2019-2020 Best of SAAS Volume 19

VO LUM E 1 9 | S P R I NG 2020

CREDITS

EDITORS

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Sheila Hanrahan Michelle Sievers Fred Strong

Stacie Cone Megan Conklin Gwen Emminger Alex Garland Nick Lew Sam Rawlins ’20

DESIGN & LAYOUT John Twentyfive

MIDDLE SCHOOL Jeremy Schimmel Andrew Spitzer Andrew Storey SAAS faculty and student contributors

1137 13th Avenue Seattle, WA 98122 (206)323-6600 UPPER SCHOOL 1201 E. Union Seattle, WA 98122 (206)323-6600

TABLE OF CONTENTS 04

45

ABOUT SAAS

KNOW THE KID

Message from Head of School . . . . . . . 04

SAAS Advisory System . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Innovations Task Force . . . . . . . . . . . 08

Reflections by Division Leadership . . . 48

Remote Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Counseling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

14 INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY

Suicide Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 School Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

New Diversity, Equity,

56

and Inclusion Statement . . . . . . . . . . 14

COLLEGE AND LIFE

People of Color Conference . . . . . . . . . 16

More Reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Why I Volunteer for SAAS . . . . . . . . . . 19

Graduating Seniors Reflect . . . . . . . . . 58

Civic Action: Environment . . . . . . . . . 22

Alumni Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

South Park Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Alumni Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

26

Alumni Holiday Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

CULTURE OF PERFORMANCE ACADEMICS

Speech & Debate Tournament . . . . . . 26 Middle School: 6th Grade Science . . . . 28 Upper School: Salon Project . . . . . . . . 29 ARTS

The Importance of Arts . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Diversity in Dance Workshop . . . . . . . 32 ATHLETICS

Reflections: Hindsight is 2020 . . . . . . 34 Girls' Soccer State Champions . . . . . . 36 OUTDOOR & TRAVEL

Shared Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 SERVICE

The Importance of Contributing Boldly . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY Seattle Academy admits qualified students of any race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender presentation, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected status to all of the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded to or made available to all Seattle Academy students and their families.

Seattle Academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender presentation, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, or other legally protected status in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship, and other financial aid programs, athletic, extra-curricular, and other school administered programs and activities.

The Difficulty of Finding Time to Give Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

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ABOUT SAAS

Message from the Head of School —Rob Phillips, Head of School

Seattle Academy is a dynamic community that challenges our students to question, imagine, and create in order to contribute boldly to a changing world.

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here’s a lot packed into that new Mission Statement. It’s a Mission that is both aspirational and achievable, and it is a call to reflection as well as to action.

And as we consider how to best put the Mission into action, the words “question, imagine, and create” draw the most attention. But I believe that we must first focus on what we mean by a “dynamic community,” and “contributing boldly to a changing world.”

Agreeing that the Mission should guide our decisions is the easy part.

Deciding what that should look like, in a dynamic and inclusive community that embraces a diversity of intellectual, ideological, and political perspectives is the hard part.

We live in a time when racism, homophobia, and Anti-Semitism are tolerated, excused, and even lauded by those in power. We live in a city and neighborhood where economic inequality is increasing. And we must recognize

that the history of independent schools has often been based on exclusivity, elitism, and entitlement.

Unfortunately, there is a tendency for schools to avoid these issues altogether.

They keep their heads down, and in so doing fail to prepare their students to rise to the challenges of the world around.

There’s an equally dangerous tendency for communities to embrace a particular dogma or orthodoxy, and in so doing undercut the potential for meaningful dialogue, informed advocacy and effective civic action, and productive disagreement.

At Seattle Academy, we believe that if we’re going to successfully navigate the challenges we face, and more importantly the challenges this generation of students will face far into the future, we desperately need to nurture a generation of resilient community builders who accept accountability for their actions and who take responsibility for the well-being of the whole.

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That’s in part why, in the SAAS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statement, we’ve committed to “work to build a strong foundation for meaningful dialogue, informed advocacy, and effective action.”

We’ve supported students who choose to participate in marches and rallies in response to gun violence and school shootings, racial injustice and anti-Semitism, gender bias and discrimination, and mental health reform and suicide prevention.

And when the National Anthem is performed at SAAS Athletic events we will again support all members of our community in their decision to stand or kneel, sing or remain silent, and to speak out or listen.

As we have in those past cases, SAAS will support students and families in making their own choices in regards to how they participate or not in marches and protests. We again supported our students who wished to engage in civic action this Fall in support of and response to the Global Climate Strike.

SAAS students engaged in the Global Climate Strike as speakers, organizers, and attendees. Other students chose to remain on campus and engage in discussion and debate, while others were supported in articulating views that were not those held by the majority of marchers and protesters.

And that’s why Seattle Academy will not be in session on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. We want our students to engage in civic action on Election Day on behalf

Seattle Academy will continue as a community to work together to understand what it means to live out our values.

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of the candidates they support and the causes they care about.

Why? Because civic action is fundamental to our Mission. But civic action is most meaningful when it occurs in a dynamic community and is built upon a foundation of “questioning, imagining, and creating in order to contribute boldly to a changing world.”

But a commitment to action alone is not enough and in fact can be counter-productive, certainly counter-productive to the fabric of community.

That’s why we believe that civic action is predicated on civic dialogue, and why the SAAS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion statement quoted above prefaces “effective action” with “meaningful dialogue.”

A key consideration in our actions and our decisions must be, in the words of a SAAS faculty member, “how we model

interaction with others with whom we may, sometimes profoundly, disagree.”

In the Fall of 2019, our understanding of what it means to live up to our SAAS Mission, Guiding Principles, and Core Values were at the core of our decision not to hold the 10th grade retreat at Miracle Ranch, which is a camp facility owned by CRISTA Ministries.

In the weeks leading up to the retreat, we became aware of the shift in tone, policy, and actions of CRISTA Ministries in regards to the LBGTQ community in general, and to members of that community in the CRISTA community specifically.

For some, the idea that SAAS would rent a CRISTA-owned camp was unthinkable. They saw it as untenable to send students and faculty to a facility owned and operated by an organization that is articulating and acting on beliefs that are fundamentally at odds with our own.

Others advocated that we go forward with the retreat because they didn’t believe it was our place to impose our

beliefs on the CRISTA community.

They saw our decision as judgmental and of potentially rising to the level of “reverse intolerance.”

And members of the community and the school leadership team grappled with the difficult question of “where do we draw the line?” What kind of relationship should we have with communities whose beliefs are in conflict with our own, and how do we know when to remain in relationship and dialogue, when to withdraw, or when to exist somewhere in between?

I don’t have an easy or set answer to those reasonable and important questions, then or now.

But this much is clear to me: renting the facility at a CRISTA-owned camp, and then asking our students and faculty to attend a retreat at a CRISTAowned camp at this moment and time crossed that line.

Respect for the faith of students, faculty, parents, and alumni is essential to an Inclusive Community at Seattle

Academy. The decision to move the retreat from the CRISTA camp was not a decision that speaks to a lack of respect for communities of faith.

Rather our decision was consistent with our belief that exclusion is not consistent with inclusion.

It’s fair to point out that drawing lines creates separation vs. engagement and decreases dialogue and potentially leads to polarization. But there’s also immense danger of granting tacit approval to actions that we see as dehumanizing.

We should and will continue to engage with faith-based schools and institutions in a wide range of ways, from athletic events to service-based activities in programs like Seattle Challenge and the Zambia Trip. We’re open to dialogue and an honest exchange of views.

We’ll work to better hear and support members of our community when they find themselves at odds with the beliefs of the majority, whether on issues of faith or politics. We have our own shortcomings as a community, we have

areas where we have a lot to learn, and where we need to have as many voices at the table as possible.

Seattle Academy will continue as a community to work together to understand what it means to live out our values. We believe that our students and our graduates have the Courage and the Humility that it will take to become a generation that tackles these challenges head on and are committed to creating Inclusive Communities throughout their lives.

And Seattle Academy will continue to believe in the power and potential of a dynamic community that challenges students to question, imagine, and create in order to contribute boldly to a changing world. ☜

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ABOUT SAAS

Innovation Task Force:

Computational Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, and Financial Literacy LYSIE TAYLOR, DEAN OF INNOVATIONS & CATHERINE ALLCHIN, (JULIAN ’21), BOARD TRUSTEE

SAAS alum James Reinhardt ’99 and visiting Middle School students at this Pacific Sheet Metal custom metal shop.

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rone operator. AI programmer. Scrum Master.

Driverless car engineer. Ten years ago, would you have envisioned these job titles? The early 21st century is one of the most transformational times in human history.

Consider that today Facebook is available in 101 languages, and there are more than 500 million Tweets a day on Twitter. The number of texts sent and received every day exceeds the total population of the planet. We are living in exponential times.

Most children in elementary school today will end up working in completely new jobs that don’t exist yet, according to the World Economic Forum. Chances are, they will work more different jobs in their lifetimes than their ancestors did. Longer life expectancies mean longer work lives. How do schools like Seattle Academy prepare students for a workforce—and for a world—that we can’t predict?

Faculty and administration have been grappling with that question for the past several years. For the 2018–2019 school year, we introduced not only the new eight-block schedule but also new graduation requirements in areas like Innovations, Entrepreneurship, Computational Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and Financial Literacy. Requiring these courses alleviates issues of equity and inclusion: all students must take them. By adding these courses, SAAS is building a curriculum to prepare young people for the rapidly changing world.

However, for many high schools, these areas of study are entirely new. The topics are the Wild West of academia, a new frontier of learning. To help us navigate this new territory, we have consulted with industry experts—alumni, parents, and community leaders—to better understand the market needs and identify new angles for teaching that will be relevant for all stages of life. Last year, the Board of Trustees formed “new initiative” advisory councils, made up of professionals who volunteer their time and talent to advise on the expansion of our new programs.

The partnership has yielded invaluable input. Many of the group members have joined classrooms as guest speakers and invited students to their places of business. SAAS gained a new faculty member, our resident entrepreneur and alumna, Mariah Gentry ‘09. Parent and alumni industry leaders have encouraged us to focus on student tinkering, failing, asking questions, being curious. In Computational Thinking, for example, we’ve heard that students must understand the logic behind the code before they learn to code. This type of thinking, we believe, will be required in all fields, not just programming. In Financial Literacy, we’ve talked about credit card use, digital privacy, taxes, and college debt. We are teaching the fundamentals before students dive into complex decision-making.

IN THE INNOVATIONS 10 COURSE, TOM FLOOD, ALONG WITH THE SCHOOL COUNSELORS, GUIDES STUDENTS THROUGH “RESILIENCE TRAINING,” WHERE THEY TALK ABOUT HOW THEY LEARN FROM FAILURE AND USE IT TO IMPROVE.

A couple of recurring themes have resonated in our conversations. First, ethics. This would include not only the ethics of artificial intelligence, but the ethics of running a business and the importance of social entrepreneurship. For example, after creating a facial recognition program in Software Development, students discussed the real-world implications of bias in datasets and personal privacy.

Second, empathy. Many professionals have told us that they have an easy time hiring people who have the hard skills like mastery of Excel and Slack, but they are yearning for prospective employees who possess the soft skills of teamwork, creativity, and empathy. We’re trying to build those character-based skills into our curriculum. For example, a recent 7th Grade Innovations assignment was to create a circuitry project with an LED light. The kicker: it needed to help someone other than yourself. Student ideas included an ice pack for a mom’s knee, a ramp for an old dog, and a book light for a grandparent who loves 2020 | VOL. 19

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reading. We are continually looking for ways to instill empathy in students.

In addition, we think a lot about the importance of failure. How can we teach kids to be resilient? In the Innovations 10 course, Tom Flood, along with the school counselors, guides students through “resilience training,” where they talk about how they learn from failure and use it to improve. All 10th grade students, regardless of background, learn to use the tools in the shop in order to build a model of a tiny home.

This is out of the comfort zone of most students, but it both encourages them to push themselves and lowers the barrier to entry for hands-on skills that some would never approach on their own.

Another pivotal example of teaching resilience comes from the Entrepreneurial Leadership course this year. Teachers Mariah Gentry ‘09 and Giselle Furlonge gave students a $2 Challenge. The task seemed simple: create as much value as you can with just $2 in a two-week period. Students struggled to grapple with the open-endedness of the assignment, trying to find the “right answer.” There were tears at a few points in the process. But as the students started to discover that there was no right answer, the project quickly evolved into a personal journey.

Each student determined the best answer given their unique values and circumstances. After several check-ins, many students began to notice that the greatest value was when they intentionally did something for someone else.

The students traded their dollars or transformed them into artwork, bought items and sold them to siblings, traded services such as cleaning or cooking for a few dollars, created matching programs, invested in microloans for people around the world, and offered to help others. After two weeks, along with numerous treasures such as a pair of skis, vinyl records, origami creatures, and red pens, the class counted $671 from just $26 dollars. Most of that

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money was donated to homeless people, Australian Wildfire Relief, and the IF Project. Even more impressive were the reflections by students who wrote about why they made each transaction, the value created, and the impact on others.

One student pinned his final dollar to the wall as a reminder of his growth in the class. The $2 Challenge became a very personal example of empathy, value, and financial literacy under the umbrella of entrepreneurship. It ended up being a transformative experience.

An encouraging indicator that we are on the right track is the survey data collected from Senior Project Mentors in 2019. In the category of “ability to deal with failure,” ratings of 8/10 or 9/10 of SAAS students by Senior Project Mentors have risen to 94% . To us, this shows that focusing intentionally on

teaching students how to rebound from failure has started to pay off, and we look forward to further improving in the area of resilience.

More broadly, there is ample opportunity for crossover from Computational Thinking, Financial Literacy, and Entrepreneurship to Science, History, or Debate classes. Our hope is that students in these required courses will develop a mental muscle memory and be able to apply problem-solving, resiliency, and design-thinking principles in other classes and activities. We think of it as a booster pack of courses that can unlock creativity and innovation in everything students do in their busy lives.

