Final Word

The Final Word By Theresa Smith, Ph.D. Unbounded Thinking

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Guggenheim Museum in New York. There were two parts of the experience that amazed me. The first was the building itself. Slowly walking up the circular ramp that is at the heart of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural masterpiece was unexpectedly breathtaking. The other was an exhibit of works not normally on display, playfully entitled “Artistic License.” Museum administrators had commissioned six visual artists – great artists like Paul Chan and Jenny Holzer— to comb through the museum’s warehouses. The artists were charged with selecting works from the collection and arranging them in mini-expositions. This exhibit intrigued me, at first glance, perhaps because the idea of diving into the stored collection of a world-class museum like the Guggenheim sounds fantastic. And that sense of discovery and wonder was captured in all six resulting exhibits. The shows that these artists curated were surprising, unconventional, new. Each artist approached the task from a fresh perspective, intentionally striving to break free of conventions and to create displays that challenged old art historical narratives and imagined new ones.

This is what our academic program at Webb hopes to accomplish for our students. We strive to expand the way students think about the world around them and challenges them to think deeply about their place in it. We want them to question old ways of thinking and propose new frameworks for inquiry and living. :e want them to have confidence in their perspective, their ideas, their potential. All this and more is what we mean by cultivating unbounded thinkers. ,t is an amorphous concept, diôcult to define, and yet at the heart of all we do.

I know there are at least three ways Webb cultivates unbounded thinkers. The first is in the classroom. 2ur educational philosophy embraces rigor, depth of knowledge, real subject mastery, and our classes are designed to move students toward that goal. Webb teachers know that students do not gain real mastery of a topic through rote learning, by memorizing facts or regurgitating the ideas of others. Students learn through their experiences. :hy memorize mathematical formulas

when you can learn to derive them? Why study force as a theoretical concept when you can ride a roller coaster, measure and calculate the forces at work, and design and build your own? Why study ancient law codes as part of history when you can analyze and debate their relevance in contemporary communities, including ours at :ebb"

, know the power of experience firsthand from my own teaching. Touring the archive of the Wende Museum of The &old :ar, which houses the largest collection of (ast Berlin memorabilia in 1orth America, illustrated for students in my Advanced 6tudies class on The &old :ar (ra the complexity of historical writing and what is at stake in the way we tell the story of the past. As we walked through aisles of /enin busts and communistera clothing, my students witnessed the array of historical artifacts scholars study and were reminded that history is lived experience. Sitting at dawn under James Turrell’s architectural installation

Skyspace at Pomona College helped my Advanced Studies Reading & Writing Art History class feel the way a skilled artist can evoke the sacred with some metal beams, light and the natural sky. Strolling up to my house to eat tamales and drink champurrado with my Spanish 1 class in a miniLas Posadas, a Latin American tradition dramatizing the journey of Mary and Joseph in Jerusalem, taught my students that language and culture are intertwined in the human experience. Learning at Webb includes reading, writing, and problem solving, and it also includes hiking, coding, snorkeling, prototyping, inventing, breathing, titrating, pitching, eating, laughing and more.

Unbounded Days is a special program we dedicate to this pillar of a Webb education, and my experiences there have been equally rich. For Unbounded Days, we take a week and dive into a mini-term where students chose their own adventure from among roughly thirty courses. As our mission for the program states, “Unbounded Days draws upon The Webb Schools’ enduring purpose of inspiring students to boldly reach for a greater sense of who they are and what they can achieve. Through immersive, collaborative, relevant and deeply engaging journeys that connect the classroom and the broader world, students expand their understanding of what it means to think, create and reflect. They learn that their possibilities and their minds are truly unbounded.” Classes range from business-oriented journeys to outdoor excursions, from cultural immersions to scientific inquiries. For this February’s program, I am co-teaching a course called “Build Your Own Brand.” Guided by Kilter, an L.A.-based design agency, students will identify their personal objectives in building their own brand and move all the way from conception to execution. Among the most popular are our extended outdoor experiences, including a canyoneering trip to Zion, a collaboration with the Catalina Marine Institute, and a geology and astronomy exploration in Death Valley.

