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The lofoten collection
JULY 18, 2024
Volume 31, Number 48
PUBLISHER: Francis J. Zankowski
EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shay Castle
ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray
REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Will Matuska
FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff
INTERN: John Kowalski
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Allison Billings, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Jason Gonzales, Zoe Jennings, Courtney Johnson, Adam Perry, Dan Savage, Toni Tresca
SALES AND MARKETING
MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Chris Allred, Holden Hauke
SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman
MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar
PRODUCTION
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen
SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Mark Goodman
GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Chris Sawyer
CIRCULATION
CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn
CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer
BUSINESS OFFICE
BOOKKEEPER/ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Austen Lopp
FOUNDER / CEO: Stewart Sallo
As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holdsbarred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.
690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO 80305 Phone: 303.494.5511, FAX: 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com
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THE COST OF OPPORTUNITY IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
BY ALLISON BILLINGS
In Boulder County, the promise of public education as the great equalizer is challenged by the stark realities of school funding, economic disparity and educational inequities.
Financial barriers often prevent students from fully accessing educational resources. Consider Maria, a high school junior whose family’s financial constraints mean she can’t afford the fees for an AP exam. Or Ethan, a curi-
ous elementary student whose progress in reading is hindered by his family’s inability to pay for after-school tutoring. These stories illuminate the critical role of equitable access in education and underscore a systemic issue that affects our entire community.
As homeowners in our community see their property values and tax bills increase, many may assume the additional funds are flowing into our public
schools. They’re not wrong — but increases in local property taxes don’t equate to increases in funding for Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). The reality of how public school funding works is more complex. And the gap between available funding and the needs of each student means families often have to shoulder the extra costs of resources.
The high cost of living in Boulder County, alongside increased rates of poverty and homelessness, contrasts sharply with the area’s perceived affluence. This means many BVSD families — especially those from marginalized communities — face financial pressures that directly impact their children’s educational opportunities. From school field trips and advanced course test fees to extracurricular activities and career exploration opportunities, these costs often fall on
OPINION
families, adding financial stress and limiting student participation.
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More than 5,300 children live in poverty in Boulder County (a 13% increase compared to pre-pandemic levels) which means a family of four is living on $31,200 per year or less. The threshold for BVSD families to qualify for the Free and Reduced Price Meals program — which impacts school fees, transportation and guides individual school funding — is considerably higher at $57,720. But it’s still half the estimated $107,462 cost of living, or self-sufficiency standard, for a family of four in Boulder County.
Today, a quarter of BVSD students are enrolled in the Free and Reduced Price Meals program. And this may not represent the full need, because school meals are currently free through the Healthy School Meals for All program, passed by Colorado voters in November 2022. While significant, the nearly 7,000 students enrolled in the program represent only a fraction of those whose families are struggling to make ends meet, as many more do not meet the self-sufficiency standard.
These financial challenges are com-
pounded by stagnant school funding in Colorado and potential ballot measures in the November 2024 election that could further reduce public school resources.
Although the new state funding formula — designed to ensure equitable funding — will increase the district’s budget by 0.5%, it fails to adjust the base level of funding per pupil.
As it stands, the school finance formula determines the total amount of funding each school district receives. The funds come from a blend of local (property taxes and vehicle registrations) and state sources. Local sources are considered “first in,” meaning they are used first to fund the “total program” amount set by the school finance formula. State equalization funds then make up the remainder. The amount contributed from the three sources varies according to local assessed property valuation. As property taxes increase in Boulder County, due to a fixed mill levy (27.0 mills for BVSD) and rising assessed property values, the amount provided by the state decreases.
A 2013 study found that an additional 35% on top of base level funding
Students participate in mock interviews at Boulder High School. Courtesy: Impact on Education
was needed to ensure students eligible for the Free and Reduced Price Meals program met standards. A forthcoming 2025 adequacy study from the State of Colorado will determine the resources needed today for students to meet standards.
Impact on Education was founded in 1983 to fill the gaps left by school funding mechanisms. As the nonprofit supporting BVSD, we understand that providing equitable educational opportunities is more than a mission — it’s a necessity. Our role extends beyond mere advocacy; we actively partner with BVSD to bridge the gap between available resources and student needs.
From early childhood education and college and career readiness to educator grants and mental health support, our work supports students of all ages and stages of learning and adapts to address inequities in education. Each program and investment helps ensure marginalized students and those from low-income families — just like Maria and Ethan — have the same learning opportunities as their peers.
We believe public education can
help students reach their potential and that every student should have access to excellent and equitable education.
Members of our community play a crucial role in providing students across BVSD access to the resources and opportunities they need to succeed. This approach is vital in a community where economic disparities could otherwise dictate educational outcomes, perpetuating cycles of poverty.
To bridge the gap between BVSD students this year, Impact on Education seeks to raise more than $2.4 million in the 2024-25 school year. With your support, we can ensure that public education is the great equalizer it was always meant to be. Please join us: impacton education.org/give
Allison Billings is the executive director of Impact on Education, a nonprofit foundation supporting students and educators in the Boulder Valley School District.
This opinion does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
Impact on Education funded this and 12 other summer classrooms for rising kindergarteners. Courtesy: Impact on Education
COLORADO PROMISE
How to use the state’s new college tax credit
BY JASON GONZALES CHALKBEAT COLORADO
Students who live in a household that makes $90,000 or less a year are now eligible for a Colorado tax credit that will help pay for the first two years of college.
State leaders say accessing that credit for the first time should be an easy process for students attending school this year. Colleges or universities will track which students are eligible and then notify them. But students will still have to file their own tax return to get the money.
The new credit works as a rebate and was approved during this year’s legislative session. The program received wide support from lawmakers, in part because it will cost the state less than paying for tuition and fees upfront.
Many Colorado public universities and colleges have their own programs to pay upfront costs for students, often called Promise programs. Each school’s program has its own eligibility rules. There is no statewide program.
Leaders say the new tax credit will help even more students than the existing school-specific Promise programs. This is especially important, as in-state students face some of the highest tuition rates and fees in the country.
“Just under 50% of our high school graduates are going to postsecondary in Colorado,” said Angie Paccione, Colorado Department of Higher Education executive director. “We want to change that, and we’re hoping that this creates an incentive and some motivation for students to say, ‘It is truly affordable. I could actually do this.’”
Paccione said studies showed the state would have needed $40 million to $140 million a year to cover tuition and fees for eligible students if it paid them upfront. The new tax credit is expected to cost about $39 million a year in refunds.
With the eligibility threshold at $90,000 in household income — higher
than many of the college-run programs — more middle-income students will be eligible for aid. Paccione hopes the state can eventually raise that income threshold even higher, possibly to $120,000 a year.
“Imagine the relief for families who are really trying to make it in our economy and contend with the rising cost of college,” she said.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
The credit, called Colorado Promise: Two Free Years of College Expanded, will equal the tuition and fees paid by the student after any scholarships or grants. The credit will be in place for students starting this fall into the 2032 school year for those attending public community, technical and regional colleges, as well as four-year universities.
The state doesn’t know how many students will qualify for the tax credit this upcoming school year, but it has made some guesses based on past data. About 28,000 students statewide would have been eligible for the tax credit last year, according to a fiscal analysis.
Eligible students have to meet certain requirements, such as having graduated high school in Colorado within the last two years, being enrolled in at least six credit hours at a Colorado public college and maintaining a 2.5 GPA or higher. They must also have filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Students who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents have to have filled out the CASFA, or the Colorado
Application for State Financial Aid, to qualify for the tax credit. Those students will also get the tax form from schools if they qualify.
The tax credit functions as a rebate. Families and students will have to pay their tuition and fees up front or borrow money to pay those bills. They should expect a refund after filing a tax return for the year that the school year ends. For example, credits for the academic year 2024-25 would be claimed on a student’s 2025 tax return — due by April 2026 — and paid out in 2026.
Four-year college students can expect an average of $2,700 in tax credits each year, technical college students can expect an average of $2,000, and two-year college students should get back an average of $1,000.
HOW TO APPLY
Colorado public colleges and universities will notify students by email whether they’ve qualified, Paccione said.
Colleges and universities will have students’ household income on record through either the federal or state aid application. Based on that, schools will be able to calculate which students qualify. Students not meeting the GPA requirements will also be notified that they’re not eligible, she said.
Students will then get a tax form that they will use when they file their state taxes.
Although the eligibility will be based on a student’s family or household income as reported on the FAFSA or CASFA, students will have to apply for the tax credit themselves. They’ll need to file a state tax return to get the credit, even if they did not work and would not have otherwise filed a return.
