Your Quarterly Newsletter from Fountain Valley School |
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November Feature: Happy Veterans Day from FVS!
FVS honors and gives thanks for our veterans who have served.
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FVS Featured Veteran:
Lieutenant Ashley Driscoll ’01
Two weeks before starting her senior year, Ashley van Hartesvelt—now Lieutenant Ashley Driscoll—Class of 2001 took a trip to the East Coast to tour colleges with her mom. Before their trip, Driscoll’s mom had found an article discussing the military academies’ need for more women applicants. (At the time, only 16% of applicants were women.) Their interest piqued, they scheduled a campus tour of the United States Naval Academy. Driscoll went on to serve in the U.S. Navy and has since started her own construction company, as well as an apple farm.
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FVS Alum: Rett Rayhill ’08
Branch of Service: Air Force
Years of Service: 10.5
Current Job Title: Program Manager at Headquarters United States Special Operations Command (HQ USSOCOM)
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FVS Alum: Wrendy Rayhill ’09
Branch of Service: Air Force
Years of Service: 9.5 years
Current Job Title: Assistant Professor of Aerospace Studies at Arizona State University
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FVS Alum: Frederic "Tim" Schaefer ’63
Branch of Service: Navy
Years of Service: 2
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FVS Veterans
We would like to honor you.
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FVS Veterans, please submit your graduation year, military branch, and years of service via Class Notes. Hero photos can be sent to communications@fvs.edu. Please include your first and last name with photos.
Thank you for your service!
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» Jim Scott ’68
Jim Scott, class of 1968, was born and raised in Sheridan in Northern Wyoming. The youngest of 5 siblings—and with a significant age difference between his siblings—Jim grew up feeling like an only child. That is, until he arrived at Fountain Valley School. As strong proponents of an excellent education, Jim’s parents gave their kids the opportunity to attend boarding school. Jim chose FVS.
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Coming to FVS, Jim felt as though he, “inherited a band of brothers – a bunch of ‘yahoos’ who became [his] friends for life.” He studied with old FVS legends, such as F. Martin Brown, Dwight Perry, and Dick Davison. Wally Goodwin—Jim’s first football and basketball coach—was from Sheridan, and it was from him that Jim had first heard about Fountain Valley School.
After graduating, Jim attended the University of Denver and the University of Wyoming. He majored in Political Science at DU and at UW, as his time with FVS’s own Charlie Greening inspired within him a passion for current events. Jim later attended Law School at UW, as well. It was at DU that Jim met his wife, Chris, and they married and moved to Laramie together.
After law school—in the early 70s—Jim worked in the furniture business manufacturing waterbed frames for several years. In 1975, Jim transitioned out of the furniture business and became a banker. One year later, Jim and Chris moved to Montana, where Jim began working at a family bank.
Jim’s father’s initial purchase—the Bank of Commerce in Sheridan—became the first of a number of banks that in 1984 would become a franchisee of First Interstate Bancorp in California. In 1996 Wells Fargo bought First Interstate, and the Scotts kept the First Interstate name. The Company, which is headquartered in Billings, MT, went public in 2010 and now serves customers in fourteen states in the Midwest and West.
In addition to this family business, Jim’s parents owned a ranch that his father founded in the 1940s. Jim became a leader of the ranch’s board and, through his involvement, came to understand the importance of land stewardship for successful ranches and the plants, animals, and humans that depend upon them.
It was also the time and this work that piqued Chris and Jim’s interest in conservation, which would come to define much of their personal and professional lives. They became members of the board of The Nature Conservancy in Montana, which eventually led to Chris accepting a global governance leadership position with TNC, the largest conservation organization in the world.
Banking and working with land conservation in Montana also put the Scotts in regular contact with the indigenous peoples throughout the area, and it was this close camaraderie that inspired them to launch the Foundation for Community Vitality, which sponsors various projects on reservations throughout Montana. The foundation works to strengthen the community in those Nations by growing a dynamic and strong non-profit sector involved with community development financial organizations, environmental concerns, and improving water quality and infrastructure.
