Deans' Den Blog

Welcome to the Deans' Den Blog! In addition to teaching my own classes, I love to shadow Brooks students and see what they are learning across the curriculum.

I will share my glimpses into classrooms this year and also a look at what's happening around campus in dorms, afternoon activities and community spaces.

If there is something you would like to see, please email me. — Associate Head of School for Academic Affairs Mrs. Waters

December 12, 2023

Advanced Performance Studio delivered a “Devised Workshop” last night as their culminating semester Exhibition of Learning. Centered on empathy, with the ensemble opening and closing conceived of by Abby Derderian '25, the performance centered on the students’ identity, culture and lived experiences.

Deans Den Blog December 13, 2023

Elements included a step dance performance by Philip Mwangi '24, a Kathak dance performance by Arshia Sharma '24 and an exploration of familial communication in Igbo by Samson Nwobi '25.

It was a special opportunity to learn more about our community members while also enjoying a “wow” factor related to their talents in performing arts!

December 7, 2023

When I reflect back on the 11 years we have lived in Chace House, my favorite memories will be of the time spent in the common room, not only connecting with the boys in residence, but watching my own young children interact with them. I remember Jin Ahn '15 and Jay Park '16 on their hands and knees, teaching my now ten-year old daughter Ainsley how to navigate a flight of stairs in the dorm when she was still crawling.

Deans Den Blog December 13, 2023

They helped to build her emergent vocabulary and took pride in her first steps, made all the more poignant by Jay missing his younger brother of that same age back home in South Korea. I remember Luke Muther '18 not being quite sure how to hold baby Cal, now six, and Coll Sutherland '21 and Jake MacKinnon '21 volunteering as babysitters when we were in a pinch.

Deans Den Blog December 13, 2023

And pictured below is the latest endearing installment, the third of the Waters children: two-year-old Milly, eagerly showing off “Willie the Elf” that her dad hides around campus for students to find during the holiday season.

Deans Den Blog December 13, 2023

I counted seven Chace boys gathered around her, pulling the string to make the Elf talk and mirroring her excitement in the toy.

This felt like the best of Brooks — a fun campus holiday  tradition, combined with the family feel of Chace House common room and the demonstrated interest of these teenage boys in Milly absolutely making a faculty kid’s day. Pretty incredible!

November 29, 2023

A trip through the Center for the Arts building turned into a music theory lesson for me, as I heard the fun and welcoming sounds of third form students learning the solfège system: Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do. Arts Exploratory students were focused intently on Vocal and Orchestral Programs Director Dr. Emily DiAngelo, who was teaching them the corresponding hand signs, followed by walking them through the notes on the staff. In other words, I got to witness students learning how to read music, which was very cool. I joined the chorus and sang along with them, which added a little joy to my day!

Photo of music class at Brooks School.

 

November 14, 2023

I stepped into Science Teacher Leo Lafond’s chemistry class this morning to observe a lab experiment in which students were working to calculate the theoretical mass of water in zinc sulfate.

Photo of student in Brooks School's chemistry class.

Hydrates are ionic compounds, or salts, that take up specific amounts of water molecules as part of their crystal structure. This water can be driven off by heat.

Photo of student in Brooks School's chemistry class.

Since the ratio of the ionic compound to water molecules is always the same, the percentage of water should be the same for each sample.

Photo of student in Brooks School's chemistry class.

Students explored the mass of water lost during the heating process, which necessitated determining the exact mass of the crucible, cover and hydrate before and after heating the zinc sulfate over a bunsen burner. 

Photo of student in Brooks School's chemistry class.
Photo of student in Brooks School's chemistry class.

 

NOVEMBER 13, 2023

Science Teacher Michael Dixon’s class just finished up their Tensegrity projects in physics. Instead of doing the “same old bridge thing with forces,” they tackled a project that incorporated a unique set of components: tension, student voice and engineering.

Students were challenged to make a design "float" using strings and other materials in order to share a piece of themselves with our class.

Photo of physics class' Tensegrity projects.

We had students who used hockey sticks and pucks, oars for crew, portal guns for a fandom, and more. Students created their projects using woodworking, 3D printing and laser cutting, as well as good old-fashioned gluing and cutting wood.

View an album including some of the projects students made!

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

This week, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction Joanna McDonough has led the faculty in a game of “Brooks Classroom Visit Bingo.” The concept is meant to gamify peer observation and get teaching colleagues into one another’s classrooms. This type of cross-pollination inspires interdisciplinary inquiry and often leads to subsequent collaboration. Plus, it’s fun!

There are squares on the board representing each of the seven academic departments, and also a square indicating an opportunity to shadow an advisee or student to a class of their choosing. Early bingo winners included Science Teacher Pete Moccia, Mathematics teacher Kihak Nam, Director of Computer Science Craig Gorton and Chair of Arts Department Babs Wheelden. Congratulations!

November 6, 2023

Sixth form Self in Community is currently engrossed in an initiative called “Engaging with Empathy” which has each of the seven sections taking on a service project. SIC Department Chair Ashley Johnston and sixth-form curriculum leader Meghan Hill share that “students are applying their classroom knowledge to real-world situations, developing a deep understanding of social issues, and cultivating empathy-driven solutions… These projects not only address societal challenges but also promote inclusivity and understanding. By actively engaging with the Brooks community and beyond, sixth formers are fostering connections, bridging gaps, and making a tangible difference.”

Projects include building momentum behind the Red Cross Blood Drive, Community Giving Tree, Lawrence and Haverhill Boys and Girls Club Holiday Gift Drives, next steps with the Brooks All Community Read, and assessing the future of both our rooftop garden and campus farm. Pictured below are my SIC students weeding the sedum beds on top of the science center. The view of campus could not be beat!

Photo of students working on the green roof at Brooks School.
Photo of students working on the green roof at Brooks School.
Photo of students working on the green roof at Brooks School.

 

November 3, 2023

Beloved Community Day has become a campus tradition under the leadership of Dean of DEIB Rev. Terri Ofori, and this year, the theme was Simpatía: Building Beloved Community through a Latinx Lens (view a photo album of the day). We welcomed guest speaker, writer and activist Darriana D. Guerrero who is a proud native of the neighboring City of Lawrence, Mass.

Guerroro blew us away with her spoken word poetry during a presentation in chapel. Community members took part in a variety of workshops including cooking, dancing, poetry and art. Featured here you can see Chair of the World Languages Department Dr. Peter Neissa reading from his book The Drug Lord about the Colombian conflict.

The loss of working class lives in rural areas helped to inspire the artwork of Brooks alumnus Juan Manuel Echeverría '66. A current exhibition of his photography, titled Silencios, hangs in the Robert Lehman Art Center. Arts Department Chair Babs Wheelden guided participants in interacting with the images through the lens of empathy, while faculty members Juan Hurtado and Tyler Read showed community members a film on the context for the exhibition. 

Photo of World Languages Department Chair Peter Neissa.

In this second image, below, you can see Kathryn Thompson '24 and Bella Hacker '24 working on a guacamole recipe together, after having it modeled by the Meriwether Godsey dining services staff member Minerva Peralta, and assisted by Jason Abreu from the facilities department.

Photo of students cooking during Beloved Community Day.

This was a big hit, as was the plantains recipe that was being completed across the dining hall from this group. While I didn’t make it to salsa lessons with Lillian Miller or Zumba with Amy Wang, sources say both workshops were a big hit! Another great Beloved Community Day in the books. 

September 8, 2023

Mother nature had plans of her own on Friday afternoon, when a microburst hit the Andovers and knocked out power on the Brooks campus. Not to be deterred, resilient Brooksians carried on with their studies thanks to a very helpful generator in the library.

Photo of students in the library.

Conversation was lively and due to the buoyancy of student spirits we joking referred to the evening study hall as "Lucefest '23" in honor of the library's namesake, Henry Luce III.

Photo of students in the library.

I was particularly impressed with a group of very dedicated AP Calculus students who were preparing for a Saturday morning assessment in the midst of the excitement.

Photo of students in the library.

As luck would have it, Saturday morning classes were canceled and students enjoyed a sleep-in to rest up for some afternoon scrimmages, which are still on!

A big thank you to our amazing facilities team members who are working so hard to clean up the many downed branches and trees across campus. We are in great hands!

September 5, 2023 

Photo of Frank D. Ashburn Chapel at Brooks School.

All roads across the Brooks campus led to the Ashburn Chapel this morning, where our Head of School Mr. Packard kicked off a new school year with reflections on the evolution of the Chapel program and the generations before us who had gathered in the same space.

Photo of students in a Self in Community class at Brooks.

It felt altogether fitting that I remained in the Chapel for first period class, when I was joined by an energetic bunch of seniors gathered for their inaugural Self in Community session. The students journey-mapped their summers, discussed what a meaningful senior year would look like, and engaged in a hands-on leadership exercise that had them guiding a peer whose eyes were closed in assembling a jigsaw puzzle.

Photo of students in the classroom at Brooks School.
Photo of students in the classroom at Brooks School.

Their takeaways were that patience is important, communication is key and trust is essential- all good considerations for the leadership responsibilities that come with senior year!

Photo of students in the classroom at Brooks School.

 

August 30, 2023

Our second of three days of opening faculty meetings featured experimentation with AI resources, updates to our school-wide learning agency rubrics, a very educational tutorial on campus recycling and an energizing presentation facilitated by Dr. Pascal Losambe (shown below) on the science of belonging.

We also learned about the slate of Exchange program trips running this year, and tomorrow will dedicate ourselves to completing our Winter Term course proposals in anticipation of the course catalog being published for the first week of school!

All Community Read conversations on American War and department meetings to collaborate on curriculum have heightened faculty excitement to welcome students back to campus. This weekend can't arrive soon enough!

August 23, 2023

It's happening! We are spending today and tomorrow orienting our new faculty and staff in all things Brooks: DEIB, academics, health and wellness, student affairs and residential life, afternoon programs and information technology. 

Many of the attendees are building off of the momentum of a two-day competency based education workshop facilitated by Dean of Curriculum & Instruction Joanna McDonough earlier this week.

As part of orientation, our new colleagues are engaging in a campus-wide scavenger hunt, will enjoy a tour of the local area by bussette, learn about the mentorship and faculty growth program, and earn their certification in CPR! 

We are thrilled to welcome these 13 new educators who will guide and care for our Brooksians, from the athletic training room to the Learning Center to our newly expanded computer science program.

We are feeling mighty excited for these outstanding professionals to be underway, and the campus is abuzz with preparations toward welcoming our students in just over a week's time!

May 12, 2023

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established Law Day in 1958 as "a day of national dedication to the principles of law and government."

Photo of students participating in Law Day 2023.

For years, the Lawrence Bar Association has invited local students to deliver thematic speeches, and this year the focus was on the "Cornerstones of Democracy: Civics, Civility and Collaboration." Winner of the Wilder Speaking Prize Kayla Gutkoski '25 and Cum Laude Society inductee Tvisha Devireddy '23 both traveled to the Fenton Judicial Center to compete against students from Central Catholic, Methuen High School and Lawrence High School.

Photo of the color guard at Law Day 2023.

Proceedings included a presentation of colors by the JROTC, singing of the national anthem by the Central Catholic Concert Choir, and opening remarks by the Honorable Kerry Ahern of the Essex Juvenile Court. Kayla and Tvisha were spectacular, and impressed everyone in attendance, the three judges presiding over the contest in particular!

Photo of students competing at Law Day 2023.

Kayla continued her public speaking winning streak by earning the top prize at Law Day. Ms. McCain and I were both in attendance and have every reason to be proud of both girls and how they represented Brooks School. Congratulations Kayla and Tvisha!

Photo of students with judges on Law Day 2023.

 

May 12, 2023

This morning I ventured to Mrs. Mandzhukova-Wamboldt's science classroom to meet with Guszti Sztermen '24 and Jack Taylor '24 who are partnering this semester on a Royce Research independent study.

Photo of students doing a genomic independent.

Guszti had taken Mrs. M's Honors BioTechnology course this fall, and together he and Jack determined that they would like to learn more about CRISPR genome editing technology and the history of genetic engineering. They ordered kits to become familiarized with the techniques so that they could then work to modify the epistatic genes of zebra fish to block their expression of pigmentation, making them translucent.

Guszti and Jack have been practicing PCR protocol with an e coli bacteria kit, creating cultures in an incubator and then amplifying the amount of DNA they have in the PCR machine.

Photo of students doing a genomic independent.

They taught me that the PCR machine disjoints the double helix of the DNA and can enable the editing of both strands, which can then be replicated to create many identical copies through cycles of heating and cooling. They have learned that the proteins and enzymes used in this process are expensive and easily denatured, so meticulous work is important!

Photo of students doing a genomic independent.

The boys are simultaneously trying to breed the zebra fish to harvest the embryos, which are then washed in a solution and electrically shocked to make their membranes permeable to CRISPR proteins, which in turn edit the genes. Guszti and Jack shared that it's slower in practice than they thought, and that they have a newfound respect for all the prep work that Mrs. M does to set up labs for her students! Their first round of embryos died, so they're sticking with it and hope to continue their independent study in the fall. I look forward to seeing some translucent zebra fish swimming around in classroom 102 before 2023 is out!

May 10, 2023

Senior students in Ms. Nagel's Oratory class delivered their final speeches in the chapel this evening. We heard about the importance of family and friends, how life plans can change and the unexpected joy of charting a new path, the qualities we admire in others that can influence our development, and the necessity of sunscreen for fair-skinned redheads!

Photo of student performing his oratory speech on May 10, 2023.

Molly Driscoll inspired laughter throughout the audience as she spoke about how her collegiate athletic career decisions were impacted by an avoidance of both bright southern sun and uniforms that might clash with her signature hair and freckles. She was joined by peers Jake Lipani, Marcos Montiel, Daniel Reyes, Nomar Tejada, Brett Niland, Evan Wirth and Ella Oppenheimer, all of whom did an excellent job sharing insights into their lives with the students and faculty in attendance. 

Photo of the oratory class of 2023.

April 26, 2023

This morning Ms. Moltz's third-form English class enjoyed a special presentation from history teacher and school archivist Mr. Latham on Brooks School in the 1940's.

Photo of students in English class.

This institutional history was helpful in creating context for the book students are currently reading, Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The 16-year-old protagonist, Holden Caulfield, finds himself immersed in a new environment at Pencey Prep in New Jersey and contending with new socioeconomic dynamics, among other challenges.

Photo of archivist Lance Latham pointing out Brooks School campus in the 1940s.

Mr. Latham talked about the wartime and post-WWII years at Brooks, highlighting students' contributions to the war effort at 1160 Great Pond Road and abroad. He familiarized the students with the physical campus, school traditions and the much-celebrated faculty whose names we still recognize, in addition to sharing many photographs of daily life.

Historical photo of bedtime at Brooks School.

Pictured here is former faculty member Mr. Spock reading to Whitney House residents at bedtime, a tradition that I for one would like to see return!

April 25, 2023

Today, I was privileged to attend the thesis defenses of three of our senior Advanced Capstone History students. Somewhere between 20-30 pages long, these papers are the culmination of extremely dedicated research over months.

Photo of History capstone presentations.

First, we heard from Shalini Navsaria '23 (below, right), whose paper is titled, "Blood-Diamonds are a Viceroy's Best Friend: Colonial State Violence and the Unraveling of the British Raj," followed by her classmate Yota Fukui '23 (below, left) who titled his, "The Economic Power Struggle in the Far East: Japan-United States Relations Prior to the Attack on Pearl Harbor."

