AHS Weekly Update- Week of September 13th, 2010

We want to thank everyone who came out Friday afternoon to Edgemont Ranch for our Back to School picnic. Thanks again to the primary event sponsors Advanced Eye Care of Durango and Durango Urgent Care. Thanks also goes out to Albertsons, City Market, Coca Cola, Southwest Ice, Serious Texas BBQ, Wal-Mart, The Badly Bent and our entire Friendraising team! Please take a moment to review the following updates:

Regular Classes/No Special events
Powerschool
Special Guests
Social Networks


Regular Classes/No Special events

AHS will have a regular week of classes with campus opening at 7AM and closing each day at 5 PM. There are no special events or afterschool gatherings this week.

Powerschool

Our administrative staff has been busy importing student schedules into our online student record system, Powerschool. Powerschool will give parents/families/students the ability to remotely access teachers’ grade books, comments and assessments. As soon as we get the green light from CSI in Denver, Animas High will be sending a letter home next week with instructions for log in and password info related to your student’s classes. Stay tuned!

Special Guests

Students will meet with two special guests this week. Senator Bruce Whitehead of Colorado’s 6th District and House of Representatives candidate for the 59th District Brian O’Donnell will join us on campus this week. We are excited to welcome policy makers and those who work hard to represent us up in Denver. With important Charter School bills working through our state’s legislature, it’s great to have a chance to show off all the success and impact a School of Choice is making here in Durango!

Social Networks

Be sure to join Animas High School on FACEBOOK for all the up-to-the second Osprey chatter. Missed an email or announcement, check out our blog at http://www.animashighschool.blogspot.com/

Learning to forgive

*** We are extremly blessed and honored to have Jason, his daughter Alicia (Class of 2013) and their whole family as part of the Animas High community. They continue to be in our thoughts and prayers as they continue on their healing journing. Truely an inspiration for us all! ***

Learning t0 forgive
Family turns to native traditions to heal

by Patrick YoungHerald Staff Writer
Article Last Updated; Sunday, September 12, 2010 12:00AM

Photo by STEVE LEWIS/Herald
Kimberly Armstrong, right, informs her son, Noah Hotchkiss, 12, center, that the red and blue colors of his blanket represent the warrior society as Noah holds onto ceremonial feathers before his recognition by the Gourd Dance Society on Saturday afternoon at the 90th Anniversary Southern Ute Fair Contest Powwow. In back are Noah's father, Jason Hotchkiss, left, and Noah's sister, Alicia Armstrong, 15. Noah lost the use of his legs in an accident that claimed the life of his stepmother, Cassandra Yazzie-Hotchkiss.
STEVE LEWIS/Herald
Alicia teases Noah before his recognition by the Gourd Dance Society.

