Life at Eagle Rock School Archives

Stirring Documentary Highlights Black Lives Matter Day at Eagle Rock

Here we are at the start of May, preparing for our 81st trimester at Eagle Rock, and COVID-19 has our community operating in a virtual world that’s powered by Internet-based technologies. As we look back on last trimester — seemingly a lifetime since we were on campus together — we want to highlight one day in particular. That important day was Feb. 22 during Black History Month. Coordinated by Nia Dawson and her team of Student Services Program staffers, our own Black Lives Matter (BLM) Day was truly a success.

Among the highlights of this year’s Black Lives Matter (BLM) Day, held on campus at Eagle Rock School in mid-February, was a screening of the award-winning documentary film “Agents of Change,” featuring Danny Glover.

This marks the third consecutive year that Eagle Rock has commemorated BLM Day, and this year’s theme was “Say It Loud!” The objective for the day was for students to be in action around an issue that matters to them, and to get things rolling, students and staff viewed the 66-minute documentary that was co-produced and directed by Abby Ginsberg and Frank R. Dawson.

In addition to Glover, the film features Ramona Tascoe, Harry Edwards, and Juanita Tamayo Lott. “Agents of Change” documents how students changed the curriculum of American universities in the late 1960s by being in action — through protest. The film received Best Documentary honors during Pan African Film Festival 2016.

“Agents of Change” examines racial conditions on college campuses and throughout the country that led to the protests in the 1960s. The film’s subjects find themselves caught at the crossroads of the civil rights, black power, and anti-Vietnam war movements during a pivotal time in America’s history. Co-producer / co-director Dawson is the Interim Dean of Career Education at the Santa Monica College Center for Media and Design and a former chair of that college’s Communication and Media Studies Department. He also happens to be Continue reading…

Eagle Rock Students Deliver First-ever Virtual Presentations of Learning

With our school’s 80th trimester (ER 80) behind us, students recently found themselves preparing to present their individual Presentations of Learning (POLs).

Because students are not on campus with us due to the COVID-19 outbreak, these presentations were prepared from students’ homes and delivered virtually — much like the final month of classes and learning experiences of ER 80. This, of course, entails changes in how we’re structuring these presentations and honoring students’ work during this time.

As background for anyone unfamiliar with POLs, traditionally at the end of each trimester, students participate in a self-appraisal of their educational successes during the previous trimester. And they do so before a panel of teachers, administrators, community members and others interested in searching for evidence of learning from the students.

The Presentation of Learning serves as a rite of passage for all students, enabling them to make the case that they have absorbed and retained an abundance of learning in the preceding months. It’s not all about obtaining credits, but more a tool that allows students to take a pause in their learning, and then reflect, synthesize and analyze that learning.

There’s an air of excitement during POLs, with a notable increase in energy, anticipation, and celebration. In these changing times insofar as how we deliver the Eagle Rock experience, our staff aims to Continue reading…

Eagle Rock School Moves Online for the Time of COVID-19

Amid the growing uncertainty surrounding COVID-19’s presence in the United States, Eagle Rock School administrators have called for “all hands on deck” to prepare and deliver virtual learning experiences for staff and students through the remainder of the Spring 2020 trimester (known as ER 80 — the 80th trimester since our founding in the early-1990s).

Our connection to the virus named “SARS-CoV-2” and the disease it causes — named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) — began in February, when we began closely watching the news and developments around the virus. On March 10, the decision was made have all Eagle Rock School students return to their homes, supported by a plan for remote learning and ongoing student support.

We immediately knew that communication would be important as our students spread out to their homes across the country. Beth Ellis, Associate Director of Students, spearheaded a virtual hub to centralize communication, learning options, instructions for virtual communication, staff contact info, and other resources students may use throughout this now-virtual trimester.

Staff identified ways to make distance learning a reality for our students while maintaining an approach that is engaging, reflective of our experiential learning approach, and accessible across students’ various situations. Our school team began this undertaking by committing to students that they would indeed be able to earn the credits for which they were enrolled when they were on campus. We created new credit-bearing opportunities that we named learning experiences.

Beth Ellis, along with other staff members, fleshed out a website, after which Sarah Bertucci, Director of Professional Development and former Director of Curriculum, facilitated building the learning opportunities alongside our instructional specialists and Public Allies Fellows.

The learning opportunities for the rest of the trimester include two Power Standard classes, which are high-yield credits that take place over a period of 10 weeks, as well as several shorter learning experiences that will change each week. Students who have already enrolled in Power Standard classes will continue to earn these significant credits.

Here are the offerings: Continue reading…

New Event Celebrates Student Successes at the Halfway Mark

At Eagle Rock School, we place the same value on personal growth as we do our insistence on academic success. Over the course of their time here, there are countless opportunities for our students to challenge themselves and develop their own character.

This trimester, we’re piloting a celebration to recognize students’ personal growth at the half-way point of their time here. It takes an abundance of commitment and dedication to become successful at Eagle Rock, and we find it often takes about a year for our students to fully find their groove here. Thus, our new Mid-Career Celebration is what we’re blogging about today.

Eagle Rock School students achieve growth in many ways, including by learning about, experiencing, and practicing effective communication skills, dealing with conflict, and embodying a centering practice. For example, students begin their Eagle Rock School career with a month-long wilderness course focusing on not only becoming part of a community but becoming comfortable with one’s self.

