Stowe receives ski racing safety grant
KELLY BRUSH FOUNDATION AWARDS SKI RACING SAFETY GRANTSSTOWE AND ASPEN SKI CLUBS AMONG RECIPIENTSBURLINGTON, Vermont (Nov. 24, 2008) Just as ski resorts are opening for the season, the Kelly Brush Foundation kicked off its 2008/2009 Ski Racing Safety is No Accident Campaign with the announcement of over $20,000 in grants to ski racing clubs and programs across the country. The grants are part of a campaign to promote and improve ski racing safety.Among the recipients are some of the most prestigious racing programs in the nation including the Mount Mansfield Ski Club at Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont and the Aspen Valley Ski Club at Aspen in Colorado. Each club won a $10,000 grant earmarked for enhancing safety on the trails where their young racers train and race.”The Kelly Brush Foundation is working to raise the bar when it comes to safety in ski training and racing. We really want safety to be foremost in everybody’s mind anytime a ski racer is racing or training on the hill,” said Charlie Brush, a founder of the KellyBrush Foundation. “The goal of the Ski Racing Safety is No Accident Campaign is to facilitate safety enhancements and promote awareness in the ski racing community including officials, coaches, athletes and parents.”Brush founded the nonprofit along with his family and friends after his daughter Kelly Brush was paralyzed in a ski racing accident in 2006. Ever since, the foundation has been working to improve ski racing safety as well as providing adaptive sports equipment to those living with spinal cord injury and supporting the U.S. Disabled Ski Team.Igor Vanovac, Director of Mount Mansfield Ski Club, said the grant will be used to purchase state-of-the-art safety fencing to line a new race course at Stowe Mountain Resort.”As one of the most important training sites in Vermont and a leader in the nation, Mount Mansfield Ski Club sets the standard for ski racing and training. This Kelly Brush Foundation grant allows us to bring the very latest in safety technology to our race venue and athletes, which is an absolute priority for our club,” Vanovac said.So far this season grants from the Ski Racing Safety is No Accident Campaign include:* $10,000 grant to Aspen Valley Ski Club in Aspen, Colo. for safety fencing* $10,000 grant to Mount Mansfield Ski Club in Stowe, Vt. for safety fencing* $2,500 grant to Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, Vt. for safety equipment* $1,000 grant to the Middlebury College Ski Team in Middlebury, Vt. for safety equipment* Ski Racing Safety is No Accident posters to 450 ski clubs and race programs across the United States to raise ski racing safety awareness.About the foundation: The Kelly Brush Foundation is a nonprofit 501c(3) organization dedicated to improving ski racing safety, enhancing the quality of life for those withspinal cord injury(SCI) through providing adaptive sports equipment, advancing scientific research on SCI and supporting the U.S. Disabled Ski Team. Kelly Brush, together with her family and friends, started the foundation in 2006 after she sustained a spinal cord injury while racing in NCAA Div. 1 competition as a member of the Middlebury College Ski Team in Vermont. That injury left Kelly paralyzed from the chest down. The Kelly Brush Foundation affirms Kelly’s ongoing commitment to live life to the fullest on her own terms and better the lives of others living with SCI. www.kellybrushfoundation.org(link is external)###
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — For Vanessa Sawyer, a third grade teacher at Eisenhower Elementary, being recognized as a teacher of the year is just one of the many, many events in this young woman’s life.Sawyer was presented “the USD 353 Excellence in Teaching†Award by David Carr, USD 353 School Foundation, Inc. at the 2013-14 Teacher and Staff Appreciation Program held at the Wellington High School auditorium Tuesday afternoon. She was presented the award that included 17 other nominees. The program is a year-end program exclusively for teachers and USD staff that included recognition of retirements, longevity of service and other special recognitions.Sawyer is a unique teacher. And she has a website to prove it. Her personal blog: http://seesawyer.org/ is packed full of activities. It’s not just a blog she updates once a month about her personal life. It’s a story of her Eisenhower classroom updated daily.“My goal is to increase parent involvement and teacher/parent communication,†Sawyer says right at the top of her website.She most certainly has done that.Of all of Sawyer’s accomplishments this year, she might have pulled off the ultimate fundraising project: the color run.The Eisenhower Elementary PTA held a fundraiser, but instead of doing the standard Red Wheel cookie dough campaign, Sawyer decided to do something different.