Healing scars from school brawl

George Washington students plant trees on day after eight peers were arrested

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 11:00 p.m., April 17, 2008
Updated 01:41 p.m., April 18, 2008

Photo by Ken Papaleo

A group of students dig up a dead tree at George Washington High school today. The students were planting 50 new trees on school grounds on an off day following an after-school ruckus in which eight of their peers were arrested. "We really do care," said freshman Darren Gardner, who helped dig holes for the new trees. "Yesterday was a bad moment. When you see things like that, you do things like this to make up for it. Because this is how we really like to be seen"

Under sunny skies, 50 teens toiled in the dirt Friday, digging holes for trees to grace their campus at George Washington High School in east Denver.

A day after a big after-school fight gave the GW Patriots a black eye, here were dozens of teens putting their sweat into beautifying the grounds, and perhaps erasing what they say is an unfair impression of their school.

"That misrepresented our school," GW football co-captain Aaron Johnson said of the Thursday afternoon fight that resulted in eight arrests and a minor injury to a Denver police officer. "The kids at this school are better than how we were represented yesterday."

GW Principal Steve Goldstein said Friday, "To the best of my knowledge, there never was a fight."

From what he has figured out so far, most students had already gone home by 4 p.m., but among those still on the campus near Leetsdale Drive and South Monaco Parkway, a disagreement broke out, and "there was some posturing.

"A district security officer, for whatever reason, felt threatened and made an initial call for backup," which quickly brought another security officer and a police officer, Goldstein said.

"Some kids watching this whole thing transpire felt that the security officer and the police officer were in the wrong," he said.

"So some of the kids made really poor choices. One of the kids tried to stop the police officer from doing what he was doing," Goldstein said.

"That's when he made his call for backup," which summoned another dozen or so police officers.

Friday was a teacher work day, so except for the 50 students helping with the trees, there weren't students around. So Goldstein hasn't been able to quiz students about what happened.

"I'm sure the kids are going to say there was a police overreaction.

"Do we think there was an overreaction by police? No. The actions by the police are not questioned. Do I think the initial call may have been an overreaction? Possibly."

Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said injuries to the officer and a couple students were "very minor."

He said a security officer tried to break up a fight, and that the first responding officer was assaulted. "We ended up arresting eight people — seven juveniles and one adult."

The students who showed up for the tree-planting Friday had various reasons to be there — to fulfill community-service requirements, to make up for being tardy; because they like to dig or because they liked the idea of doing something positive for the school.

"We really do care," said freshman Darren Gardner, digging a five-foot-diameter hole for a tree that will be planted Saturday. "Yesterday was a bad moment.

"When you see things like that, you do things like this to make up for it. Because this is how we really like to be seen."

Billie Polk, another freshman, took a break from the shoveling to say, "This is more of the real George Washington. Everyone wants to do their part for the community good."

Parents say they hope the tree-planting can become an annual event around Earth Day — 20 new trees a year until there are so many that the large stretch of grass on the south side is pleasingly dotted with branches and leaves.

Goldstein emphasized that only a small portion of the student body was involved in Thursday's scuffle.

"Most of our kids would say that's not them," he said. "That's not what they stand for. It's an aberration. A small group of kids, like you'd have at any school."