Mirman School Meridian Annual Magazine 2025

the Annual Magazine of Mirman School

2024–2025

meridian

ii table of contents Meet Marina

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Celebrating FAAM Circle

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Seeding the Next Generation’s Stewardship

14

Branching Out

18

Always on the Grow

22

Thematic Studies

24

Going the Distance

26

Learning to Thrive

30

Senior Salute

34

All Grown Up

36

Jenny Marder, ‘85–’91

38

Alumni News

41

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Dear Reader, WE MEET AGAIN! It seems like it’s been ages since I last wrote to you in the pages of the Meridian,

mostly because…it has been. When I left Mirman School in 2021 to care for my infant daughter during the pandemic, I knew that big things were in store: primarily the new Guerin Family Learning Center building and the significant expansion of our student body.

When I came back this past September, everywhere I looked, there was unmistakable change and growth. The new structures and influx of fresh faces — including Head of School Dr. Marina Kheel — were obvious; less visible but just as palpable was the renewed energy on campus. We’d moved from wondering what’s next to reveling in what’s now.

Then I remembered: growth mindset. We talk a lot about having a growth mindset at Mirman.

It’s one of the things that highly gifted children tend to struggle with, having much come easily to them, and often from an early age. A logical consequence of the curiosity our faculty nurtures in the classrooms, a growth mindset is what pushes our students to play and think and try new things.

When we talk about developing discovery as a core value, a growth mindset is embedded in that, too. When we think about overcoming, about persevering, about looking inside ourselves for the strength to iterate, regenerate, all that good stuff, we need a growth mindset to help us get there.

fig.1

We need time, too, of course. Time will do what it does. The rains will continue to come. The wind will blow seeds into the charred earth. Those seeds will sprout. They will take root.

They will grow.

HAPPY READING,

Ecosystem types

include terrestrial, aquatic, and artificial systems.

Jenn Salcido Advancement Communications Coordinator

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

We all know what happened the next day. When we came back to campus and I looked at the notes I’d left myself nearly a month earlier, and I thought about the devastation the fires had wrought in our community and our city, my first instinct was to put my plans aside. How could I celebrate the theme of ecological balance, the imperative to connect and grow, when so much growth had been lost, cut down overnight?

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On January 6, back from winter break, I was thinking of a loose theme to coordinate the publication you’re now reading. We were in the middle of an in-service with two facilitators who were talking about trees. They spoke of what happens beneath the surface, where trees are engaged in communicating, building networks, and just generally thriving unbeknownst to the arrogant hominids traipsing around up here. These connections are constantly growing, reaching, searching skyward or quietly under the surface, strengthening our ecosystem. It was a beautiful metaphor for the work that we do together here.

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Dear Mirman Community, WHEN ANYONE ENTERS a new school environment, there is a lot to learn — names,

curriculum, schedules, and culture —and how one learns is a key indicator of success.

As a new member of this wonderful community, I have delighted in learning the unique interests and personalities of our students, seeing our phenomenal faculty implementing their best-in-class teaching, and connecting with our incredible families.

Perhaps most of all, I have been impressed with the focus on growth mindset and resilience, both as a way of learning that is particularly important for highly gifted students and central to navigating the complex and ambiguous world of today. Part of the honor of being the head of school at Mirman is the privilege of learning, growing, and adopting a mindset that models for our students how working through challenges brings a richness to life.

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In our classrooms and fields, the concept of growth is ingrained in everything we do.

You might see a Fourth Grade student writing: “I can show resilience when I have hard homework. I won’t give up.” Or you’ll hear Kindergarten students whispering, “It’s okay if I don’t know how to do this yet. I am going to learn.” Students understand the value of risk-taking and that mistakes allow growth. Carol Dweck, the Stanford psychologist who wrote about mindset research and the psychology of success, would be blown away by the intentional teaching of her groundbreaking work and how its application leads to a love of learning and intensely curious and imaginative children.

While our campus buzzes with joy, excitement, and humor each day, we have also experienced struggle and loss this year. Throughout the wildfire crisis, our community showed how we model resilience for our students, from our faculty shifting seamlessly to Zoom learning or jumping in to visit students who lost their homes, to parents centering hope and resilience in the face of losing everything. Part of resilience and growth is having support in place to enable those mindsets, and at Mirman, the care of teachers and the love of our community have been made clear again and again.

Amidst feelings that our world has become uncertain and volatile, the skills we impart to our students have evolved. We are not sure what the future holds, but we can be confident that at Mirman, students cherish challenges and appreciate mistakes as learning opportunities. This might mean trying a new sport, singing in our musical, grappling with a math concept, or writing another draft of a poem. One Mirman student said it best: “Anything is possible — believe in it!” Anything is indeed possible at Mirman, where our unique mission will guide our continued evolution.

WARMLY,

Dr. Marina Kheel Head of School

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Dear Friends,

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As we look toward the close of the 2024–2025 school year, an occasion marked by time-honored traditions like our Eighth Grade graduation, Field Day, and our Evening of Appreciation for all of our dedicated parent/guardian volunteers and those who have supported Annual Giving, it’s my hope that as we come together to make these memories, we continue to strengthen the bonds between us as well. We’re all here with the same mission: to cultivate the boundless potential of the highly gifted children we serve, and to nurture the innate passions and talents that will drive them to work towards a better world. No matter your color, creed, or personal experience, your participation in this community is an investment in the future, not only for your own child(ren), but for the next generation — for all of us.

SINCERELY,

Jackie Hayes Chair, Board of Trustees

Ecosystems

are defined by interactions between living and non-living components.

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

space and thoughts with you in these pages as we celebrate the close of an eventful year. There is certainly no shortage of things to look back on fondly — the introduction of Dr. Marina Kheel to our community as our new head of school, the opening of FAAM Circle, a fun-filled family night at the Santa Monica Pier, a fantastic Winter Program celebrating the power of hope and belief through song, the glitz and glamour of the Grand Supper Club, outstanding assemblies, and more. It would be myopic, though, to say that there weren’t a fair number of challenges to overcome as well. As our community has come together for another year of joy and growth, there have also been losses and growing pains. The world outside our campus seems more complex than ever, and the rhetoric of pundits and politicians is not always helpful in our attempt to reach out and connect with one another despite our differences.

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IT IS MY HONOR AND PRIVILEGE as chair of the Mirman School Board of Trustees to share

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meet marina Dr. Marina Kheel lives a life shaped and enriched by a genuine curiosity and a nearinexhaustible reservoir of questions. Her life’s work, in fact, is the result of asking herself a simple one.

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“WHAT JOB WILL NOT BE BORING?” she recalled asking herself, having endured

fig.3

Nutrient cycles

sustain life in ecosystems, supporting fruit production in plants like apples.

a stint as an editor for a publisher of computer science books after graduating from Stanford. Now in her third decade as an educator — first as a classroom teacher, then an administrator, and now Mirman’s sixth head of school — it’s fair to say Dr. Marina Kheel has found her answer.

Like her predecessor, Dan Vorenberg, Kheel grew up in Boston (fun fact: they went to the same K-8 school, though at different times). Her parents were both teachers. One taught elementary ESL, and the other was a professor of astronomy and astrophysics.

When she sat down with our students, it was obvious she knew how to connect with them, how to talk directly with them.”

— RAY CUNNINGHAM Head of Upper School

After Wise, Kheel moved to Campbell Hall, where she gained greater leadership experience as the middle school principal and associate head of teaching and learning. As she moved into administrative positions while still teaching human development, the thread that connected all her experiences was her passion for studentcentered education. “If students don’t feel a sense of belonging, they can’t learn. All the things you do in a human development classroom — connecting with kids, answering questions other adults won’t answer, helping them feel good about themselves — are important things for any teacher to be doing,” she said.

Her commitment and natural affection for students were immediately evident.

“When she sat down with Mirman students, it was obvious she knew how to connect with them, how to talk directly with them,” observed Head of Upper School Ray Cunningham.

Inquisitive and gifted lifelong learners like Kheel have a habit of infusing questions and seeking answers throughout their interactions. This is perhaps doubly so when raised to the power of Mirman. Dr. Kheel’s introduction to the student body was apropos: each student received an envelope containing a missive from Dr. Kheel as well as an addressed, stamped return postcard for them to fill out. “I can’t wait for you to get here,” her note read. “Can you please use the enclosed postcard to write back to me and answer two short questions? 1. What is your favorite thing about our school? 2. Tell me one thing I should know about you.”

The replies poured in. Students of all ages were eager to welcome Kheel and let her know what was on their minds and what they are passionate about. Given all the responsibilities her position entails and the breakneck pace of even the most typical school year, it would be understandable for some of the details of the missives to dull with

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Wise was also where she had her first experience with gifted education, seeing a need in the student population and forging a partnership with the USC Rossier School of Education and expert Sandra Kaplan to implement a gifted curriculum for all students at the elementary level. “We trained all of our teachers in gifted pedagogy with the idea that gifted instruction will maximize the experience for gifted students, and that gifted instruction can help all students,” said Kheel.

DEAR DR. KHEEL…

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

After the doldrums of entry-level publishing work, she joined Teach for America, which took her to Long Beach. A roommate happened to work at Wise School, not far down Mulholland corridor from Mirman, which led to a job, first as an elementary teacher, then as vice principal and, later, principal.

Owen has not needed help from Dr. Kheel thus far, he wouldn’t turn it down. “If she ever does give me advice, I will follow it,” he said.

LEADING BY LEARNING

While the students are, of course, any teacher’s toughest audience, Kheel is also charged with moving Mirman forward in its mission. Along the way, she’ll have to build consensus among very involved constituents from other groups — namely, parents and the current faculty and staff. For Board Chair Jackie Hayes, who chaired the search process when Kheel was a candidate, this area stood out as one of Kheel’s natural strengths. “She comes to every conversation with a very open mind. She’s always looking to learn, which I find to be very striking,” said Hayes. “Many people

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Food chains

often include fruits that provide energy to birds, insects, and mammals.

time. Not so for Kheel. She continues to refer to the responses in remarks from time to time. (“Dear Dr. Kheel, I love you,” she read aloud at a PSL meeting, recounting one of her favorites.)

“The kids are so inquisitive, they’re so creative, and they love learning,” Kheel observed.

For their part, the students, who are notoriously keen gaugers of sincerity, have sensed her genuine openness and interest in them, responding in kind.

