Sunday, May 30, 2010

Escalante student injured at event- from the Durango Herald

HOS Note- Sam, You are in our thoughts and prayers. Get well soon- we are all eager to have your talents and creativity here at Animas in the fall! Know that our entire community is thinking about you and wishes you all the best in your recovery.


Escalante student injured at event
Sam Kuenzel hurt at Destination ImagiNationby Ann ButlerHerald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated; Sunday, May 30, 2010 12:00AMThe thrill of competing in the Global Finals of Destination ImagiNation turned into tragedy for an Escalante Middle School student Tuesday.
Sam Kuenzel, 14, was severely injured when he fell about 40 feet onto concrete at the Thompson-Boling Arena at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Sam, the son of Ingo and Jennifer Kuenzel, is a member of the A.D.H.Di. Team at Escalante. His team had been asked to act as foreign ambassadors to a team from Singapore, and Sam and a friend were on the way to meet the team for a pizza party when the accident happened.
The area was crowded, and the boys decided to jump a half-wall and run to another half-wall to get to their destination. They didn't realize that the space between the two walls was a 40-foot drop.
"Luckily, his friend Colin was behind him and didn't fall also," Sam's mother said from the University of Tennessee Medical Center where Sam was treated after the accident and will stay until Wednesday or Thursday.
In another lucky stroke, both she and her husband were traveling with the team because Jennifer Kuenzel is one of the team's coaches, and Sam's father was the first person to get to him after the fall. The site of the accident was only 10 minutes away from the hospital, which also helped, Jennifer Kuenzel said.
Sam broke both arms, ribs and pelvis, most of the bones in his face and has a skull fracture with brain hematoma. He also has minor internal injuries, The hospital listed him as stable on Saturday.
"The plastic surgeons did an amazing job," Jennifer Kuenzel said. "He looks really good, considering, and he's improving daily."
Because of the severity and kind of injuries Sam suffered, doctors have prohibited him from flying, so the family is looking at several days of car travel to get home.
"We've got a long recovery ahead, but he's making great strides already," Sam's mother said.
Doctors have predicted that Sam will make a full recovery, and he hopes to be mostly healed by August, when he plans to attend Animas High School as a freshman. A lot of people have already volunteered to help over the summer.
"I wanted to say how overwhelmed Jennifer and I are about all the love, support and offers of help we have gotten since this happened," Ingo Kuenzel wrote in an e-mail to family and friends.
While his team was shocked by the accident, they decided to continue to participate in the competition, Escalante Principal Amy Kendziorski said in a news release. They were scheduled to compete Friday afternoon, and the results will be reported when they are available.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

For Immediate Release to the AHS Community-

It is with great sadness that I inform our community about a tragedy that occurred this afternoon. Bob and Tracy Davoust, whose son Stephan is a 9th grader here at AHS lost their home to a fast moving fire Wednesday afternoon. The family was not home at the time of the incident and neighbors alerted Durango Fire and Rescue to the blaze. The school wishes to send our deepest regrets to the family and we are relieved to hear everyone is safe. Stephan completed his tPOL today at school and I’m sure he’d love to hear from his classmates over the next couple of days. As most of his peers know, Stephen was an avid reptile keeper and I’m sorry to report the loss of his snake, turtle and gecko.

We’ll provide further updates as they become available. Please email the AHS Head of School with questions or concerns. I thank you all for keeping Bob, Tracy and the boys in your thoughts and prayers and we look forward to supporting them through these challenging times. A report from the Durango Herald is included below.

Respectfully,

Michael Ackerman

http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/News/2010/05/26/Fire_destroys_Durango_home/

Fire destroys Durango home
No one injured in 1:30 p.m. blaze
by Shane BenjaminHerald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated; Wednesday, May 26, 2010 2:39PM

Photo by SHAUN STANLEY/Herald
Left, Cheryl Schlabach and Anne Connors,far right, comfort Tracy Davoust, center, as she watches the house she and her family live in burn this afternoon at 2431 Needham Court in Durango as members of the Durango Fire and Rescue Authority extinguish the flames.

