Life was certainly not easy for Longmont’s first settlers.

That was the general agreement among eight girls who were taking turns vigorously turning the crank on an old-fashioned wooden ice cream maker.

Ana Greer , 7, prepares to twist hot steel with the help of blacksmith Chase Carlton at "Searchers, Seekers and Settlers" camp in Longmont. Lindsay J.C. Lack photo

“This is a lot of work, and it makes me tired,” said Tera Toor, 9. “But it will taste good when we are done!”

For two weeks in June and July, two groups of 7- to 10-year-olds learned what life was like for early settlers in Longmont as they participated in the “Searchers, Seekers and Settlers” day camp run by the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center.

The camp is part of the larger summer day camp program the museum offers, which includes four art and cultural camps designed and run directly by the museum, and six science camp sessions offered through the CU Science Discovery program. Sessions cover a wide variety of topics, including art, electronics, pioneers and settlers, kid’s chemistry and the Plains Indians culture.

“We want to appeal to a wide variety of interests, and we are constantly tweaking our camps to make sure that they are fresh and fun,” said Jill Overlie, curator of education at the Longmont Museum.

The “Searchers, Seekers and Settlers” day camp is based on historical accounts of pioneer life in the Longmont area, Overlie said. The camp is held at the St. Vrain Historical Society’s Old Mill Park in Longmont so that the park’s historic cabins, milk house and gazebo can give campers a glimpse of life in early Longmont, Overlie said.

“We really appreciate being able to partner with the St. Vrain Historical Society and use Old Mill Park,” she said. “It’s a wonderful fit for the camp.”

Campers got to try some early settler activities as part of their week. The youngsters twisted ropes and tried their hands at lassoing, dipped wax candles, heard about life as a Mountain Man and churned butter and ice cream. The campers also trekked to Left Hand Creek to try their hands at panning for gold as they experienced a bit of Longmont’s early mining history.

While the sunny day was hot, the campers agreed that it was cool sitting in the Hauke Milk House as they cranked the ice cream.
“Why was it important to keep the milk house cool?” asked summer program assistant Haila Mirto.

“Because you don’t want your milk or butter to spoil,” said Eva D’Epagnier, 10, of Longmont.

But while the group in the milk house remained cool, campers in another area of the park were feeling more heat – and loving it. Two craftsmen blacksmiths, Chase Carlton and Jeremy Conley, were teaching campers about their craft. The two men, members of the National Center for Craftsmanship, were giving campers a chance to make a metal reed lamp by bending, twisting and pounding iron into the correct shape.

“It’s really hard to hit the metal to make it flat,” said Ana Greer, 10, of Longmont as she pounded on her piece of metal. “Being a blacksmith is a hard job.”

The camp is fun and a “really good way to teach a little history,” said lead instructor Jennifer Tjornehoj, who also is a high school teacher. “Immersing the campers into the activities helps them recall the facts they learn. I think it’s a wonderful way to bring history to life.”

The Longmont Museum camps use teen volunteers to help run the camps, and returning volunteers Hope Genty, 16, of Longmont and Meagan Chriswell, 16, of Lyons enjoy their time at the Searchers, Seekers and Settlers camp.

“I really enjoy working at this particular camp because it is fun to do the activities and work with the campers,” Genty said. Chriswell agreed, adding she also finds it “really rewarding” to volunteer.

First-time volunteer Tyler Brazitis, 16, of Longmont helped campers make rope. He said he had been able to put his leadership skills to use by volunteering at the camp, “and it is a lot of fun,” he said.

The Longmont Museum still has a few openings for its upcoming camp focusing on the life of Plains Indians. To register for the Hunters, Artists and Tipi Makers camp to be held July 26 – 30, call the museum at 303-651-8374. Some scholarships are available.

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

Allyson Willey, 8, decorates her rain stick during Girls Scout camp at the Kiwa Korral in Lyons. Lindsay J.C. Lack photo

Then it progressed to chants for taking attendance – “Unit 3, shout with me, Comets, comets, whoosh!” — followed by a much more respectful flag-raising ceremony led by the girls.

As the girls scattered for a day filled with learning about the weather, making rain sticks and clouds and hearing from a meteorologist, they also were reminded that the day held something special – cooking their lunches over a campfire or by using a camp stove.

“It’s a really busy day today,” said unit leader Giselle Klingberg of Longmont as she hurried to her unit area.

The Girl Scout Kiwa Day Camp is sponsored by Girl Scout-trained volunteers from Longmont, Niwot, Lyons and the surrounding areas. The week-long day camp, which will run again this month, serves about 200 elementary-age girls each summer. It has a different theme each year – it’s “Cool Science at Kiwa” this summer — and gives area Girl Scouts a chance to enjoy the outdoors while trying new activities, learning and practicing outdoor skills, hearing from special speakers and doing arts and crafts.

