Arete Spring 2017: Quaker Values in Action

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Areté

March 2017, our aspirations Classical Greek for excellence, justice, or virtue, the concept of areté nicely captures for children at Moses Brown. We seek to foster the inner promise in all students, and promote habits of mind, body, and spirit that prepare our graduates to do both well and good in the world.

Welcome to

Global Education: Putting Quaker Values into Action By Matt Glendinning

Moses Brown is one of the oldest and largest of a network of 78 Quaker schools in America. While each is independent, they all share a mission to nurture the special gifts, talents, and identity of every person. Dr. Gara Field, MB’s new Director of Global Education, puts our Quaker identity into action through Global Education. “One thing that drew me to Moses Brown,” she says, “is that the approach here is modeled on widely respected academic research from Harvard. The focus on creative problem solving, global awareness, and ethical leadership—what MB calls its ‘North Stars’— is exactly the right way to equip kids for a rapidly changing world.” MATT: Gara, you were Providence’s Principal of the Year in 2013, in recognition of your innovative work at Pleasant View Elementary. How does that experience translate to MB, where the ages range more widely? GARA: I’ve been fortunate to work alongside passionate and talented educators throughout my career. At Pleasant View, we transformed a once struggling school into a vibrant culture of student-centered and project-based learning, where teachers became empowered, children engaged, parents involved, and community partners became allies. At Moses Brown, the foundation for those tenets are solidly in

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What is a Community? First grade takes a look In the first few months of their social studies curriculum, first graders embark on an annual unit on Community. They discuss neighborhoods, towns, and states, utilizing both verbal and written skills, before mapping with globes and world maps. After discussing the importance of fire stations, libraries, and parks, they eventually circle back to the idea of what truly makes a community by taking a careful look at their own school. “Our students have a good understanding of the workings of our lower school building, but very little understanding of the campus beyond our playground,” says teacher Samantha Bradshaw '85. They begin their projectbased learning by touring campus. They take pictures of

buildings and landmarks and ask questions about the people who work in them. Who teaches the older students? Who works in the field house and cafeterias? Who cuts our grass, collects the leaves from our beautiful trees, and plows the snow? “There is a lot of talk about who they know in the various buildings and experiences they’ve had in these foreign parts of the campus,” says teacher Jeremy Saksik. After returning to the lower school, students learn that they will meet and interview MB staff who work in these mysterious buildings. At this point, the room bursts with energy, excitement, and predictions. The class discusses what makes a good question: what questions provide the most information?

Each child welcomes their “MB friend” to class and uses a notebook to record details about their friend’s job, what is fun and difficult about it, and how their work supports MB. Each friend also takes students to their place of work so the first graders can glimpse what it is like to do their job. Next, students worked with Sarah Barnum in Art, to create a comprehensive 3D model of the MB campus and a miniature cardboard cutout of each interviewee, with job description (i.e., Psychologist Jess Stewart “helps people be their best”). In January, students invited their new friends back for a community celebration. Students hosted grownups with personal tours of their cardboard campus, and carefully delivered cookies and hot cider to their guests. “To discover the true essence of community, we don’t have to look any farther than our own campus,” says Sam. “A

Director of Leadership Giving Linda Kaplan P'14 '16 with her two first grade interviewers, Charlie H. and Jaxson G. community is less about the buildings and landmarks; its foundation lies with its members and their teamwork.”


Areté, March 2017 place, and working with faculty and staff across all divisions to move forward work focused on service learning, sustainability, diversity, social entrepreneurship, and engineering & design has been creative and collaborative. Discovering the intersections within and between the North Stars has been super exciting, and fun! The last thing I’ll say that has been professionally inspiring is my return to the classroom to teach Modern World History, which has enabled me to push sophomores to become well informed global citizens—connecting past to present and understanding the “why” as opposed to memorizing the “when.”

