Why Ask Why? What Inquiry Means at SCDS

ON THEIR SCIENCE PROJECTS

&IRST GRADE TEACHER 3ALLY "AUER WITH STUDENTS DEMONSTRATING HOW ELECTRICITY MAKES A FAN SPIN

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Why Ask Why? This simple playground game also reflects the world of SCDS in the classroom — it’s the questions that are fun and exciting. For more than 40 years, SCDS has been committed to inquiry-based teaching.

This approach is a core value stated in the Mission Statement and is thriving in every corner of the school. SCDS teachers are master practitioners and lifelong learners about the process of learning through questioning.

“It works for our kids because they are willing to take risks in class, which is what inquiry requires you to do,” says Middle School Science Teacher Ellie Martino. She uses a number of inquiry methods in class, such as structured inquiry, which is the most elementary of the techniques, guided inquiry, in which the teacher introduces questions and guides the students as they develop deeper questions, and open inquiry, in which the students are free to explore a challenge by creating his or her own questions.

“Typically,” says Martino, “our students want more freedom to design the questions. And they come up with things that are completely different from each other.”

Indeed, the inquiry approach does seem well suited to the type of child who is motivated by the challenge of asking, “What if…?” and then is

K-3 Technology Teacher Alice Baggett works with a 1st-grade student on her design of a Native American village using Kid Pix software.

able to dialogue with equally curious and capable peers about an idea.

This approach is not just for older students. Sally Bauer, who has been at SCDS for 25 years, finds the technique equally effective for her inquisitive class of 6-year olds.

“The inquiry approach is not about memory, it’s about experimentation,” Bauer says. “We are not looking for the right answer, instead we are trying to solve a challenge in multiple ways. That sets us apart from other schools because many teachers expect assignments to be done the same way. Here, we take into consideration that students have their own backgrounds, and

“SCDS puts a great deal of faith in the teachers to make this work and I love being trusted to make it happen,” says Baggett. “Yes, it takes a lot of energy to teach this way, and you have to be ready to go with the kids somewhere you never anticipated.

But being a teacher means being flexible.”

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we allow them to build around their own interests through questions.”

This method asks a lot of teachers in terms of preparation and energy. It is time consuming to think through the right questions — sometimes called the essential questions — and it is risky because sometimes the class can take the lesson in a direction other than intended. But K-3 Technology Teacher Alice Baggett says that’s part of the beauty of inquiry-based teaching for her: the kids are always coming up with “other ways to do it.”

“SCDS puts a great deal of faith in the teachers to make this work and I love being trusted to make it happen,” says Baggett. “Yes, it takes a lot of energy to teach this way, and you have to be ready to go with the kids somewhere you never anticipated. But being a teacher means being flexible.”

Quinn Thomsen, who has taught math at SCDS since 1994, says that he has had to develop many of his own inquiry lessons over the years because the resources for this style

Kinetics

The McNuggets Problem:

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If you can order Chicken McNuggets in 3, 6, and 20 packs, what’s the greatest number you can’t order?

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For hints to solve the McNuggets problem, you may email SCDS Math Teacher Quinn Thomsen at quinnthomsen@seattlecountryday.org. Or, find the solution on the SCDS website at www.seattlecountryday.org

of teaching in specific subject areas are not out there. Many of the staples of his curriculum were developed by him or adapted from other sources, including his sailboat race lesson, a mathematical simulation about fractions and measurement; the McNuggets problem, a deceptively difficult problem that only requires basic addition and multiplication skills; and the 4-4s, about order of operations and vocabulary, with a hidden fraction component.

(See the McNuggets problem in the upper right and challenge yourself.)

“I spend a stupid amount of money buying children’s books and game books that I adapt to inquiry theory,” says Thomsen. “And the lessons evolve over time. The sailboat races were originally just for 4th grade and we did space races for 5th grade, but they were too hard and too abstract for most 5th graders. Every year you play with the parts of a lesson to get it

Doc “O” demonstrates a prototype of a jack-up barge that the students will build themselves in class as part of the annual Engineering Event in Science.

