Alumni in Action

Before wowing fans on "Saturday Night Live" and "Wicked," Bowen Yang was lighting up the stage at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, Colorado. Yang credits much of his success to his improv teacher at the time, Mr. Adrian Holguin, who says, "I love the fact that he is authentically living in celebration of his life and who he is." 

Jakye Nunley, a 2023 graduate of Eaglecrest High School, has always made the most of the opportunities available to him. "I’m a firm believer that I’m going to give myself everything that life has to offer for me," he said.

The Cherry Creek School District now has their own band and orchestra instrument repair shop. It's located inside Overland High School and repairs instruments for the nearly 25,000 students in band and orchestra in the district.

School kids are rough on the musical instruments they play, and it can be expensive for a school district to send them off to be fixed when they are broken. So, Cherry Creek Schools has figured out a way to cut down on that expense; bring everything in-house. Surrounded by musical instruments, Cherry Creek Schools' Instrument Repair Technicians Jeff Eisold and Alan Davies move together in a symphony of silence. Nestled in a shop in Overland High School they bring the district's damaged band and orchestral instruments back to life, like a fifty-year-old baritone sax.

An art class at Overland High School sparked an interest in architecture, which ultimately led Wendy Merchant to a successful career in architectural engineering. But when she later discovered how few women were pursuing careers in engineering and other STEM fields, she founded STEMblazers and dedicated her time and talents to inspiring girls and young women to see themselves in STEM.