Editor:
This letter is to express significant gratitude to several businesses and community members in Montezuma and Dolores Counties. My name is Sam Carter. I am a teacher at Southwest Open School in Cortez. During our last term of this school year, along with Isaac Murphy, I taught a five week service learning class in which students engaged in several projects on our campus, improving the aesthetics and moral of our school.
This class added fencing material to prevent prairie dogs from tearing up our activity field, stained workout stations around our track, built privacy fence between our school and a neighbor’s house, built and planted several large rock flowerbeds, built two flagstone pathways and one patio. This was all done by the students with a little teacher guidance. These are projects that cost a good hunk of money. To obtain the materials for these projects, we called on several local businesses for donations of materials or the ability to purchase materials at discounted rates. We received warm responses from every business contacted. The following businesses generously donated materials and time to our school:
49 Square Ventures, Mancos: Soil
Cliffrose High Desert Gardens, Cortez: Soil, weed cloth, drip irrigation
Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery: Perennials
Hankins Stone Company Inc., Dove Creek: Flagstone and block stone
McStone Aggregates, Dolores: Sand for flagstone pathways
Slaven’s True Value, Cortez: Fencing material
City Market, Cortez: Soil
Big R, Cortez: Flowers
Fran Marciano: Perennials
Doug Capelin/Deer Hill Expeditions, Mancos: Class visit discussing service
MB and Chuck McAfee: Class visit discussing service
Jennifer Carter, CJ Marx, Chip Schoefter: Class visit discussing service
Southwest Open School wants to send out a huge thank you to all of these businesses and individuals. Their actions embody the act of service this class works to impart to our students. The donations of these businesses are heartfelt, authentic investments in our community. Please take the time to shop at these businesses, and to drive by our school and see the work our students did with the help of all these businesses.
Sam Carter
Southwest Open School