Windward Fall Magazine 2016

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SHAPING THE FUTURE The Windward School Strategic Planning Committee is in the final stages of drafting the Strategic Plan.

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FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

ADVANCEMENT OFFICE DAWN BARRETT

Director of Institutional Advancement & Operations MICHAEL BOGNANNO

Associate Director of Advancement Services WHITNEY BURKE

Digital Communications Specialist/Webmaster

From the Head of School 01 A Letter from Tom Gilder

JENNA DICKMAN

Event Coordinator JEFF GILDER ‘08

Strategic Plan

Director of Alumni Relations

02 S haping the Future: New Strategic Plan Plots an Ambitious Course

ALLISON KAUFMAN

Student Life 06 Homecoming 08 R etreat Program 10 Middle School After-School Programs

Communications Coordinator/ Publications Teacher CASEY KIM

Associate Director of Advancement LINDSAY KNAUB

Athletics 12 Fall Sports

Director of Development & Special Events

Around Campus

JERYLDINE SAVILLE

14 Design Maker Colloquium 16 Fall Welcome

Director of Communications & Public Relations SUSAN MARX

Global Perspectives 18 S tudents Explore Ecuador and the Galapagos 20 Human Rights Summit at the Hague

Arts 22 N ew Performing Arts Faculty Taking Windward to New Heights 24 Out of Whack Exhibit

Wellness 27 Exploring Mindfulness with Faculty 28 T he Balanced Windward Student

Meet the Team

Director of Advancement Services MAUREEN TAKAHASHI

Director of Windward Fund & Parent Relations

ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS Nicholas DePaul ’09 Tony de los Reyes Maja Starcevic Laura Hopper Ernie Levroney Meghan Tally

30 Security Team Profiles

PHOTOGRAPHY

Graduation

Paul Antico/Creative Antics James Bologna Kambria Fischer Photography Joe Lester Photography Stephen Zeigler Ultimate Exposures

32 A Day to Remember

Windward Fund at Work 34 R esearch and Development

Alumni Updates

DESIGN

36 Alumni Profile-STEAM 38 Reunion Weekend

Bacio Design & Marketing, Inc.

Printed on Recycled Paper containing 10% Post Consumer Waste

COVER ILLUSTRATION Clever Creative

A Letter from

Tom Gilder

S

ince the start of the new school year, I’ve been presenting a draft of our new Strategic Plan to groups of parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and trustees at every opportunity I can. As anyone who’s listened to me present will attest: My enthusiasm for the plan is boundless. And for good reason. This plan represents the future of our School, which we all hold dear. More important, it represents the future of our students, who will go on to shape the world with Windward as their foundation.

The Strategic Plan is the culmination of many months of work by many thoughtful individuals, all of whom brought passionate perspectives to the process. Beginning in the Winter of 2015, the Windward School Strategic Planning Committee, along with members of the School community, began the process of looking forward to the next six years during which we will celebrate our 50th anniversary. The 24-member committee included a representative crosssection of voices from the Windward community: members of the Board of Trustees, parents, faculty, administration, students, and alumni.

The Committee began its process by engaging with leaders from previous Windward strategic planning efforts and hearing a presentation by Jim McManus, the Executive Director of the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), about the evolving landscape of private education.

The Committee then gathered feedback from faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and students and met multiple times during

the school year to look at all aspects of the School and its programs. As themes emerged during this process, we returned to the various stakeholders in the community to solicit additional feedback.

Following the model of Stanford University’s Design School, the Committee framed the plan using a series of guiding questions that will focus the School’s work during the next six years. Each year, using this plan, the Head of School and the administrative team will work in partnership with the Board of Trustees to identify the areas of focus for the year ahead as we collectively address these questions and help Windward achieve our mission. Throughout the year, the Board and the community will be updated on the School’s progress.

As you’ll see on the following pages, the new Strategic Plan is broken into three broad themes: Research, Development, and Growth; Windward Community: Local and Global; and Strengthening the Foundation: Future Needs. Each of these themes, in turn, has a series of goals that include the Guiding Question and a Background Rationale. Each goal has identified Areas of Focus for 2016-17 as well as leaders within our community who will work to ensure we succeed.

I invite you to thoughtfully review the details of the plan on the following pages and ask yourself where you might lend your own insights and support us as we tackle this ambitious agenda. When you do, I think you’ll find the reason for my boundless enthusiasm: Windward’s best days are yet to come.

TOM GILDER Head of School

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STRATEGIC PLAN

Shaping the Future: New Strategic Plan Plots an Ambitious Course

T

he Windward School Strategic Planning Committee is in the final stages of drafting the Strategic Plan, which will guide the School during the next six years of our development. This period will be historic for our community as we will celebrate our 50th anniversary.

As you’ll see on the pages that follow, the Strategic Plan is comprised of three broad themes, which include a number of related goals. Each goal is captured in the form of a Guiding Question and supported by a Background and Rationale. Each goal then includes Areas of Focus for 2016-17, which will ensure that those leading the implementation of the goals maintain their relevancy and sense of urgency from year to year. The 2016-17 Areas of Focus can be found on our website at: www.windwardschool.org/strategicplan.

We invite you to visit the site to see the action steps we’ll be taking in the months ahead to turn this bold vision into an extraordinary reality for our community.

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THEME 1:

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND GROWTH

Goal 1:

Student Core Competencies Guiding Question: How do we further instill and develop in students the communication skills, work habits, habits of mind, knowledge, and resilience needed for their success and personal fulfillment in college and beyond?

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE Students are the central focus of all of the work taking place at Windward.

Windward’s mission statement calls on the School to inspire our students to be well-informed and prepared young adults. As education and the world evolve rapidly, we must examine the impact of these changes on the skills and habits our students need to develop in order to be prepared for college and beyond. As we gathered feedback from our community, many people, especially our alumni, expressed the importance of helping students develop essential skills and habits including writing and presentation skills, creativity, collaboration, and grit.

As we move forward, we need to make sure that we enable students to develop the character traits and to become proficient in the areas they will need for their long-term success. To support research into best practices at the collegiate level, Windward has joined the Educational Advisory Board (EAB). The EAB research forums provide member schools with proven, peer-tested ideas from colleges and universities around the world. This research will directly support the work of the CTL and the Windward Institute identifying best practices and adapting them to fit Windward’s needs.

Goal 2:

Community Well-Being Guiding Question: How can Windward support all members of its community in being healthy, engaged, and balanced people who are comfortable taking healthy risks, take joy in learning, and have a sense of purpose larger than themselves?

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE One of the core elements of the Windward experience is our nurturing, supportive community. We seek to help all members of our community lead healthy and balanced lives. Through our work with Stanford University Professor Denise Pope and her Challenge Success Program, we have examined ways to make a Windward education more engaging without making it more stressful.

Our recent construction of the Peak Performance Center, our renovation of the food service area, and our late start to school on Wednesdays have yielded significant benefits to the health of our community. The New York Times recognized Windward’s nutrition program as leading the way in developing “the new performance enhancer.” As we build

on these successes, we need to support the engagement of all Windwardians by helping them see the joy in taking healthy educational risks, in learning from successes and setbacks, and in striving to make the world a better place.

Goal 3:

Faculty, Administration, and Staff Guiding Question: How can Windward support faculty, administration, and staff in being effective and innovative in their roles and in modeling lifelong learning through ongoing professional growth?

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE The driving force behind Windward’s dynamic education is the strength of its faculty, administration, and staff.

