This week is spring break for students and families here in Durango. I wanted to take a quick moment to highlight the exciting events scheduled during John Fisher's upcoming visit. Enjoy your vacations and I look forward to seeing you at next week's gatherings!
Public Presentation by Animas High School Language Arts Teacher John Fisher:
21st Century Learning - Incorporating Hands and Minds at Animas High School
Durango Arts Center Theatre
Monday, April 6, 2009
6:00 - 7:30
Informal Mixer with Animas High School Language Arts Teacher John Fisher:
Come meet the AHS 9th grade Language Arts Teacher John Fisher
Appetizers and soft drinks will be provided free of charge
East by Southwest 160 East College Dr. Durango, Colorado
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
6:00 - 8:30 PM
Coffee with Animas High School Language Arts Teacher John Fisher:
Come meet the AHS 9th grade Language Arts Teacher John Fisher
Jobson Residence, 1215 East 3rd Avenue (corner of 3rd and 12th)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
8:30 - 9:30 AM
AHS Student Gathering
Durango Rec Center- The Peaks Rooms
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
6:00 to 8:30 PM
Students already enrolled in the 9th grade class at AHS will have their first opportunity to gather as a community during this Wednesday night event. Join Michael Ackerman, AHS Head of School, and John Fisher, AHS Language Arts teacher, for an evening of fun activities, new friendships and food!! (Parents need not attend.) The event will include a chance to meet fellow classmates, hear more about all the great things planned for next school year and just some time to hang. You can count on big laughs, major fun and some exciting surprises at this event! Enrolled students are encouraged to bring along a friend or two. Please let us know if you’ll be attending (michael@animashighschool.com or 970-403-4827) so we can make sure to have plenty for all!
John's Bio:
John Fisher attained a BA in Philosophy from UC Santa Cruz in 2001, and an MA in Composition and Reading from San Francisco State in 2005, for which he won the departmental distinction award.John was passionately teaching writing to college students before joining the High Tech High faculty on the San Diego campus last fall. Immersed with his students at High Tech High, he is also currently finishing his secondary teaching credential in both English and History from the High Tech High Graduate School of Education.
Project based learning is an exciting way to prepare students to excel in a college environment. Writing for real audiences in real contexts changes everything. Having your work on public display creates incentives to reflect and refine like no other context, and that helps to create not only beautiful student work, but beautiful teaching.
John brings his varied passions to his students, and enjoys learning from them as much as he enjoys teaching them. Under the larger scope of "the Humanities" John gets his students excited about the connections between past and present - the larger historical trends and what's happening around them today. In teaching the relevance of ancient philosophy to their daily lives, he encourages them to express those relationshiops as "sentence ninjas."
John looks forward to the magnificent four season opportunities for exploring the natural world of Southwest Colorado with his wife and co-teacher, Lori Fisher. Between studies and teaching, John has lived and studied in a Hindu ashram in India, worked on a reforestation project in Costa Rica, learned to scuba dive in Bali, and has been a tour manager for the band Dredg.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Animas High Meets 1st Benchmark
Animas High meets 1st benchmark
63 enrolled, with 75 needed by May 15
by Garrett Andrews
Herald Staff Writer Article Last Updated; Sunday, March 08, 2009
With 63 students enrolled, start-up alternative Animas High School is on track to meet a goal for fall enrollment of 100 set by the state agency responsible for its charter.
Pansze
The start-up process is being overseen by the Colorado Charter School Institute, which set an initial benchmark of 50 students enrolled by April 1.
Head of School Michael Ackerman and his small staff have been zealously preaching about the small class sizes and student-driven classrooms to area parents to help fill the 37 remaining seats. They've shown parents materials that highlight the successes of San Diego-area charter school High Tech High, upon which AHS is modeled.
One unsettled question is where the school will be located. Ackerman, responding to a parent's question at Tuesday's informational meeting at Escalante Middle School, said he still doesn't know where the school will hold classes in the fall, but he's been pushing for the campus to be within two miles of Durango High School.
The start-up process is being overseen by the Colorado Charter School Institute, which set an initial benchmark of 50 students enrolled by April 1. The next benchmarks are 75 students by May 15 and 85 students by June 15.
Board member Gisele Pansze doesn't expect problems meeting these goals. She said AHS is building momentum and credibility with each student it enrolls.
Community of Learners and Excel Charter School are recent Durango-area charter schools that struggled with, and eventually succumbed to, enrollment problems. Both schools were closed because of the financial difficulties brought by dropping enrollment numbers.
Pansze said the established High Tech High model AHS is using will help maintain consistency and keep the school afloat. She said having a set and stable model will help keep fleeting parental input from overtaking the school's mission.
"We have this model that we as a board will measure our decisions against. So if an issue comes up that doesn't fit with our model, it won't go," she said.
