Footsteps Summer 2010

The Magazine of Marin Primary & Middle School

Vol. 9 SUMMER 2010

MP&MS Celebrates Thirty-Five Years 2 Commitment to the Ideal 3 Around Campus 4 Classroom Goals 6 Dateline: MP&MS 7 Nurturing Successful Students 8 Transitions 9 MP&MS...To the Future! 10 Rooting Around in Math 12 A Brief MP&MS History 14 Time Out with Roberta Heath 16 Class of 2010 18 Alumni Report 22

Footsteps

Marin Primary & Middle School

Treasuring Childhood—Learning for Life

MP&MS Celebrates Thirty-Five Years

Commited to the Ideal

by Julie Elam, Head of School

by Therese Lawless, Board Chair End-of-summer greetings to all! Memories of the end of the 2009-2010 school year are still fresh, even as we see supplies arriving and finalize plans for this very special school year – the thirty-fifth anniversary of Marin Primary & Middle School! This edition of Footsteps is dedicated to honoring our past while anticipating our exciting future.

The unique story of a school’s founding and early years is important to understanding its culture. Claire Charbonneau, our most senior faculty member, shares her memories of our history, and Roberta Heath Bradshaw, founder and current MP&MS grandparent, provides a glimpse of the vision and commitment responsible for the creation of the school.

Development and Communications Director Meredith Clark keeps us in the loop by highlighting progress made on our Master Plan, visible by the physical improvements such as painting, renovated bathrooms, and doors in the primary and preschool buildings to improve accessibility.

Considering the needs of our students as twenty-first century learners is always on our minds. I’m very excited about our review of the math program, our teachers’ active engagement in professional development, and being part of Stanford University’s Challenge Success program this coming year. Through this program, a team of students, teachers, and parents will work together to more effectively support balanced lives for our students with space and time for learning, creativity, and play.

As is true at the end of every school year, we are saying farewell to important members of our community (in addition to those graduating eighth graders!), including trustees, faculty, and staff. We celebrate their past with us, as well as their future endeavors, on page nine.

I hope you will enjoy this issue of Footsteps. After reading the stories on our past and present, I think you’ll agree our unwavering focus on the mission has positively shaped our school’s destiny.

2

An anniversary provides an opportunity to look back and reflect upon the growth and development of a school. It is obvious that our school has come a long way from the first graduating eighth grade class of one child to its current status as a leading independent school in the Bay Area. Although we have grown in so many ways, we maintain our core beliefs of treasuring childhood, understanding that each child has the ability to succeed in the world, and our emphasis on educating the whole child. Staying true to our mission is a milestone worthy of celebration this thirty-fifth year.

This enduring commitment to our mission would not have been possible without the dedicated work of our trustees. I want to thank and acknowledge those trustees who recently left our board. Eliot Holtzman, whose commitment to the school is unmatched and unsurpassed, agreed to stay on as Chair Emeritus this past year as I wet my feet as Board Chair. MP&MS would not be where it is today without Eliot’s leadership, which is most visibly evidenced by Julie Elam (Eliot co-chaired the Head Search Committee) and the physical transformation of the campus (Eliot chairs the Master Plan Committee.) The very good news is that Eliot has agreed to continue with the Master Plan work. John Battelle, Rick Bernard, Jayme Canton, Melanie Nichols, Joe Rusbarsky and Kerry Tepperman also completed their terms. I want to thank John for his work on our website and technology, Rick for his work on the master plan, Jayme for his enduring vision and marketing ideas, Melanie for her work bringing us new trustees and keeping us well fed, Joe for his contribution to marketing and the capital campaign, and Kerry for her insights and expertise as an educator and administrator. This group of trustees was truly remarkable, and we were privileged to have been guided by their knowledge and expertise over the years.

I want to welcome our new trustees: Craig Burton, Sloan Klein, Tanya Peterson, Elizabeth Ranieri, and Donna Wiggins. These trustees will continue the work of their predecessors; we are fortunate to have the benefit of their talent and commitment to the school. We move into the next thirty-five years in very good hands.

