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New Aspen School District human resources director Amy Littlejohn stops for a photo on Friday, July 2, 2021, inside Aspen High School. Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times.
Fresh faces abound on the Aspen School District administrative roster for the coming 2021-22 school year, including a new human resources director, a new principal and assistant principal at Aspen Middle School and a new principal at Aspen Elementary School.
The new guard is the latest batch of hires in a year-plus of more than a few changes at the administrative level, including the hiring of superintendent David Baugh as well as the promotion of Tharyn Mulberry to assistant superintendent and Sarah Strassburger to Aspen High School principal last spring. (The district also brought on a new communications director, Kiki Lavine, this spring.)
Like any graduation ceremony, there was plenty to cheer about Saturday morning when the AHS Class of 2021 was honored. There was the typical affair, such as recognizing the teachers who are retiring and celebrating a significant milestone in the students’ lives, but it also included an element no other recent graduating class had, for better or worse.
Alex Appleby, right, hugs Principal Sarah Strassburger after being presented with the Principal s Award during the Aspen High School senior awards and local scholarship ceremony on Monday, May 24, 2021, on the AHS turf field. Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times.
It may well be the marquee event of awards season at Aspen High School: Monday night’s senior awards and local scholarship ceremony recognized the accomplishments of the class of 2021 with dozens of honors and funds for college.
All told, 81 seniors walked away with more than $350,000 in college scholarships from nearly 40 local donor groups, according to Susanne Morrison, the administrative coordinator at Aspen High School’s post-secondary counseling department. Students also scored hundreds of thousands of dollars from regional and national awards, some of which include full ride scholarships for all four years of college (see sidebar).