M A G A Z I N E W I N T E R
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Global Day of Play (see page 12)
CONTENTS N O V E M B E R
17 Building Stoves, Making Art, Planting Trees
For the past three summers, Flint Hill has worked with the Highland Support Project
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Collaboration with Clay
Mr. Roboto
Collaboration and critical thinking are embedded into the ceramics curriculum
Teaching about technology - and through it - has changed in the last 30 years
IN S IDE > h ea d ma ste râ&#x20AC;&#x2122; s me s sa g e > the h i ll > h i sto ric mo me n t < c re a ti ng i n nov a tors > a l um n i n e ws a nd storie s
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Dear Flint Hill School Community,
head master’s
message
John M. Thomas Headmaster
AT TIMES, I FEEL LIKE I AM WALKING around school in a constant state of awe. I walk into a Middle School classroom and see students learning math equations as they deal with huge wooden dominoes spread across the length of the entire room, or I listen to students learning about science by creating music with soda bottles. In all the divisions, I see desks pushed together so that students can collaborate more effectively on various projects. I watch students in the Lower School blogging and marvel as a second grader has her book published. We all took pride in our students’ ingenuity, creativity, and innovation as they created a Lower School wide arcade on the Global Day of Play. In the Upper School, I see students collaborating with their teachers whether it's in a Chinese language course, a contemporary history class, a chemistry lab or in the digital arts lab... and everywhere in between. I stand amazed as students use their analytical skills to ponder real world problems and discover very effective solutions. Our school looks and feels different from the way school looked and felt when I was going through my secondary education. My experience was filled with desks in a row. You were told to sit quietly, listen to what the teacher had to say, make sure you wrote out all the notes, memorized the notes, read what you were told to read, and stood ready to tell the teacher exactly what the teacher had told you. Please, don’t get me wrong. I came from a great school and I am a loyal alumnus. I had some wonderful teachers who truly inspired me. But, I realize that my education was “standardized,” restrained, and often personally challenging. That was the way school was meant to be at that
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time. That is not at all like Flint Hill today. At Flint Hill, I see students who want to be here, not just to be with friends, but because of what they are learning and how they are learning it. We talk about the energy at our school as the driving spirit and we have always implied that it has a lot to do with the passion for learning and being a part of our great community. As I consider our very individualized teaching and now I see it as an even more customized approach to learning today, I am beginning to see that our driving spirit goes much farther than I ever imagined. It clearly is central to a student's drive to learn “the what and the why” behind the material in class. When I seek words to describe this new and exciting education, I find myself resorting to words that I haven’t used around school before. Words like grit, persistence, and zest. These words make me realize that our children want to experience school in a new and engaging manner. As you read through our magazine, you will see stories with this kind of engagement - in science, in fine arts, and in service. And, you might quietly shake your head and realize that school was not like this for you either. It is fun; it is transformational. It is happening because of incredibly bright young students working with the most amazing faculty and staff I have ever seen assembled. If any of you would like to take a tour or just walk the halls with me to experience some of that awe that I feel on a regular basis, please don't hesitate to let me know. It would be my honor to share this journey with you. <
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Flaring music class with culture The kagun, kidi, soho, bob a, and kpanlogo drums. Alecia Cardell, a Lower School music professor, went to Ghana this past summer as part of the Byrnes Grant that provides generous funding for professional development. She went to study Ghanaian drumming and brought drums back to use in the classroom. "These drums are used in the Volta region of Ghana for their recreational, community, and spiritual ceremonies," Professor Cardell says. "Traditionally, men play the drums and the woman sing and dance. Ghanaian music is very rhythmic in nature and the lead drummer's rhythms are extremely intricate."
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s an Italian American, I cannot hope to separate or quantify that which is Italian from any other element of my life. Some things may be more obvious than others, true, but where does one end and another begin? Who can say? Similarly, I cannot, as an artist, separate one influence from another, Italian or American. This is the dilemma and the condition
of the second-generation immigrant. I grew up in an Italian immigrant community, a
rich experience and one that I treasure, and I can identity certain elements that appear
in my work â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a sense of color, a love of handcraft, a feeling for materials, a sense of history
and tradition and time, an appreciation of religious culture and its symbols, a love of landscape,
especially gardens, and indeed the social and cultural experience of uncertain or mixed identity. But as
an artist, I must always satisfy the conditions of art if the work is to be successful, and as a process-oriented
artist, deeply engaged with my materials, I am always sensitive to the needs for balance, structure, variety, texture, illumination, atmosphere, and above all, a sense of ambiguity, that the work never be just one thing or another.
- CIANNE FRAGIONE, Upper School art professor traveled to Monasterace Italy, a village of about 3,400 people.
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Faculty Summertime Explorations Every summer, faculty use their "down time" effectively. Here's a bird's eye view of some of their many activities: > took a math course at Dana Hall School outside of Boston > led the "Creative Collaborations with iPads" conference at Sidwell Friends > attended the Bread Loaf Writers Conference at Middlebury > hiked in Diamond Head Crater > traveled to Guatemala with 11 students who built 8 stoves for Mayan families, planted 80 trees for a reforestation project and worked with second and fourth graders > volunteered for an Earthwatch Expedition to study climate and landscape change in Borneo's rainforest > took classes at George Mason, among them the Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship > motorcycled to Pittsburgh, Penn. > went deep sea fishing in Wilmington, N.C. > took 40 students to the National Junior Classics League conference > traveled to South Africa to observe a school utilizing a progressive curriculum to teach social justice, leadership and entrepreneurship > attended a music camp in the Redwoods and studied a new kind of banjo playing > attended a workshop in brain dance > taught elementary math methods to master's level students > directed seminars that brought artists and immigration lawyers together at Yale Law School
17 women from 17 countries In September, a delegation of 17 women toured Flint Hill and observed classes in all divisions. Hailing from Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Macedonia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, these women were part of the U.S. Department of State global sports mentorship program called SportsUnited. The purpose of their visit was to learn about how athletics and academics compliment each other.
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2012 Legacy Gift A committee of 12 from the class of 2012 included Alex Abraham, Alexandra Burger, Daniel Giguere, Hailey Farrell, Pat Farrell, Cameron Field, Avery Gildner, Matthew Koger, Britt Savage, Brittany Sweatman, Michelle Webber, and Daniel Weiss. After they surveyed their fellow seniors, they used the money they raised for a class gift to support the construction of a walkway and stairs that would create a safe passage from the deCamp Memorial Garden to the tennis courts and athletic fields. Thank you Class of 2012.