Footsteps • Summer 2010

3

Around Campus Starting Good Habits Early: A Trip to the Marin Recycling Center Take a trip to a recycling center, and what would you expect to see? To hear and smell? On a spring field trip, the Barn class saw first-hand what was the next stop for all the items they’d been putting in the recycle bins in the classroom. They found the Marin Recycling Center to be a little noisy, but neater and a lot more pleasing to young noses than anticipated.

Barn students donned reflective vests and hard hats, just like the center’s employees, for their tour. In front of stacks of recycled metal three times their own height, the tour guide explained the importance of the “four R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot.” A dramatic example of the importance of recycling came as the students looked at bales of paper stacked for recycling; one bale equals 17 trees. “I thought it would smell funny,” said one student at the conclusion of the tour, “but it smells like trees.”

Year-End Events Add Dimension to Curriculum MP&MS’s Ninth Annual International Day offered up something for all the senses: music, imaginative costumes in rich textures, and food from around the globe.

Under sunny skies, classes used fables, interpretive dance, and music to demonstrate what they’d learned about their selected country. For many classes, their choice of country sprang from the fact that they had a representative of that country right in their midst! Students who are or were residents of the Czech Republic, Mongolia, Australia, and Denmark inspired their classmates to find out more about their peers’ homelands, making International Day an especially rich experience for all involved.

Bringing it back to the wild and woolly days of the American west, this May the fourth graders, led by teachers Susan Humphrey and Liz Brown, created “Blue Water,” a gold-rush era boomtown. Visitors to Blue Water were greeted by the welcome wagon, whose bandana-wearing attendant gave the newcomers gold nuggets to spend or gamble as they chose, along with a rundown on California history, focusing on how boomtowns such as Blue Water came into existence.

Main Street businesses included an assayer’s office, gold mine, candle-making shop, saloon, and, in case any varmints crossed the line, a jail tended by a sheriff who didn’t look like she’d take any guff.

4

Middle School Students Exposed to Film Photography MP&MS middle schoolers got a taste of the not-so-distant past when they explored the art of 35 mm film photography in an MP&MS After-School class. Under the tutelage of Peter Eldredge and Michael LoRusso, students first learned photography techniques such as lighting, composition, and exposure, before being set loose on the MP&MS campus to practice their newfound skills. Said Peter Eldredge, “They learned to be frugal with their shots when restricted to 24 or 36 exposures. This made them keenly aware of the importance of composition and theme, as well as their audience.” Students also delved into taking pictures with pinhole cameras and camera obscura. These seemingly arcane techniques vividly illustrate how a camera’s eye is similar to a human’s eye. Plans are in place for more AfterSchool photography classes this school year.

It’s a Zoo Around Here!

Preschoolers, first graders, and their eighth grade buddies got together for their annual outing to the San Francisco Zoo this May. “Let’s look at the koalas!” an excited preschooler couldn’t help but shout. “But see the sign? It says to be quiet because they’re sleeping,” her buddy kindly replied. It was a day that brought out everybody’s best.

Taking a Reading on the Summer Just because the calendar says it’s summer doesn’t mean the joy of learning stops. MP&MS teachers are not only encouraging our own students to crack a book in their downtime, they’re also volunteering at Bridge the Gap in Marin City, a tutoring program that assists at-risk students with math, science, and reading. Like MP&MS’s own humble beginnings, Bridge the Gap’s classes meet in a Marin City church and volunteers bring in their own materials.

MP&MS volunteer Erin Murphy said, “The students run to hug the nearest adult. Watching a child grab the hand of a volunteer, book in tow, leading them to a quiet reading space is heartwarming. It keeps us coming back.”

MP&MS Students Earn Community Art and Speaking Awards From art to oratory, our school was proudly represented in two separate Marin County events this year. The Fair Housing of Marin poster contest recognized two posters created by five MP&MS students. Working with the theme “Fair Housing - New Neighbors, New Friends” students discussed in class how not having a house would impact aspects of everyday life. Winners were decided by a panel of civic leaders, and awards were bestowed during a ceremony at the Marin Civic Center. Dominic Phillips, Lucas Berkley, and Joshua Roth, third grade; and second graders Corinne Virk and Grace Kuth won art supplies and certificates of recognition.

