Volume 36 Issue 1 Winter 2015

A Deeper Engagement with DiversitySubmitted by Kelcie Bartley, Diversity Coordinator

Although diversity and multiculturalism are already reflected throughout the school curriculum, our faculty, staff, and students are working to be more explicit about the ways in which diversity and social justice are folded into our learning.!These are a few of our recent project initiatives:

Middle School Diversity CouncilTwenty students in seventh and eighth grades applied for

and were accepted as members of the Diversity Council. Since the beginning of the school year, they have been involved in a variety of programs and activities designed to develop their skills as leaders, facilitators, and activists with agency to tackle difficult topics and issues. The students have returned to TCS connected, energized, and ready to take on big issues in their communities.

In October 2014, ten Council members represented TCS at the opening FiveOne or “Five Schools, One Mission” collab-orative event. They met with students from schools across the metro area and spent a day getting to know one another and talking about how they could impact their school communities. This group will come together again later this winter for deeper conversations, and in the spring for a service project.

In November, ten Council members represented TCS at the MICDS Student Diversity Leadership Conference. During this event, they attended a series of workshops on confronting and discussing social issues.

Fourth & Fifth Grade Diversity Projects

Our fourth and fifth grade students also engaged in mean-ingful diversity programming and discussions.

Last October, fourth graders participated in a Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Bowl with their cohorts from Barack Obama El-ementary and St. Louis’ Premier Charter School. Coordinated by Kevin Navarro, Assistant Head of School, and his fellow doc-toral peers from the UMSL and led by ENTEAM and members of the TCS Middle School Diversity

What’s Inside?Building the Gold Standard in Outdoor Classrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A Preschool Inquiry into the World of Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Technology in Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Making of the Field Ecology Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

A Faculty Journey to the AEE Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Why I Teach at The College School: A Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Upcoming Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Students to Journey to Costa Rica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Fourth graders from TCS and two other city schools participated in a Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Bowl in October 2014.

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Winter 2015

Building the Gold Standard in Outdoor ClassroomsSubmitted by Jaclyn Stewart-Strothmann, Associate Director of Development and Communications

This spring, The College School will break ground on the construction of its $1.5 million dollar Jan Phillips Learning Center at the school’s 28-acre LaBarque campus near Pacific, Missouri.!!!

With features ranging from a geo-logical strata wall to Wi-Fi, and from Fi-bonacci-inspired floor plans to a teaching kitchen, the center will not only enhance current lesson plans but will allow for the seamless transition of curriculum be-tween the Webster Groves and LaBarque campuses.!!

Aligned with school values and adhering to the most stringent building guidelines, the learning center will be one of seven certified Living Building Challenge (LBC) structures in the world.!With stipula-tions above and beyond LEED certification, LBC requires the building to be zero-net energy, zero-net water, along with sourc-ing sustainable and local materials.!

“The building will be a tangible object of study, not just a hypothetical concept,” shares Ed Maggart, Head of School, when de-scribing the extensive list of learning opportunities the center has built-in. He expands, “This center will offer another way to teach and engage in sustainable practices. Students from our early child-hood classrooms to middle school will be immersed in understanding solstice track-ing, solar panel energy output, and the building’s impact on its environment just by being present in the space.”

The capital campaign supporting the learning center moved into the express lane with a $650,000 grant from the Joyce Wood Family Campaign Challenge.! This grant challenge not only encouraged, but provided up to 200% matching incentive for families and friends of The College School to financially support this bold vi-sion for the school’s future.

Former Head of School and project namesake Jan Phillips reflects on the proj-ect, “I’ve been involved in experiential learning for a very long time, and I can say with clarity that this learning center will be the signature piece of what The College School offers as part of its outdoor cur-riculum”. She adds, “What a thrill to have a center that will forward our experiential approach. It’s the type of learning that lives with a person for a lifetime.”

Diversitycontinued from previous page

Council, the three fourth grade classes met to help the researchers determine if students could build cross-cultural rela-tionships through collaborative activities. It was a great day for budding friendships and cross-cultural collaboration.

In January, our fifth grade students participated in the annual Webster-Rock Hill MLK Essay Contest. Posed with the question, “What can you do to help end racism?” the fifth grade students partici-pated in a discussion and activity on un-derstanding racism. They then worked to craft essays, poems, and artwork that re-flected their own sense of empowerment when tackling oppression in our society.!

