PURSUE YOUR PASSION

SPRING/SUMMER 2015

Creative time can be the perfect catalyst for innovation.

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NASHOBA BROOKS BULLETIN | SPRING/SUMMER 2015

The Bulletin is published by the Marketing & Communications Office of Nashoba Brooks School

Head of SchoolDanielle Heard

Managing EditorDanielle Beale

EditorKatherine Mechling

Graphic DesignerRachelle LeBlanc

Contributing PhotographersCarly Gillis, Rachelle LeBlanc, and Kirsta Davey

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CONTENTS

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8Freedom to Pursue Your PassionThis year in social studies, Grade 8 students were given 20% of their class time to focus on their own independent projects. Students then presented their accomplishments in the spring at the first ever TEDxNashobaBrooksSchool event.

5 From the Head of School

6 TransliteracyThe ability to read, write, and interact across a broad range of platforms, tools, and media.

13 Alumna Spotlight: Fiona Haslett ‘06

14 Why Teach Tech? Our Faculty Weigh In

16 Project-Based Learning: Real World ImplicationsNo matter how engaging the activity or fascinating the subject matter, students will always find a way to ask, “Why?”

19 Campus Update

23 Employee Spotlight: Jevan Jammal ‘01

24 Class Notes

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PREPARING FOR A DIVERSE ANDCHANGING WORLD

It’s a question all educators face: how can we meaningfully incorporate technology into our classrooms? When we first started to tackle this issue at Nashoba Brooks, our conversation revolved primarily around tools:

What type of operating system would we use? What email platform? PC or Mac? Desktops or laptops?

We quickly came to realize that in focusing on the details, we were missing the bigger picture. The world is changing at so swift a pace that the tools we use today might well be irrelevant by the time today’s children head off to college. In order to position our students to succeed in an increasingly interconnected world, we need to prepare them to make innovative use of whatever tools they have.

Now more than ever, students need to be literate in multiple ways, able to seek out information from and share information through multiple communication channels. Traditional understandings of literacy – reading books and writing papers – are important, but students also need to be transliterate, equally prepared to engage with technology-based platforms like websites, videos, and code.

Here at Nashoba Brooks, we are committed to educating our students to thrive in a diverse and changing world. We have always believed that literacy is multifaceted, encompassing not only language fluency but also the capacity to understand equations in math as well as the ability to use specific painting techniques in the art studio. Our drive to integrate technology into the curriculum is a continuation of that longstanding commitment to literacy in all its forms.

When our students walk out into the world, they will do so confident in their ability to sort through vast webs of information, communicate across cultural and geographical boundaries, and adapt to a rapidly changing world.

Enjoy!

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

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TRANSLITERACYTHE ABILITY TO READ, WRITE, AND

INTERACT ACROSS A BROAD RANGE OF PLATFORMS, TOOLS, AND MEDIA.

READ WRITE INTERACT

Traditional understanding of literacy: Students should be able to...

Transliteracy in today’s interconnected world: Students should be able to...

INTERPRET » read multi-platform books » evaluate websites for accuracy » filter through news articles » decipher fact vs. opinion » seek out reputable sources » deconstruct media

COMMUNICATE » audiovisual presentations » writing academic papers & op-eds » design infographics » blog » use music & images to support an argument

COLLABORATE » discuss & debate ideas in person/online

» share opinions via social media » cultivate a responsible digital footprint

» draft effective emails

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

76% report that familiarity with technology

has helped them to achieve their academic outcomes

of college students

COMPUTER BASED EMPLOYMENT is expected to increase by

by 202022%

73%of 18-34 year olds report having

found their most recent job through a social network

37% of the world’s business leaders ranked information technology skills as the most critical

(Sources: ECAR’s 2013 Study of Undergraduate Students, Aberdeen Group 2015, 2012 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, PricewaterhouseCoopers and GEMS

Education 2011)

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By embracing transliteracy in the classroom, we can prepare students for a diverse and changing world.

HOW ARE WE TEACHING TRANSLITERACY?FRACTURED NURSERY RHYMES IN PRESCHOOL 2Students created their very own nursery rhymes, drew pictures illustrating their stories, and used iPads to take snapshots of their illustrations and record them-selves reading their nursery rhymes. They worked on fluency and expression using their hands while sharing their stories out loud.

