THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
ISSUE 6 / FALL 2013
What do
YOU
Think?
MISSION STATEMENT The Pegasus School is dedicated to academic excellence and to the development of lifelong learners who are confident, caring, and courageous. COMMUNITY VALUES Our students learn best, and develop the skills they need to pursue their dreams, in a community that is: • Diverse, collaborative, and vibrant • Serious about academic life • Rich in opportunities • Nurturing of the gifted student • Engaged in the world outside the school
PORTRAIT OF A GRADUATE PEGASUS STUDENTS love to learn, to be challenged, and to work hard; they are bright and motivated; they are joyful; they grow in both intellect and empathy. PEGASUS TEACHERS love to teach; they are flexible, creative, collaborative, and innovative; they foster each student’s individual gifts and passions; they educate the mind and the heart. PEGASUS PARENTS value education; they work closely with the school in a partnership based on thoughtful communication and mutual respect.
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THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
•
Academically Confident
•
Well Balanced
•
Critical Thinker
•
Exceptional Communicator
•
Collaborative Leader
•
Responsible Citizen
• Environmentally Conscious • Technologically Adept • Economically Astute • Versed in the Arts • Globally Aware
Fall 2013 www.thepegasusschool.org EDITORIAL BOARD Nancy Conklin, Director of Admission Rick Davitt, Photographer Sue Harrison, Director of Advancement Karla Joyce, Writer Shalini Mattina, Assoc. Director of Advancement, Marketing Nancy Wilder, Middle School English Teacher John Zurn, Head of School WRITERS Karla Joyce John Zurn CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jennifer Aguilar Jamie El-Erian Karla Joyce Jean Kawahara Mike Mulroy Jonathan Stark Tricia Starkenburg Marrie Stone Ellen Williamson ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN Shalini Mattina
Table of Contents FEATURES
20
Think About It
25 Homework
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
28
The Art of Narrative
30
If You Build It, They Will Come
5
Head’s Message
6
At the Heart of
Pegasus Magazine is published twice yearly
8
Program: Writers Workshop
by the Office of Advancement at The Pegasus School. It is archived at thepegasusschool.org/about/publications
10
Distinguished Speaker Series: Sal Khan
12
Faculty Focus: Remy Carl
16
New Middle School Electives
18
Program: The Age of Apps at Age Ten
Rick Davitt PRINTING Orange County Printing
We welcome your feedback! Please address queries and comments to Shalini Mattina smattina@thepegasusschool.org
PEGASUS NOW
40 Calendar
ALUMNI
34
Those Who Soar
37
Alumni Connections
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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4
THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
HEAD’S MESSAGE
Thinking about Thinking “We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.” – Carl Sagan The terms “critical thinking” and “critical thinking skills” are used so frequently in education that they risk ubiquity. But, maybe that is the idea. The notion that we teach students how-to-think, like it is a subject, misses the point. We teach students how to track down answers to their own burning questions, how to compare and contrast reams of information, how to synthesize and evaluate and, ultimately, make decisions. If we make this process reflexive, we educate for life. How do we do this? In this issue of Pegasus Magazine, the concept of critical thinking is defined and examined from every angle. Karla Joyce tackles the topic from the perspective of inside the classroom. Through conversations with teachers in our primary, lower, and middle schools, she identifies clear developmental stages students pass through as they develop their critical thinking skills. Of course, thinking doesn’t stop at the end of a school day. Marrie Stone picks up the torch outside the classroom as she follows Pegasus families into their homes for a look at how we can foster criticalthinking skills in everyday living. And Jonathan Stark makes the case for invention as the ultimate model of critical thinking; his inside look at Adam Stockman’s DreamLab exposes the vitality at play when thinking happens. Thinking critically involves identifying the relationship between subjects, and we mimic this in the development of our curriculum. Jennifer Aguilar outlines the wide array of offerings among our new middle school electives- classes specifically designed to address unique curiosities. And Tricia Starkenburg shares with you the exciting new primary school program called Writers Workshop, where our earliest learners are being given the vocabulary and the opportunity to think critically. This opportunity to reflect, to evaluate, and to create permeates the student experience at Pegasus. It shapes the character of our children and defines a lifestyle of thoughtful insight and purposeful action. It is the reason our students are so well received at area high schools and the reason they will find themselves attracted to leadership roles in their future communities.
John Zurn Head of School PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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At the Heart of Pegasus
by Karla Joyce
Snapshot of a Community
The dictionary defines community as a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. This mayor may not include friendship. Typically, these two pages of the Pegasus Magazine feature a collection of stories about individuals in our community that — together — say who we are. The portraits that follow are different, however. They are not separate. They don’t celebrate individualism, personal achievement, or quiet dedication. Instead, they bear witness to the intense friendship that bubbles below the surface of the Pegasus community. This is the heart of Pegasus.
Olivia’s Story
E
arly last spring, Olivia Barkhordar was bouncing along the blacktop in a pack of fourth grade girls, happy as ever. Nobody would have noticed the enlarged lymph node the size of a marble in her neck; in fact, she had to crane significantly to bring it out. Her teacher, Jennifer Green, was one of the first to spot it. Lisa Arangua, Olivia’s mother, rushed her to the pediatrician, but really, they would say now, it was unclear, asymptomatic. And the doctors concurred, associating it with Olivia’s waning sore throat. Olivia quietly asked: “Do I have cancer?” No, said the experts, after myriad tests for lymphoma failed. But the lymph node and Arangua persisted. When — a whole month later — an ultrasound came back stamped urgent and a biopsy followed, Olivia’s fear was confirmed: she had papillary thyroid cancer. During spring break, UCLA surgeons removed 100 cancerous nodes from her neck. The disease was ultimately identified as a very rare variant called diffuse sclerosing papillary carcinoma (DSPC), and Olivia endured radiation, days in isolation and a whole host of demons that kept her painfully awake for months.
“I Feel Protected” It had been Olivia’s idea to go public. Days after the diagnosis Karen Hurst, the Pegasus nurse, sat Olivia down like a daughter and said, frankly: let’s talk. How did she want to manage this? Should they tell her classmates? Nobody would expect communicating cancer to be easy at any age; at age 10, it seemed inconceivable. But Olivia insisted. Hurst orchestrated a grade-wide sit-down with Olivia and Arangua facing sixty kids and their teachers, all rapt and unmistakably compassionate. They described the disease, the procedures, treatments and prognosis, answered questions, shared fears, and yes, cried. In general, there is a mystery to cancer. But when a fourth-grade brain wraps itself around the concept, facts jumble, distortion spreads. Stopping it, like a bodyguard, was Robby Keilch, fellow fourth grader. Robby and Olivia had been fast friends since preschool, always classmates but more: they were in sync. If Olivia was hurt, he was there. He ran interference, dismissed chatter, and delivered news as it happened on a need-to-know basis. He visited her in the hospital and joined her in isolation, via Skype. There was tremendous peer support and a devoted ring of friends, but Robby was there. Post-surgery, Dr. Shreeti Patel, Pegasus parent, took a knee to ask Olivia face-to-face just how she felt. Olivia thought first, then answered: “I feel protected.” 6
THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
The Army of Angels Patel is just one of a group of adults who, from the outset, supported Olivia and her parents with tenacity. Extended family and close personal friends were in this camp, as well as a collection of Pegasus parents and teachers so armed with compassion and purpose that Arangua dubbed them her Army of Angels. Fellow Pegasus parents and longtime friends, Lisa Argyros and Angie Karahalios, carried Arangua emotionally, calling her daily. Karen Hurst was the back-up mom, and Kelly Townsend, parent, the mobilizer. Second-grade teacher, Sharon Goldhamer, donated a laptop for the Skype sessions during isolation and third-grade teacher, Vicki Olivadoti, visited regularly. And, fifthgrade teacher and friend, Keri Gorsage, monitored Olivia’s seamless return to campus.
The family was optimistic. “We had nailed the surgery,” Arangua says. “We were in the hands of the extraordinary physicians at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.” But anxiety held on, a consequence of cancer treatment that Jamie El-Erian, friend and Pegasus parent, knew well. El-Erian had lost her father to cancer the week Olivia was diagnosed. Her experience with the specialists at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston had been so impactful that she urged Arangua and her husband to consult with them, for peace of mind. Patel, herself a physician and advocate of extensive research, identified and contacted experts in papillary thyroid cancer at New York’s Sloan Kettering and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The team at UCLA willingly expanded to include these new parties and, together, they determined that Olivia’s impending protocol was not efficacious for children. It was innovative, but it would have been ineffective for Olivia. “We really could have blown it,” says Arangua. In the battle against cancer, it’s good to have an Army of Angels.
