5th Grade Service-A-Thon
Donation protected
Hello, we are the fifth grade teachers at Cottonwood Elementary School, located in the beautiful Southwestern Colorado town of Montrose. Next year we will have about 82 fifth graders in our classes.
5th grade is a crucial time in a young person's life. They are transitioning into young adults and getting ready for life in middle school which can often be a socially and emotionally challenging period in their young lives. In order to better prepare them for this transition our district participates in overnight field trips designed to promote team building and independence, and to encourage kids to be risk takers. Even though we live in the heart of the mountains, many of our students do not get the opportunity to truly experience the outdoors. Fortunately for us, we live a few hours from Durango, Colorado, which is home to the Colorado Outdoor Learning School at Cross Bar X Camp. This camp is remarkable! When our students go to camp they get to participate in so many activities that they may never experience again in their lives! They get to horse back ride, take a zip line across the grounds, rock climb, participate in archery, canoe, hike, go star gazing and be a member in many team building exercises. When students participate in each of these activities, there is also an academic lesson that matches the activity.
The cost for this amazing experience is about $160 per student to attend. Unfortunately this is a sum that many of our families find difficult to come up with. Instead of doing traditional fundraising that schools typically do we thought that it would be nice if our students could give back to our community in order to help raise funds! The money we raise will pay for our students' fees as well as the cost of buses to get to the camp.
We are hoping to raise money by participating in serveral community service projects. Throughout the rest of the school year and summer, we have planned multiple service project oppotunities for our future fifth graders to participate in, in order to raise the money to go on the field trip. These service projects will include: helping our school build a track on our playground, picking up trash around our local parks, reading books to the elderly in nearby retirement homes, and many others! Only those students who participate in these service projects will have a portion or (hopefully!) their entire field trip fee paid for.
By donating for our field trip, you are helping to pay for a student's once in a lifetime experience at the Colorado Outdoor Learning School.
Our trip to Cross Bar X Camp will be Septemer 28-30, 2016, we are hoping to have the money raised by the beginning of Spetember 2016.
The first time our school went to this camp was last fall (2015). I can not even begin to describe how this trip transformed the rest of the school year for us, as teachers, and for our students. When we returned from camp, there was a great sense of camaraderie amongst all of our students. Students were looking out for one another and including one another in ways that had not happened in the past. Our hope is that this sense of community continues long after they leave the hallways of our elementary school and last long into their middle school and high school years where they will need these skills the most. I honestly and sincerely believe that it was because of this overnight field trip to The Colorado Outdoor Learning School at Cross Bar X Camp that fostered this attitude in our learners.
Thank you for your contributions!
Hallie Whitsell, Sue Aldridge, and Abi Stetson
5th grade is a crucial time in a young person's life. They are transitioning into young adults and getting ready for life in middle school which can often be a socially and emotionally challenging period in their young lives. In order to better prepare them for this transition our district participates in overnight field trips designed to promote team building and independence, and to encourage kids to be risk takers. Even though we live in the heart of the mountains, many of our students do not get the opportunity to truly experience the outdoors. Fortunately for us, we live a few hours from Durango, Colorado, which is home to the Colorado Outdoor Learning School at Cross Bar X Camp. This camp is remarkable! When our students go to camp they get to participate in so many activities that they may never experience again in their lives! They get to horse back ride, take a zip line across the grounds, rock climb, participate in archery, canoe, hike, go star gazing and be a member in many team building exercises. When students participate in each of these activities, there is also an academic lesson that matches the activity.
The cost for this amazing experience is about $160 per student to attend. Unfortunately this is a sum that many of our families find difficult to come up with. Instead of doing traditional fundraising that schools typically do we thought that it would be nice if our students could give back to our community in order to help raise funds! The money we raise will pay for our students' fees as well as the cost of buses to get to the camp.
We are hoping to raise money by participating in serveral community service projects. Throughout the rest of the school year and summer, we have planned multiple service project oppotunities for our future fifth graders to participate in, in order to raise the money to go on the field trip. These service projects will include: helping our school build a track on our playground, picking up trash around our local parks, reading books to the elderly in nearby retirement homes, and many others! Only those students who participate in these service projects will have a portion or (hopefully!) their entire field trip fee paid for.
By donating for our field trip, you are helping to pay for a student's once in a lifetime experience at the Colorado Outdoor Learning School.
Our trip to Cross Bar X Camp will be Septemer 28-30, 2016, we are hoping to have the money raised by the beginning of Spetember 2016.
The first time our school went to this camp was last fall (2015). I can not even begin to describe how this trip transformed the rest of the school year for us, as teachers, and for our students. When we returned from camp, there was a great sense of camaraderie amongst all of our students. Students were looking out for one another and including one another in ways that had not happened in the past. Our hope is that this sense of community continues long after they leave the hallways of our elementary school and last long into their middle school and high school years where they will need these skills the most. I honestly and sincerely believe that it was because of this overnight field trip to The Colorado Outdoor Learning School at Cross Bar X Camp that fostered this attitude in our learners.
Thank you for your contributions!
Hallie Whitsell, Sue Aldridge, and Abi Stetson
Organizer
Hallie Whitsell
Organizer
Montrose, CO