Courtesy of Jason Hotchkiss

Nine months after his wife was killed in a tragic car wreck, the healing process is far from over for Jason Hotchkiss and his family. But rather than harbor ill feelings toward the driver of the other vehicle, 19-year-old Joseph Montoya, Hotchkiss and his family embarked upon a journey of reconciliation and forgiveness.
Cassandra Yazzie-Hotchkiss, a prominent local Native American activist, was killed Nov. 16, 2009, in a head-on collision with Montoya on Colorado Highway 172 near Oxford. Hotchkiss' 7-year-old son, Dante, and two stepchildren, 9-year-old Amada and 12-year-old Noah, were injured in the wreck. Her oldest son, 13-year-old David, was not in the vehicle. Noah's and Amada's biological mother is Ignacio resident Kimberly Armstrong, who declined to comment for this story.
Amada and Dante both suffered head trauma. Noah's spinal cord injury left him without the use of his legs.
Because the accident took place on Southern Ute tribal lands, the Southern Ute Police Department handled the investigation. Few details of the wreck were released, and the department has not returned calls for comment. But in a recent interview, Jason Hotchkiss shared details of the wreck and the aftermath.
"It is important for people to understand the situation," he said. "A lot of people just don't know what happened, (and) they don't want to ask me, obviously."
Hotchkiss said he doesn't blame the tribe for remaining tight-lipped about the matter.
"Their sovereignty is such an important issue, and it's important for them to protect that," he said.
Hotchkiss said Montoya, who had flu-like symptoms at the time, had just driven his girlfriend to work at the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio after working a graveyard shift himself. On his way home, Hotchkiss said, Montoya fell asleep behind the wheel of his pickup truck, drifting across the center line and colliding with Cassandra Yazzie-Hotchkiss' Subaru Legacy. Drugs and alcohol were not a factor, he said. Montoya could not be reached for comment.
Montoya pleaded guilty to vehicular assault, but rather than facing jail time, Hotchkiss asked the court to consider taking a different approach.
A good path
Not wanting Montoya's life to be ruined by one mistake, Hotchkiss proposed a plan that borrowed heavily from traditional native customs.
"If it hadn't been us that Joseph had run into, (Cassandra) would have been the first person to try to advocate for a good path for this," Hotchkiss said. "It's what Cassandra would have wanted."
He said Montoya and his mother, also present at the sentencing, immediately agreed to his plan.
"Their counsel had suggested that they don't take it, which is his job, but they heard it, and I think they saw in it a path that was beneficial for everybody," he said. "It was wonderful how supportive the Southern Ute court was. ... If we had been outside of the tribal court system, it would have been difficult to pursue a path like this."
The yearlong process requires Montoya to perform extensive volunteer work for Native American advocacy groups. Cassandra Yazzie-Hotchkiss had been an outspoken advocate for Native American causes, and it is her husband's hope that Montoya's volunteer work will further that mission.
"My greatest hope is that he'll become some great change agent in his life, become a real asset to his community, and take the spirit and enthusiasm Cass had and continue to apply it," Jason Hotchkiss said. "There's a lot of work to be done."
In addition, Montoya must bring livestock to his wife's grandmother.
Throughout the year, Montoya, Hotchkiss and his family will be receiving therapy.
The final phase of the plan will occur next spring when Montoya and his family will travel to Durango and prepare a meal for Cassandra Yazzie-Hotchkiss' family and friends.
"That's the time when we hope (Montoya) is able to walk away feeling forgiven and people who have been impacted and who are harboring anger for whatever reason will be able to walk away from it feeling OK," Jason Hotchkiss said.
Huge adjustment
Even with Hotchkiss' genuine desire to forgive Montoya, he admitted that life has been rough for his family.
In addition to the loss of his wife, the family also is dealing with residual medical problems from the accident.
Amada has some lingering issues as a result of her head injury, and Noah still is without the use of his legs and requires a wheelchair.
"We went to the doctor once every two years to get shots, and now we're at the doctor's office eight, 10 times a week," Hotchkiss said. "It's been a huge adjustment for us, financially, obviously. ... It just is what it is, and we'll make it through."
Through it all, Hotchkiss said there has been a tremendous outpouring of community support.
Within two days of the accident, a group of Native American students from Fort Lewis College, his wife's alma mater, had raised $4,000, which helped pay funeral costs.
Spearheaded by the local ministry Patrick's Crossing, a group of local churches organized to provide the family financial support, which Hotchkiss said has helped him make his mortgage payment, keep the lights on and focus energy on his children.
Durango resident Mark Katz, whom Hotchkiss said he had never met before but once played bluegrass with his uncle, showed up one evening with a "very generous" check for the family.
"It's a testimony to Cass as much as anything - just how powerful a person she was and how many lives she touched," he said.
Shriners International has been providing free medical care for Noah at its Philadelphia-based pediatric hospital dedicated to spinal-cord injury rehabilitation. Hotchkiss is optimistic that stem-cell research someday will yield a cure for Noah and allow him to walk again. Because the organization is funded entirely through private donations, it is not subject to federal restrictions on stem-cell research.
"The Shriners are an incredible organization, and we're so fortunate to have Noah working with them," he said.
'To walk in beauty'
Despite everything, Hotchkiss is optimistic about the future.
"In the Navajo Way, they talk about walking in balance, walking in harmony with our surroundings," Hotchkiss said. "That's what they call the Beauty Way, to walk in beauty, and that's what I'd like to see for my family and especially Noah."
In Noah's case, he uses the word 'walk' literally.
"I want to see him walk again, and that's one of the things we hope for," Hotchkiss said. "But regardless, we're going to roll in beauty if not."
Hotchkiss believes forgiving Montoya is an important step in moving past this tragedy. He knows it is what his wife would have wanted. And whatever the future holds for this family, he has the utmost faith they will persevere.
"I guess mainly I don't want to, and I don't want my kids to harbor hate," Hotchkiss said. "Life is hard. ... Sometimes terrible things happen, and sometimes they happen to us."
pyoung@durangoherald.com
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 4:03:29 PM
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mtnjoy says...
You are beautiful, Jason!! You are a light shining in the darkness.
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 3:08:05 PM
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worried says...
You Jason are a very good hearted person. Cassandra is always going to be with you. To forgive and feel no hatred is above and beyond. Maybe we all can learn by you. My prayers will go out to Noah and that miracle will happen someday.
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 10:37:26 AM
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Tomas Cruz says...
Wow! This is an amazing story. One of defeating adversity, dealing with with the loss of a loved one and most of all forgiveness. Mr Hotchkiss is an amazing man who has taught this community a HUGE lesson. I have a renewed sense of compassion after reading this story. I have a renewed faith in my fellow man. Thank You
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 9:59:29 AM
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humbled says...
This family truly restores faith in just being human, kind, and caring to people. We all have a lot to learn from this tragedy and triumph.
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 8:39:24 AM
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Cheryl says...
What a wonderful, uplifting article to read, first thing in the morning. I have great respect for Mr. Hotchkiss and his family. I hope people will take this lesson to heart and see the good that comes from the Traditional Native People. God Bless all who are involved in this great lesson in life.
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 8:15:48 AM
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Jennifer says...
I see now how this sort of plan can be so beneficial to society & spirit. I am thankful to have read this article this morning. These families will indeed feel recovery from utilizing plans like this and their society benefits as well. Thank you Herald for posting this enlightening and uplifting story of forgiveness & healthy choices being made in our community.
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 7:52:48 AM
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Sara says...
Fatherhood is precious
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 7:46:55 AM
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Local Dude says...
Many Blessings upon this Family. Wonderful to read about a Family with a Hero for a Father, tempered by the incredible sadness of the loss of a beautiful wife. Today, I weep for him and his children.Life is short, but Mr. Hotchkiss is doing it right. Who could deny he is a True Warrior?
Sunday, September 12, 2010at 6:09:06 AM
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Anne says...
Thank you for showing me what it means to be a True human being. Peace and respect to you and your family, and to Montoya and his family too.