WINTER 2005

to work and then you build on it.”

Thomsen emphasizes, however, that while these may appear to be “games” it is the skill underneath the activity and questions that is being practiced. “The 4-4s is about dividing fractions,” he says. “You must be able to divide fractions to solve it. So, there’s the big problem, and then there is what you’ve got to know to do the problem.”

All of these SCDS teachers, and many more, would be able to testify to the power and effectiveness of inquiry, but few say they experienced it themselves as students.

Martino was first exposed to inquiry as a physics student at the University of Washington. “Inquiry works great for physics because instead of just memorizing the formulas, you investigate the situation and apply the formula. It makes perfect sense.” Never a fan of math or chemistry, Bauer feels that she would have done well in those subjects if taught with an inquiry approach. “I always loved puzzles but I was not good at math, and that’s what math is – a puzzle. Why did I struggle with problem solving in math if I was so into puzzles? So in my class, I approach math through puzzles.”

Some critics may ask, with so many questions, challenges, and puzzles, how does a teacher know if a child really understands the material? Where’s the test? Thomsen says that in math it is easy to see concrete skill mastery because the students are involved and engaged. He says that the students will have “rapid fire debates” or small group discussions, and by listening to these conversations and talking to each child, he is assured that concepts are learned.

Baggett’s approach is similar: she

questions students to make sure they can defend their choices, rationally explain their projects, and answer questions. “If students can justify their answers, that’s great.

Figuring out the answer is very rewarding for bright kids. That’s really cool,” she says.

At the same time, SCDS students will most likely move on to other institutions that will require them to be accustomed to other types of learning, so lectures, testing, and grading are also part of the learning process at SCDS. All of the teachers lecture a certain amount and expect students to take notes.

“We do our kids a disservice if we don’t expose them to other styles of teaching” Martino points out. “But, I always try to incorporate their insights and questions.” Thomsen says that his “lectures” often turn into discussions. “I do some lecturing, and [the students] do some, and they take notes. And I get away with it because what we are talking about is really interesting.” Baggett says she lectures as well, just to convey information, but “the talking doesn’t ever last too long.” SCDS students tend to respond to instruction and then action, as in 4th- and 5th-grade Science Teacher Dr. Meredith Olson’s class, which almost always begins with a short lecture and note taking, and then the much anticipated dismissal to the labs to work on the day’s experiments.

Inquiry is not a new approach to teaching. In modern times, educational philosopher John Dewey was actively promoting the approach at the turn of the 20th century, but SCDS is unique in its embrace and fine execution of this teaching style by talented faculty members for the past 40 years.

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people & places A Warm Welcome to Our New Faculty & Staff!

ALICE BAGGETT is our new K-3 technology teacher. For as long as

Alice Baggett

she can remember, Alice wanted to be a teacher. As a child, she begged her parents, both of whom are professors, to take her to work with them so she could write on the blackboards. Despite all this passion for teaching, Alice chose archaeology for her undergraduate major. After graduating from Oberlin College, Alice decided to put-off graduate school in archaeology when she saw a poster for a new program called Teach for America. This organization sends non-education majors to cities in the U.S. with severe teacher shortages. They sent her to inner city New Orleans where she caught the teaching bug. Since then, she’s always been teaching in one capacity or another, and for the past nine years she worked at The Open Window School in Bellevue, Washington. Although she switched her graduate school dreams from archaeology to education, she does use her archaeology background when helping her three-year-old son excavate his room! During her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her husband (also a teacher), being outside, running, writing, creating multimedia art, and coming up with captions for The New Yorker cartoon caption contest.

MARGARET BEESON joins SCDS as Director of Development.

Margaret Beeson

Margaret has worked with area independent schools for more than ten years, most recently at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma, Washington. She has a BA in English from Lawrence University and a MA in English from the University of Washington where she taught undergraduate classes in rhetoric and writing for two years. She lives in West Seattle with her husband Peter. In her spare time, she enjoys salsa dancing, yoga, and practicing piano.