Flat Olivia Travels the World While doctors were redefining how to treat children with this form of cancer, Kelly Townsend was busy keeping Olivia connected. She devised a scheme to bring friends to her in the hospital in isolation over the summer. With vanilla card stock cut into the shape of a doll, she created the Flat Olivia. Classmates, teachers, friends and family all dressed up their “Flats” and Flat Olivia in Palm Springs packed them safely into suitcases for some with Chase Harvey far-flung adventures. Pictures of Flat Olivia popped up daily from places like Palm Springs, Cabo San Lucas, New York City, and Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, where Mrs. Green was giving birth. (Flat Olivia was in the delivery room.) And, thanks to the Argyros family, the “Flats” made impressive friends. While in Washington, D.C., Flat Olivia was photographed with General Colin Powell, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and Buzz Aldrin. Flat Olivia with Lisa Argyros (L), And — because she is just a kid — Brad Pitt, and Julia Argyros (R) Brad Pitt. Olivia is back at school, in step in fifth-grade and moving forward. Her health is strong, math is hard, and there is a fishtail, rainbow-loom bracelet waiting to be mastered. But Olivia carries with her the substance of her experience. She has the comfort of knowing that there are many mothers, standing behind her own; there are scores of friends who love her; there are strangers, in distant locations, willing to work on her behalf. And there are angels around every corner in our Pegasus Community. Karla Joyce is a Pegasus parent and contributing writer for the Pegasus Magazine. Contact: karlajoyce@cox.net Olivia’s Army of Angels
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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PROGRAM
Out of the
Mouths of
abes
The Writers Workshop, at Work, at Pegasus by Tricia Starkenburg
A
sk Nancy Larimer’s kindergarten class, “Who here is
Workshop is a program that teaches kids from the earliest ages
a writer?” and you will see every hand shoot into the
to be writers. Students brainstorm story ideas, organize their
air. Ask Sandy Deering’s pre-kindergarten class, “If you
thoughts, write and write some more, revise and revise again,
have a great story to tell, give me a thumbs up,” and you will see
and finally publish a finished piece of work.
every student give not one but two thumbs up. Observe Sarah
Hurwitz’s kindergarten class during free-play, and you will see
University, Writers Workshop has helped thousands of teachers
clusters of students discussing their story ideas. Something new
transform their writing curriculum. Tashon McKeithan,
and exciting is infecting the primary school. And that something
Primary School Director who joined Pegasus in 2012 with
is Writers Workshop.
extensive experience in Writers Workshop, encouraged primary
school teachers to try the program last year. “I suspected
What exactly is this Writers Workshop that makes primary
school students cheer and ask for more? At its core, Writers 8
THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
Founded 30 years ago by Lucy Calkin at Columbia
Writers Workshop would fit well with the Pegasus gifted
curriculum,” says McKeithan. “By its nature, Writers Workshop is differentiated. The program works for writers who are writing well-above grade level, as well as for writers who are just beginning. It meets each writer at her level and then continually stretches and challenges her.”
The primary school faculty experienced immediate results.
“Students who had no previous interest in writing were suddenly writing pages and pages,” shares Hurwitz. “And during a single session I showed a more advanced writer how to add spaces between his words and a beginning writer how to label his pictures with beginning sounds.”
Such positive results led the primary school division to
embrace Writers Workshop this academic year with one modification. Instead of starting in kindergarten, Pegasus is
edits, titles his story, designs a book cover, creates a title page,
starting in pre-kindergarten. “It’s a risk,” states Deering. “But we
and finally publishes his book. The class then throws a party
believe our students are ready.”
to celebrate both the writer’s published work and the writer
himself. “We wanted to make our first publishing party extra
The risk appears to be paying off. “I have students ask me
during recess when the next Writers Workshop will be,” says
special by inviting our fourth grade buddies,” says Deering.
pre-kindergarten teacher Traci Lappin. “Other than free-choice, I
don’t recall students ever asking about a specific subject.”
for a buddy event,” says Green, “but we had no idea what a
tremendous success it would be.” Before the party, Deering’s
“My students cheer every time it’s time for Writers
“Sandy and I knew the publishing party was a great idea
Workshop,” says Deering. The pre-kindergarten team agrees that
class practiced and practiced reading their stories out loud,
their students connect with Writers Workshop in part because
and Green’s class practiced listening attentively and providing positive comments. All the practice paid off.
... students connect with Writers Workshop in part because the program taps into each writer’s passions and imagination.
Each pre-kindergartener and first-time author confidently
and proudly read her published story to her fourth grade buddy, and the older buddy listened intently and praised her work. “Every single student in the classroom was engaged,” says Green. “No one wanted the party to end.”
Green states the positive experience continued back in her
fourth grade classroom. “My students couldn’t believe what creative and confident storytellers their pre-K buddies were,” she says. “More importantly,” Green continues, breaking into a
the program taps into each writer’s passions and imagination.
big grin, “my students asked when they could write their own
“A pre-kindergartener who is obsessed with airplanes can write
stories.” Green looks forward to celebrating more publishing
about airplanes every day,” says Deering, “and a writer who is
parties with Deering’s class this year. “It was a huge win-win.
passionate about fairies can write about fairies every day.”
It was one of those authentic teaching moments you can’t plan,”
says Green. “It just happened.”
Recently, Jennifer Green’s fourth grade class witnessed first-
hand the power of Writers Workshop when they participated
in their pre-kindergarten buddies’ first ever publishing party. A
school. It’s infecting it with the joy of writing.
core Writers Workshop activity, story publishing occurs several times a year. Each writer chooses his favorite story, makes final
Yes, Writers Workshop is definitely infecting primary
Tricia Starkenburg is is a Pegasus parent and contributing writer for the Pegasus Magazine. Contact: tricia@starkenburg.com
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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Meet Founder and Executive Director, Khan Academy by Jamie El-Erian
O
N OCTOBER 12, 2013, THE PEGASUS SCHOOL HOSTED SAL KHAN, THE VISIONARY BEHIND THE EPONYMOUS, NONPROFIT EDUCATIONAL WEBSITE, KHAN ACADEMY. With over 300 million people in 216 countries in over 24 languages viewing his videos, Khan Academy is well on its way toward achieving its ambitious mission: to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.
If you open today’s newspaper, you will find the United States ranked 14th in reading, 25th in math, 17th in science and an abysmal 22nd in high school graduation rates, as compared to the top 27 industrial nations worldwide. This is equally troubling given that the
celebrating his 37th birthday and vision for the future of
United States spends an average $10,000 per student each year
education with Pegasus and our local community. What Sal is
(about $1.3 trillion annually) on education. Our high school
doing in education is a game changer.
dropout rates hover close to 30% (1.2 million students a year)
correlating to double the national average unemployment rate
Engineering and Computer Science and an MBA from
for those under 24 years old. Perhaps more dire, studies show
Harvard. He is listed in Fortune magazine’s ‘40 under 40’ (the
that 75% of all crimes are committed by high school dropouts,
40 most influential people under the age of 40), has been
with incarnation costs of approximately $31,000 per year.
profiled twice on ‘60 Minutes,’ and has been named by TIME
Combine that figure with lost tax income and you have a total
magazine among the ‘100 Most Influential People in the
annual societal cost of $1.8 billion…for our dropouts, alone.
World.’ He has received grants from the Gates Foundation,
That’s the bad news. Here is the good news.
Google, The Broad Foundation and Oracle, been awarded
Brilliant minds are working to solve these problems
the Microsoft Tech Award for Education and been invited to
Sal has three degrees from MIT in Math, Electrical
here and abroad, and they are making a difference. The new
speak at a TED conference by Bill Gates (who admitted to
kid on the educational block is Sal Khan, who is graciously
using the Khan Academy to teach his own kids).
10 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
A little history about Khan Academy. In 2004, Sal began
We loaded up two iPhones, one iPod, an iPad and a Kindle
tutoring his cousin Nadia in algebra. By 2006, due in part to
with the app and looked for pre-algebra. Khan Academy has
Nadia’s wild success, he starting uploading tutoring sessions
eleven videos on positive and negative numbers, two of which
to YouTube for his other cousins. People — many more than
are dedicated to subtracting negative numbers. Within five
his cousins — started watching. In 2009, Sal quit his day job
minutes we had watched the relevant video, and I repeated
as a hedge fund analyst to start Khan Academy, a free online
the question: ‘What is negative 3 minus
site offering educational videos to everyone, everywhere. His site has over 4500 videos, teaching kids from kindergarten through 12th grade subjects ranging from math, sciences, economics, and finance to history and the humanities. These lessons are paced to an individual’s needs so that basic concepts can be
Brilliant minds are working to solve these problems here and abroad, and they are making a difference.
negative 3?’ and an enthusiastic ‘zero’ came back, even from me! Four kids, five minutes, and the confidence to last a lifetime. My nephew said, “I wish Sal Khan was my teacher.” I shot back: ‘Sal Khan IS your teacher! He’s YOUR teacher!’ We live in a wonderful time. All of my grandparents were born and
understood deeply, with no gaps, allowing greater mastery of more advanced material.
raised in rural Arkansas. They received their entire education
Let me share how the Khan Academy has affected my
in one room, grades one through twelve taught by a single
life. Last month, I went to Arkansas to see my nieces and
teacher. In my lifetime, I am seeing this concept come full
nephews. In my own household, we had been visited by
circle. Khan Academy has captured the concept of the one-
the ghost of subtracting negative numbers, so when I arrived in
room schoolhouse and reimagined it online as a virtual One-
Arkansas I asked the kids, casually, over dinner: ‘What is
World schoolhouse, where everyone, everywhere, at anytime
negative 3 minus negative 3?’
has access to a world-class education…for free.
I got back two blank stares, one “negative six” and a
“zero.” It had been a long time since I thought about negative numbers, so I wasn’t exactly sure which one was correct.
This concept is changing the world.
Jamie Walters El-Erian is a Pegasus parent and attorney. She is married to Mohamed El-Erian.
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FACULTY FOCUS
Remy Carl and the Mystery of Pegasus by Mike Mulroy 2000 B.C. – Algebra is developed by the Babylonians. 1923 – The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran, is published. 1971 – John Wooden teaches Bill Walton how to put on socks and tie shoes. 1984 – Dr. Laura Hathaway founds The Pegasus School. 2005 – U.C. Berkeley wins NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship 2010 – Remy Carl accepts a job in Middle School at Pegasus. 2013 – Sal Khan presents at the Pegasus Distinguished Speaker Series
W
hat do these events have to do with each other? Lots of
unknown variables in that equation. Imagine you are a teacher, with the task of solving an equation containing approximately 20 pre-teen variables, all with different learning styles; half of them thinking they know more than they do and the other half not yet fully confident in their intellects. Tough problem to solve. Fortunately, Pegasus teems with solutions to this problem — the school’s teachers. This article is about one of those teachers who not at all ironically teaches Algebra: Remy Carl.
12 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
But what does it mean to teach? Gibran’s prophet speaks of
work together than the All-American coxswain on a Division I
teaching:
champion rowing team? The metaphor from coxswain to teacher
“No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep
is just too perfect; I half expected the desks in her classroom to
in the dawning of our knowledge.”
be set up in the shape of an 8-rower shell. But no, desks were
“The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his
followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his
lovingness.”
