SCD
SPRING 2011
SEATTLE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL MAGAZINE
2010-2011
SCD
SPRING 2011
SEATTLE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL MAGAZINE
ideas in
motion
EDITOR Joan Hudson DESIGN/PRODUCTION Christa Fleming Design THE “VOICES” COMMITTEE Brenda Ajbour*, Nicki Amos, Crystal Aspen, Alice Baggett, Sue Brown, Brian Crawford*, Ethan Delavan, Sue Ellis, Megan Hosch-Schmitt*, Lisa Lewis, Denise Luenow, Vickie Madriaga*, Vicki O’Keefe, Debbie Pearson*, Kyla Pocock *Kinetics issue contributor
KINETICS is produced by Seattle Country Day School for its current and former families and friends. Inquiries may be sent to: joanhudson@seattlecountryday.org THE SCDS MISSION Inspiring gifted children to reach their potential through inquiry, curiosity, and wonder. NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT Seattle Country Day School strives to maintain a diverse school community. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admission, financial aid, or any other schooladministered programs.
seattlecountryday.org
DEAR SCDS FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, Creative problem-solving is the lens through which the SCDS mission is executed. When presented with challenges, students are encouraged to consider various strategies to reach an answer. There are often several ways to solve a problem and those ways are often best left to be revealed, discovered, or created. Students’ repeated exposure to inquiry teaching and learning encourages their divergent and creative thinking. Such inquiry lays a lasting foundation for problem solving while nurturing in them a positive attitude toward learning in their most formative years. When temporarily stymied by a problem never before encountered or not knowing an immediate answer, our students often become intrigued and think: Wow, this looks interesting; let’s take it apart and figure it out. They will often get together with like-minded peers and collaborate on what becomes their project. In seeking a solution or novel application, students are not, at first, motivated by getting an immediate answer— it’s not so much the destination as it is to wander off the path and find another way. In this, they have developed an intrinsic interest in the act of learning. Curiosity and inquisitiveness are not impediments; rather, they energize the teaching and learning process. At the same time, our students can often be perfectionists! According to educator Kristie Spears Neumeister, “Gifted children need to observe parents and teachers taking on challenges, making mistakes, and experiencing failures once in awhile. This is how they will learn to appreciate mistakes and failures in a constructive fashion, rather than feeling crippled by anxiety.” What emerges in this issue of Kinetics, is that problem-solving, risktaking, and persistence is inherent in the creative process as much as pure inspiration or sheer talent. This is attested to by the visiting artists who shared their work with us this year, and by faculty and staff who held creative workshops for students—all as part of our VOICES: A Creative Journey celebration. We see it too, in the “voices” of two alumni, Ben Kadie and Cameron Myhrvold who continue to demonstrate what the fruits of hard work and a passion for learning can bring.
Michael G. Murphy, HEAD OF SCHOOL
A year of visiting artists, followed by a day-long celebration of creativity: that’s Voices: A Creative Journey. First begun 5 years ago, Voices is an opportunity for students to work in small groups and across grade levels with accomplished authors, visual artists, and other creative people. Says SCDS Librarian Debbie Pearson; “with Voices, we look for an experience for students that is more meaningful than a school assembly.” Along with Debbie, a team of fourteen teachers began last summer to discuss Voices ideas and activities for the 2010-11 school year. Seeking a spectrum of experience, they invited six very different artists to SCDS who engaged students in a personal way and shared their insights about the creative process.
