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At Allen-Stevenson, we have always supported our students' social-emotional growth, recognizing that a boy who understands who he is as a learner and who he is as part of a community makes him open and available to new and deeper learning. Now more than ever, our boys' social-emotional well-being is a priority, and the School has adapted to meet the needs of our students.

Our goal is to help the boys to function to the best of their ability in their day-to-day life. The teachers are very focused within their subject curriculum on building the skills boys need to maintain a connection to the community and growing the skills that underlie being a socially and emotionally regulated person. We help the boys to develop empathy, so that they can build stronger relationships with peers and teachers, so they are better able to understand themselves as learners.

“Learning to advocate for themselves and learning to ask clarifying questions helps a boy to focus and to attend to their learning,” said Anne Meyer, Director of the Learning Resource Center. “Once they can do this, it means they can delve into their learning to gain a deeper understanding, on their way to becoming passionate learners and compassionate achievers. It is important that children develop the language they need to ask a question, or to talk about or show what they know, then they can move ahead with their learning.”

“We work towards the boys speaking up for themselves, by having them ask good questions and by giving them the skills they need to follow through with—grit, persistence, stamina, attention, and a will about themselves. This helps them experience what comes their way,” said Dr. Michael Schwartzman, Consulting School Psychologist.

While social-emotional learning is interwoven throughout the curriculum at Allen-Stevenson, the pandemic has made it especially important for us to focus on the whole child and support those who influence their lives. How we use technology to teach and engage in dialogue has also been a significant consideration. We are taking more moments in the classroom to cultivate social comfort and connectivity. We’ve created smaller homerooms and advisories, called each family before the start of school, incorporated additional time with teachers for the students, rethought content for our Monday Morning Meeting and Lower School community gathering times, offered summer training for our faculty by faculty to give them the tools they need to use best practices, planned extra parent connection meetings, and are building in chat time for parents with the Head of School.

To explain how we’re developing these social and emotional skills and content, we’ve used the framework set out by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a trusted source for knowledge about high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL). CASEL suggests that an SEL program should foster the development of five interrelated sets of cognitive, affective and behavioral competencies, which are essential for both school and life success and include: selfawareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision- making. Following are examples of how Allen- Stevenson incorporates SEL around these five competencies:

FACULTY- & STAFF-LED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SUMMER SERIES

These summer workshops followed three threads: Community & Student Well-Being, Technology Tools & Remote Learning Strategies, and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.

• Using Emotional Literacy and Student Agency to Build

Confidence, Community and

Communication • Empowering Student Voice

Through the Arts • All Community & Relationship

Building Toolkit • Wakelet Resources from

Research-Based Strategies for a Calm & Connected

Classroom • Make It Interactive: Slides,

Videos, and Assessment that

Engage Students • Developing Executive Function

Skills in LS Students • Developing Executive Function

Skills in MS and US Students— in the Classroom and

Online—to Promote Student

Success • Sample US Advisory

Presentation • Multiple Technology

Trainings—with a Focus on Canvas • 13th Viewing and Discussion • White Anti-Racist Educator (WARE) Presentations on Anti-Bias, Diversity and

Power, Talking About Race with

White Children and More.

Allen-Stevenson helps the boys recognize their emotions and thoughts and how this can affect their behavior. By developing their self-awareness, they can

better assess their strengths and limitations, acquire a positive mindset and

possess a well-grounded sense of self-efficacy and optimism.

Drawing of a color monster

Expressing Emotions in Kindergarten to Open Up for Further Learning

To begin each school year, the kindergarten teachers talk to the boys about showing their emotions and how facial expressions play a role. This year, the conversation was more important than ever given that while many boys were happy to be back in the school building, others were anxious. Reworking how the teachers would introduce this unit was necessary because of mask wearing. So, the teachers decided that one way to explain different expressions and bring them to life would be to use books and videos.

“I’ve also used puppets to aid in our conversations about emotions,” said Jesse Montero. “The boys relate well to the puppets, and it helps to affirm what we are talking about.”

To begin the discussions around emotions, the classes started the year by role-playing to demonstrate how one might show emotion and respond to it. Together as a class, they read Sometimes I'm Bombloo and The Color Monster, which describe expressing one’s feelings with color.

For example, The Color Monster cleverly incorporates illustrations of monsters in single colors and what that color might represent in terms of their emotion. Discussing this book gave the boys the chance to talk about a specific color they felt at the moment. They really connected to this idea.

Following the reading, the boys illustrated how they were feeling by creating with their own color monster. The class also went on to talk about how feelings can change.

“I can sense our conversations are working,” said Jennifer Phillips. “The boys are not hesitant to share how they are feeling at this point in the year.”

The kindergarten teachers know that the boys must feel good about themselves before tackling more challenging tasks like writing.

WHAT COLOR DESCRIBES YOUR EMOTION?

Art Department Head Tara Parsons spent part of the fall focused on how to use color to express emotion in the first-grade art curriculum. The boys began by describing how colors might make them feel in different ways. They took the color yellow, for example, and discussed how it made them feel: Happy? Excited? Mellow? The boys were able to practice using descriptive words to talk about their feelings. The lesson showed that one color doesn’t have to mean the same thing to everyone, and as an artist, they get to explore those feelings for themselves.

