Q&A
Danielle Kirelik has been chosen as the Ronald M. King D.A.R.E. Student of the Year by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Douglas County Drug Abuse Resistance Education Foundation.
The seventh-grader at Ranch View Middle School was chosen from among 2,500 students.
King, a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty by a drunken driver in 1999, was a longtime mentor of D.A.R.E. students.
Q: What is the most important message your award-winning essay conveys to fellow students?
A: I want my fellow students to know that they hold the power to their future, and if they decide to smoke or do drugs, then they could not only hurt themselves but other people as well.
Q: How have your family and friends reacted to your award?
A: My family and friends are very proud of me. They are encouraging me to accomplish as much as I can.
Q: What are your favorite subjects at school? Do you especially enjoy and excel in writing?
A: I am in seventh grade, and my favorite subject in school is language arts.
Q: Do you have plans for high school or beyond? What would you like to pursue in the future?
A: In the future I would like to become a journalist because I love writing, and I would like to travel and learn about other cultures and people to write about.
– Kieran Nicholson, Denver Post staff writer
REGIONAL NOTES
GRANBY
Fly-fishing, river camp seeks teens
Colorado Trout Unlimited is taking applications from teenagers through March 30 for its first River Conservation and Fly Fishing Youth Camp from June 18 to 23 at the Ouray Ranch in Granby.
The camp is limited to 16 students – born between June 23, 1987, and June 18, 1992 – who will be selected based on qualifications and an essay on why they would like to attend. Campers will be required to conduct a restoration or conservation project within a year after the camp.
The camp will include principles of ecology, hydrogeology, aquatic vertebrate and invertebrate sampling, hydrology, trout behavior, trout stream entomology, the biology of pollution, acid deposition and the politics of conservation and human effects on the Rocky Mountains.
There will be classes on fly-tying, fly-casting, streamside ethics, angling literature, streamside botany, water safety and other topics.
The cost is $350. For more information or to download an application, go to www.cotrout.org or call Larry Quilling at 303-543-0939.
LAKEWOOD
Kids turn bridge into work of art
More than 400 art students from Green Gables Elementary, Bear Creek K-8 and Bear Creek High School are turning a landmark bridge on Old Kipling Street into a piece of art.
The students have created four large mosaic tile murals on pillars that border the bridge. An unveiling of the artwork will be held Feb. 24 at the bridge, which is near West Dartmouth Avenue in Lakewood.
The city of Lakewood provided the concrete backboard and tiles for the mosaics, which cost about $300.
DENVER POST STAFF REPORTS
