We can assist them and give them all the information that they need to make an informed decision of which school they want their child to go to.”

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Families decide where to live based on which school district they want their kids to attend, according to Henderson, which is why it’s so important for her office to intervene as early as possible. Their work goes beyond test scores, too.

She and her colleagues have to know which schools have which policies, programs and accommodations, and be able to provide the facts to help parents decide. If parents want a high school with an international baccalaureate program or one that permits simultaneous enrollment in community college courses, that has to be considered.

“In some of the school districts, [elementary school students are] eating lunch in their classrooms instead of actually having lunch in the cafeteria,” she says. “[The students] eat lunch and then [teachers] allow them to go out to play after that, because a lot of kids were rushing through their lunch because they just want to hurry up and get outside and play.”

Colorado is a choice state, which means that parents can enroll their kids in any school, even across district lines. But it’s not as simple as submitting a form. In-district students get priority over transfers, and each school has only so many slots for out-of-district students to enroll. And while District 49, which encompasses parts of eastern Colorado Springs as well as Falcon, allows parents to apply to enroll their children year-round, they’re unique. Every other district Henderson and her colleagues cover has a brief choice period during which they accept out-of-district enrollment applications, and it closes well before the new school year begins.

While service members PCSing across state lines have to deal with some regulatory differences between states,

fortunately, not everything changes. Henderson says that the Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3) has certain provisions to make go more smoothly.

“This was created to keep the transition from state to state consistent for military children, because the states are all different,” she says. According to MIC3, military children will attend six to nine schools between kindergarten and graduating high school, so this issue comes up frequently.

But MIC3 mandates that requirements from minimum ages to enroll in Kindergarten to graduation requirements be honored. It also covers standardized testing, extra-curricular activities and eligibility in honors and advanced placement classes. And if a parent’s deployment means that their child must be cared for by a designated legal guardian, it upholds the students’ and guardians’ rights.

Henderson and her colleagues also work to support students’ social growth and are always pushing for new avenues.

2019 marks the first year that the Air Force has adopted the Department of Defense-funded Anchored4Life program, which was previously only offered to Navy students. The program trains counselors and students to take initiative and help new students better integrate themselves.

It’s predominantly student-led and designed for elementary schools. Each classroom has two students who are designated as “crew members,” a role that rotates throughout the school year. Crew members are responsible for supporting new classmates by doing things like showing them around the school, introducing them to their peers and sitting with them at lunch. It’s intended to build trust in new students, which helps them more easily integrate and feel like they’re part of a community. Beyond that, 16 fourth and fifth graders are selected to be team leads, a committed role that includes leadership training and has more responsibilities.

“Team leads get up during assemblies, and they recite a quote or a poem that they like to the school,” says Henderson as an example. “They take the lead on activities and community projects, and they do announcements in the morning.

It’s teaching them leadership skills.”

Currently, the Anchored4Life program is only being implemented at James Irwin Charter Elementary School in the Springs area, on Henderson’s recommendation.

“I felt that with James Irwin and their philosophy of education, this would best fit their school,” she says, “And they are rocking.”

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Education Guide

An advertising supplement to the Fort Carson Mountaineer, the Peterson Space Observer, the Schriever Sentinel and the Colorado Springs Business Journal

December 6, 2019 5B

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Come and see our joyful, multi-cultural hub featuring students and teachers from all over the world! Different from many language immersion schools, CILA features cultural enrichment and language immersion opportunities in Mandarin Chinese, German, and Spanish. It’s like having a global community under one roof! The combination of learning a language, nurturing global awareness, and celebrating multi-cultural perspectives makes Colorado International Language Academy the school of choice to help your child succeed in a global economy.

CILA is a free, public charter school located at 303 Austin Bluffs Parkway in the beautiful Pulpit Rock Church. Originally the classroom spaces were built to house Colorado Springs Christian School (CSCS).

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CILA is a vibrant and exciting place to be. All students have opportunities to perform as they sing, dance, and speak in their languages during Cultural Events celebrating each language and culture. CILA has an active parent teacher organization that supports many activities enriching CILA students’ understanding of the world around them. Some of these events include: International Days where students learn about different countries, holiday events, and special all school events including a World’s Fair. So far this year, our students have learned fascinating details and participated in hands-on activities designed to help them

learn more about Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

CILA has a variety of special offerings for students. CILA students learn computer literacy in a lab and are currently learning to write code.

Art classes at CILA are rich in content and popular with parents because students are provided many opportunities to create and share their work.

CILA also supports students participating in a science-rich outdoor experience—2 nights and 3 days in the mountains for 5th grade students.

At CILA, dance and cheer classes are offered after school.

The teachers at CILA are exceptional. Many of our immersion teachers are native speakers and our elementary English teachers have been able to support our students to reach performance+ levels in literacy in just half the normally allotted amount of instructional time per day. A notable achievement last year was when the CILA Battle of the Books team tied for 2nd place out of approximately 160 teams. These teams participated in a rigorous challenge to read and comprehend 40 challenging books and then show their understanding during the Battle of the Books competition. Students from Cheyenne Mountain District 12, District 20, District 11, District 38, and many other districts throughout the Pikes Peak region participated in the challenge.

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6B December 6, 2019

An advertising supplement to the Fort Carson Mountaineer, the Peterson Space Observer, the Schriever Sentinel and the Colorado Springs Business Journal

Education Guide

Novel business space encourages young manufacturers Photo by Jeanne Davant

Mary Fagnant (left) and Jennifer Taylor talk with MotoMinded founder Chris Vestal (third from left) and his crew.

By Jeanne Davant

Colorado Springs’ first co-working space for light manufacturing is encouraging young people to pursue manufacturing careers.

Milestones for Growth is the brainchild of Mary and Tony Fagnant, owners of Qualtek Manufacturing. The Fagnants bought the building at 4240 N. Nevada Ave., next door to Qualtek, four years ago and have been renovating it for the past year.

They’ve finished the first phase of renovations, which includes four co-working spaces ranging from 1,500 to 1,700 square feet, a furnished mezzanine for collaborative conversations and presentations, and a kitchen and break room.

Collaboration is one of the benefits tenants of the three open spaces will gain, and one of the reasons why the Fagnants decided to develop the 32,000-square-foot building. They are looking for companies that are in business and need a place to grow, and they hope the project will help strengthen light manufacturing in Colorado Springs and demonstrate to students that manufacturing is innovative and interesting.

Mary Fagnant recalls a panel discussion her company

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hosted, during which a young woman asked why manufacturers weren’t making their facilities more attractive and fun.

“We started thinking about the idea that … maybe we could change it up a bit and see how we can make it an attractive environment where we can have fun and we can, more importantly, save money for manufacturers and encourage all of us to help each other grow,” Fagnant said.

The Fagnants already had a long-term tenant, Colorado Gold Distillery, occupying the back of the building.

“It would have been much easier for us to go ahead and get another tenant, rather than changing the model quite a bit,” Fagnant said. “But we decided that we really wanted to … develop this space so we can help keep manufacturing in Colorado Springs.

“We can’t be Google,” she said, but they used the tech industry as inspiration to design a space that encourages collaboration and sharing of resources.

They had planned to finish the renovations before adding tenants but decided to rent one of the spaces to MotoMinded, which designs and produces accessories for motorcycles.

MotoMinded moved in after the company outgrew its former quarters at the Pikes Peak Makerspace.

