The Langley School Experience Winter-Spring 2010

the langley school

experience Winter/Spring 2010

Creating Technology-Rich Classrooms Across America

A Message from the Head of School

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The Langley School Experience is published twice a year for friends and families of The Langley School.

Campus Happenings

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Head of School Doris E. Cottam Editor & Designer Sharon Ifft

Sports Spotlight Varsity Soccer Teams Go Undefeated New Long Jump Pit Enhances Athletic Program

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Langley in Depth Creating Technology-Rich Classrooms Across America

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Faculty Notes Kathleen Smith Appointed Director of Academics Faculty Grants Enrich Classroom Learning

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Advancement Update Another Successful Start for The Langley Fund Langley Kicks Off Distinguished Speaker Series Langley Launches New Charitable Gift Planning Site Youngkin Family Establishes Endowed Scholarship

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Alumni News Alumni Profile: Gerald Pierce ’99 Alumni Profile: Michelle du Pont Olson ’82 Class Notes Former Director of Academics Leads House Page Program

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On the Cover: Fourth-graders prepare to film their own news show in Langley’s green screen creative media studio with the help of Middle Schoolers from the Langley Advanced Media Production (LAMP) elective class. See the back cover for a unique look at Langley’s green screen in action.

Photographers Anne Bielamowicz Aki Debayo-Doherty SA Henderson Sharon Ifft Jennifer Lover Frank McPartland Advancement Office Warren Sarasin, CFRE Director of Advancement wsarasin@langleyschool.org Meg Clute Director of Parent & Alumni Relations mclute@langleyschool.org Sharon Ifft Director of Publications & Marketing sifft@langleyschool.org Emily Olson Assistant Director of Advancement eolson@langleyschool.org Mike Stein Advancement Assistant mstein@langleyschool.org The Langley School is comprised of students, teachers, parents, and staff who believe that a diverse school community promotes learning and growth, preparing students for responsible and compassionate citizenship in the global community. We administer all programs and policies without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or any other category to the extent protected by applicable laws.

The Langley School 1411 Balls Hill Road McLean,VA 22101 Phone: (703) 356-1920 Fax: (703) 790-9712 www.langleyschool.org

a message from the

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But simply creating a strong curriculum on paper doesn’t prepare students for success. In today’s high-tech, fastpaced world, teachers must find new ways to fully engage their students and bring each lesson to life. At Langley, we believe that an integrated technology program is the key to developing students who will thrive in the increasingly digital 21st century.

Rather than creating a separate technology class, Langley teachers incorporate technology seamlessly into every area of the curriculum to enhance a particular lesson, make a project more interactive, and teach students to use new digital tools. For example, our students may participate in a live

videoconference with a school in Texas during Spanish class, compose a song electronically using special software in music class, use texting technology to solve problems in math class, or film their own current events newscast using green screen technology as part of a social studies project.

In every division and subject area, Langley teachers are on the cutting edge of the latest technology and are finding unique ways to use it in the classroom. Tools such as our green screen media studio, PC and Mac labs, student laptops and tablets, videoconferencing equipment, classroom interactive whiteboards, and our growing list of software programs provide our faculty with the digital resources they need for strong, creative teaching.

So when our Director of Technology & Communication Lee Nelms and Resource Teacher Kristen McLaughlin came to me with a brilliant idea to share Langley’s technology knowledge with other teachers around the country, I was thrilled. In October, Langley hosted nearly 100 teachers from more than 10 states and Canada for our two-day conference, “Creative

Pursuits: Integrating Technology into 21st Century Classrooms.”

As you’ll read on page 8, our teachers led approximately 30 interactive workshops on everything from podcasting and robotics to digital animation and interactive flipcharts, demonstrating how to use each of these tools and sharing ideas for incorporating them into classroom lessons. The response was overwhelming, as participants went back to their home schools energized and excited about the possibility of integrating technology throughout their curriculum as Langley has done.

I’m so proud of our faculty, not only for the creative ways they teach Langley students every day, but also for their willingness to share their knowledge with their peers and help create a stronger educational experience for today’s youth across the country. L

Doris E. Cottam Head of School

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uring a typical day at Langley, our students may conduct a science experiment, solve a math problem, write a short story, learn a new Spanish verb, practice a piece of music, create a watercolor painting, participate in a drama rehearsal on stage, and score a soccer goal. Led by faculty who are experts in their fields, our broad program exposes students of all ages to a wide variety of subject areas and new ideas each and every day.

Head of School

campus happenings Clockwise from top left: In October, eighth-graders enjoyed a two-day excursion to Williamsburg,VA, where they spent time touring Colonial Williamsburg and riding roller coasters at nearby Busch Gardens.

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As part of their hydrology unit in science, sixth-graders visited a nearby nature preserve to learn about the water cycle and conduct water quality tests.

Seventh-graders traveled to Philadelphia, PA, in October for a two-day trip featuring visits to the Franklin Institute Science Museum, the Independence Seaport Museum, and the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Despite rainy weather, Langley’s annual Fall Fair was a huge success, with more than 750 attending for an afternoon of food, fun, and games.

The Fall Fair featured traditional favorites such as the Cake Walk, inflatables, and obstacle course, along with some new attractions such as the mechanical bull.

Langley’s junior kindergarten students enjoyed a field trip to a local vegetable farm last fall where they picked out pumpkins and met some of the small animals that live there.

Primary Schoolers showed off their creative costumes and gave a short musical performance during their Halloween celebration.

A cast and crew of more than 40 Middle Schoolers presented “Alice in Wonderland” November 12-14. The popular show also featured a pit orchestra of student performers.

More than 900 people attended the Middle School production of “Alice in Wonderland,” completely selling out each night of its three-night run.

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Lower School students in grades 1-5 participated in their annual Halloween parade around campus.

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campus happenings Clockwise from top left:

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Fourth-graders participated in a new fine arts rotation this year, taking one trimester each of art, music, and drama. At the end of the first trimester in November, they presented a Native American performance featuring each of the three disciplines.

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As part of their Native American unit, second-graders had the opportunity to explore the cooking, tool-making, and hunting techniques used by the Powhatan people during a visit from the Powhatan Living History Village.

On November 24, Langley welcomed 330 guests to campus for the school’s annual Grandparents & Special Friends Day. During Grandparents Day, guests spent time with children in the classroom, participating in a range of activities such as making crafts, playing games, and reading stories.

Grandparents Day also featured student musical performances, including kindergartners singing a Thanksgiving-themed song.

First-grade students performed a song and dance to the tune “Simple Gifts” during Grandparents Day.

More than 100 Lower School musicians in grades 3-5 presented a holiday concert which featured both band and choral performances.

Holiday classics and unique new tunes highlighted the Middle School holiday concert featuring Langley’s three Middle School band ensembles.

Students and parents alike enjoyed browsing and purchasing a wonderful selection of books at the Pat Bush Library’s annual Book Fair in December.

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On November 19, students in grades K-8 participated in a read-a-thon to support Homestretch, an organization that empowers homeless families. Students read with buddies from other grade levels and raised approximately $3,000.

sports spotlight

Varsity Soccer Teams Go Undefeated Congratulations to Langley’s soccer teams for their achievements on the field this fall! During the fall season, Langley teams brought home five first-place banners in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), the 10-school conference in which the school competes at the varsity and junior varsity levels.