‘IT’S GOING TO REQUIRE DISCIPLINE’
Students will be reimbursed only for tuition and fees, so living expenses or supplies such as textbooks aren’t covered.
However, students can use the tax rebate any way they want, Paccione said. For instance, they can save the tax money for future college expenses. But Paccione recommends that students apply that money toward tuition and fees they’ve already paid or borrowed money to pay. That will reduce long-term debt, she said. “It’s going to require discipline from the student and family when they do get that tax rebate, because we’re not going to control how they use that tax rebate,” she said. “They should use it to pay the tuition. That’s the intent of it.”
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering education and related issues.
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
More climate education is coming to local schools
BY WILL MATUSKA
The tentacles of serendipity are what reeled Molly Weber into the topic of climate change: her twin sister’s eighth-grade fascination with jellyfish.
“She started learning about the ocean, because you can’t really talk about jellyfish without talking about the ocean, and you can’t talk about the ocean without talking about climate change,” said Weber, who is now going into her senior year at Fairview High School in Boulder. “So we both started simultaneously learning about climate change.”
The more she discovered, the more it stung.
“We both just got really, really worried as soon as we started learning what was going on with the climate crisis,” she said. “And like a layer of depth that you never learned about in school. I felt so anxious and sad about that — I had to do something.”
Topics related to climate, global warming and the environment are sprinkled into Colorado’s academic standards. For example, students first learn to observe their surrounding environment in preschool. Global warming is brought up in middle school.
But when it comes to climate change, the all-encompassing term that refers to the consequences of emitting heat-trapping greenhouse gasses on people and the planet, Weber said she hasn’t learned much about it in school, besides a few mentions in science classes.
Weber and her peers want more options.
“Overwhelmingly, our students are asking for more interdisciplinary learning around climate change specifically,” said Erin Greenwood, science coordinator at Boulder Valley School District (BVSD).
After the district became the first in the country to adopt the Green New
Deal for Schools last winter, Greenwood said the pieces are in place to bring more climate education into the classroom.
“You have this interesting intersection of Boulder Valley schools having a longtime commitment to sustainability and then students really pushing the envelope with the [school] board and saying, ‘We want to see more in our classrooms. How can we make that happen?’” said Greenwood. “And so we’re at this really great, critical juncture … and now it’s just ripe to put it all together and really integrate it into our daily instruction and experiences that kids have in our classrooms.”
‘LACK OF CONTINUITY’
Colorado has broad goals for what students should know and learn at each grade level, called academic standards, set by the state board of education. As long as they are met,
local school boards and teachers can decide if they want to go above and beyond within their curriculum.
The concept of climate change specifically is only found in science standards, but climate is discussed more generally in social studies at various grade levels. Greenwood describes the standards as “light” on climate change.
“It’s surprising how late in the game you find the words climate change,” she said. “You don’t see that in the science standards until high school.”
When climate change isn’t included in academic standards, whether it’s taught or not depends on an educator’s ability and interest in connecting it to another subject they are teaching. And while parents and teachers overwhelmingly support teaching climate change in schools nationwide, one poll from NPR found that a majority of teachers don’t talk about the topic in class, saying they feel unprepared to do so or don’t know how it relates to the subjects they are teaching.
A 2022 nationwide survey from the North American Association for Environmental Education had similar findings — that schools and districts haven’t made teaching climate change a priority, and that educators
often lack formal curriculum and resources.
“All of these lead to a recipe for low ratings for climate education in U.S. public schools,” the report wrote.
Tiffany Boyd, a retired teacher who started local nonprofit Classrooms for Climate Action, said there’s a lack of continuity between educators.
“Even though it’s embedded into the science,” she said, “it’s really been kind of piecemeal as to which teachers grab onto it and run with it.”
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
There’s some disagreement on whether teaching climate change in schools should happen at all. NPR reported that states like Idaho, Texas and Pennsylvania have seen pushback on learning standards in recent years.
Other states have holistically integrated climate change into classrooms. In 2020, New Jersey became the first state to mandate teaching the topic in nearly all subjects in K-12 public schools. Two years later, Connecticut passed a similar law.
While no such rules exist in Colorado, a recent law authorized local school districts to give out seals for students demonstrating “mastery
BVSD students are asking for more learning around climate change. Courtesy: Tiffany Boyd
in climate literacy,” although with limited funding ($18,000).
BVSD’s adoption of the Green New Deal for Schools comes with plans to make buildings more sustainable, use more clean energy, incorporate student voices into climate action planning and more.
The district previously had sustainability related curriculum and climate goals, but the 2023 resolution is also a commitment to increasing climate change curriculum for every grade level.
To make that happen while working within the state’s requirements and without over-burdening educators, Greenwood found topics within academic standards where educators could connect various subjects back to climate change. Now, she’s working on providing lesson plans with local relevance.
“We’re actually thinking about how we can make this thing come alive in a math class using local data, and have it be a five or 10 minute experience,” she said. “And maybe students are experiencing that once or twice a year, but then by the time you get it once or twice in social studies, once or twice in science, once or twice in health, once or twice in music, you know, then kids are actually getting a little bit more exposure comprehensively.”
Along with professional development provided to teachers outlining how to use the new resources, Greenwood hopes it’s easier and more efficient for educators to make connections to climate change. By 2026, the district wants all students to have “meaningful and developmentally appropriate” opportunities to learn about climate change across disciplines.
But at the end of the day, it will still be optional for teachers to discuss climate change in the classroom when it’s not included in the state’s academic standards. The next review process for science standards begins spring 2025.
Boyd said one thing will remain constant when it comes to climate education: “Teachers are
swamped.” She said the responsibility can’t only be on educators and schools — community partners are just as important.
“This is a community opportunity,” she said. “The less siloed we can be about well, ‘Teachers need to work on that over there, and we’ll work on this
over here with city council [the better]’. Let’s get together and let’s connect kids as civic actors to the change that needs to happen to make our communities climate resilient.”
As a member of Sunrise Movement, a national climate advocacy organization, Weber is one of those people
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wanting to address climate change both in and around her community. After advocating for BVSD to adopt the Green New Deal for Schools, now Weber said she’s starting to work on a statewide resolution.
“I want to build and grow up in a safe world.”
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EMPTY DESKS
Why
chronic absenteeism levels remain high — and how school districts are responding
BY KAYLEE HARTER
When the pandemic hit in early 2020, classrooms sat vacant as students moved to virtual instruction. Four years later, schools have moved back to in-person instruction, but some classrooms have remained emptier than usual.
Chronic absenteeism rates have spiked since the pandemic, according to Colorado Department of Education (CDE) data. About 1 in 3 students in the state are missing more than 10% or more of a school year, about 18 days a year, according to data from the 202223 school year.
Numbers are trending in the right direction — at its peak in the 2020-21 school year, 36% of students were chronically absent, compared with 31% in the 2022-23 school year (data for the 2023-24 is expected to be released in the fall). But for the four years pre-pandemic, chronic absenteeism stayed between 18% and 24% statewide.
“We’re seeing progress for kids reengaging and reconnecting to schools, but we’re still seeing pretty high levels,” said Johann Liljengren, director of dropout prevention and student engagement for CDE. “That has a huge impact on schools, districts and classrooms.”
Rates are a bit better and also on the decline in Boulder County schools — just over 1 in 5 students in Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) and 1 in 4 in St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) were chronically absent in the 2022-23 school year. But that is still considered high by nonprofit initiative Attendance Works, a level of absenteeism that the organization says not only impacts the students missing school, but also their peers.
“Even that student who has 100% attendance or 95% attendance, when their classmates are gone every other day, it impacts the type of learning they get to experience” as teachers
navigate getting students caught up, Liljengren said.
As the state and districts work to boost attendance, strategies range from hiring new staff to making home visits. But time will tell what it takes to return attendance to pre-pandemic levels.
“We’re being as supportive as we can and helping students no matter what the situation,” said Elton Davis, a director of student support services at BVSD. “We want to make sure that students are having their access to education.”
‘MISSING SCHOOL MATTERS’
Chronic absenteeism data differs from truancy data in that it doesn’t distinguish between excused and unexcused absences. While schools used to focus their efforts on truancy (unexcused absences), Liljengren says the focus has shifted to chronic absenteeism in the last decade or so.
“Whether it’s unexcused or excused might help with their response to it,” Liljengren said, “but missing school matters whether it’s unexcused or excused.”
Liljengren said kids in kindergarten with high attendance are more likely to read on grade level by third grade. In middle and high school, kids with low attendance are more likely to struggle in their courses and drop out of high school later on. “Almost all” ninth graders with high attendance graduate later on, he says.
