Inspire - Spring 2016 - Eastside Prep

THE EASTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL MAGAZINE: SPRING 2016 | VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 2

...Students to Create a Better World keep framing elements, drop photo for gray box, greek in the lower left highlights, and update the volume details above (spring, issue 2)

INDEPENDENCE PARENTING TOWARD INDEPENDENCE COLLEGE COUNSELING INDEPENDENT PROBLEM SOLVERS

EASTSIDE PREP MAGAZINE STAFF Vickie Baldwin

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Tina Hadden

MANAGING EDITOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER & LAYOUT EDITOR

Joshua Huisenga

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Elena S. Blair Photography, Jennifer Boyle Photography, Roberta Christensen, Derek Clarke, Amy Hallman, Barbie Hull Photography, Chan Pedersen, Wanyi Yang COPY EDITORS

Dr. Laurie Benaloh, Lauren Formo, Allison Luhrs, Karen Mills, Dr. Elena Olsen WEB EDITORS

Jonathan Briggs, Derek Clarke

SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM HEAD OF SCHOOL DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY

Terry Macaluso, PhD Vickie Baldwin Doug Blair, JD Jonathan Briggs

ACADEMIC DEAN

Matt Delaney

DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS

Lauren Formo

UPPER SCHOOL HEAD DIRECTOR OF STUDENT LIFE

Bart Gummere Paul Hagen

DIRECTOR OF FINE & PERFORMING ARTS Brian Hutcheson DIRECTOR OF STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES CHIEF OF FINANCE AND OPERATIONS MIDDLE SCHOOL HEAD

Kelly Moore, PhD Jim Rensberger Sam Uzwack

2015–2016 BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT

Rob Short Stacy Graven

SECRETARY

Bohn Crain

TREASURER

Sasha Press

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Byron Bishop

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magazine@eastsideprep.org INSPIRE is published two times a year by Eastside Preparatory School.

It is mailed to all current families, employees and donors. To remove or change your mailing address, to submit a letter to the editor, to suggest a topic for an article, or to submit alumni information (text or photographs), contact magazine@eastsideprep.org. © Copyright 2015, Eastside Preparatory School

On the cover: Connor (‘19) presents to Mr. Waltzer’s Biology class.

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E CHOSE AS OUR THEME for this issue of Inspire, Independence. Our aim is to demonstrate that “to educate” is “to lead out.” Education frees us from dependence on others to tell us what to think and how to be. Education liberates us from the narrowness of our own minds; it encourages us to engage others and to make meaning. School is the place in our society where students learn to be independent…if we’ll let them.

Problem solving, described as a pedagogical method by our math faculty, is a sure way to develop confidence and to increase tolerance for ambiguity. Taking charge of a production, fully responsible for what’s happening on stage, while working behind the curtain, has become a rite of passage for students who find their passion in the theatre.

Student Government, under the leadership of Chase Johnsen and Inaayat Gill, has taken control of its own destiny, redefining what it means to participate in the development of culture and traditions. The Fusor Project, described by its creator, is a vision of independence. Twenty-six students have chosen to spend the entire year—on their own time and for no academic credit— researching nuclear energy, writing papers, and working on a project that will not come to fruition for a very long time.

Our constantly evolving College Counseling program continues to be the leader in our efforts to enable students to become independent, self-reliant citizens. We believe that college selection is a watershed moment for students. It’s the first time in their lives that they present themselves to a wider world and wait to learn how they’re received. Selecting colleges for application requires students to reflect, deeply, to confront the endless possibilities in a global society replete with complexity, and to learn, definitively, that choosing to do something means not choosing to do something else.

Finally, in our piece Parenting Toward Independence, some difficult truths emerge. Despite the natural—and loving—desire on the part of some parents to design their children’s future, and to protect them from all the things we used to create our own lives as adults—children do grow up. They do become independent—and to paraphrase Anna Quindlen’s observation quoted on page 42— they become the people we like best in the world.

Terry Macaluso, PhD Head of School

Kama, Sydney, and Rhea (all Class of 2019)

In this issue Independent Schools

5

Student Government: Building Something New 24

Independent Problem Solvers 7

The Fusor Project

26

EPStretch and Seminars

Social Emotional Learning at EPS

28 31

9

Technical Production: Interns Take the Lead

11

EPS Theatre’s Fall & Winter 2015 Season

EBC Week

13

Aggregating Independence 32 Alumni Reflection: College Prep Realized

35

15

College Counseling

36

EPS Coffee House

17

Parenting Toward Independence 40

EPS Lifers

18

Eagle Recognition 43

What’s on Your Bookshelf?

21

Show What You Know

44

Upcoming Events

46

Designing Experiences to Support Independence

TEDXEastsidePrep 22

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Dr. Laurie Benaloh has taught math to Middle and Upper School students at Eastside Prep since 2007. She is also the mother of two EPS graduates. Laurie is a former software engineer and has taught software design at the college level.

Contributors Paul Hagen joined EPS as a Middle School history teacher in 2009 before becoming the Director of Student Life in 2014. As Director of Student Life, Paul guides studentcentered programs such as EBC Week, Service Learning, and EPSummer.

Jonathan Briggs joined the EPS faculty in June of 2005 as the school’s first Director of Technology. In addition to his teaching duties, Jonathan has implemented the school’s laptop program, overseen the technological needs of a growing school community, and has been instrumental to the implementation of learning management and student information systems that serve students, teachers, and parents.

Matt Delaney devotes time and attention to promoting the school’s approaches to integration, inquiry, and experiential education. In addition to teaching and serving as Eastside Prep’s Academic Dean, Matt is also one of the school’s college counselors.

Inaayat Gill is a member of the Class of 2016 and the Vice President of Student Government. She writes about the efforts of Student Government for this issue of Inspire.

Cameron Greenberg is a member of Eastside Prep’s graduating Class of 2012 and will graduate from Oberlin College this spring. In this issue of Inspire, Cameron explains how EPS prepared him for his college experience and beyond.

Bart Gummere joined Eastside Prep in the summer of 2006. His twenty-sevenyear experience in the education field has allowed him to assume a variety of roles: math teacher, baseball coach, College Admissions Officer, College Counseling Director, Upper School Assistant Head. Bart is Eastside Prep’s Upper School Head and one of the school’s college counselors.

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Brian Hutcheson is in his second year as Eastside Prep’s Director of Fine and Performing Arts. In that role, “Hutch” promotes our full range of arts activities (music, theatre, and visual arts) as well as teaching several visual arts classes.

Wendy Lawrence was one of the four founding faculty at Eastside Prep. She started as a science teacher and three years later she became the head of the Middle School.

Wendy has moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, but is still very much connected to Eastside Prep.

Dr. Terry Macaluso has been a division head and a head of school in four independent day schools, including Lakeside School in Seattle, over a thirty-five year career.

In 2002, she guided the Founding Board of Trustees from the earliest discussions about the school that eventually became Eastside Preparatory School, and was appointed Head of School in the spring of 2004.

Gunnar Mein has worked in the software field for over twenty years and is an EPS faculty member and parent.

Gunnar was instrumental in starting Eastside Prep’s Robotics Club, Fusor Project, and EPStretch. He also teaches programming courses for Middle and Upper Schoolers.

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Karen Mills is a founding employee of Eastside Prep, having been hired by the founders of the school in 2003. She served in several different roles at EPS before taking on her current positions as Librarian and Literary Thinking teacher. Karen is also a Grade Level Coordinator, Advisor, and Cross Country coach.

Dr. Kelly Moore joined Eastside Prep in 2009 as the school’s first Director of Counseling and Learning Resources. She has worked with adolescents and families for over twenty years in schools, in-patient psychiatric hospitals, and in private practice. Kelly is currently Eastside Prep’s Director of Student Support Services.

Kelly Violette has lived abroad for a year each in Spain and Puerto Rico, and has traveled to many countries in Latin America, including Mexico, Peru, Guatemala, and Colombia, among others. In addition to teaching Spanish at Eastside Prep, Kelly is also a volleyball coach, Rock Climbing Club sponsor, Grade Level Coordinator, and College Counselor.

Sam Uzwack joined Eastside Prep in July 2009. For the prior seven years, he taught seventh-grade humanities at an independent school in Seattle, where he also co-coordinated the Outdoor Program, served as chair of the Professional Development Committee, and coached soccer and Ultimate Frisbee. Sam is Eastside Prep’s Middle School Head, an Outdoor Club advisor, Upper School Social Science teacher, and College Counselor.

Kip Wassink has taught math and science at Eastside Prep since 2011. Prior to joining the EPS faculty, Kip taught science in Idaho and New York and served as a Dean of Students and educational consultant.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

By Terry Macaluso, PhD, Head of School

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MERICANS ARE PRAGMATIC. That same pragmatism is reflected in the history of education in America.

Even the school calendar—based on the rural lives that defined the country in the late 18th through the early 20th centuries—is extant.

Whether alternative, proprietary, micro, public, private, or independent, every school aims at the same target: developing human capacity. The delineating questions are, “For what purpose?” and “By what methods?”

Public schools are the manifestation of the American commitment to an educated citizenry. Without that, how can people govern themselves?

Alternative schools seek to support the needs of non-traditional learners as well as those for whom school just “doesn’t work.” Private and parochial schools are guided, typically, by a faith-based entity whose future depends on the effectiveness of education supporting its tenets. Proprietary

schools are designed to make a profit—so, even though the intention is to support a mission, the bottom line drives decisions. Micro schools are usually schools of around 100 people that begin as a kind of co-op and evolve as they grow, depending on who enters the group. Often, this kind of school grows out of a network

Above: Mr. Briggs teaches Advanced Topics in Math to Upper School students. Below: Marnie, Nels, and Matthew (all Class of 2016) in Advanced Biology.

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of home-schooling families who find it productive to combine their efforts.

Independent schools are precisely that…independent. Fundamentally, that means that they are missiondriven, and that the locus of control is within that single school’s leadership and governance structure. There is no funding source beyond the community of the school; the Head serves at the pleasure of the Board, and the Head is responsible for…everything. Accountability is immediate.

If students aren’t being well served, families leave the school. If families

Above: Upper School students with Mr. Hagen, Ms. Rainwater, and Ms. McKinney at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry; Below: Students celebrate Dia de los Muertos with Ms. Ruiz.

aren’t happy, the fundraising efforts the school needs to survive aren’t successful.

I went to public schools K through 12. Other than parochial schools, I had no idea there were any other kinds of schools. Truth be told, even after I started teaching in an independent school (which I discovered by accident), I didn’t understand what was so special. It was kids and teachers and parents and lunch and sports—and all 6

the stuff school is. I didn’t really “get it” until I found myself in the Upper School Head chair.

What made me appreciate the uniqueness of an independent school was that it was a little bit like walking a tight wire without a net. There wasn’t anyone else to blame if something went wrong (and things do go wrong).

It was ALL OURS. It was our program, our policies, our people, our results.

We owned everything that happened

EASTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL

on a school day. We were accountable to students, their parents, and most fundamentally, to one another.

That final observation—that we were accountable to one another—is, to me, the essence of independent education. Of course, we have smaller classes, we teach fewer students, we develop relationships with our students and their parents, and we design our own programs and policies. But all those things happen in various ways and to varying degrees in lots of other schools. The “secret sauce” in our independent school is professional reciprocity. Each of us who practices our profession at EPS knows that our own success is tied to the success of our colleagues. We are bound together by our commitment to the mission.

What independent schools provide is something more than the pragmatic response to a social need; we aspire to model for our students the qualities of character, ethics-based actions, and expansive mindsets the world needs. 

