by Tracy Chamberlin

They had no school history to flaunt before college admission counselors, no experience with the project-based learning model, not even a place to call home.

“You want to talk about a leap of faith,” said Michael Ackerman, executive director of Animas High School.

But 49 students took that leap.

They took their education into their own hands, and four years later, the risk has paid off. Every member of the Class of 2013 was accepted to a four-year institution. The average GPA is a 3.26, and 30 percent will be the first in their families to attend college.

“We talk about building a ship,” Ackerman said, “… and they are the crew.”

He called them pioneers, adding that their voices have pollinated every aspect of Animas High. They’ve helped shape the curriculum and created programs like the Student Ambassadors, student government and the Animas Quill, the school’s newspaper.

 “We’ve made it the best that it can be,” said Hannah Williams, a member of the Class of 2013.

Originally those 49 students didn’t even have a classroom, only the idea to bring a project-based learning style to Durango inspired by High Tech High in California.

Ackerman took whatever public space he could find for that first class, until they finally found a home in a strip mall on North Main.

Williams and her classmates made that space their own, adorning the walls with projects, inspiration and personality.

Today that school in the strip mall is considered a success, cementing its place in the community with plans for a permanent $13 million campus in the Twin Buttes neighborhood. Ackerman said the work they are doing at Animas is emblematic of what’s happening in education nationwide, calling it a “beacon of rural excellence.”

And, there are already whispers of adding a charter elementary school to the list of options for young students.

With new career paths constantly popping up in today’s ever-changing landscape of technological innovation, Ackerman asked, “how do you prepare students for the future when the future is a big bag of question marks?”

What he can do is give them the skills to face the challenges of those unknowns. The faculty at Animas strive to teach students to think critically, be professional, engage their resources and reason their way through situations.

As a member of the first graduating class, Williams said the challenges she faced at Animas prepared her for the ones that lie ahead. The biggest challenge right now: moving away.

Durango is her home. Colorado is her home. Heading off to Northern California to attend Humboldt State University is a challenge, but it’s one she knows she can handle because of Animas.

For starters, she learned to be adaptable. “I can get used to this new place,” she said. “And make it work for me.”

Ackerman had his own obstacles while he was a high school student. Although his education was rigorous, his teachers “weren’t speaking to me in terms of learning style.”

The Boston-born educator said his saving grace was soccer, but he wondered how many students in this country can’t parlay that athletic ability into a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”

For Ackerman, the breakthrough came in college when one of his professors asked the mountain guide struggling with mathematics, “Do you see you’re using math to keep yourself alive?”

Not even realizing it, Ackerman was using angles, equations and snow science to lead people up the mountains and get them back down safely. From then on he saw himself as good at math, and it was that self-discovery that shaped his future.

That sense of empowerment is something he passes on to the students at Animas High.

Elaine Ehlers, a college counselor with Animas, said she thinks colleges and universities appreciate the risk students took as the first class at Animas, as well as their desire to take their education in their own hands.

“There’s a lot of ownership being the first graduating class in the strip mall,” she added.

Ehlers spent 20 years at Durango High School before retiring, only to get recruited by Ackerman to be a part of Animas’ College Prep Team.
She said she doesn’t think the students missed out on any of the typical high school experience, like proms or sports, because they can get involved with those activities at Durango High.

“It is a different experience. It’s not that it’s better, it’s just different,” Ehlers said.

She added that the two schools complement each other, raising the bar for both.

At first the charter school had a contentious relationship with the 9-R School District, but that’s another challenge overcome, and now both parties are working together. The district even helped Animas acquire the land needed for its new home in Twin Buttes.

Williams has seen the new digs, admitting she’s both jealous and excited for the next generation of students.

First they’ll move to temporary classrooms on Highway 160, which need to be ready by Aug. 19.

Of all the goals Ackerman has for the future of Animas, the new facility is at the top of his list. Although the school still needs to raise a lot of money, they were recently awarded a $200,000 grant by the Daniels Fund. It might be a drop in the $13 million project bucket, but Ackerman said it takes a lot of the tension off. “Maybe one less bake sale to keep the lights on,” he added.

Ackerman said education is always cyclical. That’s certainly true for the students and faculty at Animas, who now find themselves on the move again.

Just as the shovels hit the dirt, the first generation of Animas High School graduates will start their freshman year of college. What they’ll all have in common are the tools to face those challenges.