Centennial: A School for Expeditionary Learning is helping students care for the environment and their community.
DENVER — Centennial: A School for Expeditionary Learning is helping their students make an impact.
The early learning through 5th grade school in northwest Denver is teaching students how to take care of the environment and make a difference in their community. Centennial is part of the Denver Public Schools (DPS) that teaches students to come up with solutions for real-world issues like pollution and natural disasters.
Emily Volkert is the principal of the school of about 500 students and believes they are more capable of doing much more than some people think.
“I think when given the right guidance and support, they can truly accomplish anything that is meaningful to them,” Volkert said. “We have our 3rd graders learning about water, water conservation, access and pollution, our 4th and 5th graders are learning about natural disasters and how to be prepared for natural disasters.”
The school uses the Expeditionary Learning (EL) model that challenges students to think critically and take active roles in their classrooms and communities. The goal is to motivate students to learn in new ways so they can take ownership of their own education.
“We believe that student achievement is based off of the three pillars,” Volkert said. “We have mastery of knowledge and skill, coupled with character development and high-quality work that makes a difference in local communities.”
Centennial has a leadership group made up of 4th and 5th graders who come up with special projects to make a difference in their community. This year, the group conducted a needs analysis of the school to come up with a solution to reduce pollution.
“Our student leadership got really excited about a pollution reduction program,” Volkert said. “So, they actually helped write a grant to the Denver Office of Sustainability and Resiliency partnered with DPS to get a climate action grant.”
With the grant, the school was awarded $13,500 to install 7 new bike racks, improve a bike station and install a bike maintenance area in front of the school.
“They learned that (by) putting in more bike racks, kids would be more likely to ride to school,” Volkert said. “We think that education is much more motivating, exciting for students when they can see, even as 3- and 4-year-olds, that they can make the world a better place.”
Samara Fleming Wagner is a 5th grader at the school and is part of their student leadership team. She said the more people know about saving the environment the better.
“The more people that know about how to protect the earth, it will be better for everything on the planet,” Fleming Wagner said. “The more we tell people about it, then the more people will tell their friends and their friends, and it will be much better than before.”
“It’s good to learn about the environment and how to keep it safe and how to keep our self and world happy,” said 5th grader Oliver Griffin. “It’s my last year of this school so it makes me feel like I get a good legacy of this, and I feel like I could be a part of the school when I leave.”
Volkert believes the lessons these students are learning now will help them grow and care about the community where they live.
“It’s pairing social/emotional learning through character development,” Volkert said. “And getting kids excited and empowered to make changes in their communities that make a difference to them and make life better for all of us.”
You can find out more about the school on their website.
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