The Willows Voice Summer 2023

29 The Joy of Leading & Following!

Teamwork in the Middle School The Joy of Belonging

In the Classroom & Community The Sights & Sounds of Pure Joy

Our Campus in Poetry & Photos

The Joy of Finding Meaning and Purpose in Schoolwork

AHA and AWE in Learning & Life

www.thewillows.org

SUMMER 2023 | JOY

table of contents 1

Message from Lisa Rosenstein Head of School Joy

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The Joy of Learning

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The Sights & Sounds of Pure Joy Our Campus

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The Joy of Connection The Willows Selected as Ruler Mentor School

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The Powerful Joy of Helping Others Community Service Learning

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The Joy of Creativity & Invention

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The Willows Shark Tank Did They Sink or Swim

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The Joy of Leading & Following Teamwork in the Middle School

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Science Sunday Funday!

A Joyful Experiment in Scientific Discovery for Our Families

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Looping The Joy & Benefits of Sustained Togetherness!

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The Joy of Belonging In our Classrooms & Community

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Composting The Joy in Giving Back to Our Environment

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The Joy of Being on the Road Again Real World Learning Brings Curriculum to Life!

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Ideas@The Willows Learning in Action

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The Joy of Finding Purpose & Meaning in Schoolwork AHA & AWE in Learning & Life

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5th Grade Robot Design & Construction

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Alumni Happenings

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Alumni Spotlight Brycen Tremayne

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Alumni Spotlight

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Alumni News

THE WILLOWS MISSION STATEMENT

At The Willows, we believe each child brings our community an extraordinary gift: a curious mind, ready to explore and eager to learn. Our mission is to grow that gift by challenging our students to uncover meaning and significance in the world around them so they become capable, confident individuals who demonstrate character, engagement with the community, and a joyful passion for creative inquiry across a lifetime.

The Willows Online WEBSITE: www.thewillows.org INSTAGRAM: WillowsCommSchool FACEBOOK: The Willows Community School WISDOM OF THE WILLOWS BLOG: www.thewillows.org/blog

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MESSAGE FROM LISA ROSENSTEIN, HEAD OF SCHOOL

D

ear Parents,

Step onto our campus and you will hear the joyful sound of children–playing, collaborating, and learning. Our campus was designed to be architecturally and intellectually open, so that from any spot, you will hear children laughing, talking, and running. Joy permeates our campus, and children are the center of our world.

Lisa Rosenstein Head of School The Willows Community School

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”

–Albert Einstein, American Scientist

Our return to campus after the COVID pandemic emphasized just how important the simple yet powerful joy of being together on campus as a school community is. Charles Dickens, British author, wrote, “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” We value, now more than ever, the joy and laughter of our children, and realize The Willows is not truly The Willows without the sounds of our campus. Our faculty and staff have renewed their dedication to instill lifelong learning and the joy of accomplishment in our students.

At The Willows, the joy of learning is center stage. Our educational program is a joyful, hands-on adventure centered on deep thinking, critical inquiry, and creative engagement. We ask our students to find meaning and purpose in their work and accentuate the joy involved in this endeavor. We celebrate the joy of discovery, the joy of achieving goals, the joy of mastering a skill, and the joy of friendship. We honor both the joy of collaboration and the joy of being an individual.

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

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Learning at The Willows is a powerful, engaging, hands-on, joyful experience–one that engages a student and leads them on a path to life-long learning. Education often only focuses on what children are learning, how they are learning, why they are learning, and often skips lightly over the joy of learning. Academics and joy are partners at The Willows! Our educational program is designed to engage students and encourage them to explore with eagerness. Following the teachings of John Dewey, American philosopher and progressive educator, we ask our students to be active participants in the learning process. We challenge students to find meaning in their learning and apply what they know to the world around them– to pursue their academics with energy and joy.

“We ask our students to embrace questioning and exploration,” says Lisa Rosenstein, Head of School.

“We ask them to discover, question, and make connections in an environment that is safe where they are supported. Learning here is a rigorous yet joyous journey.”

JOY IN DISCOVERY

Our teachers are devoted to helping students discover their unique passions and interests as they master skills and grow academically, creatively, and social emotionally. Work requires effort, but meeting challenges and mastering tasks offers students a valuable sense of personal worth. We ask our students at every age to approach learning as discovery–to confidently make decisions, take risks, value empathy and ethical behavior, and perhaps most of all find and express joy in their daily work and progress.

“ The most exciting thing to see is when that reading or that math concept, the concepts that you have been working on with students from the beginning of the year, all of a sudden, magically– it is literally magical–it clicks and reading comes fluently and math comes easily–even if there has been a struggle–that blows me away.”

Phil Lee, Kindergarten Teacher and Founding Faculty Member

ACCOMPLISHMENT VS. ACHIEVEMENT

The Willows educational program is centered on accomplishment. We want our students to feel the joy in personal accomplishment. While achievement is most often an external, imposed standard, accomplishment is an internal motivation or goal.

A Psychology Today Magazine article titled, Positive Psychology in the Classroom states, “If children and adolescents truly know their emotions, can identify their strengths, can build grit, connect with others, can find meaning no matter the tasks, and can become accomplished classroom citizens, they will achieve more academically. Achievement is a by-product of accomplishment.”

We cherish our students “great minds” and accentuate that all things are possible for them.

By design, our environment creates a world where students feel eager and happy to learn each day.

Our vibrant culture is alive with a “can-do” spirit that motivates our students. Our open campus inspires listening and learning that supports risk taking, experimenting, and dreaming. Individual and group accomplishment is valued. Above all, finding joy, meaning, and excitement in daily learning is paramount.

