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Carol Lally '90 graduated with a degree in English.  She is now an intellectual property lawyer.

Neal Baer '78 earned his degree in political science.  He is the executive producer and writer for the hit show "ER."

Colorado U.S. Senator Ken Salazar graduated from CC in 1977. Elected to the senate in 2004, he had been the state's attorney general.

Holly Ornstein Carter '85 received her degree in political science and is now a writer and documentary filmmaker.

Karen Andersen Medville, a research scientist at Arizona State University, graduated in 1985.

Marcia McNutt, president and CEO of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, earned her degree in physics in 1974.

Jay Engeln graduated in 1974 with a degree in biology.  He is the 2000 National High School Principal of the Year.

Basketball star Verdel Baskin, an English major from the Class of 1999, is now an El Pomar Fellow.

Laura Hershey, a disability rights activist, graduated in 1983 with a degree in history.

Jazz singer Lorna Kollmeyer, a liberal arts major from the Class of 1980, owns an ornamental plasterwork company.  

Richard Koo, 1982 alumnus with a degree in math, is the co-founder of Vitria.com.

Mountain climber Jake Norton, Class of 1996, was a history-philosophy major.  

Paul Markovich graduated in 1988 with an international political economy major and is the co-founder of MyWayHealth.

J. Ralph Armijo, a business administration major, graduated in 1974 and founded Navidec, Inc. and DriveOff.com. 

Theatre artist Liz Stanton earned her degree in business and economics in 1988.

Jay Engeln
Class of '74
Biology Major
2000 National High School Principal of the Year
Colorado Springs, Colorado

His very first class at CC would shape his future more than any other three-and-a-half week period in his life.    

Planning to major in economics, Jay Engeln first enrolled in a science class designed for non-science majors. 

He enjoyed it so much, he changed his entire academic plan.  "I don't think I ever did take an economics class," he laughs. But that wasn't the only life-altering event of that first month on campus. "I met my wife, Priscilla, that first day of school," he remembers. "We were lab partners, and I think she borrowed a pencil from me."    

Just before spring break of his junior year, Jay learned of an opportunity to substitute teach for the week and took it, wanting to earn a little extra cash. By the end of the week, he had rearranged his classes to fit in student teaching and other educational requirements to finish his pre-med degree and earn his teaching certificate by graduation.  

His first job interview was the morning after his bachelor party. "I was literally already in my tux and heading out to the church when the phone rang and they offered me the job," he recalls. He first taught biology at Colorado Springs' Mitchell High School, then moved to Doherty High as biology teacher and soccer and hockey coach. During his 14 years at Doherty, the team won two state soccer championships and Jay was named National High School Soccer Coach of the Year in 1985. He also won the U.S. West Outstanding Teacher Award. Wanting to take on a new challenge, Jay took a position as assistant principal at Coronado High School in 1989, then as principal of Palmer High School in 1993. At Palmer, Jay led a renaissance credited with improving the urban school's sagging reputation.  

Since being named National Principal of the Year, Jay says life has been "quite a rollercoaster ride." It began with a black-tie banquet in Washington, followed by numerous speaking engagements around the country. He's met with President and Mrs. Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, Colin Powell, the U.S. Secretary of Education, and many members of Congress. He even got to throw out the first pitch at a Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards. During the 2000 election year, Jay says, "Staffers for virtually every presidential candidate called, asking my opinions on education."

And while he's flattered by all the attention, Jay quickly notes that this is no individual achievement. "What's happened at Palmer is the result of staff, students, parents, alumni, and community coming together to make things work." Most noteworthy is the reduction in Palmer's dropout rate, especially among minority students, with a corresponding increase in graduation rate, and test scores that are now among the highest in the region.

Today, Jay is working with Douglas County to start a new high school. While construction crews are hard at work building the physical structure of the yet-to-be-named school, Jay is building the rest -- from hiring staff and shaping the school's philosophy of education to working with the community to choose the school's name, mascot, and colors.  

"When I think back to CC," he says, "I remember being able to dialogue with the professors, folks who were willing to talk to me, even to let me borrow some of their samples or equipment to use in the classroom. Their passion for teaching carried over into my own passion of wanting to work with students, to carry that on to another generation."

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