Your Poudre School District community newsletter | Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021 | Translate / Traducción / ترجمة

Let the show begin!

Students recapture a lost sense of expression on stage

After months of virtual performing arts classes and concerts, there is excitement – and some performance jitters – about returning to in-person performances.

Everyone in Marta Bailey’s family played the violin and viola.

So, the Fort Collins High School freshman picked up the cello, a pretty instrument that drew her attention instead.

“I just think it’s really cool to be connected to everyone,” Bailey said of what music means to her. It’s about taking different parts and feeling that cohesion when they come together.

She shared her story backstage as her Concert Orchestra classmates rehearsed for their first in-person concert since the COVID-19 pandemic dropped the curtain on performers worldwide over a year ago.

“When everything shut down for COVID, it felt like a part of my life was missing,” Bailey said. “It’s emotional to play in orchestra again.” It’s good to be back together.

Got a minute? Watch PSD Now

In this edition, Wish for Wheels rolls out bikes to second graders at PSD Title I schools; School Choice applications now accepted; Stove Prairie Elementary turns 125.

Have a story idea for us? Tag us on social media @PoudreSchools or email news@psdschools.org

Watch the Oct. 27 PSD Now video >>

Stove Prairie celebrates 125th year as Colorado's oldest 'one-room' school

Easy access to water and heat was not always something students and staff of Stove Prairie School enjoyed.

The one-room schoolhouse in Rist Canyon (west of Fort Collins) opened in 1896 when families had to bring water each morning to the school. Eventually water was piped to the school from a spring. For heat, Stove Prairie had a wood-burning stove. It was a “glorious day” in 1955 when a gas stove was installed, according to historical records.

Now, after much-improved access to those necessities and countless other changes over the past decades, Stove Prairie is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Stove Prairie School is the oldest operating “one-room” school in Colorado, according to the Fort Collins History Connection database.

Wish for Wheels FoCo rolls out nearly 350 bikes, helmets to PSD students

When Kimberly Gutirierrez-Cuevas went to school on a recent fall day, she wasn’t expecting the surprise that awaited.

As part of the 2021 Wish for Wheels FoCo event, the Harris Elementary School second grader got a new bicycle and helmet – and with them, a renewed sense of independence.

“It’s my favorite color,” she said, appreciating the blue bike that sat before her and her dad. “I like my bike. If my parents let me, I will ride this bike to school.”

The best part of wheeling out the donated bikes “is the smile, the one you cannot erase,” said Yara Gonzalez, a fourth-year paraprofessional at Harris, who helped with the event. “The joy the students have of receiving something they want and appreciate as a surprise is indescribable.”