Photo: PPOS students learn about the Torah at Temple Emanuel during project fieldwork in Denver. (Photo by Linda Hayduke)
By Jackson Lee, 8th Grade, Pagosa Peak Open School
From May 14 to May 16, the 7th and 8th grade class at Pagosa Peak Open School went to Denver for their “Can’t We All Just Get Along” project, teaching them about world religion and government.
Across the three days of their trip, they visited a Jewish temple, a Buddhist temple, the Denver state capitol, the Cathedral Basilica Immaculate Conception, and the Muslim Society.
The first day of the trip was spent driving to Denver, eating lunch and resting in their rental house before going to the Temple Emanuel, which is a Jewish temple. At the temple they learned what happened with Jewish people during the Holocaust and the Jewish religious scripture known as the Torah.
On the second day of the trip, the class visited the Denver Buddhist temple where they learned about Buddha and how he reached enlightenment. The temple explained how Buddha was the first person to reach true enlightenment, and how he went on to spread his knowledge with all his previous teachers and family. After he died, he passed his teachings to his disciples so they could pass his knowledge to future generations.
Next the class went to the Denver state capitol and learned about the Senate and House of Representatives. The state capitol visit helped students learn how bills were passed and laws were set in place. Afterward, the class visited the Cathedral Basilica, which is a Christian church near the capitol of Denver. At the Cathedral the class learned about the Christian belief that Jesus Christ was sent to Earth by God to guide and teach humans how to be good people.
The third and final day of the trip, the class visited the Muslim Society to learn about Muslim religion and holidays. The Muslim Society taught the class about what being a prophet means in their culture, and how they had to wash and cleanse themselves before praying every day.
This three-day trip was very educational and meant to help improve understanding of different religions from Muslim to Christian.
Pagosa Peak Open School is a tuition-free, K-8 district charter school focused on implementing a project-based learning (PBL) curriculum in a Restorative Practices environment. Field work and interviewing experts are foundational to project-based learning.
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