November 19, 2021
Dear Junior Families,

We are looking forward to the Winter Exhibition Extravaganza on Wednesday, December 8 from 5-7pm in the Jesse Hutt Wing at Animas High School. As the first major exhibition this year for the class of 2023, this evening promises to be an engaging and informative glimpse into what your students have been learning at AHS.

Ninth grade students will also be on campus for the Extravaganza, exhibiting their projects in the Michael Ackerman Wing. Be sure to swing over there while you're on campus to see what the youngest crew of Ospreys is up to!

As a project-based learning school, exhibitions are our crown jewels and serve as a forum for students to showcase their learning in front of an authentic audience. Exhibitions help our students build confidence and public speaking skills alongside their ability to apply their knowledge to the real world. All students are required to participate and we certainly hope that families are able to join as well!

Professional Dress Expectations
Exhibitions, SLCs, Presentations of Learning (POLs) and some other school-related activities where students are presenting to community audiences require Professional Dress, which means that in addition to the guidelines described above, students must wear a button-down shirt and tie, shirt with finished neck, sweater or blouse; a nice pair of slacks (no jeans), skirt or dress; dark socks to match trousers and dress shoes (no sneakers, no excessively high heels). Faculty will remind students when there exists the expectation of professional dress and will assist students in planning for these experiences. Please communicate with an adult at school if procuring professional dress clothes is cost-prohibitive; we will find a way to help!
Students will be exhibiting work from Chemistry, Humanities, Math, French and Spanish. Here is what you can expect to experience at the Extravaganza:

Chemistry
Throughout the first semester students learned about chemistry through the lens of construction materials-building on the excitement for our new campus. As a culmination and extension of their studies, students are presenting and soliciting feedback on prototypes of educational exhibits that may eventually be installed as permanent features of the new campus. The educational exhibits will showcase high-performance aspects of the new campus that contribute to its environmental sustainability or enhance the wellness of its users-the students and staff. The exhibits will also explain the underlying chemistry of the building materials that contribute to sustainability or user wellness. The students' work is helping Animas High School achieve its CHPSs sustainability certification.

Humanities
Juniors have been exploring American democracy through the lenses of ideology and rhetorical studies. They will be presenting projects that express perspectives on issues important to them as young Americans in a variety of genre such as oratory, art, and writing. The projects seek to employ “Rogerian” rhetorical strategy, a mode of argumentation that seeks to find common ground and work toward mutual understanding.

PreCalculus
This semester, students have spent their time in Precalculus exploring the parallel studies of Coordinate and Synthetic Geometry, while developing their logical abilities through the application of Proof. Their most recently completed unit centers around an extremely complex question: "How long before there are no lines of sight out of an orchard?" In order to answer this bigger question students needed to answer a variety of smaller questions about the relationships between points, lines, circles, triangles, polygons, and three dimensional polyhedrons. They have developed the circle formulas, and built upon prior knowledge about trigonometry and the Pythagorean Theorem. Throughout the semester students worked on several larger projects involving proofs of the different relationships that exist between circles and triangles, and have produced beautiful, airtight arguments supporting their claims. For exhibition, they will be displaying a piece of work of their choosing, something that they believe best represents their growth as mathematicians during the first half of their junior year.

Spanish 2
Students in Susy’s Spanish 2 classes created Calaveras Literarias (poems and skeletons inspired by José Guadalupe Posada’s printmaking from the era of the Mexican Revolution) in order to expand our knowledge and awareness about the sacred and colonial roots behind Dia de Los Muertos, to personalize our use of Spanish, and to display our skills in the art of conjugating verbs.

French 2
French 2 students will be exhibiting their Petits Livres de la Mode books, which feature 4 Croquis (or fashion designs) along with the characters that inhabit those outfits, each in a different setting and season. This is our preparatory project showing how we can describe people, places, clothing and weather in preparation for next semester, when we'll do the Fashion Project.


Despite being Ospreys for 2.5 years, this will be the juniors first major multi-subject exhibition. Please help them make up for 'lost time' by being a real-world audience for their work by engaging with them in meaningful dialogue about important issues, providing critique on their exhibit prototypes and celebrating the richness of project-based learning. We look forward to seeing you all!

Sincerely,

Julian, Steve, Jessica and Susy
Upcoming AHS Events

Thanksgiving Break (no classes): Mon. 11/22 through Fri. 11/26

Professional Development Day (no classes): Mon. 11/29

Holiday Gift Drive 4 the Children: Tues. 11/30 through Fri. 12/10

Student Ambassador Training: Wed. 12/1, 1:45-3:30

Student Council Holiday Blood Drive: Thurs. 12/2, 9am-2pm; sign up to donate blood here

Get a Job Fair: Thurs. 12/2, 4-5:30 at Fairgrounds

Humanities 10 Exhibition: Appreciating Adolescence (10th grade): Thurs. 12/2, 4:30-6pm
Last Advisory and XBlock of the Semester: Wed. 12/8

Winter Exhibition Extravaganza (9th and 11th grades): Wed. 12/8, 5-7pm

Last Day of 1st Semester Classes: Fri. 12/10

Ospreys on Ice Holiday Party: Fri. 12/10, 7-8:30pm at Chapman Ice Rink

Osprey Theater Company: The Hope and Heartache Diner: Fri. 12/10, Sat. 12/11, Sun. 12/12

iAM Music Winter Student Showcase featuring AHS Music Students: Sun. 12/12

Presentations of Learning: Mon. 12/13 to Fri. 12/17

Winter Break: Sat. 12/18 through Sun. 1/2

Professional Development Day (no classes): Mon. 1/3

First Day of 2nd Semester: Tues. 1/4
Animas High School prepares all students for college and postsecondary success by creating critical thinkers and engaged citizens through an innovative, student-centered, project-based curriculum. We accomplish this through:
Rigorous academics, where all students are prepared for college success
Culture of excellence, where students are held to high expectations
Strong student-faculty relationships, where students are well known.
Engaging learning, where students see the relevance in their education