MLK Celebration Led by Diversity Council

As a school community, we hosted our annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. cel-ebration in January. This year, the Middle School Diversity Council took the lead, and helped plan and facilitate the day.

In honor of Dr. King’s commitment to community partnership and collaboration, students organized a blanket drive for the International Institute, a local organization that reaches and serves many immigrants new to the United States and the St. Louis community.

Students also helped create and car-ry out our “Silent March.” Each student in the school was asked to write down an idea on equality and fairness on a paper footprint. We gathered together, laid our footprints down on a path and silently read and reflected on what everyone wrote. It was a great day for thoughtful reflection on the legacy of Dr. King, and a great opportunity for our student lead-ers to plan and facilitate an event for our community.!

As we look ahead, I am excited to see how our diversity curriculum will continue to take shape and grow at The College School.

An indoor view of the classroom with the geological strata fireplace wall in the background.

Construction renderings of the Jan Phillips Learning Center (right) and Pavilion (left).

Fibonacci-inspired floor plans with layered illustrations of seasonal and continental divide lines

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Winter 2015

A Preschool Inquiry into the World of CamerasSubmitted by Sarah Hassing, Kate Booher and Kathryn Bruntrager, Early Childhood Faculty

The preschool classroom is a place we come to care for one another, to lis-ten, to make connections, and to learn. Joy and wonder are underlying threads that are woven throughout our days, and these threads are often fostered through the creation of classroom spaces that encourage discovery and interest-driven purposeful play. We view the role of the teacher as a co-researcher alongside the children. Within this environment, teach-ers encourage children to further ques-tion, explore, and reflect by recognizing their curiosity and wonder in significant moments.

Over the course of this school year in the Preschool-Newport Room, we have been privileged to engage in meaningful ongoing dialogue with the children stem-ming from one such significant moment. Likewise, we have collaborated with the children in connection with this ongoing project in order to organize spaces in the

classroom that support further inquiry, creation, and learning adventures.

On the morning of October 9, a small, yet momentous, problem oc-curred in the Newport classroom - the class camera stopped working. It would not take pictures, would not turn on, and teachers were feeling frustrated with the situation. A few children approached the teachers to ask if there was anything they could do to help. Feeling sad about the camera, and realizing that it was beyond

working condition, the teachers asked the children if they could possibly fix it. Without missing a beat, the chil-dren said that they absolutely could do it and happily took the camera to begin investigat-ing it in their own workspace.

After days of hard work on “fix-ing” the camera, a small group of Newport children shared with the rest of the class their f ind ings, ideas ,

theories, concerns, and con-clusions about why the camera is not working. The children explained to their peers how they believe a bug crawled into the camera and caused it to break. When describing the bug theory to the rest of the class, the children portray it as “a problem.” But when asked to envision what this bug looks like, they illustrate it as a moth, an actual insect. Stemming from these initial inquiries, the journey of Fixure began.

Fixure, a small camera-fixing business, was created in the Newport classroom to ex-tend the children’s playful ex-citement of fixing the camera. In this space, the children are free to research various types of cameras, enhance their dra-matic play, and explore new

tools. The children began deconstructing cameras piece by piece to more closely view a camera’s ins and outs. As the chil-dren collected pieces, they started devel-oping their own language of what they be-lieve the various parts are called. Over the past few months, we have observed the Newport entrepreneurs taking on roles of researchers, historians, advertisers, and marketers. As they take on these roles, we regularly witness the children naturally engaging in letter writing, number recog-nition practice, storytelling, problem solv-ing, and the investigation of cause and effect within their dramatic play.

As the year moves forward, the chil-dren’s wonderings are inspiring us as teachers to consider…

• How can we further extend the chil-dren’s curiosities with camera tech-nology, photography, and business development?

• When taking a closer look at the children’s play investigations within Fixure, what committees might take shape?

• How will we use Fixure as a means for connecting with the greater TCS community to support the children’s social development?It’s been an exciting learning journey,

and we look forward to future develop-ments!

Two of our four/five preschool class students manage an incoming call from a “Fixure” shop customer.

Four/five students busy at work running the Fixure Shop they created in their preschool classroom.

Got a bug in your camera?We’ll fix

your pictures by lunchtime!

