Posts Tagged ‘Aspen’
Steve Mills: Community First
Steve Mills made it his mission to make sure Colorado Mountain College was in tune with the communities it served. For example, in the 1970s, when surveys determined that 10 percent of the adult population lacked a high school diploma; the college “built the biggest adult basic education program in the state,” Steve says. Steve…
Read MoreMary Ballou: Get a Little Class in Your Night Life
I arrived in the Aspen area in August 1972, having just graduated from college, married, and back from our honeymoon. A frat brother of my husband spent the previous winter in Aspen and he advised us, “You have to spend one winter in Aspen before you go somewhere to get serious about life.” So, that…
Read MoreDarryl Grob: Bigger and Better Life
It was 1969. Darryl Grob emerged from the Vietnam War and headed back home to central Los Angeles. Before long he, like many former soldiers of the time, went down the rabbit hole of what Darryl called “dysfunctional distractions.” But a short visit to Aspen changed all that. Darryl left “all things LA” and moved…
Read MoreKrystal Baucum: Finding Academic Courage
Fear can come in many forms, but what sent Krystal Baucum running for the hills was math class. Luckily, she found the academic courage she was searching for here at Colorado Mountain College. “CMC provided me with the perfect opportunity to take classes at my own pace,” says Krystal, a CMC Aspen student. “If you…
Read MoreMelanie Friedersdorf: Feeling Part of the Community
When Colorado Mountain College Aspen opened the doors of its brand-new building, I was newly married and new to Aspen/Snowmass. In a community where swapping stories of how long you have been in town is part of getting to know anyone, being a part of a new chapter in local history was meaningful to me.…
Read MoreKendra Gros: Education, Just Because
When Kendra Gros is not styling a bride’s or celebrity’s hair, she might be ripping up a motocross track, training a horse, riding a polo pony, teaching salsa or tango, or posing for photos at a special event. Even with all this nonstop activity, however, the Aspen native says something was missing. She’d graduated…
Read MoreDavid Barbee: Student-Centered College
David Barbee goes back a long way with Colorado Mountain College. A long way. In fact, he was there at the very beginning, when CMC was a glimmer in the eyes of a small group of citizens who wanted to bring higher education to the West Slope. At the time, David was the principal at…
Read MoreKathryn Howlin: Unseen Potential
As Colorado Mountain College student success stories go, Kathryn Howlin’s is a marvel. You could say she discovered her true self at CMC. After beginning her college career at the CMC Aspen, Kathryn, with the support and encouragement of her teachers, enrolled and was accepted into the neuroscience program at Columbia University in New York…
Read MoreTom Buesch: Energized by Teaching
A quarter century after he started teaching at Colorado Mountain College in Aspen, Tom Buesch is just as excited about helping students learn. And being able to reach students who need special attention is one of the best things about the small college atmosphere. Buesch’s teaching career started in 1965 at the high school…
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