SVVSD Innovation Center hosts Gov. Polis, education leaders

St. Vrain Valley Innovation Center students taught state education leaders and officials, including Gov. Jared Polis, how to program social robots, explained artificial intelligence principles used in self-driving cars and demonstrated using cybersecurity concepts to solve a murder mystery. The Tuesday visit highlighted how St. Vrain Valley is designing, testing and scaling its practices, including through two grants from Gov. Jared Polis’ Response, Innovation, and Student Equity, or RISE, Fund. In November, St. Vrain received a $382,489 RISE grant to offer youth apprenticeships focused on technology and PreK-12 education. In 2021, St. Vrain was awarded a $2.8 million, two-year RISE grant to collaborate with five smaller districts on a K-5 summer literacy program. St. Vrain also received a three-year, $7 million state Opportunity Now grant in 2023 to invest in career pathways with three other school districts, focusing on education, manufacturing and information technology. “We are learning from each other,” said Diane Lauer, St. Vrain Valley’s chief academic officer. “We need that. Looking at things from a different perspective makes us all better.” The RISE grant program, launched in 2020 with federal coronavirus relief money, has disbursed about $42 million through grants to support innovative programs in 41 school districts, charter schools, colleges and community organizations. “RISE is really about doing something different,” Polis said during Tuesday’s visit. “We got great ideas. We wish we could have funded them all.” Rebecca Holmes, president and CEO of the Colorado Education Initiative, praised St. Vrain’s collaborative efforts, saying it’s not common in Colorado for districts to work together to replicate successful initiatives. “They thought beyond their own context,” she said. Along with visiting classrooms to learn more about the district’s technology and grow-your-own teacher preparation programs, participants heard from St. Vrain leaders and toured the Innovation Center. St. Vrain Superintendent Don Haddad said the district believes in the power of public education and wants to be part of ensuring that effective programs are available to all children, regardless of where they live. He outlined the district’s approach to improving its educational foundation, including increasing graduation requirements and adding preschool and full-day kindergarten. At the same time, he said, the district added a layer of innovative options, such as a cybersecurity program. “You build the opportunities and, all the sudden, the kids step up and perform,” he said. Deputy Superintendent Jackie Kapushion said stable funding is one of the foundations of St. Vrain’s work, including mill levy override tax increases, grant funding and contributions from business partners. With additional resources, she said, the district “doesn’t have to wait until May to see what the legislature is going to give us” and can create sustainable programs. During the student-led classroom visits, students showed off some of the practical applications of artificial intelligence, including sharing tricks to recognize AI-created photos and demonstrating self-driving cars. Jordan Boldt, a junior at Lyons Middle/Senior, said he wants to be part of developing artificial intelligence, including adding safeguards so it’s not used to deceive. “It’s important we have young voices in a young field,” he said. “We can really have this vision to move it forward.” He added the Innovation Center’s AI program “has been my most valuable experience of high school. I’ve learned so much.” In another classroom, students helped participants solve a Clue-style murder mystery using cybersecurity techniques, such as encryption. The idea, said cybersecurity instructor Beth Cerrone, is to demystify what can be an intimidating topic to study. “We try to do a lot of hands-on activities to make it really fun,” she said. “As much real life, hands-on stuff as we can give kids is the goal.” The classroom visits also highlighted the paid student project teams at the Innovation Center. Sienna Arellano, a Niwot High senior on the cybertechnology team, said she’s had opportunities to help host a coding competition for middle schoolers, work on the design to turn a school bus into a mobile cybersecurity lab and present at conferences. “Not only am I learning the technical skills, I’m learning how to present and talk to these scary business people,” she said. “I love it here at the Innovation Center. They have built my confidence. I’m able to take risks and be vulnerable in my learning.”