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Fountain science teacher honored with NSTA Fellowship
By Jennie Keller

Fountain Middle School science teacher Christan Cole has recently been selected as an Agilent Foundation-NSTA Fellow. The National Science Teacher Academy chose Cole from hundreds of applicants nationwide to participate in the NSTA’s professional development fellowship program.
 
Cole teaches 8th grade science at the Middle School. She applied for the Fellowship in order to network with other science teachers and learn new strategies for teaching. Already she has an opportunity to network with other Fellows.
 
She reports, “I have logged into the network a few times already and have been able to get some great teaching ideas.”  Cole expects that the network will benefit her students as she learns new techniques and applications for science in the classroom.
 
Another benefit of her Fellowship is the opportunity to attend the NSTA conference. She attended the event in Denver this past year and was energized and excited with the concepts she learned there. The conference this year will be held in New Orleans and is paid for by the NSTA.
 
Cole resides in Fountain with her husband and three children. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from Texas Tech. She has been teaching at Fountain Middle School for three years.


Clark celebrates 20th anniversary at your hometown community newspaper
 
This newspaper’s Advertising Manager/Circulation Supervisor Geoffrey Blair Clark, who has worn a variety of work “hats” over the past two decades, celebrated his 20th anniversary with the newspaper December 27. Clark also serves as Assistant Editor.
 
Clark came to your “hometown” community newspaper after graduating from the University of Kansas and working at newspapers in Clearwater, Anthony, Rose Hill, and Liberal, KS.
 
He is active with the Fountain Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Fountain-Fort Carson Community Lions Club and has served as a volunteer for the Fountain Downtown Events Association among other community events.
 
Clark’s personal interests include “all things sports” especially The University of Kansas Jayhawks, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the Colorado Rockies and the Denver Nuggets as well as visiting and spending time with his 5-year-old niece, Shauna Blair Emery.

    

- - Also in the Headlines - -

Tire Recycling Permit Approved for Midway


Colorado Springs, Dec. 18, 2008 – The El Paso County Board of Commissioners today approved the transfer of a Certificate of Designation for the Midway Tire Landfill.  Approval of the transfer to Colorado Energy Recyclers, LLC, is a major milestone in an ongoing effort to mitigate environmental hazards and reduce fire dangers at the site which is located between Colorado Springs and Pueblo.   A company representative of Colorado Energy Recyclers told the Board their plan is to burn the old tires as fuel in a special kiln at their cement plant south of Pueblo, subject to approval by Pueblo County. 

The 58 acre landfill site in Midway was approved for disposal of used tires in 1990.  The exact number of old tires stacked up and buried on the property isn’t known but experts estimate it could be more than 30 million. The landfill’s owners went into bankruptcy, the gate has been locked for months and there is now a growing problem of illegal dumping of old tires in the County.

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office attempted to secure adequate financial assurance for closure of the facility but was unsuccessful, raising concerns that state and local agencies would have to clean up the site if a financially responsible operator could not be found.  Charles Johnson of the Colorado Department of Health and Environment urged the Commissioners to approve the transfer.  “It’s estimated that four to five million tires are disposed of each year in Colorado and we support the opportunity to turn them into a resource in an environmentally responsible way,” he said.  

El Paso County Fire Marshall Jim Reid said Colorado Energy Recyclers has promised to work closely with the County and the Hanover Fire Protection District to reduce the risk of a tire fire that could have catastrophic environmental impacts.  Reid explained that each discarded tire contains the equivalent of approximately four quarts of oil and underground fires are always difficult to extinguish.

El Paso County Land Development Code Administrator Mark Gebhart noted that his department has worked with representatives of the new owners, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, the Fire Marshall and the Hanover Fire Protection District before recommending approval of the transfer. Gebhart expressed confidence that the company will be able bring the site into compliance.  Chairman Dennis Hisey voiced his desire to see the landfill cleaned up and the tires used to create new cement products in an environmental “win-win.”

 

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