Curtis MAGAZINE
Spring 2017
Empathize
Ideate Define
Prototype Test
Design Thinking curtis magazine spring 2017
Contents curtis magazine spring 2017
7 3 From the Head of School 5
13 17
Making a Better Ice Cream Scoop—or Lesson Plan
7 Shadowing Students to Light Up Learning 9 What Does a Curtis Mathematician or Writer Look Like? 11 We Built This Village
23 On the Cover: Fourth grade’s design thinking curriculum focused on water usage and conservation. Teams of students used repurposed materials to build a variety of creative devices that would hold ice leftover from lunch service and direct the melting water into large storage drums placed near the lunch areas. The reclaimed water was later used in the school garden to irrigate potato plants that were part of another 4th grade project that tied into a literature unit. 1 curtis magazine spring 2017
13 It’s Library Maker Time! 15 Student Voices
11 17 From Seed to Stand 19 Colonial Rewind 23 More Design Thinking Highlights 25 Parents as Learners 27 Travel Fellowship Program: Teachers Abroad 35 Alumni Class Notes 38 Alumni Profile: Leila Ehsan ’05 39 Matriculation of the H.S. Class of 2017 41 Curtis Cares!
Fourth graders practiced design thinking to create a make-and-take project that would allow them to interact with other students and visitors to the Science Expo. Bella Spencer and Isaiah Carroll demonstrate “tornado tubes,� swirling them to produce a vortex action that models how tornados develop in the atmosphere.
curtis magazine spring 2017 2
“A year of disruption”
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
L
ast June, as our faculty prepared to head into the summer sunset and finally get the much needed R&R they deserved, I gave them one final task. I asked them to think about schools by recasting them in seemingly absurd metaphors. For example, “If school was like Costco, what would it look like? What would the pedagogical practices be? Who would the stakeholders be? Who would be the student and who the teacher?” Groups of teachers and staff were challenged to think of schools in the metaphors of a speakeasy, Disneyland, a monster truck rally and Oprah Winfrey. The discussion that ensued was lighthearted, comical and, at the same time, provoked creative and deeply thoughtful responses. The purpose of the exercise was to inspire us to ask ourselves a critical question: “How can we think about education, schools and teaching differently?” This year, Curtis embarked on a “year of disruption”–disruption in the way we think about school, both physically and conceptually. For example, DK students were asked to think differently about traditional stories. After reading and considering The Three Little Pigs, they were asked to design a house that would withstand the “huffing and puffing” of the Big Bad Wolf. Then they tested their models against a blast of air from an industrial fan to determine which designs and materials worked best. Also this year, in the 5th grade, students were asked to deepen their knowledge about the colonial period by developing some of the skills the colonists used in daily life and then applying them in a novel way to modern times. These are just two examples of the many new learning experiences teachers created for our students. While the term “disruption” might suggest dislocation, our year of disruption was purposeful. We proceeded
with a design thinking mindset, in which empathy played the most important role in restructuring elements ranging from the change-up of a classroom procedure to the overhaul of a major piece of curriculum. As our students took on design challenges, our faculty and staff were similarly challenged to develop the habits, skill sets and mindsets of designers and creative problem solvers. We asked ourselves “How might teaching and learning at Curtis School evolve to meet the emerging needs of 21st century learners, including academic core competencies, critical thinking, and non-cognitive skills such as collaboration, creativity, empathy and perseverance?” Teachers visited innovative contemporary workspaces throughout Los Angeles and observed how physical space can be designed to support creativity, resilience and collaboration. Each Curtis teacher also shadowed a student for an entire school day. Shadowing made our teachers better informed about how a child experiences a day at Curtis and, as a consequence, better equipped to design lessons, experiences and goals for our students. Our faculty were able to use this information to disrupt patterns, lessons and units of study in order to provide learning experiences that better inspired, motivated and engaged our boys and girls. In the pages that follow, teachers and students share their experience of embarking on a variety of adventures as designers. It was an exciting year as we developed a community of design thinkers and problem solvers. I invite you to read on and learn about how we are fulfilling our mission of nurturing young people of character who are also critical thinkers, effective communicators, respectful collaborators and resilient problem solvers. Best,
Meera Ratnesar Head of School
3 curtis magazine spring 2017
Design Thinking Laboratory: Curtis School’s new Makerspace has been a magnet for exploration, design and tinkering for students in all grades. The 3D printers are especially popular. To use one, a student must create an original design or modify a preexisting one.
curtis magazine spring 2017 4
Ideate
Empathize Define
Prototype Test
MAKING A Better Ice Cream Scoop — or Lesson Plan By Meera Ratnesar
H
ave you ever roamed the kitchen gadget aisle at Bed Bath & Beyond, picked up an item, and thought, “Who came up with this idea? It’s brilliant!” As you look at it, you wonder how someone knew that this is exactly the tool you need to make scooping ice cream easier–or to make pitting an avocado less messy. That person is a designer who is entrenched in the design thinking philosophy. Design thinking is a concept that is becoming more and more popular, and not just with companies that are trying to “build a better mousetrap.” It is an approach that is being used by corporations, universities and, now, teachers in K-12 settings as well. What is design thinking? It’s a particular way of thinking—a habit of being that helps individuals collaborate to produce creative solutions to problems as small as ice cream scoopers for arthritic hands to as transformative as finding ways to bring purified water to developing countries and villages. Design thinking encompasses five stages. The first is empathy, and it is at the core of this methodology. The premise is that one must first put oneself in the shoes of the consumer or end user in order to arrive at the most fitting and innovative solution to a problem. Design thinkers invest an enormous
5 curtis magazine spring 2017
Left to right: Raylene Mayer, Karen Ochoa, Sarina Fierro, Gianna Vargas and Drew Beckmeyer at YouTube’s L.A. office. Faculty toured innovative businesses for a “Hack L.A.” experience and observed how workspaces and communities are designed physically and culturally to create an environment that fosters productivity and ingenuity. After visiting Hulu, Snapchat, CBRE, Liner Law, YouTube, Google, Morpheus and Buzzfeed, teachers engaged in conversations about how these workspaces could inform the educational experience at Curtis and built models of classrooms that incorporated their ideas for promoting student engagement, collaboration and creativity. Ms. Seidner and Ms. Watts reprised the same challenge with their 2nd grade class. Facing page: Dylan Raiman reimagines his classroom using design-thinking principles.
amount of time in thinking about and authentically feeling the needs of the user, such as a student in a school setting. A design thinker must understand what that person needs before looking for potential solutions. Neil Stevensen, the executive portfolio director at IDEO, one of the first product innovation and design firms to embrace and use the designthinking mindset, argues, “The design-thinking philosophy requires the designer to put his or her ego to the side and seek to meet the unmet needs, both rational and emotional, of the user.”1
issues around the teaching of a unit about fractions–or even the scheduling of lunch and P.E.–and to generate better ideas and solutions. More importantly, when teachers employ design thinking in their curricula and decision making, they model this useful and productive way of thinking for their students. Design thinking is an important learning tool, because it forces students to keep an open mind and try lots of ideas early in the process before investing in just one. Adopting a design thinking mindset enables even the least creative, most inflexible thinker to develop novel, brave and innovative problem-solving skills, while at the same time growing in empathy and resilience. Jessica Lahey, “How Design Thinking Became a Buzzword at School,” The Atlantic, Jan. 4, 2017 (https://www.theatlantic.com/education/ archive/2017/01/how-design-thinking-became-a-buzzword-atschool/512150/). 1
The second stage of design thinking is brainstorming. Designers use all the data they collect in the empathy-building phase to begin to define the problem they seek to solve. The third stage is ideating. It is here that limitless ideas are generated in order to begin to develop a solution. The final stages of design thinking are prototyping and testing a solution. It is worth noting that design thinking is iterative. As more information is gathered in the testing phase, prototypes may be tweaked and revised in order to achieve the best possible solution. The beauty and uniqueness of the design process is that it is completely human focused and requires the designer to exercise and develop strong empathy muscles. Furthermore, the value of the design experience does not lie solely in the end product. Learning happens throughout the process, from the early research phase to the roll-out of the final product. It is precisely this focus on process first and foremost that results in better solutions. In a school setting, educators design experiences for students on a daily basis. Teachers create lesson plans, field trips, and homework assignments that are intended to enrich the lives of their students. Approaching teaching by first trying to understand the experience of a student can help instructors to better identify and frame curtis magazine spring 2017 6
Shadowing Students to Light Up
LEARNING By Sarina Fierro, Head of Lower Elementary Division In 2016-2017, faculty embarked on a “year of disruption” that challenged them to experiment by changing up classroom routines and rethinking an area of curriculum. Using a design thinking model, teachers and administrators cultivated empathy by shadowing a student for a day. The goal: to experience Curtis from our students’ perspective in order to inform our ability to create a more effective learning environment.
E
very school year, the Curtis faculty engage in a variety of professional development opportunities. We are eager to learn more about the mechanisms that inspire our students to be active members of their classrooms, to be motivated to set goals for themselves, and to believe in their ability to achieve their goals. A ten-year study in Finland underscored the significance of empathy in the classroom. The research revealed that “the interaction between a teacher and pupil is more important to learning outcomes than structural factors such as educational materials and class size.”1 The implications of this finding are clear: Empathy is foundational to effective teaching and learning. This year, we took the concept of empathy to a whole new level. Over a period of several months, 70 Curtis teachers, coaches and academic administrators shadowed 70 different students for one school day, from start to finish. Our Shadow-a-Student Challenge offered our educators an opportunity to gain insight about themselves and their teaching practices from the perspective of the lived experience of their students. Curtis teachers became curious anthropologists in our own school. We observed and documented what we saw and heard and recorded the stories of the day.
7 curtis magazine spring 2017
Top: During P.E., Kindergartner Hunter Matthews and her classmates took turns racing Hedwig Aerts, Upper Elementary Division Head, across the playing field. Teachers and administrators took part in every aspect of their shadow’s school day. Bottom: Sarina Fierro shares a book with 2nd grade student Ainsley Bendiksen on their shadow day. Teachers appreciated the opportunity to see learning through the eyes of students.