“I saw this ‘color run’ in Kansas City where people were running and ever so often they would have this color powder thrown on them by the organizers,†Sawyer said. “I was thinking we could do something like that here. Let the students run around Eisenhower for 30 minutes and have teachers throw color powder on them that sticks to their shirts, and their face, and their legs. It would be a lot of fun.â€The students were asked to go out and get pledges. Boy, did they ever. The Eisenhower PTA raised just under $17,000 and after expenses put in $13,000 into its coffers.“We budgeted the fundraiser to make around $5,000,†Sawyer said. “But the students were ecstatic in doing it. I think it was because it was something they were able to participate in.â€The run also included prizes. Winning students were rewarded based on the number of laps they run. Those getting a prize received a gift certificate for a pair of shoes (staying in the run theme). Those students winning included Corbin Jones, Jack Wright, Britt Zeka and Kate Haines.•••••But that wasn’t all Sawyer’s class did. Recently her class made a 3 minute and 25 second music video about dental hygiene called “It’s Going Down, I’m Yelling Brush†which was part of a Kansas Dental Association contest.That video was presented to KDA in which the winning Kansas classroom who best demonstrated what they were doing to promote dental health would receive $500. A panel of judges then voted on it and the Eisenhower third graders were the winners! (see story here: http://www.ksdental.org/cdhm-class-project-contest-winner-announced/)That entry beat the second place music video presented to Woodlawn Health and Wellness Magnet Elementary in Wichita.Sawyer doesn’t just teach in the confines of four walls, but has a number of activities for the students to do outside the classroom. For instance there was the creation of the Character Living Museum where students are dressed up and acted like a character from a book. One day students took a trip out to Zeka Farms to learn about the great outdoors.The students are always “walking†whether to a Dillons Bakery to learn how to make donuts, or eating another set of donuts at the Daylight Donut Shop.Sawyer grew up in Jetmore, Kans. just north of Dodge City. After going to college and receiving her teacher’s certificate, she started teaching in USD 353 five years ago.Interestingly, Sawyer is making a move at the end of this year, transferring from Eisenhower to Washington Elementary where she will be teaching the fifth grade. It most certainly will be a loss for Eisenhower and a gain for Washington.•••••Special awardJill Kiker, a third grade teacher at Kennedy Elementary, was presented a special recognition award. Recently, Sumner Newscow featured a letter written by Mason Lough, a sixth-grade teacher, for the help Kiker gave him at Kennedy Elementary. See story here: http://www.sumnernewscow.com/sunday-blog-a-student-expresses-his-love-for-his-third-grade-teacher/•••••Longevity/Retirement awardsUniversity of Kansas 25-year teaching certificates:Katherine DwyerKimberly HefleyPam Renn.10 years of service:Adam HatfieldAnne BilesBonnie BoorRenee FergusonPeggy GilmoreHelen JonesTroy JonesJennifer LewellenSonja RobinsonKristin White15 years of service:Amy WestLinda BallardNeida DunnJerri FikeTimothy GonzalesMargaret HendericksSarah HouseMarilyn SearsElizabeth Vaughn20 years of service:Janet BrownSharon Hoffman.25 years of service:Katherin DwyerPamela RennJames YbarraDarla Carroll.30 years of service:Peggy Lawrence35 years of service:Phyllis Anderson.Retirement:Peggy Lawrence – 30 years.Nancy Strader – 27 years.Jayne Cook – 15 years.Debra Kimball – 25 years.Judith Leitch – 26 years.Marylyn Weber – 8 years.•••••Excellence in Teaching Award nominees:Daphne Adams – Kennedy.Darla Carroll – WHSJamie Dodds – Lincoln.Damien Hays – WHSJill Kiker – KennedySawyerLuke Smith – WHS.Amy West – Washington.Timothy Green – WHS.Kristee Bernd – Kennedy.Karla Defore – WHS.Ryan Elder- WHS.Katie Hollas – WHS.Beverly Sellers – Kennedy.Cathy Shuck – Lincoln.Bridget Vaughn – WHS.Robert Escandon- WHS.Dorathea Kelly – WHS.Follow us on Twitter. 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Thank you for your input. +1 Vote up Vote down whsfan · 325 weeks ago Great list of names, Congrats to Sawyer and the rest of these teachers that were recognized for their dedicated effort of teaching our youth. Thumbs up to all! Report Reply 0 replies · active 325 weeks ago Post a new comment Enter text right here! Comment as a Guest, or login: Login to IntenseDebate Login to WordPress.com Login to Twitter Go back Tweet this comment Connected as (Logout) Email (optional) Not displayed publicly. Name Email Website (optional) Displayed next to your comments. Not displayed publicly. If you have a website, link to it here. Posting anonymously. Tweet this comment Submit Comment Subscribe to None Replies All new comments Comments by IntenseDebate Enter text right here! Reply as a Guest, or login: Login to IntenseDebate Login to WordPress.com Login to Twitter Go back Tweet this comment Connected as (Logout) Email (optional) Not displayed publicly. 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