August 2014 - Eagle Rock Blog

Doing The Homework: How To Prep For The Eagle Rock Experience

Our 63rd semester has drawn to a close, with ER-64 set to arrive in just about two weeks. So we thought it most appropriate to outline a plan of action for our incoming students.

In preparation, Eagle Rock’s Outdoor Education department has turned its full attention to the next batch of classmates and the upcoming wilderness course. In all, we’ve invited 18 new students — who from now on will be referred to as ER64 — and every one of us is excited about the energy this group will bring to our community.

The first trimester is an important transition experience for new students beca use it often marks a huge shift from what they were doing before arriving at Eagle Rock.

For one thing, there’s a ton of information to be absorbed about our unique culture and systems. Our staff and continuing students spend a lot of time helping get new students through the initial trimester, all with the goal of becoming acquainted with them and helping them become successful in this new community-focused educational and living environment.

One of the most significant aspects of this first trimester is the New Student Wilderness Orientation course — a 24-day wilderness expedition that takes place off campus. For this trimester, ER64 are going to travel to the Gila Wilderness Area in southern New Mexico. Students will carry everything they need on their backs, sleep under tarps and cook all their own meals. They will be living within a small group comprised of eight fellow students and three instructors.

During the course they will also participate in a Continue reading…

Here’s Eagle Rock’s Take On The Common Core

One of the hottest topics right now in the field of politics and education is the Common Core — that set of college- and career-ready standards for students from kindergarten through 12th grade that were developed by education leaders and governors from 48 states.

In one state — Louisiana — the topic is so hot that its governor recently went to court asserting he’s protected from questioning under oath in a legal dispute over his administration’s actions that are said to undermine the Common Core standards in that state.

With a focus on English language arts, literacy and math, most states (43) have adopted the standards, with a goal of ensuring high school grads are ready for college courses or can successfully enter the workforce.

They are distinct from previous state standards in that a non-state organization created them for all states to use rather than each state deciding to use their own. The advantage was to eliminate a variety of standards and improve the quality across many states.

I once attended a National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER) event where Vicki Phillips, director of education for the Gates Foundation, suggested that teachers need a common set of tools to reference if we are going to take advantage of teacher effectiveness research. For Vicki Phillips, Common Core answers the question: Effective toward what end?

Proponents of the Common Core believe that teaching toward these standards will better prepare students for college level work and entry into career pathways and civic engagement. In their view, the added value of establishing some national continuity serves all students across the United States to the degree that states voluntarily adopt the standards. For the supporters, the quality of the standards and the consistency of adoption from state to state make the Common Core the greatest lever for educational reform.

The arguments against the Common Core are widely varied and sometimes contradictory. For example: Continue reading…

News From the Rock — Summer 2014

Believe it or not, we just this month wrapped up our 63rd trimester and our students returned home on Aug. 9.

As a result, it’s a different atmosphere here on campus as contractors work feverishly to maintain our facilities, new staff members settle in, and our veteran staff begins planning for the upcoming academic year — when they’re not catching up on some well-deserved rest. While all this is going on, let’s take a quick peek at what I only halfway jokingly like to call, “The Summer That Was.”

Working with teenagers can be a messy business, and this summer was certainly no exception to that axiom. A few of our students made decisions that resulted in their dis-enrollment and some others struggled as that process played out. There were moments when it felt like things were falling apart.

However, true to the spirit that is Eagle Rock, the low points tested our conviction and pushed us into action. Our community has tremendous resilience and through hard work, well-placed hope, some good ideas, a little vulnerability, some forgiveness, and a few heartfelt apologies, we ended the trimester with a wonderful group of graduates and we’re headed in a positive direction.

As a side note, anyone who thinks the answer to all of the educational woes in this country lie in some sterile set of standards or one-size-fits-all solution to the “problem of the day,” has not spent enough time in schools. The answers, growth, insight — and ultimately the deep learning — often occur in the conflict. When we stay present with each other, magic can happen. Such is the messy but transformative nature of living smack dab in the middle of a community.

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Despite the challenges, some wonderful things also occurred this summer: Continue reading…

Eagle Rock Assists A Pair of Big Picture Learning Students

Our Professional Development Center, which is known for its unique ability to facilitate school reform initiatives, recently collaborated with Big Picture Learning in South Burlington, Vermont, on a one-of-kind event on service- and project-based learning.

In particular, our focus was on helping two students — South Burlington High School seniors Olivia Decell and Ella Downey — facilitate the Service Thesis Project Conference, which was held in the spring at Burlington College in Vermont. The event was designed to help high school students create relevant and exciting Service Thesis Projects and help educators implement service/project-based learning into their classrooms.

