Greetings Osprey Community,
Colorado Humanities Chautauqua performer Becky Stone brought Rosa Parks' story to life at our PEAK Meeting this week, using Parks' voice to share her experience as a civil rights leader. Our student reporters were on the scene, and this week, we premier the inclusion of student-generated content in the
News from the Nest, courtesy of those enrolled in Jessica McCallum's Journalism class. Read on for a full interview with Stone as well as a piece on the Bridge Program and a profile of Class of 2015 graduate Avra Saslow. As modern media evolves in a shifting landscape, so does ours; this year, look for four editions of
The Animas Quill, our student-created print newspaper, alongside frequent online news from the Quill Media team.
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Juniors Grant Gibson and Sean Thornton testing water samples they collected in Silverton for metal content in the Fort Lewis College laboratory during their first Chemistry lab of the year
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Next week, we will host our second
Power Lunch of the year, as Osprey parent Ted Rifkin joins us on Thursday from 11:35 to 12:05 to share his experiences and perspective on a career in the legal field. Interested in being a Power Lunch speaker? Contact LINK Internship Coordinator Janae Hunderman at
internships@animashighschool.com.
Looking ahead a bit, on Wednesday, October 7, we will ask all of our students to participate in the
Healthy Kids Colorado Survey (HKCS) during 9th though11th grade Advisory and 12th grade Humanities class. We have partnered with the
Celebrating Healthy Communities Coalition in analyzing data that informs our development of wellness programming, and the HKCS is a key piece of this work. You may have seen the article in last Monday's
Durango Herald, "
Building Bright Futures," which reported the positive trends
as captured through HKCS for teens in La Plata County in terms of substance abuse and developmental assets. To learn more about the survey please read this
letter to parents or contact our Assistant Head of School at
libby.cowles@animashighschool.com.
Our staff is the greatest asset we have as a school, and we encourage you to not be shy about reaching out to them via email--or in person this evening at the Picnic. If you are ever curious about our teachers' qualifications and experience, please know that you are welcome to learn more. Read more about that process
here.
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Maureen, poolside in Vegas
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Speaking of our staff, we are sad to share the news that our fabulous Registrar, Maureen Truax, will be leaving us at the end of October, as she and her family have relocated to Las Vegas. It's not an overstatement to say that Maureen has played a major role in making AHS the school it is. Maureen's service to Animas began in our first year as a parent volunteer and she has been our Registrar for several years--but her contributions have always gone far beyond mere job descriptions. Remember her crying while reading student names at graduation last year? She loves our students, big and true, and they love her right back. We will deeply miss her. The silver lining to Maureen's departure is that Laurel Rodd, who also does so much to keep our school running, will move into a newly created Site Manager and Registrar position. This means that we are currently seeking a new Main Office Assistant to help Laurel. We could also use a few more substitute teachers on our roster.
Please see the full job descriptions here, and pass them along to anyone who you think would be great in either position.
Finally, we look forward to seeing you this evening from
5:00 to 7:00 at Rotary Park for our
All School Picnic for music, magic and merriment. As you know, it's
potluck style (last name A-F on appetizers, G-S salad/main dish and T-Z dessert). Please be aware of not blocking parking for neighboring businesses.
As always, thanks for all you do to help the Ospreys soar!
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Upcoming AHS Events
View the 2015-16 AHS School Calendar here
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Osprey Week
From May 16-20, all AHS students will participate in
Osprey Week, a student-driven, faculty-led adventure that takes the place of classes for the week as groups dive into a range of activities ranging from camping to sewing, music production to service work. Faculty will present this year's Osprey Week options in early November and students will make their choices later that month.
 For the first time, students will have the opportunity to travel to our nation's capitol for Osprey Week this year with 12th grade Humanities teacher Lori Fisher and the
Close Up program. Students will explore the capitol and interact with students from across the country. As a non-profit, non-partisan organization, Close Up helps students learn more about history and government while considering a variety of viewpoints, participating in debates, discussions and simulation.
Space is limited to 15 participants for this particular Osprey Week and because this is on a different registration timeline than other Osprey Week choices, deadlines are approaching. There will be a parent meeting on Wednesday, September 23 at 4:00; applications and deposits are due October 1. Learn more here or contact Lori at lori.fisher@animashighschool.com.
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Bridging the Gap
by Katie Austin
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photo by Charlie Malone
Domi Frideger demonstrates a "misty 540" to his freshman mentees Memo V. and Evan G. This youthful trio enjoys spending time together by eating lunch and doing parkour.