Windward teachers are experts in their subject areas and in current pedagogy, and they respond to the individual needs of their students. All faculty, administration, and staff work to make Windward an optimal learning environment for our students.

In order for all of Windward’s employees to provide the best support possible for the development of our students, they

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STRATEGIC PLAN

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE Windward’s programs, facilities, and community have grown and developed tremendously during recent years.

Windward’s position in the marketplace of independent schools continues to improve. As we continue to evolve, it is essential that we identify and articulate the qualities that make a Windward education unique to the members of our community, to feeder schools, to colleges and universities, and to the local and global community. We must make our identity known to the wider community in order to attract families to Windward who believe in and support the School’s mission and philosophy. In this way, we can ensure that the School’s founding vision and core values and the legacy of our founder, Shirley Windward, are preserved. need to engage in ongoing research, learning, and growth. Therefore, Windward needs to provide all employees with the feedback, support, and resources that will promote their ongoing professional growth in a manner that reflects the mission and strategic goals of the School.

Goal 4:

Because Windward students will enter a world in which the pace of change is becoming faster and faster, the School’s educational programs cannot simply replicate what has been done in the past. As the present and future needs of its students change, it is essential for Windward’s faculty to adapt both the curriculum they teach and the instructional methods they use to prepare students for future success.

Curriculum and Instruction Guiding Question: In what ways should Windward School evolve and enhance its innovative programs and pedagogy to meet the needs of students entering college and society in a rapidly changing world?

THEME 2:

WINDWARD COMMUNITY: LOCAL AND GLOBAL

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE Windward has been and continues to be at the forefront of educational innovation.

Its Global, STEAM, and Entrepreneurship programs are examples of areas in which Windward is increasingly recognized as having cutting-edge models for the rest of the nation. At the core of this success has been the School’s ongoing deep research of best practices and the educational partnerships that have been a natural outgrowth of this research.

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Goal 5:

Windward Identity Guiding Question: How do we best define and communicate the ways in which Windward’s dynamic, engaging education and nurturing, inclusive community make a Windward education compelling and unique?

Goal 6:

Diversity and Inclusivity Guiding Question: How can all members of the Windward community advance the School’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity, creating a sense of belonging for everyone and an environment where difference is celebrated?

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE Windward’s commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive community is a vital component of both its dynamic education and its nurturing community. At the core of this commitment is the understanding that all community members have a role in creating a nurturing, inclusive, and welcoming school community.

Recognizing that all members of the community benefit from the opportunity to interact with and to learn from people with different backgrounds and experiences, the School has dedicated approximately $2.5 million to Financial Aid each year. The process of creating an embracing community requires ongoing dialogue and reflection among all members of the community.

Goal 7:

support of our programmatic goals and our aspirations for our students?

Guiding Questions: What can Windward do to preserve and enhance the strong connections between adults and students at the School? How can Windward further strengthen its alumni network and its relationships with its neighbors, feeder schools, colleges and universities, and the local and global community?

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

Connections and Relationships

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE Windward believes that positive and constructive relationships among adults and students are vital to the success of its educational mission. The accessibility of its faculty and the strength of its counseling programs have long been hallmarks of a Windward education. In the research performed for the development of this Strategic Plan, students, parents, faculty, and alumni all responded that these relationships were among the most important aspects of Windward to preserve and enhance.

The creation of the Windward Network provides the opportunity for Windward graduates to benefit from a lifelong connection with the School. In addition, Windward’s increasing efforts to partner with schools of all levels, from neighborhood schools, such as Grandview Boulevard Elementary, to universities, such as Stanford and MIT, will continue to benefit our community in countless ways.

THEME 3:

STRENGTHENING THE FOUNDATION— FUTURE NEEDS

Goal 8:

Our Campus Guiding Question: How can Windward best refine and execute its master plan in

Windward has engaged in ongoing programmatic research and development during the past six years. As our innovative programs develop, it has become apparent that our facilities will no longer be able to meet the needs of our students. The development of our STEAM, Visual and Media Arts, and Entrepreneurship programs require new kinds of spaces for the programs to be fully realized. Visits to the Stanford d.School, the Haas School of Business, Menlo School, and many other institutions have helped us both to develop innovative programs and to see the possibilities that exist for our students given the right facilities.

academic and extracurricular needs of our students. Success will only be possible, however, with the financial support of all members of the community. Support for the Windward Fund provides the funds necessary on an annual basis to enhance our programs, to provide opportunities for deserving students whose families do not have the financial means to pay full tuition to attend Windward, and to support our teachers in their ongoing professional growth. In addition, construction of the Master Plan will require members of the community to stretch in order to make significant gifts. Finally, the School needs to increase the size of its endowment in order to ensure its financial well-being for years to come.

In addition, our Performing Arts programs have outgrown their spaces and are in dire need of facilities that can support the excellent instruction and showcase the incredible talents of our students. As part of our research process, we have taken many of our performances off-campus to collegiate and professional spaces.

Seeing the ways in which performing in these spaces inspired the students to raise the quality of their work left no doubt that we need to provide them with the opportunity to have the proper facilities to display their work.

Goal 9:

Institutional Advancement Guiding Question: How can Windward enhance its culture of philanthropy in order to raise the funds necessary to achieve the goals of our Strategic Plan and to ensure the long-term financial health of the School?

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE Achieving the ambitious goals and aspirations articulated in this Strategic Plan is essential in order to meet the

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STUDENT LIFE

Students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, neighbors, and family members of all ages took full advantage of the offerings at the campus-wide party. The day’s events were capped off with a spiritfilled football game on Foley Field, which the Wildcats won 37-12.

The evening featured Windward’s first-ever Homecoming dance, which was open to Ninth- through 12th-Graders. The event included a professional DJ and photo booth in the gym, which was magically transformed into “A Starry Night,” and a surprise food delivery by The Grilled Cheese Truck. The inaugural Homecoming dance was well received by students, who dressed their best for the special occasion.

A big thanks to the Parent Guild Co-Chairs Maria Mancuso Gersh, Ann Gianopulos, Dana Kaller, and Lisa Lewin, and all of the volunteers and supporters who helped put together such a spiritfilled undertaking that brought our whole community together.

2016

Homecoming Windward was “Wild for Wildcats” at Homecoming 2016 with a sunny day full of fun, food, games, and spirit for people of all ages. Beginning with visits from cherished guests at the morning’s Grandparents and Special Friends Brunch, campus became a hub of activity as the grills fired up, musical performances rang out from all corners of campus, and a mini-midway offered carnival-like fun.

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STUDENT LIFE

RETREAT PROGRAM BUILDING CONFIDENCE AND COMMUNITY

Windward’s retreats for the Seventh, Ninth, 10th, and 12th grades offer a unique experience for students to connect, grow, and develop individually and within their peer group as they move through their school careers. Retreats enable students, advisors, deans, and faculty to engage in activities and conversations that connect to Windward’s development as a community and to its advisory program. Through exposure to a wide range of activities and experiences, students are engaged in physical, intellectual, and emotional challenges aimed at expanding their potential as lifelong learners and as global citizens. Windward’s commitment to growing collectively as a nurturing and inclusive community is reinforced through the retreat program.

Windward’s retreat program starts in the Seventh Grade as a way to unify the School’s youngest class, which is made up of students from more than 30 elementary schools across Los Angeles. Every aspect of Windward’s Seventh Grade retreat is purposefully designed, from the timing and length of the retreat, to the activities the students engage in.

build relationships with the students, and their participation is integral in making the retreats a success.”

