High Gear

Park ’25 Shaik ’22

High Gear: Bolles Students Changing the World Through Science, Innovation

Bolles students are unrivaled in innovation and continue to push the realms of science on national and international fronts this year. Their achievements — which have been marked by such high-profile accolades as ringing the New York Stock Exchange closing bell and appearing in People magazine — are redefining excellence in science and community service.

Bolles senior Aman Shaik ’22 was one of 518 youths from 42 states to win a Congressional Award Gold Medal, Congress’ highest honor for youth civilians. Shaik was the only medalist from Florida’s 4th Congressional District and was one of 26 students from Florida to earn the distinction.

Gold Medalists must complete 400 hours of voluntary public service, 200 hours of personal development, 200 hours of physical fitness and conduct a 5-day, 4-night exploration trip over the course of two years at a minimum. The Congressional Award is the United States Congress’ only charity and the highest honor bestowed upon a youth civilian through the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Shaik, who is active on the Bolles competitive robotics team, volunteered more than 400 hours mentoring and motivating local and international youth to explore STEM. He mentored students on the Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus First LEGO League (FLL) robotics teams, volunteered at FLL tournaments and organized multiple summer robotics camps at the Museum of Science and History. He also served as an international ambassador for the North South Foundation and organized two robotics workshops in India, where he taught robot design and programming to underprivileged youth. In addition, Shaik committed more than 600 hours of personal development in designing and building robots as co-captain of the Bolles Upper School San Jose Campus First Tech Challenge robotics team. He led research projects on environmental pollution, cyberbullying and unconscious bias and shared his solutions at regional and state science fair competitions where he won multiple awards.

“The Congressional Award journey helped me improve my organization, time-management and leadership skills,” Shaik said. “It has been a humbling experience to have the opportunity to help others and to make a difference.”Richardson ’22

High achievements in science and compassion for others also marked the path for Sarah Park ’25, whose Spark Care+ music therapy treatment project garnered her the $25,000 grand prize in 3M’s Discovery Education Young Scientist Challenge this fall. The opportunity to virtually ring the New York Stock Exchange’s closing bell November 11 was part of her title honor as the company’s top young scientist. Park joined 3M representatives and the rest of the world via her laptop from Staman Lobby in Bolles Hall.

The celebration concludes a months-long competition featuring the work of student-scientists in grades 5–8 from all over the country. Last spring, students submitted their ideas to help solve everyday problems and improve lives around the world. Judges selected 10 student projects, including Park’s, as national finalists. Competitors worked throughout the summer — with the help of a 3M scientist mentor — to bring their innovative ideas to life, according to a 3M description.

Called Spark Care +, Park’s project is a personalized music therapy treatment for mental health disorders that uses artificial intelligence, galvanic skin response and photoplethysmography. Park, an accomplished violinist who has performed in Carnegie Hall and won many state and national-level awards for her musicianship, worked with 3M Senior Research Specialist in Polymer Science & Adhesives Dr. Ann Fornof on her research and application.

Taylor Richardson ’22 continued her quest for girls-in-STEM advocacy this year through more fundraising initiatives and awareness work as Astronaut Starbright. Recognition of her work has been flying high in international circles for several years — including speaking engagements at the 2017 March for Science event in Washington, D.C. and a conference in Ireland. But this year brought new excitement. Richardson was featured on NBC’s “Today” show and in People magazine as part the media outlets’ focus on International Day of the Girl.

She was one of 10 young women in the People magazine highlight who are “making their mark — and making a difference.” The magazine showcased Richardson’s efforts through her social media persona, Astronaut Starbright: “Known to her online followers as Astronaut Starbright, Taylor Richardson has always had a fascination with the cosmos. But at 9, while attending space camp, she realized she was the only Black girl — a pivotal moment that sparked a commitment to diversifying STEM fields. ‘Other girls need to know they can be astronauts,’ says the high school senior from Jacksonville, Fla. ‘I want to bring a sisterhood of warriors to the stars.’ To date, she has raised more than $325,000 to introduce young women of color to science via space camp scholarships, book drives centered on Black authors and subjects and tickets to films like ‘Hidden figures.’” the article reads.

