Claire Bradshaw, Executive Director of the Durango Discovery Museum and Michael Ackerman take a second to celebrate the opening of the Powerhouse.
It was great to attend a celebration for Durango Discovery's Powerhouse Museum this past week. Animas High School is currently shaping a long term partnership with the Discovery Museum. We were honored and excited to have that relationship highlighted at this well attended community event. Together with the amazing team of scientists and educators at the Powerhouse, Animas High students will partner for work on museum exhibits, ongoing research projects and community programs. Whether we're dissecting a solar panel, testing water quality or mentoring elementary school science students, the opportunities for collaboration are endless. Thanks to Joe, Claire and everyone at the Powerhouse for such a wonderful experience and we look forward to working together with you all in the future!
AHS students will get a sneak peek inside the Powerhouse on Monday, May 4th when the Discovery Museum shares their facilities with us for our second ALL STUDENT GATHERING!
Michael Ackerman presents at an Animas High School info session earlier last week.
On Tuesday, Head of School Michael Ackerman spent the afternoon meeting with parents and students in Ignacio, CO. Word is out and the promise of a 21st Century education is receiving a tremendous amount of attention in the world beyond Durango. It was wonderful to take the time to meet students, parents and community members all interested in and supportive of AHS. Look for information on future Animas High School outreach events in our weekly email updates.
Never one to miss a free meal, HOS Michael Ackerman enjoys the local fare in Bayfield Wednesday evening.
Speaking of outreach, I'm never one to miss a free meal and Wednesday night was no exception. I was fortunate enough to attend the community dinner and meeting at the Heartwood Co-Housing Community in Bayfield, CO. Heartwood residents welcomed us with open arms and the conversation and food couldn’t have been better. Following a delicious dinner of meat loaf, fancy potatoes and local greens, I was honored to act as the evening's quest speaker. Addressing an audience of about forty people, I spoke of all the great things manifesting for AHS. After a brief slide presentation, we opened it up for questions and conversation which took us to about 9:30 PM! How terrific it was to see and feel all the support from Heartwood households and residents of greater Bayfield. Your questions, our conversations and the evening's overall turnout were spectacular! Appreciations go to John Sheedy, Rachel Ackerman, Jim Judge, Holly Jobson, Sue Lawton, Phil Settles and Randy DeHoff for attending the event, helping field questions and assisting with our outreach efforts. A special thank you goes out to Katie Waller and her family for helping promote, host and facilitate this experience. Together, we are all accomplishing amazing things!
I rounded out this busy week by meeting with a very important policy maker and member of the state board of education. Marcia Neal represents the 3rd Congressional District and was in town to meet with leaders of Durango’s educational programs. We enjoyed rich conversation about High Tech High, Animas High School and traded ideas related to the future of education in Colorado. Ms. Neal is a supporter of charter schools and I updated her on our journey to date. I concluded our time together by extending an invitation to come back this fall and visit with the Animas High School community. She said she was eager to return and we look forward to seeing her again.
State Board of Education Member Marcia Neal and Animas High School's Michael Ackerman meet recently to discuss educational programming in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District.
