Fountain-Fort Carson High School
Fountain-Fort Carson High School (FFCHS) is a public high school in Fountain, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 and serves Fort Carson in addition to Fountain. It has gained national attention for its close ties to the military, as a large percentage of students live on nearby Fort Carson. Approximately 40% of all students have either one or both parents on active duty in the military. The school's mascot is a Trojan warrior. Athletics. History. Fountain-Fort Carson has a proud athletic history. Since the  1920s the Trojans have captured various league, city, and state honors in basketball, volleyball, football, baseball, and track & field. The greatest of these are the 17 team state titles and 101 individual state titles won in track & field, most won under the guidance of former Head Coach Art Hassler, who retired after the 2006 season. Mitch Johnson is also one of the region's most experienced football coaches, with 30 years of coaching under his belt, 21 of which have been spent at FFCHS. Under head coach Matt Buczkowski, the FFCHS baseball team won a League Championship in 2008 in  the 4A Colorado Springs Metro League. With head wrestling coach, Chris James, the FFCHS wrestling team won a League Championship in 2010 in the 5A Colorado Springs Metro League. Also in the winter sports, under the coaching of Anthony Ribuado, the Fountain-Fort Carson's men's basketball team won the first 5A Conference Championship in school history, just after a year of being moved up from 4A to 5A Colorado Springs Metro League. The Trojans would end their season with a 21–4 record. Under head coach Harry Knight, the 2009 / 2010 women's basketball team made it to the  Elite Eight for the first time in school history as a 5A competitor after a convincing win over Thunder Ridge, a known powerhouse in Colorado women's basketball. The Lady Trojans finished the season 21–4. Under head coach Ben Montoya, the FFCHS boys' track & field team won a 5A State Championship in 2010. In the fall of 2010, the FFCHS football team moved up a division, making all of the sports at the school 5A. The JROTC air rifle team went undefeated in the fall of 2012. Coached by Rodney Smith and Herb Maison, the rifle team earned the JROTC  State Championship, the Colorado Junior State Championship, the NRA State Championship and the Colorado Junior Olympic State Championship. The air rifle team qualified for the US Army National Championship Match as well as the Civilian Marksmanship Program National Championship, where they finished 13th in the nation. Facilities. Guy R. Barickman Stadium is a 5,000 capacity stadium. It serves as the home of Fountain-Fort Carson High School's football, track and soccer teams. It is named for Guy Barickman, a former coach at FFCHS. The stadium is equipped with Astroturf, different from many facilities within the region. It is surrounded  by the rest of the FFCHS Sports Complex, which includes the swimming pool, two gyms, a weight room, and various soccer, softball and baseball fields. On 14 September 2012, during Fountain's Homecoming game, FFCHS honored two of its long time coaches, track coach Art Hassler and football coach Mitch Johnson. The track inside the stadium was dedicated to Hassler, and the sports complex was dedicated to Johnson. Hassler said, "This is the highest honor I could have received." Both Hassler and Johnson have served an extended tenure as coaches at Fountain-Fort Carson. Kelly Eichman, current Athletic Director, said  no other candidates were considered other than these two men, as they are the only two Hall of Fame coaches to stem from Fountain-Fort Carson. Rivalries. Florence High School and FFCHS were, throughout much of the 1950s through the 1990s, longtime rivals that competed in the old Pikes Peak League, often challenging for league supremacy in football and basketball. Mesa Ridge High School and Widefield High School are adjoining border schools in the Fountain Valley region, which includes Fountain, Fort Carson, Widefield and Security. Widefield plays FFCHS in the annual Border War football game. Widefield High School, Liberty High  School and Mesa Ridge High School are rivals during the baseball season. Activities. Department of Military Science (JROTC). The Fountain Fort Carson Trojan Battalion was established July 1, 1995 by Col. (Ret.) Edward Fisher and 1SG (Ret.) Leroy Bogan. The current Senior Army Instructor is LTC (Ret.) John Tatom. The Battalion has been an honor unit with distinction since its inception. The current Trojan Battalion Commander is C-LTC Thibou. In July 2009, 1SG (Ret.) Leroy Bogan retired from teaching, and was replaced by SGM (Ret.) Herbert A. Maison, III. Maison taught JROTC for three years at Montbello High School  in Denver. He retired from the military after serving 20 years as a combat engineer. In April 2012, SGM (Ret.) Rodney Smith was hired, as the JROTC program was required to have three instructors. Smith has two years' experience as a JROTC instructor under Pueblo County High School's JROTC program and several years of experience as a social studies teacher. As of 2018, LTC (Ret.) John Tatom is the lead instructor of the JROTC program. The JROTC program participates in numerous activities throughout the school year such as Drill Team, Honor Guard, Color Guard, Raider Challenge, Marksmanship, Academic and  Leadership, and Sabre Team events. The JROTC shoulder sleeve insignia and unit insignia are symbols which tie the unit to the school and visually represent the organization. Shoulder sleeve insignia description: On a white, elliptical oval edged with a blue border, on its vertical axis and wide, a concentric white oval with a border, bearing the head and shoulders of a Trojan warrior facing right and projecting to base. The face is white, detailed blue. The helmet and tunic are scarlet red with blue accents and white highlights. The top of the outer oval forms a designation band inscribed "FOUNTAIN -FORT CARSON" in blue letters. Unit insignia description: A silver color metal and enamel device high by wide overall consisting of a silver ellipse with axis vertical bearing an ancient helmet reversed argent, crested gules irradiated throughout silver. In base a blue scroll inscribed "SECOND TO NONE" in silver letters. Marching band. The FFCHS band program has in recent years become competitive in state level competition. The marching band went to the Colorado Bandmaster's Association competition for the first time in 2004. The band placed earned fifth place in the fall 2009 State Marching Competition under the direction of  Randal Rabito. The FFCHS Jazz Band placed first in the Jazz Band section of the Cañon City Blossom Festival in 2002 and 2003 under the direction of Fred Schwartz. In 2018, Joshua Race became the director of all bands. Drama department. The FFCHS Drama department has produced a number of outstanding shows directed by the Literature and Drama teacher, Jason Liles. Past shows include "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum", "American Buffalo", "Little Shop of Horrors", "Sweet Charity", "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "You Can't Take It With You", "Taming of The Shrew", "Godspell", "The Wizard of  Oz", "The Merchant of Venice", "Twelfth Night, Or What You Will", "Once on This Island", and "Our Country's Good".