Receiving Gurian Recognition

ACCOLADES Crespi named Gurian Institute Center for Educational Excellence

Crespi Carmelite High School’s environment is an experience you will not find in any other high school. Walking the hallways, you are surrounded by memorabilia reminiscent of the deeply rooted history of the school. Yet as you near the classrooms, the energy is anything but the old-school style of lectures held in silent rooms. As a Gurian Model Center for Excellence, Crespi specializes in creating an environment that is structured towards boys-centered learning. Senior Daniel Guerrero describes his experience: “The learning process has been super engaging and allowed me to learn in ways that I wasn’t able to in other schools. Through interactive learning and projects, Crespi has been able to help me understand the material in ways I never thought possible.”

Through the practice of collaboration, competition, and kinesthetic learning, students are participating in their own understanding instead of being bystanders. “Kinesthetic activities work well among young boys in retaining scientific information,” says Lana Saykali, a Crespi STEM (Science, Teacher, Engineering & Math) teacher.

Teachers utilize techniques designed to stimulate the students’ brains in the classroom and throughout the campus. Scavenger hunts, virtual escape rooms, interactive review games, and even hacky sack competitions exemplify how Crespi educators bring innovative Gurian methods into their lesson plans. Faculty members incorporate these methods seamlessly into their pedagogical practices demonstrating the dedication teachers have towards providing Celts a learning experience built for them.

So what is the Gurian Institute (GI), and how does it partner with Crespi to achieve the Center for Excellence designation? One of the world’s foremost gender experts, Michael Gurian, pioneered efforts to bring neurobiology and brain research into homes, schools, corporations, and public policy. The Institute has supported a science-based approach to teaching boys and girls for 25 years. Crespi became the GI’s first Model School in 2006. Currently, two-thirds of faculty and staff are Gurian trained or certified.

Rob Kodama, Crespi’s Director of Admissions, and Certified Gurian Master Trainer describes the relationship between the school and the GI: “We have embraced the Gurian Institute, and this has enhanced our school in numerous ways. The GI team has helped us rise above our competing schools. We have come to the forefront of educating boys in the Los Angeles area.”

The new Center at Crespi will serve the Los Angeles area with access to programming and resources that can help schools, organizations, parents, and community members to aid students in their care. Crespi Certified and Master Trainers can visit the schools to provide programs. Michael Gurian and the rest of the more prominent Gurian Institute are also available to the community through the Center.

Commenting on the partnership, the Institute writes, “Crespi provides a much-needed rite of passage over a four-year period in which boys move forward to becoming empathic, discerning, and successful men. Layering its own Catholic vision of male development with a science-based approach, Crespi provides academic rigor, athletic accomplishment, social-emotional growth, and personal evolution for each boy in its care.” .