CHILDREN’S EDUCATION FUND
“Educating for environmental responsibility”
Exposure to nature can
reduce stress levels by as much as 28% in children & improves fitness, creativity, and focus.
Green Time Not Screen Time Kids spend more than 7 hours a day with various electronic media. Even a 20-minute walk can help children with attention deficit disorder concentrate and focus.
By immersing students in the complexity and magic of nature,
ACES supplies critical life experiences that enhance academic success, health, and well-being.
Dear Friends, Almost 49 years ago, Elizabeth Paepcke conceived of a place to connect people to the natural world. Today, ACES is fulfilling Ms. Paepcke’s vision by providing outdoor experiential education to students from early childhood to college. Through ACES’ Children’s Education Fund, we are building the environmental science education movement valley wide. Overall, ACES partners with 62 regional schools, teaches science in 3 dedicated classrooms in Aspen, Basalt and Carbondale, and reaches over 5,000 students each year. We are also engaging low income, underserved and minority populations to bridge the gap between the environmental movement and social justice. Your support for ACES’ Children’s Education Fund will make a substantive difference in the future of Colorado—and our planet. With your help, we can continue to connect current and future decision-makers with the natural world, and achieve our mission, “educating for environmental responsibility.” I hope you will support our work!
Chris Lane, CEO Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
ACES Ed: A science classroom without boundaries ACES Ed continues to be
Ages 1-4
Ages 5-10
Ages 5-10
Ages 0-99+
Nature & Me and Little Ranchers
ACES in the Classroom
Field Science Programs
Learning on the Farm
These family programs allow young children and their parents to share a passion for environmental science while teaching new skills and cultivating a sense of wonder across generations. Introducing parents and toddlers alike to the natural environment can inspire a lifelong commitment to the health of our planet.
Every week ACES reaches over 1,700 students in our daily classes from Kindergarten to 4th Grade. Our subjects include ecology, STEM education, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and other subjects related to environmental science. ACES focuses on elementary education as it has been proven to be the most important period in a child’s development.
Science is our mechanism to inspire wonder and appreciation of nature through hands-on experiential exploration of local landscapes. Our experiential field science programs engage students in outdoor learning and infuse a richness and relevance into traditional school curricula. ACES provides over 400 outdoor field programs with 62 partner schools each year.
At Rock Bottom Ranch, children and families explore the origins of food as well as the environmental impacts of food production. Our education in eco-agriculture and sustainable farming systems inspires kids to create their own relationships with plants, animals, water, science, and healthy food.
the only program of its kind in the country, providing full-time, standards-based science education to students of all ages. Our programming is
diverse and innovative, and keeps students
engaged and connected to the natural world. People who have positive experiences with nature as children care more about the environment as adults, and it is our mission to provide
environmental education for all ages.
Follow us on a journey of ACES toddlers to teachers! Ages 5-10
Ages 11-14
Ages 16-18
Ages 14-18
Ages 22-65
Family Science Nights
Young Adults Outdoors
Tomorrow’s Voices
Outdoor Ed High School Programs
Family Science Nights engage and include diverse families in our education process, where students teach their parents and siblings what they have learned in their recent ACES classes. This year, we are expanding these family educational events at Kathryn Senor and Elk Creek Elementary schools in New Castle.
From snowshoeing along Aspen Mountain to geology students at the Maroon Bells to harvesting potatoes at Rock Bottom Ranch, ACES Ed middle school students are enriching their minds and bodies. By blending science, critical thinking, and outdoor hands-on learning, ACES Ed guides and prepares students in this important phase of life.
High school students who participate in this program explore the cutting-edge intersection of social justice and environmental issues while discovering their own voices in the process. The program is offered to high school juniors and seniors throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and can be taken for college credit in partnership with the University of Colorado Denver.
ACES Ed supports high school outdoor programs at Aspen and Basalt High schools, helping get students outdoors on camping, climbing, backpacking and hut trips throughout the Southern Rockies, providing academic and social enrichment for young adults in spectacular settings.
Teacher Training and Professional Development ACES Education continues to see ecological teacher training as a critical element of education reform. ACES offers teacher training workshops, leads presentations at leading conferences in the region, and consults with schools and districts across the state - so that we are all working together to provide science education in Colorado schools.