Confidence and enthusiasm were also in evidence at the Margie Burke Annual Speech Contest held at Ross School, open to all Marin County sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Bravely signing on for the public speaking experience were Claire Berry, Jeske Dioquino, Addison Kuth, Erika Mott, Rainier Pearl-Styles, Daisy O’Keefe, John Rusbarsky, Emma Schlager, and Charlotte Thompson. Bringing home a first place medal in original prose and poetry was Daisy O’Keefe with her original poems “Cat,” “Poetry,” and “That Woman You Call Mother Earth.”

Footsteps • Summer 2010

5

Dateline: MP&MS

2010-2011 Classroom Goals What’s your main goal for your classroom in the next school year?

Lots of laughs and just a few tears.

Jennifer Ingrassia, first grade teacher

To make a mess of it.

Paul Maes, art specialist Delve deeper into our local ecosystem studies.

I’d like my students to develop new ways to monitor and record what we discover in the nearby marsh.

Peter Eldredge, second grade teacher

In kindergarten, our goal is for children to love learning and coming to school.

When a child gets picked up and is disappointed because they don’t want to leave, then we know we’ve made it! Oh yeah, and let’s learn how to tie those shoes...

Mario Moran, kindergarten teacher

Unity of mind and spirit, the coming together of academic and emotional strength and awareness.

MP&MS students (and staff!) pack more learning, seeking, and of course, fun into one year than anyone we know. Here’s a quick (and by no means all-inclusive­—there’s not enough ink) retrospective of the 2009-2010 year.

Beach cleanup

Grandparents and Special Friends Day

Harvest Festival October

September

November

Dia de los Muertos Welcome Picnic

Int’l. Day of Peace

Cross country

Community Giving December

Food Drive

Halloween

It’s a New Year

Music shares

January

Valentine buddies February

Community Book Club

Really Rosie

Steve Fanfelle, eighth grade teacher Oooh, I have a bunch: Create a community where learning is exciting, fun, and thought-provoking; become more globally-aware citizens of our world through the study of current events and geography; and read lots of compelling novels together and enjoy rich discussions afterwards.

Meike Wanberg, fifth grade teacher 6

Stepping Up Into the Woods March

Chabot field trip

21st Annual Auction

Middle school field trips April

Zoo Buddy Trip

International Day

May/June

Graduation Footsteps • Summer 2010

7

Nuturing Successful Students

by Julie Elam, Head of School

Considering the qualities our students will need as learners and leaders in the 21st century, MP&MS’s focus on treasuring childhood remains a helpful guide. Our teaching structure and core program are designed to provide the time and space for children to experience a range of learning opportunities to become skillful collaborators and creative thinkers, and to critically evaluate information.

This year the MP&MS middle school community will have the chance to participate in Stanford University’s Challenge Success program. This innovative program represents a coordinated approach to helping schools, parents, and students refine our program and develop alternative models to increase well-being, engagement, and integrity in both students and parents. Founded by Madeline Levine, Ph.D., Denise Pope, Ph.D., and Jim Lobdell, M.A., this research-based organization provides the opportunity for schools accepted into their program to work with a mentor to review the school’s curriculum, survey parents and students to learn more about their needs and wishes, and refine an already-strong program to reduce stress and better meet the needs of students.

In October, a team of middle school students, parents, teachers, and administrators will participate in the three-day Challenge Success conference at Stanford. As part of this year’s Speaker Series, Denise Pope will be on campus this November 16th to meet with faculty and parents to discuss ways our students can forge healthier and more effective paths to success in the twenty-first century.

Affirming and respecting the developmental needs of children from preschool through eighth grade is one of our topmost goals. We’re looking forward to robust conversations as we make exciting discoveries in the classroom and learn from the Challenge Success program’s interactions with our MP&MS community.

8

Transitions Creating a school as lively, challenging, and dynamic as MP&MS requires the efforts of many. As we anticipate the 2010-2011 school year, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank the many people who have dedicated themselves to helping our school thrive.