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

In the Morning swaying sunflowers in the morning breeze I see young kids playing here the sunny sky above me my windy hair in my face –3rd Grade Student

On the Yard sand meets the rubber in the wind there are leaves the kids are playing the flowers die in the heat I see clouds float in the sky –3rd Grade Student

Restoring Joy The Welcoming hand reaches out to greet me I hold onto the feeling A white shadow catches my eye, I try not to be distracted Together we rise from the darkness I find a moment of clarity, look at What’s beyond It comes: the wind blowing on my face for the first time in ages A sea of clouds fogs my vision Branches all around me I touch the sun I feel something deep within An ocean of thoughts swirling around my head Is here where I’m meant to be?

–6th Grade Student

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Joy moves like lions and tigers Walking across meadows.

–2nd Grade Student

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My Big World In my big world everyone gets to eat plain vanilla ice cream in a cone everyone gets to play in the blue blocks with me and we pick up trash from the ocean using nets –Kindergarten Student

Afternoon with a Book The book is like gold reading it is my pleasure wind is in my hair rustling trees are calming tall sunflowers are swaying –3rd Grade Student

Y O J E R U TS &

IGH S E H T

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

At the 2023 RULER Implementation Conference, it was announced that The Willows has been selected as a RULER Mentor School by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. We are honored to be recognized for our expertise and creative integration of RULER into the curriculum and life of our school and are honored to serve in a mentorship role to other schools in their implementation of RULER. The Willows began implementing RULER in 2014 and hosted west coast RULER trainings at The Willows in the past. “We deeply believe in the RULER approach and have seen amazing results since integrating RULER in our curriculum and the culture of our school,” states Lisa Rosenstein.

“Being a mentor school forwards our mission and

core value of intentional giving to our community and world. We are thrilled by this recognition and embrace the opportunity to work with and learn from other RULER schools.”

Our infusion of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence RULER approach into social emotional learning gives our school a universal language to help our children, faculty, staff, and families communicate their feelings with the outcome of joy and well-being.

We are delighted to further our commitment to schools in our community and around the world as we share our experiences with RULER to further the mission of social emotional well-being.

Lisa Rosenstein, Head of School, served on a panel at the 2023 RULER Implementation Conference-Pathways to Educator and Student Well-Being discussing The Role of Relationships in Teacher Wellness. Lisa joined Robin Stern, Associate Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, to discuss evidence-based regulation strategies, the RULER well-being app, and school relationships.

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L U F R POWE JOY OF HELPING OTHERS Co m m u n i t y S e rv i c e L e arn i n g

“Those who are the happiest are those who do the most for others.”

–Booker T. Washington, American Author

Throughout each school year, we strategically integrate community service opportunities with the curriculum of each grade level. As our Core Values state, “we guide our students out of the classroom and into the community to understand the issues faced in today’s world and to discover productive solutions.” We build bridges with our community and embrace the world around us and pass the concept of community service on to our students. We emphasize the idea that community outreach and service are joyful experiences that enrich all of us and often are transformative.

SERVICE LEARNING ENCOMPASSES MANY ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING THESE PAST PARTNERS: The Book Foundation Our kindergarten through 2nd grade students collect, sort, and personally deliver gently-used books through the Book Foundation to preschool children in underserved neighborhoods.

Culver City Middle School Backpacks for Kids Our 3rd through 5th grade students collect food items for children and families, and then personally deliver and sort the food items into backpacks at the Back Packs for Kids facility.

PATH Toiletry Drive Students collect toiletries for people experiencing homelessness through PATH, a local charity devoted to ending homelessness.

Baby-to-Baby Children’s Shoe Drive A school-wide shoe drive was conducted in conjunction with our Jog-a-thon to provide this basic essential to children in need.

“Service learning has such a positive effect on children,” explains Lisa Rosenstein, Head of School. “It promotes a greater understanding of others, breaks through stereotypical thinking, and bolsters leadership and communication skills. Students learn much more about our city and the different neighborhoods, and most importantly discover the joy of giving to others.”

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

THE JOY OF Creativity & Our maker, educational technology, and design programs are a natural fit with our“hands-on,” experiential, constructivist curriculum and offer a joyful, nurturing environment to engage our students and deepen critical inquiry. Maker enables students to create often involving trial and error and investigation. The aim is to inspire young makers from DK through eighth grade through structured and open-ended learning. Our teachers create developmentally appropriate projects using the wide variety of tools, technology, and equipment available in our maker and design labs. From high-tech programmable robots to electric circuits to cardboard and duct tape, students have endless resources to make their personal vision a reality.

In addition, design thinking and the steps of the design process are used to guide students to find creative solutions to challenges as they tinker, program, and problem solve on their way to a finished product. Faculty often are guides or coaches directing students but letting them take ownership of their learning, so the project becomes personal and meaningful.

Making the Most of Lunchtime & Recess!

This past year, in addition to maker in the classrooms, The Willows implemented an incredibly successful maker program during

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recesses and lunch. Led by Brent Weiss, Willows Maker Teacher, these maker sessions offer an alternative to outside play with many students splitting the time with maker and play. Open to all Lower School students and overseen by faculty, the maker room vibrates with the excitement of learning and creativity.

“The Maker Space, my classroom, is a space that when the students walk in, I want them to feel ‘what if’–that the possibilities are endless. It brings me joy to see that the kids can take risks and feel encouraged to learn, and to enjoy learning. The love of learning is what brought me to The Willows.”

Brent Weiss, Maker Teacher

To learn more about maker at The Willows visit: https://www.thewillows.org/programs/steam2.

