Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  The new Home of the Panthers sign in the Nederland Visitor’s Center parking lot symbolizes the burgeoning pride and partnership that has evolved in the past year. Nederland Middle Senior High School principal Adam Fels, in his second year at the helm, says much has been accomplished and much will be accomplished in the upcoming year.

Last year at this same time, Fels had promised that he would initiate a sign somewhere in town displaying Nederland Schools’ mascot, the Panther, to recognize the partnership between NMSHS, Nederland Elementary School, and the Town of Nederland. Last year, he worked with members of the senior class to come up with a basic design and since then the school’s custodial crew completed the design, constructed the sign, and put it up for residents and tourists to see.

“I want everyone in town, residents and visitors alike, to be proud of our students and teachers and I want the school to give back to the community. I want everyone to know that the teachers and staff are the pillars of our community, and you can count on that.”

This summer the school completed its first summer school program, Camp REACH, assisting 25 students to complete their educational goals. Principal Fels says that the first distance learning class for Advanced Calculus will be introduced this fall. The number of participants was too small to create a class in the school, so the technology was installed to enable Advanced Calculus students to be part of a live stream from a Monarch High School class.

The Monarch teacher has been professionally prepared to present the state-of-the-art technology and instruction to offer the class. “This will allow our school to begin to offer any class to our kids,” says Fels. “This is a pilot program and next year we will add Japanese to the distance curriculum. In a decade, we can offer any class that Boulder Valley School District has to offer. We have to start somewhere and this is it.”

In the past year, NMSHS has received two long-term grants to fund a registered nurse and a middle-level counselor. The students will have all the support they need for these tough years. Current counselor Aly Shambo will coordinate and guide these new services.

Fels has recently entered into a renewed partnership with Eldora Mountain Resort for the Nordic and Alpine Ski Teams. The athletes will get a fee reduction and NMSHS will provide additional parking for the resort. The school will host both a Nordic and Alpine meet this winter.

The fledgling mountain bike team  has received sponsorship the year for uniforms and a professional coach. By the time school begins, the 12 team members will have four practices. Fels anticipates there will be more members by the time school starts.

“I am so proud that our administrators are so involved with student success,” says Fels. “This is a bold change. We will be part of a league with other CHSSA teams (Colorado High School Sports Association), such as Monarch, Fairview, and Boulder.” It is a coed team that will train at altitude, part of Fels’ vision that NMSHS be mostly a mountain sports program.

This year there will be a Rites of Passage retreat in which eighth and twelfth graders will participate in a leadership field trip at Camp Timberline with Fels and other administrator and teacher leaders. Fels says the goal is to put meaning into the school motto of REACH – Respect, Empathy, Achievement, Community and Honor.

“We are going to live REACH this year,” says Fels. “And these students will teach us how to do it.”

After years of being behind, NMSHS now has a chance to join the 21st century with pride and style, says the principal, and we should exceed our sister schools.

It’s all about support and high expectations for students and teachers.

This week, Fels meets with the Nederland Board of Trustees and the Nederland Police Department to discuss understanding the law about alcohol and drugs. An NPD officer will be in the health class. There will be also be a discussion of completing the vision to have a safe path to the school.

Now, as the teachers are arriving and preparing for the year, two new administrators are also adjusting to their new positions.

Mary DeBroux, the former registrar, is sliding into the principal’s assistant position held by Fran Nygren for decades. Originally from Merrill, Wisconsin, Mary grew up around lakes and worked for the school district there for 25 years. She was the administrative assistant to the Special Education Director and then the principal’s secretary for 19 years, as well as a paraprofessional.

Merrill High School had an enrollment of 750 students in a town of 10,000. When her son, a professional cyclist, came to Colorado to train and then found a wife, he also found his home. When her other son found a job with North Metro Fire Department in Denver, she and her husband Dwight put their three-lake, 160-acre Wisconsin home up for sale.

The property sold at once and the DeBroux family moved into their Sugarloaf mountain home four years ago to be near their kids and three grandchildren. They are a close-knit family, and decided they wouldn’t miss the Wisconsin bugs.

Mary had known she wanted to work at the high school and watched the hiring website daily. When the registrar’s job came up, she flew out for an interview and got the job and then Dwight was hired as the technology custodian.

Mary loved the school at first sight and when Fran announced that she was retiring, Mary applied for the job as principal’s assistant, one she knew well. Her duties will be to help the principal in whatever he’s doing. She will have her fingers in all of the school projects.

There are six new teachers this year, including a new Spanish teacher, a new math teacher, a new special education teacher, a new social studies teacher, a new physical education teacher, and a new school psychotherapist.

Taking Mary’s place as registrar and support staff for counseling will be Casey Henrikson, a familiar face in the NMSHS sports scene. Casey grew up in Denver and went to George Washington High School. She later attended Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, studying Outdoor Education, and eventually worked with Outward Bound.

In 1994, Casey moved back to Colorado and worked for Rocky Mountain National Park and then, needing more than seasonal work, went on to work for Boulder County Sheriff’s dispatch. She married Rik Henrikson, a BCSO deputy, and they had two children Avy and Anders, who both attend NMSHS.

In 2001, Casey began helping Monte Miles coach girls basketball, using her college experience as a player to assist in building a team. During this time she worked as a City of Boulder dispatch, and then in the property evidence department.

She was president of the Nederland Elementary School PTA, substitute taught, and coached and officiated middle school basketball. She has been an active parent volunteer and has always wanted to be involved with the school to help make the high school a place where people want to be.

As registrar she will enroll students and work as support for the counselors, create student schedules, and advise college-bound students.

“I was very happy when this position became open and I got it. It is a great opportunity for me.”

On August 20, there will be a fifth- and ninth-grade orientation. Grades 7-8 and 10-12 will begin school on August 21.