WEEK OF APRIL 10, 2025
VOLUME 105 | ISSUE 7
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Police recover stolen painting George Washington portrait had vanished from storage in 2024 BY ELISABETH SLAY ESLAY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Jerry Salazar high-fives Cherrelyn Elementary School sixth-graders as he changes out the paper towels in their classroom.
PHOTO BY ELISABETH SLAY
‘The hardest worker’: Englewood Schools appreciates Jerry Salazar’s dedication to Cherrelyn Elementary BY ELISABETH SLAY ESLAY@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
When head custodian Jerry Salazar begins his duties to prepare the Cherrelyn Elementary School building for the day, he looks forward to friendly interactions with students, funny moments with staff, and ensuring every detail of the building’s functionality is properly maintained. For the past year, Salazar has worked as Cherrlyn’s head custodian — a position that he was promoted to after working as a substitute custodian at Englewood High School and Colorado’s Finest High School of Choice. For Salazar, the best aspect of
his position is the stories he can tell his wife about interactions with those who come to Cherrlyn daily. “Oh (I love) the interaction with the kids, being around the kids, and the teachers and everybody here,” Salazar said. “There’s the whole staff in general. I always have stories for my wife every day.” Jayla Ahperez, a sixth grader at Cherrlyn, said she loves having “Mr. Jerry” in her school building for many reasons. “I enjoy how he’s really funny and nice, and he gets along with other people and he’s just there for me even as the janitor. He’s just a nice person to me,” Ahperez said. Every day, Salazar opens up
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the building and gets it ready for the school day. He said this includes many duties, such as cleaning, landscaping, maintaining snowy conditions, setting up chairs for events, monitoring the HVAC system, keeping carpets clean and maintaining the playground equipment. Superintendent Joanna Polzin said Salazar is essential and important to the district. “I truly appreciate how Jerry goes above and beyond to maintain a clean and safe learning environment for our students and staff at Cherrelyn Elementary,” Polzin said. “His commitment to detail makes Cherrelyn shine. Keeping our new schools looking beautiful
is no easy task, and Jerry puts in tremendous effort to ensure everything runs smoothly.” Salazar grew up in Denver and attended Denver Public Schools. “I did customer service for six years, and then left from that and I started working at a private school. I worked at a private school because my dad used to do what my job is,” Salazar said. “My dad retired from the schools as a facility manager. He worked 35 years at his job.” Salazar said he liked that his father was able to be home for holidays and the summer, so he was inspired to follow in his footsteps. SEE SALAZAR, P16
After searching for more than a year, the Englewood Police Department has recovered a stolen historic painting of President George Washington. The lead investigator in the case, Det. Christian Contos, said the painting had been stolen in January 2024 from Extra Space Storage in the 3300 block of South Santa Fe Drive. Englewood police and the FBI Denver Field Office worked together to recover the painting. Last month, a Crime Stoppers tip provided a crucial lead, suggesting multiple individuals may have been involved in the theft. Contos identified someone he thought was in possession of the painting. “I decided that publicizing this as much as possible might get someone’s attention, and even though it took over a year, someone was paying attention and contacted us with information,” Contos said. “That information was further investigated, which led me to a person of interest. I was able to contact that person through his acquaintances, and he confirmed he had the painting, but he said he did not steal the painting and was understandably scared to come forward.” A news release from the police department added more detail about the man who had the stolen painting. “He explained that SEE PAINTING, P8
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