We will miss a group of trustees who have contributed so significantly to the growth of the school, including past Board President Eliot Holtzman and trustees John Battelle, Rick Bernard, Jayme Canton, Melanie Nichols, John Rusbarsky, and Kerry Tepperman. Their behind-the-scenes leadership has been especially important in creating financial stability and a forward-minded vision for the future of the school.

We are pleased to welcome to the board Craig Burton, Donna Wiggins, Tanya Peterson, Sloan Klein, and Liz Ranieri-Kuth.

It’s Not “Good Bye,” It’s “See You Soon” The MP&MS community sends its very best wishes for continued success to first grade teacher Heather (Kweder) Joy, junior kindergarten teacher Alessa Kutten, OEC teacher Mia Andler, and finance and human resources director Heather Liston. Kindergarten teacher Paige Missamore will be on the absent list for the 2010-2011 year to be with her new daughter.

Sincere good wishes to longtime eighth grade teacher Sheila McBroom for a fulfilling future. Sheila has been a dedicated and devoted educator for more than thirty years, with an ethos grounded in respect for work and self. Says Steve Fanfelle, “She is a true craftsman in the sense that she teaches students the importance of learning, and what a gift learning is.

She coined the widely-used MP&MS phrase ‘responsibility equals freedom.’ Those three words really say it all, especially at the eighth grade level, when the kids are just realizing that their academic, emotional, and humanistic successes are largely due to the effort, determination, and HEART they are willing to give to whatever is in front of them.”

Footsteps • Summer 2010

9

MP&MS...To the Future!

by Meredith Clark Director of Development and Communications

It’s hard to imagine when MP&MS first opened its doors 35 years ago as “Marin Primary,” a small preschool initially located in a church basement, that the founders and early staff members could have predicted how MP&MS would evolve. Just a few decades later MP&MS is a thriving school community, highly sought after by parents who recognize the value of our unique team teaching method and philosophy of treasuring childhood.

Over the years, as MP&MS’s educational program has flourished, it has become increasingly apparent that our facilities lag behind. In the early part of this decade then-board chair Wick Polite and future-board chair Eliot Holtzman began imagining the MP&MS campus of the future. Their discussions soon evolved into rough hand-drawn sketches illustrating improvements to our physical plant. Just a few years later two events occurred that changed Eliot and Wick’s dreams into a potential reality: MP&MS signed a forty-five-year lease with its landlord, the Larkspur School District and, a noted school architect, Peter Pfau, enrolled his son Emmet at MP&MS and volunteered his time and talent to improve the campus facilities. In 2006, The MP&MS Master Plan and the complementary Building for Their Future campaigns were born. With Peter’s help and the continued dedication of a group of campus leaders,

10

we are in the process of creating a sustainable, more supportive learning environment for our students.

Interested in learning about how you can help MP&MS make these

critical improvements?

In 2008, after implementing early changes such as the attractive new Please contact Meredith Clark, campus gates and the preschool playground, MP&MS completed the first significant part of the Master Plan in Summer 2009. Thanks to Director of Development and the generosity of the MP&MS Board of Trustees and other leadership Communications, (415) 413-9046, donors, a number of significant interior improvements were made in or mclark@mpms.org all three buildings, the most visible of which was the major renovation of the school’s hallways. Soft carpet, skylights, better lighting, sleek new cubbies and bulletin boards, plus a fresh, color-coordinated coat of paint on the walls and doors turned our hallways from dark and institutional to bright and airy. The impact of the upgraded hallways was perhaps most felt during rainy days this year; instead of slipping on cold, wet linoleum, students had a warm and welcoming place to play. In addition to the hallways, several “hidden” enhancements were made including the installation of motion-detector lights, a new phone system, an improved electrical system and new ventilation.

This summer the exterior of our campus got a makeover. Our buildings are now painted cream with green trim—a welcome update from the blue and white paint of yesteryear. Important accessibility-related changes also occurred inside the building. Bathrooms in the preschool, primary and middle school buildings were renovated to be fully accessible. In addition, we installed accessible water fountains and made improvements to the path of travel through the school. These updates will greatly improve access campus-wide for students, parents, and visitors with physical challenges.

