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Gallery of Student Work & Learning Expeditions
Galería de Trabajo del Estudiante y Expediciones de Aprendizaje

We believe that "Mastery of Knowledge & Skills" is only one dimension of a three-dimensional view of student achievement: students must also grow in "Faith & Character" and create "High Quality Work." Through deep, real-world studies of community-relevant issues called "Learning Expeditions", students are challenged to take their learning and do something meaningful with it - they must put their faith into action, dig deep into their character, and create a "Final Product" that is of truly high quality for an authentic audience. 

Check out some of our students' incredible learning and beautiful work from their learning expeditions and other exhibits, performances, and presentations! In their learning expeditions, students applied learning from several disciplines (including language arts, science, social studies, religion, and the arts) to explore big questions and address community-relevant issues. Have a look!

Learning Expeditions Gallery

Check Out Our 2022-23 Final Products:

>> 2024 Celebration of Learning is April 25th from 6:00pm - 8:00pm

8th Grade | Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?

Whose stories get told? Whose stories don’t? How can we tell the stories of those who history might otherwise forget? These questions have been at the center of the 8th grade’s expedition, in which they have studied the life of Alexander Hamilton, the experiences of immigrants in America, and the stories of immigrants in their own community. In writing the stories of immigrants in their community, viewing the concept of the American Dream throughout history, and using design thinking to create a legacy project, our 8th graders have ensured that their legacies and the legacies of people in their community will live on.
¿De quién son las historias que se cuentan? ¿de quién no se cuentan? ¿Cómo podemos contar las historias de aquellos que, de otra manera, la historia podría olvidar? Estas preguntas han estado en el centro de la expedición de octavo grado, en la que han estudiado la vida de Alexander Hamilton, las experiencias de los inmigrantes en Estados Unidos y las historias de los inmigrantes en su propia comunidad. Al escribir las historias de los inmigrantes en su comunidad, ver el concepto del Sueño Americano a lo largo de la historia y usar el pensamiento de diseño para crear un proyecto de legado, nuestros alumnos de 8º grado se han asegurado de que sus legados y los legados de las personas de su comunidad perduren. CLICK HERE TO READ THE SPRING 2023 STORIES

7th Grade | Who Am I? The Search for Identity in Saints and Selves

Inspired by the book Inside Out and Back Again by Thannha Lai, our 7th graders have created their own book of heartfelt poems in which they bravely share how their own lives and identities have been turned “inside out and back again.” In addition to these poems, our 7th graders have created icons of individuals that they believe are modern-day saints. Ultimately, these images allow them to better see themselves and those around them as saints in our Church. 

5th Grade | CST: You and Me! 

Fifth graders learned about the 7 Catholic Social Teaching (CST) Principles and how the Catholic Church calls us to “be doers of the word, not hearers only.” Across Catechism, reading, writing, CREW, and science, fifth-graders dove into the details of each principle and discovered how their words and actions can be living examples of God’s love as members of the Body of Christ. 
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Los alumnos de quinto grado aprendieron sobre los 7 Principios de la Enseñanza Social Católica (CST) y cómo la Iglesia Católica nos llama a “ser hacedores de la palabra, no solo oidores". En Catecismo, lectura, escritura, CREW y ciencias, los estudiantes de quinto grado profundizaron en los detalles de cada principio y descubrieron cómo sus palabras y acciones pueden ser ejemplos vivos del amor de Dios como miembros del Cuerpo de Cristo.
Listen to our Podcast!

1st Grade | ​God’s Mammals in Our Homes

We all have mammals in our homes, and it is important to know how to care for them to keep them happy and healthy. First, we needed to find out when God made the mammals and what are the traits of a mammal. Then it was time for us to focus on the mammal in our home and how to care for it. Finally, we made a postcard about our mammals.
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​Todos tenemos mamíferos en nuestros hogares y es importante saber cómo cuidarlos para mantenerlos felices y saludables. Primero, necesitábamos averiguar cuándo hizo Dios a los mamíferos y cuáles son las características de un mamífero. Después nos enfocamos en el mamífero de nuestro hogar y en cómo cuidarlo. Finalmente, hicimos una tarjeta postal sobre nuestros mamíferos.

Preschool | Community Helpers​

Our Pre-K expedition focuses on community helpers and how they help the community. Our students have learned what community helpers do and what tools they use to help the community. Students  have chosen their favorite community helper and will be presenting what they know about their community helper.

Nuestra expedición de Pre-K se enfoca en los ayudantes de la comunidad y cómo ayudan a la comunidad. Nuestros estudiantes han aprendido el trabajo qué hacen los ayudantes de la comunidad y qué herramientas usan para ayudar a la comunidad. Los estudiantes han elegido a su ayudante comunitario favorito y presentarán lo que saben sobre ellos.
Fifth graders learned about the 7 Catholic Social Teaching (CST) Principles and how the Catholic Church calls us to “be doers of the word, not hearers only.” Across Catechism, reading, writing, CREW, and science, fifth-graders dove into the details of each principle and discovered how their words and actions can be living examples of God’s love as members of the Body of Christ.
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Los alumnos de quinto grado aprendieron sobre los 7 Principios de la Enseñanza Social Católica (CST) y cómo la Iglesia Católica nos llama a “ser hacedores de la palabra, no solo oidores". En Catecismo, lectura, escritura, CREW y ciencias, los estudiantes de quinto grado profundizaron en los detalles de cada principio y descubrieron cómo sus palabras y acciones pueden ser ejemplos vivos del amor de Dios como miembros del Cuerpo de Cristo.

