Some Unique Offerings Sprinkled Among Eagle Rock’s Fall 2014 Classes

JHP_0407There’s no doubt about it. Most of our students weren’t attracted to Eagle Rock School because of a stringent adherence to reading, writing and arithmetic. They were drawn to our mountainside campus — among other reasons — because of the diversity of classes available, and what that says about our interest in their interest in their own education.

That, and the prospect that living and learning here with us in Estes Park, Colo., is for the purpose of building one’s integrity, citizenship, knowledge base and ability to create and make healthy life choices.

If you take a look back at the class offerings we’ve made available to students since 2005, you’ll see topics ranging from to gambling to Guantanamera — a study of Cuba; from river watching to map-making; and from Internet research to American sign language.

But that was then and this is now. Here’s a short list of classes available at Eagle Rock for the second half of ER-64 (ER-64 = the 64th Trimester of Eagle Rock School since Eagle Rock’s been around):

Heartivisim: What do you believe in? What does culture have to do with it? What values should Eagle Rock have as a school and as a society? How do we change what we value? Given that before we stand up for something, we must understand where we stand, this course helps students examine ways of communicating messages that change the world. At the same time the class is exploring what it means to be an activist at Eagle Rock.

You Are What You Eat: By examining what they eat, students are learning how the foods they consume impact their daily and long-term health. Students track their food choices, discover how those food choices affect their bodies, and then make predictions about their future health based on their current choices.

La Telenovela: In this class, students are analyzing and create their own Spanish-language soap opera episodes. Students are gaining insights into telenovela structure, characters and themes by watching real telenovelas. They are also refining reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in Spanish by watching telenovela episodes and working on their Spanish in class. As a final project, they will script and film their own Continue reading…