Education

For the past three summers, Evergreen resident Nancy Knight has traveled to a remote area of Sierra Leone, where she has worked with blind students at a school in the impoverished country.

As a teacher of visually impaired students at Heritage High School in Littleton, Knight said she has had many memorable experiences. However, working with students in a remote African village has been incredibly rewarding, she said.

“It’s a huge gift to me,” she said. “We feel like we are really making a difference.”

Robin Johnson resigned from the Jeffco school board on Monday night, said Helen Neal, chief of staff for the board.

The resignation is a result of Johnson moving out of the county. Johnson represented District 1, which covers the north part of Jefferson County.

“I didn’t hear anything about it until Monday night … when Johnson sent a letter to each board member,” Neal said.

Jeffco’s Head Start program could serve 400 fewer kids during the next school year as a result of across-the-board federal funding cuts known as sequestration. 

The 5 percent budget cut would mean about $152,000 less for the county’s Head Start program. Lynn Johnson, Jeffco’s human services director, said the cuts would mean laying off three teachers, and 96 fewer families — about 400 kids — would not be able to participate in the program during the 2013-14 school year.