ANIMATED BOOK TRAILERS INGRADE 5Book trailers, which are an increasingly popular advertising tool in the publishing industry, use techniques from film trailers to promote books. Building upon a more traditional book review project, Grade 5 students created their own “book trailers” using the program Animoto to convey the themes of their books and convinced the audience to read them. They learned how to search for copyright-friendly images and how to use text succinctly and effectively in a multimedia presentation.

STUDENT BLOGSIN GRADE 6In Grade 6, students blogged to reflect on assignments and share their ideas with the class. Through these blogs,

visible only to their classmates, students had the opportunity to begin to explore public

communication in a safe space and learn how to create a positive digital presence.

USING VIDEO TO SHARE MATH

UNDERSTANDING IN GRADES 2, 6, AND 7

Students in both the Lower and Middle School used the program Educreations to demonstrate their understanding of math concepts. They created videos of themselves working through a problem step by step, which helps students better internalize and understand the process.

“In addition to the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic, it is equally important that our students are given the tools required to take advantage of the information available to

them. The ability to seek, find, and decipher information can be applied to countless life decisions, whether financial, medical, educational, or technical.”

– President Barack Obama, Presidential Proclamation, National Information Literacy Awareness Month

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FREEDOM TO PURSUE YOUR PASSION The 20% Time Project and First EverTEDxNashobaBrooksSchool Event

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In 1948, the company 3M instituted a revolutionary new strategy: employees were encouraged to devote 15% of their work hours to their own personal projects. Those in charge theorized that more unstructured time for creativity might prompt innovation. The risk paid off handsomely with the invention of masking tape and the Post-it note.

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This, Lauren explains, was all part of the plan. “As adults, we constantly have to make choices, budget our time, and confront disappointment. But kids are rarely given

Google later followed suit with its 20% Time policy which encourages employees to devote one full day of the work week to chasing their own ambitions. Employees have used those days to create such products as Gmail, Google Transit, Google News, and Google AdSense, among others.

The verdict? Free time can be the perfect catalyst for innovation. Of course, that’s only if you use that time wisely. When Lauren Funk decided to institute her own 20% Time policy in her Grade 8 social studies classroom, she wasn’t anticipating any major inventions. In fact, while she knew some of her students would create im-pressive projects, she predicted that some might not have a finished product to show by the end of the year.

Rather than a cause for hesitation, the prospect of failure was part of the allure. “There’s too much emphasis on perfection these days,” says Lauren, “particularly when failure is one of life’s biggest learning tools.”

Students were given one class period per week in social studies for six months to work on any project they de-sired. While they were responsible for graded check-ins along the way – including writing proposals, demonstrat-ing their progress in regular blog posts, and a graded TEDx talk– Lauren made clear to her class that the 20% Time project would be ungraded. If they didn’t meet their goals at the end of the year, that was okay.

“I didn’t want the grade to deter them from pursuing their true passions,” Lauren explains. “I didn’t want them to make the safe choice. We all have experiences where we try and fail; what’s important is what we can take away and learn from those experiences.”

Armed with both the freedom to follow their hearts and the assurance that failure was an option, the students launched into their projects with gusto. Maggie, an accomplished bassist, taught herself how to play the guitar. Kathryn dedicated her time toward improving her cooking, in the process creating a recipe book she could

share with her family. Shannon took the opportunity to chase down a goal she would never be able to accomplish in class: learning how to pilot a plane.

“To make something happen, you really need to work at it every day,” says Alexa, who used her 20% Time to film a short documentary about bullying. “You can’t put off

working on it because the deadline seems far away. And to put in your full effort every day, you need to be really interested in the topic.”

As predicted, some students struggled to meet their rather ambitious goals. Projects that seemed reasonable at the outset, like writing the script for and animating a two-minute video, turned out to require much more time than anticipated. Projects that initially seemed exciting, like taking time lapse photos to document the growth of plants, lost their appeal a few months in.

“We all have experiences where we try and fail; what’s important is what we can take away and

learn from those experiences.”

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the space to practice those skills themselves. Then all of a sudden they are expected to go out into the real world with full control over how they spend their time and the expectation that they will bounce back from setbacks they have never experienced before. I wanted to give them a chance to confront some of these issues in an environment where it was okay for them to fail. Theultimate goal wasn’t for each student to produce a polished final project, but for her to emerge with a stronger understanding of who she is and how she works.”

As a tool for self-discovery, the project was a tremendous success with students learning valuable lessons about organization, planning, and setting appropriate goals. Hillary reports, “I learned a lot about myself, that I work best when I have a strict schedule ahead of time.”