Unbounded Days started the year I arrived at Webb, and one of my first jobs was to help faculty realize their courses. A moment that stands out for me in thinking about this program is one of my first conversations, when one of the faculty was pitching a biking trip up the coast of California. Biking the coast sounded exciting, but it also sounded dangerous. And I worried about the educational component — was this just biking? As I sat with this teacher, and heard his vision for the class, I realized this was about much more than biking. It was about history and place. It was about nature and preservation. It was about self-knowledge and observation. And the students who did that trip came back and they didn’t just talk about biking. They talked about so much more.

A final element of unbounded thinking to consider is the ethical dimension. Honor. Moral courage. These are critical components of a Webb education. This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. How do we maintain Webb’s foundational commitment to honor, while also making sure we are preparing students to be ethical citizens in today’s world? I recently spoke with Professor Jonathan Healey at Georgetown University’s Ethics Lab about this challenge. Ethics Lab is a relatively new project at Georgetown — about six years old. It forms part of the University’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics and represents a kind of combination of a design thinking methodology with cutting-edge ethical issues. In our discussion, Healey emphasized that in their programs they strive to venture into areas of conflict, not the areas of consensus. They want to build dialogue around controversial topics, such as digital technology and data sharing or DNA research and genetic editing. We care about these at Webb too. Our freshman evolutionary biology class, for example, learns how to replace DNA in bacteria using a plasmid, and they also debate the broader implications of this technology. So yes, an honor education needs to be relevant to today’s world. And yet those foundational questions are still critical, especially in high school. What does it mean to be a good friend, how do you stand up for yourself and others, what is the value of honesty — unbounded thinkers also need to be grounded. That’s something we emphasize.

This summer I will be taking a group of students, along with my colleague Dr. Linsley, to walk a section of the Camino de Santiago in Spain. The Camino is a medieval pilgrimage trail. Students will take language and history class at the University of Santiago de Compostela and then we will dive into the journey, walking about 20 km per day for roughly one week. The trip offers the opportunity for language immersion, historical inquiry, cultural study, natural beauty and a real physical challenge. By offering an experience in which our students bring many parts of themselves, in which there are multiple challenges and opportunities for engagement, and by sharing it alongside them, I hope to create another moment in which the unbounded is realized.

ADMINISTRATION Taylor B. Stockdale Head of Schools Theresa A. Smith, Ph.D. Assistant Head of Schools Dutch Barhydt Director of Institutional Advancement Jamila Everett, Ed.D. Director of Admission & Financial Aid Donald L. Lofgren, Ph.D. Director, Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology Hector Martinez Dean of College Guidance Michael Hoe ’04 Director of Studies Janet K. Peddy Director of Finance, Planning & Operations Joe Woodward Director of Strategic Communications

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2019-20 Sanjiv P. Dholakia ’87, Chairman David Loo ’79, Vice Chair Christina Mercer McGinley, Ph.D. ’84, Vice Chair, Secretary R. Larry Ashton ’70, Chairman, Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology Board, ex officio Blake H. Brown ’68 Michael M. Chang ’92 Deval R. Dvivedi ’00 Jenna Z. Gambaro ’95 Janel Henriksen Hastings, Ph.D. ’87 John F. Holliday ’84 Wendy Hornbuckle William Hornbuckle Naveen Jeereddi ’92 Sandra Lee Rebish, M.D. ’88 Julia Marciari-Alexander, Ph.D. ’85 Roger J. Millar ’61 Rahmi Mowjood, D.O. ’90 David C. Myles, Ph.D. ’80 Mickey E. Novak ’70 Janet K. Peddy, Director of Finance, Planning and Operations, Chief Financial Officer & Secretary, ex officio R.J. Romero Miles Rosedale ’69 Wendin D. Smith, Ph.D. ’89 Taylor Stockdale, Head of Schools, President & Chief Executive Officer, ex officio Lara Tiedens, Ph.D. Denis Yip

