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School prayer walk promoted by Pueblo school board members sparks counter-event

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Lindsey Toomer
(Colorado Newsline)

A prayer walk organized at a Pueblo school district by conservative Christian group Forging Pueblo prompted community members to plan a counter-event that will donate funds to local youth mental health and LGBTQ+ organizations.

The “Jericho Walk for D70 Schools,” planned for Saturday, invites community members to walk around each of the schools in Pueblo School District 70 seven times in prayer, “with singing praises” on the seventh lap. Forging Pueblo’s page for the event says the organization wants prayers related to wisdom and guidance for the school board and staff, and for “safety” for students.

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The walk is named for a biblical story about the Israelites circling the walls built around Jericho in the West Bank of Palestine seven days in a row. On the seventh day they shouted and played instruments until the wall around the city collapsed.

While Forging Pueblo’s website says the event is “not authorized or sponsored by” the D70 school board, board President Aaron Wilson is listed as a host of the event, and board member John Christenson has also promoted and plans to attend the event. In an email to Newsline, Christenson said school board members are elected volunteers and members of the public who can also exercise their own freedoms outside of being an elected official.

“This event is happening OUTSIDE of the school, OUTSIDE of lesson time and OUTSIDE of teacher work days — intentionally a Saturday,” he said in an email.

Forging Pueblo and Wilson both did not respond to a Newsline request for comment.

Hilary Glasgow is organizing the counter-event out of concern as a parent in Pueblo. She works as executive director of Colorado WINS, the union representing state employees, though her organization of the counter-event, which she undertook in her free time, is not associated with the union. Glasgow said she thinks board members promoting the prayer walk violates the principle of separation of church and state.

“They’re posting it all over this D70 parents page (on Facebook) telling people to show up and march for Jericho to take back our schools. It’s completely insane,” Glasgow said.

She said those supporting the counter-event are “concerned citizens” and people from various organizations in southern Colorado, though organizers have not sought any organizational support. Most people either have or had their children attend the school district.

“I don’t believe that there are that many people in Pueblo that have the notion that our schools should be run with prayer, and it’s not just prayer,” she added. “This isn’t about moral values. This is about Christian prayer and Christian values as interpreted from the Bible by people who have a stake in these decisions.”

Organizers of the counter-event believe the prayer walk is a direct response to the school board’s upcoming vote on whether it will renew its social and emotional learning curriculum, which Forging Pueblo has criticized. The TRAILS curriculum includes 25 lessons throughout the school year that “strengthens academic learning while fostering qualities such as empathy, self-awareness and respect.” The D70 board amended the curriculum after elementary school students received a worksheet that asked them what pronouns they use.

Forging Pueblo said the event does not seek to “influence educational policy” or target the TRAILS curriculum.

“(T)his is a misunderstanding, as Forging Pueblo has clearly stated that the event’s focus is on prayer for wisdom and safety in school governance and student welfare, not on advocating for curriculum changes,” an article posted to Forging Pueblo’s website reads.

At a December 10 meeting, the school board will vote on whether it will renew the TRAILS curriculum.

Highest turnout expected at Pueblo West High School

Glasgow said that if the prayer walk organizers want “to eliminate programs that help students … then we need to counter with something that will replace what they’re trying to eliminate.” For every walker who participates in the prayer walk, Glasgow is collecting pledges from community members for donations to Out Front Youth, a group that supports LGBTQ+ youth in southern Colorado, and to Teen Kickback, a program that serves marginalized youth.

“Seeing this come through, especially right after the elections and feeling very strongly that the religious right is not playing by the rules, we decided we can’t let this happen, we have to respond,” Glasgow said. “We can’t just let these guys continue to operate without any accountability, without any counter.”

Forging Pueblo’s website says counter-event participants “plan to monitor attendance and raise funds in opposition to the event, exercising their right to freely express differing viewpoints.”

Christenson said he is happy the counter-event is donating to local organizations, though he said the counter-event “seems a bit counterintuitive.”

“These Christians are simply gathering and praying for the safety of ALL of our students, guidance and clarity for our (board of education) and success of a good district,” Christenson said. “It would make me happier if the ‘counter-event’ was sparked for a better reason other than some people gathering to pray, but some good will come out of it, I’m certain!”

Glasgow said the counter-event will have teams of people going to each of the about 20 schools in the district to count the number of walkers, with a larger group present at Pueblo West High School where she said participants will cheer on the walkers, as this is where they expect the largest turnout.

“We don’t see this as good, kind, nice people getting together to pray for the best things for our kids,” Glasgow said. “This is about a group standing up a religious, political event to continue to push Republican values into being far-right, Christofascist Republican values.”


Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and X.