Jess Becker, from Ponderosa High School, and Sarah Wegert, from Coyote Creek Elementary, were chosen as the 2011 Apple Award recipients. Special recognition also went to the following individuals: Jan Shawcroft, from Douglas County High School for classified employee; Patty Hanrahan from Gold Rush Elementary for administrative employee; and Stan Lewandowski from Intermountain Rural Electric Association for community member.

The Douglas County Educational Foundation and Kroenke Sports Enterprises have teamed up for a fundraising project called Score for Schools. The program applies the fundraising approach of the existing Douglas County School District community nights to additional Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche games to raise money for individual school sports and athletics -related projects and programs.

Score for Schools enables county school district stakeholders and supporters to purchase tickets for selected Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nugget events at savings. Not only will Douglas County School District supporters receive discounted ticket prices for select games, but they will also be raising money for the school of their choice each time they purchase a ticket through Score for Schools. For each ticket sold, Kroenke will donate $5 back to the school select at the time of online ticket purchase.

To participate in Score for Schools, visit http:// schools.dcsdk12.org/education/dept/dept.php?sectionid=15297.

Michael Weimar, of Lone Tree, earned the dean's citation for academic excellence in the Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado for the 2010 fall semester.

Ethan Wendel Bell, of Lone Tree, was named to the dean's list for the fall 2010 semester at Washington University in St. Louis. Bell is a graduate of Colorado Academy in Denver and is enrolled in the university's Olin Business School.

Lone Tree has a new first- through eighth-grade private school option to open in August. Anastasis Academy aims to create a new paradigm in education where children are challenged and encouraged as unique individuals to fall in love with the joy of learning. Visit www.anastasisacademy.com.

The Douglas County Educational Foundation and Frugal Formalwear e-boutique announce a spring fundraising opportunity for Douglas County School District. The fundraiser generates money for the DCEF’s “Fill the Gap” initiative from profits generated from donated dresses, tuxedos, jewelry, and other formalwear items. The fundraiser runs from April 15 through June 30. Donations can be dropped off at the DCEF offices, garden level of the district building at 620 Wilcox St. in Castle Rock. DCEF staff will tag donated items and provide a tax deduction form for all donations. Frugal Formalwear staff collects the donations, posts the items on the Web site and directs 60 percent of the profit for each item to the DCEF’s “Fill the Gap” fund.

The Douglas County Conservation District has two $500 scholarships available to qualified applicants. This scholarship is open to any college freshmen or sophomore student (fall 2011) majoring in the fields of agriculture, agronomy, horticulture, environmental science, soil science, watershed management, Earth resources sciences and other fields related to the utilization and conservation of soil and water resources. Students must have a grade point average of 2.5 or better on a 4.0 point scale. Application is to be made in the form of a letter to the Douglas County Conservation District. Applicants should detail their future educational and future professional plans, and how their course work relates to the conservation of natural resources. Applications should be from one to three pages in length and must include a copy of transcripts of previous course work. Letters of interest will be evaluated and ranked by the Board of Supervisors of the Douglas County Conservation District. Consideration will be given to the student’s educational and professional goals as expressed in their letter of interest, their past academic performance, and the degree to which their area of study is related to the management and conservation of natural resources. First consideration will be given to students whose home residence is Douglas County and who graduated from a Douglas County high school. Application deadline is May 23. Applicants will be notified of the selection shortly thereafter. All letters of interest should be sent to: Douglas County Conservation District, PO Box 688, Franktown, CO 80116. If you have questions, call 303-688-3042 ext. 100.