{"id":8193,"date":"2015-04-30T09:17:43","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T16:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/?p=8193"},"modified":"2015-04-30T09:17:43","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T16:17:43","slug":"dear-osprey-families-from-development-director-ashley-hein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/2015\/04\/30\/dear-osprey-families-from-development-director-ashley-hein\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Osprey Families, From Development Director Ashley Hein"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Osprey Families,
\nI hope this finds you happy and well during this wonderfully busy springtime. \u00a0I have had the pleasure of getting to know the students, staff, and families of Animas High School over the past couple of months in my new role as AHS Development Director. \u00a0I am deeply impressed by the work being done here, as well as incredibly excited to be a part of the team that takes Animas High School to the next level of excellence. \u00a0I come to Animas with over a decade of nonprofit and fundraising experience in Durango. \u00a0The bulk of my experience was at the Powerhouse Science Center, where I was a part of the original staff from the Children\u2019s Museum in the \u00a0attic of Durango Arts Center. \u00a0I worked to renovate the old Power Plant and transform the space into the interactive science center that it is today. \u00a0During my tenure at the Powerhouse, I conceptualized, organized, and facilitated multiple successful and unique fundraising events per year. \u00a0I also worked closely with individual and corporate sponsors, as well as developed meaningful relationships with local and statewide businesses and foundations. \u00a0I have followed Animas High School since the beginning and am honored to now be an Osprey.
\nAs part of my initial work as Development Director, I took some time to reach out to all families. \u00a0If we weren\u2019t able to connect via phone, please feel free to contact me directly with any feedback or suggestions regarding our fundraising efforts in the past, and perhaps something you would like to see in the future.
\nWhen I began thinking about development and fundraising for Animas, I looked directly to the mission:
\nAnimas High School prepares all students for college and post-secondary success by creating critical thinkers and engaged citizens through an innovative, student-centered, project-based curriculum.<\/em>
\nThe piece that struck me most is the idea that Animas High School serves all<\/em> students. This speaks volumes about who we are and what we do. \u00a0This will be the theme and purpose of my work at Animas High School as I work to raise the money needed to move us into a permanent 21st century facility that will provide the home we need to manifest our mission, vision and values even further.
\nAs you may know, we have applied for a BEST grant. \u00a0Through the Colorado Department of Education, BEST provides annual funding in the form of competitive grants to school districts, charter schools, boards of cooperative educational services, as well as other educational institutions. \u00a0Winning the grant, raising the matching funds needed, and moving are my ultimate goals. \u00a0However, to accomplish this, there are many smaller goals and milestones that we will need to meet along the way. \u00a0The exciting part is these are fun, and very reasonable goals. \u00a0I look to you, our Animas families, to help us get there as the strong Osprey community that we are.
\nThe current goal is 100% family participation. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Not only will 100% participation boost the red on our thermometer on the website, and enrich our sense of community, \u00a0but it will help our case before the BEST board and give us that much more ammunition to win the grant. \u00a0While this may seem like a daunting task, it certainly is not. \u00a0We are already well on our way to 100% participation, and any of the following will allow us to count you in:<\/p>\n