RFC's Watershed PenPal program unites students from the Roaring Fork Valley with students in Aurora, Colorado, by reaching across the Continental Divide to create relationships through old-fashioned letter writing and current technology. The City of Aurora and the Roaring Fork Valley both utilize water from the headwaters of the Fryingpan River, making this a transbasin project and relationship.
People, regardless of age, seek positive relationships and connections. Students today are often isolated by technology and negatively impacted by social media. Creating the opportunity for authentic relationships while also educating students about water systems, both natural and man-made makes a wonderful pairing. The art of writing personal letters and enjoying the anticipation of receiving a response in the mail, teaches critical thinking and patience.
Through a series of shared classes, slides, videos, and activities, students in both Aurora and the Roaring Fork Valley learn about where their water comes from and why it’s important to value, conserve, and protect this life-giving resource. As a part of the program, students also get an opportunity to meet their pen pal virtually and to apply for a newly created summer program called Meet Your Headwaters. Students that are accepted into this program experience their headwaters with their pen pals through rafting and exploring the Roaring Fork Valley.
This project approaches water use by creating connections, teaching about water systems, and building positive relationships. Students learn that the only way forward is through understanding and protecting our earth’s natural systems, each other, and the knowledge that we are all water users.
Program funders: RFC donors, Colorado Water Conservation Board and Pitkin County Healthy Rivers.
Program partners: Aurora Water, Aurora Public Schools, Blazing Adventures, Cherry Creek School District, Defiance Rafting, Roaring Fork School District
Photo credits: Karryn Child and Megan Dean
