Serving Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and beyond
WEEK OF MAY 25, 2023
VOLUME 39 | ISSUE 44
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Graduation Day is about more than a diploma at Alameda International High School BY JO DAVIS JDAVIS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
High schools all over Jefferson County are holding graduations through the end of May. For most of those graduating seniors, that diploma means a passage to the next stage of life. For Alameda International High School seniors, graduation comes with even higher stakes. Valedictorian Loc Tran described coming to the U.S. in his sophomore year, knowing only a few words of English. He described working hard to maintain a 4.0 GPA during his entire tenure at AIHS while learning English.Tran credits his friends and teachers with helping him get to the podium on graduation. He ended his speech with a few words in Vietnamese for his family in the audience. This multilingual experience filled the day as students and families celebrated their cultures along with other achievements. These were represented by each student in the form of a stole. The stole is a special sash that’s worn around the graduate’s neck. It drapes down the front of the graduation gown. There were stoles emblazoned “First Generation” for the students who were the first to graduate in their families. “The silver stole with blue trim is to represent first-generation graduates,” explained Assistant Principal Marissa Duren. “These are students who are the first to graduate in their family. We had 48 this year. White stoles are for the students who completed the IB Diploma Program.
BY JO DAVIS JDAVIS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
VOICES: 14 | LIFE: 16 | CALENDAR: 19 | SPORTS: 32
May is National Historic Preservation Month, and Lakewood has its own Historic Preservation Commission, which is a bit different than the more widely known National Register and Historic Societies. LHPC’s Poppie Gullett recently spoke with the Jeffco Transcript about what the LHPC is and why it’s so important to the community. According to Gullett, the National Register of historic places is the most well-known in the community and the country. Properties on the register get a black plaque. “All of those sites have basically submitted an application,” Gullett said. “They come up with a little bit of their history, they send it to the state office, and then they send it off to the National Park Service. And if you’re approved, you get a plaque.” The plaque comes with benefits, which Gullet said vary from one state to another. The Historic Society is another agency that registers properties on a state level. Then, there is the local agency, the Lakewood Historic Preservation Commission. These agencies operate in Lakewood to help property owners recognize, restore and protect their landmark properties. This means
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Valedictorian Loc Tran spoke about the importance of his family, friends, teachers and community in his speech. He credited his success to the unwavering support he PHOTO BY JO DAVIS received.
WESTMINSTER SEE GRADUATION, P2
Exploring Historic Preservation in Lakewood
SEE PRESERVATION, P6
JEFFCOTRANSCRIPT.COM • A PUBLICATION OF COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA