Over the past two weeks, I’ve asked readers to consider two important questions.
First, why are so many families choosing to homeschool their children?
Second, if the world has changed so dramatically through technology and artificial intelligence, shouldn’t we rethink what an Eads High School diploma actually represents?
Those two questions are inseparable.
Across southeastern Colorado, more and more families are choosing to homeschool. Some do so because they want greater flexibility. Others want more individualized instruction. Some value the ability to travel. Others appreciate the opportunity for students to pursue music, agriculture, athletics, entrepreneurship, or other interests that simply don’t fit neatly into a traditional school day.
At the same time, every student who leaves a rural public school takes state funding with them. In districts the size of Eads, Kit Carson, Cheyenne Wells, and many small districts along the Ark Valley losing thirty or forty students doesn’t simply reduce enrollment statistics. It means fewer resources, fewer opportunities, and greater financial pressure on the schools that remain the heart of our communities.
Unfortunately, something else happens.
A divide begins to grow.
Parents who homeschool and parents who choose public schools begin to see themselves as belonging to different educational worlds. I don’t believe that’s healthy for our children. Nor is it healthy for our communities.
Because regardless of where our children learn, they all belong to the same community. They will someday become our nurses, mechanics, teachers, farmers, business owners, electricians, parents, civic leaders, and volunteers. Surely, we can find ways to educate them together while still respecting the different paths families choose.
Last week I suggested that our educational system is still organized around an Industrial Revolution model designed for a very different world. For more than a century, we have measured education largely by seat time.
Eight-hour school days.
Passing bells.
Students grouped almost exclusively by age.
Subject areas divided into isolated classrooms.
Standardized testing that forces teachers to teach to the test and not the student.
Teachers delivering essentially the same lesson to twenty or thirty students whose abilities, interests, dreams, and learning styles may be entirely different.
That model was brilliant for its time, because the schoolhouse was where the knowledge and information was—in books and teachers.
But today, information is everywhere. Artificial intelligence is changing nearly every profession.
Students can learn from experts around the world.
They can earn college credit while in high school.
They can complete workforce certifications.
They can apprentice with businesses.
They can build companies before graduation.
Perhaps it is time to design schools around learning rather than schedules.
That brings me to a conversation taking place right here in Eads.
The Link: More Than a Building
The Eads School District is currently refining plans for a proposed new campus known as The Link. The concept preserves and modernizes the historic elementary/middle school building, retains the beloved 1963 gymnasium, preserves the iconic old gym as a community landmark with a new purpose, and connects these historic spaces with a new educational addition that links the old spaces with new spaces in between. Its design purpose is to serve students for decades to come. The current concept also creates shared PreK–12 spaces, new career and technical education areas, and a consolidated campus focused on long-term community needs.
I believe that is an outstanding beginning.
But I also believe The Link should connect far more than buildings.
It should become the place where our community connects (links) people, ideas, education, businesses, technology, and opportunity.
If we are asking taxpayers to invest in a building that may serve Eads for the next seventy-five or even one hundred years, then we should design it not for yesterday’s educational model—but for tomorrow’s.
The Link should become exactly what its name suggests.
It should become the place where our entire community comes together to learn.
The First Link: An Academic Learning Commons
The first space I envision is not another traditional library. It is an Academic Learning Commons—the intellectual hub of the school where students plan, collaborate, create, receive guidance, and connect with opportunities throughout the rest of the campus and the community.
For generations, schools were designed around classrooms. Students moved from room to room every forty-five or fifty minutes while each subject was taught separately.
The future may look very different. Imagine walking into a bright, open space filled with activity.
Some students are meeting virtually with a college professor while earning concurrent enrollment credit.
Another group is collaborating on a business plan they will later present in the Innovation Center.
A homeschool student is receiving math tutoring before walking to the workforce center to complete an afternoon welding certification.
A student interested in healthcare is meeting with an advisor to arrange a clinical experience at the local medical clinic.
Another is preparing for an online certification exam.
Across the room, students gather around interactive displays analyzing agricultural drone imagery, researching renewable energy systems, or using artificial intelligence to solve engineering problems.
Others work quietly in study rooms, receive individualized instruction from teachers, or meet with community mentors and volunteers.
This is not a place designed simply to store information. It is a place designed to move learning forward.
The Academic Learning Commons becomes the central hub connecting students with every opportunity available to them.
It is where students receive academic advising, develop individualized learning plans, schedule apprenticeships, meet with college advisors, connect with mentors, complete certification testing, participate in virtual classes, and receive tutoring and support.
