TA L K O F T H E T- D O C K In late 2016, religious studies teacher Jason Kunen was invited to his alma mater, Haverford College, by his undergraduate mentor, Professor of Philosophy Ashok Gangadean, to participate in a Deep Dialogue Sanctuary following the election. Jason took along four students—Tad Scheibe ’19, Charlotte ’17 and Wilder Berl ’19, and Sam Winslow ’17—to speak at the events. “It was a chance for evolutionary leaders and thinkers to come together to reflect on the state of our global society, as well as the human condition and consciousness,” Kunen said. “The students all spoke really well, and I was so proud of them. Many of the other participants saw our students as the embodiment of hope for the future.” Classics teacher Phil Walsh traveled to Toronto in early January for the annual meeting of the Society of Classical Studies. He attended the meeting to promote his newly published book, Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Aristophanes, and to participate in workshops on classics pedagogy and outreach (a photo of Walsh at the conference’s Brill booth is seen at right). Walsh serves on the Society’s Committee on K-12 Education. “Given the harsh realities of the academic job market, I suggested that we organize a panel on independent school teaching for next year’s meeting in Boston,” Walsh recounted. “I also browsed the huge book exhibition and intend on integrating new textbooks into my courses as early as this spring.” English teacher and boys crew Head Coach Will Porter attended the 24th annual Joy of Sculling Coaches’ Conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The conference included a keynote address from Dutch Olympic Gold Medalist Michiel Bartman, and a plenary talk from Canadian Olympic Gold Medalist Kirsten Barnes, who is also the Team Lead for Mental Performance at the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific. “Each of the individual sessions I attended fit neatly into a holistic pattern of coaching,” Porter said. These included “Getting started with Mental Performance,” “Building a Training Program,” “Simple, Effective Use of Video,” and “Rigging to Row More Comfortable and Therefore Faster.” Each presenter was either an international, collegiate, or scholastic champion or championship coach. “The weekend was also a great chance for me to network with college and high school coaches from across the country and keep up to date on the latest trends in the sport of rowing,” Porter said. “I came away with lots of ideas to bring back to our coaching staff and athletic department, and I’d like to return next year with at least a few other coaches from our program.” Chinese teacher ChiaChyi Chiu (along with a number of St. Andrew’s modern languages faculty) attended the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Annual Convention, held this year in Nashville from November 17-19. At the convention, Chiu gave a presentation on “Effective Study Abroad Program for Students in Elementary to High School,” in collaboration with Washington Yuying Public Charter School (an elementary school in Washington, D.C.) and Yinghua Academy (a Chinese immersion K-8 school in Minneapolis). Chiu, who has led St. Andrew’s students on study abroad trips to China, shared key features of her program, lessons learned, and best practices for other secondary school study abroad programs. The presentation also explored such topics as trip destinations; partnerships created in the U.S. and in destination locations; requirements for student and chaperone participation; costs and funding; benefits and challenges; instructional components; and outcomes (including gains in language proficiency and cultural understanding). “What I brought back to my own teaching were different ways to improve the experience through increased collaboration and sharing with other schools,” Chiu said. “It also helped me to gain new perspectives and updated pedagogy in teaching a second language. I was refreshed and recharged after the conference.” “The conference was incredibly educational,” said Davila, who also attended. “In every session, we received another layer of tools to add to the foundation of our teaching experience. Conferences are a rewarding and needed boost from time to time to affirm that you are a strong and capable educator!” n
PHILIP WALSH
WILL PORTER
CHIACHYI CHIU
SUSANNA DUFFY, DONALD DUFFY, VIVIANA DAVILLA, LINDSAY WRIGHT & CHIACHYI CHIU
Winter Review 2017 u 15