The Power of 'Yes, And'

“We are a ‘yes, and’ kind of place, with ‘yes, and’ kind of people drawn here from all walks of life and backgrounds,” Upper School History Department Chair Ned Courtemanche proudly stated at the opening faculty and staff meeting of the 2024-2025 school year. “This rare and powerful innovative force—this ‘yes, and’ thinking—is deeply woven into McDonogh’s fabric. And this collective spirit can do extraordinary things.”

His words not only resonated deeply with the audience but also became the inspiration for this issue of “McDonogh Magazine.” While Courtemanche describes McDonogh as a ‘yes, and’ place, Head of Upper School Merritt Livermore ’91 characterizes it as having a culture of possibility. “We cultivate a distinctive approach that embraces ‘yes’ or ‘not yet’ rather than defaulting to ‘no,’” Livermore explains. “While we must navigate practical constraints like budget, time, and staffing, this mindset keeps possibilities open and dreams alive. When faculty or students bring forward innovative ideas, they know they’ll receive thoughtful consideration.”

This culture of possibility keeps McDonogh at the forefront of education. When ChatGPT emerged in late 2022, Courtemanche says he initially felt pure panic,

imagining students outsourcing assignments and the collapse of academic integrity. “As the months passed,” he recalls, “my apocalyptic visions gave way to curiosity. One thing was universally clear: AI wasn’t going away.”

The following year, McDonogh said ‘yes’ to AI, exploring ways to make it accessible and safe for faculty and students schoolwide. The School partnered with Flint, a platform built for schools, and invested in comprehensive faculty training. The possibilities of this burgeoning technology quickly became apparent. “The more we learned, the more confident we became that AI had the potential to supercharge our mission to inspire a LifeReady education,” says Courtemanche.

As a humanities teacher grappling with the challenge of scaling high-level cognitive skills instruction, Courtemanche offers a compelling example: “The U.S. Constitution essay I assigned to my Advanced U.S. History juniors in 2021 required nearly 60 hours of teacher time—roughly an hour and a half per student—for assignment prep, formative feedback, and evaluation.”

“Now, with AI, students can hone their understanding of the Constitution, receive instant feedback while brainstorming, and sharpen their arguments through mock debates—all before writing their first draft. Far from panic-inducing, AI has become a true force multiplier, enabling meaningful, direct instruction and feedback at a scale previously impossible.”

AI is just one example of McDonogh’s ‘yes, and’ culture. The following pages showcase many others, including Courtemanche’s exploration of another teaching tool—the antithesis of AI—historical documents from McDonogh’s archives. His research reveals that this culture of ‘yes’ at McDonogh has deep roots. Additional stories demonstrate how students are developing essential LifeReady skills, from practical arts like sewing, growing, and cooking to foundational academics like phonics and world languages.

It’s the ‘and’ that truly empowers creative thinking and innovation. As Livermore reflects, “It transforms potential failures into learning opportunities through our cycle of trying, reflecting, and iterating. And perhaps most importantly, it communicates a fundamental message to every member of our community: we believe in you and your ideas.”

HEADS UP, EYES OPEN

By Ned Courtemanche

We all know it isn’t easy to get a teenager off their phone. This is why one of my favorite parts of teaching history comes when students trade in their devices for a box of archive materials. The pantomime of digital withdrawal that follows— outrage, bargaining, curious resignation—is both deeply satisfying and a sure sign of the worthwhile journey ahead.

These exchanges now occur regularly since the Wilson | Young Archives and Special Collections moved to the heart of campus in Lyle Building. Crossing the Finney Quad where young cadets once marched, our tech-saturated students and I enter the Archives ready to discover and learn. Display cases of cherished School relics lead to a well-ordered workspace, with broad tables for 20. The west-facing windows and forest break beyond bring fall to bear on the dry-aged documents we’ll work with today. The space sends an undeniable message: this is your history too.

