Part 1: Setting and Context

Standards 5, 8
Bienvenue Fort Collins!

Welcome to Fort Collins, Colorado: A beautiful city with a small-town feel, Fort Fun is located

at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in northern Colorado. At almost 5,000 feet above sea-level,

we enjoy more than 300 days of sunshine each year. Our climate is moderate with four seasons,

and we have a popular saying about our erratic weather patterns, If you dont like the

weather. wait 5 minutes!

Our vibrant town is only 60 miles north of Denver and about an hour and 15 minutes from

Denver International Airport. We are proud to be a small town, yet we offer many of the

amenities of a large city without giving up our small-town feel or our spectacular views of the

foothills. It is interesting to note that most of our power lines are buried below ground and there

are very few billboards lining our main roads which greatly reduces the visual clutter that most

cities have. Fort Collins is the fourth largest city in Colorado with a population of approximately

161,000 (according to the 2015 census), including just over 30,000 students attending Colorado

State University (established in 1870). One of the only drawbacks of Fort Collins is its lack of

diversity. According to the 2010 census, Fort Collins residents are 89% white (this includes 8.8

% Hispanic), 1.2 % African-American, and 2.9% Asian.

Of the many accolades over the last 15 years, Fort Collins has been ranked best place to

live/work for young professionals by Next Generation Consulting (June, 2009), and named

Americas No. 1 best place to live by Money Magazine (2006). Some of the successful
businesses located in Fort Collins include: Anheuser Busch, Banner Health, Woodward, Hewlett

Packard, Kaiser Permanente, and Shores Family Dentistry.

Fort Collins has a well-educated population including over 50% holding a bachelors degree.

Fort Collins has so much to offer not only to its residents but to visitors as well including many

farm-to-table restaurants, locally owned microbreweries, public and private golf courses, almost

a thousand acres of community parks, bike and jogging paths, hiking, camping, fishing, white

water rafting, mountain biking, these are just a few of the many reasons to live in or visit Fort

Collins. For those that are lucky enough to reside in Fort Collins, the top-notch local school

district, Poudre School District, supports over 29,000 students attending 50 schools. With a clear

vision and mission statement of:

EducateEvery Child, Every Day,

EducaCada Nino, Cada Dia,

(Instruire tous les enfants, tous les jours)

PSD is committed to serving its students.

Fortunately for me this semester, I was placed at Fossil Ridge High School (Excellence

Everywhere!) for my 15-week Student Teaching experience. This was not by chance, as I

specifically requested to be placed in this school with my two cooperating teachers, as the caliber

of the teachers and administrators is of the highest quality and experience. According to the

FRHS website, with an average teaching experience of 10 years, 79 of the 124 teachers hold a

masters degree or above.

The unique name for this high school came from the dramatic low-lying ridge west of Fort

Collins coupled with our areas rich natural resources and vast history of geological wonders. It

is the youngest high school in the city (13 years old).

Fossil Ridge High School is structured to support and meet the needs of its approximately 1,961

(53% male, 47% female) students, (Sandi Emanuel the Registrar gave me this number as the

web-site is not updated), offering not only the core classes (English, Math, Science, etc.) but a

myriad of electives from Gourmet cooking and catering, welding, pottery, to choir and

journalism. I am so impressed by the vast number of clubs - both sponsored and student-lead

(Game Club, Key Club, NBA club, FRESH club, Gay-Straight Alliance, Student Council,

Yearbook, Ridge TV), extra-curricular sports and activities, (Jazz Band, Orchestra, Wind

Symphony - not to mention the fantastic Drama department). State championship banners,

trophies and numerous awards adorn the school and the gym for both boys and girls Swimming

and Diving, Volleyball, Softball, Tennis, Wrestling, Soccer, and Mountain Biking. Not only is

FRHS talented in athletics, they have won awards for their Forensics team, Ridgebotics, Science

Olympiad and Marching Band. It is an awesome accomplishment and honor for FRHS to have

achieved such a variety of success in such a short amount of time.

Students (also known as Sabercats) at Fossil Ridge (Ridge Nation) typically have 7 classes and 1

Advisory class per semester. The Advisory program includes academics, planning for college,

community service, and job-shadowing, resume writing, and preparation for the future. Students

meet every Friday during 8th period and are with the same roughly 22 students and Advisory

teacher for all 4 years at Fossil. Fossil also offers concurrent enrollment at Front Range for

World Language classes and other classes that may not be offered in the school. In addition,
Fossil offers AP classes (Psychology, Human Geography, Calculus, Composition, US History,

French, Spanish, Painting) for those students seeking college credit and a more challenging

learning environment,

The Integrated Services department at FRHS is a fantastic organization which supports its

students with special needs - offering them study skills classes, integrated classes, flower and

plant/gardening classes (which they sell to the teachers during the spring for planting!), baby

chicks in the classroom and service dogs for those who need support.

