Colorado
Every 4-year-old in Colorado can attend preschool for free next year. Could Utah do the same?
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Beginning in 2023, Colorado pays for 10 hours of preschool per week for each 4-year-old within the state, no matter earnings.
Supporters say increasing entry to early childhood schooling will assist shut achievement gaps earlier, assist learners rebound from impacts of the pandemic and advance structural fairness in Colorado’s public schooling system.
The initiative shall be funded, partially, from proceeds of a nicotine tax hike accredited by voters in 2020, which can triple state taxes on a pack of cigarettes to $2.64 by 2027, and impose new taxes and charges on smokeless tobacco and vaping merchandise. It additionally shall be funded from the state’s current preschool program, which serves youngsters with sure danger elements.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into regulation laws to launch the common preschool initiative. Polis, a Democrat serving his first time period, campaigned on offering free preschool.
“There isn’t any higher funding than an funding in schooling and our children,” mentioned Polis in a KUSA-TV report.
Terri Mitchell, Canyons College District’s early childhood administrator in Utah, mentioned the proposal will seemingly give extra Colorado youngsters entry to prime quality instruction, which is vital because the nation continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kids who shall be 4 years previous subsequent yr had been toddlers when the pandemic started.
“For the reason that pandemic began, they’ve missed out on fairly a number of issues. So, they missed out on social alternatives. They’ve missed out on experiences that they probably might have usually had with their households however issues had been locked down and shut down,” Mitchell mentioned.
These experiences assist put together youngsters for instruction and to be a part of a studying group once they begin college.
“We’ve observed that even in Canyons College District that we’ve had a rise of scholars with extra wants emotionally and socially with their friends,” in addition to delays of their language improvement, she mentioned.
Mitchell mentioned the advantages of early childhood schooling are nicely documented, however it’s extremely vital that households have an array of choices that respect their particular person wants. Some youngsters battle to self-regulate at that age and it could be unrealistic to count on they’ll deal with a structured classroom setting.
“My query is, are we as adults creating that downside for him and serving to him be unsuccessful or are there different methods we may help him achieve success?” Mitchell mentioned.
Colorado’s systemic method
Colorado has adopted a systemic method to early childhood schooling, mentioned Anna Thomas, senior coverage analyst for the nonprofit youngster advocacy program Voices for Utah Kids.
Earlier in Polis’ time period, the Colorado Common Meeting expanded full-day kindergarten with state funding. Common preschool was the subsequent milestone within the plan, she mentioned. The just-approved laws additionally established a state Division of Early Childhood.
“We wouldn’t have that systematic method in Utah. We’re nonetheless struggling to get our state leaders, particularly management within the Legislature, to know that to be able to do nicely in first grade, plenty of children within the state want a whole lot of assist in kindergarten that you would be able to’t do in two and a half hours,” Thomas mentioned.
As Colorado prepares to launch common preschool, Utah is planning to considerably increase its full-day kindergarten choices with an extra $12.2 million ongoing appropriation accredited through the current normal session of the Utah Legislature.
Presently, Utah public faculties present 30% of scholars entry to full-day kindergarten in comparison with the remainder of the nation, the place 80% of scholars have entry to full-day packages. Educators had sought funding to increase this system statewide however lawmakers appropriated far lower than the $23 million in ongoing funds requested by the Utah State Board of Training.
Some college districts have chosen to supply full-day kindergarten packages on their very own, cobbling native, state and federal funding and grants to assist this system.
Wasatch College District, as an example, has provided full-day kindergarten since 2018. Whereas some dad and mom initially most well-liked the normal half-day program for his or her youngsters, now solely a handful of fogeys ask for that choice. The overwhelming majority of the district’s kindergartners attend full days, based on Superintendent Paul Sweat.
A public opinion ballot carried out for Voices for Utah Kids signifies excessive assist for public preschool, too.
A statewide ballot of 1,976 Utah voters carried out final summer season confirmed that amongst dad and mom with youngsters not but sufficiently old for Okay-12 college, 70% would enroll their children in public preschool if they’d the chance. In the meantime 66% with youngsters previous preschool age mentioned they’d as nicely.
A whopping 90% of individuals polled seen pre-kindergarten packages as helpful, with 51% saying they’re very helpful and 39% saying they’re considerably helpful. The Y2 Analytics ballot’s margin of error is plus-minus 2.2 proportion factors.
Thomas mentioned it makes her “actually, actually joyful for the children and the households in Colorado which can be going to profit” from the state’s early studying initiative.