Fire destroyed a house and left a family temporarily homeless Wednesday in Durango after an explosion was heard by neighbors.
The blaze was reported about 1:30 p.m. when neighbors heard a blast and saw smoke billowing in the west Durango neighborhood, at 2431 Needham Court.
“We heard something that sounded like a blast and we looked outside and saw flames," said Margie Myers, who was eating lunch with friends next door. “They were just shooting pretty high.
The house is owned by Cheryl Schlabach, who lives next door and rents the home to Bob and Tracy Davoust.
The Davousts have two sons; Mr. Davoust owns an auto repair shop in Durango, according to neighbors.
“They're a wonderful family," Schlabach said. “It's such a nice quiet street. There's hardly anything that happens on this street."
The fire appears to have started on the back porch, but the exact cause remained under investigation, said Dave Abercrombie, spokesman with the Durango Fire & Rescue Authority. No one was home when the fire started.
“It's been pretty well gutted," Abercrombie said.
Anne Connors, who was also eating lunch next door when the fire broke out, said the flames filled the living room and moved fast.
“When you run out of the house and you see billowing smoke like that, it's really freaky," Connors said. “This is so sad. This is the most precious family. Not that this should happen to anybody, but it's sad when it's just such a great, hardworking family.
No injuries were reported, however, a turtle, snake and fish may have been inside the house.
shane@durangoherald.com

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

AHS Weekly Update- Final Week of 09-10 School Year


Greetings Animas High School Community,

Well tPOLs are in full swing and our students’ presentations continue to exceed our expectations! In addition to tPOLs this week, students have also joined Jake and Michael in school improvement projects and helping us get the building cleaned, organized and prepped for summer construction. Our remodel starts in earnest on June 1st and we’ll be sending out an email very soon looking for help this summer with demolishing, constructing and finishing our new space. It’s amazing how much work all of our students have done this week and we are incredibly proud of their efforts.

Please take a second to review the following updates:

tPOL Make-ups

Students who have been asked to repeat their tPOLs will be participating in those experiences Thursday morning. Students who need to re-present have been assigned a time slot and have received specific feedback for improvement. We look forward to supporting these students as they look to finish strong in round two!

Thursday Start Time

Students who have tPOL make-ups have been assigned a time to arrive at school starting at 8:15. If your student passed their tPOL the first time through, then they are required to be here at AHS at 11:30 AM! (Students are more than welcome to join us at the normal 8:15 start time but we will not be starting Thursday’s all-school programming until 11:30 AM!) Tomorrow’s delayed start will allow faculty to concentrate and focus on tPOL make-ups and supporting those students in delivering a passing presentation.

Thursday Schedule

11:30 AHS All-Student/Staff Cook-out- We’ll have lunch for everyone hot off the grill! Cookout will begin at 11:30 and we’ll be taking attendance there.
12:30- AHS Talent Show- We’ll enjoy the talents and abilities of our students and staff as they participate in a showcase of their skills!
2:00- AHS Awards Ceremony- Students and staff will gather for a special award ceremony designed to honor our students’ efforts this year and recognize individual success!
3:00- Closing Remarks and Goodbyes

Friday

Friday is the last day for teachers at AHS. Teachers will be participating in final faculty and department meetings as well as exit interviews with the Head of School. Staff will not be available to meet with families or students on Friday. As always, teachers are available via email or telephone.

Summer Schedule

Head of School Michael Ackerman will be available throughout the summer and the school’s remodel will be in high gear. The AHS HOS will continue to hold office hours on the second and fourth Monday of the month. June office hours will occur from 8:30 to 11:30 AM on June 7th and June 21nd. July office hours will take place on July 12th and July 26th. Time slots fill quickly! Please contact Animas High’s Main Office to reserve time with the Head of School.

Monday, May 17, 2010

AHS Weekly Update- Week of May 17th, 2010



Greetings Animas High School Community,

Please take a moment to review the following updates:

Advisory Olympics
Bonanza Events Continue
Registration/Reenrollment
tPOLs

Advisory Olympics

The Culture of Excellence at Animas High School is due in no small part to the role of our Advisory program and curriculum. Advisory groups have had an amazing year at AHS and we are extremely excited for our last session together this Tuesday. Students and staff will be participating in the 2010 Advisory Olympics on Tuesday afternoon. Students are allowed to bring athletic wear for the afternoon’s festivities which are guaranteed to challenge and excite. Go AHS!

