Category Archives: Accolades

Eagle Rock Students Present Philanthropic Video to Estes Park Community

A short, five-minute video produced by Eagle Rock students that illustrates the importance of service work (see below) was presented to a banquet hall of more than 400 Estes Park community members earlier this month.

The occasion was National Philanthropy Day (Nov. 15), and six Eagle Rock students and four staff members debut the video at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park. The focus of this year’s philanthropic event was “Youth in Philanthropy,” and several Eagle Rock students shot, edited and produced this year’s offering (see above), which focuses on Continue reading…

Eagle Rock Included in ‘Learning Through Experience’ Website

When it comes to adventure-based experiential education, Eagle Rock can be counted among the leading progressive high schools in the nation. Appropriately located adjacent to the 415-square-mile Rocky Mountain National Park, our sprawling campus provides not only a location, but a starting off point for a number of adventures that, when combined with education and service, provide our youth with a student-based, rather than faculty-based experience.

Recognizing our unique role and approach, Eagle Rock is among 200 or so providers listed in a new online resource recently published by the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) — http://learnthroughexperience.org. If you’re unfamiliar with AEE, it is a not-for-profit membership-based organization that advocates for the outdoor and adventure-based experiential education industry. Among its offerings are regional and international conferences, a robust publishing program that includes the Journal of Experiential Education, and an accreditation program that identifies, publishes and upholding standards to improve professional practice in the field of experiential education.

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As an AEE accredited program, Eagle Rock is proud to be listed in the Learning Through Experience directory, which helps consumers find Continue reading…

Eagle Rock’s Robert Burkhardt Garners Prestigious Education Award

Robert Burkhardt, Eagle Rock’s founding head of school, recently received the coveted Aldo Leopold Award from The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey.

The Lawrenceville Medal/Aldo Leopold Award is the highest honor granted by this coed independent college prep boarding school for students in grades 9 through 12. Located on 700 acres in the historic Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, NJ, the school has more than 800 students from 34 states and 40 countries, and a teacher population of 115 for a 7.2:1 student-teacher ratio.

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The Lawrenceville Medal has been awarded each year since 1991 and its prestigious recipients have included Nobel Laureates, philanthropists, jurists, physicians, Pulitzer Prize winners, community leaders, a rock and roll star, the CEO of the Walt Disney Company, the president of Honduras, and a Saudi prince.

The award is dedicated to the memory of Aldo Leopold, a distinguished environmentalist and author, and it is bestowed on a former Lawrenceville alumnus who has demonstrated “brilliant, lifelong work in a significant field of endeavor.”

That description fits perfectly with the accomplishments of our own Robert Burkhardt — an educator who has provided thousands of Continue reading…

Eagle Rock Students Win Art Awards at Rocky Mountain Park’s 100th Anniversary

RMNP-100There’s been a lot of celebrating this year surrounding the 100th anniversary of Rocky Mountain National Park, and Eagle Rock School students got in on the action with their offerings in the park’s student art competition.

This coming Friday is the 100th birthday of this pristine park that is Eagle Rock’s nearest all-green neighbor. And we’ve been excited as everyone else about this landmark anniversary, which has been highlighted by speeches, special activities and community events for the past year.

Some of our more artistic students signed up earlier this year for the park’s 100th anniversary student art competition, and Rahmel Evans, Cristian Aguliz and Zoe Johansen all won big-time awards for their art. Rahmel took a first-place win in the park’ statewide high school photography category, and Cristian followed up with a second-place nod. Zoe walked away with second place statewide for high school art.

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The theme of the student art competition was to illustrate a century of lessons learned from the eco systems in Rocky Mountain National Park. During an Exposure course held prior to the contest, students spent a full week traveling to different locations in the park, shooting pictures and learning about the environment and history of the area. That’s where Rahmel and Cristian captured the excellent digital images of Rocky that were recognized as winners.


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During a following trimester — in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain National Park mural that Eagle Rock students painted — time and energy was spent Continue reading…

And The Winner Is: Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center

If you’ve been associated for any length of time with Eagle Rock, you know our focus is on the work. Our singleness of purpose is reengaging students in their own education. And we actively facilitate the work of others around the country that express an interest in doing the same thing.

Point being: We’re not very good at tooting our own horn, singing our own praises, or making much of a ruckus about awards. We’d like to say it’s because we’re incredibly humble, but the truth is, our students and work with schools around the country come first, and public accolades — while genuinely appreciated — follow somewhere else down the list.

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Having said all that, we have won many awards since our inception, and we thought it’d be nice to trot out those recognitions on a list. If for no other reason, they give us incentive to keep doing what — apparently — is excellent work: