Valley Floor Education Day Sparks Scientific Curiosity

By Julia Caulfield

Photo: Julia Caulfield (KOTO)

Fifteen years ago, residents and visitors to Telluride raised $50 million to purchase 570 acres of land on the west end of town. The land – known as the Valley Floor – now sits as protected open space, home to local elk, with cross country ski trails in the winter, and hiking and biking in the summer. This week local children headed out to the Valley Floor to learn more about the local environment. KOTO’s Julia Caulfield tagged along and brings this story.

Walking out onto the Valley Floor on a warm, albeit slightly smoky Monday morning, small groups of kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders tromp through the open space. It’s the Valley Floor Education Day.

“We learn about birds. We learn about invertebrates. We learn about river flow. We learn about the spruce forest, and we learn about the history of the Valley Floor,” says Sarah Holbrooke, Executive Director of the Pinhead Institute – a youth science nonprofit.

“It’s cute to be able to see the kid’s faces when you say ‘you know this is your Valley Floor, this is yours’. They’re like ‘what?’”, she adds, “It’s our Valley floor. We live her in Telluride to experience it and learn from it, and it’s just wonderful to see the kid’s faces light up when they get onto the grass and see the goose poop, and see the scopes, and see the bugs that come out of the pond. They’ll learn lesson on water flow, hydrology, the river, all that kind of stuff. It’s a great day.”

Pinhead, along with Sheep Mountain Alliance – an environmental nonprofit, the Telluride Institute, and the Telluride Historical Museum are collaborating on the day.

Over at the pond, students learn about habitat and birds, Vicki Phelps is teaching about invertebrates.

“We found quite a bit in the pond. Normally we find all sorts of cool stuff in the river, but the flow is so high. It’s really hard to get your grip with the kick net.” Phelps notes, “But we found some mayflies, leaches, scuds, worms, backswimmers, boatmen (which have these cool paddle-like appendages).”

Phelps hopes Valley Floor Day helps foster appreciation for the landscape, and a better understanding of how everything is connected.

“This is sort of an icebreaker for the Valley Floor,” she says, “then they can come back with their families and share their excitement and their knowledge.”

Photo: Julia Caulfield (KOTO)

Moving to the river there are Beavers homes to explore, and streamflow to understand. Stepping back into a willow grove, students make bracelets out of willow, learning about the Ute people who used to summer on the Valley Floor.

Vivian Hartnett, she’s 6, likes coming to the Valley Floor to look for treasures and fossils.

“I really like to do a lot of fun stuff down in the Valley Floor,” She says.

Today, her favorite part of the day is learning about the beavers.

“Rivers are really important to beavers and things that like to live in the water,” Vivian explains. “The trees are really important for elk and everything is important for nature.”

Vivian’s mom, Amy Hartnett, is along for the field trip as well. For her, Valley Floor Day helps children get a better understanding of the place they live.

“I think the more that kids can learn about where they live, and the importance of ecosystems, people that have lived here before them, animals. It just helps them realize that they’re part of something bigger.” Hartnett notes, “It makes them want to care for things more, and respect everything from the big mountains, to the tiny little bugs that live on the Valley Floor. Everything in between is very special, and it’s great for them to learn at this age. It’s really important for them to learn so young.”

Telluride celebrated Valley Floor Day on May 9th, with a banner on Main Street – recognizing the 13th anniversary of the Valley Floor becoming Open Space – a community treasure, available to explore for generations to come.

Finding Belonging Through Social Justice Parenting

By Julia Caulfield

Traci Baxley believes parenting is a form of activism.

Baxley is a mother, author, professor, and consultant on topics surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion. KOTO’s Julia Caulfield spoke with Baxley about her book “Social Justice Parenting: How to Raise Compassionate, Anti-Racist, Justice-Minded Kids in an Unjust World”.

Family Threatens School District with Legal Action

by Julia Caulfield

Over the past several years, schools - and school boards - have become a site of contention. COVID regulations and mask mandates led to contested school board elections. School districts have also been the battle ground when it comes to discussions surrounding race, LGBTQ issues, and mental health. Now, districts across the country are facing challenges from parents claiming they have broken the law and are liable for damages. Recently, as KOTO’s Julia Caulfield reports, the Telluride R-1 School District found itself in the conversation.