At a time when employers are telling us that they want hard and soft skills, and when we can’t predict the jobs that our students will hold in their lifetimes,

we would be doing kids a disservice if we just focused on which programming languages to teach. Whatever the hot new language is now will surely be different in the future. Instead, we are thinking about how to develop resilience, critical thinking, empathy, persistence, and problem-solving. At SAAS, our Guiding Principles lead us to nurture talents born, talents made, and talents discovered, to prepare kids for College and Life. At the end of the day, the school’s mission rings loudly in our ears: “we challenge students to question, imagine, and create in order to contribute boldly to a changing world.” ☜

Upper School students in Tom Hajduk’s class visit the new Amazon Go store.

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ABOUT SAAS

Community is Key

Demonstrating Creativity and Resilience ROB PHILLIPS, HEAD OF SCHOOL

A

s our small boat approached the remote Alaskan shoreline, it began to dawn on me how dramatically my world was about to change. I had flown from Seattle to Alaska earlier that day, acting on a plan I’d had for years to live with my aunt and uncle at their remote homestead.

But reality wasn’t following my plan.

Rather than head from the airport to the homestead, my uncle redirected the boat in the opposite direction. We travelled to an isolated coastline filled with drift logs, and his goal was to raft as many up as we could gather, and tow them back to the homestead while the winds and tide were favorable.

He eased the boat into a remote bay, handed me a long, pointed stick with a sharp iron end that looked a lot to me like a medieval weapon, pointed to the chest deep water, and said “Jump out.

You’re going to wade around those logs, grab them with the pole, and push them out in the bay so I can raft them up.”

I looked at him in disbelief, then said, “That’s a terrible plan.

It’s getting dark, the water is cold, and you want me to jump into the ocean? That is definitely NOT a good idea.”

My uncle paused for a second, looked away, and then looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Nephew, look around you. This is the real Alaska, not the one in your head. For starters, throw away everything you think you know about what constitutes a good idea. Now jump out of the boat and get to work. Time is not on our side.”

As schools nationwide have grappled with the onset of Covid-19 and the necessity of online learning, we’ve had to take my uncle’s advice.

Necessity has forced us to reconsider our previous assumptions. And we’ve all had to jump out of the boat and get to work.

As a nation, we need to take collective responsibility for how unprepared we were for this crisis. Teaching and learning remotely is dramatically different from being in a classroom. And yes, there are major problems to solve—such as ensuring computer and internet access­—if we’re going to do it well in the moment and for the long haul. We need an

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Educational Marshall Plan to address equity issues in our schools and in our communities.

There is no getting around the fact that this wasn’t the education we planned for our students, and it’s certainly not the education they deserve. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that by demonstrating creativity and resilience, educators and students are building community in new ways and teaching us all important lessons.

What are we learning in Seattle, six weeks after we made the decision to go online? We’re learning that students respond when we communicate with them in ways that convey honesty, trust, respect, and support.

At Seattle Academy, we’ve always believed that relationships precede achievement. We were one of the first schools in the country to close our physical doors and move online in early March, and my communication to students began by validating their frustration, disappointment, adaptability, and resilience: You get to be disappointed, you get to be angry, and you get to flat out be really bummed about this. I am all of those right now too, and will be for a long time. But that doesn’t mean we should let this crisis define us. The legacy of the class of 2020 is going to be the senior class that provided leadership in a tough time.

THE LEGACY OF THE CLASS OF 2020 IS GOING TO BE THE SENIOR CLASS THAT PROVIDED LEADERSHIP IN A TOUGH TIME.

We’re learning that schools can and should attend not only to providing curriculum online, but also to building a sense of community. One of the challenges of the current situation is that it has the potential to increase our sense of isolation at a time when we most need connection. So much about this crisis is powerfully disconcerting, but there's also a lot that is reaffirming about what it means to be a community.

To that end, we’ve dedicated a full day each week to combating isolation and separation. Wednesdays are given over to community town halls, class meetings, advisory, and home room, as well as student talent shows, online clubs, affinity groups, and group chats. While it is a loss of instructional time, effective teaching and learning is built on relationships and connections, and those must still be present.

We’re learning that students and teachers are more agile than we give them credit for. They are working hard, trying new things, and demonstrating agility and curiosity in abundance. Older students have organized tutoring groups for younger students. They have found online internships, engaging in civic action and community service. Students of all ages have given teachers the feedback they need to learn to teach in a new context.

For their part, teachers have turned garages into chemistry labs, moved biology lessons to their backyards, and engaged students in creating podcasts, editorials, and letters to political leaders.

The result? In Seattle, we’re finding that students are responding to online learning with an admirable level of flexibility and resolve.

Ironically, in many ways the students are the ones teaching those traits to us. They are showing us an ability to plan and pivot, to act and adjust, and to balance the needs of the individual with the health and sustainability of the whole community.

They’re forcing us to reconsider our assumptions, and they haven’t been afraid to jump out of the boat and get to work.

But as my uncle said, “time is not on our side.” We’ll face these challenges again, sooner than we might want to admit. ☜

Seattle Academy Timeline for Closures, Cancellations, and Remote Learning Adjustments MID-FEBRUARY Tracking of various agencies regarding COVID-19 MARCH 1 Cancellation of Seattle Challenge and End-of-Trimester Performances MARCH 5 Guidelines for Cancellation of Events: No events over 100 people, No Outside Guests/Speakers, No Field Trips, No Accreditation Visits, No Domestic or International Trips MARCH 6 Announcement of extended closure through Spring Break and remote learning MARCH 10–11 Families pick up books and supplies as well as items in lockers MARCH 12 Remote learning begins MARCH 23 Announcement of updated schedule including We Wednesday MARCH 30 Implementation of New Schedule and We Wednesday

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INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY

By Tiesa McElroy ’09 & Mary Pembroke Perlin (Adam ’18, Theo ’20) Co-Chairs, Board Task Force on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Tiesa McElroy ’09

WE BELIEVE THAT AN INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY EMBRACES CULTURAL AGILITY, CIVIC ACTION, AND A BROAD DEFINITION OF HUMAN POTENTIAL. Seattle Academy nurtures empathetic connections between people with different life experiences.

We are committed to recognizing and addressing the causes and effects of bias and discrimination,

Mary Pembroke Perlin

as well as the historic and ongoing relationship between privilege and power. We strive to see, hear, and value all members of the community and work to build a strong foundation for meaningful dialogue, informed advocacy, and effective action.

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EXAMPLES OF DEI IN OUR COMMUNITY: SAAS partnership with South Park breaks ground in building community connections Parent book group connecting on race and equity Faculty book group reading and discussing “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo Ongoing professional development training for board, faculty, and staff; including attending the NAIS People of Color Conference in December 2019 Student and family commitment to DEI seen in participation and engagement in affinity groups Expansion of affinity group meetings for students, families, faculty, and staff Use of space by outside groups such as GLSEN, TEDxYouth, Coyote Central, and Greater Seattle Business Association

n the surface, board work may look boring: approving budgets, strategic planning, reviewing facilities plans.

But dive in, and you find the current that energizes our work: stewardship of the SAAS mission and values.

What does “stewardship” look like, as we analyze budgets for example? A budget is several pages of numbers but look closely: it holds a story about what we think is important. Giving money to a program or idea can breathe life into it, and bringing to life ideas that we care about shapes who we are.

Another example is designating funds for financial aid. The debate is about more than dollars, it is a conversation about community.

How broadly can we cast our net? Who will we build friendships with, work on group projects, discuss books, play sports and graduate with? At SAAS, we cast a very broad net because we believe in a broad definition of human potential, and we value the ability to connect with people who have different life experiences. We believe in the power of diverse perspectives working together to solve problems, to ‘contribute boldly’, together.

Broadly gathered, these ideas comprise our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) work. One evening, a question was posed to the board: how effective are we at lifting these DEI beliefs off the page and putting them into practice? What does DEI look like at parent gatherings, in the classroom, in faculty conversations, and in our board room?

The next day, a special task force was created to look beyond the numbers and explore the story.

This task force, comprised of leadership from the board, administration, and parent association, gathered regularly to talk, read, study, and ultimately write recommendations and a new DEI statement for SAAS. Here’s the “yes/and” of what we found—our community values DEI deeply and incorporating DEI practices into our lives and work at SAAS is not easy. Making a genuine connection with people who have walked a different path in life requires effort and application; listening, learning, empathy, and open minds. If we succeed, we may be more nimble in complex situations, more knowledgeable about power and privilege, and more just and compassionate human beings.

From Tiesa: As a Trustee and Alum, I have a personal connection to the importance of DEI and

its direct impact within and outside of SAAS. From the Trustee perspective, it’s important that DEI is a part of our foundation and implanted within all aspects and levels of our organization. DEI promotes better decision-making, prevents potential blind spots, and allows SAAS as an institution to not only gain access to resources but also contribute to the resources of various communities.

As an Alum, it was vital that I learned how to thrive in a forever changing and fluid world.

Honestly speaking, my initial SAAS experience as a 7th grader was a culture shock. However, from both inside and outside of my classroom learning experiences, SAAS encouraged compassion and respect for differing perspective and experiences.

SAAS prepared me for the current working environments within many corporate industries and empowered me to become a change agent within the spaces I occupy. I am not uncomfortable being the only African-American woman within a conference room. I am comfortable identifying connections with people who may have different experiences than my own and am able to create both positive personal and working relationships.

From Mary: As a Trustee and a parent, I agreed to co-chair the task force because I was asked, and also because of my own humanitarian values. But I agreed with genuine hesitation and discomfort. As a white person of privilege, I felt alternately nervous, embarrassed, intrusive, and fearful of missteps. I cannot summarize in this small space the learning that I found over many months, but I will share one memorable moment. In Ta-Nahishi Coates’ Between the World and Me, he writes to his son “You are the bearer of a body more fragile than any other in this country. What I want you to know is that this is not your fault, even if it is ultimately your responsibility.”

A heartbreakingly beautiful passage, I thought about the burdens that so many bear in this world.

I thought about fault, and guilt, and fragility, but mostly I thought about this: it is, ultimately, all of our responsibility.

We hope the new DEI statement can be a beacon and compass for SAAS people and programs and a testament to what SAAS stands for. We know that every group here will use their passion and creativity to engage with DEI work in their own meaningful way. It is not the Board’s role to say what this engagement should look like. But it is our role to say from the heart: this is important. ☜

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INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY

PEOPLE OF COLOR

Conference

Taylor Kanemori Director of Equity & Inclusion

We were very excited to take twenty-eight Seattle Academy faculty and staff members of color to the People of Color Conference (PoCC) this past December in Seattle. This was the National Association of Independent School’s (NAIS) 32nd PoCC with the highest attendance yet with over 7,000 attendees. The theme of the conference was 1619-2019 and Beyond and there were over 120 workshops to choose from over four days. Along with the faculty and staff, we were able to give a group of Upper School students the opportunity to attend the 26th annual high school Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) that was happening simultaneously. It was truly meaningful to be able to share this conference with so many members of our community. Over the four days, both conferences provided safe spaces for attendees to talk through issues of identity, equity,

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and inclusion with members of other independent schools from across the country and even a few that were international. People attended engaging sessions, heard from meaningful speakers like Valarie Kaur of the Revolutionary Love project and sociologist Pedro Noguera, and actively participated in affinity spaces based on their racial identity and then their geographic location.

“We were all very moved by her mountains of research and deep dive into the intersection of racism, trauma, and violence in America.”

The keynote speaker at the conference’s opening ceremony was Dr. Joy DeGruy, who blew us all away as she talked us through parts of her book, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome. We were all very moved by her mountains of research and deep dive into the intersection of racism, trauma, and violence in America.

Upon returning to school, all Seattle Academy attendees received a copy of Dr. DeGruy’s book and are very excited about the conversations surrounding our reading.

There were two workshops that were led by SAAS faculty and staff.

Danae Howe, Assistant Head of Middle School, and Rob Phillips, Head of School, along with a panel of SAAS colleagues, talked to a packed room about having A New Lens on Hiring. Danae and Rob led the session by giving a history and overview of our school and a few bullet points on what to keep in mind when going through the hiring process before they turned it over to

the panel of seven SAAS faculty and staff members who each told their story of how they found their way to Seattle Academy. It was beautiful to hear the way everyone thought about their journey to SAAS and clear that there is not just one way that our school thinks about searching for talented and committed teachers, staff, and administrators. The idea of searching for and committing to a broad range of human talent and potential that we use when talking about our student population is clearly carried over into our hiring process. We were touched by how crowded our session room was with over 100 people from all over

the country packed into our tiny provided space, and we were pleased by how well-received our unconventional hiring practices were. We received great questions from the audience about how they might change their institutions’ current practices and the pros and cons of having a set hiring committee.

Head of Upper School Giselle Furlonge also led a session on how to continue the work both adults and students started at PoCC/SDLC once they return to their schools. Often times there is so much momentum started at the conference, but once we come back to our schools and fall back into the rhythm of the year,

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TESTIMONIALS High school English teacher Kevin Kimura attended PoCC for the first time after having been to SDLC when he was a freshman in high school. “I'm grateful to SAAS for making it possible for me to attend PoCC. The conversations I had there have prompted me to reflect critically on the methods our community uses in our efforts to live our mission with respect to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

It was a difficult and provocative experience, and I look forward to seeing our school continue to follow through on its commitment to becoming a destination institution for faculty of color. Going forward, I am especially interested in working to make sure that all our teachers and students have the curricular support they need to help our school become a truly inclusive community.”

Michelle Sievers, Director of Marketing and Communications, had this to say about her first time at the conference.

