Last week, 110 sixth-graders weaved between frosted trees as they explored the trails at the more than 500-acre Mount Evans Outdoor Lab campus in Evergreen for classwork. In addition to hiking, they practiced archery, studied hydrology and learned skills necessary for exploring and surviving in the outdoors.
The in its 61st year, welcomes sixth-graders from all 91 of the county’s elementary schools to its campuses in Evergreen and Bailey.
The program, which provides students with hands-on nature and science lessons in a natural environment, is a beloved resource that has demonstrated a turnaround since
This fall, both Outdoor Lab campuses — Mount Evans and Windy Peak — will unveil elaborate greenhouses that will be incorporated into the curriculum, including a new seed-to-table course. and the price tag for the two buildings will approach $400,000.
“The genesis of the idea came from but he wanted a legacy project. He’s donated to Outdoor Lab before. He’s largely responsible for the astronomy lab,” said , architect of the greenhouses.
The Kiwanis Astronomy Lab, the most recent curriculum-related addition to the Mount Evans campus, was completed in 1974.
Sipes anticipates the Mount Evans greenhouse will be complete by the end of October. It’s currently empty, awaiting installation of its aquaponics feature, a bathroom and a boiler. Windy Peak’s greenhouse will likely be complete in early November, officials say.
About 33,000 pounds of water stored in 55-gallon barrels are stacked along the back walls, and will heat the 750-square-foot buildings.
“This whole building is about science. The angle of this front wall is exactly perpendicular to the sun at its lowest point in the sky in December. The sun will come straight in and hit these barrels and warm them up,” Sipes said. The warm water will heat the room.
Boilers in each greenhouse will also moderate the temperature, to ensure a comfortable learning environment for the students. But the barrels of water will be a lesson in themselves, Sipes said.
Students will use the greenhouses to learn to grow food — even in the cold of winter — and hopefully some of the produce will makes its way to the campus cafeterias, Sipes said.
He volunteered his expertise designing the greenhouses and said he’s getting paid in knowledge.
“I consider myself the first student of the Outdoor Lab greenhouse program,” he said. The project required a lot of research, and he attended classes at the Denver Botanic Gardens to learn everything he could about greenhouses before designing the Outdoor Lab buildings.
The Outdoor Lab program is largely funded by the, a nonprofit started 14 years ago by former principals and employees who wanted to see the program continue. The greenhouses were funded by the foundation, mostly through individual donors.
Shannon Hancock, executive director of the foundation, describes the program’s curriculum as an example of “40-year learning,” meaning that 5-10 — or more — years down the road, the students will still be processing what they learned.
“Even if plants never grew in (the greenhouses), understanding the thermodynamics of this space and heat retention and solar power and ventilation helps (the students) think in this very spatial way,” she said. “We’re really excited that we are thinking beyond a one-use building. This is what brings Outdoor Lab into the next 60 years.”
Sipes agreed.
“This experience will carry forward,” he said. “Even if they don’t get the lesson of the angles, or they don’t understand this or that, I’m convinced that that will stick with them, and, as those lessons get reinforced over and over in the future, they’ll bring that experience back to the greenhouse and go, ‘Thatap what they were talking about. I get it.’”
Because Outdoor Lab is owned and operated by Jeffco Public Schools, every sixth-grader in the district can attend. The cost varies depending on the school and its percentage of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
The city of Wheat Ridge pays the full tuition for low-income students at schools in the city. Edgewater covers tuition for all of its students.
“I’ve been going up for 18 years now, and itap an awesome program for the kids,” said Carine Lockwood, a sixth-grade teacher at , whose students are at Mount Evans this week.
The school’s sixth-grade teachers accompany the students. Each focuses on a different core subject for the week. Lockwood teaches navigation field study.
“Itap neat to connect science to outdoor activities. Itap a great experience for them to grow. It shows them that learning is fun,” Lockwood said.
Nick Ophaug, the program director at the Mount Evans campus, attended the program as a sixth-grader, participated as a high school leader and then led students as an intern. Now he lives on site.
“As long as I can do the job and deliver the same thing I got to experience, I’ll stay here as long as I can, I guess,” he said. “I love the program too much to ever let it go.”