CMC President Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser accomplished an incredible feat early Friday morning summiting Mount Rainier with CMC faculty member Dr. Jon Kedrowski, who recently summited Mount Everest for the second time. Hauser is an avid outdoorswoman; she has summited Mount Kilimanjaro, climbed to Mount Everest base camp and is nearing completion of Colorado’s 58 highest peaks (14ers).
“Juniper’s Last Gasp” by Raj Manickam is one of the pieces on exhibit at the Photo Pensato Fine Art Photography Show at CMC Vail Valley at Edwards.
Colorado Mountain College Vail Valley at Edwards will host an exhibit from Photo Pensato that showcases fine art photography including landscape, abstract, portrait, still life and much more.
Photo Pensato is a collective of photographers with varied styles and techniques inspired to create images that reflect their unique and personal perspectives. “Pensato” is an Italian term for a musical note so exquisite that it can be neither played or heard.
“There appears to be no comparable expression as applied to photography,” said Raj Manickam, an artist featured in the show. “Yet, this group of photographers persist in a quest to create images that capture that exquisite note, elusive spirit and timeless power of this medium.”
The fine art photography featured in the exhibit takes many forms including traditional film-based, digital, hybrid imagery – combining aspects of both film and digital – and historic processes.
Artists participating in the Photo Pensato show are: Angela Faris Belt, Thomas Carr, Ron Johnson, Linda Little, Raj Manickam, Aimee McCrory, Jim Montague, John Shelton, Stephen Podrasky and Michael Trupiano.
A reception for the exhibit will be held Friday, August 13 from 5-7 p.m. at Colorado Mountain College Vail Valley at Edwards. The first-floor exhibit continues through September 17.
For more information on Photo Pensato, go to www.photopensato.com. To learn more about CMC Vail Valley, visit https://coloradomtn.edu/vail-valley-edwards/
Ben Cairns has been named vice president and campus dean for the Colorado Mountain College Leadville and Salida campuses. The Denver area native has a long career in education, which includes serving as principal of Lake County High School since 2016.
Sometimes the best candidate is ‘right in your own backyard’
After an extensive national search, Colorado Mountain College has named Lake County High School Principal Ben Cairns as the next vice president and campus dean for its Leadville and Salida campuses.
Cairns will begin the transition from the high school to CMC effective August 2.
“Ben is exceptionally talented and a terrific fit to lead CMC’s Leadville and Salida campuses,” said Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, president & CEO of Colorado Mountain College.
“He is a committed public educator and a natural leader who believes an affordable, high quality, equitable education is essential to our mountain communities, region and state.”
Cairns has been principal of Lake County High School since 2016. The Denver area native has a long career in education including time teaching in Uganda, developing a restorative justice program for Denver Public Schools and opening a public charter high school in Denver.
“I’m proud of the work I’ve done to help Lake County High School become what it is today, and I’m thrilled by the opportunity to help Colorado Mountain College continue to serve the residents of the Arkansas River Valley,” Cairns said. “I am passionate about internships, concurrent enrollment, life-long learning and the role CMC can play in the community.”
The leadership role at CMC is available after the departure of Rachel Pokrandt, who led the Leadville Campus for nearly five years. She was recently tapped for a college presidency in Oregon.
“The college evaluated a large, diverse and talented pool of applicants in its search for this important leadership role,” said Bob Hartzell, who represents Lake County on the CMC Board of Trustees. “We are grateful to Ben for his service to Lake County High School, and we look forward to the new energy he brings to the Leadville and Salida campuses.”
Salida resident David Armstrong, who serves as a liaison to the CMC Board of Trustees, agreed that Cairns is the right choice for the Salida and Poncha Springs communities, adding the longtime educator always puts his students first.
“I am confident he will be able to jump right on the train of positive progress that is happening here,” said Armstrong. “Growth and innovation will continue under his leadership.”
Lake County School District Superintendent Dr. Bethany Massey said the search for Cairns’ replacement is planned for the fall semester. As the start of the school year quickly approaches, Assistant Principal Erin Dillon will take on interim principal duties, and she will be assisted by Academic Dean Lisa Berman until a new principal is hired.
“While we are sad to see Ben go, we know he won’t be far as he starts his new role at the college,” said Massey. “In fact, this change will only further strengthen educational opportunities for students across the entire Arkansas River Valley.”
Colorado Mountain College wishes to announce that it will host a site visit for continuing accreditation of its ADN (associate) and RN-BSN (baccalaureate) nursing program by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN).
You are invited to meet with the site visit team and share your comments about the programs in person at a meeting scheduled at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 22, in Rooms 120 and 130 of the Ascent Center located at 3000 County Road 114, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601.
Participants can also join virtually at https://www.gotomeet.me/acen074/co-mountain
Or you can dial in using your phone.