JUSTIN HENDRICKSON graduated with a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Washington and worked in the field for a short time before discovering his passion for working with children.

Volunteering at his old elementary school, T.T. Minor, in the Central District, soon led into a full-time position as an instructional assistant. After a couple of years working with elementary school kids in Seattle, he was accepted as a New York City Teaching Fellow and taught 6th grade in the South Bronx while working on a masters in education at Lehman College in the Bronx. He returned to Seattle to start a landscape design and building company with a friend, but when the education bug bit again, he accepted the teachers’ aide position at SCDS. His future plans include finishing a masters in education and teaching his own class again soon.

Justin Hendrickson

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Kinetics

Mark Holtzen

MARK HOLTZEN, 3rd-grade teacher, grew up southwest of Portland, Oregon. He went on a lot of camping trips with his family, and eventually earned an Eagle Scout award in Boy Scouts. He studied graphic design at Oregon State University, and started mountain biking on logging roads before it was popular. After college, Mark decided to study ski slopes, bookstores, and an Italian restaurant business in the beautiful mountains around Sun Valley Idaho. After eight years of resort living, and working at The Community School with 1st and 2nd graders, he returned to graduate school in Boise, Idaho, where he earned a masters in reading/literacy and a second undergraduate degree in elementary education. He took his roots and temporarily moved them to the San Francisco Bay Area. For six years, he had a wonderful job at Burton Valley Elementary School in Lafayette, California, while exploring the food, people, and outdoor activities of Oakland and Berkeley. Some meddling but kind-hearted parents of one of his former 3rd graders introduced him to his wife (who is an SCDS alum) and he was lassoed into moving to Seattle.

He loves being back in the Northwest and enjoys his bike ride to work every day.

CHUCK LINTZ grew up in Port Orchard, Washington, and graduated

Chuck Lintz

from Central Washington University with a BS in physical education teaching and a minor in coaching. He continued on to City University where he earned a MBA. Before coming to SCDS as athletics director and K-3 PE teacher, he taught PE for seven years at The Evergreen School. He has coached basketball, cross-country running, soccer, track and field, and golf. He met his wife Carrie at The Evergreen School where she worked in the Pre-Kindergarten program. They have a two-and-one-half-year old daughter Rylie and he enjoys golfing in his free time.

MICHAEL STOUT moved to Seattle from the East Coast in 1983 to take advantage of the incredible outdoor opportunities in the Northwest. He loves to bike, ski, climb, and paddle. He received a BA in liberal studies and a masters in teaching degree from Seattle University, Summa Cum Laude. Michael taught 6th-grade history at The Bush School for the past ten years, where he led numerous foreign travel and wilderness trips within the Middle School. He also spent two years teaching at the Rappahanock County Middle School in rural Virginia while working on his family’s sheep farm. This is his first year at SCDS and he is enjoying getting to know a new community while teaching General Studies to 4th and 5th graders.

Michael Stout

WINTER 2005

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%IGHTH GRADERS NAMED 3TUDENTS OF THE 9EAR

&IFTH AND RD GRADERS SHARE THE #OMMUNITY 3ERVICE !WARD

*EFF 3ANTANGELO 3PORTSMANSHIP !WARD

4ECHNOLOGY !WARD

%IGHTH GRADERS SHARE THE 3TUDENT 3ERVICES !WARD

,ARRY 'ULDBERG %XCELLENCE IN -ATHEMATICS !WARD

+INDERGARTEN BUDDIES ESCORT TH GRADER OUT OF THE 2ECOGNITION !SSEMBLY

,IBRARY 3ERVICES !WARD

+INDERGARTNERS IN THE (ALLOWEEN 0ARADE

SPEAKER AFTER HER SPEECH

4HIS NEW FAMILY HAS SONS JOINING 3#$3 IN TH GRADE AND IN RD GRADE

4HIS RETURNING FAMILY HAS A DAUGHTER WHO GRADUATED 3#$3 IS AND DAUGHTERS ENTERING TH GRADE AND TH GRADE

Campus Arts Fund Brings Books Alive

Cover illustration for Max Grover’s upcoming book, I Wish I Were a Pilot.