Our archives uncover stories that humanize modern history as it played out on and beyond McDonogh’s 800 acres. Students feel the pressing anxiety of World War I mobilization in Lt. Marbury Councell’s (Class of 1910) letter: “The worst is yet to come. All that we have to learn in such a short time.” An entry in “The Week” after the burning of Old Main in 1929, showcases the pragmatic grit that would guide McDonogh through the campus rebuild and Great Depression to come. It notes: “The boys have salvaged enough brick from the wreckage of the Main Building to put up a large house. This work they did in their own time Saturday. The brick will go into the new school.”

In a 1947 speech to faculty, as relevant today as when it was delivered after World War II, Headmaster Louis E. “Doc” Lamborn charged:

“Let’s meet our task cheerfully. We are starting a new year in a new world....This is the most rapidly moving era in the history of our world. Let’s show our students that we are intrigued with it. Not ‘the times are out of joint’ but ‘This is some time. Let’s keep our heads up and eyes open or we will miss something.’”

The Wilson | Young Archives pulls past and present into focus, revealing how McDonogh’s complicated evolution over 150+ years has shaped our community. The unflinching optimism of Doc Lamborn lives on through our vibrant ‘yes, and’ culture—accepting the present moment to build the most creative solutions. It also perfectly describes what I so love about this School—the hum of people and ideas accepted without question, the pinball of ever-evolving projects, and the belief that the best version of ourselves is yet to come. Studying the past gives me hope. So I’ll follow Doc Lamborn’s lead, keep my head up and eyes open, knowing that McDonogh always finds a way forward.

CULTIVATING LEARNING AND GROWTH

By Meredith Bower

“It’s always been my dream for kids to cook with what they plant,” shares Sharon Hood, Director of Roots Farm, sitting at the large rustic dining table in the farm’s culinary space. Surrounded by the fruits of her labor, she reflects on how this dream has come to life— thanks to McDonogh’s willingness to embrace new ideas. Since the idea for a farm began germinating in 2008, Hood’s forward-thinking approach has taken Roots from a community garden on the edge of campus to an industrious 10-acre outdoor classroom and one of McDonogh’s signature programs.

Hood says her vision for a farmto-table operation grew from the pumpkin seeds that incoming kindergarten students and their parents planted each spring. The following fall, when the children returned to Roots with their teachers, they were delighted to see a vibrant patch of sugar pumpkins in all shapes and sizes. After picking their favorite pumpkins to take home, the students learn how to make delicious pumpkin muffins, bringing their harvest full circle.

Hood wanted to extend that experience to more crops and more kids, but to truly make her vision come alive, she needed a culinary expert to help bring the farm’s harvest to the table. Enter Chef Mallory Staley. With the support of the administration, Hood and Staley began creating hands-on opportunities to expose students to the farm and the foods it produced.

Over the past few seasons, they have introduced a series of farmto-table cycles for Lower School students that span from one spring to the following fall. First graders start by planting San Marzano tomatoes in May. When they return as second graders, they harvest the tomatoes and later enjoy them as pasta or pizza sauce. In the spring of second grade, they plant basil, which they will harvest as third graders to make pesto. At the end of third grade, they plant rows of potatoes, knowing that by the fall of fourth grade, those potato sprouts will have grown into full potatoes, ready to be sliced into crunchy chips or fries.

“Adding Chef Staley to the mix was a game changer,” says Hood, noting that the culinary component has sparked tremendous interest across the School. “The culinary classes satisfy the hunger for hands-on learning, and it’s been amazing to see that enthusiasm grow.”

But it’s not just planting, harvesting, and cooking that brings students to Roots. Teachers in all three divisions have a greater appetite for using the farm as an extension of their classroom, and Hood and Staley are more than happy to welcome them and help create new learning opportunities.

Reflecting on the variety of lessons that have taken place at Roots in the past year, Hood and Staley laugh as they recall some of the more unique requests: “We’ve said ‘yes’ to lower schoolers studying worms and soil. We’ve said ‘yes’ to Upper School biology students curious about the impact of the Spotted Lanternfly on crops. And we’ve said ‘yes’ to a sixth grade language arts class that wanted to learn how to make samosas, like the ones enjoyed by a character in a book they were reading.”

