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In a Rifle High School classroom, English Language Development instructor Jeremy Harrison saw how honoring all students’ strengths can help them shine. Earlier this year, he asked one of his newcomer students to teach her classmates a few words in her home language - Quechua,  an indigenous language from mostly Bolivia.

It was a small, but powerful moment.

“This student has this knowledge that none of the rest of us have. And to be honest, she missed a lot of school growing up, so the rest of school is super hard because she doesn’t have the background knowledge her peers have, but she has this one thing: she is an expert, and not even the teacher knows, and she can be the smart one. You should have seen her light up and share her knowledge with us,” he enthused.

“Being bilingual is a very clear strength,” Mr. Harrison added. “I am hoping that we can give students the opportunity to develop an asset they already have.”

The first time Coal Ridge High School junior Kindall Murr took the controls of a small airplane, she wasn’t thinking about homework or college applications.

She was looking out over the Western Slope from the sky.

"I fell in love with flying," Murr said. "Just seeing the area from above was so cool. Everything about it was so fun. I was like, 'I don't want a boring job. This is what I want to do.'"

At the February 18 City Council meeting, a group of Rifle High School students did something many adults wouldn’t have the courage to do. They stood before Council at a work session and asked their elected officials to make a change.

The students, members of the Rifle High School’s Student Council, asked Council to consider stronger local tobacco retail licensing measures. They said their goal was simple: make it harder for young people to access vaping products.

Garfield Re-2 School District has been awarded a $75,000 grant over three years from the Nathan Yip Foundation to expand and strengthen the Engineering Pathway at Rifle High School, creating new opportunities for students to explore high-demand careers close to home.

Year one of the grant will focus on training and equipment to ensure the program has the tools needed for advanced, real-world engineering learning. The investment will support PLTW training, upgraded materials and equipment, including engineering-capable computers that can run the software required for advanced coursework, along with continued work to align middle school and high school STEM programming.

The Colorado Department of Education recently released data from the state’s October 2025 student count, an annual snapshot that helps school districts understand enrollment trends and plan for the future. Statewide, Colorado experienced a 1.2% decrease in pre-K–12 student enrollment compared to fall 2024.

This year’s data shows that Garfield Re-2 experienced a small decline in enrollment, reflecting a trend seen across many rural and mountain communities. District enrollment decreased from 4,695 students in fall 2024 to 4,642 students in fall 2025, a net loss of 53 students. After a slight increase the previous year, current enrollment remains comparable to levels seen in the 2023 school year.