On one recent afternoon, younger girls were learning about cloud shapes as the girls fashioned clouds out of cotton balls and glue. Most of the girls were constructing cumulus clouds, but Sophia Cousins, 9, of Longmont had a slightly different idea.

“I’m making a heart cloud,” she said.

Allyson Willey, 8, of Longmont concentrated on decorating her rain stick and making it sound just right.

“I want it to sound like really hard rain, or maybe hail,” she said as she poured uncooked rice and beans into the tube.

The smell of campfires began to drift through camp as the day’s speaker, meteorologist and Channel 7 weatherman Corey Christianson, wrapped up his presentation about Colorado’s weather patterns. The girls headed back to their units to cook camp lunches ranging from hot dogs on a stick to hamburgers, burritos and quesadillas cooked over the fire, along with “gourmet” scrambled eggs boiled in a bag on a camp stove. And, of course, lunch ended with a big round of S’mores.

While camp is designed to be fun (and a little educational) for the younger girl scouts, it also offers a chance for older scouts – those in middle school and high school — to hone their leadership and planning skills.

For the past two years, the camp’s daily program has been run and taught by program aides (PAs), according to camp director Siobhan Murtha of Longmont. These older Girl Scouts are trained to lead and plan events and to work with younger girls. PAs take on silly camp names such as Polka Dot, Kitten and Fuzzy Elmo as part of working with younger girls, but they are serious about keeping day camp running smoothly and effectively working with the younger scouts. A trio of senior PAs – this summer it is Longmont High School senior Samantha Harroun, Niwot High School graduate Emma Reider, and Niwot High School junior Dana Glasscock – oversee the approximately 40 PAs who volunteer in the day camp.

“The adults pretty much just handle the financial aspects,” Murtha said.”We tell our adult unit leaders that the PAs run camp.”

A pilot program underway at the Kiwa day camp since fall has given even more responsibility to senior PAs, Murtha said. The senior PAs and a committee of older PAs fully planned this summer’s camp – generating, researching and implementing program ideas, handling logistics for running the camp, and dealing with program aide and safety issues. Committee members also are providing the initial training to a new group of younger PAs.

“The PA committee members are really vested in camp,” Murtha said. “And they are practicing and learning good skills, such as how to truly lead a large organization, mentor their peers and the importance of discretion. They have even gotten to the point where they are looking for their own replacements so that the program can continue when they graduate and leave.”

“By and large, our adults are in awe of what the teenagers have accomplished,” she said.

Providing good role models for younger scouts is what drew Katie Rose of Niwot to serve on the PA camp committee. “I want the younger Girl Scouts at camp to be able to look up to us as role models, and then have those girls want to come back and do this themselves,” she said.

She was echoed by Kelly Herbst of Longmont, another PA committee member. “Younger Girl Scouts need to see that they can stay in scouts through high school and do something that counts,” she said.

“We have the largest PA program in the entire Girl Scouts of Colorado Council, and I think it is because of the responsibility they can have at day camp,” Murtha said.

“I really like volunteering for my week at Kiwa,” said adult volunteer Joyce Palaszewski of Longmont, who has volunteered for 13 summers. “I really enjoy the girls’ laughter, the fun and excitement at camp. And has been really neat to see the older girls grow over the years and now become absolutely wonderful leaders.”

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

Universal High School graduate Whitney Claus gives her fellow students some words of wisdom as UHS Counselor Susan Metzler, left, and UHS Progrm Coordinator Mary Kennedy look on during their commencement ceremony. Kira Horvath photo

The graduates – Whitney Claus, Eric Lennard and Sarah Wasson – designed their own ceremony. Instead of the usual speakers praising the graduates and congratulating them on entering their futures, they were the stars of an “urban art show” to showcase their achievements during their time at Universal High School.

“We like to do things our own way, so we wanted something different for graduation,” Lennard said.

The UHS grads hung examples of their photography, creative writing and newspaper stories, drawings and graphic art, music – and even two dresses sewn by Claus – to showcase the creativity and style they brought to their high school years.

“And we all have to have good food, so we have appetizers and cake at our graduation ceremony too,” Lennard said.

The Universal High School program, housed at Silver Creek High School, offers self-directed learners an alternative to the traditional structured classes in high school. UHS students can choose from a menu of options for their classes, including college courses at Front Range Community College or the University of Colorado, online courses, correspondence courses, independent study and traditional high school classes. The students also must complete 100 hours of career exploration and 100 hours of service learning as graduation requirements.

“Not many of the other students know that UHS exists, so they look into our rooms and think we are the big dorks of the school,” said Lennard. “But really, we have it sweet!”

Claus, who is graduating at 16, attended UHS for her junior and senior years after being home schooled.

“I wanted a public school experience, but I was younger and a little hesitant about a large high school,” she said. “And I like to do things my way, so this seemed like a good fit.”

While at UHS, Claus took both AP and regular classes at Silver Creek, and explored careers in music and teaching through her involvement in her church, along with martial arts.