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Lunch – 1,100 students and 200 faculty/staff eat lunch every school day Compost, Recycle, Trash – Students, faculty and staff decide which receptacle (plates, utensils, cups – all compost ready) To the Pulper - 30 bags or three yards of waste are delivered to the pulping room From Pulper to Cooker – 30 bags reduce to 3 bags at 90% reduction From the Cooker to the Field - 3 bags become 2 bags at 33% reduction Out to the field – Compost sits for 12 to 20 months to decompose in the weather Spreading – The compost pile is turned over and the oldest portions are spread onto the grounds (everywhere except the playing fields) flint hill magazine
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Under Par Overachiever This past summer, Joey Lane '13, took home the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship in Palm Beach, Florida, finishing four-under-par. He also placed second in PGA National’s “Battle at the Bear Trap” by shooting a 31 on Champion’s challenging 15, 16 and 17. For those of us new to the golf world, Optimist International Junior Golf Championship is an invitation-only junior golf championship that attracts the most talented youth golfers across the world, touting former pro participants such as Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. "I was really fortunate and honored to be able to win the Optimist,” Lane notes of his experience at the tournament. “I had been playing well for about a month before the tournament so I had good feelings going into it." "What makes Joey a great golfer is his talent in all areas of the game. But I would say his short game is what really separates him from the rest," says Flint Hill Varsity Golf Coach Jeff Sealy. "Joey's humble nature makes him such a great kid to coach. He never acts like he is the best and has a great perspective on his place on the team. He works very hard to be the best, but is also the first person to congratulate a teammate who beats him." Joey Lane flint hill magazine
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the
Every Moment Counts You'd never know that Marlo Sweatman '13 is an exceptional soccer player who has committed to a play Division I with Florida State, who plays on the U-20 Jamaican national team and who was invited to attend the U-18 women’s national team camp. Likely, the first thing you'd notice is her bright smile and unassuming demeanor.
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Marlo is a midfielder on the Flint Hill soccer team. She has also traveled to Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Panama to play teams representing St. Lucia, Cuba, Cayman Island, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Canada and Mexico. Last year she was named captain of the U-20 Jamaican national team and will begin regular competition in April to qualify for the 2014 U-20 Women’s World Cup. “Marlo is always looking to improve every aspect of her game, whether it is staying after practice to shoot or working on her speed and strength in the off-season,” says Stephanie Hulke, Flint Hill varsity coach. "I also love her ability to take feedback while adapting to changes and taking risks, not only in her life, but in her game.” At Florida State, Marlo intends to study criminology. After college she hopes to play soccer professionally. She's been a Flint Hill student since fifth grade.
Marlo Sweatman
"Flint Hill has allowed me the opportunity to become friends with so many wonderful people, and to grow in an environment where you’re encouraged to be the best you can be every day,” she says. "I have learned so many valuable lessons that I would not have learned in a different environment, including the importance of respecting my peers, living with integrity, being independent and making every moment count."
Giving back Flint Hill School hosted a Special Olympics soccer tournament on Saturday. Thirty-five teams, consisting of close to 350 athletes participated in the day’s activities. The entire Flint Hill School community was involved in organizing and supporting the event. Students from the Lower School and Middle School wrote cards and posters for the athletes, made noisemakers, and cheered on the athletes. Upper School students and parents worked as referees and sideline judges.
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Large screen televisions are now part of the history and language classrooms in the Upper School. They will help provide another tool for teachers, working nicely with the MacBook in our wireless connectivity.
HDTV EDU
<
"Perfect pitch" Grant George '14 threw a perfect strike for the ceremonial first pitch of the Nationals-Brewers game on Saturday, September 22. Ross Detwiler, who caught the pitch, said it was the first time in three months he did not have to jump or dive to catch the opening throw.
setting
Apple, Inc. hosted a conference at Flint Hill late September to talk with other independent schools about integrating the iPad into teaching. John Thomas was among those who shared some of the successes in the 1:1 MacBook/iPad program at Flint Hill.
the trend
A better chance Flint Hill's Chris Pryor and Fé Patriciu met with Sandra E. Timmons and Chantal Stevens at a Chicago conference. Sandra and Chantal are president and national director, respectively, of A Better Chance, whose mission is to increase substantially the number of well-educated young people of color who are capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in American society. Flint Hill has its first two students through the program, one in 6th grade and the other in 9th grade.
Flipping the classroom experience The use of “flipped learning” at Flint Hill continues to gain recognition. In the past year, our teachers have presented at conferences and opened their classrooms to educators from other schools looking to gain insight on the practice of videotaping lectures and assigning them to students for homework. Most recently, Flint Hill hosted a one-day regional conference by the Flipped Learning Network with more than 80 participants from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas and even Ottawa, Canada.
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Learning first-hand about the spine Brian R. Subach, M.D., F.A.C.S is a Neurosurgeon/Spine Surgeon and President of The Virginia Spine Institute. In September he invited several Flint Hill students, including his three daughters, to experience his work. "The girls were excused from school early for this unique experience. They each donned yellow cover gowns and rubber gloves prior to entering the MST. I brought them into the lab to learn about the structure and protective function of the spinal column. They saw the bones, discs, and the spinal cord itself while the patients were appropriately draped for privacy. We talked about respect for the patients even though they were no longer alive. After a few minutes of watching, each of them began wanting to do more such as ‘putting in the screws like daddy does’. I was able to show them some of the surgery tools we use as evidenced by Sarah holding a Cobb elevator and explain that surgery can be used to cure pain and repair things that are broken in the spine. Overall, it was a fantastic learning experience for the girls that I anticipate will be repeated again next year."
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L-R: Mariella Silvia (2nd grade), Carys Subach (JK), Ashley Subach (1st grade) and Sarah Subach (3rd grade).
The Virginia Spine Institute, founded 20 years ago by Thomas Schuler, M.D., annually brings in a mobile surgical theater MST (two tractor trailers) to demonstrate the most advanced spinal surgery techniques to area medical professionals in an evening called "Cocktails and Cadavers". The following day, the entire VSI Practice closes for the purposes of an Education Day. Each of their 85 employees is involved in lectures, demonstrations and cadaver surgery as part of our mission to engage and educate.
A pattern of compassion
Compassion is one of Flint Hill’s core values. It was chosen as the main theme of the 2012 summer learning program. In the Lower School, The Quiltmaker’s Journey, was assigned to every student and teacher to provide a common reading experience and a foundation for the year, and to support classroom discussions and reflection on the theme of compassion.
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"Constructing" critical thinkers On Friday, October 5, junior kindergarteners to fourth graders became “game engineers” on the Global Day of Play. Also known as the “cardboard challenge,” the students put their thinking caps on to design and construct cardboard arcade games. “I knew the kids would come up with some creative games, but for me, the real delight was to see the level of cooperation and collaboration among the kids,” says Michelle Plaut, the Lower School librarian and Global Day of Play coordinator. “The older students supported and encouraged their younger fellow game designers, and the final products were the result of true teamwork. Their games were also super fun to play!”
H
H IGHLIGHTS > BY GRADE
JK - Visiting a local fire station. K - Today is brought to you by the superhero ZERO. 1 - In their final lesson about skeletons, students put together what they had learned in the days earlier about bones and joint types.
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2 - Students learn measurement to understand the differences from themselves and the world around them in this unit of combined social studies and science.
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3 - In Spanish class, students learn more than the language itself. These students learn about the culture while being taught a typical game played in Guatemala.
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4 - Learning about the local environment and the effects of pollution has been a running topic in the fourth grade with various activities and discoveries including a field trip to the Chesapeake Bay.