Valley Floor Education Day Looks to Instill Stewardship

By Julia Caulfield

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

At the end of what is likely the strangest school year ever, a field trip to the Valley Floor feels almost as normal as you could imagine.

The entirety of the Telluride Elementary School – that’s kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades – tromp through the open space learning about birds, forest habitat, Elk, the river, and the history of the Ute peoples who lived on the Valley Floor. It’s the Valley Floor Education Day.

“We have the four different stations. We have the pond, we have the river, we spruce, and we have willow, and different experts are at each of those stations, ready to just blow the minds of the kids who show up there to learn about what’s going on,” says Sarah Holbrooke, Executive Director of the Pinhead Institute. Pinhead, along with Sheep Mountain Alliance, the Telluride Institute, and the Telluride Historical Museum are collaborating on the day.

A station of note for many children, the pond, where creepy crawlers, and slippery suckers are at their fingertips.

Luke Niehaus is in 2nd grade. His favorite part of the day is looking at the macro invertebrates that live in the pond.

“Looking at the underwater sea creatures, that would be underwater. I thought the leach looked like a worm a bit,” he says.

Vicki Phelps is the expert at the pond station, she’s been a watershed educator for a number of years. She says piking the children’s interest is her goal.

“This is just a tiny little teaser in a way,” she says, “because we don’t spend a lot of time studying it. But it gives them an excitement, and they want to do more. They want to learn more.”

Liliana Glidewell also enjoys the pond station.

“The best part has been checking out all the cool bugs and stuff,” she notes.

Liliana is in 1st grade. Her mom, Shayka Glidewell is also along on the field trip. For her, she says the Valley Floor Education Day helps give the students a better understanding of the place they live.

“I feel like it’s one of the key things in letting them know that they’re aware of their surroundings, and what else is here on the Earth,” Glidewell says, “A lot of times when you’re in school, or you’re doing skiing, you’re just ‘oh, it’s just my friends’. So you get an idea of what you do, how it affects others, and the wildlife around us.”

If you ask Lexi Tuddenham, Director of Sheep Mountain Alliance, finding that connection to the land is the key.

“It is their open space. It belongs to them as a community member,” Tuddenham says, “We think it’s really important for kids to form that long term relationship from an early age, where they both have the awe and the wonder, but also know that this a place where they can come to for solace and solitude, and to get in touch with a larger picture beyond themselves.”

She says the science is – of course – important, but the day is about teaching the children to have stewardship for the land.

She says, “we’re going to need them to keep working for these places that are ever under threat from climate change and many other forces.”

Telluride celebrated Valley Floor Day on May 9th, with a banner on Main Street – recognizing the 12th anniversary of the Valley Floor becoming Open Space – a community treasure, available to explore for generations to come.

"The Jungle Book" Moves Online

By Julia Caulfield

Telluride’s Young People’s Theatre presents “The Jungle Book” via Zoom

If you’ve been to a production from the Sheridan Arts Foundation’s Young People’s Theatre, the sound of an overture is familiar.

But unlike most YPT productions, when the actors arrive on stage, it’s not on the stage of the Sheridan Opera House. It’s in a small screen, on Zoom.

This year, YPT is performing the musical The Jungle Book is based on Rudyard Kiplings 1894 book about a young child – named Mowgli – raised by a pack of wolves in the Jungle. Throughout the musical, Mowgli goes travels through the forest, and comes across a number of animal characters including a black panther named Bagheera, a bear called Baloo, and Queen Louie, queen of the orangutans.

YPT was originally scheduled to produce The Jungle Book in May.

“Unfortunately because of COVID, we had to call that off, because that would have not been safe or smart or legal,” says Leah Heidenreich, Artistic Director for the Young People’s Theatre – a non-competitive children’s theatre company in Telluride.

But COVID or no, Heidenreich was adamant that the show must go on.

“I just didn’t want to completely shut it down. You know, there is so much technology nowadays, where you can make anything work,” she says, “and there’s no wrong way to create art, because it’s subjective.”

So she turned to Zoom.

Heidenreich says, “Zoom has just kind of taken over the world since COVID hit, and I was seeing a lot of theatre companies put together these Zoom productions, and I thought ‘you know, I think we can do that too’”.

It may be hard to envision what a Zoom version of a musical looks like, but in this iteration of The Jungle Book, actors (grades 3 through 5), pull it off flawlessly. Actors pop in and out of their screen in costume, with backdrops hanging behind them to create the ambiance of a jungle.