When asked why they say ‘yes’ to every request, Hood smiles and says, “It’s because we don’t know how to say ‘no.’” She quickly adds, “There are so many great opportunities. How could we say no?”

THREADS OF INNOVATION

By Meredith Bower

When Robert Penn joined the Upper School Visual Arts Team in the spring of 2019, he noticed students using personal sewing machines in the library. Members of the Fashion Club were teaching each other the fundamentals of fashion design signaling a growing interest among students. Eager to introduce a new medium, Penn proposed McDonogh’s first Fashion and Fibers course—a comprehensive program to teach sewing and wearable art creation.

“My decision to approve the course was rooted in the Upper School’s commitment to student-driven education,” says Head of Upper School Merritt Livermore ’91. “The Art Department had been actively listening to our students who expressed strong interest in sketching designs and learning to use sewing machines. Robert’s architecture background made him uniquely qualified to transform these student interests into a structured program incorporating fashion design.”

With the green light and eight heavy-duty Singer sewing machines, the program launched with high enthusiasm. Even when the pandemic hit during the first year of the program, Penn’s determination never wavered—he personally delivered machines to students’ homes to keep the momentum going. Today, Fashion and Fibers has expanded from its initial seven students to more than 35 designers across three levels.

Step into any class, and you’ll hear more than the steady hum of sewing machines. The space buzzes with collaboration as students share ideas and push creative boundaries. The curriculum unfolds in thoughtful stages that develop practical skills and personal growth while addressing contemporary interests in sustainability and self-expression.

First-year students learn the basics of sewing using donated fabric and deconstructed clothing. They explore how different materials move and transform and learn to make simple pieces like t-shirts and skirts. The year culminates with an unconventional and challenging project—creating runway-worthy garments using only cardstock, rolls of black and white paper, tissue paper, and pages from recycled books. Most students agree that this is the most difficult and satisfying project of the year as it stitches together creativity and engineering prowess.

Fashion and Fibers II students tackle more complex projects, first producing corsets with professional details like lining, trim, boning, and grommets. These become the foundational pieces for comprehensive collections including jackets, skirts, dresses, and pants.

“What makes the program particularly compelling is how it empowers students to create deeply personal wearable art,” Livermore notes. “Whether upcycling existing pieces or designing entirely new collections, students use fashion as a medium for self-expression and storytelling. The process demands not just creativity but also courage, vulnerability, and perseverance.”

Students add that the art course cultivates far more than technical expertise by developing crucial problemsolving abilities, an innovation mindset, confidence, resilience, and patience—skills that extend far beyond the sewing room. Annie Guai ’26, who joined after modeling

in her brother’s fashion show, notes, “It’s also made me appreciate what it takes to make clothing.”

The program’s annual fashion show has become both a celebration and a powerful recruiting tool. Student designers select peer models and tailor their garments to fit them, creating an exciting showcase that brings the community together. Like the other students who look forward to the end-of-year event, Annie says that the rush of getting her collection finished in time, seeing friends involved, and having her family witness her creations is so rewarding.

The success of Fashion and Fibers validates McDonogh’s philosophy of saying ‘yes’ to thoughtful innovation and creating opportunities for students to weave their passions into tangible achievements. As Penn continues to evolve the curriculum, he introduces diverse elements from fabric dying to jewelry creation. “I’m always trying to change things up and iterate to make the class even better,” he explains.

Livermore observes, “The Visual Arts Department, particularly through innovators like Robert, stays responsive to student voices. This program truly represents a collaborative vision—expert guidance meeting creative aspirations.

HOW A CULTURE OF ‘YES’ TRANSFORMS TEACHING AND LEARNING

By Susan Scherz

McDonogh has a culture of saying ‘yes’ to educators who want to improve their craft.

Our mission is clear: to provide life-altering educational experiences for our students. What is less obvious is that McDonogh also provides transformative educational experiences for teachers.

