Education

Evergreen High School’s athletes competed last Wednesday in the first-ever Departmental Olympics, a two-hour showing of the capabilities, drive and team spirit of EHS’s finest — its teachers.

As part of the teachers’ welcome back to school, principal Matt Walsh had them compete in two of what he called Olympic events — departmental synchronized swimming and departmental rowing. Both competitions were in the school’s main hallway, and no water was involved.

Speaking doesn’t come easily to Kristina Halstead, but she has a lot to say.

Kristina, 19, through a lifetime of living in a wheelchair and struggling to manage the activities of daily living, has become an outspoken advocate for people with disabilities.

“I want to show people that handicapped people can actually do something with our lives,” she said.

She plans to spend her life teaching what her family calls “typical people” not to fear those who look different or who have physical disabilities.

“Little kids who are sick is the most deserving cause I can think of,” said Evergreen resident Trish Dunbar, who is raising funds for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The word “prom” usually conjures images of beautifully dressed girls and formally dressed boys going to the dance that is a rite of passage for high school juniors and seniors.

For them, the road to prom started with asking that important question. Asking someone to prom has become a memorable moment for some EHS teens, who do everything from designing a scavenger hunt to getting the family dog involved.

EHS senior Bryce Spindel used an Easter-egg theme to ask his girlfriend, Megan O’Donnell, to prom.