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5 - Students learn about early human life with tents that transformed their classrooms into caves, with artifacts and cave wall paintings that they used to draw hypotheses and interpret clues.
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6 - Sixth grade students were among a group of budding Latin scholars who participated in the annual Certamen. Latin for competition, the Certamen is a quiz style setup where teams compete in answering questions about classics. 7 - Students observe robotic insects as part of a Life Science lesson to understand physical and behavioral adaptability.
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8 - Students hike Old Rag Mountain in Shenandoah National Park. After camping overnight—telling stories by a campfire and snacking on s'mores—the next day they chose to kayak, canoe, mountain bike, rock climb or cave. 9 - At the start of the year, freshmen come together for a school dance, to have fun and bond as a class. 10 - Chemistry teacher Lindsay Deibler and "elephant's toothpaste." Take a soda bottle, hydrogen peroxide, dry yeast, warm water, and liquid soap (food coloring optional). The reaction is called an Exothermic Reaction, which means it creates heat as well as foam. 11 - Juniors, thanks to the English department, marked Oct. 5 to celebrate Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter with "Scarlet Letter Day." All juniors wore decorative letters that represented a character flaw or problematic issue that they identified in themselves. 12 - Seniors enjoyed the first of a series of breakfast events in October, a tradition that continues periodically throughout the year. “Thank you parents of seniors who volunteer to set up the buffet of bagels, fruit, juice, and more.”
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Mardieh Dennis, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;05 More on page 42
feature BY ELLEN TURNER
Building Stoves Making Art Planting Trees
I
t starts with hundreds of stray dogs, bare-boned and blank-eyed, that are a constant presence. Then, you enter the cinder block homes and see a single hanging light bulb, an open fire burning on the floor, and a latrine style toilet. To watch the faces of the Flint Hill students as they first observe these realities of the Mayan community in the western midlands of Guatemala is to see confusion, distress, alarm, surprise, and compassion. Service takes on an entirely new meaning for them with a depth they have never imagined. A feeling of compassion drives students to do their best as they participate in vathe Highland Support Project.
For the past three summers, Flint Hill has worked with the Highland Support Project to assist in the economic, cultural, and social development of indigenous communities in Guatemala. This year, Middle School Counselor John Magner, Upper School French Professor Robin Goldstein, and Lower School Technology Integration Specialist Melissa Scott chaperoned ten seniors (Alina Augustine, Courtney Beatty, Natalie Brendsel, Nawal Chaudry, Adam Cleland, Greg Doerr, Hannah Donegan, Ansley Gibson, Jillian Goulding, and Nicole Keister) from July 28 to August 4 as the group worked in the mountainous, more rural area of Guatemala on three different service projects. Each year, one of the main projects of the trip is to build stoves inside the houses. There are many reasons why the stoves are an important addition: safety, improved living conditions, and independence for the women of the household. The wood-burning stove means that there is no longer an open fireplace inside the residence, cutting down the risk of fire and other accidents inside the house. This directly affects the living conditions, because the stove provides a chimney that directs all of the smoke outside of the residence as well. Finally, the stove provides a controlled environment for the flame for both heating the residence and for cooking, which means that the women of the household do not need to be tied to the fire all day. “I chose to travel to Guatemala this summer to build a relationship with the Guatemalan people by making a physical difference in their lives,” says Adam Cleland. “Seeing their faces light up after a stove was completed made me realize the impact our journey to the highlands of Guatemala. They saw that we cared about them.”
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Building the stoves is back-breaking work, making the time spent in strenuous labor more than just a way to accrue hours to satisfy a school requirement, but a gift of self born in compassion. The construction work also gives the students the chance to work side-byside with the people they are helping, as the Highland Support Project creates a partnership with the Mayans that involves them with the volunteers in the production process. “I was overwhelmed by how the women with whom we partnered could find the joys in life despite the lack of luxuries in their lives. Though the women basically had a tin house to call their own with no husband and barely enough money to survive, they were happy and sincerely seemed to enjoy their lives,” says Adam Cleland. “I was uncontrollably moved by this, and tried to grasp how ungrateful I can be at times despite the myriad of material possessions I own.” The students also learn the flip side of compassion when they become the receivers of compassion from the Mayan community. The trip is “not just about us going to serve. We receive a lot too, culturally, spiritually, and emotionally,” says John Magner. The Mayan people know what it means to be strangers in a strange place and thus they welcome the students with flowers, huge smiles, handmade crafts, and sumptuous food. Thus, the students learn about the experience of compassion coming full circle. “This trip was so much fun,” says Jillian Goulding, “because you go to learn the Mayan culture and the way they lived” and still live to this day.
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The trip wasn’t all about manual labor, though. The seniors had the opportunity to work on art projects in school with second grade and fourth grade students. One of the school’s goals is to find ways to incorporate more vegetables into their diets, and the Flint Hill seniors found a way to integrate an art project into the creation of a vegetable garden at the school. The second grade students were given cinderblocks and paint materials and told to paint scenes of the garden onto the cinderblocks. Once the cinderblocks were painted, they were turned into planters. Students added dirt and planted vegetable seeds, and then the blocks were moved into the new vegetable garden. The school will now be able to re-use the cinderblocks each planting season and grow its own vegetables for meals at the school. The fourth grade students were learning about their culture’s place in the world and in history. To help the Mayan students think about how their culture fits into the world, the students worked on totem visual timelines. These three-dimensional timelines allow the students to show what the world looked like in the past, what the world looks like in the present, and what they think the world will look like in the future. The project challenges the students to think about environmental changes that can occur and the impact of humans on the environment as well.
Did you know? > The Upper School students recorded 17,600 hours of community service in 2011-2012. > The fall service fair hosted 35 organizations. > In October the 7th, 10th and 11th grade students went off campus for a day of service.
> The 9th grade students participated in a service partnership with the 3rd and 4th grade students.
The third service component of the trip involved planting trees. Because the stoves being built by the Highland Support Project are woodburning, it is important to teach the Maya to plant new trees and replenish the resources that will be used. For every stove that is built, ten new trees are planted. These trees are then protected and allowed to grow for a specific amount of time before the Maya can use them for fuel for the stoves.
> 8th grade students started their yearlong service project and many students have already started their 10-hour service responsibility that will culminate in a service fair in May.
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The service trips offered by Flint Hill School are more than just an opportunity for students to fulfill their service responsibility for the year. Many times, these trips can be transformative or eye-opening experiences that affect the participants long after they have returned home.
her husband, who worked during the day and came home for dinner, like most fathers I knew. Her children ran around the house playing tag and peering from behind the door to sneak a glimpse of us, the strangers. They reminded me so much of the shy kindergarteners that the Senior class visited at Flint Hill. I later learned that her children may go to school when they were a bit older, where we met other students playing basketball and soccer, drawing with crayons, and learning about the human body. When you take away the superficial, these families are so much like our own.”
For Ansley Gibson, her experience in Guatemala has given her ideas on possible majors in college. “I learned that I want to go into education when I get older. I always knew that I liked kids, but looking back on the trip, I discovered that my favorite part of the trip was being around the kids. It really helped me plan my future.”
