Durango High School to reorganize

Durango High School may be doing some downsizing in coming years. The high school is currently airing a plan to restructure itself into several smaller learning communities. A series of parent input meetings have been scheduled for coming weeks.

DHS Principal Diane Lashinsky explained that the smaller communities would be a way of serving students more effectively. The school district’s Committee for Strategic Change and several subcommittees have been working for more than two years on an initiative to improve school climate and academic programs. The goal is to have high school students and faculty feel more connected to their high school learning community. Lashinsky noted that when students feel more connected with their teachers and peers, they’re more likely to attend school and become more invested in their own learning.

9-R is currently exploring breaking the high school into pods – or smaller learning communities – in an effort to give students more opportunities to develop relationships with their teachers and connections with their peers. Lashinsky noted at a recent meeting of the school board that Durango High School remains a high-performing school and most students are finding success. However, not all students are performing as well as they could.

The Committee for Strategic Change has been working for the last two years to improve the dynamic. At first, the group led the high school staff in the adoption of new vision and mission statements. Last year, the committee went one further and developed a system of communication between teachers, students and administrators to ensure that everyone in the school community would be involved in any school-change initiative.

In September, the committee developed criteria to assess the proposed restructuring model, and last month, it worked with faculty to brainstorm dozens of ideas on how to restructure the high school into smaller learning communities.

Lashinsky presented the four models at a faculty meeting in late October. The most dramatic change would involve breaking the 1,500-student DHS into as many as five small schools, each with its own curriculum and approach. During the meeting, Lashinsky told teachers that the decision about whether to restructure the school into smaller learning communities would rest with the faculty, but she hoped they would come to a decision in the near future to give the school time to work out the course schedule for the beginning of the school year in the fall of 2008.

Before any decision is made, the Committee for Strategic Change will hold numerous parent meetings to discuss the reorganization of DHS. At each meeting a CSC member, DHS administrator, parent and student will be available to answer questions and address options explored thus far to reorganize Durango High School into smaller learning communities.

The meeting schedule is as follows:

n Mon., Nov. 26 at 6 p.m. at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School

nTues., Nov. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Riverview Elementary

nTues., Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. Animas Valley Elementary

nWed., Nov. 28 at 6 p.m. at Sunnyside Elementary

nWed., Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. at Needham Elementary

Meetings will also follow on Nov. 29, Dec. 3 & Dec. 6, and a final meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 at DHS. For more information, visit www.durangoschools.org.

Downtown gets ready to ‘Holidazzle’

The seasonal push to keep dollars in downtown Durango kicks off this week.  

The third annual “Holidazzle,” designed to boost downtown retail traffic, gets under way on Nov. 23, Black Friday, the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.

Like past years, Holidazzle is helping to promote nearly 40 events or activities taking place in and around downtown Durango. The effort is one of many organized by the BID to help sustain Durango’s Historic Downtown and was conceived by Bob Kunkel, Durango’s downtown promotion and business specialist.

“Participation in Holidazzle continues to be strong because the merchants have seen results with the program,” he said. “It becomes a win-win for everyone. Instead of focusing promotional efforts on just one or two events and activities during the holidays, we are able to help spread the word about all the activities taking place.”

Holidazzle festivities kick off Nov. 23 with the CD Release Party for “Rhythms of Durango, Volume Two” at 4 p.m. at the Diamond Belle Saloon. The Chamber of Commerce Singing

with Santa caroling procession along Main Avenue and Holiday Tree Lighting at Buckley Park follow, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

More than 75 businesses in the Central Business District are also offering gift drawings, with sign-ups being taken throughout the five-week promotional period. Participating merchants will be sporting the festive “red” poster in their shop windows and will hold their prize drawings on Dec. 24.  

Noel Night, the one-day/evening activity organized solely by the merchants, returns to Main and E. Second avenues on Dec. 13, with retailers offering sales, specials and/or drawings throughout the day.

City Span 10 takes top honors

Local public television recently received nationwide recognition. The City of Durango’s government-access channel, City Span 10, won several coveted national awards from the National Association of Telecommunication Officers and Advisors.  

“We receive many positive comments every day from residents about the programming on City Span 10, but it is really nice to be recognized amongst our peers at a national level,” said Greg Caton, assistant city manager. “With the City Council’s support, the station continues to function at a professional level that provides a great service to the community.”

In this year’s competition, NATOA received 1,200 entries representing 180 agencies (government entities) from 31 states across the country and Canada. City Span 10’s awards included a first place for “Good Enough for Government Work,” second place for “Sunflowers,” and an honorable mention for “Community Profile: Zak Watkins.”

The recent honors complement a pretty good run for CitySpan 10. Last year, the station took home awards for “Fourteen” and “Building for the 7th Generation,” as well as an honorable mention for station excellence. The station also garnered a 2006 Emmy from the Heartland Regional Chapter for the production “Working a Double.” The documentary took a look at Durango’s unusual restaurant and service industry.

All of these programs can be viewed on the City’s website at www.durangogov.org.  

Animas-La Plata to visit California

The Animas-La Plata Project is leaving Colorado’s borders and paying California a trip this week. “Cowboys, Indians & Lawyers,” a documentary on the local water project, will air on PBS stations in San Francisco, Monterey and Salinas on Thanksgiving Day.

The film was directed by Julia Dengel and follows the fortunes of two enemy camps as they struggle over the fate of the free-flowing Animas River. A-LP, which is nearing completion just southwest of downtown Durango, will eventually divert and store large quantities of Animas River water in a reservoir in Ridges Basin.

Dengel, an expatriate New Yorker, became obsessed with A-LP when she learned that the project has ties to development plans, including coal mines, power plants and housing developments. With the Southern Ute Indian Tribe promoting the project alongside traditional development interests, an alliance of Native American and Anglo activists forms to oppose it.

The film offers a portrait of the clash between old West and new and takes viewers along as both sides bring their cases to the halls of Congress.

– Will Sands