Reducing the charter school leader learning curve- CO Charter Schools Examiner

Reducing the charter school leader learning curve
September 2nd, 2010 8:00 am MT
By Doug Hering, Colorado Charter Schools Examiner

In my job, I get to see a lot of charter schools--some are clients, some are friends, some are acquaintances, and some I barely get introduced to. The one thing that I've seen changing in Colorado is a real emphasis on getting charter school founders to understand the pitfalls and challenges before they have their application approved. The process seems to have improved over the past few years.

Still, I meet people who want to found schools with interesting approaches to running a school. Some want to start really small. They value small class sizes and small overall school size. They want to start small so that they can refine their model as they grow. The problem they face is that their start up budgets rarely work. They have to cut and cut to get a break even budget. Often they cut services that I know they need.

Others project student enrollment that is achievable, but a real reach. The problem they face is that if they do not make their enrollment numbers, they struggle because every student not enrolled requires a relatively painful budget cut. If the school ends up 20 students short, the school faces drastic cuts.

In Colorado, the department of education schools of choice unit has done a good job of providing start up schools with information, and the Colorado League of Charter Schools provides a detailed review of applications to try to drive out these weaknesses in initial budget projections. In addition, board members are required to take a series of exams in order for a school to continue to receive federal start up grant funding.

In my recent experience with both young schools and with schools wanting to open, I wonder if founding board members should have to go through that series of exams before they apply for a charter. This would greatly reduce the learning curve that happens after the school opens.

Why school reform is urgent- From CNN International

Why school reform is urgent
By Kathleen McCartney, Special to CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
As new school year starts, debate rages about reforming America's schools
Kathleen McCartney: Students are far behind other nations in educational performance
McCartney says Race to the Top program is prompting movement toward better schools
States, school districts, education schools need to be part of reform effort, she says

Editor's note: Kathleen McCartney is the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Cambridge, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Across the country, parents have been busy preparing their children for the return to school. They have been buying new backpacks, new school supplies and new clothes.

Their goal is not to stimulate the economy; rather, they are providing incentives to jittery children who are about to trade the halcyon days of summer for homework. Change is hard -- and new sneakers ease the blow.