Ms. Parsons then went on to explain that artists use color to express emotions in their work and showed them some examples. She pointed out that an artist might also use one color in many different ways. For example, they might use blue to show sorrow in one instance and show calm in another. The boys viewed the work of various artists, including staples such as Georgia O’Keefe, Pablo Picasso,

Henry Gershuny shows off his drawing

and Vincent Van Gogh but also the work of more contemporary artists such as Pat Steir and Joy Labinjo.

After talking about color, the boys were asked to choose different art materials to create their own work, but they were to stick with the same color family for the whole piece. As always, once finished, the boys were given the opportunity to share and reflect on their work via Zoom with their classmates.

First Grade Revamped SEL Program

The First Grade Teaching Team met during the summer of 2019 to talk about first-grade social-emotional learning (SEL) to make it one consistent program. While social-emotional skills have been taught at Allen-Stevenson for years, recent research has made it clear that the team needed a structured, cohesive approach to teach these skills. They decided to use their first social studies unit of the year for teaching SEL because they felt that there is nothing more important than social-emotional growth at this age. If there is anything that the teachers want the boys to learn, they would have the boys relate it to themselves. And while nobody could have anticipated the pandemic, this curriculum has proved invaluable with the advent of remote learning.

Starting at the beginning of the year, the boys spent time getting to know each other by sharing their summer journals. They talked about themselves over Zoom and in breakout rooms where they played games with the information they’d written in their journals. For example, a question game might include: Who has a new puppy? How many learned to surf?

The classes used their summer reading book Toys Go Out, by Emily Jenkins, to bridge between summer and school. They talked about how the animal characters in the book treated each other and how they felt. The lesson concluded with a Huggy Animal Day, which gave the boys the chance to share their favorite huggy animal and describe how it makes them feel.

Expanding their sense of self, the boys then learn what makes them special while discussing how everyone is different. The classes do this through a name study, framed around books about being unique that the class reads together, such as Elmer, by David Mckee, The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi and Elephants Cannot Dance by Mo Willems. The boys go on to create self-portraits.

Once the boys are aware of their own and others’ unique qualities, it is time to establish who they are within their community. Our Third Grade Team has developed a social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum that helps our boys become self-aware through identifying their own emotions and understanding how they connect to behaviors and actions. Developmentally, Third Grade is an age where our boys become more aware of themselves and others, allowing them to empathize and comprehend others’ perspectives.

Journal writing is a powerful way for the boys to learn about themselves, explore emotions, and develop an extensive vocabulary that empowers them to find their voice. This year, the first assignment was adjusted for the times and focused on the pandemic by having boys reflect on COVID. They wrote three separate entries: What was hard about COVID? What were some silver linings of COVID? What Super Powers did COVID give you?

For another early journal project, third-grade boys write down their hopes and dreams for the year. The writing process makes our boys pause, reflect, and organize their thoughts. For this assignment, this process helps boys conceptualize what their main goals are for the year ahead.

Throughout the year, boys work on larger writing units simultaneously to these journal entries. During their first unit, students wrote a piece on “What I Wish My Teacher Knew.” The boys pick something about themselves that they wish their teacher knew and explain why it’s important for them to know this fact.

Christian Loucopoulos with his journal

Ms. Shindler’s class with their huggy animals

Topics ranged from “I have ADHD” to “my shower door is broken at home” to “I wish I had a baby brother.” It’s a good way to start the year modelling that the more we know about people, the more we can respond to them with empathy.

In their second writing unit, boys journal on “My Special Place.” Students begin the writing process by brainstorming what location comes to mind when they imagine the space that makes them the happiest. After choosing their special place, they jot down notes about what memories they associate

Vikram Seth’s special place

with that place and what emotions and feelings come to mind. This process encourages boys to look inward and self- reflect on what brings them joy in life.

Writing also plays an integral role in social-emotional learning in third-grade Spanish lessons. In one unit, boys learn about the fictional character, Sergio, who has a fixed mindset. Together they talk about how Sergio can move to a growth mindset. The boys qualify the statement “Estoy ____ porque _____,” which translates to “I am ____ because ____.” The group develops a vocabulary list of emotions—in English and Spanish—and discusses how to recognize these emotions and the root cause of these feelings. Our Spanish teachers also have their students describe and assess personal strengths related to an accomplishment and contemplate how emotional states contribute to or detract from problem-solving. A conversation starter

Developing a Growth Mindset in the Upper School

Upper School advisories have devised creative ways to get the boys to recognize how they feel and share their emotions. Each advisory is structured a little differently to meet the particular boys' social-emotional needs in that advisory. It’s a chance for the boys to be given a voice and understand that they have one. Advisory lessons also help the boys to develop a growth mindset.

In Kim Sklow’s 8th Grade advisory, she has check-in times built into each week. The boys can use journaling to express themselves or share how they feel with the group through discussions by commenting on Padlet or creating memes. The boys might be asked to respond to questions such as: How are you feeling today? What’s on your mind? What is causing this feeling? What is happening in your body, mind or environment?

The boys might watch a TED talk, after which they are asked to respond to prompts such as: Can you relate? What is your biggest distractor? What can you do this year to improve?

