Echoes from Cañon
Examples of Excellence
CCMS students visit PCC's nursing program.
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CCMS students at CSU Pueblo.
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CCMS students visiting the PCC Fremont Campus.
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I would like to offer up some major kudos this week to Cañon City Middle School principal Tim Renn and his entire staff for the great work they have been doing setting up college visits for all students. Last week CCMS kids participated in visits to Pueblo Community College’s Fremont Campus and CSU Pueblo. Research we have done tells us that the earlier we expose our students to the possibility of college attendance, the more likely they are to achieve it. Our need to plan events like this became even more important after I discovered through my Counselor Corps grant writing process that only one of our Class of 2012 graduating students who qualified for free or reduced lunch went on to attend college. According to Colorado Department of Higher Education statistics the percentage of all such students in Colorado who enrolled in college after graduating high school in 2012 was 41.4%. Far too low if you ask me. Our percentage that year? It was only .4%. Just 1 of more than 120. We have much work to do on this front and thanks to the folks at CCMS we have already started.
There was a great turnout for the Cañon City High School Band's Dinner and Jazz fundraiser Friday evening.
This weekend I received a report from Cañon City High School director of instrumental music Josh Race about the progress of his organization’s fund raising effort related to purchasing new band uniforms. Our current uniforms are 9 years old and Mr. Race has attracted so many new students to the program that an additional 40 will be needed just to outfit everyone who would like to participate next year. He says that band boosters have already raised more than $16,000 of the $40,000
needed to purchase 150 new uniforms. Over $6,500 was raised at the Dinner and Jazz fundraiser event held last Saturday alone! Josh also outlined numerous donations he is expecting to trickle in during the next few months that would bring this total raised to nearly $25,000 by summer. I want to thank Mr. Race and his supporters for all the hard work they have done on this project. I am simply amazed at how the community has come together for the good of one of our key performing arts programs!
Finally, I want to take a moment to thank special education administrative assistant Raynette Douglas for faithfully performing probably the most thankless job in the school district on a daily basis. You see, Raynette spends many hours early each morning securing substitute teachers for our staff members who need them. She can be seen in the administration office each day around 5:30 AM doing her best to secure effective replacements for our teachers who must miss work to address personal matters. I know this is not easy, and I know our system could not function without people like Raynette. Thank you for all you do for our children!
Finally, I want to take a moment to thank special education administrative assistant Raynette Douglas for faithfully performing probably the most thankless job in the school district on a daily basis. You see, Raynette spends many hours early each morning securing substitute teachers for our staff members who need them. She can be seen in the administration office each day around 5:30 AM doing her best to secure effective replacements for our teachers who must miss work to address personal matters. I know this is not easy, and I know our system could not function without people like Raynette. Thank you for all you do for our children!
The Focus of Our Work
Though I was out of the office late this week I did spend a lot of personal time writing the narrative for a Colorado Counselor Corps grant proposal that, if received, would supply us with dollars needed to plan for and implement a comprehensive Individual Career and Academic Planning process for every CCSD student in grades 6-12. This effort would work well with what we are doing through our Cañon 20-20 task force. Grant funds would train all instructional staff members in how to support the ICAP process, and would give us the ability to hire a district level counselor/coordinator to support ICAP implementation. All I have left to do is answer a few questions related to attendance and credit recovery efforts at the high school, and to finalize a realistic budget proposal.
In the mean time director of student services Dominic Carochi is also putting the finishing touches on an excellent effort to procure funds to improve our early literacy instruction district-wide. I know he has put his heart and soul into this effort and want to thank him for the great work he has done. It will be heartbreaking if we don't get rewarded for our work, but I know we have each given our best to secure these much needed funds.
In the mean time director of student services Dominic Carochi is also putting the finishing touches on an excellent effort to procure funds to improve our early literacy instruction district-wide. I know he has put his heart and soul into this effort and want to thank him for the great work he has done. It will be heartbreaking if we don't get rewarded for our work, but I know we have each given our best to secure these much needed funds.
Last Week
As hard as I tried I could't convince my friend Dave to root for the Buffs!
Last week I was only in the office on Monday, as I had the opportunity to take some personal time to connect with a long time friend and mentor in Las Vegas to watch the PAC 12 men’s basketball tournament. We saw lots of great play and my Wildcats first beat the Buffaloes, but then lost in the semi-final round to a tough team from Oregon. I got to spend plenty of time with my daughter Priscilla my wife Becky, and my friends Dave and Karen. Our great admin team picked up my slack while I was gone and though I was out of the office all week I still tended to important matters through email for about an hour each day.
This Week
I have an early morning meeting on Monday with Pauls Buser, and then I have the rest of the morning blocked out to continue finalizing our Counselor Corps grant submission. I’ll then have lunch with board president Larry Oddo, meet with a parent during the mid afternoon, and transition to our board work session and regular meeting by 4 PM. On Tuesday I have an administration safety team meeting and then superintendent’s advisory council. On Tuesday afternoon I meet with one of our principals about their mid-year evaluation and will end the day in meetings with Dr. Lana Carter of the PCC-Fremont campus and in a Canon 20-20 task force session. Wednesday brings about a series of routine meetings, as well as our first spring negotiation session with CCEA leaders. On Thursday I’ll meet with DHS Director Steve Clifton and RE-2 superintendent Rhonda Roberts in the morning, will spend some time judging at Harrison’s History Day, and will then attend a Unified Improvement Planning session with director of student services Domininc Carochi and our principals in the afternoon. As of right now I have nothing on my calendar for Friday, though I do plan to participate in a community walk at the Royal Gorge bridge on Saturday morning.
Thanks for listening once again. Have a wonderful week!
George S. Welsh
Thanks for listening once again. Have a wonderful week!
George S. Welsh