“The word that comes to mind for my experience was powerful —and I’m still processing it weeks later. In particular, the affinity group (mixed race) I attended prov ided me a n oppor tunity to be surrounded in a room full of educators and peers who’ve had similar experiences and frustrations in life (personally and professionally) as me – trying to check a box or fit into a box that never really applied to me. To know you’re part of a community where you are not an ‘other’ and they understand you…that’s powerful and inspiring. I can’t ‘unknow’ the stories and sharing throughout PoCC.” Kenzie Rosengreen, Learning Support teacher, on her first year at the conference: “My experience at PoCC was inspirational and thought-provoking. It felt comforting to be surrounded by many others who shared my experiences and understood my perspective. I really enjoyed the workshop about supporting transracial adoptees in the classroom. I hope to return next year.”

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there are only a few of our ideas that can really be accomplished.

Giselle helped talk to attendees about how to hold their own Equity Conferences at their schools with the focus on their own faculty, staff, and students of color.

On the final day of PoCC/SDLC, the students led groups of adults through a Privilege Walk and facilitated a conversation around privilege and our current and changing views on how it relates to our own lives. After just two full days of programming, these students were using the skills they had been taught to engage adults in subjects many have a hard time having. It was powerful to watch the kids lead this discussion and share their thought processes on how privilege applies to their lives and their schools. The work that is done with students during SDLC is inspiring, and year after year we

get to see the group of young people we take go through a draining but also empowering journey of identity.

This cohort went on to lead Seattle Academy’s all-school Martin Luther King Jr. assembly on January 20 with personal testimonials and a Stand Up/Sit Down activity that allowed the community to connect through common feelings of insecurity, difference, and strength.

The closing ceremony began with the PoCC choir singing a song written

by Danae Howe. This was the second year we were able to watch Danae in her singing element, beautifully leading the choir through their set before the closing words of the conferences were spoken. Rodney Glasgow, one of the SDLC planners, ended his piece with these lasting words: “Justice is when safety and love become systemic.” ☜

INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY

WHY I

Volunteer FOR SAAS

Sharon Perlin (Liat ’13, Amit ’15, Maital ’23) Board Trustee, Parent Association President

Over twenty years ago, I was introduced to Seattle Academy by my husband, Sam Perlin, who accepted a faculty position. At the time, we lived across the country and this would be our first time in Seattle and this community. And I was blown away. I was introduced to a diverse and welcoming community of students, faculty, and parents who generously volunteered.

As our children grew, we also knew SAAS was the place for them. As a parent, I saw the impact SAAS had on my children.

Their approach to education—how teachers authentically Know the Kid, preparing students for College and Life, enabling risk-taking through the Culture of Performance in an Inclusive Community—prepared two of my children

to graduate and contribute boldly to a changing world. My youngest is thriving as a 9th grader, and I can’t wait to see how she flourishes into a SAAS graduate.

I was also inspired by other SAAS parents who care deeply about this school and chose to volunteer, so I leaned in. I started in small ways and then in larger ways. In 2017-18, I joined the Board of Trustees and joined the Parent Association Executive Committee as the President. Today, I’m surrounded by other parent volunteers whom I call friends. I’m able to connect with parents and the school in wonderful ways. When I asked other parents why volunteering at SAAS is important to them, here’s what they shared:

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MEGAN BERGERSON (Max ’23) I volunteer at SAAS because as my student gets older he shares less about his life with me. When I ask him questions about his day, he gives me short answers usually accompanied by an epic eye roll. By volunteering at his school, I am able to stay connected with what is happening in his community.

AMY BRYANT (Spencer ’22, Brody ’24) You get more out of an experience by putting time and energy into it and being part of it. It's hard to feel connected if you sit on the sidelines.

TONYA DRESSEL (Jackson Doran ’17, Brady Doran ’19, Jesse Doran ’22) Our family with three boys has been at SAAS since 2012 and this community is really all of our community. When you have three active and engaged kids, if you don't engage you are going to get left out and behind. These school years go fast so you’d better jump in or you will miss so much.

DAVID CAMPBELL ’87 (Parker ’22) I’m a SAAS dad and a SAAS grad myself. My experience of being a direct member of the school community back in the mid-eighties makes me want to be active in the community today.

COLLEEN COOKE (Margaux Johnstone ’21) Engagement in the SAAS community helps me have a greater connection to the teachers, counselors, administrators, fellow parents, and students my daughter spends her time with every day. SAAS also attracts students and families from a large geographical area, which means our daughter doesn’t necessarily go to school with the neighborhood kids.

RUFARO HUGGINS (Ahmir ’25) One day I showed up to SAAS unannounced to the knowledge of our 7th grader as I was preparing to learn how to lead tours. Of course, there was a moment of “What are you doing here?” but there was also the proud moment of “I’m glad that you’re here to share in my journey and your presence shows that!” This forged for us a mutual respect and understanding that we both have a place within the community of SAAS which is imperative as we journey from middle school to high school and beyond.

CHARLENE KLETZLY (Cooper ’22, Grace ’24) I feel uplifted when I volunteer with the Admissions Team. I am excited every time I get the opportunity to share my story with prospective families. As the JV Lacrosse team parent last year, I learned more about the game but also really got to know the players. Mutual respect happened.

FIONA LENNARD (Samuel ’22, Sydney ’24) Your community is your ally; your community is there to help raise your kids. The SAAS community is exceptional—filled with kind, generous, and smart people. I want my kids to know their friends’ parents and vice versa. I want to know all the parents of my kid's friends. We are all in this together and need to help each other.

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NIKKI LUNDIN (Calvin ’23) I think volunteering helps to meet other parents with the same-aged kids which helps with knowing what's happening in the grade level. Also, I like volunteering because I get reminded again and again how awesome SAAS is for the kids.

CHIHIRO MORISHIMA (Joseph Cookson ’21) I volunteer with the Parent Ed Committee because I love learning about child development. This helps me to understand and connect better with my own son, and it also allows me to be a part of the SAAS community. I'm also a team mom because I want to support my son's passion for basketball and the great coaches and young men on the SAAS team.

JULIE NICHOLLS (Aya ’23) Having enrolled our daughter in SAAS straight off a cross-country move, meeting long-time Seattle residents here at SAAS helped us acclimate to our new city. Likewise, meeting other folks who had moved here from out of town helped us and our daughter feel a sense of belonging and shed the feeling of being outsiders.

AMY AND JEFF ROBERTS

SARAH RANKIN

BOB STEEDMAN

(Miles ’21, Chloe ’22) Volunteering is not only important to support our children, but it also shows our support and appreciation for the extraordinary dedication of their teachers, administrators, and coaches. Any valuable school is a village where everyone participates; SAAS is truly a village of people who care about each other.

(Zachary Everts ’19, Eli Everts ’21) Volunteering is very rewarding. It keeps you engaged, informed and you can grow new long-term friendships.

(McKenzie ’21, Marlee ’24) Through volunteering we were able to meet others with similar family interests, and through these new connections, we were able to help build momentum while supporting the many programs within SAAS so that they could continue to flourish and be sustained.

LYNANNE STRUSS (Colson ’23, Miles ’25, Lila ’26) Our 9th Grade group of Parent Association reps meets on a regular basis. There is business to be discussed, but what many of us value the most is the sharing of information about what is happening with the kids in that grade level. It helps me be more aware as a parent.

BOB ZEINEMANN (Asa ’25) I choose to be engaged as a volunteer because it makes for a stronger, connected community, it helps SAAS implement its mission, it helps me to be connected to what is happening at school, and I learn from other parents whom I meet while volunteering. This makes for a better school experience for everyone at SAAS, including for our family.

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INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY

ENVIRONMENTAL CLUB

Rises to the Call

I

n Spring 2018, Greta Thunberg first began a protest strike outside the Swedish parliament building every day during school to demand stronger action on climate change. In March 2019, SAAS student Ian Price ‘26 became the first local youth to bring the growing Fridays for Future movement to Seattle, striking every Friday outside Seattle City Hall. In September 2019, Lilah Amon-Lucas ‘23 helped organize Seattle’s Climate Strike in concert with climate action organizations across the globe.

The organizers of SAAS’s Environmental Club, Sidney Liu ’21 and Helen Belew ‘21, heard the call for increased climate action and responded by founding the club to address these issues..

Sidney and Helen were joined this year by two new faculty advisors, Shelley Kunasek and Daniel McGill, and increasingly energized students, ready to grow the club and make a bigger impact. In the previous year, the club had organized small club events, such as learning more about sustainable food by drying local apples and hosting a plant give-away.

This year, though, the club started dreaming bigger. They still planned favorite activities for the club members, like drying local apples and upcycling plastic take-out containers to make shrinky-dink charms. However, they also began brainstorming events that would educate and inspire people within the larger SAAS community to take greater climate and environmental action.

The club’s first aim was to capitalize on the momentum from the climate movement by creating events that would resonate with global actions. For the

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December 6, 2019, Global Climate Strike, about twenty students made signs and participated in a small, on-campus strike at the corner of 12th Avenue and Union Street. Many more attended the city strike. In addition, the entire Environmental Club worked together to create two huge signs to hang in the windows of the Vanderbilt Building to publicize the efforts of the SAAS students. We hope their words echo in the hearts and minds of passers-by: “When your grandchildren ask what you did to stop Climate Change, what will you say?”

In January 2020, the Environmental Club decided that they wanted to have a more regular impact. They stockpiled many climate strike signs and posted them by the front door of each Upper School building. They will then invite students every Friday to carry them from building to building as they walk along the streets to their classes. This way, they can demonstrate in concert with the Fridays for Future movement every week without having to miss class to protest at Seattle City Hall.

Later this year, the club is planning an ambitious week-long series of events leading up to the major global climate strike after Earth Day on April 22, 2020. The goal is to educate the SAAS community about how individuals can make a difference by taking small climate actions in their daily lives.

While a single individual action makes little change, a shift in lifestyle choices of large groups can fuel changes in corporate and political decision-making.

The themes of the week will include Meatless Monday, Transit Tuesday,

Shelley Kunasek & Dan McGill Upper School Science Faculty

“The goal is to educate the SAAS community about how individuals can make a difference by taking small climate actions in their daily lives. ”

Waste-Free Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, and Strike Friday. Students will be able to make pledges to maintain one or more of these lifestyle changes over the course of the month, with the Environmental Club hosting events like Transit Treats and a Clothing Exchange to help support them.

To pull off a series of major events like this, many students have stepped up to leadership positions in the Environmental Club. Lilah Amon-Lucas ‘23 joined Sidney Liu ‘21 to help organize and lead club meetings. Stella Mercer ‘21 and Zoe Khan ‘23 plan to recruit and increase visibility on social media. Margaux Johnstone ’21 manages the budget and event coordinating. Fiona Kubalak ‘21 plans to help manage the climate week pledges. These students are all boldly stepping up to imagine a different future and create a path for change. ☜

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SOUTH PARK

Update Seattle Academy is embarking on an exciting partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) to invest in the South Park community through an innovative project aimed at renovating convening spaces, upgrading public park and recreation areas, and building high-quality athletic spaces. The agreement between SAAS and SPR was signed and finalized as of January 1, 2020.

The highlights of the South Park Campus Project and our SAAS agreement include: A design that includes a relocated play area, spray park, full-size multi-sport synthetic turf field with a circular walking trail, an outdoor fitness zone, LED lighting, ADA accessibility, a sport-court, off-leash area, renovated parking lot, and mitigation of health impacts through landscaping.

SAAS will invest $4 million for SPR to fund the new field and lights portion of the project - a critical piece of the South Park Campus Project which provides a safer, more accessible place for people to recreate and enjoy the outdoors.

When the project is complete, SAAS will be allowed to use the field during Fall (last week in August through the second week in November) and Spring (first week in March through the third week in May) sports seasons, Monday thru Friday, between 3:00 PM and 5:30 PM. This translates to about 375 hours annually of the 5,110 hours the field will be open—or roughly 7.5%.

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The field is owned and operated by SPR. SPR will keep the new field out of the field scheduling system as a pilot, for up to five years, to erase barriers to participation by enabling the community to utilize drop-in time, providing a process and prioritization for the South Park community to schedule field use, enhance programming through the community center, and encourage the formation of neighborhood sports programs. SPR will evaluate the pilot after two years based on these criteria.

As a public benefit, SAAS will provide a minimum of fifty hours of programming annually for the South Park Community Center, local schools, and/ or local non-profits that may include soccer camps, after school mentoring and tutoring, arts programs, and/or robotics based on South Park community need and input.

For many years, Seattle Academy has been active in the South Park community by providing coaching and volunteer support and youth development through the South Park Youth Soccer Program— originally a partnership between SeaMar Community Health Centers and the South Park Community Center. Craig Tomlinson, Middle School faculty, serves as a coach, mentor, and volunteer with South Park Youth Soccer Program soccer teams with coaches and youth four days a week.

In the summer of 2019, SPR hosted a free week-long soccer camp supported

by Seattle Academy. This summer soccer camp was open to girls and boys, at all skill levels, ages 5 through 12 that included free lunch provided by SPR. On average, 40 to 45 students attended camp per day.

Sheila Hanrahan Communications Director

Craig recruited a mighty SAAS team of thirteen student soccer camp counselors, including ten Upper School students, one 2019 graduate, and two 8th graders moving up to the 9th grade.

Collectively, these students earned over 300 community service hours. The SAAS soccer camp counselors were supported by seven adults who included - three faculty/staff (Rick DuPree, Nicole Higgins, and Craig Tomlinson), two faculty/staff alumni (Brooks Hopps ’08 and Blaire Shainsky ’09), and two SAAS alumni (George Alvarado-Salinas ’16 and Allison Leonard ’05, who also works for SPR).

