New charter school focuses on projects
New charter school focuses on projects
A day at Animas High
by Chuck Slothower
Herald Staff Writer
Monday, November 16, 2009
The differences
In addition to its curriculum based on projects, Animas High School differs from regular public schools in other ways:
❂ Classes are smaller. Hannah Quick’s classes Nov. 6 had 10 to 16 students, which allowed them to inter ject during lessons or seek help from teachers during projects.
❂ Animas High offers no traditional sports or after-school activities, so stu dents go to Durango High School for those. By law, DHS has to allow char ter school students to participate, but that doesn’t make it any easier for AHS students socially.
Hannah played on the Demons junior varsity volleyball team this year, but she was the only player who did not attend DHS.“I definitely got some flak on that, but it wasn’t that bad,” she said.
The same goes for other extracur ricular activities. Boone Grigsby, anoth er Animas freshman, participates in DHS’ theater program. He has a part in “A Christmas Carol.”
“It’s a big transition,” he said.“Here, we don’t have anybody above us to call us freshmen.”
During a game of capture the flag at Animas High School, student Hannah Williams decided the rules didn't make sense. So she went to Jake Lauer, the staffer who was running the game, and told him.
Lauer agreed, and halted the game to tell the players of the rule change.
It's a depth-over-breadth kind of approach. We don't cover as much, but we go deeper.
- John Fisher, humanities teacher
At some schools, such flexibility might be unusual. Not at Animas.
"It's basically how our school is," said Williams, 15. "Everything's like that."
A public, charter high school, Animas opened in August, offering an innovative curriculum based on student projects.
Animas allowed a reporter to spend a full day at the school Nov. 6 to observe classes and interview students and teachers without restriction.
To gauge the experience of a typical student, Animas chose one to be followed throughout the day: Hannah Quick, 14, an avid volleyball player who one day wants to be a surgeon. She is one of three girls named Hannah at AHS. This is what her day was like.
Period 1 - Digital Media Hannah arrived at Animas before the 8:15 a.m. start of class. She was dropped off by her mother to the school at 3206 Main Ave. Music played on speakers before class time.
Hannah settled in front of one of 20 desktop computers in the school's computer lab. Animas High also has laptops for students to use, or they may bring their own. It's a common sight to see students on laptops in any AHS classroom.
Roxanne McKnight, a part-time teacher at Animas, began class with 15 students in attendance. The school does not use bells, giving the day a less-hurried feel.
Students were absorbed in a project to create their own student ID cards and a related poster using Adobe Photoshop, a complex software program. McKnight talked them through the process using her own computer.
Inevitably, students ran into situations where they were using the wrong tool or had missed a step. McKnight encouraged her students to help one another.
"Remember my rule: Ask three before me," she said.
When Hannah selected the wrong brush tool to manipulate her image, McKnight thanked her for making the mistake "so other people won't," instead of chastising her.
Soon, Hannah got it right, closely cropping the photo of herself taken in nearby Animas City Park. Some students who had fallen behind were asked to return during lunch to catch up.
Hannah said she enjoys the class because it incorporates programs like Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
"I really like how we're learning that stuff," she said.
Period 2 - Math and physics Math specialist Josh Dalley spent most of second period balancing precariously on chairs as he stretched to reach the white board mounted above his head.
Dalley is another of Animas' part-time teachers. He also coaches for Durango Nordic Ski Club.
Math class was fairly traditional by Animas' standards. Dalley worked through inequalities while his 10 students listened, although they frequently interjected with questions.
At one point, Dalley realized that an equation had gone awry.
"OK," he said. "I kind of botched this example."
Second period was split between math and physics. After an hour, Hannah and her classmates went downstairs for physics. Animas is a small school, and the distance between classes often is only a few feet. The 77 students often carry little from class to class.
Hannah spent the five-minute break between math and physics in the alley behind the school hitting a volleyball in a small circle of classmates. Others tossed a football.
It was in a seventh-grade science class at Miller Middle School that Hannah decided she wanted to be a surgeon when she and a partner dissected a fetal pig.
"It is so much fun," she said.
Her partner dug pliers into the pig's eye, causing the organ to explode.
"We didn't know where it went," Hannah said with delight.
In physics, students were assembling clocks from precut wooden pieces. The project was typical of Animas: There was no lecturing on Newton's laws of motion, but plenty of hammering. But, Hannah said, they were learning about the periodic motion of pendulums, proportions for the motion of gears, kinetic and potential energies and simple machines.
Hannah's usual teacher, Colleen Dunning, was sick, so Cathy Cullicott, another science teacher, led the class.
Matthew Longwell was in a group trying to make a clock resembling a longneck turtle. To show what a longneck turtle looks like, he pulled out an iPod touch and used Google to find a picture.
Physics is not one of Hannah's favorite subjects.
"I don't care why things fall," she said, "but I understand why you need to learn it."
Lunch Animas, which lacks a cafeteria and a kitchen, does not participate in the federal lunch program. Students may bring their own lunch or pay $6 a day for meals catered by local restaurants.
On Nov. 6, the Mexican restaurant Cocina Linda provided tamales. Hannah ended up with vegetarian tamales, much to her disappointment.
"I like meat," she said.
Zia Taqueria, East by Southwest, Homeslice Pizza and J Bo's also participate in the program.
Longwell went without a lunch.
"I can't afford lunch every day here," he said.
Sometimes, Longwell said, he brings Reubens. But not on this day.
During lunch, Akeem Ayanniyi, a Nigerian drummer who lives in Santa Fe, played for the students. Ayanniyi was in town to lead workshops at Durango Arts Center. He played two songs while students clapped along.
Other groups of students played football in Animas City Park or lounged in the hallways.
Period 3 - Humanities In Lori Fisher's humanities class, students critiqued one another's graphic novel sections. The novel is based on the story of "Medea," an ancient Greek play by Euripides that Fisher's students have studied.
Students were paired based on who wanted to draw and who wanted to write. Each group took up a section of the story, and the sections will be combined into one graphic novel. The 16 students in attendance filled out comment forms on their peers' work.
Hannah said the class was well-designed so all the activities are meaningful.
"You can tell how everything comes together to go into that project," she said.
Fisher and her husband, John, who also teaches humanities, moved to Durango from San Diego, where they taught at High Tech High, a charter school that serves as a model for Animas. The Fishers train other Animas teachers in the High Tech High model.
Unlike many charter schools, Animas pays its teachers on a par with the local school district. Animas teachers design projects that address state standards. Much of the time, projects reflect teachers' own interests.
"Teachers teach what they're excited about, and what they're passionate about and what they're experts in," said Lori Fisher.
At Animas, one project follows another.
"It's a depth-over-breadth kind of approach," said John Fisher. "We don't cover as much, but we go deeper."
Period 4 - X-Block Twice a week, students have X-Block, a twist on traditional physical education. Yoga, field games and aikido are among the activities available to students.
"What we're trying to do is help people find ways that they really enjoy to be physically active," said Lauer, director of student services.
Instead of traditional gym class activities, students get outdoors for pastimes they hopefully will love for a lifetime.
"It's just kind of a get-out-and-do-it kind of thing," Hannah said.
On this day, the students voted to play capture the flag in Animas City Park. Another group played disc golf.
Hannah guarded the flag for most of the game, which was won by Lauer's side, called the Squirrels. The winning team was awarded small packets of M & M's.
After the game concluded with the end of school at 3:15 p.m., students walked across 32nd Street with the help of a crossing guard and filtered out into the afternoon.
chuck@durangoherald.com
