AROUND THE POND
Finding the Keys to Success Why do students of color have a higher rate of attrition in college, and what can schools like Taft do to prepare them better for the college experience? Faculty member Mennette DuBose San-Lee ’87 is working with other Connecticut boarding schools to find out. Together Taft, Choate, Loomis, and Kent are talking to 1997 graduates and current seniors to find out what we can do to make the transition more successful. “I know that we have made great strides in accommodating students of color,” she said. “It is also true, as traditional institutions, that we have many more lessons to learn in this regard.” The project is being sponsored by the National Association of College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) through their Multicultural Institute for Advanced Thinking and Practice. The last major study in this area was done nearly fifteen years ago. Mennette’s is one of three projects being funded this year, and her recommendations will be presented at the NACAC national conference in September.
Designing students Taft students have done well in recent years in the National Engineering and Design Competition (NEDC) sponsored by the Junior Engineering and Technical Society (JETS). This year the group will have the added support of engineers from the Siemon Company in Watertown. (Yes, it is within the rules.) Each year, students are given real-life engineering problems to tackle. Last year they designed exercise equipment that would be safe for pregnant women or people with physical handicaps. This year the task is to design a safer shopping cart, one that could prevent the thousands of accidents that happen every year to children in them. Physics teacher Jim Mooney, who serves as the students’ advisor, said, “This year we have two groups pursuing separate designs, and hopefully each group will develop a prototype. Apart from the challenge of the problem itself, it has been a real challenge for the kids to learn to work together toward one goal.” Photo by Julie Reiff
Siemon engineers Denny Lo and Mark Viklund with faculty advisor Jim Mooney and team members John Skovran ’98, Willy Cheung ’99, Anthony Guerrera ’98, and Clayton Chen ’98.
Photo by Eric Poggenpohl
Vietnam in Modern Memory Dennis Mannion, an English teacher at Sheehan High School in Wallingford, CT, spoke in early December to interested members of the community and “Literature of War” students about his experiences as a foot soldier during the Vietnam war. Mr. Mannion carried an Instamatic camera with him in 1967, and he turned his snap shots into slides some ten years later when he was asked to speak about his tour of duty. According to English teacher Rick Lansdale, Mr. Mannion first spoke at Taft last year and was enthusiastically received by faculty and students alike. Photo by Julia Pinover ’98
16
Winter 1998