“I believe Colorado goes to see means down the road, you already know, in 20, 30, 40 years, however their state will reap the advantages of getting children who’ve that form of assist early in life. I’ll be excited to see what they do as they get this established and work out the kinks,” she mentioned.
Preschool in Canyons District
Canyons District provides preschool packages in 22 lecture rooms unfold throughout 12 faculties. Some 900 youngsters ages 3-5 are enrolled and households have the choice of sending their children two days every week or 4 days every week. Every class lasts 2.5 hours and morning and afternoon periods are provided. Kids might solely attend 2.5 hours a day and this system follows the identical educational calendar because the district’s Okay-12 faculties.
The district offers preschool providers to youngsters with disabilities and people who stay within the boundaries of Title I at no cost. Different households can elect to attend preschool and are assessed tuition, which begins at $100 every week to attend two days.
All courses are a mixture of college students with disabilities and people with out, which Mitchell mentioned advantages all learners.
“Our college students who pay tuition are great function fashions, social fashions, language fashions for our college students with disabilities. They study empathy for college students … who’re completely different, proper? They learn to be protectors or warriors for these college students who’ve disabilities. I actually assume it builds a tradition of inclusion,” she mentioned.
In principle, Colorado’s preschoolers ought to profit from the common tuition program, however sustaining a steady workforce of educators and aides within the preschool section poses challenges.
Many of the lecturers main Canyons District preschool courses are licensed lecturers, which implies they obtain salaries and advantages. Most of the lecturers had been paraprofessionals whom Mitchell satisfied to finish faculty levels and turn out to be lecturers. “We form of grew our personal,” she mentioned, noting there’s low turnover amongst licensed lecturers.
Preschool paraprofessional Ana Suastequi, left, performs with college students at Sandy Elementary on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.
Laura Seitz, Deseret Information
However for classroom assistants, it has been troublesome to keep up adequate workers and at occasions, Mitchell has been pressed to fill in in lecture rooms this college yr. It’s an issue statewide, she mentioned, explaining that a number of college districts in Utah supply some type of preschool program.
The labor scarcity might influence Colorado’s plans to supply preschool providers to each 4 yr previous, however Mitchell credit Colorado officers for understanding the worth of early childhood schooling.
“I believe it’s nice that Colorado has discovered a means to offer that for households. I believe that’s superior. I believe it might actually profit children,” she mentioned.
The Utah Legislature funds a home-based academic expertise program, Waterford Upstart, to develop college readiness expertise of preschool youngsters. It’s provided free to Utah households and the seller can present laptops and web connections to qualifying college students.
Upstart is a superb studying instrument for teenagers, “however it’s not preschool, and it’s not an alternative choice to preschool. It may be a complement. It may be an excellent household factor the place dad and mom can work with their children and assist them study. It’s not preschool, simply merely no,” Thomas mentioned.
If Utah is severe about investing in youngsters, it could say sure to a full array of packages and providers corresponding to Upstart, preschool and full-day kindergarten and “not ‘let’s choose the least funding that we will and hope that does the trick.’”
Gov. Spencer Cox’s 2022 State of the State handle proposed a brand new workplace to bolster households by guaranteeing “authorities insurance policies will not be harming households and that we’re coordinating authorities providers to assist dad and mom and kids succeed,” he mentioned.
Thomas mentioned she’s but to listen to any follow-up to that proposal and it’s unclear how early childhood schooling would match into that plan.
“I haven’t seen any indication from the governor’s workplace or the Legislature that they’re actually severe about taking over investing in younger children, their schooling and of their well being to be able to make sure that 20, 30, 40, 50 years down the road that Utah households have what they have to be joyful and profitable.
“So we’re very joyful for them (Colorado households) and form of really feel like, ‘Are we ever going to get there in Utah?’”
For $650 a head, Jim Myers leads cryptid-curious folks from around the world into the wilderness of Colorado’s Park County for a three-day camping expedition in search of the elusive Bigfoot.
Myers’s business, Rabbit Hole Adventures, provides tents, meals, guides, first aid kits and satellite phones as part of the quest. He also brings night-vision binoculars, thermal imagers and cameras.
To tackle the trek on horseback, Myers charges $1,400 a person. For a Sasquatch search easier on the wallet, the lifelong Bigfoot devotee hosts $125 night hikes with the hopes of catching a glimpse of the hairy creature. On expeditions he’s deemed successful, Myers said trekkers have witnessed a pair of uniquely glowing eyes through the trees or large, expertly woven branches forming a Sasquatch nest as evidence the mythical forest-dweller walks among us.
