Education

Julie Williams, a Colorado native and a product of Jeffco schools, is running for school board.

Williams, who is making her first bid for public office, is vying with Tonya Aultman-Bettridge in District 1, which covers the northern part of the county. Robin Johnson, who had held the District 1 seat since 2009, resigned in August after moving out of the county.

Education funding and voucher programs were at the center of the discussion at last Friday’s Jeffco school board candidate forum in Arvada.

Six candidates are vying for three open seats on the Jeffco school board in the Nov. 5 election. Tonya Aultman-Bettridge and Julie Williams (District 1), John Newkirk and Jeff Lamontagne (District 2), and Ken Witt and Gordon “Spud” Van de Water (District 5) discussed why they’re running and their future plans for Jeffco’s public schools.

Gordon “Spud” Van de Water, a veteran of both the U.S. Army and education matters, is running for the Jeffco Board of Education. 

Van de Water will vie with Ken Witt for the District 5 seat, which covers the southern part of Jefferson County. Incumbent Paula Noonan announced in April that she would not run for re-election.

“I’m running because I want to see every kid be successful,” Van de Water said.

The election is Nov. 5.

What’s in a name?

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.”