Over the months, the team also collaborated to produce Voices Celebration Day: thirtyfour workshops presented by faculty and administrators who took a risk and stepped out of their comfort zones to share an aspect of their creativity with students. On April 13, the regular school schedule was suspended and students came together as a community, often in mixed grade levels, to experience diverse modes of selfexpression. A sample of the offerings included Latin Dancing, Dada Poetry, Fun with Duct Tape, Rube Goldberg Contraptions (both mechanical and human!), Italian and Mexican Cooking, Interpretive Drawing, Paper Arts, Campfire Stories and Songs, Quilting, Stand-up Comedy, Blues and Jazz, Viking Myths, and more! Part of the fun was keeping workshop topics a secret so students had no idea what they would be attending that day. They were engaged in something new and different, often with a teacher or administrator they didn’t know. Their reaction? “I enjoyed everything in Voices. The Spanish rap poem that I made was really fun.” “I learned that Jack is an amazing steak chef. I learned that Mac can chop rosemary like a pro.” “I totally loved Ms. Hesslein’s class and we took stuff you aren’t supposed to do in writing and used it to make the best (worst) sentence for a story!”
A Voices Day Workshop: A New Life A short film and poem, each about transplanted human hearts, were the inspiration for this workshop about transformation. One group of students viewed the film and poem, then made themed sketches on numbered squares of paper. Just as an organ donor makes a transformative “gift,” the sketches were given to a new group of students, who had no idea what the subject matter was. They transformed the sketches into painted ceramic tiles subsequently assembled like a puzzle into a mosaic, giving them “a new life.” The second group then viewed the film and read the poem, bringing the process full circle. Says SCDS teacher and workshop creator Brenda Ajbour, “As you can see, the heart in the mosaic is not perfectly matched, just as a transplanted heart is not perfectly matched.”
KINETICS | SPRING 2011
1
ARTISTS
OUR VISITING
Author/Illustrator Jesse Watson’s sessions with grade 4/5 students focused on his process in creating his recent book Hope for Haiti. He stressed the importance of starting small and giving oneself permission to be “messy.” While all great works require inspiration, Jesse was quick to point out that they also need vast amounts of perspiration. He says, “Creative ambition is something you have to make happen, it doesn’t just come out of the end of your pen. It has to be fostered and nurtured. Try something and let it be awful. If you’re afraid that something will turn out poorly, it’s hard to even begin!” An important philosophy for Jesse is that one individual can make a difference in the lives of others, and that money or influence isn’t needed. “Everything I do is out of a desire to leave a good imprint on the world. I choose projects that I think are going to have a positive impact.” Tames Alan delivered a costumed performance to grade 7/8 students of “From the Streets of Shakespeare to the Court of Elizabeth” — where she brought to life the everyday existence of working class women and the nobility during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Her presentation included dress, diet, hygiene, manners, social interactions, and family relations during Shakespeare’s era. Speaking to her career as a performer, historian, and fashion history teacher, Tames says, “Be open to anything. You never know where the spark that will ignite you will come from. What motivates me is to show what life is like in another time, no matter how weird it might seem to us, so that we have more tolerance for the things that are different in our own time.” Local artist and children’s book illustrator Aki Sogabe is renowned for her gorgeous cut paper artwork, done in the Japanese kiri-e tradition. Her books have won awards for their stunning illustrations, and her designs are also part of several local public art installations, including pieces at the Pike Place Market and Uwajimaya . Says Aki, “The creative world is wonderful because you create from nothing, something that is your own. On the journey to the creative world, don’t compare your work to others. You are you and you have to create your own work. If you don’t give up, it comes.” She explained to kindergarten through grade 3 students how a mistake – accidentally spilling coffee on a picture of a cat that she was making – gave her the idea to include the coffee spots as the cat’s markings in the book The Loyal Cat. She encouraged them to view mistakes as an opportunity to rethink a plan and perhaps make it even better.
