Ski Ops Grad Lands Job at Hometown Mountain

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Ski Area Ops graduate Dallas Zamora in the CMC leadville backyard terrain park

Ski Ops Grad Lands Job at Hometown Mountain

Returning to His Roots: Ski Ops Grad Lands Job at Hometown Mountain

DallasZamora SAO graduiate cmc leadville ski area operations professors

Retired Ski Area Operations Professor Paul “Bear” Rauschke (left), CMC graduate Dallas Zamora, and Professor Jason Gusaas at the Colorado Mountain College Leadville graduation ceremony

Dallas Zamora is returning to the mountains he grew up on, and bringing his career with him.  Thanks to his degree in Ski Area Operations and three years of professional experience on his resume, Dallas landed a job as a Terrain Park Cat Operator at Powder Mountain in Eden, Utah—just 40 minutes from his hometown.

In 2019, Dallas graduated from Colorado Mountain College Leadville with his Associates Degree in Ski Area Operations and two certificates in Slope and Trail Maintenance. Thanks to the curriculum requirements and hands-on nature of the Ski Area Ops program, Dallas had accrued three years of work experience in Colorado before graduating.

"While I was living in Colorado and going to school, I worked park crew for Vail Resorts," says Dallas, originally from Layton, UT, "I was hand crew so basically I was putting the finishing touches on all the features."

While in school, Ski Area Ops students are required to get a job in their field for at least a full semester. The real-world experience jump starts their ski industry career - boosting their resume with relevant experience while getting paid and earning college credit. Dallas worked for Vail Resorts for more than three years, before deciding to take his passion back home to the mountains he grew up on.

As a natural hands-on learner, it's no surprise that Terrain Parks and Snow Vehicle Maintenance were two of Dallas' favorite classes. Small class sizes and close connections with instructors also contributed to his success at CMC. Professors became friends, extending their professional network and opening new opportunities at resorts around the world.

"I took advantage of every resource and networking opportunity while going to school at CMC," says Dallas, "I asked if my instructors had any connections to Powder Mountain and they helped me get my foot in the door. Thanks to those connections, this winter I will be setting features and building terrain parks at Powder Mountain."

Though Dallas will be returning to Utah, he shares fond memories of his time at Colorado Mountain College Leadville.

"I loved living on campus," says Dallas, "It was so much fun having your brand new friends all in the same building. Getting to ride in the backyard park, hit the climbing wall or play pool whenever you wanted. It was definitely a really fun experience."

Ski Area Ops graduate Dallas Zamora in the Leadville backyard terrain park

 

 

Sopris Theatre Company Brings Home National Awards

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Cast and crew of "The Other Place"

From left, front row, Brad Moore, Kelly Ketzenbarger, Brittany Bays, Brittany McDermott and Jesse Monsalve; middle row, Brendan Cochran, Shannon Kittelsen and Evan Piccolo; and back row, Gary Ketzenbarger, Hadley Hiebert, Mike Monroney and Kris Shechter recently returned from the national American Association of Community Theatre Festival, where they ranked among the top community theater companies in the United States. Photo Lucas Turner

Sopris Theatre Company Brings Home National Awards

Sopris Theatre Company at Colorado Mountain College recently went on the road to discover that they are producing some of the best community theater in the country right here, for Roaring Fork Valley audiences.

The company returned in June from AACTFest 2019, the biannual American Association of Community Theatre competition, held this year in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. At this national festival they performed Sharr White’s one-act drama “The Other Place,” alongside 11 other top community theater companies from the across the United States and the U.S. military overseas.

“It was a terrific festival with many amazing companies,” said Brad Moore, CMC Spring Valley theater operations manager.

Among strong competition, Sopris Theatre Company was one of four companies nominated for Overall Outstanding Production. Additionally, two cast members also earned awards. Festival judges awarded Brittany Bays with Outstanding Achievement in a Supporting Role. Kelly Ketzenbarger received a National Award of Excellence for Acting.

Sopris Theatre’s cast and crew also received a National Award of Excellence for Outstanding Theatrical Moment for the final scene of “The Other Place.”

“We are very proud of our awards and to have ranked in the top few for outstanding overall production,” said Moore.