Many schools take advantage of a moment at the school auction to “raise a paddle” in support of a specific need. SCDS has funded much of our technology in this way: computers and software for classrooms, laptops for teachers, specialized hardware for technology labs. Other recent projects funded by Raise the Paddle included installation of a security system for school with key pads on the doors and a gate to secure the playground. At SCDS’s auction last spring, parents and friends generously donated more than $47,000 to support an Anniversary Arts Fund, commemorating SCDS’s 40th anniversary by allowing for additional integration of art into our current educational program. A voluntary Arts Committee of faculty and staff members will grant these funds over a period of five years to projects which enhance awareness of and understanding of art.

The Committee awarded its first grant over the summer for a program named Voices, a collaboration between faculty of all divisions and many disciplines.

The committee has lined up an impressive list of visitors who will meet with classes, work with students, speak at assemblies, and demonstrate their work during the school year.

JANUARY – MAX GROVER

Mr. Grover has illustrated many children’s books including The Accidental Zucchini and Incredible Counting Stories. His work has been singled out by the New York Times and the Parents Magazine. In addition, Mr. Grover runs an art gallery in Port Townsend, Washington.

FEBRUARY – DAVID GREENBERG

Mr. Greenberg is the author of numerous books including Slugs , Bugs , Skunks and Snakes . He was honored with a Children’s Choice Award in 1990, and he lives in Portland, Oregon.

MARCH – KAREN CUSHMAN

Ms. Cushman is noted for her fiction for young adults and is the author of Catherine, Called Birdy , a Newbery Honor Award winner, and The Midwife’s Apprentice, a Newbery Award winner — a very rare and noteworthy accomplishment for any author. She lives on Vashon Island, Washington.

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In addition, the Middle School will host Gillian Jorgensen who is in her tenth year as a teaching artist in Seattle, regularly teaching for Seattle Repertory Theatre, Book-it All Over!, Seattle Children’s Theatre, ACT, and Youth Theatre Northwest. She is currently adapting and directing a play for Youth Theater Northwest.

Gillian is the artistic director of Annex Theatre, which has produced her original children’s play And Also Fierce and the interactive Halloween event GHOSTY. She will direct Annex’s workshop production of Jeff Resta’s Tales of the Grand Guignol in April.

Gillian is also writing a new children’s play combining the ghost stories of both of her grandmothers.

Thank you to the many donors who contributed to the Anniversary Arts Fund. We look forward to sharing with you in the coming months and years the other ways in which your generosity will enhance the Arts at SCDS.

Kinetics

IN THE NEWS

LOWRY IS A DISC DIVA If you are a fan of SCDS and Frisbee, it would have been pretty tough not to notice veteran SCDS teacher and world-class freestyle Frisbee handler Mary Lowry on the front cover of Pacific Northwest Magazine last summer. The full-color cover photo showed Lowry artfully catching a disc mid-air in a daring under-leg snag (at left).

While Ms. Lowry’s personal accomplishments in the sport are highlights of the article, SCDS faculty and students couldn’t help but be proud of the amazing work she has done to create youth leagues across the city, including here at SCDS. Many SCDS students were featured in the photos accompanying the article and, carrying the inspiration of Lowry with them, many of our alumni have gone on to other schools and spread their love of Ultimate. We are very proud of our “disc diva” Ms. Lowry.

BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER/THE SEATTLE TIMES

The Ultimate Challenge Last spring, Middle School Ultimate Frisbee Coach David Evans wrote this exciting account of a series of tough games in which the SCDS team rallied to win the Ultimate championship.

The SCDS Ultimate team: back row, left to right, Coach David Evans, Julian Yuh-Coleman, David Marten, KC Reynolds, Remi Schneider.

