David Bondarchuck is a local cooking celebrity. The Denver-based caterer has decorated a White House holiday party, appeared on television with Martha Stewart and on the Food Network.
His company, Scratch Catering, reflects his passion to his craft, honed since childhood. His inspiration: The cookbooks he pored over at the Denver Public Library as a homeless teenager.
He spoke about that experience — and on meeting his idol, Stewart (“It was the best Christmas ever!”) — at the Civic Health Summit this week in Denver. The Civic Health Summit brought together educators, foundations, and elected leaders to discuss ways to improve civic participation and the quality of life for all in Colorado.
The event was filled with passionate conversations about working to improve the lives of homeless teens, to increasing voter participation, to working on the achievement gap in Colorado, particularly between white Coloradans and the rapidly growing Latino youth population.
Colorado Lt. Joseph Garcia spoke about his years at Harvard Law School, working toward making the faculty and leadership “look more like us.” Three decades later in Colorado, we still have a leadership and achievement gap, much of which is along racial lines.
“That is a big challenge that I would encourage all of you to take on, in our state,” Garcia said.
The Community Foundation’s 2015 TRENDS report will reflect some of these changing trends. In 1990, 93 percent of Boulder County residents were white, according to the U.S. Census. In 2013, more than 13 percent of the county was Latino, while 88 percent of the county was white. Non-Latino whites: Just 79 percent.
Yet TRENDS continues to record that the educational outcomes for white children and Latino children remain divided. Consider:
- For third grade TCAP reading scores in BVSD: In 2014, 55 percent of Hispanic or Latinos scored proficient or advanced; That’s compared with 88.9 percent of whites.
- In St. Vrain in 2014, 55 percent of Hispanic or Latino children scored proficient or advanced, compared with 85.2 percent of whites.
- According to the Colorado Department of Higher Education, for the Class of 2012 in BVSD, 44.3 percent of Latino high school graduates enrolled in college, compared with 72.6 percent of white graduates.
- In St. Vrain, 38.8 percent of Latino high school graduates enrolled in college, compared with 66.9 percent of white graduates.
- Also according to the department: In BVSD, 91.8 percent of the students graduated on time; 79 percent of Latino students graduated on time.
- In St. Vrain, the on-time graduation rate was 83 percent; that’s compared with 72.4 percent of Latino students.
There’s a lot of work that can be done. One idea, with merit, from Lt. Gov. Garcia: Funded early childhood education for all Coloradans, regardless of race.
“This is not just about building and sustaining our economy, it’s about building and sustaining a democracy,” he said.