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Winter 2015

Technology in ActionShared by Second Grade and Fourth Grade Teachers (Suzie Schmidt, Patricia Bohn, Mindy Bhuyan and Carol Fitzimmons), and written by Adrienne Rusbarsky, Editor

To benefit from classroom technol-ogy, students need to use it regularly in a direct way that is connected to curriculum. After all, technology is a powerful tool to practice, extend and apply concepts, and learning software and technology is itself an educational experience.

Technology explorations begin of-ficially in Early Childhood at The College School, and build up to extensive work in the Exploratorium, a Mac-based comput-er lab on the second floor of the school. Recently, kindergarten students worked with blog technology and digital pho-tography. Their technology experiences grow by leaps and bounds as they move through the primary grades through ap-plied work in the classrooms. This “virtual tour” of technology in second and fourth grades will give you a glimpse into these experiences:

Drop by second grade, and you will see students use:

• Smartboard and projectors to solve problems, model writing skills and key in answers

• iPads to explore a variety of math applications that align with concepts they are currently learning

• Laptops to practice math fact flu-

ency via an online subscription, which can be used at school and at home

• iTouch and iPads to listen to digital audio stories

• Laptops and iPads to work on RazKids, an online reading pro-gram we subscribe to, which allows us to individualize the reading work each child is doing at home and at school

• iTouch to listen to music and guided imagery during social concepts time and mid-day pause. This helps the children learn ways to slow their bodies down during the day.

• iPads to record the reading/act-ing out of poetry and stories.

Second grade teachers utilize iPads to practice, record and assess children’s reading fluency and speak-ing skills. They recently used laptops to supplement the class’ nutrition studies with a program that teaches children about making good choices to fuel their bodies.

If you stopped by fourth grade, you would see students working on:

• iPads for their States Theme research, playing the “Stack the States” Game, and for various other Language Arts and Science studies

• Ultrakey keyboarding lessons• Learning and applying Keynote soft-

ware for regional presentations (The class visited the Apple store at West County Center for lessons.)

• Google docs for writing paragraphs• Smartboard and projectors daily in

lessons• The Xtra Math program for math fact

practice• Google Earth and Map for mapping

our LaBarque Campus, watersheds and neighborhoods.

In Middle School, students master the Adobe Creative Suite and create displays, presentations and movies, in addition to building on earlier skills. There’s nothing quite like connecting technology to actual project work and implementation to en-hance student skills and build confidence and mastery.

Second grade students regularly use iPads for math and language arts applications.

Second graders working as a group in the school’s Mac-driven computer lab, the “Exploratorium.”

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Winter 2015

The Making of the Field Ecology DisplaySubmitted by Jane Sanders, Teacher, and written by Adrienne Rusbarsky, Editor

How do you transform a flat wall into a vivid presentation of a field science study? For 25 years, eighth graders have tackled this challenge, and this past November was no exception.

After spending two months researching different ecosystems from a St. Louis vantage point, students spent eight days as field scientists on a journey into the Southeastern United States in Oc-tober. They worked in scientific teams as botanists, zoologists, geologists, chemists, cartographers, and digital data collectors and studied several varied ecosystems in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, including Sapelo Island, the Okefenokee Swamp and the Appalachians.

Upon their return, they, like their predecessors, were tasked with sharing their experiences and understandings with the broader school community in visual form. They quickly assembled into new teams, taking on the roles of copy editors, section coor-dinators, art editors, photo editors and production crew to create a full wall display in the Commons.

The roles follow a design studio format. Section coordinators assess the school’s needs for the display. Copy editors review all written work, while art editors look at all drawn artwork, includ-ing plant and animal adaptation studies. Photo editors review all the digital photographs taken on the journey, and the pro-duction team assembles and mounts all the selected work to be display-ready.

The display contains over 200 pieces, produced by students using the Adobe Suite, including Photoshop and Illustrator. Data

graphs are generated with Excel, and digital data coordinators edit trip footage into a movie about the Field Ecology Theme study, using iMovie in the computer lab. The oversized display marquees are printed on the large format printer that resides in the Art Room.

On Wednesday, December 10, the eighth grade class hosted their Field Ecology Display Opening Night, and shared their work with their families and the school community. The display holds court in the Commons for a full year, when next year’s eighth graders have the opportunity to re-create their own version of this presentation and continue in the tradition of students from the last quarter-century at The College School.

