Annual Stoddard Scholarship Awards Announced
Photo: Emily Lucero.
By Karyl Ann Armbruster
How does the Caldera National Preserve relate to the Stoddard Scholarship? Steve Stoddard, a member of the original trustees of the Valles Caldera who attended many meetings to decide the fate of the Caldera, was given a per diem stipend.
Rather than spend that money on his family, he placed it in an account.
By the time all was settled with the Valles Caldera, there was a significant amount of money set aside. Steve and his wife Barbara realized that what they both valued was the work that teachers and nurses do for our community and state.
With that Read More
Kiwanis Honors Anna Carroll with Jay Wechsler Scholarship
The Kiwanis Club presents Los Alamos High School graduate Anna Carroll with the Jay Wechsler Scholarship Award. From left, Kiwanians Morrie Pongratz and Don Casperson, Becky Oertel (daughter of Jay Wechsler), Carroll, Deborah Wechsler (daughter of Jay Wechsler) and Carroll’s parents David and Janice Carroll. Jay Wechsler was a lifetime Kiwanian who passed away last year. Carroll served as a member of Key Club International and was the Division Lieutenant Governor, was active in Girls Scouts and Teen Court and plans to attend Smith College in the fall to study neuroscience. Photo Read More
Dual Fundraiser Aids Teams & Local Mom Hope Jaramillo
PEEC Shares Bug Zoo with Community
Families packed into the Pajarito Environmental Education Center (PEEC) Tuesday to see a fascinating program about arthropods “bugs” including spiders, scorpions, beetles and more. It was given by The Harrell House of Natural Oddities, a traveling educational program, which local resident Linda Hull, at left, read about and then suggested to PEEC’s Becky Shankland. PEEC was able to arrange for their visit. Photo by Beth Cortright
The Harrell House of Natural Oddities visited PEEC Tuesday and shared an array of interesting creatures with community members of all ages.
Kiwanis Club Recognizes Megan Kelley
Kiwanis Club members from left, Don Casperson and Morrie Pongratz present Los Alamos High School graduating senior Megan Kelley with an educational scholarship check. Kelley’s parents Lori and Craig are at right. Kelley performed in many local ballets with Dance Arts Los Alamos (DALA), was a Key Club member and is planning to attend the University of California at Santa Barbara in the fall to study physics. Photo by Sharon Stover Read More
Public Invited to Meet Raptors at PEEC Tuesday
PEEC News:
Angel, a Mississippi Kite from the Raptor Center.Courtesy/SFRC
The Santa Fe Raptor Center will bring beautiful birds of prey to PEEC at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday July 17, as part of the Summer Family Evenings series of programs.
Summer Family Evenings are free for PEEC members, and this evening is just $5 per non-member family, which will be donated to the Raptor Center.
Laura Swartz will bring variety of raptors to PEEC, including the Raptor Center’s newest educational bird, Angel.
Angel is a Mississippi Kite. She is a beautiful young raptor with a distinctive and attractive Read More
Kiwanis Presents Scholarship to Ben Schilling
The Kiwanis Club recently recognized Los Alamos High School graduating senior Ben Schilling pictured here with from left, his mother Lori , father Scott and Kiwanis Club President Kristy Keane. Schilling is attending New Mexico Tech in Socorro this fall to study mechanical engineering. He said that he had a great school experience at LAHS and when asked to name one positive item, he stated the students and teachers. When asked to name one issue he would like to see changed or improved at LAHS, Schilling stated that there should be more hands-on learning. The Kiwanis Club recognizes graduating Read More
School Board Meets at Speech Theater Tonight
The Los Alamos Public Schools Board of Education meets at 5:30 p.m., today in the Los Alamos High School Speech Theater.
Agenda items include a discussion of the recently released State “Report Cards” on the quality of Los Alamos schools, recommendations for landscaping and for the new bus loop at the high school, and an update on the Los Alamos Middle School and Aspen Elementary School construction projects.
The public is encouraged to attend.
High School Bus Loop Plans Move Forward
LAPS News:
The Los Alamos High School Bus Loop Committee met with the architect July 3 to review the high school bus loop option that will be presented to the School Board at the July 10 meeting.
This most recent iteration is slightly different than the options discussed at the work session June 28.
The most noticeable change is the addition of visitor/administrative parking on the corner of the bus loop that had been considered as a location to pile snow.
Anticipated costs will be provided as soon as available.
This newly revised option does the following: replaces the existing sidewalk along Duane Read More
PED Releases School Report Card Grades
New Mexico statewide distribution of school report card grades:
Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS News:
The New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) released school report card grades today across the state and Los Alamos Public Schools received high marks.
Four of the seven Los Alamos schools earned “A” grades and three earned “B” grades:
- Barranca Mesa Elementary School – A
- Los Alamos High School – A
- Mountain Elementary School – A
- Pinon Elementary School – A
- Aspen Elementary School – B
- Chamisa Elementary School – B
- Los Alamos Middle School – B
“The high marks were reflective of the fine academic Read More
Boy Scout Troop 22 Completes Philmont Cavalcade
Standing on top of Mount Baldy from left, Jonathan Osden, Matthew Davenport, Miles Barkley, Walter Barkley, Jack Barkley, Ben Shirey, Bridger Spearing, Alex Shirey, Robert Shirey, Brad Morley, Steven Calhoun, Devon McCleskey, Nick Greenfield and Dane Spearing. Courtesy Photo
Boy Scout Troop 22 of Los Alamos has completed the cavalcade at the Philmont high-adventure camp in Cimarron.
