Ms. Olsen is a teacher at Fruita 8/9 and personally my favorite teacher. she was born in Grand Junction, CO, and says “I can’t believe that I am still here!” she loved riding her bike as a kid. she lived downtown, and said, “it was safe at that time to be outside unattended to”. she had a cat that ended up living for like 20 years. her dad loved cocker spaniels so she always had a few of them around. She also said “I never liked them, as they aren’t the greatest family dog. Kinda mean.” When asked about siblings she said, “I have two older brothers. One of them lives in Salt Lake City, and the other lives in Grand Junction”. Her fondest memory from childhood: “My mom was an accountant, so she didn’t work in the summertime. I always remember planting a garden and flowers every spring and being outside with my mom. She was awesome!”
she went to Central High School as she lived in Orchard Mesa.“I always liked Geography. I was really good at memorizing maps, and I liked looking at different places and different cultures. I wanted to travel!” she played softball for a few years and was a cheerleader from my Freshmen year to my Junior year, and she was on the bodybuilding team her Senior year. She said, “I wasn’t super active, but enjoyed doing different things as my friends were involved in sports.” when asked if she would go back to high school “You couldn’t pay me enough to go back to High School, but if I had to, I think I would have tried harder in my classes. I didn’t take hard classes or push myself too much. I wish I would have taken more Science classes and probably math. It made it harder in college to do well with those classes as I had a minimal background. All of my friends graduated in the semester our Senior year, and I should have done the same as it was pretty boring 2nd semester without them”. “An idol… I’m not sure who that would have been. I really admired a girl named Bridgette that was a Senior when I was a Freshman. She came from a really poor family, and she used to make her own clothes. She taught herself how to sew and design, and she always looked amazing. She was so well-liked and very pretty. She was our Homecoming Queen that year as well. Extremely nice person to everyone.” she said when asked if she had any high school idols. Aside from doing sports, she loved to draw and do craft-type activities. her mom taught her how to crochet and sew so she liked making things. “I think everyone probably got a crocheted potholder at some point in time.”
she really loved Science and thought it would be fun to be able to teach Science to kids as she has a passion for it. she has a lot of life experiences that she could add as well in Science and Business, and her hope was that she would inspire kids to pursue Science in their future. (But she hates Amplify!) she went to a lot of colleges as she moved around a lot after graduating high school. she first attended UCD in Denver, UC Santa Barbara in California, but graduated from CMU. I then continued my education at CSU Ft. Collins for a master’s degree. I initially majored in Chemistry, but when moving back to Grand Junction, CO, CMU did not offer a Chemistry major at that time. she received a bachelor’s degree in Biology, as well as a degree in Education. she received a master’s degree in Chemistry and Physics from CSU. she has been a teacher for six years so far. her first position was at Grand Junction High School teaching Environmental Science and Chemistry for four years, and then she switched positions to Fruita 8/9, and this is her second year teaching here. “I would have changed to Chemistry major with a minor in Criminalistics”. she took several classes in Santa Barbara on arson and explosives and loved it! “I would have loved to work as an investigator for the fire department.” she has always been fascinated with crime shows and loves the forensic work that is done to solve crimes. “That would have been an awesome career!” said Ms. Olsen