Samara Spielberg’s advisory developed a conversation around Lin Manuel’s character in the musical Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton, who had a strong belief in himself and used positive self-talk. The boys were asked to think about and respond to the question: What are some of the affirmations he says about himself? The boys then went into breakout rooms where they had to choose four positive affirmations that he says. They had to talk about what we say is not ALWAYS really what we’re thinking or feeling. They also had to answer the question: What do you believe the character is actually thinking when he says those things? Then they had to put their responses in thought bubbles.

As each week draws to a close, the boys are often asked to reflect on the week through GLOW and GROW and by sharing an example of a success, a challenge or a potential.

In addition to activities that help the boys learn about themselves, there is time built in for play. Ms. Sklow, for example, structures her week’s advisory lessons around the difficulty of the days, ensuring that there is one advisory simply for play that falls after the week's more stressful days.

Ms. Sklow said, “I enjoy coming up with creative games for us to play because the boys need to have downtime to help manage stress, as well as for them to understand that it is important to make time for play in their lives.”

Allen-Stevenson boys graduate prepared with essential self-management skills like executive function, stress

management, self-care, perseverance, and agency. These skills help

us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions and multi-task.

Venesha Cashdollar

What’s the Healthier Option? Essential Life Skills Prepare Sixth Graders to Make Informed Lifestyle Decisions

Sixth graders in Maya Jourieh’s Health and Wellness class learned essential tools for self-care and self-management to maintain a healthy lifestyle during a creative Halloweenthemed lesson.

Boys were tasked with researching healthier alternatives to Halloween candies and presenting their findings to the class. In their presentations, the boys had to display both wrappers and walk the class through the labels, explaining why one is preferential in terms of ingredients and nutrition facts.

Ms. Jourieh explained the goal of the project by saying, “The key points I would love for the boys to take from this activity is to learn about their options and understand that moderation goes hand-in-hand with a healthy lifestyle. The goal of this is not to limit them, but rather to develop a confident sense of self-awareness.”

These important life skills help our boys make informed lifestyle choices, change problematic dietary behaviors, and set them up to meet nutrition goals later in life.

Boys Develop Goal-Setting Skills and Strategies Through Individualized Learning Plans

At Allen-Stevenson, we are incredibly fortunate to have a robust Learning Resource Center, a vital resource to support our boys’ varied learning styles. Our Learning Specialists work one-on-one with our boys to develop self- management and stress-management skills by helping them recognize their particular learning style, set goals, and advocate for what they need to be successful.

“Learning Resource Center Director Anne Meyer often uses the phrase ‘point of need,’ which is really the key to the Learning Resource Center,” said Learning Resource Specialist Venesha Cashdollar. “We identify our students’ unique, individual needs and provide the appropriate support by meeting them where they are and helping them set clear, achievable goals.”

This approach to creating individualized learning plans provides boys with skills and strategies to help them navigate both their curriculum and the stress and anxiety that can come when they feel lost or overwhelmed on class assignments or concepts.

At Allen-Stevenson, our entire faculty and staff make a conscious effort to know each boy as a unique person. It’s part of what makes us such a special community. It’s also what makes us so successful at identifying their needs and creating a learning plan. These relationships let our educators go below the surface to really know and understand our students. This, in turn, allows our students to develop a strong self-concept and hone executive functioning skills that are directly tied to successful self-management.

Our Learning Resource Center places huge importance on executive functioning skills. Starting in Fourth Grade, we teach direct study skills classes where we teach explicit executive functioning skills to all the boys. There are eight executive functioning areas on which we focus: impulse control, emotional control, flexible thinking, working memory, self- monitoring, planning and prioritizing, task initiation, and organization.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE, EFFORT, TEAMWORK: THE RECIPE TO SUCCESS IN A-S ATHLETICS

Regulating emotions and behaviors to collaboratively accomplish goals is foundational to Allen-Stevenson’s Physical Education and Athletics philosophy. We value being responsible, being respectful, working hard, being committed, and persevering. These skills are built into both our physical education and athletics programming, with the added component of competition in athletics.

At Allen-Stevenson, success is not defined by a series of wins or losses. Instead, our coaches teach that having a positive attitude and effort, teamwork, and perseverance are the keys to success regardless of a winning outcome. We stress the importance of viewing the bigger picture and considering how one can employ self-management skills to accomplish goals one has set out.

However, there is an inherent level of competition in athletics and life, and our coaches teach students how to win and lose gracefully. Competition means building your teammates up, not knocking them down. Teaching our boys how to be good competitors will set them up for success on the playing field and beyond.

Physical Education and Athletics Department Head Rich Alifano stressed this by saying, “Just about everything in life is a competition. Getting a job is a competition. You have to compete against other applicants to get interviews. So, how do we prepare our boys to navigate these daily ins and outs of life? We stress that winning or losing isn’t the important part of competition. The important thing is to be prepared, give your best effort, and have a good attitude. If you do that, you can move forward with pride because you know you gave it your all.”

Instrumental Music Lessons Foster Responsibility, Autonomy, and Time-Management Skills

In Second Grade, our boys are working on self-management skills, and learning an instrument plays a vital role in developing responsibility and time- management skills.

At the beginning of every school year, our second-grade boys meet with the instrumental instructors to learn about the myriad of choices they have when it comes to selecting the instrument they would like to learn how to play.

