Westside schools:
‘ABC Night’ fundraiser for West Elementary

       Hoping to raise money for a school marquee and/or student field trips, West Elementary will host “ABC Night” Friday, March 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the school, 25 N. 20th St.
       According to teacher/ event organizer Angel Chavez, the event will consist of:
       A - (Silent) auction.
       B - Bingo.
       C - Chili (50 cents a bowl).
       The community is invited. There is no admission charge.
       Leading up to ABC Night, the school is seeking donations of prizes for the auction from businesses or individuals. For more information, call Chavez at 328-4948.
       A marquee would be installed outside the school entrance so passsersby could see at a glance school events that are coming up.
       District and school funds for field trips have been cut back in recent years for budgetary reasons. Also, “a lot of the kids here” come from families that can't afford such costs themselves, Chavez said.
       Trips being looked at include Bemis Art School, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Bear Creek Nature Center.
      
       8th at state for swimmers
       Coronado High School girls swimming splashed to eighth place out of 32 schools competing at the 4A State Championship meet Feb.11-12.
       “It was a fantastic performance,” said first-year coach Katie Baker. “They were focused and achieved most goals they set out for themselves as individuals as well as for the team.”
       The Cougars were led by individual point-scoring from Taylor Kay, fifth in the 50-meter freestyle and sixth in the 100-yard free; and Allie Jacobs, seventh in the 100- yard butterfly and ninth in the 200-yard individual medley (IM).
       Kay and Jacobs also helped add points for Coronado by making up half of two relay foursomes - the fourth-place 200-yard freestyle team and the sixth-place 200- yard medley relay team. The other two swimmers on both those relays were Katy Martinez and Morgan DeWitt.
       All are seniors except Jacobs, who broke the school's 200 IM record at state with a time of 2:11.49.
       Also competing at state for Coronado were Samantha Grosslight, 200-yard free; Kellye Rather, 1-meter diving; and Katy Pina, on the 400-yard freestyle relay team.
       Baker, who previously had coached for CSST (a local club team), said Coronado had a better chance this year - their first in the 4A classification - because they were competing against schools with similar enrollments. Previously, the state had classified Coronado in 5A, which includes the largest high schools in the state.
      
       D-11 budget talk at CHS
       District 11 Chief Financial Officer Glenn Gustafson, concerned about reduced revenues forcing major spending cuts, will give six evening budget presentations at schools throughout the district.
       The first of these will be in the Coronado High School auditorium, 1590 W. Fillmore St., Thursday, March 10 from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
       The public is invited.
       According to a district press release, Gustafson will make the same 30-minute presentation each of the six evenings, then take questions from the audience. “In addition, as often as possible, the [district] superintendent and deputy superintendents will be in attendance to fill in gaps on other questions,” the release adds.
       Based on recent state information, D-11 now expects it will need to cut $14 million this year, after it cut $11 million last year, according to the administration office.
       Gustafson's other five presentations will be March 15 at Wasson High, March 17 at Doherty High, March 29 at Palmer High, March 30 at Mitchell High and March 31 at Tesla Auditorium.

Westside Pioneer/press releases