{"id":1319912,"date":"2020-05-13T11:22:31","date_gmt":"2020-05-13T17:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=996309"},"modified":"2020-05-13T11:22:31","modified_gmt":"2020-05-13T17:22:31","slug":"rifle-bands-together-to-supply-seniors-positivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/rifle-bands-together-to-supply-seniors-positivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Rifle bands together to supply seniors positivity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tina Bowlan came from a place where community was paramount \u2014 just like Rifle.<\/p>\n<p>When COVID-19 hit Colorado, the two teamed up to make a difference with a Facebook group called, \u201cAdopt a Senior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After starting the group April 18, they now have 687 members and counting, as well as every senior having received an adoption. Local mother to a Rifle senior, Amy Lujan, is helping Bowlan manage it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI moved here about four-and-a-half years ago,\u201d Bowlan said. \u201cIn the town we used to live in, somebody invited me to participate in the (Adopt Program) there, and I thought, \u2018What a great idea.\u2019<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe reason why we started it is because the seniors are missing out on so much. They\u2019re not getting to end their school year, they\u2019re not getting to take their final classes, they missed their prom. They worked so hard and it\u2019s so sad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The program is simple. A parent or senior posts to the group, asking to be part of the giving. Soon after, they\u2019re \u201cadopted\u201d by another parent or family and brought snacks, books, cards, gift cards and even signs.<\/p>\n<p>All of the gifts are based on the adopters getting to know what the students like.<\/p>\n<p>Several donors are teachers at both Rifle High School and Rifle Middle School. The rest consist of other teachers from the area and fellow parents who are seeing kids going through adversity.<\/p>\n<p>No one is required to join or support the group. The schools have chosen to let everything remain on a voluntary basis. In Rifle though, it\u2019s easy to find people wanting to help seniors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, in any great organization or group of people, there are people who have nothing to gain except for doing right by others,\u201d Rifle High School principal John Arledge said. \u201cI think of people like Tina and Amy\u2014 who has a senior \u2014 they\u2019re the two driving forces. I think if Amy would\u2019ve had a kid that\u2019s a freshman and Tina would\u2019ve had a senior, I still think those people would\u2019ve stepped up and said, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s do this for our kids.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>RMS principal, Jenny Nipper, who hosted many of the graduating seniors at her school, had her own unique gift. As part of her weekly drop-offs, she donated her seniors \u2014 two boys \u2014 John Wooden\u2019s book, \u201cWooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Only a few days later, while sitting at Dunkin\u2019, Nipper was greeted by one of the beneficiaries of the donation after he jumped out of his car and rushed over to thank her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said, \u2018Thank you so much for that book. That\u2019s the best book,\u2019\u201d Nipper said. \u201cI would say this whole thing has been able to make me slow down and find joy in their maturity and growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carrie Johnson Photography has also crafted signs for each senior\u2019s adopting family to purchase for their lawns. Those same photos and designs are in the process of being put onto lamp poles throughout the town as well, though a full plan isn\u2019t clear yet.<\/p>\n<p>As of now, Rifle is still looking to have a graduation ceremony and parade, though they\u2019ll be postponed into the summer \u2013 setting a specific date is nearly impossible right now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe really want to have a real graduation in the stadium,\u201d Arledge said. \u201cInstead of saying, \u2018Hey we\u2019re going to have a graduation,\u2019 we have to follow the laws and guidelines that are set. We\u2019re shooting for probably sometime in later July.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur seniors, at this point, it\u2019s almost 9-to-1 want to hold out for a real graduation. So, we\u2019re listening to our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everything being done in Rifle is for the seniors. They didn\u2019t ask for special treatment, but the idea has sparked an avalanche of giving.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>They want a graduation ceremony, but the event is still on a to-be-determined basis. If it doesn\u2019t happen, they\u2019ll understand the circumstances were simply too unsafe. The community has still made it a memorable experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt makes everything better,\u201d Rifle senior Derek Wagler said. \u201cI think that it\u2019s a great way through social media and in general for the whole community to get together. Even though times may be tough, it\u2019s kind of a reminder that things can be good again.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"mailto:lzahlmann@postindependent.com\">lzahlmann@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/rifle-bands-together-to-supply-seniors-positivity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tina Bowlan came from a place where community was paramount \u2014 just like Rifle. When COVID-19 hit Colorado, the two teamed up to make a difference with a Facebook group called, \u201cAdopt a Senior.\u201d After starting the group April 18, they now have 687 members and counting, as well as every senior having received an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1319912","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-28 14:30:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}