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DID THEY SINK OR SWIM? Much like ABC-TV’s hit show, Shark Tank, The Willows’ own version “gives budding entrepreneurs the chance to secure business deals that could make them millionaires.” Well, maybe not millionaires but most definitely a million-dollar learning experience filled with joy, creativity, and self-worth. During this year’s Intersession, the one week where the entire school participates in cross-disciplinary, multi-age learning centered around one theme, we asked our 3rd through 5th grade students in the Shark Tank class, “Do you have what it takes to build a business? Answered boldly with a resounding yes, the students turned their dreams into reality by planning, designing, and executing their own company. They devised a concept, wrote a proposal, and created a logo, business cards, websites, and storefronts to bring their vision to life. The class culminated with a pitch to Shark Tank investors to see if they would sink or swim! Along with brainstorming and empathy, valuable skills like public speaking, persuasive writing, time management, finance, data analysis, and goal setting were developed along with the joy of creation.

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

THE JOY OF LEADING & FOLLOWING TEAMWORK IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL! Middle School at The Willows is a unique, powerful experience offering challenging academics, leadership opportunities, and optimum socialization.

Our Middle School students dig deep, take risks, and shine as leaders, role models, and upstanders. On our DK-8 campus, 6th to 8th grade students spread their wings, take risks, and thrive in our safe, nurturing environment.

Our program is challenging, and students, individually or collaboratively, work diligently to achieve goals. Along with academics, our students are offered a wide range of electives and even opportunities to co-teach with the faculty. They are given greater responsibilities and privileges.

Adolescence is nurtured so the transition to high school is smooth, and by 8th grade our students know themselves and have found their passions, so they are active partners with parents in the selection of a high school.

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Student Ambassadors

Debate Team

First Lego Team

First Lego Team

The beauty of our DK-8th campus offers the opportunity for our older students to take a leadership role and mentor our younger students who look up to them. As part of our Buddies Program our older students are paired with younger students to read books and participate together in various activities. Free from the pressures of upper school and being surrounded by older students, the childhood of our Middle School students is preserved longer.

Confidence, accomplishment, and critical thinking are the hallmarks of our students. Equipped with

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foundational skills, they are active, engaged, successful learners well-prepared and eager for upper school and beyond.

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MIDDLE SCHOOL MEDIA LITERACY CLASS A new 8th Grade Life Skills Media Literacy Class focused this year on understanding why Media Literacy skills are so important and necessary. Building upon the previous two years of study teaching students to analyze, evaluate, and create their own content, this year’s class centered on the Bill of Rights, specifically the First Amendment as a foundation for today’s media landscape where divisions between producers, aggregators, and consumers have melted away.

The class explored the active connections between the use and interpretation of our fundamental freedoms and the challenges of daily life and engaged citizenship as well as freedom of the press as both a vital part of a democracy and the root of the need for media savvy and critical thinking.

Students were prompted to explore what it means that the First Amendment protects not only good but flawed journalism and gained a better understanding of the necessity of protecting freedom of the press.

DK-8th Buddies Program

The class viewed the Alan Bakula film All the President’s Men focusing on the Watergate Scandal in the 1970’s which has relevance to our world today. The importance of a free press and the role it plays in our society was also approached via primary sources, activities, and discussion.

Middle School Sports

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

The first Science Sunday Funday offered our families the opportunity to explore, investigate, and discover more about science. The day featured booths delving into circuits, strawberry DNA extraction, stomp rockets, along with a Roundhouse Aquarium Tidepool Show and TouchTank, and an Elephant Toothpaste Special Presentation. Graduate students from UCLA presented many of the hands-on science experiments. Students created bouncy balls, lava lamps, meteorites, and balloon cars.

Families enjoyed exploring science experiments, making, and building.

MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE EXPERIMENT: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING & THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

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The Joy & Benefits of

Looping, the practice of the same students and teachers remaining together in a class when they move to the next grade level, is implemented in our Lower School in the first and second grades and in our third and fourth grades. Students remain with the same teachers and classmates for two consecutive years.

For years looping has been viewed as beneficial for both students and teachers. A new study from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, Second Time’s the Charm?

How Sustained Relationships from Repeat Student-Teacher Matches Build Academic and Behavioral Skills supports the case that looping improves achievement. The Annenberg study concluded that “Caring relationships between teachers and students foster a sense of belonging for students and create classroom climates where students are poised to do their best learning. Repeat students and teachers have more time to get to know each other’s teaching styles and

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Sustained Togetherness!

learning needs, as well as to develop stronger, more trusting relationships.”

W E PRACTICE LOOPING

WITH THE GOALS OF • forging strong bonds and trust between students and teachers • enabling teachers to acquire a better understanding of their students’ needs and learning styles • building strong partnerships with parents that strengthens the home/school connection • improving consistency in curriculum implementation and academic/social emotional skills • easing transitions and lessening the weeks of adjustment to a new routine of classroom rules, schedules, and expectations • providing consistency

“Looping is so wonderful because we get to know both students and parents for two years,” says 1st and 2nd Grade Loop Teacher Genna Roegner. “We also get to make long-term goals for students and watch them grow over a two year span. I also love after first grade and going into second grade, students come into the loop so much more comfortable and ready to begin the year…you don’t need to take a month learning routines and rules like you do in a first year.”

Looping is so beneficial in building strong bonds and trust between teachers, parents, and students during these important years of academic and social emotional development.

To read more about Looping visit The Wisdom of The Willows blog at www.thewillows.org/blog

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THE JOY OF BELONGING

IN OUR CLASSROOMS & COMMUNITY In Our Community We asked two Willows parents and members of the Board of Trustees DEI Committee two questions: How do you create and sustain belonging in our community?

