By Lynne McCrudden
Special to The SUN
FACE (Foundation for Archuleta County Education) was pleased to fund over $5,000 in grants to teachers for educational programs for K-12 students in the community in 2018.
The Pagosa Peak Charter School was given money for its math program for grades three through five. Our Savior Lutheran School received a grant for curriculum training for its teachers and the Homeschool Connection was given a grant so it could acquire whiteboards for the group teaching programs in science, English and social studies.
Pagosa Springs High School was given two grants to help with elective programs: in Wildland, Firefighting and Land Management and in the new culinary arts program.
The culinary arts program was a collaborative grant with Pagosa Springs Middle School’s life skills class and Bridge Skills Program, where they shared equipment purchased through the grant.
The Pagosa Springs High School English Department received a grant for two document cameras, which are assisting the students in writing skills and prep for SAT testing.
The Pagosa Family School, an after-school program for both home-schooled students and district students, was strongly supported in its arts program and its new life science classes. It is exciting to see how this after-school program has developed and expanded.
The FACE board has made “Enhancing Summer Education” as a program goal for 2019. The board is working with the Town of Pagosa Springs and the Ross Aragon Community Center to provide a one-week science camp for kids ages 9 to 12 at the K.I.D.S. Day Camp. All students in the designated age group enrolled in the K.I.D.S. Camp will have access to the one-week science camp. Additionally, the hope is that there will be space for children from the broader community who are not enrolled in K.I.D.S camp to participate in the science camp.
The curriculum and instructors are still being decided and further information will be available as these decisions are made. This is a pilot program and, if well received, the FACE board’s hope is to expand the science camp in following summers. If you are interested in keeping up to date on what is happening with this program or wish to support it financially, please go to the FACE webpage at Facepagosa.com.
FACE was established in 2012 as a 501(c)(3) Colorado nonprofit corporation to act as an independent source of funding for curricular and extracurricular activities involving students at various educational institutions within Archuleta County. Since 2012, FACE has granted $36,873 to educational institutions in Archuleta County.