“During the past two years that I have travelled to Guatemala,” says Robin Goldstein, “the one thing that I always think about is that despite how different our two cultures are, we both ultimately have the same goal—to make the world a better, cleaner, more educated place than before so that our generation will have more opportunities for self-improvement than our ancestors did and that future generations will have better opportunities than we do.”
Jillian Goulding came away with a new understanding of just how different life in Central America is. “I was not aware of how bad the conditions are in Central America,” she says. “We are so privileged and need to be thankful for everything we have and receive.” Despite the differences between American and Guatemalan culture and economic standing, the students and teachers on the trip were still able to see how the people they encounter really aren’t that different from you and me.
As a result of the students’ experiences in Guatemala, there is a new club in the Upper School. SAGE, or Students for the Awareness of Guatemalan Equality, hopes to raise awareness of Guatemalan issues, to continue the relationship with AMA (Flint Hill School’s partner organization in Guatemala), and to raise money through fundraising the selling of Guatemalan crafts to build a school in one of the highland villages the students visited. “I gained a passion for helping the people of Guatemala,” says Nicole Keister, “and I am working to help the impoverished people there and bring the service trip more attention so that a larger group will help next year.” <
“When we first arrived, I was struck by the differences in culture I saw around me, but the more time I spent with the people, the more I saw our similarities,” says Nicole Keister. “First stepping into the huddle of single-room, concrete homes where we would work, I only noticed the dirt floors, roaming animals, and open fire pits. As we began to talk to the women in the homes, I learned more about their family and how they lived. Despite our differences, we were very much the same. The woman whom I helped told me about flint hill magazine
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Lauren Smith and Colbey Davies
Collaboration with
CLAY SHAPING
IDEAS
INTO
ADVANCED
CERAMICS
hen you look at an intricate piece of ceramics and think about the work that the artist put into it, you may naturally visualize that person’s hands masterfully molding clay on a potter’s wheel. Ask students in Flint Hill’s advanced ceramics course about the process and, in addition to the technical skills they learn, you will hear about the integral part of sharing ideas with their teacher and classmates in the studio.
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feature
Collaboration and critical thinking are embedded into the ceramics curriculum and the culture of the studio from beginner classes, and the emphasis increases as students grow into more independent, mature artists. By the time students enroll in the year-long advanced class, Ceramics Professor Julia Cardone clearly lets them know in the syllabus that, “Growth is evident in not only the work, but how one approaches conversation about the work and how receptive the maker is to feedback.”
BY JACKIE VITERI
Talking with each other and respectfully sharing opinions has encouraged a community of trust in which the students help each other with idea development. “Feedback from my peers has allowed me to reach higher levels of creativity and workmanship while working with clay,” says Senior Mischa Rajendarin. “They tell me things that I could improve upon, as well as things that I have done well and should continue pursuing.” Taking the “Ick” Out of Critique Informal and formal critiques are ongoing throughout the year. While informal critiques are impromptu and not graded, formal critiques are part of an assessment grade. Such an environment of subjective reviews may be daunting to some, but it hasn’t stopped students from pursuing their passion; more students have enrolled in advanced ceramics this year than in any other past year.
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THEY ARE
THINKERS. THEY ARE
COLLABORATORS W I T H C L AY.
Recognizing that critique can be difficult to give or accept and that it takes any person out of a comfort zone, Professor Cardone shares her own experiences with students about understanding the process, yet reinforces its importance to them. “I strive to assist the building of trust in the group through slow introduction of varying styles and critique situations, both formal and informal. We discuss the expectation that we all be thoughtful, respectful, and constructive but honest in critique and all class activities.”
Over time, as the students put critique more into practice, Professor Cardone has observed that, “conversation begins to flourish and evidence of thorough investigation of the work is apparent, reciprocal, and appreciated.”
She won’t just accept “I like it” as a comment, so to help them improve and gain confidence as communicators in the ceramics world, Professor Cardone gives each student an index-sized card with descriptive terminology to use when observing or critiquing. Covering four areas— craftsmanship, visual literacy, function, and content— students are guided to consider and discuss several elements, such as:
Calling the Studio Home On the second day of school, they already had assignments due from their four-part summer projects. They spend hours after school and some weekends working in the studio. “They develop a team mentality,” says Professor. Cardone. They become a “ceramics family,” and, “the studio is their home.” It’s a place where they are regularly reminded that conversations, demonstrations, and interactions always
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• Consistency—is the artist’s hand consistent throughout the piece? • Strength—is there evidence of any cracking? • Balance—is the piece symmetrical? • Emphasis—is there a focal point?
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present potential opportunities to inspire or enhance their work and the work of their classmates. Crediting the students for being receptive to the studio environment, Professor Cardone explains how they have “evolved into a community of makers appreciative of each others’ skills, interests, strengths, aspirations, and struggles.” “My classmates always encourage me to push myself and reach higher levels of craft,” says Julia Cantwell. With collaboration and dialog playing as important a role in the studio as sculpting tools, brushes, and rollers, the type of learning advanced ceramics students develop is as robust and deep as the 3D portfolio they are required to build throughout the year. “Both the work and the individuals benefit from their being so open and aware of the process and of each other,” says Professor Cardone. Now, the next time you look at a piece of ceramics— especially the ones made by our advanced ceramics students—you’ll know that the artists don’t just play with clay. They are thinkers. They are collaborators with clay. <
Julia Cantwell Caroline Shaw Jacob Shor and Mischa Rajendarin
Laptops, Kiln, and Transfer of Knowledge Students are using their laptops in the ceramics studio this year to learn digital image transfer, a technique that involves image editing software—like Photoshop—a printer, and the traditional kiln. Professor Cardone studied the process during the summer through a professional development opportunity and has started teaching students the application with clay tiles. “I feel its positive for students to be exposed to as many different practices and techniques as possible. They have been exposed to a number of different clays, firings/kiln types, glazes, methods of construction, now image transfer and so on. Each of them will decide which methods will become significant to their individual pursuits but all will benefit from the exposure to such a broad spectrum of ceramic knowledge/experience.”
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What Advice Would You Give to Beginner Students
Caroline Shaw You don’t have to always take your peers’ advice, but don’t ignore what they have to say.
Lauren Smith Collaborating with peers early on is very beneficial. Feedback is important no matter what level you are.
Mischa Rajendarin Collaborate and talk to your peers as much as possible. Most of what they say can dramatically improve your work in the long run. The feedback they give is invaluable in the evolution of your own work.
Colbey Davies Don’t be too hard on your peers. Some people pick up ceramics really quickly but it takes others longer. The help of peers can really influence your speed of development and the way in which you develop.
Hee Jung Choi It's important to get feedback from peers, but each student has to have his or her own concepts and solid ideas.
ABOUT COLLABORATING WITH PEERS IN THE STUDIO? Julia Cantwell Collaborate with your peers on your work and try to feed off of each other’s new and creative ideas. Don’t be shy about sharing your discoveries with other students, as their progress and success could inspire you in the future.