This year, our Music Department has impressively adapted to meet the realities of the global pandemic. All instrumental demonstrations have taken place in Zoom breakout rooms where our boys can hear all the instruments and meet our instructors. In addition, instructors sent Director of Instrumental Music Claire Schlegel demonstration videos that she has placed in a fun, interactive Bitmoji classroom. Students autonomously “walked around the room” to watch videos demonstrating the many diverse kinds of music that each instrument can play. This information gives our boys agency to choose which instrument they would like to dedicate time to learning.

“When a student picks the instrument that he really, really loves —the one that speaks to him—it fosters agency and motivates him to be independent, to persevere and practice and enjoy playing this instrument,” said Ms. Schlegel. “Everyone wants to do things that you choose, not things that are imposed upon you.”

After selecting an instrument, Head of Lower School Stephen Warner and Assistant Head of Lower School for First and Second Grades Jennifer Zimmermann have each student sign an agreement that affirms they will be solely responsible for carrying this instrument back and forth to school and will be responsible for managing their own time to remember their lesson schedule. Their homeroom teachers will not remind them, but the information is posted clearly in numerous places for their reference. Christian Young (Third Grade) tried out a flute

“This starts a process of being a responsible boy and being responsible for themselves,” said Ms. Schlegel. “The boys really take it seriously. It gives them more ownership and responsibility for what they’re learning. We explain that to the boys as they choose an instrument.”

Escape the Aztec Temple! Students Uncover Essential Technology Skills Through Engaging Spanish Class Scavenger Hunt

The Spanish Department’s first focus of the year was simple: How can we help our boys develop self-management skills that will set them up for success during A-S Bridge 2.0? Students need to know how to navigate the many aspects of technology that our faculty will be using to engage them this year. The second focus: How can we connect this to content and build community?

Teachers let the boys uncover these skills for themselves through an engaging scavenger hunt. After learning about the ancient Aztec city and the mighty struggle with Hernán Cortés, the boys learned some troubling news: Moctezuma wanted revenge and locked the Spanish Department in a hidden temple! They would need the boys to gather tools to get them out!

For every challenge completed in teams, boys received a necessary tool to escape. Tasks were varied and leveled for developmental needs, requiring students to navigate several online educational platforms that will be important in the coming year. Some tasks included: using Flipgrid to record a video complimenting a fellow classmate; using Google Jamboard to practice gratitude; writing a properly formatted email to a teacher asking for help this coming school year; creating a collaborative Google slideshow highlighting their strengths as a student; participating in a discussion on Canvas about their dream destination; and navigating Padlet to post uplifting quotes and growth mindset mantras and, of course, a team selfie. The boys then shared these Padlet posts with students in other sections and pods, further bringing our community together. They also learned what the expectations are for the year ahead and how to use online dictionaries in Spanish.

THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDENT AGENCY: UPPER SCHOOL BOYS SET GOALS, REFLECT, AND EFFECT CHANGE

Student agency is rooted in the belief that students have the ability and the will to influence their own lives and the world around them positively. It centers on the idea that students have the ability to set a goal, reflect on it, and then effect change. Upper School Advisory serves as a space where our boys can exert agency over their schoolwork and lives. In this small, close community, boys set individual goals and work with advisors to accomplish them.

So, what does this goal-setting process look like? First, our boys choose a goal that centers on their own personal interests, tied to class learning outcomes. Next, advisors sit down with boys to help them initiate action using the 4 T’s: Time, Task, Technique, and Team. Most importantly—after accomplishing their goals, boys self-reflect and internalize their self-efficacy and gain a sense of empowerment.

Impressively, Upper Schoolers extend this process of self-refection to Parent-Teacher Conferences and lead their conferences, putting together a PowerPoint, highlighting aspects of their schoolwork, in which they feel successful and others that they are working on. This ownership over their work and progress leads to a growth mindset and encourages boys to be self-driven and self-motivated learners.

This is more important now during the era of COVID-19 than ever before. When students develop a sense of agency, with support from their educators, they become more independent and autonomous learners because their experiences and choices are self-driven and self-motivated, instead of just going through the motions of school assignments.

Spanish Teacher Stephen Krawec explored developing student agency through his research with the International Boys’ School Coalition action researchers, using his advisory space to explore this concept. For his research project through IBSC, Sr. Krawec tasked the boys with creating a student “survival guide” that had to be wholly planned, designed, drafted, and published by them. Through this research, Sr. Krawec was able to connect better with all learners, bolster emotional intelligence, and build a resilient, supportive learning community in his classroom.

Our community at Allen-Stevenson fosters social awareness in the boys by encouraging perspective-taking and empathy and

highlighting the important role that every member of our diverse

world plays in our global community.

Collaborative English and Theatre Department Monologue Assignment Fosters Empathy

Chase Myers giving his monologue

Spanish Department Incorporates Social Awareness into Unit on Seeing Eye Dogs

Our Spanish Department incorporates social-emotional learning into the fabric of each unit. The one about “Pip the Seeing Eye Dog” unit takes boys on a journey with a puppy working his way through guide dog school. Pip develops a growth mindset to help him overcome obstacles, recognize his strengths, and use them to succeed. Ultimately, Pip wants to help others and make the world a better place.

Boys learned vocabulary to pad their emotional lexicon and used it to practice emotion recognition and connect to themselves. How do you feel when something seems too difficult at school? What words do you tell yourself when you don’t immediately achieve your goal? These reflections segued into conversations on the importance of growth mindset and positive self-talk.

