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The one room school house has all but disappeared in America. But there is one in Moffat County that's still going strong, and its 11 students have proven that size doesn't matter.

Maybell Elementary is one of 19 schools in Colorado honored in Sept. with the John Irwin Colorado Schools of Excellence award.

According to Linda McCabe, Maybell Elementary's teacher, when students of different ages and grades work together in the same classroom, they learn to interact with one another like a family. They encourage, teach, mentor and help each other. The fourth grade students often study with and read to the first graders. The result is an enhanced learning environment and greater skills in working together as a group.

McCabe has an individual instructional plan for every single student. "That's basically what makes this program successful," she said. "I look at the goals, standards and curriculum, and then I look at the children and design a program to meet those standards and the individual needs of the children. That's what is so unique about our school - the basic structure here is developmental curriculum," she said.

The curriculum is also integrated. For instance, McCabe said their music program teaches rhythm and timing, and additionally gives an understanding of vocabulary and history and working together. "It's really fascinating when you see the growth and the change," she said. "We call it teaching for transfer - when you teach something you want the child to connect it to something else. We work a lot that way - it helps them transfer what they're learning in school to the real world."

The "real world" is people outside of the school. "We are like an extended family, bridging the generation gap. We work together in a lot of ways with others and that teaches an appreciation of people in society that students are going to be working with," McCabe said.

"We are truly a community school - the community really supports this school, both up front and behind the scenes. When we have our Christmas program, we not only have the parents and the extended family and the grandparents and the community, we have people from Craig and people who went here years ago. They literally pack this gym. It's awesome!"

The students give two full performances a year, a Spring Chorale and a Christmas play. Last year they performed "An Outlaw's Christmas." McCabe adapted a piece of history from a book about nearby Brown's Park during the days of Butch Cassidy, then rewrote it as a musical for the Maybell students. Throughout the year, Maybell students get on stage often, giving puppet shows, plays and speeches. "It's part of the oral presentation that helps with their self-confidence," McCabe said.

At the core of support for the school is the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). "All of our parents come to our PAC meetings once a month, if they are not at work. We work very closely together to coordinate the programs, and that makes it possible for a lot of things to happen," McCabe said.

Maybell has implemented a lot of unique programs and enthusiastic volunteers from the community. They host the annual Science Fair. McCabe implemented the New Zealand-based National Literacy Coalition there, for a balanced reading program. A computer lab where they can be interactive with learning games. They have a large number of guest speakers - wildlife experts, bakers, postmasters, senior citizens - and most speakers get involved with the kids in some hands-on activity related to the topic. Student interest level is definitely there, as opposed to the typical boredom in most classrooms. According to Principal Pete Bergmann, attendance at Maybell has been at an unusually high percentage for the last three years.

"Linda does a great job," Bergmann said of McCabe. "Research shows the smaller the class size, the greater the learning. Emphasis for winning the award has to be placed on the teamwork of all the staff working together with the community toward the children's achievements and success," he said.

The award of excellence is named for Representative John J. Irwin, who became a Colorado legislator after retiring from a long and successful career with Eastman Kodak. During the many years he served in the legislature and on the State Accountability Committee, education was his passion. Having benefitted from a solid education himself, he felt it was important for all children to receive a good education and that a child anywhere in this state should have the same high quality education as any other.