celebrating faculty
Summer Immersion in Costa Rica Rebecca Jobe, Middle School Spanish
Gloria Munguia and I (Rebecca Jobe) were delighted to receive a Parents’ Council grant to travel to Costa Rica to investigate potential sites for establishing a new Middle School summer immersion program in the summer of 2011. After extensive online research, two potential sites were identified. This grant allowed us to travel to those sites, investigate them in person and ultimately make a decision about which site would best meet the needs of the program we had in mind for St Andrew’s. During our five-day trip to Costa Rica we experienced each program as it would be designed for our Middle School students: we lived with a host family, walked to the schools, observed the morning language classes, ate breakfast and the evening meal with the host family, and participated in several cultural activities in the afternoon. In addition we were able to talk at length with the administration of each program. This first-hand experience proved invaluable in planning our trip for the next summer. We ultimately chose the program in Turrialba, Costa Rica due
Bullying and Empowering the Bystander: Rewriting the Script Cathleen Eclarinal, Social and Emotional Learning Director
Through the generous support of Parents’ Council Cathleen Eclarinal had the opportunity to attend the Responsive Classroom School Conference (RCSC) in Chicago, Illinois in July of 2011. School leaders and administrators from across the United States and beyond came together to focus on the importance of creating safe schools and to discuss the role of the community in nurturing a positive learning environment. Steven Wessler, executive director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence and author of The Respectful School, spoke about key components for creating schools that are emotionally and physically safe. Strategies for preventing and responding to bias, harassment, and school-wide bullying were the primary focus of the conference, and go hand-in-hand with our current SEL curriculum. It is essential to understand how conflict affects classroom learning and to recognize that emotional safety is a fundamental requirement for learning. To prevent, reduce, and resolve conflict, the faculty must continue to be purposeful in creating a learning community where all students are assured that their needs matter and will be met. In
Eastern European Choral Trip
Michael Rosensteel, Sixth-Eighth Grade Choir Director (recently named Upper School Choir Director) In the summer of 2010, I had the opportunity to accompany the Solana Beach Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir on their Music with a Mission (MWAM) trip to Eastern Europe. We specifically went to areas that are still very much affected by the former Communist Soviet Union, including Budapest, Hungary, Kiev, and Ukraine. I petitioned the Parents’ Council Grant Program for funding to go on this trip for two reasons. First, sharing one’s experiences with students can be a very powerful teaching tool. I often reference my travels in order to explain something in the classroom. I show students pictures and videos as well, so they better understand concepts we are discussing in class. Second, while abroad, I research repertoire, primarily folk music of the regions I tour, that I can bring it back to use in the classroom. I believe it is important for students to learn music from around the world. Not only will it teach them about other languages, but about other cultures as well. 20 • St. Andrew’s Episcopal School • www.sasaustin.org