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nimas High School select seniors and staff have joined together to create the 9 to 12 grade peer mentorship program. The AHS Bridge Program was put in place to encourage relationships between underclassmen and upperclassmen. The students are encouraged to become not only mentors, but also friends with their partners. The main objective for this program is to encourage inter-class relationships and meet people you would not otherwise mix with. Ashley Carruth, one of the founders of the program, articulates, "the goal is that freshmen feel comfortable approaching upperclassmen and that people form relationships with people that wouldn't have normally formed."
This program also has the strong support of the students with several student leaders, seniors Becca Schaldach and Ellen Campbell. Ellen was inspired to take on the program because she "really wanted to help freshmen get oriented in high school." Along with this incentive, she was concerned because she received several complaints last year that "the grade levels weren't really combined at all and they weren't hanging out together or working together."
The Animas High School Bridge Program was put in place to encourage mingling throughout the grades as well as improve our overall sense of Osprey Kulture. Both Ashley and Ellen have high hopes for this year as well as the future, and we all look forward to the friendships that will come out of this program.
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Rosa Parks Back from the Grave
by Vivian Heinrich and Hannah Langford
The ghost of Rosa Parks paid a visit to Animas High School students on Wednesday, September 16. She came to AHS to tell her story in detail as well as to educate students about the civil rights movement through her vibrant personality.
After Becky Stone stepped away from her Rosa impression, she gave us the opportunity to ask her questions regarding her performances.
How has being Rosa changed you?
"[Being Rosa] has given me more courage to stand up against racism. Answering questions from many different people also allows me to have these tough conversations that we really need to have every day."
What do you still wish to know about Rosa?
"I'd like to know more about her relationship with her family while they were going through this and what the family dynamic was during this time."
What can we do as a generation to demolish racism?
"Unfortunately...I don't think we will succeed in completely demolishing racism. I think that that's just part of our fall in nature and it's always going to be there. However, we can reduce it, greatly, and I think the biggest problem is overcoming our fears to know each other.
One of the problems with racism is that the dominant culture wants everyone to be like them, and since they are predominant, they can maneuver that in a lot of ways...we have to rejoice in our differences and not try to change them. Find common ground in the fact that, yes, you're different from me, and that's something to be grateful for. At the same time, even when we're all so different, there are fundamental elements that are all the same."
What is the main takeaway from the civil rights movement?
"Ordinary people can strategically work together to make large changes."
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College Corner
The Western Slope College Fair is Sunday, October 4 in Aspen. Over 220 colleges will be in attendance, and there will be workshops to help navigate the college process. AHS has received a grant to provide transportation and an overnight stay for 20 students. Jess emailed specifics to juniors, seniors and their parents yesterday evening, including this link, which you can use to sign up.
Juniors who have signed up for the FLC Day on Monday must bring signed permission slips to Jess in the morning to be able to attend.
An admissions representative from St. John's College will be available in the AHS Commons during lunch on Friday of next week. All students are invited to learn more about this distinctive liberal arts college.
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News from Beyond the Nest: Alumna Avra Saslow
by Hayden Stills
Avra Saslow, everyone's favorite nutty Osprey, has flown the nest and is now thriving at CU
Boulder! Staying true to her Durango roots, she is part of the Alpine Club, Kayak Club,
Mountain Bike Team, and is working with a non-profit located in Boulder where she watches
mock trials and interacts with a dozen other non-profits.
Along with all of these amazing
activities, she is enrolled in the President's Leade
rship Class, a highly selective leadership
program.
Avra is currently part of a music blog,
Crave the Sound, where she gets to be up close and
personal with musicians, go to concerts, and write reviews of their music. Music is proving to be
a big part of her life as she is also part of the radio station on campus and is working on getting her
own show.
When asked what she missed most about Animas Avra said, "I miss the teachers the most;
sassing Ashley, Lori, Jessica, and Kyle. I miss walking past Heerschap's room where things are
blowing up! The teachers make the culture such a special place, and they are truly extraordinary
people."
One thing that she really loves about Boulder is all the dogs, "I was nervous that in college I
would never see a dog again BUT THERE ARE SO MANY DOGS HERE! They have all sort of
tails and noses and fur. Honestly talking about it sort of makes me tear up."
We miss and love you Avra, and wish you the best!
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For More Photos and Updates...
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Contact Us
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Phone: (970) 247-2474
Fax: (970) 247-2483
www.animashighschool.com
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