WCF Promotes Pathways to Success for Westminster Students
The Westminster Community Foundation (WCF) contributed $35,000 to the Westminster Public Schools Foundation to support the Ranum Reimagined project’s transformation of the Iver C. Ranum high school into an innovation campus focusing on Career Technical Education (CTE) and STEM programming.
The donation will be used as a challenge to prospective donors to unlock additional funds for the campus. The WCF endowment will offset the costs of tools, supplies, and needed equipment. The donation comes from WCF’s donor-advised “Student Success” fund.
“One of WCF’s top priorities is youth development. Ranum Reimagined is a vision for the future, where K-12, higher education, and industry work collaboratively to prepare students for a pathway to success,” noted Mike Lazar, WCF’s Board president.
Dr. Jeni Gotto, Superintendent of Westminster Public Schools, thanked the WCF for its “remarkable generosity. The $35,000 donation to Westminster Public Schools will make a meaningful impact on our CTE education and STEM programs. This funding will help us provide our students with cutting-edge resources and opportunities, ensuring they are well-prepared for the demands of the modern workforce. We are grateful for their support and belief in our mission.,” she stressed.
The campus will offer Westminster students the unique opportunity to enroll in CTE and STEM courses, earning both their high school diploma and college credit and/or industry certificates. With that diploma comes many choices. Students can begin lucrative careers, continue their technical education, or attend college.
“CTE and STEM learning opportunities resonate with high school students and make a significant impact. Statistics underscore that point. CTE students are more likely to graduate from high school, and over 75 percent continue their educational journey. Colorado’s numbers are higher,” Lazar explained.
Ranum’s pathways are designed to meet Westminster's specific needs, ensuring that students and adult learners are equipped with the skills and knowledge important to the local job market. They will include advanced manufacturing, health and biotechnology sciences, construction engineering, cyber security, aviation engineering, drone technology, and more. These programs require state-of-the-art equipment that is very costly.
“As our country’s manufacturing sector grows and modernizes and we face critical labor shortages, the Iver C. Ranum Campus is a game changer for Westminster Public School students,” Lazar emphasized.
Nature Playground at Westminster Station Park
In December of 2018, the Foundation decided to take action and help raise funds for the new nature playground after the Board of Directors were made aware of a startling new trend among youth in the United States: that the average American child spends more than 7 hours a day in front of a screen. Screen time can negatively impact kids’ cognitive development, but nature playgrounds can help combat that and have been proven to positively impact gross motor function, fine motor skills, imagination, and social skills, all at the same time.
The nature playground is slated to be completed in early fall 2019 and is part of a multi-million dollar investment in the area surrounding Westminster Station Park, the location of the B-Line train to Union Station.
The $200,000 donated by the Westminster Community Foundation signifies a landmark for the Foundation: the Westminster Community Foundation has now donated more than $1 million back to the community since its founding in 2001.
Nature Playground at Westminster Station Park Project Overview
The Westminster Community Foundation has partnered with the City of Westminster to create an innovative new playground for children in Westminster. Located at the dazzling Westminster Station Park, which connects Westminster to Union Station in Denver, the nature playground will help our community’s children develop essential skills for a successful life.
What is a Nature Playground?
A nature playground is an innovative idea that is only happening in forward-thinking communities. The playgrounds are made of natural elements including trees, boulders, water, sand, chirping birds, blue sky and – most importantly – plenty of imagination. The nature playground at Westminster Station Park will include a “mountain” with boulders, ropes and timbers for children to climb. There will also be a series of treehouses connected by bridges (all accessible).
Why a Nature Playground?
The average American child spends more than 7 hours in front of a screen every day, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. A number of troubling studies connect delayed cognitive development in kids with extended exposure to electronic media. Nature playgrounds help connect kids with nature, and develop gross motor function, fine motor skills, imagination, and social skills, all at the same time. Additional research indicates that, when children go to traditional playgrounds, they can get bored quickly: you climb the stairs, you use the monkey bars – it’s fairly prescriptive. A nature playground has boulders that can be traversed a variety of ways, timbers that inspire a different game with every visit, and kids come back to these playgrounds more often and stay longer during visits. Nature playgrounds have also been proven to encourage children to consider their safety; in traditional playgrounds, most risks of injuries have been removed.
