‹‹ Colorado Matters

May 22, 2025: A ‘final exam’ for education — in the classroom with Colorado’s teacher of the year; Monarch migration

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Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Teacher Janet Damon leads class at Delta High School in Denver.

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Today we go inside the classroom, with Colorado's Teacher of the Year, Janet Damon of Delta High School, an alternative public school in Denver. How growing up in Colorado helped shape her as an educator, plus, her students share the qualities they've learned from her that will help them seize the summer.

Photo shows a teacher surrounded by five of her students grouped together standing in her classroom.
Chandra Thomas Whitfield/CPR News
Colorado's teacher of the year, Janet Damon (center back row) and five of her students at Delta High School in Denver.

Also, documentary filmmaker and Colorado College alum Mike Shum speaks at graduation day. Plus, scientists estimate that as many as 75 percent of the insects in the world have vanished over the past 50 years. Among the species hardest hit: the Monarch butterfly. What you can do to help.

A small black, white and orange butterfly stands on a leaf
Arlo Pérez Esquivel
A small black, white and orange butterfly stands on a leaf at the Butterfly Pavilion at Westminster