These are a few of the insights our faculty most frequently reported: • In order to focus, children need more “brain” and protein breaks to energize themselves. They also need outlets for pent-up physical energy. • We forget that students are always “on”; they need quiet time to reflect, just like we do. • We see how valuable children’s free-play is to them at every age. On my own shadow day, I was surprised to discover three things: • Some students are remarkably different in their specialist classes than they are in their home- rooms. • Students know exactly what is expected of them at every single point in the day. • The teachers I observed consistently used posi- tive reinforcement as the primary method of encouragement.
small groups, we discussed what it was like being an anthropologist on our shadow day. We dived deeply into the following topics: • What stood out in my observations around gender, race, learning difference, physical differ- ence, socioeconomic status or other areas relat- ing to equity and diversity? • When did I notice a student managing tension or discomfort? • Do particular teaching styles or classroom set- ups work better for certain kinds of learners? Lastly, we identified strategies to cultivate an inclusive learning environment for all students. I realized that this exercise is called a shadow challenge, because it challenged our perspectives about what we think student learning looks and feels like at Curtis.
The teachers felt tremendous gratitude for the opportunity this experience afforded them. Moreover, our students felt honored, respected and trusted. And, three big questions I’d like to explore further: • How do we continue to foster and maintain kind, Several even reported their shadow day as being “the respectful and efficient learning environments? best day of my life!” If we accept the adage “trust • How do we help children broaden and vary their begets trust,” then with these steps we are building friendships during free-play time? ever more empathic teacher-pupil relationships that • Does our current social studies curriculum sustain robust trust and student engagement. maximize learning about identity, diversity, justice 1 and action? Finnish First Steps study, a ten-year ongoing study at the Our spring Faculty Workshop Day was devoted entirely to making sense of the information we gathered about student life and learning at Curtis. In
University of Eastern Finland, the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Turku (https://www.uef.fi/en/-/opettajan-lamminhenkisyys-kasvattaa-lasten-oppimismotivaatiota). curtis magazine spring 2017 8
× ✏
What Does a Curtis Mathematician or Writer Look Like?
÷
By Ginger Healy, 5th Grade Teacher, and D’vora Taus-Kahn, 6th Grade Teacher
I
n 2016-17, Head of School Meera Ratnesar used the design-thinking theme for professional development and instruction to form Depth of Study teams, beginning with math and writing, as part of her initiative to undertake a continuing evaluation of Curtis School curricula. The groups were asked to “take deep dives into [their] subject” using the Japanese Lesson Study format. Ms. Ratnesar explained that her intention was to inspire teachers to view the process as teacher-researchers, and stated, “The mindset of a teacher-researcher is to ask good questions and then to investigate and collect data to try to inform the question. Lesson study is a thorough and deliberate model for this type of thinking.”
For each group, the first step in the lesson study process was to identify a research goal and a content-specific goal. The research goal provides a broader context for the question the teacher-researchers aim to answer by conducting a lesson study. The content goal identifies the specific skill to be taught in an individual lesson. The Math Group’s research goal was Students will play with numbers to create various models and representations for solving a problem. Its content goal was Students will represent their conceptual understanding of adding fractions with unlike denominators. Math Depth of Study Group members collaborated to craft a lesson that Jung Lee delivered to her 3rd grade students. Students were offered a variety of manipulatives to help them problem solve and play with the fractions. One team chose to use some cups and fraction circles. Londyn Collin said, “It was a little tricky, but fun, working with my friends with lots of teamwork.
Japanese Lesson Study is a rigorous collaborative process where teachers function as active researchers who must set aside assumptions about learning to focus on the learner’s experience. In Japanese Lesson Study, teams of teachers identify a content goal and collaborate to craft a lesson that is designed to meet that goal. The purpose is not to critique the instructor or the curriculum, but to focus on the learning experience of the student.
The writing group began with the research theme Students will use the writing process to become more skillful written communicators and honed in on Students will identify “telling sentences” and craft multiple variations to “show” the same idea as the content goal. The writing group had fun penning the paragraphs that were going to benefit from the students’ edits. On the day of the lesson, 4th Grade Teacher Vicki Lockhart facilitated the students’ discussion about ways to enliven the passages they were reading, and students collaborated to revise passages using descriptive language. At the end of the period, they reflected on their learning, and one student declared, “I like the way we had to figure it out for ourselves.”
Individual teachers were invited to participate in one of the groups. Between both groups, every grade level was represented. Head of Lower Elementary Division Sarina Fierro led the Writing Group and Ms. Ratnesar led the Math Group. Both groups were assigned reading tasks to complete, and additionally, members of the Writing Group were asked to write in a journal. That activity helped to frame discussion of each teacher’s experience as a writer and established an empathetic connection to the students we teach.
Following the lesson study process, both Depth of Study Groups collected information from their teams to compile the faculty’s observations about the culture of writing and math at Curtis and the types of writers or mathematicians we hope to graduate from our school. The teachers involved felt empowered by the collaboration and reflection, and the information is now being used to draft Goals for Learning for each subject. Going forward, depth of study groups will be formed for other academic subjects and will continue to enrich Curtis curricula for the years to come.
9 curtis magazine spring 2017
Kindergartners raised butterflies in the classroom and made notes about the insects’ life cycle from larva to adult. Later, the children released the winged beauties in Curtis’s butterfly garden. Here, Marley Kennedy writes in her observation journal, beginning with the prompt “I notice ….”
“
The mindset of a teacher-researcher is to ask good questions and then to investigate and collect data to try to inform the question. Lesson study is a thorough and deliberate model for this type of thinking.” —Meera Ratnesar, Head of School curtis magazine spring 2017 10
We Built This
Village By Misty Hahn, Science Teacher (DK-2), and Mikayla Park, Science Associate Teacher
I
nspired by Curtis’s design thinking theme for the year, we decided to “hack” the Lower Elementary Science curriculum by developing a cross-grade project for all children in DK through Grade 2. We wanted our students to be able to utilize what they learned from a particular unit within their gradelevel curriculum to contribute to a miniature Science Village. We designed the project so that each stage in the process would be interconnected and collaborative and would foster communication between the grades. In science, DK students study trees. They learn about the parts of a tree, how trees change through the seasons,
Left: Aaron Choi (K) builds a snug home for a family of Science Villagers.
11 curtis magazine spring 2017
Above: Hailey Miller (2nd grade) places a bridge across the river to allow the villagers to travel back and forth.
and even how to tell a tree’s age by counting its rings. Using this knowledge, DK focused on giving the village beautiful trees that also provided shade and food. They formed trees from paper bags and added leaves and apples, oranges or lemons. Of course, there is no village without people. The 1st graders celebrated their unit on rocks by creating people from a variety of rock specimens they had studied. The students observed how each rock is unique, having a different size, shape and color. They saw how those differences could create a town that is diverse, just like us! They gave their rock people names, families of all kinds and jobs that would
make the village run smoothly. They made teachers, artists, doctors, trash collectors and even a plumber! Kindergarten undertook the herculean task of creating buildings, based on the 1st graders’ assignment of jobs for the villagers. Using what they learned from a unit about wood and paper, Kindergartners made buildings out of paper maché and recyclables like cardboard boxes and milk cartons. They filled the village with homes, shops, eateries (what is a town without a sushi restaurant and a cupcake shop?), police and fire stations, a hospital and, of course, a school. Finally, 2nd grade culminated its study of the water cycle by adding the life-sustaining element of water. The students created the fabulous “Mount Hershey” to generate runoff that formed a stream leading to a lake in the village. And they hung a sun, clouds and rain above the village to model how water travels between the land and the air via the water cycle. At the Science Expo, it was so much fun to watch students explain the process of creating the village from beginning to end. Using design thinking to push ourselves to rethink our own curriculum opened up new possibilities for collaboration between grades across the science curriculum and resulted in priceless lessons about thinking outside the box for us as educators. We look forward to exploring the endless ways in which this mindset will lead to new and exciting projects in the future.
curtis magazine spring 2017 12
It’s Library Maker Time! By Amy Wiggins, Library & Digital Media Specialist, and Karen Nguyen, Associate Library & Digital Media Specialist
L
ibraries have traditionally been information storehouses that provide people with access to information created by others. Recently, there is a growing trend in libraries around the world to adopt new functions by providing their communities with opportunities to create material of their own. This can range from visual media to engineering to computer science. This evolution, along with the initiative to focus on design thinking in our teaching this year, led to creation of the Library Makerspace. Makerspace is a dedicated space where students are able to exercise their creativity, develop problem-solving skills, build resiliency, learn hands-on skills, and be exposed to to new ideas and processes. By promoting proficiency in these critical areas of learning, Makerspace not only helps students successfully face rigorous higher education coursework in the future, but also prepares them to address the social, environmental and technological transformations—and challenges—of our communities and world.
