Education

Eighth-graders in the Art II class at Evergreen Middle School have broadened their definition of art after a semester-long fused-glass project.

Some would add risk-taking, culture and learning to work together as some of the lessons learned — in addition to the ornate glass tiles they created. The project consisted of working with glass tiles and metal to create artwork. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Simba, Timon and Pumbaa will be up to their usual antics with “hakuna matata” as their mantra at Evergreen Country Day School.

The three — along with the usual characters — will perform the kids version of “Lion King” at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26.

This is the second year that the middle-schoolers at ECDS have performed a musical. Last year it was “Aladdin Jr.,” according to music teacher Mandy Marino.

 Mountain area residents at a Jeffco Public Schools community forum had plenty of ideas for how the district should spend its money, with various attendees suggesting more incentives for teachers in hard-to-fill fields or hard-to-staff schools, bulking up the district’s security team, or providing more funding for the arts.

A Jeffco judge’s decision that teachers’ sick-leave records are public information and not confidential personnel information was upheld in a Jan. 14 state Court of Appeals decision.

Judges Steve Bernard, Robert Hawthorne and Anthony Navarro upheld a 2015 decision against the Jefferson County Education Association, which sought to prevent the Jeffco school district from releasing the names of teachers who were absent from work during “sick-outs” at several schools in late 2014. More than one Jeffco resident had requested the information.