GLENWOOD SPRINGS — One of snowboarding's top riders will be in Glenwood Springs next week, along with a locally-born educator who now is working for a national nonprofit, to help local high school students learn more about global warming.

The Alliance for Climate Education, a national nonprofit organization, will be bringing Aspen's Gretchen Bleiler and other Winter X Games athletes to several local high schools, in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt, on Jan. 25-26.

Presenting the information at the events will be Bridget Jankovsky, a native of Glenwood Springs who works at the Alliance's Colorado office in Denver.

The goal, according to a statement from ACE, will be to give presentations on “the science behind climate change, illuminated with cutting-edge visuals ... potential consequences of climate change — if we do nothing ... powerful stories about carbon-reducing projects led by teens ... [and] a call for students to start making a difference in their own lives and communities.”

Jankovsky, a graduate of GSHS in 2004 and of CU-Boulder in 2008, as well as a former member of CU's freestyle ski team, said the ACE organization decided the local school events would be a good way to introduce area students and teachers to ACE's programs, especially since the Colorado office only recently opened.

The reason for focusing on students, she said, is because climate change is “likely to be the issue that defines their generation.”

The organization, according to its website [www.acespace.org], “provides the unfettered facts on climate change — no greenwashing here,” as well as offering suggested ways for students to take action to reduce their “carbon footprint.”

She said the ACE programs will be at Glenwood Springs High School and Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale on Jan. 25; at Yampah Mountain High School in Glenwood Springs and Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale on Jan. 26; and perhaps at Basalt High School, although details were not available on Thursday.

jcolson@postindependent.com