Volume 1, Number 1 | October 30 - November 26, 2025
Must political diversity breed division?
ANNA SOPHIA BROWN
Sopris Stars Correspondent
The Roaring Fork Valley spans three counties and several voting districts. It includes members of all major political parties as well as a wide variety of lifestyles. Does this diversity breed a divide? Nationally, a clear social and political divide is emerging between generations, genders and the two major political parties.
With this increasing divide, several acts of political violence have surfaced, transforming differing opinions into dangerous territory. From Aspen to Parachute, things have remained relatively peaceful in national comparison. There have been a series of protests in recent years, including “No Kings” marches and a rally for Charlie Kirk — the right wing political influencer who was shot and killed in September. Through this clear diversity in political affiliation and beliefs, is it possible to prevent differences from sowing increasing divisions?
Heightened tensions between political parties, locally and nationally, continue to grow following recent acts of political violence, notably the assassinations of Kirk and Melissa Hortman — the 61st speaker of the Minnesotan House of Representatives.
The Sopris Stars spoke with Eric Sgambati, a local high school civics and world history professor, who said that trends of political violence often arise “when there are factions of us against them” and “when one group of people feels like they are not represented .... or feel that they are targeted.”
He explained that while the motivations of perpetrators of political violence are often unknown or differing, the result often follows a pattern.
“There’s a hardening of views on both sides, and people are actually less likely to concede or listen to each other,” he said.
A cycle of blame develops, Sgambati said. In other words, political violence can perpetuate itself and create more tension between already opposing parties.
Four students at Roaring Fork High School, all in different places on the political spectrum, provided some insight. Notably, they all claimed to feel a strong divide, especially among young people.
“[Political violence] makes me sad. Our country was
built on free speech, and, I mean, loving each other. Nowadays, it seems that as political violence is on the rise, you can be killed for your voice,” said Gus Cerrone, a junior who considers himself a Republican. “And if we can’t speak about our opinions, this country will not become greater. It will only become more divided and more divisive.”
Sam Stableford, a left-leaning senior, elaborated on his own experience after Charlie Kirk was killed.
“Even if the violence was against someone who I fundamentally disagree with, like Charlie Kirk, it makes me nervous and sad,” he said. “People who are in power tend to use [political violence] as a tool to further corrupt, blame and divide our nation. I think it does so much more harm than it does good … It continues to push the narrative that we’re broken as a nation, or that we can’t hold each other accountable, and that we can’t even have dialogue.”
All parties who were interviewed referenced social media as a key player in furthering divisions and increasing the likelihood of political violence.
Maddy Lucks, a left-leaning junior, stated, “Young people are becoming more skewed towards political extremes,” citing social media as a cause. “Your algorithm feeds you what you’ve already interacted with, so it supports one belief and makes you believe even more strongly in that belief, while pitting you against people who believe other things.”
Sgambati explained confirmation bias in social media.
“Our feedback loops are 100% things that we view,” Sgambati said. “People don’t interact with people they disagree with, nine times out of 10, unless they are yelling at them. That is why you’re seeing a divide.”
Despite each participant identifying differently politically, social media was the stated overwhelming culprit of political divide. When both the students and professor were asked how to reduce division, the verdict was open conversation.
An American flag flies from a crane off of Highway 133 in Carbondale. Photo by Kate Ott
Wishing upon The Sopris Stars
COLUMN BY LOU GALL Youth Editor
We are proud to introduce The Sopris Stars, a youth publication funded by The Sopris Sun newspaper and dedicated to delivering news relevant to tweens, teens and young adults throughout the Roaring Fork Valley. Seven Gen-Z interns have come together in the noble pursuit of journalism and to curate this new publication, which will print within The Sopris Sun every last Thursday of the month during the school year.
Some say that print journalism is a dying industry, but here at The Sopris Stars we have poured our hearts into keeping it alive and ensuring its presence in the ever-changing future.
THIS MESSAGE GOES OUT TO EVERY YOUNG PERSON IN THE VALLEY WHO HAS SOMETHING TO SAY: THIS IS YOUR NEWSPAPER!
While TikTok and the rise of artificial intelligence go unchecked, The Sopris Stars will be a reliable source of information. When and if we make a mistake, we’ll be the first to let readers know. The Sopris Stars will be a place for the exchange of ideas and information, particularly among young people. If you want to respond to an article, send a lead on a story or give a shoutout to someone, the community can always reach us at youthnews@soprissun.com
Fashion Trends Letter from the Editor
academic stimulation; Anna Sophia Brown, a senior at RFHS, who has always been passionate about communications and believes The Sopris Stars offers a unique opportunity to help young people be heard; Kate Ott, a junior at Colorado Rocky Mountain School, who plans to fine-tune her photography skills and contribute the fruits of visual storytelling; and myself, Lou Gall, a junior at GSHS, who is proud to take the helm as the first editor of The Sopris Stars.
