Emily Griffith

As a teacher in Broken Bow, NE at only age 13, Emily Griffith became convinced that the children she taught there and later in Denver’s poorest neighborhoods would never do well until their parents acquired a basic education. In 1915, she appealed to the Denver School Board for permission to open a revolutionary school that would provide free education to any adult who needed a second chance. September 9, 1916 was the opening day of the world’s first school geared to provide basic adult education and training in marketable skills. Griffith chose the name Opportunity School and hoped that 200 adults would enroll during that first semester. Instead, 2,389 adults signed up for classes. The school was later renamed the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, and Griffith's concept became world-renowned and much emulated. In June 2011, Emily Griffith Opportunity School officially changed its name to Emily Griffith Technical College.