At an awards ceremony from 1-1:45 p.m. Friday, May 21 at Cole Middle School, sixth-grade students will be celebrating their leadership and commitment to their community. Groups of sixth-graders have spent the year working with their “coaches” - college students from the University of Denver and University of Colorado at Denver - on developing and implementing community projects.

At the ceremony, students will share their projects including presenting a mural they have created on homelessness to Urban Peak, giving toiletries for men at St. Francis Homeless Center and premiering a song about positive life choices that the students taped at a recording studio.

Other group projects have included a community graffiti clean up in partnership with the city, painting pots and planting flowers for patients at Children’s Hospital, a reading project with kindergartners at Mitchell Elementary school, and a gardening project at the nearby community garden. One of the groups has been responsible for planning the entire celebration as well.

Throughout the school year, the college students and Cole youth have met each Friday, getting to know each other and to better understand the Cole community. The projects emerged out of the students’ identification of issues they wanted to help address there.

Linda Reilly from Bread for the Journey, who provided funding for each of the projects, said to the students, “We hope that you have learned a lot this year about how to make your community a better place. We are glad to play a small part in supporting your work.”

Lisa Bardwell, Executive Director of FrontRange Earth Force noted, “This program is such a powerful experience for everyone involved - college students are learning as much as the Cole students about community and what it means to be a leader. We’re always amazed at the creativity and passion that kids put into their projects. Being challenged to step up to the plate to help one’s community is a great teacher.”

This project is a collaborative effort by Cole Middle School, FrontRange Earth Force, the University of Denver’s Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement and the University of Denver at Colorado’s Urban Education program.

About Earth Force:
Started as one of the first Earth Force sites nationwide, in 1997, FrontRange Earth Force supports youth-driven programs in the Denver area. Earth Force’s innovative, problem-solving programs ground education in real-world learning, and help youth acquire critical skills to make them effective citizens and decision-makers. To date, more than 8,000 Denver-area middle school youth have conceived and completed projects. Earth Force youth have built outdoor classrooms, introduced non-hazardous cleaners to their school, and worked with government and industry to help residents monitor industrial odors and improve drinking water quality. This year, we are working at over 30 sites, with 70 educators and 2,500 youth.

For more information, contact Lisa Bardwell, FrontRange Earth Force, at 303-433-0016.