Wednesday, March 4, 2009

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."