Seventh-graders travel to Bruin Woods in Lake Arrowhead for their three-day retreat in just the third week of school, allowing them to form strong relationships that they otherwise might not have time to invest in during the busy school day.

Jennie meets with the Fulcrum team months before the retreat to review Windward’s advisory program and refine its messaging for the advisors to ensure they are best helping to transition new students in as supportive a way as possible.

“The structure of the retreat enables the students to really get to know their teachers and get a sense of us as people,” says Eric Mandel, Assistant Head of School and Director of the Middle School. “Every student is new to the School, so it’s important to come together as a group and make sure the students are feeling part of a larger entity. Everything we do on retreat is designed to help them get to know each other better and bond as a class so they feel part of the Windward community.

“The retreat is a key part of their transitioning process,” she says. “Having the advisors and counselors at the retreat allows them to observe the class as a whole and helps us determine how we can best support the students as they move through the Upper School.”

“It’s a fantastic experience for them to have and even more remarkable to see the students interact with their teachers and each other with an expanded level of comfort once we’re back from retreat.”

Over the last three years, a major goal for the Upper School retreat program has been to fully integrate the faculty advisors into the programming, an effort that Jennie Willens, Upper School Dean of Student Life & Experiential Learning, is particularly proud of.

“We have reached a place with our retreat program where our advisors are active participants,” says Jennie. “They are there to

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As part of this goal, Windward has also expanded its relationship with Fulcrum Adventures, a youth team building and leadership development training company based in Los Angeles.

The added participation from advisors supports the goal of the advisory program as a whole, which is to build connections between the adults and the students through shared experience.

Engaging in retreat activities together and allowing for extended time to get to know each other outside of class jumpstarts the fouryear student-faculty advisory relationship.

Students stay with the same peer group—as well as the same advisor—throughout all four years. This relationship culminates in the 12th Grade with a day trip to the Annenberg Community Beach House for a retreat centered on the idea of purposeful play and free time. Both are meant to spur meaningful conversations and allow the students to enjoy one another’s company in a stress-free environment.

The retreat concludes with the Senior/Faculty Ceremony, a celebration that brings the community together to honor the Senior class through a series of speeches and “I Wish” expressions from advisees. Wonderful conversations and strong connections bloom from this emotional exercise.

“The time after the ceremony is very honest and opens up a more personal dialogue between students and advisors,” says Jennie.

Jennie hopes to continue this positive momentum by creating a series of lunchtime conversations in an effort to bridge the time between the Senior retreat and Senior trip in May. “These retreats allow us to be in the present moment,” she says.

“We don’t always have time for these types of conversations on campus. It’s a big part of the larger picture of inclusivity at Windward—this nature of how we support each other when we are off campus. It’s about holding ourselves to a high standard. What if you were all in, just went for it, and completely trusted each other?

The results can be extraordinary.”

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STUDENT LIFE

S P O T LI G H T

The philosophy behind the Middle School After-School programs is three-fold:

1.

2.

3.

Create opportunity for students to explore their interests and passions;

Middle School After-School Programs F UELING PASSIONS, DEVELOPING TALENTS

O

ftentimes, by the start of Middle School, students have already spent half of their lives engaging in extracurricular activities such as music, dance, and athletics.

In 2012, Windward first identified a growing need to meet students where they were with their talents—at the intermediate and advanced level—by launching Windward’s first Middle School dance program, Windward Repertory Ensemble of Dancers (WRED). WRED is an audition-only after-school offering intended for Windward’s most dedicated dancers.

“We began to notice that we had really elite dancers at the Middle School level who were not as engaged in the Windward community because they

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were going off campus for their dance instruction,” explains Associate Director of Middle School Emily Dawe. “The WRED model has helped dancers see Windward as a great place to come for instruction because there is a lot of opportunity for high-level instruction and high-level performance.”

With the success of WRED came the recognition to explore additional areas of expertise. Windward’s Middle School After-School programs have been expanded to include five unique offerings in dance, music, visual arts, golf, and swimming, all of which are designed to give Windward’s youngest students an opportunity to hone their passions in a low-stress, non-graded setting.

Create opportunities for students who have already found a passion to pursue excellence in their field; and

Provide opportunities for students to connect with likeminded individuals who share their interests and passions.

“There’s a huge variety in our afterschool offerings,” says Assistant Head of School and Director of Middle School Eric Mandel. “We have programs that are designed for students to explore different things, but we also have programs such as WRED and the Windward Conservatory of Music Ensemble that are designed for students who have already found a passion and want to pursue it at an elite level.”

and our students get to learn from very accomplished musicians who are not that much older than them and who are very serious about their work—but are very inviting in terms of what they know and what they share.”

Windward’s Visual Art workshop is both a place for instruction and a place to explore various visual art projects. The 90-minute period is twice as long as an average school day period, which allows students to dive deeply into their projects.

“The way we structure the student schedule in Middle School really enables kids to experiment with being on sports teams and being involved in the arts, so that by the time they reach the Ninth Grade, they have a better sense of what they’re interested in and can be more selective,” says Emily.

Golf and swimming meet just once a week, allowing students to participate in Middle School athletics teams and either golf or swimming. Swimmers travel to the Culver City Plunge every Friday and participate in up to 10 swim meets during the Fall season.

“There is a great deal of camaraderie surrounding these sports offerings,” Emily says. “The golf team wears their polo shirts on the day of the match. It’s great to be able to see the students really bond because of these programs.”

As part of its nurturing mindset, Windward works to ensure that Middle School students have a place to connect with other like-minded students with whom they share a passion and can develop their talents as artists and athletes together.

Now in its second year and the music equivalent to WRED, the Windward Conservatory of Music Ensemble (WCME) is a competitive program intended for intermediate and advanced musicians at the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Grade levels. WCME has made major strides in its programming this year by partnering with the Jazz Studies department of Cal State Northridge, an institution known for having one of the strongest music programs in the country. The group of mentors, which comprises the top combo group of small and large ensemble Jazz Studies students from CSUN, travel to Windward once a month to provide oneon-one instruction to the WCME students.

“The program is a win-win for both parties involved,” says Dr. Bruce Eskovitz, Area Head, Music Department. “The CSUN students get the experience of teaching,

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AT H LET I C S

“We are starting to come together on the court and off, which is very exciting.”

FALL SPORTS W

indward Athletics has gotten off to a fast start this Fall season. Varsity Football fired out of the gate in their non-league schedule and have looked forceful on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile, Boys and Girls Volleyball Program Lead Nils Nielsen says of his team: “We are starting to come together on the court and off, which is very exciting.”

Jeffrey Allen continues to pace the Varsity Cross-Country team with personal and School-best times. And Girls Tennis Coach Ryan Shelven is fired up about the future of the program. “We are seeing a level of buy-in and commitment that I haven’t witnessed yet in my time at Windward,” Coach Ryan says. “It’s a fun time to be a Windward tennis player.”

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AROUND CAMPUS

W I N DWA R D H O S T S S E CO N D A N N UA L

Design and Maker Class Colloquium

DMCC kicked off with an inspiring and informative keynote from Karen Wilkinson, Director of The Tinkering Studio in San Francisco’s Exploratorium. Wilkinson’s presentation covered: “The Big Idea Is their Idea: Reflections on Maker-Centered Learning.”

The second day featured a thoughtprovoking presentation from Dr. Nettrice Gaskins, Director of the STEAM Lab at Boston Arts Academy, who spoke on equity in making during her talk: “Recontextualizing the Makerspace & Culturally Responsive Education.”

