Alpine
Bank officers John Stelzriede and Kent Wilson, school
principal Audrey Hazleton, teachers, volunteers and students lift trowels and garden
implements to herald the construction of the new Alpine Garden and Greenhouse.
Seeded
by visionary
partnerships and collaboration, the idea of a school greenhouse and garden was cultivated
into a reality. A project nearly five years
in the making, the groundbreaking for the Glenwood Springs
Elementary School Alpine Garden took
place on April 22, 2019.
Glenwood
Springs
Elementary School recently adopted an Expeditionary Learning
curriculum. The new garden and greenhouse will serve as an outdoor classroom with instruction in all subjects,
provide food for the students, and healthy living skills
instruction to both students and adults.
“Gardening provides an alternative experiential model that works for many learners,” says Renee Miller, a fundraiser
for the project. Wellness teacher and co-fundraiser
Stephanie Pollender notes that
shoveling dirt and the upcoming
excavation for the project
will be a part of physical education classes. “Kids can
learn the words corn, carrot and the color orange in both
English and Spanish,” says
Renee. “all while we’re trying
to express why it’s
important to eat peas.”
The Valley
Settlement Project, Garfield County Cooperative Extension, the Alpine Environmental Foundation,
Colorado Succeeds, Glenwood Garden Club, local businesses and countless individuals contributed
time, programming ideas and money. Alpine Bank Glenwood Springs contributed to the garden on behalf of customers who use the bank’s Education and Environment loyalty debit cards.
Renee explains that an ornamental iron sign is being crafted by the welding
program at Colorado Mountain College (CMC) in Rifle, along with the climate control for the greenhouse from applied
engineering technician students at the Carbondale CMC campus. Architecture and design has been contributed by Basalt architect Michael Thompson.