Owen W. in Second Grade enjoys his exchanges with Kheel. “She’s really nice to talk to, and she always helps students when they need it,” he observed.

He’s educated her on the finer points of the game Among Us, which he introduced her to because he “thinks she likes space,” and the eleven-volume comic book he created, “Super Barnacle.” (If you’re interested, and you should be, “Super Barnacle” is about “a little barnacle who meets a whale and has adventures together beating sea monsters, very fictional sea monsters.”) Although

will come into conversations with an intent to convince, or to remain set in their thinking. But this is not true with Marina.”

Hayes and others involved in the interview process quickly pegged Kheel as a level-headed and methodical systems thinker who is dedicated to truly listening and following through with research and analysis before coming to a conclusion. And while she has shown great respect for Mirman’s institutional legacy, she’s not shy about interrogating the inertia of precedent.

and is undoubtedly an inspiration for others to do the same. “I feel like you wouldn’t understand me if you didn’t understand that I’m Italian and I’m bilingual,” she’s quick to explain. She finds it meaningful that there is a cohort of women leading the schools around her on the Mulholland corridor, all of whom take care to mentor and check in with one another.

LOOKING AHEAD

Kheel’s executive administrative team was also impressed by how Kheel has sought to learn about her new community, immersing herself in oneon-one meetings with every member of the within her first few months on the job. Assistant Head of School and Head of Lower School Stephanie Leung

said that in these meetings, it was apparent that Kheel’s explorations were not limited to thoughts and feelings from an artificial silo of professional responsibility. “She genuinely looks to understand everyone as a whole person,” said Leung. “She’s been very intentional about making us think about what it means to function together, and I think that starts from her looking at every person she meets from an empathetic place.”

Kheel said her own experience as a parent — she’s a mother of two children, ages 14 and 11 — functions as a bit of a north star, whether it’s understanding the particular linguistic affinities shared by Gen Z and Gen Alpha or measuring whether her words and actions are resonant with the concerns and needs of the learners in her care. Kheel’s attention to the dimensions of her identity helps her bring her full self to the job

With the 2024–2025 school year under her belt, Kheel, alongside the board of trustees and a community aligned in a clear mission, will now turn to what could come next for Mirman.

Kheel noted that the upcoming CAIS-WASC accreditation process as well as the next strategic plan will be important documents as priorities and initiatives continue to coalesce. “There’s a great foundation at Mirman,” she said. “But how do we maximize our potential? This is a chance for us to undergo a greater articulation of our unique approach to gifted learning. What responsibility do we have to other gifted schools or gifted students in public schools? How do we disseminate what we know to the wider world?”

As always, when talking with Kheel, it becomes clear why, right at the very root of the word, question begins with quest.

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» Dr. Kheel around campus: welcoming students at carline (top left), sharing a moment with Upper Schoolers (bottom center), and enjoying “Skittles science” with First Graders (bottom right).

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

“She’s very grounded and has a strong sense of herself and her moral compass, which I really respect and admire,” said Hayes.

Now nearing the completion of her first school year, Kheel has had the chance to observe the Mirman community in many contexts: in joy at coming together to celebrate heritage months, in sorrow and uncertainty navigating the fallout from the January fires, and myriad gradations in between. One thing that stood out to her was the sense of purpose throughout all aspects of the community when it came to the reason for being on this campus: a commitment to nurturing the boundless potential of Mirman students.

celebrating

FAAM circle

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The making of a monument to Families of African Ancestry at Mirman (FAAM)

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» L ead donors to the FAAM Circle project, from left: Jeffy Branion, Jackie Hayes, Nicole Duncan, and Tommy Duncan.

IT’S A COMMON SIGHT on institutional campuses of all sizes: emblazoned

considerable resources. Mirman School is no exception, of course, though one new monument on the Mirman campus sets itself apart. It’s not named for a particular individual but rather it pays homage to a diverse group of students, families, faculty, and staff from Mirman’s past, present, and future.

Named for Families of African Ancestry at Mirman, the school’s longestrunning affinity group, the FAAM Circle monument is as visually striking as it is meaningful. Dedicated to FAAM and all Black/African American families, faculty, and staff at Mirman, the wooden structure rises in a triumphant crown. Its smooth slats are interspersed with sunbeams and shadows, and a stone bench curves around the interior, creating a space evocative of the oral tradition and drum circles so central to the African roots of the Black/African American diaspora. The circle functions as an outdoor classroom and community gathering space dedicated to instruction, enrichment, programming, and cross-cultural connection.

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

individuals. The legacy of these names is one of generosity of time and often

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on buildings, grounds, and walls, you’ll find the names of families and

» From left to right: FAAM Co-chair Jeanette Polynice with Director of Inclusivity, Equity, and Community Ericka Dean; FAAM Co-chair Syreta Travis; FAAM Co-chair Finley Polynice; former Director of Inclusivity, Equity, and Community Tunette Powell with son J.J. Powell ‘21–’23; FAAM Co-chair Jason Travis.

BUILDING THE CIRCLE

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Like all movements and monuments, the effort to build FAAM Circle existed within a specific historical context. In the shadow of the pandemic and the pain of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and other Black/African American individuals at the hands of police, the community was searching for a way to reckon with its own history and move forward as a more inclusive institution.

“We saw an opportunity to engage folks who maybe didn’t feel connected to some of the opportunities for giving to Mirman because they were having their own kind of battles and journeys at the school,” recalled Dr. Tunette Powell, who held the role of director of equity, inclusion, and community during FAAM Circle’s inception. “What would it look like to completely push up against equity issues in fundraising? How do we raise money and honor groups of people who are rarely, if ever, named on buildings, and how do we do that in a way that fits with our mission?”

fig.4

Energy flow

in ecosystems is primarily powered by sunlight through photosynthesis.

Collaborating closely with Director of Advancement Noah Kaufman and then-Head of School Dan Vorenberg, Powell and the administration approached Jackie Hayes (now chair of the board of trustees), her husband, Jeffy Branion, and Nicole and Tommy Duncan. All are FAAM members who had expressed the importance of equity and belonging, in particular for the Black/African American community, in their

philanthropic priorities. Shortly after the initial meeting, Hayes found inspiration in an outdoor classroom at her own high school. “I liked the idea of a gathering place that could be used as a space for conversation and coming together,” she said, and it was equally important to have the space’s design reference African traditions, such as storytelling and drum circles.

With ample and eager participation from the wider community, the project raised $300,000 and broke ground in June 2024. Ericka Dean, first as the director of marketing and communications and later as the director of inclusivity, equity, and community, turned her attention from overseeing much of the fundraising communications to steering stakeholder relations, managing the societal, cultural, and administrative needs throughout the process of construction and dedication. Dean’s unique experience straddling advancement and DEI work is representative of the collaborative nature of the project as a whole. “FAAM Circle is a first-of-its-kind project, at least in the context of local independent schools, so the primary challenge for this project was creating the blueprint for how DEI and Advancement come together to execute a vision that fully aligns with Mirman’s Statement of Inclusivity,” said Dean.

Construction was finished on the space some months later, in time to greet the community as it returned

“FAAM Circle is a truly beautiful, meaningful, and inspirational space that serves as a daily reminder of the legacy of Black families at Mirman and the centrality of inclusion and belonging. It is my hope that future generations will see it as a symbol of love and connection to our incredible community,” added Head of School Dr. Marina Kheel.

In September, the circle was dedicated in a beautiful ceremony attended by past and present members of FAAM leadership, school faculty and administrators, and many students and families. “The FAAM Dedication Ceremony was one of my favorite days at

Returning to campus for the dedication ceremony, Dr. Tunette Powell was accompanied by her son J.J. Powell ‘21–’23, and the occasion was incredibly meaningful for the pair — Dr. Tunette Powell as both a former administrator and parent, and for J.J. Powell as an alumnus. “I was so grateful to Ericka Dean for inviting me back. If you’re doing the work of planting trees, you don’t always get to come back and be able to sit in that shade,” she said. “And for J.J., I think it affirmed so many of his experiences and healed others, knowing that his school was continuing to move in the right direction. No place can be perfect, and Mirman isn’t removed from the politics and dynamics of the larger world — and at the same time, we were still able to do this. It’s powerful.”

Framed by the Mr. Lee Senior Garden and Kotzubei Family Athletics Field, the structure is truly centered in the heart of campus, visible and proud — a fixture in school life. Guided by an appropriate use statement, it has held affinity group meetings, advisory classes, and Student Diversity Leadership Council meetings. It has been a space for meditation, reflection, and, above all, the joys of a connected community. For FAAM, its

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Mirman,” recalled Dean. “In the Black community, we place a heavy emphasis on honoring our ancestors and those whose shoulders we stand on, and that day was the embodiment of a cherished value and tradition in our community.

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

to campus for the 2024–2025 school year. It was a moving moment for Dean, a Black administrator who turned down admission to an independent school after a less-than-inclusive experience at a summer bridge program where she had been denied the feeling of belonging that all students need to thrive.

She said she saw the work she did on behalf of FAAM Circle as her “love letter” to the Black community at Mirman. Sitting in the finished space by herself, she felt equal parts proud, grateful, and humbled by the experience of doing her part to make FAAM Circle a reality. “This project gave me the chance to send an indelible message to Black families, students, faculty, and staff that they unapologetically belong at Mirman, and FAAM Circle is a perpetual reminder of that message,” she said.

leadership, and the project’s donors, it was a particularly emotional moment seeing the circle in use at this spring’s annual FAAMily Reunion, with an array of students, families, and guests joining together in drumming.

“I remember the first time I saw it and walked into it,” recalled Hayes. “It was sort of a beautiful, perfect afternoon. I was by myself. And it was a wonderful space to sit and contemplate, to just breathe. And then to see other people in it talking and playing in a drum circle — it was so special.”

Although construction of the structure itself is done, and the space has seen much use in its first school year, there remains one important step still to complete: inscribing the names of and honoring the numerous individuals — ancestors and architects alike — who made FAAM Circle possible.

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“It’s important to me that there are Black names on the walls at Mirman,” said Tommy Duncan, who said it was important for his family to help represent the Black/ African American community in a material way on campus. “It was an important opportunity, and it’s a beautiful space. It’s important that our voices are not only heard but seen.”