2
SPRING 2011 | KINETICS
Ginny Ruffner is a Seattle glass artist and sculptor, and a pioneer of the “lampwork” technique. Her parents, while supportive of her art aspirations as a young woman, said she could go to art school only if she learned shorthand first. Many decades later shorthand is arcane and Ginny’s sculpture is world-renowned. Her show of lampworked glass entitled Aesthetic Engineering recently closed at the Bellevue Art Museum, and a documentary about her life, A Not So Still Life, is a film festival award-winner. Ginny shared with grades 3 and 8 her approach to art and to a recent work with moveable parts showing giant flowers blooming in a 9 foot tall metal flowerpot. On a 15-minute cycle they are “watered” with a watering can, and the flowers open and close. Her advice to students? “Follow your bliss. It’s kind of tried and true. It’s important to realize what makes you happy and go in that direction. And most importantly, to remember that happiness changes throughout our life. Stay aware. Pay attention. That’s a main source of inspiration…just noticing stuff that you might not have noticed before.”
Leigh Simpson is a “celestial storyteller” from Digitalis Education Solutions, who travels extensively to help educators bring astronomy education to students. Along with stories, she brought to SCDS what looked like a large bounce-house, but was actually a portable planetarium! Students from grades K-3 and 6 were invited to gaze into the night sky, just as people throughout time and from different cultures have done. In her “stellar” presentation, Leigh shared the voices of the past through constellations and the myths associated with them. Speaking to the creative process, Leigh says, “It’s easy to get stuck. It’s natural and normal. A lot of times people get frustrated and they let getting stuck be their stopping point! I work through that personally, by writing. Not a perfect thesis paper, but free writing. I often put the hurdle right at the top of the page and then start.” Davis Galligan calls himself and others who work at Syyn Labs, “Experience Wranglers.” Syyn Labs was formed in 2008 by a group of creative engineers who twist together art and technology. They find fun solutions to unique challenges and build interactive installations that encourage strangers to play together. Videos of their Rube Goldberg machines have been a hit on YouTube and seen by millions. In presenting many of the various Syyn Labs projects to SCDS students, Davis stressed what it takes to be an Experience Wrangler: an interest in exploration and experimentation, a fascination with art and technology, and perhaps most importantly, being unafraid to fail and refusing to give up easily. His advice for seeking out those to collaborate with on projects: “Find people who are fun to work with, and find ones that are smarter than you. People are good at different things, and you can learn from others.”
KINETICS | SPRING 2011
3
A VOICES DAY
SCRAPBOOK
4
SPRING 2011 | KINETICS
From a Voices Day Workshop:
It’s so Bad, it’s Good!
“Dr. Helga– who is not, in fact, a medical doctor, but instead has a Ph.D. (from the University of Miami [not the one in Florida, the one in Kazakhstan, which is a country in Northern {or what is Eastern?} Asia,] in 1997) in microbiology (the study of small things [microorganisms, to be exact] in the world)– began to cry because her father (her adoptive father, really, but she still doesn’t know that, even though she is seventy years old,) just ate a doughnut (this is sad because he is a vegetarian [which doesn’t even make any sense because doughnuts don’t even have meat] and vowed never to eat one) and was dying while Dr. Helga (we should really just call her Mrs. Helga Ph.D. from now on) kicked a chair with intense suffering, and her heart began to crumble like feta cheese from China1, and her eyes– blue like the sea– filled up with buckets (metaphorically, of course,) of tears.” –Kian Waddell, Grade 8 There is indeed feta from China, but the best kind comes from Sweden, which is strange, because feta cheese originated in Greece 1
KINETICS | SPRING 2011
5
Filmmaker Ben Kadie in a scene from his award-winning film “Sparks in the Night.”
