4 minute read
INQUIRING MINDS
Noted scientist and science educator Jack Laws took up residence at Lake Forest Country Day School and showed students some innovative, new methods to expand their scientific knowledge.
BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
Dave Genger, who passed away in 2010, was a much-beloved science teacher at Lake Forest Country Day School (LFCDS). Genger’s fingerprints are still all over the hands-on, innovative programming at the school. Not long after Genger died, LFCDS established the David Genger Scientist-in-Residency Day in his honor.
Each year, an expert in a scientific field joins LFCDS students for the day and provides hands on instruction to complement the already robust science programs at the school. The first Scientist-in-Residence was Dr. Tung Jeong, a leading international expert on holography, and the annual program has been held ever since.
“This annual event is a way to honor Dave’s legacy and allow our current students to have the sort of one-of-a-kind experiences they might have in Dave's classroom,” says Mark Arthur, LFCDS Science Department Chair and 7th Grade Science Teacher. “Dave was the innovation master. From starting the LEGO Robotics program to breeding corn snakes, his curriculum and teaching methods were at the highest level."
Arthur says Genger embraced all fields of science. He loved the mechanics and engineering of a robotics unit as much as he enjoyed the chemical, physical, and natural studies of science.
“He encouraged his students to explore living things and to develop an understanding and respect for creation, growth, and survival,” says Nan Caldwell, World Language Department Chair and Upper School Spanish Teacher. “The tree planted near the playing fields on campus represents Dave’s love of nature and his desire to impart that value to his students."
The 2023 Dave Genger Scientist-in-Residence took place last week at LFCDS, and this year it was expanded to two days.
John Muir Laws, a California-based scientist, and science educator spent three days on campus teaching LFCDS students new and interesting ways to learn about science. Laws is the founder of the Wild Wonders Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to encouraging nature connection and conservation through attention, curiosity, art, science, and community.
“We were tremendously fortunate to have Jack Laws on campus. Something special about Jack is that he is both a master scientist and a master educator,” says Greg McDonough, Innovation Space Director at LFCDS. “He resonated with our students from 1st through 8th grade in a great way. Jack also did different activities with each grade level so that teachers who saw each lesson could potentially do different activities that other teachers saw in the future. Our campus is about 30 acres, and Jack utilized all of our outdoor spaces in curating an exceptional experience.”
Laws had 1st-graders sketching colors near the playground, 8th-graders on LFCDS outdoor classroom trails journaling plants, and 6th-graders documenting all the plants they could observe around the school’s pond.
Before moving back to Lake Forest, Lisa Lucas Talbot and her daughter, a student at LFCDS, took classes with Laws in California. She thought Laws would be a perfect for this year’s residency and introduced him to LFCDS staff.
“I’ve met few people in my career and life who can have an audience of people from 5 or 6 years old to grandparenting ages and engage them and hold their attention,” Talbot says. “Whether it’s for 90 minutes or an eight-hour field trip, that is a communications skill that is almost unheard of.”
Central to Laws’ work both as a scientist and educator is journaling. Students learn keen observation skills by journaling and drawing pictures and can compare changes over time.
“Jack’s approach has always been to start with this habit. The nature journaling habit is not about becoming a great artist and making the most life-like cardinal on your page,” Talbot says. “It’s about becoming a better observer of the world around you.”
When Talbot visited campus this week, she says one of the things Laws exhorted the students to do is to look for things close by to study. You don’t have to travel the world to find something interesting to observe.
“You can find amazing things to study, to observe, to ask questions about, and to broaden your world at Costco,” she says. “It isn’t about feeding your confirmation bias or reinforcing what you already know to make you feel good.”
For more information about Lake Forest Country Day School, visit lfcds.org.