Hee Jung Choi
Jacob Shor Everyone needs to be willing to put themselves out there and ask their friends if their own work is interesting to them, because friends, even those not in ceramics, can help you decide what you did well and can even help you come up with new stylistic elements to place into your pieces.
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The science of observation In science class, third grade students find an object outside and practice writing their observations and opinions.
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feature BY ZACH KINCAID
hen Styx released their infamous song, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mr. Robotoâ&#x20AC;? in 1983, drones and rovers, asimos and actroids were the stuff of science fiction and far from reality. In the smart phone and Hubble telescope world of today, no one would argue that technology has an upper hand in the way we live and the way we understand the universe.
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Teaching about technology - and through it - has also changed in the last 30 years, and even quicker in the past five years. Now, schools like Flint Hill are forging a new way with our 1:1 computer program and innovative teaching that uses new technologies to expand and navigate the fundamentals of learning. Flint Hill’s own Mr. Roboto is one such example. Ask Computer Science Professor Mike Snyder how he explains math concepts like quadratic formulas to students, and you won't get a chalk-and-blackboard response. True, the definition of a quadratic formula is an equation that contains coefficients and has two solutions or roots. That can indeed be chalked up with "a's" and "x's", equal signs and powers of two. But Professor Snyder wants students to experience the math, see the formula at work, and understand its significance. For example, last spring his class built water rockets. The students started by computer modeling the rockets using animation software called SAM. The rocket was built as a two litter bottle with fins. “The students had to figure out how much the empty rocket weighed and how much water to put in it as its rocket fuel," says Professor Snyder. The class created a marker that sat alongside the launcher, delineating one-foot intervals upward. With the rocket upside down and in place, the students recorded the launch with an iPad.
"We took the recording and slow it down to single frames," he says. "There are 30 frames in a second, so they figured out exactly how long the rocket was in the air by counting the frames from launch to crash down." Students validated their calculations using high-speed camera footage of the rocket launch alongside the marker. The high-speed footage allowed students to gauge their rocket's initial velocity and compare it with their calculated initial velocity based on how long the rocket was in the air. "If the two match then the students know they did their calculations correctly and know they have a close approximation of maximum height achieved," says Professor Snyder. Of course the objective is to shoot the rocket as high as possible. "The 500-foot mark was the goal which he says is theoretically possible, though the highest he’s witnessed is 430 feet. Professor Snyder grew up with computers. His father is a programmer which made it natural for him to seek out and find a part-time tech job in college. There, he took a number of math courses alongside his major in business and political science, so much math that he was able to take the praxis when he graduated grad school. "So, I have four areas I'm licensed to teach in," he says, "business, math, marketing and information technology." One might say that such a background makes for a perfect blend when it comes to teaching computer science, since the field itself absorbs all those areas.
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When he joined the Flint Hill faculty two years ago, the goal was to launch a robotics program, an area he heavily invested in at his previous school. Now, in the second year of a five-year plan, he has brought the students to the point of competing in this year's FIRST Tech Challenge, an international robotics competition which he helped a student team take third place in three years ago.
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The FIRST Tech Challenge is a competition that is introduced to high school students each year by Segway inventor Dean Kamen. The program is missional around the idea of engagement and inspiration through science, and especially robotics. The year starts with the release of an instructional video explaining what a robot must be able to accomplish in a set course that year, whether it's picking up balls and propelling them somewhere or selecting given objects and tediously placing them on some kind of holder.
Of course the objective is to shoot the rocket as high as possible.
The challenge is that each team has both an autonomous and a driver-directed part of the competition. In the autonomous play, the robot is programmed to detect and accomplish a specific task all on its own. The driverdirected play includes two students who are charge over the robot via a joystick. In both cases ingenuity and thinking out each step of every movement is critical. That might be why the computer science room has three notable posters: Mythbusters, Ironman and the Mars Rover. It’s a nod to the complexity of the project and a reason why it’s the first year for Flint Hill to enter the competition. Students interested in the programming side take computer science, while students interested in the mechanics of building the robots sign up for the robotics course. Both classes have to work together to test and make certain their designs will win one of five regional contests, outmatching some 69 teams in Virginia. Win one and the
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team goes to state. Win state and they proceed to the international competition held in St Louis. There are several ways a team can be invited to the world championship win. The first One is the actual competition; another is having the most informative engineering notebook that led your team to build the kind of robot it built. Embedded in both, is the overarching idea of ‘gracious professionalism’ and ‘coopertition,’ words coined (and trademarked) by the founder Dean Kamen. “They mean that the better the competition, the more we'll learn from each other, not just as individual teams,” Professor Snyder says. “So, if there's a team that can't get their robot to move during the autonomous play, the other teams wouldn't celebrate. Rather, a team would say, 'Our robot's moving around because we figured out the autonomous piece, so our programmers will go over to that team and program with them.'" So, how did Professor Snyder start his classes off this semester to steer them to the place where they're programming and building robots? "In the robotics class we started with introducing the pieces, how they go together and then getting into
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engineering and design," he says. "We began using CAD software called Autodesk Inventor. It creates virtual pieces that helps students try out different builds. In the programming class there's an infinite amount of math a student can learn. Let's say you want the robot to turn 75 degrees, you have to take into account its center of axis for the robot, its wheel size, and the speed of the robot coming into the turn. Both the autonomous play and the registration between joystick and robot for the driver-directed stage have to be dealt with and tried out."
"What I love about these classes is what I love about Mythbusters," Professor Snyder says. "It's the spirit, an environment where failure is an option. The grade isn't tied to failure or success. We all learn from failure, so I want to encourage students not to be scared to fail, because if they are, they won't take the risks that lead to success." It's this type of environment that is both "challenging and fun," says Sydney Stiffler ’10, the only young woman in either course, which gives note to one of the five-year goals of encouraging other female students to participate.
As for dividing into units, the classes work in two teams that compete against each other in mock performances to ready two robots for competition. "We'll be able to have complete matches and work the course, and two teams who have learned from each other to better perform each task," Professor Snyder says.
There are other steps toward growing the robotics focus in the Flint Hill science offerings. Next year, the department will add advanced courses in robotics and computer science. In addition, the plan calls for moving introductory courses in each to the Middle School. Already, Professor Snyder is teaching 15 fourth through sixth grade students in an intense after school robotics course, one that will spur on a team to compete in the FIRST Lego League. In Flint Hill fashion, the Upper School robotics and programming students will act as mentors to the young engineers.
And the students are responding with passion. "I'm definitely excited about this class," says Chris Salmon ’10. "I was accepted to TJ, but I wanted to come to Flint Hill because it's more individualized. Robotics brings together the best aspects of math and science, and, because you're part of a team and going for a common goal, friendships extend outside of school."
Perhaps Cooper Overholt ’12 sums up the charm of robotics the best when he says, "Robotics is so much fun to study because you're trying to get something to move and react as if it were alive, as if it were human."
Thomas Briggs ’11, part of Build Team 5904 agrees. He says he wants to study mechanical engineering in college and this class allows him to get an active jumpstart on that passion.