Bonanza Events Continue

Our students have been instrumental in helping us identify the best possible teachers for our school next year. Bonanza interviews and sample lessons continue this week with candidates for Math, Science and Humanities joining us this Thursday and Friday. All of us at school are excited and inspired by the pool of candidates that have participated in Bonanza events this spring. We look forward to announcing new AHS teachers very soon!

Registration/Reenrollment

A reminder that registration for new 9th and 10th grade Animas High students will take place Thursday, May 20th from 5:30 to 7:30 at AHS. Registration night is mandatory for all new students who have enrolled at Animas High. Registration packets were mailed home last week and should be brought to registration night along with a 40 dollar reg. fee.

A reminder that Reenrollment packets for current AHS students were sent home last week and are due back to the Animas Main Office with a 25 dollar reenrollment fee. Please help us plan and staff accordingly by getting the packets back to AHS promptly!

tPOLs

Students have scheduled their tPOLs for the final week of school in their Humanities classes. Make sure to ask your student when they’re presenting. Transitional presentations of learning are a big deal and students will be asked to make their tPOL up if they do not pass. Please support your student as they prepare to make the case for promotion into the 10th grade!

Session Ends with Death of CSAP Bill

see the report here: http://www.statebillnews.com/2010/05/hb10-1430-session-ends-with-death-of-csap-bill/

Session Ends With Death Of CSAP Bill
Posted on 13 May 2010
By Todd Engdahl, EDUCATION NEWS COLORADO

The Colorado legislature ended its 2010 regular session early Wednesday evening with the usual mix of chaos, frivolity, backslapping and hurried meetings, and with the usual dead bills.There are always a few measures that die on the last day of the session because of House-Senate differences. Last year higher education flexibility legislation died on the last day; this year it was House Bill 10-1430, the CSAP bill.What many thought in January would be a measure designed to clarify and expand on the testing changes mandated by the 2008 Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids turned out to be something quite different when introduced in the House on April 29.The version by Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, proposed to phase out high school CSAP tests starting next year and replace them college-and-workforce readiness assessments. The bill also would have shifted the responsibility for writing tests from the state to school districts. Some legislators, agencies and interest groups privately felt Solano had sidestepped them to continue her years-long anti-CSAP crusade.The House passed her bill overwhelmingly. The Senate Education Committee returned the bill to its original pre-introduction version, and senators passed that 21-14 and sent it back to the House on the session’s last afternoon Wednesday.Solano and the House requested a conference committee; the Senate declined. So, late in the day, Solano called on the House to stick to its version. That killed the bill.Debate on CAP4K delay bill takes lively turnThe Senate voted 22-13 final approval for a little-discussed bill that pushes back some CAP4K deadlines, but there still was some lively debate on House Bill 10-1013 Wednesday afternoon.On preliminary consideration Tuesday Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, slipped on an amendment that requires a certain district budget report be posted on district websites. (The original purpose of the bill was to clean up various school finance details in state law.)That budget report, which goes by the name of CDE-18, has been a minor point of contention because the only organization that reportedly uses it is the Colorado Education Association. School districts and the Colorado Department of Education wanted to eliminate it; conservative Republicans have used the issue as an excuse for a little union bashing.After a fight, the CDE-18 report was eliminated in another bill.Sen. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, on Friday objected to Romer’s maneuver. But, his attempt to extract CDE-18 from the bill was defeated by Democrats, some of whom voted against the CEA on the much bigger issue of educator effectiveness.The most important part of the bill, the CAP4K delays, have been little noticed or discussed. The bill slips the upcoming Dec. 15 for adoption of a new state testing system “until financially practicable.”Scholarship bill passesBoth houses Wednesday also approved House Bill 10-1428, which will transfer $15 million from the pending sale of a CollegeInvest loan portfolio to state financial aid for college students.News of the pending sale broke late in the legislative session and offered lawmakers a rare chunk of unclaimed money to plug into higher education.Romer on Tuesday night tried to tap $5 million for teacher professional development – seen as a sop to the CEA – but the Senate turned that idea down.There was a brief flap Wednesday over minor House-Senate differences, but House sponsor Rep. Karen Middleton, D-Aurora, and the House backed down to avoid the measure experiencing the same fate as the CSAP bill.In other actionTwo low-profile but important charter school bills are headed to the governor after the House accepted Senate amendments and re-passed House Bills 10-1345 and 1412 Wednesday morning. The first would create a method for the state to intervene with charter schools in emergencies; the second creates a commission that will develop and recommend operational standards for both charter schools and for authorizers. HB 10-1345 was re-passed 62-3, and the HB 10-1412 vote was 64-1.The House also already has accepted Senate amendments and voted 65-0 the re-pass House Bill 10-1274, the two-years-in-the-making measure that requires notification of schools when students are to return from treatment centers.

