Experiential Education

By: Judi Smith

The Estes Park Schools has developed such an excellent experiential learning program that other schools come here to study what we are doing. It is impressive that children as young as first grade are learning an appreciation of knowledge and why it is important. “1st Grade students are learning about children in other regions of the world, how they travel to school, and the unique landscapes they encounter. Our students will create footwear that meets the needs of those students by utilizing the Design Thinking process and their knowledge of animal adaptations to their environments. We have partnered with Merrell who will educate students on design and take final student designs to create professional renderings. We will cap our project with a community wide shoe donation drive with Souls for Soles.” (Taylor Bodin)

At the other end of the elementary spectrum is the 5th grade level. Katherine Dumont says, “To support Social Studies standards and the school district’s Global Outcomes of Communication, Collaboration, Problem Solving, and Creativity, 5th grade students at EPES create their own businesses for 5th grade Market Day. They may sell a product or a service, either alone or with business partners. Their first Market Day was in the fall, and there will be another in the spring--this allows the students to make improvements and changes to their businesses. Each of the three 5th grade classes uses a different type of currency, so the students also learn to negotiate a currency exchange. Fifth graders are also designing, making, and testing ‘Pasta Rovers’ as part of their space unit in Science. The challenge is to build a vehicle that includes pretend data-gathering equipment and can travel down a one-meter ramp and one meter further using only gravitational force. Students have to work within a budget for their pasta supplies, so they are applying their math skills in addition to being engineers.”

Over the years, there have been some fascinating entrepreneurial endeavors at the Middle School and they are very active in Junior Election. This year, Anastasia Sunday’s Social Studies classes are very active, “My 6th graders participated in the ‘Water 22’ which is a year long celebration of Colorado water dedicated to the idea that ‘it all starts here’. It's about Coloradans from all around our state recognizing the value of water. Jared Polis and the foundation had a contest where students could write and create a project showcasing a special place of water that they wanted to protect in Colorado and then share its connection to the watershed and Colorado as a whole. I had a student selected as one of the top students who has been invited to the capital and he gets to showcase his writing and drawing.”

“My 7th graders are ‘telling the untold story of Estes Park’ as a photojournalist. The students have made phone calls, emails, and have interviewed many people in the community about the story of Estes Park. We presented all our Untold Stories, including an interview from the

1982 with Steve Gillette, a granddaughter from the 1976 Flood, the history of the library and a man who shared his story climbing Longs Peak 40 times, just to share a few. Students then presented their photos they learned to take well and their essay at a gallery walk for community members and their parents.”

Marsha Weaver’s Youth in Action (YIA) works “closely with local nonprofits, learning the process of grants, serving on a nonprofit board, raising money, and giving back to the community.” They host events like Bingo Night to support their efforts and their “Give Next” program is a grant process (totally run by the students) that awards grants to local non-profits benefiting local Estes Valley youth.

Alex Harris teaches the Sustainability Class and sponsors the Ecology Club at Estes Park High School (EPHS). “Students develop closed-loop recycling systems at the high school as an alternative to the largely broken municipal recycling system. We aim to transform waste materials into new products (ideally useful or valuable ones) in four stations. #1. PET - single use water bottles are collected, washed, shredded, dried, extruded into 3D printer filament, and used to print new products. #2. HDPEbottles and bottle caps are collected, washed, shredded, and then either melted into flat 1/4 inch sheets, injection molded into new forms, or injection molded into ingots which are then carved into new products using a CNC drill. #3. Plastic Film - plastic amazon packages (the blue and white ones) are collected, heat pressed into flat sheets and then sewn into new products or cut into designs with a cricut machine and then pressed onto shirts. #4. Food Waste - collected from the three district school buildings and then processed into compost using two large in-vessel composters.”

According to Bob Regan, who coaches BAM Co. (Business Accounting Marketing) at EPHS. “The BAM Company business course at EPHS is entrepreneurial by its very nature. The purpose of the class is to give student entrepreneurs the chance to learn by doing. Following the BAM business concept model, students form and operate an inschool company under established company by-laws. Students invest in stock and assume leadership roles of CEO, CFO and Department Heads of six areas; Marketing, Production, Finance, Human Resources, Public Relations/Legal and Research and Development. Students are the decision makers, creating the business plan and operating the business. It is a group project on steroids.” The BAM Coffee Shop is now six years old. This year is the first year for BAM Threads (clothing resale and vintage upscale).