Long road to ‘The Other Place’

Sopris Theatre Company first performed “The Other Place” last summer at the Colorado Theatre Festival held in Salida. There they took first place show, three outstanding achievement awards and one excellence award.

Sopris Theatre Company’s strong performance in Salida allowed them to compete at the AACTFest 2019 in Gettysburg, joining award-winning companies from 10 regions throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Last fall, the company performed “The Other Place” at CMC Spring Valley, in the same format as when presenting the play for theatrical competition. And last winter the cast and crew presented the play at the Wheeler Opera House.

Both the Colorado Theatre Festival and AACTFest competitions judge every aspect of a performance, from acting to set design. Within a strict time frame, competing theater companies must set up their stage in front of the judges and audience, perform the production and strike the set – and all while being intensely critiqued.

Sopris Theatre former and current members

Current and former Sopris Theatre Company members received recognition at the 2019 Colorado Theatre Festival in Glenwood Springs in June. Photo Brad Moore

Sopris Theatre cast, crew, alumni score at home

Once the company returned home, both current and former Sopris Theatre Company members placed well at the 2019 Colorado Theatre Festival, held this year in Glenwood Springs June 27-30. Sopris Theatre Company won another round of dramatic arts honors for “Amateurs,” the company’s new production.

Current Sopris Theatre Company members JD Miller received Outstanding Achievement in Acting and Ciara Morrison earned Outstanding Achievement in Set Design for “Amateurs.”

Former Sopris Theatre Company members who are now with the Magic Circle Players in Montrose also received awards for their production of “Sylvia.” Jaime Walsh and Chris Walsh both received Excellence in Theatre for Acting awards, and the Magic Circle Players won the Excellence in Theatre for Ensemble Costuming and the People’s Choice award. All four of these award winners are recent theater graduates of Colorado Mountain College.

Sopris Theatre Company also won the Techtinabulation award, a word not found in the dictionary but one that Moore describes as a high compliment.

“I am proud of this award as it is awarded by the festival stage manager at her discretion to a theater for which the company, and most significantly the crew, demonstrates the true spirit of cooperation and a sense of knowing their craft,” Moore explained. “In other words, a joy to have in the festival.”

Sopris Theatre Company will open its 2019-20 season Oct. 18-27 with “Hope and Gravity” by Michael Hollinger. Directed by Brad Moore, it’s a comic and tragic play about how lives are affected after an elevator crashes in a major city. For information, including season tickets and more, contact Moore at 970-947-8187 or bmoore@coloradomtn.edu.

Sustainability in everything she does

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From left, Julia Farwell, Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, sustainability studies professor, and Heather Exby, CMC Spring Valley campus dean and vice president at the Spring Valley bachelor's graduation. Farwell was named outstanding bachelor's graduate during the ceremony. Photo Ed Kosmicki

From left, Julia Farwell, Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, sustainability studies professor, and Heather Exby, CMC Spring Valley campus dean and vice president at the Spring Valley bachelor's graduation. Farwell was named outstanding bachelor's graduate during the ceremony. Photo Ed Kosmicki

Sustainability in Everything She Does

By Mike McKibbin

SPRING VALLEY — When it comes to sustainability, there may not be another Colorado Mountain College student who has done more to make a difference than Julia Farwell. Her five-year journey ended with a Bachelor of Arts in sustainability studies at Saturday’s commencement ceremony at the Spring Valley campus.

More than 1,000 graduates are receiving degrees and certificates from Colorado Mountain College May 2-6, at 10 different graduation ceremonies held throughout the CMC district. Graduates from Aspen to Glenwood Springs could choose to participate in ceremonies at the college’s Spring Valley campus.

After growing up in Danville, Illinois, about 120 miles south of Chicago, Farwell earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Illinois and moved to Carbondale in 1996. For 16 years, she worked in the area’s hospitality industry, including management.

“I decided I wanted to do something more meaningful with my life,” she said, so in 2012 she worked for Osage Gardens and took a sustainable agriculture class at Sustainable Settings. It was at Sustainable Settings where she met CMC sustainability students and Adrian Fielder, then instructional chair of sustainability studies and director of the college’s Lappala Center in Carbondale.