13 curtis magazine spring 2017
The physical space for this library program enhancement was designed around new and recycled materials. We have tools ranging from 3D-printers to sewing machines, and raw materials ranging from recycled cardboard boxes to paper towel rolls, popsicle sticks, bubble wrap and cotton balls. We also created a range of programs within Makerspace that are available to Curtis students in all grades. First, we designated a time for free, student-driven creating and engineering: Tinker Time. This hugely popular opportunity takes place before school, and we see students arriving early in the morning just to finish designing a dream house for their favorite Pokémon or to engineer a new and improved alarm clock. Our 3D-printers have become a favorite tool in this space, and during Tinker Time, we have students across grade levels helping each other to create, design and problem solve. Over the course of the year, we have noticed a shift in our
students’ use of time in the Makerspace away from crafting to more engineering and building. Students are becoming more goal driven and are grasping the idea that projects can take more time to complete. It is inspiring to watch the students in action, and their progress and collaboration demonstrate that this space is a crucial factor in each child’s development. The library hosts two kinds of regular, structured activities in the Makerspace. Each month, a new week-long design challenge tasks students to collaborate and to use their creativity, problem-solving skills and designated raw materials to complete a specific challenge. The library also hosts lunchtime workshops. These are small group classes that teach specific skills. Students have been inspired to use their newly acquired skills to create, explore and learn beyond our workshops. The Makerspace also functions to enhance the classroom curriculum. We have worked alongside classroom and specialist teachers on a number of design thinking projects this year. Second grade used the Makerspace as a filming studio, complete with green screen, for its cross-curricular art project focused on Caldecott-award-winning picture books. The 5th grade used it to experience, firsthand, life as a colonist, making homemade ink from blueberries and working on penmanship with hand-sharpened quills. The 6th graders walked in the footsteps of an archaeologist on a mock dig that we created to bring the social studies curriculum about ancient civilizations to life. All these experiences strive to carry out the school’s design thinking initiative. The ultimate purpose of the Curtis School Library is to ensure that students are well equipped for the next stages of their academic lives. Makerspace is an incubator for innovation; a nurturer of creativity, critical thinking and digital technology skills; and a driving force in encouraging a curious mindset. With the addition of this resource, the library has taken a step forward in being a more student-centered learning environment that allows children to take responsibility for their own learning. The first year in the Makerspace has been an exciting one, and we look forward to seeing how the space evolves and is utilized in the curriculum in the future. Facing page: For the Skyscraper Design Challenge, Chase Klein, Carson Nott and Stella Lockhart (3rd grade) attempt to build the tallest possible structure using only popsicle sticks and glue. Right: Dominic Yang (1st grade) puts finishing touches on his team’s “Big Ben” for the Landmark Design Challenge.
“
Makerspace is an incubator for innovation; a nurturer of creativity, critical thinking and digital technology skills; and a driving force in encouraging a curious mindset.” curtis magazine spring 2017 14
STUDENT
VOICES:
Makerspace LOGAN KREISBERG, 3RD GRADE
I
am honored I was asked to write about my experience this year with Makerspace, a brand new addition to Curtis School. For those of you who don’t know, Makerspace is located in our library. It is run by Mrs. Wiggins and Ms. Nguyen. Inside there are materials such as popsicle sticks, plastic tubes, cardboard and confetti. We use hot glue guns to put them together and make creations. This was one of my favorite activities at school this year and here is why! In Makerspace, we have design challenges once a month. A design challenge is where you make a mini model using specific materials. We work together in groups to make our projects. One of my first projects was to design a house for a fairy. Mrs. Wiggins got the idea because last summer she travelled to a place in Europe where people believe fairies really exist. One of my favorite design challenges was last October when we designed a haunted house. I enjoyed poking holes through the walls and decorating it with scary graffiti. If you didn’t want to make a haunted house, you were allowed to design a Halloween party. The winner of the contest got to have a real live party at lunch in the library! A third project I made was to recreate the Clippers Staples Center basketball court. It wasn’t an exact replica of everything you see at a Clippers game, but it still looked a lot like it. One of the best parts of Makerspace is working with my friends. I did this one with my friend Jojo Friedman. Some days before school you can go to Makerspace and work on models.
15 curtis magazine spring 2017
Sewing Workshop
The library calls this “Tinker Time”! One project I did during Tinker Time was build a model waterslide with Jojo. We made it out of black tubes that go into blue confetti and we tested it with pencils on the bus. It worked! In Makerspace, they also have a 3D printer. To use it you need to get an account. After you get the account you can start a design. The 3D models are really cool (even if they only come in one color). I hope they do Makerspace again next year. It was a great addition to Curtis School.
Archaeological Dig
BROOKE FRIEDMAN, 5TH GRADE
I
n the Makerspace I have worked on several school projects, such as some of my colonial projects. One of our colonial projects had to do with solving a modern day problem using colonial skills and materials. My group decided to create and market a modern homeopathic cure-all using colonial remedies and techniques. We made use of the Makerspace as a place to work, and we used the resources available there to perfect what we were trying to accomplish. Other times, I have just made projects for fun. I like just putting materials together to see what they make. Classes also visit the Makerspace together during routine library blocks. Once when our class went, we learned about how people built houses for the fairies in Scotland, since Ms. Wiggins went there over the summer. We got to make fairy houses of our own. It was fun to make them because it was one of our first times in the Makerspace and we were just exploring. It is open Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school. I usually come on Thursdays. I like to make little creations even if I don’t know what they are. Sometimes, I just experiment with all the materials they have in there. They have wooden supplies, broken computers to take apart, and a personal favorite, 3D printers. With the 3D printer, I once designed an “Oscar” that we could give out at a fake award ceremony. In the Makerspace, they often hold design challenges where you are assigned a topic and you have to make a sculpture or solve a problem using materials in the space. One example of a design challenge is on Halloween, we were supposed to design a haunted house. The challenge was you had to make one part of the house move. Another one was you had to design a tent that could withstand a
Fairy House Design Challenge
windstorm and a rainstorm using only the materials that they gave you. I have learned that you don’t have to be a good artist or sculptor to make something unique—it just matters if it comes from your mind and you like it. I like the Makerspace because I have a very active imagination and I get to build or make whatever my heart desires. I think it is the most fun when you go with a friend and you make something together. I love the Makerspace and I hope that other kids will enjoy it as much as I do.
curtisOrigami magazineWorkshop spring 2017 16
From SEED to STAND Growing and Sharing Food in DK By Kasey Nott, DK Teacher
T
his year, as part of the school-wide design thinking theme, teachers in all grade levels were asked to enhance an existing unit of study. Requirements included collaborating with at least two other disciplines, utilizing the Makerspace, connecting with the outside world, and designing a final project with real-world application. When the DK team sat down to tackle this objective, it quickly became clear to us that we would create a unit around our annual field trip to a local farm. After bouncing several ideas back and forth, we landed on the real-world application of creating a DK farm stand. From that grew our larger theme “Growing and Sharing Food.”
Discovering The Secret Farm To introduce our new unit, we took the DK classes to visit the “The Secret Farm” (our school garden). There we met up with Ms. Vargas and Ms. Nguyen, who were dressed as farmers. After learning what plants need in order to grow, each child planted a seed in the garden beds. Farmer Nguyen presented a felt board story of The Giant Turnip, and back in the classroom, the DK’ers learned about the life cycle of a tomato plant. Planting and Predicting To learn more about growing plants, each DK student chose one of three types of seeds (pea, lima bean or radish) and then guessed by looking at it what it would grow to be. Their predictions ran from pineapples to palm trees! They placed their seeds in plastic bags to germinate and replanted them with their 6th grade buddies once they sprouted.
The Secret Farm
a ballot in a voting booth. They were excited to hear the winning business name announced: Farmstand Foods. Finally, the DK’ers worked with their 6th graders in the Makerspace to build a full-scale farm stand. A Field Trip to the Farm Next, we made our annual field trip to Underwood Family Farm in Moorpark. The farmers presented an engaging and informative lesson, and the students learned to identify different types of produce and to decide whether a food is a vegetable or a fruit. They and their parent-guests had fun riding out to the fields on tractor-drawn wagons, and by the end of the day, each child had a large bag of freshly picked vegetables that he or she had harvested. We asked our DK families to wash and trim a portion of the vegetables at home and send them back to school in order to stock our farm stand.
Growing a Business In the homeroom classes, the students looked at photos of actual farm stands. They also sorted magazine photos, deciding whether or not a given food would be one you might find at a farm stand. On the class iPads, each student created a digital drawing of a plan for a farm stand, and in small groups, they made miniature 3D models. To add a connection to the national election, the DK’ers brainstormed possible names for their farm stand, and each cast
Working with 6th Grade Buddies 17 curtis magazine spring 2017
Field Trip to a Working Farm
The Grand Opening At last, the day arrived for the grand opening of Farmstand Foods! The DK’ers ran their stand in four stations—selling, paying, bagging, and handing out receipts—and sold their harvest to their 6th grade buddies and Curtis faculty and staff. Shoppers chose from bins of fresh carrots, beets, radishes, cilantro and a variety of lettuces. Each item or small bundle was sold for $1. The children were proud to earn $180 that we donated to My Friend’s Place, a nonprofit drop-in resource center for homeless youth. (DK students also make sack lunches for My Friend’s Place clients throughout the school year.) Using design thinking steps, a trip to the farm for DK students that had existed as a stand-alone experience blossomed into a rich multi-layered unit that kept the children engaged and excited to flex their intellectual and creative muscles.
