Laramie County School District 1 announces its participation in the federally funded Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). Under the SFSP, nutritious meals are provided free of charge to children 18 years and under at the following sites:

1213 W. Allison Rd.

1400 East College Dr.

Meals are required to be eaten on site. Grab-and-go meals will not be permitted.

For more information, contact Nutrition Services, 771-2440.

Brian Cox, an agriculture teacher at South High, was selected as the 2026–2027 Laramie County School District 1 Teacher of the Year. He was notified of the award at a surprise school assembly on Friday, April 24, and will be recognized by the LCSD1 Board of Trustees at their meeting on Monday, May 18. 

Cox has been an educator at LCSD1 since 2023, teaching students at Johnson Junior High and South High. 

According to his nomination form, which was submitted by a student, Cox sees growth and potential in every student. 

“He isn’t just teaching agriculture, he is helping teach our future with the skills and confidence that we need,” the form said. 

Cox holds a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary agriculture from Texas Tech University. While completing his degree, he was a member of the Texas Teach livestock judging team and served as a student assistant in the Department of Plant and Soil science. 

Cox will move on to represent the district in the Wyoming Teacher of the Year competition. 

To be selected as the LCSD1 Teacher of the Year, teachers are nominated by students, staff or community members. Teachers fill out an application form which is reviewed by a selection committee made up of LCSD1 staff from diverse roles and departments in the district, as well as community members. 

This year, 57 nominees turned in applications. The selection committee scored the applications and chose an elementary, a junior high and a high school teacher to continue as finalists. 

Along with Cox, this year’s finalists were Goins Elementary first grade teacher Marti Derringer and McCormick Junior High Spanish teacher Janet Stewart. 

Also nominated were Laura Bowers, Tiffany Brinton, Zamboni Brown, Travis Burns, Julian Bustos, Shelby Carlson, Amara Christenson, Victoria Clark, Rhonda Coggins, Mary Cruz, Alyssa Davis, Catherine Doll, Shayna Flanagan, Leslie Fox, Megan Gipfert, Crystal Grady, Beth Grisbee, Colby Harrison, Kristen Harshman-Tator, Nicole Hayes, Erron Hopkins, Christina House, Keri Jenkins, Lindsay Kallhoff, Kymberly Kirkham, Heather Kolde, Deborah Lacey, Theresa McRann, Jennifer Merriam, Robyn Merz, Danielle Michael, Alyssa Minor, Antoinette Moore, Alison Paniagua, Breann Parks, Jennifer Pillivant, Katelyn Stahr, Bryce Strampe, Amanda Sunders, Shayna Simpson, Caley Smith, Kelly Sotelo, Joshua Soule, Elizabeth Stern, Charles Taylor-Christie, Darby Ulmer, Jennifer Voyles, Ryan Walk, Bailey Ward, Tyler Will, Bethany Winkenweder, Andrea Wisdom, Lindsey Woods and Xia-Anna Wysocki. 

All nominees that applied will be recognized at the May 18 Board meeting. 

Nicholas Lamp, associate principal at Central High, has been selected for the Board Employee Spotlight for the month of April. He was recognized at the LCSD1 Board of Trustees meeting on April 20.

Lamp has been a dedicated LCSD1 employee since August 2014.

According to his nomination form, Lamp is known for his dedication and commitment to students and colleagues. He fosters a student-centered environment built on trust, respect and high expectations.

Lamp goes above and beyond to ensure all students are supported in academics, activities, and athletics and approaches his work with a collaborative and selfless mindset. He is recognized for his outstanding communication skills and genuine care for the school community.

“Mr. Lamp has cultivated strong and positive relationships with his fellow administrators, staff, students and families,” Central Principal Dr. Karen Delbridge said. “He takes great pride in his work and is deeply invested in the success and well-being of others.” 

Career and Technical Education (CTE) students at East High will be selling student-made items on Wednesday, May 13 from 3–7 p.m. at East High, 2800 E. Pershing Blvd. 

Funds that are raised will go toward helping students with registration fees for national events, such as SkillsUSA and FCCLA. 

The items being sold were designed and created by students. They include planters, outdoor furniture, metal signs, charcuterie boards, cornhole boards, metal horseshoe art, and more. 

Students meet several CTE curriculum standards through the fabrication of these products. The sale gives them the opportunity to showcase their skills to the public. 

Current and former students of Deming Elementary School are invited to celebrate the school’s legacy on Thursday, May 7, from 5:30–7 p.m.

The schedule is as follows: 

For more information, please contact the school at 307-771-2400.

In recent years, Anderson Elementary has received honors including National Distinguished School, Wyoming School of Distinction, and was part of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder’s Tour of Excellence.

“Our achievement has gone up every year but one since the first year of WY-TOPP,” Principal Sean Gorman said. 

The Wyoming Department of Education’s achievement assessment, WY-TOPP, was first administered in 2017.