We are thrilled to collaborate with the City of Seattle Parks and Recreation and the South Park community, as this is a purposeful and positive extension of our Mission to contribute boldly to this dynamic community. We’ll continue to share updates and opportunities for you to support along the way. ☜ At the time of this publication, Seattle Parks and Recreation is optimistic and has indicated this project is moving ahead on schedule.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with the City of Seattle Parks and Recreation and the South Park community, as this is a purposeful and positive extension of our Mission”

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AC A DEMICS

E C E H P S & DEBATE

By Brad Thew

Speech, Debate, and Rhetoric Chair

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O

n one Thursday evening in December 2003, I found myself sitting on the living room floor in my parents’ house, surrounded by a collection of notes and research articles, several philosophy books, and a notebook in which arguments I hoped were brilliant had been synthesized. Like thousands of debate students across the county that night, my goal was to create the cases that would both stump and mystify my opponents, but also move judges and audiences alike. Considering the contemporary political climate and global tensions of the time, the topic on “The morality of US involvement in international conflicts” was especially prescient. By the end of that night, I had created cases that explicated the ethics of the value proposition, meandering between Kierkegaard in one case and Kant in the other.

That evening was a seminal time for me, although it didn’t feel it back then. As a teenager, it felt as if I were preparing for a tournament just like any other school activity I would attend. In reality, my experience that weekend sparked an interest

that would guide me into becoming the person I am today. Speech and Debate, collectively known as Forensics, offers its participants opportunities to critically engage with their world in ways that are difficult to replicate in any other setting. It is my belief that the skills promoted in the activity are more necessary today than ever before.

Students at Seattle Academy are afforded the opportunity to participate in both Speech and Debate, and our program carries a long and storied tradition of success. Debaters from SAAS have won a variety of titles in Student Congress and Public Forum debate, and our Speech students over the years have some of the winningest records at the

competitors is committed to furthering this goal, and we have ambitious initiatives to help support these goals. Middle School debate has officially begun. Upper School debate students attended their first national circuit tournaments in New Orleans and Portland this year where several students cleared to the elimination rounds. Speech and Debate students competed at the Harvard University Invitational in February. Additionally, our annual Seattle Academy Invitational Debate Tournament in October expanded from a speechonly tournament to an inclusive speech and debate tournament, which was a marked success. Over 500 students, representing thirty-seven schools

“To pretend, I actually do the thing: I have therefore only pretended to pretend.”

—Jacques Derrida state tournament. This year, however, we have reintroduced a form of debate to SAAS: Lincoln Douglas (LD) debate. LD is a unique form of debate within the activity because it centers itself in the domains of ethics and morality, rather than delving with laser-like focus into policy proposals.

Students in Lincoln Douglas regularly immerse themselves in philosophy, history, linguistics, and humanities. For me, reintroducing this event at SAAS is a labor of love, in that I’m able to share my experience in this type of debate with a new group of students. The tapestry that is our Forensics program is enhanced by this addition as well, and students are given the opportunity to find events that will best allow them to share their voice.

Speech and Debate students embrace and exercise critical civic skills, and they do so with the intention of spreading their message to others. That SAAS promotes the activity as it does is a testament to the Culture of Performance that is cultivated in our community. Each of our

and three states and provinces, attended the tournament, making for SAAS’s largest Forensics tournament ever, and it is expected to have been the largest tournament in the state this season.

I’m proud of what our students have accomplished so far this year, but more than that, I’m impressed, just as I always am, with what Forensics students are able to bring to the table. When a student makes the difficult choice to try something new, to take that first step to craft and present an oration or read their new case against a tough team, they are becoming experienced rhetoricians.

When a student chooses to read deep philosophy or difficult authors not because they have to, but because they want to strengthen a position, they demonstrate an infectious curiosity. And as we go forward, I look forward to strengthening the level of rhetorical excellence that is already present in our group, as we increase our recognition on the national level. Our kids are talented and ready, and we have an exciting future ahead. ☜ 2020 | VOL. 19

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Students assume these four roles while examining a variety of topics through lab activities, media analysis, engineering design processes, seminar-style discussions, analytical writing, debates, civic action, and field-trip aligned activities. Students leave 6th grade science, understanding what it means to be a steward to their environment.

In each unit, students address an anchoring event with essential questions. Some examples include: Why is managing Seattle’s rainwater essential to the survival of local salmon populations?

How might rapid urban population growth negatively impact marine ecosystems?

How does good water quality contribute to healthy communities and healthy watersheds?

Why are oyster populations in the Puget Sound declining?

How does changing marine pH affect living organisms?

ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT Middle School

EXPLORING THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS

By Emma Glinsmann 6th Grade Science Faculty

I

n 6th Grade Science, we use a multi-faceted lens to examine the fundamental scientific processes that drive the natural world. We take an interdisciplinary, inquiry-driven approach to examine larger questions about the social and ethical implications of what we learn. Ultimately, we hope that students can thoughtfully answer the following questions: Who cares?

Why does it matter? In examining larger questions about the natural world, students assume the following roles: Lead Engineer: What’s the problem we’re trying to solve?

Number Cruncher: What data do we have to work with?

Social Officer: How will this affect people around us?

Environmentalist: What are the consequences for our planet?

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How might the status of a single species indicate the overall health of an ecosystem?

Why is it essential to understand states of matter and phase changes in order for humans to be able to survive in extreme environments?

How might where you live impact your consumer decisions?

Why might people choose to eat organic foods?

With a year-long curriculum that gives them a foundation in ecology, chemistry, policy, and current local environmental issues, 6th graders end their year with the young reader’s edition of The Omnivore's Dilemma and discussing the ethical implications of the food we eat.

All of their practice in role-play, research, data collection, and discussion, comes to a close with a two-day debate that is judged by a panel of guests experts. ☜

ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHT Upper School

SALON PROJECT

By Steve Retz History Department Chair

A

key project for 10th graders that connects the past and the present is an integrated English/History unit called the “Salon Project.” Students begin their year learning about key ideas from the European Enlightenment Era, ideas about Human Nature, Government, and the Social Contract.

Students learn the history, and a Culture of Performance unit then brings those concepts into the present.

In addition to studying philosophers from The Enlightenment, students also learn about several thinkers from the 20th and 21st centuries who represent an array of different points of view on the role of the Individual, Society, and Government. Each student researches a specific philosopher or thinker--this year’s list included Wendell Berry, Angela Davis, Frantz Fanon, Milton Friedman, Mahatma Gandhi, Emma Goldman, and Ayn Rand--and students engage in scholarly research to become experts on the ideas of their philosophers. They write expository essays illustrating those ideas, and then they

prepare to represent and role-play their philosophers in a moderated discussion, as if they were present in an Enlightenment-Era Salon discussion.

Groups of student/philosophers are asked questions that require them to articulate the probable positions of their philosophers and to demonstrate their likely viewpoints on the proper roles that Individuals , Society, and the Government should play in the framework of a Social Contract. The questions that are posed to students are drawn from controversial current events, so students need to know the ideas and be able to apply them in novel situations. At the conclusion of the project, students write a reflective response in which they explain their own, personal views of the social contract and which of the various philosophers they most agreed and disagreed with. ☜

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ARTS

THE IMPORTANCE OF ARTS IN EDUCATION

By Michael Cruz

Performing Arts Department Chair

T

he Seattle Academy Mission Statement is a model of how the arts department makes things; it even looks like an arts lesson plan. Question, Imagine, Create, and Contribute are all fundamental components of any arts discipline. Imagination breathes life into the arts and is where the arts really live and thrive.

The importance of arts in a young person’s education is that it builds connections to so many other things.

It connects you to others. It connects disparate skills. It connects different disciplines. It provides the young artist with an array of tools that can easily be transferred and applied to other disciplines and circumstances. It encourages collaboration and builds community.

The great thing about SAAS is that the importance of the arts is understood; it is a given. Unlike many schools, we

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don’t have the conversation of WHY the arts are an important component of the program because that conversation took place when the school was founded and is reflected in the scheduling of classes and the staffing provided. Each year at SAAS, the more important question for faculty is HOW to implement the arts program to achieve our mission and goals. The HOW allows faculty to focus on lesson planning, play selection, and curriculum development, which directly impacts the quality of the program for students and allows students to showcase their skills and talents and challenges them to continually improve.

Seattle Academy is unique in the breadth and depth of the courses that are offered each and every trimester.

This variety allows the arts faculty to introduce the beginning artist to fundamental principles as well as challenge

the advanced artist to push themselves further than imagined, a prime example of the concept of Participation and Excellence that Seattle Academy offers.

Another unique aspect of the SAAS arts department is the variety of opportunities for interdisciplinary projects. The school’s environment fuels conversations between colleagues. It is not unnatural to reach out and connect about potential projects such as ceramic sculptures for a history project in 7th grade or vascular drawings in a visual arts class to accompany a biology lesson in Upper School science. By addressing topics in a variety of media, students are able to build more meaningful connections with what they are learning.

The Culture of Performance is one of the Guiding Principles at Seattle Academy. This is especially true in the arts. The arts require students to step

“Seattle Academy is unique in the breadth and depth of the courses that are offered each and every trimester.” out of their comfort zone and present their work to their peers, to faculty and staff, and to families and visitors. This requires students to see things from a different perspective. One of the points of focus in the arts, particularly the performing arts, is to understand what Culture of Performance looks like on the other side. What does it mean to be in the audience for this production? What will a visitor to the visual arts show experience when they view a specific piece of art? It requires students to listen with their whole being and be willing to change their perspective - a life lesson that can be applied anywhere. ☜

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ARTS

DIVERSITY IN DANCE WORKSHOP WEEKEND

By Michelle Sievers Director of Marketing and Communications

O

n the weekend of January 17, 2020, the Seattle Academy Dance Department hosted its 4th annual Diversity in Dance Workshop.

Each year, Upper School student dancers have the unique opportunity to take class all week with amazing professional artists of color from around the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend was kicked off with an open-to-the-public panel discussion and informal performances from a diverse group of professional artists and educators.

Led and coordinated by Seattle Academy dance faculty, Alicia Mullikin, the goal of this annual workshop is to develop a love and respect for the cultures and people these dance forms come from through engagement, learning, and honoring these cultural

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dances. Some of the best advice was shared by artist DJ Baluyot, a FilipinoAmerican hip hop choreographer and dancer based in San Jose, California: “learn the rules to play the game”— regardless of your primary dance focus (ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, etc.), students should learn, explore, and master other cultures and dance styles to be the best at your own chosen art.

SAAS students demonstrated the Culture of Performance by leaning into the opportunity to participate in an intense weekend workshop to engage with and explore a variety of cultural dance styles and techniques, taught by these talented artists and educators.

Wendy Amador ’22 shared, “It had recently become hard to see myself represented through modern dance as it became clear that European styles are often prioritized. The Diversity in Dance

Workshop not only exposed me to the mesmerizing cultures of other countries, but it allowed me the opportunity to see my Latin culture beautifully represented, filling me with gratification for my roots."

And Lily Wong ’21 said, “After training so much in ballet, contemporary, and other Euro-centric dance styles, I had no idea what to expect. Being able to have the opportunity to explore how the rest of the world expresses themselves through dance was incredible. To be honest, certain styles were extremely difficult with such a lack of training in styles like Folklorico and Bollywood. But both of those classes ended up being my favorites, because not only was the dance style so much fun, but the passion our teachers had to share their story was vibrant.

Watching each teacher share who they are was my favorite part.” ☜

THIS YEARS’ VISITING ARTISTS Randy Ford (she/her) An African American Seattle born non-binary, transfeminine contemporary dance artist Phi Voba (he/him) A first-generation Vietnamese American, hip hop/urban dance artist and educator.

Priyanka Vora (she/her) An Indian-American Bollywood teacher and director of Rangeela Dance Company Etienne Cakpo (he/him) An African Dance educator and dance faculty member at the University of Washington Christina Olivas (she/her) A Mexican-American Folklorico dancer and the artistic director of Bailadores de Bronce Noelle Price (she/her) An African-American Detroit transplant and director of PRICEarts, a contemporary dance company focused on spotlighting People of Color Albee Abigania (he/him) A Guamanian Hip Hop teacher/ choreographer and director of the Kontagious Dance Group

SEATTLE ACADEMY DANCE FACULTY HONORED Seattle Academy’s Dance Faculty ANITA KUROIWASCHIFF (above) and ALICIA MULLIKIN (below) were both honored on January 18, 2020, with SeattleDances “Dance Crush” Awards for their achievements in local dance. Each year the local dance publication SeattleDances highlights their favorite artists currently in the industry. “Dance Crush” Awards are given to stand-out artists, and this year’s awardees were honored in an evening performance and gala ceremony at Seattle Central’s Erickson Theater.

This year, Anita Kuroiwa-Schiff, received the “Foundational Educator Award” for her contributions to Seattle dance education. Anita has been a teacher at SAAS since 1998, where she founded our Middle and Upper School dance companies.

Alicia Mullikin received a “Dynamic Performance Award” for choreographing LA TERCERA REINA, a piece she created in honor of her 98-year-old grandmother.

Later this year Anita and Alicia will be featured in an article highlighting their dance journey and contributions to the Seattle Dance Scene.

A number of Seattle Academy students and teachers were in the audience to celebrate. Congratulations, Anita and Alicia, for your inspiration and bold contributions to SAAS Dance and Seattle dance, showcasing our Culture of Performance.

DJ Baluyot (he/him) A Filipino-American hip hop choreographer and educator based in San Jose, CA

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ATHLETICS

HINDSIGHT IS

2020

Mallory Leff ’20 & Orson Smith ’20

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Participating in sports at SAAS has given me some of the best memories of my high school career. Playing sports gave me an outlet to relieve my stress, an opportunity to make new friends and meaningful relationships with my coaches and grow into a leader. When I step onto the field or court, I become a soccer, basketball, or lacrosse player —I no longer have to worry about school.

I think that playing sports at SAAS has been exceptional.

Something unique to SAAS is our No-Cut policy. I believe that the No-Cut policy is excellent in many ways as it gives everyone in the community an opportunity to try something new.