By Dr. Laurie Benaloh and Kip Wassink, Math Faculty

“I

’M JUST NOT GOOD AT MATH” IS A PHRASE OFTEN heard in our society. For many reasons, math seems to be one of those topics that a majority of the population tends to self-select into one of two camps: those who get it and those who don’t. We hope that by the time an EPS student graduates, that idea is as foreign as a plant saying, “I’m just not good at growing.” We want our students to become competent, confident, independent problem solvers. To do this, we need to know what our students know, don’t know, can and can’t do, and then offer content that provides manageable challenge for each student. We need to teach the skills, habits, and mindset necessary for lifelong learning and success.

Even before a student enters EPS, we start to get to know the student through our math placement process. We discover some of what a student already knows and doesn’t know and what problems he or she can already solve. During each class, we check—formally or informally— each student’s understanding of the lesson of the day. We provide a variety of assessment opportunities, ranging from students solving problems on mini-whiteboards, to homework, to student projects, to traditional tests.

INDEPENDENT PROBLEM SOLVERS For our students to become adept problem solvers, they Above: Chris, Piper, and Adrian (all Class need opportunities to learn specific content. Unlike many of 2020) in math class; schools, however, we consider the essential content to be Below: Dr. Benaloh much more than formulae and computational techniques. teaches Middle In his book Brain Rules, John Medina talks about people in Schoolers. any field needing not just a database of knowledge, but also the ability to apply that knowledge. All of our classes focus on problem solving and on applying skills and concepts to realistic problems.

This intentional layering of problem solving over content is part of what sets EPS apart from other schools.

For learning to occur, the activities and problems need to be at an appropriate level for each student. Some students enter EPS with more skills than their age-peers, but they have no idea how to approach an abstract problem. Other students enter EPS with fewer skills than their age-peers, but they are intrepid when faced with a novel problem and can reason their way to a solution.

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By knowing our students, we can anticipate when they will struggle and when they will sail, and we can provide scaffolding as necessary. We use a variety of approaches to present each student with problems that are challenging but manageable. Sometimes, we use “low floor, high ceiling” problems to differentiate instruction. For instance, this fall all students in Mathematical Thinking (MT) 1, MT 2, MT 3, and Algebra 1 started the year working on the same problem. For each number from 1 to 20, students were asked to find an expression that equals that number using exactly four 4’s and any operations.

Some expressions were mathematically simple, such as 15 = (4 * 4) - (4 ÷ 4) while others were more mathematically sophisticated, such as 11 = (4! - √4) ÷ (4 - √4).

Problems such as these allow students to explore mathematical concepts at their own levels and to be pushed forward in their mathematical knowledge by their peers and teachers. Another way we differentiate is by employing varied media. We may explain a concept to the whole class, provide a written explanation, and provide links to videos explaining the concepts. We provide different avenues for practicing the concepts, including individual and group work, which are often inquiry-based.

Teaching skills and concepts is easy compared to teaching the habits and mindset necessary for lifelong learning and success. Throughout our classes, we show by example and by explicit reference the mathematical habits of mind we want our students to develop, which are also useful for solving non-mathematical problems. Some of the habits we develop are Solve a Simpler Problem, Draw a Picture, Look for Patterns, Generalize, Collaborate and Listen, and 8

EASTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Persevere. Many of the problem-solving problems we provide are intentionally challenging to offer opportunities to practice these habits. Students start off talking with those close by about the problem, then may hear an idea from another group and evaluate the usefulness of that idea. They move throughout the class, exchanging ideas with classmates. We teach that patience and perseverance pay off, that problems will be solved if students don’t give up on them, and that students shouldn’t always expect to be able to get an answer quickly.

Teaching these habits would be challenging enough if students came as blank slates or freshly turned fields where we could control all the input and experiences they had in life, but that is not our reality. Our students are receiving multiple messages every day that some people are good at math and others are not, that some people are lucky to have been born with “the math gene.” Those beliefs characterize a fixed mindset—you either have the ability or you don’t. Increasingly, research is showing that these ideas are not only false but damaging. Jo Boaler has created an online class through Stanford called “How to Learn Math.” It introduces a number of valuable ideas that can help students develop a growth mindset, the belief in the reality that anyone can become good at math (or anything) through practice, patience, and perseverance. For example, it discusses new findings on learning, including studies which found that brains actually grow through working on hard problems. Last year, in MT 3 and Algebra 1, students explored and discussed these ideas. The positive gains we observed convinced us that it should continue to be a part of the MT 3 curriculum.

Just as a growing plant does not get to choose the soil and environmental conditions in which it finds itself, students, teachers, and schools have little control over the messages society delivers. While we cannot control society’s myths, we can control the way we react to them. Armed with a culture of growth, an attitude of positivity, and a commitment to persevere, together with a database of skills and strategies and habits to apply those skills, students won’t be stymied by adverse conditions. They will become confident, competent, independent problem solvers.  Top: Lucy (‘20) in math class with Ms. Sweet; Bottom: Mr. Wassink teaches math.

EPStretch and Seminars

By Sam Uzwack, Middle School Head and Bart Gummere, Upper School Head

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INCE ITS FOUNDING, Eastside Prep has been committed to bringing together a diverse community of learners. When asked about the “typical” EPS student, we often say, “Well, there really isn’t a mold we are trying to fit kids into.” Rather, we aim to guide each student to become the best version of her/himself. As a result, we have a community of students with a broad array of interests, talents, and personalities.

Implicit in this approach is the need to offer both support and challenge to all of our students. After a year of prototyping, this fall we launched new programs in the Upper and Middle Schools for students seeking to stretch their learning. In mid-October, our first round of Upper School Seminars commenced, and the start of winter trimester saw the inaugural meeting of our seventh- and eighth-grade Academic Stretch program. In January, our fifth and sixth graders had the opportunity to try out Academic Ultimate.

Several fundamental tenants guiding these programs are to: • allow students to wrestle with ambiguity, • foster independence in students, and • help students understand where their “edge” is, in order to grow to their full potential.

Mr. Mein challenges Saanika, Tristan, and Kira (all Class of 2021).

ACADEMIC ULTIMATE 5/6 Academic Ultimate (AU 5/6) is our way to engage and encourage the youngest EPS students to try their hardest to solve academic challenges. Examples of these include: • What is the largest bridge you can build out of Kinex this week?

• Can you solve ten hard brain teaser puzzles if you work with your friends?

• Can you help the tech department thwart legendary villain, Dr. Entropius, by decoding his messages?

To participate in AU 5/6, students sign up a week in advance to leave their regular Study Hall for the following week and spend it in a separate location with another teacher or student mentor. The students have all three study hall sessions that week to solve the challenges placed before them.

ACADEMIC STRETCH 7/8 Academic Stretch introduces students to a more independent approach to learning; students do research on advanced topics each week, and have one weekly meeting with their Stretch advisor. Every four weeks, the students produce a paper. Standards for those papers will slowly rise through winter and spring trimesters.

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Topics include trigonometry, applied physics, perhaps a little differential calculus, a lab project, statistics, fundamentals of set and group theory.

Example questions include: • Have you ever looked at a study to see what it really says, rather than taking the author’s word for it?

• How do we calculate the length of a lunar eclipse?

• What does my browser talk to when I am on the internet?

SEMINARS Seminar classes are five-week experiences designed for a small group— one faculty member and three to six students. Students from grades ten through twelve are eligible to request enrollment, with preference given by seniority. Each Seminar provides the opportunity for students to engage with a big, complex question. Seminars ask students to: 1. explore academic discipline topics in depth, 2. make connections across discipline boundaries, and 3. apply learning to relevant, contemporary contexts.

Groups meet for one hour each week, with a far greater amount of work expected of each student outside this meeting time—where students work both independently and in collaboration with their instructors and other Seminar members.

Students are urged to take on these classes only if they are willing to commit substantial time in addition to the six classes per term they are required to take as part of the normal, rigorous courseload. The seminars are ungraded, encouraging students to participate only for the sake of the collaborative learning experience.

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Jamin (‘17) in the Seminar, Understanding Computers from the Transistor Up

The overt intention of Seminars is to prepare students for similar expectations and dynamics at the collegiate level.

Only in its infancy, the Seminar Program already boasts an impressive diversity of topics. A full list of course descriptions can be found under the Seminar tab at courses.eastsideprep. org.

As with any new program, we are eager to improve upon our Stretch and Seminar offerings. Some of the questions we seek to answer include: • How can we use time and space differently in order to make these experiences possible?

• Have we tuned the level of challenge appropriately to each grade level?

• How do we pave the way for students to pursue challenging material simply for the sake of their own learning?

The fact that we will launch a new program while remaining open to these questions sets Eastside Prep apart. 

EASTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Some of our Seminar teachers were asked to provide observations on the value of this new program in its inaugural year: “I enjoy working with students on a more collegiate level. Each Seminar culminates in students’ independent projects—I see students make rich connections between graduate-school-level texts and their own interests and lives.”

– Dr. Elena Olsen

“EPS Seminars happen within a tightly constructed curriculum.

The framework of the Seminar experience gives students a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve and in turn, the freedom to conduct their own explorations and inquiries.”

– Matt Delaney

“Seminars allow us to drill down to greater depths. Students are self-directed, following individual paths of exploration that open up during their research.”

– David Fierce

Technical Production Interns Take the Lead Leah (‘18) prepares for a performance of Urinetown.

By Wendy Lawrence, Former Faculty

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HENEVER YOU SEE STUDENTS EXCEL, there’s an assumption—usually right—that somewhere behind them is a dedicated teacher. When you see kids shine on stage, the assumption is usually that adults are behind the curtains, barking orders, organizing props, issuing a 100th reminder.

But at the end of an EPS play, when you look for the support behind the kids on the stage, what you find are more kids. They are the ones with the headsets. They are the ones barking orders. And four in particular (senior, Shae; sophomore, Leah; and eighth graders Sydney and Conor) are behind almost every EPS production. Whether you’ve come for Shakespeare, choir, or a night about college counseling, it’s likely these students will be—literally—running the show.

Leah started working backstage six years ago for the all-school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For her first few years, she spent most of her time organizing actors and props. “Recently I have been working up in the booth to call shows and supervise the rest of the crew and actors. I always love that feeling of accomplishment and togetherness forged within the backstage crew after a show well done.” Also a performer, Leah helps behind the stage when she’s not on the stage—and even once or twice when she was!

Shae loves that he gets to see an event from start to finish. “Typically pre-production starts at least two weeks in advance. I begin by talking with the people in charge of the

Shae (‘16) at the Seattle Venture Partners Fast Pitch event.

event to learn what ideas they have and how the flow will be. I enjoy the work and the people I meet.”

Sydney has always been fascinated with backstage work.

“I wanted to know how movies and music videos and plays all got made.” She was inspired to get more involved during Stagecraft class, which she looked forward to every day. “I became smitten with everything theatre,” she says.

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“Rehearsals are always such a blast. It amazes me how we can work so professionally and still be joking around and laughing over headset.”

Conor started thinking about backstage work before he was an EPS student when he visited the school and met Roberta Christensen, who talked up the Stagecraft class. He took the class as soon as he could and was immediately volunteering to help.

Conor has loved tech things since he was little.

“Whenever the TV wasn’t working or the WIFI was glitching, I loved figuring out how to fix it. On top of that, I loved building things.” Now he’s building and fixing things backstage, mostly on his own. “What’s so cool about working backstage is how much trust they have in us,” says Conor. “There is some hightech equipment backstage that they trust us to use, and many of the problems we encounter we figure out ourselves.”

“Most events are student run,” says Shae. “There are adults to step in if needed.” Often the adult role is a supporting one. “The adults change the lights and set the gels. And we have wonderful parent volunteers that run our hair and makeup. But other than that, we are 100% student-operated on the backstage side of things,” explains Sydney.

The students have gotten so good, they’ve started mentoring each other. “I have started thinking about who will replace me and do the things I do around the school,” says senior Shae. “Currently I am teaching Conor and Sydney and will be handing over more responsibilities to them as the year comes to an end.”

