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Senior Highlight: GVR senior shares how she found a love for software engineering, what graduation means to her as an older sibling

DSST: Green Valley Ranch senior Doryanna Aldava had a great role model in her older sister, and now it's her turn to be a role model to her younger brother and friends. We sat down to ask her a few questions about her experience:

DSST: College View getting new home soccer field in huge win for community

DSST: College View has been trying to get a home soccer field since 2013, and after years of work and advocating for the campus, it was approved by Denver voters and a new field is officially in the works.

The nearly $2.1 million project is being paid for by bond funding approved by the voters, and the school is hoping it will be completed by the beginning of next year, according to Curt Slaughter, athletic director for CV HS.

According to legal documents, the funds will cover infrastructure and turf for a new soccer field on the newly acquired land located across the street from the school.

College View was one of the only middle and high schools in the district without dedicated playing fields, so this is a major win not only for the players, but for the community.

“The most exciting part for me in getting a new field is having more people at our games,” said Hector Contreras, DSST: College View junior. “I think the boys soccer team is the best and most successful program at the school and it’s about time we get this.”

Coach Jacob Quattrini said he has seen envy in his players when they go to games at other schools with quality facilities, so having a new field that players and community members can call home is an exciting opportunity.

“Having access to better facilities right next to the school will give access to so many more players who may have been deterred before,” Quattrini said. “Even students who do not formally participate in sports will now be able to play on the field during gym class or on the weekends.”

The boys high school soccer team has been among the top-ranked in the state, even without a home field. They just came off the most successful season ever after being ranked No.1 in the state and have remained successful even after taking a tough loss in penalty shots in the second round of the state playoffs, Slaughter said. The girls soccer team has also shown much success. According to Slaughter, they made the playoffs two years ago for the first time, taking second in their league.

“This field represents all of the hard work and commitment that every single one of our students have put in over the past seven years,” said Slaughter. “Soccer is such a huge part of the Southwest community and to have not just a field, but a high quality playing environment will continue to build pride in not just our athletic community, but our entire school community.”

DSST Mentor Teacher applications are now open

A post by Joah Chun:

How the Colorado Youth Congress is empowering high school students to fight for racial justice

The power of getting together, even through a Zoom, is a power Sam Battan wanted to unleash when he created Colorado Youth Congress in 2017. Battan recruits 40 students from high schools around the state for an after-school leadership program students and staff refer to as "CYC." Sammy Kidane is a senior at DSST: Byers Campus. He said that CYC has taught him how to be an organizer and how to connect with others on issues racial justice.

Senior Highlight: Montview senior shares his journey to acceptance at Cornell University

DSST: Montview senior Kidus Legesse had a 6.3% chance of getting into Cornell University. Despite the odds, he's going to be attending on a full ride this fall. We sat down to ask him a few questions about his journey:

Junior from DSST: Byers shares her perspective on International Women's Day conference

A post by Donna Williams-Martinez, junior at DSST: Byers

Chemist Fights Tuberculosis, Aids Future Scientists With Grant

John Latham, an associate professor in the University of Denver’s College of Natural Science and Mathematics, is hoping his research can slow this deadly disease. With the money from the CAREER grant, Latham can sponsor a collaboration with Denver’s DSST Public Schools, which focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Celebrating strong women all over the globe for International Women's Day

Beginning in 1978 in Sonoma County California, Women's History Month started out as a week to correspond with International Women’s Day. In 1980, as the celebration became more popular across the U.S., a consortium of women, led by the National Women’s Project, lobbied for recognition on a greater platform. By February of 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s Week. Throughout the following years, presidents continued to declare Women’s History Week, until March of 1987 when Women’s History Month was passed into law by Congress.

What to know about the DISCOVER DSST Fireside chat with Bill Kurtz and Dr. Aaron Griffen

Do you know someone who is interested in joining the DSST team?