“We really want our tenants to be giving back to the com-

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Career and Technical Education Opportunities Abound in FountainFort Carson School District 8 Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 works hard to meet the needs of all its students. One of the ways the district does this is by providing a plethora of opportunities to expose high school students to career and technical trade opportunities that may await them after high school or college graduation. With the goal of making every student post-secondary and workforce ready, the district is committed to providing industry standard skills in a variety of industries and at a variety of district locations, including Fountain-Fort Carson High School, Welte Education Center, Conrad Early Learning Center, and two off-site locations.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs of study offered in FFC8 include: • Accounting, • ACE (Alternative Coopertaive Education) • Biomedical Sciences (Project Lead the Way) • Culinary Arts • DECA Business Marketing • Early Childhood Education • Engineering (Project Lead the Way) • Graphic Design • Hair Styling/Hair Design • Manufacturing • Teacher Cadet These courses are all taught by teachers holding both a Colorado Teaching License and a Colorado Technical Education Endorsement.

Two years ago, the district created what became an annual Career Fair at FFCHS to provide approximately 1,800 students the opportunity to meet with individuals from many fields all in one location. The Career Fair event has been a huge success since inception with more and more local businesses and community partners signing on to attend.

munity — not necessarily financially, but giving back their time,” Fagnant said. MotoMinded’s owner, Chris Vestal, “loves to tell people about what he does and teach them about 3D printers.”

A unique feature of Milestones for Growth is that the walls of the rental spaces are 8 feet high, affording a view into the spaces from the mezzanine area above.

Fagnant said she wants to bring in local students “and let them look and see what we really do and get what the real manufacturing of today looks like. It’s not grungy; it’s something to be proud of, and it’s innovative.”

The mezzanine area also can be used to present programming that will help tenants grow their small businesses.

As the project got going, the Fagnants brought in Jennifer Taylor to handle marketing and strategic partnerships.

Taylor is helping Milestones for Growth develop partnerships with organizations such as the Pikes Peak Business and Education Alliance, UCCS, Pikes Peak Community College, Peak Startup, Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC and the Pikes Peak Small Business Development Center.

Current partners include HB&A Architecture and Planning, which designed the space; Bryan Construction, which built it; Pear Workplace Solutions, which provided furnishings; and Wolf & Key Marketing.

Milestones “really is an economic development project,” Taylor said. “In the development of North Nevada Avenue, what we see as our part is to create a gathering space that’s neighborhood- and student-related — something like University Village. We’re learning that’s more along the lines of what people want to see — something we didn’t understand very well when we started. We do think we can be a catalyst for development moving towards Fillmore.”

Taylor says Milestones is looking to fi ll the front of the building with a retail operation or two, such as a coffee shop, bakery, brewery or bar, that will function as a community gathering spot as well as serve the tenants.

Depending on how much space the retail business takes up, Milestones will develop plans for up to four more coworking spaces in Phase 2 of the project. Phase 3 includes development of an outdoor space between the Qualtek and Milestones buildings that could host food trucks, small concerts or a play area for kids.

“We have lots of ideas,” Fagnant said. “Our hope is that it will attract the community and be part of North Nevada Avenue.”

Milestones’ founders want to find tenants that are ready to expand their operations but aren’t yet able to buy their own buildings.

Rents, Fagnant said, will be kept below market value as the North Nevada corridor develops.

Tim Heaton, president of CAMA, says he thinks Milestones can become an epicenter for manufacturing in Colorado Springs.

“We are starting to really see an increase in the number of manufacturing startup companies,” Heaton said. “A lot of these new companies are young men and women who are figuring out how to take technology and make really cool stuff with it.

“I believe the whole concept and the approach that they’re taking is the right approach, of encouraging and supporting small business growth and manufacturing. We’re very excited about what those guys are doing, and we’re looking forward to kicking it off with them.”

Education Guide

An advertising supplement to the Fort Carson Mountaineer, the Peterson Space Observer, the Schriever Sentinel and the Colorado Springs Business Journal

December 6, 2019 7B

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8B December 6, 2019

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Education Guide

Students learn to fight off real-world cyber threats

Photo by Jeanne Davant

Students from eight high schools learn how to keep data safe in a dangerous cyber world.

By Jeanne Davant

The attention of 27 students from Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo high schools is fi xed on computer screens in the Pikes Peak Community College classroom at the Catalyst Campus.

The students are working on their first task in a weeklong cyber boot camp: learning to

open images in two operating systems and make changes using a remote virtual machine — a host computer that has greater capacity than the computers on which they’re working.

During the morning session, the students sat through instruction on cybersecurity basics, with which many of them were already

familiar. But this afternoon, they are riveted.

“For some of them, this is the first time they’re using a virtual machine to open up an image,” said Maj. (Ret.) Scott Lynch, camp coordinator and senior instructor for the Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Denver North High School.

The students, from five Denver high

schools, Air Academy and Sand Creek high schools in Colorado Springs, and Pueblo West High School, are being supervised by four guest teachers who recently completed a cyber teaching workshop hosted by PPCC. By assisting at the workshop, they are putting into practice what they learned.

The hope is that some of these students will join the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, but even those who don’t go into cybersecurity as a career will leave the classroom at the end of the week with a greater understanding of how to stay safe in a dangerous cyber world.

The cyber camps, which are held across the country, are part of the CyberPatriot program created by the Air Force Association, a volunteer organization that supports aerospace, cyber and STEM education.

“Ten years ago, the Air Force Association identified the need to reach out for cybersecurity professionals and how to start this early,” Lynch said. “So they came up with a program that gives a competitive edge using teachers and mentors. This is the 11th year, and it’s open to anybody who wants to do it.”

According to a 2018 study by (ISC)², a cyber and IT security professional organization, there is a shortage of cybersecurity professionals that numbers close to 3 million globally, with more than 300,000 unfi lled cybersecurity jobs in the United States.

Cyberseek.org states that there are more than 10,200 cybersecurity job openings in Colorado. All of these numbers are expected to grow in the next couple of years.

The CyberPatriot program aims to inspire students to follow careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines critical to the nation’s future.

At the heart of the program is the Cyber Defense competition, in which teams of middle- and high-school students assume

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the roles of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company.

In a series of online rounds, the teams explore a set of virtual operating systems and are charged with finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities while maintaining critical services.

There are three levels of local competition, then regional and state levels. The top teams earn all-expenses-paid trips to the national finals competition, where they can earn national recognition and scholarships.

Many of the team members attend camps, learning basic skills at standard camps and more complex concepts at advanced camps.

The students from Denver North are part of a CyberPatriot team.

Students learned how to protect their personal devices and information from external threats, as well as how to harden entire networks running Windows 8, 10 and Ubuntu operating systems.

“Throughout the week, we take them further into how to maintain your privacy online, how to generally act ethically online, and how to set yourself up to go learn more and more of whatever you’re interested in,” said lead instructor Steve Schwandt of Regis University.

Guest speakers from SecureSet, the Colorado National Guard G6 office, the State of Colorado Office of IT Governance, and Coalfire, a Denver-based cybersecurity consultant, provided the students with further insight into cybersecurity as a career.

The camp culminated in a team competition that simulated cybersecurity situations and mimicked the national CyberPatriot competition.

The four teachers who assisted Lynch and Schwandt attended PPCC’s GenCyber Teacher Camp, a one-week boot camp for secondary educators.

Eleven teachers from six Pikes Peak area school districts attended the camp to learn how to incorporate cybersecurity core principles into their curricula, said Terri Johnson, assistant professor and facilitator, computer

File photo

The CyberPatriot boot camp was held at the Catalyst Campus in downtown Colorado Springs. networking at PPCC. “We teach them in a way that is understandable for teachers who have not taught cyber before,” she said.

“There’s definitely a need for cybersecurity education at a broad level,” Johnson says,

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adding that PPCC is also building cyber modules that can be incorporated into any course, “even auto mechanics — because cars can be hacked.”

One of the teachers who completed the GenCyber camp and then assisted at the

December 6, 2019 9B CyberPatriot camp was Jeff McGuirk, education specialist with Calhan School District RJ-1.