from Eduation News Colorado- Ritter: Teacher bill "capstone" of reform

Link to the article here: http://www.ednewscolorado.org/2010/05/13/ritter-teacher-bill-capstone-of-reform/

Ritter: Teacher bill “capstone” of reform
Posted by Todd Engdahl on May 13th, 2010.

Gov. Bill Ritter Thursday praised legislative passage of Senate Bill 10-191, the educator evaluation and tenure bill, saying it was one of the measures that “made our mark nationally” this year.

Gov. Bill Ritter talked about the 2010 legislative session during a May 13, 2010, news conference.
“Other states are looking at this,” Ritter said at a post-session news conference. “States around the country ultimately will go the direction we took with SB 191.”
The governor said the bill was “such a significant reform that built on a lot of other things we’ve done.” He called it the “capstone” of “major education reforms” enacted during the last four legislative sessions, including the 2008 Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids.
Asked about the fact that all the reforms have long implementation schedules, Ritter said, “I don’t think we’re going to lose steam.” (He isn’t running for a second term.)
“This is a difficult conversation, but at the end of the day you can’t back off on education to reform. … “Our national ability to compete is at risk.”
Asked about the potential for residual bad feelings between the Colorado Education Association and reform-minded Democrats, Ritter said, “I’m hopeful things will be repaired, but it will take time.”
He also cautioned that “we have to be careful” not to magnify the importance of tensions during two or three days when the bill was being debated in the House.
“The bill is a much better bill … than it was at the start,” Ritter said, noting the extensive amendments made in both the Senate and house.
“The CEA got to neutral. That was very helpful.”
But, Ritter didn’t seem overly concerned about the SB 10-191 battle. “You have to make difficult decisions.”
He also said there were reasons for late introduction of the bill, something that was criticized by some opponents.
“We began with an executive order. Part of that was determined by Race to the Top,” he said. He was referring to his January decision to create the Council on Educator Effectiveness just before the state filed its first (and ultimately unsuccessful) bid for R2T funds.
He said Sen. Mike Johnston, D-Denver, introduced the bill late in the session (on April 12, a month before the session’s end) because “they wanted to see what happened in Race to the Top.”
And, Ritter said, the timing strategy for the 2010 session was to get Public Employees’ Retirement Association and energy legislation finished first. “Teacher tenure … came after those other big things, and that frankly helped with the other issues.”
The governor said he also was satisfied with the higher education flexibility legislation, Senate Bill 10-003. He called it “a decision point about what use we make of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.” The bill gives CCHE the power over the next five years to decide whether colleges and universities can raise tuition higher than 9 percent.
The bill had adequate “sideboards” to protect students said Ritter, who long has been an advocate for college affordability.
“This was a great session,” Ritter said. “We accomplished everything we set out to accomplish. … I’m very proud.”

Time Out from Testing - End the Use of High Stakes Standardized Tests!

Ask Mrs. Obama for her Support to End the Use of High-Stakes Standardized Tests!

As part of the Rethink Learning Now network, CES has joined Time Out from Testing and many other organizations nationwide to ask Mrs. Michelle Obama for her support to end the use of high-stakes standardized tests.

While on the campaign trail, Mrs. Obama said, "No Child Left Behind is strangling the life out of most schools. If my future were determined by my performance on a standardized test I wouldn't be here. I guarantee that."

We agree, and if you do too, please join the campaign to send a postcard with the following text (or a variation of your choice) to Mrs. Obama on May 28.

Dear Mrs. Obama:

We want the same high-quality education for our public school children that you provide for Malia and Sasha.

Children are not test scores.

Encourage the President to end the use of high-stakes standardized tests!