On August 8-9, Windward co-hosted the second annual Windward Design and Maker Class Colloquium (DMCC) along with the California Teacher Development Collaborative. The workshop, which is aimed at demystifying hands-on electronics, wearable tech, and 3D printing, drew almost double the number of participants from the inaugural year with more than 175 teachers, educators, and makers from 56 schools and 15 organizations across California and the United States attending.

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Apart from the two key featured presenters, DMCC included a wide range of other presenters, including industry experts such as Mara Hitner from MatterHackers, who presented on how to choose a 3D printer, to educators around the United States, such as Eric Walters from Marymount of New York, who spoke on incorporating social justice in science classes.

Other noteworthy sessions included Lyn Hoge, who held an engaging workshop on wearable technology in which participants created felt- and fabric-based art, which they then programmed to light up. In another workshop conducted

by Windward parent Aaron Kramer,

participants designed and built kinetic sculptures from everyday materials, such as tin cans and wire.

Cindy Beals, Director of Windward’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Program, is encouraged by the year-onyear progress of the Colloquium, which, she says was launched due to selfinterest on the part of Windward’s maker educators.

“Our Windward team wanted to attend a different kind of workshop than those that we were finding elsewhere—a combination of sharing of educational best practices and project ideas along with hands-on experiences to give more practical experience to pass along to our students,” she explains.

“We felt that we could benefit from bringing together educators and makers to both discuss the benefits and teach skills on how to incorporate making and design into the classroom. We believed we could be a good conduit between these two groups since we had connections to professional makers as well as a growing network of maker educators.”

The original intent, paired with Windward’s exceptional facilities and dedicated faculty and staff, provided an ideal location for the Colloquium, which did not go unnoticed. Cindy says feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with at least one reporting: “It was one of the best colloquiums/conferences I have attended.”

“In addition to having wonderful facilities such as the gym, science building and CREATE Studio, and a dedicated faculty and staff, we also have a supportive administration to host such an event.”

— CINDY BEALS Director of Windward’s STEAM Program

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AROUND CAMPUS

The event is one manifestation of Windward’s commitment to fostering diversity and inclusivity within our community.

Roger Bridges, the event’s co-organizer and Associate Director of Diversity and Inclusivity at the School, said the spirit of the event was directly in line with Windward’s approach to building a diverse and welcoming community.

“The definition of diversity that we use with our students is ‘all the ways we exist in the world,’” he explained. “It is a much deeper, more layered, and complex notion than skin color or ethnicity. At our Fall Welcome, that definition came to life as so many of our families, students, and faculty who attended represented the richness and wonderful diaspora that is the Windward community. I saw

firsthand how all were welcomed and was privileged to hear abundant laughter and witness many smiling faces glowing in the inclusive environment of the evening.”

Tammy Clem, the event’s other coorganizer and Associate Director of Diversity and Inclusivity, said the event

is important for setting the tone for the school year ahead. “Seeing everyone so connected and sharing expressions of feeling welcome and valued is exactly the kick-off that we wanted for our Windward community,” she said.

W I N DWA R D H O S T S

Fall Welcome

On September 9, the Inclusivity Parent Committee hosted the annual Event on the Bridge. Students, parents, faculty, staff, and families attended the Fall Welcome, which included dinner, brief remarks, and the chance to get to know each other through icebreaker games.

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GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

Students Explore Ecuador and the Galapagos

By Ernie Levroney, Upper School Dean of Students

This past summer, Windward School offered a nine-day cultural immersion trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, which was chaperoned by myself and Jill Gully, Dean of College Counseling. Students began the trip by spending several days exploring the capital city of Quito, where they visited local churches and the Virgin of Quito statue, shopped at the Otavalo Market, and sampled local cuisine.

We also visited the Equator Museum, where students learned about the indigenous cultures of Ecuador, as well

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as experienced some of the natural phenomena that occur at the equator.

At 9,350 feet above sea level, students were captivated by the clean air and 360-degree views of the mountainous volcanoes surrounding them.

The group then flew to the Galapagos Islands, landing on the island of Baltra, and shuttled by boat to Santa Cruz, where they first encountered the one species of the famous Galapagos tortoise. Students learned that there used to be dozens of different species;

however, some species are now extinct as the tortoises were used as a food source for sailors. Throughout the trip, we encountered several other tortoise species and saw how the Galapaganos people are working to protect them and the land from the influx of tourism and the damaging effects of climate change.

At The Darwin Center on Santa Cruz, students learned about breeding programs for several tortoise species. With the help of experienced guides, students were able to snorkel with a Galapagos penguin, interact with sea iguanas and sea lions, and learn about both the culture of the islands and the detrimental effects of our changing world.

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GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

rights means to them and their community.

Of over 285 student videos, Jenna’s stood out to a panel of judges as a winning project.

What happens when you couple thousands of students from around the world who are passionate about improving human rights issues with the design thinking process? Education First’s 2016 Human Rights Summit: “The Future of Human Rights.”

Because of her creative and compelling discussion about human rights, Jenna had the opportunity to attend a VIP lunch with all the keynote speakers of the conference, including: American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof; best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Sheryl WuDunn; Ndaba Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela; and Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas Gandhi.

In addition, it allowed Jenna to speak alongside an Italian student in a reflection role at the conference. Jenna spoke twice at the conference—once to open the conference and once to conclude the conference. Both times, she and her Italian counterpart addressed nearly 1,500 students, educators, and speakers off-the-cuff, without preparation. These special speaking opportunities were a highlight for Jenna.

Students Take Part in

HUMAN R IGHTS Summit at The Hague

T

his past June, a group of Windward students were awarded a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to The Hague, Netherlands to participate in the Summit, during which they spent two days gaining valuable insight into the challenges surrounding human rights issues, collaborating on international teams, and presenting real-world solutions to these challenges.

“The Summit was truly an experience of a lifetime,” she says. “I was able to explore and deepen my passions including public speaking, journalism, and, of course, human rights. I am so fortunate to have had these incredible opportunities.”

Tasked with rethinking the future of human rights, students used design thinking

to address world problems efficiently while also demonstrating empathy and compassion.

“Working on the project with people from all over the United States and other countries was a learning experience for all involved,” says Senior Jasmine Blevins, who also attended the Summit. “I learned so much about different regions of the United States and different regions of the world. Hearing their personal stories about human rights and activism touched my heart and motivated me to continue to advocate for those who do not have the same opportunities that I have.”

During the Summit, students were split into teams of eight. The students attended leadership workshops and each team presented their solution at an innovation village where Summit staff, chaperones, and other world leaders observed the students’ work.

was an eye-opening experience,” says Junior Hannah Millner, who participated in the Summit with Jenna and Jasmine.

“Although growing up pretty differently, we came together and combined our perspectives to ultimately create our final project. Together, we went through multiple stages of design thinking and brainstormed, prototyped, and evolved our idea.”

These global leaders summits are extraordinary events that combine educational tours and a two-day leadership conference, tackling significant global issues in places where they come to life. They also go a long way toward educating our students about the diverse world they will one day inherit.

To view a video interview with Jenna Ashendouek ’18, conducted by Carly Serber ’18, go to: www.windwardschool.org/ humanrights

“Working with a small group of students representing three different countries

Junior Jenna Ashendouek was one of just 22 international students—and the only student from California—to be chosen as an EF Global Student Leaders Summit Intern for the conference, which afforded her special speaking opportunities and the chance to interact with conference presenters on a more personal level.

