AHS Summer Update 2- End of June 2010

Greetings,

I hope this email finds you well. Please take a moment to review updates related to the following:

Remodel Update
Volunteers
Summer Math Jam
AHS Summer Hours

Remodel Update

The action is moving fast and furious at this summer’s remodel. We’re moving into the final push of Phase 2 demolition at our campus at 3206 Main. The new suite has had everything from the former restaurant removed and all areas have been prepped for the build out. Walls and doorways have been cut and you really have a good sense of how our building will flow next year. It’s super exciting to see the transformation happen and we remain on target for our opening of school at the end of August. Thanks to everyone for their efforts to date. We’ll be coordinating a volunteer push at campus as part of the final two weeks of the remodel.

Volunteers

Speaking of volunteers, there are numerous opportunities to lend your time to Animas High School this summer.

First, there’s an immediate need to help the school inventory and receive shipments over the next month (July). We were fortunate enough to have grant money for the acquisition of school resources and more ordering at the end of the school year. As the copy paper, art supplies and text books show up by the case, it’s always great to have help on hand to move boxes, count items and organize shipments. Stuff is arriving daily and if anyone has anytime this week we’d love to talk with you! Email bobi@animashighschool.com or call 970-247-2474 to help out!

Second, as mentioned above, the final two weeks of the remodel project this summer will provide multiple opportunities for volunteers to pitch in at AHS. We’ll need help with painting, assembling and moving furniture, cleaning and basic finishing work in our newly remodeled space and help refining our existing space. We are now taking names of individuals, students and families that want to be involved in these efforts. Work clothes, a positive attitude and some extra time to give to AHS are all that’s needed to participate.

We are asking folks to devote a minimum of 4 hours each time they volunteer. (This will allow our project manager to devise the most effective and complete use of everyone’s time) We are looking for folks starting Monday, August 9th through Friday, August 20th, 2010. Volunteers can schedule spots in the morning, 8am to noon, the afternoon 1pm to 5pm, or sign up for all-day participation. Volunteers should contact the main office to schedule time. Together we have accomplished amazing things and Animas High School volunteers are the core of our efforts. Thanks for all you do for AHS!

Summer Math Jam

For those students who have been encouraged by AHS to stay engaged with mathematics over the summer, Animas High is excited to offer a ten session Summer Math Jam. Ten, two hour sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer will keep you practicing and applying the skills you acquired this year. If you did not finish as strong as you would have liked OR if you just don’t want to get rusty with your skills over the summer, this experience is for you!

The Math Jam will be held at AHS, facilitated by our professional math team and students will be expected to complete supporting assignments outside of the classroom sessions. This is a fantastic opportunity to refine your understanding, stay sharp and approach the new school year confident in your application and problem solving abilities.

Summer Math Jam starts on Tuesday, July 12th and runs from 10am until noon every Tues and Thurs. until Thurs., August 12th. Space is limited. For more information, questions or to sign up, please email AHS instructor, Josh Dalley at josh.dalley@animashighschool.com or call the Main Office at 970-247-2474


AHS Summer Hours

Animas High School is closed for the 2010 summer recess. AHS staff and administrators continue to work throughout the summer both at campus and offsite. We are checking messages left in the Main Office frequently but it may take a little bit to get back to you. Head of School Michael Ackerman is available to handle any issues, questions or concerns related to enrollment or AHS programs. Head of School office hours are held on the second and fourth Monday of each month. Please call the Main Office at 970-247-2474 or email mailto:bobi@animashighschool.com to set up an appointment. Next HOS Office Hours will take place Monday, July 12th, 2010.

Enjoy your summer. We look forward to keeping you updated throughout the coming weeks. Stay tuned for upcoming student and enrollment events in July and more opportunities to see and work with you all throughout the summer!

Call of a lifetime-Animas High School student saves Facebook 'friend'

HOS Note-

Great work Lay'li! This is how we look out for each other in a Culture of Excellence. We are very proud of your brave actions. Thanks for being a terrific example of what AHS and our students are all about!


Call of a lifetime
Animas High School student saves Facebook 'friend'by Garrett AndrewsHerald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated; Saturday, June 26, 2010 12:00AM Photo by LINDSAY EPPICH/Herald
Lay'li Mitchell, 14, sits in front of her computer Wednesday at her home in Durango. Mitchell was on Facebook when she discovered one of her Facebook "friends" was considering suicide and alerted the authorities. She is the granddaughter of Terry Mitchell.