Ben Kadie ’09, says of his creative voice, “SCDS offered a wonderful creative environment in which to explore. In particular, the art and tech classes, and the amazing teachers who led them, encouraged and supported the skills and creativity that I now apply to film.” Ben has donated a full set of his films, many starring other SCDS alums, to the SCDS Library. Watch “Sparks in the Night” and other Slugco Films at www.slugco.com. 6
SPRING 2011 | KINETICS
Alumni Voices When speaking with amateur filmmaker Ben Kadie, one can’t help but think, “Is this kid really only 15-years-old?” Not to sound ageist; creative genius comes in everyone from age 8 to 80, but while many of his peers are caught up in the day-to-day activities of dating, socializing and general teenage-hood, Kadie is busy making awardwinning films. Already immersed in his field before he has even earned a high school diploma, Kadie teaches himself how to use 3D animation models for his movies, sets a budget of a couple hundred dollars at most, casts his films, and gains inspiration from classic literature, old school film genres, Shakespeare, and Italian renaissance theater. With a friend, he made his first film in third grade, a World War I comedy that won the Seattle Times’ Three-Minute Masterpiece Contest. A dozen or so mini-movies, gold medals and international film festivals later, he is now a sophomore at Interlake High School, already getting ready to tour college film schools. His most recent accomplishment, receiving a Scholastic Art & Writing Award from the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, was exhibited at Seattle Art Museum (SAM). There, his threeminute film noir, “Sparks in the Night” was shown with the traveling exhibit ART.WRITE.NOW., which showcases select winners of the national writing award. Q: Who are your favorite filmmakers? A: I really love the Coen brothers. I love “Monty Python,” their writing and comedy. Orson Welles’s “Citizen Kane.” Q: Why the Coen brothers? A: They’re just very confident filmmakers. They portray tight, well-told stories that are very clever and funny. They’ve got that sort of crazy-style humor, and their plots are non-traditional and meandering. Q: For your films, you’ve used 3D computer models, 2D animation, archival footage, and digital matte paintings. How did you learn to use all that? A: I’m mostly self-taught. The first time I used 3D software, I was able to find 3D virtual set pieces on the Internet. That was helpful. Q: Any other film education? A: I’ve taken two short classes, one at Seattle Film Institute, which gave me some hands-on production experience, what a real set felt like, what all the jobs were, etc. And another one at TheFilmSchool’s first Prodigy Camp, which focused on storytelling.
Q: How do your parents help? A: My parents are very, very helpful. My mom used to work in theater as a costumer. My dad is a computer engineer who can help me with the software. Those are two great elements to have in filmmaking. Q: What do all good movies need? A: The most important thing is a good story. Most movies tell clear stories, even documentaries have a vision for a story they’re trying to portray. Q: Walk us through the creative process. A: You break it down into pre-production, production, post-production. Pre-production: I’m writing in my spare time at home or at school. Production is a fun, crazy, fast process. Things go wrong, you have to fix it. Postproduction is pretty solitary and time-consuming. You have to pay attention to details. I put the footage together, I edit it, that takes a while – deciding what shot to use when. Sometimes I put in visual effects, so then I have to find background to use on top of the green screen and play with color and sound. Q: How has your work evolved from third grade to 10th grade? A: I hope that I’ve gotten better at everything. I’ve been focusing on storytelling and having that be the focus. Some of my other films were very special-effects oriented and the stories were fantastic and fun. Now, I’m more interested in telling more human stories. Special effects are still a great thing though, and I’ve gotten pretty good at them. Q: What do you need to improve? A: Just about everywhere: my skills at directing actors and cinematography. Q: How can other children and teens get involved with filmmaking? A: It’s a lot easier than people think. If you have a camera, or friend who has a camera, you can make a movie. There are a lot more young people making films than there ever have been before. There are now quite a few youth film festivals and more and more high schools have film programs. By Gabrielle Nomura, Bellevue Reporter: Reprinted with permission