Siggy, who dedicated herself to improving as a baker, was amazed to find that the lessons she learned about baking applied outside the kitchen as well. “When you bake, you’re supposed to read the directions before you start,” she explains. “I used to wing it and was always running out of time or ingredients. With baking, you have to plan ahead, and I’ve found that’s true in life, too: it’s better to have a plan.”

Lauren maintained structure by providing students with a definitive end goal: in May, each student would deliver a presentation about her project as part of a TEDx event. Even students whose projects “failed” would be able to present on their process and their lessons learned.

“We use TED Talks in the classroom all the time,” saysLauren. “I thought, why not have students create content, instead of just consuming and processing it? Delivering this kind of presentation offers a powerful way to make learning relevant to their lives: it helps them develop critical presentation and rhetorical skills, it provides a space to share their ideas, and it asks them to think creatively and critically about how to connect with and inspire others.”

On the evening of May 8, 2015, 11 students took the stage as part of the first ever TEDxNashobaBrooksSchool event. Before a crowded auditorium, they spoke about creating a cookbook for children, the struggle to learn American Sign Language, and testing out a flight simulator as part of a quest to learn how to fly a plane. Those students who did not present at the evening event delivered their presentations during the school day.

“We know that t he world is a n ever-evolving, collaborative, and communicative place ,” says Lauren, who is already thinking about next year’s 20% Time project. “ O ur students will become adults who need to be makers, innovators, and problem solvers, for many careers that do not even exist yet . Why not give them that space and experience now?” •

ALYSSA PRESENTING ON HER EXPERI-ENCE LEARNING AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE.

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MAGGIE PERFORMING AN ORIGINAL SONG ON THE GUITAR.

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any students have reacted to the Grade 8 fall trip to Chewonki – an environmental education organization based in Wiscasset, Maine – with

alternating excitement and apprehension. Spending three nights camping in the woods, cooking by campfire, and clambering through ropes courses, while fun, pushes many students outside their comfort zones.

Not Fiona Haslett ‘06. For Fiona, Chewonki was love at first sight. She so enjoyed the experience that when the opportunity arose to more fully immerse herself in the world of outdoor education, she made the leap. Fiona chose to spend a few months of her junior year at Che-wonki’s Semester School, living in a cabin, taking wil-derness trips, and working on the farm in between her academic classes. She hasn’t looked back since.

“The opportunities for real, place-based education were just incredible,” Fiona reflects. “Spending so much time out in the field, learning by doing, sparked this academ-ic intensity and curiosity I was able to carry through to college.”

Building on her passion for the environment, Fiona went

on to study environmental science at Colorado College. While many of Fiona’s classmates plan to pursue more traditional lab careers, Fiona is eager to continue apply-ing her scientific knowledge to the field that has always captivated her: education. She used her honors thesis to investigate ways in which liberal arts institutions can integrate sustainability into their curricula as well as more effectively publicize their efforts. Next year, she will return to Chewonki to start down that path full time as a Sustainability Fellow.

To forge off the beaten path – quite literally – takes cour-age. Fiona affirms that the self-confidence she has been cultivating was sparked early: during her time at Nashoba Brooks.

“I was one of eight Nashoba girls to go to St. Mark’s my year,” says Fiona. “By our senior year, we were all lead-ers in our various activities on campus. This can’t just be coincidental. Though we weren’t even aware of it at the time, at Nashoba we were supported in a way that allowed us to develop a sense of confidence we carried with us to college and beyond.” •

FIONA HASLETT ‘06

Alumna Spotlight:

FROM ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE TO SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS

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WHY TEACH TECH?

CHRISTINE MCCARTHYBefore coming to Nashoba Brooks, Christine spent 12 years at the Potomac School in Virginia as both a class-room teacher and academic technologist. As the Instruc-tional Technologist at Nashoba Brooks, she helps teach-ers find meaningful ways to incorporate technology into the curriculum.

Why is it important for today’s students to use technology in the classroom?

The skills that students will need when they head off to college and beyond will be very different than what many of us learned when we were in school. More than ever before, the next generation needs to be prepared to communicate and connect with all kinds of different people. By learning new ways to share information using technology, students will have a wider impact as they head out into the world.

Also, familiarity with technology will help students sort through all the information available to them in this digital age. There are so many places students can look to find information, but they need to understand that just because it’s on the Internet does not mean that it’s a reliable source. In addition to teaching how to

communicate information, we also teach how to responsibly consume information.