On a Tuesday night in early June, Animas Valley resident Lay'li Mitchell, 14, was the only person awake in her house, on the Internet as usual, with one tab assigned to Facebook.
Earlier in the evening, she read a posting that didn't sit right. A Facebook "friend" was hinting at suicide. Lay'li knew the child had been having a hard time lately.
They had exchanged posts and text messages, but by 11:15 p.m., the friend had stopped responding.
"I freaked out," Lay'li remembers.
Lay'li's grandmother and guardian, Terry, was asleep on the couch. She could tell something was wrong when Lay'li woke her up.
"Her legs were shaking," Terry said.
Neither knew where the child lived in La Plata County. They frantically called friends and acquaintances.
More than an hour later, Lay'li tracked down someone who lives on the West Coast who didn't know the child's local address but knew directions to the child's house.
Lay'li scrawled the directions on the back of an envelope. She read them over the phone to a speeding sheriff's deputy.
When deputies arrived at the child's house, the child was unconscious; a scarf was wrapped around the person's neck, the parents asleep in another room.
"The person would have died had Lay'li not taken the initiative," said La Plata County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dan Bender.
The Herald chose not to name the suicidal child in this article for reasons of confidentiality.
Paramedics provided life-saving care and referred the child to mental-health workers.
The Mitchells received a call from authorities in the early morning telling them it was lucky Lay'li called when she did.
"I cried because I was so relieved," Lay'li said.
Lay'li is part of a vast web of friends online. But she was the only one who thought to call police when she read the post. Last week, for "having the courage to step forward and let someone know," La Plata County Sheriff Duke Schirard gave her an honorary plaque and coin.
Bender said the sheriff's office does not hand out many civilian awards.
"It really takes something special," he said.
Terry Mitchell said Facebook may get a bad rap, but the popular social networking website helped save a life.
"If you're their age, you can't drive, you can't really go on dates, you can't drink. It's a way for them to connect and to communicate and problem-solve," she said. "It's not such a bad thing. It just has to be monitored."
Based in Palo Alto, Calif., the site has exploded in use since its founding in 2004. More than 400 million users have accessed the site in the last 30 days, and half of all users go there every day, according to an online fact sheet.
The site has a particularly strong grip on young people, who use it as a communication interface and to continue their conversations long after school is over, said Escalante Middle School counselor Kim Osby.
Escalante and other 9-R middle schools now host parent nights in the fall dedicated to educating parents about cyberbullying, Internet predators, suicidal content and other issues emerging from new communications technologies.
"A lot of kids say things on Facebook they wouldn't say to an adult," she said.
Osby advises parents to maintain an active presence online and regularly check the history pages on their kids' profiles.
Facebook's policy for anyone who notices suicidal content on its site is to immediately contact law enforcement, said spokesman Simon Axten. The content also can be reported to a Facebook administrator.
"For our own part, when we receive a report for someone who has posted suicidal content on Facebook, we immediately alert the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline," Axten said.
Lay'li talks with her friends on Facebook every night, she said.
During an interview at her house, she showed some comment threads that take several seconds to scroll through. She didn't miss a beat while carrying on several other conversations on her laptop.
Because it has become increasingly where kids go to communicate, Facebook is becoming the scene of a growing number of veiled suicide threats, said Jeff Lemontagne, executive director of the Second Wind Fund, a Lakewood-based adolescent-suicide-prevention group.
He estimates that by age 20, about half of all people have struggled with thoughts of suicide. But too often, he said, kids don't air their thoughts and never get help.
"Occasionally kids will say it directly, but often it's in more veiled forms," he said.
The Second Wind Fund focuses on getting one-on-one therapy to adolescents at risk of suicide. The group's Four Corners affiliate office offers up to 20 free therapy sessions through Axis Health System to youths who meet a financial requirement.
Many of the difficult issues children face, they've never worked through before, said Lillian Ramey, director of the Durango office for Second Wind Fund. And children being more impulsive than adults, they spend less time considering suicidal feelings before acting.
"In many cases, they end up realizing (suicide) is not what they want," Ramey said.
Lay'li believes her friend was probably just scared.
"I think it was a rash decision. (The child) didn't know what would happen," Lay'li said.
A recent graduate of Escalante Middle School, Lay'li heads to Animas High School in the fall. She hopes to study photography and film before becoming some kind of doctor or emergency medical technician.
Given her level of awareness, her grandmother Terry thinks the medical profession would be lucky to have her.
"She's a friend everybody should have," she said.

From the Opinion Pages...Youth was right to question supernatural

Youth was right to question supernatural
Article Last Updated; Sunday, June 20, 2010 12:00AM

Kudos to young Sergio Trevin Verduzco (Letters, Herald, June 13 and 16).
I agreed with and was supportive of 15-year-old Sergio's first letter to the Herald up to the point of suggesting we "ban" religion. Belief in the supernatural is not something that can be "banned"; how can a belief be banned? How can one ban a thought?

I am encouraged to see that young people are giving up their supernatural beliefs. It is encouraging knowing that there are young men and women looking for truthful answers about what this Earth, its astral home and its own inhabitants are all about without summarily, and all too simply, explaining it by way of a creator or creed.

