Susan Orlean cuts a slight but certain figure. When she and moderator Christine Benedetti took the Paepcke Auditorium stage on Jan. 28, no one in the audience could doubt that Orlean enjoys a good conversation. That was how she passed the next hour: Cheerful chatting about her years as a features journalist and her newest […]
Education
Posted inEducation
RFSD Report: Board discusses declining enrollment, budget, safety
In addition to January’s planned regular board meetings on Jan. 14 and 28, the Roaring Fork School District (RFSD) also held a community meeting on school safety on Jan. 27 from 7 to 8pm to discuss its current strategies and protocols with families. The gathering complemented the regular meetings’ focus on updates to the 2025-2026 […]
Posted inYouth News
Confronting vaping across schools
With the stress that modern life presents to the youth, it is no surprise that many have turned to controversial sources for relief. Throughout the Roaring Fork School District (RFSD), tobacco and vaping use in schools appear to be a large problem. According to Joel Hathaway, executive director of schools at RFSD, there have been […]
Posted inEducation
Glenwood charter school seeks legal ruling on ability to bus students from neighboring district
A decision whether the charter Two Rivers Community School (TRCS) will be able to continue busing students from the neighboring Garfield Re-2 School District now rests with a judge. Re-2 Superintendent Kirk Banghart in October 2025 sent a letter to Roaring Fork District Re-1 Superintendent Anna Cole requesting an end to TRCS’s practice of busing […]
Posted inEducation
Carbondale Education Foundation coming into its own to support local schools
An effort to resurrect a Carbondale-centric foundation to support the local schools has yielded a fair amount of success over the last two years. In October of last year, the new Carbondale Education Foundation (CEF) also resurrected the town’s Oktoberfest celebration, taking it on as a primary fundraiser for the organization. The event raised more […]
Posted inEducation
New Aspen Science Center executive director set to expand programming
Alex Tarika first joined the Aspen Science Center (ASC) as a member of the education staff in February 2024. She came from a background in classroom science education, having taught at Aspen Middle School from 2018 to 2022 and Carbondale Community School from 2022 to 2023. When Tarika joined ASC as a new mom, she […]
Posted inNonprofits
River Bridge notes child abuse prevention education ‘strengths’ and ‘needs’
River Bridge Regional Center (RBRC) presented its Child Abuse Prevention Education Strengths and Needs Assessment in the fall in partnership with the OMNI Institute, a Denver-based social science consulting organization, and spoke to RBRC’s progress as an organization and its short- and long-term goals. This assessment, according to Development Director Mary Cloud, helps set the […]
Posted inNews
School bus safety rules and etiquette
It is a new year, and students are back in school. What better time, then, to refresh our memories on school-bus safety when students are getting on or off — especially now, with winter’s more challenging driving conditions? First, the state law. Drivers in either direction on a road or street must stop no closer […]
Posted inLocal Government
RFSD Report: Financial audit reviewed, ten-year staff housing plan approved
Though the Roaring Fork School District (RFSD) had only one regular board meeting during the month of December, the end of the year was full of news and changes. On Dec. 3, newly-elected board members Tammy Nimmo and Kathryn Kuhlenberg were sworn in for four-year terms. The election, which spans five sections of the school […]
Posted inBusiness
You belong at Mindful Me Playhouse
Jodi Burgart, founder and co-owner of Carbondale’s premiere indoor play space, Mindful Me Playhouse, knows that the right tone means everything. “Something that’s very sweet is that for every single class we implement mindful moments,” said Burgart. She then gently struck her singing bowl and a harmonic sound radiated. “The kids who come a lot […]