Hi! My name is Jasmine Saxon and I'm the co-founder of Community Connections, LLC.
When I was about 12 years old, I had the opportunity to participate in an ambassador program that allowed me to travel to England, Ireland and Wales for a little over a week. While I was there, I stayed with host families, went to school in England for a day, kissed the Blarney Stone, touched the water flowing through the Roman Baths, and saw all kinds of magical stone castles. I was absolutely in love with the history and adventure that sparked my imagination at each new place we explored. When I came home from that trip, I had no idea what type of job would allow me to experience things like this, but I just knew I had to figure it out. My dad is a pretty smart guy.. so when I came home and told him all about my ideas, he found a kid's archaeology magazine for me. I looked forward to EVERY single month when I got a new edition. I quickly found out that exploring human history and how past people lived is exactly what archaeology is all about. From that point forward, I knew I was meant to be an archaeologist.
Fast forward a couple decades, I completed my B.A. in archaeology from Southern Adventist University and then went on to secure my M.A. in anthropology with a concentration in archaeology from University of Denver in November 2018. During my studies, I've been fortunate to travel all around the world, including spending 6 weeks in Israel excavating Tel Hazor and a 10 day study abroad tour of Turkey. I've worked in a variety of museums helping with curation and creating exhibitions. In graduate school, I assisted as a graduate teaching assistant and was a member of the ground-penetrating radar research group with Dr. Larry Conyers. I completed my thesis titled, "An Archaeological Exploration of Agriculture, Trade, and Indigenous Relationships at a Seventeenth-Century New England Site." This work fed into my passion for becoming more involved in community driven archaeological projects due to the incredible collaboration among historical societies, local boys and girls clubs, and individual families that Dr. Brian Jones encouraged for this project.
This passion for public archaeology grew when I had the opportunity to complete the historical research and background for the University of Denver's Campus Archaeology Project. During this project, I was honored to be involved in recording oral history and witnessing the excitement as we located the original descendents of the old houses that used to be located on DU's campus. It was amazing to see faces light up as stories were told of the old cable cars that used to be in this neighborhood and catching bugs in wide open fields for the DU science department. 9News did a special segment for this project where I was able to share the excitement of being a part of a local family's heritage!
Check out the story here! ----> Jasmine's interview and DU students preserving local history through archaeology.
These experiences have fueled my passion for creating Community Connections, LLC with Jess.
We are committed to using archaeology in local communities to connect members of the community together in a meaningful way by showing how heritage can be a valuable tool for exploring and preserving our stories. We can't wait to explore the exciting stories in your community, too!
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