It also becomes a welcoming space for homeschool families.
A homeschool student might spend the morning studying independently at home, then come to the Academic Learning Commons to meet with an advisor, complete an online college course, receive assistance with a difficult math concept, collaborate with classmates on a community project, or prepare for an industry certification before moving into another part of the building.
The Commons becomes the place where individualized learning meets community opportunity. Unlike a traditional classroom, students are not grouped simply because they were born in the same year. They are brought together because they share similar goals, interests, aspirations, or learning needs.
Some are preparing for college.
Others are developing businesses.
Some are completing workforce certifications.
Others are exploring careers they have not yet discovered.
Teachers also take on a different role. Rather than spending every minute delivering lectures, they become mentors, coaches, advisors, and learning coordinators—helping students navigate the many opportunities available both inside the school and throughout the community.
In many ways, the Academic Learning Commons becomes the front door to everything else The Link has to offer.
From here, students move naturally into the Health and Wellness Center, the Innovation and Workforce Center, the Early Childhood Learning Center, local businesses, apprenticeships, college courses, and community partnerships.
It is the place where ideas become plans, plans become experiences, and experiences become futures.
That, to me, is what an Academic Learning Commons should be. It doesn’t replace the classroom. It transforms how the classroom connects to the rest of the world.
The Second Link: Health, Fitness, Recreation, Athletics, and Community Wellness
Imagine a facility where the school day ends—but the building continues to be alive.
The new auxiliary gym and expanded fitness center should become one of the most heavily used spaces in Kiowa County.
During the school day it supports physical education, athletic training, sports medicine, health sciences, nutrition, exercise physiology, and student wellness.
After school and on weekends, it becomes something entirely different.
Youth sports and activities like practices for youth Basketball, Volleyball, Wrestling, Cheerleading, Gymnastics, Martial arts, Baseball and softball batting and pitching cages, Strength and conditioning, Individual skills instruction, adult fitness, Senior wellness classes and walking sessions. Elementary basketball leagues return. Youth volleyball expands. New wrestling tournaments are hosted. Cheer clinics are scheduled. Skills academies of all kinds can be held for elementary youth. Summer sports camps can be offered.
Imagine the Eads Recreation Department, Little Eagles programs, the school district, volunteer coaches, and community organizations working together rather than separately.
The building is available through secure community access agreements, allowing responsible public use while protecting school property.
And something else happens. Families from neighboring towns begin coming to Eads for leagues, camps, and tournaments for their children. While in town they eat lunch, buy groceries and prescriptions, purchase fuel, visit local businesses, perhaps stay for a movie
Youth recreation quietly becomes economic development.
The Link begins connecting healthy children with healthy businesses.
The Third Link: The Innovation & Workforce Center
This space may become the heart of the entire campus. Previous generations knew this building as “Vo-Ag.” Tomorrow’s students deserve something much larger and flexible.
Imagine walking into a place where welding sparks fly beside computer screens displaying drone imagery.
Where a homeschool students learn electrical wiring beside a public school student designing irrigation systems.
Where a retired mechanic teaches diesel diagnostics while a renewable energy technician explains solar arrays.
Where agriculture and artificial intelligence work side by side.
This isn’t simply a shop. It is an innovation center. Students can earn nationally recognized certifications in Precision Agriculture, Drone Operations, FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot, GIS Mapping, Artificial Intelligence Applications, Welding, Electrical Systems, Plumbing, HVAC, Diesel Technology, Small Engine Repair, OSHA Safety, Solar Installation, Wind Energy, Tower Safety, Hydraulics, Construction Technology, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), Entrepreneurship, QuickBooks, Financial Literacy, Digital Marketing, Website Development, Journalism, Photography, Video Production, Amateur (Ham) Radio, Satellite Communications, Early Childhood Education, Child Development Associate (CDA), Certified Nursing Assistant, CPR and First Aid.
Every certification becomes another opportunity. Every opportunity becomes another reason for a family to remain connected to the school.
Outside, the learning continues.
A greenhouse teaches horticulture, hydroponics, medicinal herbs, native plants, nutrition, and entrepreneurship. Students manage beehives while learning pollination, ecology, and honey production. Gardens supply fresh produce for school meals and local farmers markets. Large outdoor equipment spaces provide room for heavy equipment demonstrations, construction projects, renewable energy systems, and agricultural mechanics.
The school itself becomes a laboratory. Learning no longer stops at the classroom door.
