Self Reliance in Rural Colorado

What would you do if your school's 60-year-old coal-fired furnace quite working, and you couldn't transport students to other schools because of often snowed-out mountain passes? If you're from Silverton, Colorado you have to rely on yourselves, something rural people know a lot about.

Ellie Gober, 7, keeps her hat on during class at the Silverton School. After the school's boiler gave out in November, students donned snowpants, gloves and layers in the thick of winter, soldiering on with the help of space heaters. (Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post )

The Denver Post's Nancy Lofholm reports,

When the coal-fired boiler in the 98-year-old school ruptured and wheezed out its final burst of heat in November, the reaction in this San Juan Mountain town of roof-high snows and deep-freeze cold was unusual, to say the least. The 55 hardy K-12 students and their eight teachers layered up and kept at their studies — for an entire winter.

Parents and community member brought in space heaters, which were replaced after Christmas by garage-strength heaters situated in hallways and new space heaters in classrooms. The school's electrical system had a tough time keeping up and teacher sometimes had to choose between heat or using computers and audio visual devices.

In an editorial the next day, the Post reported:

The [Colorado] Department of Education and the Governor's Energy Office are helping Silverton install a new, $1 million heating system the district hopes will be more environmentally friendly than that old coal boiler.

Well done to the good people of Silverton, the Colorado Department of Education, and the Governor's Energy Office. Nice job to Nancy Lofholm, Hyoung Chang, and the editors at the Denver Post.