In addition to Animas High School, Durango School District 9-R is working on its own alternative high school, Big Picture School. The district needs to enroll 65 students by fall for that school to open. Big Picture School's academic mission includes two days a week of external internships and a heavier focus on job-related skills.
Sue Lawton, a mother of three and AHS board member, is a believer in the AHS model. She has a third- and a sixth-grader she hopes one day to enroll at AHS. She said her oldest daughter excelled in a private school with a project-based mission similar to AHS.
"It's not only the curriculum; it's the approach to the curriculum," she said. "There are small class sizes; the kids have a real connection with their teachers and the teachers know what's going on with them and exactly what their capabilities are. A bar is set for each student, individually."
AHS board members and Ackerman will be available until the end of April for questions at "coffee chats" from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays at Durango Joe's on College Drive, and from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursdays at Durango Joe's in the Wal-Mart shopping center. A public meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. March 23 at the Durango Public Library.
gandrews@durangoherald.com
Saturday, March 7, 2009
An International Endorsement
New School’s offerings good for students
Although my wife and I live in Scotland, we take a close interest in the daily goings-on in and around Durango – mainly because our daughter and family are residents in your excellent community.
I happened to be in town last week when the school board of the new Animas High School was giving a short presentation to interested parents (and kids), outlining the key difference between the exciting new teaching methods imported from High Tech High in San Diego, and the more tradition fare offered by Durango High School and others.
Although deeply impressed with the obvious enthusiasm and dedication of new Principal Mike Ackerman and his team, I was even more taken with the revelation that here, at last, is education brought up-to-date with technology and the latest advances in educational psychology.
The approach is ahead of anything that I have seen in Scotland (where a good education has traditionally been revered) – so good for you, Durango!
My grandson is already signed up.
If you have an eighth-grader, you owe it to your child to check this out.
Trevor Hipkin, Perthshire, Scotland
________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you, Trevor for all your kind words and support for Animas High School. We are excited to be pursuing excellence here in Durango. We appreciate the endorsement and your belief in AHS. Cheers!
Although my wife and I live in Scotland, we take a close interest in the daily goings-on in and around Durango – mainly because our daughter and family are residents in your excellent community.
I happened to be in town last week when the school board of the new Animas High School was giving a short presentation to interested parents (and kids), outlining the key difference between the exciting new teaching methods imported from High Tech High in San Diego, and the more tradition fare offered by Durango High School and others.
Although deeply impressed with the obvious enthusiasm and dedication of new Principal Mike Ackerman and his team, I was even more taken with the revelation that here, at last, is education brought up-to-date with technology and the latest advances in educational psychology.
The approach is ahead of anything that I have seen in Scotland (where a good education has traditionally been revered) – so good for you, Durango!
My grandson is already signed up.
If you have an eighth-grader, you owe it to your child to check this out.
Trevor Hipkin, Perthshire, Scotland
________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you, Trevor for all your kind words and support for Animas High School. We are excited to be pursuing excellence here in Durango. We appreciate the endorsement and your belief in AHS. Cheers!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
And on the Big Screen.....AHS Staff Featured in Recent Media Releases
Recently, High Tech High chose to profile future AHS Humanities teacher John Fisher and his students in a video entitled Casting Shadows. As part of his student’s unit on philosophy, John required the completion of a student-created shadow puppet production exploring the idea of enlightenment. John reached out to his local community and brought in the San Diego Guild of Puppetry to work with his students. Together they explored the history of Shadow Theater, discussed the arts’ relevance and importance around the world and introduced the students to performance techniques and production skills. “I think they enjoyed doing some pretty rigorous content and then having such a fun kind of vehicle to play with…” says Fisher.
And who wouldn’t agree with that? When you watch this video, witness the passion and engagement exemplified by both the teacher and his students. Another fine example of how application and project-based curriculum can foster mastery in a variety of subjects. Terrific work, John. We are looking forward to you bringing your ideas and talents as an educator to Durango!
See this amazing video by following the link below:
http://www.hightechhigh.org/dc/index.php
________________________________________________________________________________
I’ve always found mathematics difficult. I was an average math student until high school where encounters with classes like algebra, geometry and physics left me befuddled, confused and barely passing. I had grim expectations for college until I had an epiphany my sophomore year. Over the years I had pretty much decided that I just wasn’t good at math and never would be. But my tune changed when I started to discover mathematic applications in all realms of my personal pursuit of passion, snowboarding.
