Ouray County Providers
At Weehawken Creative Arts, we are in the business of changing lives, nurturing dreams, and helping kids and adults in Ouray County and neighboring communities discover their creative potential through the arts.
We offer transformative, individualized arts education programming led by extraordinary instructors, as well as a variety of art-inspired events. More than that, we offer a place for you to find your very own community of kindred spirits, wherever your artistic passion lies. Our programs (art, dance, karate) are offered in Ridgway, Ouray and Montrose and we regularly draw students from those communities and beyond for both classes and our signature special events. Additionally, we run a gallery space in Ridgway called The 610 Arts Collective which serves hundreds of artists annually. ________________________________________ Grade/Participants: Classes for youth and adults Language: English Experience Type: indoor and outdoor Cost: varies by class- refer to website for details, scholarships available. Website: https://weehawkenarts.org/about/ 
Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership
happily partners with diverse agencies, organizations, and private companies and individuals to accomplish our mission. One of the focus areas is teaching students about the upper uncompahgre river watershed. The educators guide can be downloaded and printed and provides two middle school curriculum choices and one high school curriculum guide. Water quality trunks are also available with equipment to learn to collect water quality data. ________________________________ Grade: middle through high school grades Language: English Experience Type: classroom, lab, field near a river/creek Cost: free materials, trunk available for loan Website: https://www.uncompahgrewatershed.org/educators-guide/ 
The ridgway public Library offers programming for children under 15 and their families incorporating early literacy, science and art.
The Ridgway Public Library is a welcoming and positive gathering space for people of all ages to experience the joy of reading, the value of lifelong learning, the usefulness of creating, the excitement of art, and the warmth of connection with others. Children's programs include summer reading series, story time, lending library, children's garden, Lego club and craft time. There is also a summer reading series and cafe specific for tweens and teens. ___________________________ Grade: K-12 school programs, youth summer programs, adult programs Language: English, Spanish Experience Type: Library, school classroom, outdoors field trips Cost: free Website: https://www.ridgwaycolibrary.org/ 
The Ouray Library District offers a variety of programs for youth and community resources.
The Ouray Library District provides a variety of programs for children, tweens and teens from crafts to coding. Teen lunches and games, story time and early literacy incentives. ___________________________ Grade: K-12 school programs, youth summer programs, adult programs Language: English, Spanish Experience Type: Library, school classroom Cost: free Website: https://ouray.colibraries.org/kids-teens-2/ 
Ridgway State Park offers a variety of recreational, outdoor and educational activities.
The park offers nature programs, wildlife viewing/monitoring, school field trips, summer activities/camps, camping, boating, picnicking, summer speakers series, winter hikes and programs, fishing events, archery, community events, and family programs. Park staff provides materials to classrooms, host teacher trainings through CPW, raptor monitoring training, butterfly monitoring training, small-mouth bass fishing contest, disabled veterans’ fishing and hunting, special needs fishing events, and specifically designed field trips at teachers' request such as forestry, pollinators, stewardship, and wildlife SCI investigations. Every fall, bird banding demos are held for students and the public. Their volunteer group, Friends of Ridgway State Park, pays half the cost for busing from any school that attends one of their field trips. ________________________________ Grade: All ages, Can accommodate 120 students outdoors and 40 indoors Language: English Experience Type: school yard, classroom, field trips in the park, indoor or in shelters, overnights and a combination of the above. Cost: Park Entrance fee $8 Website: https://cpw.state.co.us/state-parks/ridgway-state-park |
Voyagers Youth Program staff work in partnership with schools and the community to create an environment in which youth will succeed. With a Positive Youth Development approach, we build youth’s strengths and provide opportunities that will help them achieve goals and transition to adulthood in a productive, healthy manner.
The Summer Enrichment Program is a day camp from June - August. It includes enriching adventure/experiential weekly-themed programs on geology, insects, arts, sports, gardening, cooking, and more. Each week contains swimming, adventuring, and environmental awareness components. Activities are appropriately correlated to children’s age ranges (3-4, 5-7 and 8-11) and designed to assist participants in moving out of their comfort zones to explore new experiences. The After School Program provides enrichment care for children in grades kindergarten to 4th, Monday -Thursday, during the academic year [after school] until 5:30pm and is based out of the Ouray and Ridgway Schools. ________________________________ Grade: Ages 3-11 (summer enrichment). After School program K-4th grades Language: English Experience Type: school yard, classroom, field trips, indoor or in shelters, pool, playground Cost: Varies by program and individual needs Website: https://www.voyageryouth.org/ 
Ridgway School District
working on content 
Ouray School District
Developing minds to match our mountains Working on content 
U.S Forest Service
Ouray Ranger District Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison NF The District Office is located in Montrose, Colorado. The District participates as a partner in community/school district sponsored youth education events such as the 4th grade Natural Resource Day, Public Land Day, Cottonwood Days, Outdoor Festivals, and other special events. The District staff make an effort to accommodate specific requested for school or community field trips to the National Forest and requests for specific presentations. Dave Wood Interpretative Trail, located at the National Forest boundary on Dave Wood Road is designed for hikers to experience the typical habitats of the Uncompahgre Plateau. The guide can be downloaded from the web or obtained from the District Office. The GMUG National Forest has a variety of EE publications on forest related ecosystems to help our youth understand our resources: the GMUG Geology Coloring Book, Junior Ranger/ Snow Ranger booklets, Smokey Bear/Woodsy Owl publications, the Lorax Activity Guide, Discovering Your Forest, Pollinators and much more. Contact the office for copies of these publications. Learn how the dynamic geology of the area has shaped the land and settlements of western Colorado—these road logs with descriptions of the geology of McClure Pass, Kebler Pass, Imogene Pass and the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway can be obtained from the FS offices. _________________________________ Grade/Ages: Presentations/programs for all ages Language: English Experience Type: indoor/outdoor classrooms, field trips to the forest Cost: free Contact: Ouray Ranger District (970) 240-5300 Website: Connecting Kids to Nature - National Forest Conservation Education https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/conservation-education |