“Bigfoot is a lot more mainstream than it used to be,” Myers said “The number of people openly interested in the topic as opposed to not wanting people to know they’re interested for fear of being considered a nutcase has definitely increased. America is infatuated with Bigfoot.”
Bigfoot can mean big business for Colorado’s rural and mountain towns. The National Paranormal Network hosts annual Bigfoot Adventure Weekends in Colorado to gather Sasquatch lovers to search for the creature, an activity often referred to as Squatchin’. Bigfoot-hunting professionals host private forest tours to show off their Sasquatch know-how and sighting spots. And businesses across the state rent out shuttles, cars or bikes for Bigfoot hunts.
Myers has been a Bigfoot aficionado since he was a kid after laying eyes on the famed Patterson-Gimlin film, footage captured in 1967 depicting a large, hairy creature walking on two legs through a Northern California forest.
The cryptid consumed Myers’ life so wholly that when he and his wife were rebuilding a 150-year-old grocery store in Bailey in 2012, they ditched the groceries and dedicated the store to Bigfoot instead.
Now the Sasquatch Outpost — a souvenir shop and museum dedicated to all things Bigfoot — is one of the more well-visited attractions in Bailey, Myers said.
“For a little town like Bailey, it’s a very popular destination,” Myers said. “We send people to the local restaurants, the gift stores and things just because once they’re in Bailey, then they want to do other things. We try to help everybody else along, as well.
Bigfoot travellers
It’s not easy to gauge Sasquatch’s economic footprint in Colorado. Believe it or not, the state doesn’t track the financial impact of Bigfoot tourism.
The Denver Post emailed the state tourism office requesting an interview to discuss the impact that unusual tourist attractions have on smaller, rural communities. The message was forwarded to an outside public relations firm, which declined to set up an interview.
“I actually do not know that much about Bigfoot tourism in Colorado,” a representative of Handlebar Public Relations conceded.
But Kevin McDonald, the special events coordinator for the town Estes Park, was game for a cryptid conversation.
The Larimer County town that serves as the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park has hosted the Bigfoot Days Festival since 2019, luring Sasquatch enthusiasts from near and far.
“We celebrate all things Squatchy,” McDonald said.
About 5,000 people attend the festival, which features Bigfoot-themed vendors, Sasquatch celebrities from reality television shows like “Finding Bigfoot,” live music by the likes of Denver-based band That Damn Sasquatch, a contest to see who can do the best Bigfoot call and more.
The night before the event — Estes Park already Squatched it up in 2024, but the 2025 festival is set for April 26 — is the Bigfoot BBQ, where 150 people purchase tickets for an intimate dining experience with their favorite Sasquatch celebrities. This year, the dinner attracted people from eight states, McDonald said.
“It’s a very engaged crowd, and people do travel for their Bigfoot,” he said.
Nearly 75% of surveyed festival attendees said they came to Estes Park specifically for Bigfoot Days, McDonald said, according to a 2024 economic development survey of the event. More than 72% of people surveyed said they stayed in Estes Park and 88.2% said they spent the night in commercial lodging for an average of two nights.
According to the most recent state tourism report, visitors who stayed in a Colorado hotel, motel, or short-term vacation rental spent a combined $17.3 billion in 2022. Travel spending in Colorado increased 25.2% from $22.1 billion in 2021 to $27.7 billion in 2022, the state tourism report found.
Estes Park and its surrounding forests are ripe with Bigfoot lore.
That’s why Andy Hitch, owner of Estes Park ATV and Jeep rental shop Backbone Adventures, said he wrote a blog post advertising an ATV travel guide for spotting Bigfoot.
Initially, Hitch was reticent to share his own Sasquatch encounters, having grown up in the mountains around Estes Park.
“I’m not huge into it,” he told The Post, admitting there was “a rumor mill” about spotting the creature.
Later, Hitch admitted to an experience of his own while dirt-biking through the mountains 14 years ago.
“Something ran in front of me,” he said. “It was tall and had dark-colored hair. I can’t say exactly what it was, but I don’t get riled about anything, and this made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I’m not saying I saw something, but I’m not saying I didn’t.”
Hitch figured others might be looking to have a similar encounter. He was right.
Since writing his post, folks come to his business looking for an ATV or Jeep to get further back into the forest, he said, in the hopes of spying Bigfoot.
