by Webmaster | Jul 24, 2014 | Alumni News & Accolades
Nick Romanos, Rainbow alum
My Rainbow Experience:
Nick came to the Omega program after having completed public elementary school in 2000. During his tenure at Rainbow, he formed lifelong friendships and learned skills that have continued to serve him as he’s progressed in his education and into his adult life.
The best example of this would be the experiential learning that was reenforced with projects and ensuing presentations that he learned at Rainbow.
The school gives students enough space to cultivate creativity with enough personal attention to each student to ensure each one’s musings and explorations are not without focus.
Now, in business, he is constantly having to research all his clients’ industries and present possible solutions to communicate and grow their brand.
Education After Rainbow
Like quite a few Rainbow alumni, Nick finished his K-12 education at Asheville High School.
There he developed an interest in design in their graphic communications program. Along with fellow Rainbow alum, Sam Brubaker, he applied for and was accepted into the NC State University College of Design and begin there in 2007.
What Nick is Doing Now
After graduating, Nick accepted his first career job position at Robin Easter Design doing graphic and web design in Knoxville, TN.
He and his partner Tiana moved to Raleigh, NC after three years to be closer to family, where they knew their hearts belonged.
He had already been networking with Laurel Scherer of Asheville Web Fix. As it turns out, she wanted a web designer. Laurel, Nick, as well as project manager, Jim McClure, transformed the organization into what is now Status Forward – a full-service graphic and web design company. They do everything from websites to broader branding efforts.
Nick has been able to do this work from Raleigh and frequents Asheville for business development meetings. In addition, the company continues to move forward: they are constantly challenged by new subject matter as well as having many clients with diverse needs.
Still Connected to Rainbow
Lastly, Nick was in awe of the nostalgia and good feelings that came from meeting his former science/math and fitness mentor at Rainbow, Mark Hanf. He was in downtown Asheville after having worked a day on-site.
Mark brought him up to speed on his teaching geometry through structure building and hands-on learning. Nick remembers the incredibly talented instructors that he learned from at Rainbow.
by Webmaster | Jun 25, 2014 | Alumni News & Accolades, Student News & Accolades
Geronimo, on the right
It’s always exciting to hear about what our alumni are doing.
Geronimo Owen (a ’13 Rainbow graduate) has two roles in Henry V, a play by William Shakespeare. He plays Boy as well as Duke of York.
He was pleasantly surprised when he got these roles, never having acted before.
The play happens from June 6-28, 2014. It begins at 7:30 pm Friday-Sunday at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheater in Asheville.
For more information, head over to Montfordparkplayers.org or call (828)254-5146.
“I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot;
Follow your spirit: and upon this charge,
Cry — God for Harry! England and Saint George!”
― William Shakespeare, Henry V
by Webmaster | Jun 23, 2014 | Alumni News & Accolades, Student News & Accolades
Kathy Clarke, ’08 RCS Alumna
“Rainbow caters to success.”
She also knows what she wants to do with her life: be a writer. And she’s pursuing her dream with gusto.
She’s already doing two internships related to her passion – one in publishing, and the other helping with the publicity for a Macalester professor publishing a book of poetry.
Before she arrived at Macalester, Kathy attended the prestigious Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania, where her writing talent earned her the coveted “class orator” title.
This honor led to one of her proudest accomplishments so far: sharing the podium with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who delivered the commencement speech.
“I actually walked away from graduation with six awards, and so I was pretty proud of myself,” Kathy recalls. “But then Madeleine Albright came up to me after graduation and said, ‘You must be a rock star!’ I might get that as a tattoo—‘You must be a rock star!—Madeleine Albright.’ That’s something I never want to forget.”
Kathy’s talent at writing emerged at an early age: even before she could read she had shown a passion for the written word.
“My parents joked and said that I was going to write the Great American Novel before I could read,” she says: “I would scribble on pieces of paper and put them together and then read them to people as if they were words.”
As it happens, one of Kathy’s favorite memories of her time at Rainbow also involves writing.
While she was in the Omega program, her teacher
Susan Waddell would sit with Kathy at lunch and let her student write on her computer.
She wasn’t the only teacher who did this, Kathy says: William Harwood would also just let Kathy go and write on his computer. She regards this time as vital to her development. “I experimented with a lot of just writing fiction.”
But Rainbow gave Kathy more than free time: the individualized attention she received helped a motivated student become a self-motivated student.
“I remember one assignment where Susan had us describe a beautiful place and she gave us a list of adjectives we couldn’t use—but then she gave me an extra list of adjectives, and that was really fun.”
Kathy received this sort of personalized challenge again and again. Her teachers, she says, “paid individual attention to me, which made me pay individual attention to me and not just go through the motions of school.”
Rainbow also gave Kathy the freedom to develop—at her own pace—a work ethic and a sense of purpose. “We got a lot of free time. And that really helped me learn to motivate myself.”
More than anything else, though, Kathy now appreciates the difference Rainbow’s emphasis on self-discovery has made in her academic career.
To start with, learning to trust herself allowed her to choose Mercersburg over the other options (some closer to home) that presented themselves. “You need to know yourself first before you make big decisions like that, and then when you do you will make the right one.”
And even at a prestigious private school, knowing herself gave her an edge. “Coming out of Rainbow, I was so much more advanced than even my high school classmates at knowing who I was and knowing what I wanted and what I needed. It was a kind of learning and a kind of growth that caters to success in a way that traditional curriculum doesn’t.”
by Renee Owen | Dec 5, 2012 | Alumni News & Accolades, Student News & Accolades
In 2012, seven seniors graduated from high school who previously attended Rainbow Mountain. Four graduated in June from Asheville High — all 4 were in the top 10 of their class and National Merit Scholars. One was Valedictorian.
The full list of awards and scholarships in academics, sports, character, the arts, and extra-curricular areas these alumni received is literally too long to list and describe in this report — it would require at least this whole page! Here are some highlights:
Paris Sigler is attending American University where she received their Frederick Douglas Scholarship. Shannon Waldman is attending Warren Wilson where she received their Service Scholarship. Valedictorian, Melissa Haun, was accepted into the music program at University of Miami. Devin Hanaway received the John B. Lewis scholarship for soccer and was accepted at Chapel Hill. In addition to these four who graduated in June, Kaya Greenfield graduated early and is at Appalachian State.
Of the two students out-of-state:
Dylan Glasgow, a USTA-ranked tennis player, helped the Barron Collier High School tennis team win the Florida State Championship, graduated with honors, and is now attending Appalachian State.
Kathy Clarke was the single most awarded senior at Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. She was also the editor of a nationally award-winning literary magazine and speaker at their commencement. The next speaker at the podium that day was Madeline Albright! Kathy will be attending college at Macalester in Minnesota.
Rainbow's graduating eighth grade class May 2008 became the graduating seniors of 2012
