Principal Osborne ready for challenge, opportunity

By Stephen Hlawaty
North Forty News

Poudre High School's new principal, George Osborne, describes his job as a "calling."

And while this calling may have officially sounded last May upon Sandra Lundt's retirement from the position, one could say that Osborne has been answering the call for the last 30 years. As a history teacher, coach and administrator, Osborne has made it his life's passion to work with the students and staff of Poudre High School.

When many look to retire after a 30-year career, Osborne is, perhaps, taking on his greatest professional adventure: principal of a high school that will include roughly 1,900 students. This year, the principal welcomes new ninth-graders and new 10th-graders to Poudre, reflecting the school district's change to four-year high schools.

"I've been fortunate working at Poudre High School," Osborne said. "It seems that every six years or so a new opportunity presents itself to me, and this is a huge opportunity."

Born and raised in Salida, Osborne recalled traveling into the hills with his uncles and aunts on their "doodlebug"--a vehicle with a boom and crane on one end and a saw on the other--to unearth his uncle's mining claims. An avid outdoorsman, Osborne now views the world through a historical lens.

"I love to cycle through old mining towns and marvel at what those early settlers had to endure," he said. "I wonder what their life was like."

A historical look at Osborne's own life may also reveal much of what has prepared him for his latest adventure in public education.

"Initially, my focus was on being a guidance counselor," he said.

Arriving at the University of Colorado in Boulder with a football scholarship, Osborne began taking classes and majoring in sociology and psychology to prepare himself for a career in counseling. But in the end, Osborne's passion for history fueled his course toward becoming a history teacher at Poudre High School in 1979. Over the years, Poudre High School's newest principal has offered students and staff a healthy mixture of teaching, coaching, counseling and administration.

What more could students and staff ask for? While Osborne has a great appreciation for Poudre's "culture and successes," his immediate goals are to "improve the lines of communication and programs that will better serve the students that are part of Poudre."

The critical question, Osborne stated, is "How do we serve and acculturate the new ninth- and 10th-graders of Poudre High School?"

One significant aspect of this is to marry an entirely new daily schedule with the school's new "look." Starting on Aug. 17, Poudre will have a significant number of students, half of whom are new to the school; limited physical space; more class offerings; one less assistant principal; two new deans of students, whose primary roles include attendance and discipline issues; roughly 20 new teachers; and a new transportation pattern for school buses. Staff and students, Osborne reflected, will have to "adapt because we need to maximize our teaching time with this new schedule."

Within this challenge, Osborne welcomes the potential for opportunity. "One thing that the schedule allows for is creative collaboration among staff and students," he noted.

Two benefits of such collaboration are Professional Learning Community models and a Response to Intervention program. PLCs allow teachers and administrators to explore and disseminate essential learnings and then implement action plans to benefit both students and staff. RTI is a network of support systems designed to help all students be successful in school.

An integral part of RTI, according to Osborne, is the school's newest Learning Center, a place where students can come to learn the skills and content needed for success. The center will be supported by staff on a rotating basis.

"All of our students are our kids," Osborne maintained, "and we have to do the best we can to serve their needs."

In the end, Osborne said, what is critical for students and staff--and principal--to transition successfully into the changing faces of school, challenge and opportunity is a "good dose of patience with each other and ourselves."