The Grand Opening
curtis magazine spring 2017 18
Colonial Rewind By Ginger Healy, 5th Grade Teacher
T
he social studies curriculum in 5th grade focuses on American colonial history. As teachers, we watch in awe as our students discover the early history of our nation, learning about events like the Boston Tea Party and lively characters like Benjamin Franklin. With the new school year upon us and the design thinking model (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) in mind, we decided to reimagine the colonial unit. We embraced the idea of disrupting our routines and were excited to reinvigorate a project that had lots of potential for change. We identified the content and skills we wanted our students to gain from the project: research skills, expository writing skills, and an understanding of colonial life that they would be able to carry through all phases of the unit. The 5th grade teachers, Sarah Chistolini, Gina Favre, Stacy Rivas and I, met as a team that also included specialist teachers Drew Beckmeyer, David Frank, Mark Gutierrez, Janet Koiles, Gianna Vargas and Amy Wiggins, and Curriculum Integration and Collaboration Coordinator Molly Simms to begin brainstorming ideas. We aimed to create a meaningful interdisciplinary learning experience that would engage every student from start to finish. We wanted to give the students more voice in the process, include more cross-over between the phases of the project and offer more opportunities for hands-on experiences. We also wanted to allow for more collaboration and have students practice executive functioning skills such as time management, prioritization and organization. Beginning with the foundational design-thinking step of empathy, we examined the project from the viewpoint of students. In past years, we had noticed that some students
“
19 curtis magazine spring 2017
were not engaged in the research topics they were randomly assigned, and some lost steam because the backto-back research and writing blocks were cumulatively too long. In addition, creating questions to guide research was historically a challenging task for individual students. We also thought about next year’s departmentalized 6th grade and saw an opportunity to give the students a flavor of what it would be like to move between classrooms. We worked together to generate ideas for ways to enable students to master our goals for content and skills while also promoting engagement, agency and collaboration. First, we changed the topic assignment procedure. We combined the eight research topics into four topic domains: Body and Brain (medicine and education); Hearth and Home (food and clothing); Community Life (travel and communication); and Conflict (relations with Native Americans, crime and punishment). Then students participated in hands-on activities in specials classes. They dyed fabric,
I liked working as a team putting together all the boxes. I learned it’s hard to work as a team to figure out what the design will be.” –Danika Jhawar (about her woodworking apprenticeship)
“
For the journal, I enjoyed writing because I got to make up how my character got there, his name, gender, and all characteristics about him.” –Myles Prather (on his writing experience)
Myles Prather (left), Ronan Valle and Max Wainwright created and tested slingshots, catapults and crossbows to determine which design delivered a water balloon with the greatest accuracy, speed and distance.
explored a Jamestown web simulation, made birch bark canoes, and played a game of medical charades. By the time we asked students to rank the topics, they had developed a connection to the various domains. As a result, we were able to give each student a more authentic choice of research topic. We also split up the research and writing phases into smaller pieces that made the project feel more manageable and less daunting. Both of these changes boosted student engagement. Each of the homeroom teachers took responsibility for one of the topic domains, and students across the four classes who were assigned to that domain joined together in that teacher’s room during research periods. This arrangement allowed students to preview the experience of being in a departmentalized program by exposing them to different peer groups and familiarizing them with different teachers in their grade. To bolster collaboration, we placed students in pairs or small groups to work together to generate guiding research questions. We were thrilled to see the students more enthusiastic and engaged during the research process as a result of the intentional changes we made to the project. For the next phase of the unit, the colonial narrative journal, students create a character and write a narrative piece that chronicles the character’s journey from the Old World to the New World. We disrupted and reimagined this assignment as well. First, we identified our goals: We wanted our students to practice narrative writing and to enrich their narrative with newly acquired knowledge of colonial life. Beginning again with empathy, we observed that in past years some students flagged in the writing process, because it was designed to have them repeat the assignment for different parts of the character’s journey. In our new prototype, we redesigned the assignment to combine all legs of the journey into one piece of writing.
Glory Ho (left) and Nicole Lee used colonial materials to create and showcase a set of keychains that would appeal to a modern-day consumer.
we asked students to weave in a piece of knowledge from their research or one of the introductory hands-on activities. For example, a student who researched Hearth and Home might choose to make their character a baker and incorporate research about that trade in colonial times. Fifth graders were visibly excited by the process of creating their narrative journals, and the deeper knowledge base enriched their writing. We also added a new element, “apprenticeships,” to provide more hands-on experiences that would continue to deepen students’ knowledge of colonial life. Led by the specialist teachers, apprenticeships exposed students to skills connected to their topic domain and also furthered our goal of providing more opportunities for student collaboration and agency. Apprentices • built boxes using wood and tools (Community Life) • created a peace treaty between settlers and Native Americans who shared land and natural resources (Conflict) • made natural remedies using herbs (Body and Brain) • learned to embroider using a needle and thread (Hearth and Home)
To connect the narrative journal to the research project, curtis magazine spring 2017 20
Left: Andrew Wesel and Talia Broder invented a gadget used for mashing fruit that they named Mortar and Pestle 2.0.
For the culminating project, we focused more on the process of creation rather than the final product. We wanted students to collaborate, divide tasks, and experience planning a project over a several weeks, which would require them to practice executive functioning skills such as time management, organization and prioritization. To promote engagement and agency, we gave students tremendous freedom to create anything they wanted as long as it connected their knowledge of colonial life to the modern world. Fifth graders worked in pairs or trios to brainstorm ideas and make project proposals. Each group met with a faculty mentor at least once a week and reached out to the mentor as needed for additional support. After several weeks of planning and creating, the groups presented their work in a Gallery Walk that allowed them to explain their projects to
others, particularly the colonial knowledge showcased and how it connected to the modern world. The range of projects demonstrated the 5th graders’ boundless creativity. To complete the unit, faculty mentors gathered with their students for a reflection activity that covered the planning process, the creating process and collaboration in teams. The feedback was genuine and positive. Fifth graders were proud of their efforts and creativity. They loved the freedom the project allowed, and to our surprise, many appreciated the opportunity to build time-management skills. They were especially excited to be the first class to experience the project in this iteration. We, in turn, were thrilled to see the students more enthusiastic and engaged in the colonial unit as a result of the changes we made using a design-thinking approach.
Ayden Ramji (above), Brock Getson and Jack Kern created a foldable tent that would have been very useful to early settlers before they could build their first homes. Facing page: Molly Cohen and Jack Welsh designed a science experiment to compare the velocity of colonial era gunfire to a modern controlled explosion using Mentos and cola.
21 curtis magazine spring 2017
“
If we stayed in our own class, our teacher would have to deal with a bunch of different categories rather than just one. But when groups went into other classes and I went to Mrs. Favre, all of her attention was focused on that one umbrella category and everyone in the room was focused on that one umbrella category.” —Ella Asher (on switching classes)
curtis magazine spring 2017
22
More Design Thinking
Highlights Gingerbread Adventures
Each year, Kindergartners listen to stories about gingerbread men and practice strategies for reading by comparing, contrasting and predicting. This year, the classes also wrote their own stories, modeled after the book The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School. In music, the students performed a new show based on the book, and in art, they fashioned gingerbread men from clay. In science, the students created a 3D model of Curtis School, and each class used its own story and yarn to trace the gingerbread man’s route through it. For a real-world experience, students took an on-campus field trip to make delicious gingerbread pancakes. They strengthened their technology skills by using the Seesaw app on their class iPads to document the project.
Town of Wishes A centerpiece of the 1st grade social studies curriculum about “Community,” the Town project is interdisciplinary, collaborative and connects students to teacher and staff mentors. Taking this exciting project further, this year teachers added empathy to the design process, sharing what is special and unique about their hometowns and asking students to think about their own cities and neighborhoods in the same way as they planned their Town of Wishes. Mentors stepped back and allowed students to do more problem solving and take the lead in planning and running their businesses. Tying into their curriculum that builds towards writing book reviews, students created a Yelp wall to collect feedback from visitors to the Town. Some students jumped at a new opportunity to be reporters, and they documented the entire project with video, audio recordings and photos.
Caldecott Books and Art Second grade revamped its traditional unit about Caldecott award-winning picture books. The unit formerly focused primarily on the writing, but this year, the spotlight was turned on the art. Working with Art Teacher Katie McKenna, students carried on in-depth study of Caldecott artwork and learned about the artistic elements in the illustrations. Later, they made their own accordion books and filled them with images and information about the art in the Caldecott books they liked. Finally, each child created their own book talk, which librarian Amy Wiggins filmed against a green screen. In the final cut, the children’s own illustrations appeared behind them as they spoke.
23 curtis magazine spring 2017
Tools for Change The 3rd grade social studies unit “How Do People Improve Their Communities?� provided a springboard for increased focus on standing up for what one believes and exploring ways to bring about positive change. Students studied people who inspired change, like Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez. They also learned about ways people raise social consciousness, by marching, petitioning, writing letters, voting and speaking up. Students adopted a cause at Curtis or in their home community and landed on a tool for change. In art, they learned how to create persuasive visual images and hung posters urging action on a variety of issues around the campus. In music, they learned how the blues have been used to express problems and wrote lyrics for their causes using a blues formula.
Circuit Thinking In science, 4th graders learned how to build simple circuits with batteries and switches and used them to make propeller-driven electric cars. After this introduction to circuits, students tackled increasingly complicated projects that required problem solving and used an engineering design thinking process that parallels the steps (empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test) used by our teachers to rethink curriculum in social studies and the arts. One advanced circuit project asked students to create a greeting card that lit up. The design required students to miniaturize circuitry and discover how to make a switch that would close the circuit when the greeting card was closed. Students continued to revise their designs until the LED-bulb lit consistently.
Global Water Issues Sixth grade tackled global water issues for its grade-level design thinking project. Students formed five interest-based groups, focusing on climate change, water rights, access to safe drinking water, water pollution, and water conservation. They created infographics based on their research findings to help educate one another about issues in these areas. The groups then brainstormed what action steps they could take to bring about change. These steps ranged from a conducting a beach-cleanup, to interviewing experts in the field to make videos or advertisements for their cause, to assessing the viability of collecting moisture from plant transpiration in order to provide drinking water to people who live in drought-prone areas of the world. curtis magazine spring 2017 24
Parents as Learners:
Why Conversations about Equity and Inclusivity Are Vital to Our Children’s Success By Vanessa Keith Garcia
A
s parents, we are our children’s first teachers. Even after we send them off to a school like Curtis, it is imperative that we still be actively involved in shaping their values and helping them to understand the world around them. There are some topics for which it is easy to provide guidance to our children, like how to be a good friend or the importance of giving back to others through community service. There are other topics, however, that may require a bit more thought before addressing, like explaining the meaning of gender identity versus gender expression, the social implications of privilege, or race relations in the United States. Parents and schools should have a shared vested interest in ensuring that our children are well prepared to engage in an increasingly diverse world. This doesn’t happen by accident. Building skills in cultural competency, active listening, mutual understanding and respect must be seen to be equally as important as building skills in reading, math, science, athletics and the arts. If we truly want our children to thrive in all areas of their lives, we need to understand that these skills are not optional but are vital to their success in a 21st century global society. How do we do this, especially if we don’t possess this knowledge ourselves? Parents must become students again–read articles, watch video clips and be deliberate about having frequent, open conversations about equity, diversity and inclusion. As parents who are learners, we won’t always have all of the answers, and that is okay. What is most important is that the adults in our children’s lives have a willingness to participate in this work through active dialogue and reflection, so that we can model this behavior for our children. For the past two years, I have served as a parent member of the Head of School’s Inclusivity Task Force. The task force was designed to assist the school in articulating community goals around diversity and to advance cultural competency, promote empathy and deepen inclusion at Curtis. As an offshoot of this work, it was decided that two new groups, the Parent Group on Inclusivity (PGI) and the Faculty Inclusivity Group (FIG), would be developed to create a dedicated space for parents and faculty to explore topics related to equity and inclusivity.