Counselors at FRHS have a huge work load as they support the large population of adolescent

students with various abilities, disabilities, emotional and medical needs, and learning issues.

Teachers are notified at the beginning of the year by email as to which of their students have

Individual Educational Plans (IEP) or a 504. This information is confidential and legally binding

but useful for the teacher to differentiate their teaching to meet the needs of these students.

Throughout the school year, counselors coordinate follow-up meetings with these students and

all of their teachers to facilitate their needs.

Being a state of the art school, all students at FRHS receive a laptop to use throughout the school

year and there are 6 computer labs (flex labs) throughout the school at each wing for students to

work and charge their laptops. This access to technology makes it easy for teachers and students

to communicate, submit work, and stay up to date with the way technology is taking over our

society at a rapid speed.

Fossil Ridge has 2 full-time SROs (School Resource Officers) who patrol the school, parking lot,

deal with student issues and discipline in conjunction with the Dean of Students. When there is a
need for conflict resolution, teachers are required to notify parents and keep documentation of

the situation. Usually the Dean will be notified and call the students down if the teacher has

referred the student. A resolution may include community service, ISS (in school suspension)

or suspension out of school.

Student and staff safety is of paramount importance at FRHS. All classes have practiced Lock-

Downs, Lock-Ins, and fire drills this semester. Our administration is determined to be prepared

for anything. FRHS is fortunate to have a very strong base of parent support from the community

who volunteer with activities, in the classroom, put on Teacher Appreciation lunches, attend

district meetings and advocate for our school. Believing in the RIDGE code (Respect, Integrity,

Determination, Gratitude and Excellence), students are expected to represent the school in a

positive light and to show that we are really a community of diverse and excellent learners.

Fossil may have diverse learners, but the school is not ethnically diverse. 85% of the student

body is Caucasian, 7% Hispanic, 4% Asian, 1% Black, and 3% are 2 or more ethnicities.

Comparing Free and Reduced lunch at Fossil is staggering - 8.9% versus 35.5% average for the

state. It is not surprising to see BMWs, Range Rovers, and expensive Jeeps in the student

parking lot, as most of the families that feed into FRHS are affluent - which has given this high

school a negative image at times.

The World Language Department at FRHS offers German 1-4, French 1-5, and Spanish 1-5. This

semester I am teaching 4 French classes: 1 French 1, 2 French 2, and 1 French 3. My French 3

class is where I am doing my Unit for this TWS. It is a small class of 16 students, our classroom

is light and bright with rows of desks facing the Smart Board. We have posters of the map of the

regions of France, Francophone countries, Environmental/Ecological Issues in French, Fantme

of the Opra, students work is displayed on the back wall, the French flag and American flag are

up front near the wall of teacher awards, and bookshelves with a variety of textbooks and French

books for students to read. In my French 3 class there are 4 boys and 12 girls. We have 2

Freshmen, 3 Juniors, and 11 Sophomores. Of the 16 students, 12 are caucasian, 3 are Asian, and

1 is African American. I absolutely adore each of these students - they are a highly witty bunch

of kids with a range of interests (hockey, extraterrestrials, drama, cake-decorating), I encourage

students to be themselves and I believe that we have a safe and open classroom where students

feel relaxed. Because of the small class size, students are at times reluctant to participate. I have

alleviated this by implementing a system that my cooperating teacher uses: a clipboard with

student names, when they see they clipboard and know they are getting points, they are much

more apt to volunteer and participate.

I am proud to be doing my student teaching at Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins,

Colorado!

Works Cited

PSD Mission and Vision. (2010). Retrieved March 18, 2017 from Poudre School District:

http://www.psd.k12.co.us/about-us/mission-and-vision

Major Employers and Industries. (2017). Retrieved March 18, 2017 from Fort Collins Chamber

of Commerce: http://www.fortcollinschamber.com/index.php?

src=gendocs&ref=MajorEmployersIndustries&category=BusinessInfo&submenu=EmploymentR

esources
Community. (2017). Retrieved March 18, 2017 from Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce:

https://fortcollinschamber.com/community/resources/fort-collins-information/

About Our School. (2017). Retrieved March 18, 2017 from Fossil Ridge High School:

https://frh.psdschools.org/about-our-school

United States Census Bureau (2015). Retrieved March 18, 2017, from census.gov:

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/0827425

Fort Collins Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved March 18, 2017 from City of Fort Collins:

http://www.fcgov.com/visitor/fcfacts.php