San Juan Silver Stage | December 2020 | Volume 24, No. 12
Premier Lifestyles Publication Since 1996
This issue
'tis the Season
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.
Featured Artist: Cheri Isgreen
Artist, Cheri Isgreen in her studio
.
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]
“Dream Horses”
Dream Horse, “Sunny.” Private Commission by Cheri Isgreen
.
Cheri is also known for her equine art. Her latest endeavor, whimsical, mixed-media “Dream Horses” incorporate a multitude of her artistic talents and interests. [More here]
Holiday Time Banking
Written by Erin Berge Rocky Mountain Time Bank. Time banking may be the answer for those who are looking for new and innovative ways to spread cheer and help others by sharing our time and talents. A time bank, also known as “time exchanges,” is about people helping other people in a system where everyone’s skills are equally valued and where everyone benefits. [Read more.]
Hybrid Holiday Shopping
[December 2020. Written by Kathryn R. Burke] Interview with Becky Mashburn, Communications and Marketing Manager at Elevate Internet & DMEA.
Due to Covid & Isolation, there will be a lot more online holiday shopping this year. In this interview, KRB and BM discuss how how this might impact Internet service (it won’t) and what shoppers can do to help local businesses—shop local with online ordering and curbside pick up. [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.]
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.
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 – Holiday Hazzards
By Kelly Goodin. Pets digestive systems are not the same as humans. Avoid foods that will make them sick! Pets’ curiosity can also get them in trouble, especially with cats climbing trees, dogs wagging tails and knocking off breakable ornaments, and pets munching on poisonious plants. Learn what to give and what not to give pets this holiday season.
[read story here].
Pets Help Fight the Holiday 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].
Community Living Services
High Cost of Social Isolation for the Elderly
.
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.
Senior Services
Connection Matters
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]
Home for the Holidays
By Eva Veitch. As we prepare to find a way to celebrate the December holidays and kiss 2020 goodbye many of us will find ourselves with empty seats at the table. … Although our older generation has experienced some of these things in the past; none of us has experienced the cumulative magnitude of these things until 2020, let us hope we never do again! … How can we salvage the holidays? I challenge you and your families to reach out to the older adults in your circle and beyond and wrap them in love.
[Read story]