Does Algebra lie dormant in the child’s mind, waiting to be
released? Did the ancient Babylonians invent Algebra or discover it?
Carl speaks of John Wooden’s “Pyramid of Success.” The
middle block on the bottom row says “Loyalty — To yourself and to all those depending
simply partnered together so that, according to Carl, “no student would be alone.”
I happened to sit next to Carl at the Sal Khan Distinguished
Speaker Series event in early October. This personified reminder of my looming deadline made it hard to focus on the lecture. I heard enough though to drift off and daydream about it. I give titles to my daydreams and call this one “Education Trek 2.0 — The Wrath of Khan.” I imagined a conversation I could have had millions of years ago with a particularly cold-blooded Tyrannosaurus Rex. I told
upon you.” Coach Wooden
it that a comet was coming
said, “Loyalty is part of human
and its smashing into Earth
beings’ higher nature. It is also
would lead to the extinction
part of the nature of great teams
of the dinosaurs. T-Rex was
and those who lead them. The
unhappy with this news and,
power of Loyalty is the reason
over my protestations about
I placed it in the center of the
my being just the messenger,
Pyramid’s foundation.”
the daydream ends with me as
Carl is loyal, fiercely loyal,
afternoon snack.
to her students — perhaps at
Still daydreaming, fears of
a time in their academic lives
things far worse than T-Rex
when they need it most. She
emerge. Fear of a world of
ascribes her teaching success
children being educated at
not to her prowess in Algebra, but rather to her ability to convince her students that she wants them to succeed. I am reminded of that oft-repeated question, “Why do I need to learn this; it’s not like I’m ever going to need to know it.” So, what do the 12-year-olds really learn in seventh grade Algebra? Generalizing, what do Pegasus students really learn at Pegasus? They all, of course, work through a multi-year curriculum chock-full of interesting facts and theories. But while the subjects covered are generally the same, the discoveries are quite different. The teacher plays a critical role here, but each is really a guide. Going back to the Gibran quotation: it is really about unlocking something already within. There is humility in all of this — Pegasus students are not invented; they are discovered.
There is an important social aspect to the student’s journey,
which Carl recognizes. The challenge for the teacher, per Gibran, is not to impart wisdom but to awaken the student by demonstrating faith in the student. Try that in a group setting
their home computers, alone, with the desks still paired together in Carl’s empty classroom. Fear of parents avoiding both the financial burden of a great education and the many ills of underperforming schools. Fear of arguments about efficiency. Can a computer screen provide faith and lovingness?
It was good that I had interviewed Carl prior to the lecture.
It was good that I sat next to her during the lecture. It helped me get through it and not think of Pegasus as some sort of ancient, mythical creature on the way out but rather as a critical force in the lives of so many children and one that will be even more critical in the years ahead. For these reasons, I give thanks to Carl and all the teachers who everyday help our children discover their inner Pegasus student. Mike Mulroy is the proud Pegasus parent of Alden (5th) and Michael (Pre-K). Contact mkmul2002@yahoo.com
with 20 different personalities and a need to move the class through an established curriculum. Who better to get a team to PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT The phenomenon whereby one tiny event - the butterfly posing, wings frozen for inspection - can have large effects elsewhere...like minutes later, when the child asks her teacher, “Do butterflies have brains?” or “How long will that butterfly live?” and the universe opens.
14 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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A
n aerial snapshot of the Pegasus campus on any given day might suggest that primary, lower, and middle school students mingle consistently,
like one big family. And, if the confidence and familial conviviality of the greater student body is any indication, they do. But zoom in on the hub of lockers at the east end of the Quad, where clusters of preteens gather north and scatter with direction, and the distinctness of the middle school experience appears.
the
REVIVALof
TINKERING New Middle School Electives Designed to Make Things Happen by Jennifer Aguilar
The editors at Pegasus Magazine asked me to investigate
the recently launched, massively expanded Electives Program available to sixth through eighth graders. As a parent of younger kids, I entered blindly. In a word, middle school is invigorating...a place that feels youthfully energetic, where teachers sport gnarly (a.k.a. cool) facial hair and kids, the air of independence. They’re still kids, but there is a palpable difference from the fourth and fifth graders around the corner. According to Joe Williamson, the middle school years are a time when students “branch out, explore their interests, and take everything to the next level.”
Sure, middle school students must manage the newness
of lockers, intensified academics, and rotating schedules, but they are still shrouded in the comfort of Pegasus — a place most have known exclusively for years. Freed from physical transition anxiety, these students can “channel their creativity and curiosity and, ultimately, emerge with the ability to think critically,” says Adam Stockman. But how do we facilitate the journey? “One way is building their confidence,” adds Williamson, echoing the independence program launched in third grade, when parents agree to step away from homework and place the onus of success and failure (or, learning) on the student. Another way, in Middle School, is through electives.
Last year, middle school director, Joe Williamson, set
out to expand his electives curriculum to tap the thinking 16 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
skills required in “making,” a buzzword for invention and
the application of technologies, including (but not limited to)
that, according to Williamson, has become a lost art. “It’s the
engineering-oriented pursuits. To augment a slate of proven
cornerstone of invention!” Tinkering capitalizes on the innate
offerings, like Writers Workshop, Performing Arts, and Debate,
tendencies of children to figure out by fiddling, who learn
Williamson asked each of his teachers to come up with a new
by doing. “For years,” Warren says, “parents of her students
elective course, stressing one essential guideline: “Make it
watched their kids race home to work on a project, getting lost
something you are passionate about.”
in the process of building and testing to achieve a simple result.”
The Rube Goldberg elective is a structured outgrowth of her
Apparently, seventh grade math teacher, Dustan Bridges,
Many of the new electives promote a revival of tinkering
is passionate about CO2 Dragster Cars. Bridges affectionately
curriculum.
describes his new elective as “Pinewood Derby on steroids” and
his enthusiasm is infectious; over 20 students signed up. In this
all driven to tap critical thinking skills operable in identifying
one-semester course, kids take a rudimentary kit consisting of
problems and creating solutions. Middle School Spanish
a wood block and wheels, and design and build a small racecar
teacher, Valerie Harelson’s Marketing elective exposes students
powered by a CO2 cartridge. Students learn about mass, inertia,
to mainstream advertising and, by comparison, marketing
friction, thrust, aerodynamics, and Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion,
techniques particularly effective in raising awareness of a cause.
but the real draw is speed. Longtime Pegasus science teacher
Remy Carl’s offering is Textile Arts, “a practical class focused
Rob Grant, who taught a similar class before his passing in 2008,
on life skills like: sewing a button, communicating, following
inspired Bridges.
instructions, and making mistakes.” First lesson: knitting.
Freed from physical transition anxiety, these students can ‘channel their creativity and curiosity and, ultimately, emerge with the ability to think critically.’
Equally popular is Stockman’s Dreamlab, a course-like
Not all of the new electives involve technology, but they are
Williamson sees great potential for the new electives to
grow into a strong and successful program. “We have teachers who are strongly connected to their subjects, many motivated to seek continuing education to expand their knowledge. We have students feeding off this energy. And we have the added bonus of: no grades!” Williamson hopes that future waves of electives will be student-initiated and created deliberately for unique interests. In the meantime: Students, start your engines… Jennifer Aguilar is the Pegasus parent of Noah (5th) and Sabrina (3rd). She designs and assists with the copywriting of marketing collateral for Communities for Cause (CfC). Contact: jennifer@communitiesforcause.com
“experience” that draws heavily from the “maker” movement, a technology-based extension of D-I-Y culture. Dreamlab is a “venue for student-driven learning and tinkering,” says Stockman, “using tools such as a 3-D printer and microcontrollers.” He sees Dreamlab as a throwback to the 1960s and earlier, when every kid in school had to build a simple electrical circuit. “In a time when we have access to so much technology,” says Stockman, “the irony is that we have little understanding of how these devices are built or how they work.”
Science teacher Julie Warren designed a Simple Mechanics
elective based entirely on Rube Goldberg, a cartoonist who imagined and drew extraordinarily complex machines that accomplished very simple tasks. In this one-semester course, students work in groups of three to create machines using mechanical, chemical and/or heat energy transfers to accomplish simple goals, like opening a window, making a paper airplane fly, or turning on a light. PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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PROGRAM
The Age of at Age Ten Technology that Changes How We Work, How We Teach, How We Learn
A
by Jean Kawahara
fter a limited pilot program last year, fourth
or where they saved their work; it is saved automatically to a
through eighth graders are swapping Word, Excel
globally accessible drive, a.k.a. the cloud. Those frustrating days
and Power Point for Google Apps for Education,
of forgetting or losing the flash drive that contained all of one’s
a cloud-based suite of software applications for
assignments are gone. Instead, students can always access and
email, word processing, spreadsheets and computer slide
edit their work on school iPads, home PCs, even smartphones.
presentations. Although the basic functions have remained
the same, the change is just as exciting in the academic setting
of the early adopters of Google Docs. He raves about how the
as the professional world. Teachers and students are reveling
application enabled his debaters to brainstorm together as never
in the interactive capability that Google Apps affords, and
before, but he finds the same advantages for his eighth grade
the newfound ease in editing, saving and submitting their
social studies classes. Not only does Google Docs make it easier
assignments.
for his students to work together on a project, the color-coded
Have Internet, Can Work!
revisions history feature allows him to see clearly what each
Front and center among the applications is Google Docs, a
extends to individual assignments, as well. Whether a student
word processing program that allows for online collaboration.
has worked on an assignment consistently for two weeks or
Gone are the days when the only means of seeing a student’s
began the night before, it will be documented on the revisions
work was when it was either printed or emailed to the teacher. Now, students share their work file with their teacher, enabling the teacher to open, read and comment on — or even revise — the students’ work online, sometimes while it’s still
Jim Conti, middle school teacher and debate coach, was one
student contributed to the assignment codes. This transparency
history and irrefutably clear to the teacher. The dog did not eat the homework!