Through much collaborative work by FAAM leadership, Dean, and Kaufman, the school gathered 100 names representing Black/African American students, families, faculty, and staff since Mirman’s founding in 1962. Once finished, these names will encircle the top of the structure. And though that piece of the monument will remain static, the circle is a beckoning welcome to the infinite and always-growing list of, to quote Powell quoting Nina Simone, the “young, gifted, and Black students” who will come to call the Mirman campus their own.

“Every Black child who steps onto this campus will now have this connection,” said Powell. “It opens up doors and opportunities for so many young people.

We’re reimagining physical spaces as healing spaces, and also spaces of inspiration, and my hope is that this continues to invoke dialogue and action.”

On her hopes for the future, Dean observed that, while it’s undeniable that the current social climate is fraught with racial tension and division, collaborative and collective projects like FAAM Circle and Mirman’s affinity groups offer a way forward for all to embrace, rather than alienate, each other. “We are all connected, and the experiences of one person or group of people ultimately impact and affect everyone,” said Dean.

» From left to right: A drum circle in action at FAAM Reunion, BJAM advisor and Associate Kindergarten Teacher Imani Jackson speaking at the FAAM Dedication Ceremony, members of Black Joy at Mirman enjoying a snack after the ceremony, and former FAAM Co-chairs Kelli Kirkland and Lauren Lake.

fig.4a

all about

MIRMAN (FAAM) dates its official founding back

to 2018, making it the longest-running affinity group at Mirman School. The group credits a previous iteration, Parents of African Heritage Children at Mirman (PAHCM), founded prior to the 2008–09 school year, as its blueprint. Since its inception, FAAM has grown in size as well as profile, and now hosts one of the largest annual on-campus events each year with its FAAMily Reunion, a community-wide cookout with activities like line dancing, art projects, drum circles, hair braiding, and more. As Mirman’s affinity group programming has become more robust, FAAM has been joined by the faculty/staff group Black Excellence at Mirman and two student groups, Lower School’s Black Joy at Mirman and the Upper School Black Student Union.

FAAM has been a warm and welcoming presence on campus for all members of the Mirman community, regardless of race or ethnicity.

Central to its impact is that leadership has played a crucial role in welcoming Black/African American family members to a campus where they have been traditionally underrepresented. Current leadership is comprised of Jason Travis and Syreta Travis (parents of Emery T., Seventh Grade) and Finley Polynice and Jeanette Polynice (parents of Ellis P., Fourth Grade, and Amel, incoming Kindergartener).

They shared fond memories of learning about the group from

Kelly Kirkland (mom to Apollo Powers ’15–’20) and Lauren Lake (mom to Carlos “C.J.” Woods II ’17–’21), leaders in the Mirman

family community at large and at the helm of FAAM in

particular. To a person, FAAM leadership credited Lake and Kirkland with welcoming them to campus and to FAAM with open arms. “I will be forever grateful to Kelly Kirkland for the welcome she gave us,” echoed parent Jeffy Branion, one of the lead donors to the FAAM Circle project.

“I wanted to meet like-minded people and have a safe place to share our culture,” said Syreta Travis. “[Lake and Kirkland] are so magnetic, and their enthusiasm for the group was infectious. I wanted to be a part of what they were doing.”

“FAAM has built such a sense of community and instilled a sense of service, and it really unites us all. It makes me proud of Mirman and proud to be a parent at Mirman,” added Jeanette Polynice.

Finley Polynice agreed. The sense of belonging and connection provided by FAAM gave his family “a deeper sense of community and belonging, building relationships extending beyond the school walls.”

“It’s important for families to engage in spaces that celebrate and affirm their identity,” he said.

Nicole and Tommy Duncan, FAAM members

and two of the lead donors to the FAAM Circle project, came to Mirman during a time of national upheaval, having moved from the East Coast and enrolling their children (Sydney, Fifth Grade, and Thomas “Tommy” Duncan III ‘20–’22) in the fall after the COVID-19 pandemic rendered extreme changes to so much of campus life. Despite this, the family felt welcomed into the Mirman community from the start, thanks in large part to FAAM. Nicole Duncan will never forget the day she was contacted by Elvia Gonzalez (mom to William Bryan ‘16–’24). “I remember answering the phone at the airport as we were moving. She welcomed us to Mirman and immediately got us plugged into everything,” said Nicole Duncan.

“Our sons are best friends to this day.”

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F

FAMILIES OF AFRICAN ANCESTRY AT

ensures ecosystem resilience against environmental changes.

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

FAAM

Biodiversity

seeding

how do we understand our role in the ecosystems we call home?

the next

generation’s stewardship

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WHEN WE THINK ABOUT OUR ENVIRONMENT, especially in this era of

unprecedented climate anxiety, it’s tempting to zoom out. We think about our city (and, in our case, it’s a real doozy — more than 500 square miles inclusive of land and water), maybe our state, maybe even our region. We think of the nubbly mountain ranges on a classroom globe or the deep blue of the planet as seen from space.

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But when we go straight to the big picture, we skip over the small stuff — stuff that, it turns out, isn’t so small. The elodea in a neighborhood pond quietly oxygenates the air for the picnicgoers nearby. Earthworms whisper through tiny tunnels, aerating the soil that cradles the plants that become our food. If we don’t pay attention, if we move through life untethered to the material reality of our physical environment, we risk a sort of context collapse. Living as we do now, irrespective of time zones or seasons, we lack an understanding of our own home — what it needs, what will help it thrive.

fig.5

Keystone species,

such as pollinators, have vital roles in ecosystem stability.

Generation Alpha (each current Mirman School student and their cohort in the larger world) is set to inherit a home shaped by this lack of connection, understanding, and respect. While there remains no one clear directive or solution to how to move forward, the reality remains: they must. And so, they do.

Responsible for steering the school’s youngest environmental stewards, Lower School Science Teacher Ryan Zary and Assistant Teacher Charlotte Reynolds (herself a product of this particular ecosystem, having attended Mirman from 2008– 2016) both extolled the benefits of linking lessons

and scientific practice to local, tangible things. “I think any time you can include your community in the curriculum, that’s great,” said Zary. “I think they can relate to things better if it’s something they encounter and experience every day. If we talk about something that happens way across the world, I’m not sure it has as much of an impact.”

As expected in Lower School, working within the specific ecology of the campus is very handson. Kindergarteners studying the life cycles of monarchs make their way out to the pond and hillside to plant narrow-leaf milkweed to attract pollinators that will then go on to play their role in the proliferation of the essential native plant and provide students with local honeys to sample in class. Starting small has the added benefit of counteracting some of the natural cynicism of the students’ grown counterparts, who may tend to see obstacles before solutions. “I think from a conservation level, sometimes it’s best to focus and nurture and grow what you can see,” said Zary.

“You’re not going to solve monarchs going extinct in one day. But planting that small milkweed seed is something you can do. I think what’s nice about the kids is that they get the problems, but they still have hope. I think we have to teach them to stay curious, ask questions, find patterns, think outside the box, and maybe come up with some small solutions.”

Moving through the curriculum, conservation and ecological acquaintance are gradual and neatly stacked. Second Graders studying geology will collect found rocks around campus and try to identify them, gaining a specific understanding of the campus grounds. Third Graders trace how evolution and environment are inextricably

ILLUSTRATION: CHRIS WORMELL

“

The whole of life is coming to terms with yourself and the natural world.

Why are you here? How do you fit in? What’s it all about? ” — SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH

» Whether they’re constructing a greenhouse using sustainable materials, collecting snails from the campus pond, or dissecting a flower, teachers and students are prioritizing hands-on science making use of the local campus ecosystem.

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In nature, nothing exists alone.”

— RACHEL CARSON Silent Spring

linked. As they advance into Fourth Grade, students quite literally zoom in. Armed with microscopes, they swab things like their classroom door handles and desktops for germs and bacteria as part of their “grossology” unit.

Making use of the campus grounds is second nature in a place like Southern California, where it’s fairly common for schools to have classrooms with relatively porous borders (great for ventilation and outdoor access during a pandemic, not so much during a rainstorm). And as screens and content come to dominate our lives, there’s something that feels downright healthy about being grounded in a particular place in nature.

Reynolds remembers finding nooks and crannies of campus to call her own. “Once we got to Upper School, we’d all gather under this little awning we called ‘the spot,’” she recalled. “I think what makes this campus special is the life given to it by its students as they occupy the space and make it their own.”

Reynolds’ experience, though specific to this campus, is still universal: when you’re young and small and the world is big, and it’s not such a

stretch to see your surroundings and feel a sense of wonder and awe. And at Mirman, which prizes discovery, the imaginative hallmarks of childhood experience extend beyond recess and into the classroom. Take Dr. Adam Tabeling’s archeology elective, for instance, where students interact with an “artificial excavation site” along the hillside. A familiar landscape becomes unexplored terrain to be thoroughly catalogued and contextualized as they uncover potsherds, game pieces, and evidence of civilization waiting to be given shape.

Elsewhere in Upper School, students move from learning about various aspects of local ecology on Fifth and Sixth Grade outdoor education trips into more advanced projects like the Seventh Graders’ ecocolumn work, which is part of their life sciences curriculum. The project is an elegant encapsulation of the environment’s grand scale in a small column of dirt, organisms, and the unmistakable bright green of new growth plants reaching upward, seeking the light. To build the project, Upper School Science Teacher Serenah Truong sends the students back to the hillside to collect aquatic plants and detritivores (beetles, pill bugs, etc.) to populate a self-sustaining

Upper School Science Teacher Stephanie Ho,

whose classes in Sixth and Eighth grade touch upon earthquakes and plate tectonics and ocean acidification, respectively, also looks for ways to integrate the immediate environment in her classroom. Upon returning from a professional development experience on computational biology, her wheels were turning as she processed how to best apply her students’ interest in coding to restorative ecology. “If you can make a connection to something in your life, the lesson is going to stick with you,” she said, echoing Zary and Reynolds. “When kids are able to make these connections to their environment, it is a huge motivator for problem-solving in the future.”

fig.5a

Beetle habitats

span across land, fresh water, plants, fungi, and even carrion.

One solution that gained traction in early environmental movements was recycling. Of course, time and the sheer volume of materials generated by us denizens of the Anthropocene have made it quite clear that recycling isn’t the be-all, end-all of green initiatives. Conservation is just as much, if not more, about reducing and reusing.

With this in mind, Lower School Innovation Teacher Helena Zhang and Associate Innovation Teacher Justin Granados looked locally to support their sustainable practice. This line of thinking led to the ingenious repurposing of one abundant local resource that was otherwise headed for the resource-heavy recycling process.