The Scotts have been recognized for their community efforts frequently over the years. Jim received a Governor’s Humanity Award in 2021 and an honorary degree from the University of Montana in 2022. As a couple, Chris and Jim received the annual Legacy Award from the Billings Chamber of Commerce.
Over the years, Jim has remained involved with Fountain Valley School, and it was his lifetime commitment to conservation that sparked his interest in FVS’s land holdings. Jim has served on the board of Fountain Valley School and remains a lifetime trustee. Additionally, the Scotts started an endowment that grants scholarships to Native American students who wish to attend FVS.
Chris and Jim celebrated their 50th anniversary this year. They have three kids—James, Courtney and Dana—all of whom attended FVS, as well as three grandchildren. In recent years, Chris and Jim spend time in Palm Springs, but they don’t miss Montana springs, summers and falls.
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» Heather Hall ’98
Heather Hall graduated from Fountain Valley School in 1998, after which she attended Rowan University in New Jersey. Inspired by the teaching faculty at FVS, Heather chose to attend Rowan, which was historically a teacher’s college, as she intended to become a teacher herself. She majored in English and then went on to teach sixth, seventh and eighth-grade English in New Jersey for three years and in Vail, Colorado for one year.
Heather loved her time as a teacher but chose to step away from teaching due to chronic illness. Fortunately, thanks to her FVS classmate, Kelley (Rees) Madden, she was connected to a job opportunity at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado that was exactly the type of position Heather was looking for. It was comprised of part-time undergraduate advising and part-time graduate student coordination. When Heather was asked to move into one of these roles full-time, she chose to continue working with graduate students, which she found incredibly rewarding. As the primary administrator of the program, she handled all aspects of recruitment, retention, advising, and alumni affairs. While working at CSU, Heather completed her Master’s in Adult Education and Training, and over the course of her 10 years in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, she was involved in numerous educational research projects. The most notable included working with Dr. Tod Clapp to help create the largest virtual reality teaching laboratory in the country. She remained in this position until just a few months ago and now serves as the Director of Enrollment, Access and Equity for the College of Engineering at CSU.
An active member of the FVS community, Heather is currently the Class Agent for the class of ’98. In her free time, Heather has been traveling and recently returned from a trip to Morocco. She is currently looking forward to her upcoming trip to the Faroe Islands. An enthusiastic outdoorsperson, Heather took up mountain biking over the summer. She credits recent retirees, Rob Gilbert and Rob Gustke, for introducing her to so many of the “things that bring [her] joy.” Heather, her long-term partner, Aaron, and their two corgis are still happily settled in Fort Collins and keep in regular contact with many of Heather’s FVS classmates.
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» Haley Griffis ’13
After graduating from Fountain Valley School in 2013, Haley Griffis attended Colorado College in Colorado Springs, where she majored in Sociology and minored in Italian. After graduating from CC in 2017, Haley completed a four-month internship with Hines Real Estate in Europe. Her internship started in Luxembourg and included stops in Milan, London, and Dublin.
Once she returned from Europe, Haley started working with her father on what became the “Bump in the Road Project,” the aim of which was to provide financial relief to those in need, as well as to complete small renovation projects in apartment complexes, after which they donated old appliances. Their idea for this project was sparked when Haley and her father read that 40% of Americans can’t afford an unexpected $400 bill in an article that ran in Forbes magazine. The project began as an emergency eviction relief fund in 2018.
The timing of this project’s inception could not have been more appropriate. From 2020 to 2021, the fund provided grants to 143 individual families, covering 166.6 months of rent, or about $259,168 worth of rent payments. The fund also provided $200,000 to food banks and other focused nonprofits. The Bump in the Road Project continues to provide grants to nonprofits.
Haley is currently living in Denver and recently started a small music playlist curation business with her cousin, Miles. The platform is called Luna Groove. The idea for Luna Groove came from Haley’s travels, during which she noticed that “some hotel lobbies had amazing music and some… didn’t, which really changes the atmosphere of an establishment.” Haley and Miles are in the process of growing their business to include more customers and clients.