DIVERSITY
SILT
DENVER
INTERST ATE
GLENWOOD SPRINGS
NEW CASTLE
EAGLE
RIFLE
82
GRAND JUNCTION
PARACHUTE/ BATTLEMENT MESA
BASALT CARBONDALE 82
133
ASPEN
Where We Work
82
MARBLE 133
PAONIA
ACES recognizes the value of diversity and inclusiveness and promotes equal access to environmental science education. In the past five years, ACES has increased programming by 200%, expanding into schools where approximately 60% of students are Latino and 40% qualify for free or reduced lunch.
To meet the diverse student population of Western Colorado, ACES Educators include bilingual, licensed, and creative professional teachers with extensive classroom and field science experience.
We believe in providing opportunities for minorities and under-served students to excel. Environmental education improves K-12 student achievement in science, increases enthusiasm for learning, and leads to higher scores on standardized tests in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. Diversity is critically important to transformative education.
ACES Ed Travels Through Time
1974 Stuart Mace begins working with Aspen Elementary School students to provide the first ACES field programs at Hallam Lake.
1992 ACES partners with Aspen School District to bring environmental science education into the classroom.
1994 ACES partners with Aspen Skiing Company to offer on-mountain educational field programs.
1999 ACES builds and opens a dedicated straw bale classroom at Aspen Elementary School.
2001 ACES Education wins Colorado State K-12 Environmental Education Partnership Award for our work with Aspen Elementary School.
FACES OF ACES
Are you smarter than an
ACES 4th grader?
“I like that ACES is an open place... In ACES’ class, you get to be creative, have fun, and learn about nature.” Luke Roy Student Aspen Elementary School, Age 9
1. What are the three rock types? 2. What are three things a plant needs for photosynthesis? 3. What are three adaptations that animals use to survive winter? 4. Where are owl ears located? 5. What are three forms of renewable energy?
Try this tongue twister 4 times fast:! “I love working at ACES because it allows me to share my love of nature and science with others. I love to see the excitement and curiosity of the students when they discover new things.”
One slick snake slid through the sludge while the other slick snake slid slow.
Ben Seipel Educator, Basalt Elementary School
“ACES Ed offers so much to the education community in our valley and I am always thrilled to partner with the organization each year in creative ways both inside and outside of the school walls.” Suzanne Wheeler-Del Piccolo Principal, Basalt Elementary School
Color in this snake Answers:
1. igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary 2. sun, water, CO2 3. hibernate, tolerate, migrate 4. asymmetrical, left high and right low 5. wind power, solar power, hydroelectric power or geothermal power
2011 ACES partners with Tomorrow’s Voices for the Environment, offering college credit courses to high school students.
2012 ACES launches a full-time environmental science program at Basalt Elementary School, the first expansion of our unique educational model.
2013 ACES environmental science programs begin full-time in Crystal River Elementary School, expanding our program into Garfield County for the first time.
2015 ACES begins Family Science Night programs, bringing diverse families into our classrooms and schools.
2017 ACES builds sustainable housing units at Rock Bottom Ranch to house our teaching staff mid-valley.
2018 ACES Ed expands further west in Garfield County with new partnership programs in New Castle, Silt, Rifle, Battlement Mesa, and Parachute.
100 Puppy Smith Street | Aspen, CO 81611
“Educating for environmental responsibility� Aspen Center for Environmental Studies is a non-profit environmental science education organization with four sites in the Roaring Fork Valley. ACES was founded in 1968 and has been providing environmental science education to K-12 students for over 35 years.
aspennature.org | aces@aspennature.org | ACES Board of Trustees Michael Carricarte Neal Dempsey Andy Docken Ryan Elston Mark Hamilton Cindy Kahn Maureen Kinney Leslie Lamont Kim Master Diane Moore Gina Murdock Jerry Murdock Robert Musser Wally Obermeyer Sheri Sanzone Ashley Ramos Schiff Daniel Shaw Rachel Sherman Maile Spung
AspenCenterForEnvironmentalStudies |
@ACESaspen #ACESEd