Today in Denver...
Good morning!
Today will be mostly sunny with a high around 53 🌤️ Get your walks in now, because the rest of the week is looking cool and wet.
As school districts across the state plan around a post-pandemic landscape, staff and board members are seeking to do more than return to the way things were; they want to make them better. Denver Public Schools is getting an extra fresh start with a brand new superintendent.
Susana Cordova, who filled the role the last two years, announced in November that she was leaving for another job opportunity in Texas. The school board received 32 applications to fill the vacancy.
Cordova was the first Latina superintendent in the very district where she'd grown up and spent her career teaching. Now, the community is hopeful for a similar successor — someone of color with serious experience as an educator.
Some of the major concerns the community hopes the new superintendent will address include: COVID-19 recovery, staff diversity, unequal resources between schools, and equity. The school board hopes to announce a new superintendent by June. The second round of interviews begins this week.
[Chalkbeat]
👉 What can you do? Dig deeper: See how other districts are addressing equity, like with the brand new director of equity role in the Adams 14 school district. [CO Politics]
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In Other News...
🌎 The Office of New Americans is part of a new bill proposal aiming to help acclimatize immigrants and refugees in Colorado. The office would act as a centralized location for family resources and guidance. The bill received preliminary approval from the state's House panel last week and is now headed to the House Finance Committee. [CO Politics]
❌ An SEC filing asserts "racist behavior" at 9News and its parent company, TENGA. This is just the latest development in the 9News race and equity saga that exploded after ex-reporter Lori Lizarraga publicly voiced accusations of inequity against her former employer. [Westword]
🖥️ The University of Colorado received ransom demands from the people thought to be behind a massive cyberattack that took place in January. The alleged attackers threatened to leak stolen student information on the dark web if the ransom was not paid. The FBI is investigating and told CU officials not to comply with the extortion demands. Both the Boulder and Denver campuses were affected. [Denver Post]
📝 The how's and why's behind Colorado's new redistricting process. We know this once-a-decade event is a lot to take in, and this year the redistricting process looks a bit different (read: hopefully much fairer). This article helps break it all down for you — who's calling the shots, why, how you can contribute, and more. [5280]
👉 What can you do? Share what you'd like to see reflected in the new maps here.
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🎙️ On the Podcast:
Happy National Poetry Month! Today on the show, we're celebrating with two of the creatives behind a new podcast from History Colorado exploring change in Denver neighborhoods through poetry. Listen now.
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🏙️ To Do in Denver:
Image: @imperfectfoods via Instagram
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Dine Out for a Good Cause
It's Food Waste Week in Denver (April 11-17) and local restaurants are working together to try to save 1,000 pounds of food from wasting away in a landfill. Some of our favorite restaurants (Brass Tacks, The Bindery, Cart-Driver) will craft special "waste-fighting" dishes using produce and ingredients from Imperfect Foods, a national online grocery service that sells foods that would otherwise get dumped for reasons such as cosmetic imperfections, surplus, or discontinuation. You can support the cause by dining out at any of the participating restaurants and ordering their Food Waste Week special. [The Know]
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🤗 Moment of Joy:
Image: @denverzoo via Instagram
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Congrats, Denver Zoo!
Travel + Leisure named the Denver Zoo one of the most ethical zoos in the country, next to world-famous facilities like the San Diego Zoo, Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, and the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C. Denverites can rest easy and feel proud of our zoo's outstanding animal care and conservation efforts. Yay! [Out There CO]
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Y'all should know by now how much I love food and sustainability, so I'm stoked about Food Waste Week. Get out there and eat some ugly carrots or something. Have a lovely Monday! Back at ya tomorrow 👋
— Peyton Garcia (@peytonmgarcia)
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