HAPARA: Transparency, Accountability and Security
in progress, allowing them to make sure that
Every parent knows that monitoring one
they are on the right track. Collaboration among
child’s computer usage can be a daunting
students on group projects is also much easier, as they can work on the same document or presentation file simultaneously, and see and respond to each other’s additions and revisions in real time.
Switching to Google Docs also has
meant that students no longer have to worry about when
18 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
task. How then can Pegasus teachers supervise an entire classroom of students on their laptops and iPads? Enter the Hapara Teacher Dashboard. Initially developed in collaboration with teachers in New Zealand, Hapara (the Maori word for “daybreak”) is a management system that layers on top
of Google Apps, allowing teachers to get a bird’s eye view of
Jennifer Green, fourth grade teacher, gushes about how
students’ activity in all the Google applications. Hapara provides
the program has enhanced her ability to manage her students’
teachers and parents with an added degree of transparency,
work and help them navigate the freedom and responsibility of
accountability and security in the face of increased online
their new school laptops. Hapara makes it easier for Green to
activity.
track down missing computer files, monitor students’ progress
Hapara organizes each class by student and
on assignments, and send emails to some or all of her
subject, and students merely drop their work into the
students at the same time. She has even been known
designated folder for each class or subject. Teachers can
to startle a wayward student to attention with an
see at-a-glance on their onscreen “dashboard” the
instant message, alerting him to the fact that he had
status of every assignment for each student, including
been caught browsing the Internet — thanks to
when the work was revised and by whom. This
Hapara. When asked whether the need for constant
dashboard view also facilitates teacher input, as class
monitoring might threaten to overwhelm her other
assignments can be easily opened, reviewed and commented
responsibilities, she smiles. “Once the kids know I can do this, I
upon from a single screen.
really don’t need to use it anymore.”
The Hapara dashboard helps teachers ensure that students’
These high-tech tools are dramatically affecting our lives,
online activity is efficient and appropriate. When students are
and they are making our work efforts more efficient and
at work on their iPads, teachers can use the dashboard to see the
collaborative. What remains to be seen, however, is how this
browser tabs and open-screens on each student’s device, alerting
different level of interaction between student and teacher and
them if a student is viewing inappropriate content or is simply
heightened efficiency, from such a young age, will influence the
off-task. Teachers can also see what files or links students may
lives of our children and, by extension, our future.
have shared with each other and, if necessary, monitor emails sent through students’ Pegasus Gmail accounts.
Jean Kawahara-Dunlavey is the Pegasus parent of student Corinne (5th) and alumni Brett (’10) and Grant (’13). Contact jeankawahara@gmail.com
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
19
FEATURE
Think ABOUT IT Teaching Students HOW to THINK...Critically, Creatively, Constructively by Karla Joyce
POP QUIZ: WOULD YOU RATHER YOUR CHILD GROW UP TO BE AN A-STUDENT OR A THINKER? As a parent of twin fifth graders, I would answer: thinker. I think. But, backpedalling: a high GPA will serve them better on college applications. I think. Backtracking still: surely the ability to go beyond academic performance and create solutions will give their lives greater meaning. Wait. Are they necessarily mutually exclusive? Is this a trick question? Am I failing? So much has been written on the subject of critical thinking and thinking skills in childhood education that it is now ubiquitous, something assumed to be integrally woven into every classroom experience from kindergarten through college. Is it? How does a five-year-old think critically? How are my eleven-year-olds learning to think creatively within the fifth grade American history curriculum? And how will my soon-to-be middle school students translate these critical thinking skills into the kind of constructive thinking that transcends high-volume high school academics? It is in this fog of not-knowing and questioning candidly — also known as thinking — that I ask educators from the Primary, Lower, and Middle divisions to discuss thinking…one developmental stage at a time.
I
PRIMARY SCHOOL Remembering & Understanding
confess. When it comes to my childrens’ education, I hover. I don’t taint their homework with stealth forty-something insight, but it’s a calculated restraint. Instead, I read
Theory aside, anybody with a four-year-old knows that kids have
pedagogy, the various methods and practices of teaching, and
an innate desire to understand why things happen and how things
follow its trends like a diet.
Around the time we entered Pegasus, I discovered
work. Thinking is driven by the questions we seek to answer, but to answer questions, we need information. Kristen Brady,
Bloom’s Taxonomy. Back in 1956, an educational psychologist
lower school learning specialist, points out, “The little guys
named Benjamin Bloom designed a classification of levels of
can’t reflect because they have less prior knowledge.” Although
intellectual behavior in learning. He started with knowledge,
critical thinking is most applicable to higher-order thinking, it
comprehension, and application, then progressed to the higher-
is how we transmit knowledge and coax understanding in these
order thinking skills: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
youngest students that sets the stage for future thinkers.
During the mid 90s, a new group of cognitive psychologists
re-envisioned this progression with 21st-century relevance:
use to build students’ critical thinking skills at every stage of
remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. It seemed logical, like a snapshot of the developmental stages that occur during elementary education and beyond. It is also a framework from which emerge the concepts of critical and creative thinking.
20 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
According to Brady, there are key techniques that teachers
development, starting early: Open-ended Questions. Nancy Larimer, kindergarten teacher, admits that the Socratic approach at this age relies more on closed-ended questions, a fact-based question format that limits respondents with a list of choices, “because we’re building
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
21
groups,” says Lessenger. “Today, we sorted and categorized the working parts of a community. Each group produced a book, identifying their findings, such as places to learn, work, get help, play, worship, buy, one page at a time.”
LOWER SCHOOL Applying & Analyzing This is a developmental stage when the brain is taking in massive amounts of information and the sourcing of research material, as a newfound skill, takes center stage. Despite rich, curricular opportunities to weave thinking-outside-the-box into the assimilation of knowledge, there is a hard reality to facts. Shannon Vermeeren, fifth grade teacher, laments that her students — particularly the ones who have typically achieved basic knowledge.” But open-ended questions exist. “We talk
at high levels — are so driven to get right answers. One student,
about social skills in kindergarten and we do that through
upon receiving 87% on his first researching assignment, sobbed,
books.” In every story there are opportunities for reflection, via
“I’m just not good at this!”
questioning. “I’m asking kids to put themselves in somebody else’s
shoes.” (And to the fifth grader: “How would the Revolutionary
daily to challenge students to tap that four-year-old’s instinct
War have been resolved without the support of other European
to question everything, but at a higher level. “Fifth grade is a
countries?” Research, compare and contrast, posit, defend. In
challenging year,” says Vermeeren. “It’s not harder because of
both cases: think.)
increased workload or academic content. It’s harder because we
Patterns and Connections. Some kids see patterns naturally;
are expecting the students to think in different ways.”
others learn to spot connections. Either way, it’s a critical
thinking skill that can be honed daily at a very young age.
the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a puzzling mystery in American
Larimer turns her Friendly Frogs’ calendar time into a rousing
history in which 115 English settlers disappeared without a
game of patternmaking. “Give them a grid with numbers, a
trace. Vermeeren posed the question: What happened to them?
hundreds chart or basic calendar, and the options are endless.”
(Only theories exist, with clues pieced together from recently-
Older kids, says Brady, are challenged to “connect the content
unearthed maps and three letters carved into a tree at the time.
between their classes and recognize how the content of these
But there is no certainty, no real proof, and no right answer.)
classes relates to issues in their lives in meaningful ways.”
Working in groups, kids could answer in one of three ways:
Categories and Classifications. Organizing information into categories develops analysis, discrimination, comparison, and logical thinking skills. Larimer can find myriad ways to simply seat her kids on the carpet each day, grouping long hair or short hair, boys versus girls, or blue eyes and brown eyes. “It helps them see similarities and differences, and that there is no one right way or wrong way of categorizing.” Group Work. “Group work is essential,” explains Denise Lessenger, second grade teacher. At higher thinking levels, collaborative work breeds flexibility, an ability to apply divergent opinions and the suspension of judgment, biases and egocentrism. Starting early matters. “We regularly work in
22 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
To address this roadblock, the fifth grade team strives
In a unit this fall, Vermeeren’s fifth grade students studied
Sure, we need to guide some kids more than others. But at a certain point, we need to stop handing out answers and just say: THINK. They can do it.
MIDDLE SCHOOL Evaluating & Creating
via straight news article, based on evidence; tabloid article, stemming from the most salacious speculation, or; fictional narrative, from the perspective of the tree. The energy in the room screamed: Are we being graded on this? What if I didn’t get it right?
The fact that this stage of learning-through-research exists
Full disclosure: my attentiveness to pedagogic process has waned of late, replaced by a busy schedule. The scope of my girls’ learning extends far past my ability to lace bigger-picture
in a digital format presents its own critical thinking challenges.
implications into every assignment. Maybe I’m just letting go.
A text here or there may be required for citation, but the bulk
Over the years, our dinner table conversation has moved from
of kids’ sources will be web-based. By necessity, according to
questioning to reporting to argument to now, a more thoughtful
Brady, running parallel to the lower school academic curriculum
discussion; it’s practically adult-like. But it’s more than age. It’s
is a steady exposure to the three D’s: digital literacy (the ability
the natural progression toward higher-order thinking, and it
to discern the veracity of online sources), digital citizenship
blossoms in middle school.
(thou shalt not plagiarize), and our digital footprint.
to deliberately apply the skills of analysis, problem solving,
Vermeeren insists that while all kids aren’t wired to analyze
data, make connections or solve problems at the same pace, they’re all capable of getting there eventually. “Sure, we need to guide some kids more than others. But at a certain point,” she says, “we need to stop handing out answers and just say: THINK. They can do it.”
At this age, students should have a strong enough foundation
critical thinking, organizational proficiency, research prowess, and confidence in presentation. These skills are most visibly on display in competitive debate. Debaters, led by eighth grade teacher Jim Conti, learn the four building blocks of an argument: assertion, reasoning, evidence, and impact.
