N E W S

W I N T E R 2014VOLUME 20 / ISSUE 2

A Publication for The Woods Academy Community

Where curiosity and confidence thrive.

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IN THIS ISSUE

What’s Cooking in Montessori?page 3

STEAMpage 5

Donor Profilepage 6

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W I N T E R 2014The Woods Academy N E W S

Dear Woods Community,

I hope this edition of The Woods Academy News finds you well. This is always one of our biggest mailings of the year as we cast our nets and get the news of The Woods out to our parents, alums, grand-parents and friends. As you read through the various articles and features in here one word should come to mind, outcomes. Out-comes are a hot topic in the world of education and they should be. Balancing results with what is right for each individual child is the daily work of teachers, students and parents. The long range goal of outcomes is featured in the closing line of our mission statement, helping our boys and girls “lead a life of significance.” That is the ultimate outcome.

This year we have been working to promote our new “outcomes” statement with our kids. Graduates of The Woods Academy are O-W-L-S: Open to growth, Willing to live their faith, Leaders in their community, and Striving for a just and joyous life. Our 8th graders will participate in a Capstone Leadership Project at the end of the year where they present how they lived the profile of a graduate of The Woods Academy and how they plan to lead a life of significance once they graduate. There will certainly be more to come on this as the Class of 2014 will be the first to participate in this endeavor. The qualitative data that comes from activities like this and the news that is shared through this magazine highlight what we do at The Woods Academy through stories.

Outcomes that have numbers associated with it are very relevant as well. The quantitative data that we have compiled is equally as impressive as the stories that we share. Some examples that speak loud and clearly: 92% of the class of 2013 is taking at least one advanced course upon entering high school, over $700,000 in merit based scholarships have been awarded to Woods students entering high school between 2007–2013 and over 85% of our faculty hold at least one advanced degree. Read on in this issue and you will see more impressive data. Numbers tell a story too.

Stories and numbers help us articulate the outcomes and keep track of how we are doing. They are not all about the best test scores, nor does everyone become the President of a company. Leading a life of significance is THE most important outcome and our kids and alums carry that out in many ways. What we do at The Woods Academy is to lay that foundation for the boys and girls to find what truly “makes them tick” and to grow in confidence to then “go for it.” Enjoy reading about the outcomes and know that you are all part of the great work that has happened and will happen here at The Woods. This community should be proud. I know I am.

Peace,

Joseph E. Powers

Yes! The Owls are cooking! One afternoon each week our enthusiastic gourmets wash their hands, don chef hats and green aprons and then immerse themselves in food prepa-ration. The crock pot or griddle or electric burner stand ready. The recipe is read and ingredients discussed.

Ready? Let the grating, slic-ing, mixing, kneading, mash-ing, and spreading begin. We can bake, boil or fry!

Set the timer! Read a story while we wait! Test! Is it done? It’s time to taste—al-ways a little bit better when you make it yourself!

Why cooking at school? Montessori children enjoy learning to be independent and competent with tools like tongs, knives, spoons, and graters as they develop fine motor coordination. Can you crack an egg without getting any shell in the bowl? Can you measure and pour milk into a bowl without a spill? It takes focus, practice to develop skill!

Cooking provides opportu-nities for math—measuring and weighing as well as counting with one-to-one correspondence. It devel-ops social skills and good manners—taking turns and helping each other as we ap-preciate our different tastes and opinions. Cooking is also an opportunity to explore science concepts. Does oil always float on water or vinegar? What does it take to melt or freeze ingredients? Is this a solid, liquid or gas? Could this be a mixture or a compound? It is matter!

Cooking introduces children to recipes from the continents we are exploring in the class-room. It gives opportunities to sample dishes from a variety of cultural traditions—Pavlova or Anzac biscuits from Australia, poorie from India, sukuma wiki from Kenya, spring rolls

from China, quesadillas and guacamole from Mexico, em-panadas from Argentina and chicken salad lettuce wraps from Italy.

Families can share their own favorite recipes when mom and dad join us for cook-ing. Cooking also helps us celebrate special holidays and tastes of the season—witch hat cookies and veggie skel-etons for Halloween, mash potatoes and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, latkes for Ha-nukkah, Rice Krispie wreaths for Christmas, apple crisp for President’s Day, carrot cake for Easter.

Cooking provides occasions to try out new vocabulary from verbs like cream, blend, and whip to adjective opposites like soft/hard, hot/cold, and sweet/sour. It’s also a chance to meet new fruits and vegetables! Trying new foods and expanding our repertoire of recipe introduc-es children to the world of healthy food choices.

Recipes are illustrated and collected so that they can be made into a cookbook in May. That cookbook holds many

happy memories of fun and culinary delight! Being a chef is exciting and interesting work.

Bon Appétit!

Joanne Gerber, Montessori Director

There’s a delicious aroma wafting down The Woods’ halls most afternoons. Is it cinnamon buns? Is it vegetable soup? Is it pumpkin

muffins? Do I hear happy voices and even giggling?

What’s Cooking in Montessori?

“ Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.” – Maria Montessori

MONTESSORI

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STEAM

STEAM: Teaching Across Disciplines

Its aim is to be an energetic and collaborative program for the Lower School student engineers. The students will have the opportunity to build, test, modify, and display numerous structures and simple machines. Mrs. Hall is one of only 100 winners from across the country. She will now compete with other winners for one of the top three prizes — an additional $5,000, $10,000, or $25,000 from ING U.S. These winners were selected from a group of nearly 1,300 applicants.

Programs like Mrs. Hall’s “Rockets and Robots” exemplify STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education

— a framework for teaching across disciplines. STEAM education is engaging hands-on, and reality-based with the goal of developing knowledgeable citizens who can keep up with the modern world.

On Saturday, February 1, The Woods hosted a STEAM Showcase for girls, age 4 to 2nd grade. The showcase featured hands-on activities designed by art teacher Charmaine Taverner and 2nd grade teachers Katya Pilong (1998) and Hilarie Hall. The Woods Academy promotes STEAM education at all grade levels.

2nd grade teacher Mrs. Hilarie Hall was presented with a check for $2,000 during Lower School Chapel on Friday, October 28. This grant will help fund Mrs. Hall’s “Rockets and Robots: Becoming Young

Engineers” winning program idea.

Stay Connected The Woods Academy @TheWoodsAcademy @theWoodsAcademy Follow The Woods

Academy Company Page as well as join the alumni-only group. To search for the alumni group type in The Woods Academy Alumni.

Carly Hanglighter (2022) participating in the girls’ STEAM event held at school on February 2.

SAVE THE DATE!

The Woods Academy Annual Auction — Woods Madness!Saturday, March 1 at The Woods Academy

Summer at The WoodsDid you know The Woods has a number of unique summer offerings avail-able to our students as soon as the school year ends? Please check out the Summer at The Woods page on Woods-Net for more details. Registration information is coming soon.

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The Woods Academy N E W S

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W I N T E R 2014

our sense of community and general caring nature of all the faculty/staff, students, families and fellow alumni. It’s great to see how invested the community is in both the school and in each other and this combination creates a second home like atmosphere for all.”

While the school has continued to move forward and change, in good ways, — in its programs and greatly improved facilities — he is glad that the core tenets of the school and its mission remain intact and stronger than ever. Going into the future and specifically with The Woods new strategic plan, he foresees on-going improvement to the school’s facilities while also maintaining the quality of grad-uates the school continues to generate. He is excited, he said, to see what the next 20 plus years bring to the school and greater community.

As a Trustee he is helping shape that future. He enjoys working with the Board. He finds his fellow board members as well as the school’s administration to be the most collaborative and supportive people he has ever been around. He added that it is great bouncing ideas off each other and sharing the same goal — keeping the best interests of the school and community as the number one priority. Adeeb’s focuses on the Board are to help the school with its technology initiatives as well as help strengthen the school’s relationship with all its alumni.

Adeeb said the key thing to always remember as an alumni is to pay it forward. “Those before us did what they could to make our experience better and it’s on us as the next generation of Woods alumni to do the same for those coming after us. Woods was an integral part of our transition from children to young adults and as a way of giving thanks, volunteering our time or even small donations go a far distance with the current and future students. We can set an example by how we give back — not just what we give back.”

The best advice he gives to fellow alums is to stay in touch so that they know where all their peers end up and are finding success. “It doesn’t cost a penny just to say Hi to an old friend and you never know where that Hi will take you, eleven years after graduation. Personally, by staying in touch with the school, I’m now in a position to

help the school make strategic decisions which I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do when I was back in the 8th grade waiting to graduate.”