Before attending the conference, students submitted a video discussing what human

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ARTS

S P O T LI G H T

New Performing Arts Faculty Taking Windward to New Heights DARIUS GANGEI

Theater Tech Coordinator Darius began working with presentations involving light, sound, art, color, and object placement as soon as he could walk through his grandfather’s antique shop in Healdsburg, Calif.—the heart of California’s wine country. He began his first paid position at 15, working as stage manager at the Berkeley Community Theater and the Florence Schwimley Little Theater on the campus of Berkeley High School.

His four years studying Lighting and Sound Design at California Institute of the Arts helped him expand his craft beyond the theater. Since he joined the Windward community, he has been lending his talents to provide high-quality sound and light to a full range of events, including athletic and social events as well as video production, among many others. He’s looking forward to sharing his passion for the tech world with students this year. “The more excitement I see from them the more I know I’m doing a good job,” he says.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS OF WINDWARD “My first impression was how amazing the faculty and community that surrounds Windward is. I have experienced nothing but helpfulness and kindness from every person in the Windward community.”

JOHN HENNINGSEN Production Manager

John Henningsen is a creative producer with over 20 years of experience working in nonprofit theatre and more than a decade as an arts manager. He has worked on stage and off at Chicago Shakespeare, American Theater Company, Next Theater, HERE Arts Center, Circle X Theatre Co., Boston Court, the Getty Villa, and Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts. John is the Producing Director of the award-winning immersive theater company The Speakeasy Society, Speakeasysociety.com; Production Manager for The Secret City-LA, thesecretcity.org, and Founder of Thymele Productions.

At Windward, John is responsible for overseeing all of the technical aspects of performances and mentoring students in technical theater design and production. He’s

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looking forward to teaching students how to use all of the new sound and lighting equipment that the School installed over the summer and to putting the equipment to use to raise the caliber of our productions.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS OF WINDWARD “The community is gracious and welcoming. It’s great to meet so many amazing teachers and students who are willing to jump in and get involved.”

DANIEL KOH

Vocal Teacher and Music Director for Productions Daniel is thrilled to be working with the choirs and casts and crews of the musical theater productions here at Windward and to seeing how much the Windward choral program can grow and develop over the coming years. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Musical Arts degrees in Choral Conducting from the Yale School of Music, and his Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Piano Performance from Westmont College.

He has conducted professional, community-based, college, high school, middle school, and children’s choirs in Florida, Connecticut, Washington, and his home country of Singapore. He is also a founding member of the Contemporary Choral Collective of Los Angeles (C3LA). His favorite composers range from Bach, Brahms, and Britten to Sondheim, Menken, and Schwartz.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS OF WINDWARD “The Windward community has been welcoming, encouraging, and supportive every day since I first set foot on campus! I look forward to collaborating on many artistic and academic projects with the incredibly creative, energetic, and thoughtful faculty and students here at Windward.”

JAMES PATRIC MORAN

Director of Middle School and Upper School Musicals James Patric Moran has a BFA in Drama from New York University. Since 2011, James served as the acting/movement teacher at the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts (LACHSA), where he helped prepare students for the audition, whether for college or the professional arena. At LACHSA, he also served as choreographer for the spring musical. His productions have won major national high school awards, such as the 2011 National Youth Theatre Award for best choreography for “Chicago.” Under James’ direction, the school also was honored at The Pantages for their production of Footloose at The Jerry Herman Awards.

This school year, James is most looking forward to molding Windward’s theatre curriculum in collaboration with other faculty members, so that students can be immersed in a program that’s similar to conservatory training. “It will give them a leg up in the competitive collegiate theatre world and/or professional arena,” he says.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS OF WINDWARD “My initial impression of the Windward community was one of true support and teamwork. There is a sense of fearlessness in propelling this department forward into an arena where we can confidently say that Windward theatre students are true artists with bright futures ahead of themselves.”

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ARTS

OUT OF WHACK Constructing Identity in the Digital Age

By Tony de los Reyes, Visual and Media Arts Teacher

Walking into Windward’s Held and Bordy Family Gallery, one is immediately confronted with Justin Bower’s massive painting Decoder/Debaser (2011), on loan from the collection of parents Teddy and Emily Greenspan. The blurred, anonymous “portrait” feels apt for our time, a period of epic transitions and constant destabilization. Containing furious brushstrokes, vibrant vertical lines, and warped colors, the painting

constantly works against stability. The figure seems to ask, “Where am I?” “What is happening to me?”

Teddy and Emily Greenspan, whose son Nolan is in the Class of 2019, are dedicated supporters of the arts, including LACMA, American Friends of the Israel Museum, and the upcoming Institute of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Last year, they hosted a private parent and faculty walkthrough of LACMA’s “50 for 50: Gifts on the Occasion of LACMA’s Anniversary” exhibition focusing on important new work donated to the museum.

small abstract painting by Mary Heilmann.

He was 21 and had just graduated college.

With little disposable income, Teddy was allowed to pay for the work in installments, thus beginning a collecting adventure now going on 25 years. Today, walking into their art-filled home, one can see Los Angeles artists collected in depth, as well as important international work in a variety of media.

In the early 90s, Teddy Greenspan walked into the Pat Hearn gallery in SoHo, New York, and fell in love with a

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In the Spring of 2016, Visual and Media Arts faculty visited the Greenspans’ home and collection and selected Bower’s painting as a catalyst for this exhibition and accompanying class projects regarding identity in the contemporary world. Using digital animation and photography, Adobe Photoshop, and the analog processes of drawing and painting, students created works that addressed the concept of a constructed, and/or mediated identity.

Their children have grown up with the collection and have intuitively picked up a sense of passion and respect for art.

Emily, who is the director/owner of TAG Arts, an art consulting and advisory firm,

For Windward students, the new norm of decontextualized social and cultural bonds, combined with ever-expanding virtual social media relationships, has created a world in which identity is a highly fluid concept.

During the run of this exhibition, students in the English Department responded to their works and ideas through poetry and prose and worked directly with guest poet Jeremy Radin. (See Page 26).

says their collection “affects the way we feel on a daily basis.” For the Greenspan family, living with art not only generates a positive energy, but also challenges the way they engage with it.

The VMA department is very grateful for the generous lending of their artwork, as well as the spirit that parallels Windward’s commitment to the arts.

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WELLNESS

dare me

Exploring Mindfulness with Faculty

Look at me.

I dare you.

[Look at me.]

A quick glance, or a hard stare It does not matter.

Look at me Look at my meaning.

It is unclear, you say.

I will never know what your artist means when he paints you.

Why bother?

Why try to solve this puzzle with missing pieces?

But does it really matter?

I say.

I dared you to look.

You looked.

And so it is not my artist’s perspective I am asking you for.

I have seen that too often.

Look at me.

Tell me what you see.

English Students Craft Poetry Inspired by Exhibit

By Meghan Tally, English Teacher and Department Chair Windward’s English and Visual Media Arts faculty have been collaborating in conjunction with the exhibit, “Out of Whack: Constructing Identity in the Digital Age,” in the School’s own Held and Bordy Family Gallery.

As part of the Ninth Grade English curriculum, students cultivate skills for reading images as texts, articulating their own authentic observations, associations, and interpretations of works they encounter. In this study of images and narratives, students read poems in the ekphrastic tradition, like W.H. Auden’s “Musee des Beaux Arts” (1938), a response to Pieter Bruegel’s 16th century painting “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,” and experiment with their own written responses to visual works.

