In late summer, we invited our alumni to come back to FBRA to join staff for a cookout and some catching up. It was great to reminisce and also find out what a few of our graduates have been up to in high school and college. We are looking to hold more alumni events including a ski day at Cataloochee over the winter break and of course FBRA at the Orange Peel in the spring. More information to come.
ALUMNI IN THE SPOTLIGHT:
If you are an alum and have some cool things happening in your life, please contact John Douglas at [email protected].
Scarlett Dewey (C’18) and Will Yurko (C’18) served as interns at FBRA’s Salamander Adventure camp this summer where they helped supervise fourth grade campers.
Brody van Arnam (C’18) and other alumni from his class have been working with Habitat for Humanity. Over the summer, they enlisted the aid of Mr. Byers and Mr. Coyle to work with him on some houses. There may be some work slots open this fall if you are interested contact me at [email protected].
Reese Carlton (C’20) is starting a club at the Asheville School that’s mission is to not only help people struggling with poverty by collaborating with nonprofits in the Asheville area, but also to connect Asheville School with other communities in the area and to educate members of our school community on these current issues and realities.
Ilyas Colie (C’15) spent most of his summer in San Francisco interning at a startup called Fellow Products. Ilyas spent most of the time working in sales and marketing and is continuing his internship while he attends UNC Chapel Hill.
Ascher Walker Wilson (C’15) was awarded an internship with Beth Uriel a home for young men in Cape Town. The young men are coming from foster care, being orphaned, having major trauma, or are immigrants from surrounding countries. The organization’s goal is to combat youth unemployment (75%), low high school graduation rates/college admittance rates, and high numbers of families without father figures in the house. They do this by paying school fees, providing housing/meals, getting the young men part time jobs, and connecting young men with male mentors.
Ascher’s work was to teach English and math to some of the young men there who weren’t eligible to be in school. He also spent time building relationships with the other young men (playing sports, games, doing homework, helping with career searches,etc).
When asked what he learned, Ascher reported that he “learned a lot about how to engage across differences (racially, socioeconomically, psychologically, etc). I also improved my teaching/tutoring skills and improved my verbal communication skills. Additionally I gained a greater understanding of the importance of empathy, patience, compassion, and humor in both hard conversations and situations. In short, I was learning through teaching.”