Denver, CO
Ednium Homegrown Award winner Tashan Montgomery, a Denver Public Schools alum changing the game
A group of Denver Public Schools alumni was disappointed that — time and again — when they asked DPS grads how many people from their community had gone on to success. Few, if any, hands would go up.
The group Ednium: The Alumni Collective is on a mission to change that by showcasing the talents of DPS grads — homegrown talent — making meaningful contributions to Denver.
Tashan Montgomery is the recipient of Ednium’s Game Giver Award.
“First of all Tashan’s ‘that’ guy,” said Ednium Executive Director TeRay Esquibel. “An educator that is number one not afraid of being who they are is not afraid to tell you that you can be everything you can be and that’s to be celebrated.”
“I feel really honored to have been able to receive it,” said Montgomery.
The event had all the glitz and glamour of an awards night.
“People were looking good. They got me to wear a bowtie, which was crazy. Never happened before,” said Esquibel.
DPS alums came out to champion their peers for the knowledge and wisdom they see up close.
Montgomery said, “There’s so much talent that exists in our communities that goes unheard of unseen and sometimes that can cause a ripple effect where people start to believe, ‘Oh, well, my community is not special. My community is not doing anything important.’ So Ednium is saying, ‘No, you are important, you are special, and we’re going to invest into you.’”
And invest they do. In addition to awards, Ednium hosts a Leadership Launchpad where DPS alums build the skills to support personal and professional goals. Alums build careers in everything from education to business or medicine.
Trying to end what’s long been known as the Colorado Paradox – where major employers here rely on imported talent rather than homegrown.
“We see ourselves as the bridge of developing talent and highlighting the folks that are coming up, grown up in our backyard,” said Esquibel.
Montgomery is teaching a social studies course at high schools across the metro area to promote civic literacy and engagement.
“You learn from the youth as much as people expect the youth to be learning from you,” he said.
Students say Montgomery exemplifies grace, empathy and respect.
And he concludes, “I just want to thank Ednium, again for paving the way for DPS alumni, and folks who exist both in Denver and Aurora to celebrate themselves and have a platform to create the change that they want to see.”
Learn more about Ednium.
Denverites looking for a stellar cup of Joe don’t need to travel far to savor the flavor of excellent coffee.
That’s according to The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a website that rates global hospitality establishments where coffee lovers can find better brew. The website recently announced its 2026 list of the best coffee shops in North America, Central America and the Caribbean and two local companies made the list.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters came in at No. 43, while Queen City Collective Coffee ranked No. 61. Not bad for a list that includes must-hit destinations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are known for their exports of coffee beans.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops decided the ranking through a mix of nominations and voting by both the public and experts. Places were evaluated based on the quality of coffee served, barista expertise, ambiance, sustainability practices, and innovation among other criteria, according to the website.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which came on the scene in 2013, helped usher the so-called fourth wave of coffee locally, which focuses on honoring the beans’ agricultural roots and using techniques like pour-over to extract more flavor from each brew. The company started with a wholesale roastery and retail shop in Lakewood before expanding to Arvada through a merger with another company called Two Rivers, and later to Westminster. In 2022, Food and Wine magazine named Sweet Bloom’s Westminster locale the best coffee shop in Colorado.
Queen City Collective has certainly earned the popular vote among Mile High City coffee drinkers if the company’s expansion is an indication. Since opening its first retail location in 2018, in a spot shared with Novel Strand Brewing Co., Queen City has expanded to seven locations between Denver and surrounding suburbs, including Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
To see the full list of must-hit coffee shops across the globe, visit theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com. For additional recommendations, check out our list of Colorado’s best coffee shops with picturesque patios and views.
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DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
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