The Golden Trident

Story by Livia Mohney

Photo Courtesy of Kaela Fajardo

Growing up, she played softball, tennis, as well as dance, which she still teaches now. During one specific game, at the age of nine years old, when she was pitching, the ball hit her hand and broke it in three different places. Her dad said it was fine, and she thought she was just being dramatic, so she kept pitching. She ended up in the ER with a swollen and fractured hand. This incident, however, didn’t end her softball potential. She still plays it and is still in love with the sport despite the injury. To pivot from this, she talked about the difference in Golden from her perspective, “Golden, I would say now it’s more, it’s busier. There are more students for sure, and more teachers, but I would say it’s mainly the same. We have a lot of the same traditions, like the hand jive. I did that when I was in high school. Same thing with the homecoming parade. The phone policy is obviously new; We didn’t have that. But, for the most part, I would say it’s pretty much the same”. The interview provided insight into Golden High School’s time-honored traditions and the changes that have been made over the years.

Ms. Fajardo is a new math teacher at Golden High School, teaching Geometry and Algebra I. She graduated from Golden High School in 2021. She then went on to the University of Oklahoma and graduated in 2025. While growing up in Golden, she considered herself fortunate for the environment in which she grew up. In discussing her time at Golden High School, Fajardo said, “Golden was definitely a cool place. Golden was one of the cool schools to go to. I remember we had a really big feud or a rivalry with Wheat Ridge High School.” She explained that when they had basketball games, both teams would break the bleachers at each other’s schools. (Although she never did it because she would be performing on the floor for dance). Ms. Fajardo took a variety of AP classes, along with the first Geometry in Construction class. In her own words, “My class was kind of like trial and error, and it’s still going to this day, so I’m gonna assume we did pretty good.” She said she has always wanted to help people, so it was between going into education and the medical field. She was drawn to going into teaching because she would pretend to grade her sisters’ work, and to teach her sister when they were both little. She went to Oklahoma State but came back to Golden. When asked why she chose Oklahoma State and why she didn’t remain in the state after graduation, she explained her decision and desire to attend a bigger school with new people. Fajardo also said that they have a great education program, which is what drew her to that specific school. During her time in college, she raised money for children in children’s hospitals. Fajardo was a liaison for specific families whom she personally got to know and spent time with. The goal was to raise money for the children’s illnesses, treatments, and to support the family with medical bills, “It’s similar to Make-A-Wish, but we helped multiple kids, and it was just to help them get through treatment.” However, she came back to Colorado because she missed her family, and came to Golden after a position for a math teacher opened at the school. Golden was an interesting and special part of her life that she wasn’t ready to give up. Her childhood in the area was full of enjoyment in the things she learned, the friends she made, and the sports she had the opportunity to play.