What’s CAP up to? First Post

What’s this quarter’s CAP class been up to? let’s take a peek!

A guest speaker talked about environmental issues surrounding Open Space on a hike, and they’ve had many guest speakers already.

Students are way stoked about their action project, which will address Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs. More information on that soon — stay tuned! They’re also going on a backpacking trip this weekend. Good luck, and have fun!

Bees, Building, and Bites

What’s the buzz? The 4th quarter Community Adventure Program (CAP) students at New Vista High School completed their amazing Action Project: a brand new bee garden, soon to be chock-full of sustainable food! The class was at a crossroads, wishing they could work on three different themes: green building, disappearing bees, and local gardens. Together, the students masterminded a project that addressed all of the above. They decided to plant a garden at their school and jumped right into the action.

Led by teacher Paige Doughty, the students started out at ReSource 2000, an outlet for recycled building materials. They volunteered their time and received reclaimed fencing for their garden in return. Next they learned all about green building and living from the Boulder Green Building Guild’s Ryland Gardner.

Beekeeper Christina Allen visited the CAP class to share eye-opening facts about bees: who knew bees pollinate about one-third of our food supply? The students couldn’t wait to plant a garden for these busy pollinators when they found out how vital bees are-and how fast their population is declining.

Thanks to donations and guidance from Growing Gardens, the planting was a huge success. Now New Vista has a local food-producing garden that is healthy for the economy, people, and environment in their community. This class definitely had an eye on the triple bottom line.

Best of all, the students saw what could happen when they didn’t mind their own beeswax. They got involved in their community, identifying important issues and seeing their project through from start to finish. Abby Heath said, “I can honestly say I’ve never been loaded with so much interesting and useful information before in my life. The biggest impact that CAP has made on me though is that I care. I care when people don’t recycle, and I care about our bee populations. I’ve realized during this short quarter that there is so much I can do to change the world, to impact the earth in so many different ways. I took so much out of CAP, and the best thing is that I can give so much back.”

Toss Less Trash

Ever wonder how much of your trash could be kept out of a landfill? A lot, according to the 3rd quarter Community Adventure Program (CAP) class at New Vista High School. Led by teacher Paige Doughty in partnership with the Cottonwood Institute, these students decided to learn about the relationship between overconsumption, wasteful packaging, and the burden of trash on their local and global community.

The students read articles, spoke to the school custodian, looked through their own trash, and visited grocery stores as well as Ellie’s Eco Home Store. They found out Boulder had an excellent recycling program, but it would be more effective if residents understood it better. Their findings-and their creativity-were revealed during a week this March when the students took their Action Project to the community. New Vista was ready to make a difference, and every day brought a new way:

• Day 1: Mini seminars on smart buying to avoid wasteful packaging
• Day 2: Disposal experts stationed at every trash station
• Day 3: Bring your own mug day- score free Folsom Street Coffee!
• Day 4: Dun dun dunnn….. Trash Audit!!!
• Day 5: Clean up the neighborhood- trash pick-up on local streets

A big thank you to Alicia Bouyounan from Eco-Cycle for coordinating the epic trash audit right on the school’s front lawn. The students reduced 8 bags of trash to 2.5! The CAP class also showed a student-made film (check it out below!) and gave a presentation about overconsumption and recycling during the school’s Exhibition Day. This Action Project managed to reach the entire New Vista community between these events, eye-catching 3-D signs, and “trash art.” Yes, you can make art out of trash instead of tossing it!

CAP student Aleyna Porreca found it easy to say goodbye to overconsumption: “My lifestyle now has not become any more difficult but it is much less wasteful.” Classmate Olive Egbert said, “I have been able to discover that we play an essential role in the world as individuals, and we can make a difference… I have also learned that it’s important not to discourage yourself harshly with the big idea of what’s going on environmentally.”

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