from front

MATT: Fostering Ethical Leadership in students can seem lofty—what does the day-to-day implementation of that look like to you? GARA: At a Friends school like MB, Ethical Leadership is the natural outcome of living the principle Quaker testimonies— simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and service. One recent example is the Ethics Bowl, a new event for MB that I helped organize with Galen McNemarHamann. MB fielded two teams of upper school students, who engaged in critical thinking and civic discourse around current moral issues, e.g., are bans on religious garb in public schools morally justified? In middle school, seventh graders are learning to understand others by “stepping into their skin,” as Atticus Finch suggests in To Kill a Mockingbird. And in lower school, faculty have organized diversity workshops

that explore different perspectives and identities. Kids—and adults—need to understand the difference between equality and equity, which isn’t always easy, and have the guts to stand up for what is right. MATT: The TRIPs program has grown by leaps and bounds. What most excites you about this initiative? GARA: I like what [Harvard professor] Fernando Reimers said: “Education should cultivate the agency, voice, and efficacy of people. We need to help learners develop the ability to use what they know to solve problems.” I love how service is incorporated into most MB trips, and I’m excited to lead the spring break service retreat that Kelly Joseph started four years ago. It’s kind of awe-inspring that these kids grapple so earnestly and capably with questions of poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness in Providence. This is empathic work that helps build a sense of community beyond our campus. MATT: What is your vision for the next steps of MB’s Global Education program? GARA: I’m excited to partner with Brown University’s Swearer Center to explore the possibility of a Social Entrepreneurship program. I think there will be unexpected innovations (that may address social questions) coming out of the Y-lab. And personally, I’m looking forward to presenting with my colleague, Sarah McShane, at a Global Education conference in California this spring, where we will share important elements of project-based learning.

100 Kids, 12 Courts, Unlimited Opportunity As reported in the Spring/Summer 2016 issue of Cupola, Moses Brown has announced a unique partnership with SquashBusters, a program which uses squash and academic support to send 95% of its (typically underserved) participants to college. During spring break, this partnership will take a momentous step forward when excavators start digging the foundation for a new squash facility on campus.

A Leading-Edge Facility for MB This facility will feature twelve squash courts (including a doubles court), locker rooms, and classrooms. It will be one of the premier squash facilities in New England, giving students invaluable experience competing in the kind of environments they’ll find at the most competitive colleges and universities, enabling MB to host nationally prominent tournaments.

Extending MB’s Mission Hosting the SquashBusters program enables MB to support educational opportunities for over 100 students from local public schools, extending our mission far beyond our gates. Five days a week, SquashBusters provides study skills, community service, and squash to students, starting in 6th grade.

A Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity On top of it all, SquashBusters made an astounding offer: SquashBusters will enjoy a 50-year lease for year-round use of six of the courts, but Moses Brown will own the facility outright. And financially, SquashBusters will contribute $4.78 million toward the total project cost of $7.87 million, and partner with MB to raise $1.5 million from the local community, leaving just $1.58 million for MB to raise. While this project falls outside the scope of the MB Believes campaign, it provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance MB’s athletic facilities while building new community connections.

Making Long-Term Connections Moses Brown and SquashBusters students will play and learn alongside each other for years, creating opportunities to develop enduring and mutually beneficial relationships. SquashBusters also plans to recruit MB community members as coaches, mentors, and tutors—further deepening the connections.

For more, visit squashbusters.org!

Quaker Values Past MB By Debbie Phipps Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs

Each October, recent graduates on fall break from their first year of college return to Moses Brown. It’s a chance to reconnect with teachers, walk the halls as a newly minted alum—and share their reflections about their MB years. We regularly hear that they discover that they’re better at time management, selfadvocacy, and writing than many of their firstyear classmates; they have expected this. What surprises them, however, is the realization that they miss being at a Quaker school. It would be easy to suggest that it’s weekly Meeting for Worship—and the wonders of Baccalaureate—that reveal our commitment to Quaker tenets. But the SPICES that our youngest learners can recite infuse our program in ways that students don’t always recognize until they leave; our behaviors are so steeped in these ideals that they may not be noticed until they’re missing at a student’s next destination. Treating others with respect, learning to speak up for what is right while listening to ideas that may differ, acting with integrity— these behaviors are as important in what we teach as the quadratic equation or the preterit tense. Whether middle schoolers are stretching to understand and hold in tension both ranchers’ and environmentalists’ perspectives in the Wolf Project, or intrepid upper schoolers spend their Super Bowl Sunday at the first Ethics Bowl in Providence, or lower school students share at community time each morning, these moments create and foster the Quaker foundations that are our school. Upper school students seeking ways to make ours a campus free of plastic bottles, fifth graders studying ways to resolve conflict without violence, and an entire middle school applauding a student’s brave decision to share her own poem after a performance by a well-known spoken word artist all point to Quaker values of sustainability, peace, and community—though students may not recognize this at the time. These acts are simply what they do, responsibilities deeply ingrained in the ethos of the school. More than one graduate went on to start a practice of silent meeting at college, and many more find a way to seek out silence and chance to reflect. Yet they are also quick to bring people together in communities, to reach out even when it is uncomfortable. While they might not cite their actions as sharing Friends practices, they know that they’re recreating something that they miss once they leave this Quaker school.


