The Weekly Line

Monday, December 8, 2025

Dear AMS Students, Parents/Guardians & Staffulty (F-A-M-I-L-Y = Forget About Me I Love You),

I started writing this Weekly Line intro. while cheering on our 8th grade boys basketball black team as they competed in the Pitkin, Eagle, Garfield (PEG) League championship tournament we hosted in the AMS and AHS gymnasiums on Saturday. Our boys entered as #2 seed with a 6-1 record, went 3-0 on the day with victories over Grand Valley MS (Parachute), Glenwood Springs MS, and Riverside MS (Newcastle) in the championship game to finish 9-1 and 2025 PEG League Champs! According to head coach/athletic director Jermey Haack, this is the first PEG League boys basketball title we’ve won in his 20 years at AMS. Congrats to Jeremy, asst. coach Clay Shiflet and our boys on their hard work this season: Rocco M., Rex L., Ben B., Griffin A., Nolan M., Diego M., Alex N. and Patrick H. Also on Saturday our 7th grade boys basketball black team competed at their PEG League Tournament at Grand Valley MS/HS in Parachute and went 1-1 finishing the season with a win and in 5th place.

This adds another traveling PEG trophy to our trophy case as our 8th grade girls black volleyball team coached by Hannah Baker won the 2025 PEG League Volleyball Championship on October 4th hosted by Riverside MS.

For those not familiar with AMS athletics, while we love winning, our focus is on sportsmanship, skill development, and teamwork. We also have a "no cut" policy. So, for 7th and 8th grade girls volleyball and boys and girls basketball, we create 3 teams each, black, red and white allowing every student-athlete the opportunity to participate, with the black team being our "varsity.” 7th grade girls' basketball practice begins today, Monday, December 8th from 3:30 – 5:00pm, and 8th grade practice begins on Tuesday, December 9th. The season concludes February 7th. No practices or games occur over winter break. Students must submit a physical form and parent permission form annually. The required forms can be found on the AMS Athletics webpage. If your student participated in an AMS fall sport, they don’t need to submit a new form. There is a $50 athletic participation fee that can be paid on eFunds, or by cash or check.

Congrats as well to 8th grader Patricia Mason who auditioned a prepared piece, demonstrated her technical skills, and was accepted into the Colorado Middle All State Choir to perform alongside the best middle school singers in the state in 1 of our 3 elite ensembles: Triplo, Mescolare, and Cambiato during a 2-day festival at the Colorado Convention Center under the direction of elite clinicians from around the country with a culminating concert on the final evening in February in the 5,000-seat Bellco Theatre. Thank you AMS vocal music director Molly Montalto for your support and encouragement of Patricia through this process!

Rooting for our Skiers, win or lose, in athletics and the arts, I can't help but think about The Man In the Arena Speech by Teddy Roosvelt because the credit belongs not to the critics, but to the people who show up, knowing effort involves error, so even if we fail, we fail while daring greatly, and our place will never be among those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Thank you for having the courage to get in the arena, and on the stage, and dare greatly! It's an honor to work with such talented students and staffulty. SHINE ON SKIERS!

All In,

Dr. Tom

Tom Dodd, PhD

#AMSAllIn #AMSF-A-M-I-L-Y #TheAMSDifference

ANNOUNCEMENTS 12-8-25

AMS Lift Up Holiday Food Drive is being held this week until December 12th. There will be Lift Up donation boxes in each grade level core area and the AMS foyer.

Do you have an old ski you can donate to AMS that we can paint and bedazzle? We are planning some forced F-A-M-I-L-Y fun (Forget About Me I Love You), a fall semester wrap up All In Pep Assembly 12-18-28, in the AMS gym celebrating the 1st half of the year and would like to award a traveling “Spirit Ski” to the grade level that cheers the best. If you have an old ski you’re willing to part with please email Dr. Tom Dodd, tdodd@aspenk12.net.

Every week the AMS Lunchroom is looking for volunteers to support our staff by volunteering from 11:40am - 12:30pm on Mondays - Fridays. Please sign up for a volunteer shift HERE!

Add our AMS Family Calendar to your Google calendar and see important upcoming dates:

• Wednesday, December 8th ~ 6th Grade ODE Parent Meeting 5:00pm in 6th Grade Core of AMS

• Tuesday, December 9th ~ 5th Grade Winter Band Concert 4:30pm - ASD Theater

• Tuesday, December 9th ~ 6th - 12th Winter Band Concert 5:30pm - ASD Theater

• Wednesday, December 10th ~ AMS Winter Choir Concert 6:00pm - ASD Theater

• Saturday, December 13th ~ AEF Flamingo 2025 6:00pm - St. Regis Hotel

• Wednesday, December 17th ~ 7th Grade Exposition - Morning at the Museum 9:00am

• Thursday, December 18th ~ Viceroy Tree Lighting 6th - 8th Grade Choir Caroling 6:30pm - Viceroy Snowmass Village

• Friday, December 19th ~ NO SCHOOL STUDENTS - Staff Workday

• December 22nd - January 4th ~ WINTER BREAK / NO SCHOOL FOR STAFF & STUDENTS

AMS Outdoor Education Dates:

6th Grade ODE Hut Trips

• February 9th - 11th / Alex Farmer’s Group

• February 23rd - 25th / Katherine Gleason’s Group

• February 25th - 27th / Matt Field’s Group

• March 9th - 11th / Tara Marolda’s Group

• March 11th - 13th / Ivette Mejia’s Group

7th Grade ODE River Trips

• April 27th - May 1st - Week 1

• May 4th - 8th - Week 2

Please keep your students home if they are sick. They should be free of fever, vomiting, and diarrhea for at least 24 hours without the use of medication, and symptoms should be improved before returning to school.

Thank you for caring about the health of your students and our school community.

Gather up your unwanted shoes and drop them off at AMS.

Soles4Souls turns unwanted gently used shoes into opportunity by keeping them from going to waste and putting them to good use. It is hard to believe, but millons of children around the world go barefoot because they can't afford shoes. Make a difference, collect your slightly used shoes and bring them to the AMS drop off starting December 1st.

By donating you helping the planet and changing someone's life!