On the morning of October 11, Richardson appeared on the “Today” show in a segment about “Girls Changing the World.” The segment also promoted People magazine’s feature and International Day of the Girl, which is celebrated October 11. Richardson, along with a student from Michigan whose high school community service project on medical debt, was interviewed onstage outside the “Today” show studios. Richardson talked about her future plans to become an OB-GYN and what has inspired her community service initiatives. Furthering personal experiences and achievements in science is not always “front page” news, but many upper school contemporaries at Bolles are forging their own paths and challenging themselves with extra opportunities and advocacy work outside of the classroom.

Senior Will Moore ’22, who has a rare chronic condition involving inflammation of the food pipe, participated in a lab experience this summer at Nemours Children’s Health. He isolated DNA from biopsies of his esophagus and went through the process of “adding buffer solutions and fluorescent tags and running a Taqman Assay,” he explained.

“This tests for single nucleotide polymorphisms in certain genes which relate to inflammation due to eosinophils, and a person's ability to respond to a drug (omeprazole) speculated to have an anti-inflammatory effect. This will change EOE treatment forever because it can individually analyze patients' genes which allows doctors to infer the best treatment path for patients, eliminating months of trial and error with different medications and food trials,” he added.

Moore was chosen to be the lead speaker at a donor reception for the dedication of the new building at Nemours Jacksonville. He also was the subject of a film campaign which advocated for a breakthrough procedure pioneered at Nemours Orlando. This will be published on Nemours’ website in a documentary format in the months to come.

While Bolles boasts college-level resources in the sciences — including an Anatomage virtual dissection table, robotics tools, 3D printers and plans for a Center for Innovation, Science and Math Building — it is often extracurricular experiences that help bring students into a sharper focus on integrating science and community service.

Donald Downer ’23 attended the National Student Leadership Conference, a medical camp, at the University of Houston this summer.

“We learned how to do surgical techniques and received tips and lectures about how to become more successful if we pursue a medical career,” he said. “We also learned leadership strategies and traveled to the Museum of National Science and History — it was a weeklong, informative, hands-on experience to learn how to pursue the career in which we save lives within our community.”

Some meaningful experiences have been even closer to home. Aditi Ranjan ’23 volunteered as a camp counselor in the Bricks, Bots and Beakers Camp this summer on the Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus and also as a volunteer in Brooks Rehabilitation's music therapy program. Moore ’22

Downer ’23

Center for Innovation, Science and Math

In the near future, Bolles is set to break ground on the 43,805 square foot Center for Innovation, Science and Math facility on the River Campus — a building promising to be a state-ofthe-art center of excellence for the Jacksonville community. This endeavor will be the most expansive new construction undertaking since The Bolles School was established in 1933 and will be located on the last prime development site on campus — adjacent to Bolles Hall on a bluff overlooking the St. Johns River.

School officials hope the building will be open for students by the fall of 2023. Project architect is Zyscovich Architects, an international master planning, architecture and design firm with offices in Miami, Orlando, New York City and Bogota.

A new building of this caliber would eliminate the limitations to our curriculum by housing math, science, engineering and technology programming under one roof that is centered on a collaborative learning environment. This would be the only program of its kind in our region.

Aycart

Global Thinking: Chahlavi Center Brings the World to Bolles

“At its core, global learning is about promoting within our students the skills and knowledge they need to be prepared for an increasingly interconnected world,” Drew said. “This is especially relevant for Bolles — an independent day and boarding school educating students from all over the world. GLE is the new hub for local, national, and international community engagement efforts, and provides oversight for our travel programs and contributes to such mainstay events as World Cultures and Countries Day, International Education Week, among others.”

Drew announced Aycart’s appointment as Bolles’ first GLE Director in the spring. The creation of this position has long been part of the school’s strategic initiatives, and Bolles leaders are excited about the immersion of a global academic curriculum in grades K–12.

Aycart’s many professional highlights made her a standout for the role as GLE’s founding director. Fluent in English and Spanish, she worked as the Global Learning and Multicultural Affairs Coordinator and Foreign Language Educator at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Day School in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to that, Aycart worked for the Foreign Language Academy as a Foreign Visiting Teacher, a program endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and sponsored by the Ministry of Education of Spain. She has a bachelor’s degree in Education with a concentration in Foreign Language Education from Cardenal Cisneros University in Spain and an additional bachelor’s and master’s degree in Organizational Psychology from Complutense of Madrid University in Spain.