To close out the morning we heard from Jayden Malouf '23 (above, right, and below, left) on "The Price of Paranoia: The FBI's Struggle to Regain Public Confidence After McCarthyism."

Photo of students preparing for their history capstone presentation.

Five history teachers asked each student a range of questions on their research and determined how their argumentation and evidence held up- I am pleased to say all three students proved to be experts!

Next up, the class will offer a night of presentations in Chapel on Tuesday, May 16, at 7 p.m. See you there!

April 24, 2023

Piaget reigned supreme in Mrs. Hajdukiewicz's Honors Neuroscience class today, as students participated in pitches for toys they created with different childhood developmental stages in mind.

Photo of students in science class.

I was one of three guest panelists serving as part of the SharkTank. Innovations included an interactive sensory mat, a textured hide-the-bunny book, letter-tracing puzzle pieces, a Montessori activity board and an online instructional play doh modeling kit.

Photo of students in science class.

Suffice it to say that the "sharks" were thoroughly impressed by the depth of research and ingenuity in coming up with enriching age-appropriate toys!

Photo of students in science class.

 

April 14, 2023

Biology students in Ms. Knowles and Ms. Sacco's classes are currently learning about heredity and genetics through an "And Baby Makes Three" project. With partners, they worked on creating karyotypes (set of chromosome pairs), compiling genetic characteristics, and making portraits of each family member.

Photo of students in biology class.

To begin, students flipped a coin to assign dominant or recessive traits in their chromosome pairs, before moving on to filling out the genotypes by identifying the alleles, and then they progressed to determine the phenotypes, or observable physical characteristics, unique to each family member.

Photo of students in biology class.

When asked about what makes this project memorable, Ms. Knowles (above on left) and Ms. Sacco remarked that it's fun for students to learn about widow's peaks, (un)attached earlobes, cleft chins and mid-digital hair as features that can make us unique. Admittedly, these are things that we sometimes don't notice about ourselves until we think to look (writes the author, as she looks down at her hands)! I am eagerly awaiting the finished portraits of the students' "babies" later this week!

Photo of students in biology class.

 

March 31, 2023

Today was our inaugural Beloved Community Day as led by our new Dean of DEIB, Rev. Terri Ofori. The central themes of the day were: Sankofa, which is reaching back to gather the best of what our past has to teach us so that we can achieve our full potential moving forward, and Ubuntu, the realization of who you are through other people.

In an introductory chapel, we heard Mr. Jones talk about the importance of Ubuntu to Celtics team culture under Coach Doc Rivers when they won the NBA championship in 2008. We moved into the dining hall for a Kente cloth lesson from Dr. David Ofori, a chief of Akyem people in eastern Ghana, and chose symbols that best represented our advisory groups. Pictured here is my advisee, Mari Munoz de Leon '24, and Owen Bedrosian '23, learning how to wear the Kente cloth from Rev. Ofori. 

Photo of students participating in Brooks School's Beloved Community Day.

Next, we moved in our advisory groups to the Center for the Arts and collaboratively composed a contribution to an exquisite corpse activity, during which each group is either responsible for a head, torso or legs and that were then combined to create whimsical creatures.

Photo of students presenting their Beloved Community Day poster.

It was a nice tie-in to a guest from visiting artist Shelby Myerhoff, who presented on her transformative practice of painting herself after animals or vegetation that inspire her from nature.

For me, the most memorable aspect of the day was hearing from Dr. Pascale Losambe, a trained neuroscientist, who talked to us about both the history and science of belonging.

In this final picture, you can see our community gathered outside the chapel for a drum circle and libation offered by Dr. Ofori:

Photo of students standing in a circle outside of Chapel during Beloved Community Day.

A part of that ceremony was an acknowledgment of the Pennacook people, on whose ancestral lands Brooks School resides. Beloved Community Day proved to be a fun and educational day!

MARCH 3, 2023

Tonight, I enjoyed attending a Modern World history symposium that was bustling with the energy of a hundred fourth form students eager to share their learning!

Students showed off their classroom presentations for the history symposium.

This year the history department revised the survey curriculum to be elective based in the second semester so that each course has a regional focus. This allows students to engage in an in-depth examination of how different people around the world have experienced world events.

Students showed off their classroom presentations for the history symposium.

For their poster projects, each student chose a topic that affected their region between the years of 1914 to 1945. The fourth form then gathered to share their projects with one another, enabling them to draw connections between regions and better learn how WWI, WWII and the Great Depression were global events. 

Students showed off their classroom presentations for the history symposium.

History Department Chair and Modern World history teacher Michele Musto offered the following reflection: "Teaching World War II from the perspective of Africa has been fascinating. For example, we were able to focus on how the League of Nations set up after World War I to prevent war failed miserably in Africa when Italy invaded Ethiopia. In a world history survey course this is often one line in a textbook, but this year students in the Africa section could analyze the impact of this event on Africa as a whole and the continent's overall participation in World War II.

Photo of students presenting history projects.
Photo of students presenting history projects.

On our symposium night as a teacher, it was exciting to see students excitedly hurrying from classroom to classroom to see their classmates' projects and learn from them. As a history teacher, any time students are having a good time talking about history and its implications is a success."

Photo of students presenting history projects.

 

February 23, 2023

A snowy afternoon without childcare provided me with the opportunity to strap my one-year old, Camilla, into a backpack and take a trip through the Center for the Arts to see what entertainment I might offer her. No sooner had we entered the building than we stumbled across a third-form, Arts Exploratory cohort engaging in a critique outside their visual arts classroom with Mrs. Wheelden.

Photo of students in Arts Exploratory class.

We followed the sound of their peers to a nearby classroom where we found another ArtsEx group fully engrossed in singing under the direction of Dr. DiAngelo.

Photo of students in a singing class.

Camilla and I journeyed downstairs to check out the whimsical monsters being sewn together in 3D Studio Art with Ms. McLoughlin, and then enjoyed a hallway piano concert by Daniel Reyes '23, who was making the most of his free block.

Photo of a student building a costume.

Mutual enjoyment was evident between the toddler and performers, which made for a successful tour of the arts building! 

February 19, 2023

This basketball season has been one to remember, and the awesome team of girls I coach on the 2nd team has proven competitive while playing for each other and enjoyment of the sport above all else. I was further reminded of the fun of the game while watching Brooks boys 1st basketball team host local Special Olympics basketball teams for a tournament at Brooks on Sunday.

Photo of a Special Olympics team posing with Brooks students.

Haverhill faced off against Andover on the first court and it was easy to be swept up in the enthusiasm and support for every player.

Lots of Brooks students attended the event and were very active in cheering for the athletes. They pitched in helping to keep the clock, run the scoreboard, and even commentated on the gameplay. I think Marcos Montiel '23 and Emersen Davis '25 may have legitimate futures as sportcasters! Nomar Tejada '23 shined as a player-coach, helping to distribute the ball across the court so that everyone could join in the shooting.

All in all, it was a great community event and Brooks is grateful to the Special Olympics for partnering with the boys basketball team to make it happen!

February 16, 2023

I was moving about the school building Thursday morning when I was happily sidetracked by the celebratory shouts of Jagger Carreiro '26, Trokon Harris '26 and Tristan Yepdo '26 as they succeeded in getting their Rube Goldberg machine to work in the Science Atrium.

The physics students have been learning about three types of potential energy: kinetic, elastic and gravitational. They taught me that kinetic is anything that moves, elastic is something like a spring that bends and has a release, and gravitational depends on an object's weight and height above the ground.

Photo of students working on a physics project.

The task at hand was to create a machine that features all three types of potential energy with two simple machine components. Simple machine components include wheel and axle, ramps, levers, pulleys, gears and screws. Students had to predict what the outcome of their machine would be in regard to potential energy, and the boys' celebration was an indication that their hypotheses proved correct!

February 8, 2023

Upon return to school in early January, I presented with my colleague Ryan Dobbins, Director of Information Technology, to the faculty on Open AI and the impact of ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 on education.

Photo of presentation in faculty meeting on ChatGPT.

Today, I spotlighted Google's answer to Open AI, which is called Bard. At Brooks, we are welcoming the arrival of these tools that have already inspired us to be more creative lesson planners and thoughtful instructors of research and writing skills. Much like calculators, Wikipedia, search engines and apps like PhotoMath challenged pedagogical approaches when they landed, we are excited to both learn about and norm the use of powerful AI tools in our classrooms.

Winter Term proved to be a great laboratory for teaching students about their use and experimenting as to how we might integrate AI into our instruction. With over 100 million active monthly users, ChatGPT is on the map, and we are excited to be in the educational vanguard. 

February 2, 2023

If you want to beat the winter blues, spend your February in French class! Madame Medved highlights cultural observances of both Chandeleur and Mardi Gras, and today meant learning about the former, or what the English call "Candlemas."

Photo of students in French class celebrating Chandeleur.


See an album of photos from the celebration on brooksschoolphotos.com.

Symbolically forty days after Christmas, Chandeleur also enjoys pre-Christian origins, marking the midway point of winter, much like Groundhog Day. A mix of both traditions, the holiday now focuses on crêpes, which are thin, round pancakes that are meant to represent the life-giving sun.

Photo of French class students posing during their Chandeleur celebration.

Eating the crêpes also invokes the papal tradition of distributing food to those in need at this time of year. Madame Medved cooked the crêpes the night before and brought in blueberries, strawberries, bananas, nutella and more to add on. They were delicious and the students ate heartily while enjoying the cultural lesson!

January 30, 2023

Today I visited Mr. Smith's AP Microeconomics trading floor, to observe teenage profit-maximizing capitalists in the manufacturing sector selling pollution permits for the rights to dump toxic waste in the local river.

This interdisciplinary exercise allowed students to examine the theoretical and practical advantages and disadvantages of three different governmental policies used to control negative externalities in the economy.

Their debrief analyzed each  individual factory’s actions and the overall impact to the economy. Mr. Smith shared that PBAs (Problem Based Assessments) in AP Microeconomics are meant to "give authentic types of situations in which economic theory actually plays out in the real world. If history is a guide, there will be a lot of lessons learned that underscore how human behavior often gets in the way of optimal societal outcome."

The trading window simulation was lively and fast-paced, and I enjoyed playing the role of the government regulating the exchange of permits!

JANUARY 21, 2022

Winter Term 2023 featured some perennial favorite courses, including Car Wars, The Great Outdoors, Walking Boston and SCUBA, while also introducing some new courses: Aviation, NYCinema, Sherlock Holmes and Learn to Snowboard. Emerging from the pandemic, students enjoyed a bump in travel opportunities both domestic and international, including trips to Cooperstown, New York; Philadelphia; New York City and Washington D.C., as well as further afield to Honduras, Portugal and Spain. 

Photo of Winter Term students on a trip to Portugal, posing by a church.

As a co-teacher of Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained (shown above), I joined the students in learning about Portuguese history and culture.

Stateside, the students took part in an authentic cooking lesson from a first generation Azorean chef and made croquettes, paella and queijadas.

See an album of photos from the lesson and trip on brooksschoolphotos.com.

They got a crash course in Portuguese history, focusing in particular on the age of exploration and empire when “discoverers” sailed the seas motivated by God, Gold and Glory. Mrs. Mandzhukova-Wamboldt taught a lesson on Portuguese language, equipping students with the ability to offer greetings, express gratitude and order food, among other essential skills. Students began the process of journaling, and each prepared individual presentations on two or three historical sites that we planned to visit in Portugal.

Students in Winter Term visiting Portugal pose at sunset.

We then crossed the Atlantic and landed in sunny Lisbon, where we canvassed the historic district, and visited St. George’s Castle, Belém Tower and the Jerónimos Monastery before enjoying a traditional Fado concert. We continued on to Évora to see the Roman temple of Diana and the Chapel of the Bones, with a special stop to Monsaraz Castle at sunset. Our journey then took us north to the coastal towns of Cascais, Nazaré and Aveiro, where respectively we enjoyed a scenic bicycle ride, trip to a surf museum and lighthouse and a gondola ride to learn about the local salt industry.

Next we walked the fortifications at Óbidos, before arriving in Porto. There we toured the palace, climbed up a clock tower, and learned how Port wine is made. To close the trip, we headed to the university town of Coimbra for some shopping, before checking out the Batalha monastery on our return to Lisbon. Along the way, olives and octopus galore were eaten, many photographs were taken, and countless memories were made in a beautiful country!

Travel changed my life when I was a high school student. It opened up the world as an expansive, inspiring and culturally rich classroom and showed me just how much there is to learn. I am grateful to Brooks for the opportunity to provide the same chance to another generation of students!

November 16, 2022

Mr. Price's AP AB Calculus class is tackling derivatives of a function this week, with graphs galore to put their new skills to practice.

While visiting the class, I learned that derivatives are useful for optimizing a process or maximizing a profit. For example, if a company finds early success, it's possible that if the company grows too fast it will lose money in the expansion, eg. taking on additional employees and their compensation, or perhaps having to address the need for additional office space.

Mr. Price pointed out one derivative that was a bell curve and linked it to coursework some of his students are doing in AP Statistics. The AP AB students will explore new applications for their learning following Thanksgiving Break!

 

November 15, 2022

Dr. Neissa's AP Spanish Literature class has recently begun reading and analyzing Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Dr. Neissa led the students through an exploration into what it was like to live in early 17th century southern Spain, and had them consider how the protagonist might go a little crazy after reading stories of knighthood.

The class discussed the cultural ideals of masculinity during that age as informed by patriarchal tradition and compared them to modern day. Dr. Neissa characterized the Baroque era of literature as one of pessimism and over-intellectualizing simple values. The students impressed me with their high-level literary discussion conducted entirely in fluent Spanish. 

October 31, 2022

Campus was hopping today with imaginative costumes, and it was fun to pop into some classes to see the students embracing our school core value of "creativity" as they got down to work.

I found Kendall Eddy '23 in a pickle in AP Economics, Caroline Sutherland '23 riding a dinosaur whilst being college counseled by teenwolf Mr. Campbell, Henry Osborne '26 hitting the books as a banana, Nelson Lamb '23 channeling Duck Dynasty in 2D Studio Art, and Owen Christopher '23 going to infinity and beyond in AP English.

The award for most inventive might go to members of Dr. Ludi's PreModern World history class, which featured Giada Musto '26 as Taylor Swift's new album Midnights on vinyl, and Henry Sumner '26 as Homer. 

 

OCTOBER 24, 2022

Last week, I heard that Kyle Joyce '23 was on the hunt for zip ties, and it piqued my curiosity as to why he would need so many. I decided to investigate, and this query resulted in an invitation to Mr. Bauer's Introduction to Electromechanical Engineering class! During the extended block this morning, I found students happily tinkering with two, three and four-wheeled vehicles to add or modify motors to the vehicles. 

Jake Lipani '23 explained to me that his group was transforming a beach cruiser donated by Dean of Students Mr. Forrest to become an Ebike. Since it is a rear-braking bike, the students needed to swap out the back tire for a wheel with a motor in it, which then necessitated prying open the metal frame for it to fit. The group then unscrewed the pedals and flipped the chain to be on the opposite side, while having to contend with different gear mechanisms.

Kendall Eddy '23 and Sarah Benjavitvilai '23 relayed that they are now working on the wiring, and troubleshooting an issue where the brakes are too strong and signaling the motor to stop. Their team has replaced the handle bar, added a throttle, and once they figure out the brake wiring, they will 3D print an enclosure for the wires. 

