A Literary Life

By Kate Jonuska

There are not many perfect things in this world, mostly because of our inability to objectively  measure perfection, but there is no arguing with the perfection of 36 out of a possible 36. That’s the score Liberty High School senior Joshua Burns received on his ACT exam, one of only eight perfect scores in the state of Colorado.

“I really don’t try to make a big deal out of my academic ability,” says 17-year-old Joshua. “I spend a lot of time doing other things than school: drumming, playing sports recreationally, hanging out with friends, working.”

“He’s pretty humble about it all. He’s just naturally that way,” says mother Tamara Burns, who thinks she was more emotional than Joshua about it. “I was very excited when I opened up that envelope … Both my husband and were really proud of him and know that this could open so many doors for him.”

A perfect score on a standardized test is a difficult feat. In fact, many students take practice exams, attend study sessions or hire tutors in order to get a good score on either the ACT or SAT, the two exams colleges utilize in their application process. But for Joshua, simply paying attention in the course of his normal school day was the only preparation he needed.

“It’s just a test over basically everything people learn in school regularly,” he explains, admitting that he finds a lot of the busywork in his regular classes unchallenging. “I definitely like some classes, like the physics and calculus classes that I’m in right now. I don’t care for a lot classes where it seems my time is wasted. I feel I could teach myself a lot more stuff on my own sometimes.”

It’s likely that attitude ― learning how to think critically for one’s self rather than focusing on memorization ― that allowed Joshua to test so well, lack of preparation notwithstanding.

“I’m very analytical and think of why things are the way they are. Instead of memorizing, I look at how things work and that can apply in any situation, so that probably is a big bonus,” he says. Joshua is eagerly anticipating college, where he plans on studying engineering, likely electrical engineering.

“I’m looking forward to a new environment, different than high school. I think (college) will play to my strengths,” he says.

And with a perfect ACT score under his belt, it’s likely college admission boards everywhere will be looking forward to him, too.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Woodmen Edition on Oct. 16, 2009.

By Kate Jonuska

For some businesses, the idea of letting the customers set their own prices for products and services might sound like a stretch. But leave it to the limber Colorado Springs Cambio Studios yoga studio to make the “pay what you can” business model work.

“We knew there was a demand for yoga and that people need it so much in the current economic situation,” says Cassandra Green, who owns Cambio along with siblings Amber and Austin Richman. The studio has been open since June, and thus far, none of the owners have had to dip into their own pockets to meet expenses, which in their minds means success.

“Obviously, it’s challenging because we’re trying to figure out how it’s going to work,” says Green. “But I feel exhilarated.  We hear a lot of really touching stories about how (students) wouldn’t be able to practice at a fee-structured studio.”

This donation-based model isn’t new. The band Radiohead used it when selling the online version of “In Rainbows” for whatever price fans saw fit. It’s the principle behind the nationally touted SAME (So All May Eat) Café in Denver, which has no set prices and a donation box instead of a cash register.

At Cambio, here’s how it works:  A suggested price of $7-$12 per class is posted — at the request of students, who felt a range was helpful — and an unmonitored donation box hangs on the wall. All the owners hold down other jobs, drawing no salaries for the moment.

“It’s sort of the idea that fundamentally underlies tipping, and it’s something we’ve seen for a long time in things like museums,” says Kristina Lybecker, an assistant professor of business and economics at Colorado College.

“From a business-model standpoint, it should be something that could work fairly well because you’re opening yourself up to customers that have different abilities to pay. You should be able to bring in a lot more people that way, opening your customer base.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Sept. 1, 2009 Gazette Business section.

By Kate Jonuska

In September of 1998, language-arts teacher Diana Skoog collapsed in her classroom at Air Academy High School, the victim of a severe stroke. Over the course of a 10-year recovery, she’s rebuilt much of the skills and knowledge wiped out of the right hemisphere of her brain by the stroke, though due to left-side paralysis, she’s still wheelchair-bound.

Yet this month, after more than two years of work, the 15-year teaching veteran is proud to reconnect with the classroom with her newly published first book, “Tips & Techniques for First Time Teachers.”

“I got the idea shortly after I got home from the hospital. I got a call from a couple friends who just started the teaching profession asking, ‘What do I do?’” Skoog explains. She describes the book as a one-stop shop for a new teacher, a book that compiles information gathered from first-hand experience and continuing education classes, and including topics such as handling underachievement, speedy and efficient grading, and getting acquainted with your students to form a solid connection.