The Fourth Link: The Early Childhood Learning Center
Every community has treasured buildings that deserve more than preservation. They deserve a new purpose.
For generations, the old gymnasium standing proudly along 10th Street welcomed thousands of students through its doors. It was the site of basketball games, pep rallies, school programs, graduations, and countless memories. It has become one of the visual landmarks of our school campus and should continue standing as a symbol of our community’s commitment to education.
Rather than allowing that historic building to become underutilized, imagine giving it a new mission. Imagine transforming it into the Early Childhood Learning Center.
Its location makes it uniquely suited for that purpose. Because it sits at the front of the campus, parents could safely drop off infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children without ever entering the daily traffic patterns created by the PK–12 school. Families with children in both the daycare and the elementary or secondary school could make one convenient stop each morning instead of driving to multiple locations.
That alone would make life easier for working parents.
But the possibilities go much further. This would not simply be daycare. It would become another classroom.
Middle school students could begin earning babysitting certifications through supervised instruction and observation. High school students interested in education, childcare, nursing, occupational therapy, speech pathology, psychology, or social work could complete practicum hours while working alongside experienced early childhood professionals.
Students could earn certifications such as American Red Cross Babysitting, CPR and First Aid, Child Development Associate (CDA), Infant and Toddler Care, Child Nutrition, Positive Behavior Support, Classroom Management, Early Literacy Development, Preschool Instruction, Developmental Observation, and Family Engagement.
Graduates interested in becoming teachers would arrive at college with hundreds of hours of real experience working with children. Future childcare providers could complete much of the experience required to enter the profession. Future nurses, therapists, and healthcare professionals would gain invaluable experience interacting with young children and families.
The Learning Center would become a bridge between education and employment.
It would also strengthen our local workforce.
One of the greatest barriers facing rural employers today is not finding jobs. It is finding employees who have reliable childcare. A high-quality early childhood center would allow more parents to return to work, increase household income, and strengthen local businesses struggling to fill positions.
It would also become a powerful economic development tool.
When young families or professionals consider moving to Eads—whether they are teachers, nurses, healthcare providers, business owners, renewable energy technicians, or entrepreneurs—one of the first questions they ask is often, “What will we do with our young children?”
Imagine being able to answer that question with confidence. “Our community has an outstanding Early Childhood Learning Center connected directly to our school.” That answer alone could influence whether a family chooses Eads over another community.
Most importantly, this space perfectly represents what The Link is intended to accomplish.
It links young children with caring educators.
It links high school students with future careers.
It links working parents with dependable childcare.
It links local employers with the workforce they need.
It links a treasured historic building with a new generation of purpose.
The old gym has spent nearly a century helping raise generations of Eads children.
Perhaps its greatest contribution is still ahead.
Every Space Creates New Links
Notice what happens at The Link if it is designed for the future learning of our children and community.
The commons links people with knowledge.
The fitness center links health with community.
The innovation center links education with employment.
The greenhouse links science with nutrition.
The entrepreneur lab links ideas with businesses.
The daycare links young children with future teachers.
The gym links youth sports with economic development.
The maker spaces link creativity with craftsmanship.
Artificial intelligence links rural students with opportunities once available only in large cities.
Most importantly...
The building links homeschool families with public school opportunities.
Parents never lose their role as their children’s primary educators.
Public schools never lose their role as educational leaders.
Instead, both become partners.
The Future of Eads
Every rural community eventually reaches a crossroads. One road says, “We’ve always done it this way.” The other asks, “What will our grandchildren need?”
I believe we are standing at that crossroads today.
The people who built our schools nearly a century ago were visionaries. They invested in buildings they knew they would never fully benefit from because they believed education was the foundation of a thriving community.
Now it is our turn.
We are simply not deciding whether to preserve historic buildings or construct new ones. We are deciding what opportunities will exist for children who have not yet been born.
If this new building stands for another hundred years, our great-grandchildren will one day walk through its doors.
They won’t know how difficult the bond campaign was.
They won’t know how many committee meetings were held.
They won’t know what the tax increase cost.
They will simply inherit the vision—or the lack of vision—we leave behind.
To me, that is what The Link should truly connect. Not just the old gym to the new addition. Not just classrooms to hallways.
But generations to one another.
Parents to teachers.
Homeschoolers to public schools.
Agriculture to artificial intelligence.
Craftsmanship to entrepreneurship.
Learning to community.
Opportunity to hope.
If we can accomplish that, we won’t simply build a new school. We’ll strengthen the beating heart of Eads for generations to come.
