This past Wednesday, we welcomed former faculty and staff back to campus for a morning of reconnecting and visiting classes. In one session, they were asked why they come back. People talked about community, about gratitude, about connecting with children, and about keeping up with what is happening here. That is a strong list of values that we hold dear, and each was on display throughout the day.
Most notably, in the afternoon, which always represents important professional development time for our faculty and staff, everyone engaged in a new activity, called Talents, Techniques, and Tools, which was very much like a professional conference for our faculty and staff – put on by our faculty and staff. The nine sessions, in their range, demonstrate just how varied and wide the Country School experience is for students – and exactly how much knowledge and practice goes into teaching. There were sessions on a great digital organizing tool, called SeeSaw, experiencing experiential learning, techniques on improving students’ vocabularies in most engaging ways, experience building in the woodshop, thinking about our language in addressing students in the classroom, specifically around the word “guys,” the eighth grade mock trial unit, learning more about writing workshop, self care for faculty and staff, and learning to think and design in 3D.
This new activity also served as a wonderful opportunity for teachers across divisions to experience some of the curriculum of other divisions, which is a great opportunity for deeper connections and for innovative new approaches. For example, I spent some of the time in the eighth grade mock trial session, along with teachers from each of our four divisions. Imagine the possibilities for developing debate, textual analysis, writing and public speaking skills even more deeply with similar, age-appropriate experiences throughout students’ Country School years.
In all, the afternoon very much reflects the values that our former faculty identified as reasons why they returned to campus: using our connections and focus on childhood to push the envelope to find new and innovative ways to inspire children. How exciting is that for our students?!
Letters from Aaron 