Nathan Harmon captivating the crowd at this week's NEST Meeting

Dear Osprey Community,

What amazing presentations we had this week from Nathan Harmon,  Hank Fincken  and  Doug Mishler! Many thanks to  local psychologist  Dr. Doug Miller for sponsoring Harmon's visit to our area, where he spoke at fourteen schools, sharing his powerful story of overcoming high-risk, harmful behaviors that led to a drunk driving accident and incarceration. Many students and staff felt that Harmon was the most impactful speaker we've ever had at AHS. We also appreciate the Colorado Humanities for sending Fincken and Mishler to Durango. Their spot-on performances as Thomas Edison and Teddy Roosevelt make history come alive and we love having visits from Chautauquan scholars each year.

	seniors exploring Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park as part of the Sustainability Project

Next week, sophomores will visit the Southern Ute Museum Tuesday morning for a Humanities field trip in conjunction with their study of Sherman Alexie's novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and head to Native Roots Garden Center for Biology field work on Wednesday (Shane's classes) or Thursday (Lori's class) as part of their Seed to Stomach project. 

The Board of Directors has launched a  Fundraising Committee to  further develop our strategies for supporting the school's financial needs. Board Member Jennifer Thurston will chair the committee, which is seeking new members; email jennifer.thurston@animashighschool.com if you are interested, or just show up for the meeting next Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:30 at AHS. 

We hope to see you at the Back-to-School Picnic tomorrow, 5:30 to 7:00 at Rotary Park, where Sean will deliver his annual State of the School Address, followed by live music from the student band My Heart Sienna, coached by the fine folks at iAM Music. Please bring a dish to share for our pot-luck meal--last name A-F bring an appetizer, G-L a salad, M-T a main dish and U-Z dessert. We look forward to this casual gathering for families and friends--all are welcome!

9th grade Humanities teacher Stephen Sellers with some freshly made work from the Mask Project

Our Mountain Biking Team is headed up to Nathrop for the Chalk Creek Stampede this weekend. Team co-captains Alma Wolf and Riley Amos did a great job talking about our team and how awesome the Durango mountain biking community is on the radio earlier this week alongside Humanities teacher/coach Ashley Carruth; have a listen here. As the Durango Herald reported in this article in today's paper, the AHS team is having a strong season; they are in third place for Division 2 of the Colorado High School Cycling Leagues' south conference, with Riley currently in the top spot for varsity boys. We are really excited that the State Championships for the High School League will be in Durango this year, October 20-21, bringing hundreds of high school riders and their families to town. It takes a bunch of volunteer support to run a race this size, and we want to encourage our families to sign up here to help out. Best of luck to all our riders this weekend!