“Shae has shown me a whole lot,” says Sydney. “He taught me how to work the sound and the mics. Leah taught me about stage managing. Believe it or not, there is a correct way to boss people around!”

Sydney (‘20) works with Kayla (‘15) on an EPS production.

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EASTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Conor (‘20) at the Seattle Venture Partners Fast Pitch event.

In live theatre, you have to be ready for anything.

One of Leah’s most memorable moments came during One Hundred Dresses a few years ago when the headsets stopped working. Since communication between the backstage crew and the booth is essential, Leah ended up talking on one long cell phone call all night. “If you come hang out with us during a tech weekend you will most likely hear a reference to ‘cellphoning it.’”

Theatre productions aren’t the only places you’ll find these students. They also produce dances, music concerts, directing projects, and other events such as college counseling nights for parents.

Recently, they were even invited to McCaw Hall in Seattle to work an event called Fast Pitch, where multiple contestants pitched their ideas to donors.

Conor remembers carrying the grand prize of $130,000 around backstage. “I still think how lucky I was to be a part of it.”

Leah spends almost all her non-class time in the theatre department. She has also joined zero-hour Choir. “This all adds up to more than eleven hours spent at school per day.” But it isn’t all theatre for all of them. Shae also works on the yearbook, serves on Student Government, plays soccer, photographs all things EPS with a team of students, and acts as a Peer Mentor. Sydney sings and plays guitar in the Rock ’n’ Roll Club and sometimes stops in on Magic Club. She also plays Ultimate and sings in the choir.

But even when there’s no production, Sydney can be found backstage, helping sweep or striking cords. “Ms. Christensen says I live in the set shop!”

Most of them say they started doing this for fun, but could see themselves continuing it more seriously in college and beyond. “I love the theatre,” says Leah, “and the kind of work ethic I’ve been brought up with allows me to be okay with following this dream wherever it leads me.” 

EBC WEEK GROWTH THROUGH CHOICE

By Paul Hagen, Director of Student Life

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EARLY ONE HUNDRED years ago, in December 1916, Robert Frost’s first collection of poems, Mountain Interval, was put to print.

The entire collection is good—it’s Robert Frost after all—but the first poem, on page eight of that first edition, was destined for greatness.

Originally written a year earlier as a not-so-subtle jab at his famously indecisive friend, English poet Edward Thomas, Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” soon became one of the most quoted and best-loved American poems of the 20th Century. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” wrote Frost, “...I took the one less traveled by….”

The poem has become an anthem of sorts for those who embrace individuality and who reject the status quo in favor of the “road less traveled.” But, of course, that’s not what the poem is really about. Frost is not lauding contrarians or promoting a pioneering spirit in his poem. He is not advocating a lifestyle of rugged individualism or encouraging any specific kind of

life choice. Rather he is celebrating the very act of choosing. It matters not what choice was made, only that a choice was made. The key to Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”—the powerful message of the poem—is that a difficult decision was contemplated and ultimately made. The two roads in Frost’s poem are, as he writes, “really about the same,” neither was better than the other nor particularly unique.

So it was not the path that “made all the difference,” but rather making a choice that made the difference.

Choosing between two or more equally appealing or interesting options can be exceptionally challenging, yet in the act of making a choice—especially a difficult one— reward is found. Students make dozens of decisions daily—some trivial, some vital. How they learn to navigate these decisions is a big part of becoming prepared for the myriad of choices they will face in the future.

Education Beyond the Classroom

Clockwise from left: Members of the Class of 2021 at Second Beach; Rohan and Piper (both Class of 2020) in a costume workshop in Ashland, Oregon; Students on a trip to Washington, D.C.; Jeremy, Krista, and Christy (all Class of 2017) in Nicaragua.

(EBC) Week opens new “roads” for our students to travel down, and affords them the wonderful chance to travel and learn beyond the classroom.

It also gives students in grades eight through twelve the valuable experience of making big choices for themselves.

And this year, our students have had tougher choices than ever before: Should I take the arts trip to New York or the science trip to The Galapagos?

Would I learn more tracking wildlife in Yellowstone or trekking to Machu Picchu? In these choices, students are encouraged to weigh the benefits of each experience, to reflect on their own interests, and to consider the big

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picture. Each student is then asked to choose three EBC Week options that they would be excited to pursue.

Students are not the only ones making difficult choices. The world is smaller than ever before and there are few destinations that are not easily accessible, so we could take students anywhere in the world. But we can’t take students everywhere. As a result, choices—tough choices—have to be made. This year, we made the choice to extend some of our EBC Week offerings into spring break, giving students the option of two-week adventures as well as the traditional one-week EBC experiences. We also chose to create specific categories for trips so students would have greater opportunity to choose an experience that matches their interests and learning objectives.

Now, each EBC Week experience falls into one of eight categories—science and tech, the arts, Spanish language and culture, outdoor adventure, American culture, service, college tours, and international culture—so students know exactly what the focus of each experience will be. Finally, we chose specific locations and experiences that will serve to elevate our program and provide unique learning opportunities for our students.

We believe that, beyond the value derived from EBC Week experiences, there is added benefit when students take an active role 14

in choosing their educational experiences. That is why our EBC Week program includes a progression of choice. Students in grades five through seven participate in grade-level EBC Week experiences, from a four-day adventure at Camp Orkila for fifth graders, to a scientific exploration at NatureBridge for sixth graders, and finally to a full week of theatre immersion in Ashland, Oregon, for seventh graders. By the time our students reach the eighth grade, they are ready to explore their own interests and make their own choices. These choices are not as varied or as extensive as they are in the Upper School, but nevertheless they include two international trips as well as several local and domestic options. Once students enter the Upper School, they tackle even tougher choices and more of them. This year, our Upper School students had seventeen EBC Week options to choose from, including such varied experiences as studying survival skills, ethnobotany, and biology in the old growth forests of the Olympic Peninsula to exploring colleges in and around Boston, and from discovering the culture and history of Cambodia

EASTSIDE PREPARATORY SCHOOL

and Thailand, to producing a film using industry-standard equipment and practices. In the end, regardless of what choice they ultimately make, there is value in the choosing.

When Frost wrote that “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” he understood that making choices can be tough—paralyzing even—and we understand that, too, which is why we work to ensure that every student is given an opportunity to practice making choices. We train students to carefully consider their EBC Week options based on available information and then to simply make a choice— any choice. By increasing both the number of options available as well as the level of challenge in each option over the course of students’ time at EPS, students are given stepping stones from prescribed experience, to limited choice, to full choice, and as Robert Frost might say, that makes all the difference. 

Clockwise from top left: Students visit Chapman University on the Los Angeles colleges tour; students visit a local school in Nicaragua; students pose with the Washington Monument in Washington D.C.; students on a snowshoeing adventure at Crater Lake in Oregon.

By Brian Hutcheson, Director of Fine and Performing Arts

D

g n i n g i Des nces e i r e p x E to Supp o r Indepe t ndence

ESIGNING AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE TO equip and empower students to work independently can be quite a challenge. In the education

world, we often talk about this in terms of scaffolding. As we build an experience, we start with a significant amount of support structure and slowly take away the scaffolding as the student feels more confident and stable with their foundation of experience, knowledge, and skills. This can be a process that happens over a long period of time, such as a student’s four year Upper School experience, or something shorter, such as the timeframe of a single course. In our visual arts offerings, Graphic Design stands out as a course that successfully empowers students to work independently within both timeframes. This class focuses on teaching student designers the design process through real-world projects while also equipping students with basic skills in vector- and raster-based software programs. The final project of the course asks students to find their own client, arrange meetings, and create a dynamic graphic solution based on their client’s needs.

Central to the course is the design process, and student designers learn and build their confidence in that process over a series of projects. The initial project introduces each student to the basic flow of the design

process, starting with research, then ideation, designing, feedback, iteration, and the final client presentation. While this process can seem very linear moving from one stage to the next, the reality is often much messier and students jump back and forth between stages as needed. The first project lasts only one hour and asks student to act as their own client while designing a super hero logo for their alter ego. The experience is brief and highly facilitated, whetting their appetites for deeper exploration.

The second project introduces the concept of working for an outside client. This project also targets key design and technical skills such as composition and visual hierarchy as well as manipulation of text and images. This design effort challenges students to design a chocolate bar wrapper for a new line of chocolates bars. (Students often love the research phase of this project as I bring in

Top: Members of the Class of 2017 contemplate a design; Middle: Yearbook design by Peter (‘19); Bottom: Mr. Hutcheson greets parents at an Arts Showcase event.

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chocolate bars to taste.) We also discuss what the designs look like in their final context on the grocery store shelf. It is in this project that the students start to make a stronger connection between their design choices and the real world outcome. This project also includes a surprise twist in the middle as the client (represented by me) changes his mind and redirects the overall project.

After these first two experiences, a significant amount of scaffolding is removed as the students have a solid foundation of the design process and the technical tools at their disposal. The second part of the course introduces students to the designer-client relationship and my role shifts from teacher to mentor as I facilitate the experience and support the student designers as they work with their client.

Our client pool consists of teachers, staff members, and administrators within the school and we structure each project with them in a simple format over three meetings. The first meeting facilitates an introduction of the design challenge and gives students a chance to gather information to help them write their official design brief. The second meeting provides the opportunity for students to present initial ideas to their client. This meeting helps students to gather feedback, make early course corrections, and it launches them forward into the rest of the design process. During the third meeting, students present their final design and design process to their client. While this is a simple structure and students often meet with their clients at other points or use email to facilitate further feedback, the overall framework provides enough structure for students to manage their time and projects.

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The reality of working with a real client with a genuine need often transforms a student’s view of this classroom experience and elevates their work. The yearbook provided one such project for our Graphic Design class this fall. The yearbook team challenged a group of our student designers to design a cover for the 2015-16 yearbook. A unique aspect of this design challenge included a fairly large list of parameters, from sticking to the school style guide and color palette, to making sure the design fit the printer’s required format. Like most of our projects, this challenge had a very real-world outcome in that one design would be chosen to be the actual cover of the yearbook. Each designer assigned to this client put in an incredible effort and ultimately made it very difficult for the yearbook team to decide which design to choose.

A second team of designers created social media graphics for the school athletic Twitter feed for our Athletic Director, Doug Blair. Bringing in examples of the player highlights, game announcements, and game results from major collegiate athletic programs helped set the context for our student designers and gave them inspiration for making their own designs to highlight the athletic work of their peers.

By the time the students get to their final project, they’ve worked through the design process four times, providing a solid framework and lens to find their own client. It is with these final clients, which they choose themselves, that their best work is created. The format and structure of their project remains the same, but it becomes their responsibility to schedule meetings and run those meetings, gather the appropriate information to write their creative brief, and get feedback at critical points in their design process.

The most exciting result of this course is the growing number of student designers on campus. I love knowing that as design opportunities arise, there are students excited about the chance to continue to build their skills further by taking on the job. I also have the confidence that each student designer has a foundation of knowledge both in the manner in which they approach a problem through the design process and the technical skills to empower them to see the design through to its completion. 

Top: Perry and Laura (both Class of 2018) with Mr. Hutcheson in Paper Engineering class; Bottom: social media graphic designed by Ryan (’17)

EPS Coffee House

F

OR THE SECOND YEAR, students have produced Coffee Houses at Eastside Prep. These are events designed for students and faculty to share original poetry, art, music, and stories with members of the student body.

With limited help from faculty, students from the Spoken Word Poetry Club have organized every aspect of these ever-morepopular community events. Baking treats, arranging the venue, encouraging sign ups, MCing the evening, decorating the space, communicating with the EPS kitchen, making t-shirts—students do it all. This winter’s Coffee House had more than eighty people in attendance and featured Seattlebased spoken work poet, Donte Johnson. 

