Elizabeth Borders (History, ‘22) and her students tiptoed into the parlor of the Rock Ledge House, imagining they were in Almanzo’s house as she read aloud from Farmer Boy. Almanzo had just thrown the blacking brush, which hit the wallpaper. Elizabeth kept glancing at one spot on the Rock Ledge House wall by the door. “The kids were so enthralled! They kept looking too,” she said. “The magic of that moment—I could live off of that for years.”
Elizabeth worked at Rock Ledge Ranch, a living history site at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from age 12 through high school. She also wrote her PHC senior thesis about it (featured on C-SPAN's American History TV!). Today, Rock Ledge Ranch provides "School at the Ranch," a tuition-free hands-on educational enrichment program for homeschoolers grades K-6.
Elizabeth has returned as a historical interpreter and teacher for the living history site's "RANCH" program. RANCH stands for Raising Awareness of Nature, Culture, and History. “We really see it as training up the next generation of stewards, not only of our property at the Ranch specifically, but of the world in general,” she said.
Each grade comes for one full day each week and learns about a theme through books, science projects, and games. “I love how holistic and integrated it is, and I love that I get to help kids learn outside because I think that today’s kids need to spend a lot more time outside!” Elizabeth said. She wants the kids to develop a love of beauty and history through field trips, taking care of animals, and conducting historic restoration. “It’s amazing to see kids who at the beginning of the year don’t want to be outside by the end of the year have a love for it.” 
Elizabeth first volunteered at Rock Ledge Ranch at age 12. “I grew up on Little House books and American Girl and Dear America, and loved historical fiction.” Volunteering fostered her love for history. She started working there in her junior year of high school. “It’s been a part of me and I’ve been a part of it for a really long time," she said. In fact, despite being the youngest person on staff, she has been working at Rock Ledge Ranch longer than any of the current staff.
Garden of the Gods attracts about four and a half million people each year, but fewer people know about Rock Ledge Ranch. “We call it the hidden gem of Colorado Springs,” she said. Overall, Rock Ledge Ranch has become busier throughout her time. She describes her job as whack-a-mole since there’s always more to do. “It’s exhausting but in the best ways,” she said.
Elizabeth reconnected with Rock Ledge Ranch after college when she asked the director for a reference, and the director described the homeschool program they were starting. She began as a Rock Ledge Ranch seasonal employee in March 2023 while she was teaching middle school Latin and humanities at Evangel Christian Academy, then she began as a full-time employee the following March.
PHC’s history and core classes prepared Elizabeth well. “I got a rich and broad education at Patrick Henry,” she said. “That prepared me to answer questions, and not to know the answers, but to know how I can find the answers.” She also appreciated learning from professors with different teaching styles. “I’m really inspired by my Patrick Henry College professors for the way they connected with students, and I hope that I can do a small percentage as well as they did.” 
She uses some of their techniques in her own teaching, like Dr. Robert Spinney’s method of starting a story and giving a class a problem to solve. For example, she might ask the students what a family might do to stop the locusts from destroying their orchards. “Someday I hope to be half as good at it as Dr. Spinney,” she said.
PHC's core class Recitation, which she took while a junior, significantly influenced her. “That class and [its book Awakening Wonder] really did awaken wonder in me and made me have that as a goal as an educator myself,” she said. Until that class, she had not spent much time contemplating poetry, but now with School at the RANCH, every class memorizes a poem a semester, and they read poetry throughout the day. “It helps us see the world differently and gives us a different vocabulary for what we’re seeing.”
She also uses the research she did for her thesis almost every day, either with the kids or with visitors. “It was such a gift from God to have the honor and the privilege of getting to write about this place that I love,” she said. One of her favorite moments was when she was telling the class a story involving the railroad, and a seven-year-old student raised his hand. “Miss Borders! Miss Borders!” he said. “You said in your book that General Palmer was the one who got the railroad here.” His family had been reading her book, and she said that moment made her feel incredibly blessed and humbled.
“PHC’s history major is fantastic because it gives you the opportunity to do that deep dive into something of your choosing,” Borders said. “I don’t think I could have gotten a better education that enabled me to learn about the place that I was from, where I wanted to work. Writing my thesis really helped me find my vocation, right there at the intersection of history and education, and it’s such a blessing that that’s what I get to do now.”
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