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At the start of the school year, English students spent time in the gallery with Justin Bower’s “Decoder/Debaser” (2011), writing about and sharing their reactions to the arresting contemporary image. Noticing, for instance, the blue background, multiples of facial features like lips and nostrils, and the silhouette of a shadow, students began making associations with elements like screen interfaces, urban landscapes, and refractions of light.

Venturing into interpretation, students voiced insights related to layers of the self, internal and external realities, and pluralities of modern environments as they read Bower’s painting together.

Students were invited to work with visiting poet Jeremy Radin (jeremyradin. com) to develop, curate, and practice reading their own work for the show’s October opening.

And I will look at you, right back From the corners of my multitude of eyes.

Forming my own perspective, my own perception Of the small human before me.

Short hair, small hands.

But that is not what I am looking for.

Just as I asked you to look So will I Look for the meaning behind you Behind where you stand.

Behind the eyes, only two, that focus on me as you begin to relax.

But as you notice me, I notice your focus changes.

First from a tense scrutiny of my form, my hues To looking at yourself Reflected back to you through my moving colors.

[After all, isn’t what we see just a reflection of ourselves?

Our experiencesThoughts and emotions thrown back at us until they drown out what is true?]

Your search for meaning turns inwards And so does mine, following your lead Look at me.

But inside my head is hollow Broken With the world around me showing through the spider-webbing cracks.

Inside my mind is incomplete Woven together like a basket to hold my thoughts.

If only I could make up my mind.

Whether I am falling apart or building myself up Moving or just grossly distorted [Look at me, I dare myself.]

— Charlie Shaw, Ninth Grade written in response to Justin Bower’s painting Decoder/Debaser

By Maja Starcevic, Coordinator of the Studio for Writing & Rhetoric and English Teacher

I

n the past few years, Windward has explored mindfulness practices in many ways: through the Challenge Success work with Stanford University, the Ninth Grade seminar, Senior trips, and faculty inservice with Dave Mochel, a Santa Barbara mindfulness coach.

Several faculty and administration members have taken one or more mindfulness courses through Mindful Schools, a non-profit organization dedicated to weaving mindfulness practices into the fabric of schools. Visual and Media Arts faculty members Tony de los Reyes and Jeff Miller attended a mindfulness workshop at the Esalen Institute this summer, and many of our teachers are practicing mindful meditation in their own lives.

Willens, Upper School Dean of Student Life & Experiential Learning; and myself met this summer to discuss how to tie all of these strands together in the hope of incorporating mindful practices into our community in a sustainable and meaningful way. They were also inspired to explore overall community well-being more deeply, as charged by Goal #2 of the School’s new Strategic Plan.

The team has since secured professional development funds to enable a cohort of both faculty and staff to take a Mindful Schools “Mindfulness Fundamentals” online course this Fall. The course will help faculty and staff develop a personal mindfulness practice; this set of tools and

techniques has been proven to increase a sense of well-being and decrease stress.

For teachers, it is also the necessary first step before the Mindful Educators course, which focuses on bringing mindfulness practices into the classroom.

After this cohort of faculty and staff completes the Mindful Fundamentals course, Peggy, Jennie, and myself will assemble a team of mindfulness novices and practitioners. This group will then begin the work of implementing mindfulness into the fabric of Windward life in a sustainable and communityoriented way.

Some teachers, including Jessica Fischbein, English teacher; Carrie Creighton, World Language teacher, and myself have started incorporating “mindful minutes” into their classrooms.

These mindfulness breaks have generated incredibly positive responses from students. One such response was from Jewelia Ferguson ’16, now a Freshman at Wesleyan University, who wrote to me at the end of her Senior year: “Thank you for introducing meditation into my life. I have fallen in love with the idea of self-realization and acceptance with what is going on. It has helped me so much this year through stressful times.”

Inspired by the positive effect of mindfulness on our students, Peggy Procter, Director of Upper School; Jennie

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WELLNESS

Albert Einstein once said:

The

BALANCED WI NDWARD ST UDENT

By Laura Hopper, Mother of Henry ’21

“Life is like riding a bicycle.

To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”

To observe the students at Windward is to see a community of diverse, engaged kids who are well‐balanced and in constant motion. This balance is no accident. Windward’s motto confirms the dedicated support for both the motion and the balance: A dynamic education, a nurturing community. This philosophy clearly states the commitment to cultivate balanced students, and the faculty at Windward is dedicated to encouraging and maximizing that sense of equilibrium.

the many reasons my son Henry, now in Eighth Grade, was dead‐set on attending Windward. Henry has many interests ranging from sports to musical theater.

“Shirley Windward’s vision for Windward School was to create a place where our students would be well‐rounded and balanced young adults,” says Athletic Director Tyrone Powell. Tyrone takes this vision very seriously. In fact, when we were looking at Windward for our son and met with Tyrone, he told us a story that had a huge impact on our family.

Tyrone says that balance is by design.

“As I begin my 12th year at Windward, I am reminded of Shirley Windward’s vision when I see an increase in the number of multi-sport athletes, or watch our scholar-athletes dive into the world of entrepreneurship while balancing the rigors of a Windward education,” he says.

“Our faculty and staff understand that part of Tom Gilder’s vision is to create a balanced college preparatory program, along with dynamic co-curricular activities within a caring environment.”

Tyrone recounted that a boy on the Varsity Baseball team was also interested in participating in the school musical. The two activities took place concurrently.

Often, show rehearsals conflicted with baseball practices, but with the support of the faculty, he worked it out. On opening night of that musical, the 16 players on the Varsity Baseball team took a whole row in the theater to cheer on their teammate.

Kevin Newman, Assistant Head of School for Strategic Partnerships, adds: “One of the first things I tell students when I meet with them is to explore. Windward is full of opportunities, and we want students to be curious and to have the time to do more than one thing.”

Kevin loves that the STEAM Scholar is both a Varsity Soccer player and on the Comedy Sportz improv team. Also, the Honors Biology student happens to play two sports and has been an entrepreneur on Buy It on the Bridge Windward’s concerted effort to nurture a sense of balance in its students is one of 28 - W EL L N E S S

As a Sixth Grader, he toured middle schools and on one—non‐Windward— school visit, it was made abundantly clear to him by the student tour guide that if he were admitted, he’d have to choose a passion and stick with it. He immediately crossed that school off his list.

The faculty at Windward encourages students to explore new opportunities, different activities, and challenging experiences, often pushing kids slightly outside of their comfort zone. “Windward students astound me with the multitude of interests they pursue,” Kevin says.

“Our job is to support that balance in their lives. It is about letting students dive deeply into their areas of passion and also encouraging them to take risks by trying something new.”

“I have been supported in my passions for theater, basketball, film, and meditation,” Corey says. “Windward truly allows for an exploration of a wide variety of interests.”

Lily Kreisberg, also a Junior at the School, firmly believes that her time at Windward has helped her become an incredibly well‐rounded individual. She says: “Windward School has allowed me to grow, learn, and try lots of different activities and find interests and passions.

I played Volleyball and Softball in Middle School, and I also began my love of art and photography when I took Yearbook.

Now, in Upper School, I have truly grown and experienced many different areas of Windward. I am a peer counselor to younger kids, and I take part in community service. I now have a genuine passion for the French language, French culture, photography, and global awareness.

Through Windward, I have been able to travel to amazing places like Costa Rica and Paris. I can thank Windward for allowing me to explore these amazing areas of learning.”

