DENVER — A group of white adults is accused of making racist comments toward mostly black and Latino children at a trampoline park in Parker.
The incident occurred at the SkyZone Trampoline Park in Parker, according to Scholars Unlimited, a nonprofit organization that helps Denver-area children struggling in school make academic improvements through after-school and summertime enrichment programs.
On July 11, a group of about 100 elementary-school-aged students from a Scholars Unlimited program in Denver’s Green Valley Ranch neighborhood visited the trampoline park for a field trip.
“The organization’s Program Site Director and other Scholars Unlimited staff reported observing a group of white adults inside the facility make racist comments about the predominantly AfricanAmerican and Latinx kids as the children walked by them as the students were leaving the facility. Staff also stated that the group of adults stood up and applauded as the young people were leaving the equipment and preparing to leave SkyZone to return to their school,” Scholars Unlimited said in a press release issued Monday.
Scholars Unlimited staff told SkyZone employees about the incident. According to the nonprofit, SkyZone responded immediately and conducted an internal assessment. While Scholars Unlimited did not disclose the results of the assessment, it says SkyZone moved the organization’s remaining summer field trips to the SkyZone location in Arvada.
“Staff greeted our scholars and provided a welcoming experience for them,” said Scholars Unlimited Program Site Director Jennie Merrigan in the press release. “I am encouraged by the actions taken by SkyZone’s leadership to make a bad situation into a learning opportunity.”
The president of Scholars Unlimited said she appreciated SkyZone’s actions.
“In a time when our students need the support to feel safe and a sense of belonging, we need more business and community members to stand up to the overt racism that was expressed by the adults in the Parker SkyZone facility,” said Diana Romero Campbell, the president of Scholars Unlimited.