Education policy is changing, too. Last week, the Department of Education announced the second round of winners of its Race to the Top competition. Nine states and the District of Columbia received $3.4 billion thanks to funds included in the stimulus package.
The winning states are making dramatic changes in how they do business -- adopting common standards and assessments, building data systems that measure student growth and success, retaining effective teachers and principals, and turning around their lowest performing schools.

Critics are already on the attack. They argue that the federal government is micromanaging districts, that states have been force-fed national standards, that the competition is too dependent on union support, that the selection of states was based on politics, and that $3.4 billion is not meaningful, given that education is a $650 billion enterprise nationwide. And yet, 40 states and the District of Columbia applied to Race to the Top in round one, and 35 states and the district applied in round two.

I guess Race to the Top worked as well as new sneakers as an incentive for change.
Opponents also say that Race to the Top is funding unproven policies, like encouraging the growth of charter schools and linking teacher evaluation to student performance. It's a fair point; however, the sad truth is that the knowledge base in education is abysmal.
In contrast with medical research, we haven't invested in education research, so we don't know nearly enough about what works. Failing children can't wait for needed research. Education Secretary Arne Duncan is right to make some best guesses about best practices. The critics don't seem to realize that they are standing in the way of innovation.

The education sector isn't used to competition; it's used to complacency. So, to jump-start reform, the Department of Education has also asked organizations to compete for a share of its Investing in Innovation Fund.

The fund is modest -- $650 million -- designed to accelerate the growth of programs with demonstrated evidence of their effectiveness. Seventeen hundred institutions applied, and the 49 highest-rated applicants must now secure a 20 percent private sector match.
This is a new strategy for the Education Department -- it is willing to change, too. Soon, nonprofits such as Teach For America, districts such as Denver, Colorado, and higher education institutions such as Ohio State and Harvard universities will receive resources to bring good ideas to scale. We need more programs such as this to foster creative thinking in the education sector.

Most policies have unintended consequences, as is the case here. For example, in Burlington, Vermont, a well-regarded principal was fired because her school appeared to be a failure, based on fifth-grade test scores; however, a serious examination would have revealed that 37 of 39 fifth-graders in her school were either refugees or special-ed children.
Firing this principal was wrong, of course. Yet we can't use examples such as this as evidence of policy failure. Instead, as we implement new policies, we need to get smarter about how we evaluate performance at the level of state, district, school and child.

We must resist resistance to change. The status quo in education provides reason enough. Consider three stunning statistics. First, 53 percent of U.S. children in our 50 largest cities graduate from high school. According to research by McKinsey & Co., underperforming students, many of whom are poor, have lower earnings, poorer health and higher rates of incarceration. This costs us money -- the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession year after year, according to McKinsey.

Second, black and Latino students are roughly two to three years behind their white peers on standardized tests. For this reason, education is a social justice issue. Education is the gateway to success -- there is no other. Education cannot be the root of inequity and thereby inequality.

Third, the U.S. no longer has the best public education system in the world -- not even close. Our children performed 25th and 21st in math and science, respectively, on the Program in International Student Assessment, well behind countries such as Finland and Singapore.
Andreas Schleicher, a principal investigator of the Program in International Student Assessment study, has written, "Success will go to those individuals and countries which are swift to adapt, slow to complain, and open to change." We can listen to Schleicher or suffer the consequences. Global competitiveness, scientific discoveries and the very future of our democracy are all at stake.

Race to the Top and the Innovation Fund are not the answer in and of themselves, but they are important next steps in education reform. Already there are early signs of success. For example, both have incentivized school districts and union leaders to work together to improve teacher evaluation systems, a precondition for meaningful classroom innovation.

It is also clear that these policies will turn states and districts into learning laboratories. Then researchers can evaluate the impact of innovation on student achievement. To contribute to this work, schools of education have to make fundamental changes in our approach to research.
Duncan has challenged education schools "to move out of the Ivory Tower and into the schoolhouse." I agree. We need to conduct research that is rigorous and relevant to the pressing problems in education -- not research for scholars that lies fallow in journals.
Education researchers, practitioners and policymakers don't need new sneakers to race to the top -- we only need the courage to change.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Kathleen McCartney.

Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits- New York Times Article

September 6, 2010
Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
By BENEDICT CAREY
Every September, millions of parents try a kind of psychological witchcraft, to transform their summer-glazed campers into fall students, their video-bugs into bookworms. Advice is cheap and all too familiar: Clear a quiet work space. Stick to a homework schedule. Set goals. Set boundaries. Do not bribe (except in emergencies).
And check out the classroom. Does Junior’s learning style match the new teacher’s approach? Or the school’s philosophy? Maybe the child isn’t “a good fit” for the school.
Such theories have developed in part because of sketchy education research that doesn’t offer clear guidance. Student traits and teaching styles surely interact; so do personalities and at-home rules. The trouble is, no one can predict how.
Yet there are effective approaches to learning, at least for those who are motivated. In recent years, cognitive scientists have shown that a few simple techniques can reliably improve what matters most: how much a student learns from studying.
The findings can help anyone, from a fourth grader doing long division to a retiree taking on a new language. But they directly contradict much of the common wisdom about good study habits, and they have not caught on.
For instance, instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention. So does studying distinct but related skills or concepts in one sitting, rather than focusing intensely on a single thing.
“We have known these principles for some time, and it’s intriguing that schools don’t pick them up, or that people don’t learn them by trial and error,” said Robert A. Bjork, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Instead, we walk around with all sorts of unexamined beliefs about what works that are mistaken.”
Take the notion that children have specific learning styles, that some are “visual learners” and others are auditory; some are “left-brain” students, others “right-brain.” In a recent review of the relevant research, published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of psychologists found almost zero support for such ideas. “The contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning-styles approach within education and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is, in our opinion, striking and disturbing,” the researchers concluded.
Ditto for teaching styles, researchers say. Some excellent instructors caper in front of the blackboard like summer-theater Falstaffs; others are reserved to the point of shyness. “We have yet to identify the common threads between teachers who create a constructive learning atmosphere,” said Daniel T. Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia and author of the book “Why Don’t Students Like School?”
But individual learning is another matter, and psychologists have discovered that some of the most hallowed advice on study habits is flat wrong. For instance, many study skills courses insist that students find a specific place, a study room or a quiet corner of the library, to take their work. The research finds just the opposite. In one classic 1978 experiment, psychologists found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room. Later studies have confirmed the finding, for a variety of topics.
The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious. It colors the terms of the Versailles Treaty with the wasted fluorescent glow of the dorm study room, say; or the elements of the Marshall Plan with the jade-curtain shade of the willow tree in the backyard. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations with the same material may, in effect, give that information more neural scaffolding.
“What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting,” said Dr. Bjork, the senior author of the two-room experiment.
Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time. Musicians have known this for years, and their practice sessions often include a mix of scales, musical pieces and rhythmic work. Many athletes, too, routinely mix their workouts with strength, speed and skill drills.
The advantages of this approach to studying can be striking, in some topic areas. In a study recently posted online by the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, Doug Rohrer and Kelli Taylor of the University of South Florida taught a group of fourth graders four equations, each to calculate a different dimension of a prism. Half of the children learned by studying repeated examples of one equation, say, calculating the number of prism faces when given the number of sides at the base, then moving on to the next type of calculation, studying repeated examples of that. The other half studied mixed problem sets, which included examples of all four types of calculations grouped together. Both groups solved sample problems along the way, as they studied.
A day later, the researchers gave all of the students a test on the material, presenting new problems of the same type. The children who had studied mixed sets did twice as well as the others, outscoring them 77 percent to 38 percent. The researchers have found the same in experiments involving adults and younger children.
“When students see a list of problems, all of the same kind, they know the strategy to use before they even read the problem,” said Dr. Rohrer. “That’s like riding a bike with training wheels.” With mixed practice, he added, “each problem is different from the last one, which means kids must learn how to choose the appropriate procedure — just like they had to do on the test.”
These findings extend well beyond math, even to aesthetic intuitive learning. In an experiment published last month in the journal Psychology and Aging, researchers found that college students and adults of retirement age were better able to distinguish the painting styles of 12 unfamiliar artists after viewing mixed collections (assortments, including works from all 12) than after viewing a dozen works from one artist, all together, then moving on to the next painter.
The finding undermines the common assumption that intensive immersion is the best way to really master a particular genre, or type of creative work, said Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College and the lead author of the study. “What seems to be happening in this case is that the brain is picking up deeper patterns when seeing assortments of paintings; it’s picking up what’s similar and what’s different about them,” often subconsciously.
Cognitive scientists do not deny that honest-to-goodness cramming can lead to a better grade on a given exam. But hurriedly jam-packing a brain is akin to speed-packing a cheap suitcase, as most students quickly learn — it holds its new load for a while, then most everything falls out.
“With many students, it’s not like they can’t remember the material” when they move to a more advanced class, said Henry L. Roediger III, a psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “It’s like they’ve never seen it before.”
When the neural suitcase is packed carefully and gradually, it holds its contents for far, far longer. An hour of study tonight, an hour on the weekend, another session a week from now: such so-called spacing improves later recall, without requiring students to put in more overall study effort or pay more attention, dozens of studies have found.
No one knows for sure why. It may be that the brain, when it revisits material at a later time, has to relearn some of what it has absorbed before adding new stuff — and that that process is itself self-reinforcing.
“The idea is that forgetting is the friend of learning,” said Dr. Kornell. “When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively, the next time you see it.”
That’s one reason cognitive scientists see testing itself — or practice tests and quizzes — as a powerful tool of learning, rather than merely assessment. The process of retrieving an idea is not like pulling a book from a shelf; it seems to fundamentally alter the way the information is subsequently stored, making it far more accessible in the future.
Dr. Roediger uses the analogy of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle in physics, which holds that the act of measuring a property of a particle (position, for example) reduces the accuracy with which you can know another property (momentum, for example): “Testing not only measures knowledge but changes it,” he says — and, happily, in the direction of more certainty, not less.
In one of his own experiments, Dr. Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke, also of Washington University, had college students study science passages from a reading comprehension test, in short study periods. When students studied the same material twice, in back-to-back sessions, they did very well on a test given immediately afterward, then began to forget the material.
But if they studied the passage just once and did a practice test in the second session, they did very well on one test two days later, and another given a week later.
“Testing has such bad connotation; people think of standardized testing or teaching to the test,” Dr. Roediger said. “Maybe we need to call it something else, but this is one of the most powerful learning tools we have.”
Of course, one reason the thought of testing tightens people’s stomachs is that tests are so often hard. Paradoxically, it is just this difficulty that makes them such effective study tools, research suggests. The harder it is to remember something, the harder it is to later forget. This effect, which researchers call “desirable difficulty,” is evident in daily life. The name of the actor who played Linc in “The Mod Squad”? Francie’s brother in “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”? The name of the co-discoverer, with Newton, of calculus?
The more mental sweat it takes to dig it out, the more securely it will be subsequently anchored.
None of which is to suggest that these techniques — alternating study environments, mixing content, spacing study sessions, self-testing or all the above — will turn a grade-A slacker into a grade-A student. Motivation matters. So do impressing friends, making the hockey team and finding the nerve to text the cute student in social studies.
“In lab experiments, you’re able to control for all factors except the one you’re studying,” said Dr. Willingham. “Not true in the classroom, in real life. All of these things are interacting at the same time.”
But at the very least, the cognitive techniques give parents and students, young and old, something many did not have before: a study plan based on evidence, not schoolyard folk wisdom, or empty theorizing.