Snowboarding has always been a source of much joy in my life. As I’ve progressed as a rider, I’ve learned amazing things about every aspect of sliding downhill under the influence of gravity. From the physics and forces that power my turns, to the equations and technology that keep me safe in avalanche terrain; there is no doubt that math and science play a prominent role in the sport. Using snowboarding as a vehicle to achieve competence and help me understand concepts I had previously given up on has been incredibly empowering. I also began dissecting other outdoor sports I loved like rock and ice climbing, kayaking and mountain biking. This personal experience convinced me that our passions and our interests, our avocations and our pursuits can and do provide us profound avenues for learning. We just have to be on the look out for those opportunities.
For many years before coming to Animas High, I have led and taught various snowboarding and avalanche courses throughout North America. How excited I was when Outward Bound released a five part series of videos highlighting the curriculum and courses I’ve facilitated out of OB’s winter basecamp in Leadville, CO. The following is a link to one of the videos highlighting our avalanche safety and training program. This course is a great example of starting in the classroom with direct instruction and then transitioning into the field to apply and master material through a hands on approach. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn5uAXBKEOg
An Evening at Escalante with Animas High
AHS leaders outline program
by Garrett Andrews
Herald Staff Writer Article Last Updated; Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Leaders of a newly established area alternative high school, Animas High School, talked to interested parents Tuesday night about the advantages of the school's curriculum.
About 20 parents attended the meeting at Escalante Middle School. Head of School Michael Ackerman and board members Gisele Pansze and Nancy Heleno provided parents information to let them know if their child is right for a "hands-on" educational program.
After a short film, Pansze discussed the merits of and need for critical thinking skills in digital-age adults. She described the teaching methods the school intends to use to foster what she called "active learning."
Heleno said only half of American college students are able to think at a "sophisticated, abstract level." She said this provides more opportunities for students who are able to solve problems.
After the meeting, Heleno, a former business instructor at American University and Fairleigh Dickinson University, described the lifelong process of learning.
"If you think of all the pathways of the brain, someone who isn't able to think of more than one or two solutions to a problem has a brain that looks like the roads in Durango," she said.
"Someone with a sophisticated brain has a roadway system that looks like Los Angeles. There are highways and byways, turnarounds, buses, railways. So while it's nice to live here, you don't want your brain to look like Durango."
Ackerman talked about partnerships with local businesses he hopes to have in place when classes begin in the fall. This "collaborative classroom" will be a vital part of teaching students job skills that can not only help them earn a wage, he said, but can take a student farther toward a college diploma.
He also wants students to be up to date on digital technology. When the school opens in September, each AHS student will have his or her own online digital portfolio, which will hold selections of the students' best work through their career at AHS.
Mesha Riddle, 14, was excited about the possibility of getting to use his hands more in school next year. He was said he wanted to know more about the high school's focus on computers.
His mother, La Plata County Commissioner Joelle Riddle, already has enrolled Mesha in the school.
"He's not a student who just sits down and just reads a book. Hands-on is really the best way for him to learn things," she said. "That's what we're excited about; it won't just all come out of a textbook."
by Garrett Andrews
Herald Staff Writer Article Last Updated; Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Leaders of a newly established area alternative high school, Animas High School, talked to interested parents Tuesday night about the advantages of the school's curriculum.
About 20 parents attended the meeting at Escalante Middle School. Head of School Michael Ackerman and board members Gisele Pansze and Nancy Heleno provided parents information to let them know if their child is right for a "hands-on" educational program.
After a short film, Pansze discussed the merits of and need for critical thinking skills in digital-age adults. She described the teaching methods the school intends to use to foster what she called "active learning."
Heleno said only half of American college students are able to think at a "sophisticated, abstract level." She said this provides more opportunities for students who are able to solve problems.
After the meeting, Heleno, a former business instructor at American University and Fairleigh Dickinson University, described the lifelong process of learning.
"If you think of all the pathways of the brain, someone who isn't able to think of more than one or two solutions to a problem has a brain that looks like the roads in Durango," she said.
"Someone with a sophisticated brain has a roadway system that looks like Los Angeles. There are highways and byways, turnarounds, buses, railways. So while it's nice to live here, you don't want your brain to look like Durango."
Ackerman talked about partnerships with local businesses he hopes to have in place when classes begin in the fall. This "collaborative classroom" will be a vital part of teaching students job skills that can not only help them earn a wage, he said, but can take a student farther toward a college diploma.
He also wants students to be up to date on digital technology. When the school opens in September, each AHS student will have his or her own online digital portfolio, which will hold selections of the students' best work through their career at AHS.
Mesha Riddle, 14, was excited about the possibility of getting to use his hands more in school next year. He was said he wanted to know more about the high school's focus on computers.
His mother, La Plata County Commissioner Joelle Riddle, already has enrolled Mesha in the school.
"He's not a student who just sits down and just reads a book. Hands-on is really the best way for him to learn things," she said. "That's what we're excited about; it won't just all come out of a textbook."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)