“There’s really strong connections that it matters for individual kids.”
A MULTI-PRONGED ISSUE
Liljengren attributes the rise in chronic absenteeism to several factors.
One is around health and wellness broadly. “We moved to a very cautious approach on sickness” after the pandemic, he said, causing kids to stay
home when they may have come to school in the past.
And like so many other sectors, schools have also faced a shift in norms and expectations around being in-person.
“Families have kind of recognized through COVID that you can still access materials and things like that to do assignments for classes,” Davis said. They “sometimes equate doing assignments as actually being in class and receiving instruction, which is not equivalent.”
Liljengren said that while schools were able to create “some awesome tools” for kids to access information in different spaces, they’re trying to “reset” on live and engaged learning, whether that’s in-person or virtual.
On top of that, Liljengren said mental health and feelings of safety in school might also contribute to poor attendance. While a recent statewide survey showed improvements in mental health for high schoolers, parents’ and students’ fears for their safety at school have risen sharply since 2019, according to a 2022 Gallup poll. The poll didn’t specifically reference gun violence, but Gallup noted that parents’ fear spikes after high-profile mass shootings.
Another contributing factor is increases in staff turnover and lingering vacancies, something Liljengren said “impacts relationships kids build and consistency of [those] relationships.”
For the 2023-24 school year, the state saw a 20% turnover rate for staff including teachers, support staff and administrators. BVSD saw a slightly lower turnover rate at about 17% and
SVVSD a bit lower at about 15%.
That’s slightly worse in Boulder County than pre-pandemic, when turnover rates were about 16% for SVVSD and 14% for BVSD, according to fall 2019 CDE data. Statewide turnover rates were about the same pre- and post-pandemic.
Transportation difficulties and family responsibilities might also keep kids, especially high schoolers, away from the classroom.
Sometimes, chronic absenteeism can be a snowball effect as support systems and staff become overtaxed. “Increasing numbers just make the work more challenging. We saw some districts that doubled the number of kids chronically absent,” Liljengren said. “If you have a counselor doing intensive follow up and now you feel like you need twice as many counselors… districts have really taken a couple of years to kind of reorganize, and how do you get more staff involved?”
A HOLISTIC APPROACH
As schools, districts and the state worked to address chronic absenteeism in the wake of the pandemic, CDE put together a cohort of about 20 districts in the 2023-24 school year to try to collaboratively address absenteeism. That cohort is continuing in the upcoming school year.
SVVSD did not join the cohort and did not respond to repeated requests for comment to multiple communications officials over several weeks.
BVSD’s Davis said the learning group was a good chance for districts to “put [their] heads together.”
BOULDER SCHOOL OF FINE ART
Creativity Released! A Journey to Your Unique Voice Jamie Lindholm Aug. 16 A Classical Atelier in the Modern Tradition
Landscape, Figure, Portraiture All Levels • For Teens and Adults Days, Nights, Weekdays & Weekends
AUGUST WORKSHOPS
Constructive Figure Sketching Ben Harden, Aug. 3
FALL 2024 CLASSES
Classical Drawing and Painting
Tuesdays 5:30-8:30 starts Aug. 20
Fridays 1-4, starts August 23
Saturdays 9:30-12;30, starts August 24
Introduction to Watercolor, Wednesdays, 2-4
Instructed Figure Sketching Thursdays, 6-8
Classical Portraiture Saturdays 1-4 starts Sep. 7
Classical Figure Saturdays 1-4, starts Oct. 19
Painting the Landscape Outside
Sundays 10:30-12:30 Starts September 8
Introduction to Oil Painting Sundays 1-3 Starts Sep 8
Painting Portraits from Photographs Sundays Starts Oct. 6
Artistic Anatomy, Sundays 3:30-5 Starts Sep 8
NEWS
At BVSD, addressing absenteeism starts before it becomes chronic by communicating with families as soon as possible and setting up a plan within the classroom, Davis said. If a student continues to miss school, administrators are put on notice, and attendance and engagement specialists work with students and families to identify root causes and put together a supportive intervention plan.
Notably, those plans look different depending on students’ age and the challenges they face.
Kindergarteners, for example, had the third-highest levels of chronic absenteeism statewide in the 2022-23 school year after juniors and seniors in high school. That’s unusual, Liljengren said, and efforts for younger kids might focus on “a different, intensive partnership you’re building with families.”
There are also socioeconomic gaps when it comes to attendance. Students experiencing homelessness, for example, are chronically absent at nearly double the rate of the general student population.
Davis said that in recent years, efforts at the school and district level have taken a more proactive, holistic approach.
“We really need to know the reasons why, what are the barriers for students and what are the struggles that students and families are having,” he said. “We just have to look at things really differently and how we’re supporting the student and the family as a whole.”
If a student has transportation issues, for example, the school might help coordinate rides with other families that live close by. If a student is struggling with anxiety, Davis said they might look at options for access-
ing curriculum remotely and, depending on the severity, could look at remote school through Boulder Universal or the district’s Advanced Alternative Learning Program for Students (AALPS).
AALPS began in 2019 and is a half-day program that prioritizes low teacher-to-student ratios and “carefully designed wrap-around services that are incorporated into the program in order to meet each student’s individual needs and goals,” according to its website.
State and county grants that have funded programs like AALPS “have played massive roles” in improving attendance numbers, Davis said. Some districts have also used COVID relief funds to hire engagement staff members or additional school health professionals and counselors, who “have an enormous impact on school attendance,” Liljengren said.
Heading into next school year, CDE is working to target more funding opportunities for individual districts and schools and is continuing to facilitate discussions on best practices through the learning cohort, Liljengren said.
BVSD is updating its internal data systems to allow the district to get more in-depth information and has revised and streamlined its attendance policy, which Davis said will make a “significant difference” in understanding and expectations around attendance.
And in the coming years, the state and district will be closely watching the story the data tells.
“We’re not in any position where we would be satisfied” with a particular level of absenteeism, Davis said. “We want to make sure that we are always improving.”
COMMUNITY
PARK PASSES, PERMITS AND OTHER PERKS
Four educational benefits free for Colorado 4th graders
BY COURTNEY JOHNSON
Being a fourth grader in Colorado has a few educational perks. From a national parks pass to a membership at the History Colorado Center, these incentives tie closely to Colorado social studies curriculum standards for fourth grade. Available for students that attend traditional public school, private school or homeschool, only proof of age is required.
NATIONAL PARKS PASS
Beginning Aug. 1, fourth-grade students may apply for a free national parks pass through the Every Kid Outdoors Program (everykidoutdoors. gov). Intended to give students the ability to connect nature to history, the creation of national parks in Colorado features prominently in fourth grade curricula. Three park service entities — Mesa Verde National Park, Hovenweep National Monument and Canyon of the Ancients National Monument — played a significant role in the state’s evolution.
NATIONAL FOREST CHRISTMAS TREE PERMIT
Also part of the park pass initiative through Every Kid Outdoors, families can purchase a permit ($2.50 online processing fee) to cut down a free Christmas tree in Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, Pike National Forest and the White River National Forest. The educational tie-in comes through observing the forest and cut trees, part of life sciences.
HISTORY COLORADO CENTER MEMBERSHIP
Fourth graders can become history buffs with a free one-year membership to the History Colorado Center. Beginning Aug. 1, students and their families (up to five additional people) get admission to all eight museums (find a full list at historycolorado.org/ museums), covering the 1880s mining boom, homesteading pioneers and modern-day Colorado with interactive exhibits.
This membership also includes one free child ticket to the Georgetown Loop Historic Mining and Railroad Park with the purchase of an adult ticket. Built in 1884, it connected the towns of Silver Plume and Georgetown during the silver mining boom.
PASSPORT TO THE ARTS COLORADO SPRINGS
FINE ARTS CENTER AT COLORADO COLLEGE
The connection between the collection of Hispanic and Native American artifacts and art ties into the fourth-grade curriculum at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (FAC). Each fourth grader gets a free one-year family membership to the arts center (fourth grader, two adults and all other children under 18 in the household) and a ticket to the FAC fall production of The City Dog and the Prairie Dog (El perro de la ciudad y el perro de la pradera) and the spring production of Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience Fourth graders can also get 45% off tuition to Bemis School of Art classes and access to specific activities at FAC.
Classical academics with a reverence for
Warm, safe, nurturing environment 38-acre campus • Small class sizes Preparing students for high school and beyond
MAKING THE GRADE
Eight questions to ask at back-to-school night
BY COURTNEY JOHNSON
Back-to-school night is a yearly tradition where parents learn the culture and feel of the classroom, expectations and daily schedule for their child’s learning day. This night also allows parents to ask questions relevant to everyday learning and success in the classroom.