25 curtis magazine spring 2017
The Parent Group on Inclusivity held its first meeting at the start of the 2016-17 school year. Educational consultant Dr. Derrick Gay served as facilitator and assisted the group in discussing the concept of personal identity. Dr. Gay asserts that “it is our personal identity, including our assumptions and biases, that informs our interaction with the world.” The better we are able to understand ourselves, the better we are able to understand and empathize with others. It is this awareness that allows us to build the knowledge and skills needed to serve as models for our children. Since our initial meeting, PGI has met monthly to delve into various topics of interest, including empathy, gender, stereotypes, parenting in a digital world, and the relationship between community service and service learning. All of the topics addressed in the PGI meetings were suggested by parents. As the coordinator of the meetings, my hope was to create an environment where parents could openly share their stories, ideas and experiences. Often when people hear the word “diversity,” they think that the conversation will focus solely on students of color. One of the goals
Left: Educational consultant Dr. Derek Gay has been facilitating critical conversations with Curtis parents, faculty and staff around empathy, inclusion and cultural competency. Below: Parents, teachers and administrators explored stereotypes—when and how they arise and are perpetuated, and why they are harmful—during one of PGI’s evening meetings.
for PGI this year was to ensure that participants knew that this work is not just about race. Inclusivity work at Curtis is about teaching children how to value people—all aspects of people, including race, class, gender, religion, ability and more. Each month, I have been humbled by the sincerity of the participants and the genuine desire to learn from one another. Being committed to equity, diversity and inclusivity requires more than just attending a meeting together. It requires transparency, humility, the willingness to ask questions and admit where one still has room for improvement, and a commitment to listening and learning. Curtis parents are stepping up to the challenge, and we can partner with the school to help our children do the same.
Although PGI is still new, I am proud to be a part of a community that sees the value of this work, not just because inclusivity is the “hot topic” of the day, but because our engagement improves our parenting and makes a difference for our children. These are skills that all members of the Curtis community must possess in order to have the greatest capacity for lasting change. We have to get to a place where equity and inclusivity work is seen as essential and core to our school’s existence, as opposed to something that we need to do as an initiative. There is a great deal of work to do, but the openness of Curtis parents to see ourselves as learners will set the stage for our children’s continued growth and success. We must do it for them.
“ If we truly want our children to thrive in all areas of their lives, we need to understand that these skills are not optional but are vital to their success in a 21st century global society.”
Left to right: Zahara Ramji, Rizwan Ramji, Pam Eisenstein, teacher Jimmy Worth, Maria Lee, and coach Rio Saken.
curtis magazine spring 2017 26
Curtis Educational Travel Fellowship Program Year One
In 2015-16, Curtis School introduced an extraordinary professional development opportunity for faculty. With generous support from a major donor and other Curtis families, the school established a fellowship that each year enables selected teachers to undertake research and collaborate with peer educators across the globe. Meera Ratnesar announced the Curtis Educational Travel Fellowship Program as one of her initiatives shortly after stepping into the role of Head of School at the beginning of 2015-16. The travel fellowship endeavors to create new perspec-
tives, increase cultural competency, foster global thinking, and enrich the overall educational experience for faculty and students alike. The inaugural class of teacher-researchers who received grant awards last year pursued a variety of lines of inquiry in South Africa, Japan, the U.K. and Ireland, and Greece. They returned to campus with experiences and insights that are already deepening teaching and learning at Curtis. Enjoy the stories of their journeys—moving, amusing, and always fascinating—in the pages that follow.
In the Rainbow Nation By Katie Brady, First Grade Associate Teacher
I
applied to the school’s brand-new Educational Travel Fellowship program without high expectations that I would actually receive a grant. Being new to the school myself, a first-year associate teacher, it seemed like a long shot. But the chance of having an opportunity to add a new global perspective to areas of the 1st grade curriculum was too exciting to pass up. I set my sights on South Africa and imagined being able to share the country’s diverse cultures and wildlife with my students. I was thrilled when I learned that my grant application had been approved and I would be on my way to Africa in few short months as a member of the inaugural class of Curtis travel fellows. The first stop on my itinerary was Kruger National Park, one of Africa’s largest and best-known game reserves. Hundreds of species of animals live there, including the 27 curtis magazine spring 2017
“Big Five” (lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffalos), and I was lucky to see them all during my stay—some much closer than I had imagined possible! I stayed in a tent in the Manyaleti, and elephants and other animals regularly wandered in to drink from the camp pool. The region had just experienced the worst drought in more than 100 years. I learned about the environmental pressures facing the park’s wildlife, as well as human factors that threaten the survival of a number of species, like the rhino, which is poached for its valuable horn. After my safari experience, I flew to Cape Town, where I got my first taste of city life. South Africa is known as the “Rainbow Nation,” because of the country’s wonderfully diverse population. Within South Africa, 11 different languages are spoken, including English, Afrikaans and many tribal
SOUTH AFRICA
Above: Katie Brady shares the camp pool with thirsty elephants in Kruger National Park. Right: Bo-Kaap, the historical center of Cape Malay culture in Cape Town. South Africa is known as the “Rainbow Nation” for its mix of diverse cultures.
languages. Influences from the Dutch, French, and English, as well as from India and other African countries, are represented in the food, music, architecture and other aspects of the culture. Just outside Cape Town, I explored Table Mountain, where I had a sweeping view of the city’s downtown, seaport, townships and beautiful coastlines. A short boat ride away was Robben Island, notorious for the prison that held Nelson Mandela as a political prisoner for 18 years. A former inmate guided our group through the dismal structure and painted an image of what life was like there. The men slept on the floor, on thin mats, in small cells that held as many as 30 people, and contact with the world outside the prison was severely limited. Up the coast from Cape Town, I discovered Muizenburg Beach, which is considered the birthplace of surfing in South Africa, and Boulder Beach, home to more than 2,000 African penguins. These birds are endangered due to natural predation by sharks and overfishing by humans of the penguins’ natural food sources.
face-to-face with several great white sharks that measured up to five meters. The experience was exhilarating! Shark populations are declining worldwide, and South Africa is notable as being the world’s first country to fully protect great white sharks. Throughout the current school year, I have been able to weave my experiences in South Africa into discussions with my students. We’ve had conversations about wildlife and the importance of protecting endangered species. In February, we celebrated black history month by comparing the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. to Nelson Mandela. I also collaborated with music teachers Anita Carbajal and Annie Grimes to teach the 1st and 2nd graders about South African music. I couldn’t have imagined the way in which these lessons have resonated with the students. Sharing my firsthand experiences in South Africa has sparked in them a love of learning about the world around them. I look forward to continuing to find places in the curriculum where I can help our students acquire global perspectives.
My last stop on this amazing journey was the Cape of Good Hope, where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet. This spot is nicknamed “Shark Alley” for the exceptionally large population of great whites that is found here. These impressive animals are attracted in turn by the large number of Cape fur seals that frequent these waters. On the last day of my trip, I took the plunge in a shark-diving cage at Gansabaii. Equipped with a mask and 7-millimeter-thick wetsuit, I came curtis magazine spring 2017 28
JAPAN
Contradictions and Common Ground By Drew Beckmeyer, Art Teacher (4-6)
T
he day after the 2016 school year ended, I packed a backpack and went to Japan for 12 days. I brought way too many pairs of pants.
In the proposal for the grant, I had written about the similarities and differences between Japanese and American educational cultures regarding creativity. I sincerely used some buzzwords—21st century skills, design, entrepreneurship—and I designed an itinerary that I hoped would illuminate me about how Japan is getting it done. In researching my grant proposal, I had become increasingly interested in the expanding disenfranchisement of Japanese millennials. So what I mean by “getting it done” is what kinds of things are happening creatively to combat symptoms like a rapidly declining population, shrinking workforce and diminishing innovative achievements. In Tokyo, I looked at space and spaces. Work spaces, schools, the things that are built and where they are built when population density and a high quality of life collide. Kyoto was the historical and cultural anchor. Kanazawa and Naoshima held pinnacles of art and beauty. Osaka was the more utilitarian stop with less refinement and less restraint— a clearer window into the underlying motives and systems in place in a major Japanese city.