The students then used the plentiful cardboard to make greenhouses, creating microcosmic ecosystems. It isn’t only the students who are thinking of the Michelson Family STEAM Center for Innovation as a hub for savvy sustainability; parents, faculty, and staff have been dropping by with their empty boxes and other materials.

“We really want our students to have the idea that if they need something, instead of buying it, maybe they can make it,” added Zhang, noting that their classes often 3D print objects using eco-friendly filaments made of sugar cane.

“I’m really proud of our faculty for being so thoughtful in how they design and integrate these experiences,” said Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tri Vo Hyunh, who along with Director of Inclusivity, Equity, and Community Ericka Dean, coordinates service learning projects in

collaboration with Tree People, an environmental education and renewal nonprofit.

Hyunh said that nearly every grade has worked with Tree People. The organization frequently visits Mirman School to take students on eco tours to identify species growing on campus, including eucalyptus trees and yellow mustard, both highly flammable and invasive species. This work engenders a deeper understanding of their shared environment and the impact they can have on its future, for better or worse.

“My hope is that with everything we are doing now, when we still have the students’ attention and as we help grow their gifts, that we shape their morals and character in a way that will benefit the greater society,” said Hyunh. “This [environmental work] is not just thinking about service, but it’s service from a social justice lens.”

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Like Truong, who studied ecology and worked with environmental organizations before joining the faculty at Mirman, the students’ passion and engagement with the campus and their home environs are palpable. “The times I’ve seen students getting the most involved with things are when they have to do with the environment and how to help others,” she said. “I think being in the Los Angeles area, specifically with the recent fires, has shown them how we are consistently impacted by natural disasters and that human impact is making these events more severe. Our world is rapidly changing.”

“On our campus, we found that the most readily available material was cardboard,” said Granados, noting that the Third Grade was inspired to look for sustainable materials after they’d read about architects building with bamboo in South and Central America. “That was our inspiration within our own little ecosystem.”

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ecosystem. Once constructed, the students observe and measure changes in soil acidification, temperature, and other data points.

18 » Clockwise from left: Seventh Grade students take in history in Washington D.C., Fifth Grade students pal around riverside in Malibu Creek State Park, and chaperones for the Seventh Grade trip sit down for a rare moment of rest in Washington, D.C.

fig. 6

Ecosystems

rely on trees for oxygen, soil stability, and wildlife habitats.

Outdoor educational experiences offer growth opportunities at home and abroad in Upper School

Branching Out

Traditionally taken within the first month of the school year, the four “outdoor ed” trips are a cornerstone of the Upper School experience. While each trip has a different locale and focus, the primary goals (and, likewise, the results) are the same — to encourage bonding, exploration, broadening worldviews, and ultimately promoting personal and collective growth among each class of Upper Schoolers.

“It really does carry us through the year and change relationships,” said Head of Upper School Ray Cunningham, who has helmed the Costa Rica trip — Mirman’s first grade-level-wide foray into international travel — for three years.

Both Cunningham and Assistant to the Heads of Lower and Upper School/Registrar Jessica Curry,

who helps with the planning and execution of the trips, noted that beyond the strong intra-class connections, which are a natural consequence of the

For highly gifted children, who often develop asynchronously and can have a deeper understanding of concepts long before their development has caught up, the social-emotional learning aspect of the trips, wherein they must learn to relate to one another and the outside world in unfamiliar settings without the comforts of home, is paramount. “Gifted kids are so advanced academically,” noted Curry, “but the trips present these social challenges where they can really put their intellect in action.”

FIFTH GRADE: MALIBU CREEK

Building on a day trip to Sacramento in Third Grade and an overnight trip (including parent/guardian chaperones) at Pali Camp, the Fifth Grade’s trip represents a milestone for most students — they’re away(ish) from home with no familial accompaniment.

As can be expected, some years come with a touch of homesickness, according to trip leader Upper School Science Teacher Serenah Truong. Other years, she said, the class has been more eager to explore. Either way, the trip always ends up working its magic on the students, using safe challenges to make a memorable

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AND EXCITEMENT. It’s also a time of discomfort as children undergo literal and metaphorical changes, often seemingly overnight. While it’s tempting to stick one’s head in the sand (this goes for tweens, teens, and the adults in their lives) and wait for things to settle down, the team at Mirman’s Upper School has found success in the paradoxical imperative to shake things up a bit.

trips, the resulting independence and confidence of the students are remarkable. “It’s really fun to watch them grow up in a matter of days,” said Cunningham.

“They really come back in a different way, with a sense of responsibility and autonomy that they might not have had before.”

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M

MIDDLE SCHOOL IS A TIME OF TRANSITION

apply their understanding of Mirman’s Core Values (Responsibility, Integrity, Discovery, Empathy, and Resilience). These are as woven into the fabric of excursions as they are into daily campus life. “We definitely practice resilience, and there’s a lot of responsibility too, as we share the campsite with other schools. They see each other in various emotional states, so they practice empathy for one another often,” Darcy said.

SEVENTH GRADE: WASHINGTON, D.C.

» Sixth Graders get ready to set sail in their kayaks off Catalina Island.

experience. “They learn that they can push themselves and embrace challenges, embrace discomfort,” she said.

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And for Truong, a science educator with a background in ecology and conservation, the real benefit of the trip is beyond the building of community within the grade. She also sees it as building the next generation of Earth’s guardians.

“It’s a big opportunity for fostering environmental stewardship,” she said, noting that the direct communion with nature is valuable for the students’ understanding of the Santa Monica Mountains, which is home to the Mirman campus. “They come back more mindful about their local environment and thinking about sustainable practices.”

Fifth Grade student Theo B. concurred: “I

enjoyed the trip because of the combination of fun and learning. We learned many new things, and I came back with new feelings about ecology.”

SIXTH GRADE: CATALINA ISLAND

In Sixth Grade, it’s a time to test one’s sea legs as the class leaves the mainland behind

and departs for the wilds of Catalina Island.

The adventures undertaken there are reminiscent of Jacques Cousteau himself — snorkeling and kayaking are supplemented by identification of flora and fauna, local wildlife observation, and more. Beyond aquatic and terrestrial life, a fair amount of astronomy is explored, given the distance from the light pollution of the greater Los Angeles area.

Upper School English Teacher Simon Darcy, who leads the chaperone team for

the Catalina trip, said that while seeing the students overcome hesitation and fear in the natural world is remarkable in the moment, it also provides plenty of fodder for classroom discussion throughout the year to come.

“We frequently refer to things that happened on the trip,” he said. “Remember that time that this happened? Or if we’re reading a novel in class, and a character experiences something new or unusual, we can relate to that.”

Far from an appendage on the classroom curriculum, the trips also offer proving grounds for students to strengthen and

The camaraderie that can result from being side by side for the ups and downs of days at a time seems to be a common effect across all the trips. But that feeling is certainly not limited to the students.

“I’ve always been a big proponent of relational teaching,” said Dean of Students Allen Foster, who leads the chaperone team for the Seventh Grade trip to Washington, D.C. “I’ve always felt that, even in my own experience as a student, I did better in the classes that had teachers that I connected with. I excelled more because I felt that genuine connection; I felt that they wanted me to succeed.”

Long days, a packed itinerary in a major urban cultural center, and cross-country airline travel keep the group in very close quarters with ample time for conversation and connection. “You’re on a bus, and you might be seated next to a student that you don’t teach or you don’t really know, and you get to connect. You find out you have common interests. It really opens up the learning environment,” said Foster.

A former student of political science and law, Foster knew he was always going to enjoy spending time in the museums and institutions in the nation’s capital. What he didn’t anticipate was how layered the

fig. 6a

Trees

can send chemical and electrical signals to communicate with each other, share information about dangers, and even help each other survive.

EIGHTH GRADE: COSTA RICA

Where words fail, pictures often make a good stand-in. Especially for teens on a whirlwind tour of one of the most fascinating ecological destinations within a time zone or two of Los Angeles.

“I think we have an album of 200 photos of us sleeping on buses and in our rooms,” shared Eighth Grader Chloe F. with a wry grin. “It’s so fun to look at those.”

Wholesome hijinx are a hallmark of the Class of 2025, apparently, and there were plenty to be had on the trip. Right alongside stories of cave exploration, waterfall jumps, and boat rides were tales of playing games, cooking, laughing, and listening to music with friends and teachers. Also at the top of Chloe’s list

“We were paired to room with people who you don’t necessarily know that all that well,” said Chloe, pointing out that Eighth Grade is often a point where the class size has gone down significantly, leaving a smaller group of students to branch out into new social groups and gain new understandings of one another apart from their previous context.

It was also affirming for these students, on the precipice of making a considerable transition, to see that their teachers not only enjoyed spending time with them but they gave them a certain amount of trust as well.

“I felt a lot more independent after the trip,” said Chloe. “It’s nice because it’s not just about your parents trusting you — it’s your teachers trusting you, too. And they’re able to see you in a new light, proving your own responsibility.”

This new independence and confidence don’t go unnoticed by the faculty. While all of the outdoor ed trips are enjoyable and valuable in their own right, Cunningham has had nearly two decades of bringing students to international destinations. He has a strong belief that international travel unlocks something in the minds of his students.

“The opening that occurs in a child’s brain when they travel internationally is amazing.

Every child comes to a new understanding of themselves in some way, or maybe sees themselves as a global citizen, or maybe catches something that interests them and it becomes a passion of theirs as an adult,” he said.

“And of course there’s something magical about experiencing travel through a student’s eyes,” Cunningham added.

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“It blows my mind on so many different levels,” said Foster, reflecting on not only the content of the museums but on the tenor of the reflection amongst the students afterward. “I think some of them don’t really understand the impact of these real, historical events until they can see these places. They visit, and then they organically start making connections to things happening in the present day. It reinforces why social-emotional learning, inclusivity, and equity are core components of our curriculum. The emotional reaction they have to these exhibits is something I can’t even quantify in words.”

of memories are the new relationships she made in the midst of it all.

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experience would become once he was watching students, some of whom he’s taught since Kindergarten, walk through the hallowed halls with him. He mentioned in particular that the National Museum of African American History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum are always powerful experiences for both teachers and students.

