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freshmen Nick Austin and Chris Atchison share their perspective on how climbing feed their happiness in the Truth of Happiness Film Festival; watch all the films here! |
Greetings Osprey Community,
There's so much good news to share this week, and the energy level here at Animas is positively buzzing! This week's Truth of Happiness Film Festival and Model UN exhibitions were both excellent, and students across all grades are in the final preparation stages for All School Exhibition, which is next Thursday from 4:00 to 7:00. We will transform the campus to showcase projects including the history of gun legislation, the ethics and science of food, cultural showcases of Cuba and the Dominican Republic, the mathematics of automobiles, sustainable school design prototypes, a cappella performances and more. View the full program for All School Exhibition here and please be sure to join us--friends and family welcome!
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AHS Student Ambassadors and Animas Restorative Team members at Miller Middle School
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This morning, a group of Student Ambassadors and Animas Restorative Team members helped facilitate small group conversations about how to combat bullying among 6th graders at Miller Middle School. Our students shared their perspective about how to create positive school culture and spread compassion and kindness. They did an amazing job and we're proud of them for serving as role models in this important way for other youth in our community. Miller's restorative justice coordinator JoAnne Hibbard raved about our students: "I don't know how to thank you for loaning us such stellar kids. If the rest of your school is like those kids...man oh man! You have got something incredible going on at AHS!"
Another excellent way Ospreys are supporting their peers is through their leadership in organizing the Voice of a Generation: La Plata County Youth Voice Spotlight event, which will take place tomorrow from 11:00 to 3:00 at La Plata County Fairgrounds. The event will feature live music, skateboarding, slack lining, spoken word, art, games and more, all with a goal of helping local teens feel less isolated, more valued and better supported. There will be pets available for adoption and mental health resources available. We love seeing our students take their solution-oriented ideas and turn them into action and it's cool that this idea grew out of work they did during Sophomore Inspire Week. Thank you to Humanities teacher Shane Nelson for providing mentoring to them along the way. Check out the great article in the Durango Herald about the event, and show up tomorrow to let our teens know that their voices matter.
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sending Allee McKown off in Osprey style--read more about staffing updates below
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We published the 2018-19 AHS Course Catalog and the 2018-19 AHS calendar this week and juniors spent time in Humanities today selecting their classes for next year. Freshmen and sophomores will sign up for classes on Monday, April 30 in their core classes; please review their choices together at home. We'll send information out to all of our new students and their families soon explaining the process for course selection. Our junior class is full for 2018-19 and we are one spot away from a wait list for next year's sophomores. We have spots available for next year's 9th grade, with our final Information Session scheduled for May 1 and last Shadow Day on May 3. Have a friend considering Animas? Invite them to All School Exhibition!
Finally, Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up May 7-11. This year, we'll have one grade level thank the teachers in their own unique and fun way each day. If you're interested in helping our students show their appreciation for our outstanding staff, please contact volunteer@animashigshcool.com. We'd tell you more...but there might be teachers reading this and we want it to be a surprise!
Enjoy your weekend and thanks for all you do to help the Ospreys soar! |
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Staffing Updates
 We are thrilled to announce that we have hired Torrey Baldwin Fisher to join our Math Department. Torrey is a familiar face at AHS, having worked in the Inclusion Department in 2015-16. She has a passion for experiential education, real-world mathematical exploration and promoting social-emotional skills. Torrey has supported students both in and out of the classroom for 17 years as a high school math teacher in Roxbury, MA, wilderness therapy guide, yoga teacher and founder of
Wildbridge Institute. Torrey is excited to return to Durango after a two year sabbatical researching intentional communities with her growing family. She'll teach Math 1 and Precalculus next year and we are excited to welcome her back to the Nest!
Allee McKown, AHS Class of 2016, is set to spread her wings. A truly outstanding Osprey, Allee has done excellent work supporting students in our Inclusion Department for the past two years. Before she heads to Pitzer College next fall, she will follow her adventurous spirit by backpacking solo through Bears Ears Wilderness in Utah and traveling in South America. We will miss her so much, but we can't wait for Allee to spread her infectious positivity out there in the world!