29 curtis magazine spring 2017
I took notes and photos and kept a blog that I made more than three posts to (a first), and then I came home. When I started being able to think again, I didn’t think about 21st century skills or entrepreneurship. I thought about the Japanese guy with the Fresh Prince of Bel Air flat-top who knew more about the Dodgers than I did. I thought about the time that I got on the women-only train and just had to ride it out. I thought about how I really should have had more octopus balls while I had the opportunity in Osaka. I thought about the kids in the streets and how the extremity and oddness of style never seemed angry or oppositional, while being thoroughly and importantly rebellious. I thought about all the contradictions that a foreign culture can exhibit—all the things that seem intrinsically at odds to an outsider’s lens. And then I thought about all the truly terrifying contradictions that outsiders in America must see that I can’t. I thought about Hiroshima. When I planned a Japanese printmaking project for the 6th graders this year, I found myself feeling deeply inadequate. It seemed too easy, too surface-level, based on too small a part of my Japanese experience to be authentic. But I did introduce it and was immediately met with questions about my trip—questions having sometimes nothing to do with printmaking and questions sometimes having so much to do with printmaking that I had to go do more research and get
back to them. Students had stories about their own time in Japan. They made links from Hiroshige to Miyazaki in their own research. They hilariously compared ideas of appropriateness across our two cultures. They fully allowed and welcomed me to share some of the more personally profound moments of my experience—things you can’t design a project around—at the fairly narrow introduction of woodblock printing. I could have done this project without going to Japan, but conversations wouldn’t have been meaningful or wouldn’t have happened at all. Like the trip, and I guess like most things, personal interaction often supersedes the conceptual in ways you can’t totally plan out. One of the most impressive pieces of art I saw on the trip consisted of a square-shaped room with benches on each wall and nothing in the center. The ceiling was maybe 2530 feet high, with a square opening cut into it, so that you could see the sky. The lip of the opening was so narrow that you couldn’t see its edge. The illusory effect was that the window looked like it could have been a projection on the ceiling. I sat in the room for almost an hour, with other people, staring up at it. For a long time, we tried to find different angles to see if it was in fact an opening or some sort of screen. We stared at it so long that when a bit of cloud or a bird passed over the opening, the room let out a collective gasp. Then we would all look around at each other and nervously laugh, realizing that in this room we were invested in a square of blue sky and utterly shocked when normal sky things passed through it. I think about laughing with those people who I couldn’t communicate with, knowing that all of us were experiencing the same realization and being amazed at how simple it was.
Facing page: Tenryu-ji, a 14th century Buddhist temple complex whose zen design leads the visitor in one clear direction, provides a stark contrast to the unrestrained utilitarian metropolis of Osaka (above). Right: James Turrell’s “Open Sky” on Naoshima Island bridges the language barrier for observers of a patch of sky framed by an opening in the ceiling.
curtis magazine spring 2017 30
U.K. & IRELAND
The Traveling Librarian By Amy Wiggins, Library & Digital Media Specialist
O
ne of my true passions in life is storytelling. Storytelling is one of the oldest human traditions that retains its primacy and value in the world today. Storytelling teaches children about themselves, their identity, and how to communicate, but also, more crucially, how to truly listen. I love to incorporate storytelling into my library curriculum and have long wanted to delve more deeply into how history of place affects the stories and the cultural identity of people. Receiving a Curtis travel grant to visit England, Scotland and Ireland gave me an amazing opportunity to study this question. My journey started in South Shields, England, where I participated in an archaeological excavation sponsored by Earthwatch that is investigating the extent and impact of the Roman Empire in England. I began with these questions: “How are the archaeological practices of today affecting the stories of the past?” and “How do people decide which stories emerge from the artifacts?” I worked
31 curtis magazine spring 2017
alongside a team of volunteers from around the world and scientific researchers to excavate, clean and process artifacts from an ancient Roman fort and stronghold. We were thrilled to find even the smallest piece of pottery or an old nail. (By the displays of exuberance, you would have thought we had found the entrance to King Tut’s tomb!) Even the experts got excited when I uncovered a piece of lead, which I was allowed to place in an official evidence bag and document by measuring its precise location within the strata of the dig. Up until then, my image of archaeology was more “Indiana Jones” than the infinitely slower and scientifically grounded process that it is in reality. The discipline demands enormous collaboration between professionals in the larger scientific community, especially when dealing with a civilization as extensive and broadly studied as the Roman Empire. My firsthand field experience and the ability to work with practicing archaeologists have helped me better
Clockwise: In Faerie Glen on the Isle of Skye, a “faerie circle” attests to the continuing belief in these magical beings that figures among the stories Mrs. Wiggins heard in her travels; playing a training pipe in a bagpipe shop in Stirling; the lead nail Mrs. Wiggins unearthed while digging with Earthwatch volunteers at Shields. Facing page: At Loch Ness with a stand-in for “Nessie.”
understand how we study ancient civilizations, and I am passing on this knowledge to the 6th graders to enhance their social studies curriculum. After my time with Earthwatch, I focused on my next question: “How do people’s own life experiences and their identities influence storytelling?” I traveled north to Scotland and west to Ireland. In both places, I heard about faeries, lake monsters and fights for independence. In Scotland, tales of Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Battle of Culloden were among the most popular. The Irish added stories of famine, hardship and love. Wherever I went, I was impressed by how steeped the stories were in the history of the region. I also noticed that even when recounting a story based on an historical event, each teller emphasized different aspects or changed the story in some way. I am reminded of Randall
Wallace, the author of the screenplay for Braveheart, who said, regarding his interpretation of William Wallace’s life: “I tried myself to be a fair historian, but life is not all about balance, it’s about passion… I had to see through the eyes of a poet.” What I learned is that stories do not have to be strictly accurate. Rather, the power of storytelling—its universal appeal and its ability to hold our attention (and make us willing listeners)—is, at heart, the message it holds and what it tells us about ourselves. This travel experience has helped me grow tremendously as a person and as an educator. I now have a better understanding of how stories come to be, how people identify through story, and how we formulate our human history. I have been incorporating my insights and the stories I’ve collected into library lessons in ways that will continue to enhance our students’ learning about history, their global cultural competency, and exploration of their own cultural identities. curtis magazine spring 2017 32
GREECE
The Cycle of Learning and Teaching: Aspire. Inspire. Repeat. By David Frank, Performing Arts Teacher
A
picture may be worth a thousand words when language fails you, but the thousand pictures I took last summer still pale in comparison to the beauty of the people I met and places I visited in Greece. In just a few short weeks, I was able to connect the dots of my prior knowledge of Greece, filling in vast gaps and linking together geography, ancient art, architecture and history through firsthand experience. My primary focus was to visit what are, in my opinion, the three most significant ancient amphitheaters in Greece: the theaters of Dionysus, Epidaurus and Delphi. My expectation was that the experience would be spiritually uplifting as well as answer questions about the physical structure of the amphitheaters that I’d been unable to find in the course of my research from a distance. Nothing had prepared me for the flood of emotion I felt as I ran up and down the 33 curtis magazine spring 2017
hillside at the Theater of Dionysus, the birthplace of modern drama, desperately trying to capture the perfect photo to bring back to my students. Up until that point, I had only been able to show them an image pulled from the Internet, which, I must admit, was an improvement over the grainy black-and-white photo that I first encountered in my university textbook. As I stopped to take a breath, I put down my camera and looked out over the sprawling cityscape of Athens all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. And I wept. Tears of joy. I was sobbing so uncontrollably that a family of four approached me and asked if I was all right. When I explained my situation to them, they started crying too. Aside from visiting the physical locations themselves, I had hoped to speak to people about the impact that Greek theatre has had on their lives, the lives of their families, their
communities, and their sense of national culture, especially in the face of recent economic adversity in Greece. I wanted to try to gain an understanding of how, or whether it’s even possible, to maintain a connection to more than two millennia of cultural history—and whether that rich history, which continues to have a lasting impression on the world, is a burden or a source of strength to Greek citizens. I wanted to find out whether an art form that literally grew out of the hillsides still holds relevance in a modern, technologically-driven metropolis; to see if people still revel in and cherish the very human act of storytelling on a stage. Answers varied from person to person, but almost everyone had a sense of pride (though not hubris) that a teacher and actor from the U.S. was so passionately interested in what they had to share about their culture. The connections I was able to make in a few short weeks in Greece are the same kind that I try to evoke from my students. We use what we know about one culture, location or situation from the past to draw parallels to others, or to our own, and then infer what those observations might lead
to in the future. Touring ancient ruins and perusing artifacts, I was able to establish a more concrete chronology of modern drama and formulate a much deeper understanding of Western civilization. My travel experience greatly enriched my ability to teach my lesson about Greek theatre this year. Ultimately, I hope my own quest for knowledge and my passion for the arts will spark a sense of inquisitiveness in my students that helps lead them to become lifelong learners who feel inspired to share their knowledge. Even if they never remember the content of my lessons after they graduate from Curtis, I want my students to remember that I care about each of them as individuals, and to feel that our class time together is time well spent learning from each other. Education is at its best when everyone in the room is learning, and that’s a never-ending cycle that usually starts with the joy of wonder. Last summer, I started my journey to Greece with many questions. I returned with a renewed awareness of purpose as a person and an educator. Above all, I returned with my heart full of gratitude.
The Theater at Delphi (facing page) and the Odeon Theater (above) near the Acropolis in Athens were among the sites Mr. Frank visited for his research about the evolution of the ancient Greek and modern theatrical stages. Right: Mr. Frank with Emmy-winning actor and theatrical producer Yannis Simonides at a performance of “Socrates Now.” curtis magazine spring 2017 34
Elected! Nick Melvoin (’98), educator and attorney who once taught for Teach for America and worked on a landmark civil rights case, won a seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board in May!
{
NOTES }
Alumni Class
1970s Lisa Niver (’79) is the new adventure correspondent on The Jet Set, a televised travel talk show. Her blog “We Said Go Travel” (wesaidgotravel.com) now has more than one million video views on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and YouTube. Lisa is racing to complete 50 new adventures before she turns 50. So far, she rode the Olympic bobsled in Utah, interviewed Fabien Cousteau for Delta Sky Magazine, dived with bull sharks in Mexico and explored the Solomon Islands for the Smithsonian. Lisa taught science at Curtis from 2005 to 2008.
Previn Wick (’86) is a Senior Attorney in the Los Angeles office of Pond North LLP and practices asbestos litigation. He graduated with honors from UCLA and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School. He is now also a realtor at Keller Williams in Beverly Hills as part of the ACRE Los Angeles Group.
Sandra (Barsoum) Babakhanian (’89) and her husband, Arin, welcomed their first child, Nicholas Jacob Babakhanian, in February of this year. Nicholas is a smiling little boy and his parents’ pride and joy.