Boulder Weekly reached out to Ben Knighten, psychologist and interventionist for the St. Vrain Valley School District, for help understanding what caregivers of students needs to know.
ACADEMICS
“It is important for teachers to be aware of the individual differences of students in their classrooms,” Knigthen wrote in response to BW questions. “Asking this question can help give you an idea of
his or her approach to differentiated instruction,” in which different teaching styles are used to instruct and students can demonstrate their learning in various ways rather than following one set method.
How will you accommodate kids who need more assistance?
Many teachers offer at-home supports such as high-interest readers, access to learning games and additional practice problems to help students reach academic standards.
What are some websites or resources for extra help in math, reading or other subjects at home? How can I use these resources to help support my learner?
“Asking this question is a good way to show the teacher that you are partnering with them for the academic success of your child,” Knighten wrote.
How does what is taught in the classroom have a connection to the real world?
“Students who see a real-world application to what they are doing are more likely to have buy-in with the activity,”
Knighten wrote. “It’s important for teachers to share the ‘why’ behind what they are asking kids to do.”
What are the academic expectations for my child this year?
“Parents who know the expectations can be in a better position to support their child’s learning,” Knighten wrote.
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL
Bullying is one of the largest issues in schools today. Anxiety and depression can be directly linked to bullying, with consequences directly related to academic success. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the risk of depression in children and adolescents who were bullied was 2.77 times higher than that of those who were not bullied.
How is bullying handled?
“Bullying is a cause of significant anxiety and stress,” Knighten wrote. “Familiarize yourself with the classroom and school policies, so you can better support your child in this area if necessary.”
Anxiety and stress levels continue to grow in students, especially when children are transitioning through adolescent years. Offering movement breaks and a safe space for students to go when they are elevated fosters a caring environment.
Will you provide brain breaks throughout the day? Are there chances within the classroom to calm the body and mind to reduce stress and anxiety?
“Practicing brain breaks and various coping skills (deep breathing, etc.) is a great way to provide relief from anxiety,” Knighten wrote.
INCLUSION
As we work to build a more inclusive society, there may be questions about how teachers celebrate diversity in the classroom.
How do you build and support inclusion in the classroom?
“Classrooms that foster inclusion set children up to feel valued and safe regardless of their background or abilities,” Knighten wrote.
Best practices when encouraging and affirming self-identification in the classroom continue to evolve. Helping all students feel safe in a positive learning environment is key.
What is your policy with pronouns and names?
“Understanding the teacher’s or district’s policies around preferred pronouns can help equip your child for success at school,” wrote Knighten. “Regardless of pronoun policies, all classrooms and schools should have robust policies and procedures that address bullying and discrimination.”
TEACHING MOMENT
Local authors and educators share a philosophy rooted in respect
BY ADAM PERRY
After helping launch Boulder’s New Vista High School more than three decades ago, longtime teachers Jaye and John Zola still think about an early student named Daniel.
“Daniel had a stutter,” Jaye says. “One of the things New Vista was going to be was this place where students would be respected — it would be a safe environment.”
Daniel is one of many students they remember fondly.
“He had fascinating ideas,” Jaye says. And their hope for inclusion came to fruition: “He was respected, carteblanche.”
The pair strove to demonstrate mutual respect in all their interactions, a philosophy they outline in their new book, Teaching as if Students Matter: A Guide to Creating Classrooms Based on Relationships and Engaged Learning
Jaye recalls an incident on the first day of class when a kid repetitively bounced a ball in the classroom, disrupting the peace. Instead of reacting immediately and initiating conflict, as many other teachers might have done, she took a pause.
“I wait and hold my tongue,” Jaye remembers. An errant bounce sent the ball in her direction. “I pick up the ball, look at it, and then bounce it back to him. I give him a smile and a nod that implies, ‘Enough.’ He catches his ball, puts it in his pocket, and we continue the activity.”
Jaye says she was focusing on “building relationships” and successfully “avoided a power struggle.” In fact, after that interaction, she and the student “developed a great relationship over the semester.”
BE HERE NOW
Teaching as if Students Matter includes many lessons for teachers, but it’s also designed for those who want more fruit-
ful, patient and equal relationships in the workplace and at home.
Despite many references to Buddhist philosophies in Teaching as if Students Matter, the Zolas are not themselves Buddhists. But New Vista, a Boulder Valley School District public school, allowed them to weave in principles like mindfulness and active learning alongside traditional academics.
The school “didn’t have an obsessive compulsion about college entrance,”
John explains. “In a sort of Buddhist way, kids at New Vista had these core requirements that were only half the district requirements, and the other [was] your ‘path.’”
This offered more of a chance to “be present in the moment and be joyful” and to “have fun with the thing that you’re learning now,” he says.
‘NOT ABOUT LEGACY’
New Vista has historically been “a place where we really had the institutional
it would have made my life easier.”
“We became teachers in this amazing time,” John adds. “We were really fortunate. Originally, we were going to write a book of teaching strategies, and then I think that we, in all due modesty, believed we had something to say about how teaching should happen because of the way we learned to teach. And it all came to fruition at New Vista.”
The book is “not about a legacy,” though, John says. “It’s, like, somebody’s got to write this shit down.”
‘LIFE IS RELATIONSHIPS’
As New Vista finishes construction on a new building with plans to move in early next year, the Zolas express pride in what the school became with their help.
“It’s one of the very rare principledriven, values-driven schools that actually worked,” John says.
In the 30 years since they helped found New Vista, Boulder “has become more privileged, more white and less quirky,” Jaye says. The median price of a home here has soared by almost 20 times since then, while the average teacher salary has tripled.
The Zolas were able to buy a home in Martin Acres back in 1984 for $80,000, while they made about $25,000 a year combined, splitting one full-time teaching job so they could raise their children together.
The average salary for a teacher in Boulder today is around $61,000, while the median home price is well over a million dollars.
Boulder kids can still get a highschool education at New Vista in the spirit of the methods the Zolas write about in Teaching as if Students Matter, but their teachers almost certainly won’t be able to own homes here.
support, the parental support, ultimately the kid support, to actually teach the way we wanted to teach,” John says.
Neither Zola is retired, exactly, but they spend most of their time teaching teachers these days, rather than students. Teaching as if Students Matter is just a small part of that effort.
“We wrote it because education is so abysmal for teachers becoming teachers, and there’s no support for first-year teachers,” Jaye says. “If I’d had this book when I was a beginning teacher,
Still, students, teachers and even parents can get a lot of mileage from the book, because, as Jaye explains, “life is relationships.”
ON THE PAGE: Teaching as if Students Matter:
A Guide to Creating Classrooms Based on Relationships and Engaged Learning is out now via State University of New York Press.
Teaching as if Students Matter by John and Jaye Zola sketches an educational philosophy of mutual respect. Courtesy: State University of New York Press
Longtime educators John and Jaye Zola helped launch Boulder’s New Vista High School more than three decades ago. Courtesy: John and Jaye Zola
STRINGS ATTACHED
Steep Canyon Rangers bring bluegrass to Boulder Theater
BY ZOE JENNINGS
For most musicians, turning music into your full-time gig is the goal. Almost 25 years after forming, the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers have pulled it off. But mandolin player Mike Guggino says it was never part of the calculus for the longtime friends and bandmates.
“Everybody ended up making this their career,” Guggino says. “You don’t think about that when you start a band in college playing at bars and parties.”
It’s been a rewarding ride for the Asheville, North Carolina-based outfit. In 2013, the group won a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in recognition of their eighth LP Nobody Knows You. This came on the heels of the previous year’s nomination for Rare Bird Alert, a collaboration with comedy legend and renowned banjo player Steve Martin.
“We’ve been working with Steve for 15 years,” Guggino says of the actor who has become a creative partner in the studio, on tour and in one-off performances like the band’s 2017 NPR Tiny Desk concert. “It’s been such a great collaboration for us. Obviously it gets us playing in front of huge audiences. Martin Short now is part of the show, too.
“Steve is a great banjo player. He’s so creative and so driven,” Guggino continues. “We’ve learned so much from him about performing and putting on a great show. He’s a great friend, and we love collaborating with him. We hope to keep doing it as long as he wants to keep doing it.”
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REVIVAL
Colorado has been a coveted stop for the Steep Canyon Rangers since their early days. Winning the 2001
RockyGrass Festival band competition at Planet Bluegrass in Lyons, where they played the main stage the following year, served as an important step for the group’s success.