In addition to implementing, supervising, and directing overall GLE programs and operations, Aycart presently teaches classes at the Whitehurst lower school campus. She also was recently selected as a Global Education Benchmark Group Action Research Fellow. GEBG is a leading nonprofit organization of K–12 schools that researches and establishes best practices in the field of global education and supports member schools to prepare students to thrive in increasingly interconnected world systems.

The Bolles Global Learning and Engagement program debuted this school year. Led by Director Natalia Aycart, GLE is reaching new heights in Ulmer Hall’s Chahlavi Center for Global Learning and Engagement — a vibrant new space where students and faculty are connecting with peers worldwide.

The many activities of the program — which include a re-launch of study abroad and educational travel programs — are being managed from enhanced spaces in Ulmer Hall. Thanks to a generous gift from the Chahlavi family, the GLE headquarters space includes areas for students and faculty to interact with others around the world as well as new technology and resources to be utilized in their studies, plans for travel, and opportunities to build global connections.

The Chahlavi family gift also established an endowment that will support GLE programs in perpetuity and creates an annual award recognizing that year’s top GLE student.

Bolles Associate Head of School Mike Drew shared a few broad strokes about GLE and how it will enhance the educational experience for Bolles students on all four campuses.

Flush With Empathy: Collaborative Classroom Provides Opportunities for All to Be Heard

Like most all lower school faculty at Bolles, Lower School Whitehurst Campus third grade teachers Michelle Mas and Andrea Benitez have successfully implemented the Collaborative Classroom program into their curriculum this year as part of students’ reading and writing lessons. Both educators are pleased with the process as classes move forward with a focus on valuing others, respectful dialogue, making meaning and sharing ideas clearly.

The Bolles School began using Collaborative Classroom for reading and writing in its Kindergarten–Grade 5 classrooms this year on both the Bolles Lower School Whitehurst and Ponte Vedra Beach Campuses. Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus Head Stacey Hendershot said faculty on her campus implemented the program in grades 1–5 this year and intend to add Kindergarten in 2022–23.

“The joy and enthusiasm that our students are experiencing with the Collaborative Classroom curriculum are contagious,” Hendershot said. “When you walk into a classroom and hear students begging to keep writing, you know that you have a program that fosters a love of learning.”

The program describes itself as “an intentional environment in which collaboration goes beyond conventional cooperation and compliance. Instead, students become caring members of a learning community. As students learn to think, discuss and share their ideas, they come to value the thinking of others. They become thoughtful writers and responsive conversationalists. They talk about and debate big ideas with respect, clarity and understanding.”

“We find that Collaborative Classroom is a comprehensive curriculum that explicitly teaches social emotional skills while guiding students to become more proficient readers and writers,” explained Whitehurst Grade 3 teachers Andrea Benitez and Michelle Mas. “The Caring Community component of the

program is a proactive approach to social-emotional learning, which allows our classroom community to hold discussions and work through predictable situations and scenarios before they arise both academically and socially. Teachers act as facilitators to help students envision what the learning environment will look and sound like and then students are responsible for reflecting on and communicating what they can do even better next time.”

Mas said she applies the same techniques from the reading part of The Collaborative Classroom to her students’ writing exercises. For example:

She has noticed how students are responding positively to the program. In Collaborative Classroom environments, students demonstrate and adhere to many of the following classroom standards:

Students are invested in their own learning

Learners actively participate

Teachers become learners at times and learners sometimes teach

Respect is given to every member of the classroom

Diversity is celebrated

All contributions are valued

And students learn skills for resolving conflicts

The activity is best understood in-person. But Benitez shared an example of a successful moment in her classroom where students applied some of the Collaborative Classroom concepts to their learning.

“Using the discussion prompt, ‘In addition to what ___ said,’ students actively listen to one another and build on each other’s thinking and ideas,” Benitez said. “They are also responsible for sharing their partner’s thinking, which reinforces the importance of listening and valuing what their partner communicates to them.”

They said the cooperative learning structures such as turn-and-talk and think-pair-share offer an opportunity for every child’s voice in the classroom to be heard. Discussion prompts also help guide partner talks in both reading and writing, they said.