»O n top, Eighth Graders (including Chloe F., second row center) paddle down one of Costa Rica’s rich river habitats. At bottom, Sixth Graders set off for their own aquatic adventures on Catalina Island.

always ON THE

grow

Mirman’s mindset for an ever-evolving curriculum

c

COMING OFF OF AN UNPRECEDENTED TIME OF GROWTH for the community,

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Mirman School continues to consciously shape its pedagogy and practices to best fit the needs of its highly gifted students. This was never an easy task, but particularly given that the recent enrollment expansion saw a considerable influx of students and faculty, recent years have been dedicated to reinforcing foundational principles as well as finding ways to integrate innovations.

A growth mindset believes...

Intelligence can be developed, which fuels a desire to learn.

Someone who has a growth mindset is someone who: » Embraces challenges » Persists in the face of setbacks » Sees effort as the path to mastery » Learns from criticism » Finds lessons and inspiration in the success of others

Some changes are readily visible and apparent, such as updates to technology or classroom design. Some changes are more subtle, though no less impactful.

According to Head of Upper School Ray Cunningham, one of the biggest changes in his division is not so much what is being taught, but when. In recent years, Cunningham and his team have shifted schedules in a way that allows for longer classes (now there are five or six periods in a day instead of eight). The additional time in class, coupled with changes in the rotation of how a class cycles in and out throughout the week, has offered more breathing room for students as they delve deeper into projects and have more clearly segmented time in which to complete work for each class.

A re-envisioning of “flex” periods was also part of this shift, ensuring that all students, particularly the younger cohorts of Upper Schoolers, had more structure to their time. Now, students trade off between cycles of flex and what’s been dubbed “Explorations,” which are essentially executive functioning and

learning strategy sessions. In addition to the focus on Developmental Designs (which aligns advisory curriculum across grades) and meaningful conversations in advisory, “it’s really about giving them the tools to be successful in middle school and beyond,” said Cunningham.

Lower School has also seen some shifts in schedule, starting each day in each grade level with a morning meeting. Beginning the day on this note allows greater focus on the social-emotional aspects of Mirman’s wholechild approach. “With our Responsive Classroom practices, such as Morning Meeting and our Second Step program, which has very specific lessons on coping and resilience, we’re integrating social-emotional learning as well as having a common language amongst our classes,” said Assistant Head of School and Head of Lower School Stephanie Leung.

“Without this foundation, learning can’t happen. Coming together and starting the day with connection and joy, so that the students are prepared to learn together — I think that’s a huge shift.”

ILLUSTRATION: CHRIS WORMELL

GROWTH MINDSET FOR A GROWING CURRICULUM

It’s clear that at all levels on campus, there’s a focus on iteration and adjustment, having the flexibility to shift direction, even to double back when needed. The whole narrative has a pleasing meta-educational bent as faculty and administration must constantly

engage in putting into practice what they expect of their students: a growth mindset. Coined by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, growth mindset is much more than a buzzword around campus.

From professional development to the implementation of our mission and core values, a growth mindset is imbued in the bedrock of a highly gifted education.

Paradoxically, it’s often one of the foremost challenges in a community of preternaturally talented children (and their parents).

“In many aspects of life, for highly gifted students, things flow very smoothly. They can absorb information at a pace and with an ease that stands out; hence, how well they do on a standardized IQ test,” noted School Psychologist Justin H. Dove.

“That being said, inevitably, they will face challenges in life. I think a lot of times, when students feel this, they feel it is a personal failure. But learning, at its core, is the process of being comfortable, then uncomfortable, then comfortable again.”

“If we flee from discomfort, we miss the opportunity to learn, to grow, to improve and adjust,” he added.

Mirman encourages this mindset in part by guiding students and their families to focus on the process of learning rather than the product. This can look like downplaying competition as a motivator and de-emphasizing traditional markers of external success in favor of the internal satisfaction of expanding one’s knowledge. “We try to foster a spirit of collaboration,” said Cunningham. “Many students are naturally competitive, so we’re deliberate about not using competition as a motivator in our classroom. It doesn’t make for meaningful motivation. We’re more interested in promoting things that widen their worldview, such as Service Learning or outdoor education trips.”

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community are more organically infused across the curriculum. Resulting from a multi-year push to move from a “heroes and holidays” approach to celebrating aspects of identity and diversity on certain days or months, there’s a palpable sense that the faculty are truly working in concert to present a balanced curriculum honoring multiple perspectives yearround. Externally, the school has partnered with outside organizations such as UCLA History and Geography Project, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Institute for Teaching Diversity and Social Justice to provide faculty-wide training on culturally responsive teaching.

“I don’t want to make it seem like we have everything figured out; there’s always more work to be done,” said Leung. “But we’ve shifted the needle from only talking about women during Women’s History Month, or putting Black history in a silo in February. We’re in a place where our faculty meetings are places to discuss meaningful integration of this work.”

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And when it comes to alignment and a common understanding, something that any team of people needs to work well together, the learning and iteration don’t stop with the students. Particularly since the expansion to three classes per grade level, the faculty has worked in partnership with Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tri Vo Huynh to streamline and standardize skills and curriculum across all grades and classrooms. Thanks to the addition of common planning time for faculty during Wednesday late start mornings, as well as rotating classroom observations for all teaching faculty, the teachers and their teams are more in sync than ever. An additional bonus of this harmonious orientation is that layers and lenses like inclusivity, equity, and

theMatic stuDies

What are they, and why is this best practice in gifted education?

I

IT DOESN’T TAKE MUCH TIME at Mirman

School to pick up on the interesting terminology of the place: “depth and complexity,” “thinking like a disciplinarian,” “asynchronous development,” “differentiation,” and so on. Far beyond buzzwords, these sometimes-unfamiliar terms are lexical keys to an organized educational philosophy. Pioneered by practitioners like USC’s Sandra Kaplan and our very own founders, Dr. Norman and Beverly Mirman, best practices in highly gifted education are at the core of all aspects of the Mirman experience.

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One standout in recent years has been the shift in how history is taught. While still adhering to important statewide standards, Mirman faculty in both Lower and Upper Schools have moved away from thinking about history as a standalone subject and have instead favored a broader approach. Under the umbrella of the Thematic

Microbiology

supports plant growth, soil health, disease resistance, and stability.

change

FIRST GRADE

systems THIRD GRADE

fig.7

THEMES BY GRADE LEVEL

community KINDERGARTEN

origins

SECOND GRADE

“

Novelty, depth, and complexity within an integrated

thematic approach are best practices in gifted education.

Using Fourth Grade’s theme of “power” as an example, Leavitt unpacked the process a bit.

Fourth Graders, like most children, understand power, whether named as such or not; it’s an

power

While each grade level has its own theme, they are all equally well-served by this “no ceilings” approach. Thinking thematically and systemically, students flex the muscles of a growth mindset, looking beyond basic information consumption.

“Our students want to know more — they want to go beyond the textbook. And you can really view any topic in each grade from these thematic lenses,” said Leavitt. “And you’re giving them tools to analyze and interpret information, to really develop their curiosity, and to let those passions flourish.”

connections

FOURTH GRADE

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“Novelty, depth, and complexity within an integrated thematic approach are best practices in gifted education. Our students use these encompassing ideas to help them think of the bigger picture, and to see historical events as deeper than simply facts and dates,” said Leavitt.

“Mirman students are so curious about everything and want to know more and more. With thematic studies, students can explore these events, patterns, and trends while considering multiple perspectives.”

undercurrent of childhood. A thematic approach lends itself to richly textured discussions about power — who has it, who doesn’t, and how that plays out in the writing and telling of history itself.

The topic reoccurs naturally throughout the year and can be woven into the fabric of lessons in any discipline, strengthening curricular connections in a way that recalls the firing of information from neurons to dendrites. More simply put, this is where and how the magic happens.

impact

SIXTH GRADE

EIGHTH GRADE

transitions FIFTH GRADE

evolutions

SEVENTH GRADE

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Studies Department, chaired by Fourth Grade Teacher Julie Leavitt, teachers and historians intertwine content and context, allowing for more nuanced consideration of events viewed through a thematic lens.

–JULIE LEAVITT

Fourth Grade Teacher and Thematic Studies Department Chair

26 Off to the Races: How much is a mile?

Fourth Graders from the Mustangs Cross Country stable run a mile per race, often in the lovely environs of local green spaces in Cheviot Hills and Griffith Park.

In Fifth through Eighth Grade, runners put in two miles. In Mirman math, a mile is roughly: » Eight laps around Kotzubei Family Athletics Field » 8,448 bananas from LA Lunch Lady, laid end-to-end (assuming an average of 7.5 inches per banana) » Five round trip treks to Westland School’s chicken coop

Cross Country program celebrates years running

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going

distance

THE

A

The team’s inaugural season started with 12 runners in Sixth through Eighth grade.

It felt like a lot at the time to Brown, who noted that, for many kids, running can seem like punishment. But like so many teachers who push students to develop in innovative ways, Brown and her coaches had the magic touch. “We’d play little games, like how many dandelions can you touch? How many blades of grass can you run across? And it shifted the focus of really running to the grass and the dandelions, and before they knew it, they were doing a lot of running over a long period of time,” she said.

Incremental progress is ultimately sustainable progress. As the student athletes pushed themselves and each other in practice over time, they were logging so many miles that they were easily eclipsing what they were expected to do in competitions. “It would get to the point

» Clockwise from top: Teammates at the starting line, alum Charles Abemayor ‘17-’20 (foreground) running for Harvard-Westlake School, Athletics Director Angela Brown cheering on on some future track and field stars.

where the kids would reach the finish line and say, ‘when do we get to go again?’” said Brown, noting that runners in Fourth and Fifth grade compete in mile-long races at their meets, while Sixth through Eighth grade races are two miles.

Over the years, as the athletics program expanded into Lower School and welcomed students in Fourth Grade and above to join, the Cross Country team’s size grew alongside their proficiencies. This season, Brown said, the team was up to 40 students and ran a record-breaking year, which saw the Mustangs take the title of Fourth Grade Girls and Fifth/Sixth Grade Boys Cross Country Champions in the Federal Interscholastic Youth Athletic Association.

Each student athlete’s path to the sport is as varied as the terrain. Some come to running on their own after adopting it as part of routine exercise and play. Some are signed up by parents with some gentle convincing.

