Board President

Jay Grob

June 2021-June 2025

Jay Grob joined the Animas High School Board of Directors in 2021. He is the father of two former charter school students who brings substantial charter school board experience to AHS. For 8 years he served as Vice President of the Board of Directors at Uplift North Hills Preparatory, a K-12 International Baccalaureate World School with 1300 students in Irving, Texas. Its high school consistently ranks among the top public high schools in the country. Jay’s time at North Hills included focus on the school’s strategic planning, fundraising and teacher retention efforts. He supported campus facility planning as well as new primary school building construction, a high school science lab and a multi-purpose meeting/gymnasium.

Professionally Jay manages Grob Management Partners, a boutique strategy consulting firm that assists boards and executive management teams on a variety of topics. He also spent 20 years at global consulting firm Bain & Company, where he was a senior partner. He graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas.

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Board Vice President; School Excellence Committee Chair

Michelle Bonanno

October 2021-October 2027

Michelle joined the Board in 2021 excited to represent AHS families and strengthen connections between AHS and Fort Lewis College. Michelle teaches in the English Department at Fort Lewis and is the Director of the Academic Hub and First-Year Experience. Michelle is a first-generation college student and graduated from FLC with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Communications in 2001. She then attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she earned a Master of Arts in Communication in 2004. As a student at FLC, Michelle met her future husband, Anthony, and they are now raising their two children, AJ, AHS class of 2025 and Mia, AHS class of 2028. As a family, they love to camp (especially in San Diego), boat (especially at Lake Powell), and cross-country ski (especially at Vallecito).

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Board Treasurer, Finance Committee Chair & Advancement Committee Member

Greg Phillips

September 2022-September 2025

Greg Phillips joined the AHS Board in 2022. He earned a BA in Human Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a MS in Exercise Physiology from the University of Washington.

Greg began his career in education, teaching and lecturing in chemistry, physiology and nutrition. In 1988, he and his wife, Jan, founded a publishing company in San Diego that created and licensed healthy lifestyle/health promotion programs and materials to over 5,000 hospitals, insurance companies, corporate wellness programs and health clubs worldwide. He moved the growing business, together with his growing family, to Durango in 1990.

In the later stage of his career, Greg built a successful business consulting firm providing strategic planning, sales and marketing services and Web software development to businesses and nonprofits throughout the US. He sold the business in 2019 and is now enjoying retirement.

Greg believes that together with parents, Durango’s schools can best prepare students to make a difference by fostering a love of learning, developing the ability to both think creatively and analytically, stimulating curiosity, expanding self-awareness and empathy, and promoting the importance of collaboration and communication.

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Advancement Committee Chair

Maren Bicknell

August 2023-August 2026

Maren Bicknell joined the AHS Board in 2023 and she brings to the Board decades of educational experience. Early in her career she served students as a certified athletic trainer, high school health and anatomy and physiology teacher, and a college wellness educator. She transitioned into school administration serving many years as Director of Finance and Operations of a K-12 independent school in New Hampshire. Currently, she is applying her skills and knowledge in finance, fundraising, human resource, and tax compliance for Little Green Light, a computer software company that serves non-profits.

Maren and her husband moved to Durango from New Hampshire in 2020 for the educational opportunities offered to their children. Maren believes strongly in educational choice and is impressed with the educational opportunities available to students in Durango. Serving on AHS’s Board of Directors allows Maren to not only share her knowledge and experience in public and private school but also directly support what she believes in. Maren’s daughter Hayden is in the class of 2025 at AHS.

Maren earned a BS in Sports Medicine from Marietta College and MBA in Leadership from Franklin Pierce University.

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Governance Committee Chair

Julie Kremer

July 2024-July 2027

Julie joined the Board in 2024 after more than 25 years of corporate leadership and management experience. Having broad experience in the corporate world and with companies focused on innovation, Julie hopes to bring unique insights to the AHS community to ensure that all students at AHS receive a high quality education that prepares them for success after
high school. Julie holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Denver. Since moving to Durango in 2019, Julie and her family (including her son Jake, AHS class of 2026) enjoy mountain biking, camping, rafting and Nordic skiing.

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AHS Emeritus Board Member

Dr. Jesse Hutt

Jesse Hutt is a pediatric oncologist and founding parent at Animas High School. Jesse has a B.A. in Biology from Brown University, and an M.D. degree from the University of Florida; she completed residency training at the University of Utah and Fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. She specializes in caring for children with cancer and blood related disorders.

The vision to create Animas High School developed during her years working as a general pediatrician in Durango. At that time, she saw many teenagers who were apathetic or dissatisfied with the traditional school model. Along with other founders she drafted a charter to start a school inspired by High Tech High in San Diego–a school that used Project Based Learning to engage students to become passionate lifelong learners while preparing them for college and postsecondary success.

In 2019, Jesse was named the Colorado League of Charter Schools Charter School Advocate of the Year for her dedication to promoting charter education options in the area. This award recognized her work not just in founding AHS but also in fostering educational choice in Colorado, driven by her belief in providing inspiring educational environments for all teens.

Jesse’s leadership and efforts in fundraising, parent engagement and community involvement have been instrumental in the school’s success. In addition to founding the school and spearheading our successful capital campaign, she has served on the School Excellence Committee, Advancement Committee and Board of Directors. Her macaroni and cheese offerings and her care for teachers and staff are legendary, and she has contributed thousands of hours of volunteer time. Our bet is if you see Jesse out and about, she’ll likely ask you what you know about Animas High School. She may even try to wrangle you into joining a committee, taking a tour or sending your child here. We simply would not be where we are without her!

AHS Emeritus Board Member

Thomas Morrisey

Thomas is an Emeritus Board member at Animas High School. Most recently, Thomas was Vice President of the Board for Animas High School. Previously he served as President for 2.5 years. “T-mo” is currently on his 3rd retirement after over 35 years in the computer industry (IT, Business Operations), including 13 years at Microsoft in their corporate headquarters in Redmond, WA. He earned a Masters of Science in Statistical quality Control from Eastern Michigan University, and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Wayne State University. Thomas has lived in Durango full time since 2007.

T-mo has traveled extensively around the country and the world: 48 states (lived in 6), and 15 countries for both work and play. He was a whitewater raft guide in Aspen and Glacier Park for 4 years, a Volunteer Fireman (EMT) in WA State, and Ski Patrol in Vancouver, BC.

“A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.”–Anonymous