The high school internship program at The Sopris Sun isn’t new, however. It launched in 2021 and has trained participants whose work was previously interspersed throughout the weekly newspaper. As interns, we continue to receive instruction from professionals in the industry, many of whom volunteer their time and are some of the best in the business. Every Wednesday afternoon, the youth team gathers at the Sopris Sun office in Carbondale, a supportive learning environment where mentors offer academic and practical guidance — both inside and outside of the office — while we chase stories.
The team behind this new resource includes: Aurora Egan, a sophomore at Glenwood Springs High School (GSHS), who aims to make a lasting impact through storytelling; Arthur Cherith, a junior at GSHS, who does everything from cartooning to writing to co-hosting Everything Under The Sun, the newspaper’s weekly radio program, every Thursday at 4pm on KDNK Community Access Radio; Giselle “Gigi” Rascon, a senior at GSHS, who intends to explore the humanism behind each story; Vivienne Shapiro, a freshman at Roaring Fork High School (RFHS), who is excited to gain a wider perspective through reporting, as well as the extra
We can only do this work thanks to the wonderful community, including every single one of our readers and supporters. Thank you for picking up the first issue of The Sopris Stars and being a part of this work. A special thanks to Sopris Stars instructors James Steindler and Skyler Stark-Ragsdale for their support, leadership and efforts to make this youth publication possible. We are very grateful.
BY GISELLE "GIGI" RASCON Sopris Stars Correspondent
Wandering through the Glenwood Springs High School hallways, new trends have dri ed in like autumn leaves. Low-cut ankle UGG boots and rugged Carhartt jackets are taking over the hallways and classrooms.
UGG
Comfort and nostalgia define the autumn season. The UGG brand, footwear modeled after shoes first used in the early 1900s by sheepherders and farmers, was officially founded by an Australian surfer in the 1970s, helping the surf community stay warm after cold waves. UGG shortly became an iconic fall-winter staple in the early 2000s. Their new low-cut revival brings that same cozy energy back.
The Sopris Stars
Youth Editor Lou Gall lou@soprissun.com
Anna Sophia Brown anna@soprissun.com
Arthur Cherith arthur@soprissun.com
Aurora Egan aurora@soprissun.com
Kate Ott
katelynn@soprissun.com
Giselle “Gigi” Rascon giselle@soprissun.com
Vivienne Shapiro vivienne@soprissun.com
Youth Journalism Director James Steindler james@soprissun.com
Youth Journalism Instructor Skyler Stark-Ragsdale
Graphic Designer
Terri Ritchie
Carhartt
The Sopris Stars, at its core, is youth-based. So this message goes out to every young person in the Valley who has something to say: This is your newspaper! We want to hear from every reader. What do you want to see in The Sopris Stars newspaper? What issues need to be addressed? We are here to listen.
The Sopris Sun, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation with a mission to inform, inspire and build community by fostering diverse and independent journalism. Donations are fully tax deductible. The Sopris Stars is made possible thanks to The Sopris Sun.
The Sopris Stars team is beyond thrilled to continue journeying through the world of journalism and making sure that youth voices remain a prominent force.
Readers can reply with feedback and suggestions by sending a letter to the editor, story ideas or shoutouts to youthnews@soprissun.com
Carhartt jackets also have their roots planted in hard labor. Founded in 1889 for railroad workers, the brand’s sturdy pieces later caught the eye of skaters, artists and hip-hop communities. By the 1990s, Carhartt had transformed from simple workwear to streetwear — thanks, in part, to New York City drug dealers who utilized the plethora of pockets — popularizing the trend and transforming it.
Seeing these two garments side by side in the school hallways feels like watching two worlds meet, toughness and softness, all blending into one e ortless look. ese two pieces further demonstrate modern fashion rewriting history.
COLUMN
Illustrations by Giselle "Gigi" Rascon
The Sopris Stars News Bureau: (left to right) Kate Ott, Anna Sophia Brown, Giselle “Gigi” Rascon, Arthur Cherith, Vivienne Shapiro, Lou Gall and Aurora Egan.
Photo by Kate Ott
Every cell phone has a pocket at RFHS
VIVIENNE SHAPIRO
Sopris Stars Correspondent
Every 50 minutes, an electronic bell reverberates through Roaring Fork High School (RFHS). Students stand and shove papers into their backpacks before crowding by the door. They aren’t necessarily eager to leave the classroom, but rather itching to be reconnected with the digital world. They encircle the three-foot-tall blue and yellow pocket system, which stands next to the door and holds each of their cell phones, reaching as frantically as a child might in a candy store.