 Finally, Ashley Hein, our creative, energetic and compassionate Development Director, will move on from her role at AHS at the end of this school year to pursue new adventures in her career. Ashley has been with us for nearly four years, organizing fundraisers and cultivating donors. She's been an amazing advisor for a group of graduating seniors and we'll miss her positive energy and boundless love for our school. Ashley plans to stay in Durango, and while she's not yet sure of her next professional move, we're glad that she plans to stay engaged in the AHS community (she has two younger boys headed our way in a few years!). Please be sure to share your gratitude with her for all she's done to support our students, staff and school--and stay tuned for information from her about one more fundraising opportunity connected to Advisory Olympics!
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Professional Development Spotlight
 AHS Student Support Coordinator Erin Skyles has also been in Denver this week taking a train-the-trainer course in
Youth Mental Health First Aid. Our students' mental health is a vital key to their academic success and we are glad to have Erin continuing to build her expertise in a way that will allow her to also share it with our entire staff as part of our ongoing professional development.
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Upcoming AHS Events
See the 2017-18 and 2018-19 School Calendar
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Senior Project Spotlight
Our seniors have moved into the action-oriented section of Senior Project, taking what they learned in their research for thesis papers and TED Talks (watch them all
here!) and turning it into concrete projects.
 Morgan Voorhees has studied the physical and psychological benefits of music for his Senior Project and he is now working to fundraise to create a music studio at Animas High School. We are fortunate enough to contract music instruction with both
iAM Music and the
Stillwater Music, but we don't yet have ample instruments or a permanent space for our music electives.
Morgan's vision is to build a free-standing, insulated studio building to support music instruction at AHS. Read more and help him achieve this vision on his GoFundMe page, which you can access
here.
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AHS Alumni Soaring
As many in our second graduating class prepare for their college graduations, we are proud to share news from two alumni doing truly outstanding work in their postsecondary endeavors.
 Ellie Ellis, AHS Class of 2014, is graduating from Pitzer College and has recently been awarded two outstanding scholarships--a Fullbright and the
Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. She has chosen to pursue the Watson Fellowship, taking a year to travel to Canada, Switzerland, China, Australia and Morocco to study the Cambrian Explosion, the geologic moment in time when most major animal groups evolved in the earth's oceans.
 Hannah Liberman, AHS Class of 2016 is one of just two sophomores at Columbia University who have been invited to participate in the
Eric H. Holder Initiative for Civil and Political Rights. As part of the Initiative, Hannah will help crete student-centered events for the Columbia community that explore the state of voting in the USA today. Discouraging what former Attorney General Holder calls the "quiet prejudice of inaction," the Holder Initiative is the perfect follow up for the engaged citizenship Hannah learned while here at Animas!
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Osprey Appreciations
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junior Joe Thomson scores a Purg pass at After Prom!
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Thank you to all the students, staff and parents who helped make the 2018 AHS Prom and After Prom so awesome! Check out some great photos from the evening
here--Ospreys were looking sharp and having lots of fun!
The After Prom Committee is so grateful for the generosity of local businesses who donated food, gift cards and merchandise for After Prom: Purgatory Resort, durango Party Rental, East by Southwest, Cookoo's Chicken House, Domino's, Coca Cola of Durango, Bread, Norton's Highway 3 Roadhouse, City Market, Mild to Wild Rafting, Mountain Waters Rafting, Allen Theaters, Nini's Taqueria, Trimble Hot Springs, The Chair Salon, Maria's Bookshop, VIP Nails, 4Corners Riversports, Bank of the San Juans, Gardenswartz Sports, Lively Boutique, Shirt off my Back, RGP's, Ken and Sue's, Pine Needle Mountaineering, Artesanos, Conundrum Escape Room, Grassburger, Ski Barn, Colorado Outback Adventures, Cold Stone Creamery, There's No Place Like Home, Urban Market, Out of the Blue, Durango Rapid Wash, Fired Up Pizzeria, Mountain Taco, Derailed Pour House and Serious Texas BBQ.
 A special thank you to all the families who baked, set up, cleaned up, chaperoned and made the evening possible--especially Marla Stills!
Thank you, too, to Osprey parent Janine Collins, who has adopted the planters on campus and filled them with lovely plants from her business
Botanical Concepts. It's great to see the colorful blooms in place for All School Exhibition!
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Visit the AHS Facebook page!
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Jess Adams, our College Counselor, spent the earlier part of this week at the annual
