Hanson Elementary School was named in honor of former principal Fred Hanson. A native of Colorado, Fred lived north of Boulder when he was growing up. He served his country in the Marine Corp during World War II and was in the Phillipines, but Fred says, "I wasn't any big hero."

Fred attended college at Colorado University. He began his career in 1952 in the old Adams City Junior High School, which sat where the vocational building is now located. The school had no electricity and in the late afternoon it started getting dark. The school was torn down to make way for a new, more modern school.

Fred taught Seventh to Ninth Grade Science and coached football, basketball and track. He recieved his Master's Degree in 1956. He was very active in the Parent Teacher Association.

After it was built Fred was the principal from September to January in the Junior High School. He then went to Central Elementary as an Assistant Principal. Fred was the principal at Derby and Monaco schools, then he remained the principal at Derby and went to Oneida for two or three years until Derby closed. Old barracks from the Rocky Mountain Arsenal were pulled across the arsenal land and were made into schools. Oneida was located on East 73rd Avenue, west of where Hanson Elementary School is now. When Fred Hanson left the school the name of Oneida was changed to Hanson Elementary School.

There were not enough children to maintain Derby Elementary School so it was made into a recreation center. Today the Commerce City library stands where the cafeteria was and Derby Elementary became the Lester Arnold Alternative School.

The Hansons' had five children and eight grandchildren. Their son, Brian Hanson is a teacher at the Adams City Vocational High School. Fred retired from the Adams City School District and because his wife had problems with her health they moved to Westminster to be closer to a hospital.

Fred spends a lot of his time now in the Westcliffe area around Pueblo, where he has a home. He keeps busy with his hobbies of woodworking and making furniture.

What does it take to make a hero? Maybe he wasn't a hero in the war but it takes a champion to devote your life to educating children like Fred Hanson did.