During my time at SAAS, I have had two

coaches influence me as a person and a player. They are Joel "Coach D" DeBruhl and Hilary Bowen. Coach D has been my basketball coach since my freshman year. He is energetic, talkative, sarcastic, and above all passionate about basketball. Despite my lack of basketball skills when I first played for him, he trained me, he believed in me, and he helped me to get to where I am today.

During the spring of my freshman year, I could not decide whether I was going to play Ultimate or try lacrosse, which was new to SAAS that year.

I decided on lacrosse, and I think it was the best decision I could have made.

I went into that season not knowing how to cradle a ball (which is the

primary skill in lacrosse), and now I am the captain of my team. Hilary is a supportive, empowering, and an outstanding coach. I can say that I have become both a better player and a better person playing for her.

Both Coach D and Hilary live, breathe, and love basketball and lacrosse, respectively. I think that learning how to play from coaches who love their sport so much is what has made me fall in love with the sport, too. I think one of the biggest things that I will miss about SAAS is the coaches and players that I have been so lucky to have met and been able to play with over the past four years. ☜

Throughout my seven years at Seattle Academy, there has been only one trimester in which I wasn’t participating in one of SAAS’ sports teams. In these seven years, I have both benefitted and seen the downfalls firsthand of the No-Cut policy. The disadvantages of this policy don’t always manifest themselves in every sport. While it does allow students to try new sports as well as provide kids with a great way to make new friends, it can also retract from the instruction. Because there is no limit on the number of kids that can be in any given sports program, the individualized coaching can be compromised and playing time can be limited. On the other hand, I was personally able to benefit greatly from the No-Cut policy. In my sophomore year, without ever having played a game of organized basketball in my life, I tried out for the team and ended up playing on one of the JV teams.

It was a highlight of my entire high school career, and I was able to learn so much from my coaches and teammates.

I am positive that if I were at another school where the No-Cut policy wasn’t enacted, I still wouldn’t have played a game of organized basketball in my life.

I am extremely thankful for the No-Cut policy for giving me the opportunity to try something new.

My soccer journey started at age 6 when I played in a recreational league for the Killer Bananas of Doom. From early days of being a Manchester United fan and getting up at 6 AM on Saturday mornings to watch their games, soccer has had a commanding presence in my life. When I entered high school as a freshman, I tried out for the soccer team in the Spring. I was fortunate enough to make the varsity team in my first year which allowed me to create bonds with coaches as well as my teammates across

all four grades. The reason this team stood out to me is because I believe that I learned so much from it over the years.

There is a great balance of when to have fun and when to get serious which I believe has taught me tons of discipline.

The bus leaves at 3:15. If you’re late, find another way to get there. Every single player, regardless of age or skill level, is held to the same high standard. Every year, the seniors graduate, and new freshmen come in; however nothing about the soccer team changes. The expectations of every player on the team remain the same. As a group we push ourselves to be the best team we can be on and off the field and that has taught me so much. I would like to thank all the players and coaches over the years who have helped me in continuing my soccer journey because of the lasting impact I know it will have in my life. ☜

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ATHLETICS

SIMPLE GOALS

BIG DREAMS Brooks Hopp ’08

Achijah Berry ’10

Upper School Faculty

School Dean of Middle Students

Each year the SAAS soccer programs begin with simple goals and big dreams. Our goals are things that we are in control of—we ask our players to try to be the hardest working team in the state and to take care of their teammates—and our dreams are the things we would like to achieve each season—we

ISABELLA FONSECA ’20 I have loved the experience of being on the SAAS varsity girls’ soccer team for the past four years, each year being unique to another. From my freshman tryout when I was so scared to make a mistake to my last year when I was a leader on and off the field and ultimately helped lead my team to win a state championship. I have grown so much on this team thanks to the support of my teammates and incredible coaches Brooks Hopp and Achijah Berry. Soccer at SAAS is unlike any other soccer program I have been a part of because of the amazing teamwork, comradery, dedication, and immense love for the sport that every player on the team possesses.

INGRID ODMARK ’20 For my first three years on the SAAS varsity girls’ soccer team, I was the second-string goalkeeper. I got the opportunity to train and play with Emerson Burke ’19, a fantastic goalkeeper.

I joined the team my freshman year,

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hope to win championships. This year, our girls’ soccer program had an especially successful year, going 15–4–1 and winning the Emerald City League and State Tournament. Below our seniors share their reflections on what being a part of this program has meant to them.

after a two-year break from the sport.

Emerson, along with Brooks Hopp, helped me return as a high school goalkeeper and now a future college athlete. This team has been unforgettable. The team worked endlessly to win the state championship and to do this during my senior year and only year being the starting goalkeeper meant everything. I am so thankful for my experience with this team.

KATE POTVIN ’20 The Seattle Academy Girls’ Soccer team is more than just a program, it is a family. Trying out as a freshman, I was shy, unconfident, and frankly a mess. I didn’t realize my true potential and felt as though there wasn't any place to show my skills. The guidance and mentorship that I received from Brooks Hopp and Achijah Berry is something that I will always be grateful for, and over the years I really began to understand how much soccer meant to me. At the beginning of my senior year, I tore my ACL. The news was hard, but my teammates were there

with me every step. Winning State with them was amazing, and I am so proud of all of them; these girls weren't just my teammates but my sisters and family.

And I am going to miss them and this program so much. Go Cardinals!

ARIANA RASTANI ’20 I’ve been on the varsity soccer team since 2017 and was looking forward to my senior season. We had a group of five eager freshmen joining the team, and the seniors and I were excited to lead the team. Immediately, we worked hard to integrate the freshman, make sure the sophomores didn’t feel overlooked, and collaborate with the juniors as we would with our fellow seniors. We focused on building a solid foundation that felt more like a family and less like a team. We knew that regardless of how talented a team was, it wouldn’t go anywhere if the girls weren’t there to support each other. Overall, I had an unforgettable season and will always have a family I can fall back on. ☜

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OU T D O OR T R I P S & T R AV E L

SHARED EXPERIENCE

By Erin Aitchison ’98

Director of Outdoor, Trips, Travel, and Safety

T

he word “relationships” drives a great deal of conversation at Seattle Academy. It’s ingrained in who we are as an institution, a part of our Guiding Principles, and helps us navigate our day-to-day. Whether it be peer to peer, student to staff, SAAS to the greater community and beyond; we are in the business of fostering relationships.

It was this shared understanding—that personal relationships form the basis of our community—that helped shape the Seattle Academy Outdoor Trips and Travel program nearly thirty years ago. A group of faculty members decided to look for additional ways to cultivate the core values beyond our classroom walls.

Hoping to share their appreciation for the outdoors, they presented the founding Head of School, Jean Orvis, an experienced and dedicated trip leader before she founded SAAS, with two different trip proposals. One, a ten-day backpacking trip for seniors and juniors to the Southwest (Canyonlands) and the other, a three week trip up and over the Chilkoot Trail for 8th–11th grade students (the Alaska trip).

The goal was to take kids out of their comfort zones, provide them with new skill sets, and allow students the opportunity to build upon established relationships through shared challenges and successes. They thought that if they’d propose two trips their odds of getting at least one of them approved would be high. They never expected Jean would approve both in the first year.

For years, Canyonlands (held over spring break) and the Alaska trip (summer) were THE Seattle Academy trips. As time went on, Zambia was added and shortly thereafter, more followed. Since its first fledgling year in 1992, the Outdoor Trips and Travel program has added cultural immersion, community engagement, and language-based trips. We’ve stretched to five continents and over fourteen countries.

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Just like it was with the first few trips, the locations and activities chosen for each trip are driven by our faculty and staff.

Faculty and staff are the facilitators putting in the time and energy to research, plan, and execute each trip. Locations derive from their own interests and experiences, and while some trips have been a constant to the list over the years, the majority of our trips change year-to-year based on the proposals submitted by our faculty and staff. The experience of sharing, working together to solve problems, and accomplishing group goals helps us build upon relationships, which are in large part, the reason faculty and staff continue to lead and offer trips to our students.

Our program has fostered relationships not only within our own community, but also within the communities where we travel. We have long-standing partnerships with organizations in Zambia, New Orleans, the Yukon Territory, Alaska, and India. Many of these organizations have seen decades worth of Seattle Academy students.

Stretching the concept of a “shared experience” to not just one year’s trip, but ten or twenty years’ worth of Seattle Academy students.

So often, the true successes of a trip are not immediately evident. They appear upon the return; in a “thank you” email from alumni, or a study abroad opportunity someone would have never dreamed of pursuing. It can come in the hallways and classrooms, in conversations between students and faculty, in the growth and the new perspectives students find both within themselves and in the world around them. ☜

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SERV ICE

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTRIBUTING BOLDLY TO A CHANGING WORLD

LISTEN, LEARN, AND MAKE IT PERSONAL

By Olivia Brandon ’19

W

hen someone thinks about how to change he world, they get overwhelmed. Many have goals to change the world, but few know where to start. Why eat less meat, recycle, or carpool to school when there are millions of people who disregard Climate Change altogether?

When trying to change the world, I struggle with brainstorming solutions that have no costs and purely benefit everyone. I struggle with identifying global problems when I am not fully aware of the challenges in Seattle. Before trying to come up with an incredible master-plan,one has to learn. Learn about their home. Learn about systems.

Learn about people.

In Eighth Grade at Seattle Academy, I joined the Zambia Club. I did not know

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that the club would ultimately shape my university studies and life-long passions.

Through the Zambia Club, I met my pen-pal and friend, Queen Nyirenda. We started sharing details about our lives, and I learned information about Zambia.

Through our pen-pal correspondences, I learned how Zambia is facing a deforestation crisis—a problem I would have never known if not for Queen.

In high school, I once again joined Zambia Club to continue my relationship with Queen and get involved with the projects SAAS students send to Zambia.

While SAAS’s partner school, Birdland, loved the shoes, pens, paper, and other supplies that were sent, we did not, in fact, make a meaningful difference.

The supplies only made short-term improvements. To make long-term impacts, communication is key. Before

communication comes acknowledgment.

I have to acknowledge that I cannot do everything alone. As easy as this sounds, one has to start somewhere.

Changing the world is hard. When facing challenging problems, people must work together; nobody is an expert on everything. I wanted to help combat Zambia’s deforestation crisis, so I joined forces with Queen, Sonja Nielson, Peter Clark, Scott Rundle, Clement Musonda, Melinda Mueller, and many more. Queen gave me feedback: a critical, but often forgotten, step. Sonja is the reason I joined Zambia Club and stayed involved.

Peter helped me with an Independent Study in sustainability to pursue solar energy options and ultimately partner with several companies to reduce Zambia’s dependency on charcoal.

Scott donated seventy-five of his solar

energy stoves to bring to the community.

Clement, a Zambian solar entrepreneur, created a solar stove and provided demonstrations to Birdland on the new model. And, Melinda helped, encouraged, gave background information, and went to Zambia with me. I could not have accomplished much without these SAAS teachers and entrepreneurs.

Individuals would never make enough of an impact on Climate Change unless they had a personal attachment to fighting the problem. It is time to look beyond our own communities and evaluate the larger, global impacts of our actions. We are all global citizens and have a duty to make the most meaningful impacts.

When trying to make an impact on the environment, I think people try to change something on a national or global scale. In trying to contribute to a changing world, effectiveness starts at a small level. Like Melinda Gates once said, “If you want to see things happen at a global level, start at the village level.

Give women the tools and education, and they will drive the change.”

I want to change the world. How might one accomplish such a huge goal? First, learn, ask for help, get feedback, and continuously improve one’s methods.

In other words, don’t give up.

I struggle with finding motivation after not finding the “right” method time after time. I struggle with feeling like I make no difference. I struggle with fighting against governments and city council members who do not choose the sustainable option. Choose the option that helps the most people. Choose the options people want.

To conclude, if we are going to help local communities, whether they are halfway around the world or right next door, we need to listen and learn before we act.

We need to stay informed, because every day something new happens. We need to ask for help and listen. We can change the world; we have the skills. Queen taught me to make it personal. ☜

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SERV ICE

THE DIFFICULTY OF

FINDING TIME TO GIVE BACK Sam Rawlins ’20

SAAS Community Engagement Organization

Community service seems to be a hot topic for many high school students. My friends often wonder amid their ever-busy lives, “How can I fulfill SAAS’s 160 hour service graduation requirement?” and “Where can I find service opportunities?”

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Sam Rawlins ’20 with the completed survey board and data at the TEDxYouth event.

I always do my best to answer these questions, but the fact is that they are quite complex and require a good deal of consideration. These questions imply that high school students have difficulty engaging in community service and thus beg the essential questions: 1) Why do we students have such difficulty volunteering? and 2) How can SAAS help to address this issue?

I decided to do some digging around to see if I could find answers. By December of 2019, I was able to shed some light on the first essential question after conducting studies at TEDx Youth and TEDx Seattle that examined the effect of motivations and barriers on service involvement. I was invited to participate in both events last fall of 2019 as part of the TEDx interactive experience sessions. I used this opportunity to engage the audiences with my study.

The results of each study revealed two common themes.

First, most people feel connected rather than disconnected with their immediate community. Second, time is a greater barrier to volunteering for people than is finding service that has meaning.

This data has an important implication: it is not because students feel disconnected from their communities that constrains them from volunteering, but it is a lack of time.

“Ultimately, I hope this research provides valuable insight on community service and that it inspires not just high school students but students of all ages to explore their own passions”

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Figure a Where "immediate community" is defined as neighbors, friends, family, school/work, and city/county, do you feel:

22.1% 77.9%

Connected with your immediate community Disconneted with your immediate community Figure b Which of the following poses the most significat barrier for you when thinking about community service?

78.8%

21.2%

Finding service that has meaning Time

Data from a third study (this time digital) that I conducted on the SAAS Upper School student body reinforced these themes. In that study, roughly 78% of the 113 participants indicated that

they felt connected rather than disconnected with their immediate community (figure a).

Moreover, nearly 80% indicated that time posed a greater barrier to them than finding service with meaning (figure b).