Is there joy in this endeavor?

“On fostering a joy of belonging in my community: On a personal and professional level, I try to practice active listening and perspective taking. It's certainly a practice, so sometimes I circle back and try again! And when it works and someone feels seen and accepted for where they are, for me, that's where the joy comes in.

Over time, I certainly hope the sum “I feel strongly of these moments add up to a that Belonging is a state of sense of belonging for mind. It's not just celebrating and those in my community.” fostering inclusivity at key moments, but it's making sure we have it on our minds 24/7 to ensure it permeates everything we do. For me, the joy comes from all of the dialogue, connection and understanding it creates within our community.”

–Royce Hall, Co-Chair, The Willows Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, Board of Trustees Member, and Willows Parent

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–Serena Minikes, Willows Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Member, Board of Trustees Member, and Willows Parent

belonging

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We continue to learn and evolve in our work to sustain a diverse and equitable community and create belonging for each member. We celebrate each student, faculty, staff, and families and want all individuals to feel they belong–The Willows is their school and home away from home. We are strategically focused on infusing DEI into our classrooms, curriculum, and campus. Led by the DEI Committee established by our Board of Trustees and our DEI Consultant Bridgette Blue, DEI is an ongoing work in progress. We want each member of our community to feel they are respected, treated with dignity, and BELONG. The infusion of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence RULER approach in our curriculum and in the life of our school and families is a powerful “onramp” in our DEI work and one of the many strategies used in the classroom.

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“RULER tools focus on building positive emotional connections across differences, creating awareness around the range of our own emotions and the emotions of others, managing emotions with our best selves, building perspective-taking skills and empathy, reflecting on and resolving conflict, and restoring communities affected by conflict. In this way, RULER is an onramp to work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, as it focuses on the development of the skills and language necessary to have conversations around these topics and achieve equitable practices.”

(From Commitment to DEI in RULER https://www.rulerapproach. org/about/commitment-to-dei-in-ruler/)

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In Our Classrooms Our faculty work intentionally to instill “belonging” in their classrooms in a variety of ways to ensure that all students feel safe, respected, and valued.

We asked two Upper Elementary Team Teachers, Marissa Weiss (also a Willows parent) and Carl Lyons (also a Willows alum) these questions: How Do You Create Belonging in the Classroom? Is this a Joyful Experience?

“Creating an environment where students feel they belong is one of the most joyful parts of teaching. At the beginning of each year, our students together create a class charter, a RULER tool from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence RULER approach. The charter gives them a sense of belonging and ownership of their feelings in the classroom space.

Throughout the year we use many strategies and tools to make sure that everyone feels supported as an individual and as a group: Celebrating the culture of each individual student through various units: 3rd Grade Los Angeles Unit–Each student shares how their family came to live in Los Angeles.

4th Grade Immigration Unit–We hear various stories of how people in The Willows community immigrated here. Students are then able to identify with others who share their stories.

5th Grade Identity Unit–Students create self-portraits and identity webs.

Reading stories with diverse characters in the areas of race, neurodiversity, gender-identity, and socioeconomics.

Teaching empathy through our social emotional curriculum and the history of our country where we highlight marginalized voices and perspectives.

Conflict resolution on the Yard where we emphasize being in other people’s shoes, showing to students that they belong and teaching them that everyone does.

Council is a classroom time where we distribute a talking stick and only the student with the talking stick talks and shares. "We go around a circle and ask a question like: what is your favorite meal, most embarrassing moment, when you felt you didn’t belong?

Whatever is shared in council stays in council! This is a time where the group respects each individual and discovers more about each person.”

Marissa and Carl Marissa, who is also The Willows Dance Teacher teaching dance from 4th through 8th grade and for Willows alumni performances, highlights “belonging” in the dance program:

“The dance environment is always supportive and non-judgmental. My favorite part of our dance program is the wide range of levels on stage. My goal is to make dance inclusive and make each person feel comfortable dancing in class and on stage. Each dancer has an important role whether they are a prima ballerina or just beginning to learn the basics of dance. Also, I always listen if a student has an idea or would like to choreograph.

I give them the opportunity to feel heard and create. In our program, each year, students have an opportunity to create their own dances to express themselves. Our 8th grade students are offered the opportunity to co-teach a Middle School elective class with me.”

Dance is one more way that our students may find their passion and joyfully express their voice (and action)!

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

The Joy in Giving Back to Our Environment!

The Willows has successfully completed a year-long composting program to reduce the school’s carbon footprint and add to our sustainability programs.

The Willows collaborated with Steven Wynbrandt, founder of Wynbrandt Farms (www.wynbrandtfarms.com) a micro-farm, most notably known for its composting, to create, build, and operate the first composting program for The Willows.

Spearheaded by Willows Middle School Math and Science teacher Liz Stocksdale, a Willows team of dedicated parent and faculty volunteers, the Facilities Department, and students, The Willows embarked on their goal of zero food waste. Wynbrandt farms installed two large compost bins and provided weekly visits and unlimited training sessions to ensure success with the program.

contents in the bin are collected, mixed, chopped, sifted through to remove any garbage, temperature checked, and then systematically layered. This endeavor is in its infancy stage and is a lengthy process with a lasting reward. The end goal is that recycling compostable containers and composting food waste will result in minimal trash and a greater awareness of our environment.

“Our school-wide composting program teaches our students that they can firsthand make a difference by recycling,” states Lisa Rosenstein, Head of School.

“Composting helps bring environmental awareness to life every day for our students. They see that their leftovers are recycled into compost that will enrich the soil in our organic gardens. Care for the environment is part of their daily life.”