Clockwise from top right: Chris (‘17); Jolyn (‘18); Julia (‘16) and Josie (‘17); Bresh and Sadie (both Class of 2017); Addison (‘17) INSPIRE Spring 2016

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COMMITTED TO EASTSIDE PREP

EPS LIFERS

By Wendy Lawrence, Former Faculty

W

HEN YOU ASK THIS YEAR’S GROUP OF “Lifers” about EPS, they all start talking about their fifth-grade experiences. This may be because this year’s group of “Lifers” was Eastside Prep’s very first fifth grade class. They have especially strong memories of very serious games of four square and less-than-serious games of baseball. Looking back over eight years of school together, these students reminisce about many moments, big and small.

Back row: Shirahn, Matthew, and Fina; Middle row: Qais, Anna, Inaayat, and Claire; Front row: Grace, Sofia, Madison, and Emma.

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Sofia Ackerman “I don’t think I appreciated it then, but I loved the small size of our fifth grade class,” says Sofia. “It was easy to make connections.” That closeness has persisted. “Our grade has started many traditions at EPS and I hope they will continue.

I have many special memories, and I’m so glad to be able to take them with me—I don’t take them for granted at all.”

Sofia has participated in volleyball, student-directed plays, and the Peer Mentoring program. “As our class got larger, I wanted to grow with the class. I pushed myself to be more outgoing. EPS helped—the community really encourages us to interact with each other.” Being at EPS also changed the way she thinks. “Even in Middle School, we were given guiding questions that pushed us. That has really shaped the way I think and the way I view the world.”

Anna Banowsky Anna Banowsky says EPS taught her that she loves to learn. “EPS classes have asked me to question things.

They’ve taught me when to question things.” Her favorite courses are Original Works, Creative Writing, and Directing. Anna also makes a point to take classes she isn’t sure she will like. “I’m more willing to try new things.”

She credits the freedom she’s allowed at EPS with a growing sense of independence. “It’s easier to be independent if you have someone’s trust.” She adds, “EPS does a good job of letting students know their voices will be heard.”

Anna likes the growth at the school, but remembers her early days fondly. “One day in fifth grade, we played wiffle ball using a rubber chicken and a yardstick. Fina ran to third base, which was a teacher’s car, bumped it, and the alarm went off. We all ran back to the classroom as fast as we could.”

Matthew Bechtel “I definitely have a passion for math and sciences,” says Matthew, who is taking multiple math and science classes this year. “I’ve participated on the Ultimate Frisbee team since sixth grade and the Upper School boys’ soccer team since 2013.” He’s also been in Student Government and the Newspaper Club.

“EPS has taught me to work harder. The environment at EPS encourages students to do their best in school, which I think has also encouraged me to play sports that I probably would not have done at a different school.” When the soccer team was created, he found his friends encouraging him to play, despite having no experience. He credits the small community’s welcoming attitude with giving him a broader range of experiences.

Inaayat Gill Inaayat loves “the feeling that the school is very much mine and that I’ve helped to shape it.” She plays Ultimate, basketball, and soccer for EPS. But until eighth grade, Inaayat had never even played a team sport. “EPS is such a small, tight-knit community, so most students become comfortable quickly. Because of this, we start taking risks.

I think this is one of the biggest things I developed at EPS, and the risks I’ve taken have benefitted me so much.”

Inaayat has also been involved in Student Government.

“I love it for the same reasons I value sports. We are creating traditions unique to the EPS community.”

Emma Glover Emma could tell from the beginning of fifth grade that “this was going to be life-changing.” Like others, she loves the close-knit feeling of her class. “There is a sort of chemistry our class has always had.”

Emma has been involved in everything from sports to Student Government to Peer Mentoring. “I have learned to be a more thoughtful, conscientious, and caring person.

Apart from my own transformation, I see transformations in others, and all I can say is that this was a really amazing environment to grow up and be a student in.”

At EPS Emma learned everything from time management to self-advocacy. “I have really begun to realize that this school has created an environment unique to any other schooling I have either been in or heard about. It is going to be really hard to leave this community.”

Qais Najm Qais has been involved in soccer, basketball, and Ultimate Frisbee. He’s also done a lot of growing up.

“Without EPS’s very caring teachers, I don’t think I would have turned out to be the person I am today.” A focused student, Qais is excited about the independence offered for the Senior Project. “I can’t wait because it is going to be awesome to research and learn about something I care about.”

Qais thinks the new building is exactly what the campus needed. “I have always enjoyed EPS but I felt like there was something missing. The TMAC filled that gap, seeing people working together and then going upstairs to watch a basketball game makes the school feel like it’s much more of a community.”

Shirahn Pathy Shirahn is most involved in Poetry Club and Choir. “I am proud of how I have matured and become a more hardworking student. I am most specifically proud of my writing because it allowed me to open up about things that I never thought I would share in front of a bunch of people, which is exactly what I did at last year’s Coffee House.”

Before Shirahn leaves for college, his goal is to fly solo, which isn’t a metaphor. He wants to complete his IFR rating in college and become a commercial pilot.

Fina Short “I came from a big public school where I hadn’t known many people, so I loved joining a class of kids that all played four square together.” Like the school, Fina has changed.

“I’m so different. I’m leaving more confident and outgoing.

I’ll always feel indebted to all the attention and encouragement I received here.” Fina works on the student newspaper.

“I’m in charge of the monthly layout and production, as well as making sure it gets read. If you haven’t been harassed into reading the latest issue of the Eagle Eye yet, watch out.

I’m coming.”

Fina adds this: “Mr. Briggs, I think I set off your car alarm during a wiffleball game in fifth grade. I was being chased to third base (your car), and hit the trunk pretty INSPIRE Spring 2016

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Eastside Prep’s first class of fifth graders

hard while declaring myself safe. It was a close game. I hope you understand.”

Madison Sternitzky Now that Madison is a senior, she’s excited about college and enjoys having the freedom to take a variety of classes.

“I’m involved in the mentoring program and I play soccer.”

Mentoring helps connect the Middle and Upper Schools, and allows Madison to meet students in other grades whom she might not otherwise know.

Reflecting on how much she’s changed since her four square days, Madison says, “I have gained the confidence to expand my friend groups and talk to people I don’t know.

I’m also way more comfortable reaching out for help.” She values her time at EPS especially because of her close access to teachers. “That was instrumental to my academic success. EPS taught me that with hard work you are more than capable of finding success, and I learned to take advantage of opportunities presented to me.”

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Claire Zyfers Claire says that the senior class remains really close. “I feel comfortable sharing anything with them. We’ve become a family and it’s going to be really hard to go our separate ways at the end of the year.”

Clare has been involved in the Peer Mentoring Club for four years, an activity that’s taught her to be a patient and compassionate leader. “I’m always surprised by how much Middle School students can teach me.”

She’s enjoyed growing up at EPS, a safe place that has made her more confident and outspoken. “My teachers have always encouraged me to think critically and form my own opinions. That’s one of the things I love most about EPS— that students are encouraged to be their own person. I never felt the need to change who I am in order to fit in here.” 

What’s on Your Bookshelf?

For this edition of “What’s on Your Bookshelf” we asked five of our humanities teachers—Stephen Keedy, Elena Olsen, David Kelly-Hedrick, Kirsten Pike, and Ian Duncan for their book recommendations.

In addition to the classics The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, Stephen Keedy recommends: Carson McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is a “haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated.”

Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy depicts the violence that attended America’s westward expansion.

Elena Olsen recommends: A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews is a darkly funny novel told from the perspective of Nomi, a bewildered and wry sixteen year old trapped in a small town.

The first sentence, “Half of our family, the better-looking half, is missing,” will have you hooked.

Nigerian immigrant Ifemelu endures culture shock and hardship when she comes to the United States on a college scholarship in Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie.

David Kelly-Hedrick recommends: Map: Collected and Last Poems contains many works by Wislawa Szymorska, the insightful Nobel Poet Laureate from Poland who passed away in 2012.

was selected by a group of San Francisco high school students (and guest editor Adam Johnson) collected over the course of a year.

David describes James Tate, the author of Dome of the Hidden Pavilion, as “the weirdest, funniest American prose poet ever.”

Kirsten Pike recommends: The paths of a blind French girl and a German boy collide in a small town in occupied France in All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig follows Rose Llewellyn and her brother as they arrive in a small town in Montana in 1909.

Modern poet Derek Walcott’s epic poem Omeros is based on Homer and Odysseus.

Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown is an “intimate account of how nine workingclass boys from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics what true grit really meant.”

Ian Duncan recommends: John Steinbeck tells the story of the downon-their-luck inhabitants of Cannery Row who have formed their own caring community.

Arundhati Roy’s debut novel The God of Small Things is considered a modern classic and tells the tale of an affluent Indian family changed by the events of one day.

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is the story of a young black man who comes to understand racism and his own identity. 

The collection of writings in The Best American Nonrequired Reading of 2015 INSPIRE Spring 2016

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Jonathan Briggs with TEDXEastsidePrep 2016 speakers

“THE NOW!”

By Jonathan Briggs, Director of Technology

O

ur goal for TEDXEastsidePrep is to bring outside ideas into our community, to challenge our audience to look at the world through different lenses and use that as inspiration to improve the way we educate. For our sixth TEDXEastsidePrep we focused on The Now! as our theme. We looked at the benefits of “being in the now” as well as the things we can do now in our connected world. Below you’ll find a short recap of each of the topics discussed by our thought-provoking presenters. Head to TEDXEastsidePrep.com to see all of our past and present TEDXEastsidePrep talks which, collectively, have been viewed over 1.2 million times.

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TEDXEastsidePrep

BEN STEELE “Something for everyone = nothing for anyone.”

Ben Steele talked about stories motivating action and action being far more important than words. Using Copenhagen and REI’s closing for Black Friday, Ben brought us through a humorous journey of what motivates people and what things we need to keep in mind when attempting to change their behavior. Ben is the Chief Creative Officer at REI.

LISA CURTIS “Making the impossible, possible, starts with believing that it can be done.”

Lisa Curtis brought us through the beginning of Kuli Kuli Food Company. Picking up from a Peace Corp deployment cut short, her mix of optimism and mild delusion has kept her business thriving through many trials along the way. Her company helps create women-run moringa farms in Ghana, Nicaragua and Haiti employing 800 women who manage 200,000 moringa trees. Once harvested, the moringa leaves are put into health food bars and energy drinks and sold to consumers in the United States. Lisa Curtis is the founder and CEO of Kuli Kuli Food Company.

DAVE THOMAS “Only when knowledge is tacit, can our experience be spontaneous.”

Dave Thomas, brought us through the Dreyfus Model of skill acquisition and a table saw mishap to illustrate how learning happens from novice to master. In particular, the types of experiences required vary greatly as we build knowledge. He went on to connect being in the now to being able to do a task with all the rules internalized to such an extent that they happen automatically. He described this as tacit knowledge and suggested that this type of knowledge allows us to experience joy in completing our task. Dave believes teachers help progress students through the stages of learning, in particular the difficult progression from competent to proficient. Dave Thomas is a programmer, one of the authors of the Agile Manifesto, and author of many programming books.

HUGH MACMILLAN “I can appreciate complexity but I also appreciated the power of asking for what you want not just what everyone agrees is possible.”

Hugh Macmillan is an activist applied mathematician.

He fights against incrementalism as a virtue, noting that just making progress is not always enough. Sometimes we need more radical approaches to serious problems.

In his discussion, he outlined how he came to that conclusion and touched on his current work on fracking.

In particular, equating natural gas production with national security has facilitated a troubling series of events. Hugh Macmillan is a Senior Researcher with Food & Water Watch.

LISA CHIN “This [the expectation of the impossible] is the fertile ground where art, science, faith and humanity can all find a happy little neighborhood together.”