“It was another place besides the South where bluegrass is really appreciated,” Guggino says. “To travel so far from home and be welcomed by people who love bluegrass, it really attracted us to Colorado. We’ve been going there for over 20 years, and it still is
one of the best places in the country for bluegrass music.”
The band has a history with Boulder Theater, too. They’re familiar favorites at the historic downtown venue, but their July 20 return will mark the outfit’s first Colorado show with new guitarist and vocalist Aaron Burdett.
“We honestly feel like the band is better than it’s ever been right now,” Guggino says. “We’re so thrilled to share this new music with people. It will be the first time we’ve taken that new sound to the Boulder Theater.”
LIVE FROM THE BAT CAVE
Released September 2023, the group recorded their 14th studio album, Morning Shift, in Bat Cave, North Carolina in a historic inn called the Hickory Nut Gap with producer Darrell Scott.
“It’s a cool old bed and breakfast, and we wanted to bring the studio to a space where we could be creative,” Guggino says. “We all just moved into this inn and stayed there for a week in the winter. We built the studio in the great room: all wood walls, ceilings and floors. We were really just going for a vibe more than anything. We thought
about naming the album Live from the Bat Cave; then we thought that might be confusing. People might think, Batman. It could get weird.”
The band’s upcoming album is a live recording of a Wilmington, North Carolina show called Live at Greenfield Lake, slated for release in August SCR recorded several gigs from their tour last year to get material for a live record, but decided the home-state show was something special.
“This one show we listened to and thought, ‘Wow, the audience is on fire. The band’s on fire,” Guggino says. “It’s one of those special nights, and we captured it. That’s the record. It’s fantastic and we’re so proud of it. We can’t wait for it to come out, because it really showcases what the band sounds like live. Anybody could make a record sound good, but how a band plays live is a different thing.”
ON THE BILL: Steep Canyon Rangers with Head for the Hills. 8 p.m. Saturday, July 20, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $25+
North Carolina bluegrass favorites Steep Canyon Rangers return to Boulder Theater on July 20. Courtesy: Steep Canyon Rangers
Morning Shift by Steep Canyon Rangers was released Sept. 8, 2023. Courtesy: Yep Roc Records
INDOOR VOICE
Colorado Shakespeare Fest leaves open-air venue for uneven pairing of ‘Macbeth’ and ‘Merry Wives’
BY TONI TRESCA
Things look a little different at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival this year. Known for its outdoor performances, the annual celebration of the Bard has moved from the Mary Rippon Theatre to the newly renovated Roe Green Theatre for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
The reason? A massive, long-overdue renovation of the Hellems Arts and Sciences building, whose grounds include the Mary Rippon. Construction began in summer 2023 and is expected to last until 2026. The festival anticipates resuming its five-show season across two theaters once the facility reopens.
The project will regrade pathways, increase accessibility and include scenic patios with overhead lighting and a cafe. The Mary Rippon stage will remain unchanged, preserving the beloved open-air experience that has captivated audiences for more than 60 seasons.
This year, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival offers two mainstage productions: Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Together these works make an uneven pair, coupling a bold new interpretation with a high-concept but underwhelming production.
DARK DESCENT
Wendy Franz’s reimagining of Macbeth challenges traditional interpretations of the frequently staged tragedy, exploring the psychological torment of a Scottish nobleman driven to regicide by ambition and paranoia. Her direction transforms the Weïrd Sisters from witches to humans, bringing the play into a more real-world context. This approach is anchored by the performances of Noelia Antweiler, Ilana DeAngelo and Devi Reisenfeld, who play the sisters with a realism that adds an unsettling edge to their power. Franz’s approach to the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is another significant departure from the usual interpretations. Instead of starting the play in a tragic atmosphere, both characters are portrayed with good intentions and naive ambitions. Macbeth (Lavour Addison) begins as a noble warrior with a strong sense of honor and duty, making his gradual transformation into a tyrant all the more dramatic.
Lady Macbeth (Shunté Lofton) initially demonstrates a more human touch, showing genuine love and partnership with her husband. While Addison’s performance is compelling
throughout, Lofton struggles to convey the full extent of Lady Macbeth’s manipulative tendencies, especially as she becomes increasingly paranoid in the second act.
The production’s design elements elevate the experience. Scenic designer Matthew S. Crane creates a multilevel castle adorned with auburn leaves and ominous branches, while Garrett Thompson’s projections add subtle atmospheric changes. Meghan Anderson Doyle’s costumes blend traditional Scottish attire with modern, almost fantastical elements, evoking a unique visual style reminiscent of Mortal Kombat.
Despite some uneven supporting performances, the production maintains a compelling pace for just over two hours. Key performances by Sean Scrutchins as Macduff and Sam Sandoe as Duncan add gravitas to this dark story, making Franz’s Macbeth a fresh, accessible interpretation for both new and seasoned Shakespeare fans.
STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE
Director Kevin Rich’s decision to frame The Merry Wives of Windsor in the style of a 1970s sitcom sets high expectations. With its colorful set and neon cursive title sign, the concept aims to draw parallels between TV shows like All in the Family and Shakespeare’s middle-class comedy about Sir John Falstaff’s attempts to woo two married women to steal their husbands’ fortunes. However, the execution feels forced and disjointed.
The production design, with its
’70s-inspired set by Matthew S. Crane and vibrant costumes by Sarah Zinn, is visually appealing but fails to serve the narrative. The overreliance on sitcom tropes and gags, such as an overzealous announcer and sporadic laugh track, detracts from the story rather than adding to it. Other anachronistic elements, like a hula hoop sequence and inconsistent East Coast accents, add little to an already bloated script.
Jacob Dresch’s performance as Falstaff suffers from excessive improvisation and exaggerated gestures, making it difficult to connect with his character. Because the performances are mostly caricatures, the play’s stakes are reduced with little room for genuine comedic timing. The only actor who rises above the overly produced shenanigans is Sean Scrutchins as Frank Ford, portraying a man who believes he’s being cuckolded to great comic effect.
Overall, Merry Wives struggles to balance its innovative concept with effective storytelling. While the design elements are commendable, they ultimately fail to rescue the play from its lackluster execution.
ON STAGE: Macbeth and The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Through Sunday, Aug. 11, Roe Green Theatre, University Theatre Building, Pleasant St., Boulder. $30+
Lavour Addison’s fiery depiction of Macbeth captures the character’s gradual transformation into a tyrant at the 2024 Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Credit: Jennifer Koskinen
Jessica Robblee, Ilana DeAngelo and Lavour Addison as the Page Family in a smarmy ’70s TV spin on The Merry Wives of Windsor Credit: Jennifer Koskinen
Flatiron Sunrise by Kristen Ross
SATANIC PANIC
‘Longlegs’ leans on the darkest of fears but fails to scare
BY MICHAEL J. CASEY
The first thing you see is a house inside a boxy frame with rounded edges, like a 16 mm home movie. It’s winter, Jan. 14 to be precise, and a young girl is turning nine years old. She thinks she’s alone, but then a man approaches. He’s tall. So tall that the top of the frame cuts off his head. He apologizes for his “long legs” and proceeds to bend forward, bringing his grotesque face into the frame before the movie abruptly cuts to black and the title: Longlegs
This opening is the memory of Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), a clairvoyant FBI Agent. Her superior, Agent Carter (Blair Underwood), calls it “heightened intuition” and recruits her to solve a series of familial murders. Each bears the mark of a serial killer who leaves behind cryptic notes with the signature
Longlegs, but none give the impression of an outside presence. They all look like open-and-shut cases of murdersuicide with the father as the culprit. Carter needs Harker to see what others can’t. And she does: Each of the murders took place around the daughter’s ninth birthday.
How does Harker deduce this? Longlegs slips her a note that allows her to crack his code. Is Carter suspicious that Harker immediately decodes something no other agent could? Maybe. Or maybe he hired her because of her proximity to the suspects. Clarice Starling wasn’t the only agent who joined the bureau to bury a past trauma.
Written and directed by Osgood “Oz” Perkins, Longlegs is a formally rigorous murder mystery that enjoys keeping its
frames dark and its characters immobile. Not that anything corporeal is holding them at bay; they seem frozen by what they suspect might be unfolding in front of them. When I tell you Longlegs attacks families when little girls turn nine years old, your mind is liable to go to a very dark place. Where Longlegs goes is also dark, just not in the way you might expect.
For that reason, the film comes off a lot more like a terrifying provocation than a creepy haunted house. I won’t give away the motivation or the intricate structure of Longlegs’ murder spree, because you probably wouldn’t believe me if I did.