In addition to staying in touch, he suggests coming back and reconnecting with each other as well as with former teachers and seeing how the school has evolved since graduation. “Now that many of us have landed our chosen career paths and are on our way to being experts in what we do, find ways to give back to the school by applying our expertise to areas the school can benefit

from. Come back and give a guest presenta-tion to rising high school freshmen about your experience post Woods, or come back and volunteer your time at a Woods event. The memories that come back to you while doing these are priceless and go a long way for the current Woods students and community.”

As a major donor, a true advocate who gives significant time, talent, and treasure to transform the lives of Woods Academy stu-dents, Adeeb expressed why, it is important to him to give back to his alma mater: “Woods plays a crucial role in the development of young minds and allows for students to start

exploring things they might want to pursue beyond Woods and high school. By investing

in an elementary school, you are directly impacting the future of our generations to come by helping provide the necessary resources and tools the young minds need in order to further their curiosity and find what interest them and where their talents may lie. Helping speed up the self-discovery process helps generate the interest in learning and finding success in school and beyond. At a small school like Woods, I can see exactly where my donations are going and how it’s being used. Seeing the young minds at work with the resources I’ve helped provide makes it all the more rewarding.”

DONOR PROFILE DONOR PROFILE

From the beginning, it was clear that Adeeb was bright, curious and eager to explore and learn. In the second grade, when The Woods purchased its first computer, Adeeb was magnetically drawn to it. It was a great be-ginning for Adeeb and for The Woods Academy. With his teachers’ encouragement and the school’s flexibility he was able to pursue his curiosity through each grade level and subsequently to now have a full career in Informa-tion Technology with Ernst and Young.

Upon graduation from The Woods in 2002 he continued his studies at Landon School and then at Penn State

where he majored in Business, specifically, Management Information Systems with a minor in Information Science and Technology. Throughout, Adeeb kept close ties with The Woods. He came back as a student volunteer during high school and then worked part time while in college with the Technology Team to help refresh the school’s computers as well as provide technical support to the faculty and staff.

When asked, what makes The Woods Academy special, he replied: “The most heartwarming characteristic of the school, which remains strong through today, has been

When Adeeb entered The Woods Academy as a Montessori student in 1994, he could walk down the hallway with classmates to the Library with its tables and chairs — the

seats of which were then eye level with his young height. Now, almost 20 years later, he sits in one of these seats as a Woods Academy Trustee. Standing now at five feet eleven inches, his eye level, so to speak, is higher, wider, broader with a vision of further promoting The Woods Academy in its pursuit of excellence in education and in turning boys and girls into men and women who live lives of significance.

Donor Profile

Adeeb Mahmood

Adeeb, first day of school, 1st grade, 1994.Adeeb, left, with younger brother.

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The Woods Academy Experience by the Numbers

AthleticsNationwide less than 1%

of students enrolled in 4 year colleges and universities are Division 1 athletes.

11% of Woods alumni who currently attend college (classes of

2006 –2009) are Division 1 athletes.

Academics92% of the Class of 2013 is tak-

ing at least one advanced course as a freshman.

76% of the Class of 2013 is taking two or more advanced level courses.

65% of the Class of 2013 is taking advanced Math as a freshman.

90% of the Class of 2013 is taking Spanish 2 or French 2 or higher as a

freshman.

95th percentile

2/3 of Woods students

94th percentile.

95th percentile.

Faculty85% of our full time

teaching staff hold an advanced degree.8 is the average

number of years a faculty member has

taught at The Woods.

HS Placement100%

95%

over $700,000

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SHARE YOUR NEWSPlease send in your Alumni Notes for the next WoodsNews to keep your classmates and other Woods’ friends up to date. Photos are always welcome!Email your updates to Jodie Shoemaker, Director of Marketing, Communications, and Alumni Relations, at alumni@woodsacademy.org

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ALUMNI NOTES GRANDPARENTS

Alumni NotesAlexander Morton (2010) was recently inducted into The Edmund Campion chapter of the National Honor Society at Georgetown Prep. Students accepted into the society must have a rigorous course schedule, must have demonstrated leadership in their extracurricu-lar life, must have participated in meaningful service to others, and must have the respect and trust of the Prep faculty as young men of conscience.

