Animas High School Gathers at Site of New Building, Durango Local TV
Thank you to AHS Alum Zach Marqua, class of 2013 for covering the story!
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sophomore Mia Macon and her Race & Identity in US Literature classmates explore Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park in conjunction with their study of Leslie Marmon Silko's novel Ceremony |
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9th grade Ospreys Jaylyn, Savanna, Emma, Alyce, Eila and Rosie enjoy the first day of 2nd quarter XBlock classes at Chapman Ice Rink |
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Greetings Ospreys,
It's been a festive week at the Nest, with Spirit Week costumes galore, new XBlock classes and back-to-back field trips--the ropes course for 9th grade on Wednesday and Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park for Race & Identity in US Literature students on Thursday. Many thanks to Student Council for leading the spirited charge!
Next Week's Events
An Evening with Fort Lewis College is open to all local parents on Wednesday 11/3 at 6pm. Explore FLC’s incredible network of resources and meet FLC President Tom Stritikus while being wined and dined at this free event. Register here.
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Sophomores Exhibit Tessellation Designs
Nora Olivier, Animas Quill
Ande Lloyd’s Math 10 classes are buzzing with excitement for the Tessellation Exhibition on Tuesday, November 2 at 5pm in the Jesse Hutt Wing.
Throughout this project, 10th grade students have been tackling concepts of area and volume, geometric construction, and properties of similar triangles. The focus question for this unit is: "What makes shapes efficient, and how is that demonstrated in nature?" There are many different answers to this question, but one way shapes can be efficient is by fitting them together without any gap or overlap. Over the last several weeks Math 10 students have been creating intricate tessellations to demonstrate these efficiencies.
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Ande was inspired to do this project from his senior thesis at Western Colorado University, when he studied non-periodic tessellations. Ande shared, “It's so cool because it’s a topic in math that isn’t all about numbers and solving for an equation, it's purely about patterns, and the structure. It's about creating something beautiful that is also super precise.”
The exhibition will last beyond Tuesday, as Ande’s classes voted on one or two patterns to display on a larger scale in his classroom. The winning designs will be painted as murals on each of his classroom walls.
Ande, who was raised on PBL education and graduated from AHS in 2015, was inspired to push the limits and trust the students to paint his room while creating their own projects. He shared, “Doing ambitious projects, there is always risk involved, the coolest projects ever done have the highest risks for failure.”
Sophomore Mae Loebig experienced the motivating stress of her high risk approach. She attempted to create a pentagonal tessellation and print it on the laser cutter. She ran into minor construction errors as she tessellated the plane. “Although I had some struggles and thought it wouldn’t work, I still made a beautiful piece of work and learned a lot about what shapes are efficient.”
Come see Mae and her classmates’ mathematical art on Tuesday night!
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Freshpeople Bond and Build Culture at Ropes Course
Maya Olivier, Animas Quill
On Wednesday October 29, the freshpeople hopped on the bus and headed out to On the Edge Ropes Course at the property of AHS founder Phil Bryson. It was a chance for the 9th grade to get to know each other and build culture through teamwork.
They were challenged by activities like high and low ropes courses that required them to work together and support each other. Other activities included the spider web, tarp and hula hoop team building challenges. They had to get out of their comfort zones and take risks to accomplish a common goal.
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Trust was a key aspect of many of the activities, such as when two people climb up a tree and must completely rely on each other in order to balance. Freshperson Cassidy Hayden shared her experience: “I started to trust the people in my advisory and I grew a lot closer to them, and I trust them now.”
The freshpeople formed new relationships with other people and their bonds will continue to grow. Ninth grader Ruby Hamilton reflected, “My favorite part was when I helped a girl that I didn’t know to go up the pole because she was really scared. We built a bond from that simple interaction and that made us become friends.”
9th grade Humanities teacher Ashley Carruth observed the cultural cohesion, sharing: “I saw some students come out of their shells a little bit, and I saw students who don’t usually hang out work together, problem solve, and take risks.”
It is a different form of beautiful work to see a class come together like this, overcome their fear, and have a lot of fun in the process!
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Emma Burnett and Rosie LeCompte ready to tackle the high wires in par |
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Cole LeRoux gives the ropes course a thumbs up |
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AHS Junior Wins Library Bookmark Competition
Molly Bachman, Animas Quill
The contest was open to elementary, middle, and high school students, and there were two winners for each age category. Each winner received a Maria’s Bookshop gift certificate and will see their designs printed on 2500 bookmarks.
Studio Art teacher Britt Blasdell challenges her drawing students to take on the challenge of “making art a vehicle of communication.” Jamie chose to metaphorically create an art piece showing birds flying free from their cage based on the quote from Jane Eyre: “ I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will.”
Jamie shared, “This was a good experience for me to not procrastinate and take action on my artistic abilities.”
Way to represent your school with Beautiful Work, Jamie!
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COVID Updates
To register your student for the voluntary, weekly on-campus COVID testing sign up here. Our school code is C0075. Parents must provide consent for students under 18. We anticipate the next on-campus testing to take place next Tuesday at 1pm. Students cannot register on the spot but once registered, can drop in. Remember, students will receive $25 for first test and $10 for each thereafter.
Enjoy the weekend and thanks for all you do to help the Ospreys soar!
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Upcoming AHS Events
Vision and Hearing Screenings (9th grade): Tues. 11/2
Tessellation Exhibition (10th grade): Tues. 11/2, 5pm at AHS
Sexual/Health Education (10th grade): Wed. 11/3, 11/10, 11/17 8:30-12
An Evening with FLC: Wed. 11/3, 6pm at FLC
NEST Meeting: Wed. 11/17
Mask Exhibition (10th grades): Thurs. 11/18
Studio Art Exhibition: Looking Up: Thurs. 11/18
AHS Board Meeting: Thurs. 11/18, 5:30-7:30pm
Thanksgiving Break (no classes): Mon. 11/22 through Fri. 11/26
Professional Development Day (no classes): Mon. 11/29
Last Day of 1st Semester Classes: Fri. 12/10
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
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Purchase your 2022 Be Local Coupon Book through AHS and support our school while supporting local businesses!
Preorder yours today here.
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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
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