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And none will be surprised if this lot of students charges ahead to formidable universities and further, to advancing engineering technologies for a brighter future that will continue to recast “mister roboto” into new landscapes. <
And others echo Thomas Aubuchon ’12, who says the courses offer, "real world application."
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ver the summer, Flint Hill senior Thomas AuBuchon interned for Pete Oxford, a National Geographic photographer in South Africa. He was contracted to build a photo-taking robot that could traverse the harsh sub saharan habitat and photograph animals where no human could safely go. "It was the experience of a lifetime and a great opportunity to create a robot for a real world application," he says.
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Rock climbing after studying The Outdoor Sports Club heads to Carderock, MD, on a beautiful day.
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You Inspire Us. As alumni, parents and friends you make the Flint Hill mission possible. Your gifts to the Annual Fund help all year long, as our faculty and staff work alongside students to drive them to exceed wildly beyond their aspirations. As the Thanksgiving season is here, we are thankful for Flint Hill's dynamic educational environment. It is a vital part of a student's development as a thinker and as an active participant in society. We can't do this work without you. We encourage you to continue your support of Flint Hill through our annual fund as we ignite a passion for learning in more than 1,100 students.
Thank you. Maureen Sidor, Director of the Annual Fund | msidor@flinthill.org | 703-584-2358 | www.flinthill.org/giving
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creating innovators BY SHANNAN SCHUSTER
Asking the What ifs Most great inventions begin with a person imagining a possibility with just two words: what if.
game? What would it look like? How would your fellow students experience the game you make?
Founding father, diplomat, and inventor Benjamin Franklin asked, “What if I tied a key to a string to harness energy?” We’re still seeing innovation based on his idea.
In the Middle School, students are asking, “What if we tried to change the behaviors of our community in order to save energy?”
Doctor and inventor Dr. William Kolff asked, “What if we made an artificial kidney to save patients?” It led to the modern day dialysis machine. Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs asked, “What if we made a user-friendly computer that was simply designed?” We’ve seen this help revolutionize the technology industry. These are widely known examples of what happens everyday in some companies and schools, places where problem solvers continue to ask what if questions that will make our world a better place. Unfortunately, the norm within education is more about manufacturing standard, correct answers instead of finding great questions to ask, explore, and work within. The duty of educators in an increasingly changing 21st century environment is to determine how we can prepare students to succeed. How can we enable our students to have the confidence to ask the important and innovative what if questions? It starts with daily practice combined with curricular opportunity. At Flint Hill we are frequently assigning projects to students with the encouragement for them to ask their own what ifs. A few weeks ago, Lower School students were given a supply of cardboard boxes and other recyclable materials with a question: what if you use these materials to make an arcade
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Upper Schools students take the what ifs more specifically like a group of students who went on a marine science trip to Fox Island to trawl the floor of Puget Sound and talk about the host of what ifs related to pollution and population. As educators, we’re asking questions about the environment that creates more and more curiosity and innovation.
What if our Upper School campus was open until 10 p.m. so classes could be spread out and scheduled more broadly? What if the Lower and Middle School had a more integrated curriculum where the skills from all of the subjects were taught through units that included math, science, social studies, and language arts? What if we offered an “inventions class” where students had the opportunity to work on solving a real life problem, creating a prototype, and attempting to have the solution implemented? The practice of asking the questions allows each of us to be more open-minded to every idea and solution. The ability to ask the questions and search out solutions is the reason Flint Hill continues to be successful. There’s a safety here, to ask and to express, and to push outside given boxes, so when students graduate, they have only begun a journey of asking important questions and working toward beneficial solutions. <
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Alumni News and Stories
Send your class notes for the June edition of the magazine to Kavon Akhtar at kakhtar@flinthill.org. Deadline is April.
1960
Tom Silver is a member of Flint Hill’s first graduating class. He started at Flint Hill in 1956 as a freshman and went all four years. The graduating class consisted of Tom Craig Vanderhoef, Douglas Leigh, Angela Bolwyn and Anthony Hill. Even during that inaugural time, the strong faculty leadership is the mark Tom remembers most, people like Admiral L. Bachman who taught mathematics, Colonel W. Gaige who taught history, and Colonel F. Warren who taught English. After Flint Hill, Tom joined the Marine Corps as a Marine Aviator. A few years later, he returned to campus in full uniform, wanting to visit Colonel Warren. "That was a special moment for both of us," Tom says. Tom has four children, and seven grandchildren. He's retired from BellSouth and lives in Augusta, Georgia.
1992 Heather White started Moose Dog Media Consulting a few years ago. The company is focused on mobile interface design and is working on
1970 Stu Vetter's story might be known to some. Stu returned to his alma mater in 1975 to coach basketball, a position he kept until 1990. As the head coach for 15 seasons he tallied an astonishing 377-53 record and sent at least 20 players to play Division-I basketball, three of which ended up playing in the NBA – Dennis Scott ’87, George Lynch ’89, and Randolph Childress ’90. In the 1985-86 season the team had a perfect 23-0 season, prompting USA Today to name Flint Hill the National Champions. The following season Stu was awarded as the National Coach of the Year by USA Today. Since 1990, Stu has garnered other national championships and added to his illustrious record of coaching players who would go on to achieve basketball success. In May of 2012, he was inducted into the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Hall of Fame. Several Flint Hill players attended to honor their coach and friend including Bruce Butler ‘76, Ken Nikalson ‘77, Steve Horvath ’77, Jimmy Riley ’77, Mike Pepper ‘77, John Thomas ’77, George Speers ’78, and John Massanopoli ’78.
multiple projects for the US Government dealing with their eHealth Record systems. Currently, Heather is working in both the government and private sectors in New Zealand and Australia, focusing on tablet interfaces.
Brian Frederick has been playing bass as part of the band, Juniper Lane, for the past 15 years. They have opened for Coldplay and Wyclef Jean, and their songs have been featured in commercials for ESPN and MTV. They
1984
recently released their fifth album, Standing on the White Line.
Dominic, five-year old son Oliver, and two year-old daughter Adelaide.
1993
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Sarah O’Neil (formally Sarah Sharp) lives in Hilden, Germany, with her husband
Jim Fitzpatrick has been the head coach of the Episcopal High School boys basketball
1997
Timothy Hughes received recognition as one of The Best Lawyers in America 2013. Hughes graduated from Yale and went onto law school at William and Mary. He is currently an attorney at the firm of Bean, Kinney & Korman, where he specializes in construction law.
Jessie Barba Brown hosted a group of 1997 alumni at her childhood house in Oakton. The informal 15-year reunion included, Amit Chandra, Bradford Fried, Matt Bryant, Nabil Poonawala and Nisrine Shehadeh.
