Stories in this edition
Fossil Ridge marching band wins state title
By ROBERT SIDES
The Ramspondents
Fossil Ridge High School’s marching band became state champions seven times in the last 14 years. Last month, they made it eight.
Fossil Ridge marched into the United States Air Force Academy for the Colorado Bandmasters Association state semifinals Oct. 25 and placed first in class 5A, scoring 87.5 points. Later that night, the band performed in the state finals and increased their score to 89.55 points, keeping first place in 5A. 2025 marks Fossil Ridge’s fourth consecutive first-place finish, as well as their eighth in the last 14 seasons.
“It's all the hard work that we put in is really showing,” said Caroline Moraes-Dutra, FRHS Marching Band head drum major. “I know all the bands work just as hard as us, but being able to see the outcome that we wanted throughout the season is pretty amazing.”
The band practices for two hours three days a week, making for a total of six rehearsal hours every week. Throughout the marching season, the band has rehearsed for hundreds of hours.
“We're trying to be really intentional with maximizing the amount of time that we have and moving at a faster pace,” said Hannah Peterson, assistant director of Fossil Ridge Bands. “We figured out how to be a lot more efficient with our time. We really leaned on the leadership team to warm up their sections and have a plan for what they wanted to do when they got down time during the rehearsal.”
“It's all the hard work that we put in is really showing. I know all the bands work just as hard as us, but being able to see the outcome that we wanted throughout the season is pretty amazing.”
Because of the short but precise rehearsals, students have opportunities to grow more, as well as time to rest, especially before large rehearsals or competitions.
“It definitely boosts our morale,” said Sarah Seib-Azofeifa, FRHS Marching Band flute section leader. “You can see that people are excited, like ‘we count down the minutes until we're done,’ but in a good way, because we want to get home and get rest so we can recharge our batteries. We're all hyped and have more energy to have a solid rehearsal.”
The band is made up of directors, who manage most of the band’s choices. Drum majors are a step down from the directorate and are the highest student leadership roles. They conduct the music during the show and ensure the quality of the band. The band has multiple sections separated by instruments, each of which have individual section leaders. Beyond this hierarchy, the band also uses volunteers to help with the smaller secondary tasks.
“People in a lot of different roles throughout the school really strive for excellence and the fact that the administration in this building is so supportive of what we do is the biggest thing that makes a difference,” Peterson said. “The success of a program and the fact that they're willing to have conversations with us, bounce ideas off of each other and support the goals that we have makes a really big difference. All of the administrators in this building really work hard to make it a great experience for the students. That coming from the top really matters.”
The band, from the directorate down to the individual students, upholds a standard of success for themselves, and by association, their school. The band performs not only for immediate results, but with the future of the band’s success in mind.
“This year as a leadership team, we held everyone and everything to a higher standard. We got a lot more things done than last year,” Moraes-Dutra said. “The other students are looking up to us and want to be like us, and then it's just going to keep improving.”
The band also competes at competitions outside of CBA. They frequently perform at Bands of America, a larger scale organization that oversees multistate and national competitions. Fossil Ridge regularly plays at BOA regionals, but they performed at their first super-regional this year. The band placed 19th out of 65 schools at the BOA St. Louis Super Regional on Oct. 17.
“We told the kids that they were going to see bands they wouldn't believe that they were high schoolers, and I don't think they fully believed us until they were there,” Peterson said. “It was really cool to see them experience that, but also for us to be inspired, like ‘how can we get to the next level?’ and having new ideas of what the next level should look like.”
Robert Sides is a second-year student at Colorado State University and a reporter for Rocky Mountain Student Media. He is also the treasurer of CSU’s student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
County renews contract with mental health provider
By CHLOE WASKEY
The Ramspondents
Larimer County Commissioners approved an amended contract with SummitStone Health Partners to continue serving substance-use and mental health services to the Larimer County community. The contract amendments will reflect expansions to behavioral health urgent care services at the Acute Care facility at Longview Campus, including an additional eight beds for overnight stabilization of adolescents aged 12-17.
Larimer County Behavioral Health Services is funded by a sales tax that mandates 25 cents be allocated to mental health services per $100 spent in Larimer County. SummitStone services are funded in part by the county’s Impact Grant Program, which directs some of the tax revenue to outside mental health organizations. SummitStone’s contract with the county is set to expire Dec. 31, 2028.
Amy Martonis, director of Behavioral Health Services, praised the care provided by SummitStone in a press release regarding the contract amendment.
“Our partners at SummitStone provide compassionate, high-quality and around-the-clock services that didn’t exist in Larimer County before Acute Care opened its doors,” Martonis said in the release. “They have done a tremendous job of supporting children, teens, and adults navigating individualized behavioral health crises, and we continue learning together how to enhance an already-strong care model that other communities want to emulate.”
The release highlighted Acute Care facility statistics collected by SummitStone since 2023, including 13,796 total visits, 600 to 700 monthly visits to the facility’s behavioral health urgent care and 250 clients per month admitted to urgent care for continued necessary crisis stabilization.
Chloe Waskey is a CSU student majoring in Journalism and Media Communication with a minor in political science.