Musical numbers are scaled back when it comes to chorography, but characters sing and dance their way through the story, finding ways to incorporate the technology into the plot line – picture a cast full of actors peering deeply into their computer camera when they spot Mowgli for the first time.

It’s clear The Jungle Book on Zoom isn’t the same as performing on a stage in front of a live audience.

Evan Strogner is 11 years old and plays Baloo, the bear. He’s been performing with YPT for years, but like everyone else, this is the first time performing YPT over Zoom. Strogner says even he was a little concerned about how performing them musical was going to work over zoom.

“’How are we going to do this. Oh no, what are we going to do?’ Strongner remembers thinking, “and then I got in and Leah started explaining and I thought ‘oh, this is actually really cool.’”

And he says performing over Zoom has helped to show just how much is possible…even during a pandemic.

“Even though there is a pandemic where you can’t get closer to people, you can still do things,” Strogner says, “It’s going to be a little different, but it’s not going to be super super different.”

Ruby Chechu agrees. Chechu is 10-years old and plays Queen Louis. She says even with the constraints of an online platform, the cast – with Heidenreich’s guidance – has been able to create a full production that feels like a proper show – complete with entrances, exits, and blocking.

“That’s kind of the best aspect of the show this year because even though we’re not doing it all together in the same place, we still have that aspect of a real show,” Chechu says.

Strongner adds, traditional stage or no, the trill of acting is still there.

“When you’re in that moment,” he says, “and you’re in there moving, you do feel you’re on stage. Which is really cool.”

YPT’s The Jungle Book will take place Tuesday, July 7th through Thursday, July 9th at 6 p.m. on Facebook Live. Search for Young People’s Theatre Presents: The Jungle Book. The performance is free; however, donations are welcome.

School Board Names New Telluride School District Superintendent

By Julia Caulfield

John Pandolfo

The Telluride R-1 School District Board of Education has named John Pandolfo as the new district superintendent.

Pandolfo was one of three finalists for the position and came to Telluride this week for a series of interviews and a meet and greet with the community.

Pandolfo currently works as the superintendent of the Barre Unified Union School District in Vermont. While he has worked in education for over 20 years, Pandolfo didn’t begin his career as an educator. He was born and raised in central Connecticut.

“I went to college there. I graduated, I worked as an engineer for about seven years. I left and went abroad, and lived in Italy for about a year and worked as an engineer there” Pandolfo says.

After Italy, Pandolfo moved to California where he began teaching math.

“I kind of fell into teaching. It wasn’t a long, planned out piece. I spent six years in the Bay Area – teaching in the San Francisco district and Berkley. It became my mission to help students grow a love for mathematics, and that’s not necessarily easy” Pandolfo adds.

He also spent thirteen years teaching math in Vermont. In addition to teaching Pandolfo has spent eight years as an administrator – as the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, and as a superintendent.

“I just feel like I can have a bigger impact on a larger scale with leading a system and helping to advocate for education in whatever larger venue there is” explains Pandolfo.

When it comes to moving the district forward, Pandolfo says his first step will be to hear from the school community.

“I think I can bring my expertise as an instructor and a strong educational leader, and really the ability to develop and implement curriculum. I think those are all areas I can offer and I think it’s going to be a collaborative effort, and for me to really look, listen, and learn to really help understand what everyone in this district feels is the direction we need to go, and then facilitate that collaborative work to get there. So, I’m really thrilled for that” Pandolfo notes.

Aside from work, Pandolfo says he’s excited to make Telluride home for the rest of his life.

“Everything that Telluride has to offer in terms of the incredible school system, what seems like an amazing community in itself, and all of the nature and physical environment that’s around. It just makes it a place that I don’t know why anyone would want to be anywhere else” adds Pandolfo.

John Pandolofo will assume the position as School District Superintendent in July. Current superintendent, Mike Gass, is retiring at the end of June.

High School Exchange Program Brings New Perspectives to Telluride

By Julia Caulfield

Arthur Silveira (courtesy of Joanna Kanow)

Arthur Silveira is from a small town, at least by Brazil standards.

“It has 200,000 people living there, so it’s kind of a different experience being here, with 2,000,” Silveira says.

His town is in the southeast part of Brazil. It’s called Sete Lagoas.

He says, “it’s like, seven lakes, because of the lakes we have in town.”

