S EW I CKLEY
SP EAK IN G
WIN TER
2013
A REMARKABLE COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS EDITOR
Haley Wilson
CONTRIBUTORS
Lawrence C. Connolly
Greta Daniels
Dana Friedman ’83
Carla Garfield
Harry Giglio
Avery Lesesne ’14
Melinda Miller
Kolia O’Connor
Winthrop Palmer
Mandi Semple
Susan Sour ’55
James R. Wardrop ’57
Haley Wilson
DESIGN
Third Planet Global Creative
www.333planet.com
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Dear Readers of Sewickley Speaking, Schools like Sewickley Academy often speak about the need to educate our students to deal with the vagaries of an ever-changing world, one in which the expected path may increasingly be characterized by unexpected twists and turns. The skills that we see as the ones that will best position our graduates for success include innovation, creativity, problem-solving, communication, adaptability, and intercultural competence. This issue of Sewickley Speaking provides a wonderful glimpse into the range of innovative, creative, and sometimes unexpected turns we can take both as students and adults. As with so many areas of teaching and learning, the most powerful examples come from modeling, and in this we are fortunate to have dedicated and talented faculty, supported by the Home & School Association’s new Grants for Innovative Frameworks in Teaching (G.I.F.T.) program. The program was launched this fall with a generous grant of $25,000 from the Home & School Association, and as you will read in the following pages, the effort has already inspired faculty to join together to propose new and innovative ways of reaching their students. Now in its second full year in the Lower, Middle, and Senior School, our emerging robotics program provides students with stimulating and novel ways to think about problem-solving, by harnessing their own powers of imagination to develop robots to address a range of issues. Avery Lesesne ’14 shares her experiences as an early participant in and leader of the program. Avery is, perhaps, positioning herself to follow in the steps of Erica Dwahan ’03, who is living out her passion to transform and inspire leadership (especially female leadership) in Generation Y (read more about Erica on Page 6). Not to be outdone, yours truly shares some thoughts about a visit this past summer to China, and finally, reflecting those unexpected twists and turns one’s life might take, Dana Friedman ’83, who was in corporate advertising for 20 years before he found his true calling, shares his personal account of the rescue of a gray whale from a fishing net! From supporting the development of leadership to solving problems using robots, from developing ever more effective ways to inspire and educate students to modeling what it means to push one’s comfort zone, this issue of Sewickley Speaking reminds each of us what a remarkable community of learners, innovators, and adventurers we are. In our 175th year, this is certainly something to celebrate and of which to be proud.
the basis of race, gender, religion, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies,
Sincerely,
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C Printed on 100% recycled paper that is processed chlorine-free.
Kolia O’Connor Head of School
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