Eleven boys, aged 14 through 16 and three adults, spent eight days riding horseback through the rugged mountains of northeastern New Mexico near the Valle Vidal.
Starting at base camp, this group was often Read More
Column: Open Meeting Called Into Question
The Los Alamos School Board strives with great diligence to comply with the statutory rules for conduct of its open meetings in order to ensure transparency in government.
A Special Board meeting was held on May 24, 2012 to approve the 2012-13 Operating Budget.
At that meeting, the Board acted to amend the salary provisions of two collective bargaining agreements with existing school employee bargaining units in order to assure that employee contracts drafted at the end of the school year properly reflected the salaries authorized Read More
Kiwanis Presents Scholarship to Katelyn Littleton
The Kiwanis Club presented an educational scholarship check recently to Los Alamos High School graduate Katelyn Littleton who will attend Texas Tech University to study animal science in the fall. The Kiwanis Club recognizes graduating seniors for their commitment to the community with financial support. Littleton, center, is the 2012 Los Alamos County Rodeo Queen joined by her father, Paul Littleton, and Kiwanis Club President Kristy Keane. The Club meets every Tuesday at noon at the Masonic Lodge. Photo by Sharon Stover Read More
PEEC Offers Hike to Veronica Springs with Dorothy Hoard
PEEC News:
On Saturday, July 7, Dorothy Hoard will lead a Natural Wonders of Los Alamos hike to Veronica Springs to see the wild Veronica that blooms in the seeping spring water.
The hike is free and open to the public. Participants can meet at 9 a.m., at PEEC or at at 9:30 a.m., the trailhead at American Springs Road (Forest Road 181.)
PEEC’s Natural Wonders of Los Alamos series of outings aims at showing newcomers and natives interesting and beautiful places they may have never visited.
In May, Janie O’Rourke led a hike to the Cave of the Winds, and in August, Sarah Gustafson will take Read More
Bug Zoo Comes to Summer Family Evenings at PEEC
PEEC News
The Harrell House of Natural Oddities will be bringing some of the world’s most unusual creatures to PEEC at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday July 10, as part of PEEC’s Summer Family Evenings series.
The program is free for PEEC members, and $10 per family for non-members.
The Harrell House is a family-run business based in Santa Fe, and dedicated to educating the public about arthropods.
The Harrells travel the country putting on insect shows and will bring their critters to PEEC Tuesday.
Their collection includes tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes, crabs, and more, and they’ll present Read More
Friday Nights at the Bradbury Science Museum
Museum Director Linda Deck of the Bradbury Science Museum presents a talk at a recent Rotary Club meeting at Fuller Lodge in which she highlighted current and upcoming museum events. This summer, the Bradbury Science Museum is open until 9 p.m., each Friday night. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
Bradbury Science Museum Director Linda Deck briefs Rotary Club members on upcoming events including Nanoscale Science and Engineering July 13, Entrepreneur Night at The Hive July 20 and Mars Science Laboratory, robots, FIRST Robotics July 27. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com Read More
NMSU, NMBC, Beef Industry Experts Host National Beef Academy for Youth at Valles Caldera July 8-13
Valles Caldera. Photo by Greg Kendall/ladailypost.comThree Local Organizations Partner to Promote Literacy
Community news:
Otowi Station, Los Alamos Rotary Club, and Self-Help, Inc., are partnering to provide free books to 500 local disadvantaged schoolchildren.
The project is part of Self-Help’s “Tools for Schools” program in which the books will be distributed with school supplies for the neediest elementary school children in Los Alamos and surrounding communities, as designated by school counselors.
Members of the community can buy a copy of a book at Otowi Station Bookstore and the Los Alamos Rotary Club will match the purchase with a second book.
The objectives of the “Book of My Very Own” Read More
School Board Addresses LAMS, LAHS Projects
School Board Secretary Melanie McKinley, left, and Los Alamos Middle School Teacher Allison Washburn, both former LAMS students, joined Superintendent Gene Schmidt in knocking down walls Thursday at the middle school. Demolition is moving along with asbestos removal from the 100 and 500 wings nearing completion. Construction of the portable classroom complex is advancing with four portables already on site. Classroom portables from Los Alamos High School will be transferred to LAMS soon. Construction fencing is in place and the portable classroom complex will be operational in time Read More
Meeting with the Elders in Afghanistan
Dr. Bob Fuselier of Los Alamos, foreground, with Dr. Mohammad Kharoti, center, during meeting with elders from Helmand Province village in Afghanistan recently. Courtesy photo
Not knowing the language of the people you are visiting obviously slows the process of getting to know one another.
At the GVS-AEC, however, the language barrier didn’t keep the staff and students from making us feel at home.
Any meeting was accompanied by smiles and tea served by someone who worked in some capacity in the compound that housed the AEC: the cook, the watchman, Read More