Those experiences piqued her interest in the field of sustainability and two years later she took her first class in the program: Leadership, Ethics and Social Responsibility.

“I was hooked,” she said.

Another factor that pushed her toward sustainability was growing up playing in the woods in her backyard in Danville.

“My mom instilled a respect for nature in me,” Farwell said. Farwell originally wanted to get a certificate in sustainability from CMC, but her counselor urged her to seek a bachelor’s degree.“So I took one to three classes a semester,” she said. “That’s why it took as long as it did. But it was really rewarding. CMC staff and faculty are really caring; they are passionate about helping students with whatever it is they need to be able to succeed.

Farwell had an internship at EverGreen ZeroWaste and joined the Carbondale Environmental Board.  She initiated several sustainability efforts for the Town of Carbondale including expanding waste diversion options at annual waste-disposal days and helped the town adopt an Ecological Bill of Rights. And she also brought source-separated glass recycling to South Canyon’s recycling facility.

She volunteered for numerous activities that helped to change how the Spring Valley campus embraces sustainable practices. Farwell organized zero-waste events at CMC, convinced staff to install healthy food vending machines, and helped establish composting at the Spring Valley and Glenwood Springs campuses. That led to similar changes at Morgridge Commons in downtown Glenwood Springs. Those changes helped the college divert the waste it sends to landfills.

In naming Farwell this year’s Outstanding Bachelor’s Student at the Spring Valley campus, program staff have noted that she “embodies sustainability in everything she does.”Along with her classes, Farwell has worked part-time since 2017 for the City of Aspen’s Environmental Health and Sustainability Department. Her boss is Liz O’Connell Chapman, also an adjunct faculty member in the college’s sustainability studies program.

With her degree, Farwell said she has future plans to spend a year with the AmeriCorps program and seek her master’s degree in communication.

“I want to combine communication with sustainability so I can engage diverse groups of people with sustainable initiatives more effectively,” Farwell said. She has already signed up for some communication and new media classes for fall semester.

Farwell praised O’Connell Chapman, as well as Johann Aberger, associate professor of outdoor education, and Adrian Fielder, now Spring Valley assistant dean of instruction, for helping guide and motivate her toward completing her degree. She also praised Kevin Hillmer-Pegram, Spring Valley’s full-time sustainability professor, for his efforts in making “real life” projects part of his courses.

“The program is very experiential, very hands-on, so you don’t have to wait until you graduate before you put what you learn to use,” Farwell said. “The small classes and the student interaction were great, too. I’ve really enjoyed this journey. It’s been such a joy.”

CMC grad finds calling in health care

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Jesus Salgado

Jesus Salgado with his mom Emilia Delgadillo at the nursing graduation ceremony at Spring Valley. Photo Ed Kosmicki

CMC Grad Finds Calling in Health Care

By Donna Gray

Jesus Salgado collected a second associate degree from Colorado Mountain College this week, in nursing, adding to the Associate of Science in biology he earned in 2017.

Salgado was among more than 1,000 students receiving degrees and certificates from Colorado Mountain College this week, at 10 different graduation ceremonies held throughout the CMC district. The nursing pinning ceremony was on the morning of May 4, at Spring Valley.

During the second of Salgado’s two years in the college’s well-respected nursing program, he worked at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs as a care technician, helping nurses care for patients in the acute care department. There he discovered a great passion for nursing.

“He’s friendly, personable, authentic and such a great team worker,” said Dawn Sculco, administrative director of inpatient services at Valley View Hospital. “Everybody loves him. It’s a great day when Jesus is on.”

Salgado grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved from “a harsh life, very violent,” he said, when he was 12 years old. He graduated in 2012 from Coal Ridge High School in Silt. Although he had always intended to go on to college, he did not have legal residency in the United States. But he applied for and was accepted into the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program. The federal program allows qualified undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors to receive a renewable two-year exemption from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. For Salgado, it allowed him to stay in the U.S., to study and work.

His plan now is to earn a bachelor’s degree from CMC, and then go on to earn a master’s, or doctorate degree – or he may apply to medical school. At this point in his career, Salgado is delighted to be in nursing.

“I have found a love for nursing. I get to help people and care for them,” he said.