In her spare time, Haley enjoys acrylic painting and Colorado’s great outdoors. Haley is also a current trustee on the board for Fountain Valley School.
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PHOTOS:
2022 FVS Colorado Springs Reception:
The Fountain Valley School Board of Trustees hosted a reception in honor of Fountain Valley School's new Head of School, Megan Harlan, at the Garden of the Gods Golf Club on Thursday, September 22.
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PHOTOS:
2022 Fall Vocal & Instrumental Concert
FVS vocal and instrumental music students performed during the annual Fall Vocal and Instrumental Concert on Thursday, November 3.
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VIDEO:
2022 S.N.O.
Students enjoyed an evening of silliness and frivolity at the FVS Annual S.N.O. event, hosted in the Frautschi Campus Center!
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FVS Alumn, Dave Philipps ’96 Presents at All-School
Fountain Valley School Alumn Dave Philipps presented on his book, Wild Horse Country, during FVS All-School.
Follow the link below to read about Philipps' visit:
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FVS Sports Highlights
by Nevare Zimmerman,
FVS Athletic Director
The FVS Danes have had a busy and successful fall season! Overall the Danes competed in over 80 athletic games, matches, races, or shows since the start of the academic year. Our fall teams saw 126 student-athletes participate in either girls volleyball, boys tennis, Outdoor Education, Matchwits, mountain biking, cross country, club boys soccer, or English riding.
» Volleyball
The volleyball program, under the leadership of first-year head coach, Anneka Harris, had a varsity record of 13-9. Several athletes finished the season in the top three rankings of our local Black Forest League. Eva M. ’25 is ranked second in the league for assists, Phoebe B. ’25 is ranked second in blocks with Natalie H. ’23 in third, Zia O. ’23 is ranked second in digs, and Sophie S. ’26 is ranked number one in serving aces. The JV team, led by captains Kate S. ’23 and Sissel S. ’23, also saw a successful season. With 19 student-athletes on the team, to say these students worked hard would be an understatement! The volleyball program enjoyed a wonderful Senior Night on October 19 celebrating the hard work and achievements of our 11 seniors. They will be greatly missed next year!
» Mountain Biking
The FVS mountain biking team also had a successful fall season. Coaches Torey Davie, Jed Haupt, and Curtis Singmaster captured many exciting moments on the FVS MTB Facebook page. With a fair number of new riders on the team, several athletes competed for the very first time on these intense Colorado courses. Overall, the riders had a great season with several notable finishes. A third place finish at the Snowmass race on September 24 saw sophomore, Helena J. ’25, placing first in her category. The team finished out their race season with States in Glenwood Springs, CO on October 22.
» Equestrian
Head Coach, Ann Hanna, and her CHJA and IEA teams have been having a busy season thus far, competing in 10 shows with one hosted at the FVS Equestrian Center. The IEA show at FVS took place on Saturday, October 29 and proved to be a major success. FVS took champion and Delaney S. ’26 was Individual High Point Champion. The English and Western riding programs are one of the few options available all year long at Fountain Valley and we look forward to hearing more success stories both on campus and on the road in the coming months.
» Boys Soccer
For the Fall season, Black Rock FC/FVS played in the United Premier Soccer League Colorado Premier Conference. This was always going to be a challenge, as it is a semi professional U23 league. Only playing one game a week really allowed our athletes to develop as individuals and establish their identity as a team. Our highlights were tying the number 1 team in the league, Olimpia FC, 1-1 and beating Colorado Futsal Academy 4-0. We will continue our season into December where we will play in the Colorado Rapids Winter College Showcase and the North Carolina FC College Showcase. Both are big events with numerous college coaches that will be in attendance.
» Matchwits
FVS Matchwits is just beginning their year with two competitions in the books so far. The first competition saw the FVS varsity Matchwits finishing seventh while the second competition saw a third place finish for varsity and a fourth place finish in JV. Matchwits is heading to their third competition on November 7 at CSS. We look forward to another top place finish for both teams!
» Cross Country
Competing in nine races this season, the boys and girls cross country team just finished their competitive fall season at States on October 29. The girls took 17th place with sophomore Ruby R. ’25 placing 6th overall in the race. Another notable race saw Ruby place first overall out of 133 runners at the Air Academy Kadet Invitational in the varsity girls division in September!