Lisa Chin took us through the recent observation of gravitational waves and asked us to look at the other factors involved in that historic event. From the imagination that Einstein exhibited to the determination of the experimentalists that spent forty years working to measure gravitational waves. Lisa reminded us that there is more to being a scientist than just knowing a lot of science. She challenged us to bring a beginners mind to all that we do. Lisa Chin is the founder and Executive Director of Year Up Puget Sound.

BROOKE LAVELLE “Our power to care is cultivated in relationship.”

Brooke Lavelle has been exploring empathy and ways in which we can deepen people’s capacity to care for others. Whether you work in a care industry such as medical, social work, education or are caring for friends and family, it can be taxing. It turns out that there are ways to replenish those reserves and Brooke brings us through a few examples in her talk. Brooke Lavelle is a Co-founder and President of the Courage of Care Coalition.

Thanks to all of you who were able to join us for our event. We’ve already chosen Resurgence as the theme for our next TEDXEastsidePrep slated for March 2017—we hope to see you there!

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Student Government Building Something New

By Inaayat Gill, Class of 2016

L

OOK THROUGH THE MISSION STATEMENT OF ANY school in the country and you’ll see intentions similar to ours.

Every school aims to foster students who are creative thinkers, leaders in their communities, and equipped to take on the world.

What sets Eastside Prep apart is that here, we aren’t just given a place to become independent, we are truly given the platform to take initiative and be leaders.

Ask any student here and they’ll tell you that during their time at EPS they will find themselves a part of something that no one knows how to do because it hasn’t been done before. While this is one of the biggest opportunities at a school that’s just over a decade old, it’s also one of the biggest challenges. There is no getting around the fact that the process of building something from the ground up is an incredibly frustrating one and as this year’s student body Vice President, I can tell you that Student Government is no stranger to this frustration.

When Chase (’16) and I ran for President and Vice President of Student Government last spring, we knew we wanted to change some things. What we didn’t know was how much deconstructing and rebuilding would happen this year. In an effort to make Student Government more accessible to the whole student body, we made a drastic shift from a council made up of elected

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representatives within each grade to an open council, a Student Government in which anyone could be involved by showing dedication.

But in making this change, we realized we no longer knew what Student Government’s role was at EPS, or what it would be come. We decided that school spirit would be our primary area of focus. Our first effort was to plan the Ultimate Frisbee Homecoming week, which might be the biggest event Student Government has ever put on. And we had more people involved than ever. But we were also in a position where we were figuring out how to run things as we went along, and it was a process of trial and error.

It was during Homecoming that I realized how incredibly appreciative I am of the platform we’ve been given at this school to take risks and make things happen. Homecoming, the majority of which was planned by students, got more of the EPS community involved than in anything else I’ve ever seen during my time in the Upper School. From having nearly half the student body (and faculty!) show up early the morning of the Homecoming game to have pancakes served by the senior Ultimate players to over eighty percent of the students showing up to both the game and the dance, it was a student-run week that truly brought the school together.

Along the way, we definitely made some mistakes. We spent months planning for the Homecoming game only to realize we hadn’t actually talked to the Ultimate coaches about it, planned an elaborate pep rally but forgot to reserve a time to actually have it, and a twenty-foot banner advertising the week fell on the salad bar in the Commons. The list of reasons for which the school could’ve gotten frustrated with us and shut the project down is, admittedly, endless. But instead, they told us to run with it. Eastside Prep recognizes that to grow, we’ve got to be able to actually take charge of things, and that while doing so we’re probably going to mess up.

But EPS reminds us that these failures are an unavoidable part of creating anything new. While Homecoming was full of tiny failures, overall it was a huge success. The path to making it happen was difficult, but I can say we ended up with a product that we are incredibly proud of.

As a senior who’s getting ready to graduate in just a few months, I’ve been asked countless times what my advice for EPS students is, and my answer is always the same. During your time here at EPS, you’ll undoubtedly be presented with the unique and rare opportunity to help create something new, something that hasn’t been done before. And while it’s going to be challenging, take advantage of these opportunities if you can. They will be some of the best learning experiences you will have during your time in high school.  Opposite, from top: Upper School Boys Ultimate on the field; Ultimate players serving pancake breakfast; Miguel, Matthew, and Logan (all Class of 2017) show their school spirit during Homecoming week. This page, from top: Miguel (‘17) and Jonny (‘16) celebrate on the Ultimate field; EPS varsity and J.V. Ultimate teams; fans support the Ultimate team; Sky (‘16) and Ryan (‘17) show their school colors; and so does Inaayat (‘16).

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The FUSOR PROJECT at EPS

By Gunnar Mein, EPS Faculty

H

AVE YOU EVER LOOKED AT the sun and wondered what takes place there? Marveled at the process of nuclear fusion that is responsible for heating our planet every day?

Considered what it would be like to build a nuclear fusion reactor in high school? Questioned if it is possible to fuse atoms in the space of a cookie jar?

Every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon in the TMAC building, a team of twenty-nine students is trying to find out. At any one time, you might find students discussing the pros and cons of placing the vacuum pump inside or outside of the radiation 26

shield, figuring out how to model and visualize the electrical field inside the vacuum chamber, or discussing the design of our deuterium fusion components. Other students might be making a mathematical model of the expected current flow through the ion stream, modifying one student’s high voltage experiment to work with our new transformer, or building a cloud chamber, because anybody working on radiation should build at least one in their life. Some students are trying to predict the effectiveness of different shielding materials theoretically, while others design an experiment to find out empirically. Still others are working on grants, budgets, and regulatory

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compliance. They have also set up a schedule of weekly reviews. Parent volunteer Dr. Whitmer and I are getting a chance to grill the computational modeling team to see whether they know what they are doing. There is a lot of energy in these four rooms filled with students. What is it that has these kids so excited?

From the perspective of a deuterium ion (or “deuteron” for short), the whole affair is rather terrifying. The deuteron enters a vacuum chamber as a complete and neutral deuterium atom. As it passes by an ionizer needle, its electron is suddenly ripped away, leaving it positively charged—nothing more than a proton and a neutron in a tight embrace. Things get worse for the deuteron as it finds itself rapidly accelerated toward an electrical grid, a mere five centimeters away. And when I say rapidly, I mean at roughly two to three trillion times the Earth’s gravitational acceleration.

Opposite: students work on the fusor project; Left: Che (’18) solves problems; Above: the fusor team

Some eighty nanoseconds later, the acceleration ceases as the deuteron arrives at the grid. For many deuterons, the journey is now over as they collide with the grid, reacquire an electron, knock off some of the grid’s electrons, and eventually get sucked out by the attached vacuum pump. For others, the fun is only beginning as they miss the grid and pass through the center at high speed. They decelerate on the way back to the chamber wall, and might make this same journey a few more times. With a little luck, they will crash into one another head-on in the center of the arrangement. The two particles have enough energy to overcome their mutual repulsion, and fuse into one. The result, in almost all cases, is either a Tritium nucleus and an extra proton, or Helium-3 nucleus and a neutron, all at high kinetic energy.

Why would you do such a thing?

The short answer is, “because we can!”

Fusors have been built by a couple of hundred amateur groups around the world for thirty years. We also recognize that our entire modern world—in both science and technology—depends on things we discovered in the last one hundred years.

Nuclear physics is one such item. We are entering a new phase of research into nuclear fusion, a technology that

has promised cheap, clean energy for some thirty years, and consumed billions and billions in research funds.

In the last decade, privately funded players have entered this field and are aiming to disrupt the state of affairs by betting on non-mainstream ideas and people. Fusion energy has always been five years and a few billion dollars away from delivering the goods—to this day, no one has created a sustainable, net energy producing fusion reaction. However, there are enough rapidly developing startups in the field now that things might turn out differently this time. How do we think about that? What research should we fund? Which technologies should we deploy? What is the future of energy?

These are important questions for our time. We want to engage our students in relevant topics and give them an experience that shows them that they can research, understand, build, judge, and influence whatever they put their minds to.

Enter the Fusor Project. A “Farnsworth-Hirsch Fusor” is a small machine producing actual deuteriumdeuterium fusion in a setup of about the size of a big refrigerator. Sadly, it does not produce net energy, and it won’t save the school any money on power bills now or in the future. That’s

also a good thing—when you pull the plug, everything stops, and there is no possibility for processes to get out of hand (as they can in a fission reactor).

No, it is not “cold fusion”—at millions of degrees, the deuteron gas inside the chamber is decidedly hot, even though there is so little of it that the term “temperature” barely has meaning.

Building a Fusor teaches the students about some incredible engineering topics, such as vacuum chambers, high voltage, and particle physics. They also learn skills like writing scientific papers, dealing with regulatory agencies, proper engineering safety protocols, and making progress on something real and complicated as part of a group. And it is exciting. Which aspiring engineer or scientist wouldn’t want to be able to say that they worked on a nuclear device in high school?

Are you curious to learn more?

There is much more to this project than I could possibly cover in this article. Send email with your questions to fusor@eastsideprep.org. Or even better, stop by the TMAC Sanders Family Design Center on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, see the incredible energy the students bring to the project, and let them explain to you how it works and why it is safe.  INSPIRE Spring 2016

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SEL AT EPS

By Karen Mills, Librarian, and Kelly Violette, Spanish Faculty

What is SEL? Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is an educational movement that seeks to provide students a process through which they can practice several intrapersonal, interpersonal, and ethical “competencies:” 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Self awareness Self management Social awareness Relationship skills Responsible decision making

Schools across the country are beginning to incorporate some form of SEL education into their curricula. This addition is a direct response to recent research in the fields of neuroscience and psychology that supports a link between emotional awareness and success in academics and life.

Research shows that when students feel emotionally confident, they are better able to access parts of their brain that engage in meaningful learning.

At EPS, we continually strive to enhance student learning, and scientists tell us that SEL education is an important component.

Several organizations have taken the lead in developing SEL curricula and spreading the message about its benefits. One such organization is the Institute for Social and Emotional Learning (IFSEL).

Founded and developed by a group of educators, IFSEL seeks to “…build strong school and classroom communities, committed to learning, engagement, and the well-being of all children…” through SEL education. IFSEL facilitators lead workshops and trainings, and provide resources for teachers and schools interested in incorporating SEL into their own programs.

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E

ASTSIDE PREP FACULTY ENJOYED A DAY-LONG workshop with IFSEL co-founders during a professional development day in the spring of 2015, and in August the authors of this article attended the IFSEL Summer Institute (a four-day training program). Our goal was to learn new skills and begin to develop a plan for how EPS might start to formally incorporate SEL education into our own curriculum.

We left the Summer Institute with our heads full of SEL research, activities, and ideas about what to implement.

It was clear that our EPS Advisory Program would be the perfect home for SEL programming. The structure of our program allows students to meet with their Advisories two to three times per week, and we strive to achieve what we call the “33% rule,” dividing Advisory time more or less evenly among three varied goals: • • •

Content (tech sessions, class meetings, preparation for family conferences, or reviewing progress reports), Fun (games, birthday celebrations, or inter-advisory competitions), and Social emotional learning

Within this third category, the most frequent and most universal activities are Check-ins and Open Session, both adapted from IFSEL resources. Most Advisory sessions begin with a Check-in, an opportunity for all students (and advisors) to bring awareness to and share a measure of their current emotional state. Often this is done according to some sort of “scale,” and some students have even developed their own, personalized Check-in scales based on their unique interests and tastes.

Open Session is held two to three times each trimester in Advisories in all grades at EPS. Open Session is a forum in which students write down what’s on their minds and submit those issues for discussion among their peers. Topics vary greatly and can include peer and family relationships,

academic challenges and achievements, upcoming decisions, and much more. After an Advisor Facilitator selects issues for discussion during the session, students have the opportunity to respond in a guided way, offering either support and encouragement, clarifying questions, or providing wisdom and ideas for solutions.

Through participation in this forum, students practice all five of the SEL competencies.