In another corner, Shane Burns '23 and Brett Niland '23 were working on motorizing a Razor scooter, after having accidentally burned out a brushless motor controller. Mr. Bauer was reviewing the magnetization of motors, which need the two positive sides of magnets to repel so that the polarity enables the revolution. He acknowledged that some AP Physics started creeping into his lesson!

Across the room, Cali Bernier '23 and Jerry Chen '23 were working on souping up a kid's Power Wheels cop car with a motor that has ten times the power of the original. They were in the process of 3D printing a gear box enclosure.

Next to them, classmates Evan Wirth '23, Kerr Sjostrom '23, Connor O'Neill '23 and Kyle Joyce '23 were in between two impressive projects. First, they added a four-stroke engine to a tricycle, and explained to me how it works: gas goes into the cylinder, a spark plug ignites it, and the explosion moves the pistons. (They enlightened me that the "V" in a V8 engine refers to the orientation of the pistons.)

I learned that a four-stroke enables a slower build of power versus a two-stroke, which has more torque. Next, they are turning their attention to an ATV that Director of Communications Mr. Callahan lent them, in hopes of repairing and improving its performance. 

All class members appreciated that what they're learning will help them beyond Brooks, in terms of their comprehension of machines, how to build them or fix them, and their general individual handiness and resourcefulness.

Quite a few students shared that prior experience working on their dirt bikes, or helping to repair the family leaf blower, had prepared them well for this course. And, several commented that they hope to continue with electrical or mechanical engineering in college! 

October 13, 2022

This morning I took a first period tour through the Center for the Arts. In woodworking with Ms. Spollett, students were independently constructing bird houses. They received the drawings and materials, and then students figured out for themselves how to cut and assemble all the pieces, before finishing, sanding and painting the structures. Now that they have learned basic woodworking skills and how to read drawings, they will design and create their own drawings for a small toy. 

In Ceramics I, Ms. McLoughlin's budding ceramicists were practicing their first attempts at throwing mugs and pots.

In different stages of the creative process, some were on the wheel, whereas others were working on glazing their initial creations. 

Advanced Rock Band was fresh off their incredible Family Weekend performance, and with only one class under their belts in the time since, they were deep into practicing their next song: "Hall of Fame," by The Script. Dr. Bruschi shared that last year, Advanced Rock Band performed 17 songs! 

Finally, I stepped into drawing with Ms. Nagel, who was facilitating a lesson on value, or how light or dark a hue or tone may be.

She encouraged the students to find either a historical or contemporary image, on ArtCyclopedia, the Tate, or the Portrait Gallery of London.

The students are employing one or two rubber stamps to build up light and shadow, using edges and different amounts of ink. Very cool to see these famous images come to life!

September 19, 2022

Wilder DIning Hall was the place to be Monday night for the annual Brooks Club Fair.

Music was bumping, free candy abounded, and colorful signs graced tabletops as students endeavored to convince one another to sign up for Astronomy Club, the No Planet B consortium or Amnesty International.

I enjoyed a nice chat with Sofia Fortenberry '24 who started an organization called Better Letter that pairs youth with an elderly pen pal.

Affinity groups joined in the fun, with new cohorts SWIRL (multiracial) and ISA (international) in the mix. Students learned how they might get involved in a variety of student run initiatives, and will now have meetings to look forward to as the school year builds momentum.

 

September 9, 2022

This morning, Head of School John Packard and I were invited to attend Mrs. Hajdukiewicz's new course, Animal Behavior & Zoology. To kick off the year, she responded to the students' query about getting a class pet by challenging them to research and present what they think the best option might be across categories of equipment, food, medical care, longevity, expense and more qualitatively, inspiration of joy!

The students took this opportunity very seriously, and we heard from groups presenting on orange crested and leopard geckos, hamsters, chinchillas and degus.

Everyone in the class was able to vote for their top three choices. Orange crested geckos and hamsters placed first and second. (I felt particularly invested in the outcome as there was frequent mention that a faculty family with young children might enjoy caring for the class pet on school vacations.)

Riding the momentum, the class elected to take an impromptu field trip to the pet store last night, and a change of heart resulted in the purchase of one leopard gecko and two degus. Last I checked, names were up for discussion, but Cooper, Taylor (Swift) and Roberta (Crump-Burbank, a nod to our Athletic Director) were front runners!

 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022

We are off and running, with 17 new colleagues and 113 new students to create new memories together. As ever, I am thrilled to kick off the first two days of classes with an eager group of third-form history students. Together, we will study Ancient Africa over the course of the semester. It was particularly wonderful to see each of their faces fully. I missed those smiles behind masks last year! 

This year the schoolwide curriculum will benefit from additions like Electromechanical Engineering, Neuroscience, Biotechnology, Animal Behavior & Zoology, History of Human Health & Disease, Contemporary Novel, Contemporary Short Story, the reintroduction of AP Music Theory and a fourth form Modern World history redesign, featuring new electives!

I am excited to visit these classes and look forward to giving you a glimpse into the day to day of school life here at Brooks!

MARCH 2, 2022

Brooks Girls 1st basketball faced off in the first round of the Class B NEPSAC tournament against Proctor Academy this afternoon. Our girls headed into the tourney as the first seed after a 21-0 regular season, and beat the Proctor Hornets 78-59.

The gym was packed with students dressed in a beach theme and carrying cutouts of sixth-form captains Taina Mair and Samantha Dewey.

Among them was our very unofficial mascot, the Brooks bishop, who helped to lead cheers in the student section. Today also featured seven students who honored head coach Ushearnda Reynolds by painting their chests with her name!

Coach U. has enjoyed a memorable week thus far, as she also delivered a moving speech during our Monday Chapel service to round out a Black History Month speaking series sponsored by the Black Student Union. The basketball team will face off against Suffield Academy in the semifinals on Saturday. 

February 24, 2022

The Center for the Arts was a happening scene on Thursday night! The winter musical Rent opened and budding ceramicist Andrew Fair '22 exhibited his artwork to the delight of friends, family and teachers.

Building on skills he learned in Ceramics I and II, Andrew (above, third from right) has dedicated hours to advancing his abilities on the wheel, and has produced an impressive collection of tableware, including a chip and dip platter and citrus reamer. His functional art is both practical and beautiful, featuring an array of glazes.

Andrew's soccer teammates came out in full force to support the sixth-form artist, and it was a fun night to celebrate the arts — both visual and performing — as many attendees of the exhibition continued on to the musical!

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Jury duty came calling, and I replied with an enthusiastic yes! My colleague Mr. Shami Bery and I sat in on the senior elective History of Sports & Culture to weigh in on a debate as to who is the greatest olympian of all time.

In the first round, Michael Phelps faced off against Muhammad Ali, in the second we heard Jackie Joyner Kersee versus Jesse Owens, and in the third Usain Bolt and LeBron James battled it out.

The factors were: participation rate in olympic games and events, records set, medals won, advancement of the sport achieved, personal adversity overcome, social barriers smashed and humanitarian impact. The victors from the first round were Phelps, Joyner Kersee and Bolt . . .  but the real winners in my book were the students whose research made for a lively and thought provoking exchange at the intersection of history and sport!

October 4, 2021

Ms. Binder's English class was abuzz as I entered, with students at three different stations centered on close examination of etiquette, ceremony and social conventions related to their reading of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. In the opening chapters, Achebe describes Igbo rituals in great detail. For example, a tradition in which, "'The first cup went to Okonkwo, who must taste his wine before anyone else. Then the group drank, beginning with the eldest man. When everyone had drunk two or three horns, Nwakibie sent for his wives.'" (pp.19-20.) 

Ms. Binder asked the class, "What are the values and hierarchy reflected? Why does the author spend so much time describing cultural rituals?" Students then rotated around the room, attempting to set a formal table with help from an online tutorial provided by the butler at Thornbury Castle in Gloucestershire, design a few different versions of wedding invitations for a range of scenarios, and practice introductions among Mr. Packard, the Queen of England, and Tom Brady, among others! For the students, it inspired thoughtful reflection as to why these social interactions matter in recognizing and establishing the dynamics of a scene. 

September 28, 2021

Today, in Dr. Seals' English III, the worlds of Walt Whitman and Ta-nehisi Coates came together, as students considered how the two speak to each other through Whitman's poem "Long, too long America" and Coates' book, Between the World and Me.

To begin, students contextualized Whitman's work in the Romantic and Transcendentalist periods and read some of his other poems like "Song of Myself" and "America."

To help digest the latter, students learned the use of an online tool called Hypothesis, which enables participants to engage in "social annotation." This means that you can collaborate on analyzing a literary work together, employing some discussion forum techniques in the sidebar.

The Whitman and Coates content connections, made across centuries, provided an opportunity for thoughtful examination of American exceptionalism from two very different perspectives. In addition, the students learned a new skill in the process, as did this history teacher! I look forward to using Hypothesis in my own classes moving forward. Thanks, Dr. Seals!

September 20, 2021

This morning I took another look at how our All Community Read, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, has been integrated into the curriculum. Ms. Johnston's Pre-Modern World History class, Making of the Muslim World, took some time today to learn about the history of apartheid in South Africa.

The class revisited Mr. Noah's comparison between the teaching of the Holocaust to German students and the teaching of apartheid to South African students. He wrote: “In South Africa, the atrocities of apartheid have never been taught that way. We weren’t taught judgment or shame.  . . . Facts, but not many, and never the emotional or moral dimension.”

Brooks students explored how Noah's assertion — one point of view — might suggest how historical memory is preserved for some groups and not for others, and students considered the importance of an emotional or moral dimension in recounting historical events.

While over in the library, I couldn't help but notice a fourth-form Self in Community class making the most of the gorgeous weather in the courtyard outside the Lehman Gallery.

I dropped into see what kind of lesson Mr. Musto (below) and Mr. Wheelden (above) were facilitating, and learned that as a part of the character development portion of the course, they were engaging students in an exploration of how they experience feelings of "comfort, stretch or panic" in different scenarios.

Examples included walking into a new classroom environment on the first day of school, entering the dining hall for lunch and finding a place to sit, and some more uncommon situations like being asked to donate blood. Students voted with their feet, and then discussed their feelings and the "why" behind them. 

 

September 14, 2021

Arts Exploratory made the most of the beautiful late summer weather this morning, beginning outside en masse for some group warm-ups led by Director of Theater Meghan Hill.

They then split into their respective rotations: music, acting, woodworking, ceramics, digital and 2D visual arts.

A few of the sections are focusing their artistic exploration around the All Community Read, Trevor Noah's Born a Crime. In visual arts with Mrs. Wheelden, the students were engaging in a portfolio review using the prompts "I was born a/from/in/on/at ______" to provide imaginative feedback to their peers, which ended up sounding very much like poetry!

 

In ceramics with Mrs. McLoughlin, the students worked with clay while blindfolded, awakening the thousands of nerve endings in their fingertips. Much like author Trevor Noah explored his own heritage, the students are each creating a form inspired by an artistic tradition from their own ancestry. Among the students, Germany, Ghana, Ireland, Nigeria, Peru, Puerto Rico, Turkey and the West Indies were represented.

 

In acting with Ms. Hill, the class was exploring how stories can grow and evolve across cultures. Students are preparing to write their own "I am..." slam poetry, which will thoughtfully reference text from Born a Crime.

 

Finally, I stopped into the scene shop, where under the supervision of Ms. Spollett, students were learning to use screw guns! They mastered how to change bits, speeds, and control the tools' functions.

They will be constructing a set piece for the fall play, Clue, which will be featured on stage for all to see! 

 

September 7, 2021

What an incredible kickoff to what will undoubtedly be a year to remember . . . in the best of ways! Our community is so excited to be whole — to have every student and faculty member together, in person, on campus.

In his infinite wisdom, our Head of School John Packard made a great call in scheduling our first chapel of the year to be outside, overlooking Lake Cochichewick. Mother nature gave us her best and amplified our gratitude for being able to call the Brooks campus home. Our land acknowledgment, "At Brooks School, we live and learn on land once of the Pennacook people, and we acknowledge their enduring presence," felt particularly meaningful as we could envision those who came before us honoring the land, its beauty and bounty, centuries before us.

Pictured below is chapel prefect Amy Mojica '22, who offered a reading to supplement Mr. Packard's message about the importance of community (Watch a snippet here).

And then, the real fun began, with classes! I can't tell you how joyful it is to see the academic buildings come alive with the sounds of voices in the hallways, feet pounding the stairs, and laughter coming from classrooms. I was excited to get going with my third-form, Pre-Modern World History elective, Uncovering Ancient Africa, pictured here:

Not to worry: These kiddos are very mask compliant in our indoor spaces; against their better judgment some followed their teacher's directive to hold their breath and show their smiles for this photo!

Thank you for rejoining me as I restart my blog after a spring hiatus. I am looking forward to bringing you some glimpses of campus life this school year! 

January 22, 2021

Today in Pre-Modern World History, students enjoyed a visit from Harvard University Ph.D. candidate in Archaeology Sara Zaia (below), who Zoomed with the class from Italy! Her concentration is on long distance trade in Egypt and the Red Sea region, though she has participated in digs all over the world.

Ms. Zaia talked about the coolest site she ever uncovered, which was a tomb in Kazakhstan dedicated to a knighted warrior, constructed as a pit with a stone superstructure over it. The deceased had curved femur bones from riding horses, and was buried with many arrowheads and a ritual bronze knife featuring the image of a ram.

Ms. Zaia also talked about the pattern of her year, which involves excavations in Egypt during the winter and underwater archaeology in the Mediterranean during the summers. She answered students' questions about what to study and how to gain experience in the fields of science, history and language. She even provided a list of contacts for possible internships, and camps. So, if you're interested, please be in touch with Mrs. Waters!

 

January 21, 2021

This evening in AP Microeconomics, Mr. Smith's class modeled civil discourse around the (virtual) dinner table, while discussing Mankiw's five theoretical arguments one might make for trade protectionism. Every student created their own character, and prepared their stances on jobs, national security, infant industry, unfair competition, and bargaining chips: Were they proponents, or opponents?

At the end, the students provided each other feedback with constructive ideas that would make them more effective conversationalists in controversial matters where perspectives play a large role. It was surprisingly fun to watch this lesson unfold! The students enjoyed bringing their characters' economic views to life and had prepared impressive research to challenge their peers' positions. It had all the great ingredients of a dinner conversation: a diversity of perspectives, an eagerness to participate, inclusion of everyone, an upbeat tempo and lots of laughter! 

October 23, 2020

Ever wonder how a basketball player might calculate their hang time in the air, jumping from the free throw line to the hoop like Michael Jordan did? How skiers make their mogul runs more efficient? How a hunter might adjust their shot once they get a deer in their sights?

Today in Dr. C's Honors Physics class, students conducted a lab to illustrate projectile motion and calculate horizontal velocity.

The students taught me that both the time in the air and the distance covered matter in determining the speed of something in a certain direction, i.e., velocity. Gravity is not a factor — whereas when determining vertical velocity, one can expect the velocity to increase as an object gets closer to the ground.

Phase one of the experimentation occurred in the memorial garden outside the science building, pictured here (above). As I left them, they were continuing on down to the lake for phase two, involving a bigger launch. A special thanks to Jeffrey Pan '24 and Brett Niland '23 for helping me to better understand the content!

