Eric Ian Farmer

05 Apr

Eric

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I’m really moved by

Students inspire me when

Bibi Gnagno

29 Mar

Bibi Gnagno is our Dean of Restorative Practices. She is responsible for the design and implementation of the Restorative Practices Program here at Eagle Rock School and Professional Development. Bibi is a champion for education and social justice having previously worked on equity at the intersections of race, gender, social economic class, and sexual orientation at Duke University. An expert in the field, she has created experiential programming and training that focused on community engagement, civic involvement, women’s empowerment, men’s engagement, and activism. Ms. Gnagno’s prior experience includes work in the legal field in Atlanta, Georgia, Paris, France, and Abidjan, Ivory Coast specifically centering issues pertaining to social justice. Her focus has included looking at how policy affects the society we live in, depending on our identities. Bibi Gnagno holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and French from Smith College. Her Master’s Degree was earned in French Language and Civilization from the Paris campus of New York University’s Graduate School of Arts and Science and her Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central University School of Law. Ms. Gnagno received a Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship in Public Policy where she worked in the field and conducted research for the Ministry of Justice in Côte d’Ivoire, on gender-based violence in relation to women’s access to justice. Ms. Gnagno is deeply fascinated by how the concept of restorative practices can transform education and the world at large. She is also a trained mindfulness teacher who has led training and workshop facilitation at the higher education and corporate level. Bibi is also a filmmaker who loves a good green juice, West African dance class, spending time with friends/family, and traveling.

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Students inspire me when they trust themselves to make mistakes, learn from them and embrace their own stories and gifts.

Justin Torres Martinez

29 Mar

Justin J. Torres Martinez, Chef Instructor at Eagle Rock School, was born in Connecticut. He was raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico. After high school, he joined the Puerto Rico State Guard Air Force where he started his interest in cooking. He currently lives in Estes Park, Colorado with his wife Ana and their two daughters. Justin has been professionally cooking for six years. He first started as a Banquet Chef at The Stanley Hotel cooking for weddings and big events. After three years as a Banquet Chef there he decided to join a local restaurant as Sous Chef at Seasoned-An American Bistro with his mentor and Chef-owner Rob Corey. Justin joined Eagle Rock where he is able to cook and share his flavors, experience, and culture through his delicious meals.

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My rock is my family, they give me strength when I am low.
I really love to cook, it is my passion and I feel really comfortable when I am doing it.
I am really moved by people finding their true selves, it inspires me to always speak my truth.
My favorite thing about Eagle Rock is the ambiance, and how the community feels like family.

Chemi Lewis

29 Mar

Chemi is an Eagle Rock Alumna from Spruce House.  They were born and raised in Harlem, NY.  Chemi was connected to Eagle Rock through Harlem Children’s Zone. They earned a Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science from the University of Northern Colorado. Chemi has prior experience working with youth in many different settings, from youth camp coordinator, and coaching, to assisting with the Eagle Rock Wilderness Course. They enjoy helping others. They are determined to make students’ dreams come true here at Eagle Rock. They are real, not perfect.

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Students inspire me when they push through hard times and come out ONTOP! No matter how HARD life here or at home can be!

Lukas Chin

29 Mar

Lukas is the Human Perfomance Center/Outdoor Education Fellow from upstate New York. He grew up going to an alternative experiential Waldorf school that emphasized education in the outdoors. After graduating with a BFA in Film from SUNY Purchase where he also pitched on the baseball team, Lukas worked as a physical education teacher in Guangzhou, China for a year. The pandemic brought him back to the U.S. where he delved into his love of the outdoors and hiked both the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail. Lukas has also worked as an early childhood teacher and paraprofessional at the Otto Specht School in New York and has worked at and led numerous youth nature camps. Lukas is often found either playing hacky-sack or looking for his hacky-sack because he misplaced it. He holds a special place in his heart for eating fish and looks forward to Friday night fish dinner at Eagle Rock!

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My favorite thing about Eagle Rock is Friday night fish dinner!

Jordan Cerna

03 Jan

Jordan Cerna is one-third of Eagle Rock’s Outdoor Education Department, where we are charged with organizing and facilitating outdoor experiences for students and staff. For the better part of the last decade, Jordan has fostered a career and passion in experiential and outdoor education. This “spark” for outdoor expeditions began in 2012 when he was on a river trip abroad. He realized that people are at the heart of a successful expedition. When people are willing to work together, ask for help, navigate interpersonal conflict, and take ownership of their own learning, beautiful things can happen. Since then, Jordan has consistently sought out the natural world as a sanctuary and classroom. Through working with Eagle Rock School and the National Outdoor Leadership School, Jordan has spent over 150 weeks in the field co-leading outdoor expeditions. In 2023, he now seeks out a more balanced life where he plans to foster relationships in Estes Park, return to finding joy in personal trips, and nest in his home off-campus.

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My favorite thing about Eagle Rock is the access to the landscape that surrounds our campus.

Mark Rutberg

09 Dec

Mark Rutberg is Eagle Rock’s Human Performance & Athletics Coordinator. Mark is responsible for creating and implementing a vision around empowering students to lead healthy lifestyles. Prior to joining Eagle Rock, Mark spent 6 years at Sanborn Western Camps, most recently as a director for the camp’s summer residential adventure program in Colorado. He grew up in New York and has a B.S. in Kinesiology and Pedagogy from the University of New Hampshire, where he also played football. After university, Mark worked as an athletic director and educator in New York City for 4 years prior to moving to Europe to teach at an American International School in the Netherlands. Mark holds a Masters Degree in Health Education, a certificate as a K-12 teacher, a level 2 ropes course instructor, a single pitch climbing instructor, and Wilderness First Responder. He has also participated in a NOLS 30-day outdoor educator mountaineering course. Mark finds passion in helping youth discover their potential and self-worth. As someone who struggled in traditional academic settings, Mark uncovered his own confidence and sense of self-worth through experiential education and team sports throughout his academic career and, more recently, through outdoor education. Mark and his partner Sara are Piñon houseparents and they live on campus with their dog Jerry.

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My favorite thing about Eagle Rock is the effort put into creating a sense of belonging and the ability for both staff and students to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Tyson Rose

06 Nov

Throughout his academic and professional career, Tyson has served as a teacher, administrator, mentor, advisor and advocate for students supporting access to education and developing a life-long love of learning and education. His own life experiences with mentors and supporters served to ignite his passion for supporting young people to take an active role in changing the world.

Prior to joining Eagle Rock, Tyson was a faculty member at the University of Hartford. He served for 6 years as Director and Principal Investigator for the Upward Bound Program at the University of Massachusetts. He has provided academic support to high school students to graduate students, numerous programming projects, and organized and facilitated workshops and training for staff and students. Tyson is an author and community activist, publishing articles on Hip Hop based Education and Access to Education.

Tyson served as the Assistant Residential supervisor at the A Better Chance House in Amherst, MA supporting high school students who travel from northeast states to pursue their educational goals. Tyson also worked for 12 years as a Civil and Environmental engineer in Massachusetts and California.

He is one of the original members and organizers of 3rd EyE Unlimited, a social justice, Hip Hop-based youth advocacy, activism, and community development organization. He served as an organizer and facilitator for the Julius Ford/Harriet Tubman Healthy Living Community, an intergenerational, anti-racist organization dedicated to fostering social justice and healthy, vibrant communities.

Tyson received a Bachelors’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a Masters’s in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts.

Tyson has two sons, Phoenix and Onyx who are pursuing their own life goals in New York and Massachusetts.

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Students inspire me when they manufacture their own “Aha” moments, take ownership of their education, and realize they are experts of their own experience!

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