This study further suggested why time is a substantial barrier for students: Service does not occupy a position of urgency in their lives relative to other more immediate matters. Out of six options, students labeled service as the least urgent yet most important matter in their life. They categorized academics, homework, social life, family, and extracurriculars all as deserving more attention and urgency—and thus time—than volunteering (figure c). The purple bar represents extracurriculars and the light blue bar represents family.

This survey illuminated an additional reason why high school students may have difficulty volunteering: lack of awareness. About 60% of the student participants responded that they were not aware of the service opportunities available to them in their community and greater than two-thirds indicated that they were not aware of the service opportunities offered at SAAS. So how can SAAS help? Members of the Community Engagement Organization, a community service group here at SAAS, and I decided that students could greatly benefit from having several service-learning days each year—designated time

throughout each trimester during which students could engage with a community of their choice.

We believe that service-learning days could help to address both the issues of time and awareness. They could help mitigate the stresses of school and academic work while also enabling students to explore their passions, advance a pressing social need, and forge personal connections—all without the burden of interference in their personal, non-student lives.

We feel that having several days of the year during which to reflect and engage with diverse causes and individuals would have a positive social, emotional, and academic impact on students. We hope to make this proposal to SAAS in the coming months.

In addition, we recently created a digital service-learning calendar as a part of our goal this year to increase student community engagement. We hope this calendar will further facilitate the service engagement process by providing students with a variety of organizations with which to volunteer and follow-up after service-learning days.

Ultimately, I hope this research provides valuable insight on community service and that it inspires not just high school students but students of all ages to explore their own passions and to get out into the community where they can practice questioning, imagining, creating, and contributing to a boldly changing world. ☜

Figure c Please categorize the following activities as you see best fit in your life

School/Academics Homework Community Service Social Life The Purple bar represents extracurriculars and the Light Blue bar represents family.

Urgent and Important

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Urgent but Unimportant

Not Urgent but Important

Neither Urgent nor Important

KNOW THE KID

KNOW THE KID

At Seattle Academy, we believe in the importance of relationships and knowing each student. One of the methods used to build those relationships and understanding is through our advisory system. The system pairs a small group of students with one adult who meets with them on a regular basis to see how the students are doing, review Social-Emotional topics, provide support in the registration process, and to bond as a group. Following is an overview of the advisory system in the Middle and Upper Schools.

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KNOW THE KID

Middle School Advisory System Written by Dan Eberle, Middle School Dean of Students

Philosophically, the Middle School advisory program is one of the most visible ways SAAS accomplishes one of its main Guiding Principles: “Know the Kid.” The unique blend of formal Social Emotional Learning(SEL) activities and informal, communal routines naturally builds both peer and student-faculty relationships that become assets for kids and adults alike. In the Middle School, students are assigned a grade-level advisory group and a faculty advisor each year of their Middle School experience.

In addition to going through the start-of-year orientation and opening days together as a group, advisory meets four times a week throughout the year. The first meeting of each week occurs during an extended advisory/community block, which allows space for advisories to experience planned activities and lessons related to SEL. The curriculum is appropriately geared to reflect each grade level and developmental experience, and it incorporates topical school community conversations and real-world events. Topics might include online citizenship, understanding and developing empathy, hea lthy friendsh ips, a nd respectful language. Advisory

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also meets Tuesday through Thursday during a scheduled morning break. This time is used informally, to connect and check in, and also to clean out lockers and binders and to stay up-to-date on work and remain organized. Activities include announcements, sharing highs and lows from the week, writing in gratitude journals, and playing games together. Advisors also use this time to individually check in with students and help facilitate any support plans that are needed.

As each advisory develops its own weekly check-in practices and comfort with SEL activities, the advisor gains familiarity with many dimensions of their advisees’ lives. In this way, each advisor grows into being a steady advocate for their

advisees’ needs, as well as a source of honest feedback. For example, if a student is experiencing difficulty in a particular subject area, the advisor would start a conversation about options for getting extra help, explore the source of the student’s struggle, and coordinate with parents and Academic Support services. In short, the advisor serves as the initial source of support because of their familiarity with the student. And the closeness of the relationship—the ”Knowing the Kid”—automatically starts the support response in an advantageous place.

Ultimately, the SAAS advisory program is successful because it is designed to develop high-quality relationships for community members to lean on when they

need to. In Middle School, some student issues involve simple solutions with linear paths towards being resolved; others are naturally nuanced by the needs and the situation of the individual student. It has been our experience at SAAS that kids are more likely to advocate for themselves and seek help when they feel connected to adults and peers. This doesn’t happen by accident at SAAS, and it’s a credit to the intentional design of the Middle School’s advisory program that kids quickly build relationships and establish a sense of community that will serve them in a variety of ways throughout their Middle School years. ☜

Upper School Advisory System Written by Jarad Gifford, Assistant Head of Upper School

As in the Middle School, the approach and philosophy of advisory in the Upper School is to support SAAS’s Guiding Principle of “Know the Kid” and allow advisors to build community amongst their group of ten student/advisees. Upper School advisories are by grade level, and most advisors stay with their advisory group for all four years.

At the start of their 9th grade year, students attend the Odyssey Trip as an advisory.

Students have been going on the trip, a three day-two night backpacking trip to various state and national parks, for many years. Advisors use this trip to build a foundation of trust for the next four years together.

The trip is an opportunity to set a tone not only for the year but far beyond, by building relationships between students and advisors in an environment other than the classroom and in an environment that tends to push students outside their comfort zone and into a growth zone. All the while creating a shared experience for all students along with their faculty advisor.

Being a 9th grade co-advisor this year, I had the opportunity with my partner to observe my group as they embarked on all the preparations for Odyssey Trip. I got to see some excitedly prepare for the trip, while others nervously packed, anticipating the unknown, if this was going to

be their first time backpacking in the wilderness. Upon their return to school, late in the afternoon after day three, they all had the same look on their faces: a combination of accomplishment along with a healthy dose of exhaustion.

Although that trip was in September, six months later they still talk about times they shared together, disconnected from technology, playing on an ocean beach or sitting by the campfire.

Growing and expanding the Upper School Advisory program is an important goal as we strive to provide students with skills they will likely need as they navigate an ever-changing and complex

world. Teaching students skills such as self-awareness, self-advocacy, empathy, conf lict resolution, and stress management should have a place not only across content areas but also be addressed outside the classroom at the guidance of a trusted adult. advisory offers a place where students are asked to build community, reflect on performance in the classroom, identify their strengths and areas of challenges as learners, as well as to get guidance on how to use communication that demonstrates self-advocacy.

Advisors look to build strong and lasting relationships with students over the course of their Upper School experience. They use moments such as course

registration, credit tracking, parent/teacher conferences, grade level retreats, and social events as touchstones to not only build relationships, but to truly understand each of their advisees as individuals, in addition to being a point person and support for each of their families. By understanding who each student is, advisors are able to leverage their relationship to grow the network of mentors for the student, as well as to know when to encourage the student to register for a class they never thought they would, to know when to offer space for reflection, or simply to be there to listen. ☜

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KNOW THE KID

Recently our Division Heads reflected on several questions regarding their work at SAAS including what energizes them, what their favorite time of the day is, and what hopes they have for their divisions.

Here are their responses to these those questions:

REFLECTIONS Julia Kassissieh Head of the Middle School

The sense of belonging in our Middle School space energizes me every day. It is the combination of our institutional belief in a broad definition of talent and the connections I have every day with so many extraordinary people that make our community so vibrant. This broad notion of talent deeply resonates with my own beliefs and what I want for our Middle School. It sows the seeds of inclusiveness and opens the mind to many possibilities.

My favorite time of day is lunchtime when our students are busy socializing, working in the maker lab, planning events in the Seattle Academy Leadership Team (SALT), contributing to the work of the community, playing soccer on our rooftop playground, or dining in our beautiful common space.

Teachers are providing support to students, collaborating as a grade level, supervising clubs, and getting to know students outside of the classroom. The Middle School at lunch reminds 48

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me of a busy town and shows me how much our students love being at school. This is always my hope for our students and a differentiator in middle schools.

Our students love to be here!

That they feel heard, welcomed, seen, understood, and valued in our Middle School community.

Leading for an inclusive community and the future is no simple act. It is always in the service of others but also for the future of the organization. Our faculty reach out to students daily to make connections, understand our students more fully, and to demonstrate the commitment we all share for their care. We do this one person to another, day in and day out, making our choices together as a community to reach across all our differences and see the potential in each one of us. I hope that we can maintain our deep knowledge of students and leverage that for continued innovation in our Middle School program. ☜

Giselle Furlonge Head of Upper School

My favorite time of day at SAAS comes at around 7:30 AM as I walk into a quiet Arts Center.

Walking down the hall to my AC206 office I often stop to contemplate the carefully hung student artwork. As my eyes are drawn to the color contrast or different textures of the beautiful pieces, I mentally run through my calendar for the day.

If it’s a Visit Day, I’ll begin with a Parent Coffee where I have the opportunity to share with prospective families what drew me to Seattle Academy and what I find energizing about working with the faculty and students.

On other days I might engage in a Upper School Division Team meeting where we engage on a variety of topics—ranging from planning the next Upper School Meeting to considering innovations in our advisory program.

My favorite mornings begin with a classroom visit where I see our students in action, participating in a seminar discussion or undertaking a lab experiment.

What has excited me most in my role as Head of the Upper School has been the opportunity to continue my career in an environment that places academic curiosity and a commitment to kindness at its center. In those quiet moments before students and faculty fully arrive I eagerly anticipate what the day promises—the exciting messiness of learning, the joy of collaboration, and the thrill of educating students to lead lives that make a difference in the world.

I came to SAAS because I saw my own personal and professional ethos visibly reflected in the school’s commitment to inclusion and belief in a broad definition of human talent and potential. SAAS is a school animated by a culture of reflection, civic engagement, and an abiding adherence to a powerful imperative to “Know the Kid.” Each day affords new possibilities for how to imagine and enact that mission as we grow our community. ☜

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A COUNSELOR′S APPROACH TO KNOW THE KID

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Leigh Hopkins

Jonathon Friedman

Jennifer Nelson

Director of Counseling

Upper School Counselor

Middle School Counselor

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The middle and high school years are filled with many “firsts” and transitions. It is at these pivotal moments when kids think about where they’ve been, where they come from, how they got there, and where they are going. As counselors, our role is to create and provide a space to support our students through these often seemingly insurmountable challenges, at a time in their development when they are still learning which tools and skills are needed to get them through. However, nothing we say or do will have much impact without the anchor of a solid relationship.

“Knowing the Kid” is at the core of our work as counselors.

In order for us to most effectively support students, they need to feel that they can trust us and that we genuinely care about

and understand them as unique individuals. Our role is different from other faculty in that we are not in the classroom each day or coaching students on a team, so we strive to find other ways to connect with students and see them for who they are.

So what does “Know the Kid” in terms of counseling look like, concretely? It looks like visits to the classroom, whether that’s presenting curriculum on resilience, healthy relationships, mental health and well-being, or facilitating a discussion where students work together to solve their own problems and empathize with and support one another. It looks like a ‘hello’ in the hallway and addressing students by their names. It looks like teachers, coordinators, coaches, and front desk staff connecting kids to us

when they notice that they are struggling or might need some support. It looks like parents reaching out when they are at a crossroads, feeling stuck, and looking for ways to help their kids. It looks like meeting with teachers, coordinators, and coaches to get a pulse on what’s happening with kids so we can understand the fuller picture.

It looks like candy and snacks in our offices. It looks like joining parent coffees and education events to share ideas and better understand the needs and concerns of our SAAS families.

It looks like joining students on grade-level retreats. It looks like learning over time what empathy and support look like to the kid sitting in front of us, right at that moment, and acknowledging that it might look completely different than

it did for the kid we met with an hour earlier. It looks like celebrating over and over again the stress that was effectively managed, the paper that was completed, the social issue that was worked through, in a way that the kid sitting in front of us can hear it and believe that they themselves CAN work through these daunting “firsts,” challenges, and transitions.

The real metric isn’t whether or not we feel like we know the kid, it’s whether or not they feel like they are known. At times, that’s aspirational, but it’s an aspiration worth working toward, one interaction at a time. ☜

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KNOW THE KID

THE SAAS MISSION IN ACTION Zach Cohen ’20

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My name is Zach Cohen, and I am a Senior here at Seattle Academy. SAAS is a dynamic community, and students have always questioned, imagined, and created. Over my seven years here, I have been an active participant in the school’s Mission—to question and create—and I have observed many of my peers doing the same.

I first began to actively question during my sophomore year when we had periodic Health Days. At that time, we would obtain our health credit during full days devoted to classes on physical and mental health.

One of those classes was about suicide prevention, a health topic most of my friends and I

had never been taught before.

During the class, my friends and I had many questions that weren’t able to be answered, because there was not enough time in the session for extensive questions. We also realized that many students in the class were hesitant to ask questions because of the uncomfortable subject matter.

After our experience with Health Days, a group of students and I pushed up against the school’s administration, because we thought that students should be active in educating each other. We felt that if more time were given to suicide prevention training and mental health work, then those subjects would become

less taboo. The more people were able to talk comfortably about suicide and mental health, the more effectively we could help prevent suicide.

Because we questioned, we were eventually able to work with the administration to create the Suicide Prevention and Awareness Council.

We also thought that if it were students administering the “LEARN” Suicide Prevention Training program to other students, it might make for a safer environment for those being taught. The training is focused on reducing suicide by empowering individuals and communities to take sustainable action, championing systemic change, and restoring

hope to foster a world that openly addresses suicide and mental health with compassion. This was something we could stand behind as we believe students might feel more comfortable asking questions on the topic of suicide to other students rather than adults.