 

October 22, 2020

COVID-19 has presented institutions, states and countries with previously unfathomable challenges related to safety and infrastructure. In Mrs. Hajdukiewicz's Honors Anatomy courses, students have been tasked with learning about the virus and also the development of a strategic plan to mitigate its deadly effects in the United States.

I was invited to sit in on their presentations and was mightily impressed with the thoughtful research of what strategies have been most successful the world over. To generalize the different groups' approaches, I would characterize the students as more conservative than most state governments.

From an epidemiological standpoint, they conveyed an understanding of what human behaviors would be necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19, and also understood the magnitude of the social welfare component to support people as limitations to their livelihoods would be enforced.

Watch out Jeff Bezos — these sixth formers might soon be appealing to you for a substantial pledge to their COVID-19 fund, to support their new initiatives toward minimizing the impact of this pandemic!

 

October 22, 2020

Hamilton mania remains alive and well at Brooks School and the musical continues to serve as an excellent teaching tool for U.S. history teachers.

In the midst of a unit on the Early Republic, Ms. Johnston asked her students to compare their learning to songs from the musical and to both analyze and contextualize the lyrics. Examples included an exploration into:

  • Washington's Farewell with "Cabinet Battle #2," 
  • "One Last time," the Federalist Adams presidency with the songs "I Know Him" and "The Adams Administration," and 
  • the transfer of power to Thomas Jefferson and Democratic-Republicans with "The Election of 1800."

From Jay's Treaty to the Louisiana Purchase to the Hamilton and Burr Duel, the students covered a lot of ground in their presentations. Furthermore, it was fun to deepen my appreciation for the songwriting talents of Lin-Manuel Miranda while listening along!

 

October 7, 2020

Disclaimer: I have never seen a Star Wars movie. I am well aware there are memes across the internet making fun of this 1 percent of the population; I am among them.

While I could not appreciate the finer points of Ms. Binder's lesson on the Greek tragic hero using the story of Anakin Skywalker, I was savvy enough to be impressed by the comparison to the Things Fall Apart's protagonist, Okonkwo — and anyone could see the students were right there with her.

She further solidified the class's understanding of the tragic hero using other familiar characters like Simba from The Lion King and Buddy from The Incredibles, and explored the ingredients it takes to make one: a tragic flaw, pride/disinterest, a reversal, punishment and catharsis.

A group discussion followed where the group affirmed author Chinua Achebe's success in writing a fundamental novel about the Ibo people of Nigeria for a western audience by using a classic western form of character.

Student Newell Hale '23 articulated the political power the novel amassed in reaching a new audience, and how the book helped redefine the "single story" many westerners may have had about Africans, as their prior readership may have been limited to white authors from the outside looking in (Not to mention, Africa is a big continent — lots of countries and cultures!).

Of note in this lesson was also the technological fluency of the participants. It was in a hybrid format, with online students participating from home via Zoom and KanDao, and Ms. Binder was using JamBoard to fuse both a slide deck and whiteboard experience. We have arrived in the future! Very Star Wars, indeed. 

September 23, 2020

As I sat in my office on a 7:45 a.m. meeting, I heard a familiar but admittedly nostalgic noise, since it had been so long: the sound made by eager (physically-distanced) footsteps ascending the (one-way) stairwell over my head, heading to an 8 a.m. class, IN PERSON!

I love the hum of the school building and sadly it has been all too quiet, devoid of that unmistakable adolescent energy for some months now. It feels great to be back in the company of young people, to hear their voices spilling out of classrooms into hallways, and to see their smiling eyes above their masks as you pass in the hall!

The first few weeks of online classes were a success, our community members have all tested negative for COVID-19, and we are up and running in our residential, academic and extracurricular spaces. We are officially underway.

Teachers put their hybrid technologies to use for concurrent classes today, so that Meeting OWLS and KanDaos and Swivls and Logitech Webcams could help bring students together in one space from across the globe to learn together synchronously in two different modes, online and in-person.

Featured here, I took a peek into the Global Humanities classrooms of Amanda Nasser and Susannah Donoho today and saw students learning their way around a Short Answer Question and conversing about the novel Things Fall Apart. Good luck to our new students off and running in an interdisciplinary course!

 

September 20, 2020

Mother Nature gifted Brooks with beautiful weather days for the opening weeks of having students back to campus, and for that we are very grateful. Students spread themselves out, in a physically distanced manner, across multiple sports fields and open green spaces looking out at Lake Cochichewick. Lacrosse balls and footballs flew through the air, frisbees were tossed in games of disc golf, and spike balls bounced merrily. Mr. Griffith led yoga classes, Mr. Smith taught rowing technique, and Mr. Haile (below) patrolled to enforce good health and safety protocol with his homemade sandwich board!

Pizza was served at the flagpole to happy teens who made the most of their day before heading into study hall post-sunset. We look forward to getting back into the classroom later this week, after staying online until we receive a second round of test results. Safety first!

september 3, 2020

The school year is underway! While not a bustling hive quite yet, the hum of productivity has returned to the school building. Teachers are in their classrooms, and I can hear the youthful lilt of student voices filtering out into the hallway as online classes commence for the fourth period of the day.

I snuck in to capture a couple math colleagues at work — Logan Jester (shown above) and Kim McDowell (shown below) — as they greeted their students. This week is all about introductions, a digital orientation to online resources, reviewing community and course expectations, and trying on some of the new skills and content students will learn this year.

Teachers are busy practicing with hybrid technologies in anticipation of having students in person and online the week after next, and sharing out tips and best practices with one another. Empathy, one of our school core values, abounds as both students and teachers foster a mutual patience and respect as we navigate our virtual world together.

The laughter and exclamations reaching my ears as I walk the halls lets me know we are doing well to realize that community ideal together!

June 4, 2020

Typically, my blog provides a weekly window into the student experience at Brooks. It matters that what our students experience in our classrooms, especially our students of color, reflects and affirms their identities. This week, I offer a “history department takeover,” to highlight the work our department chair Michele Musto (shown below) has led to more directly prioritize the study and appreciation for the lived experience of historically marginalized populations in our curricula.

On this topic, Mrs. Musto: 

As the history department sat down to our work this week, top on our minds as a department were recent events in the news, which have affected all of us in different ways. As we watched the news of the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others over the last few weeks, we, as historians, are acutely aware that this is sadly nothing new. Since 1619, African Americans have been persecuted, discriminated against and killed. Just this Sunday, for example, was the anniversary of the Tulsa Race Riot in 1921 where mobs of white residents attacked and destroyed much of the primarily black Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The list of these acts of violence against people of color in U.S. history sadly could go on and on, and as historians we are acutely aware of this. We wish to stand with the many members of our community who face the realities of this history on a day-to-day basis, and we strive to make sure that all of our students learn about these events, as well as about the many wonderful contributions that communities of color have made to the rich fabric of American history.

One way the history department has taken to heart our need to address diversity, equity and inclusion in our curriculum was in our redesign of the sixth-form history electives. In past years, many of these electives were driven by the AP curriculum, but we recognized a need to spend more time on social justice issues and to present unheard voices in all of our senior classes in particular. To that end, our new slate of senior electives each will take time to address the topics of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation and others, as they relate to each particular content area. We hope that this will be at the heart of each and every elective next year.

Below are some of the thoughts from your history teachers on their sixth-form electives and the work of diversity, equity and inclusion in the history classroom:

Ms. Johnston writes about her elective on Sports History and Culture — “Sports and DEI [diversity, equity, inclusion] work go hand-in-hand. Sports have a complex history of both empowering and disempowering individuals and groups fighting for equality. Many, like Jake Kyler of the Sports Business Journal, state, ‘Sport has the intrinsic ability to bring about positive social change in the communities where we live, work and play.’ There are also examples where sports have not been inclusive to athletes. You need to look no further than Colin Kaepernick, who was ostracized by the NFL for using his professional athletic platform to fight for those who have been silenced and killed, or Billie Jean King, who was fearful of losing her tennis career if news broke that she identified as LGBTQ. Sports can oftentimes be a mouthpiece for change. However, the history of sports is complicated and one that must be acknowledged and discussed.”

Ms. McDonough, in speaking of her history of the Middle East course, writes — “For supplementary materials, I've tried over the years to read from authors of the places or of the religions we are studying. I'm making a real commitment to this for next year to ONLY read these authors. I want to be sure I am elevating and celebrating the stories and voices from the areas and cultures covered in the course.”

Mr. Latham, who will be teaching our new Economic History courses, writes — “Helping students develop empathy for others is one of the reasons I teach at boarding school. Our students will have an inordinate influence on the world. The quality of our future depends on their respect for all people. This is vitally important for all of us to learn and practice.”

Mr. Waters, who will be teaching new Civics courses, shares — “My goal is always for students to feel like they can engage with the government and find their own voice. I am excited to focus more deeply on elections and local politics in the coming year with students, as the power of young people will play a vital role in the 2020 elections. It is important for students to understand their rights, to be able to discuss differences with peers, and to exercise their own civic duty.”

Ms. Nasser, who will be teaching a new Global Humanities course, writes — “I have been taking this time to reflect on my privilege, to learn more about racism through reading articles and books, and to having open discussions with my friends and family. I recognize that it is a privilege to learn more about racism instead of experiencing it. I continue to think about how I can incorporate all voices into my world history classes and encourage discussions on race. I recognize that there is more to be done than just talk and I am taking steps to change the things that I cannot accept about our country.”

Mrs. Waters, reflecting on additional offerings like Criminal Justice, International Relations, and Race, Gender & Class, that will be taught by Mr. Veit and Ms. Sauceda, offers — “Challenging American exceptionalism by better understanding the inequities transcending generations that have shaped our nation helps position students to engage in critical thinking and develop informed opinions. That’s who we want as our future leaders — informed citizens! We look forward to running electives in African American and Latinx Studies in 2021, as well."

All of this we recognize is just the beginning. The work to teach a truly inclusive history of the world is ongoing and ever changing. The work to fight against discrimination and injustice is work we must all partake in on an everyday basis. We also recognize that there are times when we may fail. However, the history department wants all of the Brooks Community to know this is front and center in our minds, and we are ready to contribute to the hard work ahead. Hold us to this and let us know when we fail!

Mrs. Musto and the Brooks History Department

May 27, 2020

Fourth-form English centers around world literature, and every spring students select an independent reading book representing a culture they would be interested in learning more about.

In Ms. Donoho's class, students created presentations using the app Vocaroo to record their voices narrating their slides so that anyone may enjoy learning from them asynchronously. Featured here are slides from Hongru Chen's project on Isabel Allende's The House of Spirits, Ava Finegold's on Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns and Amy Del Cid's on Trevor Noah's Born a Crime.

Part I of the assignment asked the students to research the historical context of the story, Part II consists of a paper exploring cultural events introduced by the book, and Part III is a creative piece that further demonstrates empathy and understanding for the culture. It can take the shape of a 60 Minutes-type interview, a magazine article, correspondence, diary entries and more.

Talk about a deep dive! No doubt Hongru, Ava and Amy know a lot more about Chile, Afghanistan and South Africa, respectively, as will their classmates as a result of their projects!

May 20, 2020

Today the Davis Foundation Scholars enjoyed a year-end meeting together, during which they all offered well wishes to departing senior Janelle Umana-Limon! The cohort is made up of ten students (next year, 12!), who were identified as Davis Scholars because they distinguished themselves as outstanding community members at their prior schools, and no surprise, have continued to contribute meaningfully while at Brooks.

The group gathers periodically throughout the year to talk about classes, extracurriculars, life, you name it! The students today discussed how to welcome their three new members in the fall: Kiara, Selene and Phillip. We are looking forward to having them on board!

May 18, 2020

Spanish Teacher Ms. O'Brien is going all in on our core value of creativity as it relates to creating learning opportunities in virtual spaces, and I am so impressed! First, she has used Bitmoji to create a doppelgänger avatar (the freckles!) and an inviting classroom space to welcome her students to class — complete with a Brooks GSA sticker and hanging plant!

Second, she created a digital escape room for her students to work through, using "gameplay and problem solving" to help them practice their Spanish skills. My insider access came with an answer key to try it out (my high school French didn't get me very far), and I experienced both the challenge and the fun firsthand. Way to go, TOB!

 

May 13, 2020

This tree is right outside my front door. I have lived in Chace House since it was built in 2012. Eight years I have woken up, in all kinds of weather, and walked outdoors to load my kids in the car for school or walk toward main street to make my way to the academic building, with this tree right in my line of vision. 

I LOVE trees. This time of year I rejoice at their buds, blossoms and leaves that mark the arrival of spring. I am also grateful for their summertime shade, celebrate their autumnal beauty in all shades, and marvel at their snowy majesty in wintertime. I become inordinately sad when we lose a tree on campus, although I know Mr. St. Cyr takes incredible care of them and makes decisions in the best interest of our campus ecosystems . . . I still am so bummed to lose what feels like an old friend!

The history enthusiast in me revels in the idea of witness trees; the idea that these leafy soldiers bear witness to history over hundreds of years, become living history themselves, and help to create a sense of place. 

How is it that I don't even know what species the tree, right outside my front door, is? How can one become so accustomed to something's presence, reliant on it, and not even know it's name? It produces pods . . .  I think it might be a locust of some sort . . . .  but I can't say for sure! I find myself needing to know. 

This is what happens when you slow down, and have the time and presence of mind to see what is right in front of you with greater clarity. While my school life remains as busy as ever, slower moments walking around campus with my children have allowed me to take note of seasonal campus features I hadn't appreciated before. 

What else might I be able to see more clearly, right in front of me, that I couldn't before our lives changed this year? I am excited to find out. 

 

May 6, 2020

Today I joined Dr. Carabatsos's Honors Physics class to hear from Dr. Nicholas Schade, a former colleague of Dr. C's from Andover High, and a physicist who has since worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, earned a PhD at Harvard and engaged in postdoctoral research at both Harvard and UChicago.

The students managed not to be intimidated by Dr. Schade's CV and asked him questions about his work working with "squishy things," or colloids, which he described as a "soup of stuff." More specifically, Dr. Schade has worked toward realizing the possibility of an invisibility cloak. A very cool prospect for Harry Potter fans and physics nerds alike!

One of these screenshots features Marco Martinez '23 bonding with Dr. Schade over their close geographic proximity in Chicago!

 

April 30, 2020

I visited Mrs. Miller's Spanish Third Level Honors students who were crushing some serious grammar this morning. Past, present and future perfect tenses were the name of the game, with a little conditional and preterite review mixed in.

Also happening in the language department today with Mr. Dinescu: Jack Frimet '21 talking about how to grill a hot dog, Christian Duran '22 demonstrating how to care for fish, and Addie Branca '22 giving a crash course in laundry . . . all in Spanish!

April 23, 2020

Today, I accepted a kind invitation from Mrs. Hajdukiewcz to join her Honors Anatomy class for a lesson on the respiratory system. Mrs. H. provided her students with diagrams that they could label and color in as she engaged them in a discussion about the name, structure and function of different anatomical features like the pharynx, epiglottis, larynx and bronchi. Check out their colorful work! 

 

April 22, 2020

This week I enjoyed a window into Ms. Rooney's Physics class through the work of third-form student Kerr Sjostrom, who created a harp for a project on the science behind musical instruments.

The students were asked to research the physics of frequency, pitch, loudness, resonance, wavelength, harmonics and interference. Not only did they create a presentation, but they had to build the instrument and play it for the class! 

April 21, 2020

The man can play! Professional musician Bruce Katz joined Advanced Jazz Band today to share experiences from his storied career playing the bass guitar, piano and organ for many different artists from Big Mama Thornton and Chuck Berry to the Allman Brothers.

