Curious Colorado

On this week's Colorado Edition, we're doing something a little different. It's been five years since the September 2013 floods that brought devastation to many Colorado communities. We take a look back at what happened, and at how communities are recovering today.

In June KUNC posed a Curious Colorado question to listeners: "Are you a teacher - or do you know one - who has to get a summer job to make ends meet? Share your plans with us."

Kery Harrelson, the IT Director for East Grand School District in Granby, Colorado, responded, saying he 'crisscrossed' the Continental Divide.

His summer break essay follows:

Over my summer break I walked about 180 miles.

I've been the IT Director for East Grand Schools for well over a decade but have worked several side and summer jobs as well. I've been a bellman, a raft guide, freelance computer tech, network engineer and graphic designer. Colorado home prices can be prohibitively high so my side jobs - especially my latest - have been essential in augmenting my income and ultimately allowing me to buy my house.

In June KUNC posed a Curious Colorado question to listeners: "Are you a teacher - or do you know one - who has to get a summer job to make ends meet? Share your plans with us."

Ben Brown, a sixth grade science and design thinking teacher in Summit County, responded, saying he spent 20 years working in the private sector before becoming a teacher. He loves teaching.

His summer break essay follows:

Over my summer break, I launched a business.

The last bell of the school year rang. I watched students stream out of the school, excited about what summer will bring. Their excitement is always so infectious. I packed up my classroom, I completed my end of year checklist, high fived my colleagues and then headed out of the building myself.

If you ever hear a teacher say they don't like summer break, I think they're lying. I love summer.

In June KUNC posed a Curious Colorado question to listeners: "Are you a teacher - or do you know one - who has to get a summer job to make ends meet? Share your plans with us."

Sarah Weeks, a K-5 media specialist and STEM teacher at Lopez Elementary School in Fort Collins, responded, saying she loves her job but can't live off her teaching salary alone.

Her summer break essay follows:

Maya Angelou said, "My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

I'm discovering that this quote captures the essence of my philosophy of life and my career as a professional educator.

Lesley Pizana, 18, sat at a table in the school library at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville. She was eager to find out more about the opioid epidemic.

“My topic is focusing on the different type of treatments of heroin, opiate addiction,” said Pizana.

David Guillen remembers when he learned about Santa. It started with the kids at school.

“It was kind of catastrophic for me,” said Guillen, who was born in Columbia but now lives in Castle Rock. “I remember denying it because I knew that by admitting that there’s no Santa, that I was somehow going to be penalized by not receiving gifts from Santa.”

Eventually though, he said he couldn’t avoid the truth.

“You just kind of hang on as long as you can,” Guillen said. “Until (one day) your parents say, ‘Nope. You know what, you no longer qualify for this colossal lie that you’ve been living your entire life.’”

We’ve heard it before: The West just doesn’t have enough water to satisfy all the different demands on it. In Colorado, the majority of our water supply comes from mountainous snowpack, which melts each year to fill streambeds and reservoirs.

But could there be another way?