“I was excited when we got to 60. The next year we got to 62 and then 66. Last year was our best year at 75,” he said. 

Additionally, last year, Anderson’s fourth-grade science students had the highest proficiency score in the entire state for any grade level. Gorman credits science teacher, Bryce Ramsey’s efforts.

“We always look at growth more than achievement, but when you are growing at an atypically high level consistently with a large number of kids, that is going to influence your proficiency score over time,” Gorman said.

Every student receives a growth score from the WDE. Gorman explained when students receive their WY-TOPP scores, they are placed in academic peer groups with other similarly scoring students. The next year, their scores are compared to those of the students in their group. The growth score is determined by how much progress a student makes compared to others in the group. The WDE reports this information through its school performance report.

“They have three categories: exceeds target, meets target or below target,” Gorman said. “Obviously, you want your growth percentile to be as high as possible. I think that’s the best indicator from a statistical standpoint that your school is doing something right and your teachers are doing a great job of growing kids academically.”

Along with a laser-like focus on growth, Gorman credits high-quality teaching and relationships for making the difference in students’ lives. 

“It’s just common sense if a kid loves their teacher and there’s a high level of trust and mutual respect, they will do better academically,” he said. “Through the hiring process, we really look for people who have a proven track record or the potential to become excellent teachers.”

Third grade teacher Lindsey Woods said the first month of school is dedicated to building relationships and establishing norms for cooperative learning.

“Building relationships is central to how we teach,” Woods said. “We strive to know each student, their strengths, interests, challenges and identities. We collaborate closely with colleagues, specialists, and families to ensure all students are supported.”

Anderson Elementary teachers use the formative teaching cycle, which Gorman describes as a group of well-researched instructional strategies that work well.

First-grade teacher Katie Finnoff said, “We start by establishing a clear learning target with success criteria, so students know exactly what is expected. Student exemplars are used to help students know the expectation. We then provide students with immediate feedback. The loop is closed by students self-assessing their work and using that to set goals. We constantly look at the data and celebrate growth.”

Kindergarten teacher Danielle Alexander said, “To ensure that students are continuing to grow we do a lot of progress monitoring, often informally in kindergarten. We use this to adjust lesson planning, especially pace within the lessons of our curriculum.”

Alexander said teachers also offer daily intervention time where they place students into smaller groups so they can target individual needs. Teachers collaborate to ensure they are doing everything to help struggling students.

“I am very proud of our teachers,” Gorman said. “Anderson is one of only four schools in the entire state that rated exceeds target in all three categories (achievement, growth and equity) of the WDE’s school performance report for the past two years. I think what makes this school unique is just the quality of teaching that I see on a day-to-day basis.”

Freedom Elementary celebrated the Month of the Military Child with a month of activities and events, including a cheer line in which students received a warm welcome from service members and Central High cheerleaders, and a lunch with F.E. Warren AFB leadership.

LCSD1 Purple Star Schools were invited to attend the Month of the Military Proclamation signing by Gov. Mark Gordon.

Students at Anderson Elementary recently witnessed a military working dog demo presented by F.E. Warren AFB's K9 unit.

The dog displayed its ability to guide a suspect to a new location, chase and halt, and finally chase and take down a suspect.

Deming Elementary's third graders performed a play based on the novel "The Fantastic Mr. Fox." The students wrote the script and designed the set.

South High's construction students have been working hard on building a custom chicken coop for a customer in Laramie.

Students at Davis Elementary recently had a day of fun Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) projects. The projects included making slime, play dough, tornados in bottles, baking soda volcanoes, bird's nest crafts, bug models, and more.

Students chose one STEAM project to join, regardless of grade, allowing them to get to know other staff members and students around the school.

The projects were designed by Davis staff and aligned to their areas of interest.

Jessup Elementary hosted author Gary Hogg to run writing workshops and activities for the students!

Mark your calendars and get signed up! The Cheyenne Schools Foundation's Run for #1 5K walk/run is Saturday, Sept. 19 at Central High.

The next Board of Trustees meeting will be held on Monday, May 4 at 6 p.m. A work session will be held at 5 p.m. The meeting can be attended in person or via Zoom. It will also be livestreamed on YouTube. For more information about the Board of Trustees and for virtual meeting links visit https://www.laramie1.org/board-of-trustees.

Laramie County School District 1 will once again be partnering with Cheyenne Frontier Days to host its 2026 graduation ceremonies at Frontier Park, 1230 W. 8th Ave.

With the exception of Triumph High School, all ceremonies will be held on Friday, May 29. Triumph High’s graduation will be held on Thursday, May 28 at 4 p.m. in Storey Gymnasium, 2811 House Ave.

The ceremonies on Friday, May 29 are scheduled as follows:

To accommodate picture opportunities for family and friends, each high school campus will be open immediately following graduation.

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