Passionate about jazz and the blues, Mr. Katz played songs like 1930's classic "Red Sneakers" for the class. While that piece has been around for 90 years, he said he thinks of it as "living and breathing music, because it is."

Chris Lyman '20 asked him which artist has impacted his musicianship the most, to which Mr. Katz answered, "Ronnie Earl. He was so hardcore pure blues, I learned a lot of certain conventions from him."

Katz continued that the biggest challenge of being a sideman is to be creative within someone else's vision. He later went on to start his own band so he could try whatever he wanted!

Thank you to Mrs. Keller for bringing Mr. Katz to Brooks. Turns out, they were classmates at Berklee College of Music back in the day. Way cool!

April 17, 2020

In the span of an hour, I watched sixth-formers code a panda bear to play "Duck, Duck Goose" in Robotics class (see below) and third-form students tackle new choreography in Introduction to Dance. They tuned in for synchronous class from Thailand, from Kenya, and lots of places in between.

Though we may not prefer the distance learning mode we are in, it was a powerful demonstration of the connectivity that technology can provide.

Mr. Hesse was giving tips on mBlock, the coding platform, at the same time that Ms. O'Brien was providing her class (see below) choreography set to the tune of Jess Glynne's "Hold My Hand" from her basement dance studio.

The class's chosen theme for their new dance? Togetherness. I felt it!

April 10, 2020

This morning, Mr. Waters' AP U.S. Government and Politics class welcomed Michael Reed '02. Mr. Reed presently serves as the RNC Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. He also worked on the 2008 Romney presidential campaign, was communications director for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and worked on the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Students asked Mr. Reed about how COVID-19 has changed campaigning, how he felt when Romney voted for Trump's removal, whether or not he thinks campaigns are "nastier" now and about his future goals in politics. Mr. Reed admitted he likes political competition but reminded us all that our forefathers used to beat each other with canes on the Senate floor — and challenge each other to duels — so polarization is not a new concept!

As for his own ambitions, Mr. Reed noted the cyclical nature of politics and that he has been accustomed to taking a new direction every couple of years. Suffice it to say that he will be busy through the November election!

April 7, 2020

Celebrity spotlight post from Dean of Students and boys 1st soccer coach, Mr. Waters:

"As I find myself looking for ways to create or maintain community, I thought it would be fun to connect the 2019 soccer team with alumni. I am hoping to make this a weekly event where the current players talk with a team that won an ISL championship while they were at Brooks.

Last night, we had our first talk with the 2016 (above) and 2017 (below) teams which was fun because there is a lot of overlap.

Andres Rosas '21 and Coll Sutherland '21 were third formers on the 2017 team and Zach Pearce '20 and Abhay Gandhi '20 were fourth formers on that team.

We also had siblings on the call, Alex '17 and Max Chaban '20, Jacob '18 and Saul Iwowo '22, Thomas '21 and Jack O'Connell '20 and Coll and Duncan Sutherland '20. The kids each introduced themselves and then shared a moment that has stood out to them or what Brooks soccer has meant to them.

I didn't know what to expect, but was blown away by where the players took it as the call lasted two and a half hours, and we had 37 people on the call. We will have the next installment next week, talking with the 2012 team, and many of the 2016 and 2017 players have already asked if they can join that call as we look to connect!

 

April 2, 2020

On Thursday, I jumped into a Zoom with Mr. Smith's Advanced Pre-Calculus class. The students used trigonometry to plot the acreage of Brooks School's campus, and then invited school architect Andrew Leonard to assess their accuracy.

Turns out students' use of rectangles and triangles matched up pretty well against his AutoCAD software!

It was neat to see the aerial photos be used as an application for the skills the students were learning, which then translated directly to Mr. Leonard's work on campus as a landscape architect. 

 

March 31, 2020

Day two of Distance Learning! Featured below is my six-year-old daughter, Ainsley, on a quick (physically distanced!) jaunt around the neighborhood. Her teachers had asked her to find a change in nature and she alighted upon some determined plants sprouting up to greet the New England spring.

In the time it took us to walk back to our home, some friendly neighbors had chalked our front walk with a welcome home message:

Community, especially the Brooks community, means so much at a time like this.

I feel grateful for reminders from nature that the earth will keep turning, the seasons will change, and that we should find joy in the small moments. I look forward to "walking the halls" of our virtual school over the coming weeks to share joyful moments shared amongst teachers and students as we continue to draw meaning and inspiration from our community. Stay tuned!

March 4, 2020

It has been exciting to have three teams in the NEPSAC postseason (following a lot of success in past weeks for the squash programs)! Both boys' and girls' basketball are seeded first in their tournaments and played at home today, back-to-back.

In this picture you can see Coach McVeigh coaching his players during a timeout in the midst of battling through a North Shore rivalry versus The Governor's Academy.

It was close in the first half but Brooks pulled away with the win, 75-53. The girls beat Cushing Academy 79-52 (Spoiler alert: They went on to win the whole tournament). Brooks students dressed in all black for a "black out" and did a great job cheering on their peers to victory!

february 22, 2020

This morning I joined Mr. Jester's Algebra 2 class, and observed students "playing" Marbleslides on Desmos to graph exponential functions.

If a student tinkered with an equation to change the slope of a line, they could reroute the path of the marble and pick up stars. The program was interactive and students could see other people's predictions. An example of this was guessing what might happen if they swapped coordinates — could they find the inverse and plot it on an x/y plane?

The students loved this, and asked Mr. Jester for more time to play. It was fun to see the gamification of learning in a traditional classroom setting (reminded me of Idriss Aberkane's theorizing — look him up!). The class then enjoyed an introduction to a new function: logarithms. Mr. Jester explained logs are the inverse of exponentials, which helped the students to better under the relationship of what they had just been studying to this new topic. 

February 14, 2020

Lucky me, to have been invited to the third form Pre-Modern World history elective Death and Disease in the Ancient World this afternoon! The students were presenting music video projects on Mesopotamia. The group featured here — Virginia, Zoe, Matt and Molly — rewrote the lyrics to Miley Cyrus's fan favorite, "Party in the USA," to be about labor specialization and technological advancements. The students were supportive of their peers' performances and it was clear that all involved had learned a lot from the exercise!

February 14, 2020

We sweat because evaporation helps cooling. But why does the sweat band of your hat turn white as it dries after a long, hot jog?

I learned today in Mr. Lafond's chemistry class, that this residue is comprised of sodium, chloride and potassium. This salty substance is the reason why your dog likes to lick your skin after a good workout. What does this mean for your body's composition, and how does it relate to what we put in it? Think Gatorade, which advertises its merits on electrolyte replacement. We need electrolytes like sodium, chloride and potassium to help conduct electrical charges around our body to help encourage normal cell function and organ health. 

Mr. Lafond started class today diagramming ionic compounds and examining how they conduct electricity. They separate into charge particles whereas molecular compounds, like water, separate into molecules that have no charge. Mr. Lafond asked the class to envision a brick wall. Molecular compound fall apart like bricks if the mortar were to dissolve, whereas ionic compounds would see the bricks themselves come apart. This visualization helped me a great deal to understand the difference! I also learned that water is a polar molecular compound that is very good at shredding substances with charge, aka ionic compounds, and that's why so many things dissolve in water!

Next up, the students are going to take open electrical circuits and place them in different solutions to see if there are any ionic compounds that will close the circuit and generate a charge. This will help the students to evaluate the different electrolytes' conductivity.

Maybe the biggest lesson of the day was that if you follow a healthy diet and eat balanced meals, you shouldn't need Gatorade unless you're an ultra-marathoner!

February 8, 2020

This week, I had the pleasure of stepping into AP World History to facilitate an examination of the French Revolution as a catalyst for the Haitian Revolution (the latter being the only successful slave revolt in human history — that's a big deal!).

In the meantime, the students' teacher, Mrs. Musto, was leading a very skilled and inspired group of Brooks School Model U.N. delegates to the BosMUN conference. She shared: "After a weekend of debating solutions ranging from human rights for women to the future of space exploration, putting Marie Antoinette on trial for treason, solving the Boston busing crisis and much, much more, the whole team is exhausted and energized at the same time. This is a great group of students who worked hard in their free time to prepare for this weekend."

Students Emily Choe '20, Omo Mebude '21, Tanay Kommareddi '21, Hongru Chen '22 and Jayda Hayes '20 all won awards for their papers and/or participation. Well done!

 

February 3, 2020

"À la Chandeleur, l'hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur." This translates to: "On Candlemas, winter ends or strengthens."

Similar to Groundhog Day, the French celebrate the holiday La Chandeleur on February 2nd. This was my second annual visit to French Second Level in observance of this tradition, and I once again delighted in Madame Medved showering her students with crêpes!

Thought to represent the shape of the sun and the circle of life, the custom most importantly gathers people together and reminds them of papal generosity in providing food to the less fortunate once the stores from harvest run out. 

January 30, 2020

Puppies and babies: They warm the hearts of anyone, at any age, teenagers included. Today, Ms. Nasser brought her new rescue puppy, Mia (named after soccer superstar Mia Hamm) to the girls 2nd team basketball practice.

Little Mia got lots of hugs (featured here with Ashley Brzezenski '22) and watched practice comfortably from the arms of our team manager Ellie McCuine '22. Welcome to the Brooks community, Mia!

January 28, 2020

Return of the backpacks! Following a fun and productive Winter Term, students and faculty gathered on Tuesday morning in the Chapel to hear from Mr. Packard.

The Head of School spoke about 2020 being a big year in our collective national consciousness with a general election on the horizon. He spoke candidly about the importance of being able to talk — and really listen to each other — without having to agree, but with respect.

In sharing some of his own perspectives, and in providing compelling Pew Research Center data on voter turnout, he emboldened students and faculty alike to treat their civic responsibility thoughtfully and seriously. Mr. Packard's speech inspired many a classroom discussion throughout the day and was a great way to kick off the second semester. 

January 24, 2020

Tonight was the Winter Term symposium, which has the academic building positively abuzz with families and friends visiting students who are presenting their culminating projects! 

I watched a high-energy step dance performance, listened to students who learned to play the guitar absolutely crush Wagon Wheel, received a tutorial in auto mechanics, saw sheep- and cow-eyeball dissections and very proudly looked on as students from my own Winter Term presented on everything from Native American boarding schools to the history of wampum belts and agricultural cultivation and more.

Featured in this picture is the land acknowledgement that the students created for Brooks School in honor of the Pennacook people, who used to live on the shores of Lake Cochichewick.

The students from "How Did Massachusetts Get Its Name?" will present to Brooks' Diversity Leadership Committee, and to the whole community in chapel on February 10, about integrating this land acknowledgement into our practice. The students wish to have it read at the opening of Chapel, at graduation and featured on the website. 

January 22, 2020

This past November, I attended a Leadership + Design conference in Santa Fe during which we talked about the dangers of early onset adult seriousness disorder. While a tongue-in-cheek examination of why we sometimes take ourselves so seriously while being in the business of kids — who are inherently creative and playful — it resonated deeply with me. A resolution for 2020 is to play more!

Featured here are history teachers Willie Waters '02, Amanda Nasser and Joanna McDonough, along with Joanna's husband Koosha, and Spanish and Dance teacher Tess O'Brien.

We played some good old fashioned broomball and had a blast falling down all over the place together. I definitely paid that positive energy forward, and am looking forward to the next time!

January 16, 2020

Lucky me — I got to tag along as a chaperone on The Complexity of War's trip to Washington, D.C.! 

A perennial Winter Term fan favorite, this course dives deep into the decisions of governments in declaring war, the experience of servicemen and women who serve our nation in times of war, and the consequences of war — diplomatic, economic, and human.

This year, the group traveled to the American History Museum, National Marine Corps Museum, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, Vietnam and Korea monuments, and Arlington National Cemetery, among other sites, in addition to viewing the movie 1917. The students even had time to jump into the Women's March and experience civic engagement firsthand! From meeting with the guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to connecting with alumna Nalia Media '18 on the hill (who is interning for Congresswoman Lori Trahan), the trip proved a memorable one!

 

January 13, 2020

Featured here are third-form students from the Winter Term course I am co-teaching, "How Did Massachusetts Get Its Name?" The students traveled to the Peabody Archaeology Museum at Phillips Academy and worked with resident archaeologist Ryan Wheeler to simulate an excavation site typical of the region.

Students hypothesized about soil conditions, food and animal remains, tool use and materials as they sifted through artifacts. Corn kernels, moose bones, ceramic shards, ash, stone adze heads and shell fragments all helped students to put together the pieces of what a seasonal settlement of the Pennacook people might have looked like along the Merrimack River at a site like Shattuck farm.

This hands-on learning helped the students to better connect the resources of local environs to the people who were using them — a lot of history right under their feet!

 

september 21, 2019

This morning I joined Mr. Veit's Harkness table alongside 12 very engaged Modern World history students.

They were in the midst of studying Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism. The students generated their own discussion questions and reviewed their homework reading for understanding, covering the religious and governmental philosophies' coexistence, leadership and societal influence.

Mr. Veit then focused the students' attention on the tributary system. He showed the class a film clip on "panda diplomacy," which highlighted China's policy of lending out panda bears to other countries, a tradition that dates back to the Tang Dynasty.

Mr. Veit asked the class how they might see ancient ideas still at work today, and engaged the students in an examination of hard versus soft diplomatic power as it relates to the "isms." I will definitely look at Tian Tian and Mei Xiang a whole lot differently the next time I am at the DC zoo!

September 20, 2019

This afternoon, the Brooks School boys' 1st soccer team faced off against the Roxbury Latin foxes on our turf. Sun and high spirits made for an upbeat crowd and the students arrived dressed for a "white out." Our school spirit prefects, Stephen Higgins '20 and Jennifer Connolly '20, led the crowd in cheers of "B-R-O-O-K-S" and ran the school flag up and down the sidelines.

Stephen was dressed as the unofficial mascot, the Brooks Bishop, whose presence always gets the crowd riled up. Fourth-form student Jack Brown '22 scored an early goal and Brooks dominated on offense for a time before Roxbury Latin got a couple past the boys in green. Brooks was down 2-1 with less than ten minutes to go in the game, when fourth-form student Saul Iwowo '22 was able to convert a corner kick from classmate Christian Bejar '22! The crowd went wild and the refs had to clear students off the field. Unfortunately, the game ended in a tie but it was a great ISL match up to kick off league competition this season!

September 13, 2019

I popped into Mr. Davis's AP Biology class today and participated in a DNA extraction lab involving Gatorade, saliva and ethanol.

The objective of the lab was to demonstrate to students that DNA is not so minuscule or abstract such that one cannot see it. On the contrary, one can see it when "there is enough of it." Each student had their own test tube, and then could fashion a pendant with a sample of their own DNA to wear around their neck — me included! 

While the students waited for the DNA to do its thing in the test tubes, Mr. Davis shifted the focus from the lab stations back over to the desks, where he distributed buckets of legos. The students had evidently been at work in a prior class, constructing DNA out of different colored blocks. Mr. Davis had slides projected at the front which he used as visual prompts, in addition to his own lego model, to explain the structure of DNA polymers.

I was wholly impressed with the students comprehension of the material and their ability to translate their book learning to model construction and back!

september 6, 2019

Welcome to a new school year! After a couple days of registration, orientation and pre-season practices, it was nice to begin classes this morning and get down to the good stuff, as far as I'm concerned!