“I have a black belt, so I taught classes too,” she said. “I found out that I like inspiring kids.”

Claus said she will attend Front Range Community College in the fall before transferring to a bigger university, where she plans to earn a degree in school counseling.

“I think UHS really helped me figure out what path I should follow,” Clause said.

Lennard, 18, said the greatest gift he received from his three years at UHS was “discovering what I want to do with my life.”

“I was that kid who just wasn’t happy in the traditional school system,” he said. “UHS gave me a chance to explore what I was interested in and learn at my pace.”

Lennard worked with the Math, Science and Engineering Achievement program teacher at Lyons Middle School this year to fulfill his career exploration hours, and discovered his passion – teaching. He will attend the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley this fall to study history and secondary education. He plans to teach at a traditional high school “to get some experience,” and then establish a program similar to UHS at the school.

“I know how hard it is to be a different kind of student,” he said.

Traditional school classes were “just too confining” for Wasson, 17.

“I wanted more freedom to delve in depth into subjects, and even though I was in the pre-International Baccalaureate program, I just didn’t have that freedom,” Wasson said.

Universal High School allowed Wasson to find her passion in writing. She pens short stories, fiction and poetry, and also writes for Silver Creek’s school newspaper. Attending Universal High School’s non-traditional program “helped me explore and find what I’m passionate about, which is writing,” she said.

She also was able to focus on an independent study course in “classic literature” to learn how great writers in the past honed their craft.

Wasson took classes at Front Range Community College, and has already earned about 24 college credits. She plans to finish her general education college class requirements, then transfer to the University of Colorado.

Will the three graduates miss their time in their non-traditional high school?

“Once in UHS, forever in UHS,” Clause said.

“We’ll have to have a really small reunion in five years,” Wasson said.

“Well, I’ll miss it, but I think I’m ready to be done,” Lennard said, grinning.

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

Shayla Tran, Delia Lynch, Jemma Kuster and Chris Bopp of Alpine Elementary School practice a spontaneous build for the Odyssey of the Mind competition. Lindsay J.C. Lack photo

There’s a “kelp-wanted” ad to answer. And a joke about seafood – no, not the one your first-grader tells. Instead, this joke is about reading a seafood list – “when I see food, I eat it.” There’s even a “sea food court” complete with a wacky “accused.”

It’s all part of the final preparations and practices underway for the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals by students on eight teams from St. Vrain Valley School District schools and three teams from Longmont Christian School. The 2010 world finals for OM (or OotM as many participants refer to it) will be held May 26 to May 29 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich.

“Odyssey of the Mind gives very creative kids an outlet to use their talents,” said Alpine team B coach Jo Charlton. “It’s just amazing to see what these kids can create.”

Jarod Balentine, Samuel Narvaez,  Alex Valin and Nicholas Valen act out their Odyssey of the Mind skit during practice at Alpine Elementary School in Longmont. The skit was performed by Alpine’s A Team, one of two teams the school will send to the competition this year. Lindsay J.C. Lack photo

Creativity, problem-solving and teamwork are what OM is all about.

Odyssey of the Mind is an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. It was started in 1978 by technology professor C. Samuel Micklus at Rowan University in New Jersey. Since its inception, OM has grown to include teams of students from more than 30 U.S. states and several other countries.

The 2010 World Finals will be a global experience with teams from 25 countries, including China, Singapore, South Africa, The Netherlands, France, Kazakhstan, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom.

There are 23 teams from Colorado competing at the world finals. All of them advanced from regional competitions to place first or second at the state competition. Of those 23 teams, six come from St. Vrain Valley School District elementary schools: Black Rock, Burlington, Centennial, Carbon Valley Academy and two teams from Alpine Elementary. Sunset Middle School and Erie Middle School also have teams going to the world finals. And three teams will compete from Longmont Christian School.

Participants choose one of five competitive problems to solve. The problems vary greatly; some are technical, such as building structures with balsa wood and glue that can withstand weight or creating a vehicle that can perform certain tasks, while others are artistic or performance-oriented, such as portraying the discovery of two archaeological treasures.

Teams are judged on their skit and long-term problem solution, along with their “style” for costumes and props. They also must solve a “spontaneous” problem using an odd assortment of materials.

“Basically they are given a bunch of junk and have to make something happen or build something using those materials,” Charlton said. “They have to be very creative with their problem solving.”

Last week, Charlton’s team practiced working together to solve a spontaneous problem. She handed them a bag containing straws, string, coffee filters, Popsicle sticks and ping pong balls, with instructions to move the balls from point A to point B – all in eight minutes.

“They have to be able to work together,” Charlton said.

The Alpine Elementary teams both chose to solve a long-term problem called “food court,” in which the students must create and present a humorous performance about a food item that is accused of being unhealthy and must defend itself among its food peers. Adult coaches – Charlton and Jeremy White for Alpine team B, and Kris Koval and JP Valin for team A — are there to teach teamwork and supervise. However, all the creation – ideas, writing scripts, making costumes, building props – must be accomplished by the team members.

