Walter Isaacson, a well-known leader and best-selling author of "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life,” will address more than 1,000 DPS high school seniors at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 4 at the Buell Theatre. His talk, “What Ben Franklin Would Say to High School Seniors Today,” is sure to be thought provoking and funny and carry a compelling message for our future leaders. A five-student panel response will follow the lecture. Each high school will receive a copy of Isaacson’s book.

A former managing editor of Time Magazine and chairman of CNN, Isaacson is a fitting writer to appreciate Franklin's genius for using media to further his own goals.  He now heads the Aspen Institute. 

The event, sponsored by DPS and the University of Colorado’s Institute for Public Policy, is part of the district’s Million Words Campaign, which created more than 13,000 “millionaires” last year - students who read one million words - as part of the literacy plan started in 2002-2003. That’s about 25 chapter books per year for a fifth-grader or about four books per day for a first-grader. Research indicates that a good way to increase student achievement is by encouraging reading.

The Buell Theatre is located downtown at 1245 Champa St. For more information, contact the Public Information Office at 720-423-3414.