So pleased to announce that Mary Monroe at Trails2000 is happy to take an AHS intern once again this year! This is a great placement for any of our juniors who love using our local trails, and some of the work might include getting out there on them with a GPS to update Trails2000's database...though, of course, March is pretty muddy, so this piece will be weather dependent. Still--a great internship possibility for a fantastic local nonprofit that does so much in our community!
What a beautiful morning to head up Farmington Hill for a visit with Jennifer Thurston, director of Weaselskin Equestrian Center and the nonprofit organization she's in the process of creating, Weaselskin Institute. Jennifer had an intern from AHS two years ago, and would love to welcome one back this coming March. She has 35 horses on 80 acres of gorgeous land, and has been working with students of all ages for nearly 40 years, using riding and horsemanship as a way to teach important life skills. She has reduced her teaching load, training students in English riding (jumping, dressage, eventing, etc.), and is now focusing on a broader mission: to preserve her family land through conservancy so that it can be used as an educational facility to share the history, culture and natural resources therein with the next generation. Jennifer knows so much about the area and about horses, and would be a fantastic mentor for any student interested in horses, nonprofit/business management (including grant writing, marketing, communication and all other facets) and/or land conservation.
I would love to help one of our juniors connect to La Plata County Family Centers Coalition for his or her internship! I met with their executive director, Roaseann McDermott this morning to discuss the possibility and she was excited about partnering with AHS for the LINK program. They sponsor so many programs and projects that support families in our community, including helping families in need obtain basics like food, clothing and school supplies. They also run an after school program in Bayfield, work with local preschools to teach about healthy eating choices, help underinsured families find health care and provide parenting education. The perfect intern would be a self-directed student who is interested in giving back to our community in meaningful ways. Day-to-day work for the internship would include a wide variety of tasks, depending on the interests of the intern, but might include anything from working with preschoolers or elementary students in Durango and/or Bayfiled, attending a board meeting, creating lesson plans and/or preparing food for the Exploring Food classes, running of food/clothing drive and more. Roseann would be an excellent mentor, and the other staff members would also play a key role in supervising and working with the intern. Please let me know if you want to connect with Roseann--she'd lov
I was really excited to head out into downtown Durango yesterday to start meeting potential mentors and Power Lunch presenters--it's so great to meet folks face-to-face and learn more about some of the cool things happening in our community every day.
First, I met with Kathleen McInnis, Executive Director at Southwestern Colorado Area Health Education Center, a nonprofit here in Durango that works to improve health care options in our rural region. This three person office has so much going on--including planning for a summer camp for 8th through 10th graders who want to learn more about careers in the health care field (working with them to make this camp fun and successful next summer would make a totally great LINK project for the right student--someone interested in medicine, nonprofit management and/or event planning). The folks from SWAHEC will likely come in for a Power Lunch in January with a presentation that will share information about the wide range of career paths--beyond nursing or becoming a doctor--in the health care field, plus tips about how to pursue them. Next, it was off to iAM (Independent Artist Management), a very new business on Main Avenue in a cool, open space near the Durango Herald. iAM is both a music school and a music management business, and it's run by Jesse Ogle and Ashley Edwards, who also happen to be in the band Hello Dollface. They offer lessons in voice, guitar, piano and percussion with an emphasis on creating original music. We're looking to bring Jesse and Ashley in for a Power Lunch in October, and interning with them would be super cool for a musically-inclined student who would like to learn more about the business side, including booking bands for show, contacting radio stations and more. Finally, five folks who have mentored AHS students in past LINK internships visited with us during Junior Seminar, so we had the opportunity to learn more about what it would be like to work at Open Shutter Gallery, Durango Nature Studies, StoneAge Waterblast Tools and the Durango Discovery Museum (thank you Margy Dudley, Sally Shuffield, Batsy Fitzpatrick, Ashely Hein and Hannah Hendry!). So many great possibilities out there for our students--we're certainly fortunate to live in a community where these organizations and businesses are so willing to open their doors to our kids and give the chance to take on real-world responsibilities and do interesting, valuable work! |
Zoë NelsenZoë Nelsen is the LINK Program Coordinator at Animas High School. Contact her directly at [email protected]. Archives
March 2014
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