top of page

ABOUT ME

Welcome to Mr. Abbott's I&S class for the 2018/2019 school year at Mountain Ridge Middle School.  A little about me:  This is my fourth year at MRMS.  I previously taught at Pueblo West High School but always wanted to teach in District 20 at Mountain Ridge Middle School.  I obtained my undergraduate education at Northern Arizona University and I recently completed my Master's at UCCS in TESOL Studies.  I have lived in several different states throughout my life, but Colorado has always felt like home to me.  

​

This school year is going to be different for many of you (parents and students).  A typical social studies class is often a regurgitation of history as a textbook explains it.  This year, however, we will be questioning history and trying to find the true story behind our nation's short, yet detailed, history.  So often history is told from the perspective of the winner; however, the issue with this is that so much history is then forgotten and the winner is able to go down in history as the "good guy."  This year we will be challenging that notion.  To do this, we will examine what the textbooks say (as our brief background knowledge) and then examine primary and secondary sources to see what really happened in history and draw new conclusions.  Don't follow the norm, challenge the norm to find the truth. 

​

My class is intended to be very in-depth, challenging, and quite beneficial to our students.  I encourage students to voice their opinions, practice their speaking and writing skills, and also improve analysis skills in preparation for high school and beyond.  We want to make history EXCITING and BENEFICIAL, not just a story of some really old people who are dead.  I strongly believe in the idea that if we do not understand our history, we will ultimately repeat the mistakes we have made and not advance as a society. Every event in history has a cause and effect, continuity, and placement.  It is our duty as historians (yes, all your students are historians in my class seeing as they are studying history) to understand our history!

​

I am extremely excited for the upcoming school year and I hope you share this excitement.  I encourage all parents to maintain open communications with me and always contact me with concerns, questions, or anything else.  I will send a bi-weekly newsletters home via e-mail to keep parents informed on what we are learning at that time, major assignments coming up, or testing.  Please take the few minutes to briefly review these letters and remain involved!

Wedding.jpg
bottom of page