This year, I'm excited to teach Building the American Republic, which is our first semester United States history elective. Featured here are my 13 students, all shiny, new and ready to learn.

We are beginning the year by examining political, social, religious and economics differences among early American colonies. How did life differ in New England, versus the Chesapeake, or deep South? Ask one of these 13 and they can tell you!

Featured above and below are members of the Gender & Sexuality Alliance, Investment Club and Alianza Latina, all getting ready for a club, organization and affinity group fair that took place in the Wilder Dining Hall.

Students visit different stations to learn about student led groups and to sign up if they wish to join! It's a fun and lively evening that gets the community excited about an inspiring and productive year ahead. 

May 8, 2019

Bugs. Butters. Thumper. May they rest in peace, after being dissected by sixth form Anatomy students today. Not only did the students name the rabbits, but they were also encouraged by fun-loving teacher Mrs. Hajdukiewicz to create a playlist for the dissection lesson that included tunes such as "Your Body is a Wonderland" and "I've Got You Under my Skin."

I got to put on a pair of gloves and wield a scalpel in an effort to detach the skin to get a good look at some ligaments and tendons in the ankle and foot. Another hot tip I picked up? Make sure to light some scented candles!

 

May 6, 2019

Once a week, I share fifty minutes with thirteen sixth-form students as a part of our Self in Community curriculum. In their senior year, the students focus on leadership, ethical thinking, health and life skills. Enter in today's lesson, which occurred at Facilities under the expert guidance of Mr. Gallo: how to change a tire. Featured here are Dokyung Yang '19 and Marty Graham '19 learning how to use jacks and wrenches to get the job done!
 

 

April 30, 2019

My third-form Making of the Muslim World students spent time in the school's "Fab Lab" with Mr. Dobbins today, working on creating ceramic tiles based on a pattern sourced from an overseas mosque.

The students researched the mosque, its construction, the city in which it is built, and the materials available to builders and artisans in the time it was constructed. After replicating the design of the tile on paper, they then "printed" the tile onto ceramic and colored it in with paint markers.

They also used a laser wood cutter to create tile holders. According to Mr. Dobbins, "Lots of affirmation from the class. Student-to-student teaching (train students in different aspects and then they assist each other). Things broke — failure is good. They learned that was OK and we worked on solutions. We had a glue gun and fixed tile holders. Paint was incorrectly applied. Nail polish remover fixed it. Students saw peers put in more time and then went back to improve drawings."

The students appreciated the opportunity to be hands on and learned not only new content, but a new set of skills, too. Mounted display of their finished masterpieces to follow soon in the school building!

 

April 27, 2019

This morning a group of third-form physics students shed some light on electricity for me. They were creating circuits to examine how electricity works, and to illustrate the difference between parallel and series circuits. For example, holiday lights that one might string around a tree, are series. If one bulb goes out, the ones after it go out, too, because they share a charge.

If one were to create separate, parallel circuits, a singular light can succeed or fail on its own, but it will use more voltage. Parallel lights burn more brightly, but faster. This new knowledge tempers my annoyance at the annual tradition of trimming the tree and discovering burnt out strands — at least by design they consume less energy, which appeals to the environmentalist in me!

 

April 20, 2019

Today is Grandparents' Day at Brooks School, which is always a joyful occasion. As a former United States history teacher, I have always appreciated the lived experience that our special guests have shared, which helps to make the lessons come alive. With that in mind, I popped into AP U.S., where a group was presenting on social, political and economic themes of Period 8 (1945-1980). After their slides, the students engaged the class in a board game called "The Search for Order," testing their peers' knowledge of the content. The grandparents jumped right in and impressed everyone — no surprise!

I also spent time today in AP Computer Science Principles, where students are working on preparing their submissions to the College Board. Elena Ranalli '19 informed me that they must complete two performance tasks, both an "explore — impact of computing innovations" and a "create — applications from ideas" component. She had just received feedback on her "explore" written and presentational elements (on the Venmo app) from her teacher, Mr. Kihak Nam '99.

As I worked my way around the room, I learned about the game "Swim Away" that Caroline Cutter '19 created using Scratch from MIT. We chatted about her interest in CS, which has been influenced by her brother who studies Cyber Security at the Air Force Academy. Caroline took a summer course at Harvard University during her fourth-form summer where she learned C++ and Java.

This year at Brooks, the students progressed to learning Python. I also connected with Tianshu Wang '19, who was creating a game we decided to call "Adrenaline Junkie." It simulates skydiving out of an airplane on a 2D plane and the objective is to avoid being hit with trash from wind upswells. He was working on creating a pixellated image of himself to serve as the avatar.

As I continued around the room, I learned about maze, snake, matching, card flip and ping pong games in progress. Nashr El Auliya '20 was creating a contact database using Python. I also spent some time learning from Marty Graham '19 who had been in Engineering Product Design the class period prior, and was finishing up his work on a breadboard, testing binaries as foundational work in electrical engineering. It was really cool to see students applying their knowledge and making things to serve a purpose, whether practical or recreational, and I look forward to experiencing their finished products. 

 

April 12, 2019

Welcome to the "Fab Lab," or Fabrications Laboratory, (re)located adjacent to the Science Center atrium! This makerspace, formally of the library basement, was able to transition to its permanent home after the opening of the Center of the Arts, which freed up the space from its temporary use as a visual arts classroom.

Ryan Dobbins, Director of Technology, has helped educate our community on the resources available, ranging from laser engraving and embossing of wood, vinyl, leather and ceramic, and the embroidering of textiles, to high quality (and mobile!) photo, video and audio recording studios. The objective is to have students try things and fail, to take things apart and put them back together again, and to become proficient at using the equipment and materials such that they can educate other students. Ryan has facilitated a "soft opening" of the space by partnering with third form Physics teachers Justine Rooney and Randy Hesse, working on Rube Goldberg and nerf gun labs, respectively. In the latter, the students used a 3D printer to create adapters for their mechanisms that would have been impossible to buy. Ryan shared that it enabled students to experience an iterative development process of rapid prototyping, meaning that they could use their product, determine its flaws, and immediately try to fix them.

When I visited the Fab Lab, I came across students Brandon Fogarty '19 and Myles Pember '19 working on their fashion label independent study, and heard that Sarah Fleischman '19 has plans to reconstruct a pinball machine this spring.

I myself am looking forward to partnering with Ryan on getting my students into the Fab Lab to create Islamic tiles each unique to a mosque in a city they have been studying along trade routes we have been simulating. I'll let you know how it goes!

MARCH 29, 2019

A Friday afternoon spent with Advanced Jazz Band really starts the weekend off right. Subbing in for Mrs. Keller, I started class by asking each student when they began music lessons and if they could define a pivotal point where they became truly passionate about their instruments. I learned about class of 2020 Chris Lyman's love for the piano that emerged at age 14, and Brian Barker-Morrill's begrudging respect for the saxophone after countless hours of lessons and practice — that have clearly paid off!


Mathias Tankersley '19 only picked up the drums last year, but was a quick study after years of sax. Doris Wong '19 has dedicated herself to years of cello and has a knack for picking up other instruments, the latest being guitar. The students practiced Blue Bossa, When Sunny Gets Blue, Solar, Yesterdays, The Chicken, and Oye Como Va. It was fun to hear trombone and violin and clarinet coming together, and the students did well to direct themselves and create space for solo improvisations.

February 27, 2019

It was a big day for sports fans at Brooks School! Our boys varsity basketball team, seeded third in the NEPSAC tournament, took on the St. George's School dragons and won 65-43.

The theme for the fan section was "beach" and the kids came dressed in their very best (some adults too!).

Our students have a strong tradition of incorporating aspects of school hymns into their cheers, and Wednesday was no exception. Strains of "Seek Ye First" and "Draw the Circle Wide" could be heard at impressive decibels ringing through the gym.

After the boys secured the win the beach party moved to the rink, where our girls varsity ice hockey team, seeded first in NEPSAC, took on the Vermont Academy wildcats.

We were all blown away by the level of play. Our girls' insane hustle, playmaking, and smart decision-making won the day and they beat Vermont 4-3. Regardless of how the weekend tournament games go, Brooksians are very proud of their athletes!

February 20, 2019

Early morning cries of "I'm going to need you to explain this to me really slowly, Mr. Burbank," and "Can we please go over the last question from homework last night?" transported me right back to my own pre-calculus experience. Except that I was probably terrified to a point of being mute, whereas this bunch of students was lively and comfortable in their engagement.


Trigonometric talk of unit circles, reference and acute angles, degrees and radians, and arc length ensued as students practiced how to measure angles using different modes.

Mr. Burbank was making good on his objective to unwrap the circle and get the class to sinusoidal functions. I felt like if I stayed, maybe I could get there too, buoyed by a strong team atmosphere!

 

february 18, 2019

Centered, grounded, aware of my energy channels and feeling, not looking, at the clay whizzing between my hands. I relied upon the guidance of my colleague, Lynn McLoughlin, as I sat at the wheel in her ceramics class this afternoon.

In my adulthood, I have found that I really enjoy moments of uncomplicated inexperience. Lynn asked, "Do you know what you're doing?" I positively exclaimed, "No! I don't!" I was genuinely happy to be in the position of thinking, feeling, "Please, teach me."


Most of the time I feel I need to have answers, whether it's as an administrator with my colleagues, as a history teacher with my students, as a coach with my players, an advisor to my advisees, or as a parent with my own children. Blessed are the moments where I can be new to something, humbled entirely by my lack of knowledge, skills and experience.

And there I was today, with the snow falling softly outside the ceramics studio, a lump of clay in my hands and Lynn's encouragement in my ears. I was a student. 

 

FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Double double toil and trouble... who remembers these opening lines from MacBeth? Did you know they are in trochaic tetrameter, or beats of four (with the emphasis on the first syllable)? I learned in Ms. Binder's English II class today that this can be interpreted as a sign of evil. These are wicked witches we're reading about, and the fact their verse isn't in iambic pentameter is a tip off! The human ear prefers iambic pentameter, beats of five, because it reminds us of our heartbeat. Ms. Binder moved the lesson out to the hall and engaged her students in an interactive circle game.


They first practiced clapping beats around the perimeter, then matching verbal cues with their steps across the circle, then they put it together to recite original verse in iambic pentameter! The experience was a memorable one that got us out of comfort zones and connecting our own creative musings to famous examples like Romeo's soliloquies about Juliet. 

FEBRUARY 8, 2019

I have commandeered a bulletin board in the main hallway of the link to post some good old fashioned print news, hoping that it will catch students' eyes as they walk by on their way to and from classes. Headlines so far have explored debates over whether or not the war in Afghanistan is winnable, if the EPA should exist and if your DNA should be used to help solve crimes without your knowledge. Other topics have included the crisis in Yemen and climate change affecting the gender of babies.

So far I have seen one adult stop to read the news over the past few weeks. I shall persist! In perhaps a more exciting development, a Winter Term class inspired the installation of a flat screen across from the Endicott Peabody bust that features surveys and sign ups via QR code. In this picture, you can see the musical and weekend events being advertised, and the QR code provides a way of signing up for the activities!

 

February 7, 2019

Today in Modern World History, the students gathered in an 18th century "coffee house" and exchanged Enlightenment era ideas, taking on the personas of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Jefferson and Mary Wollstonecraft (even though women would have been excluded during the 1700s).

They learned that the emergence of coffee houses in London and the stimulant's increasing popularity helped to foster intellectualism, since caffeine had a more beneficial effect on one's conversational skills than the previous drink of choice- alcohol! Ms. Nasser served up some of Dunkin Donuts' finest to our fourth formers, including Alex Natalizio, Will Abate and Omolade Mebude, pictured here:

 

february 2, 2019

While Americans were observing Groundhog Day on February 2, the French — and Brooks School French Second Level students — were celebrating La Chandeleur!

Translated to "Candlemas," the holiday marks Jesus's presentation at the temple in Jerusalem. On this day, the French make crêpes, a tradition that many think started with Pope Gelasius I handing out pancakes to religious pilgrims in Rome. The circular shape of the crêpes is also believed to resemble the sun, a nod to the days getting longer with the anticipation of spring! 

 

February 1, 2019

Rape of the SabinesCloelia! I walked into some colorful, engaging storytelling in Latin I with Magistra McCampbell this morning! With the National Latin Exam to look forward to, Magistra was reminding her students of the importance of cultural context for their language learning. The class then moved on to practicing relative pronouns and a discussion around declining words. (I learned we don't have many of the latter remaining in the English language.) The students participated in a nifty game that worked on both pronunciation and memorization. I was impressed by the equally supportive and competitive atmosphere!

 

January 24, 2019

Today I returned to A.P. European History to join in on a simulation of the 1814-1815 Congress of Vienna. Alas, I have no pictures to prove it, as I was busy playing the part of Robert Castlereagh, representing Great Britain.

I was joined around the table by Prussia, Austria, Russia and France, trying to decide what to make of post-Napoleonic Europe. Negotiations included territorial claims, indemnities and military occupations, among other considerations. Expertly facilitated, the Congress even included a break in the action when Napoleon returned from Elba and the Hundred Days ensued. The students were eager to forge alliances and put their 1789 and 1792 maps to use, appreciating the sacrifices of each country in helping to quell Napoleon's advances, yet wary of the countries' respective nationalist ambitions.

It was an enjoyable challenge to advocate for Great Britain's maritime interests and assure their colonial holdings while the other powers around the table vied for border regions and argued liberal vs. conservative stances on self-determination. We all came away appreciating the complexity of diplomacy and impressed by the 50 years peace that followed the Congress of Vienna. 

January 18, 2019

This evening Brooks hosted a Winter Term Symposium to share with our larger community all of the experiences and learning born out of our coursework over the past few weeks! For the second time, I co-taught a course titled "Six Feet Under: The Art, Science and Business of Death" with my colleagues Amanda Nasser and Leigh Perkins.

At the symposium, students presented on topics ranging from near death experiences, to mediumship, to final disposition. I enjoyed surveying the room and seeing visitors down on the ground crawling into body bags and getting toe tagged, and hearing kids ask their parents if they believe in an afterlife.

Our quest to normalize conversations around death, which is a universal truth we all share, was happening all around us! Cheers to a group of fourth formers who were game to speak with a mortician and visit a funeral home, to confer with Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Unitarian Universalist faith leaders about death, who toured graveyards and tried writing epitaphs and elegy of their own, who braved a cold ghost tour of Salem, who learned about forensic pathology from the Chief Medical Examiner and who observed autopsies!

We are very proud of our "deathlings" and hope their experience helped to shift the "behind closed doors" culture around death, dying and how we process loss. 

 

January 15, 2019

Lucky me, I benefitted from the good fortune of being picked as the female chaperone to accompany "The Complexity of War" Winter Term class to Washington, D.C.! Comprised of 14 third-form students, along with Mr. Packard and Mr. Waters, the group was high-energy and very engaged in their experiential learning.

On Tuesday, we visited the Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, the Holocaust Museum, the Pentagon to meet with Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer '72, and Arlington National Cemetery to pay our respects to Alexi Whitney '96.

On Wednesday, we visited the Vietnam, Korea and Lincoln Memorials, met with a CIA officer to hear more about Mr. Whitney and their line of work, and then spent enriching hours at the National Museum of the Marine Corps and the Newseum. Needless to say, it was a stimulating and thought-provoking 48 hours! The students asked great questions of their hosts and docents wherever they went, and did not let the government shutdown get in the way of their educational tourism! 