Lusk said the program has garnered the support and interest of Bolles families.

“Many parents have commented on how supportive of and excited they are about this curricular endeavor,” said Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus Head Christy Lusk, Ed.D.

She and Hendershot agreed the program would not be as successful if there were not dedicated, expert educators guiding the curriculum. The result has been engaged students who have a great deal of choice in their own reading and writing.

“Couple that with phenomenal teachers who are teaching it with fidelity and there are no limits for our students,” Hendershot said. “The program not only offers diverse texts and a focus on social and emotional learning, but it also differentiates instruction to meet the needs of all learners.”

Putting the We Back in Well

The Bolles School is continuing its efforts to put empathy and understanding — as well as self-health and awareness — at the heart of every lesson after a tough season of separation, uneasiness and fear.

These lessons have been percolating across all campuses — from what students are reading, writing or making to specially designed activities that call students’ attention to common goodness and create community.

This fall, students and faculty on the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus staged a pinwheel parade through campus in honor of the United Nation’s International Day of Peace. Students in every grade level designed their own pinwheels following a presentation on what peace means to them by their art teacher, Jeanette Edwards. She showed them the design of a peace painting she made many years ago and encouraged them to demonstrate peace artistically in their unique ways. During flag, Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus Head Stacey Hendershot encouraged students to take moments throughout the day to be present and “breathe in peace.”

As part of their September focus on Hispanic culture, both the Bolles Lower School Whitehurst and Ponte Vedra Beach Campus librarians hosted live — and completely captivating — storytelling events with New York Times bestselling children’s book author, Carmen Agra Deedy.

Agra Deedy, a Cuban-born refugee raised in Decatur, Georgia, visited the Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus on September 21 and the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus on September 22. She spent most of the school day on each campus, sharing crowd-pleasing stories from her childhood with students in every grade level. Told with great exuberance and humor, Agra Deedy’s stories gave students a firsthand account of the cultural differences she — and many other children of Hispanic heritage — experience in some communities. Students were most swept away by her lively sounds and punctuated storytelling, learning lessons in empathy and cultural understanding all the while. Students on the Bolles Middle School Bartram Campus participated in a daylong program focusing on student identity, differences and belonging at Bolles.

Called “Bolles…Be Yourself & Belong,” the program’s goal was to open up conversations between students about themselves, each other and where everyone “fits in” in the middle school community. Students in every grade level and all faculty participated in the event, which was organized by campus leaders and facilitated in part by representatives from the University of North Florida’s OneJax diversity education team.

Students rotated through several primary stations through the day. They watched the movie “inside Out” in Parker Auditorium and discussed how emotions contribute to identity, affect others and help students feel like they belong. Bartram Counselor Brynne Plant led a reflective activity after the movie called “community puzzle.” Students took the large cardboard puzzle pieces they were given and decorated them in a way that reflected their identity. At a later date, the pieces will be collected and installed on campus for all to enjoy.

During the OneJax diversity education program, students discussed differences and peer identities — and how that relates to relationships and behavior. The third rotation included “belonging activities” — or, 90 minutes of grade level team building exercises, games and activities. These activities took place both outside and in the gym.

In addition to helping students focus on their community and ways they can contribute to understanding and oneness, Bolles administrators also put additional emphasis on mental health resources. Repercussions from the pandemic and staying apart from others was a difficult experience for everyone, and the added focus on improving mental health has been the right move.

Enriched: Bolles Family, Alumni Share Cultural, Professional Experiences with Students

Bolles faculty bring a high level of instruction and knowledge into their classrooms — and often times guest artists or lecturers further enrich the educational experience for students. But a new trend is emerging which is adding an even heartier layer of flair to students’ grounding. Both Bulldog family members — and Bolles alumni — have been sharing their experiences with Bolles students with added frequency to help broaden their perspectives in meaningful, often personal, ways.

Sharing culture, history and identity has been one common goal of families or parents making presentations on campus. The demonstrations typically follow classroom lessons, readings or areas of focus on particular holidays or events.