The unit was so powerful and representative of the WHY behind Spanish as A-S. “This is the way we want our boys to approach Spanish,” said Spanish Department head Samara Spielberg. “They are going to encounter obstacles and we want them to know that there are many ways to get to the same goal. When we change our mindset, perceived impossibilities become fun challenges.”

When eighth-grade boys completed an assignment developed collaboratively between English Department Head Susan Lukas and Theatre Director Julie Robles, empathy was the desired and achieved result.

Sandra Cisneros’s “Salvador Late or Early,” a vignette from Woman Hollering Creek, is a short character study in 3rd person using a variety of extraordinary figures of speech to enrich and enliven meaning. Students read and studied the piece, identified its figurative language, and developed an understanding of Salvador’s life based on this exploration. Learning about monologues and soliloquies with Ms. Robles was the next step, after which students wrote and performed a monologue that they videotaped and presented for their on-line English class.

Writing the monologues encouraged students to take on the character’s emotions and to transition from a state of sympathy to empathy. In order to imagine how Salvador was feeling, the boys practiced perspective-taking by considering such questions as: Why has he decided to speak now? What prompted him to say what he is about to say? Since in the original vignette Salvador is silent and unknown by teachers and other students, creating answers to these questions became crucial to each student’s rendering of their Salvador.

“As a class, we talked at length about how they could not do this assignment without getting inside of Salvador,” said Ms. Lukas. “They had to put themselves in his shoes, and that was hard for many of them. Connecting empathetically was essential to the success of their work.”

Ms. Robles added to this by saying, “When one becomes socially aware at a young age, acting with empathy as an ally to others becomes natural over time. The bigger picture is that they will become kind humans and will carry that on with them after Allen-Stevenson.”

FIFTH GRADE PEACE PROJECT INFORMS BOYS ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND INSPIRES SOCIAL AWARENESS

Every year, fifth graders embark on an educational journey, studying human rights and global citizenship through an education program called The Peace Project. This program bridges important historical events to modern-day circumstances to teach students how the past impacts our present, and how activism influences people’s lives.

The Peace Project is an NYC-based organization that provides human rights and global citizenship education programs that inform, inspire, and ignite students to address human rights issues. This wonderful unit helps our boys understand how the past impacts our present and how activism influences people’s lives.

The sessions collectively speak to the concept that every single person plays an important role in our society and encourage our boys to imagine what it would be like to experience the world through another’s eyes.

For example, during one session the class explores the topic of “women’s rights are human rights.” The boys discuss the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which is an international bill of rights for women that was adopted in 1979 by the United Nations but has yet to be signed by the United States. The boys discuss what the world would look like if gender equality existed everywhere.

The partnership culminates in a field trip to the United Nations, which will be a remote field trip this year. They receive a fascinating, educational tour of the building, including a visit to the General Assembly Hall.

The Fifth Grade at the UN in May 2019

Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors: How Books Provide Opportunities for Perspective-Taking

Last year’s Adi’s Challenge top readers

Avid readers across our Middle and Upper School participate each year in Adi’s Reading Challenge, named to honor the life of Aditya Srinivasan ’19.

Throughout the Reading Challenge, boys read books from a list curated by our Library Tech Commons team and submit a response form. Once done, boys who read the required number of books to qualify (seven books for Fourth and Fifth Grades and five books for Sixth and Seventh Grades) are invited to join a set of voting parties to select their choice for the ALA’s Newbery Medal and discuss whether the titles might win other ALA awards as well. During the book parties, the boys reflect on what kind of book wins the Newbery award.

With Adi’s Challenge and other events orchestrated by our Library Tech Commons team, we look for books that provide opportunities for our boys to develop empathy through perspective-taking. “We talk about books being windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors,” said Teacher Librarian Liz Storch. “Books create connections for our boys. Children can see each other and themselves mirrored in the characters in the books they are reading. So, it’s extremely important for everyone to be represented in the books we choose to have the boys read. They can also be windows into lives and cultures that are much different from their own. All of these books allow students to identify with the characters. This fosters empathy and understanding of the world. It allows students to step through a sliding glass door into another world and get to know different characters as humans. Then, when a character faces a problem in the book, our students can think about what they might do in that particular situation. It helps them take the perspective of the characters and develop empathy for them.”

Each year, our community dedicates a week to celebrating our ongoing efforts to become a more socially aware, empathetic community that emphasizes belonging. Throughout this week, known as Solidarity Week, students across divisions engage in age- appropriate conversations unpacking what solidarity and allyship look like. We discuss different family structures, gender stereotypes, and gender identities and how allies can work with other underrepresented communities to amplify those voices.

This year, First Grade Teacher and Community Life + Diversity (CL+D) Co-Director Sophy Joseph spoke about the importance of being an ally with Lower Schoolers during Community Time by talking them through I Walk with Vanessa: A Story about a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët. This book encouraged the boys to take the perspective of a young girl who is just starting at a new school and has trouble fitting in. Boys were asked what they would do in this situation and how they could be kind allies to a classmate in need.

During Middle and Upper School Monday Morning Meeting, boys viewed Disney’s Out. In subsequent discussions boys empathized with the characters from the film and talked about what actions we could all take to be an inclusive, welcoming community.