“I’m impressed with his strong work ethic, his striving for improvement and desire to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Betty Damask-Bembenek, acting dean of the School of Nursing, Health Sciences and Public Safety at CMC. “He’s very caring and compassionate.”

Salgado believes he owes his present success to the quality of education and outstanding support he’s received at CMC. “I’m truly grateful for that,” he said. “I would not change anything. Every teacher has been great and worked with me very closely.”

He especially appreciates having access to many campuses in the area. “While working full time, if I couldn’t get one class at a certain time or day, I went to another campus.

“It was great to have that flexibility to line up classes on my days off.”

And, he said, working with different professors in different fields gave him a broader education.

“I felt so welcome,” he said. “Every opportunity and privilege I received I’m grateful for. I’ve found love and passion for a career, and have been able to fulfill a calling through CMC.”

Sustainability Studies B.A. Students Earn International Certification

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Sustainability Studies B.A. Students Earn International Certification

On March 29, three students graduating this May with their B.A. in Sustainability Studies (BASS), Jenna Hendrickson, Kyle Stepanek, and Bri Davidson, earned the Sustainability Associate certificate (ISSP-SA) from the International Society for Sustainability Professionals.

One of their professors, Tina Evans, also took the exam and earned the certificate, and she plans to go on to earn the ISSP’s higher-level certificate: the Certified Sustainability Professional credential (ISSP-CSP).

The ISSP-SA credential demonstrates mastery of a body of knowledge for the sustainability field that is highly relevant to sustainability professionals working in a wide range of positions in business (including nonprofits), government, and education. The ISSP-CSP credential certifies that the holder has strong knowledge and experience in leadership and practice in the field of sustainability.

This accomplishment by the students and their professor is path breaking for the Sustainability Studies program, as they are the first students, and the first CMC faculty member, to earn the certificate. Students learned the content through their extensive coursework in Sustainability Studies and, most recently, through the program’s newly required course titled Careers and Professional Skills in Sustainability (SUS 416).

This course, first developed by Mercedes Quesada-Embid, served as an elective in the BASS for a number of years. The BASS faculty recognized the importance of devoting more attention to helping their student’s transition to work and/or further education beyond completion of the BASS degree, so they have begun requiring this course.

The students who completed the SUS 416 course this year took it as an elective because it was not required of them for their catalog year, and those who completed the ISSP-SA certification, a subset of the full class, did so as an optional part of that course. The students deserve a lot of credit for their preparation and their courage to attempt something that had not yet been attempted by BASS students (or faculty!).

The students are all from the Steamboat campus where the BASS faculty piloted the offering of this credentialing opportunity this spring. The program faculty will be discussing how best to include this opportunity in the curriculum across the BASS sites at the College.

Colorado Rural Teaching Fellowship

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Colorado Rural Teaching Fellowship

Colorado Mountain College and Colorado Department of Higher Education awards $10K to twelve of the very first Rural Teacher Fellowship Recipients

The Rural Colorado Grow Your Own Educator Act (House Bill 18-1002) was signed into law to address rural teacher shortages by creating the Colorado Rural Teaching Fellowship. The Teaching Fellowship supports the first strategic goal detailed in the department’s master plan for higher education: credential completion.

Given that the fellowship is a pathway for rural teacher candidates to obtain their Colorado teaching license, it serves as a strategy to increase educator preparation credentials in Colorado.

The fellowship is a year-long clinical experience for teacher candidates in the final year of their teacher preparation programs jointly designed by rural local education providers (rural schools/districts/BOCES/charter schools) and educator preparation programs at institutes of higher education.

The rural teaching fellowship stipend is $10,000 —The Colorado Department of Higher Education contributes 50 percent and the institute of higher education contributes 50 percent through the candidate’s financial aid package.

Preference may be given to candidates who return to their home rural communities. As part of the fellowship program, teacher candidates commit to teaching in the same rural school district for two additional years beyond the fellowship year if offered employment. The Colorado Department of Higher Education can award a maximum of 100 fellowships per year.

Interested? Start by applying to for the Bachelor of Arts in Education program or Request Information from CMC Admissions.

CMC Bachelor of Arts in Education student and fellowship recipient Lillian Anderson.