“The students do everything,” said Koval, whose team finished first in its division at state competition. “One of my team members even learned to sew from two other of my team members to make so he could make his costume. The kids are pretty amazing.”

Both Alpine teams began working on their long-term problem in October, and generally held team meetings once a week. At those meetings, team members would brainstorm ideas, work on their long-term project, do problem-solving activities, and occasionally take a play break outside.

“We find it works the ‘crazies’ out,” Koval said, smiling.

Any Alpine Elementary student can join an OM team, Koval said. In fact, the school had six teams that entered regional competition, she said. She credited Penny Ouellette, who first began the Odyssey of the Mind program at Alpine, with keeping interest high.

“She keeps track of all the paperwork for the teams, which frees the adult coaches to do all the fun activities with the kids,” Koval said.

And do the students enjoy their OM experience?

“It’s really cool and pretty fun,” said Chris Bopp. “I really like it.”

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

Maggie Gara and Adin Heinritz find out that they will receive signed photos of Olympic figure skater, Rachel Flatt, during an assembly at Niwot Elementary School. Lindsay J.C. Lack photo

The anticipation built as Principal Mike Keppler addressed the waiting students and showed a video of a figure skating competitor performing her flawless routine.

Then the words swept through the crowd – “she’s here, she’s here!”

The students erupted into nearly deafening cheers and wildly waved their flags as 17-year-old high school senior Rachael Flatt, the 2010 U.S. Nationals Champion and Olympic figure skating competitor from Colorado Springs, looked hesitantly into the gym, then broke into a broad smile and walked to the makeshift stage.

“That was so enthusiastic – you all are wonderful,” Flatt said. “It’s fun to be back.”

Flatt isn’t just being polite when she says back – she attended Niwot Elementary from third through fifth grades before her family moved to Colorado Springs. And in her fifth grade yearbook, she listed her goals for the future: to be a national figure skater and a writer.

On Friday, Flatt spoke about what it took for her to achieve her dreams.

U.S. national figure-skating champion Rachael Flatt, who attended Niwot Elementary School from third through fifth grade. Courtesy photo

“It took lots of hard work, dedication and time for me to achieve my dream,” she told the students. “I think I gave my coaches a lot of gray hair because I was so stubborn sometimes. But then I realized that I needed to work hard and had to do all that I could to get where I wanted to go.”

Flatt, who began skating at age 4, said she decided to become a national figure skater in elementary school. Her family moved to Colorado Springs after fifth grade so that she could train at the U.S. Olympics training facility there.

“I spent a lot of time on the ice,” she said.

Flatt won the U.S. National Championship in January, earning her a spot on the U.S. Olympic women’s figure skating team. She finished seventh in the Olympics, and hopes to be able to compete again in 2014.

Flatt visit to Niwot Elementary came about because of letters written to her by students in Stephanie Horne’s fourth-grade class. The class wrote just after the Olympics to invite Flatt to speak at the school, and she was happy to accept. She also brought along signed postcards for all the students at the school.

After her short remarks, Flatt answered a wide variety of questions from the Niwot Elementary students.

“How did it feel to be at the Olympics?” asked Jacqueline.

“It was very exciting to be there, and there was a lot of pressure,” Flatt said.

“How did it feel to have everyone looking at you?” asked Alexandra.

“It was a little intimidating, but then I remembered to just ignore it and have fun,” Flatt replied.

Flatt also talked about how she felt when she didn’t win a medal at the Olympics.

“You know, it was tough to not see the scores that I wanted to see,” she said. “But I learned that doing my best was OK, and I didn’t have to feel badly about where I finished because I had done my best. I was happy with where I finished.”

Juggling a grueling practice schedule and her advanced placement high school classes wasn’t easy, Flatt said, but she said it was worth the effort.

“It takes a lot of organization and commitment to both skating and school,” Flatt told the students.

On a typical high school day, she would get up at 5:30 a.m. and be at school for the 6:30 a.m. start of classes. At 9 a.m., Flatt would head to the rink for nearly three hours of ice skating practice, and possibly a dance class. Then it was back to the high school for more classes until 2:30 p.m., followed by two more hours of skating practice. Evenings were spent on homework and physical conditioning.

“I have to be very organized, or I don’t accomplish what I need to accomplish,” she said.

Flatt will graduate summa cum laude – and with straight ‘As” — from Cheyenne Mountain High School this month. She has been accepted to Stanford University in California for fall 2011. She also was named to the U.S. Figure Skating Scholastic Honors Team.

“It was hard, but it was worth it,” Flatt said. “I worked hard to reach my dream, and I hope you all are able to reach your dreams too.”

