FACULTY/ STAFF NEWS
Chair Jill Moore attended the “semaine universitaire” (University Week) organized by the French Embassy. They were among 24 teachers who attended courses given by French University professors. The event was hosted by the Lycée Rochambeau in Bethesda, Md. During Spring Break in March, Lower School Music teacher Alecia Cardell was asked to lead a three-day, West African drumming workshop for Third Grade students at the Wakefield School in The Plains, Va. She taught the students about Ghanian music and dance to coincide with their unit study about Ghana. Upper School Spanish teacher Jackie Carroll earned a Master of Education from the University of Virginia in May. Grades 7-12 Classics Department Chair and Upper School Classics teacher Howard Chang was named recipient of the 2015 Dr. Elizabeth Watkins Latin Teacher Award by The American Classical League.
In June, Upper School Classics teachers Ken Andino and Howard Chang, and Middle School Latin teacher Sherry Jankowski presented at the American Classical League Institute, at the University of Connecticut. Andino was a presenter in the workshop, “Who Wants to Buzz In? The Value of Teaching Certamen and Agon.” Chang was a panelist for the presentation, “Latin Outside the Latin Classroom,” and was the presider for the workshop, “Bridge the Chasm: From Synthetic to Authentic Latin.” Jankowski was a co-presenter of “Investing in the Future: From Tots to Teens and Those in Between,” and was the presider for the workshop, “Who Wants to Buzz in? The Value of Teaching Certamen and Agon.”
Upper School French teacher Annie Broche and Grades JK-12 Modern Language Department
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Director of the Lower School Sheena Hall served on the 2014-2015 Advisory Board for the Emerging Lower School Leaders Institute for Independent Education. In June, Upper School Math teacher and Coordinator of Summer Academic Programs Jessica Henry completed more than 30 hours of training in virtual education learning platforms for Peak Office, Peak Classroom and Blackboard Collaborate. That training led to the first completely virtual course offered at Flint Hill, in which eight Summer on the Hill students completed Honors Precalculus and Trigonometry online. In June, Manager of Technical Support Services Tracy Hill was invited by Apple, Inc. to participate as one of three expert panelists at an Apple Leadership Forum, in Reston, Va., where she answered questions about how Flint Hill implements and manages Apple devices within the school environment.
Upper School Art teacher Cianne Fragione presented her exhibition, “Pocket Full of Promises,” at the Anne Wright Wilson Fine Arts Gallery in Georgetown College, Kentucky, where she was a visiting artist for a week. The show ran from April 17 to May 29. She was also a featured artist in a group exhibition, “Art Educators: In Practice,” at the Greater Reston Arts Center, July 16-August 22.
IT Support Associate and Head Outdoor Sports Coach Lynda Hoag was invited to be on the Virginia Association of Independent Schools’ (VAIS) Professional Development Advisory Committee. In April, she led the 3rd annual Outdoor Programs Workshop, organized in partnership with VAIS. Forty outdoor and experiential educators from 24 schools attended—including Upper School Science and Robotics teacher Alex Lester—to exchange programming information on co-curricular and after-school experiential education programs. Flint Hill initiated the workshop in 2012, and it is hosted by different schools annually—this year, at Woodberry Forest. In June, Hoag became a certified L3 Whitewater Canoe Instructor after attending a four-day course with the American Canoe Association. Upper School Science teacher Zack Krug co-authored a manuscript, “Phylogenetic Revision of the Strophomenida, a Diverse and Ecologically Important Palaeozoic Brachiopod Order,” which was published in the journal Paleontology. He also presented two posters at the NASA Astrobiology Conference in Chicago in June: a research poster, “The Impact of the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction on the Tree of Life” and an education/outreach poster, “Astrobiology in a High School Curriculum: Selecting and Evaluating Useful Skills While Maintaining Student Interest.” The latter described the Evolution of the Biosphere course that he teaches at Flint Hill’s Upper School.
Upper School Science teacher Fred Atwood continues to volunteer his time to conduct bird surveys for various organizations to study the status and distribution of birds in Virginia. In June, he conducted breeding-bird surveys for the United States Geological Survey, the Virginia Society of Ornithology and the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, a Henslow’s Sparrow survey for the Manassas Battlefield National Monument, and Nightjar surveys for the Center for Conservation Biology. He also continues in his role of regional editor and compiler for the East Region of Virginia Society of Ornithology’s Virginia Birds journal. In July, Assistant Director of the Upper School Debbie Ayers and Director of the Upper School Rico Reed attended “Leading the Effective Upper School,” a professional development workshop sponsored by Independent School Management in Denver.
use of film in advanced-level courses to help students increase their proficiency and higher-level thinking skills through writing assignments, projects, cultural comparisons, theme exploration and dialogues.
Dance teacher Jenelle Mrykalo performed with Karen Reedy Dance on April 11-12 at Dance Place, in Washington, in conjunction with San Francisco-based contemporary dance company Project. B. Director of Parent Relations Tiffany Parry attended the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Special Events for Advancement conference in Boston in June.
In July, Middle and Upper School French teacher Robin Goldstein presented “Teaching Proficiency Through Films” at the American Association of Teachers of French Convention in Saguenay, Quebec, Canada. The topic centered on the
Head Varsity Girls’ Basketball coach and PE teacher Jody Patrick was a guest commentator with Comcast SportsNet/NBC Universal (CSN) for the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Championship quarterfinal game and preview of the semifinal matchup, March 13-15, at the Show Place Arena, in Upper Marlboro, Md. Since 2000, she has served as a CSN game analyst during the women’s college basketball regular season. “Having been a college basketball coach for ten years in the mid-80s and 90s, I developed many wonderful contacts in the game that I maintain through these TV opportunities.
I love analyzing the game and feel fortunate that Flint Hill helps make it possible.” Also, as a member of the USAB U16 Girls’ Basketball National Team committee, Coach Patrick attended the National Team Trials at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, in May. Upper School Learning Specialist Matt Philipp earned a Master of Education in Special Education from George Mason University in May.
In March, Grades JK-6 Language Arts Department Chair Joey Starnes visited The Children’s School, in Atlanta, to support its K-6 teachers in the implementation of a writing workshop. During her twoday visit, she met with each grade level team twice to review the foundation of the workshop program, establish team goals and create action plans. The Board of Directors of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools presented Headmaster John Thomas with an award recognizing five years of service and the completion of his term. He remains on the Board of Emerging Scholars, Folio-Collaborative and the Advisory Board of The Auburn School. Also, as a member of INMAX, a select group of 12 large independent schools, he meets twice a year with the Heads of those schools to perform benchmarking and to focus on emerging school trends. In addition, he takes members of Flint Hill’s leadership team to collaborate and build relationships with colleagues from those peer schools. Lower School Technology Integration Specialist Lisa Waters authored a chapter, “Using Virtual Learning Environments to Personalize Learning in the UK” in the book, “Online, Blended and Distance Education: Building Successful School Programs.” In March, she attended the Google Apps for Education Summit in Charlottesville, Va. She also presented “Parental Involvement in K-12 Online and Blended Learning” for the Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute and the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.
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