Boys’ Varsity Soccer

Overall Record: 11-0 CAC Regular Season Result: Champion CAC Tournament Result: Champion Coaches: Mark Loach & Ivan Mandic CAC All-Stars: Matthew Bielamowicz, Adam Morin, Donahue Sauer, Matt Sniezek 6 THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Highlights: Led by four eighth-grade all-star players, the boys’ varsity team went undefeated this season, finishing with an impressive 11-0 record. Their toughest wins were against long-time rival, Norwood, who Langley played twice. In the regular season showdown, Langley went up 3-0 early, then had to fight off a surging Norwood squad 3-2 for an exciting victory. The two teams battled again in the CAC tournament championship game, with Langley topping Norwood in a close 2-1 win.

Girls’ Varsity Soccer

Overall Record: 11-0 CAC Regular Season Result: Champion CAC Tournament Result: Champion Coaches: Jim Gleason & Jamie Fabrizio CAC All-Stars: Sarah Ing, Annelise Kollevoll, Marta Sniezek, Monica Spafford MVP Award: Monica Spafford Highlights: Not to be outdone by the boys’ varsity team, the girls also finished their season with an undefeated 11-0 record. They easily handled Norwood 6-1 during the regular season and entered the season-ending CAC tournament as the heavy favorite. Langley rolled through the tournament and captured the championship, taking out Westminster 6-2 in the semifinals and St. Patrick’s by the same margin in the final.

Boys’ JV Soccer

Overall Record: 9-1 CAC Regular Season Result: Champion CAC Tournament Result: Quarterfinals Coaches: Ryan McKinney & Nick Saunders Highlights: With a winning 8-0 record in the regular season, Langley’s JV boys were never threatened with a close game for most of the fall. They entered the CAC tournament as the top seed, but stumbled in the quarterfinals in a 3-2 shootout against St. Patrick’s, giving them their only loss of the season.

Girls’ JV Soccer

Highlights: Although the JV girls’ team struggled to notch wins, they worked extremely hard and showed the most improvement throughout the season of any of Langley’s soccer teams. The girls put up a great fight in the quarterfinals of the CAC tournament where they nearly pulled out a win against the talented number two seed, Woods Academy, but unfortunately lost in a shootout.

Last year, Langley replaced our natural grass athletic field with synthetic turf. Thanks to its durable grass-like material and superior drainage capabilities, Gleason Field provides students with a wonderful space to enjoy recess, P.E. classes, and interscholastic team sports. During summer 2009, the school installed a new long jump pit at the far end of the field, adding an exciting new dimension to our athletic program and further enhancing our outstanding athletic facilities.

“I wanted to build up our track and field unit in P.E., and the long jump is a huge part of the unit,” says Nick Saunders, head of the P.E. department. “I’m very excited about the many ways we will be able to incorporate the new long jump pit into P.E. classes and perhaps our team sports program at some point in the future.”

Students in grades 3-8 are using the new pit as part of their ongoing fitness units this year, with students learning the long jump beginning in third grade and the slightly more technical triple jump beginning in fifth grade. The pit will also be an integral part of the track and field unit this spring and will be used when Langley hosts the Capital Athletic Conference track and field meet for the first time in May 2010.

With a 70-foot-long run lane, the high school-sized long jump pit enables students to develop jumping skills at an earlier age. “Most students don’t get to use a pit such as this until high school, if the high school has one at all,” says Mr. Saunders. “The long jump, triple jump, and high jump are highlights of any track and field event. Being able to experience and practice this skill in a proper pit will hopefully help improve students’ focus and motivate them further in fitness classes and in track and field.”

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Overall Record: 2-7 CAC Regular Season Result: Seventh CAC Tournament Result: Quarterfinals Coaches: Sarah McTurk & Shannon Hawrylo MVP Award: Mia Hsu Coach’s Award: Allie Clarke Unsung Hero Award: Sabrina Kersten

New Long Jump Pit Enhances Athletic Program

langley in depth

Creating Technology-Rich Classrooms Across America Langley Hosts New Technology Conference for Teachers

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t The Langley School, teachers at all levels seamlessly integrate technology into their classroom lessons. They use the latest digital tools such as interactive whiteboards, podcasting, videoconferencing, and animation to not only enhance the curriculum, but also teach our students to think creatively and develop the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century.

“The unique thing about Langley’s technology conference was that practically every workshop was taught by real teachers as they interacted with their students in their own classrooms instead of by company representatives in a lecture hall,” says Dr. Nelms. “This gave our attendees the unique opportunity to see these digital tools used in an authentic learning environment.”

than 10 states – including California, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island – and even Canada to learn from Langley’s technologically-savvy faculty. Due to the cuts in professional development budgets at many schools, Langley also provided financial assistance to help cover the registration fee for a number of teach-

With the wide variety of technology resources available here at Langley – and the many unique ways in which our faculty use them in their classrooms daily – the school wanted to share this expertise with other educators. So on October 8 and 9, Langley hosted our first-ever technology conference for teachers, “Creative Pursuits: Integrating Technology into 21st Century Classrooms.”

The idea for Creative Pursuits was conceptualized by Kristen McLaughlin, Langley resource teacher, when she found that many of her peers at other schools were unaware of the opportunities to integrate technology into classroom lessons. So together with Dr. Lee Nelms, director of technology and communication, they organized the new two-day conference.

Conference attendees participate in a Skype workshop.

The conference garnered national attention, with nearly 100 preschool to secondary school educators from independent and public schools attending. Teachers came from more

ers who would not have been able to attend otherwise.

Creative Pursuits featured nearly 30 interactive workshops led by Langley

faculty, a hands-on “tech playground,” and two keynote addresses by leading technology experts (see “Keynotes Address the Future of TechnologyBased Learning”). Langley’s classrooms, computer labs, and media studio were buzzing with excitement and activity as our teachers explained how to use tools such as blogs, videoconferencing, digital portfolios, green screen technology, and podcasting to enhance student learning.

Attendees not only learned about these tools, but also had the opportunity to practice using them in a hands-on, interactive environment.

“I appreciated the willingness of teachers to share,” one attendee remarked.

“It was real in that they were not portraying themselves as experts, but sharing what they have learned and do with their classes.” An administrator from a participating school added, “We cannot thank you enough for allowing our teachers to attend Creative Pursuits. They were about to burst with energy trying to present some of the initiatives, if not for this school year, then for next year.”

“At Langley, our students are lucky to be in a place where technology is a seamless part of the fabric of learning,” says Dr. Nelms. “This isn’t the case at many schools around the country. We see the value of technology education for all teachers and were thrilled to pass along our knowledge to help create technology-rich classrooms across America.” L

Google Lit Trip to Ancient Rome Fifth-Grade Teacher Debi Gustin wanted to find a way to make the lives of ancient Romans relevant to her fifth-graders, so last year she began teaching the historical whodunit novel, Detectives in Togas, in a completely new way using a Google lit trip. This amazing tool uses Google Earth’s 3-D maps to bring the settings of great literature to life.

Set in ancient Rome, Detectives in Togas tells a tale of students who uncover the mystery of a crime. Mrs. Gustin created a lit trip using the new ancient Rome layer in Google Earth.