March 2017, Areté

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Go

Vietnamese travels thanks to Owen Award Art makes the world a better place, we know, but how does music, poetry, or painting help people in extreme poverty? A cellist, actor, and dancer, Lex Majoros '17 faced this question last summer, on an arts-service trip to Vietnam made possible by an Owen Award.

Lex was invited to join a group from the RockPaper-Scissors Children’s Fund, a Rhode Island-based nonprofit that serves poor, rural Vietnamese children through art and music programs. The team—music teachers, a violinist and repair technician, photographers, yoga instructors, and five high school artists and musicians, including Lex and classmate Sabine Angier '17—embarked on the 30-hour journey to Ho Chi Minh City, and on to the village of Cam Đức. Music and art lessons were held at the community center. “I began teaching cello to a 12-year-old boy,” Lex says. “Linh was self-conscious about his speech impediment, so we were equally awkward in trying to communicate through our translator. The language barrier pushed us to

connect physically and audibly: mimicry, facial expressions, and opinionated grunts on my part. We got a lot done!” Some afternoons were spent with children in nearby villages, painting, dancing, and performing. He reflects, “It was wonderful, but I wondered, did these kids really need something as ephemeral as music or art when they lacked basic necessities?” In the city of Hue, the group visited an orphanage. “As soon as there was music, kids ran to show off some crazy dance moves,” Lex laughs. “There was nothing formal about it—dancers jumped in and out of the fray as they pleased—but it was pure joy. Art fosters not only joy, but compassion, a sense of community. This brief experience reminded me why I love what I do, and how grateful I was to be involved with Rock-Paper-Scissors.”

Senior Lex Majoros traveled to Vietnam with the Rock-PaperScissors Children’s Fund to teach art and music to rural Vietnamese children.

At the final concert, Lex’s student played four pieces with some young violinists. “Linh played perfectly and hugged his friends after they bowed,” he recalls. “Once too embarrassed to speak, he was engaged with the group. His uneasiness was gone, and what was left was a familial sense of belonging. It was hard to leave them the next day. Among the rewards of the experience was the opportunity to question and personally clarify the value of the arts. I’d like to thank Rob Owen for making this adventure possible.”

The Owen family have deep ties to MB. Rob '71, Dwight '64, and John '66 attended and their parents served on the Parents’ Association and the Board. At each Commencement, two Owen Awards recognize a junior boy and girl for excellence in leadership, academics, and sportsmanship. Rob established another award in 2010, reflecting his belief in the power of travel, experiential learning, and service. These two annual awards support a project, course of study, or program that blends individual initiative and creativity with international travel and service.

Undermining Villainy Seventh grade wolf project peels away layers of stereotypes

Krive has created ‘lib guides,’ curated digital study packets. “They start with lib guides, but always find more,” she says. Each year she incorporates the best student discoveries, so the kids learn not only from their teachers and classmates, but also from students who’ve preceded them. Beyond classroom work, students learn narrative technique with director Marni Zelnick, and watch her film Druid Peak, which focuses on the issues they’re studying. Those once-scary wolves quickly become revered. Many students find themselves turning against their own kind: humans.