The leaders and administrators at SAAS were not only willing to listen to our feedback but were ready to help us put our ideas into action. My group of student peers are all now certified to train other students in suicide prevention, and we have done that in multiple 9th grade Health classes. Our LEARN training is now integrated into the school’s new health curriculum.

Additionally, we created, coordinated, and ran a SAAS Health and Wellness Week in the Spring of 2019, with various activities including a panel and LEARN suicide prevention training led by students.

Because the health week last year was so well received and successful, we planned three different-themed health weeks through the 2019–20 school year.

One of these is devoted to mental health and suicide prevention.

Just simply asking questions in health class lead to schoolwide change, and that's the beauty of SAAS. SAAS gives students a unique opportunity to question, imagine, and create.

Questioning doesn’t come easy. It also takes a willing group of SAAS leaders to open themselves to feedback and frustration. I’m grateful to be part of a dynamic community that listens and supports students so we can contribute boldly today and into the future. ☜

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KNOW THE KID

SAAS CLUBS Clubs are one of the many ways students at Seattle Academy get involved outside of the classroom. For many, our club program is a place where they can share their passions and dive into a particular interest. For many others, our club program simply provides a space where they can create new bonds and be a part of something. That “being a part of something” is one of many stepping stones towards students feeling confident, willing to try new things, and willing to take risks—things we believe are essential to students growing, learning, and becoming the best versions of themselves.

In any given year, SAAS will offer between forty and fifty clubs for students to join. Our approach to clubs is that they must be student-organized. Clubs range from informal and internal-facing, to external projects and partnerships with national organizations. The hope is that there is something for every student. And if there is not, propose it! Any student can start a club by submitting a proposal and finding a faculty advisor to work with them.

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The following are profiles of two new clubs that were added for the 2019–2020 school year.

Latinx Club

Middle School Advisor: Kenzie Rosengreen Vivian Spinner ’26 started the Latinx Club at SAAS. Vivian wanted to create a space for students to gather with the goal of learning about Latinx culture and celebrating Latinx traditions. The club is open to all.

Typically, each meeting starts with a mini-lesson about a topic and is followed by an activity (craft, movie, game) and food. At our last club meeting, students learned about the history of pinatas before decorating them and trying Mexican candy. For Day of the Dead, students learned the purpose and history behind the Mexican holiday. After learning about the holiday, students watched the movie CoCo and ate Day of the Dead bread. Other activities included making Guatemalan worry dolls and playing various games.

SAAStastic CyberPatriot Club

Upper School Advisor: Ernie Drumm

CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Education Program created by the Air Force Association to inspire K-12 students toward careers in cybersecurity or other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines critical to our nation's future. The SAAStastic CyberPatriot cybersecurity team consists of Lex Capestany ’22, Kavi Dey ’22, Emily Myint ’22, Adam Olsen ’22, and Amavi Santos ’22. With over four thousand teams competing in six divisions, the SAAS team competed in two preliminary rounds to place them in the Gold Division with over eleven hundred other teams, and they ultimately finished in third place in the Washington State competition of the National Youth Cyber Education Program.

While some clubs come and go due to student interest, there are those that become firmly established as part of the school culture.

Community Engagement Organization

Upper School Advisor: Rick DuPree

Community Engagement Organization (CEO) is a studentrun club that leads service learning efforts at Seattle Academy and has been doing so for almost two decades.

CEO offers students weekly, monthly, and annual opportunities to become involved with organizations in the Seattle community that work to advance causes, ranging from social justice to environmental justice, and animal welfare to educational inequity. The group’s mission is to encourage students to build meaningful relationships in their community and to empower students in their ability to create change. They value intellectual curiosity, creativity, informed activism, and service rooted in learning.

The group hopes that service learning opportunities will enable students to gain deeper insight into not only their community and world’s needs, but also into their own passions. Ultimately, they want students to understand that their actions count. The group encourages their peers to take a risk, get out into the community where they can practice questioning, imagining, creating, and contributing boldly to a changing world.

Futsal Club

Middle and Upper School Advisor: Brooks Hopp ’08 The Futsal Club was started in 2017 by Kaleabe Abebe ’18, Angelo Calfo ’18, Bafode Drame ’20, Sally Menti ’20, Gage Raftery ’19, and Adrian Valentine ’19. The club grew in response to kids who loved soccer but who didn’t have an available field to play. They wanted to start a club to bring the love of soccer into a fun and friendly indoor game shared with students of all grade levels and backgrounds.

The players wanted to meet new students, get to know them better, and connect with each other through sports.

The club has grown to over sixty students with an average attendance in the mid-twenties on any given day.

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COLLEGE AND LIFE

Two seniors reflect back on their seven year “career” here at SAAS in honor of their upcoming graduation.

Sadie Cook ’20

I began my time at SAAS almost seven years ago. To an incoming family, my initial experience then might be unrecognizable now: both the STREAM and new Middle School Buildings did not exist, there was no Music Production class nor Robotics programs of such high caliber, and the weekly schedule allowed for only one double block a week per class.

I entered the 6th grade unsure of who I was and where I was headed, yet SAAS provided me opportunities to explore every budding facet of my identity. It not only provided them, but encouraged me to take advantage of them, too.

As each year passed, I watched SAAS grow; and I found myself growing alongside it. I now see that it is an extremely unique privilege to be able to watch your own administration take risks, combat challenges, and broaden their horizons while you do so, as well. I was taught within each of my academic classes, but also by observing the process by which my school altered

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its perspectives and goals in order to cultivate impactful worldly contributions. It was under this mindset that I felt confident enough to leave SAAS and attend a semester-abroad program. Of course, SAAS supported my re-entry seamlessly, but even more so was that faculty members genuinely cared about the way my semester-abroad experience had influenced my notions of positive learning environments. I felt supported in the same way I had in the community I had created abroad; comforting, as I had been fearful I would not find that support again. In hindsight, it is unsurprising that SAAS proved me wrong.

While I still have much to learn, I leave SAAS knowing the areas of life that ignite a drive within me. I had little interest in music at eleven; now I spend a significant portion of my week practicing with The Onions, the school’s top jazz choir. Reproductive rights were far from my mind, yet today I co-lead the Planned Parenthood Club and helped plan this year’s first schoolwide Sexual Health Week. I owe these interests and many more to SAAS. For, as much as SAAS is an entirely different place from when I started, it has not strayed from its heart. Students can and always will be able to take an introductory course in Ceramics and go on to be an Advanced Art student, or join the Youth Legislature Club and discover their passion for civic engagement. The options are unlimited, and I am excited to see the path SAAS chooses to take as the school grows and society changes over the next set of seven years. ☜

Ben Heymann ’20

It’s important to note that I haven’t been to any schools other than independent schools, so I don’t necessarily have any other perspective. With that said, I know beyond a doubt that SAAS’s structure and culture as an institution have allowed me to explore my personal interests and passions much more than a non-independent school might have. For instance, my passion for music—songwriting, production, and performance—has led me, over the past five or so years, to seriously pursue that interest and spend a significant amount of time working at it.

SAAS both allowed and encouraged the pursuit of my passions and supported me however they could.

With regard to some of the disadvantages, SAAS simply doesn’t have the size and resources that other schools

do, and that was reflected in some of my experiences at the school.

My junior year English teacher, Kevin Kimura, was potentially the most significant influence on my experience at SAAS. He is not only astonishingly smart and well-versed in literature, but he really put effort into developing meaningful relationships with us students. It was an absolute blessing to learn from him and explore the language and writing with him. One of the most valuable truths I learned from him: you don’t always have to say something to say it.

In hindsight, I think it would have been valuable to better understand the Culture of Performance at SAAS. The school offers such an amazing set of opportunities to cultivate a stage presence and develop confidence that I don’t think any other school I know of has. Having participated in that Culture of Performance, I only wish I had taken more of the opportunities offered.

Without a doubt, the biggest takeaways from my experience at SAAS were the confidence to do the most amazing thing I can think of, the perseverance to continue when it seems like things aren’t coming together, and the empathy to help others out along the way. ☜

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COLLEGE AND LIFE

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Seattle Academy’s Culture of Performance, Applied

GRADUATING SENIORS REFLECT ON SEATTLE ACADEMY COLLEGE ADVISING

When a student arrives for their first College Advising meeting, everything can seem so big and so unknown. In the swirl of different pressures, students want to be seen and respected for who they are.

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Seattle Academy College Advising identifies key approaches that make the process successful and even enjoyable.

It understands that the risks required

by SAAS’s Culture of Performance build muscle memory on which applicants can draw. Appreciating kids as people allows College Advising to individualize support and encouragement. We identify and showcase what is special in each student. And when we tell students and families we are going to do something, we follow through.

Our six-person office is unique among Seattle independent schools. It includes four full-time college advisors with decades of experience in selective college admission, as well as two colleagues dedicated to everything from ensuring answers to the questions of 9th and 10th grade families to close oversight of the office’s important application systems. This “big and small” office means broader variety and depth of admission expertise, personal attention to students and families, and critical attention to detail.

Annually, one hundred percent of our college applicants gain admission to one or more colleges, among them the nation’s most selective.We love our work and could write at length about it. But instead, we’re humbled and delighted to share the reflections of current 12th grade college advisees.

ON HOW COLLEGE ADVISING FOSTERS STUDENTS’ SUCCESS Sydney Grayson ’20 In a time of maintaining your GPA and signing up for standardized tests,

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Sydney Grayson ’20

added stress is the last thing a student needs. That’s why when I scheduled my first meeting with college advisor Dave Thomas—in whose office I was convinced I would be during every lunch preceding senior fall—I was prepared to add to my seemingly never-ending list of things to be stressed about. However, College Advising fostered an environment where I escaped familial, peer, and self-pressure and used its expertise to discover the best institution for me.

In moments of panic—“How do I send official score reports?” “How can I convey in 100 words that this is the place for me?!”—Dave responded within a day and never failed to put my worries to rest. His office was a place of solitude in which everything I was stressed about was never belittled and was always resolved. Although Dave’s door was always open, I found myself meeting with him less frequently as I continued the process. He gave me the foundation to recognize what I wanted in a school and improved my writing so it was second nature to complete colleges’ supplements.

Sam Rawlins ’20

I appreciated how Dave focused on finding a college that was right for me.

We all know of students who picked schools for the wrong reasons, whether for external rankings, selectivity metrics, or family member opinions. I will now be attending a college next fall that I chose, and Dave's support gave me the confidence to make that selection

ON THE INTENTIONAL AND THOUGHTFUL PROCESS OF FINDING A GREAT FIT COLLEGE Sam Rawlins’20 When the day came to choose between the two colleges to which I would apply early decision (ED), I was stuck. I weighed the pros and cons of each college to find a deciding factor that would allow me to say, “Yes, this is the one,” but I eventually reached a point where I was overthinking, the facts became trivial, and I realized that, metaphorically speaking, I needed to listen to my heart.

So, I hopped on my bike and pedaled to Seward Park in the chilly autumn air. Here, beneath the setting pink sky,

Ari Porad ’20

I let go of the rankings and statistics and allowed myself some existential freedom to reflect. I listened to the birds and the water and my soul. Come sundown I drew from somewhere inside a feeling that I belonged in New Orleans.

And, so, I applied to Tulane University.

I initially pondered the merit of my decision—“Was it wrong to decide my future based on a compelling feeling?”— but reflecting on my past seven years at SAAS, I realized that I could trust this feeling. Indeed, SAAS’s Culture of Performance helped demonstrate to me that as long I had a foundation of preparation, taking risks would always lead to profound growth.

College Advising further deepened this trust. My college advisor, Misa Kabashima, helped and encouraged me to conduct rigorous college research into a range of universities we both saw as potential fits. She also balanced giving me helpful suggestions with an understanding that it was important for me to make decisions on my own. Most importantly, she helped me engage in personal reflection, through which I

became clearer about my identity and more confident about making significant life decisions.

And so, on that momentous autumn evening, although that compelling feeling may not have provided me with absolute certainty, it gave me an answer that I knew to be true to myself and thus one to which I knew I must listen.

ON HOW STUDENTS AND COLLEGE ADVISING PROCESS INFORMATION TOGETHER Ari Porad ’20 I have successfully applied to college, and been accepted to several.

Conceptually, I always knew that would happen. Yet, I have a vivid memory of talking to my mother last April and feeling hopelessly lost. I had a list of fifty colleges that I was “considering,” which varied by three orders of magnitude on every possible metric.

They each required a delightfully inconsistent set of documents, test scores, and “We’re special, so jump through this hoop for us” caveats.

I had no idea what to do next.

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Fortunately, I wasn’t alone in this process—I had the help of the amazing SAAS College Advising Department, led by my college advisor, Melanie Reed. So, I did what would quickly become my go-to course of action and sent her an email detailing (perhaps too thoroughly) my concerns. As always, she immediately knew not only how I was feeling but also had a detailed answer to each of my questions and set up a meeting to go over them in person.

At first, I assumed this was just an anomaly. As I progressed through the process, however, I discovered the exact opposite was true: any time I—or any of my friends—had any college-related problem, College Advising always knew exactly how to solve it. They guided us through the chaos of college admissions, lighting the way and helping us when we got lost. I absolutely couldn’t have done it without them.

Lucy Waggoner ’20

ON HOW STUDENTS ENCOUNTER IN COLLEGE ADVISING SOUND ADVICE AND A SENSE OF FUN Lucy Waggoner ’20 I came to SAAS in 6th grade, and for several years, College Advising was just another nondescript corner I walked by in the Vanderbilt Building. College was too far away to worry about when I could stress over finals and math grades and “end-of-trimester” performances instead.

But as junior year started and college replaced weather as my go-to small talk, the College Advising team became more and more familiar. And ironically, that corner in the building became one of my favorite refuges from college stress. It was always warm, with cozy chairs, free candy (Dave always carries Werther’s) and words of reassurance or practicality as I needed them.

