Dear Osprey Community,

Our seniors are back in the Nest safe and sound after a truly beautiful trip to Bears Ears National Monument, where the rain fell mostly at the right times as they camped, hiked, explored and learned alongside their teachers Lori, Kyle and Ashley. Many thanks to parent chaperones Lucy Bryson, Moira Compton, Leigh Bright, Amy Haggart, Mike McQuinn and Sue McClain, as well as to  Durango Devo for supplying vans and Friends of Cedar Mesa for providing educational context out in the field. We are so fortunate to be able to use the wilderness as our classroom!

Students in Shane Nelson's Adolescent Development elective head to Moab this afternoon for a weekend of camping, hiking and boating. This summer, Shane worked with the Colorado Education Initiative to flesh out his vision of providing school-based character education that incorporates wilderness adventure. The Durango Herald reported on Shane's work in their Creating Connections series, which is examining efforts to address youth suicide in our region; read the full article here.

	junior Riley Amos in the leader jersey at last weekend's Conference Championships in Eagle

Student Council is sponsoring Spirit Week next week, in recognition of the successes of the AHS Mountain Biking Team, which finished third in the Southern Conference, Division 2 this season. For the first time ever, the Colorado High School Mountain Biking League's State Championships are being held in Durango the weekend after this one, and several of our team's riders have qualified to compete, including junior Riley Amos, who finished first overall for boys' varsity in the Southern Conference. We would love to see strong support from the AHS community at States, October 20-21. The race will take place on a newly constructed course on Ewing Mesa. It takes an army of volunteers to run a bike race this size, and race organizers are looking for help. Sign up here to take a shift! We'll close out Spirit Week with an AHS-Style Pep Rally Friday afternoon, celebrating our team and all the Osprey student athletes in our community.

Please join us for Understanding Test-Optional College Admissions  next Tuesday, 6:00 to 7:00 in the AHS Commons.  Hampshire College Assistant Director of Admissions George Blalcok will share information about why more and more selective colleges and universities are no longer requiring standardized test scores. This event is open to all in the broader community, not just AHS families, so please feel free to invite friends from other schools.