In November, the Class of 2014 gathered for pizza and reminiscing, as they disassembled their own Field Ecology display to make way for the work of their successors, the Class of 2015.

Students all have roles in the creation of the theme project display. Here, a group of eighth graders confer on a section before it is mounted on the wall in the Commons. The display remains in place for one year.

Two eighth graders make final tweaks to a display section before it is mounted on the wall.

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Winter 2015

A Faculty Journey to the AEE ConferenceSubmitted by Ed, Maggart, Head of School

The 42nd annual Association for Ex-periential Education (AEE) Conference took place in Chattanooga Tennessee in October 2014. AEE (www.aee.org) is the leading international organization in all disciplines of experiential education (EE), including K-12 academics and outdoor/urban adventure education, our two sta-ples. Hundreds of experiential education professionals were there from five conti-nents. In the midst of this dynamic inter-national event were six teachers from The College School: Doug Brown (PE), Kathy Lewis (5th), Tim Wood (Sustainability Co-ordinator), Sarah Hassing (Altelerista and Early Childhood Coordinator), Kathryn Bruntrager (Preschool-Newport Teacher), and Penny Allen (3rd) - and me!

Before the conference began, our teachers visited inspiring EE organizations in the Chattanooga area. Three teach-ers visited Calvin Donaldson Environ-mental Science School, a magnet school (www.cde.hcde.org ), and three ob-served The Creative Discovery Museum (www.cdmfun.org). Teachers shared their observations:

Kathryn – “The Creative Discov-ery Museum values both play and learning.! It offers rich, hands-on, engaging, and joyful experiences for children, and is a prime example of showing the importance of guiding children along the path of experien-tial education.”

Doug – “CDM was a cross between The Magic House, City Museum, and the Theory of Multiple Intelligences all interwoven together.”

Kathy – “Calvin Donaldson School…was inspiring.! Led by three engag-ing students, we explored the wet-land area the community created, saw the solar panels which gener-ate some of the energy used in the school building, and heard stories of the rich experiences the students participate in.”

Sarah – “ Touring Calvin Donaldson School highlighted the importance and necessity of accessible experi-

ential education across diverse com-munities. Seeing an urban, public school so engaged with experiential, outdoor learning showcased the importance of meaningful classroom projects, engaging students in their environments, and empowering young people to be an active force in their community.”

During the conference, we enjoyed a variety of speakers and workshops about various aspects of EE, including classroom ideas, adventure education, social justice, and global education. Four of our teach-ers presented. I was able to attend each of the presentations. Below are some highlights of each of their presentations:

Sewing Seeds: Experiential Education Adventures in Early Childhood through the Reggio Emilia ApproachPresented by Sarah Hassing and Kathryn Bruntrager (Early Childhood Faculty)

As I watched Sarah and Kathryn con-duct this workshop, it was obvious that they were the “experts in the room.” They engaged participants in activities, described their approach with students, and clearly showed how the Reggio ap-proach prepares students for success in the classroom in later years.

– “To have the chance to share our passion, share the beautiful work that our students engage in daily, and to cre-ate dialogue with other teachers was in-valuable. It was an absolute pleasure to showcase the beauty and joy that fill our classrooms with other educators from around the world.”

A Playful Springboard Into Writing and ReflectionPresented by Penny Allen (Third Grade)

Penny had workshop participants from a variety of types of institutions thinking about how to use her template for creating story through play and ma-nipulation of materials. For example, one participant works with PTSD patients and was thinking about how that might apply in that context.

Penny – “It was exciting to see the participants explore clay, collage, watercolor, and natural materials and then share how they might use these in their own work settings.”

Sustainable Projects to Green Your SchoolPresented by Tim Wood (Sustainability Coordinator)

I knew Tim had been involved in a number of sustainability projects in re-cent years at TCS, but as he explained the scope of his work with students and the greater community, I was overwhelmed.

Tim – “For me the most impressive part was putting the presentation together and realizing that there was

AEE Workshop participants engage in activities led by College School teachers

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Winter 2015

Why I Teach at The College School: A ReflectionSubmitted by Sarah Hassing, Early Childhood Coordinator and Atelierista

I grew up in Webster Groves, just a few blocks away from The College School. When I was nine years old, I was lucky enough to spend a sum-mer attending day camp here. I remember sunny days traveling to the pool, exploring Lockwood Park, and building new friend-ships. However, there was one thing that set this one summer apart from others, and that was the experi-ence that I had interact-ing with a College School teacher during camp.!