“I’ve loved writing every since high school. I always wanted to published, but never though that I could, especially after this happened,” says Skoog. “I discovered after this happened that writing was the ability I still had when all the others were gone.”
With her unique history and personality, Skoog’s tenacity and passion for education shine through her first work of authorship, which she had to overcome certain physical obstacles to produce.

“The main one, the first one, is organization skills,” she says, explaining that the damaged right hemisphere includes problem-solving and organization skills. “The second is typing, because I only have one hand that’s usable. One hand hunt-and-peck typing can be quite humorous.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the May 22, 2009 Woodmen Edition.

By Kate Jonuska

Whether with a plot in the yard, a few pots on the patio or a windowsill herb garden, more Americans are choosing to forgo the supermarket in favor of growing their own vegetables and other edibles at home.
Part culinary adventure, part environmentalism and a great deal of penny pinching, the motivations behind the trend vary. But the results of increased sales of edibles are certainly offering local nurseries and garden centers a shot in the arm during otherwise troubled economic times.

“Any kind of edible, vegetables and herbs, both in seed sales of people starting their own and plant sales were up 25 percent last year,” says Wayne Fisher, owner of Good Earth Garden Center at 1330 N. Walnut St. In fact, had their suppliers not run out of product last season due to an underestimation of demand, Fisher believes that number could easily have been higher.

“We expect at least that increase again this year,” he continues. “It’s not even comparable. It is so far outpacing other products.”

“We’ve dropped a lot of our annual color and dropped our numbers in trees and shrubs, with the exception of fruit trees, which we’ve increased,” says Mark Phelan, co-owner of Phelan Gardens at 4955 Austin Bluffs Parkway, who notes that vegetable sales are up over last year for April and he expects May’s numbers to be even higher. “As far as tomatoes go, we’ve almost doubled the number of tomatoes we’ll sell this year.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the May 17, 2009 Gazette.

April is a month of rebirth and renewal with its cleansing showers and budding flowers. It’s easy to understand, therefore, why April is also National Donate Life Month, which recognizes those who have received, given or currently require organ, tissue or marrow donations.

For local teenager Michael Noble, raising awareness about donation is both vital and personal: The 19-year-old is waiting for a kidney transplant after a battle with Wegener’s granulomatosis, a rare autoimmune disease which restricts circulation to the organs and permanently damaged his kidneys.

“It’s really hard. A lot of people are just waiting, waiting, waiting,” says Noble. “If they were aware, I think more people would be willing to help others get out of that situation. Donating a kidney is a way to save someone’s life.”

Michael, who exudes the patience and perseverance of someone twice his age, can attest to the pain of the waiting game.

“My family got tested and I was so sure that my dad was going to be a match. Then he ended up not being able to give his kidney and I was devastated,” says Michael, noting that many possible donors have been rejected, though an uncle is currently in the final stages of testing. “That’s pretty much the hardest part. It’s all about patience and waiting in this situation.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the April 24, 2009 Woodmen Edition.

Community-supported agriculture an investment with gourmet dividends
By Kate Jonuska

You haven’t lived, says Susan Gordon, until you’ve eaten a ripe tomato fresh off the vine, an authentic, unadulterated tomato that bursts vibrant and sweet in your mouth.

“It’s a pretty eye-opening experience,” says the director of Venetucci Farm on the outskirts of Colorado Springs, a friendly woman with muddy boots and a green thumb who farms and lives on the historic 200-acre property with her family.

A Venetucci tomato won’t be perfectly round or perfectly red; some of the heirloom varieties are tinted orange, yellow or green. It won’t be doused in chemicals or transported across oceans. But the difference in flavor and quality will be phenomenal, Gordon assures — and the experts agree.

“It tastes like a tomato, which is a wonderful thing. For one month out of the year, they taste so great, you don’t need a thing on them,” says Eric Viedt chef and co-owner of The Margarita at Pine Creek restaurant, which has used Venetucci as a local supplier for several years. “We love using their products.”

Gordon, who is known for pulling produce out of the ground to slice samples for school kids, explains that store-bought produce has been heavily manipulated. “Things are bred now to be able to be shipped long distances and to have a longer shelf life. The trade off with that, of course, is freshness and taste.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the March/April edition of Colorado Springs Style.

Local Purple-Heart veteran looks to inspire others at book signing
By Kate Jonuska

Whether due to natural adrenaline or training received during her five years of military service, Latoya Lucas remembers everything from that day in 2003 when she was hit by rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire in Mosul, Iraq.