At the end of the school year, our own fertile compost will be used in the organic garden beds without having to outsource. Liz Stocksdale says, “I am inspired, proud, and tremendously grateful to The Willows community for taking on such a meaningful and valuable program.

Composting our food waste fits perfectly with this year’s school-wide theme, Impact, since it offers direct impact on our students’ learning both in its application to math and science as well as in our mission to nurture conscientious, involved citizens.”

Composting at the school is more than just discarding food in a bin, though that is the first step. Every week the

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

The Joy of Being on the Road Again!

Real World Learning Brings Curriculum to Life!

There is true joy in being able to travel again with our students and bring The Willows curriculum and student learning to life! How do we make history and lessons come alive for students? We take them to the source for engaging, first-hand experiences that expand critical thinking and offer new perspectives on classroom material.

Massachusetts

For example, our 5th grade students are immersed in American history studies throughout the school year and for many years, the 5th grade traveled to Massachusetts to visit sites from American colonial history and the Revolutionary War. Now, post COVID, our 5th grade had the opportunity to travel this spring on a school trip to Boston and visit historical landmarks and walk the Freedom Trail.

Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama

Similarly, as a complement to their studies of the Civil Rights Movement,

7th grade students were able to travel to the South–to Atlanta, Georgia and Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama—bringing their Civil Rights studies to life as they visited sites honoring the Civil Rights movement and the African American experience in the United States. In Birmingham, students visited the 16th Street Baptist Church, now a UNESCO world heritage site, where a terrorist bombed the church in 1963.

Washington D.C.

Our 8th grade students resumed their travel to Washington D.C. to enhance their study of American history from 1860 to the present. Visiting monuments and museums offer new perspectives on history and a real-world connection to discussions viewpoints.

The experiences expand student thinking and offer a tangible reality to what they have studied in class. Students are deeply affected by their real-life encounters with history and make personal connections to the events that they have studied. The stories of people and politics take on new meaning and become more compelling. Learning becomes a joyful immersion as classroom learning is tied to real-world experiences.

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

IDEAS@ THE WILLOWS

Learning in Action

A network of shared ideas that leads back to the classroom, into the home, and out into the world.

Ideas@TheWillows is a collaborative community generating and exchanging ideas to enhance the knowledge of parents, expand the vision of educators, engage life-long learners, enlighten our community, and enrich the classroom experience.

Our speaker events, workshops, film screenings, panels, partnerships, professional development, mentoring, research, and inquiry are intentionally designed to continue the education and empower the growth of great minds.

OUR ACCLAIMED SPEAKER SERIES, WORKSHOPS, FILM SCREENINGS, STUDENT, FACULTY & PARENT EDUCATION EVENTS:

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Dr. Lisa Damour, Psychologist, The New York Times bestselling author, monthly New York Times columnist, and contributor to CBS News, presented an in-person talk on the subject of her newest book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents, as well as a series of 3 Lunchtime Zooms all open to our Los Angeles community. In addition, she conducted workshops with our Middle School students. Dr. Damour shared strategies on how to embrace and not avoid adolescent feelings and managing emotions effectively.

Michael Thompson, Ph.D., internationally acclaimed psychologist, speaker, consultant, and New York Times bestselling author, returned to The Willows to present his talk Best Friends, Worst Enemies, Understanding the Social Lives of Children. Mixing anecdote and answering questions, Dr. Thompson offered a warm-hearted recipe for providing children with a secure base, framework, and an internal foundation for moral behavior.

Marc Brackett, Ph.D., Founding Director, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Lead Developer of RULER, an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning, and author of Permission to Feel, returned to The Willows to present, Permission to Feel and Fail: The Power of Healthy Emotion Regulation. Marc shared research-based strategies to children’s well-being, healthy decision making, relationship quality, and performance.

Facing Fear, Academy Award Nominated Documentary was screened again for our community and open to Los Angeles, and for our 5th through 8th grade students. Director Jason Cohen and the two featured subjects Matthew Boger and Tim Zaal joined us for a Q & A session after the film screening.

The film tells the riveting story of these two men, a 17-year-old neo-Nazi that savagely beat the other man, a teenager, for being gay and left him for dead on the streets of Hollywood. Twenty-five years after the assault, the two men met at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and embarked on a difficult journey of forgiveness and reconciliation, becoming friends and confidants who began presentations of their experience to help others.

VISITING AUTHORS

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Phil Bildner, the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including the 2021 NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honor-winning middle grade novel, A High Five for Glenn Burke and the Margaret Wise Brown Prize winning Marvelous Cornelius, the Texas Bluebonnet Award Winning Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy, and many children’s picture books.

Jason Chin, the author and artist of the award-winning book Redwoods, which Kirkus Reviews called, “An inventive eye-opening adventure.” His work also includes illustrations for Simon Winchester's The Day the World Exploded.

We partnered with Critical Conversations for Zoom talks throughout the school year presented by New Roads School featuring speakers Lisa Ling, award winning journalist; Dr. Dan Siegel, Clinical Professor Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and founding Co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA; and Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, a professor of education, psychology, and neuroscience at USC.

Jerry Craft, the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the graphic novels New Kid and Class Act. New Kid is the only book in history to win the John Newbery Medal, the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature, and the Coretta Scott King Author Award for the most outstanding work by an African American writer.

Tad Hills, the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the Rocket and Duck & Goose series. He also has created various board books and Step into Reading titles.

California Innocence Project delivered a compelling presentation to Middle School students involving the legal system, forensic science, and justice. Students learned about the CIP mission to exonerate the innocent, train law students, and create legislation to prevent wrongful convictions as they examined a real case.

