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We would like to thank everyone for participating in our fundraising campaign to raise a mountain of cash for charity. The Pikes Peak Rotary Club is thankful for each and every person who joined us in this campaign to make a difference in our local and global communities.
The Pikes Peak Rotary Club and Peak FM have selected winners in the Extraordinary Teacher contest. We are thankful for all the extraordinary teachers in our communities. It’s with special thanks we are happy to award the following winners:
1st Place for Amazon Gift Cards
Paul Heesaker nominated co-teachers Amy Sanchez-Martinez and Robin Knoepke. They won first place in the contest and are awarded a $100 gift card each to Amazon.com. Here is their story:
Amy Sanchez-Martinez and Robin Knoepke were not in the audience when Mahatma Gandhi stated, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Perhaps they were there in spirit because this social studies and English teaching team personifies the change needed in education. Their faith in students’ potential for greatness has led to the establishment of the Mitchell Millennium Academy, a transformative approach that has the entire freshmen class en route to an average reading and writing achievement gain of two years in a single year.
Each brings unique skills, instructional expertise and time tested commitment to a school that faces declining enrollment, increasing poverty and falling test scores. Over the last five years, Mitchell has lost one-third of its students to surrounding districts. The poverty rate has soared from forty-one to sixty-one percent. Fifty percent of the students now enter Mitchell High School with below grade level reading skills. These challenges led Amy and Robin to push aside an industrial era educational approach and replace it with an information age focus. Classroom and grade level teams emphasize effort, communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking and the use of technology to enhance instruction and learning. These efforts have ended teacher isolation, replaced rigid fifty minute periods with flexible schedules and ignited students’ motivation to learn.
A typical lesson in Amy and Robin’s classroom includes instructional delivery utilizing multi- media resources projected on a large screen. Students then access a variety of digital and print resources to gain further insight regarding historic, geographic and literary concepts. Structured dialogues, known as Socratic Seminars, develop students’ communication and interpersonal skills and lead to deeper understanding. Extended writing time is another critical component. For example, students studied world religions and then wrote folktales in the form of PowerPoint presentations. The students, many of whom are struggling readers, walked to a nearby elementary school and presented their work to an enthusiastic first grade audience
The notion that the most experienced and talented teachers serve only the highest performing students has been abandoned as well. Although both Amy and Robin work with students in our gifted and talented program, and Robin teaches dual credit college courses, they also asked to lead our lowest freshmen readers in an extended three-period literacy block. This group of students has shown our strongest achievement gains. A clear indication of success is that 90 percent of our freshmen are on track to gain English and social studies credits this year, whereas only 70 percent earned these credits just two years ago. Their success has led to the full implementation of this approach for all MHS freshmen, and next school year, expansion to sophomore level classes.
Although much work lies ahead, Robin and Amy have set a course to reinvent education at Mitchell High School, in Colorado Springs and beyond. Their success leads students to remarkable achievement gains and influences fellow educators to emulate their instructional innovations. And even though the headlines bemoan an educational system that lags behind the times and other developed nations, Amy and Robin give hope that America’s public schools can be the change we want to see in the world.
2nd Place for Denver Outlaws Lacrosse Tickets
Paula and Brad Miller nominated Jakob Nezbeda. They won tickets to the Denver Outlaws Lacrosse. Here is their story:
We would like to nominate Jakob Nezbeda. Mr. Nezbeda is teaching Fourth Grade at Woodmen Hills Elementary School (District 49). Our daughter Haylee was reluctant to have a male teacher, however, over the past school year, she has come to love and appreciate Mr. Nezbeda.
We are a military family and as such we move very often (5 times in Haylee’s short 10 years). Sometimes during the moves, deployments, tdy’s times are hectic and children miss material or in Haylee’s particular situation, her Kindergarten teacher while stationed Seoul, South Korea, was having issues of her own and wasn’t getting the information out to the children.
Years went by and we asked each teacher in every place we lived to help us find out what Haylee missed — because we knew crucial learning lessons were overlooked early on. As soon as we met Mr. Nezbeda, I told him of Haylee’s specific issues and he jumped right in to help. He went to the teacher’s supply store and got extra things for her to help her catch up and even made notecards to help with letter blends.
Haylee’s father and I are amazed at what Mr. Nezbeda has done for Haylee, even though he certainly did not have to. We are very grateful to him for getting her reading level to where it should be 4th grade or higher instead of early 1st grader. He recognized that Haylee was bright and eager to learn, she just needed a little special help.
For this, we will be forever grateful.
We had a repeat winner in our 6th early drawing. Kimberly Miller won $1,000 in this early drawing after already receiving 1st place in 2nd early drawing! That’s because every ticket purchased is entered into all remaining drawings, including the grand prize drawing.