Sincerely,
Name
Address
Signature

Mail to:
First Lady Michelle Obama
White House
Washington DC

Ask your friends, family, students, and co-workers to do the same! The campaign aims to deliver at least 50,000 postcards at the end of May to the White House. Five minutes of effort on your part can link you to this collective action and assure a powerful impact that will generate attention and focus to the cause of creating national, state, and local education policies that assure educationally meaningful assessment practices.
Get your schools and communities involved! Visit Time Out from Testing's website for more information on the campaign and excellent suggestions for generating hundreds and thousands of postcards from your communities. Please join this campaign! The CES network can help make the difference.

Be In The Know Event- Monday May 24th, 2010


Parents! Want to let you know about an educational event for parents regarding drugs/parenting/advocacy. Should be a great night. Please come and let as many parents of middle school and high school kids know. You may forward this announcement to anyone you think would be interested. This is a big issue in our community!

If you can bring a desert that night please let me know.

Thanks, Nadine

____________________________________________________________________________

Monday, May 24th join other community members and parents of teens atthe Boys & Girls Club from 6 to 8pm for dessert and An Interactive Tabletop Expo & Information Forum about our teens! We call it...Be in the kNOw!!!

The evening has 3 goals depending on parents needs: to educate,support and discuss.This idea sprung from three Durango moms who wanted to gather those concerned about substance use; to educate themselves while educating other parents on what is out there. Parents with teens can feel isolated and may not know where to turn to get the facts. Parents sending their kids to school may not know everything their kids are facing. This is an effort to stand together as a community to be knowledgeable and to protect our children.Some of the topics that will be covered: What is salvia? Tell me about drug testing Parenting resources. What is an appropriate curfew?Advocating for change. What are the signs of substance use? Bystander intervention for parents. Opportunities for action and advocacy. Show me the numbers-Show me! (Paraphernalia. Be prepared to be surprised!) How do I know if my child needs help? What are my options? Substance impaired simulation exercise for parentsParenting class. What are appropriate consequences? What if my child is in legal system? Social Media: texting etc..The Power of 3 Moms and growing. If you would like to be involved orhave questions contact Laura Lewis, Nadine Ontiveros or Carrie Whitleyat powerofparentsdurango@gmail.com

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

From Colorado Education News: Colorado is ground zero

link to this article here: From the editor: Colorado is ground zero

From the editor: Colorado is ground zero
Posted by Alan Gottlieb May 4th, 2010.

Over the next 10 days or so, Colorado will sit dead center in the debate over how to improve public education in this country. Senate Bill 10-191, which would make significant changes to teacher tenure and teacher evaluation in Colorado, will make its way – or fail to—through the Colorado House of Representatives beginning this week. It has already passed the Senate.

A Florida bill with some similarities to SB 10-191 (but much harsher changes to tenure) was vetoed last month by Gov. Charlie Crist, earning him a lifetime’s exile from the Republican Party. Now the National Education Association is turning its heavy guns on Colorado, hoping to bury state Sen. Mike Johnston’s bill before it becomes law.

Their chances of success look pretty good. The NEA, the Colorado Education Association and local teachers’ unions are powerful lobbying machines. The perception that Johnston’s bill is anti-teacher, that it seeks to blame teachers alone for the failures of American public education, seem to be taking root, at least in some quarters.

In a decidedly unscientific survey, comments on the Education News Colorado web site and blog are running against the bill by a substantial margin. Whether this is the result of an orchestrated campaign is anyone’s guess.

It is going to be one heck of a fight, and the stakes could not be higher. SB 10-191 represents a major gamble by local proponents of Obama-Duncan reforms, because its failure would alter the course of reform in Colorado in unpredictable ways. It would almost certainly kill any chance the state might have to win $175 million in round two Race to the Top money.
A visit to Denver last week by Diane Ravitch, the highest-profile opponent of Race to the Top, underscored how much disagreement there is, here and across the nation, about best way forward. Ravitch said she hoped SB 10-191 would fail, because it is unduly punitive and scapegoats teachers.

She also urged all states, including Colorado, to run away from Race to the Top as fast as possible because, she said, it is built on the rotten foundation of No Child Left Behind.
It’s interesting to note that Ravitch’s visit was sponsored in large part by local foundations with whom she disagrees on these issues (and who are funders of EdNews).
As I’ve said before, I hope Johnston’s bill passes. It’s far from perfect. But many of the most prominent arguments against it border on fear-mongering. And the alternative seems to be doing nothing. This may be what the unions not-so-secretly want, but standing pat would be catastrophic.

