Molly Collins has been a teacher at Salida High School for two years, sharing her knowledge and experience from her previous ten years of teaching to her Algebra I and Geometry classes at the Salida High School.
In the fall of next year, Collins will sadly not be coming back to teach here at SHS. She will be moving back to Fort Collins this summer, to be close to where she grew up, to be closer to her family. Collins describes how much she valued getting to spend quality time with her family when they lived in Salida a couple years ago. Recently her parents moved back to Fort Collins, so she decided to make a move in the same direction.
“Them [her parents] living here is what brought me out here, and it was really important for me to be around them and spend a lot of good time with them,” stated Collins.
From Collins’ time at SHS, she has gotten the opportunity to build relationships with her students and the staff at the school.
“From staff I have learned to work hard but to also enjoy what you are doing. Because if you work hard but just come to school as a giant crab just doesn’t make your life or a student’s life any fun… and overall I think that what I have gained from working with these amazing people is being able to talk and joke around and have a good time.” Collins said.
She enjoys getting to talk with the teachers and staff, specifically the teachers that have classes near hers.
“I will also miss hearing the teacher band play in the morning and getting to interact with them in general each day,” said Collins.
Something that Collins has loved learninglearned from students is that it is important to how to kwork together to accomplish tasks. She has also loved getting to understand studentswhile accounting for each of unique interests and personalities. Collins has also taken the advice, into her own life, that she was given to find activities that she is passionate about and then work hard at it.
Collis has loved to get to know students by learning about their interests and getting to hear about their lives.
“[She enjoys] Getting to talk with some of my students whose families own ranches, and getting to learn about their life. Or talking to students in the theater department, because it is not something that I am personally good at. And then students in different sports that I have or have not done,” Collins said.
Collins goes on to say that just talking to the students and hearing about their experiences has really allowed her to gain different perspectives on people’s different interests and lifestyles and that has been something that has had an impact on her as a teacher.
Although Collins is sad to leave the school, she is leaving with a multitude of great memories. One that really sticks out for Collins is being one of the volleyball team coaches, especially home games that were super close where fans, students, and cheerleaders were very involved and excited. Another core memory that comes up for Collins is getting to experience her algebra students coming closer together and working in groups on projects.
“Remembering that everyone has lots of things going on. Teachers, staff and students. So treating people with kindness and thinking the best about everyone is really important.” says Collins when explaining what advice she would give to her students and co teachers.
Collins also leaves SHS with the thought that every day is an opportunity to make the choices that focus on something positive in anything you are doing and making the best of each day. Collins would like to encourage the school’s students and staff is to step outside of your comfort zone and do things that you might not normally do, “to let yourself fail a little bit to figure out things that you really enjoy and that make you happy… and always have a puffy vest with you to stay warm!”
Collins says that she will also miss Salida very much. The people of Salida, having close access to the river and mountain bike trails, and the wonderful Salida community have all been wonderful benefits to living in the area. Even still, she is excited to begin her new adventure in Fort Collins and spend lots of quality time with her family. She is also looking forward to being close to a variety of restaurants and lots of good food.
Collins will be very missed at SHS by students and staff, but we are excited for her to embark on her new adventure and we all hope she has lots of fun in the future.
