Gardner’s career at MSHS
Gardner coached a state winning track team in 1993.
May 3, 2023
This year Manitou Springs High School will be losing math teacher, Julie Gardner, after 30 years of teaching.
Gardner has taught at MSHS for 30 years and has seen many changes throughout the years. “When I first started there were only 350 students. And so the hallways weren’t as crowded.The classes were a bit smaller, like even the lower grade level ones, algebra and geometry,” Gardner said. “When I first came here, the trademark was no locks on the locker, no gates in the hallways. It was super open.”
Although the classes and school size has grown, the Manitou community has stayed the same according to Gardner. “I do miss the float building in the parade, but that was a monumental task. I think some new traditions like the class colored shirts were cool,” Gardner said. “Things come and go, but I forget some of the good old traditions. I hope they never lose the tradition of singing the school’s song on the hill for sports and activities.”
Gardner has been an important part of the community and extracurriculars over the years and tried to stay involved even after she started her family. “I’ve actually done seven different extracurricular activities in my journey. I did cross country, track, and swimming when I was single and didn’t have a family. But I think coaching and having a family is really hard,” Gardner said. “I decided Knowledge Bowl would be a good fit.”
Former student and current secretary of MSHS, Stacy Thomson, agrees that Gardner has been an important part of the community and in the math department. “As an adult, I can see from a different perspective just how much effort she puts into working with students with different math abilities, and how much help she offers to students that struggle with the subject. She makes math fun and approachable,” Thomson said. “As a co-worker, she is a truly nice person and a dedicated part of the Manitou community.”
Kate Johnson (11) has also felt the impact that Gardner has had on MSHS through the Math Lab Gardner has set up for students during Advisory. “I have been a part of the Math Lab as a tutor for two years now. I’ve been told that the Math Lab is going to expand to other classes including English, history, and languages. It is amazing to see how much of an effect the Math Lab has had on the entire school body,” Johnson said. “I truly believe the Math Lab will continue to be a part of the school and I hope that it can grow through the other departments.”
Gardner has been in a special situation at MSHS by being in the same classroom for 30 years. “Well, after I interviewed they showed me this classroom and I was like, Ooh, nice classroom because you get a beautiful view and it was right by the door. They wanted me to move to where Mr. Blocher’s room was because they were trying to departmentalize the school, but I argued that it’s a small enough school that if I need to talk to someone I can,” Gardner said.
Gardner explained that her room is somewhere that she wanted to be completely surrounded by math to allow students to have the best learning environment possible. “And so that’s the thing I really think a classroom should exude content, like it’s math or English so the room should just be math or English posters,” Gardner said. “I never took stuff down either, I always put stuff up so it got painted about three years ago, and only put about 80% back up.”
Gardner has written an essay about her time at MSHS and hopes that she has left as a better person and has helped the community. Gardner said, “I feel like it’s been a great place that I’ve hopefully left it a little better than I found it. I hope that I know I’m leaving a better person having been here.”