The balance achieved by the students at Windward is a bit of a chicken-and‐egg question. Which came first? Do kids with varied interests and abilities find themselves drawn to Windward? Or does the environment and culture at the School bring out the range of interests and abilities of its students?

The answer: probably a little bit of both. However, it’s the support and encouragement the students get at the School that makes them feel safe and free to spread their wings in ways even they might never have thought possible.

Student Corey Silverman-Lloyd dives deeply into his areas of passion. Corey is a Junior who strikes a delicate, and sometimes difficult, balance of sports and musical theater. It can get overwhelming to accommodate basketball practices, show rehearsals, and a heavy course load.

Add committees and clubs to all of that, and it is indeed quite a balancing act. But Corey is embracing it all.

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MEET T H E T EAM

MARK TRONSON

URIEL AGUIRRE

RICK PERSAD

HEAD OF SECURITY

PARKING ATTENDANT

PARKING ATTENDANT

Oversees the Security Team

• M anages Sawtelle Lot • Monitors traffic flow for pick-up and drop-off • Operates Raptor Visitor Management System • Monitors security cameras on campus

• Monitors traffic flow for pick-up and drop-off in the Palms Lot • Operates Raptor Visitor Management System • Monitors security cameras on campus

“The most gratifying part of my job is knowing that people count on us to keep them safe and that my team is able to efficiently communicate and work together to get our job done.

“Windward has come a long way with its security initiatives since I was hired in 2013.

“Windward has invested a lot of resources into improving security on campus over the last few years.

M EE T T H E T E A M

Security

The Security Team is responsible for safeguarding Windward and working collaboratively with students, faculty, and community members to provide a secure learning environment.

30 - M EE T T H E T E A M

I am really proud of my team and how far we have come. We work hard to effectively communicate with the entire Windward community—parents, neighbors, students, and faculty. Being a good neighbor is one of our top priorities.

We skillfully manage traffic flow by working directly with our events team in scheduling and managing the hundreds of events on Windward’s campus every year.”

It’s also great to have so much interaction with the students. They are quick to tell us about any achievements they’ve accomplished, such as getting a good grade on a test or being recruited for athletics. It’s a really nice feeling to know that we have such a strong relationship with the students.”

Creating the security kiosks and implementing the security camera system and Raptor system allows me to do my job better. The cameras enable me to be in a million places at once. We always strive to maintain as secure a campus as possible. Every day that goes by where our safety hasn’t been compromised is a successful day on the job.”

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G R A D U AT I O N

A DAY TO REMEMBER Hats off to the Class of 2016

The 95 students in the Class of 2016 matriculated to 53 colleges in 19 states and Switzerland; 96% advanced to a four-year university. This next phase of academic pursuit may have taken the Class of 2016 away from the corner of Palms and Sawtelle, but wherever they go, Windwardians will always be Wildcats.

32 - G R A D U AT I O N

This Fall, our most recent Windward alumni have begun making their mark at the following college and university campuses worldwide: Bates College Brandeis University Bucknell University California State University, Northridge Chapman University (2) Columbia University (2) Cornell University Denison University Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne Emerson College Emory University Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles Fordham University (2) Georgetown University (2) Georgia Institute of Technology Johns Hopkins University (2) Kenyon College Lewis & Clark College Loyola Marymount University Middlebury College (2)

New York University (4) Northeastern University Northwestern University Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences Pitzer College (2) Reed College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute San Diego State University Santa Barbara City College Santa Monica College (2) Skidmore College Southern Methodist University St. John’s College (2) Stanford University Swarthmore College The George Washington University (3) The New School-All Divisions (6)

Tufts University (3) University of California, Berkeley (2) University of California, Los Angeles (3) University of Chicago (2) University of Colorado at Boulder (5) University of Michigan (4) University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania University of Southern California (8) Vanderbilt University (2) Vassar College Washington University in St. Louis (2) Wesleyan University (3) Williams College Yale University

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WINDWARD FUND AT WORK

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT An Investment in Lifelong Learning

Windward’s faculty and staff members bring unique talents, training, and expertise to their positions. While our faculty and staff have an incredibly diverse range of backgrounds, they uniformly share a love and commitment to lifelong learning.

At Windward, this approach to learning is not only welcome, it is enthusiastically encouraged and supported through a formal program that ensures both teachers and staff members continue growing as professionals.

Donors to the 2015-16 Windward Fund enabled faculty and staff members to expand their skills and bring new excitement and ideas back into the classroom in myriad ways. Here are a few of the highlights of the many enriching Research and Development opportunities supported by the Windward Fund last year.

People of Color Conference

The People of Color Conference is designed to provide a safe space for leadership and professional development 34 - W I N D WA R D F U N D AT W O R K

Quiet Summer Institute In June, a team of five teachers and administrators represented Windward at the inaugural Quiet Summer Institute in New York City. The Quiet Summer Institute is an offshoot of the Quiet Revolution in education, which encourages the creation of Quiet Schools that are characterized by an inclusive culture in which everyone is recognized for their potential to learn and lead in authentic ways, regardless of whether they are extroverted or introverted. The Quiet Summer Institute is a natural continuation of Windward’s inclusivity and Challenge Success initiatives, which strive to create a supportive community that welcomes and embraces all types of learners and personality styles.

Thanks to the Research and Development program, faculty and staff are able to stay current in their areas of interest, forge reciprocal relationships with others in their field, and enhance their expertise by acquiring new-found skills.

Nine Windward faculty and staff members attended the National Association of Independent Schools’ 28th Annual People of Color Conference (PoCC), held last December in Tampa. The theme for the 2015-16 conference was: “Art, Science, Soul, and the Equity Imperative.”

and gender and for being afforded an opportunity to reflect on my vocabulary and the vocabulary of the adults in our community,” Tyrone said.

and networking for people of color and allies of all backgrounds in independent schools. The conference includes general sessions with keynotes, dozens of practitioner-led workshops, extensive affinity group work, and dialogue sessions.

Tyrone Powell, Windward’s Athletic Director, felt extremely fortunate to be able to take part in the perspectiveexpanding conference. “I’m grateful for being in a place where people could share their experiences about culture

Throughout the three-day Institute, the Windward group examined the latest research on introversion and extroversion and learned strategies to enable them to empower quiet students, collaborate more effectively with diverse colleagues, and create more balanced classroom environments.

“As a teacher, I’ve always been attentive to the different learning and personality styles of my students, but I’d never been trained

to fully understand temperament,” said Peggy Procter, Head of the Upper School.

“The Quiet Summer Institute opened my eyes to the research around introversion and to what my introverted students and colleagues need in order to thrive.”

Reinventing Mathematics Six Windward faculty members attended a January symposium in Culver City on “Reinventing Mathematics Education,” which addressed teaching mathematics in a technologically sophisticated society.

The symposium featured three primary speakers: Conrad Wolfram, the Strategic Director and European Co-Founder/CEO of the Wolfram group of companies; Dr. Constance Kamii, a student of Piaget and a professor of early childhood education known for her research on how children construct mathematical knowledge; and Dr. Ilana Horn whose research looks at mathematics teachers’ learning to improve instruction.

Faculty members attended all three presentations, as well as breakout sessions led by well-known mathematicians/ mathematics educators, which addressed the greater problems with mathematics education in K-12 education in today’s society. Conrad Wolfram, for example, discussed how mathematics teachers spend too much time teaching students how to solve computations and algorithms, which can now be solved quickly with technology, rather than on

how to ask the right questions, determine what information is needed to solve a problem, and draw conclusions based on data and information.