Upper School Boys of Color at Allen-Stevenson (BOCAS) tied Solidarity Week into a series of research presentations they have been doing on parts of their heritage to discuss and share with the group. Eighth grader José Valentín presented on the Chicano

Movement in the 1960s and 1970s, tying it to how many activists’ lives work provides excellent examples of solidarity.

“It’s good when we amplify each other,” said CL+D Chair Jennifer Vermont-Davis, “It’s good when we speak out and let one another present information and appreciate the work people have done.”

The week’s program concluded with a powerful address to the Upper School by transgender rights advocate Alex Myers, the first openly transgender student at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, and Kendall LaSane, husband to Allen-Stevenson’s Assistant Director of Admissions and CL+D Co-Director Devin LaSane. Mr. Myers and Mr. LaSane shared their experiences as transgender men and answered our boys’ questions.

Solidarity Week is a great example of how we continually strive to be a more educated community of allies and socially aware, good human beings.

Using Science Curriculum to Foster Social Awareness, Relatable Connections Between Our Boys, Their Community , and the World

Allen-Stevenson’s Science Department fosters social awareness by opening our boys up to thinking outside of their own experience and viewing the world from a broader lens. Hands-on projects focusing on real-world scenarios use a social justice lens to provide students with the necessary tools to become informed and active global citizens.

Each year, Science Teacher Silvia Rodríguez explores volcanoes and rock formations with the second graders. This year, boys will learn that there are small communities settled very close to active volcanoes. They will discuss how concepts like cost of living, poverty, and access to healthcare and education might lead someone to live in such a dangerous location. Ms. Rodríguez will empower the boys to create educational posters and evacuation maps to assist in the evacuation plan of a community. The class will also contact the Costa Rican Comisión Nacional de Prevención de Riesgos y Atención de Emergencias (CNE) to learn how they implement emergency plans to evacuate communities if a volcano increases in activity or erupts.

Science Teacher Jeffrey Herschenhous includes an interesting discussion on the nonexistence of race in his evolution unit. Mr. Herschenhous explains how differences in the amount of sunlight that can penetrate the skin explain how skin color has evolved to different climates . This unit incorporates numerous discussions on the societal concept of race and how it is used to disadvantage certain groups throughout history.

When safe to do so with regard to the COVID pandemic, our eighth graders will be looking at the air quality in New York City during an environmental justice unit. Students will use devices to collect air quality, break it down by kind of pollutant, and discuss what levels of which pollutants are dangerous by EPA standards and from where the pollutants they find originate. As the culmination of the unit, boys will hopefully present their findings and offer potential solutions at a conference that, if the global pandemic allows, will be run by the Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation (CELF).

“The idea is to have an action piece at the end,” said Science Department Head Jack Cooley. “We will go over action items with them, like writing letters, educating their communities at A-S and beyond, getting involved in a project or organization, and how to volunteer their time. We want to empower the boys and show them that their voices matter and can be heard. We will teach them how to speak compellingly to public officials and their communities.”

communicate clearly, listen actively, interact cooperatively, negotiate conflict constructively and seek help when needed. Learning these relationship skills

will help them be more self-confident and relate well to others.

MAKING CONNECTIONS IN SECOND GRADE

To get the school year started, Second Grade Teacher Alice Heminway had her boys participate in a “getting to know you” activity to build community and foster social-emotional learning.

Each boy had to create personal bags containing five items that let their personalities shine and applaud their unique interests. Boys included items ranging from flags representing their heritage to musical instruments and math workbooks. Ms. Heminway also used these items to help the boys see what they had in common by recognizing that there might be several boys who like math or a specific color.

“Bonding activities like this create a productive work environment in the classroom because everyone feels more comfortable sharing ideas and participating in the class,” said Ms. Heminway.

In the Second Grade, Morning Meeting and Closing Circle, which occur every day, provide an important time for the boys to make connections. The meeting might begin with the whole class before breaking into smaller groupings, so the boys can get to know each other on a more personal level. Alice Heminway shares her personal bag

Ms. Heminway explained that she might provide prompts for these smaller group discussions, with “Would you rather?” questions or by asking: “What’s something you’ve learned that you feel you’re good at?” and “How did you become good at that thing?” The boys take turns sharing. Sometimes the boys come back to the group and share on behalf of their classmates, which also encourages the boys to become active listeners.

“Being an active listener is something we discuss early on in the year,” said Ms. Heminway. “We talk about the importance of eye contact and looking at the speaker, which is harder on Zoom. I let the boys know we need to see their face on the screen.”

To help develop these listening skills, the boys might play games on Zoom that require them to be looking and reacting to another person in a follow-the-leader type of game.

“We also use our classroom meeting times to talk about being a quiet listener and giving feedback non-verbally,” said Ms. Heminway. “I’ve had the boys use hand motions when they want to agree with something, which has been especially useful during Zoom meetings.”

Despite having to work on relationship skills via Zoom this year, these same conversations equate to those that would take place in-person and reflect the same in-person learning values.

Understanding the Value of a Team and One’s Role Within It

Fifth Grade Teacher Maurice Hicks sets each of his students up with a point person for reasons of connection and support. This year, given the unusual circumstances, he has created small groupings of three or four boys to provide them with additional peers to turn to while maintaining accountability.

“It is especially important at the moment that the boys have a team to work with, as well as someone other than their teacher with whom they can speak to and check in with,” said Mr. Hicks.