But for about the next eight months, Silveira is living and going to high school in Telluride. He’s an exchange student, part of the Rotary Club’s exchange program.

 “We exchange students usually in their sophomore or junior years,” says Patricia Kiernan, Youth Exchange Officer for the Rotary Club in Telluride. She says through the program, young people become “ambassadors of globalization”.

“They get to get a hands on experience living in these countries. Not just hearing the news or hearing the bad things. They’re living there, they’re seeing that everyone is actually pretty much the same. Food may be different, traditions may be different, but people are the same,” Kiernan says.

But how did Silveira get here? He says he wanted to come to the U.S., but he didn’t fully have a choice in coming to Colorado. According to Silveira, in Brazil students get to pick when state they want to go to, but by the time it was his turn, there was only one option left.

“When it came to me there was only the option to come to Colorado, so that’s why I’m here. But I think even if I had other options, I think Colorado is one of the best states here. Especially for people from other places. I think it’s the best one,” he says.

And when it comes to getting to Telluride, Silveira says that was completely out of his hands. But he says he’s glad to be here.

Silveira says, “I know some people who went to bigger cities and they have problems, like people don’t really like them because they come from other countries. Some people are not very supportive like here, because here, everyone is friendly and knows each other, it’s a small community. So everyone is nice to each other. I think it’s the best part of the town.

Over the course of the year, Silveira will live with several families in town. For his first few months, Silveira is living with Joanna Kanow and family.

Kanow says her family wanted to be a host family in part of pay forward experiences they’ve had while traveling.

“We travel a lot as a family, and it’s those experiences where someone lets you in to their home in a foreign country that are the most memorable experiences when you travel,” Kanow says.

She adds hosting Silveira has helped her see Telluride with a fresh perspective.

Kanow says, “it makes everything in a small town that we’ve lived in for a long time even more refreshing. Now, you get to see someone seeing snow for the first time, you get to climb him up his first mountain for the first time, we took him camping for the first time. Anywhere we take him, pretty much, is a new experience and it makes me realize how much I take for granted, or what I’m not looking at through new eyes.”

Since he got here a few months ago, Silveira says he’s already had a “very American” experience. He got to celebrate Halloween, he’s playing on the high school soccer team. He’s plans to take up skiing, and he’ll celebrate Christmas with snow for the first time.

But he says he’s also excited to help Americans see Brazil in a different light.

“Get rid of that stereotype that people have about Brazil only being violent, and full of criminals everywhere. It’s not like that,” Silveira says.

Silveira also recognizes that not everyone has the opportunity to have an experience like his, and he encourages anyone who’s able to participate.

“For anyone who’s interested in doing exchange, it’s the best experience you can get in your life, and it’s not something that everyone can do, so it’s a very good experience in your future,” Silveira says.

As for where a young person may want to go? Silveira has a suggestion.

He says, “Brazil is one of the best countries that you can go, because it’s a very different culture, and it’s much better than you think. It’s not like the stereotype you have.”

Silveira will be living in Telluride through the end of this school year. And while he’s here, there are two students from Telluride living overseas with the Rotary program. One in the Czech Republic, the other in Brazil, coincidentally just outside where Silveira is from.

Telluride School District Superintendent Announces Retirement

By Julia Caulfield

Mike Gass

Mike Gass, superintendent of the Telluride School District, has announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2019-2020 school year.

Gass has been an educator in Colorado for 30 years, and the superintendent in Telluride since 2015. He says getting to work with the staff and students has been a highlight of his tenure in the position.

“Some of the things that continually drive me as an educator is the opportunity to be in such a great place. It’s not lost on me, I love the kids and I love the staff that I work with on a daily basis, and I mean that because I get to actually be in the building; part of that energy that happens in the hallway in the school year; having one of my own kids graduate from Telluride High School is certainly special,” Gass says.

He also notes how special it is to work in a district where the school is a hub of the community.

“I continually look at the quality of people that we get to work with on a daily basis, whether it’s the staff in the building, or the parents in the community, or the governmental support from the Town Council, Commissioners, law enforcement. Everybody plays a role in a school in a community like this, and that’s a pretty awesome place to be,” Gass says.

Gass says one of the main priorities in his final year will be putting the pieces into place that will allow the person who takes his place to be successful.

He also wants to focus on the opportunities the district provides for graduating students who might not be college bound.