Nadine Harmsen (2011) a junior at Georgetown Visitation was recently selected as one of the school’s ten Student Ambassadors in the junior class. As a School Ambassador, Nadine will represent Visitation in a leadership position on and off campus. In addition, Nadine serves as president of the French Club.

Jack Ridenour (2011), Agustin Basanes (2010), Anesu Nyawata (2010), and Tanner Sampson (2010) all contributed to the success of Georgetown Prep’s Varsity Basketball team this year. Sophomores Conor Dolan (2012) and Tino Nyawata (2012) also played basket-ball on Prep’s JV team.

Julie Branitsky (2012), Archer Chapin (2011), and Alexis Mahshi-gian (2011) all played a role in Academy of the Holy Cross’ produc-tion of Guys and Dolls this past fall. Julie and Alexis both attend Holy Cross and Archer attends Georgetown Prep.

Joseph Nadonley (2012), Anthony Mahshigian (2013), Winston Grenier (2013), and Jonah Barron (2013) returned to campus in December to volunteer at the FLL Robotics Qualifier. All four boys were members of the Owlbots Robotics team during their time at The Woods.

Kathryn Maloney (2013), a freshman at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, played Varsity Tennis and Varsity Basketball for the Gators this year.

Ana Harmsen (2013) a freshman at Georgetown Visitation con-tinued her acting career in the November production of Out of the Frying Pan. Ana was one of only three freshmen selected for the cast.

Photos top to bottom: 1st photo, Ana Harmsen (2013), far left, in Georgetown Visitation’s production of Out of the Frying Pan. Second photo, Kathryn Maloney (2013) on the court for the Stone Ridge Gators. Third photo From left to right above, Alexis Mahshigian (2011), Archer Chapin (2011), and Julie Branitsky (2012) after Holy Cross’ production of Guys and Dolls. Bottom photo, From left to right above, Anthony Mahshigian (2013), Jonah Barron (2013), Winston Grenier (2013), and Joe Nadonley (2012) volunteered at the FLL Robotics Qualifier at The Woods on December 7.

October 11th was anything but a rainy damp day at The Woods Academy’s 29th Annual Grandparents & Special Friends Day. It was a welcoming won-

derful day with more than 230 Grandparents in attendance, many of whom trav-eled great distances from other countries, from West Coast to East and the many places in between. In keeping with The Woods mascot, The Mighty Owl, the theme for the day was “Grandparents Are the Wisest Owls.” Grandparents shared their wisdom which we displayed and gave to their grandchildren. The teachers did an incredible job of interweaving “owl wisdom” into the curriculum. As Head of School Joe Powers said in his address to Grandparents & Special Friends, “Our Grandparents understand life and it is evident in their advice. Life is what they have lived and it is their life that we should learn from…God bless you for your infinite wisdom.” Thank you to everyone who made this day possible! Special thanks to our parent co-chairs Missy Cooper and Lisa Capuano and to Coach Clubbs and his crew for all of their “heavy lifting”.

Grandparents

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W I N T E R 2014AROUND THE WOODS AROUND THE WOODS

American Mathematics Competition2013 AMC 8 Results

On November 19, 2013, The Woods Academy’s seventh and eighth graders participated in the AMC 8 sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America. This was a 40-minute, 25-question, multiple choice test. No calculators were used.

Here’s one of the questions of the test. About 12% of the group answered this correctly.

A 1 x 2 rectangle is inscribed in a semicircle with the longer side on the diameter. What is the area of the semicircle?(A) π/2 (B) 2π/3 (C) π (D) 4π/3 (E) 5π/3

The results are in!

Woods Student Receives United States Achievement Academy Scholarship

Christina Dropulic, an 8th grader, was chosen by the selection committee of the United States Achievement Academy (USAA) Scholarship Foundation to receive one of their 2013 educational

cash grants. Christina was nominated for this award by art teacher, Charmaine Taverner, for her creativity, outstanding artistic ability, and enthusiasm for art education.

Each year, the non-profit USAA Scholarship Foundation recognizes excellent students in 17 categories like Language Arts, Math, Science, Fine Arts, World Language, etc. and awards 400 national educational cash grants of up to $1,500. Christina was nominated for and received the award for her achievement in Fine Arts at The Woods.

