Ignacio Schools Relay for Life Team will host its annual Family Dance from 7 to 9 p.m. April 22 at the Ignacio Elementary School Cafetorium.

The event will feature a bake sale, and people will have the chance to design a luminaria for loved ones who have battled cancer. The luminarias will be displayed at the Relay for Life event June 27.

DJ Oscar Cosio will provide the music.

For more information or to volunteer, call Deb Otten at 563-0661.

The Ignacio Elementary School Explorers Club will host a yard sale April 30 in the parking lot at ELHI (Education, Literacy, Health and Inspiration) Community Center, 487 Shoshone St. in Ignacio.

Spaces are available for $15. All profits from people’s sales are theirs.

To reserve a space, call Deb Otten at 563-0661.

The Early Childhood Council of La Plata County, in collaboration with Southwest Colorado Child Care Resource & Referral, will offer these trainings in Durango:

First-aid/CPR training will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 9. The cost is $100.Pre-licensing training will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 23 and 30. The cost is $80. This is a state-required 15-hour training to become a licensed family child care provider in Colorado.Spaces are limited. To register, visit www.ecclaplata.org, call Corinne Flieger at 247-0760 or email corinnef@ecclaplata.org.

Animas High School announces these events:

All students and families interested in learning about AHS and potentially enrolling for the 2016-17 school year are encouraged to attend an information session and to sign up for a shadow day. Information sessions will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. April 14 and May 3 at AHS. Shadow days take place April 8 and every Thursday from April 14 through May 5. To sign up, call 247-2474 or email mainoffice@animashighschool.com. Prospective students and families are encouraged to attend public exhibitions as these provide an opportunity to see examples of student work.Enrollment for the 2016-17 school year is now open. All new families with students who will be entering ninth, 10th or 11th grade next fall are invited to complete an enrollment form at http://animashighschool.com/online-intent-to-enroll-form. For more information, visit http://animashighschool.com/admissions-information.Spring Break will take place through Friday. There is a staff Professional Development Day on Monday; there will be no classes for students that day.Seniors will present their Senior Project TED Talks from April 6 to April 12. The public is welcome to attend. Seniors will present their senior project research and defend their theses. For a schedule, visit http://tinyurl.com/gvexyvg.

All students and families interested in learning about AHS and potentially enrolling for the 2016-17 school year are encouraged to attend an information session and to sign up for a shadow day. Information sessions will be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. April 14 and May 3 at AHS. Shadow days take place April 8 and every Thursday from April 14 through May 5. To sign up, call 247-2474 or email mainoffice@animashighschool.com. Prospective students and families are encouraged to attend public exhibitions as these provide an opportunity to see examples of student work.Enrollment for the 2016-17 school year is now open. All new families with students who will be entering ninth, 10th or 11th grade next fall are invited to complete an enrollment form at http://animashighschool.com/online-intent-to-enroll-form. For more information, visit http://animashighschool.com/admissions-information.Spring Break will take place through Friday. There is a staff Professional Development Day on Monday; there will be no classes for students that day.Seniors will present their Senior Project TED Talks from April 6 to April 12. The public is welcome to attend. Seniors will present their senior project research and defend their theses. For a schedule, visit http://tinyurl.com/gvexyvg. Columbine Christian School, an elementary and middle school in Durango, is enrolling new students for the 2016-17 school year.

An open house will be held at 5:30 p.m. April 12. During the event, participants will view student work, take a tour of classrooms and meet teachers.

For more information, call 259-1189.

Fort Lewis College student Hector Caldera of Durango attended and presented at the semi-annual American Chemical Society conference in San Diego, California, from March 14 to March 18.

This meeting happens twice a year and is an opportunity for chemists from around the world to share research data and results.

Caldera’s major is chemistry. Caldera presented research he conducted at FLC as part of the NIH-MARC program. He conducted work for two years with Kenny Miller in the chemistry department on the preparation and evaluation of anticancer compounds.

Fort Lewis College students Derek MacGuffie of Bayfield and Jentrie-Marie Ribera of Ignacio attended the Tech-Knowledge Conference 2016 on March 16 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Durango.

The conference was organized by the Durango Chamber of Commerce in response to a Fort Lewis College marketing class proving that small business owners and marketing managers need frequent and current technology updates.

Now in its second year, the conference provides insights on technology from cloud computing to social media to digital marketing.

Keynote speaker Chris Hansen of NASA spoke about NASA’s influence in creating the technology people use in their day-to-day lives.

The Bayfield Elementary Primary School will hold kindergarten orientation May 16-17.

For a registration packet and to make an appointment, call 884-0881.

Mesa Verde National Park announces that funding is available for transportation assistance for local schools that want to bring students to the park.

Mesa Verde was awarded a grant through the “Ticket to Ride” program, funded by the National Park Foundation with support from Disney. The Mesa Verde Association is also providing additional financial and administrative support.

Transportation funds are available for third- to eighth-grade classes from Cortez, Mancos and Dolores schools.

Schools may apply for reimbursement of travel costs for a class visit to the park through May 2016.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/meve/learn/education/planafieldtrip.htm.

Teachers may also try out several new lesson plans, developed in a partnership between Mesa Verde and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center.

These place-based, standards-based lessons are written by educators and curriculum development specialists. The lessons are available for review and field testing by classroom teachers. Each lesson has a pre-visit activity, a field trip and a post-visit component.

For more information, email MEVE_Education@nps.gov or call 529-5079.

Todd Macon’s sixth-grade humanities students at Mountain Middle School will host the exhibition “Rise and Demise: Pre-Columbian Civilizations” from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. April 7.

Students will present various projects that display defining characteristics of pre-Columbian civilizations, specifically the Maya, Inca, Aztec and ancestral Puebloans. Included will be 3-D printed replicas of famous archaeological sites, Google Earth virtual tours, student-produced documentaries and a kinetic “solar aligner” demonstrating Chacoan archaeoastronomy.

Through these projects, students have defined what factors lead to the rise and fall of civilizations and have asked if our civilization shares a similar fate.

Herald Staff