Barbara Lawlor, Gilpin County.  It’s good to know that elementary school students are concerned about the animals of our world who are in danger of becoming extinct. But more than that it is  reassuring to know that there are students who want to do something about it and who figured out a way to do it.

Five Gilpin Montessori Elementary School students are learning how to organize a non-profit organization and put it to work for the good of our planet.

Last October, fourth grade Montessori teacher Suzanne Diekman introduced the subject of endangered species to her class. A few students were stricken by the plight of these animals and one day began discussing what they could do to help. They decided that it would be a good idea to raise some money to send to the facilities that are protecting animals whose populations are diminishing. The group focused on the lynx, the wolf and the black-footed ferret.

The Black-footed ferret is native to North America and were brought to the brink of extinction by the 1960s, but are starting to make a comeback. Mission Wolf in Colorado is an advocate for education about wolves to keep then from extinction and the lynx has been re-introduced to the Rocky Mountains.

One of the students, McKenna Summers says, “We were lucky that we worked in the computer class. Out teacher Patrick Linnehan told us we would have to open up our own website and that we could it with a partner. Jordana, my best friend since first grade, and I decided we would put up information about endangered species and let the whole school know about it.”

While the girls worked on their website, figuring out what to do next and talking about it all the time, they decided their first step would be to have a fundraiser and make fliers.One of their teachers said she had a whole bunch of jars and they could use them for collecting money.

That set off a spark of enthusiasm with the students thinking it would be fun to have a contest: which ever class made the most money, they would get an ice cream party; the second highest would get a cupcake party and the third highest would have a pizza party.

These students had discovered  how to make donating to a cause not just a challenge but a challenge resulting in a fun time.

Gilpin teachers joined in the project. Their computer teacher Patrick Linnehan helped the girls research  where they could send the money to help the animals. The wolf was chosen because one of the students had visited Mission Wolf and had the information from them.

Another student Aucklyn Soco gleaned information about the black-footed ferret and the girls talked another facility that advocates for the Canada lynx that now live in Colorado.

Knowing they needed permission from the administration to continue with the project, the group, which now called itself, Endangered Species Fundraising Society, made an appointment with GS superintendent Dr. David Mackenzie who told him he thought it was a good project but they needed permission from principal Scott Eldred. The project was becoming a learning process for dealing with the red tape involved with beginning a non-profit.

The girls knew that Eldred was an important person in the school and they worked on their presentation and on staying calm even though they were quite anxious.

“I was so nervous,” says McKenna. “I even had dreams about walking to the door.” Principal Eldred agreed it was a good idea and another hurdle had been cleared.

The EAFS team made flyers with pictures and information and set up a date for the bake sale to make money. The sale will coincide with the Parent-Teacher Conferences on March 10 and March 11.

The created a scoreboard to keep track of how much money each classroom donated and they also figured that  it would be a good idea to expand beyond the school and see if members of the community would donate to the good cause.

Bake sale items will be prepared by the project kids and their families.

It has been a great educational project for the students and they can’t wait to send the money they raise to the endangered species programs.

With help from their computer teacher, the students created a pie chart showed how the money will be divided among the various animal facilities and expenses for contest winners.

If anyone wants to help the EAFS in their project, you may donate money to: Patrick Linnehan Room #3122, 10595, Hwy. 119, Black Hawk, CO. 80422.