Colorado Mountain College names Cairns as campus vice president

Ben Cairns smiling in front of a scenic view

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.”

Rob Simpson fly fishing

Rob Simpson, M.Ed.

Associate Dean of Academics and Student Affairs
719-530-7905 | rsimpson4@coloradomtn.edu

Rob Simpson joined the Colorado Mountain College team in 2020. For the past 21 years Rob has worked with college students at several universities on the West coast using the outdoors as a classroom to teach his students about the important things in life.

Rob started his career as an outdoor educator in 1990 when he started leading backpacking trips in the Ansel Adams Wilderness while working for a summer camp just outside of Yosemite National Park. Those three summers changed the trajectory of Rob's life and for the past 20+ years he's been taking college students into the outdoors backpacking, rock climbing, kayaking, and winter camping all over Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado and Baja Mexico.

"Even after 30 years of leading outdoor adventures I still love sitting around a campfire or walking down the trail with a student and getting to hear their story. That will never get old!"

Education

  • M.Ed., College Student Affairs, Azusa Pacific University
  • B.A., Physical Education, Azusa Pacific University

Professional Associations

  • National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
  • National Intramural Recreation Sports Association (NIRSA)
  • American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA)

Personal Interests

Rob is an avid trail runner, backcountry skier, kayaker, rock climber, fly fisherman and loves exploring the Rockies with his wife Cammie and dog Luna.

Salida High School students earn construction trade certification

CMC program provides pathway to job skills in the construction industry

First Salida High School students earning construction certificates

From left, Caleb Ediger, 18, senior; Gabe Gentile, 17, senior; and Ed Office, 17, junior are the first Salida High School students to complete CMC's Basic Construction Technology certificate.

Three Salida High School students are the first to earn a Basic Construction Technology certificate from Colorado Mountain College Salida.

Gabe Gentile, Edwin Office and Caleb Ediger have spent the last two years applying hands-on skills at active job sites.

“These students have done everything from pouring and finishing concrete to window, door and flooring installation,” said CMC Salida instructor Kyle Earhart.

In the two years the students have participated in the program, they have worked on Spartan Heights, a fourplex apartment complex, and the Tailwind Apartments, a multifamily housing project, both in Poncha Springs. Three of the program’s students, including two of the graduates, have secured employment with Diesslin Structures Inc. (DSI) for the summer.

CMC, Salida School District and DSI began the collaborative Basic Construction Technology program in 2019. It encourages students to learn job skills while earning college credit through CMC’s concurrent enrollment program (CEPA), which allows high school students to earn college or vocational credit towards a postsecondary diploma, certificate or degree. Students who are enrolled in these college classes also receive credits that apply to their high school diplomas. 

Visit Colorado Mountain College Salida for more information. 

 

CMC Salida celebrates a successful fall semester

By Hillary Fuller

Despite opening during a pandemic, Colorado Mountain College Salida had a great semester.

From left, CMC Salida students Kaitlyn Garcia and Paityn Mills were two of many locals who took biology as well as other classes in Salida during fall semester.

During the fall 2020 term, CMC Salida saw enrollment levels beyond expectation for credit, non-credit and concurrent enrollment courses. CMC’s newest location served 178 students in the fall 2020 semester.

This fall CMC Salida was able to offer EMT, accounting, business and education classes, as well as nursing prerequisites.

EMT class

EMT and paramedic programs are one of many certification and degree programs now available in Salida, in addition to a range of non-credit community classes.

In November 2019 voters overwhelmingly chose to annex Salida and Poncha Springs into CMC’s district, creating the college’s newest campus. Now, locals who live within Salida School District boundaries pay the college’s low in-district tuition rates.

Amy Dennis, assistant dean of student affairs at CMC Salida, said, “I am very pleased and excited about how the fall has gone, given all the challenges. CMC was able to ramp up credit, non-credit, and concurrent enrollment offerings, as well as hire new adjunct faculty to teach classes

“It has been amazing to watch course offerings and enrollment grow, despite the pandemic,” she added.

The fall concurrent enrollment courses with Salida High School served 89 students, in large part due to a strong partnership with the school district, more Salida High School teachers being credentialed to teach concurrent enrollment classes and a wider variety of courses being offered at the high school, such as a business internship.

“More concurrent enrollment courses are being offered during traditional school hours, making it easier for high school students to attend,” said Rob Simpson, associate dean of academic and student services in Salida.

CMC Salida was able to hire one full-time faculty and four full-time staff, and installed new video conferencing systems at the Kesner building, the Salida School District building that also holds classes for Colorado Mountain College. Community education (non-credit) offerings included courses in geology, screenwriting, avalanche awareness, backpacking, accounting for business and managing stress during the pandemic.

While it has been hard to make the student connection this semester with COVID-19, Dennis said, “Students have been helpful, flexible, adaptable and understanding. They have been so great at following the Five Commitments and reaching out for help when they need it.”

Students and employees have pledged to follow The Five Commitments to Containment: wearing a mask, washing hands frequently, keeping six feet of physical distance from others, staying home when sick and getting a COVID-19 test if experiencing symptoms.

