Description
Wolves are in the news almost every day in Colorado, and most of the time, it doesn't feel like good news. But a couple of Aurora teachers are using the state's wolf reintroduction plan to start a conversation with kids – while learning some new lessons and no one is fighting.
At William Smith High School, students learn about all angles of Colorado's wolf reintroduction plan, and the discussions are civil.
"Your challenge today is to think about what is the appropriate number of wolves for the state of Colorado, based on the evidence in front of you," said math teacher Chelsea Audin, as she started the class, made up of mostly sophomores.
Audin, along with math teacher Matt DiOrio, teaches a class called "Wolf Empire," which uses both math and literacy to teach students about wolf reintroduction, while using both skills.
"To take a class and become educated on the topic is pretty, pretty cool, especially to learn math and literacy through it," said sophomore Lila Martinez. "I really like that I get to be up to date on things that you usually wouldn’t be -- as a teenager I’m not really looking into wolf reintroduction and stuff like that."
"Wolf Empire" is an all-day, four-week class. Students get to opt into classes that combine different disciplines.
"When we asked them why they chose this class it was either because they loved dogs or wolves, but they didn’t have the knowledge behind that," DiOrio said. "We want them to understand the different perspectives, not just like, 'Oh we love wolves, we want them here," but what's the impact, and we’re not just looking at other wildlife or land, but also financially what does this look like for everyone in Colorado."
Audin and DiOrio are both passionate about wolves, but they know not everyone feels the way they do. They know in a state like Colorado, where the vote to reintroduce wolves narrowly passed, they need to show all sides of the story.