Local business, nonprofit team up to help students with cost of prom

Eagle Academy benefits

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

When Lone Tree Councilmember Marissa Harmon learned that students at Eagle Academy High School would be having their rst-ever prom this April and some students face nancial burdens, she began brainstorming ways to help.

“A lot of these kids … face this food insecurity, housing insecurity, are under a ton of nancial pressure,” Harmon said, explaining she wanted to do something to help the students. “We have to surround them with love in some way.”

Harmon — who owns a hair salon in Lone Tree called Roots and Mane along with her sister, Jessica Crimi, and brother-in-law, Jeremy Crimi — consulted with her sister about how to help the school.

After doing some online research, Harmon came across Clover’s Closet, a nonpro t based in Castle Rock that o ers free formal attire to students. Together, Roots and Mane and Clover’s Closet partnered to bring prom clothing options to Eagle students.

“When people like Marissa come to me, it’s just a blessing and I just appreciate it so much,” said Karen

Davis, who started Clover’s Closet with her daughter, Molly, in 2019. roughout the month of March, Roots and Mane hosted a prom drive at its salon to collect clothing and accessories to donate to Clover’s Closet, which organized the clothing into a retail setting for students to shop.

Taking it a step further, for Eagle students, the salon hosted a cash and gift card drive.

“Our Roots and Mane family and all of our clients that come here, they … have the most generous, huge hearts. And so it was the perfect platform,” she said. “Truly, it’s touched Jess, my sister, and Jeremy, and I’s heart, with just the amount of donations and people showing up with gift cards and sticking cash in the envelope after an appointment.”

A di erent way of learning

Eagle Academy is an alternative, afternoon and evening high school that serves students between the ages of 16 and 20.

Eagle came to Lone Tree in 2017, said Je Broeker, the high school’s principal. It was founded, however, in the early 1990s as a program that was housed in Highlands Ranch High School.

Initially, the program took about 120 students who were identi ed by an at-risk quali er, Broeker said.

“In the state of Colorado, at-risk has a number of quali ers anywhere from truancy, to credit loss, to learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, homelessness — they’re all various examples of what could identify kids (as) at risk,” he said.

Once the program moved to Lone Tree, it was able to expand to up to 150 students, he said.

“ ey come from all over our district. In fact, all nine traditional schools have representation at Eagle. And occasionally, we will get some out-of-district candidates,” he said, saying the high school has had students from Denver Public Schools, Littleton Public Schools and Cherry Creek Schools.

Eagle is considered a school of choice and is a public school, Broeker said. It is quarterly school, so the student population is frequently changing. e only prerequisite for students is that they have attempted traditional high school.

“What I would like people to understand is that the word ‘alternative’ shouldn’t bring about this perception of ‘bad,’ or kids that don’t follow rules, or are doing bad things.

“‘Alternative’ should say, ‘ is is a school that provides a di erent way of learning for kids that need a different way of learning,’” Broeker said. “I think what we do is we provide a unique learning environment for kids who learn di erently, and it’s got a tremendous amount of support.”

Supporting Eagle’s first prom

One of the perceptions some students have about attending an alternative school is that it means they will give up certain big-school tradi- tions, such as prom, Broeker said.

“Prom is a pretty important component, and to bring something like that into a small school setting, it allows our kids to have that same experience,” he said. “Even though they know that the traditional schools are probably not the best place for them to get their academic and mental health needs met, they can still have that same high school experience.”

Eagle Academy will be hosting its rst prom on April 29 at the new Legacy Campus in Lone Tree, with the theme of a night in Paris. e idea has been in the works since 2019, said Heather Clark, the volunteer coordinator for Eagle Academy. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the planned 2020 prom had to be canceled.

“I promised the group of students I worked with back in 2019, they made me promise that I wouldn’t change the theme for the rst prom,” Clark said. “It’ll be beautiful, and it’ll be fun.”

When Mayor Jackie Millet and Harmon came to tour Eagle Academy earlier this year, the upcoming prom came up, as did conversations about the nancial hardships some students face.

“I think it’s safe to say that a lot of people assume that Douglas County is a very wealthy district. And I think, for the most part, you do have a signi cant number of families that are fairly well o ,” Broeker said. “But like any community, you always are going to have pockets of people that maybe struggle more.”

Some students at Eagle Academy are working to contribute to their home, he said. Clark added that some are working full-time jobs to help pay for groceries and rent.

“We have a lot of families that are struggling to get by. is is not the cheapest place to live, Douglas County. I mean, Lone Tree is expensive enough, but so is the rest of the county. And you know, people are working hard just to get by,” Broeker said.

“It’s awesome because it gives some of our students that don’t have semi-formal apparel a way to get it. And if they don’t have the funds, then they have a way to get it,” she said. “I’m very grateful for that because it’ll allow more of our students to go and dress up.”

Clark said she has the mentality that everyone doing a little bit accomplishes a lot.

“Every little thing helps and is de nitely helping our teens who are dealing with adult stu , adult bills, and just trying to make it through high school, and trying to push through and nish and have some fun while doing it,” she said.

Clover’s Closet aims to help

When a student comes to a Clover’s Closet pop-up shop to select formal attire for an upcoming prom or homecoming dance, a goal for Davis is to make it similar to any other shopping experience.