FACULTY NEWS September 2020 to June 2021 For the past seven years, Laura Sabo has served as a team advisor for the IBSC Action Research Program, mentoring and advising teacher-researchers from around the world. Last fall she was named the program coordinator and now leads it, overseeing about 40 researchers. In this role, she helps designate yearly research topics, coordinates training and reports to the IBSC executive team. The Lower School Learning Commons librarian and research coordinator is excited about the opportunity to merge these professional experiences with ongoing work with The Center for the Study of Boys’ Saints research program (see page 26). This spring Sabo received her Master of Information from Rutgers University with a concentration in library science. This program immersed her in current research and best practices for navigating the rapidly evolving information landscape. Three Upper School history teachers recently completed their master’s degrees: Josh Thomas in liberal arts from Johns Hopkins University; Scott Van Arsdale in American history from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History at Pace University; and Bucka Watson in educational leadership with a concentration in leadership studies from Virginia Commonwealth University. Thomas took courses on the intersection of politics, religion and literature throughout history, with a specific focus on World War I and modern society. Van Arsdale gleaned a deeper understanding of the historical writing process and American history’s intricacies, debates and complexities. While focusing on administration and supervision, Watson also enjoyed electives in sports 66 | StC Magazine
leadership and educational ethics, with all classes framed through a multicultural and inclusivity lens, he said. David Shin earned his doctorate in education from The College of William & Mary in March, using virtual reality to build empathy. The Middle School science teacher used head-mounted, 360-degree cameras to capture everyday classroom lessons from the students’ perspective. He then loaded the video into virtual reality headsets, allowing educators to experience a student’s day. The ultimate goal is to help educators better connect with students. “When you have a good relationship with a student, they’re just more willing to work with you,” Shin said. Fifth Grade Teacher Kadie Parsley completed her doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Virginia Tech. Her research focused on teaching strategies that educators identified as effective for boys. “These instructional practices may not benefit every boy; even within a given population of boys, some will respond differently to instruction than others,” she said. “However, this research helps to further inform schools, parents and families when making decisions regarding the most appropriate learning environment for boys and how that environment can further elevate each boy’s potential.”
Director of Information Services and Academic Technology Hiram Cuevas received a Pillar Award from the Independent Schools Association of
Technology Leaders. He and two others were recognized this spring for furthering the mission to empower schools to thrive through technology and were commended for their leadership, particularly given the seismic changes that took place in education during COVID-19. “Hiram is one of our unsung heroes at St. Christopher’s, quietly but effectively keeping our large JK-through-12 campus connected and coherent in its use and storage of data and a number of information systems,” said Headmaster Mason Lecky. “He masterfully leads our divisional technology specialists, ensuring that our faculty and students have what they need for an optimal teaching and learning experience in the rapidly changing classroom environment.” Upper School English Teacher Emily Nason’s poem, “I Watch a Documentary on Owl Theory and Become Convinced That Everyone I Love Will Be Killed By a Bird,” was published in The Southern Review winter issue. Writer-in-Residence Ron Smith performed poems online in three venues and read two new sports poems via Zoom at the Sport Literature Association international conference. He was a judge for the Library of Virginia’s Poetry Prize and for the Poetry Society of Virginia’s Ada Sanderson Nature Poetry Contest and served on a panel that tapped the first Poet Laureate of Richmond. He spoke remotely to graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He also selected and edited poetry and wrote two prose pieces for Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature and participated in an online poetry reading for Art Against Hate. In addition, Artemis magazine interviewed him about his poetry, which was podcast, and he, along with other Edgar Allan Poe scholars, participated in a panel about Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” a discussion which aired at the Poe Film Festival in November. Mr. Smith published four poems in the online journal POETiCA REViEW, two poems in Artemis and a poem in Plume (online). His poem, “EP in the Garden,” was broadcast by Artemis and also appeared as an online reading from the Clemson University Press. He also published a short essay on craft tips for poets in Poetry Newsletter.