Mr. Hicks helps the boys make the initial connections between point persons. If the boys were in the school building during a typical year, they would have the independence to walk and talk on the 5th floor while getting to know their point person. Virtually this year, the boys have met in breakout rooms on Zoom. A reality that presents several challenges attached to appropriate distancing yet provides the guidance, structure, and openness to growth attached to learning.

Mr. Hicks might provide them with a prompt to get their conversations started. Then he asks the groupings to create a 15-minute presentation in Google slides on ‘What is Friendship?’. The boys are responsible for coordinating meetings, creating conversations related to the topic, and planning how they can keep each other on task. As they move through the school year, they can choose whether to use their meet up times to chat or study together. A goal is for the groupings to encourage each other and establish that they should commit to deliberate practice or review if they are meeting to study, not utilize the enrichment opportunity as a potential playdate. Working in this group setting will help them learn to advocate for themselves and understand the value of screen time.

An outcome of interacting within various group settings, varying perspectives, and growing bonds is that they grow to understand what type of friend or friends they are to others. As a class, the boys discuss how difficult it is to be everything to everyone and that they can’t expect to get everything from one person. Accountability and interdependence are connected to time spent together while embracing similarities and differences.

Sharing various personal goals, both academic and general, with their point person or persons provides an additional support system to help each boy reach those goals that he has set for himself. Committing to these moments of honesty and vulnerability highlights this relationship's intention and the value of how important working in a group can be.

How many authentic bonds or connections do you have with people who may not be like you?

Pandemic-Related STEAM Challenge Requires Teamwork

The Fifth Grade STEAM teachers, Lisa Anderson, Dr. Rob McCallum, Peter Fletcher and Alex Exposito, set a new STEAM challenge at the beginning of this school year that introduced the fifth graders to the Engineering Design Process (EDP). This process requires collaboration and teamwork, whether brainstorming, designing, building or communicating results to draw on multiple skill sets.

The problem identified for the challenge was related to the pandemic and affected the boys’ well-being.

Since last March, it has become difficult to play games with your friends in person because they may be in different parts of New York, other states, or across the globe! Some people are near each other, but they still have to maintain social distance rules. The problem is, how do you play a sport or game when friends can’t share equipment and can’t get close? To solve this problem, the STEAM V teachers challenged the boys to design a sport that could be played while maintaining social distance. They had to create an inclusive high-interest game that combined technology with physical movement. The game had to be fun, active, and awesome, and be played with their friends six feet apart or further.

The game had to include: a goal/objective, a point system, have several rounds, at least two players, a mascot or logo, positions and physical movement, physical environment combined with technology, dimensions, four items at least from the STEAM supply bag provided, equipment (new ideas), and have rules. The game had to be able to be played by everyone…fully inclusive!

For the first step, the boys met to create a plan before designing a blueprint and then building their prototype. They worked collaboratively through video conferencing and Google docs using the EDP. As the last step in the process, the boys were required to create and present a video tutorial on how to play their virtual game. The boys’ reflections about this project had each team member describe their role in the team and which skill sets they brought to the project, allowing them the opportunity to recognize their strengths as well as to identify how and when they can draw on support.

BE KIND AND DO YOUR BEST

For many years, the sixthgrade class theme has been “Be Kind and Do Your Best.” Sixth Grade English Teacher Pete Haarmann, along with a former colleague, decided that instead of an exhaustive list of class rules, a more effective way to get the boys to think about themselves, and how they act toward their classmates, is to have them write about being kind and doing their best. Weaving the theme for the year into a writing assignment also creates a sense of ownership.

Mr. Haarmann begins each year by talking to the class about what it means to be kind. He asks the boys, “What does it mean to go out of your way to be kind? Isn’t kindness more than just common courtesy?”

“Simply doing the expected thing isn’t enough. You need to go another step, and another step,” explains Mr. Haarmann.

This conversation leads to the second component of the theme: Doing Your Best. For this, Mr. Haarmann has the boys consider that being kind is how you act toward others, while doing your best demonstrates the steps that can be taken to make the most of the talents and curiosities each possesses.

He intentionally chose the word “do” instead of “try” because it is more purposeful.

After talking about the theme, the boys are asked to construct a heartfelt fourparagraph essay based on the two major components. The first paragraph serves as an introduction. The second centers on “Be Kind,” while the third paragraph focuses on “Do Your Best.” For both the second and third paragraphs, the boys have to give two or three examples of how they will be kind and do their best. They have to show what actions they will take, not merely talk about what each means. For the concluding paragraph, Mr. Haarmann talks to the boys about three different approaches. They can either rehash what they intend to do, which is good. They can introduce a new idea, which is better, or they can add a new idea and subtly ask the reader what they are doing to improve their lives and the lives of those around them. This would be the best option.

This commitment to the theme provides a helpful focal point for studentteacher discussions as they move through the year. Mr. Haarmann reminds them about the beautiful things they wrote that state they are going to make particular changes.

Usually, these essays would be hung on a bulletin board with the large letters —A-S— across the top, bordered with blue and yellow paper to signify the importance of their efforts within the School community. It may prove a challenge this year to display the themes in the usual way.

No matter how their work gets shared, the boys love their ownership of the class theme and the impact of their commitment throughout the whole of Sixth Grade.