“In the future, Colorado Mountain College would like to build a physical campus in Salida but we want to be very thoughtful about community needs,” said Rachel Pokrandt, CMC vice president and campus dean for Leadville and Salida. “We want to involve community partners to make sure that whatever is built serves the community as a whole.”

To learn more about CMC Salida, feel free to stop by the campus’s administrative offices at 202 North F Street – and be sure to wear your mask.

CMC awards scholarships to Salida students

Sights set on nursing prerequisites, associate degree, EMT certification - and more

By Kristin Carlson

Michelle Flores

A CMC Foundation scholarship is helping firefighter Michelle Flores  earn EMT and paramedic certifications.

In 2019, residents of the Salida School District voted to join the Colorado Mountain College taxing district, and voters within the larger CMC district voted similarly.

This year, the college awarded the first CMC Salida scholarships to three local students: Poppy Thorpe, Michelle Flores and Petra Fairman.

Thorpe, a graduate of Salida High School and mother of two, briefly attended CSU Pueblo but didn’t have a clear goal driving her forward. Now, she’s nearing completion of the prerequisites she needs to apply to CMC’s associate degree in nursing program.

Poppy Thorpe

With the help of a scholarship from the CMC Foundation, Poppy Thorpe is working to complete prerequisites to enter CMC’s associate degree in nursing program.

“Without this kind of help, it would have been hard to go back to school,” said Thorpe. “I’ve worked in health care for 19 years, but I was a mom first, so I always had to put school on the back burner. Having this program available in my mountain town makes it possible for me to pursue my goals. I’m just really appreciative of the opportunity to do this.”

Scholarship recipient Flores is a firefighter who also runs a not-for-profit clinic for first responders in Salida. She wanted to  take her EMS training to the next level with EMT and paramedic certifications, but didn’t see how she and her husband could stay afloat and keep their clinic operational if she returned to school.

No stranger to higher education, Flores had just completed a doctorate in acupuncture and oriental medicine (sometimes referred to as traditional Chinese medicine), and had the student debt to prove it, when she first met with program advisors at CMC. They suggested she apply to the CMC Foundation for funding, and she was awarded both the Zeke Pierce Memorial/Vail Rotary Club scholarship.

“Without support from the school, the Pierce family and the Vail Rotary Club, we wouldn’t have been able to do this,” Flores said. “The CMC program made it so I could thrive in school and keep the clinic going.

“As a paramedic, I’ll be a more valuable firefighter,” she said, noting that the supplemental education she will complete this December is also crucial to her future academic success. “I can’t write research papers and books on field medicine if I don’t do it myself.”

Fairman plans to pursue an associate degree from the college. Still exploring her educational and career options, she hopes to complete a degree in general studies to gain the educational framework she needs to build her future.

All three scholarship recipients expressed gratitude for the support they’ve received and gave special thanks to CMC staff for connecting them with opportunities to help achieve their goals. “I’m really impressed with this school, and I’ve been to a lot of schools,” said Flores.

Windy Selig

Windy Selig, M.S.

Instructional Coordinator, Ecosystem Science Field Experience Lab
719-486-4239 | wjselig@coloradomtn.edu
Pronouns: She/Her

Education

  • Higher Education Doctoral Candidate, University of Denver
  • Higher Education Teaching Certificate, Harvard University
  • Masters of Science in Forestry, Northern Arizona University
  • Bachelors of Arts in Sustainable Community Development, Prescott College

Professional Certifications

  • Negotiating Environmental Solutions, U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, Udall Foundation
  • Collaboration Skills for Environmental Professionals, U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, Udall Foundation

Awards/Publications

  • Adjunct Faculty of the Year, Leadville Campus, Spring 2020
  • Greer, W. 2012. Fact Sheet: Managing Sources of Conflict in Collaborative Settings, Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University.
  • Greer, W. 2012. Notes from the Field, Landscape Conservation Forecasting, Parashant Partnership Workshop. Fire Learning Network.
  • Egan, et al. 2014. The History of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative: 1980s–2010, Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University.
  • Greer, W. 2014. Collaboration. In D. Egan & T. Dubay (Eds.), Breaking Barriers Building Bridges: Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Handbook (pp. 36). Ecological Restoration Institute, Northern Arizona University.

Professional Interests/Associations

Windy Selig joined the CMC Leadville team in Spring 2020 as adjunct faculty member and received the Adjunct Faculty of Year award that same year. Windy brings 15 years of professional and educational experience in collaborative natural resource management, including collaborative leadership, student engagement, and field research. She is passionate about working with students to enhance their academic experience through real world science applications. She believes there is no better investment of time than mentoring students in the process and discovery of science in the outdoors.

Prior to joining the CMC Leadville team, Windy worked at the Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) while simultaneously pursuing a Master’s in Forestry at Northern Arizona University. At ERI, she had the opportunity to engage in multiple field studies, facilitate collaborative partnerships, and work with non-profit and government partners on large-scale public lands restoration projects. As Principle of WSelig Facilitation, Windy has also facilitated natural resource management collaborative groups in partnership with government agencies focused on landscape restoration in central Colorado.

Personal Interests

Windy and her family live in Salida, where they take every opportunity to get out hiking, rafting, and skiing in the beautiful Arkansas River Valley.