By Stiles Rader and Sam Iatarola, FBRA Heads of Community Engagement Service learning is an integral part of our mission at French Broad River Academy. We intentionally build opportunities into our weekly field lessons to fulfill our mission of building character and integrity for a lifetime of learning, service, and leadership. We independently clean waterways […]
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“So much of who we are is described by the choices we make. More than anything, I am proud that we chose to show up and give our best effort to what ended up being simultaneously one of the most challenging and most joyful things that either of us has ever done.“ Nora Randolph, FBRA
Nora Randolph on the JMT Read More »
Hi, my name is David Clarke. In addition to being the Boys Program Outdoor Director, I love camping with friends and family in the Asheville area. I would like to share my top 5 group family camping spots in WNC. These group sites are the perfect destination for a weekend getaway with other FBRA families
Best Group Family Camping Near AVL Read More »
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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Andrew Holcombe, FBRA Boys Director For my final “Thoughts from the Director” I would like to take a moment to talk about a part of the FBRA program that is near and dear to my heart: our overnight self-support canoe trips. We have just completed three of these at the boys school along different
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Will Yeiser, Executive Director The recent warm weather has been a welcome reminder that spring is just around the corner. After a long, dark, and cold winter exacerbated by the isolation and the daily stress of trying to manage family and work under the “COVID clouds,” a short burst of sunshine and sixty-degree weather
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Jen Horshman, FBRA Girls Program Director We believe powerful learning and growth happens when our middle school students engage in regular outdoor programming. Our students gain important foundational skills and values that are transferable to the academic classroom and other life endeavors. These student outcomes happen only because of the talent and commitment our
Girls Campus Update – March 2021 Read More »
While skiing is a lot of fun, our primary goal in the FBRA ski program is for students to grow in ability and confidence as skiers by providing specific skill instruction and practice time. In order to provide appropriate instruction at every level, each year our staff members attend a one to two day ski
Jack Pitfield, Director of Marketing & Technology The list of responsibilities and skills of any one teacher at the French Broad River Academy is long: some of our teachers hold advanced outdoor skills, many of our teachers are Spanish speakers, and all have a wilderness medicine certification. It is not uncommon to see the school’s
Curriculum Discussion: Natalie Sayre & David Byers Read More »
John Douglas, Director of Development Had I known four years ago that my job at FBRA would include monitoring people’s health, reading medical studies in JAMA, and communicating with healthcare professionals, parents, and staff on a daily basis surrounding testing, quarantines, and vaccinations for a deadly virus, I probably would have passed. However, as stressful
COVID Update – March 2021 Read More »