Middle Row, left to right, Marc’ Antonio Underberg, Alex McMaster, Katie Rodihan, Sarah Hanneman, Ben Duchin. Front row, left to right, Rachel Warren, Emma Kahle, Emma Gorder, Haley Tupper, Kate Lemly.

Lacking one of our more gifted quarterbacks, Los Caballeros looked more like Lost Caballeros at first.

Eckstein Middle School, a good team even in normal circumstances, had come out hungry. We looked like we needed a stiff cup of coffee. Fortunately, synergy was building, our quarterback arrived, and we soon rallied to clinch the game on the final point.

Suddenly, we were looking at a semi-final match, having side-stepped a consolation match by the width of our 175-gram Ultimate discs. Next up a tough Billings Middle School team. Ten minutes into the game, down once again, but sensing an advantage with our female match-ups, Los Caballeros began more consciously exploiting this feminine advantage.

Call them the femme fatales. Suddenly, incredibly, we were in the championship game.

Of course, now we were also playing Salmon Bay Middle School who had pretty much “schooled” us earlier in the season, with arguably the best 8th-grade player on their team, and coached by not just one former collegiate Ultimate standout but two, one of whom had been the MVP in the NCAA championship game a few years back.

No matter, Los Caballeros, increasingly plucky and resilient, and perhaps smelling a chance to be in the

WINTER 2005

We’ve all seen teams come from behind to win. But when is the last time you saw one team pull this off three times in succession, against increasingly sophisticated teams, all within four hours? Or, when the final championship game, in which the team in question never leads, not even once, but finally ties up the score with no time remaining, forcing a final, winner-takes-all point? Well, in case you missed out, such were the dramatics of the day for the intrepid SCDS Caballeros. mix for the championship, came out pumped and ready to play. With time slipping away, we were down by a humbling three points. You could feel the resignation on the sidelines.

But Los Caballeros proved themselves a determined, intelligent bunch, much wiser than the pundits huddled pensively on the sidelines, as they fought their way back with incredible, patient teamwork and a slew of superlative individual efforts. Suddenly, the team found itself, almost impossibly, tied at nine, with either team to go double digits to be crowned champions. A heart-stopping fingertip defensive play stymied a Salmon Bay score, prompting a disciplined run up the field with a beautiful, arching forehand throw leading to a mythic catch in the end-zone by one of Los Caballeros.

Disbelieving and utterly exhausted, the team all piled on, while the assembled adults pinched themselves to be sure that what they thought they had just witnessed had actually occurred! A very happy team made its way boisterously back to the final minutes of Crazy Carnival that day. Sport can be the perfect metaphor; that day, gratefully, it was. Congratulations, Los Caballeros de Furia!

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class SALLY (ROFFEY) JEWELL ‘66 was awarded the 2005 YWCA

Isabel Colman Pierce Award for Excellence in Community Service. Since its creation in 1982, the Isabel Coleman Pierce Award serves as the YWCA’s way of saying “thank you” to an outstanding community leader. The award is bestowed upon citizens who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to enhancing the quality of life in our community through contributions in human services, the arts, politics, civics, philanthropy, or education.

Jewell has been an instrumental part of the YWCA’s leadership team, adding her valuable insight and perspective to a variety of roles, including board member and president, executive committee member, luncheon chair, ICP Award chair and capital campaign Corporate Gifts Committee member. Her dedicated leadership has helped guide the YWCA through many large-scale projects, including its Moving Women and Families Forward Capital Campaign.

Sally is also a founding member and past president of the Mountain to Sound Greenway Trust and she is on the Board of the National Parks Conservation Association. She is the incoming chair of the Board of Regents at the University of Washington, and also serves on the Host and Steering Committees of the Seattle Initiative for Global Development. She is a former trustee and the first alum trustee of Seattle Country Day School, which was the first board on which she served.