In addition to Open Session, Advisories also engage in many other SEL games, challenges, and activities.

One day, a group might be asked to negotiate a challenge called Traffic Jam, requiring them to problem-solve and communicate as a group in order to get everyone from one side of the room to the other while navigating within a given set of restrictions. Another day, students might engage in a non-verbal communication and collaboration experiment, during which they are paired up and asked to create a work of art together in silence. Later that same month, the group might participate in a relaxation and breathing exercise, lying on the floor of their Advisory room as they follow along with a guided meditation. The nature of Advisory SEL activities may be physical, creative, or thoughtful, asking students to engage independently or collaboratively, but they all share a common purpose of providing students time and space to practice the five SEL competencies.

Advisory is the hub of our SEL activities at EPS, however our teachers have embraced SEL in their classrooms as well. In Mr. Wassink’s Geometry classes, students opened the year by participating in an activity called Crossing the Line, in which they explored several aspects of their identities while Mr. Wassink and school counselor Dr. Moore facilitated discussion among the group. Mr. Wassink geared the activity specifically toward exploring the notion of a

fixed vs. growth mindset, with the intention of helping students understand “that ‘failure’ is an opportunity for learning.” Meanwhile, in Mr. Kelly-Hedrick’s eighth-grade Literary Thinking class, students closed out their study of Life of Pi this fall by tackling a group challenge of fitting the whole class onto a shrinking “lifeboat” (a tarp on the floor that Mr. Kelly-Hedrick kept folding in half). He described the activity as a “class team-building challenge that also served as a group ritual to say ‘goodbye’ to Yann Martel’s novel.” And across campus, students in Ms. Ferguson’s Upper School Spanish 2 classes engaged in the improvisation game Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes! (or ¡Sí Sí Sí Sí Sí Sí Sí!), a game that required students to work together to build a story one word at a time. Improv is often used in SEL because it provides a space in which students practice active listening, affirmation of others’ ideas, community building, and, most importantly, fun!

Though 2015-2016 marks the first year of formal implementation of an SEL program at EPS, we have a long history of employing these types of activities to help students develop into healthy, happy, independent young adults. In fact, one can hear echoes of the five SEL competencies in the four points of our mission statement: Think Critically, Act Responsibly, Lead Compassionately, and Innovate Wisely.

A student who learns to navigate life’s challenges by employing these mission points and the five SEL competencies will have the confidence, wisdom, and social/emotional health to be successful in whatever goals they pursue.  Opposite: Ella and Katie (both Class of 2022) engage in an Advisory activity; Above: a sixth-grade Advisory group meets with their Peer Mentor; Left: a check-in scale created by MollyAnn (’19) INSPIRE Spring 2016

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EPS THEATRE’S FALL & The Diviners We kicked off our theatre season exploring the theme of identity with the Middle School play The Diviners

by Jim Leonard. Although a tragedy, this production touched the hearts of our audiences and highlighted the depth of our Middle School students’ acting abilities.

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WINTER 2015 SEASON The Importance of Being Earnest In contrast to the tragedy of the Middle School play, the Upper School play explored the satirical masterpiece of Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest. Hilarity ensued as we enjoyed the comedic work of our Upper School actors portraying this period piece to great success! If you missed the performances, among the many highlights each night was the first moment Lady Bracknell— portrayed by Nathan (’17)—steps on to the stage.

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AGGREGATING INDEPENDENCE

by Matt Delaney, Academic Dean

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HEN I TRY TO DISTILL WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A parent, I keep coming back to the idea of creating the ideal circumstances in which both my kids can develop their whole, independent selves. In this pursuit, my wife and I are constantly working to craft the best circumstances and experiences for our seven- and four-year-old that are most appropriate for where they are in their development.

Today, that might mean giving the kids the option of coming to agreement on where the family goes to get ice cream, and on other days, recognizing what behavior works best in a particular setting. Years from now, our hope is that their active participation in both simple and complex choices are a step toward making more nuanced decisions later when thinking about what to do in college or where to locate their families.

At Eastside Prep, we think about students’ choice and independence in similar fashion. Independence is the result of choices: conscious and unconscious, intended and unintended.

The degree to which a student holds authorship of their school experience plays a significant role in how independent they are and what that independence looks like.

The first ingredient in our approach is not controlling everything each of our students does, but creating environments in which they encounter a variety of experiences and are asked to make a series of choices.

The second ingredient is making sure students are surrounded by a collection of adults who are engaged and reflective—practiced choice-makers themselves who share a deep understanding of the first ingredient.

As students move through the Eastside Prep Middle and Upper Schools, the experience is designed to increase the amount of choice they experience over time and, in turn, the degree to which students are acting independently.

Appropriately, fifth or sixth graders experience choice in Opposite, from top: Ms. Balcomb and Hayden (‘20); Fina (‘16); Lara (‘16); students rehearse a play.

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a more controlled environment; where seniors, at the height of their trajectory as self-directed and autonomous learners, are in a more open environment. What follows is a brief example of the progression EPS students follow on their path to independence.

Choose Your School.

The foundation of the independent school experience is the active choice of selecting a school. With this choice, a student and family agree to attach to an institution and start a relationship that frames some of the hopes and dreams of the family in the context of the shared vision and mission of the school. At Eastside Prep, that is to help create a better world by thinking critically, acting responsibly, leading compassionately, and innovating wisely.

MINDSET, VOICE, & PERSPECTIVE Choose Your Mindset.

In past articles, I have referenced research done by Carol Dweck at Stanford University on fixed and growth mindsets, as well as Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania on grit and resilience. Inherent in the choice to attend Eastside Prep is acknowledging and embracing a growth mindset—a belief that learning does not have an endpoint and that development of independence is an ongoing process reinforced by that belief.

Choose Your Written Voice.

English classes at Eastside Prep are about reading complex, literary works, doing in-depth literary analysis, and developing grammatical and stylistic skills. Experience in these courses is also about self-reflection, with students developing their own written and spoken voices—voices that, ultimately, define their person and how they wield their independence.

Choose Your Historical Perspective.

Over the course of their experience at EPS, students are exposed to multiple geographies, chronologies, and perspectives. Throughout their coursework students choose and construct their own perspectives, deciding what they value, how they look at the world, and thinking about how others look at the world.

COURSEWORK AND PROJECTS Choose Your Topic or Theme, Format, and/or Application.

Frequently, students are given the option to choose from multiple topics or themes, so that they might pursue

an area of interest and learn more deeply. Whether fifth graders are choosing subjects for their Explorer Project, sixth graders the vehicles for their Rube Goldberg Project, or seventh graders the topics for their Research Project, each choice represents authorship and ownership of their learning process.

In addition, EPS teachers provide choice in the classroom by building assignments and projects that can be constructed and completed in multiple formats. Traditional papers, mind maps, lab reports, presentations, statistical analyses, or short films give students the option of selecting the best format to show what they know and understand. This is enhanced by students owning their own laptops, which provides flexibility in choosing the right application(s) to communicate their ideas.

THE UPPER SCHOOL EXPERIENCE: AUTONOMY IN PRACTICE In the spring of their eighth-grade year, students are introduced to an open campus concept for their study halls. This is a signal that choice will be one of the defining elements of their coming Upper School experience. Not long after, these rising ninth graders sit down for the first time with the menu of courses in the Upper School Course Guide. With this set of choices, they start to chart their paths for the next four years.

Choose Your Ninth and Tenth Grade Humanities Pairings and Capstone Project.

In the ninth and tenth grades, students choose which Humanities pairing (English and history courses) they engage each trimester. Over the course of their first two years in the Upper School, they take six of nine pairings, each focused on a different chronology and geography.

In their tenth-grade year, students produce a Capstone Project that encapsulates some of their experience in this segment of the Humanities program. They draw conceptual links between ideas in five different classes that contribute to a historical thesis. The Capstone Project is their construction, an expression of the narrative voice and historical perspective mentioned previously.

Choose Your Academic Electives.

In Middle School, EPS students are introduced to course choice when they indicate preferences for their Fine and Performing Arts electives. In the Upper School, they build on this experience as they choose from eighteen separate arts electives, seven technology classes, and four PE courses.

Additionally, when students click open http://courses. eastsideprep.org/ they are greeted with twenty-two INSPIRE Spring 2016

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non-departmental elective options and thirty-seven different Seminar topics—each providing the opportunity to explore a subject they are already familiar with or a subject they want to know more about. This variety of choice helps EPS students express their independence through interest.

Choose Your Advanced Discipline Coursework and Independent Research.

From the ninth through the twelfth grades, students have access to a number of advanced electives.

In Social Science, students can choose political science courses in topics varying from Democratic Theory and Practice, to Jurisprudence, to Comparative Government, to International Relations, to the Economics of Global Development.

As students reach new levels of fluency within the Spanish program, they have the opportunity to use their Spanish to better understand the world around them in courses that explore music, current events, or cinema through conversation.

In the sciences, students have the option to push beyond their introductory experiences in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics into advanced classes in each of these subject areas, in addition to an Environmental Science option.

Choose an Independent Study Topic.

At the height of their independence as learners, a number of EPS juniors and seniors take choice one step further in Independent Study courses where, with a faculty mentor, they design and engage their own trimester-long course. In these studies, students expand work in our academic disciplines, integrate ideas that don’t fit neatly into the silos of

academic disciplines, and dive into topics that have current applications.

Choose Your Senior Project.

In their final year, every Eastside Prep senior designs and engages their own project. Students are encouraged to choose topics that lead them beyond the traditional classroom, and into a realm of self-directed learning fueled by interest and passion. Again, they collaborate one-on-one with a faculty mentor directing their own learning and reflecting on how they learn best.

Choose Where You Apply to College and How You Tell Your Story.

In their junior year, students formally embark on their next big choice: where to apply to and attend college. After years of growth they are asked to reflect on themselves, and to use the narrative voice they’ve developed in their college essay.

The set of choices students make while creating and submitting applications is comparable to the one that they made when they applied to and decided to attend Eastside Prep. The difference is that during multiple years at EPS, they have walked a path populated with choices that helped them know themselves much, much better. With that selfknowledge comes an agency that they hold and own.

OWNING THE MENU Like Eastside Prep students, my four-year-old and seven-year-old are going to go to college (sooner than I can imagine). What I am confident of is that the slate of choices they make now (from ice cream to avatars) will shape the independence they exhibit and the quality of the “life menu” they encounter. The same is true for each EPS student. 

From left: Miranda (‘20) presents her work; Quinn (‘19) and Gavin (’20) work on their robot; students work with Mr. Davis

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ALUMNI REFLECTION

COLLEGE PREP REALIZED

By Cameron Greenberg, EPS Class of 2012

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HEN YOU EMBARK ON YOUR JOURNEY TO higher education, a lot of people (largely the ones that love asking about your college decisions) talk about independence, about fending for yourself. They ask you how you feel about moving away from home, and suggest that life will be harder to manage without your family around. They frown, and ask: “Are you sure you know how to do laundry?” “ What will you do if you don’t get along with your roommate?”

As I near college graduation, take classes like personal finance, and start looking for work, it has become more apparent that although much of their worrying was needless, in many other ways they were right. A lot of life is figuring out how to get things done on your own.

College itself is full of a number of pertinent examples. I had to learn how to navigate administrative bureaucracy at Oberlin, find my way around a new town, and get around Europe when I studied abroad in Wales.

Independence is also about finding people you trust.

I certainly had wonderful friends at Eastside Prep, but at the end of the school day, I returned to my house and was surrounded by the safety net of my family. Once you leave home, you have to reconstruct a family of sorts, because part of being independent is knowing when to ask for help, whom to share responsibilities with, and whom you can trust when times get rough.