At Our Core: Presenting the FYI on DEI at DSST

Read about DSST’s Early Spring 2022  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Journey

“Eliminating educational inequity and integrating schools” remains core to our mission at DSST. Essential to tackling these challenges is the internal work we do to sharpen our own equity lenses as we create more diverse, equitable and inclusive systems. In partnership with our staff, students and families, The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team remains dedicated to cultivating a school community that welcomes open discussion and self-reflection around these issues. This has been done in many ways, including the continuation of Affinity Groups and campus DEI Liaisons, and the launch of our Trans and NonBinary Youth Advocates. These partnerships have allowed us to reflect on where we have been, assess where we are as a network and revisit our goals for the future. 

DEI Team Step Back

During the waning days of October, our DEI team began a series of Monthly Step Backs in order to think through and design a specific DEI Team Vision Statement and Mission Statement. Using a process from Cornell University, the DEI team spent hours combing over what the team’s future workstream should look like, our individual and team frustrations with our work and the present state. On Dec. 6, 2021, the DEI team landed on the following:

• DEI Service Team Vision: Center the Human Condition
• DEI Service Team Mission Statement: Foster a shared ownership and capacity to build inclusive communities and experiences among DSST staff, students and families that eliminate educational inequity.

North Star and Guiding Belief

• North Star: The DEI service team seeks to affirm staff, student and family experiences in the transformation of their world into a just and fair place.  
• Guiding Belief: The universe is on a long arch of justice where the reconstruction of systems that shape our world rely on cultures of belonging, sustainability and authenticity in order to be fully anti-racist and anti-oppressive. 

Therefore the DEI Service Team at DSST Public Schools’ mission is to foster shared ownership and capacity to build inclusive communities and experiences among DSST staff, students and families that eliminate educational inequity in fulfillment of our vision to center the Human Condition (Vision) in every aspect of our work. 

DSST Diversity Equity and Inclusion execution

In the execution of this vision, mission and guiding belief, the DEI service team will ensure a continued DSST focus on our 8 Equity Paradigm Shifts and DSST’s Commitments to Becoming an Anti-Racist Organization as we seek to meet the expectations of the Black Excellence Resolution. To learn about how DSST is meeting the Black Excellence Resolution, click here:  Black Excellence Resolution and DSST Public Schools.

DSST Commitment to Becoming an Anti-Racist Organization

This chart below represents a snapshot of how individual schools and Home Office departments are meeting the DSST commitment to becoming an Anti-Racist organization in a specified commitment area. To learn more about how your school, campus or Home Office department, reach out to your DEI liaison and leaders.

DEI Service Team Commitment and Journey

The work of the DEI Service Team remains committed to building on foundations that laid in partnership with the National Equity Project from 2016 to 2020,  with the main goals of: 

1. Authentically embracing DEI work as a cornerstone for student success
2. Understanding the importance of an equity mindset in our day to day work
3. Building the opportunity to participate in spaces that allow for space and voice, particularly for non-dominant populations
4. Ensuring that our commitment to integrated schools is more than just an enrollment policy - it is demonstrated in all of our core practices, processes and ultimate outcomes.

If you would like to get involved in DEI work at DSST, there are many avenues! You can join an Affinity Group, or contact Aaron Griffen, Ash Gelb or Mercedes Blea-Davis to initiate a specific program within your school community. There are also many DEI resources already available at your fingertips, including tons of articles, videos, books, websites and audio to help us learn and reflect on the many aspects of identity, diversity, equity and inclusion. 

This work is never complete, and there is always something new to learn, so please feel free to connect with your DEI liaison on any ideas you may have. We are all experts in this work in our own unique way. The more we can reflect upon and discuss with each other our unique viewpoints, and listen to those of our colleagues, the closer we will get to growing our equity mindsets, making our schools an even more welcoming place for our vibrantly diverse team of students and staff and eliminating educational inequity. 

Yours in the work,

Aaron, Ash and Mercedes

DSST DEI Service Team