The CyberPatriot program is helping prepare students for the cybersecurity jobs that are vacant, but it’s not just for computer information majors, McGuirk said.

“It’s also for everybody else,” he said. “Our kids need a full understanding of how to act and react” to cyber threats.

“The world truly has changed, and it’s changed fundamentally,” he said. “We have now gotten to a point where the foundation and conceptualization of who we are as a species is changing — the same way it changed [from hunter-gathering to an agrarian society], but at an incredibly faster rate. We had hundreds, if not thousands of years to adjust from going after the rabbit to planting the first types of corn; we’re doing this in decades or less.”

Kids “are beginning to learn and practice all of the soft skills needed to be a proactive, positive member of society” as early as third grade, McGuirk said. “But just because you can do something [like hacking] doesn’t mean that you should.”

Students also need to have the knowledge to answer questions that arise when “you’ve got something the size of an iPhone that can crack all of our encryption systems,” he said.

McGuirk plans to put the lessons he learned in the cyber courses into practice.

He has preliminary approval to create a cyber operations center for high school students in his district.

“We’re doing what’s called gamification,” he said. “We’re using games to teach because, first, if kids think it’s a game, they’re learning three times faster. They’re learning visually, they’re learning auditorily, and through the use of the mouse, they’re learning kinesthetically. So they’re learning faster than I could ever teach them in a classroom, and they’re getting real-world experience.

“I cannot teach 30 kids in a classroom.

If I step back and act as a facilitator, I am guiding their learning. And I can do that with 30 kids in a classroom.”

10B December 6, 2019

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Education Guide

Credentials vital in tech savvy world

Photo by Norm Shifflett

Spc. Jared Wickert reviews the Army Cool website during an Army Credentialing Assistance Program briefing Nov. 13.

By Scott Prater

The Department of Defense has long provided financial assistance to service members who seek a college education. The idea was that better educated and knowledgeable soldiers would improve the armed forces, one unit at a time.

Back in 2016, however, then Sergeant Major of the Army, Dan Dailey asked DoD leaders to consider another idea — why stop at college? Why not provide financial assistance for soldiers to earn civilian credentials that match their military operational specialty?

Thus, creating better educated soldiers in specific skill areas.

It turns out there’s an added benefit.

Service members who earn civilian certifications and licenses are better prepared for their eventual transition into civilian life.

DoD leaders loved the idea and began credentialing (license and certification) pilot programs at Fort Hood, Texas and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, a couple of years ago.

And, the overwhelming success of those pilot programs motivated Army leaders to begin initiating credentialing programs at all Army Education Centers across the country.

The Fort Carson Education Center

launched its credential assistance program Oct. 1 and now holds credentialing program briefings once a week. FCEC education services manager Rebecca Schlecht said more than 90 soldiers have attended the briefings thus far.

“One of the many interesting features of this program is that service members can receive up to $4,000 a year from the Army in funding assistance,” Schlecht said. “It’s all the same pool of money. But, the credentialing assistance program is much more flexible, compared to the college tuition assistance program.”

She explained that with the tuition assistance program, soldiers can receive up to $4,000 a year in financial assistance, but those funds can only be used for tuition, with a cap of $250 per credit hour.

“On the credential side of the house, those funds can be used to pay for books, materials, and other expenses also,” she said. “They can also be used for license, certification and recertification exams, as well as prerequisite certifications.”

For example, if a person wants to earn a personal trainer certification, they’ll need to be certified in CPR first. And the credentialing assistance program will pay for both.

Schlecht explains that the program covers over 1,600 different certifications and licensure options — not all, but quite a wide and diverse array of specialties. Soldiers need only visit the Army Cool website at www.cool. army.mil to search for credentialing associated either with their MOS or their interests.

A good number of soldiers, for instance, choose information technology certifications.

“In the cyber world, you’ve got A plus, you’ve got Security plus, you’ve got CompTIA or ethical hacking,” Schlecht said. “Soldiers can get all four, or they can get 20. There’s no limit to the number of credentials they can earn under the program. So they can go and get those and then get a process improvement professional certification. The only cap is the $4,000 per year.”

Back when he pushed for the initiative, Dailey foresaw credentials helping soldiers while they were in uniform, those competing for promotion to NCO, but he also recognized that credentials may also give soldiers hard proof of their skills that is universally accepted by employers.

“So, these credentials are important, especially in the cyber world,” Schlecht said.

“They have to have those over a degree. For some in the civilian business world, having

the right certification can make a $20,000 difference in yearly salary. Many service members don’t understand that because they have been in the military for an extended time and they don’t know much about the civilian sector. With this program, they can get an education on what can supplement their career in the military, but also prepare them for their civilian career. And, that maybe didn’t happen before.”

The process for learning about, finding and applying for credential programs can get complicated. Starting to learn about the process is relatively easy, however.

The FCEC offers its credentialing assistance program briefings to all active duty and national guard service members. Education counselors then help attendees navigate through the Army Cool website, explain the search process and the specifics. Then interested service members are emailed a packet of checklists, information and all the forms they will need to apply for the credentialing program.

Once someone selects the credential they want to obtain, they’ll need to select a training provider. Part of their FCEC information packet covers what they’ll need to ask the training provider they select.

“Some training providers have been vetted and approved already,” Schlecht said. “But they do not have to be approved in order to go through a specific training provider. Their provider can be vetted when their package is submitted.”

A little more than a month after holding their first credential briefing, the FCEC staff couldn’t help but take note of their attendees most compelling concerns.

“Most often, soldiers are asking, ‘How do I get this training provider approved?’.” said Ceara Tapin, lead guidance counselor at FCEC. “And,‘When will I know if my request is approved or rejected?’ Some Soldiers ask about certifications that are prerequisites, and if they are covered, even if not found in the Army Cool website.”

Still, word of the importance of certifications, especially in today’s technically savvy world, seems to have spread dramatically.

“Soldiers recognize that credentials make them marketable and employable, often times more than an academic degree would,” Tapin said. “And for many, personal interest in a field is vital to them. They see the potential of working in a field they enjoy.”

Timing is crucial. Fort Carson Education Center staff recommend that service members apply for the credential assistance program at least 30 days prior to the date they expect their certification training to begin.

“The credentialing assistance program is a great way for service members to begin their transition,” Schlecht said. “It can bridge the gap between their MOS and civilian-sector requirements.”

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How a Navy veteran used GI Bill benefits to double his salary After eight years of service in the Navy, Tom Wilhoit decided he was ready for a new career path. He knew it was his time to leave the military, but without a college degree, he was unsure of his options.

“I wanted out, but I knew I needed to have a plan.” he said.

During his downtime working on a counter narcotics team in El Salvador, he began to research career options.

“I just started Googling ‘best jobs’ and programmer kept coming up,” he explained.

From there, he researched his options to become a programmer. These days, there are many pathways to learn computer programming skills: books, four-year degrees, online courses, and accelerated training programs. One of the accelerated training programs Tom found in his research was the Turing School of Software & Design.

Turing is a full-time, in-person, seven month program in Denver that offers two program options for students, either front-end engineering or back-end engineering.

“I liked that Turing was transparent about employment outcomes and was a nonprofit. I also liked their emphasis on building pathways for diversity in the industry,” he said.

Code your way to career freedom.

Tom was interested in pursuing an education at Turing, so he completed the online application and a few days later did a video interview all the way from El Salvador.

A few days later, he was accepted and with the help of Turing’s staff began making plans to start the program with the October 2018 student cohort.

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The school also accepts the GI Bill and vocational rehab from military veterans and/or their family members, which for Tom meant he didn’t have to worry about living expenses or tuition.

“Turing made it easy to figure out what I had to fill out and when,” he said. “ I felt like I had second by second support on getting my GI Bill to work for me.”