She chose 13 key locations in the novel that would be critical to a fifth-grader’s understanding of ancient Rome and of the book, researching primary and secondary source materials ranging from books and Web sites to videos and photographs and assembling the materials with challenge questions for each of the 13 locations. As part of the lit trip, fifth-graders can visit the actual location mentioned in the novel, look inside a 360-degree panoramic photo of the place, view a 3-D architectural rendition of the location, use the supplemental material to understand why this place was so important to ancient Romans, and then answer a challenge question.

The lit trip is such a hit with students that similar lit trips for two other novels – Chasing Vermeer and The Watsons Go to Birmingham – are also being planned. “Any time you can capture as many senses as possible, it helps deepen a child’s understanding,” says Mrs. Gustin, who led Creative Pursuits attendees through an abbreviated version of the Detectives in Togas lit trip during her workshop. “Google lit trips help students make a connection and provide deeper meaning behind the plot of a novel.”

Interactive Workshops Explore Technology Tools Langley’s conference featured nearly 30 interactive workshops – on everything from videoconferencing and podcasting to robotics and green-screen technology – which were led by experienced Langley faculty. Below is a sampling of just some of these workshops:

• Documenting a Child’s Progress Through a Digital Portfolio • Bring the World Closer Through Skype • Explore the Dynamic Earth with Interactives • Filming in Virtual Worlds: Creating Illusions in Green Screen, 2-D Environments • How to Blog Effectively in Your Classroom • Investigating Amazon’s Wireless Reading Device: Kindle 2 and Kindle DX • Literacy Starters for Struggling Readers • Making Sound Choices: Using Audio to Bring the Past Alive • Making Your First Interactive Flipchart • Math, Science, and Robotics: Scratch-ing Together a Mix • Student Voices Online! Recording and Posting Student Work Online

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During both afternoons of the conference, Langley’s Sherman Arts Center auditorium was transformed into a “tech playground” featuring stations of digital tools for attendees to explore.

Whether trying out the green screen, picking up tips on using tablets, working with an interactive whiteboard, or discovering new ways to use a digital camera in the classroom, participants enjoyed these interactive mini-sessions.

inside the workshops:

inside the workshops:

The Role of Videoconferencing in the 21st Century Classroom Langley may be based in McLean,VA, but our students have a much wider circle of interaction thanks to the videoconferencing technology the school installed in the library three years ago. Spanish Teacher Elena Meschieri is leading the way, linking her eighth-grade Spanish students to Spanish-speaking classes around the world.

In the past few years, her students have interacted with students in Michigan, Texas, New York, Alabama, and even the Dominican Republic, many of them in high school speaking high school-level Spanish.

During a live videoconference, our students can see and speak with students

at the partner school. They participate in a variety of activities in Spanish, such as presenting reports about the area in which they live, playing trivia games about popular culture, or even having a question and answer session with their new friends.

As part of her popular workshop for teachers during the Creative Pursuits conference, Mrs. Meschieri set up a videoconference with a ninth-grade Spanish class in Michigan to show participants how the system works. Langley students created a clever interactive Spanish trivia game about celebrities which they played with the Michigan class.

“I’m encouraging my students to make connections and find similarities and differences between the social and cultural aspects of the outside world and their own reality,” says Mrs. Meschieri, who notes that videoconferencing also gives her the opportunity to interact with other Spanish teachers. “Videoconferencing is an especially useful tool for foreign language classes because it not only exposes students to other accents and ways of speaking the language, but also provides them with insight into cultures different from their own.”

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inside the workshops:

Spawning the 4-Year-Old Programmer What looks like a large plastic bumble bee, is battery-operated, and can be easily programmed to move along the floor like a robot? A BeeBot, which is the latest technology tool used by Langley’s junior kindergarten students to introduce them to basic programming. Students use these simple robotic devices about once a month to enhance a particular subject area they may be studying such as geography, math, language arts, or even outer space.

Conference attendees experiment with a BeeBot.

The BeeBots come with special mats that have a series of designs imprinted on them such as letters, numbers, and shapes and a clear mat that can be customized to

any subject area. For example, when students are learning about shapes, they must locate a specific shape on the mat and then correctly program BeeBot to get there by telling it to move either forward, backward, left, or right.

“BeeBots are the beginning of our technology curriculum and provide basic programming skills that also involve social interaction and learning,” says JK Teacher Emmy Bocek, adding that BeeBots can be used as an assessment tool as well. “They look like toys, but serve as a good starting point for teaching control, directional language, beginning programming, critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork skills. I’ve found that students are more engaged in learning when using the BeeBot and this helps them solidify connections and retain information.”

Teachers who attended Mrs. Bocek’s Creative Pursuits workshop enjoyed watching her students use the BeeBots during a lesson, then had the opportunity to try out these clever little robots for themselves.

Keynotes Address the Future of TechnologyBased Learning Each day of the conference kicked off with a keynote address by a leading technology expert. Both speakers inspired attendees with powerful presentations on the many available technology tools for teachers and the future of technology-based learning.

DR. KATHLEEN KING Dr. Kathleen King – award-winning author, digital media/ instructional technology expert, and co-host of the 5-million-listener podcast, “The Teachers’ Podcast” – discussed how to prepare teachers to function inside a brave new world filled with technological possibilities.

“With all the technology available to them, our students process information differently than we did as children,” Dr. King told attendees. “We as teachers must learn to speak their language and use the technology that’s familiar to them in our classrooms.” (pictured below)

inside the workshops:

Teaching with Texting Wireless communication tools such as texting are a way of life for today’s students. So when she incorporated a personal response system called ActivExpressions into her daily lessons, Middle School Math Teacher Lizza Sandoe found a unique way to engage her students. These tiny wireless devices allow students to anonymously answer a variety of multiple choice, reordering, number entry, and open-ended questions from their seats. The answers can then be displayed on the classroom interactive whiteboard for further discussion.

Ms. Sandoe leads her workshop on texting.

Ms. Sandoe also notes that this new tool has helped otherwise quiet students shine, giving them an opportunity to participate through their digital answers. “It’s very safe for a student to make a mistake and to take a risk on an answer when he or she knows that the answer is anonymous.”

DON McNAMEE A technical and educational leader with experience at several international schools, Don McNamee is currently a faculty member at Kristin School in Auckland, New Zealand. He shared his expertise via live videoconference, discussing how new television tools such as Slingbox and Livestation can be put to good educational use and change the media landscape, profoundly affecting the way our students see and understand the world around them.

During her Teaching with Texting workshop in October, Ms. Sandoe gave participants the opportunity to try using the ActivExpressions tool and discussed the possible uses and applications in any subject area and at almost any grade level.

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Ms. Sandoe uses ActivExpressions almost daily during math exercises such as quick self-paced warm-ups and Team Jeopardy for test review. “This is such a great tool because no one can hide when they are struggling with the material,” she says, adding that students are living in an immediateresponse society and enjoy the instant feedback ActivExpressions provides. “Everyone answers, and every answer is displayed anonymously. Seeing the correct answers gives students a feeling of accomplishment and seeing the wrong answers often spawns a great discussion. It also gives me a sense of how the class is doing with a particular concept.”

faculty notes

Kathleen Smith Appointed Director of Academics

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n November, Kathleen Smith joined Langley’s administrative team as director of academics. Ms. Smith served as interim director for several months following the departure of long-time director, Maria Lopez (see page 23 for more on Ms. Lopez).