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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According to Conti, an assertion is
a claim about the world, a stance on an issue, or a simple statement, but it is not an argument. Adding reasoning, (Conti calls it “the because part”), is essential to making arguments. And since debate by its nature involves an opposing viewpoint, providing proof — solid,
...the argument needs impact. ‘Who will really care about your assertion?’ asks Conti. ‘Whom will you affect?’
researched evidence — of the reasoning is essential. Finally, the argument needs impact. “Who will really care about your assertion?” asks Conti. “Whom will you affect?” Whom will you affect? The question lingers. This template, which integrates what students have learned while forcing them to learn more broadly and in greater depth than they would otherwise, isn’t reserved for extracurricular debaters. “I purposely weave the debate format into my history classes,” says Conti. “Kids are encouraged to make assertions, offer a reason for the assertion and defend the assertions with evidence both in writing, via a paragraph, and in discussion. One student may view a concept — like the One Child Policy in
24 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
China — through a certain perspective, while another may see it in a totally different light. Both have to think critically, using assertions, reasoning, and evidence, to defend their perspective.” My interest in education persists, and I follow with fascination the likes of Sal Kahn and others who are redefining how
we learn and, by extension, how we think. But I am also at ease turning-over my twins to educators so clearly apace in their own thinking evolutions, like Vermeeren.
“All of the 21st-century skills are important,” she says,
“but critical thinking is the game changer. This generation is technologically astute and will graduate with a global perspective and reasonable economic literacy. But the catalysts of change will be the thinkers, those who can recognize problems, analyze and understand them at their core, and come up with creative, realistic solutions to solve them. We owe it to our students, and ourselves, to do our best to develop these skills in every single student.”
A HOMEWORK n aerial snapshot of the Pegasus campus on any given day might suggest that primary, lower,
and middle school students mingle consistently,
like one big family. And, if the confidence and familial
conviviality of the greater student body is any indication,
How Inspire Critical they do. Pegasus But zoom in onParents the hub of lockers at the east end Thinking the Classroom of the Quad, whereOutside clusters of preteens gather and scatter with direction, and the of the middle school bydistinctness Marrie Stone
I
experience appears. N AUGUST 2011, PEGASUS MOTHER JILL FALES The editors at Pegasus Magazine asked me to investigate FOLLOWED THROUGH ON A DARING DECISION. the recently launched, massively expanded Electives INSTEAD OF SENDING HER FOUR CHILDREN Program available to sixth through eighth graders. As BACK TO SCHOOL IN THE FALL, SHE LOADED a parent of younger kids, I entered blindly. In a word, THEM INTO A MINIVAN AND SET OUT ON THE middle school is invigorating...a place that feels youthfully GREAT AMERICAN FIELD TRIP, A THREE-MONTH energetic, where teachers sport gnarly (a.k.a. cool) facial ADVENTURE OF ROAD-SCHOOLING ACROSS THE hair and kids, the air of independence. They’re still kids, UNITED STATES. Her children ranged in age from 6 to 14, but there is a palpable difference from the fourth and fifth two boys and two girls, each with his/her own personalities graders around the corner. According to Joe Williamson, and enthusiasms. Fales managed to cover math, science, the middle school years are a time when students “branch literature, history, and countless other topics all through out, explore their interests, and take everything to the hands-on experiences, real-life applications, and personal next level.” encounters with people, museums, farms, national parks, Sure, middle school students must manage the newness battlefields, rivers, libraries, mountains, and more. Each of of lockers, intensified academics, and rotating schedules, the twenty-seven states they visited offered a unique piece but they are still shrouded in the comfort of Pegasus — of the American puzzle. a place most have known exclusively for years. Freed from The backbone of Fales’s strategy was to bring learning physical transition anxiety, these students can “channel home by leaving home. Fales turned the country into an their creativity and curiosity and, ultimately, emerge with interactive classroom and every person they encountered the ability to think critically,” says Adam Stockman. But into a teacher. The challenge, of course, was educating four how do we facilitate the journey? “One way is building their children of different ages and genders, and making a love of confidence,” adds Williamson, echoing the independence learning part of their DNA. She accomplished this largely program launched in third grade, when parents agree to through letting her children’s curiosities drive the learning, step away from homework and place the onus of success and asking open-ended questions, and fostering an environment failure (or, learning) on the student. Another way, in Middle of consistent critical thinking. School, is through electives. on page 26 School Director, Joe Williamson, set Continued Last year, Middle out to expand his electives curriculum to tap the thinking
(L-R) Heidi & Annika Tufo explore a friend’s home backyard pond full of water plants and critters.
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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CRITICAL THINKING DEFINED “Critical thinking” has become a buzz-phrase among educators, and while most parents agree it’s an essential skill, many still struggle to define it. According to Elizabeth Shaunessy, Ph.D., in an
The SOLE approach depends on asking big, open-ended questions: When did the world begin? How will the world end? What happens to the air we breathe? What is a soul? Can animals think? Stimulating a child’s natural curiosity and giving them encouragement (letting learning happen) instead of threats (making learning
article she wrote for Duke
happen) creates an environment
University on Enhancing
of contagious wonder.
Critical-Thinking Skills in
Children: Tips for Parents,
Weber, a Pegasus parent,
critical thinking is
magician, and consultant,
“nonlinear, open-ended, and
inspires his children to explore
complex thinking; it allows
many of life’s tricky questions:
for multiple responses,
what causes waves in the ocean,
unspecified answers,
the origins of cursive and, on a
various perspectives
practical note, exploring how PHOTO COURTESY OF JILL FALES
and interpretations, and recognition of order among chaos.” Simply put, critical thinking focuses on teaching the student how to think, not what to think.
Examples of how
Pegasus teachers apply these The Fales children (L-R: Sally, Wyatt, Janey & Payton) role playing at Yorktown while skills in their classrooms
learning about the battle of Yorktown! It was fun to imagine the battle between the Americans and French versus the British troops while running up and down the trenches.
abound, but what happens when students go home? While not every Pegasus family is prepared to take to the road for three months, there are endless ways to enhance these skills in everyday, fun ways. Pegasus parents, with their vast body of experiences and expertise across diverse fields, are a largely untapped resource of inspirational ideas.
THE SOLE CHALLENGE In February of this year, Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University in the UK, presented a TEDTalk revealing his intention to build a School in the Cloud, a learning lab allowing children anywhere in the world to engage in intellectual adventures by exploring and collaborating online. Mitra introduced the SOLE Challenge, a Self-Organized Learning Environment that can be created in schools, at home, or anywhere there’s a broadband connection and a group of curious children.
26 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
Using this approach, Michael
rubber stamps are made (which led to Xander, his third grade son, producing self-stamped thank you notes for a birthday party). “I like to model quick lessons that don’t take too long,” says Weber. Having discrete tasks that can be accomplished quickly is satisfying to children, particularly young children. It
keeps them engaged and motivated.
“The art of accomplishment is the art of finishing things.
If you can model finishing things, actually completing a task, you’re already ahead of most people,” Weber says.
MINING YOUR OWN PASSIONS Sharing your own enthusiasms will help your children connect to your passions and model critical thinking skills. Some families engage their kids over the stock market, investing money on their behalf so they can track the trends. Others bond over reading the Sunday morning New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, all the while stimulating discussion through open-ended questions and soliciting opinions about what’s happening in the world.
Our family dissects electronics. When a computer,
television or cell phone dies, we disassemble it piece by piece, talking about what makes the device work and the art of design.
More information often begets more curiosity; one
question leads to others, and the process of critical thinking spirals more deeply.
THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTORS In addition to asking your child open-ended questions, eliciting conversations around the dinner table and hearing their opinions, giving children access to mentors in subjects that interest them will cultivate their curiosity. As a child, PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAMI ABRAHAM
Weber says he was surrounded by mentors — intellectually engaged older adults who allowed quiet kids in the room. His childhood exposure to sleight-of-hand legend Dai Vernon was a major influence in the trajectory of Weber’s career in magic.
Weber now plays that mentoring role every chance he
gets, and he advocates the practice of seeking out experts in any field. “It’s important to demystify the experience of success,” he says. Professionals are often generous with their time if you have an interest in their subject. Talking to them helps children understand that success and achievement aren’t reserved for the rich and famous.
Students from the Pegasus Robotics team receive hands-on experience using the da Vinci Si Surgical System, thanks to parent physician, Dr. Reginald Abraham, who arranged the lesson.
“Approaching people with authenticity will garner their
respect. Being mindful of where your path intersects theirs is helpful,” says Weber. “Once they see you’re further down the path, they’ll listen to you.”
Mentors are everywhere. They don’t have to be educated
experts. Ask the Fales family. Nearly everyone they encountered on their three-month sojourn taught them something important, whether in the corn fields of Iowa using PHOTO COURTESY OF SHALINI MATTINA
complex math to determine gross and yield, or reenacting the lunch-counter sit-ins from the Civil Rights movement at the Smithsonian, or chatting with a WWII fighter pilot.
Many parents make the mistake of believing their tuition
dollars buy them out of engaging with their children on tough intellectual topics. Opportunities to elicit critical reasoning skills abound and, within the conversation, there’s the chance not only to inspire thoughts and ideas, but to connect with your child, ignite your own curiosities, and create a lifelong love of thinking.
Kai Kasserman & Jack Makler engage in conversation with an bladesmith from the Renaissance Pleasure Faire and learn how armor was constructed during the Medieval period.
