About Kinard CARES
Our Vision...
"We believe in providing students with an authentic and engaging learning experience that reflects the civic responsibilities they will face as citizens in the real world."
What is Kinard CARES?
Kinard CARES is a year-long elective class for students at Kinard Middle School who share the common vision of raising environmental awareness while making a collaborative difference in our local community. The curriculum focuses on environmental leadership, service-learning, and sustainable living practices. The pinnacle experience of this course includes a trip to Catalina Island, CA to participate in an environmental leadership camp. This adventure trip helps students to recognize the interconnectedness of natural and human-built systems. Once students grasp the connections between a stable economy, a healthy environment, equitable social systems, and their role as global citizens, they are successfully launched into a more sustainable world - a world that they are empowered to protect and enjoy.
(Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation) http://celfeducation.org/
Program Curriculum
Students enrolled in Kinard CARES will be exposed to authentic leadership development activities and a project based environmental stewardship curriculum. This curriculum will focus on studying our natural environment and using these systems as a model to help create sustainable practices for our human-built society. Throughout the year, students will collaborate on service-learning projects that encourage the development of important 21st century skills. These projects have had a huge impact on our school and community. Our most successful project resulted in the first comprehensive composting program in Poudre School District and continues to lead the way toward our zero waste goals. In the last two years, our compost program has diverted over 30,000 lbs of food waste from the local landfill.
Kinard CARES has also been collaborating with many community organizations including CSU Graduate Students in Business Administration & Construction Management, GSI Waste, City of Fort Collins, Sunrise Ranch, Colorado Association for Recycling and other community members. These partnerships help to enhance learning experiences and generate meaningful work that truly makes a difference.
Catalina Island Experience
One essential element of the Kinard CARES curriculum is a service-learning adventure trip to Catalina Environmental Leadership Camp at Catalina Island CA. The purpose of this trip is to serve the Catalina Island community as well as develop environmental leadership skills. This experience will empower the students, and give them an important student voice, allowing them to apply their stewardship skills directly to Kinard Middle School and the greater Fort Collins community. Unique recreational activities on the trip will provide great opportunities for students to enrich their perception of our natural world and help them to apply their learning in meaningful ways. For more information, visit the Catalina Island page.