So what’s next? A lot! Over much of the last school year, the Master Plan Committee was hard at work navigating through the entitlements process for other major parts of our Master Plan, including the most dramatic addition—a new multipurpose facility. Designed to have substantial versatility, the new multipurpose room will allow the entire school community to gather together, providing the perfect setting for activities like music and drama performances, as well as housing rainy day PE classes. The MP&MS blacktop will also be replaced by a sustainable schoolyard featuring an outdoor amphitheatre, climbing structure, a full-sized basketball court and lush green landscaping. Fundraising is currently underway to turn our plans into reality.

As we prepare for MP&MS’s thirty-fifth anniversary, with enrollment at a record high, we are excited to implement plans that will ensure MP&MS’s vibrancy for future generations. These enhancements, inspiring and pragmatic, practical and transformative, will help us take our students’ educational experience to the next level. Stay tuned for updates on our progress!

Footsteps • Summer 2010

11

Rooting Around in Math or two fives. In kindergarten through second grade, our students play with numbers (both abstractly and using concrete materials) to learn how numbers work, and to build the solid conceptual understanding necessary for success in advanced math.”

Do you know another way to write (2x - 3)(3x +1) = 0? Could you arrange the equation in blocks on a diagram in front of the class? If your answer is “no” to either of these questions, you didn’t study math at MP&MS. But don’t stress—you’ll get the answer at the end of our session.

MP&MS’s math curriculum is one of the first areas of focus for our curriculum review process. This process was recently developed to ensure our program meets the needs of our students and reflects best practices. In the first months of Head of School Julie Elam’s tenure, the teachers worked together as part of the California Association of Independent School’s accreditation process to document the school’s curriculum in each subject area. Building on this work, our math teachers spent the pilot year of the new Curriculum Review identifying the facets of the math program that have been most successful and developing actions plans to finely tune other areas. They studied the flow of the math curriculum from grade to grade to discover areas of redundancy or in need of additional time; visited other elementary, middle, and high schools; and reviewed new research and best practices for teaching math.

First grade teacher Jennifer Ingrassia and seventh grade teacher Derek Berka were among several MP&MS staff members attending the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual conference this spring to learn more about the newest research and attend sessions focused on strategies to make math applicable, approachable, and meaningful for students from preschool through eighth grade. The three-day conference featured lectures ranging from “Promoting Number Sense” to “Infusing Technology into the Classroom.”

Playing with numbers takes on a very literal meaning when technology is added to the mix. Seventh grade math teacher Derek Berka used the NCTM conference to gather information about interactive white boards, a new technology that uses touch detection and a projector to display lessons to the classroom in a way that allows students to engage in mathematical thinking more effectively. Derek’s classroom was the lucky pilot group for the first interactive white board at MP&MS, and he found it to be an effective tool to make learning algebra accessible and exciting. “One of the problems in math is getting kids to do hands-on activities. With the SMART Board they can literally manipulate algebra blocks to figure out an equation like (2x -3)(3x+1). It will help kids who are more tactile-oriented in their learning. That’s huge, because algebra is the art of abstraction. The SMART Board makes it much more concrete. It gives math a lot of context.” Thanks to the 2010 Fund-in-Need fundraising drive at last year’s auction, two more SMART Boards will be in place when school opens this fall.

Learning styles are as individual as the student, and math is an area that can amplify those differences. The Curriculum Review Process, with its focus on internal conversations about the teaching of math at MP&MS and outside professional development, will help our teachers identify innovative ways to strengthen our program and to integrate math into students’ everyday lives. “People often think of math as computations: adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing,” says Jennifer. “But fluency in mathematics extends beyond simple computation to problem-solving, reasoning, and logic. We often speak of the importance of students becoming fluent readers and writers. It’s also important for our twenty-first century learners to be fluent in the broader sense of numbers.”