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“In a few short months, Kathleen has stepped in to handle a myriad of programs and projects very capably and with great intelligence and humor,” says Head of School Doris Cottam.

“Her academic experience, leadership skills, and strong relationships with our faculty make her an invaluable part of our staff.”

Ms. Smith first came to Langley in 2003 as a second-grade teacher in the Lower School, a position she held for two years before returning to her home state of Massachusetts for several years. Her extensive classroom experience includes teaching grades 1 and 5 at The Pike School in Andover, MA, and grade 6 at Dana Hall School in Wellesley, MA. She returned to Langley last year, serving as director of student life, a Middle School social studies teacher, and an eighth-grade advisor. Ms. Smith holds a B.A. from

the University of Massachusetts and an M.Ed. from Lesley University.

In her role as director of academics, Ms. Smith is working with the department heads on curriculum review and development and chairs the Strategic Planning Leadership Initiative Com-

mittee which is exploring the ways in which Langley may prepare students to be 21st century leaders. She also served as chair of the Strategic Planning Structure Committee which recommended the expansion of Langley’s junior kindergarten program to take place in the 2010-2011 academic year. L

In Her Own Words Director of Academics Kathleen Smith discusses her new role and the positive changes taking place at Langley.

What are some of the key initiatives you have been working on this school year?

One aspect of Langley’s strategic plan gives us the exciting task of helping our students become responsible global citizens through service learning and leadership opportunities. Exploring the endless possibilities for Langley students to be leaders and responsible citizens of the world with my colleagues has made for exciting discussions in the past few months.

During this school year, our professional development focus has been assessment. Langley’s faculty members know our students very well, and we have explored ways in which we can better quantify student progress and then use it to inform our teaching. To this end, I have been proud to support Director of Resource & Counseling Ed Triggs and our amazing resource department as they have implemented the use of AIMS Web, a benchmark and progress monitoring system based on direct, frequent, and continuous student assessment.

Additionally, I have been leading our brilliant Department Heads Committee in the examination of benchmarks at Langley, and identifying the enduring

understandings most essential to a Langley education. We have looked carefully at our curriculum and I have begun to introduce concepts of Understanding by Design, a conceptual framework for instructional design based on the concept of “backward design” – the idea that, when creating curriculum, teachers begin with the large, essential questions for a unit and create an assessment based on the learning outcomes.

I was also thrilled to lead the committee that recommended an extended junior kindergarten program which will be implemented in fall 2010. I honestly believe that our Primary School is the best there is, and this opportunity for our students to experience an even richer program is exciting.

What positive changes have you seen in Langley’s academic program since you arrived in 2003 as a teacher?

Though Langley was a wonderful school in 2003, its evolution during the past seven years has been impressive. This speaks to one of Langley’s greatest strengths – our ability to constantly question what we’re doing and explore how we can do it better. Our dynamic faculty is constantly in pursuit of the holy grail of teaching, “best practice.”

This is particularly clear to me in our reading and mathematics instruction, areas where our teachers are constantly developing their craft through conferences, workshops, and independent reading. To see a teacher try a new approach with great success is tremendous.

How has your experience as a teacher eased your transition into your new role?

Any good teacher will tell you that the key to achieving student understanding is students’ emotional connection to the material. Though any of us can teach students to memorize information, it is the skilled teacher who can present it in a way that makes the students want to know more. There is always a need to make sense of content knowledge through inquiries and applications – to get beyond dutiful assimilation to active reflection, testing, and meaning making. This has guided my work with Langley’s curriculum and service and leadership initiatives. My experiences teaching in a variety of classrooms, grades 1-8, has afforded me a broad view of the student experience and allowed me to approach scope and sequence in a holistic way.

What do you feel is Langley’s greatest strength?

Every member of Langley’s faculty, staff, and administration is focused on a single goal: to create the best possible learning environment in which our students can grow, wonder, challenge, laugh, and develop. The people who make up Langley’s community, including our dedicated parent volunteers, are our greatest strength. All of that energy focused on the well-being and success of our children is a powerful force.

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I am also so pleased to see the evolution of our approach to classroom management.

In 2003, a Lower School colleague invited teachers to her classroom after school one day to casually discuss the Responsive Classroom and share some techniques she had found effective. Now, in 2010, most of our Primary and Lower School teachers have Responsive Classroom training, start their days with morning meetings, use a common language, and have consistent student expectations. The positive effects for students cannot be overstated.

faculty notes

Faculty Grants Enrich Classroom Learning Langley grants provide faculty with ample opportunities to enrich themselves both personally and professionally.

These three faculty members are bringing their summer 2009 adventures into the classroom to enhance their curriculum.

A Big Honor Becomes a New Direction

By Chuck Schmidt, Instrumental Music Teacher/Band Director

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hen I became the second recipient of the Banks Family Chair for Distinguished Teaching in 2007, I was so honored and humbled.

I had already been looking for a new, fun way to engage the Middle School kids who were not in band in a more participatory music experience than my music appreciation classes offered.

The professional development directions that I could explore through the grant became apparent quickly. I had already signed up for a week-long World Music Drumming (WMD) program – a specific drumming curriculum designed for middle schoolers – in Leesburg, VA, to take place that July.

Drumming became more than just an answer. It has become a passion for me and taken me in entirely new musical and professional directions, into a whole new world of community drum circle playing.

The summer of 2008 took me to Baltimore to study WMD, Level 2. I loved what the WMD curriculum had done for my classes, but I was looking for a less restrictive way to drum and to help my students experience drumming. One of my teachers suggested

the drum circle facilitator training in Hawaii. For a week last August, I studied with Arthur Hull, the man who has single-handedly started a huge recreational drumming movement throughout the world.

The greatest joy of that class was that the other 50 students all came from different communities they wanted to serve with the bonding concepts of community drumming. Addiction counselors, well-elderly counselors, atrisk child specialists, music therapists, and corporate management trainers all came together with the goal of bringing group drumming back to their communities. The class taught specific techniques of how to facilitate rhythm-based events in communities.

Living in a tent 15 feet from a Hawaiian beach, swimming with turtles every day, and drumming into the middle of the night every night was rather fantastic as well!

I have incorporated drumming into a great deal of Langley’s sixth-grade music class curriculum and have developed a percussion class elective for seventh- and eighth-graders. The next step was to develop more ideas

about specific games and activities that could work with students. So in January, I attended a Rhythmical Alchemy Playshop in Los Angeles, again taught

by Arthur Hull. I learned dozens of drumming, percussion, and vocal games all centered around building community. The weekend culminated with a 250-person charity drum circle to benefit cancer charities. I have never experienced such an intense two hours of music making.

The people I have met along the way have been as fascinating as the study of recreational drumming itself.

The teachers I have encountered are some of the most inspirational mentors imaginable. Another drumming student made the following statement and it truly applies to my three-year drumming odyssey: “I used to march to the beat of a different drummer.

Now I AM that drummer.” L

Veni, Vidi, Vici: One Teacher’s Trip Through Italy

By Sarah McTurk, Grade 5 Teacher

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he world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page,” St. Augustine said. Taking one of my favorite quotes to heart, I was determined to use my generous Langley summer grant to inspire my students to travel with a purpose as I set out on an 18-day trip through Italy last summer. By keeping an updated online travel journal titled “Where in the World is Ms. McTurk,” I was able to share my experiences visiting the historic places we cover during the fifth grade’s study of ancient Rome with my former and soon-to-be students.