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1990 Randolph Childress became a basketball star at Flint Hill and went on to play for Wake Forest. Named All-American in 1994 and 1995, Randolph led his team to an ACC Championship in his senior season, and still remains the second all-time leading scorer at Wake Forest. He went on to play professional basketball for the next 16 seasons; including two seasons with the Portland Trailblazers and thn the Detroit Pistons, who drafted him in the first round of the 1995 NBA draft. In 2011, Randolph returned to Wake Forest to serve as an administrator in the athletic department. Most recently, he was named the director of player development for the Wake Forest basketball team. "I love Wake Forest, and to have a chance to work with the basketball program on a daily basis is a dream come true," Randolph says. "I look forward to helping build a program that Wake Forest fans and the Wake Forest community can be proud of." team since 2006. Last year, his team ranked in the top 10 by the Washington Post. Jim was recently named the boys athletic director at Episcopal. He and his wife Jen had their first baby, Caroline Mary Fitzpatrick, on May 17, 2012.
2000 Julia DiBella married Adam Guthrie on September 22, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown.
2001 Brian Hennessy and Melissa Didden were married in April 2010. Recently, Brian graduated from Johns Hopkins University with his Masters in Real Estate. Sabrina Bells married Bancroft Henderson IV on September 15, in Washington, D.C.
2003 Will Fleeson lives on Capitol Hill and works as the
Managing Editor in the press office of the French Embassy. He has a graduate degree from Columbia University in International Affairs, and has traveled extensively across America and Europe. Most recently Will spent nearly a month traveling through China. Read several of his travel stories at the online magazine, EthnoTraveler.com
educational and internship opportunities. She also volunteers at an assisted living community and plans to start volunteering with Pets on Wheels.
2005 Charlie Keaton lives in Washington, D.C. and is currently working at CyberData, a cloud-based technology company.
Last summer, Will was elected to the Flint Hill Board of Trustees, the governing body of the school. His appointment marked the board's first alumni member. "Flint Hill is a place where class discussion was as formative as the homework," he says, "and where the teachers went way beyond the requirements of the job."
Mardieh Dennis was Valedictorian and School President. She is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, where she concentrated in health and societies and found a passion for international
2004 Elena Plionis is working at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where she helps injured, wounded and ill soldiers connect with
2002 Whitney Hazel Little married Brian John Gerling on May 5, in McLean. Shortly afterward, the newlyweds enjoyed their second wedding ceremony half way across the world traveling to Bora Bora, Tahiti, where they had a traditional French Polynesian ceremony, Whitney's ideal wedding.
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development, health, and science. She pursued further study at Johns Hopkins and recently earned a master's degree in public health with a concentration in international health. She credits Flint Hillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s science department, most notably Kim Duncan and Fred Chanania, for sparking her interest in chemistry and biology. She says that spark ignited the passion that she has today. In addition, she says Flint Hill provided, "an environment that celebrates diversity and encourages students to learn more about other cultures. I remember being involved in the student group ACAP (All Cultures-All People) and learning a lot about other cultures during Flint Hillâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Diversity Week, where students showcased foods, clothing, song and dances from their cultures." Mardieh is currently living in Zambia, working for Population Council, an international non-profit organization that conducts research and implements programs aimed to improve health outcomes around the world. She coordinates and facilitates research projects focused on reproductive health and HIV prevention. Mardiehâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal goal is to help make
the world a healthier and safer place, and she is using her knowledge and abilities to accomplish that goal. .
2006
Bernard Innocent and Kristin Holley annouce the birth of Giselle Marie Rose Innocent on September 26. Bernard is currently a police officer at the University of Delaware. Kyle Amey completed his master's degree in nonprofit management from Virginia Commonwealth University, and has started working as a fundraising consultant at Network for Good in the Washington D.C. area. Mark Samra is a law student at Boston University. He's spending his final year at Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid, Spain. Once he graduates, Mark will return to Washington, D.C. and begin a job at Seward & Kissel, LLP.
2007 Lauren Eskew recently graduated from Clemson University with a BS in biomedical engineering. During her senior year at Clemson, she and three other students developed a medical device to better secure chest tubes named the AssureFit. The group entered
2003 In July, Andy Wenk married Natalie Phillips. They live in Dallas, Texas, where Andy is in his fourth year of teaching seventh grade math, and coaching football, basketball and track.
their invention into the 2012 BMEStart design competition and won first place, receiving $10,000 dollars. The biomedical engineering teams from John Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon finished behind Lauren’s team. A provisional patent is submitted to secure their intellectual property, and the team is in contact with companies interested in pursuing further research and testing. Lauren is working with the team to enhance the device and is also attending graduate school at the University of California, San Diego. Stevie Lederer graduated from Emerson College with a degree in media production. He now lives in Los Angeles and works as a assistant sound editor at Technicolor. Sarah Vonesh works at the City of San Diego as a junior planner for the Historical Resources Department. She is a graduate of the College of Charleston with a degree in historic preservation and community planning.
Emani Fenton was named the defensive back coach for the Cornell football program earlier this year. He's a graduate of Cornell, where he played cornerback. Peter Locke graduated from Christopher Newport University in May. He lives in Denver, Colorado, where he is a stockbroker at ScottTrade Financial Services. Back in 2007, the senior class superlatives declared Martha Crockett and Tal Covington the most likely to become teachers. Well guess what? Martha is in the midst of her second year as a teacher at Westminster School in Annandale, teaching French. Tal is teaching Latin and coaching tennis at Bishop Sullivan High School in Virginia Beach.
2008 Aaron Bell and Nicolas Abrigo are volunteer coaches for Flint Hill’s Boys’ Varsity soccer team, working with their former coach Chris Brown.
Taylor Swart graduated from UVA last spring. In August, she started as a chemistry teacher at The Linsly School in Wheeling, West Virginia. She lives on campus and serves as a dorm parent. This year she is also coaching swimming and softball. Erik Fredericksen graduated from Harvard. He received a full scholarship to University of Oxford, where he is currently seeking working on a master's degree. Ben Keaton graduated from Washington College, and is working at Virginia Commerce Bank in commercial banking. Kathy Chun graduated from George Washington University. During her four years of college, Kathy spent time working for CBS, W-USA, The CW Network, and Entertainment Tonight. After graduation she went to New York to intern at Viacom Media Networks. She started working long hours for MTV News and Documentaries Production Management which gave her more experience on the
2004 Christina Samra graduated from The University of Maryland, College of Dental Surgery in May. Christina was selected as the recipient of the 2011 Academy of Osseointegration's Outstanding Student in Implant Dentistry Award. She also was presented with Dean's Community Service Award in recognition of more than 70 hours of contribution and service. She is working with Dr. Makarita, a private practice in Oakton with a focus on general, aesthetic, and reconstructive dentistry as well as Mira Dental in Tyson's Corner. flint hill magazine
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2011 Olivia Landrum is currently a member of the James Madison University dance team which placed third in the National Dance Alliance’s Collegiate Competition in April. business and production. “One of my most memorable moments of the summer was working on the production team at the 'MTV: Justin Bieber Live Special,'" she says. "It was a very hectic and exhausting day, being that it was a live shoot with a pretty high profile entertainer, but I learned a lot from the experience. It was one of those moments that remind me why I enjoy working in television so much.” She is currently working at Comedy Central as a production assistant.