 

November 9, 2018

On Friday night I took my five-year-old daughter to see "Stories from Afar," the fall student production. It was the last of eight performances across local towns for the troupe, who closed out their run in the Brooks black box theater, housed in the new Center for the Arts.

Featuring stories from Poland, China and Nigeria, about frog princesses and thieving dragons among other fantastical imaginings, the performances were lively and interactive. The little kids sitting in the front rows were called upon to supplement the storyline or jump in to act out a character. They paused for a singalong, led by Katie O'Brien '19, which you can enjoy in this video. As always, I was impressed by the commitment and talents of our students, and my daughter left enthralled by the storytelling. I think it's safe to say she is now looking up to the "big kids" more than ever!

 

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

This week, I spent several days on the campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School, serving on a Visiting Committee for the New England Association of Schools & Colleges. Every ten years, an educational institution under this association's purview must complete a reaccreditation process, which includes two years dedicated to the creation of a self-study report prior to the Committee's visit to campus. A colleague shared with me ahead of time that it would be hard work, but also some of the most rewarding professional development I would ever experience. True on both counts!

I learned a tremendous amount about the 15+ standards on which a school is evaluated, about how to truly engage in a collaborative writing process, and above all, a lot about NMH and their impressive programming, faculty and students, who were incredibly hospitable to us. A major bonus is that among my Committee colleagues, I found ten new friends from other independent secondary schools. I learned a lot from them and look forward to crossing paths at conferences and school visits in the years to come!

November 1, 2018

Today, I was a “shark” in A.P. World History! Ms. Nasser had her class prepare presentations targeting the College Board, who are promoting a redesign to the A.P. World History curriculum that would start African history in 1500. That would mean that students would not learn about economically prospering, culturally rich African Empires, but only about Africa in the context of the Slave Trade. Well, not without a fight from our fourth formers!

The students presented on the government, commerce and religion of empires like Mali, Ghana and Songhai. They addressed me, in the style of the TV show "Shark Tank," imagining that I was a College Board representative whom they needed to convince. Let's just say that if I worked at the College Board, I would not dare to drop pre-1500 from the curriculum. The students were very convincing, indeed!


October 23, 2018

Francois-Marie Arouet, at your service. This morning, I took on the personage of Voltaire to attend an A.P. European History Enlightenment-era salon, hosted by Mrs. Musto as Madame du Deffand.

John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot and Immanuel Kant were also present! We discussed rights of the individual, racial hierarchy, morality and the roles of religion and government in society, among other topics. I thoroughly enjoyed my preparation and participation in the discussion, and was so impressed by the quality of student contribution.

October 20, 2018

In honor of National Writing Day this past week, Ms. Binder initiated a collaborative sidewalk storytelling trend amongst English II classes. Members of our community have been enjoying their creations as we walk up and down Main Street.

Saturday morning proved no exception, as I spied Ms. Perkins's fourth form students writing their own story outside my office window. I ran outside to catch them in action. In speaking with them, I learned that they had just finished a short story unit. In working together to add their words to the pavement, they were focusing on varying sentence structure, moving the plot along in only nine sentences, and being sensitive to building off of one another's ideas as opposed to saying "no."

Having recently read The Things They Carried, they will now turn their attention to creating their own "Brooks Backpack" full of the things they carry in their daily lives. I look forward to learning more about each student once their projects are on display in the academic building!

 

October 12, 2018

My grandfather always reminded me that, "Variety is the spice of life." And for that reason, I love my job! No sooner had I taught my own history class first period, than I found myself standing on a table, serving as a model for Advanced Drawing during second period. By 9:45 a.m. I had a smock on and was trying my hand at using an ink brush to capture the likeness of a student.

I listened to Concert Chorale sing beautifully at School Meeting and then took a phone call with Ben Riggs '63 to discuss his participation in my upcoming Winter Term course titled "Six Feet Under." We discussed near death experiences, expansive consciousness and parapsychology.

Following a few meetings and a quick bite of lunch, I was invited into Honors Anatomy to hear them present their creative projects: brochures, PSA, songs and posters on diseases and conditions of the skin. I learned from Jadie DeLeon '19 about alopecia, Vicky Haghighi '19 about albinism, and Taylor Berberian '19 on melanoma before making my merry way back to the office.

Skip ahead to 9:15 p.m. in the Chace House common room and I found myself in the midst of 24 boys dressed in black ready to take on a rival dorm in dodge ball. They even let faculty child Kelly McVeigh join in the fun!

The emails and paperwork got done, but will quickly fade from memory. However, I don't think the students or I will soon forget my time as an art class model, the choral performance in front of the school, the real life prep work for becoming a doctor or pharmaceutical rep, or the competitive dodgeball match up during the "Friday Free." Hard to beat a work day like this one!

October 6, 2018

I snuck into Honors Biology this morning as Ms. Mandzhukova was leading the students through review, prior to a quiz. Turns out, it was a health and nutrition lesson in disguise!

The students were studying cellulose, starch and lipids and how they appear in membranes (linear versus branch), and the advantages and disadvantages associated with each in providing animals with energy. I learned that cows have four compartments in their stomachs, each with a different function, and microbes galore to assist them in breaking down their high cellulose diet of grasses. Athletes carbo-load before games to get glucose-rich starch, found in pasta and potatoes, to convert into energy.

Finally, I learned that our bodies don't produce unsaturated fats, so it's better for us to eat them to balance out the saturated fats we do make. It's important we have lipids, because otherwise our bodies will break down the sugar in muscle protein in order to help us perform.

Now I can make some more informed choices in the dining hall! The students appreciated the review and called out the answers enthusiastically, before settling down to take their quiz — the last thing between them and the weekend!

 

September 27, 2018

What is a robot? A good question to consider upon entering a Robotics class, and that is just what the students did to start off their semester. A brief survey of those gathered in the Robotics Lab informed me that robots are machines that can work autonomously.

I learned from Matt Costantino '20 and Owen Borek '19 that the first iterations of bomb-defusing robots weren't robots in the truest sense because they were controlled remotely by humans. The boys asserted that robots can sense, think, act and communicate on their own. They relayed this while huddled over their own creation, affixing a new sensory mechanism to its underbelly.

Mr. Hesse paused the class to teach them about While Loops, a coding feature that incorporates a control statement that allows the robot to repeat or skip a part of the program. This was important to the students' work, because in coding the robot to make its way through a maze, they were replacing the time factor with a distance-sensing factor. This allowed for the fact that robots might travel different distances in a set amount of time, but that if you code them to sense the distance they have traveled, then they can navigate a course with greater accuracy and consistency.


Using the While Loop, the code will prompt the robot to keep going back to test the condition until it's no longer true, then it will skip it. It asks the robot, "are we there yet?" and if so, then it can exit the While Loop and continue. I was impressed by the emergent fluency of the students using code-curly braces and everything in between!

September 18, 2018

This morning, I walked to school with my advisee, David Tan '20, who shared with me that he was excited to be working on an unconventional piece in Chamber Ensemble, titled "String Shredder," by Kevin Mixon. Fast-forward 15 minutes to when I had invited myself into the classroom to hear him play it! Enjoy the intro. from Mr. Griffith in the clip below.


The second piece they practiced was a Concerto for String Orchestra by Georg Philipp Telemann. It was fun to see new third-former Hugh Park in action (middle violin), since I teach him in history class, and this was an opportunity to witness another of his talents.


Riding the high of listening to live music before 8:30 a.m., I decided to journey on to the science wing to drop in on Chemistry with Mr. Lafond. I struck gold, literally. The fourth formers were trying their hand at alchemy, the practice of turning every day items into gold.

Using sodium chloride, vinegar and zinc, among other ingredients, the students experimented to see if they could turn copper pennies into treasure. It sure looked like they did, but hard to say...brass is shiny too! Timmy Kelleher '21 provided me with my very own golden penny to keep as a souvenir on my way out the door.

I concluded my morning in Madame Medved's French Second Level course, and found a seat between Anthony Burnett '19 and Emma Fleischman '21. The students were conversing about their families, and Anthony and Emma were kind enough to let me dust off my high school French skills and take a turn! 

September 13, 2018

Today was class trip day, and I enjoyed my time ushering a lively bunch of third-form students through different challenges set up by Project Adventure. The footage you see below shows the students as they set their brains to the task of memorization and deduction, making their way through a checkerboard as a team. For every wrong square they stepped into, trying to make it from one end to the other, a buzzer sounded and they had to go back to square one (literally!). The students then needed to recall their former path without error, ultimately selecting a new square in an effort to progress. It was slow-going but their teamwork and determination to complete the task were impressive!

 


Other challenges included moving the whole team through a giant jumprope based on numeric sequence puzzles, setting a record time for moving a hula hoop around a circle while holding the hands of the people next to you, and organizing themselves in order — silently — based on different prompts such as birth date and shoe size. It proved fun, and a great opportunity for bonding! 

September 11, 2018

This morning I visited Mr. Wyatt's Pre-Modern World History elective, Journeying the Silk Roads. The third-form students were engaged in primary document analysis, comparing and contrasting two Harappan seals featuring human and animal imagery, in addition to indecipherable script. Mr. Wyatt made the study of the seals relevant to today's world by asking the students to consider modern day logos. What weight does brand recognition play in decision making, and therefore what impact does branding have on commerce and culture? The students were quick to make connections and envision what a Harappan marketplace would have been like, thousands of years ago!

September 6, 2018

School is underway and the Deans' Den Blog is back! To kick things off, a quick glimpse into 24 hours at Brooks during our first week: I had my first sixth-form Self in Community and third-form Uncovering Ancient Africa classes, led an academic orientation of our new students, enjoyed our first Chace House dormitory meeting, took a walk around the fields for morning practices, and visited Dr. Carabatsos's Physics class! 


The primary purpose of this blog is to provide insight into the daily life of a student at Brooks School, so I drop in casually to classes, club meetings, extracurriculars etc. to witness their engagement firsthand. It has proven a fun and rewarding experience to celebrate the learning that is happening across campus. 

Today I will spotlight Physics! On day one, the students were participating in an "Escape the Room" activity that had them problem solving, but also team building and orienting themselves in the classroom and the curriculum. The students had to figure out how to organize themselves based on a card they were assigned from a traditional deck.

Then, they were tasked with identifying a pattern on a cube covered in names and numbers that would help them to find the code to unlock a padlocked pencil case. The case contained a physics-based problem whose answer was a clue leading them to their teacher's office (so they know where to go for extra help!). There they found a key, to open a toolbox, that contained a pencil they had to balance on their fingertips. The students had a blast, and it certainly proved to be a memorable first day! Cool idea, Dr. C!

May 9, 2018

This morning, I popped into Mrs. Graham's Advanced 2D Design class, where the students are working on individual projects using a variety of mediums. I asked the class who was most excited about his or her own work, and the hand of Kailey O'Neill '19 shot right up! Kailey shared that she has a particular interest in Pop Art, and that she began to draw images inspired by artist Roy Lichtenstein starting this past summer. Kailey is in her third week of creating an image of a hand spraying spray-paint, using acrylic paint on both large and small canvasses. She drew the outlines on the large canvas free-hand, and Mrs. Graham has been helping her get the proportions and angles correct.



Other artists in the class include Anicia Depina '19, who is drawing, painting and collaging fashion plates on wood, inspired by her study of United States history (eg. Flappers from the Roaring Twenties), and Jackie Lappin '19, who is painting images in oil on wood inspired by artist Kindah Khalidy.



May 5, 2018

Today in my Making of the Muslim World elective, we welcomed Ms. Perkins to speak about her experience traveling in Afghanistan — specifically, about what it felt like to be a western white woman in a society where burqas are worn by Afghan women while outside their homes. She shared that the Afghan women wear them in part for safety, so they may be indistinguishable from one another and not draw attention to themselves. Her host family purchased one for her to wear in public, and also helped her to adjust her gait to not seem so obviously "American." Pictured here is Ms. Perkins and Tanay Kommareddi '21 wearing the burqa, followed by an image of Omolade Mebude '21, whose vision felt particularly challenged by the burqa!



April 19, 2018

This afternoon I participated in a simulation in Mr. Wyatt's history class Journeying the Silk Roads, which is a third form Pre-Modern World History elective. I was assigned the role of a Viking merchant, and tasked with trading the enslaved persons under my charge in exchange for commodities before traveling to Saray. Other cities included Mali, Morocco, Rome, Venice, Damascus, Delhi and Khanbalik.

Everyone had a different role to play, whether John of Montecorvino or Kublai Khan or Pope Innocent IV, and a different objective to accomplish. We were permitted to trade with the marketplace or fellow travelers, and could engage in subterfuge or espionage if wishing to best our opponents in the game. Stakes were high, with extra credit on the line, and the students were very engaged in trading their treasure, technology and teachings across continents!



April 16, 2018

I was delighted to have been invited to student presentations in Mr. Smith's Advanced Pre-Calculus class this afternoon on the subject of sinusoids, which are a graph of the continuous waves that represent the function sine.



I sat in on Jack Murphy '19 present on the moon orbiting the sun, and Amanda Monahan '19 on the sounds waves produced by two complimentary cello notes, C and G. The latter included a demonstration by Amanda on the cello, which she plays in the Chamber Ensemble at Brooks. It was a master class in mathematical thinking — the students described both their process and their data, helping those present to understand how they arrived at their findings.



April 2, 2018

This morning I visited Mr. Benson's English III class as they began discussing the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. The first part, entitled "The Hearth and the Salamander," conjured up recent recollections of a four-day power outage and memories made around a fire, which the class then paired with a scientific analysis of salamanders (namely their ability to breathe underwater and traverse upstream).

The students considered why the two ended up in a title together. Mr. Benson shared that many believe that salamanders possess mythical qualities and are impervious to fire. From my brief audience to a read-aloud, it would seem that the protagonist starts out as a confident man, comfortable in his powers of destruction by way of fire ... but I am guessing that does not continue. I look forward to engaging these fifth-formers in follow-up conversation when I see them next!

March 1, 2018

I visited Advanced Rock Band today and found the group practicing for their WinterFest performance, slated for Saturday night. When I arrived, the students were finishing a song called "Real Love Baby," in which each student was playing an instrument (or singing vocals) outside his or her comfort zone. I wouldn't have known that had it not been pointed out to me — they did great! I love that the students have embraced growth mindset and are picking up new instruments.

At one point, a couple of songs later, Mr. Keller remarked to the kids that they had done a good job of playing through a mistake (I think they repeated a chorus), and said that was always important to do in rock band — just keep playing. I can tell you it worked, because again, I didn't even notice! Please enjoy the song featured in the video, titled "Human" by Rag'n'Bone Man, featuring Sally Jong '18 on lead vocals.

February 23, 2018

As you sit reading this blog post, your bone marrow is making tens of millions of red blood cells. Whoah! It had been some time since I last stopped to think about what was happening in my bones, or moving through my veins. Today, in Honors Anatomy & Physiology, students learned about red and white blood cells: where and how they are made, the composition of the cells and what they look like, their purpose and lifespan, and how it affects us humans day to day. One particularly memorable moment had Mrs. Hajdukiewicz exploring an old wives' tale that helps to identify those who are iron deficient by rubbing the edge of a nickel alongside someone's cheek. If a dark grey line appears, that indicates the possibility of anemia. One grey line later down my cheek ... and let's just say that thanks to this class visit, I will be increasing my iron intake!