This is only a “smattering” of the experiential projects happening at our local schools. The Global Objectives encourage critical thinking and problem solving, creativity, communication, collaboration, social/emotional wellness, compassion and global awareness, and perseverance making our schools unusually attuned to the 21st Century.

Eco-Sensible Headlines

By: Judi Smith

Sustainability is the ability to sustain oneself, to greet the future with the assets needed to survive. These assets must go beyond treasure to encompass comprehension, adaptability, and creativity, and they must apply to everyone: individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and governments. The economic and ecological issues we face in the next few years will determine how well we achieve that survival. Recent news has been full of creative ideas and plans.

Colorado has more unfilled jobs than unemployed people. Using official numbers there are two jobs waiting for each person who is out of work. Even with consideration of under reported estimates, that is way out of balance. Businesses, in all industries, are understaffed and Coloradoans, everywhere we go, are waiting in lines. More housing at affordable prices (ownership or rent) is the first goal. Two supportive goals include minimizing commutes (less driving means less air pollution) and changing our energy base to renewables.

Artificial Intelligence is now a fact. This will, of necessity, help to close the gap in employment numbers as businesses discover that Open AI can mine what is already written and string together sentences to make a fairly presentable statement. But there are many, many jobs that take a thought process above the ability of robots. Many major corporations are restructuring now that COVID is no longer a daily occurrence. Some are redefining job descriptions. Others are minimizing workforce.

There are 17 candidates for Mayor of Denver and the major issue at a recent debate was the affordability of housing -. Denver placed the need at 40,000 to 60,000 units. So the problem exists, not only in mountain villages, but also in major urban areas.

Jared Polis is promoting utility cost reduction. The Colorado average reflects a 52% average rise in utility costs this winter, so the Public Utility Commission (PUC) is discussing Return on Investment (ROI) limitations, base-rate management, and expanded access to assistance programs.

During 2023, there may be state laws considered to promote transit-oriented development and accessory dwellings; to reduce or eliminate minimum parking requirements and rent control (which severely reduces development); and/or to place limitations on evictions. It is even possible that the Colorado legislature will determine that it must get involved in zoning law to the extent of setting minimum density requirements for new developments.

A company that makes equipment for kidney dialysis is located in Lakewood. They followed all the rules required of them. Actually, their precautions ex- ceeded the requirement. However, the EPA has recently questioned the necessary levels used to determine these rules. How much is a danger? There are current court cases regarding ethylene oxide (used for sanitation, but also produced in vehicle exhaust) and cancer.

Families have been devastated by medical bills and loss of loved ones. However, too many cases can bankrupt the corporation and deprive society of the product. This is both an ecological issue and an economic one. Perhaps, there should be some form of universal catastrophic insurance to cover such cases?

Just last week, the PUC voted to establish a new regulation requiring car dealers to maintain a minimum of 5% vehicles in the dealership to be Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV). Actually, they merely set the percentage for a 2020 regulation set by the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) that goes into effect this year. This regulation applies to vehicles that weigh 8500 lbs. or less (mostly passenger and light truck) and they will reconsider the percentage in 2025. New 2023 or later models must meet California emissions regulations. Currently, Colorado dealers sell 2.6% ZEV. The goal is to extend that to 6.23% by 2030. Used vehicles (prior to 2022 models) may be sold if they have been driven 7500 miles.

Paul Bruchez, a rancher near Kremling, Colorado is dedicated to doing more with less water. He has been leading a local Grand County project to restore a 12-mile strip of the Colorado River and his involvement in addressing the “five-alarm crisis” of the ongoing drought. Michael Bennet called this to the attention of many Coloradoans when Mr Bruchez was his guest for the State of the Union address.

Announced last Monday: Ford has decided to build an electric vehicle battery factory of its own. There will likely be updates to that announcement because, while Ford will own 100% of the Michigan factory, they plan to enlist Chinese expertise. Four months ago, General Motors has expanded their Ultium battery plans to encompass batteries for electric vehicle and home, including “solutions ranging from bi-directional charging, vehicle-to home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications, to stationary storage, solar products, software applications, cloud management tools, microgrid solutions, hydrogen fuel cells and more." Building battery technology in the USA can only improve the affordability.

This is merely a limited amount of the ecological and economic news from the last week.

Agree? Disagree? Comments? RRRcyc@signsandwishes.com