Thirteen years ago, I arrived on campus to teach fifth grade Spanish on the first floor of the Finney Building. Although I was a veteran teacher, Middle School was new to me. I was a traditional grammar-driven language teacher like every other language teacher that I had ever known. My classroom was filled with color-coded verb conjugation charts, and students diligently memorized vocabulary for tests, only to quickly forget.

As I transitioned to eighth grade, I began exploring alternative teaching methods. The administration wholeheartedly supported professional development, which allowed me to attend an alphabet soup of conferences and workshops: UbD, PBL, AKOM, and many more. Each experience offered some insight and a piece of the answer but not the paradigm shift I sought.

The turning point came in 2015 at a TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) conference which challenged my fundamental beliefs about language acquisition. The revelation was profound: most people learn language through comprehension, not grammar—especially when the context is engaging and humorous. It seems obvious now, but my mind was blown.

Over the next few years, as I moved from Finney to Lyle Building, I evolved into a comprehension-based teacher. My transformation was not smooth. I felt like a novice teacher again, writing detailed scripts and feeling uncertain. Yet, the results were immediate and dramatic. Students became more engaged and their speaking and writing improved. They genuinely enjoyed the subject, and I did too.

McDonogh’s culture of support was crucial. The administration provided time, freedom, and financial support to innovate. As physical and digital spaces evolved, so did my teaching. Now, in a modern classroom in the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Middle School, I guide students to acquire Spanish naturally and joyfully, often without them realizing they’re learning. My growth as a teacher allows me to say ‘yes’ more often to my students whose stories and interests provide much of the context for language acquisition in our classroom.

I am not alone in my professional journey. Many of my Middle School colleagues have similar stories of professional growth, enabled by McDonogh’s belief in professional development. I think of Kim Mitchell and collaborative learning; Stasha Gibbs and her efforts to bring authors to campus who engage with students; and Jennifer Smith and Denise Wolf who developed Middle School Academy, to name a few. The School’s investment in teachers has been transformative, creating opportunities for innovative, student-centered learning experiences.

Our educational journey is never truly complete. The most profound learning happens when educators are empowered to evolve and when institutions trust their teachers to reimagine education. Our students benefit not just from what we teach but from witnessing how we learn, adapt, and grow.

LEADERSHIP THROUGH LISTENING

By Meredith Bower

It was a busy few weeks for Head of School Dave Farace ’87. He started one day greeting the kids as they hopped off the bus and another having coffee with faculty and staff who were celebrating McDonogh milestones. There was a breakfast with a senior advisory group, lunch with the Rollins-Luetkemeyer Leaders, a meeting with the division heads, a gathering with an eighth grade advisory, and an Alumni Association meeting.

Farace looks forward to each opportunity to connect, saying that active listening and authentic conversation is the most effective way to build on ideas and improve the School. “The more I engage in conversation about the direction of the School, the better I am as a leader,” he says.

Farace is intentional about bringing people together, and most gatherings involve food—from munching on chocolate chip cookies with middle schoolers to cooking lessons with parents and grandparents in the Roots Farm culinary space. He says, “When you bring people together with food, good things happen.”

At “Donuts and Disco” with a Class of 2025 advisory group, background music softens the administrative edge as students nibble on pastries and chat about the upcoming dance concert and wrestling season. Eventually, Farace steers the conversation to McDonogh and asks the group to consider the four Ls: What do you love about McDonogh? What do we lack? What should we lean into? And what should we leave behind?

As students rattle off their favorite things about the School, he listens intently. “The campus,” one says. “Yes!” he replies, adding, “Particularly with the fall colors, it just doesn’t get any better.”

Another student offers, “Boarding.”

“How’s it going?” Farace genuinely wants to know, adding, “That was probably my favorite part of my experience. I’m glad you’re getting that opportunity.”

As the banter builds, students become more comfortable, the list of “loves” grows, and the conversation becomes more authentic. When one student chimes in to say he loves his teachers, Farace takes the opportunity to share that hiring season is around the corner and asks what attributes in a teacher he should focus on. They quickly offer suggestions that mirror their experience, including teachers should be excited about what they are teaching and care about the individual ways students learn.