Back to School Picnic This Friday!

AHS Weekly Update- Week of Sept. 6th, 2010

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. As we roll into week three of the 2010-2011 school year, please familiarize yourself with the following updates:

Back to School Picnic
Volunteer Needs
AHS Fashion Guide

Back to School Picnic

Our Back to School Picnic will be this Friday night, September 10th, from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at the Edgemont Picnic Grounds (same location as Day One of student orientation).If you are planning to come, please RSVP to PAC’s email address: PAC@animashighschool.com (if you haven't already done so).

Please remember:

-Bring your favorite side dish

-Bring lawn chairs and picnic blankets-

We will provide Barbecue from Serious Texas

-$5 per person, $20 per family-suggested donation at the door
-volunteers are welcome to come and set up at 2:30 and help with cleanup at 7:30

Get ready to have some fun, get to know other AHS families and teachers, and listen to the fabulous music of the Badly Bent!

Volunteer Needs

The school would like to personally thank all the volunteers who worked so hard this summer helping us get campus ready for the new school year! Your efforts and energy helped us open on time and in great shape for the students’ first week.

Although the summer remodel is behind us, our need for volunteer help persists. How can you help AHS? We are looking for volunteers that can give us an hour or two a week to help us with projects here at school. We ALWAYS need help with keeping our building clean and would love some assistance with our common spaces: i.e. hallways, Commons room, Lodge, etc… We also have the need for more tech labor. We spent the entire summer revamping our network and refining our backend (server room) technology. There still are some more wires to be run and software to be installed so we are looking for tech-minded volunteers as well.

