SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
GETTING FESTIVE Fall festivals and events are beginning in the metro area P10
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DPS slows down plan to pick new superintendent Public meetings bare tensions that run through school community BY MELANIE ASMAR CHALKBEAT.ORG
rule books like any other official sport, said Alex Bihlmeyer, head of the MHQC. The Colorado team’s goal is to get enough players to participate in regional tournaments, such as the upcoming Blue Jay Classic Quidditch tournament in Omaha, Nebraska, in October.
The Denver Public Schools board has pushed back the date by which it will name finalists for the superintendent job from October to November. The extension follows objections to what some students and parents said was a too-tight timeline for gathering community feedback, and a rocky start to that process. One heated exchange at a community meeting has even led to a police investigation. The initial public meetings have surfaced longstanding tensions between those who believe in the school district’s vision and those who don’t. One point of agreement, however, has emerged from community members so far: The next superintendent should be an educator. Superintendent Tom Boasberg announced in July that he would step down in mid-October after nearly 10 years at the helm of Denver Public Schools. Boasberg came to the district from a telecommunications company, where he was a senior executive. Though he once taught public school in Hong Kong, the vast majority of his career was not spent in a classroom. The school board is tasked with hiring his replacement and has been soliciting feedback across the city on the characteristics and qualifications the next superintendent should have.
SEE QUIDDITCH, P9
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The Mile High Quidditch Club prepares for a scrimmage at Cheesman Park in August. The team practices there every Sunday. KAILYN LAMB
Quidditch taking off Band of muggles plays Harry Potter-inspired sport every Sunday BY KAILYN LAMB KLAMB@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
A mess of dodgeballs and volleyballs fly across a field of grass at Cheesman Park. Two teams of fiveon-five run toward three standing goals — poles with circles taped to the top. Each runner holds a piece of pipe, around two feet in length, between their legs as if they are flying on a broom. And, in a sense, they are. The Mile High Quidditch Club (MHQC) is the Colorado-based team that plays the sport based
on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. The rules for real-life quidditch were first developed in 2005. Two years later, the United States Quidditch Association was formed. One aspect Brandon Nhean loves about the sport is the diversity of people who come to play. Some of the original players were drawn to quidditch because of their love of the books, but that’s not the case anymore. “You have people who were fans who started playing,” said Nhean, who began playing quidditch six years ago, “and people who played sports.” In the decade since the game was founded in the “muggle” world — which for non-Potter fans means humans — quidditch has become more streamlined, and even has
DO YOU WANT TO PLAY? To learn more about the Mile High Quidditch Club, visit the Colorado Qudditch Facebook page: https:// www.facebook.com/ COquidditchpage/ The MHQC plays every Sunday at Cheesman Park. Dates and times for quidditch pratices and scrimmage events are listed on the Facebook page.
THE BOTTOM LINE PERIODICAL
“Denver has experienced many changes, but unfortunately not everyone has prospered because wages have not kept up with the cost of living.” Debbie Ortega, city councilmember | Page 5 INSIDE
VOICES: PAGE 8 | LIFE: PAGE 10 | CALENDAR: PAGE 7 VOLUME 91 | ISSUE 46