Denver College of Nursing Students Scale Fourteener for Children’s Hospital Climb for Kids

Seven Denver College of Nursing (DCN) students, joined by an alumnus, faculty and family, scaled Mt. Bierstadt, a Colorado fourteener, to raise funds for Children’s Hospital’s “Climb for Kids,” said Dr. Marcia Bankirer, DCN president.

In the tenth annual Climb for Kids, Children’s Hospital raised over $150,000 for its Learning Services and Pediatric Mental Health Institute, in order to provide healthier lives for children. Each year, teams climb 14,000 feet to the summit of Mt. Bierstadt to honor children with much bigger mountains to climb.

Joined by DCN alumnus Kim Kretvix, the seven DCN students, accompanied by faculty member, Micah Hughes, included: Thad Alstrup, Mike Gnacinski, LaChele Mack, Alexis Pappas and her partner, Clinton Smith, Cassie Rodriguez, Matthew Rosenstein, and his wife, Rachel Rosenstein, an RN, and Ellis Whalen.

DCN participants climbed in behalf of the nursing college’s Team Global Health Perspectives (GHP) program, which is a service learning program at Denver College of Nursing that partners with like-minded NGOs and sustainable international and domestic clinical programs.

In recent years, DCN’s GHP interns have engaged in pediatric community healthcare in Haiti, Honduras, India, Peru, the Philippines and Uganda. DCN’s GHP program is guided by DCN’s Micah Hughes, assistant professor.