Osprey Block | Animas Quill Media

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OSPREY BLOCK

Osprey Block is a new innovative AHS program that gives students the opportunity to take a three week immersion into classes that feature new content and exciting excursions.

Spanish 3 and 4 students immersed themselves in the Spanish language and Mexican culture as they spent a week in Todos Santos with language teachers Jenny McKenzie and Kat Jackson and Director of Operations Christine Imming.

Baja Bound students faced many triumphs and challenges through immersive experiences such as shadowing students at Palapas High School, creating an art project for elementary students at the Emiliano Zapata School, and overcoming the language barrier to communicate with locals. Along with those rich immersion experiences, teachers planned fun learning activities such as cooking lessons with a local family, a boat ride, beach time, swimming with sea lions, and a short hike to Canyon de la Zorra.

Profe Kat shared her takeaways: “I think the Baja Bound Osprey Block was an amazing experience for students to learn a lot of Spanish in the first week and then apply it to an immersive experience in Mexico. Students also met with a lot of schools in Mexico, so they were able to share culture and a bit about themselves. Students were able to collaborate and learn what it's like to live together with the same group of people for 8 days.”

Junior AJ Bonanno shared, “ My favorite part of Osprey Block was being able to talk with native Spanish speakers and being able to have that experience. Authenticity is impossible to replicate, and something that I will be taking away is that there's really no way to replace going out into the world and applying what we have learned.”

Students in the Emergency Response Osprey Block got a chance to learn a lot about rescue protocols and careers in emergency medicine. Students were mentored by first responders in order to get all the tools they need to get their WFA (Wilderness First Aid) certification.

The students in this group experienced a lot of different learning opportunities, such as traveling to the Silverton Search and Rescue building, doing a walkthrough in Mercy Hospital’s Emergency Room, doing simulated protocols with professional first responders, and getting hands-on experience with the Upper Pine Fire Crew.

Instructor Peter Bradley shared, “I think students learned how to think on their feet and apply information they learned in many different settings in their lives, as well as getting exposed to alot of career choices they can do right out of high school with no college diploma.”

This impact was shown through students getting a passion for this work and opportunity. Senior Cedar Fisher, who is interested in going into this work someday, expressed, “I am grateful for the course because I was able to meet some people in my field and work towards securing an internship.”

The Aquaponics Osprey Block, led by Chemistry teacher Madi Neukirch, Math teacher Lauren Lucky, and student teacher Antonio Acuna, dove into learning all about ecosystems and their biological processes, growing plants with and without soil, and the negative impacts of traditional farming.

Teacher Lauren Lucky explained the purpose of their group experience: “The biggest takeaway for my students in hydroponics was learning how to grow our own food in the face of food security issues in the future and learning about sustainable agriculture.”

Their final project was to create their own hydroponics systems, which are now being maintained in the AHS building. Students leaving this Osprey Block now have knowledge and understanding of ecosystems and their importance.

Junior Zoey Rich shared “I grew another form of community within the Animas community through the Osprey Block by meeting new people and having time to get to know them.”

The Native Culture of the Southwest Osprey Block, led by Head of School Rebecca Ruland, student teacher Oliver Kennedy, and Humanities teachers Genevieve Buzan-Dansereau and Sarah Brockett, took part in a three week long study of ancient and present day Native American culture, taking time to acknowledge the tragedy and beauty of the history.

The students’ final project was to create a piece that would portray the knowledge they learned. Many students created art pieces, while others collaborated in creating a rock wall inspired by the architecture seen at Pueblo Bonito.

Throughout the experience, the teachers stressed the importance of recognition and respect for Native American culture. Students all expressed their amazement when walking through the ruins of Chaco Canyon and other ancestral sites. During this block, students and teachers formed stronger connections through hiking and an overnight camping trip.

Genevieve reflected on the experience: “I am really grateful that over the course of three weeks we were able to cover a large chunk of history, and I’m especially grateful for our guest speakers that came in. Our students actually got to talk to a delegate of the Navajo Nation, and I’m hopeful that they have a wider view of government and sovereignty.”

The Documentary Film Osprey Block took on the task of creating a documentary film to enter in the Durango Independent Film Festival about the Osprey Block experience. 20+ students had the goal of gathering interviews and footage of Osprey Blocks to be able to make a film about how our programming is part of a bigger movement to transform education.

Journalism teacher Jessica McCallum and Digital Arts teacher Drew Semel were joined by student teacher Grayson Acri to teach the students about filmmaking techniques, journalistic interviews, gathering evidence, b-roll, technology, editing, copyright and free-use laws, and more.