Service Thesis Project Conference — Service Thesis Project Conf. attendees.

At the May 2014 conference, participants shared ideas and had the opportunity to observe some very good examples of successful thesis projects. That’s one of the things we do best; Eagle Rock has been working with Big Picture Learning in a variety of capacities since 2006, so we’ve quickly acquired and honed our knack for such conferences and get-togethers.

In fact, over the past few years, we have helped several schools develop conferences that have become an engine of self-renewal for students and staff.

In this latest endeavor, our Professional Development team facilitated the Continue reading…

Saying Goodbye To Six Eagle Rock Faculty Members

Goodbye-Image-Eagle-Rock-Faculty A half dozen of our faculty members are moving on, as they say — departing our campus for new ventures, but doubtless with a look behind at what they accomplished and experienced during their times here at Eagle Rock.

It goes without saying we’re going to miss them, and it’s also probably unnecessary to say we wish them well, because they’ve been receiving hugs, handshakes and tears since they announced their plans. It’s fairly obvious we want the best for them in their new pursuits.

Among those departing are Karen Ikegami, Holly Takashima, Berta Guillen, Ike Leslie, Jonna Book and Denise Lord. For each of these faculty, we’re devoting space below focused on what transpired for them professionally while here at Eagle Rock, and where they’re off to — or where they’ve already arrived.

Karen Ikegami came to Eagle Rock in 2008 as the math instructional specialist and also became the Juniper houseparent that same year. Karen is staying in Colorado and is working at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver. She will be the Wallace Fellow Principal Resident and will be working on getting leadership training and her principal license through Get Smart Schools.

Holly Takashima started here stint here in 2011 as the English fellow, and then was hired as the English instructional specialist, becoming the Lodgepole houseparent in January of last year. Holly has moved to Nashville to be with partner Brandon, and has been hired on at John Overton Comprehensive High School, teaching American literature to high school juniors.

Berta Guillen became the Societies and Cultures fellow when she joined the Eagle Rock School staff back in 2008, and was soon thereafter hired on as the Continue reading…

Understanding Eagle Rock’s Work With Noble Impact

Since spring of 2013, staff members from our Professional Development Center have been working closely with the folks at Noble Impact in Little Rock, Ark., to help that organization develop its inaugural INSTITUTE program, which was held last summer in Arkansas. For the uninitiated, Noble Impact is a nonprofit committed to engaging kindergarten through 12th graders as they traverse the intersection of public service and entrepreneurship.

Noble-Institute-2 Chad Williamson, the co-founder of Noble Impact, visited us here at Eagle Rock years ago and was impressed enough to come back last year to see if we could help his team by collaborating on the creation of curriculum for the first INSTITUTE program.

The INSTITUTE of Noble Impact is more than an all-caps nine-letter non-abbreviated acronym. It’s also a noble concept — and the first of its kind summer program with a single goal in mind. That purpose is to commit students to enact social change.

Now here’s where it gets weird. The idea is for these students to perform a noble public service while practicing entrepreneurship. Can anyone say oxymoron? Is this a conflict in philosophies? Helping others while helping yourself? How do these seemingly opposing philosophies meld into a single action with a combined purpose?

The INSTITUTE — working in concert with the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service — skillfully addresses the dialectic between public service and entrepreneurship. The challenge for students is to find practical approaches to “making a difference” in their community.

The weeklong summer program challenges INSTITUTE students to think about community issues, ideas for solutions — ultimately creating sustainable impact.

For our part, Eagle Rock’s Professional Development Center staff helped Noble think through its Continue reading…

Latest Eagle Rock Grads Reflect on Education and Setting New Goals

Our eight most recent Eagle Rock School graduates took the opportunity to briefly reflect on their time here. Reading their comments, we were drawn to the similarities expressed by these new grads, each of whom will receive their high school diplomas on Friday afternoon, August 8, at a ceremony here in Estes Park, Colorado.

Where negativity is a normal theme of new students to our wilderness campus, it’s refreshing to hear comments about the good things the future holds for these graduates. And we think a lot of that comes from time spent looking for the similarities in your peers instead of the differences.

We’re not always sure why the curriculum at Eagle Rock seems to be so successful. We’d like to credit the administration, the instructors, the staff, the programs. But sometimes it just comes down to a couple of classmates sitting down on a boulder and discussing an issue that’s important to one of them.

