FBRA Blog

Salamander Adventure Camp 2021

By Elizabeth Douglas / September 27, 2021 / Comments Off on Salamander Adventure Camp 2021

The Salamander Adventure Camp took place from Monday, June 28, 2021 to Friday, July 2, 2021. The purpose of the Salamander Adventure Camp is to expose underserved fourth grade students in our local community to different experiences in the outdoors. The Salamander Adventure Camp provides structure, fun, and adventure to the lives of children. This […]

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Alumni Updates September 2021

By Elizabeth Douglas / September 27, 2021 / Comments Off on Alumni Updates September 2021

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 […]

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There Are No Grizzlies on the French Broad River

By Felix Dowsley / September 27, 2021 / Comments Off on There Are No Grizzlies on the French Broad River

Felix Dowsley, Boys Program Director   I’m willing to bet that when middle school boys hear the word courage, they picture someone like Davy Crockett or Samuel L. Jackson wrestling a grizzly bear while parachuting from a burning airplane. That, at least, is the male model of courage most often held up for them to […]

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Thoughts from Jen: Curiosity & Compassion

By Elizabeth Douglas / September 27, 2021 / Comments Off on Thoughts from Jen: Curiosity & Compassion

Jen Horschman, FBRA Girls Program Director   At FBRA we build character; it is part of our mission. However, it is one thing to state it and quite another to share the secret sauce, to explain how it’s really done. We know the teenage brain rewires during adolescence, making new synaptic connections all the time. […]

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Thoughts from Will, June 2021

By Will Yeiser / June 21, 2021 / Comments Off on Thoughts from Will, June 2021

Lessons Learned After Operating a School During a Pandemic Will Yeiser, FBRA Co-Founder & Executive Director   WE MADE IT!!!  As the last group of 8th grade students left campus with their families on the evening of June 4th, 2021 after our final graduation event, I finally was able to repeat these words and internalize […]

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Meet Dorrie Sieburg, FBRA Girls’ New Admissions & Communications Director

By Elizabeth Douglas / June 21, 2021 / Comments Off on Meet Dorrie Sieburg, FBRA Girls’ New Admissions & Communications Director

Welcome Dorrie Sieburg to FBRA as the new Admissions and Communications Director for the Girls School. Dorrie’s work and life experience over the last twenty years have pointed her toward FBRA all along the way.  After graduating from Penn State University with a BS in Education, Dorrie worked for the Student Conservation Association and Padilla […]

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Summer at FBRA

By Elizabeth Douglas / June 18, 2021 / Comments Off on Summer at FBRA

Empty, dark classrooms; four-square courts long for bouncing balls; and canoes lined up in storage. Summer at FBRA. However, while students and most staff take a welcome break from algebra and grammar lessons, some folks at FBRA are still hard at work over the summer. Most of what happens in the summer at FBRA focuses […]

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Development Update – June 2021

By John Douglas / June 18, 2021 / Comments Off on Development Update – June 2021

John Douglas, Development Director   The Maria Noakes Outdoor Center Construction of the Maria Noakes Outdoor Center is proceeding into the summer. The metal building was ordered from the manufacturer about a month ago. Some details added to the building include windows beneath the eaves, three glass panels in each of the garage doors, plumbing […]

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Student Livestreaming Through the Pandemic

By Elizabeth Douglas / June 18, 2021 / Comments Off on Student Livestreaming Through the Pandemic

Jen Horschman, FBRA Girls Director   Giving students the opportunity to speak, perform, and present in front of others is an important aspect of FBRA’s program. This COVID year propelled creative solutions for students to exhibit what they have learned through video recording and live streaming. While not quite the same as “in person” events, […]

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Alumni Update – Connor Schulz

By Elizabeth Douglas / June 17, 2021 / Comments Off on Alumni Update – Connor Schulz

“I didn’t realize that I was going to have to crawl through holes in the mud that were so small that we had to push our packs through ahead of us.” — Connor Schulz describing his sixth grade experience in Worley’s Cave A short conversation is all that is needed to realize that 2014 FBRA […]

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