Denver, CO
Denver TSA officer wins prestigious award:
Like any good TSA agent, Julia Perry is always on the lookout for trouble; specifically, anyone having trouble getting through TSA at Denver International Airport.
“Any one of us at any time can be overwhelmed by the screening process,” said Perry.
In addition to being a lead Transportation Security Administration officer, she’s also a passenger support specialist. That means she helps people with special needs navigate the tricky and sometimes intimidating security check process at Denver International Airport in an efficient and empathetic manner.
“It can be, you know, a mom with three kids coming through traveling on her own and just doesn’t have enough hands for everything and completely overwhelmed. It can be someone with autism or Down (syndrome). It can also be blind, deaf, just any form of differently-abled,” said Perry.
Or it could be someone like one woman she encountered Thursday who doesn’t speak English. In that case, Perry reaches for a new tool the TSA in Denver has; a handheld computer that can translate a conversation in real-time.
Perry says helping people have a safe and happy trip is her favorite part of the job.
“It gives it that personal touch and gives it a lot more attention to who they are as a person and that they’re not just another passenger coming through,” said Perry.
Now she is being recognized for her dedication and compassion. She’s been named the 2023 National Passenger Support Specialist.
Shannon Phen from the Autism Society of Colorado says Perry and officers like her should be honored more often because it makes a world of difference for people in the neurodivergent community.
“I truly think she deserves it,” said Phen. “Whether they are autistic or have ADHD or even bipolar. They should be able to travel just like any other human being.”
This is a very prestigious award and Perry is honored to receive it.
“With just over 900 officers that were nominated for the award, my being picked is completely humbling,” she said.
If you are traveling and think you might need help from a passenger support specialist like Perry, you can contact the TSA and set up an appointment.
If you want to be Pomona, you’re going to have to join them.
“I know people get tired of (certain teams) winning all the time,” former Ponderosa wrestling coach Tim Ottmann told me late Saturday afternoon as Pomona’s Panthers inched ever closer to a Colorado-record eighth straight state wrestling title at Ball Arena.
“But you also have to wonder why. And I think it’s important for those that are (trying) to dethrone him to find out what (coach Sam Federico) does and how he does it. And then be able to to build what he’s built.”
Ottmann, a 2022 CHSAA Hall of Fame inductee, knows the formula inside out because he lived it. His Mustangs were Colorado’s last big-school wrestling dynasty, with Ottmann in charge for six of what turned into eight straight state crowns from 2003-10.
“I don’t see (Pomona’s run) ending anytime soon,” Ottmann continued. “When I talked to Sam a few months ago, he said this was his best team that he’s had, and it’s his eighth (state champion) in a row.
“They’re not going anywhere. I think it’s good (for the state). I don’t have any issues with it. It’s a call to others to maybe step it up a little bit and figure out how he does it.”
The bigger the tree, the longer the roots. Feeder programs. Coaching consistency. Rinse. Repeat, en route to the Panthers breaking their own state meet points record on Saturday at Ball Arena.
“Eight for me is (just) a number,” Federico told me Saturday before the finals. “Our goal is to get as many state champs as we can, every year. It’s an individual sport. We want to win championships at the end of the day. It’s hard. When they get second, it’s not fun. It’s a rollercoaster as a coach.”
Yeah, but what a ride. The Panthers are the Front Range’s gold standard, its barometer and benchmark. If you can hang with them, you can hang with anybody. What’s impressed Ottmann the most about Pomona’s current run is the degree to which the Panthers have followed Ponderosa’s two core pillars from a generation ago.
“I’ve been retired since 2008 and (Federico is) doing the things that we did,” the former Mustangs coach said.
“And we talked actually quite a bit about ups and downs and that kind of thing, picking my brain on longevity and how you stay focused and how you keep having the energy to do that.”
Ottmann’s advice?
• Keep that pipeline of kids coming. Plant those seeds.
“When you’ve got four or five freshmen coming into your program every year, you don’t get hurt by the three or four seniors that graduate,” the former Mustangs coach noted. “So you’re always maintaining that quality. What (Federico) does is what we did. His program feeds only Pomona. And he works at it. Other programs may farm that out, or combine it with other schools. I don’t believe in that. I believe in doing it yourself.”
• Once you’ve found lieutenants on your staff, assistant coaches and teachers who complement your skills and parrot your mantra, lock them the heck down.
“The biggest thing to me is just outstanding assistant coaches,” Ottmann stressed. “I know Sam’s the same way. He’s had assistants (stay) with him for a long time. That consistency means everything.”
• Don’t be afraid to test yourself against the big boys in other states. Ottmann took Ponderosa to Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania, letting iron sharpen iron.
“It increases your levels here,” Ottmann explained.
Federico’s walking on rare air, indeed. Cherry Creek’s boys and girls tennis teams once put up state-title streaks of 19 straight each. Fort Collins High won 16 consecutive boys state track titles on either side of World War I. Cheyenne Mountain boys tennis notched 11 straight crowns. Limon and Sedgwick County currently share the state record for consecutive football titles, with six apiece. (Valor Christian won four in a row from 2009-13; Cherry Creek did the same from 2019-2022.)
Merino and Faith Christian won five straight crowns in boys’ basketball; Broomfield notched five in a row in girls basketball. Evergreen won eight straight volleyball titles from 1978-85. TCA won nine straight girls cross-country crowns.
“It’s extremely difficult to win one, much less two or three, right?” Ottmann noted. “There’s just a lot of things that have to fall into place.”
And not just fall there. Stay there. Constancy isn’t a bug at Pomona — it’s a feature. Federico is the Panthers’ third wrestling coach over the last five decades. Its youth program is widely regarded as among the best in the state, the backbone of a grappling empire.
“It always has been,” Federico said. “I made sure of that. You have to have it.”
It’s like that old NFL adage: When you see something that works, copy the living heck out of it. Cherokee Trail coach Jeff Buck beefed up his feeder program, the Junior Cougars, in order to solidify his program’s standing as a perennial 5A contender.
“Pomona’s youth program … that’s a huge part of their program and many programs,” Buck said. “Success breeds success, and winning, and kids want to wrestle for (Federico) because of the program he’s built.
“(It’s) not something that Sam hides. He’ll let anybody practice with them. When Pomona’s good, they’re making the state look good. I don’t think it’s bad at all.”
Fair enough. Dissecting a beauty is one thing. But how do you dethrone a beast?
“I know Sam is probably close to retirement in a couple years,” Ottmann said. “A new coach always presents a challenge (as far as) keeping it going … you have programs such as Grandview and Ponderosa, to an extent, and others that are challenging them. But their program is just so much better than anybody else’s, currently.”
After this weekend, it wasn’t hard to see why.
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Simpson’s excursions from Boulder to Denver were almost always to watch the Nuggets or the Avalanche. (One of his teammates, Luke O’Brien, was an especially big Avs fan.) He has an old Snapchat post from Ball Arena saved to his phone. “I’m gonna play here one day,” he had posted. “I didn’t know I meant I was gonna be a Denver Nugget, you know?” he said, laughing. “I just meant in the NBA.”
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