Let’s go back to that equation. Employing the FOIL rubric (First, Outer, Inner, Last) and grouping the like terms by color on the SMART Board (red = squared numbers, blue = numbers with an “x,” and green = whole numbers) students can actually “see” the solution, which is 6x2 - 7x - 3 = 0.

Jennifer found inspiration in the “Number Sense” presentation. “A strong number sense means to be able to ‘compose and decompose’ numbers,” Jennifer explained. “For example, when they see the number ten, students with strong number sense knows it can be a seven and a three, 12

Footsteps • Summer 2010

13

A Brief MP&MS History Clair Charbonneau as told to Judy Zimola

Once upon a time, when rotary phones roamed the earth and Claire Charbonneau barely had her driver’s license, Roberta Heath had an inspiration for a different kind of school. By August of 1975, Marin Primary opened its doors in the basement of the Marin Lutheran Church in Corte Madera.

One day I was sitting on the floor playing with Jim and Roberta Heath’s two younger children, and she came up to me and said, “I’m thinking about starting a school.” Roberta had, and still has, a great sense of what’s important to both kids and parents: that childhood is an incredibly special time and school should bring out the best in everyone. Robert and Jim spent the next year and a half getting paperwork and licensing organized and finding the perfect site, which turned out to be the Marin Lutheran Church in Corte Madera. In May of 1975 Marin Primary opened with a handful of four-year-olds and teachers. It took a year to fill the classes and two years to reach capacity, and that’s when we started adding a class year by year. Nobody wanted to leave!

Where it all started—the church in Corte Madera.

Founding Head of School David Heath

In 1981, the parents of the current fourth grade class realized that they’d have to find another school for their soonto-be middle schoolers. They did a lot of investigation into models for classrooms and schools and decided that the Marin Primary model of teams of teachers was the way to go. The next year we had a small fifth grade and we just kept adding classes until the school had preschool through eighth grades in 1994. At that time, the school’s name was changed to Marin Primary & Middle School to reflect the addition of the fifth through eighth grades. The first eighth grade graduated one student. At the end of seventh grade, she didn’t want to leave Marin Primary, so the seventh grade teachers learned eighth grade curriculum so they could teach her. She was our first alumna.

We opened the toddler program for children as young as eighteen months, now called the Meadow class, in 1997. In 2001, David Heath retired and Murray Lawrence took over. Murray implemented a lot of things: the OEC, the junior kindergarten class that was added in 2004 and the addition of a full-time nurse to our staff.

Julie Elam was hired as the third head of school after a long search in 2006. We’ve grown a lot, but through all the changes we’ve maintained our philosophy. We still honor and respect children and treasure childhood.

Roberta had the right idea—why tinker with a proven success?

By 1979 we were busting at the seams at Marin Lutheran Church. Founders Jim Heath and Founding Head of School David Heath (who aren’t related, despite the same last names) went on the hunt for a bigger site.

When our present location was found, the primary building held ILS, an independent high school, and the middle school housed several different education-related businesses, including Kaplan Learning. The multipurpose room was a synagogue!

The teachers pitched in on everything; it was a real “roll-up-your-sleeves” place. The teachers even made minor repairs! Even though we were used to doing our own school chores, you can imagine how happy we were when we got great facilities managers like Kirby. And Carl Hawke. And Dave Munson.

14

Dave DeMartini in the early daze.

Claire Charbonneau and David Heath.

Footsteps • Summer 2010

15

Time Out with Roberta Heath Your philosophy of treasuring childhood is very unique and nurturing. At the beginning, Marin Primary was a preschool. Did you foresee this perspective would work so well with the older students?

Yes, we felt our philosophy was important for all ages. Our philosophy included wanting kids to feel safe, heard, and honored for their ideas. We wanted kids to learn to express themselves and listen to and respect each other.

We felt that each child was unique and we wanted to celebrate that uniqueness. We wanted to provide a space where the kids were motivated and loved learning.

I can remember picking my kids up, and they were so involved with what they were doing that they didn’t want to leave. Those were my best moments, I just loved it.

