News Features
New Faculty, Staff, and Trustees Mary Bagley, returns to her role as Director of Library Services. She earned a B.A. in History from Emmanuel College, and an M.S., in Library Science at Catholic University. Heather Canapary, Middle School science teacher, earned a B.S. in Environmental Science & Geosciences, Spanish, and Outdoor Pursuits (Minor) from the University of Oregon, and her MAT in Teaching from Pacific University. Christian Gal, a member of the US English faculty from 2002-2011, has returned in a dual role as Associate Director of Admission and US English teacher. He holds a B.A. in English from Dartmouth College, and an M.A. in English from Brown University. Fanfei Kong, MS and US Mandarin Chinese teacher, earned a B.A. in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, and English, from Beijing Foreign Studies University; and an M.Ed. in Language and Literacy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Justin Redden, returns to Bancroft in his new role as Director of Institutional Technology. He holds a B.A. in Communications from Framingham State College, and is an Apple-Certified Technical Coordinator and Mac Technician.
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NEW TRUSTEES Dr. Sheena Sharma ’89 graduated from Wellesley College in 1993 and from Boston University School of Medicine in 2003. Sheena is a cardiologist working in Webster, MA. She and husband Joseph Cotten have two sons, Akash ’24, and Avinash. Catherine Colinvaux, a partner with the Boston law firm Zelle Hofmann, earned an A.B. in Russian Literature and History from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges, and a J.D. in Environmental Law from Harvard University Law School. Catherine and her husband Phil Zamore have two children, Hannah ’15 and Eli ’19. Gabriele (“Gigi”) Lewis received a B.A. from Salve Regina College in Newport, RI. She is a longtime Bancroft volunteer and the current Chair of the Parent Faculty Association (PFA). She and her husband Gordon are the parents of daughters Casey ’13 and Katrina ’15.
Project Adventure Comes to 6th Grade
Grant-Funded Program Provides Experiential Learning
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ast year, 6th grade teacher Abigail Church submitted a proposal to the Sun Hill Foundation for a grant to launch a new program called Project Adventure for 6th graders. “The 5th grade has Camp Kieve, and the 7th grade has the Sargent Center/Nature’s Classroom. We felt it was important to bridge the gap and provide an experiential learning program for Bancroft’s 6th graders.” The goal, she said, was to strengthen the students’ bonds as a class, and help smooth their transition into Middle School. The grant was awarded, and in November the 6th grade took part in the first of two Project Adventure workshops. The students participated in a variety of smallgroup activities that required them to work together to achieve a goal. The photo shows just one of the many activities—raising and lowering a hula-hoop using only one finger on each hand to support the hoop. As the students quickly discovered, even seemingly simple tasks can be quite challenging. One person’s small error, such as moving the wrong way or getting momentarily distracted, can throw off the whole group. The facilitators watch for teachable moments, helping the students notice, for example, that blaming the
person who made a mistake didn’t help anything; it just wasted time and stirred up negative emotions. When the students communicated with positive, supportive suggestions, they were able to solve the problem, and achieve their goal. Afterwards, one student said, “the message I took away from the PA experience was to have different perspectives on problems. If I come across a particularly hard problem, I can try out new ideas.” Another wrote, “I worked on being cooperative. I had to listen to others’ ideas and let my ideas go when I had to.” This Project Adventure workshop highlighted teambuilding and communication. The facilitators will return later this winter for a second session, focusing on problem solving and identifying personal learning styles.