Many, Brown noted, joined during COVID, as the individual outdoor sport had some advantages for keeping kids relatively safe while offering an outlet for all that energy they were bottling up during stay-at-home

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BROWN is no stranger to getting a running start. She’s an NCAA long jump champion, an eight-time All-American, and a Pan American Games silver medalist. But when she joined Mirman School in 2015, she looked to branch out into something new — distance running.

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ATHLETICS DIRECTOR ANGELA

Mustang Mottos We have a feeling she has more in her back pocket, but in terms of Cross Country, Coach Brown has a couple famous sayings. Listen closely and you’re likely to hear these words of wisdom echoing along the hillside. » “We practice how we compete!” Translation: Bring the same intensity you’ve brought to your best race to every practice. » “Attack the hills!” Translation: When you see a hill, don’t slow down, SPEED UP! Face your obstacles head-on, and you’ll see that the other side isn’t so bad.

orders and Zoom school. No matter the motivation, and above and beyond the outward success achieved by the program over the years, the intrinsic rewards speak for themselves.

Fourth Grader Madison S. was one of the

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students who got a gentle push from her family to get to the starting line. But once she was there, she said, it didn’t take much more convincing. “I remember the first race, coming to the finish line and seeing my mom there cheering me on and giving me good thoughts,” said Madison. Then, breaking into an even bigger smile, she said, “I also love winning medals and awards.”

Beyond the benefits for physical health, Madison then mentioned something that many runners — from veteran athletes to weekend warriors — articulate often.

“Running helps me really clear my mind,” she said. “I love being competitive, but running also relaxes me.”

The thrill of the race is one thing, but part of the endeavor is the growth of the individual athlete: the pleasure of shaving seconds off your personal best, catching up to school records, and all the other accomplishments that stack up along the way. Physical Education Specialist and Coach Eric Pringle (Coach EP), who has been at Mirman for three years, gets a little emotional when he talks about what Cross Country has done for his athletes — and him. A former baseball

player, it didn’t take long for Pringle to get caught up in the rush of the meets, running alongside the kids and cheering them on to the finish.

“I’m the one at the end tearing up, because I see the growth that comes in these kids,” he said. “The best version of ourselves lies within the effort. And with highly gifted kids, for a lot of them, the classroom environment feels natural, and rewards can come easy.

With Cross Country, at the end of the race, you can see that they committed to something, they completed the task at hand. They found out what their best is. So many people don’t know what their best is because they don’t give all of themselves.”

The impact of the Cross Country program over the years hasn’t just been bound by the campus or the courts. Many alumni runners have stayed in touch with Coach Brown over the years, sharing their successes and celebrating their continued growth. Charles Abemayor ’17–’20, now a junior at HarvardWestlake School, where he runs both cross country and track and field, echoed the sentiments of those at his alma mater.

He noted that the gradual accumulation of practice and improvements showed him the importance of perseverance and discipline.

“In the beginning, I didn’t want to train hard, but then I saw a little progress, so I started training a lot harder. Week after week, I would stack up work. It just taught me that working hard can take you to many places,” he said.

Seventh Grader Jacob S. said that he didn’t particularly think of himself as an athlete before joining the Cross Country team in Fourth Grade. His family had started to exercise more during COVID, taking advantage of area hiking trails, and he started to try baseball. Now, three years into his running experience at Mirman, he not only

takes to the trails with the Cross Country squad, but he sprints with the Track and Field team in the spring.

“I feel more comfortable running now,” he said. “I used to have anxiety before matches, but now I feel better going in. And I feel like I can help my friends and teammates feel better, too.”

In the case of the common goal of the Mirman Athletics Department, the Cross Country program is an unqualified success.

By cultivating the endurance needed to run long distances, the resilience to overcome obstacles both mental and physical, and providing a confidence-building endeavor for the students, Cross Country emphasizes Mirman’s Mission and Core Values in equal measure.

“This is how you build the culture of a real community,” said Pringle. “On any given game day, you’ll see the Third Graders asking about how they can get their own jersey, about wanting to do the same thing. I think that’s what athletics teaches you: it’s about being something special that’s bigger than yourself.”

»A t top, Coach Eric Pringle with his athletes after a meet. At middle, Madison S. (right) runs like the wind. At bottom, Nate L. (foreground) celebrates another successful sprint to the finish line.

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To Abemayor and the other runners, Cross Country is actually a team sport. “You’re not just running for yourself; you’re running for your teammates,” he explained. “It’s taught me how to work together with other people to achieve a common goal.”

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Despite its label as an individual sport, teamwork was top of mind for other student athletes, too. “I’ve made a lot of good friends,” shared Sixth Grader Nate L. “You’re also pushed to the limit by those friends, and you’ll improve,” he said, adding that Jacob was one of the runners he’s closest to.

learning TO

thrive Emphasizing Solutions Rooted in Strengths

A

ANY SYSTEM IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS. That’s the beauty

fig.8

Ecosystem

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of interconnectedness. There’s a reliability, a sense that weight can be shifted and carried — shared. This certainly holds true at Mirman School, and whether you’re a student, a teacher, or a parent, the shared mission and values that bring us all together couldn’t be realized were it not for a foundation of support.

engineers are organisms that can significantly modify habitats. “We’re thinking about education holistically

and thinking about all the pieces that children need to grow and flourish,” said Assistant Head of School and Head of Lower School Stephanie Leung as she reflected on the work Mirman has and will continue to do in supporting its students.

This whole-child approach is central to Mirman’s DNA. Encouraging passions, talents, and a love of lifelong learning takes a true commitment to honoring all dimensions of childhood. Implicit in this is the need to understand that not all children are the same, and, in particular, neither are all highly gifted children. Leung said that the considerable decrease in class size with the addition of the Guerin Family Learning Center expansion (down from 24 to 18 in Lower School), adding Learning Specialists in both Upper and Lower School, and the appointment of longtime teacher Alyssa Wray as director of Lower School math, have allowed for greater differentiation and smaller group instruction in areas like reading and math (Upper School’s Math Department will be expanding next year).

There’s a paradox embedded in giftedness: while many things can (or seem to) come easily to a highly gifted child, other skills, ones which we may even take for granted, elude them still. A student who excels in reading and writing may struggle with mathematical concepts. An uncannily mature young empath may be able to hold court with adults but can’t quite connect with their peers. This phenomenon is known as asynchronous development, and the fact that this is a very common stumbling block for highly gifted children doesn’t make it any less frustrating for the students and families who experience it.

Lower School Learning Specialist Debra Davis

(who this year was joined by Upper School counterpart Sandra Cortez, who previously taught Fourth Grade) understands this well.

Davis, now in her sixth year at Mirman, is a highly skilled educator who has worked with elementary, middle school, and adult students since 2003. She collaborates with classroom teachers and administrators like Leung and School Psychologist Justin H. Dove to provide supportive instruction to students who may need extra help.

Like all good elementary educators, Davis has a deft hand in providing the comfort and care children (and parents) need to thrive. Relying on discreet classroom observation, informal assessments, and small group sessions in her office, she aims to “meet each student where they’re at,” working on reading, writing, phonics, and spelling. There’s also a good deal of encouragement and gentle inspiration involved. “The most important thing is that,

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»A t top, School Psychologist Justin H. Dove meets with a group of Upper School students as part of the Student Diversity Leadership Council. At bottom, First Grade Teacher Jared Hubbard is joined by Learning Specialist Debra Davis for some phonics lessons in the classroom.

one simple trick...

What’s the number one tip Lower School Learning Specialist Debra Davis would give to any parent looking to make a positive impact on their child’s education? “Read to your child every day. It’s the most helpful thing to do.

And, of course, it’s a special bonding time,” she said.

»A ssistant and Associate teachers like Marissa Rohan (top, Kindergarten Associate) and Justin Granados (bottom, Innovation and Technology Associate) are crucial supports in the classroom. In the Lower School, this allows for an even more personalized and flexible instructional experience for each class.

Grade), Alyssa Eamnarangkool and Jasmine Rice (Third Grade), and Jake Tiner (Fourth Grade). After careful research, the task force

concluded that two things were needed to move forward: one was a bigger bank of data, and the other was a more sophisticated way of using that data, one that better fit the needs of highly gifted students.

“I’m proud that we were able to create our own internal phonics tracking system that works so well for us. We had external resources, but we also leaned heavily on our internal expertise,” said Huynh.

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Thanks to the task force’s efforts, the school now has 22 data points per student kept in a phonics tracking system, in addition to other standard instructional data gleaned from internal and external assessments.

These insights are coupled with curricular design elements, such as thoughtful, topical, and challenging book selection; playful opportunities such as games to learn phonics; and other engaging strategies incorporated by classroom teachers. “It’s incredible to see how creative our faculty are when it comes to updating and implementing this curriculum,” said Huynh. as they are learning, they build their selfconfidence. We talk about this being a safe place; we don’t feel embarrassed here,” said Davis, adding that most students love coming to see her in a “quiet and distraction-free” environment.

fig, 8a

Mycelium networks

are vast, underground fungal networks that connect plants and trees.

Of course, anecdotes and observations can’t always provide the clarity of welldocumented trends. Knowing this, a Literacy Task Force was formed, spearheaded by Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tri Vo Huynh. He and Davis were joined

by classroom teachers Katy Caroll (Kindergarten), Jared Hubbard and Eilish Reynolds (First Grade), Cat Yoon (Second

Much as Mirman serves the unique needs of its highly gifted learners through data-driven and differentiated instructional opportunities, the social-emotional wellbeing of families and students is helped by knowing how to navigate the challenges that may result from asynchronous development. “We have administrators like School Psychologist Justin H. Dove and Dean of Students Allen Foster who are committed to advocating and collaborating with teachers to support our students coming from a strengths-based approach, allowing us to leverage what they do well to support their areas of growth instead of solely focusing on their weaknesses or deficits,” Leung said.

teaching and learning — together

Increasing in intensity of intervention, tier two strategies are focused on small groups, and in social-emotional terms, can often look like a cadre of students coming together with Dove to explore relationship skills, emotional regulation, self-awareness, problem-solving, and other social-emotional skills. “These are things that really help the students utilize their gifts in a way that’s successful in the real world,” said Dove. “They become ambassadors for our core values and for social-emotional learning skills. You can lead through those skills, you can lead through character. I feel that’s often not emphasized enough in educational spaces, particularly in competitive ones.”

