May 2016 - Eagle Rock Blog

One Eagle Rock School Instructor’s Philosophy on Education

As a house parent at Eagle Rock School, I frequently have students over to watch movies on Friday nights. Recently, we opted for a viewing of School of Rock, starring Jack Black — a personal favorite.

As the film began, students started to remark on how similar I was to Jack Black’s character, Dewey Finn. “Oh that’s just like Dan,” one student proclaimed as Finn made some contorted face at the camera. Another student piped up, “This film is about Dan teaching.”

At first I was appalled by their candor. “Do they think of me as some sort of oafish unprofessional fraud?” I asked myself. However, as the film progressed, I found myself increasingly proud of the comparison.

Turns out, young Dewey Finn embodies a lot of the spirit and craft of teaching that I hold at the core of my practice. His class is project-based and student-centered, and he uses the arts to engage students and pull out their unique individual strengths. And, he holds his students to incredibly high standards.

For those who haven’t seen the film, here is a Continue reading…

Latest House Retreats Rekindle the Fire for a New Trimester

In our ongoing efforts to “engage youth in their own education,” Eagle Rock School goes to great lengths to see that most of that educational engagement is interesting, positive and — in the case of our pre-trimester house retreats — rejuvenating.

Like waking up after an afternoon nap, sometimes it’s difficult to jump to your feet and get back into action. Same goes for returning to campus after a well-deserved trimester break.

House retreats enable our students to reestablish the camaraderie they had before break and reconnect with their fellow house dwellers. It’s two and a half days of “what I did on break,” punctuated by meals, competitions, sightseeing and time to refocus on the trimester immediately facing these students.

Mixed in with all that frivolity and fellowship, there are house meetings where house leaders and intramural captains are elected. And there is serious discussion about topics of importance to each living community, as well as a sober revisiting of the house mission statement.

Recently, four of our six campus houses handed us notes and photos of their house retreat happenings and we’ve related those activities below: Continue reading…

‘Staff Bingo’ Highlights the Life After Eagle Rock Fair

From the Claremont Colleges on the West Coast to Colby College in the East, from South Texas all the way north to Anchorage, Alaska, and even overseas in Uganda and the Philippines, Eagle Rock students recently learned where select Eagle Rock staff members headed off after their own high school experience.

It was a “share and tell” on a grand scale, with staff describing their own experiences immediately following high school and college. This first-ever Life After Eagle Rock Fair featured staff memories, along with photos, anecdotes and adventures, all to enliven presentations from colleges and universities about their offerings for new high school graduates / incoming students.

Participating Eagle Rock staff members provided “fun facts” about their experiences, and at the end of the presentations, students played “Staff Bingo,” tasked with identifying what fun fact belonged to which staff member. Prizes ranged from a kitchen patrol shift cover from an Eagle Rock instructional specialist, to a trip to Safeway with two friends, and first choice to an off-campus movie or play.

Among the fascinating facts uncovered during the “Staff Bingo” portion of the evening: Continue reading…

Eagle Rock Staffers Dive Deep at the Deeper Learning Conference

A handful of Eagle Rock staffers recently attended a worldwide conference called Deeper Learning 2016 in San Diego, walking away with new ways to influence students to begin thinking critically, collaboratively and to embrace fresh challenges.

Attending from Eagle Rock’s Professional Development Center (PDC) were Michael Soguero, director of professional development; Dan Condon, associate director of professional development; Sarah Bertucci, professional development associate; and Maya Edery, 2015/2016 Public Allies Teaching Fellow in society and cultures.

The purpose of the late March conference was to assist educators who truly strive to prepare their students for college and future careers. Among the core competencies for those who practice this Deeper Learning philosophy is to teach students how to master core academic content.

Attendees heard about methods of teaching students to think critically and solve complex problems, work as a group, communicate with each other and others, and develop academic mindsets. Put simply, the concept is to help students “learn how to learn.”

Our PDC team members arrived for the Southern California event and immediately headed to Continue reading…

Meet the Team: Sandy Rivera, Eagle Rock’s HR and Admin Assistant

When it comes to overseeing the myriad Human Resources and Administration functions within the Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center environment, we count on Sandy Rivera — an Eagle Rock School graduate herself — to ensure there’s an accurate, complete and correct assessment of many important details.

Sandy keeps close tabs on much of our administrative functions, ranging from fundraising for our Graduate Higher Education Fund to campus safety, risk management and numerous special projects. In addition, we’re excited to share she’s about to become the new houseparent of Juniper House.

In our continuing effort to help the Eagle Rock community know our staff better, we sat down with Sandy for a short Q&A about herself. Here’s what she revealed:

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

Sandy Rivera: For eight years, I was the benefits manager, worker’s compensation coordinator, safety officer and wellness team leader for Jay Nolan Community Services. That nonprofit organization assisted adults and children with autism and other developmental disabilities for all of Southern California and a small community in Northern California.

Eagle Rock: Where did you go to college and what did you study?

Sandy: For the artistic side of me, I attended Continue reading…