Winners in the 6th Early Cash Prize Drawing were announced by Mary Barrowman, CEO of Prospect Home Care & Hospice, one of the raffle sponsored charities. Mary introduced Prospect HCH and talked about the wide range of services that they provide the mountain community of Teller County including nursing for patients and families in every stage of life from birth to end of life.
Congrats to the following four winners:
Josh Osborne (left) serves the homeless of Colorado Springs, CO
Did you see the stories of the volunteers that were nominated in the National Volunteer Week 2010 contest? Talk about extraordinary. All the nominees definitely qualify for the title. It was definitely a difficult decision for the committee.
We would like to congratulate Josh Osborne as being this year’s extraordinary volunteer. His example of personal sacrifice to help meet the needs of others is truly inspiring.
Thank you Vickie McKnight for submitting his compelling story.
Here is her story in full:
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to wake up and be homeless? To be forced to live outside in a tent, cook food over a fire when you had it, and sleep on the ground? Josh Osborne decided to see what that would be like after he found himself not only seeing the homeless here in Colorado Springs, but as he talked to them and heard their stories he felt a tug to do something more than sympathize. Josh decided to find out what it was like to be homeless.
Josh Lives Among the Homeless
So, he left his cozy apartment and began camping with the homeless, and then because he saw they were hungry; he began to feed them. When he realized the need was too great for him to meet alone, he started a non-profit called More Than a Meal. Every Saturday Josh and his volunteers are out there cooking, serving, talking and just treating the homeless as people with faces again.
Not only did Josh begin More Than a Meal, he also became an advocate for the homeless to the City Council of Colorado Springs and continues to pursue avenues of help for the homeless here. Josh Osborne is my nominee and I hope he is your choice too.
Read all the stories (scroll down to comments) on this National Volunteer Week 2010 page.
TESSA Announced Winners in 5th Early Cash Drawing
At the 5th Early Cash Prize Drawing, Jennifer Park, a TESSA advocate, announced the four winners of the $5,000 cash prize.
National Volunteer Week – This Week
It’s National Volunteer Week, this week. That’s right, April 18 through 24 we’ll be celebrating volunteers. Volunteers make a big difference to so many non-profit. And extraordinary volutneers are indispensible. Let’s celebrate volunteers this week. Join us.
National Volunteer Week – Submit a Story
Submit a story of an extraordinary volunteer and win some cash for your amazing volunteer and for yourself! Tell us about someone you know who has made a big difference in your life or in the community.
Visit our contest page to submit a story and for complete details about National Volunteer Week 2010.
Mayor Spright Joins Board President to Announce Winners in 4th Early Drawing
Mayor Sprint, the pit bull, with her owner along side Kellie Case, the Board President of TCRAS
Mayor Spright is a pitbull mix. She made her first public appearance at the 4th early cash prize drawing for the Million Dollar House Raffle. She was joined by Kellie Case, the Board President for Teller County Regional Animal Shelter (TCRAS). Case introduced Spright and shared a bit about her history as a shelter dog. Spright came to TCRAS in need of a leg amputation….which she received. She was adopted last fall and loves her new life as a traveling Vet companion dog.
Case introduced TCRAS, the no-kill animal shelter and concluded with the announcement of the following four winners in the recent early cash prize drawing.
Spright – Newly Elected Mayor of Divide – to Attend 4th Early Drawing
Spright, a beautiful Pitbull/Boston Terrier mix, is the newly elected Mayor of Divide, CO. She will make an appearance at the Raffle Drawing tomorrow, April 9, 2010. She will be joined by Kellie Case, the Board President for Teller County Regional Animal Shelter (TCRAS). Kellie will talk about TCRAS, the no-kill animal shelter, and announce the four lucky winners in the Raffle’s last $10,000 early cash prize drawing. (The next four early drawings will be for $5,ooo each).
Location: Woodland Park Library Lower Level
Date & Time: 8 a.m. 4/9/10
Introducing Two New Contests….
We’re bringing you two more contests which means more chances to win. Why? These contests are designed to have you help us spread the word about the raffle. What’s in it for you? Well, prizes, of course!
Stop in at our Contests page to learn more.
Do you enjoy making videos? Then the “House Raffle ‘If I Win’ Video Contest” is for you. The video only needs to be three minutes or less and answer the question, “What I would do with the Million Dollar House if I win”.
For those who love to color…and you know who you are. Whether cartoonist, scrapbooker, stamper or hobbiest, you’ll want to get your hands on these Copic markers. Learn more about our Copic Markers Drawing.
Another $10,000 was awarded at our 3rd early cash prize drawing. Much like an episode of Sesame Street, “One of these things is not like the others” three of the winners were men from Colorado Springs and one was a woman from Garibaldi, Oregon.
There are 5 more early cash prize drawings before the big grand prize drawing. The next drawing is April 9th. To be eligible to win, tickets must be purchased by midnight, April 7th.
