Durango receives recognition in report
Durango was featured in a report highlighting promising city efforts to improve the lives of children, youths and families in communities with populations below 75,000.
Published by the National League of Cities, “Municipal Leadership for Children and Families in Small and Mid-Sized Cities” describes innovative strategies from more than 40 cities and towns across the country.
Durango was selected for its Youth Engagement Program. The program offers a continuum of opportunities for youth participation in local government, which includes the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Commission. Currently, 16 Durango youths participate in the program.
The full report is available at www.nlc.org/smallcities. For more information, call Sherri Dugdale at 375-5002 or email Youth@Durangogov.org.
Animas Valley awarded grant from Whole Foods
Animas Valley Elementary School won a national grant through Whole Foods to enhance its coordinated school health garden and greenhouse program.
The school plans to build wooden garden beds this spring, as well as purchase or build an outdoor shed to hold tools and more.
Ariel Mallett receives language award
Ariel Mallett, a 2009 graduate of Durango High School recently received the Critical Language Award from the U.S. Department of State to study Arabic in Morocco this summer.
Mallett is a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., double majoring in anthropology and Arabic. Mallett is one of about 610 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students who received a scholarship in 2013. Participants will spend seven to 10 weeks in intensive language institutes this summer in one of 13 countries to study a language.
The program is part of a U.S. government effort to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering critical foreign languages. It provides fully funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences. Program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.
For more information, visit www.clscholarship.org or http://exchanges.state.gov.
Durango Elks announces scholarship recipients
Durango Elks Lodge 507 announces these area students as recipients of its 2012-2013 lodge scholarships:
Durango High School: Ashley Little, $5,000 Colorado Grand Host City Scholarship; McKenna Franzen, $1,000 State Elks Scholarship; Brandon Little, $1,000; Benjamin Marvin-Vanderryn, $1,000; Kseniya Wolcott, $750; Ruby Roll, $750; and Rachel Overington, $750.
Bayfield High School: Darren Hoselton, $1,000; and Megan Will $750.
Animas High School: Nathan Stilwell, $1,000.
Aerospace team receives contributions
The Durango High School Aerospace Design Team has received a $15,000 contribution from its corporate sponsor, ATK.
This is the fifth year that ATK has funded the program at this level of financial support. BP also has pledged $5,000 to the program for the 2013-14 year.
Additionally, Alpine Bank has contributed $500 to the team, and numerous individuals and foundations also have donated.
These contributions allow the team to expand the program to include trips to the Front Range, such as the team’s trip to visit Lockheed Martin in Denver and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.
SkillsUSA students attend championship
Colorado District 8 SkillsUSA attended the state championships from April 17 to 19 in Golden and these are the results:
Madison Hoven of Durango High School placed second in Advertising Design.
Josh Langford of Durango High School placed second in Cabinetmaking.
Pagosa Springs High School took first and third place in Computer Programming and first place in Crime Scene Investigation.
Bayfield High School’s Quiz Bowl team placed second.
Competitors from high school SkillsUSA chapters from Bayfield, Dolores, Pagosa Springs and Durango attended.
For more information, call Shaun Smith at 259-1630, ext. 2126.
Tucker Leavitt awarded merit scholarship
National Merit Scholarship Corp. announces that Tucker J. Leavitt of Animas High School was awarded a $2,500 National Merit Scholarship.
Leavitt’s probable career field is electrical engineering.
The designees were chosen from a pool of more than 15,000 finalists. Scholars may use their awards at any regionally accredited U.S. college or university.
National Merit Scholarship Corp., a nonprofit corporation, was founded in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Miller students work with Aztec Ruins
Students from Miller Middle School took part in a program at Aztec Ruins National Monument because of a Park Stewards grant from the National Park Foundation.
The University of Phoenix is a sponsor of this grant, which gives money to hire a teacher to work in the park during the summer, bring his or her students to the park for field trips and complete service-learning projects.
Sonnin Dahl worked in the park during the summer as an interpretive ranger leading talks and tours. Her seventh-grade students at Miller created a field guide of the plants at the ruins. Each student researched a native plant or heritage garden crop. The plant guide is now available to monument visitors. During a field trip, Miller students also helped restore native vegetation to a field between the monument’s picnic area and Ruins Road.