Middle school students meet with rancher Martin Davis on a TRIP to Yellowstone National Park. Middle school English teachers Yulie Lee and Maureen Nagle start with a question: “When we say ‘wolf,’ what do you think of?” Frankly, it’s a setup. No sooner have kids shouted out a list of villainous characteristics than they discover that the next book of the semester is Farley Mowat’s Never Cry Wolf. And starting three years ago, the book has been paired with the ecology unit taught by Tony McClellan

and Katie Goldman '06. “The scientific vocabulary in the novel reinforces what they’re learning in ecology and gives it a context,” says Tony. Students are assigned one of five stakeholder roles: wolves, border communities, biologists, conservationists, or ranchers, and cap the unit by delivering a speech on behalf of their assigned role. To aid their research, librarian Anne

Yulie explains, “as East Coast kids, the rancher is definitely the hardest perspective for them to understand—the most easily vilified.” So when Maureen and Tony met Martin Davis of the Flying Diamond Ranch during a middle school trip to Yellowstone National Park, they invited him and his wife Janet east of the Mississippi for the first time in their lives to visit Moses Brown.

predators. “I get one paycheck a year when I sell my cattle,” says Martin, “and I have to make it last all year.” He explains that while wolves do occasionally kill cattle, the predators’ biggest impact is simply being there, prowling, with their scent on the wind. Cattle get nervous, and move around more. They keep their heads up, listening, smelling, looking for danger—instead of keeping them down, eating. In a business that pays by the pound, the loss of 15– 20% of the animals’ body weight lands directly in Martin and Janet’s wallet. Student Eli Weisbord wrote, “While reading Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat, we learned to think like biologists. Your [visit] made us think like ranchers.”

While this unit unifies literature and science, it gets at something deeper. “We keep introducing kids to their preconceived notions about each of these stakeholder groups, then pushing through to the more complicated reality,” says Yulie. And that lesson leads into the next topic of the year: the racial justice unit, in which the Suddenly, the rancher didn’t seem kids demonstrate they’ve really callously profiteering. Suddenly, learned the deeper lessons of the he was a real person who loved his Wolf Project. When they start animals. Suddenly, the students talking about racial stereotypes, felt the impact of these apex the kids are ready for the setup.


Areté, March 2017

Creating Lasting Effects

Faculty member returns to Dominican Republic as upper school TRIP leader Each March, a group of upper school students, faculty, and alumni doctors spend a week in the Dominican Republic. They provide basic medical care to sugarcane workers and families in remote villages, often their only medical treatment of the year. This year, one of the faculty leaders brings a unique perspective—art teacher Dominique Avila '11 took the trip twice as an MB student. The 2010 and 2011 trips made a lasting impact on Dominique. “I felt such excitement when I was accepted for the trip, realizing that my spring break would be more meaningful than just sleeping in,” she recalls. Daily, students load a bus with medications, drive to a village, set up and cycle through different stations: reception, pharmacy, deworming, and eyeglasses distribution. “I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the work,” she recalls, “unloading heavy bags from dusty buses, sweating as we set up in a school or church, spending hours on our feet. I’d fall asleep exhausted, knowing I worked hard for others.” Before departure, students raise money to buy bulk medication and to meet extreme patient needs,

such as a man whose leg had to be amputated during Dominique’s 2011 trip: “We paid for his surgery, hospital stay, and antibiotics.” “Students get so much out of this trip,” Dominique says. “I gained a broader understanding of privilege, economics, and history, and the impact we can make as individuals in our communities, both locally and globally. Coming from a family of immigrants, I appreciate what my parents and I have worked for, but the poverty and sacrifice in the DR hit me hard. Back home, I was astounded by how lucky I felt to have a roof over my head, my own room, running water and regular meals, luxuries our patients didn’t have. We take even education for granted, but we’ll meet teenagers who don’t go to school, because they have to provide for their families.” Dominique received her B.F.A. from the School of Museum of Fine Arts (SFMA) in Boston, and her M.A.T. in Art Education from the Tufts/SMFA partnership. “I came back for my 5th reunion in April, and a month later I was interviewing!” she laughs. “I’ve come full circle, giving back to a community that gave me so much for 13 years.”

Team 1—made up of sophomores Sam Andelman, Mason Barrett, and Nuri van Dommelen—went up against Lincoln School in the final round of the Ethics Bowl.