Andrea Wang, the acclaimed author of children’s books including the Caldecott Medal, the Newbery Honor, and the Asian/ Pacific American Award for Literature Watercress. Her work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity.

Dr. David Y. Oh from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology spoke to Middle School students regarding exploration of red planets and metal worlds.

Jasmine Warga, the New York Times bestselling author of middle grade award winning novels Other Words for Home and The Shape of Thunder. She is a recipient of the John Newbery Honor, a Walter Honor for Young Readers, and a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Children’s and YA Book Awards.

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

At The Willows, we are dedicated to engaging students and discovering their intellectual and creative passions with the goal of helping them find meaning and purpose in their work and daily life at school.

“Educators are in prime positions to discover students’ passions, interests, and strengths,” Lisa Rosenstein points out. “Our teachers are devoted to helping their students connect to the world around them, become aware of what is meaningful to them, and expand their interests. We encourage our students to take an active, joyful role in their learning.”

Why do we help students actively find passions, meaning, and purpose? Passions and interests help prevent emptiness and apathy and can help students engage and ultimately find meaning and purpose that vitalizes and leads to a fulfilled life.

What brings me joy in my classroom and teaching is seeing the students work on different projects and apply all the skills that they have learned at The Willows. For example, in our 4th grade space unit, after learning about the planets, the students will apply their knowledge over a broad range of interests. Some kids will create a Scratch project in code, an animation of the planets, or write a fictional story about traveling through the solar system. They bring their passions and interests into what we are learning about.”

Cooper Balantine, Upper Elementary Teacher

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A sense of purpose is closely related to general wellbeing.

Dr. William Damon, professor at Stanford University, Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and author of The Path to Purpose, states, “a good deal of work in psychology has revealed that there is a powerful link between the pursuit of a positive purpose and life satisfaction.”

According to Parick Cook-Deegan, in the article, “Seven Ways to Help High Schoolers Find Purpose” in Greater Good Magazine, lecturers at Stanford’s d.school design created a graphic identifying 3 key factors to foster purpose: skills and strengths, what the world needs, and what a student loves to do. Joined together, these offer a formula for a life of meaning and purpose.

How do we help students engage and find meaning and purpose?

We focus on making learning come alive and joyful by creating experiential learning lessons and excitement in the classroom. We foster collaboration and encourage teamwork on projects. We constantly implement real-world situations in our classrooms in all grades and take our students out into the world to learn about other lives, cultures, and communities. We ask students to explore and realize that a vision of the world beyond their individual self can be a key to thriving and leading a fulfilled life. ­— story continued on page 26 — ­

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

Purpose and meaning go hand-in-hand; to have a purpose it needs to be meaningful to the individual and resonate. We ask students to discover what motivates them, help them find what it is that they love to do, think about what the world needs, and then cultivate student optimism, grit, determination, and ingenuity to achieve their goals.

AHA Moments

Students often have “AHA moments” when what they have been studying suddenly clicks, and they have insight, understanding, and inspiration. It can be as simple as a math equation that suddenly becomes clear or a music piece that they are able to suddenly master.

When you can see a student get it for the first time, whether it’s how to translate a Latin sentence or how to solve a math equation, when you see that light bulb go on, when you can see that confidence go through their entire body because now they realize they can do it and will be able to do it over and over again, that’s the best feeling in the world.”

J.R. Lebert, Middle School Teacher

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AWE

Awe can also be at the heart of a student finding meaning and purpose and linking these to a goal. Dacher Keltner, psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley; author of Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life; and Co-Founder and Faculty Director of the Greater Good Science Center defines awe as “the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your current understanding of the world.” Awe defined by Keltner is vast yet accessible to everyone and available to all of us, including children, and opening ourselves to it, helps us to live happier, healthier lives.

How do we promote awe at The Willows?

Science experiments launching rockets or handling ooblek, singing in a choir performance, going on a trip to Boston and walking the Freedom Trail, or being enthralled by a read aloud story are a few of the many ways. Our faculty create experiences daily that offer students the opportunity to discover and be amazed–to experience awe.

Keltner further clarifies what instills awe in the most people, “What most commonly led people around the world to feel awe? Nature? Spiritual practice? Listening to music? In fact, it was other people’s courage, kindness, strength, or overcoming . . . Human beings are wired to care and give and it’s probably our best route to happiness.”

Inspiration from other people’s kindness as a leading factor in wellbeing supports our emphasis on social emotional learning and the implementation of the RULER approach where students develop empathy, our collaboration with visiting artists and authors, and our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and cultural programming.

“Why are schools not places of joy,” asks educator and author Alfie Kohn in “Feel-Bad Education” in Education Week. “How [students] feel–about themselves, about the curriculum and the whole experience of school—is crucially related to the quality of their learning. Richer thinking is more likely to occur in an atmosphere of exuberant discovery, in the kind of place where kids plunge into their projects and can’t wait to pick up where they left off yesterday.”

The Willows is most definitely committed to making learning a truly awesome, joyful discovery that offers students meaning and purpose in their lives today and in the future.

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Integrating the design process and sustainability, students in our 5th grade created 3D robots using cardboard and found objects and assigned a task to their robot. They brainstormed the most effective way to construct their robot to freely stand unsupported and how the robot would move. They made blueprints and drawings to show their thoughts on the construction and movement of the robot, and when finished building the robots, they drew a scene with their robot illustrating its function. Students used tools such as rotary cutters, hot glue guns, and ceramic blades to construct their sculpture.

