GCO Monthly Newsletter

February 2025

It's Winter Wild Time!

We hope your 2025 is off to a fantastic start! It’s been a busy and exciting beginning of the year for GCO and our partners, with everyone hitting the ground running. While the weather’s been all over the map—from chilly temps to surprisingly warm days for winter—our participants have been embracing the season in full force. From snowshoeing and winter survival skills to learning about animal adaptations, and of course, our favorite activity at GCO—skiing and snowboarding—there’s been no shortage of fun. We hope you've found time to enjoy the winter, too! If you’re looking for a reason to get outside, join us at Rifle Gap this Saturday for snowshoeing and ice fishing. We’d love to see you there!

We all grow better outside.

Garfield County Outdoors (GCO) is a collaborative initiative that connects youth and families to the outdoors. ALL programs are FREE and transportation and gear is provided when possible. GCO is part of the Re-2 and Garfield 16 School Districts and communities (New Castle, Silt, Rifle & Parachute).

Partner Updates

Outdoor Education | Garfield 16

Winter is now in full effect here in the Garfield 16 outdoor education world. We have a robust variety of outdoor opportunities for students to get outside eto enjoy and learn about the snow.

We have kicked off the new semester with a new ski program, Earn a Turn. This program is for middle and high school students to learn to become proficient skiers and snowboarders. Partnering with Aspen Valley Ski Club through grant funds, these students have spent three Mondays so far going to Buttermilk and taking lessons with Aspen Ski Co. instructors. We have three more activity days planed and excited to see how these students progress. This coming Monday we will start another ski and ride opportunity for 4th-8th graders at Powderhorn with the Learn to Ski Club attending three select Mondays of lessons and shredding.

This semester has also brought new learning connections throughout the grades. Kindergarten and 1st grade at CFL have begun their animal unit. We have a regular schedule of lessons investigating animal adaptions with guest lessons. We will culminate the unit with a series of field trips with first grade going snowshoeing at the Grand Mesa on February 27th and 28th. The Kindergarteners will be visiting animal homes throughout Silt on March 11th and 12th at a wildlife sanctuary and farm.

Starting this week we have our much anticipated 4th grade snowshoeing field trip at Mesa Lakes Lodge. The Kiwanis Club is spearheading the program by taking kids to the Mesa, gearing up in snow clothes, and investigating lessons around the Beaver Pond and beaver ecology. As well as wilderness survival. Fire Chief Jackson and former Chief Blair lead students through a day of fun, learning and snow play.

Upcoming field trips include 6th grade doing some snow science and cross also at Grand Mesa on March 6th.

We will keep you updated next month on all the winter time outdoor adventure!

RFOV | YIN

On January 18th, Youth In Nature students visited Mcclure Pass with Dylan Craaybeek from the Colorado Avalanche Information Center to learn about snow science and avalanche phenomenon. The group snowshoed to Huntsman Ridge and enjoyed hot chocolate along the way.

The Youth In Nature application for ‘25/’26 is now open. Are you a 9-11th grade high school student who wants to get paid to explore the outdoors? Apply to join our year long paid high school program today!

The application and more information can be found on our website at https://www.rfov.org/yin.

ACES | RE-2

ACES Ed had fun in the snow (even in cooooold temperatures) with students in January! The Cactus Valley Elementary third graders explored animal tracks and learned about animals' winter adaptations with a snowshoe walk at Sunlight Mountain Resort. Kathryn Senor Elementary fifth-grade students also donned snowshoes at Sunlight to learn about the living and nonliving factors that influence the health of an ecosystem. And, the first graders from Elk Creek Elementary visited Hallam Lake in Aspen to explore owl adaptations and dissected owl pellets to discover what owls eat.

Outdoor Education | RE-2

It's been a busy start to 2025 for Outdoor Ed at Re-2! January might have been chilly but students have been enjoying the outdoors - here are a few highlights! At CVE, 3rd graders went to Sunlight Mountain Resort to try some snowshoeing and 4th graders hit the slopes and tried skiing and snowboarding. Nearly all grade levels have had or will have the opportunity to try skating at Colorado Extreme Hockey in Rifle. Most of the students surprised themselves at how good they were at skating! The 1st and 3rd grade classes are up next this month. What a great way to fight off the chill of January with some fun winter activities! In addition, KSE also spent some time up at Sunlight with 5th snowshoeing and learning about tracking animals with ACES and 4th-grade ski trips.

Riverside's Outdoor Ed STEAM classes took their yearly trip to the West Elk Trails for a beautiful snowshoe loop followed by learning stations covering emergency fire building, avalanche safety, and recognizing and treating hypothermia in a wilderness setting.

In addition to beginning to plan spring field trips, we've got more 4th grade trips to Sunlight, more snowshoeing, and more ice skating on the horizon!

Middle Colorado Watershed Council | Watershed awareness campaign at Sunlight

In partnership with Sunlight, and supported by Alpine Bank, the Middle Colorado Watershed Council has a new promotion aimed at skiers and riders to emphasize the cycle of snowfall to water, our most precious resource, and its downstream uses. There are two signs at the resort, with a QR code that guides people to this webpage.