Marrie Stone is the Director of Public Affairs and co-host of “Writers on Writing” at KUCI, 88.9 FM and the mother of Haley Rovner (’15). Contact: marriestone@gmail.com
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
27
FEATURE
M
ost of us can recall, perhaps viscerally, the process of selecting a school for our
children. You may remember your first visit to the Pegasus campus, being greeted by the front office staff, meeting the admission personnel, touring the classrooms. You weren’t merely handed a fact sheet about the school (though that information likely weighed into
As early as prekindergarten, students stand up in front of their class, share something from home, and tell their story.
small character inside the world and imagine the plot of your child’s untold story. Stories are how we create meaning. In a world abuzz with more information available than ever before, coupled with technology that severely compromises our attention spans, the power of crafting a well-told story is an increasingly rare skill. In an article for CNNMoney, Douglas
your decision). Instead, you were taken on a narrative journey of the school, starting wherever your child
Warshaw writes about Nate Silver joining ESPN as an expert
would start, and imagining all the years before you. You heard
on how to use data to tell stories. He observed, “In order to
the story of the school, including Dr. Hathaway’s vision. You
communicate—in order to truly move audiences, whether they
were allowed to picture your child inside her classroom, what
be one person or millions—data still need narrative, because
she would learn, who she would see, how she would play, the
people are hardwired to be moved by emotion.”
sights, sounds, smells, and textures of her day. You established
an emotional connection to the place where your child would
and author of Lead with a Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives
spend the majority of her waking time. The guided tour of the
that Captivate, Convince, and Inspire, built a career on investigating
campus provided the setting, and it allowed you to put your own
how companies can connect with, inspire, and motivate change
28 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
Paul Smith, consumer research executive, corporate trainer,
in their clients and employees. Regardless of whether you’re talking to the board, your boss, a subordinate, or a client, his conclusion is this: the difference is storytelling. The ability to tell a compelling story, one that makes an emotional connection and influences human behavior, has been identified as one of the essential traits for 21st century success. As Warshaw claims, “Narrative is not just how we discuss the world, it’s how we interpret it, how we bundle our neurological impulses and responses to make sense of our immediate environment, which has far too many data points for us to ever live solely by the numbers.”
Opportunities for teaching effective storytelling abound
at Pegasus. As early as pre-kindergarten, students stand up in front of their class, share something from home, and tell their story. No wonder by the time students reach the Debate Team in middle school, with all those years of emphasizing public and persuasive speaking, they dominate over other leagues. Our teachers have mastered the fine art of story and give students
and imagined.” After the story is finished, share with your child the parts you found the most interesting and engaging, the bits you connected to the most.
every opportunity to cultivate their own. But how can parents
ENCOURAGE POINT OF VIEW SHIFTS. There are few
encourage and reinforce these skills at home?
better ways to build empathy in your child (or yourself) than
IDENTIFY THE THEME. Children often tend to lose the big picture when formulating their story. They’re easily distracted by irrelevant tidbits and tangential facts. If your child suffers from this common problem, wait until he completes his tale and then ask questions. Can he sum the story up in one or two sentences? Why was it important to tell you? What did he hope you’d get from it? This exercise will help him settle on the theme or purpose of the story, and what it meant to him. PROMOTE EYE CONTACT AND BODY LANGUAGE. Lower and middle grades are self-conscious years. Often children haven’t found their confidence, or they lack experience engaging with groups or adults. Reinforcing eye contact and effective body language with acknowledgement and praise is a great way to solidify those important skills.
retelling a story from another person’s point of view. Forcing your child to crawl inside the clothes of another, sleep in her bed, and dream her dreams will widen her global perspective and get her outside her own head. PBS icon Fred Rogers always carried a saying from a social worker inside his pocket that said, “Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love, once you’ve heard their story.” Stories not only have the power to change the mind of the listener, but of the teller, too. Stories have the power to persuade, to inform, to relate, and to identify. Just as Pegasus tells a compelling story on that initial tour as a “safe place to be smart,” our students will use narrative to tell their own stories as they apply to high schools, colleges, and beyond. They will use storytelling to connect with friends, spouses, employers, and competitors. They will create bonds, strike deals, build bridges of understanding, and reach
MAKE THE AUDIENCE CARE. Filmmaker Andrew Stanton
compromises, all through the power of narrative. They will have
(Toy Story and Wall-E) in his TEDTalk on The Clues to a Great Story,
the ability to cut through the noise of information, technology,
says, “Storytelling is joke telling. It’s knowing your punch-
and life served in bite-sized chunks to establish connections and
line, your ending, knowing everything you’re saying is leading
make meaning. The British playwright William Archer said,
to a singular goal, and ideally confirming some truth that
“Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty.” Narrative is
deepens our understanding of who we are as human beings.
the stuff of life.
Stories affirm who we are. And nothing is a greater affirmation than when we connect through stories and allow ourselves to experience the similarities between ourselves and others, real
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FEATURE
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME Pegasus Creates Cutting-Edge ‘Learning Space’ with the Launch of
by Jonathan Stark How frequently do we see people create new products or solutions to societal problems? Impatience with the status quo and the pace of change is accelerating at a fantastic rate. As parents, we need to ask ourselves:
Are we preparing our children not only to live in a dynamic world, but also to shape it? How well will our children be prepared to answer the call: INNOVATORS WANTED? Until recently, we lacked the vocabulary to even identify the common traits of an innovator. Innovation was pervasive, but was neither tangible nor accessible. Then scholars such as Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, gave us insight to how Bill Gates could build a Microsoft, Larry Page and Sergey Brinn could grow a Google, Elon Musk could create Ebay and Tesla. With this glimpse into the process of innovation, educators have rallied to recreate it, to give young, curious minds the setting to foster invention. Three people in our community, each with idiosyncratic ‘impatience’ and vision, have come together to create a unique, inventors’ environment at The Pegasus School, to tap the passion and latent traits of innovation for Pegasus students in an age-appropriate setting.
It’s called DreamLab.
T
here are many modern examples of innovation success
Zurn describes Dreamlab as the perfect forum for students
stories having started as hobbies, or hours of tinkering
to pursue interests at a deeper level, convinced that they could
in a garage. The most notable link: they started outside
gain a more profound understanding if their passions about
the classroom. About a year ago, Teacher Adam Stockman, Pegasus
a subject compelled them to physically create something.
parent Dwight Decker, and Head of School John Zurn, crafted
“Essentially, Adam is teaching a kind of creativity that, in the
a plan to create that captivating, chock-full-of-stuff garage at
past, people honed outside a classroom setting.”
Pegasus. It would be a room stocked with the right tools for
INNOVATION IN LEARNING
students to, as Stockman puts it, “uncover their passion for something, and relentlessly pursue performance in that thing… toward a novel conclusion.”
30 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
Certainly, Stockman, Decker, and Zurn shared a common interest in bringing a new learning environment to The Pegasus School. But the road from vision to fruition happened as the
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
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result of three divergent talents: Stockman’s passion for creating
best at expressing unmet needs, solving problems, and thinking
this type of learning space for his students, Decker’s track
differently.” He adds, “The goal isn’t to make a product. It’s
record of promoting innovative learning at Pegasus (it was
knowing how to make one’s dreams.”
Decker who brought ST Math to the school), and Zurn’s capacity
PROOF OF CONCEPT: DREAMLAB
says Zurn, “and Decker was the perfect catalyst for Stockman to realize that passion.”
The initial blueprint for DreamLab was a STEM-focused
environment, designed, says Stockman, to “expose students to information they need to conceive and create their own ideas.”
Stockman started by researching the Maker Movement
and designed DreamLab using
Stockman and Zurn embraced Decker’s notions, and DreamLab developed into more of a student-centered innovation engine than a true technology lab. Zurn explains the difference from an education perspective: “We already promote discipline in our students the traditional way. We push them to work harder in the classroom and to do more homework, but this is all external motivation developing discipline.” Simply adding a technology focus doesn’t make something
the “Maker Space” as a model.
innovative.
Maker Spaces have traditionally
Zurn clearly identifies the
been a space for engineers and
traits of successful innovators in
hobbyists — who don’t have
a way that Pegasus students can
access to a garage, packed with
emulate. “If I can describe two
electronics and tools — to either
things that make up innovation,
make electronic devices or
it’s passion and discipline. If we
embed electronics into physical
can first help students find their
things. Recently, Maker Spaces
passion, then the discipline
have gained popularity thanks
is self-generated. Passion
to educational vanguards like
motivates the critical thinking
Sylvia Libow Martinez and
required to overcome challenges
Gary Stager, authors of Invent to
— the challenges of grasping an
Learn: Making, Tinkering, and
interest and taking it farther,
Engineering in the Classroom.
making it better, making it
Martinez and Stager hail Maker
your own.”
Spaces as the future education
Stockman shares a similar
space for kids to “invent to learn
description. “Passion is simply
and learn to invent.”
Stockman, that while the engineering focus has merit, it is too narrow. Being a technology executive himself, Decker saw how electronics can hatch so many ideas, but he felt strongly that limiting DreamLab to electronics narrowed the scope of thinking, and put an unnecessary constraint on the scope of ideas students might want to pursue.
the relentless pursuit of an
Decker cautioned
Articulating the overall objective for DreamLab, Decker
explains, “the goal isn’t necessarily to create more engineers, it’s to create more and better innovators. In order for our children to
DreamLab had just become its own proof-of-concept: Stockman had pursued a passion and possessed the discipline to create something novel in DreamLab itself. Now it was time to go Live with sixth- through eighth-graders.
“Finding a Pegasus student’s interest isn’t the hard part,”
says Zurn. “To separate interest from passion, we had students ask themselves the tougher question: ‘How willing am I to devote time and attention to this?’”
(When the answer comes back — very willing — the next
step is to find what the student needs in order to fulfill his or her passion. This is where things get interesting.)
Then
succeed in the future global workforce, they will need to be the
interest,” he says. Creating
32 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
Now
to bring them together. “Adam was driven to make this happen,”
DREAMLAB AT WORK (AND PLAY) Despite the fact that DreamLab just opened its doors this past September, there are already a host of projects Pegasus students are pursuing. A few examples are: •
One student wants to create a power generator from the
force of water flowing through a rain gutter;
•
Another student is printing t-shirts and has created a
working e-commerce website to sell his creations online;
•
Students are hacking into remote-control cars and
expanding control through computer programming;
•
Other groups of students are building and programming
a robot; •
A student is creating a “theremin,” a hands-free,
electronic musical instrument that makes a signature
eerie sound, and has been used in horror and science-
fiction soundtracks since the 1930’s, and;
This is just a small taste of what’s already happening in
Dreamlab, and Zurn is excited.
