Colorado's Ponderosa High School sees success on football field, in the classroom
The high school football season continues this weekend with high-stakes matchups. One of those is in 4A with the undefeated, sixth-ranked Ponderosa Mustangs team, looking to continue their unbeaten streak this season against a tough Sand Creek team on Saturday at Echopark Stadium in Parker.
"Going 10-0 is hard," said Ponderosa head coach Jaron Cohen. "It's a special group of boys."
Cohen celebrated his 100th win as Pondo head coach in a week six win against Highlands Ranch High School.
"It was a special win. One hundred wins at one school is a lot," he said.
And while the Ponderosa team is seeing success on the field, the school is also successful in the classroom. According to U.S. News and World Report, the school has a 98% graduation rate. Many of the students point to its strong social studies department as a reason.
"I really think a social studies classroom is like a microcosm of a broader society," said Ponderosa teacher Kimbra Shaner.
Shaner, along with department head Lisa Fischer, both teach Advanced Placement, or AP, classes at the school. Shaner teaches AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP Psychology and AVID, while Fischer teaches AP Human Geography, AP Macroeconomics and Sports Psychology. In some ways, they are a team.
In Fischer's AP Human Geography class, students learn how spaces are organized, like buildings, for example.
"I had a student come up to me one day and was like, 'I told my Mom that I saw a glomeration', I'm like, you did… she's like, yeah, there was a bunch of hotels together," said Fischer. "They see how languages are present, how different cultures are present in our economy, in our world. They also just like to be involved in, how does this relate to me? And geography is great, because every day, it relates to you."
And then students will then go into Shaner's classes.
"Now, they're thinking about spatially what these patterns look like, and now they're asking questions about what policy decisions went into those," said Shaner.
We had a chance to experience Shaner's AP U.S. Government & Politics class. In an exercise, students pretended to be lawmakers, discussing bills that went through and others that were shelved. Topics like Social Security, artificial intelligence, and even the very tough topic of people standing in the middle of the hallway, blocking others.
"It's really shaping my perception of the world. I didn't know a lot about government, nor did I know a lot about the world in general. A lot of people don't think about what's outside of your little bubble," said sophomore Icie Smith.
Smith and other students credit the teachers for creating an interactive and engaging class.
"I had to learn all of the countries in the world and memorize that before class even started. That was our summer homework. And I really enjoy having that knowledge," said Smith.
Other students like senior Mackenzie King said they are using their AP classes to shape their future in college.
"I think it's really sparked my interest in stuff like pre-law and political science and pretty much everything social studies," she said.
King will take that knowledge to the University of Indianapolis.
"We also have the extracurriculars like NHS, which I'm a part of, NEHS, and so many different things that students who want to excel in something that they're interested in can excel in," she said.
One of the most beneficial skills being taught is being able to discuss these hot topics, as long as they back up their opinions.
"Students care. I think sometimes we get bogged down thinking that, 'Oh, teenagers are apathetic, they really don't care about the issues that are happening,' but with these mid-term elections that just happened, my kids were so engaged," said Shaner. "I think these students handle these political discussions better than adults do."
For Fischer, who leads the department, it's about continuing the knowledge she received as a Mustang.
"I graduated from here, and it's just such a special place," she said.
