Greetings Ospreys,

Last weekend's College Admissions Case Study Worksop and College Fair was a great success, with over 60 families from the region and a group from Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico in attendance! Thank you our outstanding Dean of College and Career Counseling, Erin Cummins-Roper, who organized the event, and to Durango High School Academic Advisor Deb Medenwalt for supporting.

A huge shout out to the admissions reps who drove over mountain passes and flew into our rural southwestern corner of the state to share their expertise! It was great to give regional students and families access to thoughtful conversations about how admissions committees make their decisions, and we loved have folks here from the following institutions: Boston University, Colorado College, Colorado School of Mines, Creighton University, Fort Lewis College, Johns Hopkins University, Lawrence University, New York University, The University of Chicago, University of Colorado Boulder, The University of Utah and Washington University in St. Louis. One Osprey Parent summed up her experience this way:

"I want to express how valuable and informative today’s event was for my daughter and me. It completely changed our perspective. I can only imagine the efforts made to organize this opportunity, and I want to just say THANK YOU to you all and the college reps that came."

Thank you to the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative for helping fund the event!

Sophomores were out in the field two days this week, exploring the Sunnyside Solar Farm, the Vallecito Hydroelectric Plant and San Juan College's School of Energy. It was great to have former AHS Chemistry teacher Steve Smith helping with the field work on Tuesday, as he did last year in his role at La Plata Electric Association.

Well done, Ospreys, persevering through the PSAT and SAT this week! Test scores should be visible in student College Board accounts by early June. Make up testing for those who were absent on their testing day this week os scheduled for next Wednesday morning at 8:30am

The inaugural Animas Wilderness Experience (AWE) group headed out today to backpack in Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area for the next few days with Dean of Experiential Education Ashley Carruth and Dean of Students Dave Farkas, where they will build wilderness and leadership skills while beginning the work of planning fall 2024 Student Orientation for next year's 9th graders. Thank you to Osprey family the Haggarts (Henry '19 and Ainsley '21) for providing a space for them to land in Rico when they come off the trail on Tuesday.

Next Week's Events

Student Council is sponsoring some springtime fun, with Spirit Week scheduled for next week. See the flier for each day's theme. The Disco theme on Friday is a great lead up to the Prom, which is next Saturday the 27th at the Durango Elks Lodge.

Erin and Elliot Baglini will visit junior classes on Monday and sophomore classes Thursday to lead students through the course request process for 2024/25, using Infinite Campus. They'll be in with 9th graders the following week, on Wednesday, May 1.

Join TWIGS and Dean of Student Wellness Erin Skyles Tuesday evening at 6pm for a conversation about how to increase protective factors for youth in order to support their mental health.

Juniors and their caregivers are strongly encouraged to attend Rising Senior Night Wednesday from 5:30 to 8pm in the courtyard outside the Community Concert Hall on the Fort Lewis College campus. This event, organized in conjunction with Fort Lewis College Admissions and Durango High School, will cover important topics for juniors and their families, including financial aid, how to pay for postsecondary education, an overview of the college application process, making the college list and a timeline for May of junior year through the end of senior year. Please register here; food will be provided!

Thursday from 5-7pm, the Junior Spring Exhibition will include projects from Chemistry, Math 11 and Humanities 11, on display before our juniors head off for their 3-week LINK Internships the following week. The Osprey Café will give students an opportunity to demonstrate what they've learned about chemical reactions, specific heat capacity, energy transfer and heat curves through the lens of food chemistry, culminating in a student-designed experiment involving a food of their choice. Stomachs and brains will be satisfied! In Math 11, the students solved a land distribution problem, learning matrices, probability, combinations and how to solve systems of equations with more than three variables. Two different groups--development and recreation--were battling for the same new land that fictional River City recently acquired through a farm, mining and a recently closed military base. With constraints given to the students, they used matrices to figure out the most cost effective way to distribute the land. Finally, in Humanities 11, students will debut a short documentary on "what it means to citizen," followed by a Q&A about this spring's project and the student experience. All are welcome!

Volunteer Support Needed for Spring Events

TWIGS Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week is around the corner and we need your help! This year, teachers and staff will have an opportunity to visit the "AHS Farm Stand" from 11:30-1:30 each day to pick up that day's treat. Please check out what is needed for the week and sign up here. Thanks so much for your support in making May 6-10 a great week for teachers and staff!

Junior families, please reach out to libby.cowles@animashighschool.com if you can help plan for Senior Supper.

2023/24 AHS Yearbooks

Be sure to purchase your yearbook directly from Jostens for $40 by May 20.

Fall 2024 Enrollment

Fall 2024 Enrollment is open, with limited seats in each grade and a waitlist for 9th grade. Families are strongly encouraged to visit our campus. The next Campus Tour is Tuesday, April 30 at 5:30pm. View all dates and RSVP here.

Current 9th, 10th, and 11th grade families, please complete re-registration using these steps as soon as possible to ensure we have an accurate count of open seats for next year. Email libby.cowles@animashighschool.com with enrollment questions.

Have a great weekend and thanks for all you do to help the Ospreys soar!

Upcoming Events

Animas Wilderness Experience: Fri. 4/19 through Thurs. 4/25

TWIGS Event: Increasing Protective Factors to Support Teens: Tues. 4/23, 6pm

P/SAT Make Up Day: Wed. 4/24, 8:30am

NEST Meeting: Wed. 4/24

Rising Senior College Night (11th grade): Wed. 4/24, 5:30pm at Fort Lewis College

Junior Spring Exhibition of Learning, Thurs. 4/25, 5-7pm

Sophomore Inspire Week (10th grade): Thurs. 4/25 through Wed. 5/1

AHS Prom: Sat. 4/27, 8-10pm at Durango Elks Lodge

TWIGS Happy Hour: Fri. 5/1, 6pm at 11th Street Station

LINK Internships (11th grade): Wed. 5/1 through Tues. 5/21

Professional Development Day (no school): Mon. 5/6

Class Trip to Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park (9th grade): Tues. 5/7 through Thurs. 5/8

Teacher Appreciation Week: Tues. 5/7 through Fri. 5/10

TWIGS Parent Coffee: Fri. 5/10, 8:30am

All School Exhibition: Thurs. 5/16, 4-7pm

Spring Student Film Festival: Mon. 5/20, 5:30pm

Graduation: Fri. 5/24, 4pm at Community Concert Hall

Transitional Presentations of Learning: Tues. 5/28 through Thurs. 5/30

Last Day of School: Thurs. 5/30