So in 2002 when the Four Corners Outdoor School began planning for a brick-and-mortar campus to centralize their popular natural-resource education programs, Monticello was a good fit.
Thirteen years later and with $8 million in fundraising, the Canyon Country Discovery Center was born, a flagship facility built along the flanks of the Abajo Mountains.
The 21,000-square-foot campus sits on 48 acres just off U.S. 191 north of town. Its unique hybrid format combines a hands-on science center open to the public, with an outdoor-education school focusing on the natural wonders and people of the Colorado Plateau.
The center attracts tourists with cutting-edge exhibits, while also offering an array of established outdoor-education programs and tours available for schools, teachers, tourists, individual students and adults alike.
“We’ve been a traditional field school with a 30-year history. Now, we’ve added a campus and Discovery Center where the traveling public can stop and learn about the nature and science of the area, get inspired, and sign up for programs,” said marketing director Lindi Bradshaw, during a community preview of the campus Dec. 3.
“It’s a very exciting day for us and the surrounding communities.”
High-tech exhibits
A circular main exhibit hall with a towering ceiling features a half-dozen hands-on scientific displays focusing on gravity, astronomy, landscapes, soundscapes, seed distribution and the mysterious properties of magnetic fields. Eventually there will be five content areas with a total of 30 exhibits.
Newly hired exhibit director Michael McGlothlen is determined to ingrain scientific concepts into your head, even if it does not come right away.
“We’re showing off science in a fun, hands-on way that you almost don’t realize you’re learning,” he said. “The idea is that later, when experiencing the outdoors in some way or learning in a classroom, you have an ‘Aha!’ moment of understanding.”
At one exhibit, kids and adults marvel at a landscape station full of sand they push and dig into different forms. A high-tech projector uses real-time videos and color graphics to instantly show topography and how bodies of water react to changes in landforms made by participants.
“It’s cutting-edge technology that was made open source, so we are developing it into our curriculum,” McGlothlen said.
Nearby, adults play with a magnetoscope that shows how two bodies of gravity can control mass. NASA unsuccessfully tried to use the concept to transfer fuel in space, he said. Now researchers believe it may have cancer-fighting properties by helping to target diseased cells.
A custom soundscape exhibit will feature the sounds of the Colorado Plateau, from birds to mammals. The prototype designed by McGlothlen and educator Danielle Frohn was done in partnership with Utah’s Western Soundscapes using software designed by Cornell University.
“It will be the most extensive sound library of Colorado Plateau using the Cornell software,” McGlothlen said. “Users will be able to select birds or animals and get a full audio and visual experience. The next time they go on a hike, they’ll recognize that canyon wren or piñon jay.”
Education opportunity
Down the hall in a classroom, science educator April Baisan explains dendrochronology, the study of trees, to young students. In another classroom, education coordinator Rebecca Bailey is showing kids and adults how to measure their lung capacity. Next she explains an exhibit of Mormon pioneer wagon technology, then moves on to a hands-on display of microbiology as seen through a microscope.
“We’re using placed-based education that connects to the Colorado Plateau in some way,” Bailey said. “It’s an amazing new facility.”
A Cortez school is visiting next week to participate in one of the school’s science programs.
“They’ll be analyzing leaves to determine which environment they came from,” she said. “We will also study genetics by randomly flipping coins that express various genotypes and phenotypes, then create canyon monsters out of clay based on genetic attributes. It combines art with science.”
Parent Marcia Hunt, of Monticello, is impressed and excited for the opportunities for her family.
“My young son is showing a real interest in science, so this is an excellent opportunity for him to learn the concepts early on,” she said. “Nationwide, science and math skills are declining, so having a science-based learning center here is a real advantage for local schools.”
The campus also is partnering with sPower, which is building a $125 million wind farm nearby with 27 turbines.
“It is a perfect opportunity to incorporate renewable energy, aeronautics, and physics into our exhibits and curriculums,” Bradshaw said.
Economic boost
The new campus and Discovery Center is a new economic engine for southeast Utah, said Bill Boyle, editor of the San Juan Record. He has been an integral booster since pitching it to the outdoor school 13 years ago.
“We have 2 million visitors that pass through every year, coming and going from the many national parks and monuments in the area. This will help stop a portion of them,” he said. “They can learn something about the place, book a trip, then have a meal and stay in a hotel. It’s a real draw to the area, and has spurred more business already.”
The Four Corners School employees 20 professional educators, tour guides and administrators. Another five people were hired for the new center, and the plan is to expand.
“I just moved to Monticello for this job, and there are a lot of affordable houses to choose from,” said McGlothlen.
The Four Corners Outdoor school serves about 6,000 people annually, said executive director Janet Ross. The new business model predicts that 35,000 visitors, teachers and students will participate in programs at the new campus and discovery center, with another 97,000 people predicted to participating through outreach programs.
“A prominent anthropologist once said, Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world,” Ross said to a crowd of 140. “It has led to this wonderful science and nature center and campus for Four Corners Outdoor education. Lots of people have helped along the way, and I thank all of them.”
The Discovery Center is expected to open to the public in spring, with a grand opening next fall.
For more information go to www.fourcornersschool.org
jmimiaga@the-journal.com