Along this journey, students analyzed remarkable documentaries such as Icarus, The Rescue, My Octopus Teacher, Gender Revolution, and many more. They also attended a DIY film festival in downtown Durango organized by teachers Jessica and Drew at the Gaslight Theater and the Durango Arts Center.

Students had the privilege of meeting world renowned journalist and documentarian Katie Couric and discovering the ins and outs of the industry of journalism and documentary filmmaking. Senior Michael Jantz, a budding filmmaker himself, shared that the experience “helped me focus on my passion more and realize where I need to progress.”

The Special Relativity Osprey Block, led by teachers Kyle Edmondson, John Grotenhuis, and Emma Boone, dove deep dive on the fascinating topic of Space-Time. Alongside their students, they broke down Einstein's famous E=mc2 equation and how that applies to their topic. From learning about how mass dents space to actual time travel, this class was full of exciting out-of-the-box learning and projects in which both teachers and students were learning alongside each other.

The class took two field trips, a short field trip to the planetarium in Farmington where they learned about the history of our galaxy, and an overnight trip to Albuquerque, where they visited multiple museums such as The Natural History Museum and The Nuclear History Museum.

The class made multiple projects through the use of coding, engineering, and woodworking to show what they had learned. These projects consist of things such as a gravity well that shows the bending of space-time and the Michealson Morley experiment which was used to disprove the existence of ether.

Math teacher John stated, “I enjoyed learning with the students and unraveling the mystery that is space-time.”

The students of the Wilderness Exploration and Landscape Studies Osprey Block, led by Cameron Elder, Britt Blasdell, and Dave Farkas, took a canoe trip down Meander Canyon on the Colorado River. Their time on the river consisted of learning about the geology of the canyon, visiting ancestral sites, water coloring and journaling.

The week before students left the trip, they learned about the wildlife they might encounter on the river. Colorado Parks and Wildlife Biologist Jim White came into class to talk about the native and non native fish on the Colorado River. Molly Taylor, an ornithologist and river guide, talked mainly about birds but also some other wildlife and indigenous flora and fauna around the area.

After the trip students came back and made final art projects based off of things they spotted on the river and the life changing lessons they learned. Come check out their beautiful art….

Britt shared her feelings on the experience: “The whole course was fantastic to me. Not only did I learn a ton about geography, ornithology, and the hikes, but it was also lovely just to unwind on a river alongside rad students, fishing, playing, paddling, cliff jumping, painting, holding campfire rituals, journaling, practicing yoga on the beaches, just having fun. It was really great meal planning, prepping gear, shopping and being creative and learning alongside the students on a river I had never been down before. My colleagues are so knowledgeable in this area and it was so fun to learn from them as well! It really was epic and I can’t wait to do it again!”

The Water in the West Osprey Block students adventured into the Ruby-Horsethief section of the Colorado River to experience the environment they have been learning about in the classroom.

Before and after they left, they studied the river's political, ecological, and hydrological aspects, how these parts affect humans, and how we have impacted their ecosystem.

Upon returning, they made they made laser cut wood engraved posters and a stream table
to showcase their understanding of the ecology and hydrology of the Colorado River and how it is changing.

Senior humanities teacher Lori Fisher’s hopes for her Osprey Block indeed came to light: “I have slowly come to the conclusion of how impactful an understanding of the area around you is, both to influence your actions and how to relate with the natural world. Throughout the course of my Osprey Block, I watched my students gain both academic knowledge and a deep appreciation for the natural world around us.”

“In Search of Ikigai,” led by Ashley Carruth, Ande Lloyd, and Erin Skyles, devoted their three weeks to searching for “ikigai” (meaning) and connecting to nature. During this time students gained a very strong connection with their peers of all ages and discovered a sense of community within their groups.

This Osprey Block was divided into two groups for two different trips. The first was a backpacking trip around the trails near Engineer Mountain for 5 days where they went through difficult terrain in the backcountry, told their life stories by the campfire, and learned how to survive as a group in the wilderness. The second group went on a camping trip to the Lower Piedra Campground where they explored the area, hiked to a natural hot spring, and developed more community bonds by sharing life stories around the campfire.

The students also participated in community service projects at the La Plata County Humane Society and did trail work on Ophir Pass with the Mountain Studies Institute.

The teacher leaders of this trip pushed students to work hard and have fun together. Ashley expressed, “Ande and I were so impressed by all the students- for their strength, courage, kindness and desire to form a strong community out there in the field despite diverse backgrounds and ages represented. We had tremendous leadership from the older students, and amazing energy and commitment from the younger students.”

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