Think you may be able to help out? Please contact Maureen at the Main Office with your interest and availability. Thanks again to everyone who has and continues to volunteer at Animas High!

AHS Fashion Guide

Students were all involved with a presentation on school rules and campus policies as part of their orientation experience. One of the most popular areas we spend time discussing with the student body relates to the AHS Fashion Guide. Our veteran tenth graders can spot a mismatched pair of socks or missing belt from a mile away and they have been invaluable in setting the dress tone this year.

For those of you new to the Animas High School community, please familiarize yourself with the school’s Fashion Guide. (Dress Code)
Parents, you are the first line of remediation when it comes to responsible fashion choices. Please help us by making sure your student leaves the house appropriately attired for the school day!

Animas High School Fashion Guide

The purpose of the AHS Fashion Guide is to foster a professional, safe and respectful environment at school and while participating in AHS programs. The fashion guide is in effect from the time students arrive to school and until they leave. Note that students must be in dress code before school begins if they enter the building before the official start of school. The fashion guide applies to field trips, site visits, academic internships and other school-related activities, unless the supervising adult informs the students otherwise. The fashion guide applies equally to students and staff. Students who participate in sports are always allowed and encouraged to wear their sport’s uniform tops to school on game days. Students are always allowed to change into athletic wear for X-blocks and after school activities.

Professional Dress

— Whenever a student is expected to be presenting their work, they are required to be in professional dress. This includes any and all in-class presentations, formal POL’s (presentations of Learning), power lunches and community events, gallery openings and scheduled exhibitions. Essentially, anytime students will be presenting their work to others they should be dressed professionally. Faculty will always remind students when there exists the expectation of professional dress and we will assist students in planning for these experiences.

• Through our commitment to professional dress, Animas High School looks to teach our students how to better assess and recognize when they should be projecting a professional image through their clothing choices.
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For boys, this means a button-down shirt, a tie, a nice pair of slacks (no jeans), dark socks and shoes (no sneakers.)
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For girls that means a nice top, sweater blouse or button-up shirt, slacks or a skirt, dress shoes (no excessively high heels).

Anytime there is not the expectation of professional dress, the following guidelines shall apply:

Tops

— Boys must wear a short or long-sleeved shirt with a collar or finished neck (Example- Sweater shirt, t-shirt or Henley.) Shirts must be buttoned and/or be long enough to be tucked in. All tops must have sleeves, be free of rips/holes/tears and any offensive prints, pictures or messages.
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Girls may wear collared shirts, sweaters, blouses or shirts with a finished neck line. Shoulders must be covered by a minimum of 2 inches of sleeve and exposed midsections, plunging neck lines and/or exposed backs are not acceptable.
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If a student wears a t-shirt, it must be free of offensive/inappropriate messages, pictures or prints.
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Sweaters and jackets of an appropriate size and length may be worn over, but not in place of an appropriate shirt. Hooded sweatshirts will be allowed at AHS, but hoods are never to be worn in the building. If a student fails to comply with this request, they shall lose the privilege of wearing “hoodies” to school.

Bottoms

— Appropriate school attire includes long pants, shorts or skirts worn with the waistband at the waist. (We will not tolerate students who subject our community to looking at their undergarments!) Excessively baggy pants, athletic wear (including gym shorts), sweat pants and pajamas are not acceptable. Jeans in good repair (no rips or holes) are acceptable. Skirts and shorts must be of acceptable length (mid-thigh or lower- dangling finger rule!).
Other clothing guidelines

Open toed footwear, flips flops and slippers are not allowed at school. (Sandals with toe coverage like the popular KEEN models are acceptable).
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Clothing that displays lettering, symbols and/or pictures depicting the use of or promotion of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sexual activity, nudity, profanity, vulgarity, gang related themes or racism is not allowed.
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Exposed midsections are never acceptable. Tops must be long enough to cover the abdomen, sides and back of the student.
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Hats, hoods and bandanas are not acceptable. Hats and hoods may be worn outside of the school building.
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Earrings and piercings are allowed but staff may request students remove their jewelry if it poses a safety issue within a specific activity. (Example: No large hoops for trust falls!)
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Appropriate attire for academic internships varies by workplace. Students must remain in dress code at school, until they sign out to leave for academic internships