Last semester, this reporter spoke with fellow Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) student, and senior, Julia Gressett. I met her outside of the school auditorium, and it took us an embarrassing amount of time to realize we were waiting on one another — as this was the first time we’d met. Anyhow, when we did finally interact, she explained why she was one of this year’s recipients of the 5Point Dream Project’s micro-grants
For those of you who don’t know, 5Point Adventure Film Festival facilitates an annual teen outreach program called the “Dream Project.” This year is the 13th iteration.
It supports high school students, from Aspen to Parachute, to complete a project of their design “that they believe will make a difference in the lives of others as well as their own,” as stated in a press release from 5Point.
While a handful of students, six to be precise, received $2000 each to go towards their proposed projects, even fewer (three students this year) were awarded $500-$1000 each in micro-grants. Gresset was one of these three students.
The micro-grant Gresset was given was for $500, and she put it towards…drum roll… creating a piano competition here in Carbondale. She has a deep interest in piano and has been playing for the past 10 years. Her goal with this project was “to bring some joy and an experience to at least a few kids in the Valley,” she told The Sopris Sun.
But, see, Gresset had a predicament. She wanted to bring together the local pianist community — both kids and adults — but the closest competitions were in Denver or Dillon. So, she created her own: the “Sopris Piano Competition.”
She decided to use the funds as prize money for the local competition. The Sopris Piano Competition was held at the Third Street Center on Nov. 5, 2022. Eleven people competed, with six of them receiving prizes. Julia says she hopes that this becomes an annual event, even if she isn’t around to continue it herself. She will be graduating this year, after all.
The winners of the $2000 Dream Project grants included: Abigail Campos, another RFHS senior, who is making a short film, along with fellow McBride interns, about the group’s trip to Africa last summer; Taia Nykerk, a junior at Glenwood Springs High School, used the capital to invest in her school’s Outdoor Education Club to make it more financially accessible; Jacob Sam, a junior at Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS), is taking Navajo language and government classes so he can apply for the Chief Manuelito Scholarship; Jaxson Borich, a junior at Yampah Mountain High School, is to refurbish a dirt bike to give to his neighbor who can then use it for nearby transportation; Kai Young, a senior at CRMS, is making a short documentary on climate change from a rancher’s perspective; and, finally, Edgerrin Aulik, a sophomore at GSHS, hopes to attend the Berklee College of Music’s summer sessions for jazz guitar.
The other two students who received micro-grants were Ava Lerner-Sprunt, a senior at CRMS, who dreams to teach English to children in Costa Rica; and Gineescia Vazquez, a sophomore at Yampah, who is using the grant to buy a camera and further her passion for photography.
In the past 13 years, 5Point has awarded $104,000 in Dream Project grants to 74 students.
The nine Dream Project recipients and their projects will be featured during the 16th Annual 5Point Film Festival in Carbondale, which takes place April 20-23. Visit www.5pointfilm.org for more information.