“Get out there and keep your eyes open,” Hitch said. “Who knows what you’re going to see out there? You might find antlers. You might just see Bigfoot.”
“The wonder and mystery of what we don’t know”
The Bigfoot hunting expeditions don’t generate enough income for Myers to make a living. His bread and butter is the Sasquatch Outpost store and museum, while the expeditions are more of a hobby to continue fueling his passion, he said.
What keeps Myers and other Squatchers hooked?
“It’s the magic of the whole paranormal cryptid world,” Myers said. “Bigfoot is just one of the many unidentified, uncategorized species in the world. If Bigfoot are real — and they are — what else could be real? Are fairies real? Dogmen? Mothmen? It’s the wonder and mystery of what we don’t know and understand.”
Last year, a Bigfoot sighting in southwest Colorado went viral after photos and video taken from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad showed a Bigfoot-esque creature traipsing through nature. Debates ensued about whether the sighting was a marketing campaign or prank.
The Post reached out to the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad to see whether the sighting sparked more Bigfoot believers to come aboard, but the train folks were tightlipped.
Bigfoot has a number of talents most don’t know about, Myers said, including mind-reading and the ability to put thoughts into people’s brains.
Another skill? The ability to draw a crowd.
People from all over the globe have ventured out for Myers’ expeditions, he said, but even more have visited the museum and store to gaze upon the wonders of a 6-foot-tall fiberglass Bigfoot replica and a 7-foot-3-inch animatronic Sasquatch. Around 90,000 people have braved the cryptid models, plaster footprints, video footage and educational information in the museum over the years, he said.
Myers houses the merchandise — Bigfoot and Yeti salt-and-pepper shakers, plush toys, boxer briefs, Bigfoot foot-shaped soap and more — among 27 real trees he brought inside. He built a cave system for kids to run through and a small theater where Myers gives “cave talks” — his version of TED talks.
“You won’t find any store like it in the world,” Myers said.
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EA Sports has released several rankings for its College Football 25 this week, teasing the July 19 release date for the much-awaited new game. When the company dropped the latest Power Rankings Friday, fans argued on social media about this team or that team’s relative ranking.
Yet fans universally seemed to agree on one ranking: Colorado is not the No. 16 team in the country.
Recall the Buffaloes started 3-0 last season under new coach Deion Sanders, and some fans had illusions of a College Football Playoff spot. But reality set in, and the Buffs dropped eight of nine to finish the season.
That is not what anyone looks for in a potential top 20 program. The popular College Sports Only X account noted, “EA Sports really ranked Colorado the 16th best team in “College Football 25″ after going 4-8 last season & losing 8 of their last 9 games.”
EA Sports really ranked Colorado the 16th best team in “College Football 25” after going 4-8 last season & losing 8 of their last 9 games. 🤦 pic.twitter.com/cmjIgbehz8
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) June 28, 2024
EA Sports has shared details about how it wants to make the game as realistic as possible, even having CFB 25 announcers such as Chris Fowler call every conceivable scenario that might happen in game play. Fans have pointed out some slight errors in the game thus far. For example, the Texas State stadium was rendered in the game without an upper deck.
But even with Sanders coming in and energizing Colorado’s football program, rating the Buffaloes 16th is a huge stretch. And fans had plenty to say on social media.
EA Sports developers leaving Colorado after guaranteeing Deion Sanders a top 25 ranking pic.twitter.com/Ngm614yZRc
— Pregame Empire (@PregameEmpire) June 28, 2024
HOW IS COLORADO at SIXTEEN LMFAO?!
— Athens Steve (@rainy_steve) June 28, 2024
Again why is Colorado this high? They won 4 games last year 🤦
— Bryan (@BGauvin23) June 28, 2024
EA had to screw something up on this game eventually 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/T1I1piPO8d
— Brandon Suarez (@Bdon300) June 28, 2024
where’s the logic here https://t.co/S8jQzHDtfL
— lifetime grizzlies fan (@therealkevinyeh) June 28, 2024
I’m convinced the person in charge of ratings is a 17 year old hype beast https://t.co/YnHC3dk5uN
— mike (@burnacount4mike) June 28, 2024
One of their developers must be Rocky Mountain high if they think Colorado is that good.
— J.P. McDonough (@JPMcDonough74) June 28, 2024
EA sports ranked Colorado at number 16 in college football 25! This is laughable! This makes no sense! Finished the season four and eight! But they’re the 16th best team in the country. OK!
— 5star CFB (@5starcfb) June 28, 2024
[College Sports Only on X/Twitter]
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