Photo Credit: Karen Manley

On Wednesday, January 17, Fossil Ridge High School held its annual Curriculum Fair in the commons. Designed to give incoming freshmen and their parents a comprehensive look at all the courses and clubs offered, it also served as a chance for prospective students to understand more about Fossil.

Brad Nye, assistant principal, explained that the intended purpose for the night was to “give incoming students an idea of what Fossil Ridge has to offer.” He explained that another demographic the event targeted is high school students whose families had moved into the area, as the night is a good starting point for putting parents and students alike at ease. It has been held each of his nine years at Fossil.

The event was set up with tables for each club, department, and sport. Teachers from each department grouped together, and decorated their tables with items that represented their subject. The arts department, for example, had bulletin boards filled with a variety of acrylic paintings, pen and ink drawings, and stippled portraits. As students, or their parents, had questions about placement for a subject or how the curriculum is designed, they could get an answer straight from the teacher. Sports, meanwhile, were grouped near the athletic hall in the commons. Coaches and team members staffed the tables in order to explain to players what types of commitments are required by a high school sport and the type of camaraderie found within them.

Despite the fact that the event wasn’t geared towards current Fossil students, there were no shortage of them in attendance, as each school-sponsored club was given a table to market themselves to new students. Drama Club’s hope for the night was to spread the message of inclusivity that their club tries to emphasize. Austin Hand was one of the many representatives of the club for the night, and he explained that Drama Club has many different options for those with different interests. Technical theater and Improv Club are just two opportunities that drama students can pursue. He thinks that it was students more than parents that were initially drawn to the table, because “the people that are interested in Drama Club are usually pretty outgoing.”

Nathan Pullemark will be a freshman next year, and he didn’t have any big questions when he walked in the doors.Though he is excited to be moving into high school, he found himself fairly overwhelmed by the massive number of clubs Fossil has to offer. His mom jumped in to explain that they’d been to all the tables, but wished that there was a simple master list that explained each club for them to check in on later. Pullemark already knows that he’ll be playing basketball for the school, but the rest of his high school career is wide open.

Katie Torrey is another incoming freshman, and she is thrilled about the “clubs and opportunities” available at the new school. She is already planning on taking Spanish, and potentially Choir, in addition to her core classes, as well as playing tennis. The Curriculum Fair was extremely useful to her to learn about how the different choirs work and which one she would likely ended up joining.

FRESH Club was another activity that presented itself at the fair, and representative Cole Mason explained that they really focused on telling parents and students about the events they have coming up. The club hosts Fort Collins’ Environmental Leadership Summit in April, and they hope to have more community involvement this year. An equal mix of parents and students walked over to their table, and Mason felt that the fair was well advertised, with a good turnout.