Higher Ed Fund Offers Eagle Rock Grads a Leg Up on Their Future

Editor’s Note: Giving Tuesday is a global day of charity that follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Below, Eagle Rock Head of School Jeff Liddle presents a case for friends of Eagle Rock School to participate in today’s charitable event by focusing their end-of-year giving to our graduates — young people who many thought would never graduate from high school. Donations of any size are gratefully welcomed and 100 percent of these gifts go to support the higher education of our graduates. Gifts are tax-deductible and donors receive a letter that can be used for tax purposes.

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Few things bring me more joy than handing an Eagle Rock School diploma to a graduate. Sharing our Human Performance Center with mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, cousins and grandparents, aunts, uncles and sponsors is a great honor. We celebrate and hold space for renewed hope. Hope of a future once seemingly unattainable.

Three times a year at graduation we pause. We cry. We laugh. We celebrate. Three times a year Eagle Rock grads get to say, “Yes, I did it!”  This, despite all the odds. Despite the doubters. Despite tremendous obstacles. All Who Dare is more than a cliché. Our graduates are living, breathing examples of it. They dare.

Graduates walk across the Human Performance Center stage with hope, plans, and a solid high school experience that launches them into the future. Unfortunately, the daunting reality is this: That next step — the pursuit of higher education — is often financially out of reach.

That’s why I’m reaching out today, on Giving Tuesday. As the cost of higher education continues to rise, these graduates’ financial needs have never been greater. At Eagle Rock, we send forth students who have the desire and are prepared to make a difference in the world. However, for most, they hit a financial glass ceiling and struggle in their efforts to pay for post-secondary opportunities.

With your financial support, we can make a difference. Your donation makes it possible for a graduate to buy books, register for classes, purchase a computer, or buy a bus pass so they can simply get to school. Since the Graduate Higher Education Fund’s inception in 1997, we have awarded more than $981,000 to our graduates. In this past year alone, we’ve awarded $58,690 in scholarships and believe me, it makes a huge difference in each of their lives.

Currently each graduate is eligible for a $14,000 scholarship toward vocational training, undergraduate, and graduate school. Please consider giving as much as you are able by visiting our Graduate Higher Education Fund page today. . Gifts are tax-deductible and you’ll receive a letter that can be used for tax purposes.

Thank you in advance for supporting the Eagle Rock School Graduate Higher Education Fund and contributing to a better world — one graduate at a time.

With gratitude,

Jeff Liddle, Head of School

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About the Author: Jeff Liddle is the head of school at the Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center — a nationally recognized, tuition-free residential high school in Estes Park, Colo., that offers a second chance to students who have not been able to succeed in a traditional high school setting, and a professional development center that supports high schools nationally in re-engaging youth in their own education. As head of school, Jeff is responsible for leading Eagle Rock’s school community and its leadership team; interfacing with the organization’s board of directors; and overseeing the vision and financial health of the organization.