Doing your best is

something that makes

someone a finer and

sturdier student. This year

I am going to do my very

best by starting my

assignments the day

they are assigned and

use my work time more

efficiently. Also, doing my

best means being

“before time” to classes,

and being focused during

them. This means I will

be ready for classes and

pay very close attention

to any instructions or

assignments given to me.

Doing your best does not

mean showing up with a

little, it means showing

up with a lot. —Henry Cheng

classroom in making responsible decisions. By giving them agency and empowering

them to think about the choices they make, our boys learn how this valuable skill

can be carried with them beyond the walls of the schoolhouse.

Map discussion with Lorenzo Bellard

Collaboration on their project

Fourth Grade Civilizations Unit Teaches Boys Deeper Understanding of Societal Structures

In fourth-grade humanities class, Fourth Grade Teachers Sarah Luposello and Lorenzo Bellard encourage their students to go deeper with their learning. Mr. Bellard “wants them to understand that civilizations exist because certain things need to be in place, but we let them figure it out on their own. It sticks in students’ minds when they make the connections through their own research. It gives them pride over their learning.” Giving the students this agency empowers them to question “why” and draw conclusions on their own from their research. He says that in class, “we focus on specific roles.

Each student has an opportunity to play each role during the simulation. Initially, they all want to be the “ruler,” but then they realize that the “artisans” have a really important role to play too because they make things. Then begins the conversation about whether or not value and social class are the same. We go on to tie this into our current civilization, talking about teachers, medical responders, plumbers, farmers—they’re the foundation of our society, and that’s an important concept to learn.”

Kim Sklow’s Bitmoji classroom

Civil Discourse and Respect are Paramount in Ms. Sklow’s 8th Grade History Class

An election year is a great opportunity to encourage students to participate in the art of civil discourse and teach them about the responsibility of their decisions. In History, Department Head Kim Sklow’s eighth-grade history classes, students learn what it means to have a voice, the power their voice has, and to understand how their opinions are often formed. By creating an interactive Bitmoji classroom, students are invited to take a deep dive into bi-partisan politics in America and understand how biases are portrayed in the media. In groups, she has boys discuss, “what characteristics a leader should have, which is more important—character or issues, and, if they could vote, which issues would be most important to them. Overall, she wants them to “see that there is always room for open discourse and it’s okay to be uncomfortable.” They all have a “responsibility to actively listen and make choices based on their own opinions and experiences.”

MUSIC-MAKING: A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS AT ALLEN-STEVENSON

In Music Class, responsible decision-making is encouraged and explored from the very beginning. Music Department Head Michelle Demko and Lower School Music Teacher Ian Taggart encourage students to create and explore self-expression in class, which helps them learn more about who they are as students and musicians. In class, boys are invited into a partnership with the teacher, for instance, by getting to choose instruments and sound effects for themselves and then demonstrate their knowledge after learning a song in the way that works best for them. Ian Taggart explains that co-collaborating with the boys and giving them choices “helps them feel like valued members of the class and feel that they are directly having an impact on the music they’re learning about and making.” Representation in music is also at the forefront of their minds, and Michelle Demko explains that this builds trust in class, allowing boys to feel comfortable making choices that are best for them. They are constantly looking for ways to give boys various opportunities to grow in this way.

Learning recorder with Michelle Demko

Ian Taggart incorporating movement in music

Ethics class with Aidan Fennelly

MATH CLASS NORMS SET THE TONE FOR GREATER SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM

The Fortiter et Recte Ethics class held by Upper School English Teacher Aidan Fennelly in the Upper School provides both seventh- and eighth-grade students with a look into the three main types of ethics: value-based, Kantian, and consequential. With an introduction to ethics in Seventh Grade and a deeper exploration into the ethics of social justice in Eighth Grade, boys are encouraged to understand why people make the decisions they do and how they can apply these same principles in their own lives. Additionally, in Facing History and Ourselves, students study the choices people have made throughout history and how that has caused a ripple effect throughout time. Boys are able to study pivotal moments in history and learn from them, so that they too can make informed and responsible decisions throughout their lifetime. Math class may seem like an unlikely setting to introduce social-emotional learning (SEL), but Upper School Math Teacher Robin Keats feels it is just as important here as in any other subject. At the start of each new class for the year, he gives the boys agency by encouraging them to set classroom norms themselves. He invites them to make responsible decisions when it comes to supporting their classmates and creating an environment where each boy feels welcome. He poses questions like: “What should we do if a boy gets a problem wrong in class? How would you want your fellow classmates to react?” By helping them decide how they want the class environment to feel, they are actively making decisions that benefit not just them, but their classmates’ overall success

Upper School Students Discuss Ethics and History to Learn More About Themselves and the World Around Them

in math as well.

A discussion with Robin Keats

CLASSROOM NORMS FOR ONE MATH CLASS

These are the norms you generated and agreed to on your first day of class:

Don’t say “No. That’s wrong.” When someone makes a mistake. Instead say, “I disagree,” “Have you considered…” or “I see what you did, but I tried this…” Everyone listens when others are speaking.

Respect others’ opinions. (Which means think about what they said and try to empathize even if you ultimately decide you still think they are wrong.) Don’t fool around online. Don’t search for things or watch things during class. Pay attention. Respect the teacher.

Work productively in Break Out Rooms. Always raise your hand. Don’t call out.

Support each other. Cheer people up when they are down.

Take care of your materials.