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

Alumni Happenings

The Annual Alumni High School Panel was held on Tuesday, February 7 and featured Willows High School Alums who shared their experiences transitioning to and attending upper schools. Panel members included: Naomi Bloom ‘20, Katie Blue ‘20, Isabella Carbonari ‘19, Bruno Drake ‘19, Blake Hocker ‘19, and Christopher Robson ‘10. The event was moderated by Shari Rosenthal, Co-Chair, The Willows Board of Trustees and Willows Alumni Parent.

“

13-YEAR DREAM COMES TRUE—JAMES WU '09

It was actually my time at The Willows that ended up inspiring my love for Apple and its products. Through designing games, editing videos, and doing assignments on the student laptops we got in 8th grade, I developed a real appreciation for Apple's design and integration between software and hardware. My math/science interests continued through Harvard-Westlake, Cornell, and now Apple, where I get to design the next generation of hardware as a Product Design Engineer. It's a 13-year dream come true — one that started at The Willows.” —James Wu ‘09, Product Design Engineer, Apple

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Alumni Happenings

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Debate Team Alumni Coaches from the Class of 2020, Taegan Fritz-Cope, Naomi Bloom, and Zachary Goldberg shown with Willows Debate Team Coaches Paul Casillas and Steve Futterman.

Alumni performed at the 2023 Family Arts Night including Ava Browning ’21, Sydney Azar ’20, Ellie Berlin ’20, Ariel Aziz ’20, Dylan Messana ’19, Mila Levit ’19, and Jonah Mannheim ’19, shown here with Lisa Rosenstein.

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Alumni Spotlight

THE WILLOWS summer 2023

Brycen Tremayne

How has The Willows shaped your personal and professional lives?

The Willows gave me many options to figure out what I liked and didn’t like. I remember painting and sculpting, making music in GarageBand, being in musical plays, and of course playing sports. The Willows also put a strong emphasis on the importance of education and independent thinking which carried me through high school and college. I loved sports and was able to play all of them during my time at The Willows. I graduated from Stanford with an Economics degree and now I play in the NFL. I can confidently say that The Willows helped shape that.

What was it like attending The Willows?

I felt like I got to know everyone very well, especially because the class sizes were small. I could probably still name every one of my classmates and teachers by name. It was a very intimate experience where the teachers were able to give attention to everyone and the students were able to create strong lasting friendships.

Brycen Tremayne, Class of 2014 signs with the NFL Washington Commanders!

“I found joy at The Willows through the people around me. Being surrounded by teachers who truly cared about me and friends that I still hang out with today. I remember being excited to go back to school the next day and I find joy in thinking about that today.”

Brycen, who graduated from the Windward School and Stanford University, was a leading wide receiver and a four-time PAC-12 Academic Honor Roll student at Stanford.

Now, he will start his NFL (National Football League) career in Washington D.C. with the Washington Commanders. With grit and determination, Brycen overcame a leg injury his senior year and bounced back to continue his football career the next year.

“From walk-on to starting wide receiver, fifth–year Brycen Tremayne embodies the hard and tireless work ethic needed to succeed on and off the field. As a leading player on the team this year, his Stanford story reminds us all what determination can do when working to achieve a goal,” writes The Stanford Daily.

Brycen attended The Willows from developmental kindergarten through 8th grade. We asked him recently to share his thoughts about The Willows, and he agreed to answer a few questions.

What is your fondest memory of The Willows?

My fondest memories from The Willows are the friendships that I made. Not only my classmates but also the teachers and faculty. I attended The Willows from DK to 8th grade, so I got to know everybody extremely well. I am still friends with classmates, and teachers still check in on me to this day.

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Do you have any advice for Willows alumni or students?

My advice for Willows students would be to find your passion. You have many resources at The Willows to do that, so take advantage of it.

What do you remember of the school’s early days?

I remember loving recess. We would play basketball, football, tag, and everything else you can think of. I remember my parents would work late most days and I would play basketball against the teachers/coaches in extended care for hours until it was getting dark.

Read a Stanford Daily Senior Spotlight and GoStandord article on Brycen: https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/14/senior-spotlight-brycen-tremayne-on-his-road-to-recovery/ https://gostanford.com/news/2022/9/30/football-never-think-you-vearrived.aspx Read a Sports Illustrated article on Brycen: https://www.si.com/ college/stanford/football/stanford-receiver-brycen-tremayne-signswith-the-washington-commanders-as-an-udfa

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Chris Avolio Chris Ovolio ’09 Wins Entrepreneur Award!

Chris Avolio ’09 has founded a new company, Huldit (https://huldit.com/), featuring an innovative U-lock holder for bikes and other related products. Recently Chris was awarded the largest prize in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) 2023 Founders Forum Showcase presented by Citi Foundation, EY, Intuit, MeLife Foundation, and SAP. Chris presented an investment pitch on his U-lock holder and won the highest prize of $7,000 to be used toward purchasing inventory and marketing his company.

To read more about Chris’s award visit https://www.nfte.com/nfte-announces-winners-of-12000-infounders-forum-showcase-prizes/.

Read an interview with Chris at http://voyagela.com/interview/hidden-gems-meet-chris-avolio-huldit/.

“I remember Chris’s Independent Investigation in 7th grade science,” states Middle School Dean Doug Klier. “He rolled clothes instead of folding to better pack a suitcase.

Even then, he showed his creativity and innovation.”

Dara Yu Dara Yu, Elementary Alum is now Chef Dara Yu! Dara recently won the cooking competition TV show MasterChef Season 12 All Stars making her at 21 the youngest winner in the history of MasterChef. She received $250,000 in prize money. Dara previously was the Runner Up on Master Chef Junior Season 1.

