Castlewood park receives 2 donated GPS units
Best Buy donated two GPS units to the Friends of Castlewood
Canyon State Park, and the park staff will use the devices
immediately in several youth programs, including the Junior Ranger
Camp, where the participants have been learning how to use
compasses and TOPO maps. With the addition of the GPS units, they
can move to the next level of locating a threatened species of
frogs and using the GPS units to accurately report their
location.
The summer programs for youth were created by Ron Claussen, a
park naturalist funded by Great Outdoors Colorado with Lottery
funds, and volunteers. One of Castlewood’s volunteers has created a
Geocache game. The challenge is to find a location, using GPS
coordinates, take a picture and win a candy bar. With the units
that Best Buy provided, Castlewood Canyon volunteers can offer the
challenge to visitors and volunteers who do not own a GPS.
In the past few years, many visitors and volunteers have
requested programs to introduce orienteering and GPS use. These two
GPS units will enable the programs to engage a new segment of the
population.
Last but not least, Castlewood volunteers can now accurately map
areas of interest. Sad to say, Castlewood has weeds and an accurate
way to map and track those weeds is important. Park staff and
volunteers are continually finding items of historical interest.
The goal is to create accurate maps of the sites to create stories
that tell how those early people lived and moved around the
area.
Applications accepted for one-day citizen academy
Residents can learn more about law enforcement in their
community in one day at the second annual One Day Citizen Academy
presented by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
The class, set for Sept. 29 at the Highlands Ranch Law
Enforcement Training Facility, 9008 Hwy 85, Littleton, will have
the “boot camp” feel, making sure that the students learn as much
as they can in eight hours. Topics will include patrol operations,
traffic enforcement, detentions division operations, crime scene
investigations, K-9 unit and SWAT, and there will be plenty of
demonstrations. A few of the students also will run through the
RANGE 3000, a shooting simulation machine.
Space is limited, and a background check will be conducted on
all applicants. Applications are due by Sept. 1. Those that are
accepted will be notified prior to the class. Applications are
available online at www.dcsheriff.net. For more
information about the Academy, please contact Deputy Ann Walton at
303-814-7001.
Summer reading program has record participation
Nearly 23,000 Douglas County Libraries patrons completed the
district’s 2010 summer reading program, “Treasure It,” and more
than 17,500 of those participants were children and teens.
The record number of participants – 62 percent more than 2009 –
enjoyed five library reading program events by storyteller Beth
Epley as Captain Codfish, and a donation by Elitch Gardens provided
additional incentive to get kids reading this summer.
“Elitch Gardens is a wonderful partner for literacy,” library
director Jamie LaRue said of Elitch’s donation, valued at nearly
half a million dollars. “They generously donated 8,000 tickets, and
then gave us 2,500 more when we were afraid we might run out.”
The large number of registered readers claimed an unprecedented
number of reading program prizes. The library district exhausted
its supply of 10,500 Elitch’s tickets on the final day of the
program, and 98 percent of finishers received prizes.
“Due to failed library elections, we have to rely almost
exclusively on donations for prizes. We started advertising our
‘while supplies last’ policy two years ago,” said reading program
coordinator Jane Gregory.
One patron used the library’s online feedback form to express
her frustration that her children were unable to claim Elitch’s
tickets on the last day of the program.
“I understood that supplies were limited, but never thought the
library would run out of prizes. The fact that it did means the
library is doing well when it comes to motivating kids to read, and
I appreciate that,” she said.
“The true value of the reading program is kids reading,” Gregory
added. “While we were sorry to disappoint some participants, we
were thrilled with the number of kids participating and reading.
The true prize is in their accomplishment.”
The library district encourages readers to turn in their
completed reading logs well before the last day of the program in
case donated incentive inventory runs out.
“It’s worth celebrating that we had more kids reading this
summer than in our entire history,” said LaRue. “The real prize
isn’t amusement park tickets. It’s reading itself.”
Douglas County Libraries brought back its Page to Stage school
theater tour last spring, staging “Treasure Island” for 3,400 area
students. Other supplemental programs were highly successful as
well and may have influenced more children to participate in the
summer reading program.
To find out about other library services or programs to
encourage reading for all ages, visit DouglasCountyLibraries.org.