This fall on the Bolles Lower School Ponte Vedra Beach Campus, for example, students heard a presentation on Rosh Hashanah from campus Grade 1 mom Dr. Caroline Gruenbaum. She and daughter Maya exhibited a shofar, a musical horn blown during the Jewish holiday.

Bolles moms Tammy Vu and Tammy Klassen, assisted by Alex Klassen ’25, shared their families’ inspiring stories of immigration from North and South Vietnam in the 1970s.

In addition to sharing personal stories of escape, naturalization and connections in Vietnam, they told students about one husband’s daring escape on an airplane that he landed on a U.S. Navy vessel. The moms talked about the sacrifices they made coming to the United States, including starting their higher education degrees over again once they arrived in the country. Students have been reading the book “The Lotus Seed,” by Sherry Garland in class. The book depicts the journey of a young woman and her family who came from Vietnam to the United States during the Vietnam War.

During the Indian festival of lights, Diwali, parents and students made presentations on all four campuses. On the Ponte Vedra Beach Campus, parent Kungun Jain talked about the holiday and its tradition, while daughter Noori Jain ’31 explained Rangoli art with sister Reyna Jain ’33 holding up a colorful example.

During Hispanic Heritage Month, families supported the school wide cultural focus with gifts of food, stories and presence. Whitehurst third grade teacher Andrea Benitez, also a Bolles mom, gave a special presentation to first graders about their family heritage in Puerto Rico and shared plantain chips and florecitias. Bolles mom Cristina Andrade prepared chicken and cheese empanadas for the class to enjoy. Sra. Isabel Falcoa — mother of two Bolles Bulldogs — spoke to both Bolles Lower School Whitehurst Campus Grade 2 classes about her home country, Brazil, and her hometown, Rio de Janeiro.

Added learning experiences have not been limited to family presentations about cultural experiences. Alumni peers also have been returning to campus to share professional instruction and counsel with Bolles students, faculty and staff.

Matthew Flynn ’15, for example, stopped by the Bolles Upper School San Jose Campus this fall to visit with Laura Rippel and Jesse Myers’ Photography III class. The frontman for the alternative rock band Faze Wave, Flynn presented a collaborative project to the group that includes new promotional photographs. Students were asked to present ideas for photo shoots, received feedback and are working on final presentations for promo shoots — priceless experience for young artists.

Meanwhile, Alexandra Pierson ’13, a New York City-based young adult middle grade fiction author known by the pen name Alex Aster, shared her story of becoming a published author with Tim Creter’s English students during a virtual presentation on the Bolles Middle School Campus November 16.

She took students through her 10-year quest to become a represented and published author — a journey that began when she herself was a student in Creter’s class. She said the book she wrote at the time went through “hundreds” of rejections as she sought agent representation and mainstream publishing. Yet she did not give up on her dream. Through high school and college, she worked on new book projects, tried new approaches, queried agents and continued to pursue her plans to be published. Rejection, reworking, persistence and patience defined her mission as her book projects were picked up by agents, shopped and more often than not, stalled or dropped. Pierson’s big break came after she started a Tik-Tok account and began marketing one of her latest works, “Lightlark.” A teaser video for the book “racked up 1.2 million views, 278,000 likes and more than 7,000 comments — and just scored Aster a six-figure book deal with Amulet Books” according to a recent article in Bustle.com. She was on a book tour through New York, New Jersey, Washington DC and south through Florida in early summer. Her second book was published June 8.

Aster’s books “Curse of the Night Witch” and “Lightlark” received a Kirkus Star. “Curse of the Night Witch” was listed as one of Amazon’s best children’s books of 2020.

And sometimes faculty benefit from these visits, too. Katherine Odom-Tomchin ’14 visited with faculty and students on the San Jose Campus this fall. She is the Audio Rights Director and a literary agent at Folio Literary Management in New York. In addition to presenting to the English faculty, Odom-Tomchin shared advice and information on pursuing a career in publishing with students in Beth Curran’s English class. She also taught a lesson during the creative writing class, focusing on the creation of literary elements within a fictional piece.

The Bolles family becomes an even better family when everyone shares their strengths and experiences! Thank you, Bulldogs, for adding richly to our community with your wisdom.

Matthew Flynn ’15 with Bolles Director of Fine and Performing Arts Laura Rippel during a recent campus visit to work with students in the classroom.