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Journalism Final

     As we begin to turn the closing chapter of the first 2021 semester, Animas High school senior Amelia Baca shares her experiences as a new journalist in the community. “ Managing a full schedule, personal needs, two jobs, and journalism this semester was challenging.” Baca states. “I found myself disappointed at times for not producing as many stories as I would have liked.” Baca is a student who focuses all her time outside of school working at a local hospital. “During this school year already, I have had many COVID scares as being an essential worker. With this I have to be cautious with who I expose myself to. Even at school.” She stated. 

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     Through Amelia's time being a member of the Quil, she was able to produce 2 well thought out stories. Which were titled, “Freshman take on first Biology Lab”, and an event she hosted herself ; “Christmas food and coat drive to benefit CCO.” Baca states, “ I love our close community of Journalists. I enjoy how collaborative our class is and how inclusive we all are to each other.”

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     Next semester, Baca looks forward to being a larger part of the Quil. She aspires to begin a podcast with fellow students, Bella Coronado, Elizabeth Barrett, and Madelyn Tharp. She will also be cutting down her out of school activities to focus more of her time and energy into Quil media. 

Stories Produced

9th Graders Take on First Bio Lab Since COVID-19

 

By: Amelia Baca, Animas Quill Staff

 

    Last Friday September 17, 9th grade students attended Fort Lewis College for their first Biology lab. “The lab went amazingly well, it was so nice feeling normal for once since the COVID-19 shut down,” says Dave Farkas. 

   The freshmen took a deeper look into the microscope to study cancer cells. Students got to learn the concept, development, causes, and response of cancer cells within the human body. 

Farkas has the goal of completing two more biology labs similar to this throughout the 2021-2022 school year. “This group of freshmen is so kind, respectful, and fun to be around,” says 9th grade science teacher Dave Farkas. “With the new campus build on Fort Lewis College, we will be able to have more opportunities to dig into more labs, projects, and much more.” 

With this lab experience, the new class of 2025 got to feel what it is like to truly be an Osprey and be a part of the project based learning Animas High School prides themselves on.

​This week, Animas High School student Amelia Baca will be hosting a food drive to benefit a local non-profit organization called Community Compassion Outreach. Their goal is to help our local homeless get resources such as housing, therapy, and rehab. They also help those in need with getting good and clean water. CCO is always looking for resources and extra help. We are asking for donations of canned goods to distribute to the homeless next Saturday (11/20). This organization is in need of canned food, non-perishables, bottled water, and any other resources they may need this winter. Such as tarps, winter gloves, jackets, and blankets. The donation box will be in the main office of Animas High School until friday afternoon (11/19). This distribution of food is held every Saturday at Schneider park at 12:15. For those looking to help out in the community or to gain community service hours they are always looking for extra help. 

Digital Arts Classes during LINK

By: Amelia Baca


 

Animas Highschool Juniors have now soared into their 2 week LINK Internships. With our junior class gone at Animas, elective classes have seen a fewer number of students. One of those classes being Digital Arts taught by new long term substitute teacher Darci. “What is digital arts like with the juniors now departing for their LINK internships?” asked Amelia Baca who is an Animas Quilsprey to Senior Roxy Ladin. “Our first period class shrunk dramatically. There are currently two seniors and a freshman in our class. With this comes a lot of artistic freedom. We are able to pick our projects and play around more with photoshop and photography.” With the fewer number of students, comes more freedom and experimental time in this classroom. Animas Senior Olivia Gilden is excited to expand her knowledge of photography more with an off campus Digital Arts field trip on Thursday, April, 28th. “What kind of projects are we going to be looking for in the future?” Amelia asks. “We will have a landscaping project soon. It displays our personal photography of landscapes around our Durango Community.” Olivia Gilden explains. 

Photography students exhibited their talent in this year’s Portrait Project. The task was to experiment with value, color, focus, design, and space, and the students are finding success and joy in this independently-designed project. 

 “Class is very different this year, after coming back from COVID we did not receive the hands-on experiences we have now. We have so much work to show this year and I know we are all so proud, ” shared senior Olivia Gilden. 

Although the class has had some difficult times this year after the departure of their teacher, they have risen to the challenge of creating beautiful work. Senior Roxy Ladin reflected, “This has given us a time to grow and get to use our knowledge of photography. Each and every person in our class produced a beautiful project.” 



 

 

“Crown of Flowers” By: Kenzie Galloway

 

“Sticky Photos” By: Maya Olivier

”Home” By: Roxy Ladin

 

“Purple House” By: Roxy Ladin 

Reflection

Reflecting back on this year I learned many things but 3 to be exact. 1. Always be proud of what you produce. 2. Always take your own approach to stories. and lastly, 3. Always make journalism a priority. This semester I lacked rule 3. I let my senior project, TED talks, moving out, and my other classes get in the way. I was not the quilsprey I wanted to be. I did produce 3 big stories this semester but lacked on the quil community which is the best part. This class brought me a lot of joy, but I feel like I let my senior year push that away. I focused less on my passion of writing and more on other things. And I regret that. If I could go back, I would let my love for writing grow and not subside. In college, I hope to carry my writing skills and spread that with those I am around. In the end, I was grateful to get the experience to be a quilsprey.

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