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

Westview Middle School students look over the scene of a vehicle torched by firefighters for a unit on forensics. Mark Ivins photo

But instead of checking inside the car and spraying it with water and foam, the firefighters tossed in a lit torch and set the car on fire.

“Whoa!” the audience said nearly simultaneously as flames shot out and gray smoke billowed upward from the burning car.

Then the students returned to what they had been doing - taking photos and videotaping the fire scene, testing the air temperature, diagramming what the scene looked like, evaluating the color of the smoke, interviewing witnesses and scribbling notes furiously in their notebooks.

The May 1 event was part of a “CSI” - that’s short for crime scene investigation – forensics science enrichment class underway for sixth-grade Westview students in the gifted and talented program, the Math, Engineering and Science Achievement program, and “students interested in the science and challenge of the class,” explained sixth grade science teacher Jayme Margolin-Sneider.

Margolin-Sneider, who volunteers with the Boulder Emergency Squad, used her connections and experience to create the class and set up the real-world experience. She is mapping out the evolving crime story that the students are trying to solve, and is working with sixth grade science teacher Dan Cribby to teach students how to use the investigative methods, critical thinking and technology tools to solve the crime.

“These students are taking this and running with it,” Margolin-Sneider said. “They are really catching on to how to use science to run an investigation.”

By Tuesday, students had posted photos on a suspect board and had begun to organize an evidence board. Groups of students were comparing statements given by witnesses to see if there were discrepancies between witnesses, or if any witnesses had made contradictory statements.

The class decided that perhaps a person or an animal had died in the fire, based on witness statements. But they didn’t seem too sure about the truthfulness of their witnesses.

“I interviewed a woman in a red sweatshirt, and I think she could be an accomplice of someone else,” said Ryan Schatzle. “She said different things to different people.”

“I talked to a witness who said he thought he saw someone run away from the car,” said Kira Krueger.

And Isa Ramos added that she “heard the firefighters say that there was one death in the car.”

Other students were editing and analyzing their videos and photos to see if they could glean information about the scene and the witnesses who saw the car burning.

“There were additional people at the scene, and I zoomed in on them in my photo so we can add them to the suspect board,” said Joseph Riss.

“I enhanced one of my photos because I saw something strange hanging from a person’s belt and I thought it could be evidence,” said Bryna Beavers.

“Remember, you start with the evidence and then find a suspect,” Cribby reminded the class on Tuesday. “You don’t start with a suspect in mind and then make the evidence fit. You build evidence bricks in your wall and then get an answer.”

Margolin-Sneider said the students would return to the scene of the car burning to gather forensics evidence on May 8. Firefighters will brief the students on proper evidence collection, issue them official forensics evidence bags and gloves, and give the students a chance to try out the collecting procedures.

The students will analyze the collected evidence in class before coming up with their solutions to the crime.

“We will also will focus on fingerprint analysis in the class,” Margolin-Sneider said.

Westview’s CSI class is a taste of the forensic science classes offered for the past two years at Longmont High School and this year at Skyline High School.

“The forensic science classes give the students a taste of what it would be like to work in the field,” said Chris Chou, the forensic science teacher at Longmont High School. “We make sure the students understand the real role of the crime scene investigators and how it differs from what they see on television.”

Chou, who attended the car burn on May 1, said students learn about DNA and blood analysis, fingerprinting, document analysis, hair and fiber analysis and forensic anthropology in the high school classes. Enrollment in the Longmont High School classes has increased from 50 students in its first year to 90 this year. Skyline offers three sections of the course.

Westview students share the high school students’ interest in forensic science.

“This class is really cool,” said Lazlo Stepback. “It really makes me want to do this again in high school.”

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

Eagle Crest fourth grade teacher Stephanie Potter shows students from left, Hannah Bruce, Rylee Anderson and Jenny Weygandt how to rope off their square foot gardens during Earth Day activities at the school on Thursday, April 22, 2010. Kira Horvath photo

“We’re planting cold-weather plants, because they will grow in our weather right now,” said Mackenzie Farmer.

She and her garden mates - Hannah Bruce, Rylee Anderson and Lyndsey Johnson – had an elaborate diagram of where to plant each kind of plant in their plot. They were planting lettuce, cabbage, radishes, spinach and marigolds.

“You have to have the marigolds because they attract the right insects and repel the bad ones,” Bruce said. “And they’re pretty.”

The gardens are part of the fourth grade’s G.R.O.W. project, which stands for Gardens Renew Our World, explained fourth-grade teacher Stephanie Potter. The gardens were created as part of the St. Vrain Valley School District’s Math, Engineering, and Science Achievement program. Potter and fourth grade teacher Mick Huiet serve as the MESA advisors for Eagle Crest.

Funding for the G.R.O.W. program was provided by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, St. Vrain Valley Education Foundation and the Eagle Crest PTO. Students also held a “virtual plant sale” in March, which allowed parents and others to order nursery plants online and have a percentage of the sale go to the G.R.O.W. project, Potter said.