» Outdoor Education
Outdoor Education had a great fall season learning survival skills, rock climbing, and attending a (cold) backpacking trip in early October. Led by Sydney Villers and Marcus Tayloe, the 10 students in OE formed great bonds over the last several months. A hot topic has been SPAM and its nutritional value. They also took a trip to the Great Sand Dunes National Park this season and had a blast!
As we rounded out our fall season on October 29, we now eagerly wait to see the Danes in action this winter season!
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The FVS Ranch Report
Ranch Report: November 2022
by Blake Pelton, Sustainability Committee
Environmental Sustainability Committee Members hosted a session on sustainability during parents’ weekend. Our Land and Ranch Manager, Tyson Phillips, discussed regenerative agriculture. Tyson shared that this past summer was the third hottest and driest summer on record, and we are very fortunate that some of our fields benefit from sub-irrigation.
We had a successful irrigation in August. That concluded our irrigation for this calendar year. The hay crop was cut in late October before the first frost.
When the dining hall renovation is complete, we will return to composting dining hall food waste along with the horse manure currently being composted to spread on our fields.
As the land surrounding the school continues to be developed, wildlife is increasingly visible on campus. Fountain Valley School’s 1100 acres and the Bluestem Prairie Open space are now an island of open space in the midst of the housing development. This month community members have spotted wild turkeys, pronghorn antelope, coyotes, deer, bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, skunks, and a variety of snakes on campus.
Work continues on the campus pond restoration. The algae was scraped, but it returned quickly. A pond restoration expert may need to be consulted to help maintain a balanced ecosystem, and it may be necessary to install an aerator. FVS student Berg Sonderman has researched native fish and is interested in introducing the Orangespotted Sunfish to the pond. He is also researching using aquatic plant species to get the nitrogen and phosphorus levels more in line with optimal values. His hope is that by doing this we can avoid needing an aerator and the ecosystem will truly balance itself. Berg will meet with the Environmental Sustainability Committee in early November to share his findings
Moving forward, the Ranch Report will move to a seasonal publication schedule: Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer.
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FVS Academic Coordinator and History Faculty Member, Penny Steele, Receives the Ballantine Grant
FVS Academic Coordinator and teaching faculty member, Penny Steele, was awarded the coveted Ballantine Grant in 2022. This past summer, she spent two weeks in the south of Spain examining the interconnectedness between the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions.
Follow the link to read more about Penny's Experience:
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We rely on you to tell us what is going on in your life! So please, share your news. |
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Nominate a Classmate: FVS Arts Guild & Athletic Hall of Fame |
If you recall a classmate who deserves our recognition, follow the link below to submit your nomination for the 2023 Arts Guild & Athletic Hall of Fame inductions.
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Want to get involved with FVS?
Have questions about upcoming events?
Contact your Class Agent!
Class Agent Contact Information is available below:
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Save the Date:
Upcoming Major FVS Advancement Events
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» Support FVS – Giving Dates
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Giving Tuesday: FVS Parent Giving Day – November 29
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Colorado Gives Day – December 6
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FVS Gives Day – May 11
» Reunion 2023 – June 1-4, 2023
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2022-23 ANNUAL FUND GOAL:
$1.575 Million
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Please join your fellow FVS community members in celebrating
New Beginnings as we embark on the next chapter of our collective story on the Prairie. With your Annual Fund gift, we can do so much more and empower our exceptional students to make a positive difference.
Annual Fund 2022-23 runs from July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023
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Opportunities to Support Your FVS Family |
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Join the Casa Serena Society |
The Casa Serena Society is the Cornerstone of Annual Fundraising
ANY gift of $1,930+ to the School will induct you into the Casa Serena Society and includes invitations to special events.
For questions, please contact Margie Sherer at msherer@fvs.edu or (719) 391-5315.
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Extra! Extra!
2022 Bulletin Release
» Be on the lookout for the latest issue of the FVS Bulletin,
to be released this November.
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