The Museum of Nature and Science has become a living classroom for East High students studying anthropology and geology this semester. Almost 100 students are enrolled in the courses, which meet at 7:30 a.m. four mornings a week at the museum.

The classes are Geology; Native American Anthropology; and Anthropology of Africans in the Diaspora. East High teachers Tamara Rhone, Jon Jacobs and Craig Renz are teaching the program, and Donna Otabachian, teacher on special assignment, is the coordinator.

“This smaller learning environment has had a positive impact on our at-risk youth who are attending,” Otabachian said. With a 96 percent attendance rate, both students and their parents embrace the program.

The partnership grew out of a grant request that Otabachian submitted to the Colorado Department of Education. She learned that the museum was applying for a similar grant, and the two joined forces. The three classes this semester are the first phase of their work together. The school and museum plan to expand the program next fall and offer classes on astronomy when the Space Odyssey exhibit opens.

Students in the program divide their time between learning in museum classrooms and visiting the exhibits for a firsthand look at artifacts of the subjects they are studying.

“The museum staff has been incredibly warm and welcoming, and the program has opened our students’ eyes to possible careers,” Otabachian said.