Following my trip, keeping up a blog has become an essential tool in my own classroom here at Langley. My class blogs for an entire year on the books we are reading aloud together, like an online book club. Reading response questions and discussion starters are posted after we finish a chapter

and then each student is expected to respond and continue the discussion.

It has been an amazing resource, and one I was not very familiar with until I began my online journal in Italy. This coming summer, I will be traveling through Scotland and will certainly be keeping up my blog once again for my current students to follow. L

Exploring My Heritage in Ireland

By Liz Finnerty, Grade 2 Teacher

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hanks to a summer grant from Langley, I was fortunate enough to travel to Ireland on a trip to study my ancestry and to experience the beautiful countryside last summer. It was a fitting trip because I got a chance to explore my heritage, which is something I have

my second-graders explore through our social studies curriculum every year.

The trip started in Dublin. We began by hitting some hot spots in the city such as St. Stephen’s Green, the shops on Grafton Street, the James Joyce Museum, and Trinity College. We were especially lucky to see U2 play at Croke Park, Dublin’s famous soccer stadium! Next, we took a train across the countryside to Galway where we experienced Ireland at its best! We toured downtown Galway during the day and went to the famous Galway horse races at night.

One day we took a ferry to the famous Aran Islands, known for their Irish sweaters and their ancient language.

There are three islands and the Irish language, Gaelic, is still spoken there by all native islanders. We spent the day in Inis Mor, rented bicycles, and biked through the town, along the coast, and to the historic Dun Aonghasa Fort located on top of 300-meter cliffs with amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean.

The trip was fascinating! I got a chance to explore the homeland of many of my ancestors. Although I was not afforded the opportunity to connect with them face to face, by being in their land and learning about their history I now feel much closer to them. This year when teaching our “Coming to America” unit to my students at Langley, I plan to share my trip with them and as they reveal their stories, I will share mine as well. L

15 THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Despite some computer glitches in Italy’s Internet cafés, I was able to explain what I was doing, seeing, and learning about through this online journal, and my students could post questions or comments along the way.

Being given the opportunity to seize life by the reins and ride off on an adventure that I simultaneously got to share with my students was amazing.

My overall goal was to inspire them to seize every opportunity they have. I hope that when they are faced with an opportunity to let the world be their own classroom, maybe they will think back to their fifth-grade teacher’s summer adventures and be inspired to VENI, VIDI, VICI (I came, I saw, I conquered)!

advancement update

Another Successful Start for The Langley Fund T 16 THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

his fall, The Langley Fund started off with another impressive showing from our faculty/staff and Board of Trustees, with both groups achieving 100 percent participation by the end of the first month of school! In addition, the fund reached its monetary goal of $600,000 by the beginning of winter break, with an outstanding 90 percent of current Langley parents contributing.

So what is The Langley Fund? As is the case with most independent schools, Langley’s tuition revenues alone do not cover our operating costs. The Langley Fund is the school’s annual fund which bridges the gap between

operating costs and student tuition. It is a vital part of the annual operating budget, contributing to every part of the school’s operation, including fine arts, athletics, technology, professional development, and financial aid. In other words, The Langley Fund provides the margin of excellence that makes a Langley education exceptional.

The Langley Fund brings together the giving of our faculty and staff, current and past parents, alumni, grandparents, and other friends of the school to create a successful school year for Langley’s exceptional faculty, staff, and students. Though we have met our monetary goal, we continue to strive

for higher participation among those who we consider friends of the school.

Please join our committed faculty and staff, Board, and current parents by giving a gift to The Langley Fund today! All gifts, regardless of size, do make a difference and directly impact our students.

To learn more about giving to Langley and to make a secure online gift, visit our Web site at www.langleyschool.org and click on the “Support Langley” section. Here you will find additional information about The Langley Fund, a variety of giving forms, and an easyto-use employer matching gift search tool. L

Thank You to Our Volunteers The Langley School would like to thank the following individuals for their volunteer efforts in The Langley Fund this school year:

• Lee Carol Cook & Katharine Powell, The Langley Fund Co-Chairs • Dr. Rita Roy, The 1942 Society Chair • Richard & Judith Mellon, The Langley Fund Grandparent Representatives • Rajiv Shenoy, The Langley Fund Alumni Representative • Suresh & Neena Shenoy, The Langley Fund Past Parent Representatives Lee Carol Cook & Katharine Powell

Langley Kicks Off Distinguished Speaker Series

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his year, The 1942 Society – Langley’s annual giving leadership group – sponsored a new Distinguished Speaker Series to educate, inform, and uplift the entire community. The inaugural event was held on January 21 and featured Septime Webre, artistic director of The Washington Ballet.

During his talk – titled “Learned Leadership Skills Through Performing Arts Education” – Mr. Webre discussed how a strong education in the arts prepares children to excel on any “stage” they pursue in life, whether on the athletic field, in the courtroom, or in the boardroom. He also shared strategies for parents to help build “performing arts intelligence” in their children, encouraging them to develop a lifelong appreciation of all performing arts. Mr. Webre ended his engaging presentation with a question and answer session with the audience, then signed copies of The Washington Ballet’s commemorative book, Wonderland.

Langley’s Distinguished Speaker Series was developed by Chair of The 1942 Society Dr. Rita Roy and a subcommittee of the Board of Trustees’ Advancement Committee as a way to create a valuable shared experience for Pictured L to R: Head of School Doris Cottam, the entire school community.

1942 Society Chair Dr. Rita Roy, Board Chair John Clarke, Septime Webre, Advancement Com“We hope this annual event mittee Chair Gloria Chambers featuring an insightful speaker will help strengthen community bonds and enhance our parenting and teaching skills,” says Dr. Roy, noting that the series also provides The 1942 Society with a stronger mission to lead not only through financial giving, but also 17 through the intellectual capital that a guest speaker offers.

Langley thanks Dr. Roy and The 1942 Society for making this wonderful community event possible. L

Langley Launches New Charitable Gift Planning Site Have you ever considered a gift to Langley that would add to the school’s endowment? Have you wondered how to establish a needbased scholarship fund to increase diversity? Did you realize you could make a gift to Langley and receive an annual, high-interest return on that contribution and charitable tax deductions?

Langley is fortunate to receive outstanding financial support for The Langley Fund, the annual appeal to supplement tuition revenue and a necessary component of our operational budget. We have also benefited from the generosity of many members of the Langley community to fund major capital improvements, such as the Jeffrey J. Sherman Arts Center. In addition, to remain a leading educational institution, we need to build the school’s endowment and the best way to accomplish this objective is through charitable planned gifts.

Langley recently launched a new charitable gift planning section on our Web site to help answer your questions about gift options and estate planning. Simply log on to www.langleyschool.org and click on “Charitable Gift Planning” under the “Support Langley” tab. On the site, you’ll be able to:

• Explore a decision tree to see what giving options may be best • Learn about basic estate planning documents everyone should own • Browse the benefits associated with using specific assets as gifts • Read articles about the array of vehicles used to make planned gifts

• Compare up to three types of gifts via an interactive gift matrix • Review e-brochures about specific gift planning options • Access resources including IRS forms and a “Letter of Intent” • Calculate the tax-saving and personal benefits of a planned gift

Questions? Contact Director of Advancement Warren Sarasin at (703) 356-1920, ext. 885 or wsarasin@langleyschool.org.

THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Mr. Webre is currently in his 11th season as artistic director of The Washington Ballet. Under his leadership, the institution has expanded the breadth of its mission, tripled

its annual budget, and doubled student enrollment in The Washington School of Ballet.

advancement update

Youngkin Family Establishes Endowed Scholarship

T 18 THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

hanks to the generosity and vision of current parents Glenn and Suzanne Youngkin, a Langley education will be possible for countless students who could not otherwise afford to attend the school.

The Youngkins recently established a new student scholarship – named the Head of School’s Scholarship – which will cover up to 95 percent of Langley tuition and expenses for one newly admitted student in grades 4-7, with funding continuing through graduation.

In order to make this scholarship possible for years to come, the Youngkins have set up the Youngkin Family Head of School’s Scholarship Endowment which will be a permanently restricted endowment that will provide the ongoing financial means to award this scholarship annually. They will continue donating up to 95 percent of tuition and expenses for one student each year while also adding to the endowment until they have fully funded the endowment at $500,000, at which time the endowment earnings will fund the scholarship.

“We are so grateful to Glenn and Suzanne for their remarkable dedication to the school,” says Head of School Doris Cottam. “They clearly value the impact Langley has had on their own family and realize the importance of making this experience available to other children.” L

Pictured above: Glenn & Suzanne Youngkin

Q&A with the Youngkins What gave you the idea to establish a new endowed scholarship at Langley?

In high school, I [Glenn] was the beneficiary of financial aid at Norfolk Academy and have always remembered that year. That gift, coupled with our feeling that it is a great privilege to be able to send our children to a school like Langley, led us to set up something permanent – something to help a student who otherwise would not have the opportunity to attend Langley simply because of the cost.

Why is it important for the school to offer such a scholarship?

It is our view that great education must not be the sole privilege of those that have means. We see Langley as a superb, welcoming, happy learning environment that benefits from great diversity. We hope that this scholarship expands that just a bit.

What impact do you hope the scholarship has both on the recipients and on Langley?

We believe that education can change lives. Opening Langley’s door to a deserving young person seems like a great way to share what Langley has to offer. Our hope is that the students, and their extended families, benefit from life at Langley – through learning, relationships, and sense of place in our community.

How has Langley positively impacted your own family?

Our children are thriving at Langley. The personal, hands-on approach of teachers and staff, coupled with phenomenal resources and facilities, make for a magic combination of security and exploration. The Langley family, both immediate and extended, also provides a wholesome, comfortable infrastructure for us and our children. We are very grateful for the friends we have at Langley.

What would you say to other members of the Langley community who might want to establish a similar scholarship?

As parents, we constantly remind our children to “share.” In establishing this scholarship, we aim to share Langley’s excellence with others. We hope our children, and others, will indeed heed this advice.

To learn more about making an endowment gift to the school, visit www.langleyschool.org and click on “Support Langley.”

alumni news alumni profile:

Gerald Pierce ’99

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“I chose to major in architecture in college because I’ve always had a natural inclination for design and building things, and I felt architecture provided a broader design education than art,” says the Georgia Tech graduate whose father, Al, is also an architect. “When I was little, I used to tape shoeboxes together and build cities out of them.”

During his senior year at Georgia Tech, Mr. Pierce participated in an architecture study abroad program in Paris, where he spent two semesters immersed in great French architecture with 30 other American students.

While there, he taught English at a local high school and gave walking tours of the city to English-speaking tourists.

After graduation, Mr. Pierce entered the workforce as an intern architect at

the prestigious Washington, DC, firm of Shalom Baranes Associates. But when the economy declined in early 2009, he was laid off along with many of his colleagues.

Always on the lookout for new opportunities, Mr. Pierce soon joined E.G. Reinsch Companies, a property management and real estate development firm founded by his grandfather 60 years ago. In this project development role, he uses his architecture background while gaining valuable skills for running a small business. Whether overseeing the construction of an apartment building’s rooftop party room or developing new Web sites for

for now I’m enjoying my position at the Reinsch Companies and am developing skills that will serve me well in any industry.”

Despite his busy work schedule, Mr. Pierce makes time to nurture his other passion – music. At age 5, he started playing the double bass, then went on to learn trombone during fourth-grade band at Langley. He was a dedicated member of the school’s band program, playing bass in the Jazz Band and trombone in the Symphonic Band throughout Middle School. His musical talents flourished at McLean High School where he played in the Jazz Band, Concert Band, and March-

“Langley really helped me understand the value of the arts at an early age.” the company’s apartment properties, he is taking a leadership role in many aspects of the company’s operation.

ing Band all four years, and at Georgia Tech where he was a member of the Jazz Band his freshman year.

“I’m one of the youngest employees, so I’m able to bring a fresh perspective,” he says. “I still love architecture and definitely haven’t closed the door on that as an option down the road, but

Seeking creative ways to use his musical abilities, Mr. Pierce joined several small bands in college that played at clubs and school events, and even continued on page 21

19 THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

or Gerald Pierce ’99, life is about finding and pursuing his passions and remaining open to new possibilities. At just 25, his love for music, art, and architecture has provided him with memorable experiences such as studying architectural history in Paris, modernizing an 80-year-old Art Deco building, playing bass with a Salsa band, and selling his own contemporary acrylic paintings.

alumni news alumni profile:

Michelle du Pont Olson ’82 F 20 THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

or as long as she can remember, Michelle du Pont Olson ’82 has always been an enterprising entrepreneur.

As a fifth-grader at The Langley School, she sold handcrafted ribbon barrettes for $1 each to her classmates on the school bus, a precursor to her self-made success as a jewelry designer for Saks Fifth Avenue nearly 20 years later.

Her first professional venture into the jewelry world began in 1998 when she started making hair accessories and launched her own catalog. “I always had creative energy; I just didn’t know how to channel it,” says Ms. Olson, who held several marketing positions at Nabisco and Comcast Cable after graduating from Duke University with a B.A. in political science and an M.B.A. in marketing. A representative from Saks Folio happened to see the unique turquoise ponytail holder and barrette samples she sent to a showroom in New York City and immediately contacted Ms. Olson to urge her to create her own line.

With her hair accessories retailing for $65 each, Ms. Olson decided to branch out into jewelry making. “Without intending to, over the course of six to eight months I became a jewelry designer,” she laughs. A trunk show at the

Tysons Corner Saks Fifth Avenue store was such a success that ultimately, over a period of years, her unique, highend jewelry was sold in 30 Saks stores across the country.

After running this successful jewelry business for 10 years, Ms. Olson decided to use her entrepreneurial knowledge and jewelry know-how for a larger purpose. She now serves as a volunteer trainer for the artisan program of Vital Voices, a Washington, DC-based non-partisan organization with a mission to invest in women around the world who are creating economic opportunities, advancing political reform, and safeguarding human rights.

In September 2009, Ms. Olson traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, as part of a Vital Voices team to help teach local women artisans how to make their products more appealing to Western consumers. During this intensive five-day workshop, she worked with 22 women from various African countries who each run a small business that supports their village. Using local resources, these women design and produce items such as woven pieces, handbags, belts, scarves, throws, and jewelry.