When the conversation moves on to what McDonogh lacks or should leave behind, the students are a bit more hesitant to respond. After some consideration, a handful share their thoughts, tempering them with possible solutions. “This is a tough one, even for the adults,” Farace admits, “but I still ask this question.” He says that, over the years, he’s learned to receive critical feedback, knowing it’s given in the spirit of helping McDonogh become better.

Farace duly notes their ideas and adds them to a running list he keeps. As themes develop in one school year, they often become the foundation for the strategic initiatives or goals of the next. “This is the creative, strategic part of the job that I thrive on,” he says. “I take what I learn in conversations and turn it into actionable, strategic goals.”

The last question—what would you lean into?—is where the magic happens. A comment from a senior about having more dress-down days sparks an idea about it being a privilege for seniors only.

Farace observes, “It’s like improv: one person makes a suggestion, and another says, ‘Yes, that’s a great idea. And have we thought about this?’ Then another person adds, ‘Oh, what about that?’ and it just builds.”

Whether with students, faculty, alumni, or parents, Farace’s mission remains consistent: Listen deeply, think strategically, and improve continually.

LOWER SCHOOL FACULTY SAYS 'YES' TO RESEARCH-DRIVEN LEARNING

By Meredith Bower

Second grade teacher Jeri Goodman ’03 affectionately refers to one of her students, Teddy S., as “The King of the Silk Road.” His understanding of the silk trade in ancient China and the process of making the coveted product isn’t a fluke. It is the result of a new Lower School language arts curriculum.

Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), adopted by the Lower School at the start of the 2024-2025 school year, represents a strategic shift in early literacy. Grounded in the science of reading, it combines foundational skills with knowledge-building, creating confident readers who understand context.

WHY THE CHANGE?

Recognizing the limitations of traditional balanced literacy, Head of Lower School Nancy Fleury, who guides her team with the motto, “Know better, do better,” began researching alternative approaches in 2020. As faculty interest piqued, they too began exploring the research.

“Our faculty are committed to doing the right thing for our students,” says Fleury. “They got on board pretty quickly because it’s research-based and made sense.” Last year, a Lower School committee researched the various available curricula and sought ways to establish a solid foundation for students and teachers before the inaugural year.

Fleury points to the knowledge-base feature of CKLA as a critical component of the curriculum. Students’ understanding of literature, history, geography, and science grows equally as they develop reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. By way of example, she says, “Yesterday, I popped into a third grade classroom where they were learning about Jane Goodall. They were deep in a discussion on deforestation, and everyone participated because they shared the same foundational knowledge.”

Since they began using the tools and resources of the CKLA curriculum, the Lower School faculty has not only embraced the change, but they have gone beyond what is prescribed. When the fourth grade began the unit on the Middle Ages, teachers transformed their hallway into a medieval castle and dressed in period costumes to greet their students. And, after the third grade’s comprehensive study of the classic English tale, “The Wind in the Willows,” the students celebrated with a tea party and shared character studies and opinion pieces they wrote, refined, and illustrated.

When the second graders were using arrays or visual representations of objects in mathematics, Goodman and her colleagues saw the perfect opportunity to combine the concept with their recent study of ancient India. Together, students and teachers created an ancient array city on the wall outside their classrooms, featuring the Ganges and Indus Rivers, the Himalayan Mountains, banyan trees, and terracotta pots. Goodman enthusiastically says, “The timing could not have been more perfect to incorporate repeated addition with what they had learned.”

For Goodman, the curriculum’s power is clear. “The way the material is presented is astounding, and the kids are retaining the information. They are talking to their friends about the Great Wall of China as well as going home and sharing information with their parents,” she says.

Her excitement builds as she shares the unexpected things students are learning. “Woven into it all are so many different parts of literacy, vocabulary, and figures of speech that are introduced in a manageable way.” Goodman notes that her students are correctly using idioms such as “it’s easier said than done” thanks to a brief lesson that accompanied a story they read.

After just months of implementation, the impact of the new curriculum is already evident. Goodman says, “They’ll hold onto these amazing nuggets of information forever.”