In addition, inspired by her grandmother, Dara has launched a pop-up Congee & Crullers, her take on rice porridge and Chinese doughnuts. The Congee & Crullers Pop Up takes place at the Curious Palate in Santa Monica. Dara is a graduate of Crossroads School and the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. She has worked at prestigious kitchens including Tasting Kitchen, Bouchon Bakery and A.O.C. in Los Angeles.

Read an LAMagazine interview with Dara at https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/qa-dara-yu-theyoungest-and-first-angeleno-masterchef-winner/.

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THE WILLOWS summer 2023

The Willows Class of 2019 College Acceptances Congratulations to the alumni from the Class of 2019 on their acceptances to the following colleges and universities:

Alumni News ALYSSA MERRITT ’15 graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University

Boston College Boston University California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

GREGORY (GREG) JACKS ’04 recently earned his Ph.D.

California State University, Northridge

MAYA TUNNELL ’12 has a new position with the Los Angeles Lakers. Recently, she worked as a Coordinator, Partnership Design for the San Francisco 49ers.

Chaminade University of Honolulu Connecticut College

MARCELLA LEWIS ’08, currently a professional dancer spending part of her time dancing in New York, returned to The Willows in April 2023 to teach 3 master classes to our dance students.

Cornell University Dalhousie University Dartmouth College Emerson College George Washington University Loyola Marymount University Northeastern University Northwestern University New York University Parsons School of Design Paris Princeton University Santa Monica College

BRIAN CLEMENS ’08, a pianist and arranger, has released a new album, Beneath the Blue, that features 8 horns and 4 vocalists and a diverse range of personal arrangements and original music.

Brian, who holds a masters from Cal State Fullerton, has established himself in the Southern California music scene.

BRADLEY FOUNTAINE ‘11 is now a certified pilot.

ANDREAS BETZ ’19 has a summer internship at Caltech working with the Nobel Prize-winning LIGO Collabroation, helping to prepare and analyze and upcoming engineering run of gravitational wave detectors.

DR. JORDAN BRYAN ’07 graduated from Duke University completing his Ph.D. in the field of statistics. He is doing a post doc at University of North Carolina in biostatistics.

Skidmore College Southern Methodist University St. Francis College Swarthmore College University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Santa Cruz University of Chicago University of Colorado, Boulder University of Miami University of Michigan University of Oregon University of Southern California University of St. Andrews University of Wisconsin, Madison Wesleyan University

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Whitman College

CASEY BAIRD ‘03, currently a history teacher at the Crossroads School won the 2023 Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Educator of Distinction Award given in celebration of teachers and mentors who have had a significant impact on their intellectual and personal development.

THE CLASS OF 2019 BOYS VOLLEYBALL TEAM poses with their 2018 and 2019 Championship Banners at the 2019 Alumni Reunion at The Willows.

Alumni News LISA ROSENSTEIN, HEAD OF SCHOOL, shown here with four visiting Willows alums from the Class of 2019, who are seniors at Crossroads School. Shown here (left to right) are JONAH MANNHEIM, MILA LEVIT, LISA ROSENSTEIN, JOSH HANANEL, and BRUNO DRAKE. Class of 2019 alumni played each other in Beach Volleyball. Shown here (left to right) are ERICKSON KWAK, Notre Dame High School; JOSH HANANEL, Crossroads School; JONAH MANNHEIM, Crossroads School; and CHRISTOPHER ROBSON, Windward School.

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The Willows Class of 2023 Secondary School Acceptances We are proud to share the success of our eighth graders during the secondary school admissions process. Congratulations to the Class of 2023 for their acceptances to the finest, most competitive schools in Los Angeles area and beyond.

The Willows Class of 2022

Archer School for Girls Brentwood School Buckley School

Alums from The Willows Class of 2019 MILA LEVIT, JOSH HANANEL, BRUNO DRAKE, and JONAH MANNHEIM visiting campus are shown here with Faculty member CASEY BLINDER

Campbell Hall Choate Rosemary Hall Crossroads School Geffen Academy at UCLA Harvard-Westlake School Immaculate Heart Loomis Chaffee School

ALUMNI PARENTS gathered to help pack the Alumni Goodie Boxes for The Willows Class of 2018 Alumni who are off at college.

Lycée International School of Los Angeles Marlborough School Marymount High School Miami Country Day Midland School Milken Community High School New Roads School Notre Dame High School

ENGAGEMENTS/MARRIAGES/BIRTHS Zoe Birnbaum ’07 married Josh Flyer Jason Blagman ’04 married Mari Pro Jeremy Fassler ’04 married Danica Damplo James Wu ’09 married Yika Luo Rebecca Yale ’02 married Nick Andert Karis Lucas ’08 i married Colin Jenkins Giana Tansman '07 married David (Davy) DeSantis Jake Solomon ’01 married Jessica Fishel Evan More ’07 is engaged Greg Jacks '04 is engaged

Oakwood School Ojai Valley School Rolling Hills Preparatory School Sequoyah School Stevenson School St. Paul’s School University School Vistamar School Wildwood School Windward School

Robin Warfel Burrows ’99 welcomed her third child, Elizabeth Carolynn Burrows Charlotte Fetterman ’13 had a baby girl Lilith Beatrice Fetterman Jake Morayniss’03 and Erica Snackz welcomed a daughter, Bella Bronson Green '06 and his wife Alli had a baby girl, Lily Mackenzie Noah Reitman '99 welcomed a baby girl, Gabrielle Rachael

PR ESORTE D FI R ST CLASS MAI L U.S. POSTAG E

PAID

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LOS ANG E LES, CA PE R M IT NO.

Celebrating 29 Years of Innovation & Excellence

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new.”

–Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French Author

FPO