Schooling With Purpose Finding Meaning in Every Activity

The theme of this year is Living With Purpose, and the community came together to embrace it and learn about King’s mission to bring purpose and intentionality into every aspect of the student experience.

During the State of the School on October 5, Head of School Carol Maoz introduced seven students: Mason Stein ’30, Ricky Arango ’28, Theo Zhang ’28, Olivia Asnes ’25, Abby Block ’25, Kiran Rao ’25, and Liv King ’24. They participated in a panel discussion about their King journey, which Maoz described as “the best part of the evening.” Here are some highlights from the discussion, which can be seen in its entirety on King’s website.

RICKY ARANGO ’28: Inspiring Harmony

Maoz: Ricky, how does King inspire you to seek purpose?

Ricky: I really find joy and my passion within music. It has made a huge impact on me. I want to talk about one of the main teachers and mentors in Project Music, Mr. Garrett Mendez, and how selfless he is to commit to Project Music, taking time out of his day to help and mentor students in music. He has helped many students find their passion, and I love how he goes out of his way to help everybody.

A student who also inspires me is Theo, right here (gesturing to fellow panelist Theo Zhang ’28). We are both in band together, pushing ourselves to strive and become better through our music. And I also want to mention another student, Kiran Vasisht ’28, who plays soccer with me. It is nice to see one of your friends accomplish something and be great at it, and it pushes you to be better at everything, and that is where I find my purpose.

OLIVIA ASNES ’25: Initiating Opportunities

Maoz: Olivia, can you talk about the activities you are involved in, why you chose them, and in what ways they fill an important purpose?

Olivia: I can talk about Project Music, too. While Ricky plays the instrument in the band, I am more focused on tutoring the kids who are not playing the instrument at the time. I’m helping students with math and English. They are younger than me, and they don’t necessarily go to King, but I’m helping my community in that way and giving them the extra support that I’m able to receive from my teachers at King. Additionally, I am also the leader of the Women in Business Club, and I have been able to create a lot of different projects with my co-leaders. For example, we did a “Shark Tank” project where all of our members created a business idea or a business product and pitched it to the members of the club. We had a little competition, and that was really engaging. My peers enjoyed participating in it and want us to bring it back this year.

Maoz: What is the purpose of this club? Why do we have a Women in Business Club at King?

Olivia: There are a lot of clubs at King revolving around business, like the Investment Club or the Marketing Club, and those are open to all different genders. However, in the business industry, I have found looking at the people in my life, a lot of them are men. Providing a space for women to talk about business, a space specifically designed for them, is really helpful and something I am proud to be a part of.

ABBY BLOCK ’25: Empowering Leadership

Maoz: Abby, you have said that you were shy when you entered King. Now, you are a member of the Student Council and pursuing a Leadership Distinction. Can you talk about that change, about Student Council, about the Leadership Distinction, and about the environment that allows you to grow as a leader?

Abby: I came into King, and it never occurred to me how I could use my voice to make an impact or change things that needed to be changed in a positive way. My freshman year, I ended up taking a public speaking class, which helped me realize that I could use my voice for positive change, and I ended up running for Student Council at the end of my freshman year. I had the honor of serving on Student Council for the past two years and making positive changes in the community, which translated into my Leadership Distinction, which I am taking classes for now that give me the purpose to lead others but also lead myself in a meaningful way. And it just allows me to use my voice positively.

LIV KING ’24: Creating Change

Maoz: Liv, it’s fair to say you developed your love for art at King. Now you feel very strongly about art, you are pursuing an Art Distinction, and you intend to continue your art studies in college. Can you talk about what drives you in this area, what matters to you, and how it gives you a sense of purpose?

Liv: My goal with my art is to spread a message and inspire people and have it be seen. That’s what drives me: the power that one person can have to effect change.

Maoz: And can you talk a little about your teachers, one or more of your teachers, who have inspired you or helped you to find the purpose, and how they did it?

Liv: I have had many art teachers over the years at King; I have taken many art classes. There are so many to choose from, it is amazing. This year I am taking AP Art and Design with Ms. LaPolla, and she has been really inspiring to me. She is always pushing me to take my ideas further and give my pieces deeper meaning. To reach down into my core, to who I am, and reflect myself through my art. That is really important to me.

KIRAN RAO ’25: Connecting Cultures

Maoz: Kiran has been involved with a program called the Global Citizens Initiative. This is a group that empowers young global citizens from all sectors of society and all over the world to be empathetic and lifelong leaders of positive change. Can you tell us about your experience as a GCI fellow this summer abroad and your project?

Kiran: The Global Citizens Initiative provides the opportunity for about 30 students to travel to a summit every year to be educated by great teachers and get the opportunity to meet people they would not ordinarily meet in their normal lives. This year, I traveled to Scotland. One of my favorite parts of this trip was the small conversations and how meaningful they were to me to learn about a student in China, what their daily life might be like, or what someone in Tunisia goes through when they go to school every day. That has been really rewarding. I’ve stayed in contact with these people, and that goes back to my purpose of serving others because I’m more mindful of what others might be going through in the different circumstances that affect everybody’s lives.

MASON STEIN ’30: Advocating Conservation

Maoz: In fifth grade, your teachers provided an opportunity for you to choose, research, and explore a topic that matters to you and has importance in our world. Can you tell us about this?

Mason: One of my passions in life is to make the world a better place environmentally and leave the world better than I found it. In fifth grade, we were given the opportunity to speak about our passions in something called the Advocacy Cafe. The Advocacy Cafe was where we researched a topic that we thought we needed to change. After we did our research on it, we wrote a speech and presented it to the parents. For me, I chose to do climate change, and I researched everything and anything I could find about climate change.

Maoz: In the same year, you had another opportunity to take your interest in environmental sustainability and use that knowledge and apply it to architecture. We know that architecture involves math, design thinking, and more. Can you talk about what that second project was in fifth grade?

Mason: In fifth grade, we had a math project, and we had to redesign the lower school PreK wing. We had to build it eco-friendly, with a certain amount of classrooms, easy bathroom access, and a front desk where they could check in. Some ideas that we had to put on the PreK wing were a green roof, which would keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer; a wind turbine to generate wind energy; and solar panels to generate solar energy. We researched a topic, built a model on graph paper, and then we put it into reallife measurements, and then we used a 3D app called SketchUp where we made our buildings come to life and made a real scale model with functions that we could use to redecorate and remake the PreK wing.

THEO ZHANG ’28: Applying Numbers

Maoz: Theo, I understand you are a strong mathematician, and you find purpose in the way math is applied to everyday life. Can you expand on this?

Theo: Yes. So even on the drive here to this panel, you used math in traveling to King. Your GPS calculates the best route to get here and how much time it’s going to take. Even in this theater, the designer had to calculate the measurements to know how wide the aisle should be and make each of the chairs the same width. I just find it really cool that math can be applied to even the simplest of things.

Maoz: What does purpose mean to you?

Theo: For me, purpose means doing something with intention, and then using that intention helps you set a goal, big or small. Once you set a goal, you are motivated to keep setting more, either big or small goals, and it’s just a cycle that keeps doing what it’s doing.