Exploring New Pathways: A Journey from Eagle Rock Fellow to Tenured Professor

At Eagle Rock School, we believe education is about more than content mastery; it’s about connection, purpose, and transformation. Our Alternative Licensure Program and Teaching Fellowship are designed for educators who want to immerse themselves in an environment that challenges conventions and nurtures both students and teachers. Today, we’re sharing the story of Benjamin Shear, an alum whose time at Eagle Rock shaped his approach to teaching, leading to his career as a tenured professor and researcher.

Early Exposure to Experiential Education 

Ben joined Eagle Rock as a math teaching fellow in 2006 in the ER40 cohort, stepping into our community with a love of math, philosophy, rock climbing, and magic tricks. Like many fellows, he didn’t arrive with a traditional teaching background, but unlike many fellows, his early experiences in middle and high school set him apart. 

Ben attended the FW Parker School, one of the early members of the Coalition of Essential Schools, where he was immersed in competency-based learning as a teenager. His mother was an educator and his family lived near Ted Sizer, founder of the Coalition of Essential Schools. Together, they, along with a dedicated group of people, founded FW Parker School, which became one of the twelve original model coalition schools, of which Eagle Rock was also a part of. Ben's early exposure to experiential education left a lasting impression. 

When he studied philosophy and math at Dartmouth, Ben didn’t anticipate going into education. Led by his love of rock climbing, Ben found the Eagle Rock teaching fellowship, and the rest is history. Upon arriving on campus, he quickly discovered how Eagle Rock’s unique environment could serve as both a classroom and a laboratory for his own growth.

Learning in Community: Ben’s Fellowship Experience

During his fellowship, Ben immersed himself in teaching math alongside his mentor Jimmy Frickey, before taking on the role of math instructional specialist during his second year at Eagle Rock. He also enrolled in the Alternative Licensure Program, which complemented his fellowship by helping him translate his classroom experiments into a professional teaching portfolio and providing the opportunity to reflect on his own learning. He found support and camaraderie in his cohort of educators, leaning into group reflections, field trips to other schools around the state, and an understanding that only comes from shared lived experiences of being a fellow.

Along the way, Ben found that the most important lessons weren’t about equations or lesson plans, but about relationships. He realized that great teaching stems from building trust, mentoring young people, and fostering curiosity. And none of that happens in a vacuum–it takes a village of dedicated educators, mentors, and staff to nurture the educational journey for students in a school like Eagle Rock.

Some of Ben’s standout memories include deep conversations at the picnic tables and teaching the physics of mountain biking, real-world financial literacy, and a mini course on magic tricks. These moments of discovery reflected Eagle Rock’s ethos: education as a living, breathing process rooted in curiosity and community.

From Math Fellow to University Professor

After his fellowship, Ben continued to explore education from new perspectives. While at Eagle Rock, Ben and his mentor, Jimmy, co-designed an introductory statistics course in which students and teachers developed surveys to learn more about Eagle Rock student experiences after they left Eagle Rock. This course spurred an interest in how statistics and data analysis can be used to answer questions and solve problems facing education more broadly. This inspiration led Ben to pursue graduate studies at the University of British Columbia and later at Stanford, focusing on research in educational measurement and evaluation. Today, he is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder’s School of Education, where he puts these skills to work teaching and mentoring PhD students and exploring how data and statistics can be used to help improve the educational opportunities for all students. 

The throughline from his time at Eagle Rock to his work today is clear. Ben carries with him the understanding that teaching goes beyond transmitting knowledge and centers around fostering meaningful relationships and creating space for students to thrive. He credits Eagle Rock for putting him on the right trajectory–instilling values that continue to guide him as both an educator and researcher. His recent awards, including the University of Colorado’s Best Should Teach Gold Award, underscore how those values resonate with his students and colleagues alike.

The Fellowship and Licensure Program at Eagle Rock

Ben’s journey highlights what makes Eagle Rock’s fellowship and licensure program so distinctive. Unlike standard pathways, our program blends immersive teaching practice with reflective learning, preparing fellows to take their skills anywhere: whether into public schools, higher education, or beyond. 

During this experience, Fellows gain:

• Mentorship and Collaboration: One-on-one guidance from experienced instructional specialists while working alongside passionate educators
• Hands-On Teaching: Opportunities to design and teach real classes, experiment with new methods, and adapt to the needs of diverse learners
• Alternative Licensure: A Colorado teaching credential earned through a portfolio-based process that includes lesson plans, student work, and reflective practice
• Community Integration: A chance to live and work in a close-knit campus environment where learning extends beyond the classroom to shared meals, outdoor adventures, and service projects
• Professional Growth: Exposure to cutting-edge educational philosophy and practice, preparing fellows for leadership in a variety of settings

This holistic model equips educators with both the skills and the values needed to make a lasting impact, just as it did for Ben.

Join Us

Eagle Rock is more than a school–it’s a launchpad for educators ready to embrace adventure, community, and transformation. Ben’s story shows how a single year of fellowship can set the stage for a lifetime of teaching, leading, and learning.

If you feel called to explore a different way of teaching–one rooted in purpose and possibility–we invite you to learn more about our fellowship and alternative licensure program. Reach out to us with your questions or take the first step by applying today. Your journey, like Ben’s, could start here at Eagle Rock.