1980s Jackie (Beaubian) Majors (’81) is the Chief Executive Officer of Crystal Stairs, Inc., one of the largest non-profit child development agencies serving low-income families in Los Angeles County. She is also an adjunct instructor in child development for the L.A. Community College District and was recently appointed to the County’s Roundtable for Childcare and Development, which makes policy recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. Cathryn (Krantz) Benner (’85) “Cat” and her husband, Adi Benner, are the owneroperators of Next Exit Photography, a boutique wedding, event and portrait studio in Los Angeles. They recently launched a line of children’s studio portraiture, “Studio Couture by Next Exit Photography.” They are always on the hunt for recently engaged, almost mitzvahed and otherwise happy families to photograph. Sandra Hucker (’86) moved from L.A. to Austin, Texas, where she runs a consulting business. She is connected to many Curtis classmates on social media and invites Curtis alumni to “drop me a line or visit if you ever make your way to Austin!”
35 curtis magazine spring 2017
Bridget (Francisco) Cook (’88) is the co-director and owner, along with former Curtis classmate Lisa (Freeman) Baskin (’88), of Meadow Preschool, a brand-new nature-based preschool in Santa Monica. The two are conducting tours and accepting applications as they look forward to the school’s opening in August. They are happy to report that a few current Curtis families and alumni parents have toured the school, and they look forward to hosting Curtis’s Mimi Petrie at an Admissions Directors Breakfast.
Michael Laiken (’89) is an entrepreneur whose most recent venture is Parent Planet (www. parentplanet.com), a solution to help parents stay organized with their children’s lives. Frustrated with trying to synchronize information coming by email from schools, sports teams, and all his children’s after-school activities, he created an app that lets parents organize messages, activities, photos, directories and more in one place.
Irene Neuwirth (’87), above, is a fine jewelry designer who founded the business, brand and flagship store on Melrose Place that carry her name. Her creations, using raw, unmanufactured gemstones, are featured consistently in Vogue, InStyle, W, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country and Elle. Irene has received numerous nominations for and wins of the industry’s premier design awards. Ruth Negga appeared at this year’s Academy Awards wearing a ruby crown and earrings Irene designed for the occasion.
Dara (Burdette) Looney (’89) completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley and is now a research scientist in virology at Gilead Sciences. She is part of a team looking for cures for viral diseases such as Hepatitis B. Dara is a founding member of the women’s employee resource group at Gilead and is actively engaged in advocating for underrepresented groups in the fields of STEM within the company and in the community. Dara lives in San Francisco with her husband and would love to hear from old classmates. Michele (Schuwarger) Wyman (’89) was named one of the rising stars of the communications industry in PRWeek’s 40 Under 40 list for 2016. She recently joined Apple, where she is
Produced! Curtis graduates authored four of the 12 plays selected to be produced for the 2017 Harvard-Westlake Playwrights Festival: Jenny Lange (’11), Gaia Murphy (’13), Kate Schrage (’12) and Sophia Van Iderstine (’11).
Awarded! Professor Josh Kun (’83), author, educator and cultural historian who also heads the Popular Music Project at the Norman Lear Center at USC, was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2016.
1990s Dara Mir (’92) is president of 9to5 Seating and was the winner of the prestigious EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 Award in the Manufacturing and Distribution category in Greater Los Angeles. Dara currently serves as a member of the USC Emerging Leaders Board and is an active member of Young Presidents’ Organization of Los Angeles. He and Lilly Ghalichi were married in May. Justin Mink (’94) attended NYU, majoring in business, and worked for eight years in advertising in New York. In 2012, Justin moved back to L.A. to earn a Master’s degree in Social Work from USC. He is now a substance abuse clinician for The People Concern (formerly OPCC) that serves the homeless population in Santa Monica. Justin purchased his first home in 2015 and lives in Culver City with his partner, Kate, and dog, Alexander the Great. Megan Ferkel Earhart (’96) lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Greg, and son, Greyson. Megan is a practicing estate planning attorney at Hoffman, Sabban & Watenmaker, APC in Westwood. Megan lectures to audiences about estate planning, is active in charitable organizations and serves on the board of directors of the Neighborhood Music School in Boyle Heights. Liesl Yamaguchi (’96) has been appointed as an Assistant Professor of French in the Department of Romance Languages and Literature at Boston College. She will begin in fall 2017. Charlie Melvoin (’99) has moved ten times in ten years since high school, including four years at Harvard, a year at Cambridge on a Gates
Scholarship, and various jobs across China and Europe. He recently returned to L.A. for a few months to prepare for his wedding and to launch SwimTeam (www.swim.team), a new swimmingbased boutique fitness class.
she spreads the word about body positivity and self-acceptance in an effort to show young girls that they can grow up to be whomever they want without feeling constrained by societal standards.
Haley (Rader) Weidenbaum (’99) and her husband, Adam, welcomed their first child, Judd Rader Weidenbaum, in November 2016. “Fingers crossed he will be a Curtis Cougar!”
2000s Arya Alexander (’01) is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Curbstand, a valet parking tech startup that is parking more than 100,000 cars at 75 locations in L.A. each month and has earned $6.5 million to date. Arya is licensing Curbstand’s tech to 300 other locations in eight cities. He earned an MBA from Loyola Marymount University in 2013.
Photo: Kevin Hooks
the Director for iPhone PR. She and her husband, Jamey, live in Los Angeles with their two children Emma (7) and Hannah (4).
Samantha Moray (’01) graduated from Harvard-Westlake in 2007 and with honors from The Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University in 2011. She currently lives in New York City and is the Manager of Public Relations at Hermès, where she oversees women’s ready-to-wear and accessories categories as well as the equestrian division. Caroline Gross (’02) graduated from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA this spring. In summer, she will head east to join the Pediatric Residency Program at Boston Children’s Hospital. As of now, she plans to sub-specialize in Oncology/Hematology or Critical Care. Kelsey Rose Webber (’03) currently works as a plus-size model in Los Angeles and New York and also owns her own craft services/catering business that is based in L.A. When she’s not prepping for shoots or trying out new recipes,
Taylor Hooks (’03), above, graduated from USC’s Gould School of Law in May. She has a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. Taylor plans to pursue a career in employment and entertainment law. She has held positions in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s legal unit and the Business Affairs division at William Morris Endeavor. Taylor will sit for the California Bar this summer. Note: Years in parentheses that follow alumni names are Curtis 6th grade class years. curtis magazine spring 2017 36
Nichole Huenergardt (’03) graduated from USC in 2013 with a BA in graphic design and photography from the Roski School of Fine Arts. At USC, she began USC Ice Girls, a figure skating team that acts as a spirit squad for the Men’s Ice Hockey team. Nichole works in marketing at her family’s company, Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment. Independently, she produces feature films, TV shows and documentaries. Her recent short documentary Emote garnered many awards in the festival circuit. She is producing and directing a sequel to Emote and working with her brother, Charles Huenergardt (’00), to produce a TV series. Visit nicholehue. com for news about her projects. Bobby Lange (’03) has spent the past four years in Manhattan, working in investment banking and private equity. He will move back to L.A. this fall to work at Ares, a private equity firm in Century City. In May, Bobby married Kezia Disney at the Greystone Mansion. The couple met at UCLA, where Bobby graduated magna cum laude in business/economics and was a member of the men’s golf team. Olivia Van Iderstine (’04) recently started a new job at Estée Lauder as a Global Brand Editor in the Consumer Engagement Division. She was previously an editor in creative development at Whalerock Industries, the media and technology company responsible for the official apps of the Kardashian and Jenner women and Kimoji. There, she worked at the intersection of fashion, technology and media, building stories and collaborating on app enhancements.
Arianna du Manoir (’07) graduated from Hofstra University in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in Video/TV and Business. She will be moving back to L.A. to assist in casting primetime, scripted series for ABC. Samy Harbert (’07) graduated from USC Annenberg School of Communication and will continue at USC in the Master’s program for Marriage and Family Therapy. Samy spent a semester as an intern for Make a Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. She was the chapter president of I Am That Girl, a movement that encourages girls to love, express and be who they are, and she mentored 8th grade girls in the local community through the WYSE program. Ryan Levine (’07) graduated in May from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and is pursuing a career in the nightlife hospitality industry. He will join the nightlife department at Wynn Las Vegas in June. At Cornell, he founded an academic club that bridged a connection between the hotel school and the industry and brought many prominent guest speakers to campus.
Bobby Dishell (’05) graduated this spring with an MS degree in Educational Studies from Johns Hopkins University and is finishing his Teach for America commitment at Henderson-Hopkins (middle school) in Baltimore. He will attend the University of Colorado School of Law this fall and will work towards a JD/Master of Urban and Regional Planning in order to focus on sustainable community development.
Julia Wald (’05) graduated from Trinity College in 2015 with a BA in Art History and spent the next two months in Cambodia, where she volunteered for a non-governmental organization that works to educate young Cambodians about human rights. Julia has been an executive recruiter for private equity firms and hedge funds for the past two years. She will be attending Cardozo School of Law in the fall. Alexis Abdulian (’07) attended Clovis North High School in Fresno, California, where she played varsity tennis for four years, was number one on the team ladder and won many top awards in her sport. She is currently completing her junior year as a liberal studies student at California State University Fresno. After graduation, she plans to work towards earning a teaching credential and Master’s degree in Education.
37 33 curtis magazine spring 2017
Errol Ashby (’11) graduated from Viewpoint School, where he was co-president of the Black Students Union and a multi-sport athlete. He is a member of 100 Black Men of Los Angeles and volunteers for the Special Olympics. Errol was a guest speaker at Sports Night at Curtis in May. He will attend Marquette University. Jenny Lange (’11) graduated from Harvard-Westlake this spring. For a second year, a play she wrote was selected for the Harvard-Westlake Playwrights Festival. Jenny completed a short film this year titled I Am Be. It toured the film festival circuit and earned her a nomination in the best supporting actress category of the California Women’s Film Festival. Jenny was recently featured in the first four episodes of the television series Sun Records. She will be attending the University of Michigan in the Lloyd Hall Scholars program this fall. Maya Golob (’12) is one of eight students chosen to participate as a biomedical researcher this summer in a paid internship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center through the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Spark program. Maya will work in a lab that focuses on stem cell biology and will present her findings at a conference at City of Hope Cancer Research Hospital in August. Casey Curtis (’13), a sophomore at Palisades Charter High, is president and founder of the California chapter of Creative Kids Care, a group that gets kids involved in helping other kids. She is vice president of her school’s chapter of Junior State of America, a non-partisan organization that helps high school students gain the leadership skills and knowledge to be effective debaters and civic participants. She is also a fundraising agent for JSA’s Southern California region. Casey is a member of Palisades Charter’s Mock Trial team.