In the past couple of months, however, I have sensed a shift in momentum on these big education questions. Until recently, people pushing school choice and the revamp of tenure and evaluation – the Obama-Duncan agenda – seemed to have the energy and mojo on their side.
Lately, though, the passion and commitment seems stronger among those fighting those reforms. The unions and their supporters are newly energized, and are waging an effective campaign against the changes. Their victory in Florida pumped them full of new life.

Unfortunately, I don’t see people fighting the Obama-Duncan agenda putting forth any affirmative ideas of their own. But hey, if being the “party of no” is working for the GOP, why shouldn’t it work for the so-called progressives trying to kill SB-191?

One reason momentum may have shifted is because people who support these changes have a more nuanced perspective. Take a recent Education Week blog post by Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute. While voicing support for SB 10-191, he acknowledged it and similar bills in other states have major flaws, and urged legislators to slow down and take on these complex issues one bite at a time.

“…the impatient rush to “fix” teacher quality in one furious burst of legislating is leading to troublesome overreaching and putting the cart before the horse. The result: hugely promising efforts to uproot outdated and stifling arrangements get enveloped in crudely drawn, sketchily considered, and potentially self-destructive efforts to mandate a heavy reliance upon value-added assessment (known as the growth model in Colorado).”

“The first task is to uproot anachronistic policies and structures to create room for smart new solutions to take root. (Think of the first decade of welfare reform in the 1980s). Only after a couple years in which we’ve given districts a chance to feel their way, and after a handful of alpha locales have crafted some promising approaches, does it make sense for state legislatures to start offering more direction. I blame a lot of this current “one fell swoop” mindset on Race to the Top.”

“I understand the frustration with the status quo and union resistance that has fueled “fix it now” thinking. I understand fears that nothing much will change if states don’t mandate it. But K-12 schooling is a big, complex exercise. Large, hurried solutions have a way of working less well than hoped. Impatience and lashing out in frustration can lead to bad policy–as with NCLB’s 100% target for 2014 and its Kafkaesque remedy cascade.”

Thoughtful stuff. I only wish the naysayers would be as thoughtful.

AHS Weekly Update- Week of May 10th, 2010

Greetings Animas High School Community,

A huge THANK YOU to all who came out to last Thursday’s Final Exhibition Event. The students’ presentations, posters, essays and musical instruments were absolutely amazing. We are so proud of our ninth graders and as we enter the home stretch, please review the following updates:

NWEA

Re-Enrollment Packets

tPOLs


NWEA

Students will be participating in a final round of NWEA testing this week. NWEAs assess individual student growth throughout the school year. We look forward to using test data and the results of these assessments to better serve and differentiate instruction for all of our students. Students participated in NWEAs in the fall and also in late winter. If you have questions about NWEA student testing, please contact AHS Coordinator of Exceptional Students/ Testing Coordinator Jeff Di Giacomo at jeff.digiacomom@animashighschool.com

Re-Enrollment Packets

Re-Enrollment Packets were sent home to the Class of 2013 last Friday. Included in the packet is a re-enrollment form, a letter from AHS Head of School Michael Ackerman, a copy of AHS student Alicia Whiteman’s recent address from our trip to Colorado’s Capitol and a special surprise for students that participated in orientation last August. Re-enrollment forms are to be filled out and returned to school along with a twenty five dollar re-enrollment fee. Questions or concerns should be forwarded to AHS Director of Student Services Jake Lauer at jake.lauer@animashighschool.com

Please Note that Registration night for incoming 9th and 10th graders will be held at Animas High School on Thursday May 20th. Registration packets were mailed out to incoming enrolled students the beginning of this week.


tPOLs

Final Exhibition may be over but students continue to work towards their Transitional Presentations of Learning scheduled for the final week of school. Similar to POLs which occurred at the end of first semester, tPOLs offer students a chance to present their learning and speak to the growth and competence they’ve realized this year at AHS. Students will also be making the case as to why they are solid candidates for promotion to the 10th grade. We look forward to hearing all the great presentations and working with students as they look to finish this year strong. Students will receive a tPOL schedule next week.