Animas High School News from the Nest


	*junior Chloe Walsh and her LINK mentor Mike Kelly collaborating on computer programming and virtual reality design*

Greetings Osprey Community,

Sure seems a little quiet around here with the juniors all off campus on their LINK Internships. Janae Hunderman, our LINK Internship Coordinator, has been out in the field visiting students and their mentors, and reports from week one are positive. As museum design and evaluation specialist Mike Kelly put it this week when Janae checked in, "The Animas High School internship program serves both the mentor and the intern. Chloe Walsh is a good programmer, self-motivated, pleasant and respectful. Her project is one that I want to see completed as part of my own research, and so our work together is a benefit to both of us!"

Meanwhile, back on campus, freshmen are deeply engaged in manifesting their visions of sustainably-designed projects that will beautify and improve our campus--including building a treehouse, an owl box and even a geodesic dome greenhouse. Sophomores are immersed in the study of brain science (check out this TED Talk about adolescent brain development they watched this week--pretty fascinating stuff!) and seniors are in the final stages of completing Senior Project, turning their research into action. Mark your calendar now for Senior Project Exhibition, which will be Friday, May 18. More details coming soon.


Ospreys across grade levels collaborating to build features on campus for our student skateboarders; pictured left to right Kai Henriksen, Liam Farkas, Sean Madden, Cole House, Owen Isenberg, Caleb Gates, Lilah Gutt and Diego Pagan

We love the this example of cross-grade collaboration: seniors Lilah Gutt and Kai Henriksen have partnered with a group of freshmen and sophomores to work toward building a grind box and mini-ramp for our students who skateboard to use on campus. For their Senior Projects, Lilah researched the psychology of extreme sports, while Kai examined the roots of creativity. The freshmen--Sean Madden, Cole House and Owen Isenberg--are working on their Sustainability Design Project, and the sophomores--Liam Farkas, Caleb Gates and Diego Pagan--are working on their Passion Project. Ospreys are building bridges across grade level to create something meaningful; learn more and see how you can support their efforts to provide our students with a healthy outlet on their GoFundMe page here.

With just two weeks of classes before students begin to prepare for Transitional Presentations of Learning, we are nearing the end of our academic year. We will soon share information about AHS Summer School with families of students who would benefit from remediating courses in order to stay on track for an on-time graduation. AHS Summer School provides a supported time and location for students to complete independent accredited online coursework to remediate credits. Our Inclusion Department Chair Carlin Mallman will coordinate summer school this year, which will take place July 9 through 20, on our campus.

Finally, if you haven't yet done so, please be sure to complete the Annual Parent Survey by next Monday, May 7. You can access the survey here and we really appreciate your input and perspective.

Enjoy the weekend and thanks for all you do to help the Ospreys soar!

In This Issue

Professional Development Spotlight

Professional Development Spotlight

We love how AHS teachers and staff model lifelong learning and professional growth for our students.

Founding Humanities Teacher Lori Fisher and College Counselor Jess Adams spent a day in Pagosa Spring this week alongside other educators at a Symposium on Meaningful Career Conversations sponsored by the Colorado Department of Education. Lori will be working to refine our Advisory program next year, and Jess is always thinking about career counseling in her work with students.

Meanwhile, over in Creede, Chemistry Teacher Steve Smith and Math Teacher Hannah Starbuck presented at the San Juan Mining and Reclamation Conference, where the theme was "Planning for Resiliency." Steve and Hannah spoke about the importance of getting students involved in the work of analyzing and understanding the impact of mining, as they did in their interdisciplinary project earlier this year.