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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- As students head back to school this month, many of them are reflecting on the summer and the Waldo Canyon Fire.

Hundreds of Colorado Springs School District 11 students were impacted by the fire, many of which are still without a home.

Tuesday D-11's Coronado High School held a special "Back to School Thank You Rally" for the area's first responders.

During the June wildfire, the high school was front and center as it became the staging point for firefighters, police officers and the media.

For three days, residents watched from the school's athletic field as the smoke and flames crept over the hills and into Colorado Springs.

Until finally Coronado too had to be evacuated.

"My biggest fear probably was that a lot of people would not have hope, and that people would just give up," Coronado Senior Kristen Purcell said.

But as we saw, local residents did not give up.

They instead rallied around one another and the first responders.

Now, two months later, that spirit of thanks and giving continues as the Coronado student body gathered on the same athletic field to spell out their school's name.

"We are just here to represent how determined we are to come back and be strong as a community," Purcell said.

Apart from the 'Where were you during the wildfire' questions, the students said the school year is off to a normal start.

Purcell said her peers who lost their homes are optimistic about the future.

"They are so inspirational and keep saying 'It was just our house, and we still have our family,'" she said. "We can rebuild and take it on from here."