The visual arts have always been a passion of mine, and during that summer I was able to fully explore the arts in brand new ways. One of the camp instructors, a TCS faculty member, gave me great encouragement and treated me with the sort of respect that I thought was reserved only for adults. This respect, the way she talked to me, engaged me in the projects, and trusted me to use artist’s materi-als has resonated with me since that summer.!

After working hard crafting a new sketch that summer, the teacher suggest-ed I push my project further by creating prints of the composition using a linoleum block. She gave me my very own block and allowed access to the tools needed to gouge into the linoleum. Allowing a nine-year-old to use the tools was never ques-tioned, nor was my ability to use them, and the end result is my life-long memory

of feeling empowerment, creative free-dom, and respect.!

Looking back now as a teacher my-self at The College School, it is my high-est goal to enable my students to feel this way, empowered and excited by mean-ingful learning and the creative projects that drive it. It is my hope that all students in our learning community feel that same respect, care, and degree of authentic freedom to learn by doing.

It is an absolute honor to now be a teacher at The College School and to support our students in their creative and academic endeavors. The authentic learn-ing, and teaching that accompanies it, is why I teach and why I continue to be a life-long learner myself.

Sarah Hassing working with students in the Atelier (studio space).

not enough time in an hour and a half to talk about all the things we do in regard to sustainability”

After returning to TCS, the fac-ulty who attended reflected on their experience.

Penny – “I loved being exposed to the world of experiential education from team-building and icebreaker activities to exploration of com-munity, leadership and social jus-tice.! The people I met were open,

interesting, and eager to engage in conversation.”

Kathy – “A workshop on Social Justice Education, which engaged all who participated in dialogue, dis-cussion and discovery, was my most meaningful experience at the confer-ence.! Thought-provoking questions and shared conversations allowed a group of strangers to explore issues relating to race, religion, gender, age, and ethnicity.”

Kathryn – “The AEE Conference was a welcoming, collaborative, and reflective learning environment, and I left feeling absolutely inspired.! The presenters generated such thought-provoking dialogue and created en-gaging and meaningful experiences for all those who attended.! Becom-ing a part of the AEE community made me ever so appreciative of all the efforts The College School goes through to help its teachers be life-long learners.”

Upcoming Events Grandparents’ & Special Friends’ CelebrationFri. March 27, 2-3:15 PM

Adventure AuctionSat. April 25

Middle School Shakespeare Tues. May 12, 8:20 AM & 7 PM

GraduationThurs., May 21 6:45-9 PM

Summer CampJune 1-July 31

Preschool through Eighth Grade7825 Big Bend Blvd.Webster Groves, MO 63119(314) 962-9355www.thecollegeschool.org

Non-Prof i tU.S. Postage

PAIDSt. Louis MOPermit No. 3469

Students to Journey to Costa RicaSubmitted by Cindy Bruns, Spanish Teacher

The College School (TCS) has long recognized and em-braced the value of learning through experience for all its students. In the spirit of this educational approach, fifteen middle school students and five teachers will travel to Costa Rica in early June on our school’s first one-week inter-national expedition. The trip will include Spanish language and Hispanic cultural components, as well as conservation and service learning projects in the Monteverde region of Costa Rica.

The sixth and seventh graders will be visiting the Children’s Eternal Rainforest (CER) in Costa Rica. Surrounded by rainforest, and teeming with tropical flora and fauna, the 55,000-acre reserve of the CER provides “a unique educational experience providing unforgettable lessons on biodiversity and conservation wrapped in the cultural and historical tapestry of Monteverde, Costa Rica.” The CER organization (http://friendsoftherainforest.org) originat-ed from the efforts of Swedish students to purchase and protect rainforest environments. Children and education continue to be at the core of the CER’s mission, and our TCS-Costa Rica experi-ence will provide a new and unique learning opportunity for TCS students and faculty.

Are you ready for summer adventures?

The College School offers 2-week themed Adventure Day Camps for ages 4-11 and

multi-day Expeditions for ages 9-15 in June and July. Extended care is available. Visit www.thecollegeschool.org/summer for

more information and to register or email summercamp@thecollegeschool.org.

CUBAMEXICO

COLOMBIA

PANAMA

NICARAGUA

COSTA RICA