Back-to-School Season in SoCO and NoNM: A Legacy of Learning and Innovation

Every fall, as the air sharpens over the Sangre de Cristos, back-to-school season returns with a rhythm as familiar son as the changing leaves. In Las Animas County and its neighbors, the first bell has always marked more than sharpened pencils and new shoes—it’s part of a story that stretches back over a century.

 

Trinidad, Colorado:

 

The red-brick halls of Trinidad High School still carry the footsteps of generations. Once, the children of miners hurried in with lunch pails and coal dust on their sleeves; today’s students arrive with earbuds and glowing screens. At Fisher’s Peak Elementary, the laughter of children feels timeless, as if the voices of early homesteaders’ kids still echo es in the rafters. Faces change, but curiosity remains the same.

 

Walsenburg, Colorado:

 

In John Mall High School, Panther pride carries echoes of the coal camp classrooms of the past. Parents and grandparents recall trudging through snowdrifts, books clutched tight, while teachers in one-room schoolhouses kept lessons alive against the odds. At Peakview School, those stories still guide younger generations, reminding them that education here has always been both a struggle and a triumph.

 

Raton, New Mexico:

 

Across the pass, Raton High School continues its proud Tiger tradition. In the early 1900s, students came on horseback or on foot from far-flung ranches, back while immigrant families found in the classroom their first bridge to a new life. Today, students still walk through those doors with the same mix of nerves and hope. Even at Longfellow Elementary, the wide-eyed wonder of children ties the present to those chalk-smudged beginnings.

 

The Smell of History:

 

Ask anyone who grew up here, and they’ll recall the smell of waxed floors, the creak of wooden desks, and the clang of bells that once rang from towers over Main Street. Schools weren’t only places of learning, they were gathering points where football games, concerts, and spelling bees brought neighbors together.
Nostalgia of the 1960s–70s:

 

For those who came of age in the 1960s and 70s, the memories remain vivid: pep rallies that shook the bleachers, marching bands stepping proudly down Main Street, lockers plastered with posters of The Beatles or Fleetwood Mac, and cafeteria trays holding mashed potatoes with a lake of gravy in the middle. School dances lit up the gym, with records spinning under colored lights and cords shy glances exchanged across the floor.

 

Carrying It Forward:

 

Today’s students may carry Macbooks and iPhones instead of chalk, but they are part of the same legacy. Each school year is a chance to honor the generations before, those who studied by lantern light, marched in the band, or wore letter jackets on Friday nights but a reminder that the lessons of the past still shape the dreams of tomorrow.

 

Watch for kids walking, biking and at crossings and give some room to the buses.