So sit yourself down and listen as our new graduates — Nikolay Hayden, Marjorie Furio, Lesly DeLeon, Jeremy Coles, Nicole Bau, Tiffany Wright, Jessy Mejia and Jaliza Perez — relate their Eagle Rock experiences:

Nikolay Hayden

Nikolay “Nick” Hayden grew up in Ukraine. When he was adopted at age 11, he relocated to Colorado where he was confronted with a pair of stumbling blocks — a new language and a different culture.

He lived in Colorado Springs with his mom, dad, two brothers, and a sister before enrolling at Eagle Rock. He came to us for a new experience — attending a traditional high school.

“I was crazy because I was young,” Nick said. “I was active all the time. That’s how people saw me.”

In his time at Eagle Rock, Nick said he’s become better at accepting people for who they are by co-existing with others within a small community. He said has also learned a lot from the structure here, which encourages him to be on time and to be organized. For those tools, he credits his house sister, Sandra.

“She helped me a lot in Juniper House,” he explained. “She helped me stay on track. She was really motivated, and I found myself following her because she helped me.”

After graduating, Nick plans to go home to work in lifeguarding or construction with the eventual goal of joining the U.S. Navy.

Marjorie Furio

Marjorie “Star” Furio struggled with the extroverted nature of Eagle Rock from the get-go. Growing up with her mom in Prescott and the Grand Canyon area of Arizona, Star lost her scholarship after receiving failing grades at another boarding school. When she arrived in Estes Park, she was surprised by the difficulty of living so closely with such a diverse group of people.

“I expected it to be cozy, and I had to adjust to conflict and feeling uncomfortable at times,” Star admitted.

She cites Human Sexuality as one of her favorite courses for being “really honest.” And she credits her instructors — Jen Frickey and Beth Ellis — for making her Continue reading…

Meet The Team: Eagle Rock’s Science Instructor and House Parent – Janet Johnson

We’re of the opinion that, if you’re going to blog, we might as well take advantage of the opportunity to introduce the various members of the team here at Eagle Rock. Today, for example, we’re interviewing Janet Johnson, who speaks fluent chemistry, earth science and biology.

Here’s her story:

Eagle Rock: Who are you and what do you to do here at Eagle Rock?

Janet: Right now I am a science instructor, which means I get to facilitate all kinds of cool project-based and experiential classes — with lessons like For the Birds and The Science of Cooking. I am also one of the house parents in Aspen House. Next year I have the opportunity to help support Eagle Rock’s new instructors as they transition into the community.

Eagle Rock: What did you do prior to coming to Eagle Rock?

Janet: As an undergraduate student, I studied biology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. I eventually earned a master’s in science curriculum and instruction from The University of Colorado-Boulder as I was starting my work at Eagle Rock.

In between those two experiences I held various other positions including bank teller, landscaper, restaurant hostess and salesperson at a clothing store. By far the sweetest job was working at a chocolate shop. Mostly I made malts for Midwestern tourists, but every now and again I would get to tend the chocolate or make coconut haystacks. Those were great days.

Eagle Rock: What attracted you to Eagle Rock?

Janet: I first learned about Eagle Rock while I was teaching at the Chinquapin School in Highlands, Texas. Chinquapin is a college prep school for underserved students from the Houston area. Chinquapin was similar to Eagle Rock in its commitment to community, and very different in its Continue reading…

Community Readiness: A Visiting Teacher’s Education at Eagle Rock

I arrived at Eagle Rock under a self-induced misconception. I had proposed a weeklong residency with the Professional Development Center to learn how their small school in Estes Park, Colorado, took students from around the country and re-engaged them in their own education.

Coming from New York City where I work at at the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School, I was anticipating spending a week in the retreat-like atmosphere, observing how staff supported students in developing habits of individual responsibility and self-regulation. I was looking forward to learning how this unique school cultivated student ownership of individual learning plans in each one of its students.

The first incongruity confronted me at the daily community gathering, where a student named Raji facilitated a communal discussion of his strengths and areas for growth. As I saw other students challenge the young man to own both his strengths and his weaknesses, I had my first inkling that responsibility can’t only be an individual pursuit. Other teens challenged Raji to “walk the walk” after commending him on his growth since joining the community.

Later, “Announcements” opened the floor for all members of the community to share information. These ranged from relating information about upcoming organizational meetings to suggestions that students clean up after themselves or respect each other’s space. But there were no deans, teachers or staff members making these announcements; it was fellow students. No issue was seen as too small with students embracing an active role in the accountability to the norms of the community.

It was then that I began to understand that personal responsibility can’t be the only goal (or, I would argue, the primary goal) that I was considering when looking into how to get students to own their education. In the back of my mind as I was investigating re-engaging students, I discovered ideas such as Continue reading…