Keep it up for Community School

Dear Editor:

By now it is likely that most readers of the valley’s newspapers have seen the letters about Aspen Community School’s “I Believe” campus campaign.

As a teacher who has worked in our building for 27 years, I know firsthand that our need is real, and the need is now. If you haven’t already done so, please consider contributing, as there are less than two weeks left for us to make our goal of $4.9 million to secure the Building Excellent Schools Today challenge grant. When we hit this mark, we will have successfully brought 4.2 million new dollars to our valley dedicated to education.

The first of May is our deadline!

A random walk through our classrooms will show you a high level of student engagement because of a meaningful, purposeful and relevant curriculum created to challenge students and capture their curiosity. Out-of-the-box thinking and asking the question, “Why not?” – rather than “Why?” often contributes to many ongoing discussions among students, teachers and parents.

A school garden, life-sized dinosaur skeletons, an adventure into Colorado’s past by visiting the Four Corners area, outdoor-education camping experiences, trips to Denver and San Francisco with built-in community service elements, the annual spring musical, eighth-grade portfolio presentations – these are all experiences designed to have reading and writing interact with math, science and the arts.

And then there are our efforts to keep current with ever-changing state standards in order to prepare students successfully for Colorado Student Assessment Program testing: The numbers speak for themselves. They demonstrate a school program with excellent direction and momentum.

I hope you will join us. To share in our fun crowd-sourcing event, go to http://igg.m/at/BEST

Chris Faison

Aspen