Above: A Pinnacle student helps to put the finishing touches on the outdoor classroom's natural learning landscape on October 6.
On October 26, community leaders - including Colorado State Senator Lois Tochtrop, Federal Heights Mayor Dale Sparks, and Randy DeHoff (Executive Director of the Charter School Institute of Colorado) - helped to cut the ribbon on the recently completed project.
Above: Pinnacle students, after the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, wait to take part in art activities at the Family Fun Fest.
Once a bleak field, with busses parked on top of browned grass, this area now boasts basketball courts, new playground equipment, and a beautifully landscaped outdoor learning area complete with picnic tables, native trees and shrubs, new fences, and more.
The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony marked the official completion of the outdoor classroom and playground area. The improvements to this previously blighted area were initiated and completed by Pinnacle students themselves, through FrontRange Earth Force’s Community Action & Problem Solving (CAPS) program!
Eighth-grade Social Studies students broke ground on the outdoor classroom in the spring of 2006, under the direction of Pinnacle teacher Sharif Abdelhamid (now the school's Community Development Coordinator). The middle-schoolers created garden beds, painted a mural on the fence around the area, built and installed picnic benches, and planted native shrubs. The students wrote and received a grant from the Captain Planet Foundation to purchase many of the materials, and community volunteers helped with the installation. The students also conducted a car wash to raise funds, and FR Earth Force gave the group a mini-grant for additional materials.
Above: FR Earth Force office manager Deborah Currier shows a Pinnacle student how to plant flowers for the outdoor classroom.
During the 2006-07 school year, a group of fourth-grade students – lead by teacher Kylie Berry – identified a need for better playground equipment, which they felt would contribute to a “happier environment” for students and lead to more respectful play between students. Local businesses Victory Construction and Rainbow landscaping helped the students make their vision a reality.
Above: The new equipment the fourth-graders helped to pick out.
The final touches to the project were completed on October 6, when dozens of students, family members, Earth Force staffers, community volunteers and teachers gathered to plant several trees, shrubs and flowers.
Above: Even Ms. Berry, who has since started teaching at a new school, came back to help out!
The Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony on October 26 was followed by the school’s Family Fun Fest, a special fall carnival open to Pinnacle students, families and supporters. Teachers hosted fun games and hands-on activities throughout the school - including karaoke in the music room, pumpkin-carving and more! - and delicious food was sold to help raise money to cover costs associated with the outdoor classroom project.
Above: Kari Musser, a Pinnacle student and member of the FR Earth Force Youth Action Board, volunteered selling icees at the Fun Fest.
FrontRange Earth Force's work at Pinnacle Charter School is supported in part by funding from the ERM Foundation, AMGEN, the Quick Foundation, the Rose Community Foundation, the Denver Foundation and the Daniels Fund.
For more information about the new outdoor classroom and play area at Pinnacle Charter School, contact Community Development Coordinator, Sharif Abdelhamid, at (303) 450-3985, ext. 232.