“I taught the design portion of the training with a focus on jewelry,” says Ms. Olson. “I gave a presentation, then worked individually with the women to assess their products, assist with pricing, and provide recommendations for making their products more marketable in Western countries.” She brought a number of these handcrafted products back to the U.S. to sell at various shows around the country. One of the artisans will even have her work featured in designer Diane von Furstenberg’s runway show this spring.

Ms. Olson tells the story of an artisan named Rebecca who founded Umoja – a village of about 175 women and children – as a safe haven for women on the run. Rebecca supports the village with the sales of her traditional Masaai jewelry, as well as newer products that have been cultivated in partnership with the artisan program and have a broad appeal for Western consumers.

Ms. Olson helped Rebecca sell her products at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Festival last summer, making enough money to support the Umoja village for two years.

“Our mission through Vital Voices is to help provide these women with a viable business that helps their village

Pictured above: Michelle Olson (right) helped African artisan Rebecca create jewelry that has a broad appeal for Western consumers through the Vital Voices program.

financially, but also to empower them with the dignity of work and with information they can share with other women. We call it ‘paying it forward,’” says Ms. Olson who is serving as a cochair of the Vital Voices 2010 annual fundraiser in March which honors 10 women from around the world who are helping to empower women. She plans to travel to Nigeria this June and India next September to participate in more training sessions.

In addition to jewelry making and her work with Vital Voices, Ms. Olson’s other passion is politics. She has been actively involved in several Presidential elections and local races, campaigning and fundraising for candidates.

Gerald Pierce, continued from page 19 played guitar at clubs during his time in Paris and on the streets of Barcelona, Spain. Currently, he plays one or two gigs per month as a member of Movimiento, a 10-piece Salsa band, and La Unica Irish Band, a four-person Irish/Latin group. When he’s not playing music himself, he is helping others make music by building and painting guitars which he sells on eBay and Craigslist.

“Langley really helped me understand the value of the arts at an early age

Although Ms. Olson never considered herself to be athletically gifted, one of her fondest Langley memories centers around basketball. She joined Coach Jim Gleason’s new girls’ basketball team, but lacked confidence in her abilities. When she scored her first basket about half way through the season, Coach Gleason knew that one basket meant more to her than the 50 baskets other more talented students had scored meant to them. “He helped me understand the power of believing in myself and gave me the confidence to score many more ‘baskets’ on and off the court,” she adds.

which kept my interest in those fields strong long after I left Langley,” says Mr. Pierce who attended the school for nine years beginning in kindergarten and also participated in basketball, soccer, and Student Council. “It was a great environment for me because the classes were small and there was a lot of personal attention which helped develop my personality and character.”

Mr. Pierce fondly recalls the Middle School whitewater rafting and caving trips, and credits teachers such as Mr. Lekuton, Mrs. Michalowicz, Mr.

The same is true of so many of her Langley teachers such as Mrs. Layman, Mrs. Pascal, and Mrs. Trott who devoted themselves to each child. “The teachers really care about and nurture the individual child,” she says. “They take the time to get to know each student. I always felt I had a strong, personal relationship with my teachers.

They knew my strengths and weaknesses and really helped me navigate through those awkward, young years.”

Today, Ms. Olson remains in close contact with many of her Langley friends. “We grew up together and it was such a small class,” she says, noting that her very first friend at Langley, Laura Gichner Sakowitz, is her youngest daughter’s godmother. “Langley nurtures children to be strong community members, loyal friends, and active participants in life. It’s like an extended family, and as I get older I realize what an important aspect of my life it is.” L

Raneses, and Mr. Schmidt with having a lasting impact on him. “Mr. Schmidt was a great teacher who was very passionate about music, but I used to dread the playing tests because I didn’t practice my trombone enough!” he laughs.

“Langley definitely provided me with a well-rounded education, sparked my interest in many different things, and gave me a broad view of what life has to offer,” he says. L

21 THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Ms. Olson credits Langley and the many wonderful teachers she had during her 10 years here with helping to shape her into the person she is today.

In fact, her experience was such a positive one that she wanted to share it with her own daughters – Olivia is currently a sixth-grader at Langley and Scarlett is applying for admission next year.

“Although it’s been nearly 30 years since I graduated, Langley still retains much of the same spirit and wonderful sense of community that it had when I was a student,” she says. “The circle of life was complete when one of my childhood classmates, Libby Verrill MacDonald, ended up as Olivia’s first teacher here at Langley in junior kindergarten!”

alumni news

Class Notes To submit your news, log on to Langley’s alumni site at http://alumni.langleyschool.org or e-mail Director of Parent & Alumni Relations Meg Clute at mclute@langleyschool.org.

22 THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

1977

1984

1992

Robert McDowell was reappointed to the Federal Communications Commission last summer, becoming the first Republican to be appointed to an independent agency

by President Obama. Commissioner McDowell was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on June 25, 2009.

Amy Hoffheimer Carroll graduated in the Langley High School Class of ’89 and the Davidson College Class of ’93. She obtained her Master of Physical Therapy degree from Emory University in 1998.

Beth Zotter lives in San Francisco with her husband, Mike, and son, Remy.

Christopher Gergen and his wife, Heather, reside in Durham, NC, with their children, Maya (5) and Liam David (2).

Christopher is director of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative at Duke University and continues his work with New Mountain Ventures (www.newmountainventures.com). He also co-authored the book, Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives (www.lifeentrepreneurs.com).

Samantha Perry is very active with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program.

1982 Ann Maxted Chen, her husband, Ed, and their son, Tyler, welcomed Zachary Liang Chen into the world on February 15.

Zachary weighed 6.5 pounds. Congratulations!

Michelle Olson is a volunteer trainer for the artisan program of Vital Voices, a Washington, DC-based non-partisan organization with a mission to invest in women around the world who are creating economic opportunities, advancing political reform, and safeguarding human rights. See the article about Michelle on page 20.

1994 Jennifer Dreiling is a U.S. Navy lieutenant and the senior medical officer for the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan.

1987 Wendy Weinberger, her husband, Jim, and daughter, Emme, welcomed Grayson Asher Poole into the family on September 1, 2009. Wendy is currently vice president, deputy general counsel at Intersections Inc. in Chantilly,VA.

Class of 2006: Mark Your Calendars!

Students and parents of Langley’s Class of 2006 are invited to attend a family reunion on Monday, May 31, 2010, from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. in Langley’s Jeffrey J. Sherman Arts Center. Additional information about the event will be posted on Langley’s new Facebook page and our alumni Web site at http://alumni.langleyschool.org this spring. Join your classmates for a chance to reconnect before heading off to college in the fall!

1993

Provincial Reconstruction Team Senior Medical Officer Lt. Jennifer Dreiling ’94 re-stitches sutures on the leg of an Afghanistan man who lost both of his legs by an anti-personal mine.

1995 Virginia Solomon graduated from Stanford University in the winter of 2004 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in art history at the University of Southern California.

1996 Annie Laughlin is enjoying her work as a user interface designer at Keymind, a division of Axiom Resource Management, Inc. in Falls Church,VA.

1998 Alan Hunt is a pilot – commercial and multi-engine – and is finishing up his instructor’s license.

2000 Kate Hayes is working in Washington, DC, at AtSite, an environmental sustainability company.

Rajiv Shenoy continues to build his business, Orca TV (www.orcatv.net), while at the same time pursuing a graduate degree in environmental engineer planning & management at The Johns Hopkins University.

