Riverstone Is Where I Grew Up

We asked Director of Outdoor Education, Ben Brock, to write a testimonial for our Annual Fund. His letter was so moving we wanted to include it on our blog, especially for our alumni to see.

In the 14 years since I joined Riverstone I have known (yikes) hundreds of students.

I have had many in class, sat around campfires with most, and encouraged a few stragglers along trails around the west.

Whether they are Preschoolers or Seniors, I am amazed at how our students carry conversations, staggering in both depth and breadth, with each other, with their teachers, with total strangers, and sometimes in languages I can’t even identify.

I watch with pride as wins are starting to rack up on the hardwood and on the soccer fields. I watched with pride as students held their heads high through the tough, early winless seasons too.

I’ve read dispatches from adventures through the years to Peru, Alaska, D.C., McCall, knowing that new perspectives are on their way back to this little campus in the desert.

I can remember what many of our Seniors looked like in Kindergarten. I marvel at how they have welcomed late-comers into our community. Alumni gatherings are the highlight of my year; our community extends long beyond commencement.

Another significant time of the year is when I can listen, on the last night of the annual Senior Trip, to students reflect on how far they have come through the years. In many ways, I think it catches them off guard to see how much they’ve grown.

As I write, however, trying (probably in vain) to highlight the mind-boggling range of experiences that have guided Riverstone students as they’ve grown through the years, I’m struck by how much I’ve grown here as well.

I was 25 years old. I’d never taught before. Aside from my four year stint at college, I’d never really lived away from home. Riverstone teachers took me in; rare was the weekend or vacation that I didn’t get asked to join a crew of teachers on the river or in the mountains. Riverstone families took me in; I was invited to Bar Mitzvahs, citizenship ceremonies, and weddings. Riverstone students took me in. They asked me to help them start a soccer team. They invited me to their competitions and performances. Their artwork decorates my house.

Riverstone is not only where I’ve seen kids grow into amazing young adults, it’s where I’ve grown up. It has challenged me, taught me, and rewarded me. I can’t think of anywhere else I would have rather spent the last 14 years.

And I give proudly to the Annual Fund knowing that it helps make My Riverstone an even better place for my daughter, in her first year of Riverstone Preschool to grow up too.

Ben Brock