Once the program begins, it’s a stretch of hard work and long hours learning technical skills and participating in professional development to prepare for the job hunt. Luckily for Tom, he was used to a rigorous workload.

“Turing takes a unique perspective to full immersion, which works well for military folks,” he said. “Other veterans I talked to liked that too. We knew exactly what we needed to do to be successful, and just went from one intense schedule to another” In June 2019, Tom graduated from Turing and was ready to find his first job in the tech industry. He described the job hunt as challenging. For a few positions he made it to the final steps and would receive a rejection. But he didn’t let it get him down. He knew he had a unique skill set that would benefit any company, he just had to find the right one.

“Because I was in the military, I can handle stressful situations and working with a team isn’t new to me. Employers appreciated that even though I hadn’t been coding for long, I had a lot of experience in stressful environments where good communication and teamwork skills can solve problems.”

In July 2019, he heard from another Turing alum that Aetna Digital was hiring for a Product Support Engineer. Tom went through the application process and was offered the position, on a team with several other Turing alumni. In the first week of August, just two months after graduating, he signed his offer letter for a salaried position with generous PTO and health insurance.

Although he isn’t writing code, he is working on a team that reviews it and diagnoses any issues before it goes to production.

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Tom says the pay is great too. He felt he had plateaued in his previous career and said he now earns “about double” his previous salary.

The median starting salary for Turing school grads in 2019 was $77,500 for their first job post graduation.

Having a higher salary isn’t the only perk of his new job. Tom also has freedom of lifestyle choices and day to day flexibility.

“I can do anything I want now, and I never thought I’d have the freedom to do that,” he said. “I can live anywhere I want and be creative on the job. I never expected to have no ceiling.”

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Education Guide

At School District 11, we dare to empower the whole student to profoundly impact our world.

D11 offers programs to meet the unique needs of all students.

Visit www.d11.org for more information.

Inspire every mind.

Education Guide

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December 6, 2019 13B

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Colorado Springs School District 11 Colorado Springs School District 11 is defined by our history of innovation, our diversity, our commitment to service, and our passion to help students grow and succeed. We have one purpose: empowering the students of Colorado Springs to profoundly impact our community and world. Our alumni list of D11 graduates includes award-winning scientists, physicians, lawmakers, athletes, and professionals in fields around the world. Our curricula and instruction are rigorous, relevant, and responsive, designed to cultivate the full potential in every student. We reward innovation and foster passion. Our shared goal is this: growth without exception.

demic programs to reach student achievement goals. All classes hold students to high academic standards, including honors courses that challenge students to perform at the highest levels.

In D11, we inspire one another to take risks, challenge one another to achieve more, and help one another move forward when we fail. We know that we succeed together! But we couldn’t do this alone. We are thankful to the nearly 20,000 volunteers and partnerships we work hard to cultivate. Strong schools equal strong communities and this is a mantra in which we believe!

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Our students are thriving academically and gaining the personal, social, and cultural experiences they need to make the profound impact on society. We are building a community that can rise to the challenge and reach new heights. Whatever your race, ethnicity, cultural influences, gender identity, and socioeconomic background, we are proud of our D11 students! We are proud of them because of what they bring to our school district.

In addition, because we are the most diverse school district in Colorado Springs, there is a good chance new students will meet other students with whom they have a lot in common. That is a great starting point for a great learning community.

Whatever your interests, you’ll have the opportunity to pursue them at your D11 school. We know that passion leads to engagement and that engagement leads to learning. Our innovative programs will help you channel that passion so you can achieve more than you ever thought you could. One of the great ways we serve our students is through the Career Pathways program. Career Pathways, located at the Roy J. Wasson Academic Campus, offers students the opportunity to enrich their high school experience with career and technical education training in the areas of automotive technology, agriculture, business and marketing, cyber security, education, hospitality, and multi-media graphic arts design.

Students throughout D11 may access the Career Pathways program, as the courses are designed to fit within each of the four main high schools’ students’ schedules. Transportation is provided to and from each of the four high schools throughout the day, so that students may easily access the Career Pathways programs. Students are taught by certified educators who instruct in the subject in the fields of their expertise. The Career Pathways program prepares young adults to be occupationally effective, socially responsible, and functionally independent. In addition to teaching students specific occupational skills, our programs provide access to a real work environment, where students can apply those skills. Career Pathways offers on-the-job training, jobshadow internships (paid and unpaid), and field trips to the workplace. Each program is articulated with a local college or university, which allows students to receive college credit (with a B or better in their class) while still in high school—at NO COST to families. It is possible for students to earn numerous occupational certifications by the time they graduate from high school.

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All Career Pathways classes work with the traditional aca-

School District 11 also provides students with the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree along with their high school diploma. At Odyssey Early College and Career Options (Odyssey ECCO), students RISE to meet the challenges of school and life.

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understood that the pathway to a better life begins with education.

Effort: Odyssey ECCO students show up to class and give their best effort. To be successful, all work is done to the best of each student’s ability.

We practice excellence to succeed in a future not yet imagined.

Our students are highly motivated to graduate with their high school diploma and an associate’s degree or up to 60 credit hours of “guaranteed transfer” college credit—for FREE! Our teachers all have a master’s degree or a PhD, and they are adjunct faculty for Pikes Peak Community College and Adams State University.

At Odyssey ECCO: • We provide our students with academic supports, such as time management, organization with the use of binders, and note-taking strategies.

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• We provide extensive academic and tutorial support throughout our semester-long courses.

• We ensure a smooth transition from high school to college.

• We provide “school-to-school” transportation from every District 11 high school to Odyssey ECCO on a first come, first served basis.

• We provide transportation from Odyssey ECCO to Pikes Peak Community College, Centennial Campus.

District 11 has a variety of exciting programs to keep students motivated and prepare them for a world yet to be imagined! Visit our website at www.d11.org to find the school or program that is best for your student. Keep up with what is happening in D11 by following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or download the D11 app for free in the iTunes or Android stores.

In many ways, D11 is the heart of Colorado Springs, and we are proud to serve our students, families, staff, and community.

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Education Guide

Brought to justice: Restorative practices making a difference in District 2 non-criminal cases, expulsion.

But conflict, by nature, is not really that simple.

So restorative practices don’t just look at the rule that was broken and determine a fitting punishment, they seek to repair the harm caused by conflict through an inclusive mediation process that identifies who has been affected, what harm has been done, and what might be done in the future to repair that harm.

One of the primary ways this is accomplished at the high school level is through restorative justice conferences — the mediation sessions where students find themselves next to Holtham in a circle of their peers, sitting across from those whom they’ve harmed.

Building from the bottom up

Photo by Zach Hillstrom

Jeanette Holtham, founding president of the Youth Transformation Center, leads a restorative justice conference at Harrison High School.

By Zach Hillstrom

When students at Harrison High School find themselves embedded in intense interpersonal conflict, they oftentimes end up sitting in a circle of office chairs next to the calming presence that is Jeanette Holtham.

For about five years, Holtham, the founding president of the nonprofit Youth Transformation Center, has been

working with teachers and students in Harrison School District 2 to implement a variety of practices surrounding the concept of restorative justice.

In a traditional, punitive model of school discipline, the way justice is doled out is relatively simple: A student breaks a law or school rule and is punished based on the severity of the infraction. Sometimes that means a disciplinary referral, sometimes suspension, and in the most serious of

The Youth Transformation Center has been teaching these concepts for the past 15 years and currently has a presence in 13 schools throughout District 2 — from elementary up to high school — providing a range of restorative justice trainings and tools, catered to the age and maturity levels of the participating students.

For the youngest of restorative practitioners, those in elementary school, the primary tool used by teachers is a preventative practice called Classroom Connection Circles, in which students are given a prompt on which to focus and discuss their thoughts and feelings about that prompt.

