Osprey Blocks

Part of the Animas Experience

Osprey Blocks are multi-week long courses designed to engage students through cross-disciplinary, immersive studies that connect classroom learning to powerful, real-world experiences. The world becomes our classroom, and Osprey Block classes take advantage of the shift in our schedule by engaging in more frequent off-campus excursions and activities, including wilderness-based expeditions and travel. Osprey Blocks are team-taught, and students receive academic credit upon successful completion, as they do for  elective courses.

Ospreys Blocks are just one of the many programs that provide students The Animas Experience, but it is also one of the more expensive programs to run.  AHS provides Ospreys Blocks at reduced course fee levels to support greater equity and access for students and families. AHS subsidizes the program from its budget and students who qualify have course fees waived.

This is why we ask for your support today. By making a tax-free donation to Osprey Blocks you allow choice, not cost, to guide student decision-making while ensuring other robust, school-funded programing can continue. Our budget is not unlimited (we wish it were!) but it can be flexible with your support.

Help AHS continue to think creatively about what public education can look like.

Osprey Blocks

Fall 2026 Osprey Blocks:

  • A Life Well Lived with Jessica McCallum and Alexi Harootunian includes a 4-day retreat at the beautiful Deer Hill Expeditions campus in Mancos
  • Borderlinks with Mike Bienkowski and Peter Bradley includes a 5-day trip to Tuscon
  • Climbing Intensive with Kyle Edmondson and Alec Johnson includes a 3-day trip to Unaweep Cannyon, south of Grand Junction
  • Mural and Public Art with Cameron Elder, a local Block that will result in student-designed murals at The Hive created in collaboration with students from Big Picture High School
  • Osprey Vibe Lab with Matt Hughes and Clarke Reid plus other instructors from iAM Music Institue, a local Block that will culminate with a performance at the Indigo Room
  • Rainforest Studies with Christine Imming and Kat Jackson includes a 10-day trip to the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center
  • Student Lens: AHS Stories with Jake Stein and Drew Semel, a local Block that has students creating original short films
  • Tabletop Game Design with Oliver Kennedy and Genevieve Buzan-Danserau, a local Block that has students developing a role-playing game to be shared with the Durango community at Guild House Games
  • Water in the West with Julian Springer and Zach Bain includes a 4-day rafting trip on the Colorado River
  • Welding and Sculpture with Dylan McClain ’15 and Andy Polk, a local Block that will result in student-designed and fabricated metal fine art pieces
  • Wilderness Exploration and Landscape Studies with Lori Fisher and Dave Farkas includes a 5-day canoe trip on the Colorado River