School Colors
Brown and Yellow
The story behind our school colors dates back to 1960. When Lesher was built in the then new neighborhood of University Acres, so named because Lesher’s 10 acre site is on the former ground of Colorado State University’s farm (that’s why the neighborhood streets are named for former CSU presidents, i.e. Edwards, Lory, Green, Newsom, Ellis, Morgan, etc.), brown-eyed susans, a flower native to northern Colorado, grew wild on the property. The school board and community were so impressed with the beauty and colors (brown and yellow) of the flowers that they decided to select them as Lesher’s official school colors.
Navy Blue and Prairie Gold
During the 1988-89 school year the students voted to change the school colors from brown and yellow to blue and gold. Evidently, the student body found brown and yellow to be unappealing and too similar to the colors of Colorado State’s rival 65 miles to the northwest… the University of Wyoming. Some say this decision contributed to what is known as the border war, the term used to describe the athletic rivalry between CSU and the University of Wyoming (the longest rivalry in each school's history dating back to 1893) celebrated most notably since 1968 by the awarding of the Bronze Boot traveling trophy to the winner of the annual football game. The bronzed battle boot was worn in Vietnam by CSU alumnus Dan Romero.
THOR, our mascot
The Viking embodies the characteristics of strength, spirit, intelligence, and the pursuit of excellence. Upon arriving as Lesher’s new principal in 2005, only the 5th principal in 45 years, Tom Dodd purchased a Viking costume to encourage school spirit. Student council sponsor Janna Petersen organized a naming contest that fall with “Thor” the winning submission by student council co-presidents Lars Eriksen and Maddie Eckles. Student council then organized tryouts to chose a student to regularly don the costume for quarterly pep rallies, and other important promotional and athletic events. Students chosen to wear the mighty costume to date include:
Various students 2006
Griff Paul 2007
Ryan Hoenig 2008
Diego Fuerte-Duran 2009
To Be Determined 2010
In an effort to modernize Lesher’s visual identity we began the widespread use of our current Viking helmet logo (along with the International Baccalaureate - IB) on all of our letterhead and clothing in 2006.
Prominent Lesher Alumni
Chris Beake, Asst. Football Coach Seattle Seahawks
Jeff Donaldson, former NFL player with Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons
Ryan Sutter, winning bachelor on the hit reality show Bachelorette
Kevin Unger, President/CEO, Poudre Valley Hospital
Annual Traditions
- 8th Grade Pool Party in Aug.
- Back-to-School Night in Sept.
- Oktoberfest in October
- 5th Grade Open House and Curriculum Fair in Jan.
- Geography Bee (Social Studies Dept.)
- Summer Trip to Europe (World Language Dept.)
- Grade Level Trips to Lincoln Center
- 50s/60s Day (7th Grade)
- Book Talks (Language Arts Dept.)
- Drama Productions (Annie 2006, Aladdin 2007, Little Shop of Horrors 2008, Bye, Bye, Birdie 2009)
- Quarterly Pep Rallies and Dances, Weekly Blue - Gold Spirit Days (Where Everybody Belongs - WEB)
- CSU Little Shop of Physics (Science Dept.)
- 34 PSD Athletic Championships in 15 different Boys and Girls Team Sports
- Lesher Fest on the last day of school
History of Leadership
Principal History
- 1960 – 67 Wayne Emery
- 1967 – 78 Earl Knox
- 1978 – 81 Roger Hamilton
- 1981 – 93 Tom Kaufman
- 1993 – 2005 Ed Ginty
- 2005 – present Tom Dodd
Assistant Principal History
- 1960 – 63 Forest Dillinger
- 1963 – 67 Earl Knox
- 1967 – 75 Ron Sisson
- 1975 – 78 Faith Hamre
- 1978 – 81 Hal Kinard
- 1981 – 86 Craig Lukatich
- 1986 – 95 Rudy Garcia
- 1995 – 97 Dierdre Cook
- 1997 – 2009 Mike Grigg
- 2009 – present Deon Davis
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