By Jessie Skipwith,

Horizons Executive Director

 

Horizons at Colorado Academy not only helps disadvantaged children in our community, but it also fulfills many CA students’ desires to both work and volunteer. in a program that gives back. This summer, 15 CA students joined the Horizons staff. Horizons graduates also returned to serve as assistant teachers, interns, and volunteers in this year’s classrooms.

 

This summer marked 18 years of success for the Horizons Program at Colorado Academy. Colorado Academy’s campus becomes home to more than 140 students, ages 5 to 15 years old, for six weeks each summer. Each of these students is selected from Denver Public Schools to participate in a variety of academic enrichment opportunities, confidence and socialization skill-building, and experiential education challenges, which help to promote inquiry, intellectual competence, and a life-long desire for trying their hand at new endeavors.

 

With such a variety of curricular offerings and life experiences to share, Horizons students return to their regular schools in the fall well prepared and ahead of their peers academically.

 

It remains a goal of the Horizons program to inspire wonder in our students and to develop a life-long passion for learning. Some of the many experiences that our students participated in this year included our Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes growing a garden outside of the Lower School building; first graders enjoying poetry and becoming proficient swimmers in CA’s campus pool; and second grade students creating recipes and exploring many scienctific and natural wonders in partnership with one of Colorado Academy’s own students, Grace Dorgan, who was successfully completing her Girl Scout Gold award project. Third grade Horizons students hiked St. Mary’s glacier; and fourth grade students participated in their annual photography lesson with renowned National Geographic photographer, Jay Dickman.

 

The Horizons Middle School was steeped in an abundance of S.T.E.M. (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) investigations ranging from robot building to robot exploration exhibits in local museums. This year, the Horizons high school program left an amazing gift to the Lower School through its artistic creation reminiscent of famous French artist Henri Matisse in the school building’s entryway. Middle school and high school students enjoy the privilege each year of participating in a variety of outdoor educational learning experiences through partnerships with the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center and YMCA of the Rockies at Snow Mountain Ranch.

 

Each year, Horizons students are assessed before and after the six-week enrichment program. In keeping with past years’ trends, Horizons at Colorado Academy students demonstrated, on average, two-and-a-half to three months’ academic growth in the areas of literacy and mathematics. Such continued success is due in large part to the partnership that is maintained in working together with highly qualified Denver area professional educators as well as an abundance of interns and volunteers that bring a 4:1 student-to-staff ratio to each grade level classroom.

 

On behalf of the students, thank you to all of the teachers, interns, and volunteers who worked with Horizons this summer.