The Animas Quill

17/01/2025

17/01/2025

Find the Stu-Co table set up in the commons during lunch to buy your tickets!

16/12/2024

9th grade Ospreys have been hard at work this semester on the Identity Mask Project, the touchstone first Humanities project at AHS. Students have spent weeks studying sociology and reflecting on the forces that shape their identities. They have created a visual representation in the form of a personalized plaster mask accompanied by a personal essay exploring the themes of the project. The masks and essays will be displayed at our winter exhibition on December 19th.

High school is full of change and shifts in one’s self and identity. Our humanities teachers Cameron Elder and Genevive Buzan-Dansereau find it important that students explore what makes up their identity and the roles that socialization plays in its formation. Cameron shared, “It’s important to have an understanding that all of the people around us, including ourselves, were shaped by the environment we’ve experienced.”

This topic lets students get to know themselves better, and most importantly gain a more empathetic and understanding view of each other’s individual experiences. They also explored how the groups they connect with have influenced their identity with expectations and stereotypes, learning how uncontrollable aspects of their life shape how we experience life and survive inside our society and individual communities.

Freshperson Avery Underell explained, “My mask resembles how stress and pressure have appeared in my daily life and shaped the expectations I hold for myself” She says that such a personal project “lets those emotions take a physical form.”

Our sense of community is very valued at Animas and teaching an understanding of each other is the backbone of these important high school connections and relationships. Come talk to students at exhibition about how their personal experiences have influenced their projects.

Story by Annamae O’keefe

13/12/2024

Sarah Brockett’s 10th grade and 11th grade Humanities classes have been working since September on their “50 Things Project,” a literary assignment where students pick a book to read and select 50 important aspects to analyze.

Students created a visual project to represent their book in order to illuminate its themes. From children’s books to dioramas to visual and digital art pieces, students were able to express themselves in a variety of media.

Humanities teacher Sarah Brockett shared “My goal for my students is for them to explore how these elements contribute to thier story and its deeper meaning. Each student’s project will reflect what they found most interesting, impactful, or memorable in their book. The result is a creative and analytical presentation that gives insight into how the chosen novel works as a whole. Through this, students not only demonstrate their understanding of the text but also share their unique perspectives on it with the class.”

10th grade student ​Vivian Van Deldan shared, “There is much more to books when you think about them in a critical way. Authors write books with detail and intent, and I don’t think you really see that unless you analyze the book like we did for 50 things.”

Through this project, students were given time in class to read and analyze their chosen novel in depth. 11th Grade student Avery Colclough shared that she “admired getting the time to read and annotate the same book in depth for an extended period,” saying that she is “really excited to see what everyone else put together,” and knows that “some students worked really hard on it.”

This project will be presented at All School Exhibition on December 19th. Come chat with students about their literary takeaways.

Story by Addy Gallup
Photos by Makenna Bard

13/12/2024

06/12/2024

Drew Semel’s Digital Photography class will be exhibiting their intriguing work on Noel Night tonight from 5-7 at the Smiley Building. The exhibit will showcase their best works from the past semester and will be up through mid-January for people to see and explore.

Drew shared, “The exhibition is a combination of all the interesting work my students have accomplished this semester. They have learned a lot of skills and techniques and created some beautiful images.”

Come check out the exhibit upstairs at the Smiley between now and January 15th!

Story by Charlie Bell

06/12/2024

Yesterday at lunch, the Bridge Program launched its first meeting between senior and junior mentors and their freshpeople. Students gathered to meet, share common interests, and play games like charades.
The Bridge Program seeks to create mentoring relationships where upperclasspeople can help their 9th-grade mentees with their transition into high school and Animas life.
Bridge Club president Mitchell Bidart said, “The Bridge leadership club worked to make the first meeting between the students a fun and active experience that would bring them together.”
Freshman mentee Avery Underell shared, “My mentor and I created a Spotify playlist, and it was a really good activity that helped us bond over our music taste. I already kinda knew my mentor but I feel like I learned a lot more about them.”
Bridge participants are excited about upcoming event like lunches, movies and hangouts. The overall intention of the program is to help the younger students feel like a part of our culture.
Senior Bella Austin shared “I’m excited to build a relationship with my mentee and support them through Animas events like POLs and their first Exhibition.”