For students who need a third tier of support, a Student Support Team can be activated to problem-solve. Regardless of the level of support or the gifts of a student, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to social-emotional support, much as there’s no standard pathway to success. In this way, said Dove, sometimes the best medicine is a little grace and selfcompassion.

“My hope is that we’re contributing to a culture where differences are not seen as deficiencies, they’re just seen as differences.

We’re all human, and perfection is not realistic,” he said.

That measured advice applies to parents, too, especially because there’s no single, authoritative handbook for parenting. In addition to the supports available to their children, families in the Mirman community can count on access to leading speakers and resources through the school’s relationships with partner organizations such as SSALA (School Speaker Alliance of Los Angeles), SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted), and Dove’s regular Student Support

Space and Family Education columns in the weekly Mirman Minutes newsletter. But when it comes to offering a support network of their own, Mirman families can rely on each other through the Parents Supporting Parents (PSP) group, a PSL committee that supports Dove in bringing speakers, panels, and programming to the community.

To ensure PSP’s programming slate fits the priorities of Mirman families, Dove conducts a needs assessment at the beginning of each year. Hot button issues range from year to year, but of late have included anxiety (both childhood and parental), self-compassion, helping children navigate uncertainty (particularly after the fires in January), perfectionism, and more. Even with this thoughtful programming, though, strategies and solutions are often closer than we think.

Some of the best insights, said Dove, can come from the families themselves. “Of course, it’s good to hear from expert speakers,” said Dove. “The insights and strategies that parents gain from their own experience and their own children are invaluable, too.”

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Dove, now in his fourth year at Mirman, leads a team in using a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework to address the various needs of the student body. The foundational first tier is designed to address school culture, professional development, classroom management, and family education, all of which combine to provide every member of the Mirman community with a solid baseline.

»D irector of Curriculum and Instruction Tri Vo Huynh facilitates professional development for the Assistant and Associate teachers.

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

Foster, a former athletics coach and PE teacher who is well-versed in Responsive Classroom, originated the role of Dean of Students at Mirman. Broadly, he supports teachers with classroom management, cocreated the advisory curriculum with Dove, facilitates accommodations, and oversees student life. Perhaps, though, it’s a more apt and inclusive description that he’s a highly visible, trusted adult for students to turn to as they need assistance navigating the peaks and valleys of their experience. “I’ve always been a student-centered educator,” said Foster. “The ability to connect, the ability to mentor, the ability to support and encourage our students — that’s why I come to work every day.”

Mirman’s faculty counts among its ranks a dedicated staff of assistant and associate teachers. To support these professionals in their continued learning of their craft, Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tri Vo Huynh facilitates the Associate Professional Learning Community (APLC), which offers a space for skill sharing and peer-led professional development. Through the APLC, these teachers also have access to classroom observation rounds — a practice Huynh has expanded to include lead faculty as well.

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S E NI O R Eren A. Harvard-Westlake School

Luka B. Brentwood School

Hannelore B. Phillips Exeter Academy

Tyler E. Campbell Hall

Chloe F. Marymount High School

Joanna D. Santa Susana High School

Isaac F. Loyola High School

OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GROW…

Congratulations to our Class of 2025!

Julian F. Brentwood School

Saskia H. Harvard-Westlake School

Lila J. Rolling Hills Preparatory School

Karen J. Harvard-Westlake School

Technically the first Kindergarten class at Mirman (the school began to transition from calling that class Room 1 in 2016 to better align with other independent schools, particularly in the application process from middle to high school), these 30 pioneering Eighth Graders are set to move on to their next adventures once they graduate in June.

Neeva K. Marymount High School

Elizabeth K. Windward School

Sydney L. Harvard-Westlake School

Alexander O. Harvard-Westlake School

Otis P. Windward School

Arden M. Archer School for Girls

We’re so proud to have shared in their early educational journey and can’t wait to hear about all the wonderful things we know they’ll accomplish after these Mustangs have galloped off into the sunset!

S A L U T Evelyn P. Chaminade College Preparatory

Inaya R. Harvard-Westlake School

Patrick S. Harvard-Westlake School

Vivienne S. Crossroads School

Atticus T. Harvard-Westlake School

Julian W. Notre Dame High School

Mia M. Harvard-Westlake School

Serena Z. North Hollywood Highly Gifted Magnet High School

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Jaxton M. Crossroads School

Tiger M. Harvard-Westlake School

Theodore S. Harvard-Westlake School

Nathaniel S. Brentwood School

E

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

Pablo L. Santa Monica High School

GROWNup

all

36 fig.9

Ecology

involves studying interactions between organisms and their environment.

IN THE SPRING OF 2017, as one of their last (and, surely, most fun) assignments of their first year at Mirman School, a group of Kindergarteners lay down on pieces of butcher paper, breaking out their coolest poses. Their silhouettes were then painted on the walls by one of their assistant art teachers, Giovanni Zelaya, and their future innovation teacher, Upper School Technology Integrationist Sean Lueder. The teachers were helped by some members of the Class of 2017, who would graduate just days later before moving on to high school. Now, on the eve of their own graduation, the kids of the Class of 2025 came back to the Little Yard one more time to reacquaint themselves with their shadows.

» Eighth Graders return to the Little Yard to revisit their Kindergarten shadows.

alumni profile

jenny

marder

’85-‘91

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F

FOR THIS YEAR’S ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT, the Meridian caught up with Jenny

Marder ’85–’91. A native Angeleno, Marder’s career at Mirman School spanned

Jenny Marder with her fellow Upper School classmates in 1990

Room 1 (now Kindergarten) through US1 (now Fifth Grade) before she moved on to Harvard-Westlake, then to Middlebury College in Vermont to study world literature. She works as the lead editor for NASA’s Earth Science News Team and lives in Northern Virginia with her daughter, Autumn (age eight), and son, Kai (age 11). In addition to her work with NASA, she is a contributor to the New York Times and has published two books with Penguin Kids: “The Ultimate Kid’s Guide to the Universe” and “The Ultimate Kid’s Guide to Weather.”

Marder credits her time at Mirman with instilling the value of curiosity, a love of writing, and an open mind — all things that are still emphasized for Mirman students today. In addition to sparking and supporting the interests that would become her professional life, she also has Mirman to thank for lifelong friendships. More than just memories, Marder’s past at Mirman continues to add joy to her present.

MERIDIAN: What stands out in your memories of Mirman?

JENNY MARDER: I remember all of our teachers and their names, and the names of most of the kids in our class. I remember where we sat for lunch every day — just outside the library — and what everyone had in their lunch bags.

I have a close friend, Mozhan (Navabi) Marno (’85–’91). We were friends throughout Mirman, and we’re still very close. We are sort of each other’s memories when it comes to Mirman, which is a lovely thing, isn’t it? She’ll text me and say something like, “Do you remember when we hatched baby chicks in Mrs. Wragg’s class?” And I’ll text back and fill in the rest of the story or vice versa. I think it’s partly because of [our friendship] that I have such vivid memories of Mirman.

JM: My classmates were just very smart,

interesting kids. The small size of the school also helped. We started together and then moved through the classes together. Other schools are bigger and kids are with a different group of students each year, but at Mirman, you’re together for the whole experience.

M: Did anything about your academic

experience at Mirman influence your life or career path in any particular way?

JM: It’s occurred to me as a parent now [with

young children in school] how much Mirman focused on writing, and I think that helped me. They had us writing essays and poems from a very young age…I remember there were students in my class who wrote these poems about very sophisticated things, detailed poems about immortality written by nineyear-olds!

Mirman was a creative place where teachers were always experimenting conceptually with things. There seemed to be a freedom of expression at Mirman, and a kind of critical thinking that was really valued.

M: Were you interested in the sciences early

on, too?

JM: I’m a science writer now, but no, I don’t

think I was particularly interested in science until I became an adult. I have a clear memory of playing table hockey with friends in science class using pencils and erasers instead of paying attention. I think my ability to write about science actually stems from not having a natural understanding of science. Because of that, every time I learn something new, I need to go through the process of understanding it. When I do interviews, I ask lots of basic questions. Going through that process is what

M: So, where exactly did your science interest

originate?

JM: After college and before graduate school,

I moved back home to California and started writing for newspapers, first for a weekly newspaper in Huntington Beach and then for the Long Beach Press Telegram, a daily. It was just such a fun job, writing for a newspaper.

There’s no better way to get to know a city.

While I was at the Press-Telegram, I spent about six months doing a three-day series on the link between crystal meth and AIDS in Long

There seemed to be a freedom of expression at Mirman, and a kind of critical thinking that was really valued.”

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about the Mirman experience that nurtured these lifelong friendships for you?

allows me to write about science in terms others can understand.

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

M: Can you speak to what you think it was

People who stay curious, who aren’t rigid or fixed in their thinking, are always learning and always growing...”

Beach. I worked on the story closely with a photographer, and we were able to approach the story from all sorts of angles: the treatment angle, the law enforcement angle, the science and effects of addiction, in addition to focusing on the human stories behind it all. And I remember while writing it, feeling like the science was the part I didn’t understand — I didn’t really know how to read a research study yet, for example. So that’s when I decided I wanted to study science in graduate school.

At some point, it occurred to me that writing about science is just writing about the world.

It’s writing about everything we see and how it works. I attended graduate school at Columbia, where I got an M.A. in journalism focusing on science writing. After that, I got a job at “PBS NewsHour,” where I spent 11 years working as a science writer, editor, and producer.

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M: How do you engage with science and

writing now?

JM: I work as the lead editor for the Earth

Science News Team. When people think of NASA, they often think about space and planetary science. But studying Earth’s systems from space is a major part of what NASA does. Our team creates print, videos, and multimedia stories on climate change, global temperature, sea level rise, polar ice, and big topics like oceans and air quality.

NASA provides the data on these topics, and it’s all open access. Our job is to help put that Earth science data in context so it can empower people to better understand our planet and ultimately protect it.

MM: Did writing children’s books evolve from

your own experience as a parent and watching your own children learn and grow?

JM: I got lucky. There was an editor from the

publishing house who reached out to me after they had seen a New York Times article I wrote

that involved space. The article was about how easy it is for kids to develop misconceptions about size, scale, and distance when it comes to space: the size of the planets, the distance they are from each other, that kind of thing.

The publishing house was starting a new series of chapter books for eight to 12-year-olds, and they were looking for a writer.

M: Do your kids like to write?

JM: My daughter is definitely interested in

writing. She writes her own graphic novels.