2009 Julia Fortkort was named as a preseason All-American for the University of Texas women’s rugby team. Ashley Bazzarone has started all 12 games for the Brigham Young University women's soccer team. Doug Howard is a member of the William & Mary basketball team, a team he came out for in 2009 as a walk-on. Last season, Doug was named team captain for the 2012-13 season and his coach also awarded him with a full-
scholarship, a rare Division-I occurrence for a player who wasn't recruited.
2011 Tori Janowski is off to a great start for the UVA volleyball team. As a sophomore, she leads the team with 167 kills and has recorded 251 assists in the first 15 matches of 2012. Jesse Fellows helped the Navy women’s lacrosse team win the Patriot League in 2012. The standout freshman scored 34 goals and had 13 assists while starting in all 21 games last season, helping Navy finish with a record of 18-3.
2012 Hunter Windmuller is a member of the Virginia Tech football team as a punter. When the Flint Hill Football team traveled down to Charlottesville to take on St. Anne’s-Belfield, a number of alumni, who are now enrolled at University of Virginia, came out to watch Flint Hill win 27-3.
2003 Abby Fuchs married Godfried de Goey on June 23. They live in Arlington. Abby is a Campus Recruiter at Deloitte.
2009 Jovan Smith returned to the University of Richmond football team after missing all of 2011 due to a spinal condition known as spinal stenosis, a very serious condition that has forced many football players to retire. Jovan opted for corrective surgery in 2011 in an effort to make a comeback. And in 2012 he was back on out the field as a leading rusher on the Spiders with more than 340 yards and five touchdowns. Unfortunately Smith’s symptoms returned and doctors have advised him to give up football. While his playing days are over, his Spider teammates are honoring his courage to return from the injury, by each wearing a sticker with “JS4” – his initials and jersey number.
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Michael Freedman recently graduated from Duke with a BS in chemistry. He is currently working as a chemist for the U.S. Navy in Washington D.C., specializing in the minimization and substitution of hazardous materials from shipboard applications. In addition, he recently began a master's degree in environmental planning and management through Johns Hopkins. In his free time, Michael has become an avid mountaineer and world traveler. In 2010, he and his father reached the summit of Mt. Elbrus in southern Russia at 18,510 feet, the highest point in Europe. Earlier in 2012, the father-son duo reached the summit of Aconcagua in Argentina at 22,840 feet. They plan to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro 2013.
2007
Andrew Sailer is a law student at Marquette. He spent last summer in Beijing, China, working as an associate for White & Case LLP. In China, he worked on several litigation cases between Chinese banks and US banks
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Caroline Joyce was named the New Teacher of the Year for 2012 at Pineville Elementary School in Charlotte, N.C. She is a second grade teacher.
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2008
2010
Becca Sigal graduated from Penn State, and recently went backpacking across Europe with her younger sister Julia Sigal ’11 (who is currently a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania). The Sigal Sisters visited seven countries and stopped in 14 cities, including Venice, Lisbon, Berlin, Milan and Prague.
Natalie Berk is working as an actress and singer in New York City. In 2012, she starred in the short-film “Beautiful Girls” which was accepted into the Cannes Short Film Corner. In September, she appeared on an episode of ABC’s “Primetime: What Would You Do?” with reporter John Quinones. Natalie also appeared in a Lifetime Network show in November.
2012 2009
Brian DeMocker decided to climb 20,320 feet to top Denali, the tallest mountain in North America before starting his freshman year at the University of Colorado.
John Stertzer continues to be absolutely dominant for the University of Maryland soccer program. Nine games into the 2012 season, the Terps are ranked #1 in the nation, and John is a big reason behind their success, netting four goals and an assist. Before the season began, he was named as a nominee for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the highest individual honor for Division-I Soccer. Last season he scored a career best 14 goals, including a team-high of five game winning scores, and was named First Team All-ACC.
In the first few days of his freshman year at UVA, Rick Armstrong tried out for the crew team, a sport he hadn't participated in before. It turns out he has a knack for it. He made the team and has been loving every minute.
2008 Shane Savage has had a tremendous football career so far at Cornell, entering his senior year as a preseason All-American after leading the Ivy League in receptions, yards, and touchdowns in 2011. While a small injury sidelined him for the first two games of 2012, Savage is set to have another strong season for the Big Red.
2012 Taylor Kim, Jenny Laychak, and Brittany Sweatman took what they learned from the Flint Hill dance team to college; all three of the girls made the dance team at their colleges – Delaware, Elon and Northwestern, respectively.
2008
2008
Colby Miller married Lauren Redding on August, 4. A number of Flint Hill graduates were in attendance including: Meth Gunasinghe ’08, Trevor Halstead ’08, Rolfe Garcia ’08, David Wall ’08, Tommy Wall ’10, Colin Barbalace ’08, and Ryan Barbalace ’10.
Jeff Zeberlein graduated from UNC, and recently was commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy. He is currently in flight school in Pensacola, Florida, training to be a Flight Officer in the Navy.
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Who are these fine folks from 1968? LET US KNOW BY EMAILING ALUMNI@FLINTHILL.ORG
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M A G A Z I N E N O V E M B E R
2 0 1 2
Where teaching ignites a passion for learning. Leadership John Thomas, Headmaster Shannan Schuster, Dean of Faculty Sheena Hall, Lower School Director Barry Davis, Middle School Director Brian Lamont, Upper School Director Anne Peterson, Business Manager Zachry Kincaid, Director of Marketing and Communications Catherine Evans, Director of Development Christopher Pryor, Director of Admission Michele Velchik, Associate Director of Admission Martin Mitchell, Director of Fine Arts Steven Henry, Director of Athletics Susan Chiarolanzio, Director of College Counseling Barbara Benoit, Director of Counseling Susan Biggs, Learning Center Director Mia Burton, Director of Special and Summer Programs Marketing and Communications Staff Zach Kincaid, zkincaid@flinthill.org Ellen Turner, eturner@flinthill.org Jackie Viteri, jviteri@flinthill.org Photography Support Jen Harris Magazine Design Jon Scott
Flint Hill School 3320 Jermantown Road Oakton, VA 22124 www.flinthill.org Flint Hill School is a junior kindergarten through 12th grade independent school. Our educational approach customizes a student's experience. Coupled with a traditional core of courses and an expansive number of resources including a MacBook/iPad for every student, the heart of learning is the interaction between the teacher and student which creates a rigorous set of expectations within a collaborative community. Founded in 1956, Flint Hill School is in the center of Fairfax County. It is a top choice for 800 families, and, on two campuses, more than 200 faculty and staff work alongside students to help them exceed wildly beyond their aspirations.
Making Terrariums 5th graders learn the function of roots, stems, and leaves of vascular plants and how plant organs work together during the process of photosynthesis.
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Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID
3320 Jermantown Road Oakton, Virginia 22124
Permit No. 643 Oakton, VA
The former tools of the trade.
Old school doesn't make sense anymore. At Flint Hill, every classroom has technology in use, to help the teacher engage with students. For example, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a one- MacBook/iPad-perstudent campus. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part of customizing the classroom for each student.
Flint Hill School
Where teaching ignites a passion for learning.
We know teaching this way has wild success for students to go far, both in their knowledge and ability.