EPS prepared me well for independence by offering a lot of freedom and acting as an incubator for skill development. The sorts of projects and experiences I took part in during Middle and Upper School included volunteering, interviewing local community members, organizing lodging and activities for our senior class trip, and putting together a year-long game development project with other EPS classmates. These sorts of responsibilities got me used to leadership and organizational roles in college, such as starting and captaining a new co-ed tennis team at Oberlin and serving on the Oberlin Judicial Board.

EPS’s encouraging environment, however, is not limited to experiential freedom. For some people, it prepares them by finding that one class that propels them toward a major. For others it’s the tighter social environment that lets them become more comfortable in interactions.

For me, that aspect of personal development was public speaking. In my Upper School classes, I gave a lot of of presentations and, as a result, I feel very comfortable when speaking under pressure, whether it be an interview, a speech, or a networking call.

No matter who someone is, I think that EPS provides an environment full of answers. Students can find out what they like, what they don’t like, and develop their interests and skills such that they have a strong foundation for independence as they move forward. 

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COLLEGE COUNSELING at EASTSIDE PREP

Parents attend a college counseling event

By Terry Macaluso, PhD, Head of School

I

NDEPENDENT COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOLS CREATE AND PROVIDE AN educational experience designed to support students as they prepare themselves for college-level study. In fact, what makes a prep school “good” is the degree to which its seniors are able to step up, take charge, and manage themselves through what has become a dizzying assault of forms and essays accompanied by a level of angst once reserved for fear of disease.

In American secondary schools, we experience only the high stress, speculation, and anxiety associated with the notion that the most important decision one will ever make in one’s life is where to go to college. Further, a common misconsception is that, unless it’s a college one has heard of, it’s probably not very good.

Maybe the question isn’t “WHERE will I get in?” Perhaps students should be asking themselves “WHY do I want to go to college?” This is the moment in a student’s life to think about WHO he is. What makes a life satisfying and meaningful? How will further education help her shape the self she wants to become? 

The Eastside Prep Class of 2017 will work with six college counselors who will help them think about who they are, who they want to be, and what they want to do. They’ll recommend that students start their research with at least a dozen schools generated from several counseling team discussions, derived from an index of more than 3,000 colleges and universities. Unless you’re a college counselor yourself, there’s a very good chance that there will be several schools on the original list about which you know nothing. It’s an invitation to learn something.

What matters most in the search for the right college is that the student discovers, first, WHO he is. Only from that perspective can a student consider the direction her future self wants to take.

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The Evolution of the EPS College Counseling Program Effective January 2016, the EPS College Counseling Team added three new members—Allison Luhrs, Kelly Violette, and Sam Uzwack. These three new counselors joined returning counselors Bart Gummere, Matt Delaney, and Elena Olsen.

(After several years doing double duty as Director of Admission and College Counselor, we realized that Lauren Formo actually has more than a full time job just doing admissions.)

A Team Approach

2. All students benefit directly from Mr. Gummere’s expertise and experience in college counseling.

3. Each student has a coach assigned to inspire him/her through the entire process.

4. Students can elect to work one on one with a writing coach of their choice.

5. Students can elect to work with an interview coach of their choice.

The ratio of college counselors to students has increased as Eastside Prep has grown (see table). The new team approach will provide us with more counselors in anticipation of the larger graduating class in 2018.

2.0

40 1.5 30 1.0 20 0.5

10 0

2011

2012

2013

2014

Graduation Year

2015

2016

2017

2018

0.0

(Excluding Bart Gummere)

50

2.5

Graduating Students and College Counseling Support

*Full Time Equivalent

FTE* Allocated to College Counseling

60

# of Seniors

At Eastside Prep, we’ve always believed that our college counselors shouldn’t just be college counselors. They should be seasoned members of our faculty, advisors, coaches, etc., all in order to make sure that our Upper School students are known before going in to the college selection process. With the addition of the three new college counselors this year (who have a combined total of sixteen years of experience at EPS alone), we’ve changed the structure of our program to incorporate a genuine team approach. The advantages are these:

1. The entire team discusses every senior several times from winter term in junior year through the completion of applications in the fall of senior year.

Parents attend a college counseling event

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The College Counseling Team Bart Gummere: Lead College Counselor “College counseling launched my career in education. I started in 1983 as an Assistant Director of Admissions at Middlebury College (my alma mater) before moving to Pingree School in suburban Boston as their Director of College Counseling (as well as a baseball coach and math teacher). As Director of College Counseling at Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia (beginning in 1994), I took on several administrative roles and oversaw a staff of other college counselors. I came to Eastside Prep as Upper School Head in 2006 and immediately began planning our college counseling program and managing the college admissions process for our Upper School students.

“I am looking forward to crafting a very new vision of what a college counseling program can and should be.

Schools have replicated the same model for years and are struggling to put enough people power into this position.

Until now, no one has been willing to think about ways to better the process for students. It’s obvious that the process needs to start earlier and Eastside Prep is dedicating enough people (and the right people) to make that happen.”

Matt Delaney: College Counselor Specialty: Coaching students through the process; interview skills

“My introduction to the college counseling process started in grad school at the University of Washington where I read the applications for prospective students to both the undergraduate and graduate programs for the Business School. In addition to my years as a college counselor at Eastside Prep, that experience taught me to look at the college application as a portfolio that includes the best of what the student has done and produced during their time at EPS, the reflections of teachers, and the college counselor’s more global reflection of the student in our Upper School.

“What is most powerful for me is that I play the role of classroom teacher and get to know the students in that capacity; and as Academic Dean, I get to work on the development of our program with an idea of where the students are headed and what kinds of programs they are going to experience in college. I am excited about the prospect of three new college counseling colleagues whom I know well and respect, and for the implementation of our new model.”

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Elena Olsen, PhD: College Counselor Specialty: Coaching students on essay writing

“My work as a counselor at EPS began with two years of training and cocounseling with Bart Gummere. During my time in college counseling at EPS, each of us has prioritized visiting ten to twenty college campuses annually (between four of us last year we were on about forty-five different campuses), connecting with as many college representatives on our campus as possible, and attending professional conferences.

“I value our focus on building a balanced list of schools for each student that he or she would be happy to attend, and which will yield choices for that student. In particular, I have worked extensively with students on how they present themselves to colleges through their writing—something that is for many students both the biggest challenge and one of the most rewarding aspects of the college application.”

Allison Luhrs: College Counselor Specialty: Coaching students on essay writing

“I’m a good advocate for students, as I believe it’s really important to see the good and unique qualities each student has to offer. That translates to being able to help students see their own strengths in order to tell their story in a way that is honest, authentic, and positive. I’m also pretty calm and even-keeled, which can be useful during a process that tends to be fraught with highs, lows, and a good dose of anxiety.

“It’s always exciting to learn something new, but what I’m thrilled about is the chance to work with students on writing that really, truly matters to them. One of my favorite parts of teaching English is working one-on-one with a student and his or her writing. I’m eager to work with students as they craft the college essay that will enable an admissions officer to get beyond the test scores, GPA, and transcript to really know and appreciate the person behind the application. Quite selfishly, I’m also excited to see how far my former students’ writing and thinking has come in the years since I taught them in seventh or eighth grade, and I’m looking forward to getting to reconnect with those students and their families.”

“In true EPS fashion, we have created our own college counseling model.”

The EPS College Counselors: Bart Gummere, Elena Olsen, Allison Luhrs, Kelly Violette (back row). Matt Delaney, Sam Uzwack (front row).

Kelly Violette: College Counselor Specialty: Coaching students through the process; interview skills

“I think some of my top five strengths offer a great explanation of what I hope to bring to the college counseling team. (1) Communication: I know how to communicate complex information in a way that’s easy to digest.

(2) Empathy: I am going to love putting myself in the student’s shoes and weighing all the considerations that go into finding the right school. (3) Input: I love to gather information, keep it organized, and reference it whenever a decision needs to be made. (4) Developer: I am all about seeing the potential in people and wanting to provide the right challenge for them to be successful.

“More than anything, I am really looking forward to helping our juniors and seniors (and their families) explore those important questions of identity, goals, values, and priorities that all come together when searching for a college that will be the right fit. I love discussing these issues and I can’t wait to dive into them through college counseling. But I’m also a person who loves the details; so I am excited to spend this next year developing my expertise in all aspects of the college counseling process!”

Sam Uzwack: College Counselor Specialty: Coaching students through the process; interview skills

“It is a privilege to help students acclimate to Middle School and prepare them for Upper School, and I am quite excited about having the opportunity to help them navigate the process by which they will begin the next chapter of their lives, and, perhaps, their first truly independent adventure. As an Upper School social science and humanities teacher and past advisor, I understand the

landscape of Upper School, and am eager to help students get the most out of their experience.

“There are two aspects of this new challenge that I am most looking forward to. The first is the opportunity to continue my own professional development and learn a new domain within the broader school. Learning about the multitude of options for post-high school life, understanding the admission process, and representing EPS to other institutions are opportunities I relish. The second is working directly with a group of students and families to navigate the process. I view it primarily as a coaching role in which I guide students to imagine possibilities they might not have otherwise considered.

“We are excited about the opportunities this new approach to college counseling at EPS will afford our students. And we’re starting now. By the time this article is published, our college counseling team will already have begun meeting with members of the Class of 2017, and will continue to do so all the way up until diplomas are awarded in June.”

Elizabeth Andersen: Executive Assistant for College Counseling Specialty: Organization

“I am looking forward to assisting the college counseling team and our families by providing a sense of cohesiveness and organization to our program. I will be taking care of all of the day-to-day operations from scheduling family meetings and visits to EPS by college representatives to event logistics. With these taken care of, our Counselors can focus on the most important piece—our students.

“In true EPS fashion, we have created our own college counseling model. By using the strengths of six different individuals, I believe we will be able to provide a far more robust and thorough program for our students and their families.”  INSPIRE Spring 2016

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PARENTING TOWARD INDEPENDENCE Dr. Kelly Moore leads a parenting discussion.

By Kelly Moore, PhD, Director of Student Support Services

O

F COURSE I WAS GOING TO BE A FABULOUS parent. I was a parent educator, had spent all of my adult life working with children and teenagers, and I simply knew kids. I couldn’t wait. Then I had children and I suddenly realized intellectual knowledge does not fully prepare one for emotional intensity of in vivo parenting.

When my first child was little, my only goal was to take care of her and make sure she felt loved, secure, and attached. I had read a lot about attachment parenting and was certain it was the main goal of parenting. Then I went to a movie at the IMAX theater in the Seattle Science Center and viewed a movie about elephants and other wildlife and saw that 40

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animals approached parenting a little differently. They were actually readying their young to live apart from them—to live independently. This shouldn’t have been a surprise to me at that point, but it was. I need to not only show my children that they are loved and connected to me but I also have to start preparing them to live without me?

Now that my children are teenagers, this concept is certainly more intuitive to me than it was when my kids were small children, but it still causes consternation for most of us. There is much talk about raising independent kids and how important it is to allow adolescents to start to see themselves as the burgeoning adults they are. Indeed it is the most important thing we can do as parents to prepare these young people for the world they are about to inherit.

However, it is not easy. Teenagers are not yet ready to be “independent.” They need us. They need to borrow our prefrontal cortices as theirs are still under development, they still need to see they are loved and connected, and did I mention the financial agreement we have with them? No, they are certainly not independent. But teenagers won’t let us continue to parent them the way we did when they were younger. They don’t want to be managed, they are trying on their wings and home is the testing ground. So the question becomes: how do we raise independent adults who are still so dependent?

If we err on one side, we are not providing the safe haven kids need. We are ignoring a fundamental need kids

have to use adults to learn how to be adults. Alternatively, if we continue to hold on tightly to our role as parent the way we did when our kids were younger, we are in for some serious chaffing with these housemates who yearn for freedom.

Not to mention, we are not fulfilling our elephant obligation mentioned earlier—preparing them to live independently.

As can be expected, many of us struggle between these two polars and find ourselves slightly (or not so slightly) tipped to one side of the independence boat.