Jamie Bando (’05) shared the awe-inspiring news that he hiked and completed the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2016.
Remi Moses (’05) graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in 2014 and has been pursuing acting and devising for the theatre since graduation. She recently won a grant to write a punk rock musical about the women of the Republican Party that will open in New York this fall. Remi lives in Brooklyn with her partner and “two adorable cats.” She is “forever grateful to Curtis for opening doors for that weird little artist I once was!”
Scholastic Arts award. He also won the Brain Bee competition (testing knowledge of neuroscience) in California and received a Raytheon Math Scholarship. “Go Cougars!”
Brannen Haderle (’08), above, is a sophomore filmmaker at USC. He has written, directed and filmed numerous short films, one of which was selected as a finalist in the Snapchat Stories category at the Tribeca Film Festival this year. The category emphasizes new forms of filmmaking involving phone cameras and vertical screens. He generously credits “most of my creative attributes to my early years as a Curtis Cougar.” Alex Lange (’08) is a junior at the University of Michigan, majoring in computer science/video game design. He has worked for the past two summers in the video games industry in Los Angeles. Alex is finishing work on a video game that he has developed and is hoping to launch by spring 2018.
2010s Devanshu Singh (’10) says he is having fun as a biomedical engineering freshman at Johns Hopkins University. As a high school student at Windward, he was active in robotics and won a Young
Jai Bhavnani (’14) will be hosted by Apple to attend its annual World Wide Developer’s Conference. He is one of only 350 students (out of 13,000 applicants) who are invited to attend. Jai started programming iOS apps four years ago, beginning with games. He moved on to creating enterprise apps that allow big companies to manage their employees and now has a contract with a major construction management firm, Milender White. Jai actively freelances on apps and websites in projects big and small. Alexandra Mork (’14) and Jaya Nayar (’14), Varsity members of the Harvard-Westlake Debate team, stood out as the only 9th graders who qualified to compete in the Lincoln-Douglas division at this year’s Tournament of Champions (TOC), the most prestigious high school debate competition in the U.S., held annually at the University of Kentucky. In the history of the tournament only one other 9th grade girl has ever qualified to compete in the TOC. The two began debate in 6th grade at Curtis, where they were mentored and inspired by teachers Debbie Taus-Kahn and Ginger Healy.
Alumni Profile
Leila Ehsan(’05) Fulbright Fellow Living in Tajikistan for eight months on a Fulbright grant has been a transformative experience. I currently reside in Qurghonteppa, an ethnically diverse, dusty town south of the country’s capital, Dushanbe, and 70 km from the Afghan border. I work at an American Corner, a U.S. Embassy-funded facility where students study English with me for free, and at an NGO, where I help train local English teachers. I chose to come here, because it is underserved by foreign investment and aid organizations. Being landlocked in central Asia, having a legacy of bloody civil war, sharing a border with Afghanistan, and having no name recognition all work against Tajikistan’s development. As youths make up the majority of the population, they are disproportionately affected and desperate because of the country’s widespread corruption, political repression and remittance-dependent economy. A grasp of English gives them a chance at the best jobs in government and foreign organizations. Having knowledge of the local language (Tajik Persian), I knew I could teach here and make a difference.
clothing and bargain with tailors. They teach me Russian and about Islam, take me on hikes, tell me about their civilization’s 2,500 years-long history, inquire thoughtfully about my country and beliefs, and share with me their hopes and fears for their lives, their families and their nascent country.
Adapting to life in Tajikistan has been challenging but rewarding. I have dealt with misconceptions about Americans due to the population’s lack of exposure to westerners and the influence of Russian media. I find that I challenge some of the local values. Unlike most Tajik women my age, I am unmarried, have no children and have a university degree. Despite this, many welcome me into their homes to share a steaming plate of Osh (central Asia’s regional dish of rice pilaf with sunflower oil, carrots, chickpeas and meat), as Tajiks take pride in their hospitality. Locals take me to the bazaar to help me find quality atlas (Uzbek) fabrics for
My experience in Tajikistan has confirmed my interest in the intersection of law and development. I recently earned degrees in international relations and history from the University of Pennsylvania, but living in Tajikistan has given me the opportunity to witness firsthand how historical events and socio-political phenomena have created the current conditions there, and my experience has inspired me to work in the area of human rights or with development organizations when I return to the United States.
As I reflect on my experience, I find myself recalling Curtis’s emphasis on experiential education and am grateful to have carried that with me all the way to Tajikistan. Being here has challenged me to observe life and people in a difficult region with appreciation, curiosity and a critical but non-judgmental eye. I am grateful for the opportunities to break down barriers to mutual understanding, to make meaningful relationships, and to give back. I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed exploring one of the last few places that is truly off the beaten path. Tajikistan has a beautiful landscape, a rich history and culture (where else does one find the combination of Russian and Persian cultures?) and, arguably, the most hospitable and generous people I have ever met.
Author’s Note: The views expressed are my own and are not representative of the Fulbright Program. curtis magazine spring 2017 38
Matriculation of the Curtis Alumni Aleksei AgĂźero, New York University Sophie Altman, New York University Errol Ashby, Marquette University Jarod Bacon, Washington University in St. Louis Courtney Bagnall, University of Michigan Kate Beeks, Tulane University Anika Bhavnani, University of Miami Nico Brown, Emory University Josie Bush, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Jacob Caan, Chapman University Molly Cody, New York University Preston Ezralow, Michigan State University Eden Fincher, Cornell University Mario Franco, Indiana University Bloomington Austin Furgatch, University of Miami
39 curtis magazine spring 2017
Elizabeth Gaba, University of Southern California Ali Garfinkle, Boston College Remi Garfinkle, Boston College Benjamin Geiger, Emory University Danielle Goldmark, New York University Lillian Goldsmith, University of Pennsylvania Anna Grigsby-Brown, Brandeis University Lily Grigsby-Brown. New York University Maddy Harbert, University of Michigan Jack Harris, University of Southern California Tyler Henley, Washington University in St. Louis Declan Huvane, Unversity of Miami Ali Iken, University of California, Berkeley Chase Kirshbaum, Elon University Jennifer Lange, University of Michigan Jacob Liker, Northwestern University
High School Graduates of 2017 Laura Lopez, University of Southern California Madeline Madison, New York University Patrick McNamara, University of Southern California Daniel Merhi, University of Southern California Savannah Miller, Indiana University Griffin Morris, University of Pennsylvania Helen O’Gara, Chapman University Stefan Peyron, Georgetown University Sara Platt, Cornell University Griffin Richter, Tulane University Emily Robb, University of Chicago Brendan Rose, Yale University Justin Rose, Stanford University Jared Rubin, Northwestern University Alex Rubinek, University of Miami Sam Saferstein, Villanova University
Phoebe Sanders, Barnard College Sylvie Sanders, Barnard College Matthieu Sarrola, University of Michigan Jared Savage, Tuskegee University Jaren Savage, University of Southern California Danielle Schwartz, Tulane University Breanna Smith, Johnson & Wales University Brandon Solnit, University of Colorado Adam Stanton, New York University Julian Stern, University of Southern California Joshua Suomi, University of Michigan Zak Takowsky, New York University Lauryn Tauber, University of Southern California Sophia Van Iderstine, University of Chicago Talita von Furstenberg, Georgetown University Peter Wainwright, Drexel University Jake Weiler, University of Virginia Matthew Weiler, University of Virginia
curtis magazine spring 2017 40
Our families, faculty and staff joined hands and hearts this spring for Curtis’s first allschool on-campus Curtis Cares! Community Service Day. Our theme was “Kids Helping Kids,” and we worked together to help children and families in need, the environment, and our own school. We wrapped baskets filled with items for One Voice families. We assembled backpacks with school supplies for homeless children who are served by School on Wheels. We replanted our Monarch Waystation to support butterfly populations and also filled our Circle garden with flowers. We were excited to launch this new Curtis tradition and are looking forward to repeating this joyful day of giving and caring next year!
41 curtis magazine spring 2017
Curtis Magazine Spring 2017 Contributors Drew Beckmeyer Katie Brady Leila Ehsan (’05) Sarina Fierro David E. Frank Brooke Friedman (’18) Dede Haglund Misty Hahn Ginger Healy (’97) Vanessa Keith Garcia Logan Kreisberg (’20) Karen Nguyen Kasey Nott Mikayla Park Meera Ratnesar D’vora Taus-Kahn Amy Wiggins Photography Matthew Fienup Dede Haglund Nick Kokotakis Lauder Photography Michel Lim Astor Morgan Design Robin Yamaguchi Printing ColorNet Press Curtis School 15871 Mulholland Drive Los Angeles, CA 90049 publications@curtisschool.org Back Cover: The Dream House Project challenged 5th graders to design and build an imaginative house that was tailored to a specific environment and also satisfied a set of criteria for size, types of rooms and structural stability. Instead of building to suit a particular client, students used the beginning design thinking step of empathy to consider the location first and problem solved a solution that fit the environmental conditions of climate, geography and biota (plants and animals). Students were excited to showcase their dream houses at the Science Expo this spring.
Curtis School admits students of any race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs. curtis magazine spring 2017 42
Curtis MAGAZINE Summer 2016
15871 Mulholland Drive Los Angeles, California 90049 (310) 476-1251 www.curtisschool.org
curtis magazine spring 2017
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID Los Angeles, CA Permit No. 537