Colorado Legacy Foundation 2012 Luncheon

Last week I had the pleasure of photographing the 2012 luncheon for the Colorado Legacy Foundation.  They are a non-profit that partners with the Colorado Board of Education to promote innovation in the classroom.  This luncheon focused on promoting health and fitness in the classroom as well as presenting awards and small education breakout sessions:

The downtown Denver Sheraton hosted the luncheon and offered plenty of room for the over 800 guests!  Here’s an image of the room and one of the President/CEO of the Legacy Foundation, Helayne Jones:

Here are a few images of the speakers, including Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Lt. Governor Garcia, Dr. Charles Basch and Dr. James Marks and Matt Miller, author of “The Two Percent Solution” and “The Tyranny of Dead Ideas.”  Miller had some great ideas, including the need for higher salaries for teachers so a greater number of graduates at the top of their class is tempted into teaching rather than searching for higher pay in the private sector.

I started my photography career in Santa Barbara, CA and nearly every successful non-profit event was hosted by an actor or actress.  Those were the ‘celebrities’ of the area.  Because I got used to that, it continues to make me giggle that the ‘celebrities’ in Denver seem to be the newscasters.  School kids even asked TaRonda Thomas (from 9News) for her photo and autograph:

I’d say the highlight of the luncheon was a dance performance by the Thornton Dance team.  It’s a toss up whether they were happier to dance, or to get to miss class:

I really enjoyed photographing this event.  One one hand it’s slightly depressing to be reminded that the United States is falling behind some other countries both in terms of education and in overall health… But the luncheon provided a positive outlook and Governor Hickenlooper even declared April to be Healthy Schools Month in Colorado.  The Legacy Foundation did their part by giving away a salad bar to one lucky school!

Thanks for checking out the photos!