LIFE TRUSTEES Jim Drasdo ’63 Hugh H. Evans Jr. ’49 Anne Gould Earl (Bud) Hoover II ’52 Murray H. Hutchinson Ann Longley Claire H. McCloud Kimball (Kim) McCloud ’67 Susan A. Nelson Paul M. Reitler ’54 Peter Ziegler ’63

HONORARY TRUSTEES Robert Hefner ’53 Pak Fu King Ming Chung Liu Yafei Yuan

ALF MUSEUM BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2019-20 R. Larry Ashton ’70, Chairman Gretchen J. Augustyn Terry W. Baganz William Baldwin Richard H. Clark Sanjiv P. Dholakia ’87, Chairman, The Webb Schools, ex officio Daniel (Dan) Gluckstein, M.D. Jack (Jay) Greening Ronald (Ron) P. Hagander ’66 James E. Hall, Ph.D. ’59 F. Gard Jameson, Ph.D. ’71 Carl W. R. Lachman ’86 Donald L. Lofgren, Ph.D., Museum Director, President, ex officio David P. Mirkin, M.D. ’66 L.J. Patrick Muffler, Ph.D. ’54 Michelle Plyley Mary W. Rose, Ph.D. Charles Steinmann, MD Taylor Stockdale, Head of Schools, ex officio Page W. Thibodeaux Monica Atiyeh Whitaker ’96 Lance C. Williams ’97 Tammy Zipser

LIFE MEMBERS Anne G. Earhart Sherwood C. Kingsley ’58 John (Dick) R. Lynas ’55 Douglas F. Myles Michael O. Woodburne, Ph.D. Contributors Dutch Barhydt, Debbie Carini, Andrew Farke, John Ferrari, Don Lofgren, Jessica Rice ’12, Laura Wensley

Design Shari Fournier-O’Leary

Photography Don Lofgren, Nancy Newman, Scott Nichols

Printing Dual Graphics

Nondiscrimination Policy The Webb Schools admit students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the schools. The Webb Schools do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by state or federal law in administration of their educational policies, tuition assistance, athletic, and other school-administered programs, or any other basis in law.

The Webb Schools — Memberships The Association of Boarding Schools; National Association of Independent Schools; California Association of Independent Schools; Western Boarding Schools Association; Western Association of Schools and Colleges; National Coalition of Girls’ Schools; Independent Curiculum Group; College Entrance Examination Board; Educational Records Bureau; Association of Independent School Admission Professionals; National Association of College Admission Counselors; Council for the Advancement and Support of Education; and the Cum Laude Society.

Alf Museum — Memberships Geological Society of America; Society of Vertebrate Paleontology; American Alliance of Museums; Association of Science Museum Directors; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections; and the National Association of Geology Teachers.

Publication Information

WEBB magazine is the official publication of The Webb Schools.

Postmaster: Send address changes to: The Webb Schools 1175 W. Baseline Road Claremont, CA 91711

PH (909) 626-3587 FAX (909) 621-4582 EMAIL: alumni@webb.org webb.org

THE MISSION of The Webb Schools is to provide an exemplary learning community that nurtures and inspires boys and girls to become men and women who:

• Think boldly, mindfully and creatively, • Act with honor and moral courage, • Lead with distinction, • Serve with a generous spirit.

1175 West Baseline Road Claremont, CA 91711 NON-PROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 224 CLAREMONT, CA

WEBB JUNIOR SCHOLARS SUMMER PROGRAM IN DIGITAL ARTS, GLOBAL ETHICS, PALEONTOLOGY, OR SCIENCE & ENGINEERING GRADES 7, 8, & 9