Niwot High's Education Foundation funds educational field trips

Thanks to generous contributions from the community, the Niwot High School Education Foundation (NHSEF) sponsored several student field trips during the 2022-2023 school year.

The mission statement of the NHSEF is: "In partnership with our community, the NHSEF endeavors to enrich academic experience through learning and teaching grants, to expand opportunities for students to explore next steps in their education and professions, and to award scholarships to NHS students, enabling them to achieve their goals."

Field trips in the spring semester included visits to Arapahoe Community College, Front Range Community College, Aims Community College, the Buell Theater in Denver, St. Vrain Creek in LaVern M.Johnson Park in Lyons, and a trip to a local solar farm.

These excursions were in addition to a variety of trips that also took place during the fall 2022 semester, including the NHS choir trip to New York City, and the Stock Market Challenge at the University of Denver.

Community college visits provided Niwot High students the opportunity to tour those campuses and allowed students to explore several career options that may not require a four-year college degree. For example, during the Arapahoe Community College visit, which took place April 25, students learned about the automotive technology program and the game design program.

Environmental Science students at Niwot High School were given an opportunity, thanks to NHSEF funding, to raise rainbow trout from eggs in the classroom, beginning in October 2022, and release them in April 2023 into the St. Vrain River. With the help from the St. Vrain chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife, this project allowed 60 students to understand more about controlled environments and sustainable habitats.

NHSEF President Jennifer Asbury said, "The NHSEF funded the field trip as the entire cost would have been a significant portion of the annual science budget, which is supported by lab fees paid by students." Part of this field trip also included the opportunity to visit a local solar farm, giving students context and understanding of different types of energy sources.

Angela Roberts, an International Baccalaureate (IB) language arts teacher at Niwot High School, took a group of students in March to the Buell Theater in Denver to see the "Shen Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance and music performance. Roberts' IB Language/Literature class prepared for the experience by reading "Snow in Midsummer," a play that dates back centuries to the Yuan Dynasty written by Kuan Han-Ching.

The performance helped students make their own observations and draw comparisons between Chinese culture before communism, and the understanding of art and culture from that time to modern day.

Asbury added, "Without the generosity of our donors and participants in our annual online auction, we would not be able to provide these amazing experiences to NHS students. This is just a sample of some of the field trips and other grants that we have funded this past school year."

All trips were directly funded by the Education Foundation and have resulted in great feedback and gratitude from the students of Niwot High School, according to Asbury.

For more information about the NHSEF, visit http://www.NHSEF.org where there is also an opportunity to donate, or email questions directly to NHSEFPresident@gmail.com.