Faculty Developments
Fenn Faculty— Always on the Move LAURIE BYRON succeeds Lorraine
Ward as chair of the English department. Laurie, who teaches fifth grade Language Arts, says she has “come to see the importance of instilling in kids at a young age a passion for reading.” Research, she says, shows the importance of giving children time in school to read books of their choice. The same can be said of writing, she adds. “I believe students should be given a choice about what to write and time to explore the writing of different genres.” One of her goals during her tenure as chair is “to have teachers collaborate more within and across divisions as there is so much excellent teaching going on within the English department.” Before joining the Fenn faculty
three years ago, Laurie served as head of the English Department at Brookwood School for four years, then had her three children: Max, now a fourth grader at Fenn; Nick, who is in third grade and is applying to Fenn; and Allison, who is in first grade. Laurie, who is coaching soccer, skating, and baseball in the Lower School has a BA in English from Dartmouth and an EdM from Boston University. She and her husband, Rich, and their family live in Andover. Laurie Byron TETE AND ELIZABETH COBBLAH traveled to Ghana last
summer to deliver donations to the Akropong School for the Blind. Fenn students had raised almost $1,000 from activities including a spring carwash and are sponsoring six students at the Akropong School this year, three of whom are orphans. Fenn’s contribution also covered the purchase of ten metal beds for the school, which had recently been destroyed by a fire, CDs, and books on tape. Social studies teacher ELISE MOTT is an avid runner who in September participated in Reach the Beach, a 200-mile relay race that is completed in 24 hours. Elise tallied 14.5 miles, and said her toughest run was at 10:30 p.m. at the 6.5 mile mark, when she faced several difficult hills. The race was sponsored by New Balance. “It was a personal challenge that was lots of fun,” she declares.
Lisa Francine
LUKE THOMPSON, who teaches
Integrated Studies and eighth grade Social Studies, spent time exploring the historical sites in Charleston, SC, last summer thanks to a Fenn travel grant. By gathering information at such sites as the Nathaniel Russell House, the Charleston Museum, the Powder Magazine, and the Exchange and Provost, Luke gained, he said, “a deeper understanding of the Southern experience and perspective” that he will incorporate into his course units and lessons. Head Librarian LISA FRANCINE traveled with her partner, Jordana Shaw, head librarian at Nashoba Brooks, and their daughter Jenna, 14, to New Orleans last summer to attend the 2011 American Library Association Annual Conference. They did two days of service at the Martin Luther King Branch of the New Orleans Public Library in the Lower Ninth Ward, which shares a building with the Dr. King Charter School