The practice encourages the students to self-express, and also to listen to and respect one another.

“That’s probably one of the biggest keys, is making sure that every student gets a chance to speak, because that doesn’t always happen in a classroom setting,” Holtham said.

“To be able to give them that opportunity to have a voice, I think, is so important. Because lots of times these kids can slip through the cracks, otherwise.”

The goal of such circles is not necessarily to eliminate conflict, but rather to prevent future instances among students by giving them the tools they need to respond to interpersonal conflict in an appropriate manner.

Since implementing restorative practices in D-2, the Youth Transformation Center has seen significant results.

In the 2018-19 school year, D-2 administrative records showed 43 percent of students saw a reduction in discipline referrals in the 30 days following their RJ conference.

In following up with teachers about 60 days after each conference, they reported that: 84 percent of students dem-

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Influenced by Norwich’s 200-year military heritage, Norwich’s online programs are designed to continue the legacy of developing leaders in the public and private sector. Norwich’s online programs are taught by industry experts, including military and government leaders, and are created to build off of students’ field and work experiences. Norwich offers seven online bachelor’s degree completion programs and 12 online master’s degree programs, including programs designed specifically for U.S. military personnel to gain the necessary tactical skills to help rise through their military careers or transition into a new one.

The online Bachelor of Science in Strategic Studies and Defense Analysis program, which builds on current and prior military experience, is specifically designed for members of the Special Operations Forces.

2019 alumna Melanie Soto plans to use her degree to stand out in the field after she completes her service within the Air Force.

“I selected the strategic studies and defense analysis degree because it was not something that I had heard of in other schools, and I understood the degree would set me apart from my peers when looking for future employment,” Melanie Soto said.

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onstrated improved behavior following the conference; 20 percent demonstrated an improved attitude; and another 40 percent showed improvement in classroom engagement.

Culture of conflict

The types of conflict that are most prevalent throughout D-2, particularly at Harrison High, are hardly different than those of any other high school.

As school security guard Ivory Rounds put it, “kids are kids.”

Rounds, who began working at Harrison in February after a 19-year career in security at Zebulon Pike Youth Services Center, said Harrison High tends to see lots of verbal spats — which he said, these days, is more like digital conflict, since many of the interactions students have take place through outlets like text messaging and social media. But very rarely does the school see physical fights.

“Most of our conflicts are word-of-mouth,” Rounds said.

“And if they do fight, the fights are over quickly.”

By Holtham’s estimation, those kinds of word-of-mouth disputes comprise between 80 and 90 percent of all RJ mediations and conferences.

“They’re about interpersonal conflicts, they’re about kids talking behind each others’ backs. It’s ‘he-said, she-said,’” Holtham said. “I just think it’s kids who are growing into young adults.”

Rounds is a relatively new figure around Harrison High, but he’s by no means new to RJ, as he was trained on the concept by Holtham and her husband and fellow trainer/RJ facilitator Andre Zarb-Cousin, back when Rounds worked at Zebulon Pike. He coordinated the facility’s RJ program up until his departure.

“By the time I left there [RJ] was really embraced,” Rounds said. “It was like staff finally understood that the kids aren’t getting off. Because at first, a lot of staff felt like if the kids weren’t being punished, they weren’t learning anything. But eventually they understood that RJ is about relationships.

“If a kid has a relationship with another kid, chances are they’re not going to have conflict with that kid. If a kid has a relationship with the staff, chances are they’re not going to have conflict with that staff, and if they do they’re going to be apt to want to apologize and want to make it right.”

Making it right

The concept of building relationships and promoting accountability to reduce conflict and recidivism is essentially a

cornerstone of any RJ conference. It forces offending students to come face-to-face with the person they’ve harmed and consider all of the implications of their actions. But it also allows them to have a voice in the proceedings, tell their side of the story and engage in a dialogue as to how the harm they caused might be repaired, rather than just receiving a school-imposed punishment.

“When you have that intervention, you start to meet these kids where they’re at,” Holtham said.

“That gives them the opportunity to know we are there to support them, but we are also there to hold them accountable.”

In any RJ conference, Holtham acts not as judge and jury, but rather serves as a conversation mediator. The real facilitators of the meeting are student leaders who have been trained in RJ practices and are called in to guide their fellow students through the process.

The general script of each conference seeks to answer questions like, “What happened?” “What harm was done?”

“What can each of you do to take responsibility?” and, “If you had to do it over, what would you do differently?”

A major facet of the conference structure is to identify who was harmed, and students are tasked with reaching an agreement on how to repair the harm.

That repair can take many forms, from accepting responsibility and saying “sorry” to monetary or other reparations.

“You can’t decide for them,” Holtham said, “but it needs to be something tangible that you can measure.”

Sometimes an RJ conference can help a student take accountability and avoid serious discipline. Other times, it can serve alongside punitive practices, such as when a student returns to school from suspension.

“There’s still harm that was never repaired and somebody may still be scared,” Holtham said. “Somebody may still be feeling uneasy about having this student come back to school. So we want to make sure that process of re-entry is smooth enough where kids can be civil with each other and they can recognize people make mistakes.

“So we need to talk about it and we need to help the student that has been kicked out of school, too. We need to help them to come back with honor, having done the right thing. And doing the right thing means sitting down and chatting among the stakeholders.”

“Suspending kids, it sends them home, but it doesn’t fi x the relationship,” Rounds said.

“RJ gives kids a chance to see that they actually matter, and that a lot of the issues that they’re having, really don’t.”

December 6, 2019 15B

Student leadership A critical component of what makes the RJ model successful at Harrison is the buy-in of an ever-growing stable of student leaders, who are chosen by their teachers and administrators for their leadership qualities and ability to take accountability.

By having student leaders facilitate each RJ conference, the mediation sessions take more of a conversational tone, rather than an authoritative one.

“Our part is just to guide them through the process, ask the questions and kind of be that student body for them,” said junior D’Angelo Maddrey, a student leader who has participated since his freshman year.

“Because if you’re just talking to an adult about some conflict, it’s like your sitting in the principal’s office again. But if you have students there that you go to class with, students that are like you, it just creates a different environment. And that’s our role: to create that environment for them.”

Even when student leaders are not directly involved in an RJ conferences, the program encourages them to take an active role in diff using the conflicts throughout their school.

“They expect us to still be that leader and just be open to other people and not closed-off,” said senior leader Kaija Johnson.

“At this school, there’s a lot of people that have anger issues, and when people don’t listen to them, they just take that and build more anger.”

There are currently 28 student leaders at Harrison, and Holtham said more and more students are expressing interest as the program continues to grow.

For those who’ve already bought in to the concept of RJ, it seems to have had a profound effect on the way they view and handle conflict in their own lives.

“Over the summer I had a conflict with one of my closest friends. It was really just back-and-forth and then not talking to each other, but over time I made the realization that [he and I] should talk stuff out and that I shouldn’t lose a friendship over that,” Maddrey said.“So telling him things from my point of view … hearing the stuff that he was going through that I didn’t know about, through realizing all that, [we] were able to come to an understanding and be close again.

“I think [the program] teaches very good lessons. Because at the end of the day, we all go through stuff. Life happens, but it’s how we see the things that happen in life that can change the outcome.”

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Education Guide

Military nonprofits to merge in new year conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Anderson said. More than a decade later, “that is not necessarily the case,” he said.

“Things have changed a lot since both organizations were formed,” Anderson said. “We still have a lot of active-duty members who need help, particularly those who transition [to civilian life], but we also have a lot of veterans who need help — and not just Iraq and Afghanistan [veterans], but Vietnam and others.

“We realized it would be a lot better for us — and more importantly, for them — if we were to combine our resources and be more efficient and demonstrate how much we care for those folks. That’s the bottom line. We are very passionate about that, otherwise both of us wouldn’t have been in business for so long.