“If we can leverage our students’ passion and promote self-
generated discipline toward innovation,” Zurn says. “If we can recognize that lack of satisfaction with the way things are today, and support students’ courage to change it, then we have truly given our students wings with which they can soar.”
THE FUTURE Imagine what other Pegasus teachers might do, armed with the knowledge that our students have a resource whose sole purpose is to equip them with the courage and discipline to recognize and realize their life passions?
Innovators Wanted? Innovators Found.
Jonathan Stark is the Vice President of printed electronics and new materials development at MFLEX, an Irvine-based technology manufacturing company. He is passionate about fostering the innovation process in others, and has used that passion to help create numerous start-ups and a new technology division in his current position. Contact: jstark@mflex.com
AN ENGINEER’S VIEW OF DREAMLAB
W
hen Adam Stockman started his research to create what is now DreamLab, he found Edrication (a Maker Space, right in our back yard) and met his “partner-in-crime,” Wess Gates. Gates had recently founded Edtrication, a Science and Engineering Education Company that provides affordable, accessible education and electronics hardware “to inspire one’s inner engineer.” His goal from the start was “to enable academically-trained engineers who were unable to apply the theory they learned in school.” Gates soon discovered that “all of the excitement in my classes came from non-engineers.” Teachers, parents, and kids were far more interested in what he was offering. One of those enthusiastic non-engineers in his class was Adam Stockman. “Adam came to me this summer to take Introduction to Arduino.” (Arduino is a simple, flexible, electronics circuit board about the size of a Hello Kitty wallet, designed to make electronics prototyping easier and cheaper for students.) When Stockman explained his vision for DreamLab, Gates was instantly inspired and agreed to be the technology resource Stockman needed. “I was amazed at how [Stockman] could take a totally complex idea and break it down for sixth graders,” says Gates. “I now come to every session.” HACKING THE CLASSROOM The best example of DreamLab for Gates happened recently. “I came into the class, prepared to assist in a lesson on microcontroller programming, but none of the circuit boards were out.” Instead, on the whiteboard, read a list of programming commands that Stockman had created. They were commands that could be used by the students to “program” a fellow student to dance. “He [Stockman] was essentially teaching the fundamentals not only of programming, but of writing program languages,” by giving the class a set of common instructions on how to choreograph and get one another to dance. Gates beams, “It was amazing to see the kids so engaged. When the bell rang for the next lesson, they actually moaned—they didn’t want to leave!” In that moment, Gates had witnessed the broader vision of DreamLab at work. “Not everyone needs to be or should be an engineer,” he explains. “Having the passion to be creative and solve problems, to have the inclination and courage create... That’s what we need more of.”
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
33
Those who Soar
by Ellen Williamson
Legend has it that everywhere the god of Pegasus struck his hoof, an inspiring spring burst forth…. The Pegasus School has been an “inspiring spring” in the lives of these three alumnae, individuals who have taken the reins of unique opportunities and climbed tremendous heights…so far.
Haley Stark ’07 started
on. Her time at Pegasus allowed
interning at a fashion designer’s
her to “come out of her shell,”
studio in midtown Manhattan
she explains, overcome extreme
the day that she arrived at
shyness, and develop tremendous
NYU. She had no idea what to
confidence.
expect from her freshman year
in college, but she knew she
art courses in her four years and
needed an outlet for the artistic
was a member of both the literary
passion she had discovered in
magazine and school newspaper
the fourth grade at Pegasus. In
staffs. She had longed to paint,
no time, Haley was adding to
but felt she couldn’t achieve the
her resume.
level of expertise that matched
her vision, so she tried graphic
New York University (and
NYC) had always been Haley’s dream, despite having applied to “a ton of art schools.” While
At Sage Hill, Stark took five
design. It clicked. She created
Haley Stark ’07
her own fashion “zines,” and
Senior Designer, NYLON Magazine
designed all Sage student event posters for Prom, Multicultural
still a senior at Sage Hill School, the vitality of NYU and its “essentially random” Media
Fair and Bandapalooza. As a high school senior, she
Studies major captured her heart. Following her passion
joined Teen Vogue’s Generation Next program, where she
proved successful. This field of study — coupled with NYU’s
teamed up with the retail giant, O’Neill, to design a dress
proximity in the creative hotbed of NYC — has provided
and handbag for one of their spring collections. Looking
Stark, now a college senior, the framework to thrive, both
back, meeting those Teen Vogue’s editors turned out to be
academically and professionally.
a pivotal point in her future career in fashion publication.
Within the Media program Stark has focused on
Stark parlayed that first internship in NYC into a string
psychoanalysis, East Asian media, and neural science… a
of professional experiences that would rival a 10-year
“mix” of courses that may not seem inter-related but has
veteran’s. At PAPER Magazine, an indie publication in the
contributed significantly to the work she is producing. Last
city, she designed and created materials for client events,
January, Stark traveled to Shanghai to interview media
including HP, Target, Lacoste, and Nars. She interned for
professionals about government censorship and social
fashion designer, Alexander Wang. And, ultimately, she
unrest. These interviews are the basis of an article she is
landed her dream job, in the art department NYLON. “I
currently writing for the school.
instantly fell in love!” she explains. Haley has been with
NYLON for two years, advancing from intern to freelance
Stark traces her love of all-things-artistic to her time
at Pegasus. She credits Mr. Mack’s art class, acting in the
illustrator, to iPad designer, contributing designer, and now
fourth grade play, three years of Middle School visual arts,
senior designer. This current position gives her tremendous
as well as Japanese, science, and cooking classes later
design control, yet she still has time for side gigs: she is
34 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
contributing to the redesign of Glamour and designing a
participated in this program, because “it allowed for the
book cover for actor Jared Leto.
funding for my research in Shanghai.” And as art director
of NYU’s photography magazine ISO, graphic designer for
In her spare time, Stark attends classes, writes papers
and takes tests. She was chosen last year to be one of 15
several campus clubs, and photographer for NYU’s fashion
members of the University Honors Leadership Seminar, a
magazine HAZE, Stark’s schedule would exhaust the
class taught by NYU President John Sexton and the deans
Energizer Bunny.
of each school. She feels particularly fortunate to have
Not listed in this lengthy list of achievements: sleep.
Alumna Kelsey Hennegen ’05
with the students extending
may have found herself at the
beyond the classroom. In both
right place at the right time,
cases, she learned to channel
but it was her own, powerful
her drive to excel beyond the
drive that got her there. After
grade, or personal advancement.
a semester studying in India,
Even today, she strives to excel
Hennegen returned to her
as a gesture of gratitude to her
junior year at the University
teachers, professors and mentors.
of California, Santa Barbara,
looking for part-time work.
Hennegen has gone from
She accepted an internship at
novice to a full-blown integral
a technology startup called
component of a major tech
FindTheBest, a privately held
company. Year one: she joined
network of for-profit websites
the Revenue Operations team
that helps consumers and
Kelsey Hennegen ’05
businesses “make informed
Recruiter, FindTheBest
In less than two years,
and built out the affiliate marketing channel. By February of 2013, the young company
decisions.” Within four months, Hennegen transitioned into a revenue-
had grown to 50 full-time employees and was beginning
generating position and two months later she went
a Series B funding. With funding came international
full-time. Having just a handful of college courses left
exposure, new use-cases for the platform, and new
to complete she finished her remaining college courses
business development ventures, all of which needed
online and graduated a year early.
manpower to fuel the growth. At the right place at the
right time, Hennegen was asked to create and head a
To this day, Hennegan credits experiences during her
nine years at Pegasus as truly formative on her eventual
new department, called Talent and Recruitment. In this
path. Like Stark, she remembers that fourth-grade play,
role, she is charged with building out a comprehensive,
as well as the fifth-grade States Fair and seventh-grade
cohesive, and scalable strategy to identify, vet, and
English classes, but Coach Tyler’s lessons on character
integrate “talent” for FindTheBest.
had the most lasting impact. She can still hear the echo of
Coach, repeating his mantra: “Character is doing the right
has loved, FindTheBest encourages all of its members
thing even when no one is looking.” This philosophy was
to grow, develop, and thrive. Hennegen loves that her
fully absorbed by the time she left for boarding school,
colleagues are competitive, intelligent contributors, and
where she served as community service officer, president
she appreciates having the good fortune (at her age) to
of Common Sense environmental action club, peer English
be surrounded by such engaged, passionate, and driven
tutor, and participated in Model United Nations, Amnesty
people. Her company reminds her of the communities
International and Model Congress.
at Pegasus and Middlesex. “It is not often that you find
yourself immersed in an environment of such unique
Hennegen equates her Middlesex experience to her
years at Pegasus, where teachers had caring relationships
Much like the small educational communities she
people from whom you can learn and grow.”