CHRISTINE (SALTWICK) UYYEK ‘84 is currently working to take

over the family business in marine product sales. She is married with no children, but one neurotic cat and an Appaloosa horse.

DAVID PERLMAN ‘86 is about to return to higher education

to earn a Ph.D. in psychology. He writes that he is also about to become a yoga teacher.

HILLARY NAGY ‘88 and Matt Sinacori were married on July 2, 2005. They met while attending graduate school at The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, from which they graduated in May 2003. The wedding party included SCDS alumnae WHITNEY NAGY ‘91 and DARILYN SIGEL ‘88. ELIZABETH MATTOX ‘88, KIM (WILSON) MICHAELS ‘88, CHRIS WILSON ‘92, and KARL SIGEL ‘83 also joined in the celebration. Hillary works as a strategy consultant for Public Service Enterprise Group, an energy company. Matt is a marketing communications consultant for Omnicom Group, an advertising and marketing services holding company. Hillary and Matt currently reside in Hoboken, New Jersey.

JOLIE PATERNITI ‘90 took a position as a firefighter/para-

medic with the City of Mukilteo, Washington. No more commute! Her husband is also a firefighter/paramedic, for the City of Everett, Washington.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR LIFE?

Share your news with the SCDS community! Contact Allison Bass at allisonbass@seattlecountryday.org or mail your latest news to 2619 4th Avenue N. Seattle, WA 98109.

MAX WAUGH ’90 managed to escape back to Seattle only a few short years after a reluctant move to eastern Washington ended his time at SCDS. Officially, he is now the creative director for a marketing firm in Redmond, Washington.

Unofficially, he concentrates more on his photography, shooting athletics for the University of Washington and snapping a few nature and travel pictures when he has a chance (with Greece being the latest destination). Max’s photos and other inanities can be found at www.maxwaugh.com.

WHITNEY NAGY ’91 has completed the Graduate Nursing Program at Samuel Merritt College and works as a registered nurse at San Francisco General Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit. Whitney is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the International Nursing Honor Society. She is presently living in the Noe Valley area of San Francisco, California.

LEA SUGIMURA ’93 writes, “Hope everything is going well at

SCDS. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve recently started working at IMG, the sports and entertainment management and marketing company. While PBS/WNET was a great place to spend three years, IMG offers me the terrific opportunity to get into sports marketing, which I’ve always wanted to do.”

SHIRA (KOST-GRANT) BREWER ’94 married Matthew Brewer (see photo left) on July 17, 2005, in a sunny outdoor ceremony in Poulsbo, Washington.

SCDS alumnae in attendance were CLAIRE WILSON ’94 (maid of honor) and LIZZY REPASS ’94 (bridesmaid).

Shira is living in Seattle and getting her master’s in teaching at the University of Washington. She will soon be a certified French and math teacher.

MARK TROUSDALE ’94 writes, “I now work as a consultant for

Deloitte & Touche LLP in their Investment Management Services practice group, based out of the Los Angeles office.

However, I still reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.”

JORDAN VOELKER ’95 earned a mas-

ters of music degree (see photo left), with honors, in viola performance from the New England Conservatory (NEC) in May 2005. On graduation day, she was presented with NEC’s John Cage Award for Outstanding Contribution to New Music.

Currently, Jordan is living in Boston where she is a member of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, co-principal

Kinetics

ALUM PICNIC

The Annual Alumni Picnic was August 17 at Woodland Park in Seattle.

Standing: Amy (Hintz) Ojendyk ‘87, Jason Vincion ‘94, Shira (Kost-Grant) Brewer ‘94, Toni Swenson ‘93, Jeff (McDonald) Brumley ‘90, David Perlman ‘86, Prodipto Roy ‘83, Jonathan Slutsky ‘90, Christy (Saltwick) Uyyek ‘84, Konrad Schroder ‘86, Cathy Saltwick ‘85, Dennis Opacki ‘83. Kneeling: Allison (Doyle) Bass ‘91, Cindy Peyser ‘83, Katie (Sunderland) Verd ‘86, Wendy (Sunderland) McDermott ‘85, Robin Salant ‘86.