I’m a psychotherapist now and I find that everybody, no matter how old, needs to feel safe, to be appreciated for who they are and what they believe. I feel like if 16

What happens when a dynamo latches onto a really good idea? In the case of MP&MS founder Roberta Heath, the result is a school that respects students, values staff, and graduates kids who love to learn.

everybody got those needs met, we’d have a happier world.

basically what we were using to fund the school.

everything as energy towards your goal.

Did you have an outline or schedule for the school’s growth?

We turned the school over to David Heath (no relation) who was Head of School in the beginning, and he took it to where it is today. We agreed on, and were very passionate about, the philosophy of the school. He kept the same founding philosophy of the school intact as the school expanded to the eighth grade.

Your daughter now has a child enrolled here. Do you see ways in which the program has changed?

No, not in the beginning. We opened the school as a preschool, and it evolved. I didn’t expect it to be where it is today, that’s for sure! It just grew naturally. Eventually it got too big for the space in the church we were renting so we moved to the present location and the school kept evolving. Parents wanted their kids to stay in the school so we added more grades until we reached the eighth grade.

Was it tough getting funding and going through the necessary hoops to get a school started?

We didn’t get funding when we first started. We borrowed money from one of the other founders and within a year the school paid everything back. As we needed more money for things we began having fundraisers and parents chipped in. The tuition money was

Did you ever have doubts?

What were the thoughts running through your head in your private moments?

Sure. When I first came up with the idea I thought, can we really start a school? Can we really do it? But the idea of starting a school was so clear that I just kept going.

I used any negative thoughts as energy to push the idea forward.

Today I tell people that if they have a project they’re working on, use the doubts, use the hope, use it all, and keep moving. We can get bogged down in negative thoughts but if you’re really clear about what you want to do, you just use

First of all, it’s a great joy to have my granddaughter attend MP&MS. It’s been so special for me to pick her up after school—it gives me the opportunity to experience her joy and love of the school.

I’m very impressed with the subjects and the depth of the material taught. All the programs—reading, math, science, history, music, art, drama, physical education, and gardening, are either new or have grown and expanded since the beginning of the school.

Head of School David Heath and Roberta Heath.

Roberta Heath and husband Whit Bradshaw.

If you had one wish or goal for the school for its next 35 years what would it be?

Oh my gosh. One wish?

One. I want the kids to continue to love learning.

Head of School Julie Elam, Roberta Heath, and Board Chair Therese Lawless.

Footsteps • Summer 2010

17

Class of

2010

Congratulations to our fabulous class of 2010.

You will be missed!