Upon their return to campus, these new students immediately begin the practice of effective communication and teamwork. And they do that while residing in a diverse community and participating in such non-volunteer tasks as Continue reading…

Explore Week Sends Eagle Rock Students in Search of Adventure and Learning

This trimester, the Eagle Rock student body finds itself in pursuit of several outdoor adventures among the half-dozen or so Explore Week course offerings. The wilderness-style courses include camping and canoeing along two popular rivers, as well as another adventure course that features instruction — and participation — in some serious mountain biking.

Also among courses underway this week are a pair of hands-on projects that promise to improve the appearance of our 640-acre campus, including a group-participation mural to grace a wall near our Human Performance Center, and a spruce up for a new on-campus construction project that’s nearing completion.

Here’s what’s going over this five-day period, both on and off campus:

Mountain biking — There’smuch more to mountain biking then just hopping on a saddle and pedaling up or downhill, as students in this Explore Week course are learning. Among the tasks our students are choosing to take on are how to assess an entire mountain bike for mechanical issues, how to adjust wheel bearings, how to change a tube, and how to adjust shifting and brakes for optimal performance on the trail. In addition, students have been spending time each day riding bikes, with longer rides facing them at the end of the week.

The instructor for this course is Devin Konecny, who has a 15-year background in experimental plasma physics, computer diagnostics, machining, and Continue reading…

Field Trip Shows Just How Much Black Lives Matter

For a second consecutive year in the month of February, Eagle Rock students and staff gathered to celebrate our organization’s Black Lives Matter Day. On Saturday, February 23rd, forty-plus members of our community traveled 70 miles to Downtown Denver to participate in four distinct educational and community-focused activities.

One group of students and staff visited the United Capoeira Association – Colorado chapter in Denver’s Santa Fe Arts District to learn about the history and practice of capoeira— an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music. Developed 500 years ago by African slaves mainly from Angola, capoeira served as a self-defense technique that today incorporates kicking, head-butting, slap-boxing, deception, evasion, and even walking using one’s hands.

A second group of students met with Adri Norris— a Denver artist known for crafting art and stories of women throughout history to inspire, teach and empower. Alongside Norris, Eagle Rock students and staff created Continue reading…

‘More Than a Game’ Shines a Light on More Than Basketball

Our 2018/2019 Public Allies teaching fellow in Human Performance, Jocelyn Rodriguez, has implemented a program called “More Than a Game” that targets students who want to develop their both their basketball and leadership skills. To be a part of the program, students are expected to exhibit leadership in the Eagle Rock community, participate in various team-building activities, and put forward the effort to succeed not only on the basketball court, but in the classroom as well.

Jocelyn takes over where Cordell Church — our 2016/2017 Public Allies teaching fellow in Human Performance — left off. Cordell initiated a co-ed basketball team two years ago in order to create a safe space for students to interact with the game, learn some sports and life skills, and have fun at the same time. (Learn more about that offering by reading For Some at Eagle Rock, Basketball is the Only Game in Town here on the Eagle Rock Blog.)

Under Jocelyn’s tutelage, the 18 students who are participating in the More Than a Game program are engaging in various leadership roles, including serving as team captain and in leading team huddles. In particular, one Eagle Rock School student has been Continue reading…

House Parents Describe Their Eagle Rock Student Housing Experiences

At first glance, the job of being a house parent for a group of six teen-aged boys and an equal number of teen-aged girls could be a tall order. And as challenging as it is to properly support a dozen students on a daily and nightly basis, imagine a house full of young adults when it comes to being engaged in their own education and living community.

Three of our six house parents recently wrapped up their first trimester in this critical on-campus role. And, not unexpectedly, our administrators again proved to be really good at selecting the best staff members to serve as house parents. We’re also experts at preparing and supporting those house honchos for what the job entails, but some things — as you’ll read below — can only be learned while performing the job itself.

That being said, no one can describe the house parent experience as well as these fresh adult leaders. We’ve asked the three newbies to reflect on what those experiences meant to them personally. But first, a little background on our on-campus Living Village, which is made up of six houses — each designed to accommodate up to 12 students in two separate sleeping areas. Continue reading…

Part of What Makes Explore Week so Successful is the Instructors

This trimester’s five-day Explore Week is currently underway, with four course offerings that include jewelry making, woodworking, dance, and preparing for life after Eagle Rock School. Our campus in Estes Park, Colo., is nationally known for the quality of our progressive approach toward reengaging youth in their own education, and never are our educational offerings more exciting and well, non-traditional, than during Explore Week.

That acknowledgement of excellence has a lot to do with the subject matter, which — in past trimesters — has included helpful real-life topics such as balancing a budget, wilderness first aid, and video production. Just as important, and perhaps a bit more fun, are course offerings that instruct students in salsa dancing, whitewater rafting, or using improv poetry to communicate.

But the main ingredient for all of these courses is the instructors, each one sought out and invited to relate their own expertise and life experiences on the topics they know best. Our staff go to great lengths to attract these educational guides for each of the unique courses offered during Explore Week. Many of the instructors, as you’ll see below, have no teaching background — at least in the traditional sense. However, each has a passion for their particular skill or calling, and with a little persuasion of our staff’s part, we ask these diverse individuals to take a week off and share that passion and knowledge with our students.

That being said, below we are introducing each of these instructors for current edition Explore Week, as well as a little about each course itself: Continue reading…