Lucas Sherman ’20

Harlow Brumett-Dunn ’20

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Dropping by College Advising always made the process feel more approachable and reminded me that applying to college could be about finding a good fit for me, not just trying to impress admissions officers. Even if my college counselor wasn’t available, someone’s door was always open. Once, I stopped by because I was agonizing over my Early Decision choice. Dave was in a meeting, but Misa walked over and, to my surprise, already knew which school I was looking at, what I liked about it, and what I hoped to do there.

I realized that College Advising shared an interest in and information about all of the students because they aren’t just individual counselors; they work as a team. Although my application process is thankfully over, the College Advising corner is still one of my favorite spots.

I make sure to visit whenever I can.

ON HOW THE PROCESS TEACHES PEOPLE MORE ABOUT THEMSELVES Lucas Sherman ’20 More than anything, the college advising process has taught me what I value. I obviously learned more about what I value in a college (programs, facilities, extracurricular activities).

But even more meaningfully, I learned the values by which I seek to live.

The college search process is such an introspective one through which you're forced to look more deeply at who you are. I was forced to look at the activities I've done throughout high school, the people I've surrounded myself with, and the communities I've tried to build.

Through this lens of looking back, I remembered why I did certain activities and the underlying motivation behind them. Election to student government and my role in the Suicide Prevention Council grew from a visceral reaction

to what felt like the need to give more attention to suicide prevention. The Other Six (my nonprofit I co-founded) helped those left in the wake of suicide.

Finally, Robotics grew my friend group.

Rarely in your life are you given the opportunity truly to look at the scope and scale of your life. At first, it seemed really overwhelming, but after frequent trips to College Advising, and especially to my college advisor, Misa, I felt really solid in understanding who I am as a person. Conversations there ranged from what I want the ethos of my university to be, to the best kind of French fries, to the 2020 presidential candidates. I truly understood more of who I am and, even more importantly, who I want to be going into the future.

ON HOW STUDENTS ULTIMATELY PROCESS THEIR COLLEGE CHOICES Harlowe Brumett-Dunn ’20 Beginning in elementary school, my life has been on a steady one-way track to prepare for the future. Everything had been planned out so that I may access the best opportunities for furthering my education and subsequent career.

Because of my athletic recruiting schedule, SAAS College Advising joined ranks with me in 10th grade.

I first met my college advisor when I was debating which courses to take in for 11th grade. With my rigorous student-athlete schedule and knowledge of potential offers from colleges, I needed to know which classes I could take to keep a balanced schedule and also not burn out.

Like her coworkers in College Advising, my advisor Melanie Reed had helped other D1 athletes through this process and had the experience to answer all of my questions. From the end of my junior year to the beginning

of my senior year, I began to receive offers from colleges. I was overwhelmed with great options and had a difficult time deciding. However, Melanie helped me stay patient and carefully pick through the details while staying on top of deadlines.

Every time I’d come back from “official visits,” I would meet with Melanie and go over the pros and cons of each school. We would weigh my thoughts and impressions, and she would patiently wait as I flipped back and forth with the weight of the decision. She used her free time to edit my essays and supported me through one of the toughest choices of my life.

With Melanie’s help, in December I was officially accepted to and chose to attend Princeton University. Her help and support not only got me through the logistics of the college applications but also the emotional strain of a life-changing decision. ☜

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COLLEGE AND LIFE

By Blaire Piha Shainsky ’07, Major Gifts Officer

Alumni Highlights Alec Fiebig ’11 graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2015 and commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Infantry. After graduating from Infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course and US Army Ranger School in 2016, then- Lieutenant Fiebig moved to Fort Drum, New York where he served as a Rifle Platoon Leader in the historic 10th Mountain Division. As a Platoon Leader, he successfully deployed his unit to Camp Lemonier, Djibouti in support of the East Africa Response Force. Upon return stateside he served as the Assistant Operations Officer for 1-32 Infantry Battalion. He was promoted to Captain in April 2019 and is at this time lives in Fort Benning, GA. Currently, Captain Fiebig is an instructor at the Infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course.

Captain Fiebig’s qualifications and awards include US Army Ranger Tab, Expert Infantryman Badge, Airborne Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, French Desert Commando Badge, Army Commendation Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Achievement Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Cluster, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

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Nina Finley ’12 is a disease ecologist investigating ecological solutions to human health problems. After graduating from Whitman College in 2017, she spent two years researching the unseen but all-important directors of our planet —microbes!—in Brazil, Madagascar,

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GODE ’14 PUBLISHED IN THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION BLOG

Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Canadian Arctic. She writes grants for the rainforest non-profit Health In Harmony and articles for the environmental news site Mongabay.

Now living in London, she is a Marshall Scholar pursuing a master’s degree in One Health, a field that integrates public health with veterinary medicine.

Jeremiah Hobbs ’14 currently teaches in the Middle School at SAAS in the new Financial Literacy and Computational Thinking courses. Since graduating from SAAS, Jeremiah has served in different leadership roles during his continuing education. While at Peninsula College, Jeremiah served as the Director of Event Planning, coordinating events for students and the community of Port Angeles. After finishing at Peninsula College, Jeremiah continued his basketball career as a captain on the University of Puget Sound basketball team while completing his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science/Business.

Jeremiah loves to connect with people in many ways and is super excited to be back building and establishing more relationships in Seattle.

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Joel Hobbs ’04 is a Tool Maker at Boeing Everett. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Morehouse College in Business Administration in Finance and a Minor in Economics. He earned a Certificate in Aerospace Tooling and Manufacturing from Renton Technical College. Learning and business is a passion of his, he's been operating his own DJ business for ten

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Jackson Gode ’14, a Research Analyst in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, has seen many of his articles published online. The Brookings Institution, based in Washington, DC, is a top-ranked public policy think tank in the world. Their mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national, and global level.

Jackson's work at Brookings addresses a variety of domestic policy topics and issues including voting rights, congressional oversight of the presidential Administration, and tax politics. He is currently overseeing a multi-state research project testing the effectiveness of voter registration at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites.

While at Seattle Academy, Jackson was an active member in the Youth Legislature program and served as the 2014 Youth Secretary of State. On multiple occasions throughout high school, he traveled to the state capitol in Olympia which allowed him to meet with various politicians, including current Governor Jay Inslee.

We are happy to see Jackson pursuing interests that were identified and nurtured at SAAS. Congratulations on his accomplishments and contributions in Washington, DC.

LORENZINI ’15 WINS AWARDS FOR THESIS ON BLONDE WOMEN AS VISUAL SYMBOLS IN MEDIA My name is Sierra Lorenzini, and I graduated from Seattle Academy in 2015, which feels like both a lifetime and a blink of an eye ago. After SAAS, I attended Duke University, from which I graduated this past May with a major in Visual and Media Studies, a minor in Computer Science, and a certificate in Information Science.

During college, I was a User Experience (UX)/ Game Design intern for two summers at Microsoft Studios Global Publishing, where I fell in love with UX for gaming. I now work as a UX Designer at Turn 10

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Studios (owned by Microsoft), where I am working on the new installment of the Forza Motorsport Series.

However, the award I am writing about now has nothing to do with video games. At the end of my junior year of college, I decided I wanted to write a thesis with my favorite professor as my advisor. I eventually landed on the subject of the use of blonde women as a visual symbol in media, a subject I cared about as I have been blonde my whole life. I won two awards for my work, the first being the Visual and Media Studies Award for Outstanding Thesis, given to a few graduating seniors in the department each year.

Inspired by this win, I then applied to and eventually won the Middlesworth Award, which is given to outstanding research that uses primary sources and rare materials from Duke’s Rubenstein Library. Utilizing the incredible sources held at the Rubenstein was one of my favorite parts of my Duke career, so it was a no-brainer for me to include it in my research for my thesis. I analyzed advertisements that included ideological images of blonde women which Rubenstein had through their acquisition of the collection of feminist media scholar Jean Kilbourne.

Researching and writing was difficult at times, but I think it was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, and I was honored to receive both awards for something I worked so hard on. If you are interested in reading more, here is a link to my portfolio, which includes my thesis entitled “Fair Haired: Considering Blonde Women in Film and Advertising.” ☜

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years and recently earned his real estate license where he operates as an investor and agent. He's currently enrolled at City University of Seattle working towards an MBA in Project Management.

James Reinhardt ’99 was born in Boulder CO in 1980 to a music teacher and chemist.

Moving to Philadelphia at age 2, James and his brother Alexander (also a SAAS alum) grew up in until James was 11 and moved to Seattle. He would spend one year at UCDS. After graduating James found Seattle Academy, an exciting new school environment. There he would continue on throughout high school with the exception of his junior year when his family traveled between Boston and Melbourne, Australia.

Attending school in the two other cities, an interest in black and white photography eventually produced a portfolio that would gain acceptance to the Rhode Island School of Design where James ended up discovering Industrial Design. He graduated in 2004 and moved back to Seattle where he enjoyed a brief stint as an acrobat in a local circus before creating sculptures for Burning Man. While gaining experience with metalworking James started Forward Fabrication in 2012 making custom lighting and furniture.

In 2015 James purchased Pacific Sheet Metal and has been working with local school groups and creating custom metal projects for the greater Seattle area and beyond.

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Geneva Shaunette ’05 graduated with a degree in Athletic Medicine from the University of Michigan before moving to the tiny mountain town of Telluride, CO. She spent five years managing one of the first recreational cannabis businesses, leading the compliance division of the company through many regulation changes and immense growth. After the cannabis world, she co-founded a business development and event company, opened a shared-use commercial kitchen, and was elected to the Town of Telluride city council to fight for affordable housing. She and her wife participate extensively in the local art scene and produce a storytelling event and podcast called the Downlow. ☜

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By Bailey Zahniser ’08

Alumni Holiday Party Recap THANKS SO MUCH to all who attended the annual Alumni Holiday Party last December, and to all who worked hard planning the event! For the third year in a row, Rachel’s Ginger Beer graciously hosted us at their Capitol Hill location, and we got to munch on a crazy delicious spread offered by the Ma’Ono Fried Chicken pop-up shop.

The Alumni Holiday Party lives in a magical space between excitement and dread for me, as a member of the Alumni community, I love going to the event, not just because I’m on the Alumni Board and we put a ton of thought and time into planning it, but because I love having the space to be able to connect with friends new and old.

Granted, I understand these events are mostly designed for extroverts, and being a huge extrovert, I enjoy navigating these social settings. So much so, that every year I make a goal to talk to at least one Alumni whom I didn’t previously know, which is always exciting and fun for me.

The dread part floats around those little moments when you recognize someone’s face,

EVERY YEAR I MAKE A GOAL TO TALK TO AT LEAST ONE ALUMNI WHOM I DIDN’T PREVIOUSLY KNOW, WHICH IS ALWAYS EXCITING AND FUN FOR ME.

but stare a little too long at their name tag, or you just completely can’t remember who so-and-so is. I guess the school’s Culture of Performance can somehow hauntingly follow you to events like these, pushing you out of your comfort zone or making you empathize with the awkwardness of others in this particular social situation.

One of the lovely parts of this event was seeing so many SAAS faculty! I think this was the largest faculty turnout at this event in a long time. With SAAS’s growth over the years, I have often heard that faculty feel they won’t see alumni they know, or that they feel the event isn’t for them. This year, however, it was an awesome turnout! It is really so cool to watch faculty and alumni reconnect.

Guests at this party represented classes from the 1990s to 2019! I look forward to next year, when maybe even more 2008 Alumni will show up. During the holidays, it’s always hard to plan and schedule a time that works for everyone, but next year, if you are in Seattle stop by, grab a drink, load a plate full of food, and talk to at least one person you didn’t previously know! ☜

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Middle School 1137 13th Avenue Seattle, WA 98122 (206)323-6600

Upper School 1201 E. Union Seattle, WA 98122 (206)323-6600

@seattleacademy

FALL TRIMESTER

WINTER TRIMESTER

SPRING TRIMESTER

AUGUST 24 Upper School Fall Sports Begin 30 6th Grade Family Welcome Social 01 Middle School New Family Kick Off 02 Orientation Day for 6th–9th Grades 02 Class of 2024 Fall Kick Off 03 First Day of School for All Grades (6th–12th) 07 Labor Day NO CLASSES 25 Fall Sports Mania 28 Yom Kippur NO CLASSES

NOVEMBER 30 Winter Trimester Begins

MARCH 08 Spring Trimester Begins

DECEMBER 11 Middle School Basketball Mania 18 Upper School Basketball Mania 21 Winter Break Begins NO CLASSES

APRIL 08–16 Spring Break NO CLASSES 30 Spring Trimester Mid-Term

OCTOBER 09 Professional Development Day NO CLASSES 12 Fall Mid-Term NO CLASSES NOVEMBER 03 Election Day NO CLASSES 11 Veterans Day NO CLASSES 18–20 Fall Trimester Final Exams 23–24 Parent-Teacher Conferences NO CLASSES 25–27 Thanksgiving Holiday NO CLASSES

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seattleacademy.org

BEST OF SAAS

VOL. 19 | 2020

JANUARY 01 Winter Break Ends NO CLASSES 04 Professional Development Day NO CLASSES 05 Classes Resume 18 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day NO CLASSES 22 Winter Trimester Mid-Term NO CLASSES FEBRUARY 15 Presidents’ Day NO CLASSES 16–19 Mid-Winter Break NO CLASSES 27 SAAS in the City MARCH 01–03 Winter Trimester Final Exams 04–05 Professional Development NO CLASSES

MAY 14 Middle School Symposium

MIDDLE SCHOOL NOON DISMISSAL 31 Memorial Day NO CLASSES JUNE 07 NOON DISMISSAL 08 Class of 2021 Commencement Ceremony 09 Professional Development NO CLASSES 11, 14, 15 Spring Trimester Final Exams 15 Last Day of School 16 8th Grade Moving Up Ceremony

SCHOOL WILL START AND BREAKS WILL HAPPEN AS SCHEDULED. ——— OTHER EVENT DATES MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.