What you might believe is that Nicolas Cage’s performance as Longlegs is one of the most unhinged things you’re likely to see this summer. Cage is known for going the distance when it comes to his roles, and in Longlegs, he has the facial prosthetics and vocal modulations to prove it. At first, you might think it’s too much for a moody mystery with tingles of the occult. But as the story rolls on, you realize Cage has perfectly calibrated his performance, and it’s the story that might be too much.
Perkins’ movie is scary, but in a specific way and probably for a specific segment of the audience. Back in 2009, Paranormal Activity similarly divided viewers by predisposition. For those who believed in supernatural spirits, Paranormal Activity was terrifying. For those who didn’t, it was a lot of dull surveillance camera footage. You can say your mileage may vary when it comes to these kinds of movies, but couldn’t you say that of every movie?
Longlegs suffers from a similar reliance, both in form — the movie feels suffocatingly composed even if the cinematography from Andres Arochi looks really good — and a preexisting fear that there’s a particular source of evil somewhere in the world that can crop up anytime and for any reason. If this is a fear you also share, then Longlegs is bound to be terrifying. If it isn’t, then you might be wondering why certain characters don’t react just a little bit quicker.
ON SCREEN: Longlegs is playing in wide release.
Maika Monroe, Blair Underwood and Nicolas Cage star in Longlegs, in theaters now. Courtesy: Neon
19
BLUEGRASS, BBQ & BEER
5-7:30 p.m. Friday, July 19, Boulder
Name a more iconic Colorado trio than beer, bluegrass and BBQ. If that sounds like your thing, scoot over to Boulder Social for deals on smokey delights and special tappings with live music from Chicken Coop Willaye & the 2-Bit Pickle.
19
MOUNTAIN BIKING WITH DELILAH CUPP
9 a.m. to noon, Friday, July 19, Norrøna, 1130 Pearl St., Boulder. Free
Hit the trails with Norrøna ambassador Delilah Cupp during this free group ride in Boulder. You’ll get a quick crash course and insight into the outdoor retailer’s mountain bike collection before heading to Betasso Preserve for a two-hour ride followed by refreshments.
19
BROADWAY RAVE
9 p.m. Friday, July 19, Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $15-$18
Come in costume as your favorite Broadway character to this theatrical dance party celebrating the best in showtunes and musicals. The highenergy evening at the historic Fox Theatre may even include a surprise guest or two.
Settle into your cozy-core era during this hands-on crochet workshop at Ruzo Coffee. Instructors from Lula Faye Fiber will guide you during this beginner’s class where you’ll learn basic stitches and techniques. Admission includes materials and a take-home crochet guide.
19
UNHEARD VOICES OF BOULDER
5-7 p.m. Friday, July 19, Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway. $18
Meet some of your unhoused neighbors at this presentation from Lindsay Shermeta, who spent four months interviewing and photographing unhoused people on The Hill and Pearl Street. Presented in partnership with Bridge House, the project and this event seek to “foster empathy and understanding within our own community.”
19 – 21
PEARL STREET ARTS FEST
All day, Fri.-Sun., July 19-21, Pearl Street Mall, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder. Free
The heart of downtown Boulder thrums with creativity during this annual art-forward tradition. The annual Pearl Street Arts Fest includes a village of local art vendors with works ranging from sculpture to watercolors and points in between.
EVENTS
20
NEPALI JATRA
5-7 p.m. Saturday, July 20, Downtown Longmont, 4th Avenue and Kimbark Street. Free
Head to downtown Longmont for the return of Nepali Jatra, a showcase highlighting the rich culture and history of Nepal. The event kicks off with a screening of the Emmy-winning docuseries Festivals, including a Q&A with filmmaker Jaswant Dev Shrestha.
20
RAWHIDE PAINTING
1-3 p.m. Saturday, July 20, BMoCA, 1750 13th St. $50
Artists Chelsea Kaiah and Akalei Brown of Colorado Native Org will instruct attendees in the Plains Tribes technique of painting geometric patterns on rawhide leather. Note: A film crew will be on-site for a documentary project. Waivers will be on hand to sign.
21
PARTY IN THE PEAKS
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 21, 80 E. 2nd St., Nederland. Free
Enjoy live music, food trucks, kids activities, booze, a dance floor and fresh mountain air at the Nederland Farmers Market’s annual summer festival. Built to Last and The Alcapones are performing, and dozens of vendors will be on hand selling fresh produce and locally made goods.
21
CHARLES SAWTELLE MEMORIAL MOUNTAIN JAM
Noon to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, July 21, Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St., Boulder. $40
Head to the historic Gold Hill Inn for the return of this annual bluegrass bash named for the late Hot Rize guitarist, Charles Sawtelle. This year’s jam includes performances from Sally Van Meter, The Natalie Padilla Band, Bryan Dubrow and more.
EGOT winner Alan Arkin’s career has spanned decades and genres. The Little Miss Sunshine actor will be the focus of this class, led by Colorado Sound and BIFF host Ron Bostwick. Register at bit.ly/BWAlanArkin.
24
BANDS ON THE BRICKS
5:30-9 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, 1300 Block of Pearl Street, Boulder. Free
Downtown Boulder’s favorite outdoor live music tradition continues for another round of tunes and libations. Catch this week’s headliner Mighty Mystic and partake in the outdoor beer-wine-margarita garden for a laidback summer evening.
Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.
LIVE MUSIC
THURSDAY, JULY 18
PICNIC ON THE PLAZA WITH SCHOOL OF ROCK HOUSE BAND Noon. Thursday, July 18, Festival Plaza, 311 S. Public Road, Lafayette. Free
CHARLIE MELLINGER. 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free
GRABLE HOWIE 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free
JACK HADLEY 6:30 p.m. 300 Suns Brewing, 335 1st Ave., Unit C, Longmont. Free
LUCAS WOLF 8 p.m. Laughing Goat, 1709 Pearl St., Boulder. Free
LIONEL YOUNG DUO 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free FUNK KNUF 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $30
THE ROOTS WITH DIGABLE PLANETS 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $67
STEEP CANYON RANGERS WITH HEAD FOR THE HILLS. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $25 STORY ON P. 23
DECHEN HAWK BAND 9 p.m. Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St.,
LIVE MUSIC
ON THE BILL
Chicago darlings Ratboys bring their lived-in blend of power-pop and country-rock to Mission Ballroom in support of indie veterans The Decemberists. The rising quartet returns to the Front Range on the heels of their breakthrough LP The Window, out now via Topshelf Records. Scan the QR code for a Boulder Weekly feature on the band before you go. See listing for details
CRICK WOODER 9 p.m. Southern Sun Pub, 627 S. Broadway, Boulder. Free
Look and Feel Your Best WITH
• Cosmetic Skin Care Treatment
• Hormone Replacement
• Medically Supervised Weight Loss
• Mental Health Medications
• Sports and Camp Physicals
• Illness & Injury Care
435 High Street, Lyons, CO 80540 303-498-5941 www.lyonshealthandwellness.com
ASTROLOGY
BY ROB BREZSNY
ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Have you ever been given a Starbucks gift card but then neglected to use it? Many people fail to cash in such freebies. Believe it or not, there are also folks who buy lottery tickets that turn out to have the winning number, but they never actually claim their rewards. Don’t be like them in the coming weeks, Aries. Be aggressive about cashing in on the offers you receive, even subtle and shy offers. Don’t let invitations and opportunities go to waste. Be alert for good luck and seize it.
TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): The coming weeks will be a favorable time to enhance your relationship with food. In every way you can imagine, be smart and discerning as you plan and eat your meals. Here are ideas to ponder: 1. Do you know exactly which foods are best for your unique body? 2. Are you sufficiently relaxed and emotionally present when you eat? 3. Could you upgrade your willpower to ensure you joyfully gravitate toward what’s healthiest? 4. Do you have any bad habits you could outgrow? 5. Is your approach to eating affected by problematic emotions that you could heal? 6. Are you willing to try improving things incrementally without insisting on being perfect?
GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): Hybridization could be a fun theme for you in the coming weeks. You’re likely to align yourself with cosmic rhythms if you explore the joys and challenges of creating amalgamations, medleys and mash-ups. Your spirit creatures will be the liger — a cross between a lion and a tiger — and a mule, a cross between a horse and a donkey. But please note that your spirit creatures will not be impossible hybrids like a giroose (a cross between a giraffe and a moose) or a coyadger (a cross between a coyote and a badger). It’s good to be experimental and audacious in your mixing and matching, but not lunatic delusional.
CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): In 1986, Cancerian singer-songwriter George Michael released his song “A Different Corner.” It was a big hit. Never before in British pop music had an artist done what Michael accomplished: wrote, sang, arranged and produced the tune, and played all the instruments. I foresee the possibility of a similar proficiency in your near future, Cancerian — if you want it. Maybe you would prefer to collaborate with others in your big projects, but if you choose, you could perform minor miracles all by yourself.
LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): In the Biblical allegory of Noah and the Ark, God warns Noah about an impending flood and commands him to build a giant lifeboat to save living things from extinction. Noah obeys. When the heavy rains come, he, his family and many creatures board the boat to weather the storm. After 40 days and nights of inundation, they are all safe but stranded in a newly created sea. Hoping for a sign of where they might seek sanctuary, Noah sends out a dove to reconnoiter for dry land. But it returns with no clues. A week later, Noah dispatches a second dove. It returns with an olive leaf, showing that the Earth is drying out and land is nearby. Dear Leo, your adventure isn’t as dire and dramatic as Noah’s, but I’m happy to tell you it’s time for you to do the equivalent of sending two doves out to explore.
VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): According to an ancient Chinese proverb, “An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox.” I will add a corollary: An ant may be able to accomplish feats an ox can’t. For instance, I have observed an ant carrying a potato chip back to its nest, and I doubt that an ox could tote a potato chip without mangling it. Virgo, this is my way of telling you that if you must choose between your inspiration being an ant or an ox in the coming days, choose the ant. Be meticulous, persistent and industrious rather than big, strong and rugged.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): “If it sounds too good to be true, it always is,” said stage magician Ricky Jay. I only partially agree with him. While I think it’s usually wise to use his formula as a fundamental principle, I suspect it won’t entirely apply to you in the coming weeks. At least one thing and possibly as many as three may sound too good to be true — but will in fact be true. So if you’re tempted to be hyper-skeptical, tamp down that attitude a bit. Open yourself to the possibilities of amazing grace and minor miracles.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): What is the largest thing ever sold in human history? It was a 530 million-acre chunk of land in North America. In 1803, the French government sold it to the American government for $15 million. It stretched from what’s now Louisiana to Montana. Here’s the twist to the story: The land peddled by France and acquired by the U.S. actually belonged to the Indigenous people who had lived there for many generations. The two nations pretended they had the right to make the transaction. I bring this to your attention, Scorpio, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to make a big, important purchase or sale — as long as you have the authentic rights to do so. Make sure there are no hidden agendas or strings attached. Be thorough in your vetting.
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): An antiques dealer named Laura Young bought a marble bust of a distinguished man at a thrift store in Austin, Texas. She later discovered that it was over 2,000 years old and worth far more than the $35 she had paid for it. It depicted a Roman military leader named Drusus the Elder. I foresee similar themes unfolding in your life, Sagittarius. Possible variations: 1. You come into possession of something that’s more valuable than it initially appears. 2. You connect with an influence that’s weightier than it initially appears. 3. A lucky accident unfolds, bringing unexpected goodies. 4. A seemingly ordinary thing turns out to be an interesting thing in disguise.
CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): My childhood friend Jeanine used to say, “The best proof of friendship is when someone gives you half of their candy bar. The best proof of fantastic friendship is when they give you even more than half.” And then she would hand me more than half of her Snickers bar, Milky Way or Butterfinger. In accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to give away at least half your candy to those you care for in the coming days. It’s a phase of your astrological cycle when you will benefit from offering extra special affection and rewards to the allies who provide you with so much love and support.
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): If you’re a teacher, it’s a favorable time to enjoy a stint as a student — and vice versa. If you’re a healthcare worker trained in Western medicine, it’s an excellent phase to explore alternative healing practices. If you’re a scientist, I suggest you read some holy and outrageous poetry. If you’re a sensitive, introverted mystic, get better informed about messy political issues. In other words, dear Aquarius, open a channel to parts of reality you normally ignore or neglect. Fill in the gaps in your education. Seek out surprise and awakening.
PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): Jane Brunette, a writer I admire, uses the made-up work “plurk” to refer to her favorite activity: a blend of play and work. I have always aspired to make that my core approach, too. I play at my work and work at my play. As much as possible, I have fun while I’m doing the labor-intensive tasks that earn me a living and fulfill my creative urges. And I invoke a disciplined, diligent attitude as I pursue the tasks and projects that bring me pleasure and amusement. I highly recommend you expand and refine your own ability as a plurker in the coming weeks, Pisces. (Jane Brunette is here: flamingseed.com)
SAVAGE LOVE
BY DAN SAVAGE
We’re a straight couple in our forties. We have some very dear friends who are younger and queer, and we sometimes find ourselves giving them life and relationship advice. We don’t want to unintentionally muddy things with our heteronormative expectations.
So, here’s the question: If a gay man goes out with another gay man — something prearranged, intentional, with an articulated plan to spend the night together afterward — is it rude for one of them to flirt with other men and disappear for periods of time? There is no relationship to define as of yet, just a planned night out together.
To us heterosexuals, this seems like a very shitty thing to do. But maybe there’s a different set of expectations or a different baseline in the gay male community?
— Seeking His Input Today, Thank You!
What you describe is deeply shitty behavior regardless of sexual orientation. A good guy doesn’t bring a date (a date date) to a club or a party and then start looking around for better D. If the man who ran off to flirt with other men didn’t realize they were on a date — sometimes a person asks to “hang out” instead of making their romantic/sexual intentions/hopes clear — then it could’ve been a misunderstanding. But if this was an unambiguous date (a date
date) and if they’d made explicit plans to spend the whole/hole night together, that guy — the one who ran off to search for better D — is an inconsiderate asshole.
Now, maybe that guy decided halfway through the date that your friend wasn’t someone he wanted to spend the night with… and maybe he had good reason to bail… but he needed to use his words to officially end the date and given your friend a chance to head home and/or shift gears and start looking for other D himself. I was on a date date with a guy once, and we quickly determined that we weren’t sexually compatible and instantly pivoted to being each other’s wingman, something it was possible for us to do because 1. the feeling was mutual and 2. we used our words.
Sometimes a person hesitates to use his words because he knows the other person isn’t going to like hearing them. But someone who opts to show rather than tell in a case like this — by serving up context clues like flirting with other men and/or disappearing to go get railed in a bathroom stall — is either a coward (the worst kind) or a sadist (the wrong kind).
Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan.
Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love
7/25/24
EAT
a taste of modern Japan in the heart of beautiful Boulder
DRINK
an unmatched selection of rare whiskey, sake, and craft cocktails
ENJOY
the scenery on one of our 3 fireside patios, a feast alongside the jellyfish, or a front row seat at a lively bar
DO YOU SPEAK TAPAS?
Journey Culinary classes fuse food with music, language, culture and fun
BY JOHN LEHNDORFF
For a diehard foodie, learning how to make croissants sounds like fun. It’s acquiring a skill that will repay the effort in flavor for decades to come.
For many home cooks, taking a cooking class sounds more like the homework they hated. It may be useful, but it comes with a heavy sigh.
While Boulder County has no shortage of cooking education opportunities (more on that later), Journey Culinary stands apart with its immersive cultural approach.
School founder Jay Minaya was not originally a chef. He grew up in Lima, Peru and came to Colorado to attend business school. That experience led him to open Longmont’s Journey Language Center to teach second languages to adults and children.
“I became very curious about becoming a cooking instructor and started taking classes,” Minaya said. “I realized that teaching languages was a great gateway to sharing culture through food.”
Journey Culinary opened in 2019, initially offering classes in Peruvian fare. The small sessions take place in a cozy
TASTE OF THE WEEK: LONGMONT’S HALL OF FLAVOR
Food halls are no longer a novelty. These modern food courts have proliferated along the Front Range in the past five years. Longmont’s new Parkway Food Hall, 700 Ken Pratt Blvd., is a refreshing take on the formula.
space at 706 Kimbark St. “Our kitchen is more like a home kitchen,” Minaya said. “We don’t have any restaurant appliances, so you learn in a space much like your own.”
The school offers one-night cooking classes in various cuisines as well as sessions to develop cooking, knife, sauce and pasta fundamentals.
“When we’re teaching a Peruvian cooking class, we always explain the language and have Peruvian background music,” Minaya said. “We don’t just show the ways to cut carrots properly but why the French came up with these different cuts. There is history behind the cooking.”
School staff includes Bahar Ghodousi, who focuses on Mediterranean and Persian cooking, and Deborah Dupuis, an expert in Italian, French and Spanish cookery.
social and relaxed atmosphere, classes also always end with a meal.
For Minaya, the warmer months are a perfect time to acquire new cooking ideas.
