Please Join Us on Feb. 9!

I sincerely hope you will make plans to join us on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m. for a very special event in Darlington’s Huffman Athletic Center. Noted author and world-class athlete Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind man in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest, will give a dynamic presentation to Lower School students and their families, all current parents and area alumni, and members of the Rome-Floyd County Community. He will speak to Middle and Upper School students the following morning.

Despite losing his vision at the age of 13, Erik has become an accomplished mountain/ice/rock climber, skier, acrobatic skydiver, long-distance biker and marathon runner. Seven years after climbing the world’s highest peak, he completed his quest to climb the Seven Summits – the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. He is joined by fewer than 100 mountaineers who have accomplished this feat.

Erik’s motivational speaking career has taken him around the world, sharing the speaking platform with notables like George Bush Jr., Rudy Giuliani, Al Gore, Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf. He is also the author of the book, “Touch the Top of the World” and co-author of “The Adversity Advantage: Turning Everyday Struggles Into Everyday Greatness.” He has been published in Time, Forbes and Reader’s Digest and made repeated appearances on NBC’s Today Show and Nightly News, Oprah, Good Morning America, Nightline, and the Tonight Show. He also been featured on the cover of Time, Outside and Climbing Magazine.

This will be Erik’s second visit to Darlington. Many of you may remember that his first visit, in 2003, was very well received! Erik will be in Atlanta filming a special feature with CNN on Feb. 9, so we are very fortunate that he is willing and able to make the trip up to Rome to speak to our students, families, alumni and community. This event is made possible thanks to the generosity of an anonymous member of the Darlington Board of Trustees and several alumni. Click here to read more about Erik.

I hope to see you on Feb. 9!