San Juan Silver Stage | January 2021 | Volume 25, No. 01

CELEBRATING OUR 25TH ANNIVERSARY!

This issue

Features Arts & Entertainment Profiles Pets Seniors Elevating to New normal Education

Cheri Isgreen

Infinite Creativity

Ridgway, Colorado

Pets & People

Spend time with your elders

Not everything
can be found
on Google

When you see this icon, click on it or on the STORY LINK next to it for a downloadable, printable version of the story. Many of our readers like to read a printed page. Since we are no longer producing a print issue of the Silver Stage, we’ve found a way for you to still have, hold, and read a paper page.

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Check here for details for January events.

Montrose-MCA Fundraiser

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Event Details

TICKETS for live event. (Limited to 30 persons. Order now!)
LINK for Free Facebook Link for Live-streamed event.
SPECIAL DONATIONS (and we send you roses!)
CONCERT DINNER. Take-home dinners from Stone House.

This is a fundraiser. Please buy and ticket and please donate. (And it’s definitely OK to do both!)

Montrose- MCA January Show

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Read his story, see examples of his work.

Watch video. Learn about his background, style, and artist’s philosophy.

The Art Center is open 10-4, Tuesday – Saturday.

Profiles

Artist, Cheri Isgreen

Artist, Cheri Isgreen in her studio

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Written by Kathryn R. Burke. Cheri Isgreen, a retired educator, is an artist of national acclaim. She is a member of the Colorado Watercolor Society, and loves creating art in a variety of subjects and mediums. [Story here]

VSA Spotlight: Betty Burgess

Written by Stacey Ryan. Holly (Ray) Burgess, Valley Symphony, is a Montrose native. She has been with the VSA since 2006 and became the VSA’s principal clarinetist in 2015. [Read story]

Artist, Marko Marino

Artist, Marko Marino. Kate Burke photo.

By Kathryn R. Burke. I Native Coloradan, Marko Marino creates dynamic compositions in contemporary style utilizing a vivid visual memory combined with a strong sense of design. [Read his story.] [Watch video,as he explains his work.]

Please SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube Channel.

Elevating to a New Normal

It’s been a tough — no, make that really rotten! year. And even with a promising vaccine distribution (in limited does that will help a small sector of the population by next summer), impending legislation (a day late and dollar short, unfortunately) to “save” small businesses (that have so far survived) and keep beleagured schools open in the face of Covid, and with a barely-accepted, imminent change of administration (that can’t stop disastrous, sometimes violent, political bickering and partisanship) … we are a LONG way from achieving well-being and economic stability.

About the only relief we’ve had—something that has helped keep us going and promises to continue doing so—is reliable, high-speed internet. It’s literally been a life-saver. With it, many of us can … virtually… conduct business, provide education, offer telemed services, as we try to establish a “new normal” in the most “un-normal” times the world has ever seen since the demise of the dinosaurs. Of course, we’ve also had to learn how to make it work…or follow the path of denizens of the Mesozoic era.

[Read more]

Elevating Virtual Education – update

[Winter 2020/2021. Interview with Becky Mashburn] Due to increasing Covid cases, more schools may have to switch to Virtual learning. Students are struggling. Many teachers report working long hours and being exhausted. Learning new teaching methods and mastering digital technology is a strain on both. This interview explores the impact on students and teachers, and how Elevate is helping both.
[Read more.]

Business: The New Business Model—We’ve All Gone Virtual

[Written by Kathryn R. Burke and Karen Prather] Today, we are living in a brand new world of business technology, and it’s evolving exponentially. Business owners and their teams must think creatively to continue collaborating and achieving their goals to maintain financial security while preventing the spread of illness.

Video conferences, Zoom meetings, Online sales through social media and website selling, financial programming, remote file transfers, webinars, and more help us stay safe and employed. Having a high-speed Internet connection is essential to succeeding in today’s new business model, and for many small business owners, the learning curve can e a challenge.
[Learn more.]