“I love summer,” he said. “It’s a great season for cooking with all the fresh produce.”
“They share the same philosophy of making classes hands-on, fun and delicious,” Minaya said. “It’s supposed to be entertaining. We play trivia games and have little contests.” Continuing the
Set in a former supermarket site, the 6,000-square-foot location boasts an unusually spacious, accessible layout with more seating than many of these destinations. Doors and windows open up on a big patio and an impressive number of dining options.
MORE LOCAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts. Boulder’s professional
I visited the Parkway with a bunch of friends so we got to taste a wide range of dishes at the eight food and drink counters.
First up, Baa Hachi dishes wow-worthy, Instagramable Japanese street food made to order. We loved the yakisoba, the okonomiyaki savory pancakes and especially the spicy karaage boneless fried chicken with three dipping sauces. The shop is a spinoff of Niwot’s Farow restaurant, headed up by Michelin-star chef Adam Chan. Another Farow project, Pie Dog Pizza deserves
cooking and baking school also offers occasional home cook classes. escoffier.edu/ about/cooking-classes-boulder Food Lab. Located on Pearl Street in Boulder, this school offers a wide range of hands-on group classes for adults and children: paella (July 21); date night Paris (July 26); plant-based Indian (Aug. 5). foodlabboulder.com
OZO Coffee. Boulder-based coffee roastery hosts handson classes: intro to coffee and cupping (Aug. 18); latte art (Aug. 25). ozocoffee.com
Piece, Love & Chocolate. Boulder shop offers classes for amateurs and professionals: truffles and ganache (Aug. 3); eclairs and cream puffs (Aug. 24); macarons (Aug. 31). pieceloveand chocolate.com
The School of Natural Cookery. This Boulder institution offers in-depth courses on mastering healthy, plantbased cooking for home and professional cooks. naturalcookery.com
Sur La Table. Classes and camps at Boulder cookware store on the 29th Street Mall. Date night: Parisian (Aug. 3); croissants (Aug. 17); great British baking (Aug. 25). surlatable.com
The Art of Cheese: Longmont’s cheesemaking school offers hands-on classes including goat farm tours: mozzarella and burrata (Aug. 3). theartofcheese.com
its long lines. The high-temperature ovens produce spot-on Neapolitan-style pizzas with a great chewy crust.
My buds gave an ovation to the burnt beef ends and cherrywood-smoked ribs at Denver-born H3rsh3r BBQ Co. I didn’t get to sample them, but a self-described “upstate New York wing snob” loved the smoked, dry-rubbed chicken wings. “My expectations were very low,” she said, “but they were crispy and juicy and the sauce had just the right amount of heat.”
Also worthy of a shoutout is the Thai fried rice with pineapple and huge cashew nuts at Spice Fusion. The counter offers Thai and Indian choices from pad see ew to chicken tikka masala from the folks behind Gurkhas in Longmont and Boulder.
Jay Minaya, founder of Longmont’s Journey Culinary. Courtesy: Journey Culinary
Karaage chicken at Baa Hachi. Courtesy: Baa Hachi
NIBBLES
LOCAL FOOD NEWS: NEW RESTAURANT BUZZ
Chef Johnny Curiel’s Cozobi Fonda Fina, a fine dining, cornfocused Mexican restaurant, has opened at 909 Walnut St., Boulder. Zoe Ma Ma, Edwin Zoe’s award-winning Asian street food eatery, has relocated to a larger space at 919 Pearl St., Boulder after a lengthy permitting process.
The Local has closed at 2731 Iris Ave., former site of Murphy’s North. The Local’s sister restaurant, FRINGE, remains open at 2900 Valmont Road, Boulder.
CULINARY CALENDAR: PIE CONTEST IN LOUISVILLE
Boulder’s Flatirons Food Film Festival hosts Reels for Meals on July 18 at eTown Hall. The benefit for Meals on Wheels features acclaimed French film The Taste of Things and a post-film panel featuring chefs Eric Skokan, Susan Kaiser Yurish and Julien Jeannot
Tickets: bit.ly/Reels4MealsBW
Calling all Colorado pie-makers! After a long post-COVID hiatus, Louisville is bringing back the Louisville Fall Festival Pie Contest on Sept. 2. Enter here: bit.ly/PieContestBW
WORDS TO CHEW ON: COOKIE MONSTER ZEN
“You can be miserable before you eat a cookie, and you can be miserable afterwards. But never while you’re eating a cookie.” — Ina Garten
John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles at 8:20 a.m. Thursdays on KGNU (88.5 FM, streaming at kgnu.org)
Louisville’s Louisville Fall Festival Pie Contest. Credit: John Lehndorff
ON DRUGS
MED SCHOOLS HAVE A BLIND SPOT WHEN IT COMES TO POT
Doctors aren’t prepared to give advice on legal recreational drugs
BY SHAY CASTLE
Astudent named T, studying at a Colorado medical school, can count on one hand the things she’s learned about cannabis and psychedelics from her professors.
“We’ve had probably two hour-and-ahalf lectures on drugs of abuse, which included weed and psychedelics,” she said, “and a decent amount of information about the use of ketamine on PTSD in our psych course.”
Beyond that, T said, cannabis has been “brought up a couple times,” including its potential to fight nausea and stimulate appetite. She may learn more in her third and fourth years, but “I’m a little bit disappointed in how much we’ve learned so far.”
Recreational cannabis has been legal for a decade in Colorado; medical uses have been legalized for nearly a quarter-century. Weed and psychedelics such as shrooms — decriminalized in Denver five years ago and statewide in 2022 — are widely used.
Despite their ubiquity, doctors are ill equipped to counsel patients on the potential harms, benefits or side effects of these legal drugs. There are
no standard curricula for medical students in Colorado or the U.S. and no requirements that physicians be educated about them.
“It’s a bit taboo to be talking about drugs,” T said of the medical school setting. She did not feel comfortable providing her name or the name of her institution, which has strict policies on media and a prohibition on cannabis. Students are routinely drug tested.
“They definitely have left me with a lot of questions,” T said, “and I know my peers feel the same way.”
‘DO THEIR OWN HOMEWORK’
A 2017 study found that just 9% of medical schools had anything about medical marijuana in their curricula.
Titled “Physicians-in-training are not prepared to prescribe medical marijuana,” the report “highlights a fundamental and potentially growing mismatch between the legalization of medical marijuana at a state level and the ability of physicians to properly address patients’ questions about medical marijuana or to appropriately prescribe it,” authors wrote.
There does not appear to be more recent data about medical school curricula than the now-seven-year-old study, published before many states legalized cannabis and/or psychedelics.
“The AAMC does not have any data on cannabis or psychedelics in medical school curriculum,” wrote a spokesperson for the Association of American Medical Colleges, in response to an interview request.
“Neither the AAMC nor the LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education), the accrediting body for medical education programs, prescribe a specific curriculum. Each medical school designs its own.”
A spokesperson for the Federation of State Medical Boards likewise wrote, “We do not have any information on this, as our member state medical boards do not have any jurisdiction over med school curricula.”
The board overseeing medical licenses for doctors in Colorado devotes three of its 107-page policy guidelines to recommendations for prescribing “marijuana as a therapeutic option.” Physicians should consider patient and family history, drug interactions and other physical and psychological conditions, the guidance states, and “may subsequently counsel the patient regarding the pros, cons, risks, benefits, alternatives, and other relevant considerations around a recommendation for marijuana as a therapeutic agent.”
The rules for cannabis are “the same for any pharmaceutical drug that comes to market,” said Katie O’Donnell, direc-
tor of communications for the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, which oversees the medical licensing board. “A medical provider would need to do their own homework.”
BEHIND THE RESEARCH
State statute does mandate that doctor’s give advice based on research, O’Donnell said, “but they don’t really go into detail on what you can or can’t say to a patient.”
That’s partly because so little is known about cannabis and psychedelics. Federal prohibition has made doing research difficult, which may prevent physicians from sharing what is suspected but not confirmed about illicit drugs.
T has been taught what to say if patients have questions about recreational drugs, including cannabis.
“The acceptable response is, ‘I don’t know a lot about this. Let me do my research and get back to you,’” she said, which is also how doctors are trained to respond to questions about pharmaceuticals they are unfamiliar with.
T is looking forward to the anticipated reclassification of cannabis at the federal level and the launch of therapeutic psychedelic programs in Colorado, which may spur more research into the positive potential of the drugs as well as the unknown side effects and drug interactions — information that will ultimately make her a better doctor.
“We’ll have a lot more answers for people,” she said. “And not be so afraid to talk about it.”
