News from the Nest

February 1, 2019

News from the Nest

Happy Snowdown!

Our ComicCon-themed fun began this week with Steve Smith, Lori Fisher and Finn Bridgham claiming best costume ( thanks to the Osprey enthusiasm from the audience!) and third overall in the Snowdown Spellebration Wednesday evening, and continued this morning with plenty of Advisory Olympics fun. A pair of aviator sunglasses went missing from the advisory photo booth. If you find them, please return to Roxy. While we won't have a float in this evening's Snowdown parade after all, we hope to make that happen next year!

Thanks to all who attended this afternoon's legislative update with Colorado Representative Barbara McLachlan. We were glad to welcome Mountain Middle School's 8th grade for the session, and our staff and board truly appreciated the opportunity to hear McLachlan's strong advocacy for public schools--including charter schools--in our state.

Please plan to join us for the Senior Humanities Exhibition: Community of Resilience Monday evening, 5:00 to 7:00 in the Fort Lewis College Student Union, where seniors will showcase a film, a magazine and articles for the DurangoCares website they've crafted to capture research on mental health and stories of resilience. In partnership with Celebrating Healthy Communities and the FLC's Wellness PeerAdvisory Council, seniors have invited local organizations to share resources and information about how they are working to support mental health in our community. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

Also on Monday evening, AHS college counselor Jess Adams and career counselor Janae Hunderman will share valuable information about course selection, summer programs and testing at the 9th Grade Career and College Night. This is a great opportunity for families with students in the AHS Class of 2022 to get to know Jess and Janae and learn more about how Animas works with students all four years to prepare them for career and college.

We'll visit with 8th graders at Escalante, Miller and Mountain Middle School next week, letting them know about what makes AHS a distinctive educational choice in our community. Prospective students and their families are invited to an AHS Information Session, 5:30-6:30 Tuesday evening.

The Board of Directors meets Wednesday, 5:30-7:30 and the School Excellence Committee meets Thursday, 4:30-6:00; agendas and minutes are posted here and both meetings are open to public participation.

Founding teacher Colleen Dunning's term on the board has come to an end. We will miss Colleen's keen intellect, beautiful optimism and fierce advocacy for supporting educators as the professionals they are, and we are so very grateful for all she has contributed to AHS over the past decade. Hers are big, stylish shoes to fill and are seeking a new board member with experience in the field of education. If you are interested or have an idea about a potential candidate for the role, please reach out to assistant head of school libby.cowles@animashighschool.com.

Enjoy the weekend and thanks for all you do to help the Ospreys soar!