One of the major problems is with the word “independence.” Teenagers are not and cannot be independent.

I would argue none of us are. We are all deeply interconnected with one another and rely on each other for our

EPS parents attend a meeting with Dr. Moore.

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“I wound up with the three people I like best in the world.” survival. I would argue that what teenagers want and need is more aligned with autonomy than it is independence. While Webster’s Dictionary doesn’t completely bear out the distinction, there are practical differences that can be helpful at home. Michael Riera, an author and parenting expert, refers often to this shift in relationship as changing from being a “manager” to being a “consultant.” A consultant doesn’t just leave his or her client to flounder for themselves nor do they micromanage every decision their client makes. A consultant provides structure and support but also turns over much responsibility of decision making to his or her client. A consultant guides, a manager controls.

The tricky thing is that sometimes we as parents feel like our job as manager is how we express our love to our kids. Making sure they don’t suffer too much, intervening at school at first glimpse of a struggle, or scrambling to manage their overly-hectic schedule. Our book club selection this year has been The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey. Lahey argues that most parents of our generation are “over parenting” and not allowing our kids to suffer from the natural consequences of trying something and failing at it.

We are jumping in too soon to rescue them—and this is creating a generation of kids who lack confidence and resilience. They expect their parents to handle things and so, by default, they see themselves as helpless to deal with things on their own. Lahey argues for a more hands-off approach. Like Riera, she doesn’t advocate complete independence and sees the role of parent as crucial. She does argue, however, that our role as parent is better suited for guidance and connection rather than the hands on, managerial efforts she so frequently sees.

It is no wonder parenting teenagers is so confusing. Many of us start out wanting to be proficient parents. Okay, I’ll admit it, maybe even perfect parents.

But parenting adolescents humbles all of us because there is simply no way to be perfect in this job. The

best advice I can give (and advice I had to come by through my own trials and tribulations) is to simply pay attention and be willing to course correct when needed. You will certainly over parent a teenager at some point. When my son started fifth grade here, I found myself tidying up his cubby. I shared this with my older daughter who looked at me as though I was the most embarrassing human to walk the earth. Got it—no cleaning out cubbies. You will also under parent. During one of our trimester grade-level coffees a sixth-grade parent shared her hands-off approach to checking CANVAS and three weeks later discovered her student had not handed in any homework. Got it—need to check in a little bit more. The key is to understand that we too must allow ourselves to fail and we must also know that the “sweet spot” for one child may not be the “sweet spot” for another. The road to independence is a bumpy one and certainly not linear and there is simply no way to do it perfectly. The way I have learned how to navigate this road (and the most effective way I have seen others do it) is by paying attention, staying connected, making mistakes, and by being gentle but honest with yourself. Whatever path you choose, no matter how many mistakes you make, development will take over no matter what. Your kids will grow up, they will develop independence, and they will launch. I leave you with words of wisdom from Anna Quindlen in an essay she wrote entitled, “All My Babies Are Gone Now.” I draw on her words frequently—they help keep me grounded and remind me what this whole parenting thing is all about.

“Even today I’m not sure what worked and what didn’t, what was me and what was simply life. When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I’d done.

Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And look how it all turned out. I wound up with the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity. That’s what the books never told me.” 

 www.parenttoparentwinchester.org/pdf/babies-are-gone.pdf  References: Riera, Michael. Staying Connected to Your Teenager: How to Keep Them Talking to You and Hear What They’re Really Saying.

Boston, MA: De Capo Press, 2003. Print.

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Lahey, Jessica. The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. New York: Harper, 2015. Print.

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B

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RECOGNITION Eastside Prep students' achievements outside the classroom.

F G

A Kaitlyn (’23) took on the role of Ms. Hannigan in Seattle’s Broadway Bound production of Annie.

She also won an award for a song she wrote and performed during the last Seafair Torchlight Parade.

B Madison (’16) received the Bellevue Rotary Club student of the month award for November. The award recognizes students for the academic and service efforts.

C Jamin (’17) won a Gold Key Award for his submission to the Scholastic Art and Writing competition and won a first place award at the Kenmore Art Show.

D Chase (’16) is the co-captain of the Bellevue High School boys swim team. The team won the State Championship last year.

E Kayla (‘21) was selected by the Washington Youth Soccer Elite Player Development program to represent Washington in the Region IV Olympic Development Program Championships. Kayla’s team beat Colorado to become the Region IV champions.

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F Tristan (‘21) is a year-round swimmer. He recently finished third in his age group in the mile (1,650 yards) in the Pacific Northwest Swimming Championship.

G Max (‘19) started playing the bassoon in sixth grade.

He was one of the first seventh graders to make it to Junior All State and he has been playing with the Seattle Youth Symphony since that time.

H Christy (‘17) auditioned for and was selected for the WMEA (Washington Music Educators Association) AllState Wind Ensemble. Christy also plays the clarinet for the Philharmonia of the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra.

I Peter (‘17) auditioned for and was selected for the WMEA All-State Concert Band. He is the principal trumpet player for Bellevue Youth Symphony and also the principal trumpet at Seattle Youth Symphony Junior Orchestra. Peter sings with the Columbia Choir.

Both Peter and Christy competed in the WMEA Solo & Ensemble regional competition in early February.

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TAKING ASSIGNMENTS A STEP FARTHER:

SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW

By Sam Uzwack, Middle School Head and Bart Gummere, Upper School Head

W

Each age, I judge a joy itchy/ouchy/edgy. “Rear a rare ear, airy era,” I roar—our raw error. “Eww, a wee ewe eye,” I yeow. “You, woo ewe eye away.

A woe.” I vivify faith. I use a saucy voice. I say, “If I cease, these oases face foes. If foes seize these icy eaves, a vice scythes safe houses.” Fishes seethe. A hive huffs. The hazy eye ossifies. I see a face, a foe’s face? The eye fazes us. I cease as the eye uses a suave voice, “Easy, hissy oaf.” The eye suffuses us. I heave, shy as a sissy. The eye soothsays, “These oases faze thee. They see thee as a hush. Cease thy heavy huffs. He has ease, he uses his size.” I am a no-name man, mooning.

Anyone may know many numb men. I know no main men. A man moaning amen may aim among my meaning. Too bad. I could be petty, I could be cocky, I could be doubted—but I guide.

A pedagogue ought to keep to a peak. Too bad. I opt to abdicate. I ought to be decapitated. I tuck a pick. I dig a deep gap, a guck pocket, to do a deed, to die. I detect a petite beauty. A tied-up deity, abducted to a gooey pupa. Baited by a cupid, I tiptoe. I cut a decayed tie, a cape to keep it packed. I peek, addicted to oddity. Agape at cakey guck, I tap at it. I pet it. A guppy peacock? A gecko cockatoo? I lull elle, all ill, all eely.

(Order: affricate/retroflex/semivowel/fricative/nasal/stop/lateral)

 Lara (’16) decided to work with phonological variations in her short fiction writing in Mr. Keedy’s Creative Writing class. She focused on using linguistic constraints such as writing with only fricatives or experimenting with vocal fry.

E ALL REMEMBER THOSE ASSIGNMENTS in school that did not feel like work at all.

They were joy…effortless…we were in flow, and the resulting product was of extraordinary quality. It is our hope that any time we assign something, students will take it as far as they can. Sometimes, they even come back to us with a new idea, a new way to show what they know. And here is the key when working with students—they have to come to this on their own. What follows are samples of some of our most original and exceptional work from the past few years.  Students in Mr. Kelly-Hedricks’s Literary Thinking class learn five new vocabulary words each week and must use those words in sentences. When students enter those words into an app created by Aidan (‘21), new tabs are automatically opened with definitions according to either the Oxford English or American Heritage dictionaries.

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 For Mr. Yezbick’s Literary Thinking 3 class, Evelyn (’20) took her zoo journal for Life of Pi in her own direction. She included water colors, hand lettering, and a sewn binding.

 For Ms. Behrmann’s calculus class, Che (’17) developed an animation to show the relationships between the conic sections. In the pictured example (a hyperbola) the dials can be moved to change the angle.

 For Ms. Dodd’s Scientific Thinking 2 class, Katie, Sonia, Ellie, Karin and Ellie (all Class of 2021) created a dance/cheer to help them remember how to properly write scientific names (which parts should be capitalized and whether it should be italicized or underlined).

 Garrison (’19) created a World War I simulation for Mr. Fierce’s Modern Perspectives class. He did this on his own and spent a great deal of time and energy trying to make it realistic and valuable academically.

 Jakob (’15) was asked to compare a current sectarian conflict to the Protestant Reformation of the Renaissance. Rather than write a paper, Jakob created an animated video to show his knowledge of the subject.

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UPCOMING F

OLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE UPCOMING EVENTS AT EASTSIDE Prep. For a complete listing of EPS activities and events, visit our website (www.eastsideprep.org/calendar) and filter All-School Events category.

MAY

ĥĥ 26 / Music Concert

ĥĥ 12-14 / All School Musical

## 7pm JJ Levinger-Poole Commons Theatre Presented by EPS Middle & Upper School students, directed by Meghan Arnette, musical direction by Ginger Ellingson. Limited seating capacity; ticket reservations will be published a few weeks before the event.

ĥĥ 26 / Eastside Gravity Racers

## 7pm JJ Levinger-Poole Theatre At the end of each trimester, the music program showcases the work of students who have been actively studying, rehearsing, and creating music.

JUNE-JULY ĥĥ JUNE 20 – JULY 29 / EPSUMMER Half- and full-day week-long courses in technology, athletics, arts (and much more!) available for EPS students and the general public in grades 4-7. Off-campus outdoor experiences available for EPS students only in grades 8-12. The EPSummer program is designed to provide a higher quality summer for students as they explore, discover, and create together!

Course descriptions and registration can be found on our website (www.eastsideprep.org/ student-life/epsummer). Space is limited! Email epsummer@eastsideprep.org if you have any questions.

AUGUST ĥĥ 22 / Upper School Sports Season Begin

JUNE ĥĥ 9 / Middle School Continuation Ceremony

Practices for Upper School athletic teams start the week of August 22.

ĥĥ 22 / Robotics Season Begin JJ Kirkland Performance Center (by invitation only)

ĥĥ 10 / Graduation Ceremony

Regular meetings for the EPSilon First Tech Challenge (grades 7-12) and First Lego League (grades 5-8) teams start the week of August 22.

## 3:30pm JJ Levinger-Poole Commons Celebrating the 3D creations of our visual arts classes, students compete in a pinewood derby-style event with an artistic twist.

JJ Benaroya Hall (by invitation only)

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EVENTS ĥĥ 29 / Grade-Level Picnics

SEPTEMBER

ĥĥ 22 / Back to School Night

ĥĥ 1 / Parent-Student-Advisor Conferences

Parents and students are encouraged to attend grade-level picnics held during the week of August 29 to September 2. Details for exact date and time will be communicated by Parent Association representatives.

ĥĥ 31 / Parent-Student-Advisor Conferences

Parents and students meet with the student’s advisor to discuss the upcoming school year.

While following their child’s daily schedule, parents have the opportunity to meet each classroom teacher.

Parents and students meet with the student’s advisor to discuss the upcoming school year.

ĥĥ 7 / First Day of School

ĥĥ 9-10 / Fall Orientation Trips

OCTOBER ĥĥ 7 / Fall Harvest

EPS parents, faculty and staff are invited to attend the annual Fall Harvest event. This highly anticipated evening features great conversation and wonderful food.

Students travel on age-appropriate trips to build relationships with faculty, advisors, and fellow students.

OUR MISSION is to guide students to think critically, act responsibly, lead compassionately, and innovate wisely.

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10613 NE 38th Place Kirkland, WA 98033

CONTACT US TODAY 425 822-5668 eastsideprep.org

Photograph by Shae (‘16)