“Thats how humans work,” said Edward Danahey, a teacher at the school responsible for introducing the pocket system there. “You can tell people something is bad for them all day, but if it makes them happy, it doesn’t matter.”
enforced. Having eventually found a way to make the pocket policy in Fruita successful, Danahey chose to introduce it in his classroom at RFHS as well, which sparked a trend.
“I had administrators coming into my room and reviewing my [phone] policy during that year because they were, like, ‘Wow, this guy’s a new teacher [and] his phone policy is effective.’” He was then set on expanding the policy schoolwide.
“I went and talked to the dean here,” he said, “and we put in the phone policy, I believe at the end of the 20212022 year.”
“IT’S JUST LIKE EVERYTHING IN LIFE. IT SHOULD BE USED IN MODERATION.”
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Edward Danahey
After graduating from Colorado Mesa University in 2021, Danahey started his career as a student-teacher in Fruita. “They had a huge issue with phones,” he told The Sopris Stars. “I figured that once I started teaching, I [would have] control of the classroom.” Regardless of his new role, however, the students persisted.
Danahey had also previously been very frustrated by the use of technology in college. “Being in a room full of adults who are supposed to be leaders and they are checking their phone[s] while a professor is talking is just so lame,” he said. “So I was, like, ‘You know what? I’m going to be really, really harsh and strict about the phone policy and set really clear expectations.’”
Danahey’s school in Fruita had already implemented the pocket policy by the time he started working there. The issue wasn’t a lack of regulations, but rather the extent to which they were
At Roaring Fork, Danahey is known for valuing the maturity of his students. He believes that any student who is capable of completing a college level AP course should be treated as such. Danahey has had to find a balance between allowing students to make their own choices and stepping in to help make those decisions when it’s called for.
“It’s one thing to have autonomy … but phones are intentionally designed to be addictive,” he said.
“The dirty secret is if you walked into class every day and you just said, ‘I don’t have a cell phone,’ I would just trust you because that is me treating you like an adult,” Danahey said. .
When asked to share a glimpse into his own technology use, Danahey shared the screentime on his iPhone. He averaged 2 hours, 12 minutes daily.
“I think it’s pretty bad actually.” He proceeded to do some complex mental math and declared with disgust, “I don’t want to embarrass myself here, but that’s like 6% of my day on my phone, right?”
Regardless of his conviction, Danahey admitted that “phones have made us more connected than we’ve ever been, for better or worse.”
“It’s just like everything in life,” he said. “It
Balancing AI at Glenwood High
AURORA EGAN
Sopris Stars Correspondent
Artificial intelligence is everywhere.
The technology is found in daily life, including on social media, search engines and in art and education. With the rapid growth of these learning systems, generative AI tools are becoming more and more accessible to the public. It may come as no surprise
that students are often using these tools to assist with their work, whether that be a seemingly responsible use or blatant cheating. Notably, some teachers have also begun to utilize various AI resources in the classroom.
Paul Freeman, principal of Glenwood Springs High School (GSHS), believes that these tools can be used as assistive technology to help
should be used in moderation.”
Isaac Moore, a teacher at Basalt High School, has used the same pocket policy as Danahey, but instead of draping it over the classroom door he uses a rolling whiteboard. All of the teachers at RFHS have now adopted Moore’s method. When it came to his contribution to the pocket policy, Danahey said he didn’t deserve all of the credit. “It was all of the hard-working teachers here at RFHS that made these agreements,” he said. “I think that’s like the thesis: people coming together to make strong lasting decisions.”
save time. He added that he utilizes large-language models himself. These models are AI systems trained to process massive amounts of text and information to comprehend and generate human-like responses, such as ChatGPT, which is developed by the company OpenAI.
In the past, Freeman has used these models to generate a syllabus for his Intro to Business class as well as exercises for the class to work through. Freeman reiterated how — though he could, indeed, come up with these ideas for his class himself — using ChatGPT in this way saved him an immense amount of time.
Freeman advocated that AI be used as a tool by both students and teachers, but in a responsible way.
“In corporations, businesses, they feel like they’re saving about 20% of their time by using AI,” Freeman told The Sopris Stars, “I would like every teacher and every student to have access to that saving power of AI.”
However, he criticized using AI to complete schoolwork. Freeman emphasized that using these resources to cheat is not productive, as it robs the student of an actual learning experience. Cheating using these tools also makes it appear to the teacher like the student knows more than they actually do, he explained.
When asked about how GSHS handles students who use AI to cheat, Freeman said it comes down to integrity.
The first time a student is caught using AI to complete assignments, the school will sit them down and emphasize the importance of why using generative AI to cheat on schoolwork is such a big issue and a disservice to themself.