Excellence in Ethics

MB sends two teams to Ethics Bowl at Brown: students explore deep societal issues Seven teams of high schoolers participated in Rhode Island’s Regional High School Ethics Bowl on February 5th at Brown University. Moses Brown entered two teams to compete with 360 High School, Central High School, Evolutions High School, Paul Cuffee Charter School, Highlander Charter School, and Lincoln School. Students are challenged to consider issues as citizens in a complex moral and political community. The Ethics Bowl differs from a debate competition in that students are not assigned opposing views but rather defend their positions through constructive criticism, and win by demonstrating that they have thought about the cases and engaged respectfully with all participants. Planners included faculty from 360 High School and Moses Brown, including Dr. Gara Field, MB’s new Director of Global Education, and Galen McNemar Hamann, MB’s Director of Friends Education, along with Brown Philosophy Professor Dr. David Estlund. “MB’s team was engaged, motivated, and self-directed,” says Gara. “Our students were inquisitive, resourceful, intelligent, and articulate. They worked hard and pushed each other.”

The Bowl’s judges and moderators included state and city officials, URI professors, Brown philosophy graduate students, and local business leaders, including Robin Muksian and Marisa O’Gara (City of Providence), Christine Lopes Metcalf and Daniela Fairchild (R.I. Department of Education), Krsytafer Redden (Education Middle school art faculty, Dominique Avila '11, will return to the DR for a third time—this time as a faculty leader. Fellow for Governor Raimondo), Jessica David (Rhode Island

Foundation), Nora Crowley (City Year), and Steve Larbi (Boys and Girls Club). Both of Moses Brown’s teams advanced to the semi-finals. Team 2 (Jack Tripp, Kari Buonanno, Daisy Kellogg, Meredith Langmuir, and Halle Salem) lost to Lincoln while Team 1 (Mason Barrett, Sam Andelman, and Nuri van Dommelen) faced Lincoln in the finals. They finished as runners-up in a close, intense match. “The Ethics Bowl reminds me of a Harkness discussion with strangers,” says Gara. “The beauty of it is that it highlights ethical leadership as an authentic opportunity to bring together a diverse group of teenagers to make sense of the world and grapple with issues of moral agency.” Sophomore Samuel Andelman had always wanted to do something like this but never had the opportunity until now. “The experience was really cool,” he says. “We were basically thrown into complicated situations, and it was fun using my MB education to navigate them. I enjoyed discussing issues with people I had never met before.” He feels that such issues should be discussed by students. “The opportunity to express and defend my view was powerful and an experience everyone should have.” Sam says the experience highlights the importance of discussion and perspective to truly understand and act upon ethical situations. “Our students represented MB with passion and pride,” echoes Gara. “I hope this experience manifests ethical leadership for them and gives them a real-world experience in the power of its application.”


March 2017, Areté

Engaging Heads and Hearts of our Middle School Readers By Maureen Nagle

to address their questions, they re-read a passage from our summer reading book about a refugee fleeing the violence in Eritrea. We discussed a visit (earlier in the year) from Omar Bah P'28, founder of the Refugee Dream Center in Providence, who had fled violence in Gambia.

Scout Finch never wanted to return to first grade after her teacher berated her for already knowing how to read. To help her grapple with her teacher’s frustration, Scout’s father Atticus offered, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb around in his skin and walk around in it.” I’d assigned the passage to seventh graders over the weekend, and on Monday morning challenged them to recall when they’d seen a character step into another’s skin. “Farley!” one student exclaimed, referring to the narrator of Never Cry Wolf. Farley ate, slept, napped, even hunted like a wolf to understand their true nature, ultimately debunking a long-perpetuated myth of the villainous wolf and revealing them as an essential part of a healthy ecosystem. Whether you’re a grownup or a seventh grader, it’s not easy to step into another’s skin. Farley nearly froze to death on the tundra, and Scout nearly lost her life to a vengeful drunkard

Seventh grade students are tasked with reading books focusing on an immigrant, a refugee, or a Muslim protagonist. bent on retaliation against her father. With these examples as context, I asked the students another question: which people in our world today may be misunderstood? The question proved timely: while students were reading this passage from To Kill a Mockingbird, our President issued an executive order halting the entry of immigrants from seven majority-Muslim counties. The students drew the parallels, and as part of our attempt

