Meet the Team: Chris Lamar — School Counselor/Life After Eagle Rock Instructional Specialist

Chris Lamar joined us in November of 2017 as a part-time mental health therapist and admissions support specialist and is now our school counselor and Life After Eagle Rock instructional specialist.

His primary responsibility here at Eagle Rock is to empower students to overcome their internal and external obstacles, as well as ensuring that they fulfill all requirements necessary to graduate and move toward whatever post-graduation opportunity they’re seeking. In addition, Chris works in admissions, interviewing incoming students to assess whether they’re a good fit for Eagle Rock. He says it’s also an opportunity to discover their personalities, their strengths and the ways in which they might need support.

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We asked Chris to flesh out his school and job experience in an informal Q&A setting and here’s what he had to say: Continue reading…

Meet the Team: Bea Salazar-Nunez, Life After Eagle Rock Instructional Specialist

Bea-Salazar-Eagle-Rock-SchoolBea Salazar-Nunez was born in Los Angeles, Calif., but grew up in Commerce City, Colo. Ever since college, she has felt drawn to assist students — as well as their families — gain an understanding of all the options available to them after they graduate from high school. Bea is also incredibly adept at helping families navigate through what is to many a confusing and complex financial aid process.

Here at Eagle Rock, Bea assists students in exploring their options as they prepare for their journey after Eagle Rock. Besides being excellent at what she does here on campus, this artist and animal lover has other interests and avocations that we asked her about:

Eagle Rock: What year did you graduate from college, what colleges did you attend, and what was your major and minor?

Bea: I graduated from the University of Colorado Denver in 2013 with a BA in psychology, a minor in ethnic studies, and an honors thesis in biochemistry/biophysics. I also attended Marquette University for my first year of college where I was a majoring in biomedical engineering.

ER: What did you do prior to coming to work for Eagle Rock?

Bea: Prior to coming to Eagle Rock I was Continue reading…

We’re in the Market for a Great Guidance Counselor

Most educational institutions set aside time for graduating seniors to meet with a counselor to discuss their future ambitions, and most of these advisers do a good job of pointing grads toward a suitable college that they can afford or a promising vocation based on their interests.

But here at the Eagle Rock School and Professional Development Center, we go a little overboard when it comes to assisting in the future planning of our students.

DSC_2710_BThat’s because most of our students initially found success elusive at their previous school, and we’re bound and determined to make that a non-issue in their future lives. We care about each other’s success, our student’s experience, and we work hard to constantly innovate.

Which is exactly why we’re advertising for a new guidance counselor to assist our students in planning for their futures. We don’t even call these folks “guidance counselors.” In fact, the job title reads, “Life After Eagle Rock Instructional Specialist,” or LAER IS, if you’re into awkward acronyms.

Truth be told, a position at Eagle Rock isn’t for everyone. We add new meaning to the term non-traditional, and our “classroom setting” extends way past the final bell and into the evenings and weekends. So if you’re looking for a job rather than a lifestyle, fill out an application at a school where they follow a strict set of standard curriculum documents and hours of operation.

But if you believe in an educational process that supports diverse high school students in reengaging in their own education and finding and nurturing their gifts, or you like the notion of empowering students to explore and examine their options for life after high school in a deep and critical way, then we just might be your huckleberry.

Riddle us this: Do you believe that youth can benefit from coaching and preparation during high school that can make them even more successful after they graduate? Does a boarding school that bases its disciplinary approach on relationships and respect resonate with you?

What it all comes down to is an applicant with boundless energy, an inherent trust in the ability of students, a passion for the array of options that exist for youth, a deep desire to work on both school wide initiatives and with individual students, and you have ambitions to impact secondary education nationally.

If you’ve got it, we want to hear from you.

As the successful applicant for the Life After Eagle Rock instructional specialist (LAER IS) position, you would serve as part of Continue reading…