The New Face of Education

Coping with Covid and changes in how we educate today

Excellent article in Colorado Sun talking about the how hybrid education is affecting teachers.
[Colorado Sun | November 2, | By Erica Breunlin]Colorado teachers are working twice — sometimes three times — as hard when their students learn both in person and online. A hybrid approach to school gives students the chance to see teachers and peers in person. But is it also burning out educators? [Read story]

When the City Went Quiet

Children Coping With Corona

By Solina Adelson-Journey
Written by a school principal and young mother, and told through the eyes of a second-grader experiencing changes caused by the coronavirus. When the City Went Quiet is the story about a child’s emotional experience with COVID-19 and the lessons she learned about supporting her community beyond herself. Beautifully illustrated with coping suggestions at the end. From San Juan Publishing.

A must-read for teachers, parents, families, children—all of us who are struggling with how to deal with changes caused by the Corona Virus.

[Visit author’s website. Buy the book.]

Today’s Education – A Technical Enterprise

Hybrid Learning Systems

Today’s education is a blend of in-person and remote learning. Illustration, Bryce Chismire.

Written by Kathryn R. Burke.

Because of Covid, traditional in-person (or classroom) learning has, by necessity, had to adopt a variety of teaching methods and tools to ensure that education continues uninterrupted. This includes virtual (remote or online) learning, in-person learning, where students may be divided into cohorts (or groups), and various hybrid (blended) systems (alternating between virtual and in-class learning. For teachers, lesson planning becomes a challenge. For students, the new systems is complicated, but easily absorbable. For parents? Especially if they will have to homeschool? Complicated at the very least. The first step is to master the vocabulary. Next is learning how to implement it. [Read more]

Education’s New True

Accepting and mastering change

Illustration, Bryce Chismire.

Written by Kathryn R. Burke. The learning experience for all of us—student or writer, those disseminating information or those absorbing it—has irrevocably changed. Better? Not sure. Quicker? Definitely. Confusing? Absolutely.

Find out how students, educators, and families are learning to deal with the new true in education. [Story]

How Do You Connect?

How Elevate Internet serves local school districts

Illustration, Bryce Chismire

Written by Kathryn R. Burke. To be truly effective, today’s new education model depends on cohesive connectivity within a school system (Wide Area Network) and within each campus that is a part of it (Local Area Network). Learn how this works in Montrose and Delta County Schools.

Pet Power

Pets – 2nd Chance is Here to Help

By Kelly Goodin. ” Tri-County Pet Pantry. Low-cost Health & Welness Services. Animal Rescue. Our mission is Connecting Pets, People & Community While Saving Lives. [Read more]

The Power of Pets

By Kelly Goodin. Second Chance Humane Society believes that pets and people live better together. People are turning more than ever to pets for comfort and companionship and to battle anxiety and other emotional responses to our unprecedented and unstable times. [Read Story Here].

Pets Help Fight the Isolation Blues

By Kelly Goodin. This Holiday Season is unlike any other in recent decades as family gatherings and various traditions that bring friends and family together are cancelled, shifted, and revised in order to be safe and follow restrictions for keeping others safe. The situation is disheartening and challenging for so many of us and it requires a new way of being. Second Chance Humane Society believes the power of the pet has never been more needed. [read story here].

SENIOR SERVICES & STORIES

Community Living Services – January 2021

COMMUNITY LIVING SERVICS

High Cost of Social Isolation for the Elderly

Elder isolation increases during cold winter months, which has been exacerbated by Covid-caused visitation restrictions. Image, Kate Burke.

By Eva Veitch, Region 10 Community Living Services Program Director. Human beings are social creatures; our human connections help us survive and thrive. COVID-19 and the social distancing that has been put in place to protect us have had a huge unintended consequence, hitting the elderly especially hard. Learn how you can help.

[Read story]

SENIOR SERVICES

Connection Matters

Sharing Sunday supper through the window at a nursing home. Image, Kathryn. R. Burke.

By Sandy Walker, Lead LTC Ombudsman – Region 10. Connection Matters now more than ever. The months of restrictions on visitation in long-term care and the inability of residents, families and friends to be together during the pandemic has emphasized the importance of connection, of relationships, and the impact they have on our well-being. [Read story]

AREA AGENCY ON AGING

Senior’s Schemes and Scams

Tips to Prevent Senior Scams. Article by Allen Riggs, Caregiver.com.

By Eva Veitch, Region 10 Community Living Services. The schemes and scams continue to grow and become more devious. Faudsters have figured out how to call from parts unknown and make it look like a local number so we will answer. They are very slick and have a variety of tricks they use to get you to reveal personal information, then use it to rob you blind. Yes, it happens in western Colorado every day to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. [Read more]