Bridging Communities at the Quaker Youth Leadership Conference By Jared Schott, Jr. '17 The QYLC or Quaker Youth Leadership Conference is a magical gathering. I have been lucky enough to attend for the last three years, the second of which was jointly hosted by Moses Brown and Lincoln School. The Quaker Youth Leadership Conference is unlike anything I have encountered in my 15 years of attending a Quaker school. The basic layout of every conference essentially follows the same template. Friends schools from around the country (and even from outside the country) assemble at a host Friend School. This year was a dual host of Mary McDowell Friends School and Brooklyn Friends School. Every year the host school incorporates a unique spin and inclusion of one of the Quaker testimonies. This year the topic was Bridging Communities. The first day of the conference consists of everyone getting settled, a quick tour, icebreakers, and a delicious dinner followed

by Meeting for Worship. We end the night with a terrifically fun social dance. The QYLC is not all work. Each conference provides enough down time to let us create great conversations and develop real friendships. I consider myself so fortunate that I’ve made many friends over the last three QYLC events. The quality of those friendships make this yearly event even more powerful for me. The second day of the conference usually provides the most fun. This year groups visited educational and cultural focal points within the Brooklyn community and enjoyed a lovely, but brief session of community outreach. I was lucky enough to travel to the New York Transit Museum to learn about the history of the subway and public transport. My community outreach location was even better. I spent time speaking with the Brooklyn Pride Center and learned more about how to support the LGBTQ+ people in my own community.

A Monday morning class brought together our summer reading, past visiting speakers, the weekend’s assignment, and current events. Our Quaker principles helped us navigate this complex and weighty territory, but it still didn’t feel like enough. So we set ourselves a challenge—to read another book from the school library, with the proviso that it must be about an immigrant, a refugee, or a Muslim protagonist. And now we’re reading and talking about these books, and considering how “we can do more to help refugees and immigrants in our state,” as one 7th grader recently reflected in her journal. Like any learning journey, we know it won’t be without its bumps in the road, but with critical reading and thinking and the deliberate exercise of empathy, wherever our Atticus Project takes us will be well worth the effort.

The dinner on Day Two normally concludes with a keynote speaker. This year’s speaker was Niyonu Spann, who spoke about how media can create misinterpretations and foster stereotypes that blind us from seeing truth and following what really drives us. Her presentation really made me consider how much we are influenced by subtle inconsistency in the “truth” given to us. The evening ends with one of my favorite activities of QYLC—the Coffeehouse. Now the coffeehouse is essentially a talent show, but there is no really talent required. For example, I sang a song with a friend of mine from Tandem Friends, and another student spoke the words to “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea while his friends waxed his legs. There is no limit to the things that happen at the Coffeehouse. The only requirement is that you have fun. And because everyone is supportive and kind, we all feel more comfortable taking a bit of a risk on stage. The final day provides plenty of social time to solidify friendships and several short workshops. Each workshop topic addresses a current issue within the world. I attended “Rape Culture in Politics” and “A Discussion about the U.S.-Mexican Border.”

"This picture is from the second night of the QYLC when we went out to dinner in Brooklyn with our new friends from other schools. This night represents the QYLC for me because it shows how quickly we form really great friendships with kids from all over the country (and Canada!). The trip is the perfect mix of new experiences, new people, learning, service, and adventures. For me, connecting with other people who share similar values and goals is an incredible way to learn about Quakerism and make connections you’ll keep for years to come!" – Anna Hardie '17

Both of these topics allowed me to express my thoughts and hear other viewpoints. The last Meeting for Worship of the conference is always the best. It is very easy to center oneself in the quiet and just let all of the stress and worries melt away. QYLC has helped shape my understanding of all the Quaker testimonies, and I hope that I can help inspire future classes to seize this incredible opportunity. It is an experience unlike any other.


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QUAKER VALUES IN ACTION

MARCH 2017

A PUBLICATION FROM HEAD OF SCHOOL MATT GLENDINNING

Areté, March 2017


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