“The combination of the two just made sense,” Anderson added, “so we’re going to do it.”

FULL SPECTRUM PMCN works with 48 partner agencies, as well as the area’s military installations and the Department of Veterans Affairs, to connect service members with a wide range of resources in the Pikes Peak region. For the past several years, THFC — which provides emergency grants for veterans to pay essential life expenses like rent, utilities and car repairs — has been PMCN’s No. 1 referral agency, Hatten said.

The merger will create a “one-stop shop” for veterans to not only address their immediate needs, but also their root causes, Anderson said.

“People call The Home Front Cares because it’s an emergency — they’re being evicted, their power is being turned off, any number of things,” he said. “The Home Front Cares does a great job of fixing that, but what we then need to do is take a look at why are they having those kinds of problems — Is it financial management? Do they need a job? Are there drug problems? — so you can provide a complete solution to what started as a problem just to get some money for turning on the electricity.

“What we’d like to think is we’re going to be able to provide a total solution,” Anderson said, “not just a solution to an isolated problem. Those problems are too complex to be able to handle [with a] single solution.”

In order to qualify for THFC assistance, clients must show they have a financial plan — which is where PMCN can step in with long-term case management services, Hatten said.

“A lot of folks are willing to come and get help when they’ve got a financial crisis, and we can provide long-term case

By Erinn Callahan

Two military nonprofit organizations in the Pikes Peak region will merge by the beginning of next year — a move officials say will lead to more efficiently serving the area’s veterans and active military population.

Following months of negotiations, Peak Military Care Network and The Home Front Cares will officially combine services in January, said Kate Hatten, PMCN executive director.

“This is a great opportunity to streamline access to one of our critical services, and hopefully do more for our military veteran community with less overhead,” Hatten said.

Clients of both organizations should not expect any interruption in services, Hatten said.

“We will continue to do the work that both organizations do,” she said. “We’ll just be doing it together come the new year.”

Hatten will remain on staff to lead the combined organization, while THFC executive director Shawn Kelly will step down, she said.

“He’s got a new gig lined up,” Hatten said. “Both organizations are short-staffed, so we will be a very robust organization.We’ve had some attrition over time because we knew this was coming on.”

STREAMLINED ACCESS The merger will beget significant cost savings — a minimum of 25 percent of gross revenue — “that can now be spent on programming that has an immediate and positive impact on our clients,” according to a Sept. 26 letter from THFC Board Chairman Tony Przybyslawski and Steve Dant, PMCN board chairman.

But for retired Army Lt. Gen. Ed Anderson, former deputy commander of the U.S. Northern Command and vice commander of the U.S. Element at the North American Aerospace Defense Command at Peterson Air Force Base, the decision goes far beyond monetary savings.

“The obvious thing that some people would use is you’re going to save resources by combining the processes and procedures into a single one,” said Anderson, who currently serves on THFC’s advisory board and previously served on PMCN’s board. “That is true, but that should not be what the measure of success is. The measure of success for us is, are we adequately taking care of these people?”

Both nonprofits were founded in the early 2000s to provide relief for active-duty service members at the height of U.S.

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management. We might work with an individual or family for several months. ... not just kick the can,” she said. “So part of it is educating those who may not need assistance now, but might later.

“We’re trying to reach people where they are to provide information on what’s available in the community, and helping them navigate that,” Hatten added. “We’ll do an assessment and find out what their needs are, and ideally connect them to the right services the first time.”

Ultimately, the goal is to make sure all partner agencies understand military culture in order to work together and know how to connect, Hatten said.

“So if they go to one agency like the Pikes Peak Workforce Center, rather than having the Workforce Center say, ‘We don’t do that; we do jobs — good luck,’ they can say, ‘We don’t do that, but we know who does,’” Hatten said. “Again, we can work together and collaborate to provide the full spectrum of needs.”

Many veterans seeking short-term financial assistance may not even be aware which long-term resources are available to them, Hatten said, and PMCN can help with that.

“We continued to find out that people just don’t know what is available to them,” Hatten said.

When it comes to veteran care, “follow-up is a key ingredient,” Anderson said, which means clients benefit that much more from streamlining the services.

“As I said, the problems are complex. You can’t just do something like give them some money or push them to one of our providers and expect that the problems are necessarily going to be solved,” Anderson said. “We do follow up to make sure the problems are fixed and we’re not encountering new problems.”

Both staffs are dedicated to providing the highest possible quality of care for their client base, Anderson said.

“We are pretty passionate about this,” he said. “We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t think it was going to be a better service — not just for the community but specifically service members and their families.”

Hatten said that throughout the negotiation process, which began in May, the prevailing question has been: “Can we better serve the military community?”

“The answer was yes,” Hatten said. “It’s been a good fit. It was really clear the synergies were there and we provided complementary services. [The merger] broadens our scope and our ability.”

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December 6, 2019 17B

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CSU-Pueblo Provides Pathway to Success for Navy Veteran and CSU-Pueblo Nursing Graduate

By Melanie Velasquez Determined and goal-oriented first generation student Garrett Bragg graduated from Colorado State UniversityPueblo’s 15-month accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program in August 2019. He passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) on his first attempt, and is working at Parkview Medical Center.

Bragg also recently re-enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve.

Although most first generation students are encouraged by their family to attend college, they don’t get the guidance or support they need to become a successful college student. In fact, when compared to students from a family with college experience, first generation students have unique hurdles, obstacles, and opportunities. Bragg was no exception.

“The biggest hurdles,” Bragg said, “were trying to figure out what I want to do, what’s a good career path, and how in the heck do I pay for it?” Bragg said he chose to serve his country which narrowed his career search. He said the guidance and mentorship he received while in the United States Navy helped him to make the life-changing decision to attend college.

Following his decision to leave active duty in 2013, Bragg received his bachelor’s degree in religion, but his true calling has always been to be in the medical field. So, with support from his wife Brittany, Bragg enrolled at CSU-Pueblo in 2017 and rejoined the inactive navy reserves.

Balancing school and family became a challenge, but much of Bragg’s motivation came from leaning on his fellow classmates. “They were feeling the same way,” Bragg said, “but where they were weak, I was strong, and vice versa.” He said that’s what made him realize what a tight-knit group they were. “We wanted everyone to get through it.”

Another large part of Bragg’s motivation came from his wife. Bragg said he had difficulty studying at home, so with his wife’s encouragement, he’d go somewhere quiet to study while she took care of their two young sons. “She’s super understanding,” Bragg said. Her unfailing support and encouragement enabled Bragg to earn a degree in a rewarding career.

Bragg’s study time included interesting and fun ways to test his knowledge. He said he played the board game called RNtertainment, The NCLEX® Examination Review Game, with his classmates and bible study group. “They would have parties for nursing students, and they would play this game,” Bragg said. He was

determined to pass the exam, which he did on his first attempt.

Bragg decided to apply at Parkview Medical Center, which required signing a 2-year contract. While a two year commitment did not appeal to him at firs, nursing jobs within the company were abundant, and he wanted one so, Bragg applied to 13 positions at Parkview.

A week later, Bragg was contacted by Parkview, and five departments were interested in meeting him. Parkview oncology, medical ICU, cardiac, chest observation and cath lab coordinated their schedules to set up back-to-back interviews with Bragg.

“I was super impressed. They explained how the new CEO wants things run,” Bragg said. He said was sold on the company’s structure and professionalism during the interview.

Within a week, Bragg received a call-back from Parkview.

All five interviews went well, and they each wanted him to join their departments, so he got to choose. “I had this really good opportunity,” Bragg said. “But at the same time, I had a

good problem.”

