DHS pushes to improve academics

Academic standards may get pushed higher at Durango High School. Durango School District 9-R is currently considering elevating academics at the local high school to come into line with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. The school board will take public input on the proposal during four separate sessions in coming weeks.

DHS Principal Greg Spradling explained why current graduation requirements need to be increased, saying, "Skills and knowledge needed today to enter college or to enter the work force are one in the same."

9-R Superintendent Mary Barter added that the school needs to expand its college preparation programs for all students. "Our parents will have a legitimate concern with our high school program if their children have not been taught what they need to know to begin their post-secondary education and then must pay for what their students should have learned in high school," she said. She noted that an estimated 27 percent of Colorado high school graduates who go on to college require remedial coursework.

Spradling remarked that roughly 70 percent of DHS students currently take more rigorous math and English courses and are prepared for higher education. The remaining 30 percent are unprepared, he said, and many of them are Hispanic or American Indian students.

Director of Secondary Student Achievement Judy Michalski concurred, saying, "What we've been doing, in effect, whether intentional or not, is placing students on an educational track that will give them fewer opportunities for success when they graduate."

DHS received a "high" performance rating on the 2004 State Accountability Report and for the most part, students stack up better than their peers statewide. However, Barter explained that the high school and district have faced criticism for the persistent achievement gap that exists between minority and majority student populations.

"We're learning from the research literature that the most successful strategies used elsewhere to close the achievement gap call upon educators to set the same high expectations for our minority students as we do all students," she said.

Members of the school board will take community input on the issue during four separate meetings this month. The proposal will be discussed during the May 10 meeting and is on the agenda as an action item during the May 24 meeting. Both meetings start at 6 p.m. in the Board Room, 201 E. 12th St. In addition, the district will gather additional community comments and concerns on May 11 at 6 p.m. at Escalante Middle School and on May 18 at 6 p.m. at Miller Middle School.If approved, the graduation requirements would apply to freshmen entering Durango High School this fall.

Fort Lewis graduates 589 students

Fort Lewis College graduated nearly 600 students during its spring commencement ceremony last Saturday. Author Paul Rogat Loeb, a national leader on civic engagement, delivered the commencement address to 589 graduating seniors who comprise the college's 42nd baccalaureate class.

During the ceremony, FLC President Brad Bartel said that this is an exciting time for the college. "The reputation of this institution will only get stronger over the next few years," he said. "We have a commitment to support teaching and strive to engage our student body."

Professors Cheryl Clay, Don Gordon and Charles Tustin served as faculty marshals.

Traditionally, faculty marshals are professors who have announced their retirements. Dustin Chapin, Cynthia Erickson, Vi Farmer, Debra Gonzales and Katie Smith served as student marshals, students who maintain the highest grade point averages in their graduating class. All five student marshals carried a perfect 4.00 grade point average.

BLM awards fire-assistance grants

Two local efforts at fire control have been given boosts from the Bureau of Land Management. The City of Durango and the Southwest Youth Corps each have been selected to receive $10,000 in community fire-assistance grants.

"The recipients were selected because their proposals will accomplish on-the-ground fuels-reduction work," said Laurie Robison, fire prevention and education specialist.The city plans to use its grant money to continue fire-hazard mitigation efforts on city-owned property, primarily on the west side of town, and will partner with the youth corps to accomplish this work.

The Southwest Youth Corps will use its grant money to complete a mitigation project begun last year at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds, where the Ips beetle killed 50 to 60 acres of pi`F1on pine last year, creating an imminent wildfire threat. Harry Bruell, executive director for the youth corps, noted, "The project not only benefits the Southwest Youth Corps by providing a fire-mitigation project that our Fire Careers Training Program participants can work on, but it also benefits the citizens in Montezuma County by removing unsightly dead trees that are a fire hazard."

Five new cases of pertussis found

Pertussis (whooping cough) appears to be on the spread locally. The San Juan Basin Health Department has received notification of five new local cases in children, ranging in age from one month to 14 years of age. A La Plata County adult case was reported last week.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection that has been on the rise over the past several years. Symptoms may include repeated episodes of uncontrolled coughing so severe that they result in vomiting, difficulty inhaling (which produces a whooping sound) or periods of not being able to breathe at all. Pertussis is most severe in infants and young children, with a fatality rate of up to 1 percent.

Deb Banton, director of personal health services with the Health Department, recommends that parents take this opportunity to check their child's immunization records to be sure they are up to date. Infants are immunized for pertussis at 2, 4 and 6 months of age, with boosters at 18 months and 4 to 6 years as part of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine. After the final booster, immunity gradually decreases, leaving older children and adults susceptible to the disease.

For more information, call San Juan Basin Health Department at 247-5702 or contact the La Plata County Infoline at 385-4636, Ext. 2265, 2266 or 2267.

- compiled by Will Sands