Meet Eagle Rock’s August 2015 High School Graduates

With apologies to Sha Na Na, it’s Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum Summertime here in Estes Park, and along with the sunshine comes our latest class of Eagle Rock School graduates, including Heather Johnston, Gabriel Hernandez, Daryl Jones Jr. (DJ), Amelia Howard, Garrison Seizer and Ziyad Johnstone.

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These half-dozen students will take the stage at 4pm Mountain Time, on Friday, August 7, here in Estes Park where we’ll celebrate their growth and development while at Eagle Rock and wish them well in their future endeavors.

Below is a little background on each graduate, along with a word of encouragement and advice to students and faculty from these seasoned Eagle Rock veterans:

Heather Johnston has proven herself to be a tremendous leader during her time here within the Eagle Rock community. She arrived in ER 58 (our 58th semester since the early-1990s), hailing from Dillon, Colo., which is just down the road.

Heather has been an active member of Aspen House for the past three years, during which she has added to her resume by leading morning exercises, participating in PeaceJam, acting in our campus production of In the Blood, and becoming a lifeguard. She was also a student co-teacher for the Gender and Violence course and served as a student leader for Spectrum, Eagle Rock’s gay-straight awareness group.

Heather says she was able to conjure up the energy for all these activities with her love of chocolate. She also has a special talent as a unicycle rider. Upon graduating from Eagle Rock, Heather will be attending Marlboro College in Vermont, beginning this fall.

Heather’s parting words of wisdom to Eagle Rock’s educators: Challenge yourself to be Continue reading…

Meet The Eagle Rock Student: Ashley Hernandez

Today, we’re starting up a new series of blog posts that are written by – and written about – our students here at Eagle Rock. And to kick things off, we’re placing the spotlight for this initial post on Ashley Hernandez, a Fort Worth, Tex., native who comes to Eagle Rock from Lafayette, Colo.

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Fellow student Heather Johnston, who asks some pretty good questions about this new Spruce House resident whose sister also attended Eagle Rock, is interviewing Ashley. Ashley says she arrived at Eagle Rock with the goal of discovering something new. Here’s her story:

Heather: What’s it like at home in Lafayette?

Ashley: It’s fun, and also stressful. Since I’ve been at Eagle Rock, I find I argue less with my family.

Heather: What did you think when you first got to Eagle Rock?

Ashley: It was overwhelming. It was something different from what I was used to… It was scary at first.

Heather: Yeah, I think we can all relate to that. So thinking about Eagle Rock now, what’s your favorite part?

Ashley: Intramurals. We get to play, and be competitive and active. It’s a good time to get some anger out.

Heather: Could you tell me about some personal growth you’ve worked on recently?

Ashley: I’ve been working on Continue reading…