Not pictured: Dave Foley ‘89, Jason Kroll ‘92, Lonnie Princehouse ‘92, Alex Scott ‘89, Rachel Scott ‘90, Cami Salant ‘84, John Tocher ‘86.

violist with the Brockton Symphony Orchestra, and violist with the Callithumpian Consort, a new and experimental music group. Jordan also performs with the Boston Ballet Orchestra, the Hingham Symphony Orchestra, Gardner Museum Chamber Orchestra, and the New Hope Ensemble.

For a change of pace this past summer, Jordan played first violin in a musical-theatre production on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Then she went to California to play viola in chamber and orchestral performances in the Sierra Music Festival at Mammoth Mountain.

CLASS OF 2001

KYLA POLLACK ’96 earned Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Magna Cum

Laude from Columbia. She had been an office assistant for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York City and was recently promoted to assistant to the Legislative Director in the Senator’s Washington, DC, office.

ABE POLLACK ’97 just graduated from New York University, helped produce

this year’s CMJ Music Festival, and is now playing bass in New York City.

XTEHN TITCOMB ’98 worked in Chicago at the Italian Trade Commission for

the summer and fall. Afterwards, depending on a handful of factors, he may move back to Seattle, may stay in Chicago, or may move to Rome... we’ll see!

BENJAMIN AMSTER ’99 is a junior at Princeton University this fall. Ben is

majoring in public policy at the Woodrow Wilson School with a certificate (minor) from the program in applications of computing. Ben is a photography editor at The Daily Princetonian and serves as religion chair at the campus Center for Jewish Life. He worked at the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. this summer.

JONATHAN LOEFFLER ’99 is living in Walla Walla, Washington, studying geology and southwest Chinese anthropology these days. With the sore paucity of snow last winter, he wasn’t able to teach ski lessons as hoped.

One year of competitive Division I ski racing was enough for him, however, he did enjoy two fine days skiing in Alta, Utah. It was certainly worth the 18 hours of driving! This summer he was in Seattle playing Ultimate Frisbee and climbing the mountains he began exploring in Middle School at SCDS. He also writes, “After traveling to China in the spring of 2001, I have been bent on returning to the middle kingdom with all of my being.

Excitedly, I am headed back to China. Last fall, I received a Freeman Scholarship for Asian Studies. The Freeman Foundation has given a grant to promote and develop the Asian Studies program at Whitman College, and I am one of ten students who will be treated to three weeks in the coastal city of Hangzhou, and the garden city of Suzhou, studying classical Chinese garden aesthetics. If any of you alumni are interested in hearing about what a fool a 6'4" red-head can make of himself in China, contact me!”

LAUREL STEWART ’01 says, “After graduating from SAAS, I was in the Seattle

Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s production of Patience at the Bagley Wright Theatre. Now I attend the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music. I plan to double-major in music education and either psychology, philosophy, or economics. My interests are still all over the map, since I’m only a freshman.”

WINTER 2005

Every summer, SCDS invites graduated high school seniors back to campus for a reunion.

Back Row: Nick Reichert, Laurel Stewart, Rachel Peterson, Curtis Sandy, Owen Bennion, Evan Thilo, Jordan Selig 2nd Row: Kathy Altman, Liza Schoenfeld, Brooke VanDusen, Daniel Kan 3rd Row: Sarah Armo, Kimberly True, Hannah Curtis Front Row: Quinn Thomsen, JoAnn Sims, David Axelrod, Caitlin Bethlahmy, Emily Singer, Eliana Hechter

CLASS OF 2004

Thanks to Arianna Vokos ‘04 for organizing a reunion for the class of 2004!

Back row: Greyson Peck, Kurt Benirshke, Kelly Van Arsdale, and Weylin Rose Front row: Sarah Quehrn, Haley Tupper, Amy Woodruff, Cara Groden, Arianna Vokos Not pictured: Connor Fallon and Brenna O’Neill

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Interview An SCDS Faculty Interview in the Tradition of Marcel Proust French philosopher and writer Marcel Proust was known for his witty answers to a series of intriguing questions, now known as the Proust Questionnaire.