She’ll often be going through something in her life, and she’ll turn it into a graphic novel.

She uses writing in the way all writers do: to understand something, to make sense of her experience.

M: What about science?

JM: My son loves science. It was his questions

that drove some of the storytelling I did in the books, and in the Times article I mentioned earlier. He asked me one day, “If atoms had eyes, could they see subatomic particles?”

And so we went from there, trying to figure it out with a friend’s help, comparing the size of a seven-year-old to the smallest thing that child could see, and then applied that scale to the atom. And we concluded that no, even the biggest protons and neutrons, which are fantastically tiny, would be too small for the atom to see.

M: One last question. If you were to encounter

Mirman-aged Jenny Marder, what would you say to her?

JM: My advice would be to speak up. Be bold.

Never stop asking questions. Curiosity has always been valued at Mirman. People who stay curious, who aren’t rigid or fixed in their thinking, are always learning and always growing, and happen to be the most interesting people to be around.

alumni news

1

Director of Annual Giving and Alumni Affairs Sanam K. Smith

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’87–’91 at ssmith@mirman.org.

Giovanna Brazell ‘15–’22 is a

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1. Giovanna Brazell ‘15–’22 2. Iris Cong ‘05–’13 3. Oscar Garay ‘08–’16 4. Matthew Raab ‘95–98 5. Maribelle Ganelis ‘19–’24 6. Kobe, son of Gizelle Pera ‘96–’03

Gold Medal National Champion U16W8 rower ­and winner of the US Rowing Youth National Championships 2024. Mom Tina Brazell also reported that she is a rising 10th Grader at the Archer School for Girls and began rowing in the Fall of 2023.

Iris Cong ‘05–’13 completed her Ph.D. in physics at Harvard in 2022, where she studied the applications and implementation of near-term quantum computers. Since then, she has been working towards a career pivot to medicine, starting the M.D. program at Stanford in August 2024. Iris hopes to combine her background in engineering, physics, and medicine to advance the frontiers of healthcare and medical technology.

Oscar Garay ‘08–’16 graduated from NYU with a bachelor’s degree in art last spring. He credits his art teacher while at Mirman, Karin Durup, for inspiring his love of art and

Matthew Raab ‘95–98 was

booked to perform at the Magic Castle for the first time last summer — the first magic gig he’s booked in his life! The entertainment director there determined that his set was worth making people wait in line for seats. By trade, he’s a CPA who specializes in accounting for startups.

Maribelle Ganelis ‘19–’24,

who always loved fantasy and romance, finished writing and editing and has now published her first fantasy novel. Her mother, Irina Ganelis, wrote in to share the news. The book is 200+ pages and is now available in print, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited editions on Amazon.

She lives in Los Angeles with her family (including brother Ariel Ganelis ’17–’22) and an adorable chocolate labrador.

Gizelle Pera ‘96–’03 had a son, Kobe George Farenbaugh, in August of 2024, making the Farenbaughs a family of four.

Kobe’s big brother, Finley, helps feed him bottles and change his diapers, and loves to give him hugs and kisses.

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ALUMNI and alumni families who have written in with updates over the year! If you have news to share or have heard tell of a fellow Mustang up to something great, please email

his career choice in the art industry. This past year, he launched a holiday campaign with Anthropologie, participated in two group shows in New York, and is currently living and working in New York City.

THE MAGAZINE OF MIRMAN SCHOOL

THANKS TO ALL OF OUR

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Jonathan Marr ‘84–’88 lives in Berkeley with his husband, John, and kids, Connor and Evelyn. He’s worked at Sephora in customer service for nearly a decade but jokes that his son knows more about skin care than he does. He was pleased to report that he’d recently caught up with Danny Ross ’82–’88, who lives in West Hollywood with his husband and their twins, Charlie and Hayley, who are rising juniors at Danny’s alma mater, Harvard-Westlake.

Noah Levin ’90–’96 and his wife,

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Jessica, welcomed their first child, Ezra, in 2023. The family lives in Austin, Texas, where Noah works as VP of product at Honor, a home care platform whose mission is to expand the world’s capacity to care.

Jeremy Kerman ‘84–’88 is

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1. Jonathan Marr ‘84–’88 2. Mollie Birney ‘90–’97 3. Noah Levin ’90–’96 4. F abien Tepper ‘85–’91 5. Jeremy Kerman ‘84–’88 6. Chester Englander ‘85–’87

currently working as corporate counsel for Sumitomo Metal Mining in Tokyo, Japan, and shared a photo of a recent vacation in Dublin.

Mollie Birney ‘90–’97 lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, Clinton, a therapist, and her son, Wesley. She has worked as a clinical life coach in private practice since 2018, when she pivoted from her role as a therapist in order to pioneer a more authentic and irreverent approach to mental wellness.

Fabien Tepper ‘85–’91 moved

to Boston more than ten years ago for a journalism job, which

she said was so terribly stressful that she soon left the field altogether, becoming a pedicab driver. “My life then took a longoverdue turn toward sweat, movement, and endorphins,” she shared. “I stayed in Boston, where I now walk dogs and host travelers. I also spend plenty of time reading, writing, learning languages, painting, resettling refugees, and studying the art/ science of vegan cheesemaking.”

Chester Englander ‘85–’87 lives

in Nashville and performs as a percussionist and cimbalom artist with ensembles around the country. In the spring of 2024, he performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Nashville Symphony, and Pittsburgh Symphony. In August 2024, Chester joined the Cleveland Orchestra on their European tour, where he performed at the Berliner Philharmonie. This fall, Chester performed the score to “Gladiator” live to film with the Sioux City Symphony, returned to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra, and joined the Baltimore Symphony to perform the featured cimbalom part to Stravinsky’s “Renard.” This spring, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City performing the featured cimbalom part on “John Adams: Antony and Cleopatra.” More information about Chester can be found at ChesterEnglander.com.

became VP of strategy at Atlantic Records after spending the last seven years in brand strategy with specialties in music and tech. He credits the late Dr. Richard Boolootian for sparking a lifelong curiosity with the natural world. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and dog.

Boon Goetsch ‘15–’24 and Atticus Stewart ‘15–’24 both

rising 10th Graders at Geffen Academy at UCLA, stopped by campus to say hello this year.

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Austin Washington ’13–’22,

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an alumnus of the Advanced Combo Band, headlined a live show with his band Serratonin at the Whisky A-Go-Go as a benefit for families affected by the January wildfires.

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1. Joel Fried ‘62–’66 and Leslie Mirman Geffen 2. Jasper Hughes ’17–’23 3. B oon Goetsch ‘15–’24 and Atticus Stewart ‘15–’24 4. Elena Saviano ’07–’16 5. N oah ’17–’24 and Naalah Cohen ’11–’17 6. Addae Melhuish ’01–’07

Jasper Hughes ’17–’23 played with his band, The Four and a Half, at the Canyon Club in Agoura in late January at a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Six high school bands performed sets that were about thirty minutes each, and over $5,000 was donated to fight cancer. Jasper is currently a 10th grader at Viewpoint.

Avery Paris ’19–’22 was joined

by current student (and drummer for Advanced Combo Band) Sixth Grader Bianca W. as they played a show in the Viper Room in late January. Paris was a singer in Advanced Combo Band during her time at Mirman and performed with the Concert Singers.

Parents Jonah Cohen and Kennetha Gaines recently shared an update about their children, Noah ’17–’24 and Naalah Cohen ’11–’17, who are thriving at their respective schools. Noah is now a rising Eighth Grader at Harvard-Westlake, actively participating in various sports programs and school events.

Meanwhile, Naalah spent the summer in Taiwan studying Chinese and has returned to Yale as a rising junior. Both Naalah and Noah had the incredible opportunity to attend their first Olympics in France. This summer, Naalah will be interning in Germany, and Noah is already looking forward to visiting her.

They both miss Mirman!

Allison Saviano recently wrote in to share that her daughter, Elena Saviano ’07–’16, who graduated from Parsons in NYC with a BFA in photography, had a full circle moment recently.

She is currently working as a photographer/writer in NY and just last month finished up a

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Addae Melhuish ’01–’07 recently

with Leslie Mirman Geffen in Amsterdam. Fried was a member of the first graduating class at Mirman!

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Joel Fried ‘62–’66 met up

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great interview for The Creative Independent with the “truly amazing” singer/songwriter Jensen McRae ’03–’09.

Kirsh law firm. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband and two children, Clementine and Maverick.

Kyan Kumar ’13–’22 came to

Amy Andelson ’88–’94 is a screenwriter whose credits include “Step Up 3D,” “Naomi & Ely’s No Kiss List,” and the Netflix series “Trinkets.” She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Sean, and their two young sons.

campus this winter to speak to Eighth Graders about financial literacy. Guided by his own love of mathematics and belief that every student should learn about income, saving, spending, and investing, he shared practical tips to boost students’ financial awareness. He currently attends Windward as a rising senior, where he is president of the Global Scholars Program and participates in a variety of activities, including varsity basketball and peer tutoring.

Erika Billick ’91–’93 graduated

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1. Kyan Kumar ’13–’22 2. Amy Andelson ’88–’94 3. Erika Billick ’91–’93 4. Courtney Kay ’88–’95 5. Damon Watson ’76–’85

from the prestigious CornellRockefeller-Sloan Kettering M.D./ Ph.D. program. She is currently working as a freelance editor in the biomedical sphere. She has worked on everything from science fiction books to chemistry blogs and has also developed expertise in editing work written by non-native English speakers. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children, Vivien and Tyler.

Courtney Kay ’88–’95, a magna

cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania as well as Loyola Law School graduate, is senior counsel in the real estate department of Sklar

Damon Watson ’76–’85 is the

senior director of legal services and corporate development at the New Jersey Re-entry Corporation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated individuals. Damon graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law School but after losing five family members, he fell into depression, struggled with addiction, and was disbarred. Unhoused, he was convicted of multiple felonies, and spent years in and out of jail.

Damon rebuilt his life and now helps others do the same. His story was featured in a New York Times op-ed in December 2024 and spoke at the New Jersey Municipal Court Administrators Association’s annual conference in May. Damon is also an avid triathlete, recently completing an Ironman. In June, he will compete in mens’ aquabike (swim and bike, males 50-54 age group) at the National Multisport Festival in Omaha, NE for a spot on team USA. Damon lives in New Jersey with his wife Gigi.

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