“You know, I can’t say enough about our staff and our academic programming. You know, Telluride is a college going machine, but I think one of the things I would hope we work on over the next year – and my successor – what about the kid that isn’t necessarily always headed to college? What opportunities are we continuing to create for them locally that allow them to try college out, or technical school, or get in the work force and be a leader in our community in that way?” says Gass.

After retiring, Gass and his wife plan to move to the Oregon coast, although he says they’re still figuring out what’s next.

“You know, I may jump back in the education game and play some roles that I’ve enjoyed in the past. But we really don’t know, Colorado has been great to us, we’re both Colorado natives and we’re just going to kind of throw it out there and see what happens,” Gass says.

The Telluride School District Board of Education will begin a national search for a new superintendent in the fall. There are three School Board seats up for election in November. Gass notes those members will have a large hand in hiring the new superintendent.

Valley Floor Education Day Pairs Learning with the Local Environment

By Julia Caulfield

It’s a cool spring morning with a light breeze. Birds are chirping as ninety kindergartners, 1st, and 2nd graders are piling onto the Valley Floor after walking from the elementary school. The forecasted rain and show are holding off for the moment, but by the end of the morning a wintery mix is pelting down, making the whole experience a notably colder one.

The students are on a field trip for the 2nd annual Valley Floor Education Day. Over the course of about two hours, they rotate through four different stations to learn about different parts of the ecosystem – from pond, to river, to willows, to forest. Surrounded by the sound of the rushing San Miguel River, wind blowing through the trees, and birds singing, the banging of construction equipment is the only real reminder that we’re a just a short walk from town.

“The Valley Floor is our backyard, so that’s where we should be educating kids…” says Sarah Holdbrooke, the Executive Director of the Pinhead Institute.

Valley Floor Education Day is a collaboration between the Pinhead Institute, Sheep Mountain Alliance, and the Telluride Institute’s Watershed Education Program.

Holbrooke says, beyond being in Telluride’s backyard, there are multiple reasons to bring kids onto the Valley Floor.

“I mean number one just exercise, right? ... Secondly, my gosh, what a beautiful valley we have, so even if all they do is enjoy the few wild flowers that are growing now, or see the clouds coming in and enjoy that, or notice the threatening weather about to descend on us, that’ll be a good lesson. But boy, we have amazing scientists who are devoting their time...so hopefully the kids will leave with an understanding of what ducks live on the pond, or what fish live in the river, or what you can do with willow branches, or what it’s like to spend a little mindfulness…out in nature” says Holbrooke.

The focus for Valley Floor Education Day centers around STEM learning – that’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And the stations each bring in different elements of the learning curriculum.

At the pond station students get to investigate the wildlife that lives both above and below the water. They look at birds through a scope, and get up close and personal with insects and other small organisms.

Moving on the river station they get to calculate the speed of the river by counting how long it takes for a stick to make it through the current.

Then on to willows where students learn about the Ute people and miners who lived on the Valley Floor in the past.

Finally, the forest station helps students see the connections between a health forest and a health human.

For some, this is their first time on the Valley Floor, but for 1st grader Cooper Zimmermann? This is not his first trip.

“I live here, so, I’ve probably been here a lot” says Cooper.

Cooper says he likes getting to learn about the trees in the area, and learning how to tell if they’re alive or dead. But when asked what the best part is, he says it’s basically everything.

He says, “exploring all of nature and seeing what types of birds and animals there are, and just pretty much looking around.”

Cooper’s mom, Nancy Zimmermann is also on the trip to the Valley Floor. She says it’s important for young kids to come out and experience the Valley Floor because they’ll be the ones protecting it in the future.

“It’s a big part of what makes Telluride special, is this Valley Floor, and the kids growing up here will eventually be the stewards of the Valley Floor when they’re all grown up, and hopefully keep this in perpetuity and pristine conditions for generations to enjoy”, Zimmermann says.

The importance of building a connection with the land is something Lexi Tuddenham, Executive Director of Sheep Mountain Alliance, acknowledges as well.

“It’s a real way to both enliven their curiosity about science and nature, and also allow them to develop a sense of place, and develop a connection to the place they’re growing up,” says Tuddenham.

The snow and rain keep the second half of the K-2 students from coming out to the Valley Floor for the afternoon, but don’t worry, they’ll get their chance as soon as the weather clears up.

May 9th is Valley Floor Day. This year celebrates the 12th anniversary of the Valley Floor becoming open space.