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Week of July 21, 2022
ADAMS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
Northglenn-ThorntonSentinel.com
VOLUME 58 | ISSUE 50
Seven state Senate districts could shift control Colorado Republicans have opening to take chamber in General Assembly BY SANDRA FISH THE COLORADO SUN
Mountain Range High School graduates gather on the floor of the CU Coors Events Center in Boulder at the start of formal PHOTO BY STEFAN BRODSKY graduation ceremonies May 18.
Views differ on whether high schools should stop naming valedictorians Cherry Creek has opted to stop longtime tradition BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Soon after the Cherry Creek School District in Arapahoe County announced it would stop designating valedictorians in its high schools, the criticism started pouring in. “The pursuit of excellence has suffered another blow,” wrote George Brauchler, a former Arapahoe County district attorney, in a column for The Denver Post. “The crusade against meritocracy, and for mediocrity, in our schools reached a new level,” the Denver Gazette news outlet’s editorial board wrote. Cherry Creek’s decision even landed a story in national and international news outlet News-
week, with other media coverage mentioning it too. The practice of honoring valedictorians is one the district’s high school principals had discussed “for many years,” the principals wrote in a letter to parents. “The practices of class rank and valedictorian status are outdated and inconsistent with what we know and believe of our students. We believe all students can learn at high levels, and learning is not a competition,” the principals wrote in the letter about the policy, which will begin with the class of 2026. Cherry Creek’s new policy took aim at “unnecessary pressure,” the letter said, a welcome change in the eyes of Dr. Anna Mueller, an associate professor of sociology who has studied mental health among youths in different parts of the country, including in Colorado. “How painful and stressful academic pressure for teenagers can be is very real,” Mueller told
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 20
Colorado Community Media. ‘Healthier school culture’ The decision to cut valedictorian status isn’t unheard of: One of the Colorado communities that made the move years ago is Boulder Valley School District. Boulder Valley top official Rob Anderson didn’t oversee the decision — he started as superintendent there in 2018 — but “since I’ve been here, no one’s asked me to bring it back,” Anderson said. Anderson also served as deputy superintendent of academics in Fulton County, Georgia, in the Atlanta area, where the highachieving Northview High School decided to stop naming valedictorians and salutatorians “because of the additional pressures it puts on kids,” Anderson said. “Just anecdotally, talking with parents, talking with (the) principal, it created a healthier school
The Colorado Senate is likely where Republicans have their best shot this year of taking back some control of state government from Democrats after four years in the minority of the legislative and executive branches. While the GOP will try to win a majority in the Colorado House and unseat Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the odds are stacked against them in those two arenas. That leaves the 35-member Senate as the most plausible place to turn the tide. Here’s a look at where the battlegrounds will be. The lay of the land Democrats now hold a 20-15 advantage in the Senate. They are guaranteed 12 seats, with 11 holdovers and one Democratic candidate, Sen. Julie Gonzales of Denver, running unopposed. Republicans are guaranteed eight seats, with seven holdovers and one uncontested race in Senate District 1 on the deeply Republican Eastern Plains, where Logan County Commissioner Byron Pelton is unopposed. Another five seats up for grabs in November are considered solidly Republican, while three are considered solidly Democratic.
SEE SCHOOLS, P6
Evergreen Jazz Festival Big Talent! Small Venues! Great Setting!
Dancers Welcome!
Free Parking!
EvergreenJazz.org 303-697-5467
SEE LEGISLATURE, P7
July 29, 30 & 31