Bragg said he had to consider his long-term goals in the medical profession, while carefully considering the impact of the choice he was about to make. “One of my goals after graduating nursing school was to become a naval officer in the nurse corps,” Bragg said.

After careful consideration, Bragg accepted the position in Parkview’s medical ICU. “I felt like I would get better overall experience there,” he said. His first day at Parkview was Sept. 9.

Bragg said after a year in the medical ICU at Parkview, he will have the opportunity to move to another department and gain more experience. Eventually, he wants to go into cardiology, but said he can begin learning about it while working as a nurse in medical ICU. “I’m obsessed with the heart,” Bragg said. “The heart just makes sense to me. It’s a machine.”

Bragg’s adventure has just begun. A month after starting at Parkview, Bragg rejoined the navy Reserves as a Gunners Mate, or GMSM, and plans to further his nursing career with the next five years.

“My ultimate goal is to get my doctorate,” Bragg said. “I want to get my Critical Care Registered Nurse certification and begin working towards becoming a nurse practitioner. It’s something I’ve always wanted to accomplish. That’s why I rejoined the military immediately after graduating.

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Education Guide

Online Military & Veteran Services Are you looking to move ahead in your career? With Chadron State College’s reputation as an educational leader in the region, you’ll have a solid foundation to take your career to the next level.

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They are familiar with tuition assistance programs and the G.I. Bill.

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December 6, 2019 19B

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CSC’s fully online MBA

Q: What advice would you give to someone interested in an online master’s degree?

A: The best advice for any business major is to reverse design your life. Think about where you want to be for the prime of your career or retirement and design backward what it takes to get there. Map it out. Plan it. Set up goals and benchmarks.

Q: What career paths are open to a graduate with a degree in business?

A: Anything. A business degree empowers the graduate to do absolutely anything.

Q: Are CSC courses applicable to most or all types of businesses?

A: The value of CSC’s courses come largely from our commitment to our ACBSP specialized accreditation standards. These standards require continual program level assessment of courses, faculty credentialing standards, proof of faculty continuous improvement, and relevancy of curriculum development.

CSC’s Graduate Education program

Q: How can online graduate courses in education be beneficial?

A: For those who want to add another endorsement area or work on a master’s program, online courses are the way to go.

It is beneficial to anyone who is busy and wants to further their education, move across the pay scale, and not leave the comfort of their home.

Q: What is a unique aspect of the CSC Education program?

A: Many of the professors in the Education department have years of experience working in public education and are able to draw upon those experiences when teaching.

20B December 6, 2019

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Education Guide

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Harrison grads to receive free PPCC tuition

Courtesy PPCC

Pikes Peak Community College is ready to welcome D-2 students who qualify for the Dakota Promise Scholarship.

By Regan Foster

Harrison School District 2, Pikes Peak Community College and a pair of philanthropic organizations are making D-2 students a major promise.

A scholarship program conceived by the college, embraced by the district and funded by the Dakota Foundation and the Legacy Institute will offer a full, two-year scholarship to all qualifying D-2 graduates starting with the class of 2020.

Dubbed the Dakota Promise Scholarship, the program will cover all of the students’ costs, including tuition, books, fees, transportation and food, said Wendy Birhanzel, D-2 dual superintendent and an expert in curriculum and instruction. Students will also be paired with a success coach to help them navigate the college.

“We’re so excited. It’s amazing,” Birhanzel said of the scholarship. “We say college is for everyone, but then some kids can’t go because of costs or other factors. We really think this helps change the earning potential for our [families] in the Southeast.”

To qualify, students must graduate from a district high school or the Career Readiness Academy, must apply to the college, must apply for the grant and must have at least a 2.5 grade point average during their junior and senior years, Birhanzel said.

Between Sierra and Harrison high schools and the academy, about 400 D-2 students earn their diplomas each year, Birhanzel said. PPCC President Lance Bolton is ready to welcome as many as want to register. The scholarship pilot is expected to cost about $650,000 over its first three years, he said.

“Some of that’s scholarships, some of it is the studentsuccess coaches that are being assigned to and attached to these students,” he said. “We are hopeful and being very innovative with this.”

Bolton and his team spent about three years researching similar scholarships across the country. They knew they wanted to partner with a local school district where the benefits of higher education could have the best impact. But at the same time, the initiative had to be kept manageable.

D-2, with its roughly 11,700-student population, higher rates of student poverty and existing relationship with PPCC, fit the bill. D-2 and the college already partnered on a concurrent degree initiative, which allows D-2 students to pursue their associate degree while also completing their high school education (about 25 graduates each year), but Bolton saw a chance to serve even more Southeast youths.

So Bolton, armed with a district and with a state initiative that double scholarship donations, set about recruiting philanthropic support. The Dakota Foundation, a Springsbased nonprofit that aims to grow self-sufficiency in the community by providing residents with the tools they need to help themselves, signed up to fund the first three years of the program. The Legacy Institute, an education and communitydevelopment nonprofit launched by local philanthropist Margo Lane and helmed by her son Philip Lane will help cover the costs, and D-2 will control the funding in Year 4 and beyond. If the Legacy Institute seems familiar, that may be because it was a driving influence behind the district’s successful $180 million bond question last November.

“It’s certainly well-known and understood by many in the community that Southeast Colorado Springs has been an economically challenged area of city. That’s mostly who District 2 serves,” Bolton said.

U.S. Census data show Southeast (80910 and 80916 ZIP codes) median income is at least $10,600 lower than the rest of the city. During the 2018-19 academic year, Colorado Department of Education data show 73.3 percent of D-2 students received free or reduced-price lunch compared with 56.7 percent in Colorado Springs School District 11, and 12.2 percent in neighboring Cheyenne Mountain District 12.

According to the Colorado Community College System, for every dollar invested in community college education, students receive $4.30 in lifetime earnings, $5.70 is gained

in added tax and public sector savings, and state revenue/ social savings are boosted by $11.30. So growing access to higher education can clearly grow the economy. The scholarship applies to associate degree programs as well as trade certifications.

“Many times we have kids who will apply to Pikes Peak but they won’t end up enrolling or doing the financial aid because they think finances aren’t an option,” Birhanzel said. “[Bolton] saw we needed to do something different and he saw all the kids who needed access to college. He saw this as an increased partnership: How do we put our heads together and focus on kids and the next steps?”

The aim is to double the number of students attending college within one year of high school graduation and get 80 percent of those students to complete a certificate or degree, or to transfer to a four-year college or university.

The 2016 presidential campaign thrust college affordability — and the staggering debts that can pile up in the name of education — into the national spotlight. The conversation has only ratcheted up in recent weeks thanks to the Democratic presidential debates. While candidates differ on the best approach, they agree that student debt is a major problem facing the nation.

Success stories elsewhere

While it’s believed to be the first of its kind in Colorado, such partnerships are not unprecedented. A Washington, D.C.-based organization called the College Promise Campaign studies both the nature and the efficacy of such programs, already in place.

In 2014, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam rallied a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, elected officials and leaders of the business and nonprofit sectors to launch Tennessee Promise.

That program earned national renown for covering in-state tuition and fees for recent high school grads to attend a community college or technical school.

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, a similar program covers tuition and fees for Kalamazoo High School students to attend any state college — public or private.

And in El Dorado, Ark., the Murphy Oil Corporation covers tuition and fees for all El Dorado High School graduates who attended the school since ninth grade — 84 percent of those high school graduates attend college, compared to 50 percent statewide.

Aside from being the first such scholarship partnership in Colorado, the Dakota Promise not only pays for tuition, books and fees, it partners collegians with student-success coaches whose job is to help them navigate the sometimesrough tides of higher education. Coaches help students with everything from choosing a degree or career pathway to managing the emotional and academic rigors of college life.