The G.R.O.W. project has been underway for much of the school year. After planning was done in September, the students celebrated a “Leave No Child Inside” day in October by holding a garden groundbreaking. About 63 students emptied a 20 by 20-feet area of all the landscaping rocks covering the soil in preparation for the square-foot gardens project.

In December, parents, teachers and students from all grades built and placed 20 planters for the project.

“It was pretty awesome,” said Theo Ditillo. “There was an assembly line going.”

Students have been planning their gardens all spring, Potter said. They researched and chose the seeds they wanted to plant, and worked with landscape designer Cherie Stringer of TLC Gardens to discuss gardening concepts such as microclimates, soil preparation, using compost and planting tips. They also put together wheelbarrows to carry soil to the gardens.

On planting day, teachers and students used huge tarps to mix the planting mix of peat and vermiculite, and added some compost to the mix. Students carried buckets of the soil mix to the garden beds to fill them, and then gridded off the beds into nine 1 by 1 foot squares for planting.

“One cabbage plant can take up an entire square foot,” Ditillo said. “You have to give them a lot of room.”

Ditillo and his garden partners – Adrian Gomez, Alex Eskridge and Wes Zamudio – carefully filled their garden plot and gridded it. They spent time making sure the soil was completely mixed and then planted their seeds.

The former landscaping rocks were put to new uses as decorative stones and “thermal rocks” in the gardens. Some of the rocks were painted by the fourth grade students and glazed so that they can be used as stepping stones and decorative accents.

“It looks really pretty,” said Madison Mauldin.

Along with learning plant biology, math, climate information and ecology, the fourth grade students also honed their technology skills on the G.R.O.W. project. The students created podcasts for the projects, and teamed up to write the scripts, narrate the podcasts and add the music. They also documented the garden project’s progress with photos, and learned how to add comments on a blog about the garden.

The G.R.O.W. project also inspired Anderson and Jenny Weygandt to create a worm compost project. The girls used a worm compost box and earthworms supplied through EcoCycle’s Green Star Schools project, then added the compost materials, mainly consisting of newspaper strips and dirt.

“We have to rake the compost materials and spray it all with water every day,” said Weygandt. “We also add in things from our snacks like banana peels, apple cores and orange rinds.”

“Mold is really good, because it means that the worms are breaking down the materials and making good compost,” Anderson added.

The girls also taught second grade classes about worms and composting, and helped them create composting materials.

“The second graders really liked seeing the worms,” Weygandt said. “They had lots of questions about the worms.”

Anderson and Weygandt displayed a poster about their worm composting project at the St. Vrain MESA Expo held Tuesday. Their worm compost also will be used in the square-foot gardens.

The Eagle Crest fourth graders are hoping their gardens grow quickly.

“We want to be able to eat some of the things we’ve grown by the end of school,” Gomez said.

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

Lizzy Dziallo, 16, works on a piece for her portfolio during Mike Merz's AP Studio Art class at Longmont High School. Students from the class contributed to work on display at the SVVSD Art Show currently running at the Twin Peaks Mall. Kira Horvath photo

A part of Longmont’s Twin Peaks Mall has been temporarily transformed from an empty, cavernous space into a vivid and colorful collage of artistic expression by students from nearly all the St. Vrain Valley School District schools.

The former J.C. Penney’s space in the mall is housing the district’s annual art show, underway now through May 1.

The art show is more than just a few creations from each of the schools. It is an explosion of creativity, with some schools displaying hundreds of works. Visitors can see student works in such traditional media as watercolors and acrylic paintings, and also view woodcuts and wire sculptures.

There are display cases of silver, pewter and bronze jewelry.  Ceramic tiles and pots and mosaics can be found. There’s African art done as scratch art, Peruvian-style vessels, art in the style of the Middle Ages and colorful and intricate Tutankhamun masks. One section features self-portraits inspired by artist Chuck Close, who specializes in photorealistic portraits. Another area features sculptures fashioned like the cakes created on the Food Network show “Ace of Cakes.”

Delicate pen-and-ink drawings and subtly shaded charcoal drawings can be found, along with bold graphic art created by using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. There’s a wide array of photographs.

Stephanie Cary, 18, works on a charcoal drawing for her portfolio during Mike Merz's AP Studio Art class at Longmont High School. Kira Horvath photo

There are even drawings and sculptures incorporating paper chains among the offerings from SVVSD students.

“This is an incredible showcase of our students’ artistic talent in our district,” said Sanborn Elementary art teacher Katie Carroll. “It’s wonderful to see.”

An open house for parents and students will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on April 28. Local artists, school officials and administrators and principals are looking at the entries to select some for special recognition, and those student artists will be acknowledged at the open house.

Among the art at the district’s show are pieces by students in the AP studio art class at Longmont High School. The students are busy finishing up the 24 pieces required for their AP art portfolios, due by May 1. The pieces displayed in the district’s show are part of their portfolios, said Michael Merz, AP art teacher.