Learning Highlight Reel: 
​Remembering Past Expeditions

Where In The World is Mary?

First Grade  - Spring 2022
Mrs. Roberts was taking the school on a journey around the world with Mary, but couldn’t find a good children’s book. So, we decided to write one for her. It’s called Where In The World Is Mary?

Theatre Performance of 'Brother Rabbit' at the Walnut Room Theatre

Middle School | Spring, 2017
With the support and direction of the CSU 4-H Theatre program, our Annunciation middle school “Young Performers" theatre troupe performed their rendition of “Br'er (Brother) Rabbit & Other Stories” on stage at the Walnut Room, a great local restaurant and concert venue in RiNo, near our school! We are incredibly proud of the excellent performance our students put on, and want to give special thanks to the Walnut Room for hosting the event, as well as tremendous gratitude to Ken Grimes & Robert Franklin of the 4H theatre program.

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5th Grade Visual Arts Exhibit at the Redline Gallery

5th Grade | Fall, 2016
In collaboration with local artist Dr. Ella Maria Ray, the Annunciation 5th grade students created an art exhibition displayed at the Redline Art Gallery in Denver's RiNo Arts District. In this installation, our students celebrate our multicultural community, call out injustices they see in our neighborhood, and explore their hopes and fears for our city and our nation. Their work has been featured by ​Westword,​ ABC Channel 7 News, Telemundo Denver, and Univision/Entravision Denver. ​

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What Is A Bird?

Preschool Expedition | 2015-2016
​How do you know if an animal is a bird? What do we look for? Well, after all of our learning, do we know birds! In this expedition, we learned how to identify birds by four general characteristics, and we learned what kinds of habitats birds need to survive. We also learned about a special bird - our school mascot, the cardinal - and what makes it stand apart from other birds. Check out our video and our work to learn all about birds, especially the cardinal!

Worms Are Not Yucky!

Kindergarten Expedition | 2015-2016
In Kindergarten, we believe that worms are important, but most people think they're bad. So, we wanted to learn about worms and change people's minds!  In this expedition, we became scientists: scientists who study worms - oligochaetologists. In the first case study, we investigated the life of a worm (life cycle, body parts, habitat, what it eats…etc). Then, we explored what oligochaetologists do and learned more about our worms through experiments. Check out our work and our video about why worms are not yucky!

How'd That Get There? The Mysterious Story of Seashell Fossil Found in the Mountains.

6th Grade Expedition | 2015-2016
During the summer of 2015, we found a sea shell fossil in a canyon in northwest Colorado. We were shocked! How did it get there? Was Colorado under water in the past? So, we set off on a five-month-long learning expedition to answer that question. We conducted field work in the mountains, worked with Joe Sertich (Paleontologist & Curator of Dinosaurs) from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and read and wrote a lot about the geologic history of our state. As a final product to show all we learned, we wrote and published a book about the geologic history of Colorado, complete with illustrations (click on the cover on the right to read the entire book online or order a copy). In this book the seashell (named MJ), takes us on a journey through time to experience Colorado over the past 400 Million Years! We hope you enjoy our book & contact deb.roberts@annunciationk8.org to order a copy!

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Restoring Our River in RiNo

7th Grade Expedition | 2015-2016
At Annunciation, we are fortunate to have a river ecosystem right in our neighborhood, but really, how healthy is the South Platte River ecosystem in the city? What can we do to improve it so trout and other native species can thrive there? In this expedition, we explored the biology and ecology of a healthy, interdependent, and balanced Colorado river ecosystem, and developed ways we can lessen the city's impact on our river. We even established a cold-water river ecosystem tank in our classroom, complete with trout and a diversity of macroinvertebrates like mayfly nymphs and crawfish. In collaboration with Denver Water, the Earth Force, and Wenk & Associates Landscape Architecture firm who is leading the construction of the new riverside park in our neighborhood called RiNo Park, we are putting our learning to good use! We have given input and design ideas to the architects to help make the new RiNo park a beautiful and enjoyable community space, while also using the park to make the river ecosystem more natural and healthy.

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Tiny Organisms, Big Role!

7th Science Expedition | 2014
​Just because you don't see or notice them doesnt mean they're not doing something important. In this expedition, we explored the important role of tiny organisms, like microbes and macroinvertebrates in the South Platte River. For our final product, we created post cards that were presented to the Greenway Foundation of Denver to be used to teach the public to appreciate the river ecology.