Story by Rosie LeCompte’25

31/10/2024

Halloween ✅
Tomorrow swap styles with a teacher

30/10/2024

crazy hat day ✅
tomorrow halloween costume 🎃👻🧛‍♀️

29/10/2024

y2k ✅
tomorrow crazy hat day!

25/10/2024

Hey Ospreys, we are hosting a spirt week! Join in on the fun, dressing up is strongly encouraged! It will start on Monday and end on Friday.

18/10/2024

Sloths, service, and sketch journals were all themes of the Rainforest Studies and Service Osprey Block in Alajuela, Costa Rica. The group departed on their 10-day adventure accompanied by Humanities teacher Sarah Brockett and Director of Operations Christine Imming. They spent their time at the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center to learn about the ecosystem, culture and engage in service work.

Students spent six days of the trip cleaning enclosures and preparing food for the animals. Everyone got to work with birds including macaws, toucans, parrots and other native wildlife like two-toed sloths, raccoons, coatis, peccaries, and monkeys. Students got to develop connections with some of the animals, learning about their stories and personalities as well. Sophomore Monte Fahle shared, “It was cool to be doing work with the animals…We were all shoveling rocks into wheelbarrows and bins and bringing them to the raccoon enclosure to make their space better for them.”

When students weren’t completing service tasks, they were creating sketch journals to document their experiences and daily observations of animals and nature. Before they set off on their adventure, students participated in sketch journal lessons with former AHS Spanish teacher Amy Hewitt. Christine shared the purpose of the journals: “Amy came in because we wanted students to create a meaningful project based on the physical work in Costa Rica. We wanted students to be thoughtful and introspective and spend time noticing the animals and surroundings in a meaningful way. The journal provided an opportunity to record those experiences through art, data, and experiences.”

Junior Makenna Bard shared, “I wanted to be part of this experience because I’ve always loved animals, I’ve always loved traveling, and I love Costa Rica. For me, it was like once in a lifetime.”

Senior Ruby Hamilton reflected, “Costa Rica was awesome and amazing because you got to see a culture that values the time that life takes. When you live in place that tends to value the destination, it’s nice to be in a place that values the journey. The moral of the story is “Pura vida, bebe!”

By Rosie LeCompte

18/10/2024

A group of lucky students got to go down the Colorado River on Cata Canoes for 5 amazing days with Britt Blasdell, Dave Farkas, and Charlie Newton in the Wilderness Exploration and Landscape Studies Osprey Block (WELS). They learned about the geological landscapes in the area and got to show their learning through many different types of nature art, such as watercolor with the river water, mud painting and charcoal drawing with burnt willow from the side of the river.

Farkas shared, “My intention for Osprey Block was to immerse students into an environment that might me foreign to them, a river trip, in a canyon that most students haven’t been down, so that they get attached to a place and realize just how amazing our rivers and canyons systems are, so they fall in love with the place and want to protect it.”

Many students grew from the experience of being out of their comfort zones. Some even overcame their fear of heights and embraced the ethic of freshperson Ris Bedell who exclaimed:“Just go cliff jumping!” And they did!

They were given journals and art supplies to record their experiences and thoughts before, during, and after the trip. The third week was used solely for final project work time, and towards the end of the week Britt’s room was full of gorgeous art pieces, of all forms.

Farkas reflected fondly on the trip: “There is nothing more special than paddling your own boat down a river canyon, when you’re in charge and are on the schedule of the river, not of the time.”

Check out their “campsite” exhibition of original art pieces inspired by their new knowledge in the corner of the Commons.

By Finn Scarpella, Zoe Boespflug, and Dylan Livingston