February 16, 2018

I highly recommend starting your day with your own personal classical music concert. As I sat back and let the sonorous hums of cello and lyrical musings of violin wash over me, I thought that I might make a point of visiting Chamber Ensemble every Friday during first period!

The students were practicing Felix Mendelssohn's "Sinfonia II D-Dur," which was written during the Romantic Period for string quartet, though string ensembles often play it. The composition has three movements, and the students were focusing on the first, allegro. Mr. Griffith offered many thoughtful points for improvement throughout that demonstrated his expert ear. Whether it was instructing his musicians not to double the rhythm, or to watch being under pitch or too sharp, or to shorten the separation seconds, his advice was welcomed and adjustments were made. I have never sat in a class where a comment about a "rhythmic kerfuffle" was made, until today! I hope you enjoy listening to Jeff, Andrew, David, Clara, Janelle and Amanda.

February 9, 2018

This afternoon I joined in a Fiction Writing workshop where sixth form student Jackie Desautels showcased her work to a very engaged peer group. Mr. Charpentier introduced the format for the exercise, which first had the students read the short story quietly to themselves and mark up the copy in anticipation of a class discussion. They were directed to differentiate amongst the small (punctuation), medium (wording), and large (big picture/structure/plot).

Next, Jackie was called upon to read a portion of the piece aloud. Afterwards, she was encouraged to listen to the conversation that ensued, but discouraged from participating while her peers postulated about character profiles and plot line. Once this came to a natural conclusion, Jackie was given the floor to both ask and answer questions. As a full participant in the process, I found the experience stimulating and enjoyed the feeling of teamwork in helping Jackie to improve her story. I learned these four tips for writing effective short fiction:

1. Choose a subject that is not small or trivial.
2. The essence of the story exists as much in the reader's mind as on the page.
3. Make it memorable! Move the reader intellectually and emotionally.
4. Strive for depth, clarity and human significance.

Mr. Charpentier shared that writing workshops can be addictive for the author. I would imagine this to be true, just based off my experience as a peer editor. Same place, same time, next week? See you then, seniors!


February 5, 2018

I sidled up to my JV basketball player, third-form student Katherine Barenboim, in Mrs. Heinze's Geometry class first period. The students were working quietly and diligently on proportional segments, and so as not to disturb them further, I jumped across the hall to Dusty Richard's Discrete Math class.

I found a seat next to sixth-form student Pat McCoy and found myself in the midst of a lesson on explicit formula (Cn=2n) and recurrence relation. The students were exploring the relationship between a left-hand column of numbers title "n" and a right-hand column titled "Cn". They were challenged with describing the right in terms of the left, and to remember that any term is defined in terms of the one that came before it.


Their discussion progressed to determining that the recurrence relation is true for all n. This was referred to as inductive proof, which assumes the extension of the pattern continues. Dusty used the example of a row of dominoes knocking over to illustrate this concept.

Before departing, I inquired as to the application of their topic of study. Dusty shared that if there were a group of 50+ representatives in the House, one could use the explicit formula to figure out the number of coalitions that could be formed amongst them. Perhaps, in turn, one could estimate the time it would take to get a bill passed. A useful projection these days, no doubt!

January 29, 2018

Today I stepped into both French Third Level with Madame Sinnott and Spanish Third Level Honors with Profe Neissa.

The French class was learning the "plus que parfait", or pluperfect, tense.

For example, "J'avais mange," means "I had eaten," which would be useful if one wished to explain: "By the time you had called, I had already eaten."

In Spanish, the class was working through their comprehension of a story titled Casa tomada, by Argentine author Julio Cortazar.



I was able to catch Profe describing the international influence on Buenos Aires, and he brought up an image of the Obelisco and likened it to the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

He also pointed out the urban planning of the main thoroughfare to be similar to the Champs-Elysees and the facades of the apartment buildings to be reminiscent of French architecture as well.

I also learned that in Argentina, the President lives at the Casa Rosada, or Red House, much like the American President lives in the White House!


January 18, 2018

I love Winter Term. Today my class, Six Feet Under: The Art, Science and Business of Death, traveled together to the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in the South End of Boston. There we met with Dr. Mindy Hull, who spoke to us about her work as a premier forensic pathologist. She also enthusiastically conveyed her dedication to living life to the fullest, since she is engaged in a profession that reminds her daily of her own mortality. Following her presentation, we toured the facility, which included a morgue and an opportunity to watch autopsies underway. The students were well prepared after a few weeks of studying death and dying from all angles, and after observing closely and asking thoughtful questions, did well to process their experiences. We rode the bus back to brooks with the Genealogy and Bliss Out classes, who filled us in on their research at the New England Historic Genealogical Society and visit to a residential meditation retreat center, respectively. I was struck by the intersection of our three topics, and appreciative of our students' opportunities to be out in the world experiencing their subjects of study in context. Way cool.


December 7, 2017

Before heading into exam period, my third form Uncovering Ancient Africa Pre-Modern World History elective took a trip to the Great Pyramids at Giza with the help of Mr. Dobbins and his virtuality reality in-classroom set up. It was fun for the kids to take a tour of the historic site, and get a sense of the scale of the pyramids and a feel for the surrounding environment. In this clip you can see Arooj Kamran kindly tolerate my questions over the headset narration of her tour guide!

december 4, 2017

Today I found myself drawn into another Honors Biology class, this one taught by Mrs. Clay. I sat down at a table with fifth formers Amolina Bhat, Grace Handy and Martin Li. The students were equipped with cuvettes of algae beads floating in indicator fluid, aluminum foil and colorimeters. The object of the lab was to observe the differences between photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Both processes involve oxygen, water, glucose and carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis, using light, helps to produce glucose, whereas cellular respiration, in the absence of light, breaks down its glucose. The breakdown releases carbon dioxide which makes for an acidic environment. Mrs. Clay asked the students to offer their hypotheses before creating a continuous data set (taking observations every five minutes), and to consider controlled variables, such as distance of the cuvettes from the light source. A powerful reminder as to the power of light (or its absence) as we head toward the Solstice!


NOVEMBER 29, 2017

This morning I sat down between Tianshu Wang and Nick Fulgione in Mr. Graham's English III class. The students have been reading The Great Gatsby, but are also analyzing visual text provided by the show Stranger Things. The class was their first back from Thanksgiving break, and they considered what they had watched in the interim. The class discussed the Upside-Down World, and used it as an opportunity to appreciate the difference between metaphor (a word, phrase or image to to represent an idea) versus allegory (using a whole narrative to represent an idea, often a "hidden meaning"). The discussion transitioned from being teacher-led to student-led, and the kids did well to challenge one another's thinking on a variety of topics. And my thinking, too!

November 13, 2017

Today I ducked into Honors Biology with Mr. Davis. The students were working in small groups to diagram both Light Reaction and the Calvin Cycle. Kailey O'Neill and Finn Maitland explained explained how in the light reactions, light is used to create ATP and NADPH. ATP and NADPH provide energy and electrons, respectively, for the Calvin Cycle. Amanda Monahan then followed up to educate me on how the Calvin Cycle converts carbon dioxide into sugar. Meanwhile, in another small group, Mr. Davis asked the students to get on their feet so that he could better guide them through an understanding of (his words!): "the facilitated diffusion of H+ through ATP Synthase and how the flow of H+ allows for ATP to be created." I would imagine that the visual he provided will stick in their memories far better than a textbook explanation!


November 6, 2017

I just returned from AP Music Theory, where today they are reviewing figured bass, which is a traditional way of noting chords. I was transported back in time to my youth, years filled with the classical music listening sessions of my parents. Turns out those J.S. Bach harpsichord concertos served me well today in class, as they helped me to envision the complexity of what Mrs. Keller was teaching! I learned that our school organist Mr. Humphreville can read and play figured bass, but that most musicians versed in musical theory now use the Nashville System. The latter uses numbers, as opposed to the Roman numerals of the former, and is more simple in application.

October 27, 2017

This afternoon I sat in on English I with Mr. Haile. The students were discussing Robert Frost's poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" in a Harkness format. Biblical inferences, the newness of bright, fluorescent green-gold leaves emerging during a New England spring, and the fleeting nature of youth were all topics of conversation. The class also referenced the concept of an iceberg- what they see on the surface, versus the meaning that is underneath. They questioned what the poem is really about- both literally and figuratively. It was neat to see a few of my own history students in a different classroom environment using the same conversational etiquette to communicate their ideas with one another.

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Today in physics class, Ms. Rooney led the students through a review of Newton's second Law of Motion: the relationship between force, mass and acceleration. (F=ma). They discussed the difference between "directly proportional" and "inversely proportional", and then broke out to complete a lab on mechanical equilibrium. As it turns out, I was not the only adult visitor to the class, as Parents' Weekend is underway, and so I spied some moms and dads sitting front and center!



OCTOBER 16, 2017

I have no Spanish skills. I was a French student in high school, and though I have thought often about it, I have yet to commit to Rosetta Stone or Duolingo. So naturally, I thought the best class for me to visit would be AP Spanish Language! Assuming I would be adrift, I was pleasantly surprised to feel instead, immersed. The students sat around the circle of tables and Senora Miller opened the class with a topic of conversation: stress. As most of the students present were seniors, there was much to discuss with the college process looming! I was able to follow along, and loved the supportive atmosphere as each student jumped in to participate. Next, in preparation for the AP, they transitioned to a cultural comparison between Argentinean and British perspectives on the Falklands War. I have taught an elective on Latin America, so it was cool to hear history I was familiar with being discussed in Spanish!

October 9, 2017

This morning I dropped in on three of my former students in Modern World History: Isabela Miller '20, Andrew Moon '20 and David Tan '20. Ms. Nasser was at the helm, guiding them through the preliminary stages of a research paper assignment.

The students are working to disprove the misconceptions that Africa was a "dark continent" populated by people who were "half-devil, half child," and that instead it was a place of impressive, civilized empires. This syncs up nicely with the study of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe in English II.

Today in history class, the students were working on categorizing their research into Cultural, Political and Economic groupings. They reviewed the Complex-Split thesis formula, moving beyond their previous study of Simple, and then Complex, thesis statements. Nasser urged them not to be "#basic", but to engage in critical analysis substantiated by sound evidence. As a history teacher, it is incredibly rewarding to see my colleagues be passionate about the departmental writing curriculum, and to see the kids developing their skill set so expertly!

October 2, 2017

This morning I dropped in on Dr. Davies English I class, and sat next to third formers Aria Uva and Austin Mermans. They were kind to include me in their discussion about sentence fragments, which they had identified and improved upon as a part of their homework. Dr. Davies then led the students through a lesson on subordinating conjunctions, which are parts of speech I use every day but would not have been able to identify by name until this morning! It brought me right back to the days of Schoolhouse Rock!



september 26, 2017

Tonight when I came back down to the office to finish some work, I happened upon the Women in Engineering club programming a drone! Totally cool. Headed up by fifth former Louisa Rose, the group of ladies gets together to talk math and science, and provide mutual support as they consider future scholastic pursuits in the STEM fields.


September 22, 2017

This morning, I accompanied my third form advisee, Anya Sanchorawala, to Intro 3-D Studio Art taught by Mrs. McLoughlin. The students are creating non-figurative, low-relief pieces featuring a number of natural materials like shells and driftwood. I learned that "relief" is a sculptural technique that refers to the dimension of the piece, originating off of a flat background. The class engaged in a critique of their unfinished pieces. Mrs. McLoughlin encouraged the students to look objectively at their work, holding it four different ways for them to take mental snapshots, and to squint at it so they don't get lost in the details. She talked about how sometimes your "doing" puts you ahead of experiencing the work, and that we need to make sure our hands don't get too busy before we can feel what we need to feel to gain perspective and direction.

During the critique of Molly Madigan's piece, Jami O'Shea and Brianna O'Neill could be heard discussing that when turned a certain way, the central element of her artwork appeared to be a person. Upon hearing this, Mrs. McLoughlin remarked that this is the challenge of non-figurative work; we humans search for meaning. We want an explanation to create a feeling of security. She said this is aligned with the study of history, or science, but not art. It reminded me of when we look up at the clouds, and ask children what they see. I am now looking forward to discussing clouds as non-figurative forms with my four year old, to try on my new perspective!


September 18, 2017

I popped into Honors Chemistry this morning with fourth form student Joel Moya, whom I had the pleasure of teaching last year. It's always fun to see your former student in a different context! The students got to work right away with a "Do Now" that Mr. Moccia posted on the board for them. The topic of the day was how to calculate density, built off of a demonstration from last class involving pennies, water and graduated cylinders. I learned that when reading a graduated cylinder, it's important to measure where the bottom of the meniscus lies. Today, Mr. Moccia poured eight pennies into a graduated cylinder. The difference in the volume of water before and after was 3.5 ml. Last class, they determined that a penny has a mass of 2.51 grams. So to calculate density, they divided the mass (2.51 g) by volume (3.5 ml divided by 8 pennies). I think I got that right!

September 15, 2017

Math. If only I had been educated on Growth Mindset when I was in high school, I might have adopted a different outlook on the challenges that Algebra 2 and Trigonometry presented for me. But, now that I know brain science has debunked the notion that we are genetically predisposed to be innately "good" or "bad" in a subject, I believe that I, too, can learn math. And today, I did!

I shadowed two of my sixth-form advisees, Nalia and Emma, to their Calculus class with Ms. Mattison second period. The class was reviewing the algebraic concepts of limits and continuities.

Students demonstrated an ability to graph linear functions, which are always continuous, and then we learned about "jumps" and "holes," or piecewise functions, that are removable discontinuities. I learned some new terms, like "asymptote," which is a graph that has a line that is undefined going towards infinity.



I also learned WHY someone would find this skill set useful, and HOW they would use it in their career. Ms. Mattison expertly explained to the class how civil engineers need an understanding of limits and continuities to calculate where state borders meet each other (jump) or how a bridge spans two sides of a river (hole). This will change the way I see the world as I navigate around New England and beyond!


September 14, 2017

Today was class trip day! l appreciate the opportunity to better know our newest students, so I chose to participate in Project Adventure with the third form. The students rotated through different stations providing team building challenges. My station asked students to have every team member stand on a tarp, then turn the tarp over and have everyone stand on the flip side of it, without so much as touching the grass underneath them. I enjoyed being a witness to emergent leadership and cooperative strategizing. Communication skills and collaboration were key! If a team was able to complete the exercise, their next challenge asked them to create the longest line possible using only the resources they had with them. Take a look at these videos to see how they did!

Deans' Den Blog video 1 Sept. 14, 2017 from Brooks School on Vimeo.

Deans' Den Blog video 2 Sept. 14, 2017 from Brooks School on Vimeo.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2017

What a fun and productive first week back at Brooks! Classes got underway on Wednesday, and it was terrific to have our classroom buildings come alive! While exiting the Deans' Den this morning, I stumbled across Mr. Wyatt's first level Chinese class traveling the halls working on their cultural competence. Here they are practicing their salutations, with a warm two-handed handshake. I love to see the kids up and about and practicing their new skills. Ni hao! Zaijian!


Dean's Den Blog: September 12, 2017 from Brooks School on Vimeo.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017

What type of teacher would I be if I didn't start with my own class! Here are twelve bright and shiny first-year students, ready to kick off the fall semester of Uncovering Ancient Africa! UAA is one among eight electives that comprise our third form Pre-Modern World History curriculum, which is built on a skills framework. These students are beginning by building an understanding of the role of point of view in history, and examining the lenses through which they will learn. I am excited for a great year with this spirited bunch!