Serving Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and beyond
WEEK OF APRIL 17, 2025
VOLUME 41 | ISSUE 37
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JEFFCO VOICES HELP SHAPE CONVERSATION ON AI P2
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From left, Superintendent Tracy Dorland, Kira White, Adam Kirwin, Jack Alicia, CJ Walter, Clara Ohlsen, Samara Howlett, Enji Jensen, Polly Fagan, Adelyn Westfall, Basil Lai-Payne and school board member Mary Parker. PHOTO BY SUZIE GLASSMAN
WESTMINSTER Jeffco students carve path with winning snowboards AWARDS HIGHLIGHT PREVENTION, COMMUNITY CARE IN JEFFCO P4
BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
When CJ Walter, a senior in Jeffco’s graphic design program at Warren Tech, stepped on stage and saw their design, “Beyond the Horizon,” printed on a full-size snowboard for the first time, they couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m so incredibly proud of everything I’ve accomplished with it,” Walter said. Walter’s board was among 10 selected in the annual snowboard design contest hosted
by Warren Tech Central and Denver-based Never Summer Industries. Now in its 12th year, the contest invites students to create original snowboard graphics for a semesterlong design challenge. The winning designs are printed on snowboards produced by Never Summer and awarded to students during a spring ceremony. The contest began in 2013 after Pete Cunis, one of Warren Tech’s graphic design instructors, brought a group of students to tour Never
Summer’s factory. During the visit, he reconnected with former colleague Vince Sanders, Never Summer’s chairman, and proposed an idea that quickly became one of the school’s most celebrated collaborations. “We had this moment where we thought, what if we gave students the opportunity to design a real snowboard?” Cunis said. “And Never Summer was totally on board.” SEE CONTEST, P14
McLain school model supports grief and growth BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
MINSTER SPRING CLEANING IS GLOBAL TRADITION OF RENEWAL P10
Kailei Gardner was sitting in class at McLain Community High School in Lakewood the day she got the call that her older brother had died in a car accident. Her teacher, Jessa Bogart May, let her cry in the bathroom for most of the next day, something Gardner says she’ll never forget. “It was such a small thing, but I appreciated it so much,” Gardner said. Two years later, the summer before her se-
nior year, Gardner’s father passed away just days before her birthday. “I had made a promise to my dad and my brother that I was going to graduate early, and I never planned to break that promise, even after they passed,” she said. “Even if they weren’t there to see me, I wanted to make them proud.” This spring, Gardner fulfilled that promise, earning her diploma early with a 3.3 GPA while staying active in Student Leadership and Student Voice. She credits her teachers and family, especially her sister, a McLain
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VOICES: 8 | LIFE: 10 | CALENDAR: 13 | SPORTS: 14
graduate, for helping her through the most challenging chapters of her life. “I wanted to be just like my sister,” she said. “And our mom, she’s been through so much and she’s still doing it; she’s still making it through every day.” Gardner is among thousands of seniors expected to graduate this spring in what the district hopes will be another record-breaking year. SEE MCLAIN, P4
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