The world becomes a classroom for Animas High School students taking Osprey Block courses, three-week educational programs offered once at the start of each school year that ditch traditional classroom learning for unique, hands-on, real-world experiences.
The blocks have been part of Animas High School programming for three years. Named after the school’s bird of prey mascot, the blocks occur over several weeks in the fall in place of normal coursework and count toward 0.5 academic credits upon successful completion – the same credit system used for semester-long elective courses. The blocks are mixed-grade, with most including a range of ninth through 12th graders. Each student is allowed to pick one course per year.
Thirteen Osprey Block courses were offered for fall 2025. The wide-ranging topics available included sailing, mental wellness, welding, Spanish language and culture, climbing, documentary filmmaking, theater, activism, and rafting, among others.
Many of the Blocks this year included trips like the Secret Lives of Animals, which included a weeklong visit to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, to study animal behavior and ethics; Wilderness Exploration and Landscape Studies, where students canoed down the Colorado River as part of their study of expeditionary skills and water issues; and A Life Well Lived, which involved a trip to the Deer Hill Expeditions base camp for a retreat focused on wellness practices and philosophy.
All Animas High staff are involved in Osprey Blocks, said school spokesperson Libby Cowles, with most co-taught by two faculty members. Staff members who don’t teach the blocks assist in other capacities, such as shuttling students, offering logistical support and being available as course substitutes, Cowles said.
“Each Osprey Block is different, but the common thread is that there is a robust experiential component, be that civic-engagement, service, performing or creative arts, or outdoor adventure,” said Ashley Carruth, co-teacher for the Adventure and Activism Osprey Block.
Each week is its own adventure, Carruth said. Week one of Carruth’s Block involved a five-day packrafting trip through Meander Canyon and the Needles District of Canyonlands, where students were able to see firsthand the ecological impacts of land management policies, recreation and consumption.
Week two was spent back in the classroom, where students studied and engaged in discussion about various land management agencies, Colorado River management policies, environmental ethics and the Bears Ears National Monument, which is linked to a controversial public lands case study.
Week three involved public service, Carruth said, in the form of students engaging in stewardship work in Bears Ears National Monument.
“When we get students out of the four walls, a whole new world opens up to them,” Carruth said. “The transformation I see in students in just five days on the river, five days in a Spanish-speaking country, or five days into building of an elaborate set for a Dungeons and Dragons game, far exceeds anything I could reasonably expect in a year of traditional classwork.”
Sophomore Max Hunter took the Baja Bound Spanish language and culture Block, which involved a seven-day trip to Todos Santos, Mexico. Max said the immersive language practice, which included leading an art lesson for elementary children entirely in Spanish, provided growth that wouldn’t have been accessible in the classroom.
“My Spanish grew, because I was practicing it a bunch,” he said. “But also, (I saw) issues (in Todos Santos) that were small things that we take for granted here. Our power went out a lot. (I appreciated) getting to realize that some people around the world don’t get to have these things that we find to be normal, like electricity and air conditioning and even school.”
Some of the 2025 Osprey blocks, though no less rigorous, stay closer to home.
Sophomore Breanna Barrett took the Playmakers Osprey Block, which culminated in students putting on a production of Peter and the Starcatcher at the high school. Breanna worked as the stage manager during the Block, and said her experience has influenced her to pursue stage managing as a future career – something she never would have considered before her Osprey Block experience, she said.
Dave Farkas, dean of students and culture at Animas High, co-taught the Wilderness Exploration and Landscape Studies Block this year, and said the process of pitching and preparing for an Osprey Block is a big undertaking.
After his pitch was accepted, Farkas had to become a registered outfitter in Utah, complete necessary paperwork with the National Park Service and get a river permit in order to conduct a river trip through a national park for the Block, while carefully developing the curriculum for the three-week course with his co-teacher.
Though the blocks are designed to include unique hands-on experiences, regular class deliverables and assignments are also expected, Farkas said.
“Kids have assignments given out – they have expectations,” Farkas said. “Even though it sounds like a lot of hands-on stuff – and a lot of it is – there's a reason why (there are) deliverables at the end, which keeps them centered and focused and motivated. It’s a class.”
In addition to preparing students for life success, Blocks supply on-the-fly learning experiences that wouldn’t be accessible in the classroom, Farkas said – like the moment during his group’s river trip this year in which an astonishingly bright and long-lasting meteor crossed the night sky above the group’s campfire, sparking an impromptu, in-depth discussion about space, the atmosphere, the Earth and meteorites that Farkas called “mind-blowing.”
Senior Kenna Howe took Farkas’ block this year, and said the moment with the meteor was a highlight of the trip.
“Oh my gosh, that was so cool, because it went all the way across the sky and you could see all of it breaking apart. And Farkas saw it, and he was like, ‘Oh, look, guys.’ And then all 20 of us looked up, and it was still going. And it was amazing.”
The independence and responsibility students are entrusted with is especially impactful, Kenna said, as well as the unique ability to focus on one subject for three weeks.
“Being able to focus on one specific topic for that amount of time allows you to really dive into it,” she said. “And it's also cool, because we get to kind of take our own approach to the class at the same time. You’re just able to get so much out of it, whether it’s personal (or) educational.”
Both students and staff say the growth Osprey Blocks impart on participants is exponential.
“The amount of transformation is stark,” Farkas said. “It’s in your face. It’s amazing. (It’s) wild.”
epond@durangoherald.com
