Herb has been living in New York and having fun with art for over 15 years (including pewter saltine crackers). From kinetic sculptures for the Blue Man Group to industrial lamps for Runaway Bride – if he can amuse others with metal, he will. He has shot photo-ops of dignitaries at the New York Stock Exchange and photographed seeds using a nuclear reactor. Herb’s work is in the permanent collection of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and in galleries and shops around the country. He has helped advertising, publishing and video clients make pills, watches and fashion models look appealing. He has even starting teaching people how to cast pewter, take pinhole pictures and print cyanotype and gum bichromate prints.

Now Herb is bringing you pewter snack food. The phenomenon started with a simple cracker (You can see the enthusiasm for this product at the cracker tracker). The snack food line has expanded to cheese crackers and ice cream sandwiches. The 31st President may have fed millions of people and invented the CARE package, but this POTUS has fed the imagination of thousands of people who should never take a bite of his food.

Herb is also touring the show does time stand still? The phenomenon started with a simple x-ray image and grew to using a nuclear reactor as a camera, pinhole cameras, century-old printing techniques, and a love of discovery. The processes that photographers used over a century ago were not considered art. So, the photographers worked hard to find techniques that were expressive, rather than simply reproductive. Herb’s gum prints use watercolors such as Winsor Newton, MaimeriBlu, and Grumbacher to render their hues. The cyanotypes use a Prussian blue derived from iron salts. The works are anachronisms combining historical processes and modern technology to explore the wonderment of our world.

The 2009 Annual Estes Park Duck Race is here, and Eagle Rock needs your help. Please buy one or more Duck Race tickets! We raise money to support our graduates in their pursuit of higher education by selling Duck Race tickets. The more tickets we sell, the more money we raise for the Graduate Fund.

Duck Race tickets are $20 apiece. Among the 500 prizes you might win are a Sony 52” LCD, Samsung 42-inch LCD TV, HP 17-inch Laptop Computer with selected software, Panasonic Home Theater Kit, Garmin Automotive GPS System, (2) Nikon CoolPix Digital Cameras

The race will be held on May 2, 2009 in Estes Park.   Adoptive parents of ducks have a one-in-10 chance of winning prizes donated by local merchants.

Please make out a check today to the ESTES PARK DUCK RACE and send it (multiples of $20) no later than April 30, 2009 to:

Eagle Rock School
Attn: Dan Condon – Juniper
2750 Notaiah Road
Estes Park, CO 80517

We’ll send you your ticket stubs, and you can begin planning on where to hang your 52” TV. Thank you in advance. Every Eagle Rock graduate appreciates your support.

Yes, it was cold, it was crowded, it was most of the horrible things you’ve heard about that day.  It was also one of the best days of my life.

Sunday

Flew into DC and caught some snaps of the crowd below at the We Are One Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial

Took the metro from the Airport to my friend Tricia’s place in Adams Morgan and arrived just in time to accompany her and her partner Jason to her firm’s party held at Cork Wine Bar.

After the party we headed back to Trica’s place.  Tricia and Jason headed to another party at the French Embassy while I took James Baxter out to pee.

Monday

Got up early (of many early days) to lead volunteer at the Official Inaugural MLK Service Day held at RFK Stadium.  I met up with my friend Steph, her sister Shana and Shana’s husband Mark.  Thousands of volunteers in assembled care packages for U.S. troops posted in Iraq and Afghanistan. We organized the public in putting together the packages containing sunscreen, toothpaste, energy drinks and other items in a project organized by Serve D.C., Operation Gratitude and the Target store chain.

Mayor Fenty attends

That evening I attended the Public Allies gathering at 1905 Bistro.  It was great to see Bethann Hester, Leif Elsmo, Asim Mishra, Donna Smyth, Jeff Hutchinson, co-founder Katrina Brown and many other old school Public Allies staff come to celebrate Michelle (& Barack).

Tuesday (The big day)

Here are two clips from my bit in the parade.  Let me know if you see me because I can’t.  I’m carrying the Wisco. flag.

After scoring a ticket to the Western Ball and sneaking into the MidAtlantic & Midwestern Balls I settled on the Midwestern Ball.  Here’s the highlight.

done

Reading this post about the Google Party makes me wish I hadn’t bailed on it because I was too tired.  Oh well, there is always his second Inauguration…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2008

I wanted to share a recent piece I wrote for the National Coalition of Small Schools.

Service Learning in a Small School

by Dan Condon

I recently was leading an inquiry group on the topic of Service-Learning with South Valley Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the International School of the Americas in San Antonio, Texas. It was invigorating to connect with other small schools in the struggle to achieve high quality service learning programs.  It occurred to me that in order for service learning to be effective is must appear as more than a hit or miss activity, rather, it must be woven into the very fabric of a small learning community.

Service-learning is recognized by Eagle Rock as an effective, experiential means of preparing young people to make a difference in the world. From the school’s inception, service has figured strongly in its values, expectations and commitments. “Service to others,” “Environmental stewardship,” and “Participating as an engaged global citizen,” are expressed in 8 + 5 = 10 (The equation represents our eight themes, five expectations, and 10 commitments. One of the eight themes is service to others,  and one of the 10 commitments is “Serve the Eagle Rock and other communities.”) and highly valued at Eagle Rock. Students are expected to “Serve Eagle Rock and other communities” as an ongoing part of their learning experience and knowledge acquisition at the school. The service-learning instructor and fellow coordinate service-learning experiences and partnerships, providing many direct and indirect community service opportunities for students through a variety of short and long-term activities.

These include the following: Service Specials, a hands on service-learning course that meets four times a week each trimester and engages students in on- and off-campus community service as well as regular opportunities to think, discuss and write reflectively about their service experiences and viewpoints; Chores, a community-wide work program whereby students and staff participate in campus maintenance including recycling, landscaping, forestry, resupply and general housekeeping; EagleServe, which consists of two to three days of community service each trimester provided at Eagle Rock and to the wider community; Service-Learning Advisory Council, where students have a voice in planning, action and decision-making around service-learning at ERS; Independent Service Projects, whereby students develop a proposal to integrate a service-learning opportunity into their coursework or personal time; Classroom Service-Learning Projects, which are coordinated through different instructors and courses. Service-learning appears in courses like Soccer and Service; For the Birds; Service, Spanish and Culture in Guatemala; Four-Corners of Service and Culture; Wilderness; Math and Cooking; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; Sacred Benches; and Sustainable Resources.

Located in Estes Park, Colorado, Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center was designated as a Service-Learning Leader School in 1999 by Learn and Serve America.  Eagle Rock School & Professional Development Center also serves an advisor to the Learn and Serve America National Service-Learning Clearinghouse Program for Tribes/US Territories.  Visit www.eaglerockschool.org to learn more.

Dan Condon is Associate Director of the Professional Development Center at Eagle Rock School.

It’s pretty simple really.  The bottom line – for every pair of shoes you purchase from TOMS they donate a pair to a child in need.