Throughout January, multiple educational events will be hosted to help create a strong and safe start to the 2024 school semester.
Local and state educational institutions will be presenting on a variety of topics in the new year, including test scores, student performance and safety.
On Thursday, Jan. 11 at noon, Montezuma-Cortez Superintendent Tom Burris and Leadership Montezuma will host a presentation about how test scores in local schools ultimately affect the communities students live in, specifically business communities.
The event will be hosted at the Cortez Area Chamber of Commerce Business Resource Center at 20 W. Main St. in Cortez.
According to information provided by the district, Burris and Leadership Montezuma also will discuss student achievement and an overview about what goes into student achievement, state standard and testing, including CMAS, PSAT and SAT tests.
They will also provide information about how test scores also feed into students applying and attending college and trade schools.
The first 20 registrants will receive a free lunch at the event from the M-CHS Panther Chefs.
Those who wish to attend can register through the event link.
Questions can be can be send to Deb Ramsey at deb.ramsey@cortez.k12.co.us or at 970-565-7282, extension 1119.
Every Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. through 12:30 p.m. for the remainder of the month, the Colorado Department of Safety’s Office of School Safety will be hosting a school safety speaker series.
This series, according to organizers, will help promote safety in Colorado schools while also shining a spotlight on issues students are facing in a “technology-driven environment.”
“This series is for parents, educators, guardians and anyone interested in learning about methods to keep youths safe from daily digital influences impacting the lives of students,” the news release said.
On Tuesday, Jan. 9, Angelie Donzanti, senior crime analyst for the San Jose Police Department will present on “sextortion” in schools.
“Sextortion” is a form of blackmail in which an individual or group threatens to use someone’s sensitive photos or videos unless the target does some sort of favor or compensates them with money.
On Tuesday, Jan. 16, Margaret Ochoa and Kati Garner from the Colorado Office of School Safety will give a presentation on pornography in schools titled, “Porn isn’t going away, so what do we do about it?”
On Tuesday, Jan. 23, Colton Easton from Safer Schools Together will talk to those in attendance about how scammers are utilizing artificial intelligence and how this could affect students and schools.
Last, the event on Tuesday, Jan. 30 will be on cyberbullying. This presentation will be given by co-founder of Cyberbullying Research Center Sameer Hinduja, PhD.
Registration is free for attendees, but registration must be completed before a Zoom link is provided. Those interested can register online.
