GILPIN COUNTY — Keira Ferrante, a 10th grade student, sat alongside Gilpin County Board of Education (BOE) members as the student representative at their November 18 meeting.

Keira was an active participant. Not only did she represent the student voice, she also presented on her favorite subject: chemistry. It will be useful when she realizes her dream of being a veterinarian. 

Ferrante, also a member of the Student Council, said one thing she's learned in high school is "not to take friend drama too seriously.”  

All board members were in attendance for the meeting; Sarah Swanson attended via telephone. This was Swanson’s last meeting as a board member, as she is term limited. 

Kirsten Goodlett, who was reelected to her four-year position, had several questions for Ferrante. 

Superintendent Dr. David MacKenzie thanked Swanson for her eight years of service. Board member Joe Marr congratulated Goodlett and Jill Peterson, who was elected to a two-year term.

MacKenzie later congratulated new board member Victoria Edwards who will serve a four-year term, replacing Swanson. 

MacKenzie also thanked and acknowledged those who did not win their races, Gary Duncan and Brady Fowler, for participating in the election.

The first student presentation was led by first-year art teacher Olivia Regester. Alyssa Zemel and Hayley Hardman presented their creative sculpture projects depicting endangered animals. The students used recycled materials. 

Secondary principal Sara Reicht informed the board the Veteran’s Day celebration was well attended. During the celebration, Dawn Blake and Rachel Van Hoose, secondary math teachers, along with elementary educator Susan Sepanick, were all named as Teachers of the Year. 

Students of the month

November Students of the Month were also announced during the meeting. 

For the elementary school, Waylon May was nominated by his classroom teacher who wrote, “Waylon is a great mathematician, reader and author. He is always trying his best!" 

The middle school student of the month, Isabella Cordova, “works hard in everything she does. She is a model for what persistence looks like in the classroom.”

At the high school level, Nutcha “Guitar” Saowan took the top student honor. Guitar, who just arrived in Gilpin this year, “demonstrates this month’s focus of persistence. Guitar sets high standards for herself and puts in the extra effort to reach those standards.”

November Athletes of the Month are senior Elise Vincent and middle schooler Catalina Rodriguez. Both excel in volleyball. 

Among the accolades for Vincent, it was mentioned that “she plays an active role as a player/coach for both the varsity and the JV. She has grown into one of the best players in our league.” 

Regarding Rodriguez, “Catalina learns quickly and she improved tremendously during our short season. It is awesome to have such a coachable player be involved in any sport.”

Student presentation

Justin Kennedy and Ferrante presented a slide show on how to form and name ionic compounds. Their goal was to simplify the information on compounds. They both seemed at ease with the subject, and their teacher, Heather Newman, was obviously proud of their work.

New website

Nathan Detling, Gilpin’s technology administrator, reviewed the school’s new website and Parent Square, a source of information for parents and caregivers. Detling gave many examples of how the new site will lead to improved communications between families and the school. 

As an example, Parent Square messages can be translated into approximately 90 different languages. Parents will be able to communicate in their native language, and an English-speaking recipient will receive the message automatically translated to English. 

Good news

Elementary principal Patrick Linnehan announced Gilpin County Elementary was named a U.S. News and World Report Best Elementary School for 2026, the second consecutive year receiving the recognition. Another bit of good news Linnehan shared: a more than 92% participation rate for parent-teacher conferences. 

Linnehan and staff have been working on Community Circles and have received training on how the groups can be run. There was a math challenge for all elementary students, which Linnehan said was a lot of fun. The senior class helped run the activities, which Linnehan stressed was invaluable in having a successful event. 

The elementary theme this month is “Kindness makes the world go round.” Students are asked to report acts of kindness by other students they witness. 

Reicht has also been focusing on Community Circles in the secondary school, which she says lets students know they are cared about. The outcome has been very positive and all, students and staff, are learning better ways to conduct the circles to make a positive impact. 

Restorative Justice is another active part of building student relationships, according to MacKenzie. Relationships between staff and students, but especially between the students, get stronger.

“Restorative Justice is intended to be proactive to head things off before they ever start, before we ever have any kind of discipline issues," MacKenzie said.

The secondary Student Council is planning a Students vs. Teachers volleyball game the day before Thanksgiving break. There was some nervousness expressed about staff competing against some very accomplished members of the volleyball team.

Peterson noted that there needs to be follow-up in making sure that all coaches are receiving the mandated training, such as CPR. MacKenzie noted there are plans in place to have trainings for coaches at the beginning of each season. 

Superintendent’s report

In the Superintendent’s report, MacKenzie advised the district will be paying out $343,000 for the sewer project. There is approximately the same amount left in the contingency fund. The next step is connecting the school to the sewer line. 

The final project will be put up to bid. It will cost approximately $200,000 to decommission the current system. 

The lock-down buttons have been installed and will be tested within a week. The students will be told if the buttons are pushed, there is no turning back. The school will go into lockdown and emergency services, such as the Sheriff’s and fire departments, will arrive.

Students will be held accountable if buttons are erroneously set off. When an incident occurs, the school will notify parents as soon as possible with as much information that is possible to be released. 

Finally, MacKenzie reported that the 2022-23 audit is done and submitted, and the 2023-24 audit is expected “at any time.” The 2024-25 audit will be completed by the mandated deadline December 31. 

The next meeting will be held December 9 at 7 p.m., in the District Meeting Room, 10585 Highway 119, Black Hawk. The regularly scheduled December 2 meeting is cancelled due to board members attending a conference for school board members. At the December 9 meeting, the board will certify the mill levy and swear in new members.