I read with interest and admiration both father and son's follow-up letters of June 16. I encourage Sergio the younger to continue his quest for truth. I encourage him also to rescind his pledge to cease writing letters to the Herald.

He should continue to write to the Herald or any other publications about his position on the supernatural. It is high time we start looking critically at ancient mystical beliefs and encourage others to do the same by whatever means available.

He might consider waiting a day or two before hitting the send button for his thoughts to solidify - allowing time to make appropriate societal adjustments to his mostly agreeable arguments.

Contrary to popular belief, it does not take a faith in a higher power to lead an upright, moral and fulfilling life. To live one's life with integrity does not require a supernatural entity watching over with the punishment of eternal torture as a rein.
Michael Stith, Durango

From the Opinion Pages...An apology to anyone offended by letter

An apology to anyone offended by letter
Article Last Updated; Wednesday, June 16, 2010 12:00AM

I apologize to those I offended with my letter to the editor (Herald, June 13).

While I stand behind my opinion, I wish for those in the community to know that I am not the Sergio Verduzco who owns East By Southwest and the Golden Triangle. He is a moral, devout Catholic family man who needs to feed his family with his businesses. I ask for the community members not to boycott these fine establishments over my rantings.

A person whose beliefs have changed after writing that letter at the beginning of the month, I now believe that choice of religion is a right, and as bad as it may seem to me and a few others, it is a freedom of choice and should thus be kept that. I will cease writing letters to TheDurango Herald.

May your own gods, messiahs, pariahs, angels or whatever be with the people in our religious community.And for our atheistic community, take care of yourselves.

Sergio Trevin Verduzco, Durango

From the Opinion Pages...Son entitled to his views, but he is not me

Son entitled to his views, but he is not me
Article Last Updated; Wednesday, June 16, 2010 12:00AM

A friend called me Monday morning to bring my attention to a letter to the editor (Herald, June 13) written by my 15-year-old son with the headline "Religion has been bringing humanity down." My friend was concerned because the letter took an inflammatory stance regarding religion that could be offensive to some.

After reading the letter, I also became concerned, because my son and I share the same name, and some people might think it was written by me.

I want to clarify that while I do not share my 15-year-old son's views about religion, I support his individuality and his right to form his own opinions even when they stray away from what I try to instill in him.

Sergio Alfonso Verduzco, Durango

AHS Summer Update 1- June 7th-25th, 2010

Greetings Animas High Community,

I hope this email finds you well and enjoying the warm temps and beautiful sunshine. Although AHS is closed for the summer, work continues to ready our building, curriculum and programming for the 2010-2011 school year. In order to best serve our students and their families, Head of School (HOS) Michael Ackerman continues to maintain office hours throughout the summer (2nd and 4th Mondays of the month). Time can be reserved by calling the school’s main number- (970) AHS-AHS4 and requesting a meeting slot or by emailing Michael directly at michael@animashighschool.com Office hours fill quickly so if it’s important to meet, please let us know as soon as possible. Any general questions or concerns can also be left with the main office/school’s voice mail.

We are currently scheduling times for the next two HOS meeting days which will occur on June 21st and July 12th.
Look for updates from school every two weeks over the summer. Please take a moment to review the following updates:

Report Cards

Report cards were mailed home from school on Monday, June 7th, 2010. Questions or concerns regarding your student’s report card can be forwarded via email to Assistant Head of School (AHOS), Jake Lauer at jake.lauer@animashighschool.com

Davoust Family Fund

As we mentioned in previous updates, AHS 10th grader Stephan Davoust and his family suffered the tragic loss of their home to fire during the last week of school. We are happy to report that the family is doing well and has enjoyed the support of both the school and local community.

An account has been set up to assist the family at First National Bank in Durango.
If you would like to donate to the assistance fund, it is called the Benefit for Davoust Family Fund Account #78143229. Checks should be made out to First National with the account number/name in the memo line. Thanks to all who have and continue to support the Davoust family in these challenging times.

Construction Update

Our students worked hard the final week of school readying our building for the summer remodel. We have construction and improvements happening all over campus the next ten weeks. Our newly remodeled space will finish out at just under 15,000 square feet and provide our students and staff with a safe, clean and modern space that supports AHS programs.

Currently, work is finishing up on phase one of our demolition. This involved removing an extensive collection of culinary and restaurant gear, dismantling walk-in coolers, removing ventilation hoods and fire suppression systems and moving and storing all assets not involved with this summer’s remodel.

Next up, professional crews will be finishing the demo process and dealing with all things electric, plumbing, ceiling insulation, sprinklers and security alarms. It looks like the bulk of new construction will take place the end of this month and continue into the first two weeks of July. The school will send out a specific email related to volunteer needs and scheduling in a few weeks. Volunteer work will happen in August with the need to complete cleaning, painting and misc. finishing tasks. Stay tuned for more on our summer remodel!