Klingenstein Summer Institute Physics teacher and CREATE Studio Director Dorothy Lee was accepted as one of 80 teachers around the world to take part in the June Klingenstein Summer Institute for Early Career Teachers in Lawrenceville, N.J. The intensive two-week program is a condensed version of the core values of Columbia University’s Teachers College, the first and largest graduate school of education in the country.

During the program, participants attended group lectures with their peers—all early-career teachers from independent schools—where they learned about teaching strategies based on cognitive science and leadership. The teachers also met in smaller seminar groups for their specific disciplines, where they deconstructed their educational philosophies and brainstormed how to incorporate their core values into their teaching.

Dorothy, who had previously completed her master’s degree at Teachers College, said her time at the Institute served as an inspiration to her. “It was refreshing to have time dedicated to working with other similarly passionate teachers looking to improve our crafts,” she said.

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ALUMNI UPDATES

Alumni Make their Marks in

STEAM

Alumni have a role to play, now more than ever. Scroll through a list of job titles of thousands of Windward graduates, and you’ll be amazed at what you find. Alumni are in a position to help current students— and fellow alumni—learn new skills and make mid-career industry changes.

By Nicholas DePaul ’09

Few trends have been as prevalent in education over the past few years as STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math—the industries that are driving our global economy and the subjects that students and young professionals are rushing to learn before they’re left behind.

It is, of course, the job of our education system to prepare students for life in our modern society, and Windward takes that responsibility seriously. Over the past five years, the School has made significant investments in STEAM programming, from the Windward Robotics Team to the CREATE Studio. While still serving as a model of creative inquiry, the School founded by a poet has broadened its focus to helping to shape young professionals whose medium is Java, Python, MATLAB, or quantum mechanics.

Among those recent graduates is Zoe Henry ’15, a Computer Science major at Yale University. At Windward, Zoe participated in the STEAM Scholars Program, where she learned the basics of coding, but didn’t see herself following a professional CS path. That changed when she arrived at college.

“The first Computer Science course I took at Yale really opened my eyes to how fun CS can be and how I can apply my love of problem solving to the coursework,” Zoe explains. “Each of the assignments presents a puzzle that I have to solve, which at times can be extremely frustrating, but also rewards me with a sense of accomplishment when I finish. I know what I’m learning is also applicable to the job market that I want to be in, specifically coding somewhere in Silicon Valley.”

The STEAM Scholars Program is Windward’s offering of high-level coursework to Upper School students who show a passion for technical fields.

It includes a specific set of courses— Physics, Computer Science, Biological Engineering, and more—alongside an array of optional online courses taken through the Global Online Academy.

These include: Abnormal Psychology, iOS App Design, Medical Problem Solving, and Game Theory.

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Zoe Henry ‘15

While the School’s STEAM Scholars Program is relatively new, many Windward alumni who graduated well before its launch are working in STEAM fields. Sarah Ramanuj ’09 is a product manager at Time Inc., where she oversees a team that launches digital products and native apps. In this role, she is responsible for User Experience, product functionality, and liaising with third parties like Apple and Adobe.

“My position in product management grew out of my passion for news and media, and in our digital world, product management and development is important in any industry,” Sarah says.

“In the news and publishing industry, developing products to deliver content is a huge and pressing challenge. Ironically, what I like most about my job is what it strives to solve for—with technology changing so rapidly, the possibilities for products are constantly evolving.

My job changes every day and is never really ‘over’ since there are always new opportunities for new ideas and your current ideas to be challenged.”

STEAM fields are not only about today, but squarely focused on solving the problems of tomorrow. Technology evolves, bringing society along with it.

If you’re interested in learning more about Windward’s STEAM programming and how you can get involved, please contact Jeff Gilder ’08, Director of Alumni Relations, at jgilder@windwardschool.org.

The next generation of Wildcats are hard at work and eager to learn from all of us.

Windward is focused on ensuring that all graduates are equipped with the means to stay well ahead of the curve and develop the solutions that raise standards of living and democratize information.

Zoe has held internships at social media companies, but doesn’t see that as her future. “I think it would be really cool to work at some sort of company that is working to make social change through technology,” she says. “At this point, I’m not really sure where that would be, but ideally I would be able to code to influence social change.”

Sarah knows that the digital world is constantly changing and ensures that she stays abreast of what’s next. “Digital product management has become such a convoluted job title that it is sometimes hard to know what it even entails,” she says. “That’s because everything is so intertwined. Having a basic understanding of transferable skills like front- and back-end coding, HTML 5, SEO, SEM, and Google Analytics will always be helpful. Sarah has additional

advice for those looking to stay current in tech. “I recommend making the effort to stay informed with the trends and what is going on in the digital world,” she says. “Read TechCrunch, Digiday, Quartz, Adweek, Wired, the Wall Street Journal, 9to5Mac. Download the apps your younger siblings are using, try the Google cardboard VR headset. You never know how these experiences or information will spark a new idea.”

That’s what STEAM is all about, sparking new ideas. And that’s what education is meant to do as well: cultivate curiosity and the skillsets to go forth and answer the questions we have. Windward has focused on these goals since its founding.

It comes as no surprise that both Sarah and Zoe said community was their most cherished memory of Windward. “It really is a unique environment where students have the freedom to speak their minds openly, are encouraged to take risks and have incredibly supportive and intelligent teachers by their sides.”

Sarah Ramanuj ‘09

W I N D WA R D M A G A Z I N E - 37

ALUMNI UPDATES

Alumni Gather for Reunion Weekend On June 5, more than 200 alumni, alumni parents, and community members came together for the Annual Alumni Picnic, held on Windward’s campus.

We look forward to growing these community events with you!

A

ttendees enjoyed food and drinks from parent- and alumni-affiliated restaurants at the Taste of Windward section of the picnic, which included samples from: Pressed Juicery, Simplethings, Ford’s Filling Station, Blue Plate Oysterette, Landmark Vineyards, and Fiji Water. Thank you to our alumni and parents who generously shared their incredible food and drinks with the Windward community!

Attendees also enjoyed a craft beer garden and food truck offerings, making it a true food and drink festival. Children were entertained by a reptile show, bounce house, balloon art, and over-sized games like Jenga and Connect Four.

38 - A L U M N I U PD AT E S

In the spirit of our founder Shirley Windward, who was a passionate advocate for lifelong learning, the day also featured a 3D printing and lasercutting class led by the School’s STEAM teachers. Alumni tried their hand at the innovative technology by creating customdesigned keepsake boxes, which they were able to take home with them.

Save the date for next year’s Alumni Picnic, which is scheduled for June 10, and forward any suggestions to us at alumni@windwardschool.org.

The strength of our alumni and parent of alumni community is made possible because of your involvement and support.

W I N D WA R D M A G A Z I N E - 39

2 0 1 6 FA L L / W I N T ER

Save THEDate

SPRING

EVENT

2017

DIFFERENCE

Saturday, April 29, 2017 Sony Pictures Studios Lot

GIFT OR PLEDGE

Calling all

alumni musicians!

TODAY

Windward presents:

A MUSIC EXTRAVAGANZA We would love for you to join the alumni band and perform with us!

December 14, 2016 @ 7 p.m.

Eli and Edythe Broad Stage Contact Lisa Weinstein at lweinstein@windwardschool.org

by Tuesday, November 29, 2016 to let her know your availability

40 - S AV E T H E D AT E S

Visit: www.windwardschool.org/give W I N D WA R D M A G A Z I N E