“I remember the whole situation until I passed out due to loss of blood, and then I was in a coma for two weeks,” says Lucas, who suffered intestinal damage, loss of soft tissue and muscle on most of her left side, burns and permanent nerve damage. Now retired from the service, she’s the first female who served in Iraq out of Fort Carson to receive a Purple Heart and is the author of the book “The Immeasurable Spirit: Lessons of a Wounded Warrior about Faith and Perseverance.”

Even after four months in the hospital and two years of rehabilitation, she’ll carry the scars and feel the ache of those injuries for the rest of her life. But the foremost lesson she took from the harrowing experience is the message she relates in her book, which she’ll be reading from and signing on Saturday at Poor Richard’s Bookstore downtown.

“As a wounded warrior, I’ve learned a lot of lessons about how faith affected my recovery process and future outlook,” says Lucas. The idea of sharing that experience in book form, transforming a personally negative situation into a potentially positive one for others, grew out of that healing process. “Early on from my hospital bed, once I endured what I endured, I made the decision that I wanted to serve others and encourage them to be strong.”

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the March 6, 2009 Woodmen and Cheyenne editions.

Free workshops offer much-needed guidance
By Kate Jonuska

At your local library, helpful information isn’t only found in the stacks, on a shelf or between book covers. Valuable guidance can also be found in person, specifically in the persons of Cari Pemberton and Linda Reinberger, certified Family Manager Coaches who provide free organizational workshops for the community at local libraries.

“This really is a service to hurting families,” says Pemberton, who was recently named Director of National Outreach for Family Manager Coaching and has been a professional organizer since 1992. “By dealing with these issues in a free, convenient way, family managers — typically moms, but not always — can take home strategies which can be implemented right away for the benefit of the whole family.”

At a recent meeting at the Briargate Library covering tax preparation and battling paper clutter, participant Jennifer Bell admitted relief that she’d found such help.

“I think I can feel confident that I’m not by myself in this mess and I can find a good jumping off point,” says Bell, who has recommended the free workshops to friends and family. “Yes, there may be piles of paper everywhere, but you can get back on track. It can be done.”

Topics of past organizational workshops, which are usually conducted monthly, include “The Busy Mom’s Guide to a Happy, Organized Home” and “Preparing for an A+ School Year” as well as guidance with holiday-season preparations, organization products, staging your home for sale and more.

Pemberton has conducted adult education programs at the Briargate Library since the branch opened, and Reinberger has expanded the workshops to the Rockrimmon Library, as well. Both believe that sharing their wealth of professional knowledge with families is a genuine public service, especially in trying economic times.

CLICK HERE to view the full text of this article, which published in the March 6, 2009 Woodmen Edition.

Local women tackle crack-of-dawn, high-intensity workouts through women-only boot camp program
By Kate Jonuska

At 5:25 a.m. on a December morning, it’s a cold, abandoned world outside — nothing open, no one out, no hint of the coming dawn. There’s only one illuminated doorway at Eagleview Middle School on Vindicator Drive, and I have to fortify myself to leave the warmth of the car to dash toward the light.

By 5:30 a.m., I’m in a cavernous gymnasium with a group of other sleep-eyed women. Around the room is a torturous variety of equipment: weighted balls, tension bands, jump ropes, cones and other unknown devices.
No wonder they call it boot camp, I think.

But halfway through the 45-minute workout, I knew this was in no way the Hollywood-inspired boot camp I’d been expecting. Certainly, it was intense, sweat-inducing and physically challenging. But the only yelling was of encouragement and, between conversations about work and home, the participants applauded each other after the completion of every strenuous circuit.

Huh, I thought. No wonder this really works.

CLICK HERE to read the full text of this article, which published in the Jan. 2, 2009 Woodmen Edition.

By Kate Jonuska

Merry. Jolly. Happy. Bright. These are the kind of holidays we’re implored to have throughout the month of December by everyone from friendly cashiers to Burl Ives singing, “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas.” But the reality for many folks is that the holiday season is not “the best time of the year,” as Mr. Ives croons, but instead a stressful season filled with emotional landmines and pits of despair.

Whether you have a history of depression or it’s your first experience of the “holiday blues,” local experts can explain why depression can crop up around the holidays and how to battle it.

CLICK HERE to read this article, which published in the Dec. 19, 2008 Woodmen Edition and Cheyenne Edition newspapers.