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
35
Those who Soar
Continued
Pegasus faculty members,
and business owners, I’ve really
Keri Gorsage and James
been able to appreciate this
Swiger, remember Katherine
place that’s temporarily home
Nagasawa ’07 as a
for me.” In addition to helping
consistently gifted writer in
to secure funds, Nagasawa
a community of extremely
has offered her graphic design,
talented students. “Katherine
marketing and filmmaking talents
was one of those extraordinary
to several LEND clients. She
students who leaves a mark
designs logos, develops social
wherever she goes.” For
media campaigns, and shoots
Nagasawa, her mark — as
and edits video.
a writer, and journalist,
and graphic designer, and
works as a production assistant
filmmaker – is intertwined
Inspire Media Productions,
with her passion to help underserved, inner-city teens
Katherine Nagasawa ’07 LEND
At the same time, Nagasawa
mentors inner-city teens through Medhill Media, and leads tours
and foster business growth in
of Northwestern for prospective
poorer, Latin American countries.
students and parents. But her “baby” is this: she is in the
midst of writing a grant which will enable her to return to
In her junior year at Northwestern University, Nagasawa
is majoring in journalism with a focus on Latin American
Bolivia next summer. Nagasawa and a fellow journalism
and Caribbean Studies. But, on any given day, one
student have proposed a timely and provocative
might find her meeting with civic leaders and nonprofit
documentary chronicling the history of banana farming
organizations around Evanston. Two years ago, Nagasawa
in Bolivia and the “irrevocable impact” the United Fruit
joined a student-run microfinance organization called
Company and other large companies have had on small
LEND that works to provide loans of up to $5,000 and
co-op farms, their communities.
business development services to local entrepreneurs and
small businesses unable to secure capital from traditional
age. But she is just a wise, compassionate, talented and
financial institutions.
philanthropic college undergraduate. Her words of advice
for today’s Pegasus students: “work with friends, don’t wait
“LEND has taken me out of the classroom and into the
community,” she explains. “By working with local artisans
Nagasawa’s resume suggests someone twice her
to grow up, be everywhere, explore!” Ellen WIlliamson is the Associate Director of Advancement, Programs & Events. Contact: ewilliamson@thepegasusschool.org
36 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
ALUMNI CONNECTIONS
(L-R) Hanalynn Hunt ’06 (Occidental College) and Lindsay Kish ’06 (Whittier College) are in the same conference and compete against each other twice per season.
Past student, Peter Seidner, and sister, Madelyne ’05, recently visit Pegasus for fifth grade sister Ellie’s CelebriTea.
and her keen eye for sophisticated
featured in LA Business Journal’s 20 in their
Brandon Carr is is an attorney practicing
accessorizing. Charlie and Me recently
20’s report. COO technically means that
in San Francisco. Brandon misses his
partnered with their neighbors at Classic
Shane is doing a bit of everything from
family in Southern California but is
Kids Photography to host a Dog Parade
brand strategy and running social media
enjoying the Bay Area and has recently
and Costume contest to benefit the Irvine
to business development and customer
been recruited by Buchalter Nemer, a full
Animal Shelter. See what’s new at Charlie
service. This unique young company is
service business law firm.
and Me at charlieandme.us.
creating a lot of interest in their market.
Tracy Carr ’01 proudly displays her American Airlines wings. Her mom, Michelle Carr, wore similar wings when she was an international flight attendant in the ’80s.
1999
2001
Jenny Hurst is an associate with Triage
Check out their products and story at smartdecofurniture.com.
Tracy Carr was recently hired as
Consulting Group in San Francisco.
an international flight attendant for
She graduated from the University of
American Airlines, which received 50,000
Pennsylvania in 2010 where she was
Stuart Palley, photographing for the
applications for 1,500 available openings.
captain of the varsity gymnastics team.
Orange County Register has recently
Tracy is based out of Miami International
She recently moved from Nob Hill to
collaborated with OCR Travel Editor
Airport. Congratulations Tracy!
Walnut Creek where she participated in a
Gary Warner to produce two amazing
mud run and keeps in touch with several
history lessons/travel logs on the century
of her Pegasus classmates.
old Lincoln Highway. Over two years
2002 Taylor Beauchamp recently opened the new store Charlie and Me in The
Shane Webster is a partner and COO
Cove shopping center Newport Beach.
in the Venice Beach based SmartDeco
Knowing that there’s nothing Newport
furniture company. Shane shares that
dog owners won’t do for their dogs,
their product is very well designed and
Charlie and Me offers high end items
despite being light weight, as it is made
that appeal to the stylish dog owners
out of corrugated cardboard, the furniture
in her hometown. Taylor’s best canine
pieces can all hold well over 300 pounds,
friend, French Bulldog Charlie, was her
the perfect solution for college kids or
inspiration for the shop. Opening the
anyone just starting out on their own.
store has allowed Taylor to develop a
The brand has been around for a little
career based on her passion for animals
over a year, is gaining traction and was
2003
Stuart drove the Lincoln Highway, piecing it together in the fragmented manner in which it was created. 2013 has been a busy year for Stuart as he received first and second place in the Associated Press Sports Editors awards competition while working at the Columbia Missourian newspaper at the University of Missouri. Stuart won top awards against many national professional publications. With a BA and BBA from Southern Methodist
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
37
2007
University in his rear view mirror, Stuart
and a National Merit Semifinalist as
is completing his MA project on the
Kennedi Varing is a junior at the
well, Wyatt seems to not only manage
Salton Sea for the University of Missouri
University of San Diego. Kennedi is doing
but to thrive on the demands of his
photojournalism program. To view a
very well and loving life at USD!
significant number of responsibilities and
sample of Stuart’s vast collection of photos check out his work at stuartpalley.com. Amazing work Stuart!
2006 Brian Hurst will graduate from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2014 with dual degrees in Economics and Math. He is a four year catcher on the varsity baseball team for the Quakers, a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity, and has accepted a position with Susquehanna
2008
commitments.
Sloan Varing is a sophomore in excellent
Matt Hurst has committed to run track
standing at the University of Southern
and field at Harvard University after his
California.
graduation from Corona del Mar High
Austin Dix graduated as an honors student from Newport Harbor High School and will be attending University of Colorado, Boulder in the fall. She plans to major in science.
School in June 2014. Matt is the reigning county champion in the 400 meters and placed 2nd at CIF. He ranked 5th in the state last year among juniors and 35th among juniors nationally. Matt also runs the 200 meter, where he ranks 5th in the
2010
county and anchors the 4x100 and 4x400
International Group, a proprietary trading
relays. In addition to track and field, Matt
firm in Philadelphia, beginning after
played lacrosse and basketball and ran
graduation.
cross country at CDM. He is a member of the National Honor Society and
Hanalynn Hunt will be graduating this
volunteers for the Magic Shoe Foundation,
year from Occidental College with a major
which reconditions donated shoes
in Urban and Environmental Policy and
and distributes them to needy athletic
a minor in Kinesiology. Hanalynn has
programs. He is excited to head to Boston
had a wonderful career as a volleyball
next year and is looking for a warm coat!
player…from Pegasus, to Sage Hill School, club volleyball with Fluid and then on to Occidental, it has been a fabulous ride. Pegasus classmate Lindsay Kish ’06 was been right by her side until the girls went to different colleges. Lindsay attends Whittier College which is in the same conference so the girls compete against each other twice a season. Hanalynn recently enjoyed spending the semester abroad in Amsterdam with no fear of being homesick since Pegasus alumna and good friend, Jordon Team ’06, a senior at the University of Virginia, was studying in Barcelona! The girls took advantage of visiting one another in their adopted cities. Hanalynn reports how thankful she is to continue making great memories with friends from Pegasus.
38 THE PEGASUS SCHOOL
Wyatt Robertson ’10 visits the campus to meet with new alumni relations director, Ellen Williamson.
Wyatt Robertson stopped by Pegasus recently to catch up with faculty and to meet Ellen Williamson, the new Alumni Relations director. Wyatt, the ASB president at Newport Harbor High School, keeps busy with his presidential duties, a full complement of AP courses, and presenting at several middle schools as a representative of YETA (Youth Empowered to Act) working on the Safe Schools campaign. He was selected as a leader in the Red Shirt Internship Program where he is currently working in the emergency room at St. Mary’s Medical Center. A Boys’ State delegate
2011 Randon Davitt continues to have success in the entertainment world. In the last few months he’s appeared in a Lifetime movie, booked a spot on the Van’s Warped Tour, and spent time in the studio working on a CD to be released in early 2014. His blues trio, Chase Walker Band, is receiving national recognition, with a paid gig almost every weekend. He has opened for Casey Abrams and B.B. King, played the world famous Roxy in Hollywood, and been a featured band on a worldwide festival, Artists In The Plus televised from The Village Recording Studio where famous bands from The Doors to The Rolling Stones to Lady Gaga have recorded and performed. Randon is
Jamie Ostmann ’13 visits with librarian, Mrs. Carin Meister.
Sage Hill seniors, Ian Fries ’10 and Becky Lynskey ’10 returned to Pegasus to mentor kindergarten students as part of the Sage Hill Garden Collaborative service learning program.
Brian Robert ’13 (J Serra High School) and Jack Pelc ’13 (Sage Hill School) came to support and cheer for the Thunder flag football team during the championship game at Tarbut V’Torah.
the Arts (OCSA) where he is excelling in
documentary that she made during last
Neighbor section of the magazine and
his honors and AP courses. If you want
years’ service trip to Costa Rica helped
expresses her thanks to two former
to catch up with Randon’s activities
double the sign-ups for the 2014 trip! In
neighbors who are currently seniors at
visit his websites: randondavitt.com or
addition, Jamie continues to participate
FVHS. A top honors student-athlete,
chasewalkerband.com.
in the Wings for Crossover club on the
Carly is, herself, the kind of person anyone
Pegasus campus.
would be fortunate to have as a neighbor.
Jamie Ostmann recently returned to
Carly Perri was recently published in
Lauren Fishman sent a message to the
campus to visit faculty and staff and
Fountain Valley Home Living magazine.
Pegasus community that she is really
reports that she is enjoying being a part
Carly, a nationally ranked swimmer, is a
enjoying her freshman year at Sage Hill
of the Film Production Conservatory
freshman at Fountain Valley High School
School. Although Lauren is truly missing
at Orange County School of the Arts.
where she is following in the footsteps of
teachers and friends at Pegasus she is
Jamie’s passion for film and chronicling
her brothers, Lee ’08 and Michael ’08.
staying busy with school work, activities
important experiences was a highlight
The article Carly wrote was featured as
and played on the varsity tennis team.
for middle school students this fall. Her
a two page spread in the Neighbor to
a sophomore at Orange County School of
2013
PEGASUS MAGAZINE FALL 2013
39
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December 18 Winter Concert (Grades 1-5) December 19 Pre-K Winter Concert December 20 Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day December 23 – January 3, 2014 Winter Break February 17-21 Intersession Week March 15 Wig Out for Pegasus Spring Benefit March 21 International Earth Day