Tag Archives: Mark Palmer

Eagle Rock’s PDC Checking Off Items on its “To-do” List

Once again, a quick look at our “to do” list here at Eagle Rock’s Professional Development Center (PDC) shows we’re running in all directions to get things done. And by get things done, we mean working hand-in-hand with educators who seek us out for our expertise and thoughts in retaining, reinvigorating and re-engaging the students in their particular areas of the country.

In February, we hosted researchers from the University of Michigan to study our approach to personalized learning. Researcher Jeremy Golubcow-Teglasi heard of us through his study of the Big Picture design and connected to our work.

Later that month, on Feb. 25 and 26, Opportunity Nation heard from our very own Dan Condon (Associate Director of Professional Development) at a conference in Washington, D.C. (read: Eagle Rock Participates in National Opportunity Summit).

During that same week, Innovations High School in Reno, Nev., invited Sarah Bertucci from Eagle Rock and Eunice Mitchell from Big Picture Learning to collaborate on supporting staff as they shift into Year Two of their Big Picture journey. They have a well-established student culture in Year One and we are working to help them sharpen their focus on instructional practices going into Year Two.

In mid-March, we hosted representatives from Holy Heart of Mary High School (St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada) and New Village Girls Academy (a Big Picture School) from Los Angeles. New Village was working on integrating outdoor education more seamlessly into their school, while Holy Heart was working toward more fully engaging their disengaged young people.

Later that month, we began a search for a new Public Allies Director to replace Mark Palmer, and that search resulted in the hiring of Christi Kramer from Family League of Baltimore.

Dan Condon was at MetWest High School on March 26 and 27 and we have been providing ongoing support for them around their strategic plan and making data-based decisions as they work toward achieving their goals.

At the end of March and into April we conducted observations of competency-based systems for the Iowa State Department of Education. We also visited a pair of school districts in Collins-Maxwell and Van Meter near Des Moines. This is all part of a larger project where our team is developing a cohort of trained student observers and interviewers to look at schools through the eyes of students. Our professional development center fellow, Kelsey Baun, has contributed significantly to the design and delivery of the student trainings and will soon accompany students to Iowa. Her efforts are part of her contribution as a Public Allies fellow to build Eagle Rock’s capacity to better use students to extend our national reach.

Also in early April, representatives from Innovations High School in Reno, Nev., and Big Picture Learning came to Eagle Rock for a leadership retreat focused on sharpening focus for the year ahead.

The second week of April saw Kelsey Baun travel with Eagle Rock students to conduct focus group interviews of students at four schools: Health Leadership High School, ACE Leadership High School, South Valley Academy and Amy Biehl High School (all in Albuquerque, N.M.). The intent here is to assist our partners at New Mexico Center for School Leadership to better understand personalized learning.

Below are some of the activities scheduled from now through the next several months. If you would like to know more about our work or how your school or organization can work with our Professional Development Center, please contact our associate director of professional development, Dan Condon, by emailing DCondon at EagleRockSchool dot org.

April 20 — 24, and May 27

Eagle Rock’s professional development associate, Anastacia Galloway, is leading our work in Bronx, N.Y., at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School (FLHFHS). There, Anastacia is following up on two previous FLHFHS visits focused on deploying Fred Newmann’s Authentic Intellectual Framework. This time around Anastacia is Continue reading…

We’re Hiring — Director of Public Allies

We’re losing Mark Palmer, our outstanding director of Public Allies at the end of this year, which places us in the position of seeking a new leader and administrator to fill Mark’s incredibly large shoes.

public-allies-imageAs director of our successful Teacher Fellowship Program, Palmer’s successor will oversee a dozen individuals, providing them with a year’s worth of service and leadership development at our residential high school that specializes in reengaging and educating students who haven’t been all that successful in a traditional school setting. These 12 fellows will become members of a new generation of leaders in education reform.

The director is tasked with recruiting a diverse cohort of emerging educational reformers, then designing and delivering their yearlong professional development, supporting these fellows through their many intersecting roles at Eagle Rock School and its Professional Development Center.

But before we delve further into the details of the job, it’s probably best to list the qualifications required.

  • A Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts degree in education is highly preferred.
  • The applicant should also have garnered some experience with recruiting a diverse group of young adults for service positions, working with public high school reform, and working with adolescents.
  • Strong organization, staff management and leadership skills are also required, as well as an ability to facilitate adult leaders through yearlong development.

Moving on to the responsibilities side of the equation, the new director will manage the Continue reading…

Meet The Team — Eagle Rock’s Director of Public Allies, Mark Palmer

Mark-Palmer-Eagle-Rock-Public-Allies
Eagle Rock’s Director of Public Allies, Mark Palmer.

For the time being and at least until the new year, Mark Palmer remains our director of Public Allies, a position that at the end of this trimester, he will have held for the past seven years.

Mark’s currently in the process of applying for the Digital Animation and Visual Effects (DAVE) School in Orlando, Fla., and he hopes to hear from that institution early next year.

Meanwhile, he is actively helping our director of professional development, Michael Soguero, and the Public Allies folks search for a new director to replace him. And while we’re all sorry to see his eventual departure from Eagle Rock, that doesn’t cut him any slack when it comes to highlighting him in one of our not-so-infrequent Meet the Team blog posts:

So let’s hear more from our departing director:

Eagle Rock: What is it exactly that you do you do here at Eagle Rock?

Mark: As Eagle Rock’s director of Public Allies, I oversee the hiring, training and experience of the dozen Public Allies Teaching Fellows we bring onboard annually.

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

Mark: I’ve been doing youth work for 16 years with organizations like The United States Peace Corps, The University of Minnesota, Echo Hill Outdoor School and the YMCA.

Eagle Rock: What attracted you to Eagle Rock?

Mark: Getting a chance to be around a Continue reading…