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Week of August 11, 2022
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
JeffcoTranscript.com
VOLUME 39 | ISSUE 3
Five takeaways from the data that will shape Jeffco school closure decisions BY YESENIA ROBLES CHALKBEAT COLORADO
The crew at the Friendship Bridge Lakewood office stand for a portrait.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE
Local nonprofit changing lives of women thousands of miles from Lakewood Intricate handmade goods a ticket to empowerment for Guatemalan artists BY BOB WOOLEY BWOOLEY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The beautiful Central American country of Guatemala is a land of contradictions. Known for its soaring mountains, sand dunes, rivers, lakes and wetlands, its natural beauty and colorful cities are well recognized — but perhaps not as much as its societal struggles. Like the U.S., Guatemala shares a border with Mexico. But in many ways, that’s where the similarities between the two nations end.
Guatemalans could easily be considered artisanal maker-class originals. Because long before hipsters in North American cities began rediscovering the virtues of quality, handmade goods, Guatemalan women with extraordinary skills in weaving, beading and sewing were plying their trade in villages and towns across their country. But having the ability to reach markets and consumers in the U.S. can open doors very few of these women ever would have thought possible. Now, Friendship Bridge, a local nonprofit that has been working with and empowering Guatemalan women for decades, has created an in-office showroom in its Lakewood office to sell authentic SEE FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE, P2
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 22
Handmade by Friendship Bridge artisan, Martina, stands for a portrait with her woven creations.
More than half of Jeffco elementary schools are losing students, a change that’s leading to higher costs to educate those who remain and forcing schools to combine classrooms and make other compromises. That’s according to school-level data published by Jeffco Public Schools as board members kick off a conversation about one of the hardest decisions they face: which schools to close or consolidate. Jeffco has been dealing with declining enrollment for years, and like many other metro area districts is closing small schools. Citing an emergency caused by critically low enrollment, the district closed two schools in the past two years, giving little notice to parents. Now Jeffco is trying to think further ahead. The school board asked administrators to compile statistics about all elementary schools, to look at factors beyond school size. Board members plan to discuss the report Tuesday. So far, district leaders have said they plan to use enrollment and building utilization, or how much of its space is actively used, as the main factors in deciding which schools to close. School board members have wondered about considering other factors such as student demographics, whether the school has combined, mixed-grade classrooms, or whether the building is used a lot by the community for other purposes. SEE SCHOOLS, P10
BEING PART OF THE ART Local venues pull viewers into the performance
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