KINETICS | SPRING 2011
7
Alumni Voices K-3 Division Head Jackie Bradley remembers Cameron Myhrvold “as a student who loved math and who could never be stumped in a challenging math game. His love of and interest in science was so evident even as a first grader so it comes to no surprise that he is following his passions and dreams as a young adult. I have enjoyed following Cameron’s and his brother Conor’s pursuits after they left SCDS. They are both wonderful examples of our students living our SCDS Mission of reaching their potential through inquiry, curiosity, and wonder.” 8
SPRING 2011 | KINETICS
SCDS alum Cameron Myhrvold ’03 and Princeton University senior has a new opportunity to deepen his passion for science after receiving $250,000 in a no-strings-attached research funding. Myhrvold, a molecular biology major, is one of only 15 students nationwide to receive a prestigious fellowship from the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation that provides funding for five years of doctoral study, during which he can tackle whatever scientific challenges he chooses. He was chosen from nearly 600 applicants for the Hertz Fellowship. Students in the applied sciences and engineering are selected as fellows based on their intellect, ingenuity and potential to bring change to society, according to the Hertz Foundation. Myhrvold, who said he has a “lot of interests,” plans to pursue graduate work either in the Systems Biology Ph.D. Program at Harvard University or the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Seattle native is not yet certain in which direction he will take his doctoral study, given his fascination for questions having to do with the origins of life, evolution and synthetic biology. “I could try to answer the big questions about life, or smaller ones that have applications for particular problems,” he said. Myhrvold, who also is earning a certificate in quantitative and computational biology, has delved into different avenues of scientific inquiry during his undergraduate career. For his senior thesis, he is continuing the work he started as a junior in the lab of Bonnie Bassler, Princeton’s Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology, in studying quorum sensing, the chemical communication between bacteria. “I’ve really enjoyed studying the evolution of quorum sensing, and I think it is a great model for studying the
evolution of collective behavior in higher organisms,” Myhrvold said. “There’s a lot we can learn from bacteria.” Myhrvold’s interest in synthetic biology stems from his curiosity in “figuring out the ways we can understand how life works” using biological tools made in the lab, or “how we can use those tools to, for example, try and cure a disease.” Myhrvold also has pursued research with Simon Levin, Princeton’s George M. Moffett Professor of Biology in developing computer models to explore the evolution of resistance of some insect populations to Cry proteins, which are found in some bacteria species and are toxic to insects. Cry proteins are expressed in genetically modified crops in an effort to control insect pests — when the pests eat these proteins, they die. A particular focus of this research is to model cross-resistance to different Cry proteins, as insect pests can simultaneously develop immunity to more than one such protein. “There is a growing body of evidence that resistance to one Cry protein can have an impact on other Cry proteins, which is bad news for farmers trying to control insect pests with these proteins instead of conventional pesticides,” said Myhrvold. “The Environmental Protection Agency and biotech companies need to take this into account when designing and regulating new genetically modified crops.” By Karin Dienst and Chris Emery, Princeton University: reprinted with permission
KINETICS | SPRING 2011
9
Photos by Winston Yeung
hope Cranes
10
SPRING 2011 | KINETICS
OF
BY SCDS STUDENT ALLISON HOFF, GRADE 3 On March 11, Japan experienced an earthquake and tsunami and there was lots of damage. SCDS found a way to involve K-5 students in a fun and purposeful activity by folding cranes out of origami paper for the disasterrelief effort in Japan. Cranes will then be sent to Students Rebuild*, and then Jeff Bezos**, the founder of Amazon, will donate $2.00 per crane. “I think it’s important to fold paper cranes because if you give them to the Amazon guy he’ll donate two dollars per crane,” said Bailey, a 2nd grader.
“” The cranes show how much we care about Japan.