To learn more about our teachers in a unique way, the SCDS 5th-grade class took on the challenge of creating its own set of interview questions to be put to one of the faculty members.

In this issue, Susan Pisano, pictured above right, a Massachusetts native who has been a music teacher at SCDS for 12 years, answers the 5th-graders’ questions in our SCDS Questionnaire.

WHAT WAS A TRIP YOU TOOK AS A CHILD?

When I was nine years old, I went to Bermuda with my mom and sister.

WHERE IS A FAVORITE PLACE THAT YOU LIVED?

IF YOU ONLY HAD $1.50, WHAT WOULD YOU SPEND IT ON?

A lottery ticket and a Snickers bar.

Cape Cod

WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE?

WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR AS A 5-YEAR OLD?

A dolphin trainer or an oceanographer.

That I would swallow a tooth…again!

WHAT WAS THE FIRST WORD YOU EVER SAID?

WHAT WAS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?

Probably “mama” but I know that “sheep” was an early favorite.

Physics

DO YOU HAVE A NICKNAME?

WHAT’S THE WORST EXCUSE YOU EVER HEARD FOR NOT HAVING HOMEWORK?

“I didn’t know what I had to do because I couldn’t read my writing.”

WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT?

Worrying that I’ll sleep through the alarm and be late for school.

Several.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING?

My “Life is Good” T-shirt.

IF YOU HAD ONLY ONE THING IN THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

A friend.

WHAT’S THE CAPITAL OF MASSACHUSETTS?

“Bah-stin”

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Kinetics

%IGHTH GRADERS STRETCH THEIR gBELAYs ARMS AT %XIT

%IGHTH GRADERS PREPARE FOR A CLIMB DURING THE CLASS FALL ROCK CLIMBING TRIP AT %XIT ON 3NOQUALMIE 0ASS ! gTRUST FALLs AT THE TH GRADE ROPES COURSE DAY

Inquire. Create. Nurture.

Kinetics Why Give Now? SEATTLE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL MAGAZINE

» WINTER 2005 Kinetics Magazine Kinesis comes from the Greek word for motion, and “kinetics” is used in the vernacular to describe mechanics associated with the forces that cause motions of bodies. At SCDS, we’re all about energy and active learning. Every day, SCDS teachers engage students’ minds and bodies through inquiry-based teaching. When we decided to move from a monthly newsletter to a magazine, we wanted a name that reflects both our mission and the creativity within our classrooms. We hope you enjoy this inaugural issue and feel the palpable buzz of SCDS within these pages!

S C D S

SEATTLE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL 2619 4th Avenue N Seattle, WA 98109 206-284-6220 www.seattlecountryday.org RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Year-end giving is a great way to show your support of SCDS. Although it’s Happy New Year on the calendar, SCDS’s fiscal year goes from July 1 to June 30, so we’ve only recently begun our fundraising for the 2005-06 school year!

SCDS is guided by its mission to “cultivate responsible behavior” in its students, and we do this in part by teaching our children about their role in giving back to the community. Share this vision with a gift to SCDS and your support will allow SCDS to provide a dynamic and specialized curriculum delivered by experienced, talented teachers.

You can maximize your tax savings for 2005 while supporting SCDS at the same time. With Congress’s Katrina Relief Act, you may qualify for more charitable deductions than ever before, so check with your tax advisor.

WAYS TO GIVE • Mail a check to: Development Office, 2619 4th Avenue N, Seattle, WA 98109.

• Make checks payable to SCDS Annual Fund (to support teachers, and current program) and/or SCDS – A Place to Grow (to support our Facilities Improvement Plan).

• Use your credit card, call 206-691-2620 or online at NetworkForGood.com.

• Transfer stock, call 206-691-2620 for transfer information.

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