A 'YES AND' SCHOOL WITH 'YES, AND' PEOPLE

SOWING SEEDS OF GRATITUDE

Tina Karpovich has earned a reputation in the Middle School for embracing each and every holiday. Her decorations are not just fun, they are meaningful. As soon as the Halloween decorations came down, she focused on Thanksgiving and spreading gratitude. She asked students and teachers alike to write messages of thanks to each other on paper pumpkin seeds. In no time at all, the walls of the Greenebaum building were filled with sincere notes of gratitude. As one colleague remarked, “Tina alone brings happiness to the Middle School. Her selfless actions bring the community together!”

EAGLES FOR GOOD

When Director of Greatest Good McDonogh Jen Pineau ’97 asked for volunteers to prepare and serve a meal at Baltimore Station, a residential program for men, more than 10 faculty and staff jumped at the opportunity. They got to work meal planning and prepping, and when the designated day arrived, they served the residents who are working to overcome the obstacles of poverty, addiction, and homelessness to become selfsufficient. After cleaning up from the evening meal, they sat down with the men

Doing GOOD with WOOD

Last spring, Gregg Kleiman’s eighth grade Innovation and Design class was asked to make a few picnic tables for an outdoor classroom next to the Fader Innovation Center by the Duck Pond. The group was thrilled to take on the project, and their “can do” spirit prompted a request this year for the addition of an outdoor chalkboard and a bridge to provide easy access to the classroom space. Kleiman says his classes happily take on all community projects, noting, “It’s about doing the greatest possible amount of good, with wood!”

HIGH FIVES TO ATHLETIC TEAM CAPTAINS

In a demonstration of sportsmanship and teamwork, the McDonogh and Gilman fall sports captains joined forces in the days before the 108th football game to read to McDonogh lower schoolers. The young students enjoyed the visit from the older athletes who read stories about sportsmanship, witnessing the offfield camaraderie in action.

SPREADING SUNSHINE

The Lower School Sunshine Committee, a long-standing group coordinated by a handful of teachers, has made it their mission to spread sunshine! Current organizer Julie Erb explains, “We celebrate weddings, babies, and happy occasions, and we also support faculty members who are going through tough times.”

At the beginning of the school year, committee members asked their colleagues to join them in thanking their hardworking friends in housekeeping and maintenance for all they had accomplished during the summer break. The Lower School teachers said, ‘yes’ and wrote notes of gratitude to accompany gift bags filled with drinks, snacks, and lotto tickets.

BUILD A BUS WITH US

When environmental science teacher Josh Jones proposed converting a decommissioned McDonogh school bus into a fully functional tiny home for his STEM capstone class, he expected some hesitation. Instead, the administration’s enthusiastic ‘yes’ set the stage for an extraordinary yearlong project that blends environmental sustainability, practical engineering, and hands-on learning. The students dubbed their project “Skoolie” and dove into the challenge with an in-depth exploration of residential systems—plumbing, heating, and electrical infrastructure. From there, they created the blueprint for Skoolie’s ambitious transformation into a tiny home. To follow the progress of Skoolie’s journey, follow @buildabuswithus on Instagram and see more in the Summer 2025 issue of “McDonogh Magazine.”

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

In the evolving landscape of McDonogh’s creative spaces, the Digital Media Lab in the Edward St. John Student Center was quietly waiting for its renaissance. Viewing the space through his lens as the Upper School photography teacher, Dave Radford envisioned transforming it into a studio where he could teach the art of professional lighting. He crafted a proposal that was given the green light, and over the summer, in collaboration with the maintenance and technology crews, the space was reimagined. Radford’s attention to detail extended to sourcing equipment, and he carefully selected high-quality backdrops, drapes, and professional lighting that elevate the studio’s capabilities while remaining budget-conscious.

Today, the studio is a vibrant hub of artistic exploration. While Radford’s photography classes use the space for still-life and product photography, the room’s potential has also attracted student artists from various other disciplines. “The studio is still evolving,” Radford reflects, “but it has come a long way from a room that had outlived its purpose to one that pulses with the creative energy of dozens of students each day.”