3,500
CRANES
FOLDED
RAISED: 0 FUNDS n: $7,00 oundatio F y il ,110 m 1 a $ Bezos F d Cross: ns to Re o 00 ti ,2 u 1 ib $ tr t: K-5 con vie Nigh hool Mo c S le d Mid
TOTAL:
$9,310
[Before the disaster happened] all the 4th graders had read a book, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. In Japan, paper cranes are a symbol of hope. According to the legend, anyone who folded 1,000 paper cranes will be granted a wish. The 4th graders were so intrigued by it that they themselves wanted to fold 1,000 paper cranes, and they have succeeded! [The project then grew to include grades K-3.] The 4th and 5th graders were split into groups for each classroom and they helped the younger students. Students say that folding cranes is fun, meaningful, and for a good cause. “The cranes show how much we care about Japan,” said Sasha, a kindergartener. “I think that you should give to people in need so that they can have everything that we have and we can be a community.” said Erin, a 5th grader. “In this activity, the students learn to work together as a team for a really worthy cause, helping the victims in Japan. I think that it is important to fold cranes because it gives students something meaningful and more powerful than just donating money,” said Mr. Sweeney, 4/5 Division Head. 3rd grader Sarah Alexander had the idea of collecting money donations for the American Red Cross. In addition to making cranes, each student donated a dollar or more per crane. “I think this is a good idea because the more cranes we fold, the more money we collect to help Japan, and Japan needs a lot of help right now,” said Sarah. *Students Rebuild is an organization that mobilizes young people to take action on critical global issues. **The Bezos Family Foundation
KINETICS | SPRING 2011
11
notes
class
SHARE YOUR STORIES! SCDS wants to hear from our alums! If you have news or updates to share about yourself or a former SCDS student, please contact us: 206-691-2620 or patsycadwell@seattlecountryday.org.
JULIA ENG ‘02 graduated from the University of Washington last spring with a degree in Marketing and Business Administration. She is currently working for a digital marketing firm, e-Dialog in Bellevue, WA.
AMANDA GOODWIN ‘98 moved to Cambridge, MA to study at Harvard College after graduating from Lakeside in 2002. She concentrated in sociology and joined the Men’s Harvard Heavyweight Crew as a coxswain. Over the next four years she developed a passion for early childhood education and, upon graduating in 2006, moved to New Haven, CT, to pursue a two-year fellowship in child development. Afterwards, she pursued her Masters in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In August of 2010, she married Campe Goodman of Virginia Beach, VA. Today, she is a Clinical Research Specialist at Children’s Hospital in Boston, and spends her free time enjoying the city with her husband, volunteering, dancing, skiing, and traveling. ISAAC HERINGTON ’06 (pictured third from left) won an official game tournament as part of “Team Gragas” for the popular online game, League of Legends. JONATHAN LI ’06 was awarded the 2010 Animation Award of Excellence at The Northwest School Film Festival. His music video Keep Hope Alive is available online at the Film Festival’s website www.nwhsff. org. Jonathan is currently attending Harvard University. RYAN MCDEVITT ‘99 graduated from Columbia University Law School in May, passed the Washington State Bar, and joined the Phoenix, AZ office of the Seattle-based law firm Keller Rohrback, as a member of the complex litigation practice group. LINDSAY MEYER ’03 is currently a junior at Stanford University. She took a year off after high school to row in the Olympics in the women’s 4x. She was in the women’s 4x (quadruple sculls) taking 4th place. She also rowed the Women’s 1x (single sculls) at the World Championships in New Zealand. Last summer she raced in the under-23 world championships in the single where she took
12
SPRING 2011 | KINETICS
third. She also recently helped her mom and her coach open a new boathouse next to the Ballard Bridge which is geared towards elite rowers and youth development. CONOR MYHRVOLD ’03 a geosciences major at Princeton, pursues his interest in science writing and recently co-authored “A Shifting Band of Rain,” published in Scientific American. The article relates how scientists have figured out tropical weather patterns through mapping equatorial rainfall since A.D. 800!