“For first-generation students who have had no one in their families go [to college], there are so many barriers built in,” Bolton said. “Student-success coaches are really there to support students on all of those fronts. To help them navigate the processes, to help ensure that the students know they can be successful.”

The numbers bear that out. A pair of coaches currently support about 300 students, Bolton said. Of those students, about 93 percent who matriculated during the fall semester last year came back for the spring semester. College-wide, the president added, the number is closer to 77 percent.

“These coaches were only really supporting what we would term the ‘highest-risk’ students: low-income, firstgeneration students,” he said. “They outperformed their peers significantly.”

For Birhanzel, the Dakota Promise Scholarship is more than just a pilot program, it’s a long-term commitment to both the students and the community that is raising them.

“Our commitment now is preschool through grade 14,” Birhanzel said. “We offer all the way through college. It’s huge! This is us committing to our kids after they’ve left us. ... [It’s] a perfect partnership of a unified vision.”

Education Guide

An advertising supplement to the Fort Carson Mountaineer, the Peterson Space Observer, the Schriever Sentinel and the Colorado Springs Business Journal

December 6, 2019 21B

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Beyond Home Schooling Mountain Vista Home School Academy is dedicated to providing enriching academic and social opportunities for home schooled students in a dynamic learning environment.

Mountain Vista Home School Academy, MVHSA, is a one-day-per-week enrichment program FREE for home schooling families within the Pikes Peak Region. Students in grades K-12 attend classes with other home schooled students one day per week. Classes include Technology, Art, Science, Music, Language Arts, and Social Studies. Amenities include a state-of-the-art computer lab, free library and gym/auditorium. All students enjoy two or more recesses on a fully equipped playground.

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MVHSA covers full tuition and fees for eligible students. We also have an extensive college textbook library for student use and provide book stipends for purchasing needed textbooks.

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We are located at 2400 Slater Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80905, just west of I-25 and Circle Drive. Feel free to call us with questions as we are always excited to share the educational opportunities available to home schooled students. Tours are available with advance notice and can be scheduled by calling 719-579-2160.

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22B December 6, 2019

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Education Guide

SPONSORED CONTENT

Military-affiliated students find success, thrive at UCCS When Levino dropped out of and learn from those with real high school in the ninth grade, experience in the workplace. At he questioned what the future the end of the program, Hill says may hold, but never doubted bestudents are granted a stipend to ing destined for more. Despite a purchase professional attire for difficult upbringing in Buffalo, interviews and the workplace.

New York, Levino worked his Hill explained veterans have way to earning his GED while access to benefits beyond the simultaneously working to successful programs offered support his family and young each year, such as free mental siblings. health counseling, which can “I knew I wanted to do someprovide students with individuthing more than what I was alized attention and an outlet. doing,” Levino said.

“At UCCS, we train our staff That drive led Levino to enlist and faculty every semester on in the military, where he found the unique needs of student vetsupport and structure that alerans. We have great participalowed him to build on his pertion in these trainings, and the sonal successes. By the time he model has been adopted across separated from the service, he the CU System, to which UCCS *THE PERSON PICTURED IS NOT AN ACTUAL SERVICE MEMBER knew the path he needed to take is connected,” Hill said. to accomplish his loft y goals, and For many students, learning he enrolled in classes at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). the level of accreditation many UCCS programs and colleges boast is reassuring.

Faced with experiences most college-aged students can’t comprehend, military- The UCCS College of Business and Administration, for example, is accredited affi liated students like Levino are presented with challenges in finding a school by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which that fits their style of learning. Their knowledge and experience can fuel success represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. in school, but it requires a college that offers the right resources.

Only five percent of business schools in the world enjoy such an accreditation.

Surrounded by five military installations, UCCS adapted over time to not just Pre-built connections within the Colorado Springs community and beyond accommodate veterans and their families, but to provide them the resources are also a factor. UCCS offers programs historically embedded into the comneeded to thrive. munity, allowing for internships and professional opportunities that lead to “Here at UCCS, we have always had a strong connection to our veterans and careers upon graduation. military service members. One in five UCCS students are affi liated with the UCCS offers flexible courses, with multiple locations, online and weekend military, and we work to provide each of them with the full support of the uni- learning, leading thousands of students each year to success. versity,” Venkat Reddy, UCCS Chancellor, said. “We take pride in being a campus “Why UCCS? It’s large enough for students to receive a top-notch education, that supports our veteran and military-affi liated students in their transition to but small enough that students won’t get lost. For many looking for a hybrid civilian life and help them build a strong foundation for their future success.” education, UCCS has great options.”

“The McCord-Herbst Student Veteran Center isn’t just a place for students That same hybrid education fuels the success of students every day, including to come hang out. They’re provided resources like noise canceling headphones, those like Levino, who called the environment at UCCS one of openness and lab computers and a group study room, which allows them to congregate and inquiry. still focus while around students like themselves,” Crista Hill, assistant director “My education has allowed me to get to the next level,” Levino said. “I think of the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, said. “This affects the retention of my degree gave me a leg up.” students affi liated with the military.”

Like many veterans with a UCCS education, Levino is gainfully employed.

Key programs fueling their success include Boots to Suits, which pairs veterans He currently works within the Department of Homeland Security in the Office with mentors in the community, guaranteeing each participant time to meet with of Inspector General.

Veteran turns passion into career with UCCS MBA Kathy planned to serve in the Army until retirement, but her plans changed as she sought a civilian career in logistics. She set her sights on Colorado, and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS), where she not only found success, but also a home.

Kathy spoke with us on the transition from military to civilian work, her path to the UCCS MBA program and how her degree helped her gain the skills necessary to pursue her passions for supply chain management.

What factors led you to pursue the UCCS MBA? “I was looking for a graduate degree that would help add value to my ambitions as a supply chain management professional. Yet, I sought out an education that was broad enough for me to gain other knowledge that would add value as a business professional.”

“When searching through university programs and courses, UCCS was at the top of my list because of the Operations Management emphasis in the MBA program.

After looking through the curriculum, I realized UCCS offered exactly what I was looking for to complement where I wanted to take my career transitioning out of the Army.”

How would you describe your experience as an MBA student?

“Amazing! I have never had issues enrolling in courses, my academic advisor is extremely attentive, all my professors have a genuine passion for teaching and the flexibility of online and on campus courses have truly been a blessing.”

Do you have any particular memory of your time as a student that stands out?

“I recently finished taking a course with Professor Warrick. It turned out to be the best course I have taken so far and I literally was on the edge of my seat every course when he would start lecturing.

“Professor Warrick’s course motivated and drove me to not only want to learn the concepts he was teaching, but more importantly it was something I could directly apply to my current position. I had never in my entire education been able to directly apply school coursework to a professional position.”

Can you talk about your career to date and any way your education impacted where you are today?

“I enjoyed logistics and operations management, which I did throughout my roles in the Army. However, with a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology, I knew it would be a “hard sell” not having a business degree. I wanted a hybrid of some classes online and some on campus because a master’s degree was intimidating to me at the time. This surprisingly, narrowed down my search pretty quick. When I came across UCCS, I saw that Colorado Springs was a great opportunity for employment and city to transition leaving the Army. So, in part, UCCS drove me to Target where I absolutely love working!”

What would you tell other professionals with a military background if they asked you about pursuing an MBA at UCCS? “I would say do it, do not think twice about it because whatever your professional endeavors may be, the UCCS MBA program will help you prepare to achieve them. The Veterans office on campus is extremely resourceful and helpful. The professors are amazing and have a wealth of knowledge and willingness to see you succeed. The curriculum is something practical and applicable to real world scenarios, which is something veterans should seek. Although, the military gives you invaluable skills, the technical knowledge to succeed in the civilian sector is what UCCS offers through its MBA program. This education combined with those military skills is what will set you apart as a professional.”

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