Denise Laursen

Career educator and current Northwest College Board of Trustees president, Denise Laursen, is running uncontested for re-election to one of the board’s two open Powell district seats.

Laursen was born and raised in Powell, and attended Northwest College. She taught home economics and culinary arts throughout Park County School District 1, starting at Powell Middle School before moving to Powell High School. While preparing to retire from teaching in 2022, she made the decision to run for the board due to her love of the college. She credited Northwest College for helping shape her career and providing her the support she needed to excel.

“I got such a good quality of education here in small classrooms. If I had gone straight to a university, I don’t think I would’ve had that drive to teach for 37 years,” Laursen said. “It’s the little things to help transition people from a high school setting in a small town to a smaller community college that happens to be in our backyard before continuing onto the university.”

Although neither of her two children were directly enrolled at Northwest, both of them were heavily involved in the college’s music department. Her daughter went on to become a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in French Horn Performance while her son had the opportunity to work alongside jazz drummer and Northwest percussion professor Ronnie Bedford. She talked about how her children's experiences with Northwest reinforced her belief that the college can support people in the community regardless if they are enrolled or not.

Laursen described her first four years on the board as a period of learning, especially regarding how community college funding and governance is managed differently from K-12 schools or even the University of Wyoming. She spoke about finances being the chief concern for the board as they continue to move into the future.

“I don’t think a lot of people understand that our community colleges are financed by the counties that they are in and a lot of people, including myself prior to taking on this responsibility, have a hard time breaking that down,” Laursen said. “When you look at what our service areas are and what we’re trying to do, I think we do an amazing job and we provide a phenomenal service to the community.”

Laursen also spoke very highly of Northwest’s small classes, approachable faculty and strong sense of support for the student population. She values the college’s local and regional role in giving people the chance to pursue education and career skills close to home while still bringing a worldly perspective to the area and acting as a community and cultural hub.

“When the college does stuff like the concerts, especially the Christmas orchestra, it’s always a packed house. We get people from all across the region of all ages, there’s always something at the college for you,” Laursen said. “It’s been an absolute privilege to serve on the board and bless all of the people who voted for me the first time because it’s been a wonderful learning experience for me.”

Laursen is most proud of the opportunities that the college continues to offer its student base, from the recent expansions into CDL training and drone piloting certifications to offering dual enrollment classes to high school students across the Basin. She also stressed Northwest’s commitment to lifelong learning, saying that the college is able to provide something for people of all ages, not just traditional college students.