Chris Pascal is in his first year at the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. He is a member of Phi Alpha Delta International Legal Fraternity, serves as a law school admissions representative, and is involved with the Street Law Legal Education Program.

2002 Alex Burke completed an internship this past summer at Ralph Lauren in New York City. She is in her last year at the University of Rhode Island and will be graduating in May. After graduation, Alex plans to move to New York to pursue her dream as a fashion designer.

Stephen Hayes will graduate from Stanford University in June.

Melissa Hunt will graduate from the University of Colorado with honors in May. She spent two months in New Delhi, India, last summer doing volunteer work and enjoys snowboarding and rock climbing in her free time. After graduation, Melissa is considering becoming certified as an EMT or doing nonprofit social justice work somewhere in the western part of the country.

Maria A. López, who served as the school’s director of community life and director of academics for nine years, left Langley last summer to take on a new challenge as deputy clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. In this capacity, she runs the House Page Program.

The Page Program serves approximately 72 high school juniors from around the country who spend a semester living, working, and studying in Washington, DC. As staff for the U.S. House of Representatives, pages work as a team on the House Floor, delivering correspondence and packages, answering phones in the Representatives’ cloakrooms, and preparing the House Floor for sessions. Each morning, pages attend the Page School, located in the Library of Congress, where they study math, English, social studies, science, and French or Spanish. During their time in Washington, they live together in a residence hall a few blocks from the Capitol.

23 Maria López (second from right in front row)

In her new role, Ms. López oversees all three at the Joint Session of Congress in September components of the program – the House 2009. work program, the school, and residential life. “My goal is to ensure our pages are serving the House, while receiving a quality education and contributing to and experiencing a valuable work experience,” she says, noting that she is still learning about the program and its 200-year-old history before undertaking any new strategic initiatives. “The atmosphere here is very different than at Langley or other independent schools. Coming into it, I was not familiar with the ways of Capitol Hill, so I am learning a lot about the political aspects of life here.”

As a senior staff member of the Office of the Clerk – the office responsible for facilitating the official business of the House – Ms. López has the honor of sitting in the rostrum during joint sessions of Congress and the President’s State of the Union address. She shook hands with President Obama,Vice President Biden, and Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor at the State of the Union in January. “I feel very privileged and honored to witness the workings of our government first hand,” Ms. López adds. “Although I very much loved my time at Langley, this was such a unique opportunity that I would not have been able to pursue elsewhere. I am fortunate to be able to work with the Clerk of the House and interact with Members of Congress on a regular basis.”

Even though the House Page Program bears little resemblance to Langley, the skills Ms. López developed during her nine years here – such as balancing varied interests, learning to identify and prioritize competing goals, and working with a Board of Trustees – have served her well. “I learned so much from Langley’s Head of School Doris Cottam. What she has taught me is invaluable in my new role,” she adds. “On more than one occasion, I have found myself wondering, ‘How would Doris respond to this?’”

THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

2001

Former Director of Academics Leads U.S. House Page Program

Katherine (Katie) Wilkins graduated from New York University in December 2009 with degrees in Russian Slavic studies and physics. Her time at NYU included a semester in Prague where, along with taking courses through NYU, she worked at Transitions Online, an organization that publishes ongoing issues facing post Sovietcontrolled countries. During the fall of 2009, Katie interned with the Council on Foreign Relations. Currently, she works at the Center for Global Affairs in New York City. Her family now lives in Colorado Springs, CO, and she enjoys visiting them for vacations, great mountain views, and snow.

2003

24

Jasmine Thomas is currently a junior at Duke University majoring in sociology.

As the starting guard for the Blue Devils’ women’s basketball team, she hopes to take her team to an ACC title and the NCAA Women's Division I Championship.

Jasmine leads the Blue Devils in scoring (15.7 ppg), assists (124), and steals (81).

In Memoriam Former Langley parent Peter A. Rohrbach, 56, passed away on October 25, 2009, due to complications from lymphoma. Mr. Rohrbach was father to James ’97 and Andrew ’01. The Rohrbach family was very active in the Langley community and loved by many.

Working with the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, a community-based charitable organization, the family has established the Peter A. Rohrbach Endowment to benefit the students of Thurgood Marshall Academy.

Contributions in his honor may be mailed to the Peter A. Rohrbach Endowment/ CFNCR, Hogan & Hartson LLP, Attention Robert Glass, 555 Thirteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004. Donations will be used to help students realize their college dreams and to benefit the Academy.

2005

2006

Ben DeSanti is taking a “gap year” this year and will attend Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, in fall 2010.

Molly Hayes is a senior at National Cathedral School.

THE LANGLEY SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Katie Fletcher is a freshman at Duke University.

2004

Lindsey Miller is a freshman at the University of Michigan.

Brendan Zotter is pre-med at the University of Virginia.

Katherine Thompson attends Hawaii Pacific University’s business school and is majoring in international business. She will also be part of the concurrent program which allows her to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the same time.

Langley Launches New Facebook Site Langley is pleased to announce that we now have a Facebook page for our alumni!

Stay up-to-date on the latest Langley news, events, and alumni gatherings by becoming a fan today. Help the school reconnect with our alumni around the world by telling your classmates about Langley’s new Facebook presence.

You can find Langley on Facebook by typing “The Langley School Alumni Group” in the search box. We look forward to adding you to our growing list of fans!

Sarah Hunt will graduate from The Potomac School in June and has signed with Loyola University in Baltimore to play Division 1 soccer.

2009 Maddie Stearn is enjoying her freshman year at The Madeira School. She was in the fall production of “Alice in Wonderland” and was recently cast in the winter musical, “Little Women.”

Academic Enrichment & Review

Fine Arts

summer studi the langley school

Technology

Science

Sports

CLASSES Nearly 50 offerings – including 20 new classes – for all interests VARIETY Classes are held in 90-minute blocks so students can mix and match up to four classes per day AGES Enrolling students in preschool to grade 8 DATES Five weekly sessions June 21 – July 30, 2010 LOCATION Held on Langley’s state-of-the-art campus in McLean

NOW REGISTERING! To learn more or register online, visit www.langleyschool.org.

The Langley School cordially invites you to attend its

Spring Fundraiser

Cocktails l Raffles l Lobster Bake Live Auction l Dancing Resort Casual Attire

Saturday, April 24, 2010 6:30 p.m.

The Langley School Jeffrey J. Sherman Arts Center All proceeds benefit Langley’s student financial aid, faculty professional development, and a wide range of educational programs.

For more information, or to purchase tickets online, visit http://langleyschool.maestroweb.com.

The Langley School

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID McLean, VA 22101 Permit No. 48

1411 Balls Hill Road McLean, VA 22101-3415 www.langleyschool.org (703) 356-1920

Before & After:

The Magic of the Green Screen

On the front cover, Langley fourth-graders prepare to film their own news show in Langley’s green screen creative media studio with the help of Middle Schoolers from the Langley Advanced Media Production (LAMP) elective class. On the back cover, pictured at left, the magic of green screen technology transforms the original photo’s background, transporting students virtually to China’s Xi’an Museum of Shangxi History (Discovery Education, February 25, 2010, http://streaming.discoveryeducation. com). Using this technique with video or still shots, students of all ages can film newscasts, skits, fashion shows, short films, weather reports, and more in an authentic setting anywhere in the world – real or imagined.