Summitup news

(Breckenridge, CO --) Education was the focus of the March 4 Lincoln Day Dinner, organized by the Summit County Republicans and Summit County Republican Women. Featuring Kristi Burton Brown, Colorado GOP chair; Courtney Potter, Adams County school board member; and Dr. Brenda Dickhoner, CEO and president of Ready Colorado, the event emphasized that “education is the golden thread” of success for our children. 

     Brown emphasized, “Education is one of the civil rights issues of the day,” and she stated that every child has a right to the best possible education whether through public schools, charter schools, private schools, or home schooling.  Citing poor student performance results on statewide tests, she asked the concerned attendees what Republicans can do about education. “We must make education a top priority in Colorado.  We can bring real solutions to the problems with education today.” One of those solutions is to stop the state from shutting down charter schools. Another is to make sure that school choice is in the constitution in Colorado. She concluded, “Let’s fix it for our kids! We can get this done!” 

Potter provided the perspective of a school board member, noting that parents need to become more involved with school boards and what is happening in the classroom. “For a long time, we were not paying attention to what our kids are learning,” she observed. She encouraged parents and community members to get involved through a variety of volunteer opportunities, including classroom, cafeteria, playground, and janitorial assistance.  

     Dickhoner, formerly a policy expert at the Colorado Department of Education, delivered the keynote address, highlighting Ready Colorado’s role in supporting and defending bold education reform. Dedicated to ensuring that every child in Colorado receives the education they deserve, core principals of the organization include parent choice, focusing on the needs of students and families, accountability by teachers, schools and districts for student performance outcomes, and availability of meaningful information about school districts, schools, and teachers. 

The relevance of this topic to our local children and families was explained by Mike Tabb, past chair of the Summit County Republicans. “The majority of Summit County school students do not meet state standards for reading, writing, and math. It is long past time for our school board to stop its obsession with identity politics and educate our kids in the academic fundamentals that will ensure they can compete successfully in this world,” he said.   

     “Education is one of the most important issues of our time, determining the future of our children and our country,” added Tess Scalise, president of the Summit County Republican Women. “That is why we dedicated this year’s Lincoln Day Dinner to this vital issue. Covid lockdowns and failing schools have resulted in poor student performance, and we must all work together to solve this problem and give all our children their best chance for success.”  

Photo: Kristi Burton Brown, Colorado GOP chair, was a featured speaker at the Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday night in Silverthorne.  She stated, “Education is one of the civil rights issues of the day.” She ended her speech saying, “Let’s fix it for our kids! We can get this done!” 

Summit County Republican Women awarded Summit High School graduate Caleb Mallory with its 2021 Constitutional Scholar Award and Scholarship.  Mallory plans to attend the University of San Diego’s ROTC program in  the fall.

Summit County Republican Women Honor Caleb Mallory with 

Its 2021 Constitutional Scholar Award and Scholarship

(Breckenridge, CO) –Summit County Republican Women were pleased to honor Summit High School senior Caleb Mallory with its 2021 Constitutional Scholar Award and scholarship.

“In addition to his outstanding academic record and volunteer service to the community, we were extremely impressed with Caleb’s essay,” explains Garnett Payne, president of the Republican women’s organization. “We asked students to write why our nation’s Founders chose to create a republic instead of a pure democracy. Caleb’s response demonstrated a high level of research and his deep understanding of the choice our Founders made.”

In one part of Mallory’s essay, he wrote, “A republic recognizes the issues surrounding a pure democracy, and while still holding importance around majority rule, protects the minority of the country that didn’t end up winning an election…. Overall, a republic protects the will of all the population of a nation, to an extent, while a pure democracy only protects the majority’s rule.” 

Frequently volunteering with Summit Youth Hockey, Fairview Horse Rescue in Fairplay, and the Explorer’s Program with the Breckenridge Sheriff’s Office, Mallory also served as secretary for the high school Optimist Club and played varsity hockey and lacrosse. He wants to continue serving others and this country in the years ahead. He plans to attend the University of San Diego in the fall and participate in the ROTC program there, becoming an officer in the U.S. Army after college graduation. Beyond active duty in the military, he is considering other future career options including law, criminal justice, the FBI, the Peace Corps, and missionary work. 

“I want to have a large-scale, beneficial impact on America and society,” says Mallory, “as I feel a debt to America due to all the amazing things America has done for me. My big thing is I want to find a way to unite America and end the negative bipartisan relations in this great country. I think it is much more important that everybody starts identifying themselves as proud Americans rather than Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals. All these smaller collectives only divide the country and disallow for America’s future success.”

Summit County Republican Women is a friendly, conservative, outgoing group of women, who are dedicated to serving our country and the local community. For more information, please email the group at info@SummitGOPWomen.org or visit www.SummitGOPWomen.org. 

Photo: Summit High School senior Caleb Mallory was recently named the Summit County Republican Women’s 2021 Constitutional Scholar and awarded a college scholarship. L to R: Jini Clare; Michele Mallory; Caleb's mother, Caleb; Dee James and Barb Tabb

Check out the article published in the Summit Daily about our latest project. So happy to be helping not only local businesses but also the people who need the most help.