All scholarship winners are listed on the USAA website — www.usaa-academy.com. In addition, winning students are also invited to have their comments regarding their scholarship and award of recognition featured on the USAASF website. The Woods is proud to recognize Christina as an USAA Scholarship winner.

Woods Students Win Washington Parent Magazine Cover ContestAlex Choi in 4th grade and Alejandro Tovar in 5th grade were selected as runners up in the Washington Parent Magazine “Kids Get Creative Cover Art Contest”. You can see their artwork (pictured below) on page 23 of the November issue of Washington Parent Magazine.

One of Christina Dropulic’s pieces of art inspired by work from Impressionist Edgar Degas.

Alejandro Tovar, Cityscape, Paper collage

Alex Choi, Eagle, Acrylic on canvas

First place in the school: Darius Kuddo (8) and

Victoria Smith (8)

Second place in the school: Patrick Dolan (7)

Third place in the school: Brian Goodson (8) and

Gabe Schneider (8)

In the eighth grade:

First place: Darius Kuddo and Victoria Smith

Second place: Brian Goodson and Gabe Schneider

Third place: Chris McCormick

In the seventh grade:

First place: Patrick Dolan

Second place: Devin Nickerson and Alex Toner

Third place: Ines Andres and David Giannini

Congratulations on your fine performance! (The answer to the above question is C.)

The Woods Academy N E W S

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Attention Alumni!Have you moved or changed your mailing/ email address?

Please contact Jodie Shoemaker (alumni@woodsacademy.org) to update all contact information to ensure you receive invitations for your class gatherings and other pertinent alumni information. Please include

the following: • First and Last Name • Maiden Name (if applicable) • Class Year • Address, City, State, Zip • Home and Mobile # • Email Address

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AROUND THE WOODS

The Woods 2013 fall athletics season proved to be a very exciting one! With the majority of the upper school students playing soccer or par-

ticipating in cross country this year, we were very successful in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC). In addition, The Woods fielded its very first girls tennis team.

The CAC awarded The Woods JV Boys Soccer team a first place banner and the JV Girls Soccer team a third place banner. The Woods Varsity Girls and Boys and JV Boys Cross Country teams all earned first place banners at the meet in October and the JV Girls Cross Country team earned second place. The Woods tennis team finished their inaugural season 2 and 1.

2013 marked the Second Annual Soccer Team Awards and Pizza Lunch. Players and coaches celebrated the season over lunch; awards were given to the Most Valuable Player and Most Improved Player of each team. Each coach also gave a Hustle Award.

The following students received Most Improved Awards:Ryan Sheehan (8), Zoe Ungerman (8), Caleigh Gazdag (6), Oliver Wolcott (6), Ava Humler (5)

The following students received Most Valuable Player Awards:Annalise Hotchkiss (8), Alexandre Crepin (7), Ray Briscuso (6), Maeve Dolan (6), Jasmine Yelder (6)

The following students received Hustle Awards:Camille Toner (8), Jean Tostain (7), Daniel Iannarone (6), Elisa Terman (6), Christie Mori (5)

Congratulations to all our Mighty Owl athletes!

Mighty Owls Bring Home Several BannersFall 2013 Athletics Season

#532

theatrogoalien: A student who can bring an audience to its feet one minute

and block the game-saving shot the next.

THE WOODS WORD OF THE DAY: #532

An inclusive Catholic community preparing boys and girls to lead lives of significance. Where curiosity and confidence thrive.

From Montessori through grade 8, our students get involved in so many activities, we had to create a unique

vocabulary just to describe them. Define yourself at The Woods.

The Woods Academy6801 Greentree Road Bethesda, MD 20817 301 365 3080www.woodsacademy.org

The Woods Academy News is published by the Marketing & Communications Office of The Woods Academy, 6801 Greentree Road, Bethesda, MD 20817-2210Phone: 301 365 3080Fax: 301 469 6439www.woodsacademy.org

The Woods Academy seeks qualified applicants of every race, religion, nationality, and ethnic origin.

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Upcoming Events at The WoodsMarch 1 24th Annual Night Owl Auction: Woods Madness—Get Your Game On!

May 15 & 16 The Annual Arts Celebration

May 30 Montessori Graduation

May 30 8th Grade Graduation