Freeman is concerned that students who use AI to cheat will develop a pattern and continue that misuse in the future, such as in college. He fears that such habits may escalate over time and as will the consequences for individual students, causing them even more trouble — from failing a class and having to retake it to getting kicked out of college.
Concerning teachers using
artificial intelligence, Freeman clarified that the many teachers who are opposed likely have limited to no experience with it. Understandably, when teachers see the influx of AI being used in schoolwork, many immediately stand against the technology altogether. Freeman encouraged that teachers use AI for their planning the same way that he has in the past.
As these learning machines become increasingly advanced, many have expressed concerns about the future of things like job security, but Freeman holds a positive outlook on these advancements in technology. At the same time, he understands that people have a fear of the unknown and that the rapid technological advancement in recent years has compromised the norms of which people have grown accustomed to.
Still, he ended on a positive note.
“I am really looking forward to the day when I can have a robot clean my house and cook my dinner,” Freeman said. “I’m very positive about it.”
Roaring Fork High School teacher Edward Danahey shows off his classroom’s cell phone pocket system.
Photo by Vivienne Shapiro
Art by Arthur Cherith, Sopris Stars correspondent
From farm to table at CRMS
BY KATE OTT Sopris Stars Correspondent
One of the core pillars of education at Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) is contributing back to the school community, so much so that service is incorporated into the weekly curriculum. One of the most established facets is its Garden Program, where students, alongside staff, plant, grow and harvest produce, which offsets 40% of the school’s vegetable costs annually. There’s student involvement at every step, from the garden to the kitchen, where students help prepare the food, to the cafeteria, where they enjoy a meal they helped prepare — from start to finish — in their daily meals and during the annual Harvest Dinner.
Zane Bergman, a right-leaning sophomore, stressed that “social media has really divided us, and it’s almost impossible to have a respectful, open minded conversation with a lot of people.” He said that difficult conversations should be approached without an intention to disprove one another.
Sgambati emphasized the importance of listening with intention. “When we talk to people, we talk to them to get them to understand a point; we end up trying to attack or convince them. When the first thing we should be doing is listening, because there is common ground among everyone,” he said. ”If you start with the common ground, then you can talk about the differences. But if you start
with the differences, nothing ever gets done.”
Lucks expanded on the “eye-opening” benefits of having conversations with people she disagrees with. “You’re more logically consistent if you can understand both sides of an argument,” she said.
Another phenomenon that seems to have gained traction over the last decade, but is nothing new, is bandwagon politics — when people agree with whatever it is their party is promoting— which has led to the election of political figures more based in party than in policy.
“There are districts in this country that are Republican. No matter what happens, they are going to vote for a Republican, and there are districts
that are Democrat, that will vote Democrat no matter what,” Sgambati said. “Therefore, our political leaders are rarely talking to the middle ... If you look at them, they talk to their own party now, they don’t talk to the American people.”
There can be a disconnect between people in power and the people of the opposing party. The villainization and othering of people based on disagreements arises when people separate themselves through labels.
Cerrone aims to challenge the group-think trend.
“I classify myself as a traditional Republican, but when I talk to people who classify themselves as Democrats, I find we agree on most issues and disagree on very
The CRMS greenhouse in the morning light ahead of harvesting. Several lines of different plants grow there each year, along with wildflowers. This is also where the students and director of the garden program, Heather McDermott, process and sort the produce — and honey from the bees, who get pollen from the garden — before sending it to the kitchen or prepping it for sale.
few. When the conversation ends at ‘I’m a Republican, and you’re a Democrat,’ people think there is a much greater separation than there is,” Cerrone said.
Among the students, similarities in their values and what they consider to be the most important issues were clear. Their answers reflected the Roaring Fork Valley’s values — climate action, outdoor recreation, family, compassion and respect.
Students agreed that the deepening chasm of disagreement leads to a general lack of communication and misunderstanding, and that deep-rooted morality and a desire for unity are common threads.
“We can find common ground,” Bergman said, “so maybe we aren’t that different after all.”
PHOTOS AND TEXT
CRMS Garden Assistant Maddie Werner (left) and Emory, a freshman, carry harvested pumpkins for the school’s annual pumpkin-truck sale, which started in mid-September.
POLITICS from cover
CRMS’s head chef, Bryan Garneau, gives instructions to students on how to prepare a dessert.
CRMS senior Colin Glackin and his peers gather for the annual Harvest Dinner on Oct. 8, held each year in celebration of the work that goes into the garden and the bounty it produces.
CRMS students celebrate after harvesting and setting up the pumpkin truck. The truck is an annual tradition many students look forward to at the beginning of fall.
CRMS senior Olive Brule plucks a raspberry from the garden. Olive has been involved in the Garden Program for four years and won the “Golden Shovel” award in 2024, which recognizes one student each year for their dedication to the service program.