“These students are incredibly talented and hard-working,” he said. “It’s great to be able to let the community see what they can create.”

During class Tuesday, senior Stephanie Cary was concentrating on a charcoal portrait of one of her friends. She looked at his photo on her digital camera, and then worked on the drawing.

“The screen’s pretty small, but it works,” she said.

Seniors and class members Michelle Kidwell and Bree Page have been creating art together since they became friends in kindergarten, Page said.

“We used to build elaborate mud castles and dirt and grass sculptures when we were kids,” she said. “We also used to smash our colored chalk, mix it with water, and paint the sidewalk with the wet chalk. We’d get into trouble for using up all the chalk.”

Page now prefers to work with colored pencils, while Kidwell creates graphic designs on her computer. She recently created the designs for team T-shirts for Longmont High School’s track, wrestling and swim teams.

Art seeps into the other aspects of school life for these class members. Junior Lizzy Dziallo, who generally works creating art using Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, admits that she also sometimes doodles in class.

“My math teacher hated that,” she said. “He would circle the doodles on my paper and write ‘pay attention!’”

Junior Heather Kegel works in pen and ink, colored pencils and photography. In fact, she’s contemplating whether it would be lucrative to shoot a few senior portraits next year. She and Dziallo, both members of the National Art Honor Society, were able to attend the Longmont Open Studios Tour in the fall and were inspired by the local artists they met.

“Some of the artists work from their homes, in their basements, to make their art,” Kegel said. “That dedication is pretty amazing.”

Many of the seniors in the class are attending college to study art in some form. Cary, who has been awarded two scholarships, will attend the University of Northern Colorado to study art with an eye toward art education. Kidwell plans to attend Colorado State University to study graphic design and business so she can open her own graphic design business one day. Page is not studying art – she plans to attend UNC to study nursing – but she knows she will incorporate art into her nursing care somehow.

“Maybe I’ll be a pediatric nurse and draw for my patients,” she said. “I know I’ll always have art in my life.”

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

First-graders, Toby Roberts, Connie Chung and Jonathan Morales, use iPods to learn new vocabulary at Columbine Elementary School in Longmont. Lindsay J.C. Lack photo

“Pollinate,” she whispered as she listened, read the word and watched Elmo ask characters on Sesame Street what they thought the word meant.

In another part of the room, Samantha Martinez read a Tumble Books e-story about pirates on the classroom laptop computer. When she finished, she clicked on the next book she wanted to read.

“That was really fun,” she said. “I like pirates.”

In the back of the room, Alyssa Goodwin and Sidney Olivas giggled as they listened to a read-aloud book on a CD and followed along in the book.

Meanwhile, teacher Melissa Tobin conducted a small group reading circle as she kept a watchful eye on the rest of her students.

“Reading time is so much more productive since we introduced the students to our technology,” Tobin said after the kids went to lunch. “The kids are very engaged and self-motivated when they use our technology.”

The technology in use in Tobin’s class was provided through a $1.88 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act academic achievement grant to the St. Vrain Valley School District’s Title 1 schools. The federal Title 1 program provides funding to school districts to assist schools with the highest student concentration of poverty. The six St. Vrain elementary schools that share the funds – Columbine, Indian Peaks, Loma Linda, Northridge, Rocky Mountain and Spangler – have targeted the money to improve their students’ reading performance.

The district has spent nearly one-third of the funding on acquiring technology tools and providing professional development time for teachers to learn and use the technology in their classrooms. Each of the Title 1 schools received four “technology carts,” which include laptops, document cameras, a projector and speakers for the teachers to use. The district has purchased a total of 180 laptops, 60 desktop computers, six charging carts and 60 licenses for reading intervention software programs.

Money also was used to add a part-time literacy and English language development teacher at all the Title 1 schools. Those teachers will work with fourth and fifth grade students who need reading intervention.

The iPods used by Columbine Elementary first grade and kindergarten students were purchased as part of the district’s “Take My Teacher Home” project. The district purchased 240 iPods, carry packs, books and supplies for the project. Teachers created reading exercises, and then recorded 12 weeks of lessons and stories on the iPods. The students take the packs home, listen and do the exercises, then read along with the lessons and stories.

“There is progress,” Tobin said. “I have more students this year who are reading at or above their grade level.”

Providing technology tools in classrooms is just one move the district is making to boost academic achievement in Title 1 schools, said Regina Rinaldi, SVVSD director of priority schools.

“Research has shown that children from economically disadvantaged families start school already falling behind their more affluent classmates,” Rinaldi said. “We want to stop the achievement gap before it happens.”

According to 2008 statistics provided by The Community Foundation of Boulder County, slightly more than 50 percent of SVVSD third grade students from economically disadvantaged families tested proficient and advanced in reading on CSAP tests, while slightly more than 80 percent of their more affluent classmates tested at that level.