Energy council names scholarship winners
La Plata County Energy Council awarded $7,500 in college scholarships to these high school students:
Bayfield: Layne Bulwan, $1,000 La Plata County Energy Council Aulbert Memorial Scholarship; Matthew Eckstein, $625 La Plata County Energy Council Aulbert Memorial Scholarship; James Young, $625 La Plata County Energy Council Aulbert Memorial Scholarship; Jordyn Harrison, $625 La Plata County Energy Council Aulbert Memorial Scholarship; Sadie Yates, $500 La Plata County Energy Council 4-H Scholarship; and Alexis Green, $1,000 La Plata County Energy Council Scholarship.
Durango: Lane Joseph, $625 La Plata County Energy Council Aulbert Memorial Scholarship; Shantell Smith, $500 La Plata County Energy Council 4-H Scholarship; and Kelsey Jordan, $1,000 La Plata County Energy Council Scholarship.
Ignacio: David Storey, $1,000 La Plata County Energy Council Scholarship.
The council works with local high schools and 4-H to award scholarships for a total of $4,000. The group also awarded $3,500 worth of scholarships through the Aulbert Memorial program to students whose parents work in the local gas-and-oil industry. Money for the scholarship program is raised at the annual golf tournament.
Piano Achievement Day awards announced
Katzin Music’s annual Piano Achievement Day took place May 4.
The event provides students the opportunity to play for judges who critique their performances of technique and literature with personalized attention. The goal is to encourage students at all levels to strive for excellence in technical and interpretive skills.
These students have been awarded special commendation in their performance of literature: Chase Bronson, Level I-III; Brigid O’Brien, Levell II; Juno Field, Level I; Jacob Fenberg, Level I; and Jonah DiGiacomo, Level I.
These students have been awarded special commendation in both technique and literature: Saylor Stottlemyer, Level I-III; Sally Hong, Level I-III; Chloe Stein, Level I-II; Annie Bronson, Level I; Ava Wayland, Level I-III; Ethan Sage, Level II; Cara Popa, Level I; and Land Lambert, Level II.
These students mastered all of their technique and literature requirements at their level and received the highest award, the medallion: Garrett Francom, Level I; Brooke Francom, Level I; Cecilia Mino, Level I; Mary Fenberg, Level I; Anna Fenberg, Level I; Risa Whitehead, Level I; and Catelynn Anderson, Level II.
For more information, call 259-2211.
Sorrel Huntington graduates from college
Sorrel Huntington of Hesperus graduated magna cum laude from Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, N.M., on May 11 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Huntington is a graduate of Aztec High School. A grade-point average of 3.7-3.7999 must be earned to be named magna cum laude.
For more information, visit http://meritpages.com/achievements/Sorrel-Huntington-Graduates-with-Honors-from-Eastern-New-Mexico-University/6090986.
LPEA announces scholarship recipients
Recipients of the 2013-2014 La Plata Electric, John Voelker Memorial, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Tri-State Generation and Transmission scholarships have been announced by La Plata Electric Association.
The 29th Annual LPEA College Scholarships, two four-year scholarships (up to $7,000 annually or $28,000 for tuition, books and fees) have been awarded to Ruby Roll, a senior at Durango High School, and Isaiah Thompson, a senior at Pagosa Springs High School. Roll plans to major in physics at Lewis & Clark College, Ore. Thompson is heading to the University of Denver to study computer science.
Seumus McAliney and Lukas Morgan, seniors at Durango High School, have been awarded LPEA’s 13th annual John Voelker Memorial Scholarships, $10,000 for two years, for vocational, technical school or junior college. McAliney will study mechanical engineering at Yavapai College in Arizona, while Morgan will attend Universal Technical Institute in Arizona to pursue automotive technical training.
Aaron Cash, a senior at Durango High School, received the $1,000 Basin Electric Power Cooperative Scholarship. With plans to attend Colorado State University at Fort Collins, Cash will pursue a degree in mechanical engineering.
Austin Scalf and John Skeath, seniors at Durango High School, each received $500 scholarships from Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. Scalf intends to study engineering, and colleges under consideration are CSU-Fort Collins, Stanford University and Duke University. Skeath will focus on electrical engineering and attend the Colorado School of Mines.
For more information, call Jeannie Bennett at 382-3505 or email jbennett@lpea.coop.
Herald Staff
