Education

The stories told at the 2013 My Student, My Hero ceremony inspired and touched the more than 100 people who came to celebrate with the student honorees on March 16.

“It warms your heart when you read about these kids,” said Greg Sims, general manager of Southwest Plaza. “It makes you proud of your community.”

Members of the Jeffco school board voted 3-2 on March 7 to redraw the districts they represent, but audience members and two board members were unhappy with the decision.

The new map would swap several elementary schools among Districts 2 and 5 in the southern part of the county, but much of the opposition came from what some viewed as the apparently sudden onset of the redistricting process, a lack of public input, and the changes coming in the middle of a school year.

Legislation that would overhaul the way Colorado’s public schools are funded was the main topic during a meeting of the Jeffco school board on Feb. 28.

The district’s lobbyist at the state legislature, Ed Bowditch, reported on a bill by state Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, that is designed to allocate state funds more equitably among school districts.

“It’s really too early to fully talk about it because everything (with the bill) is just now taking shape,” Bowditch told the board.

Colorado Public Radio is looking for a few good tubas. Throughout March, CPR will be collecting used musical instruments to donate to school music programs throughout the state.

The purveyor of classical music is looking for any band or orchestral instrument, from violins and guitars to tubas and trombones, to refurbish and donate to elementary and high schools.