A couple years ago, Andy Guinn was about to take his Pagosa Springs Middle School students on a mountain bike ride in Utah when a hiker offered an unsolicited opinion: The kids should be in school not at a state park. The government was going to hear about it, the hiker warned.
The criticism made Guinn, who teaches mountain biking and ultimate frisbee electives in addition to eighth-grade math, second-guess himself. Were the outings a waste of time and money?
Shortly thereafter, he got his answer. The parents of a student contacted him to say what a difference the mountain biking class had made for their son. He’d gone from a kid who hated school to one who’d finally found his niche.
Guinn talked to Chalkbeat about the parent feedback that reaffirmed his belief in outdoor trips, his meatball math lesson and how he brings life to his windowless classroom.
He’s one of 20 educators selected for the state’s new Commissioner’s Teacher Cabinet. The group provides input to officials at the Colorado Department of Education on the impact of education policies in the classroom.
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