To combat the achievement gap, SVVSD is offering summer initiative programs to selected students at Spangler and Rocky Mountain elementary schools. From June 7 to Aug. 7, about 100 high-risk students at those schools will attend school and focus on reading and language skills for four hours in the morning. Some of the students will also receive math help in the afternoon. The Math, Engineering and Science Achievement program also will provide learning opportunities at those schools and the other Title 1 schools, Rinaldi said.

“We have been meeting since fall with the families and teachers at Spangler and Rocky Mountain to discuss and plan the summer initiative,” Rinaldi said.

Rinaldi said plans are also in place to start preschoolers and kindergarten students three weeks earlier than the rest of the students.

“Those children will be able to get used to the school routines earlier and have an easier transition,” she said.

The district is also using Title 1 ARRA funding to hire bilingual family liaisons to work with parents and families next school year. “We want to get our parents more involved, and help them find the resources they may need so that their children can be successful in school,” Rinaldi said.

“Having parents involved in their children’s schooling, both at school and at home, is crucial to their children’s success,” she said. “We want to open the door wide for our parents.”

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net

Silver Creek High School musicians Zach McCall, Chris Overlid, Nick Meadows, Robbie McCowan and Dan Pope on the John Lennon Educational tour bus. Photo courtesy Jay Clanin

For five music technology students at Silver Creek High School, the chance to write, perform and film a music video – all in eight hours – was almost too good to be believed.

That they were able to make their music video in a mobile audio and video professional recording studio that currently is travelling with the BlackEyed Peas tour was even better.

“We were so lucky to have this opportunity,” said band director Jay Clanin, who accompanied his students. “It gave the guys a taste of what the possibilities are in the music business.”

The Silver Creek students were able to use the non-profit John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, a mobile professional recording studio, through the efforts of Jesse Gonzales, manager of district computer support. One of the principle sponsors of the bus is Apple, and Gonzales worked with Apple representatives to set up the opportunity.

The Silver Creek students — Zach McCall, Robbie McCowan, Nick Meadows, Chris Overlid and Dan Pope – are all students in the music technology II class created by Clanin.

The Silver Creek students jumped at the chance to use the recording facilities on the John Lennon Educational Tour bus, even though it meant an early morning drive to Denver’s Pepsi Center on March 27. The bus is divided into three separate studio environments that can be opened to create one large studio. The front studio is an audio and video production room, while the rear studio offers recording and mixing, an isolation booth for acoustic recordings, and a chromate (green screen) booth for video work. Two on-board engineers run the bus and teach students how to use the equipment.

The BlackEyed Peas are using the bus to record tracks for the group’s next CD, and band members will.i.am and Taboo used the isolation booth to record while the students were making their music video.

“Will.i.am had the sub-woofer cranked up enough that it shook our studio,” McCall said.

“Unfortunately they also made the booth private, so we couldn’t watch,” Clanin added.

The Silver Creek guys chose to play ska music for their video, mostly because they wanted a day at the beach, McCall said. McCall played drums, McCowan played saxophone and the didgeridoo and Meadows played trombone. Overlid played guitar, Pope was on keyboards and Clanin added trumpet to the mix. All added vocals.

Their group name ended up being “Don’t Yell Fire!” and their song was titled “Hey Hey Hey Hey.”

“It wasn’t our choice,” Meadows said. “We wanted Banana Havoc. The guys on the bus named us.” (The resulting music video can be found by searching YouTube and at http://www.lennonbus.org/media/videos/1700).

Seeing the top-of-the-line recording equipment and getting a chance to try it out was just as interesting as writing and recording their music video, according to Meadows and Overlid. Pope enjoyed the process of “putting the production together,” while McCowan focused on the sound technology being used. The group ended their day by attending the BlackEyed Peas concert that evening.

The whole experience “brought a real-life component” to the students’ music technology education, Clanin said, which is something he strives to provide for the students.

Music technology classes were begun three years ago at Silver Creek, Clanin said. Using grants, outside fundraising and some district technology resources, the school acquired computers and professional digital music software in order to set up a media lab and create the classes. Clanin also raised enough funds to convert a closet into a soundproof recording booth for the students to use. Many of the students are approved district media techs and can be hired to run the media board for events in the school district, which is another source of funding for the program.

“It’s unusual for high school students to be able to get hands-on experience with this quality level of equipment,” he said. “And we have had some Silver Creek students use the recording booth and equipment to record songs they then sell on iTunes.”

Along with learning the technological aspects of music production, the music technology students are learning how to compose music and function as digital sound engineers. They also explore the “business” of the music industry, which included a recent trip to Guitars, Etc. in Longmont to hear about running a music store and business. And Clanin is working on bringing in a professional deejay to discuss that aspect of the music business.

“I want the students to be exposed to as many facets of the music industry, from producing to recording, as possible,” Clanin said.

Email: kcglasscock@comcast.net