BRIAN MIDSON ’80 is a Technical Operations Specialist at the National Science Foundation. He manages the Submersible Support Program in the Division of Ocean Sciences. His duties are to manage construction of NSF-funded undersea vehicles and operation of the National Deep Submergence Facility located at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He has been involved in constructing a new personnel sphere in support of a major upgrade of the manned deep-ocean submersible, “Alvin.” A recently completed construction project was on a robotic vehicle “Nereus,” capable of operating at full ocean depth (11,000m) which was tested in the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench. Brian Midson in front of the DSV Alvin on a recent cruise. PAIGE PAULI ’00 has been working as the Alumni Director at Seattle Academy since mid-June 2009 (where she went to high school). In addition to keeping in touch with alumni, she coordinates and manages all social media endeavors (both for alumni and the school in general), and heads up all web and graphic design/development projects. She also freelances as a graphic designer and front-end web designer/developer, and provides individuals and small businesses with assistance in growing their social media presences. She will be getting married in August to her fiance, Trevor Russ. Celeste Jalbert ‘00 and Sarah (Goldblatt) Emerson ‘00 are two of her bridesmaids. SARAH QUEHRN ‘04 is currently studying abroad in Amman, Jordan. CLAIRE (WILSON) RASKIND ‘94 and her husband Peter Raskind welcomed their first child, Miles DeWolf Raskind on June 6, 2010. He was 6 lbs 2 oz and 18 inches long and he has been a complete joy for his parents. After taking a few months off to care for the new baby, Claire will return to graduate school to complete her Master of Science in Nursing at Seattle University, and will sit for the boards to become a Nurse Practitioner in January of 2011.
s
LINDSEY ROSS ‘96 has a Portland DIY yarn store, Yarnia (yarniapdx.com), which is coming up on its third birthday. She’s about to launch a new online component that will allow customers to recreate the make-your-own-yarn experience online (customyarn.com). Lindsey is also the Director of Operations for the Urban Craft Uprising, the largest indie craft show in Portland.
PETER SCHWARTZ ‘09 (above) is currently a sophomore at Lakeside School, and traveled to Peru as part of Lakeside’s Global Service Learning program. SOPHIE SHULMAN ‘02 graduated with honors this past May from the Johns Hopkins University, and will finish her Master’s degree this spring at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. While in DC, she has had
internships at the Center for American Progress and the Women’s Campaign Forum. ELSPETH SUTHERS ‘97 is currently working on an MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She spent last summer working for the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan. She says that it was a fascinating time to be in Kyrgyzstan, and was very glad to be able to hear people’s opinions about the changes going on in their country and how they will, or how they hope or fear they will, impact their lives.
Elspeth captured this photo near lake Song-Kul, high in the Kyrgyzstan mountains where it is cold—even in August! PAT WILBURN ‘97 is married with two girls (3 and 5), lives in Kirkland Washington, and works at Microsoft.
At left, friends from the SCDS Class of 2003 got together last summer for an impromptu reunion. Left to right: Conor Myhrvold graduates from Princeton this spring; Aspen Jordan is at Williams College; Sherin Rehmat graduated from the UW Early Entrance program in 2007 and is Product Marketing Manager at Marketfish; Isobel Grad graduates this spring from Haverford College, and will travel next year on a Watson Fellowship; Cameron Myhrvold graduates from Princeton this spring and was recently awarded a Hertz Fellowship (see article in previous pages); Sam Johnson is at Columbia University.
At right, Harrison Grad, Alec Wade, Sebastian Schneider, and Charlie Watters tried out the new Crystal Mountain gondola this winter.
KINETICS | SPRING 2011
13
Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 6244 Seattle, WA
SCDS
2619 4th Avenue N Seattle, WA 98109 206-284-6220 seattlecountryday.org
SPRING 2011
SEATTLE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL MAGAZINE
ideas in
motion
Kinesis comes from the Greek word for motion, and “kinetics” is used in the vernacular to describe mechanics associated with the forces that cause motions of bodies. At SCDS, we’re all about energy and active learning. Every day, SCDS teachers engage students’ minds and bodies through inquiry-based teaching.
They’re Going Global J.P. Reddy, Maddy Byrne, Leela Berman, Sienna Axe, and Hayden Ratliff will be going to the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals on May 25-28 at the University of Tennesse in Knoxville. This team of 4-5 students won their berth after placing 2nd overall at the state DI tournament in April. Congratulations Team, and the best of luck!