BREEN – Wolf howls were resounding through the halls at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary School the afternoon of Feb. 9.
Carnivorous animals weren’t stalking the hallways, though. Elementary students were learning all about wolves in a weekly after-school program, Enrichment with the Powerhouse, and at multiple times they joined in a chorus with their peers to project their best wolf howls.
Young students, ages 5 to 7, poured into an empty classroom at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary around 3 p.m. after a short recess on the school playground. What was waiting for them back inside wasn’t regular class activities, but Teresa Craft, Powerhouse deputy director, and a number of artifacts Craft brought with her for the weekly after-school program.
Students talked about wolves that afternoon: What wolves eat, what eats wolves, what their fur feels like, what their skulls and scat look like.
Durango School District 9-R partnered with the Powerhouse Science Center and the Southwest La Plata Library District to bring after-school enrichment activities straight to the students of rural Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary. The after-school program is a huge hit with students and their parents – so much so that nearly half the student body has been attending weekly gatherings.
It can be tough for parents whose children attend the rural Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary to balance full-time jobs and their kids’ school schedules. It is a big time commitment for parents to shuttle their children 18 miles to Durango, where most learning opportunities are situated, and to then return them home to the quiet countryside.
Superintendent Karen Cheser brought the library and the Powerhouse together to create a casual learning environment for children after school hours. The Powerhouse and the library also work with Sunnyside Elementary School, Craft said.
Powerhouse personnel have been leading an after-school science program at Fort Lewis Mesa Elementary for about five weeks, and the project is planned to continue into May.
The thing is, it’s a total hit with the kids.
“The response from the parents and the students has been amazing,” said Chris Conrad, library brand manager. “They’re hungry for something for their kids to do out here.
“All the town kids, they can just go to the Powerhouse whenever they want,” Conrad said. “It’s a lot harder for kids out here. You have to make a deliberate choice to travel into town to do this.”
Then the Powerhouse got involved.
“And it’s awesome,” Conrad said.
Library Director Liz von Tauffkirchen said the program started with one staff member for Fort Lewis Mesa and Sunnyside, but the popularity of the program led the library to hiring more staff members to meet the interest levels.
“And especially at Fort Lewis Mesa, it just blew up,” von Tauffkirchen said. “We had so many kids that we ended up hiring more help because 40 kids is a lot for two of us to manage.”
Von Tauffkirchen said STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs tend to be fun and engaging for kids, and there aren’t a lot of recreational activities for youths in the Fort Lewis Mesa area, so the after-school program is providing parents activities in a safe environment to keep their children occupied.
Elementary students are split into two groups, the older kids and the younger ones. Every Wednesday, a Powerhouse employee visits the kids from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Staff members try to tackle different, interesting science subjects every week.
Student assistant Krii Neil has been helping Powerhouse staff members facilitate the weekly after-school sessions for the last five weeks.
One day, students learned about evolution and anatomy. Kids glued uncooked spaghetti noodles to a piece of paper to model the bone structure of whales, dogs and humans, Neil said.
At another after-school session, they studied architecture. Conrad said the kids practiced their architecture skills using marshmallows and more spaghetti. They were challenged to build the tallest, strongest structure they could using the foodstuffs.
“A bit of comparative anatomy,” Craft said. “Why do whale forearms look different from human forearms? Well, they’re used very differently.”
She said the Powerhouse is trying to introduce young students to in-depth science concepts and vocabulary. But it’s just meant as an enrichment activity, she said. So, there is a lot of hands-on fun.
“Forearms out of spaghetti?” Craft said. “Sure.”
The older students’ after-school programs are meant to be a little more challenging, but both groups of students usually cover similar materials.
“We’re meeting the kids where they are,” Conrad said. “They’re not on the screen. They’re interacting. They’re thinking and doing stuff, but they don’t have to go to town.”
The subject of wolves came about in connection with the Powerhouse’s current exhibit on display, “Living With Wolves.”
Craft laid out her lesson plan for the afternoon.
“First, we’ll just start with what they (the kids) generally know,” she said. “Which is always fun because you never know what the children might say. Then we’re going to talk about what wolves eat and what eats wolves.”
She’d then ask the students what happens to ecosystems when wolves are removed from them.
“Because these are little kids and they need a lot of movement, we’re only going to talk about that for so long,” Craft said. “Then I have real skulls, pelts, scat. Then I have the tracking collar, so we’ll bring out the real artifacts and let the kids handle those for some movement.
“Then we’ll make a very fun wolf mask and practice our wolf howls, to I’m sure everyone’s delight,” she said. “Then I have some wolf stories that we’ll read at the end if we have time.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
