HELIX FEED

Everything you need to know before Infusion 2022

We are extremely excited to kick off the new school year with you at our all-staff Infusion event at the Denver Botanic Gardens this Friday, August 12, at 9 a.m.

Welcome new staff and teachers! Here are a few highlights from our new staff events

Last week DSST hosted our annual New Staff Training (NST) and New Teacher Training (NTT) at DSST: Conservatory Green high school and DSST: Byers respectively.

We were so excited to welcome the nearly 200 new teachers and staff to the DSST team. 

Take a look at some highlights from the events:

A huge thanks to everyone who helped put this together for our new teachers and staff.

We hope you all have a wonderful 2022-23 school year! 

Meet Michael Bonner, this year's Infusion keynote speaker.

We are so excited to announce that the keynote speaker at Infusion 2022 will be Michael Bonner.

Why is Juneteenth an important day?

Emancipation Day, also known as Juneteenth, is a day of remembrance, reflection and celebration for the Black community. Juneteenth is celebrated to give thanks for all of the contributions, strength and sacrifices of our enslaved ancestors. Without them, our growth and courage would have been impossible.

Pride month is about more than just rainbows and parades

A post by Ash Gelb, Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

June is a thrilling month for the LGBTQIA community and their allies, filled with parties, parades and as much drag queen brunch as you can handle. As our favorite companies turn their logos into rainbows, it is important to remember that the first PRIDE was a riot against police brutality. And that PRIDE is more than rainbow-washed branding, it is still an important march for the rights of LGBTQ+ people. 

DSST alums share how DSST impacted them, give life advice to seniors

Our DSST alumni are out doing some pretty incredible things. As part of our sendoff to seniors, we asked a few of them to share some life advice. Here is what they had to say:

Cole-chella, Wolfstock showcase creativity thriving in students at Cole and College View

Musicians, artists, tie-dye and more! The end-of-year events at DSST: Cole and DSST: College View showcased the creative spirit thriving at each school through an all-out musical shindig and a groovy art showcase.

Meet the newest members of DSST's Senior Leadership Team

As we near the end of the 2021-22 school year, I am excited to share some updates about DSST’s leadership team. As many of you know, DSST has grown rapidly since we started DSST MTV HS in 2004. We have since opened 15 new schools, all of which have been consistently ranked among the best schools in Denver and Aurora, thanks to your hard work. Over the last five years, we have deeply recognized the journey we need to walk to become a more diverse and equitable organization and have increasingly understood the importance of using every resource we have wisely. In consultation with our Board of Directors, we have decided to add two positions to our Senior Leadership Team - a Chief Equity Officer and a Chief Financial Officer – to meet these important focal points of the organization. Adding these two roles to our senior leadership team is important in guiding DSST and our schools to future success. 

2 DSST staff launch community-led mental health ventures in partnership with Moonshot Edventures

Did you know that two of DSST’s mental health providers have started community-led ventures that are gaining attention in the larger Denver community?

In partnership with Moonshot Edventures, Ashlee Morris from CG MS started Girl Talk, a mental health-focused program supporting middle and high school girls of color across the Denver Metro Area, empowering girls to know themselves deeply, lead the world boldly and envision a world where girls are celebrated, uplifted, and supported to awaken their power.

Megan Casimir, from the Cole campus, is the founder of Words Beyond Walls, which connects formerly incarcerated young adults from the Cole neighborhood as mentors and community care facilitators for young people with justice system experience and their loved ones. Words Beyond Walls runs a weekly open-to-the-community healing circle and a communications workshop in the Cole HS AN Center. And, next fall they will be launching a peer mental health support drop-in space.

On June 16, both ventures will be featured in an online event called Shoot For the Moon. It will be a great opportunity to meet amazing folks doing interesting work in the Denver education scene, to hear from some of the young people involved with these ventures, and to support two programs that are directly impacting DSST students every day! If you’re interested in joining, RSVP at this link. If you can’t join, but would like to donate to support either of these ventures, the link to donate is here, and all donations will be matched due to the generosity of an anonymous donor!

How to support students and families who are part of the foster care system

National Foster Care Awareness Month is a way to acknowledge foster parents, family members, volunteers, mentors, policymakers, child welfare professionals, and other members of the community who help children and youth in foster care find permanent homes and connections. In recognition of Foster Care Awareness Month, we want to share some insights about families and children in foster care, so that our community will begin a journey of support.