Individual Learning Plans Drive Eagle Rock School’s Latest Class Offerings

As we enter the 83rd trimester since our school’s founding in the early 1990s (ER 83), we’d like to introduce you to five classes available to our diverse student body during the first half of the new trimester.

You might notice that each of these classes references a Distribution Requirement and, in fact, all Eagle Rock School classes feature a Distribution Requirement. But an explanation is in order. At Eagle Rock, each student has their own Individual Learning Plan (ILP) that is made up of three sections: These include Power Standards, Required Experiences, and Distribution Requirements.

For Distribution Requirements, students must meet proficiency standards for at least 24 credits. Those include two credits for each of our Five Expectations. The remaining 14 credits can be earned across the expectations, with lots of student choice in how they are earned. For more details on these requirements, please read Distribution Requirements Play a Big Role in This Trimester’s Latest Class Offerings.

Here then are the five classes we’re highlighting for this trimester:

La Resolana: Villagers in northern New Mexico refer to the south-facing side of a wall as la resolana, meaning “the place where the sun shines.” Every culture has a resolana, a place where the resolaneros — the villagers — gather, dialogue, and reflect on society, culture, and politics. In this class, taught by Josán Perales, Eagle Rock’s World Languages Instructional Specialist, students are becoming “resolaneros,” exploring the stories of their identities and sharing them in community with others. Through daily writings and becoming an expert in their own stories, students enrolled in this class are finding a story worth telling a public audience. Successful completion of this class qualifies students for Engaged Global Citizen Distribution Requirement in English.

By the Numbers: Policing and Wages: Taught by Steph Subdiaz, our Math Instructional Specialist; and Mitaali Taskar, a 2020/2021 Public Allies Fellow, students are learning the importance of math through the lens of social justice. They are exploring how the abstract nature of math can help Americans understand lived experiences of injustice by applying arithmetic, graphing and statistics skills to dissect police use of force and business-related wage theft. Successful completion of this class qualifies students for the Leadership for Justice Distribution Requirement in Math/Statistics.

Poetry, Power, Performance, and the Pen: Also called “P4”, this class helps students write their own truths and allows them to strike out at their own silence. Taught by Lucie Paradis, our 2020/2021 Public Allies Fellow; and Tara Jewell, School Team Projects Coordinator, P4 explores students’  personal journeys with mental health and wellness through reflection, journaling, analyzing poetry, and performances. During the trimester, they are drafting at least five unique poems, picking their best, and reciting that poem before the Eagle Rock community. Students are also discussing concepts like normality, identity, self-care approaches, and healing. Besides improving written skills, students are attempting to disrupt stigmas surrounding mental health issues by having open discussions and engaging in personal reflection. Successful completion of this class qualifies students for the English/Poetry Distribution Requirement.

The Art of Healing: In this class, students are defining what personal healing is, and how they have been engaging in practices of healing and self-love throughout their lifetime, oftentimes without even knowing that’s what they’ve been doing. Jocelyn Rodriguez, Eagle Rock Athletics Coordinator; and Matisyn Darby, a 2020/2021 Public Allies Fellow, are leading students in an exploration of the alignment with practices in Presence and Embodiment, Impacting and Leading, Centered Accountability, and Setting Limits. This class includes somatic movement, fitness, music, dance, visual art, and writing — all contributing to an understanding on what it means to “heal.” Successful completion of this class qualifies students for the Creating Healthy Life Choices Distribution Requirement in English.

Sound Waves of Women’s History: Understanding American history through the lens of vital moments in the advancement of women is the theme of this class, taught by Cedric Josey, our Societies & Cultures Instructional Specialist; and Lucia Sicius, a 2020/2021 Public Allies Fellow. Here, students are looking at the powerful contributions of women musicians in the Women’s Movement, Civil Rights movement from the Sixties, right up to present-day movements of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. This class offers students opportunities to identify key moments in American women’s history in the 20th century through the lens of musicians and activists. Finally, students will participate in a culminating project consisting of both music and narration. Successful completion of this class qualifies students for the Effective Communication Distribution Requirement in American History.