Michael Albinson The Branson School Science and Spanish Award

Ian Battelle The Branson School Logic Award

18

Sepehr Araghi Redwood High School Theresa B. Cook Technology Award

Michy Atkinson

Lara Bajakian

Coronado High School, San Diego

The Urban School

Faye Carlsen The Branson School Parent Associa-

Math Award

tion Award

Aaren Field

Elizabeth Coon

Riley Coven

Wyatt Dean

The Branson School

Marin School of the Arts

Math Award

Sue Campbell Reading Award

Poetry and Public Speaking Awards

Alexander Harper

Will Hirsch

Kaiya Holtzman

The Bay School

David Heath Spirit Award

Abigail Bernard

Christian Bohner

Bojianah Burton

The Bay School

The Bay School

Literature Award

Sue Campbell Reading Award

Terra Linda High School Carol Place Achievement Award

The Bay School All-Around Academic Excellence Award

Acalanes High School History and Public Speaking

Marin School of the Arts History and Kele Gasparini Music Awards

The Bay School Math and Linda Dunn Drama Awards

Awards

Footsteps • Summer 2010

19

Class of

2010 Aidan Johnson

Ian Kirk

Sir Francis Drake High School

Marin Catholic High School

Geography and Music Awards

Vocabulary and PE Awards

Solomon Leaman San Francisco University High School Poetry and Essay Awards

Ilana Mink

Marina Moran

Ian Mott

Marin School of the Arts

Sir Francis Drake High School

The Branson School

Sheila McBroom

Roy and Rene Chernus Community Service Award

Public Speaking and Kele Gasparini Music Award

Writing Award

20

Samuel MerrillPalethorpe Marin Academy History and Linda Dunn Drama

Sophia Ranft

Richard Rayant

Alex Rusbarsky

The Marin School

Marin Academy

The Bay School

Creative Journaling and Linda Dunn

Logic Award

Vocabulary Award

Winston Searles

Emma Sturdevant

Marin Catholic High School

The Bay School

Drama Award

Award

Thomas Neville The Bay School Math and Sheila McBroom Writing Award

Eve Schwartz San Francisco School of the Arts Essay and Art Awards

Grammar Award

Science and PE Awards

Footsteps • Summer 2010

21

MP&MS Alumni Report MP&MS alums are always doing something interesting.

Nicholas (Nick) Wilkie hasn’t stopped exploring since graduating MP&MS in 1997.

An alumni of Tam High, he attended St. Olaf College in Minnesota where he earned a BA in chemistry and psychology. He then went on to attend the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and graduated with a Master’s in neuroscience. He remained in Scotland, working in a hospital lab for two years and doing volunteer work with autistic children and adults.

Nick returned to the U.S. in 2008 to write for Close Concerns, a publication specializing in diabetes and obesity. At the same time he helped write scientific papers at Vivus, a pharmaceutical company in Mountain View. In the fall he will matriculate to the University of Vermont College of Medicine with hopes of going into psychiatry to study autism.

Your school choices have been unique, to say the least. Why St. Olaf and Edinburgh?

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study. I had two main interests: science and music. St. Olaf appealed to me because they had strong science and music programs, so I could make a decision when I was there. It didn’t take me long to realize that I wasn’t quite as good at music as I was at science.

I went to Scotland for Edinburgh’s neuroscience master’s program. The move was somewhat blind since I didn’t really know anything about Scotland before I stepped out of the airport. I stayed because I fell in love with Edinburgh and the Scottish people.

What are your interests outside of school?

From what I’ve heard, you’re not allowed to have outside interests in medical school. But if there were time I’d probably enjoy the great Vermont outdoors by taking long cycle rides and waterskiing on Lake Champlain!

If you could have a snapshot of one favorite event at MP&MS what would it be?

On the trip to Ecuador, when our tour guide snatched a tarantula from the rafters of our lean-to and let us hold it.

22

Noah Schlager, MP&MS class of 2006, graduated from Urban High School and is attending Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida this fall. The Gulf Coast will provide ample opportunity for studying environmental science with an emphasis in marine biology and continuing his pursuit of underwater videography. He received an academic scholarship and has been selected as a freshman researcher on a project involving shore birds.

“The project will likely take on new definition with the ongoing oil spill,” Noah remarked.

Noah still considers our own Derek Berka his “greatest teacher of all time.”

MP&MS Graduates Are Going Places Since graduating our first eighth grader back in 1991, MP&MS has a proud tradition of educating competent, enthusiastic learners. Here is a partial list of high schools and colleges our students are attending or have attended: High Schools Phillips Academy Andover The Bay School of San Francisco The Branson School Brewster Academy Choate Rosemary Hall Convent of the Sacred Heart Drew College Preparatory School

The Dunn School Marin Academy Marin Catholic High School Marin School of the Arts Saint Ignatius College Preparatory San Domenico School San Francisco University High School

San Francisco Waldorf School San Francisco School of the Arts Sir Francis Drake High School Sonoma Academy Stevenson School Stuart Hall High School The Urban School

Colleges The Art Institute of Chicago Boston College Brown University California College of the Arts California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Colgate University Emory University George Washington University Harvard University Humboldt State University Lehigh University Lewis & Clark College Loyola Marymount University

Northeastern University Occidental College Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Pepperdine University Pomona College Rochester Institute of Technology Smith College St. Olaf College Stanford University Tufts University University of Arizona University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, San Diego University of Colorado, Boulder University of Hawaii University of Michigan University of Nevada University of Oregon University of Pennsylvania University of Southern California University of Washington Vassar College Villanova University Wesleyan University Yale University Footsteps • Summer 2010

23

Footsteps is printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper.

24