United States (Toll Free): 1-866-899-4679
United States: +1(312)757-3117
Access Code: 403-292-109
Written comments are also welcome and should be submitted directly to:
Dr. Marsal Stoll, Chief Executive Officer
Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing
3390 Peachtree Road Northeast, Suite 1400
Atlanta, GA 30326
Or email: mstoll@acenursing.org
All written comments should be received by the ACEN by Sept. 7, 2021.
Colorado Mountain College graduates Keanan Bell, left, and Wendy Avila Figueroa, right, flank donor Paul Bushong at the Spring Valley commencement ceremony on May 8. Both students are recipients of the Fast Forward Scholarship created by Bushong. Bell completed her Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology in May, while Avila Figueroa earned her Associate of Science in Paralegal last December.
Carbondale resident Paul Bushong pledged $1.5 million as a challenge match for other donors to join him in supporting the renovation of CMC Spring Valley’s student center and the addition of a new 4,000 square-foot nursing education facility.
“The Promise of Spring Valley,” is a $5 million capital campaign launched in 2018. In August 2019, the campus opened the new J. Robert Young Alpine Ascent Center, a 16,000-square foot student services hub, named after Alpine Bank founder Bob Young for his generous support of CMC.
Later that year, the Spring Valley campus also opened the Outdoor Leadership Center and Field House, another addition made possible by the campaign.
A resident of the Roaring Fork Valley since 1999, Bushong’s interest in education and CMC began in 2018 with the establishment of a scholarship at the CMC Foundation, the nonprofit support partner of Colorado Mountain College. The Fast Forward Scholarship at CMC supports “those students who’ve fallen through the cracks,” Bushong explained.
Award criteria for the scholarship is based on need, rather than academic performance, and targets local high school graduates as well as nontraditional students pursuing technical certificates and direct-to-work degrees such as nursing, veterinary technician and paralegal. To date, the Fast Forward Scholarship at CMC has awarded 29 students with over $100,000.
“Local support is important to me,” Bushong said. “I want to support students so they can earn a degree or certificate and stay in the community and participate in their local economy.”
When Bushong learned about the need to help fund a new nursing simulation lab and finish the renovations for Spring Valley’s student center, he was eager to jumpstart the campaign.
“Everybody has places to put their money but CMC is a special place,” said Bushong. “Their cost of tuition is a real bargain, and I continue to be surprised and impressed with the job they do.”
The nursing simulation lab proposed for the Spring Valley campus will create a six-bed training and education facility with four high-fidelity simulation rooms and two practice simulation rooms. A 3,000 square-foot nursing simulation lab at the college’s Steamboat Springs campus is nearing completion and an additional lab is planned for CMC Breckenridge by 2023.
The investment in simulation laboratories allows students to complete 50% of clinical hours via simulation at CMC campuses. This will enable the nursing program to offer the highest quality educational experience in the most efficient manner.
“We are tremendously honored to have Mr. Bushong offer to match gifts up to $1.5 million with his generous pledge in support of the Spring Valley campaign,” said Kristin Heath Colon, CMC Foundation CEO. “He continues to champion the value and quality of CMC and with his gift, hopes others will join him in supporting our local gem of a college and the future workforce for our communities.”
CMC’s nursing simulation lab campaign is a state-approved Enterprise Zone Program project, qualifying eligible donors with a potential additional income tax credit of up to 25%. For more information about donating, contact the CMC Foundation at 970-947-8378 or visit https://coloradomtn.edu/promise.
Madeline Pierce won the 2021 Colorado Ski Country USA Double Diamond Award for Snowmaker of the Year. Photo from Copper Mountain Resort
By Antonio Olivero, Summit Daily News
Despite her youth, Madeline Pierce’s passion and dedication for snowmaking helped the 22-year-old Copper Mountain Resort snowmaker win the 2021 Colorado Ski Country Double Diamond Snowmaker of the Year award.
“I’m honored, and I’m really excited, and I think it’s very special because as snowmakers, being behind the scenes, we don’t receive a lot of recognition,” Pierce said.
A native of the tiny town of Piseco in the heart of New York’s Adirondack State Park, Pierce has been drawn to snowmaking since, at the age of 11, she saw the craft for the first time at Oak Mountain Ski Center in Speculator, New York.
It was at Oak Mountain’s family-friendly, 650-vertical drop ski hill where Pierce learned how to ski before working her first volunteer job as a pre-teen helping children put on their ski boots. Just a few years later, she was a part of the ski area’s snowmaking team running and operating snow guns on a property Pierce said was a fiftieth the size of Copper Mountain. But it was a start.
On the recommendation of Oak Mountain owners Matt and Laura O’Brien, Pierce made the move out to Copper to study ski area management and operations at Colorado Mountain College Leadville. Pierce didn’t expect to be signed on to work as a snowmaker at Copper at 18, but she was, thanks in part to her unique snowmaking experience at Oak Mountain. Read more