How can technology help teachers to serve students with different learning styles?

Technology can help teachers meet each student where he or she is. For instance, students who have some recall or processing challenges often find technology easier to work with than pencil and paper alone. And for students who want additional challenges to tackle, technology pro-vides them with the opportunity for deeper involvement to demonstrate their understanding in more complex ways.

JENNY RUTHERFORDFascinated by the intersection of technology and human behavior, Jenny worked in the field of technolo-gy research before making the switch to education. She now works as the Grades 2-3 Math Specialist and Lower School Reading Specialist at Nashoba Brooks.

How do you incorporate technology into your classroom?

In math, I like to use coding activities to reinforce certain concepts. For instance, to supplement our unit on

Christine McCarthyInstructional TechnologistOur Faculty Weigh In:

JennyRutherfordGrades 2-3 Math, Lower School Reading

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X/Y coordinates, students worked with a program called Tynker and used basic coding skills to move animated characters across an X/Y axis. The technology gives them a concrete representation of the concepts we cover in class. Actively working with and creating something with X/Y coordinates helps them to answer the question: “Why am I learning about this?” In reading, I draw on applica-tions like World’s Best Pet to reinforce and extend our study of vocabulary.

There’s so much technology out there, from apps to websites to media. How do you decide what to include?

Whenever I am considering incorporating something into my classroom, I always ask myself: “If there were no technological component to this activity or project, is it something I would include in my curriculum any-way?” Technology should reinforce, not distract from, the curriculum. My time with my students is precious and I’m

not going to waste it on something that might be fun or flashy, but ultimately won’t help them grow.

Why is technology literacy so important?

Today, children are growing up in a world where technol-ogy is everywhere, all the time. Kids no longer have their “45 minutes at the computer” at home, so it no longer makes sense to impose distinctions between “technology time” and “screen-free time” at school. Technology is a valuable tool that, if used appropriately, can greatly en-hance your everyday work. Plus, kids love active lessons that make use of technology and I love to see them get excited about learning! •

“Technology should reinforce, not distract from, the curriculum.”

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No matter how engaging the activity or fascinating the subject matter, students will always find a way to ask “Why?”

Why are we studying this? Why is this relevant? Am I ever going to actually use this information?

The standard responses – “spelling is important” or “you’ll need this in secondary school” – generally fall flat. Instead of explaining a subject’s relevance, experts argue that students should experience the real-world applica-tions for themselves. Project-based learning, in which students draw upon classroom skills to tackle problems they might actually encounter outside of school, has been shown to increase student engagement, critical problem solving skills, and confidence.*

Projects can range from short assignments folded into the curriculum – such as Middle School algebra students simulating stock market trades – to ventures that span months – such as students in Grade 8 social studies creating documentaries about key political issues for a C-SPAN documentary competition. Project-based learn-ing is an important component of the Nashoba Brooks curriculum, and its influence is not limited to school hours. More and more students are now taking advantage

of before- and after-school activities that invite them to take on real-world challenges.

New to the roster of extracurricular activities this year is the Middle School literary journal Apricity. The journal was conceived by Jaime Zuckerman, Grade 6 Human-ities teacher, and Kendra Aber-Ferri, Library Director and Transliteracy Integration Specialist, as a way to both showcase student work and train a core group of stu-dents in editorial management.

Apricity celebrates creative student work across all genres; its first edition, published in the spring of 2015, included flash fiction, vignettes, poetry, photography, and original illustration. Through working on the jour-nal, the student volunteers – also known as the editorial board – not only hone their writing skills, but also get firsthand experience in the process of designing, organiz-ing, collecting submissions for editing, and promoting a publication.

Jaime asserts that while she and Kendra do weigh in to keep publication standards high, the vast majority of decisions are the responsibility of the students. “We keep an eye on the grammar, but we never tell students what choices to make. It’s up to them to work together, both as a board and with individual authors, to create the journal they want to publish.”

“The girls understand that the process is just as import-ant as the product,” adds Kendra. “In addition to making the exciting editorial decisions, they do all the busywork, like writing refusal letters and organizing the files on-line. In real life, there’s a lot of hard work you have to get through before the fun moments and we are excited to see the girls embracing all aspects of the process.”

PROJECT-BASED LEARNINGReal World Implications

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(*Source: Edutopia, Teaching For Meaningful Learning.)

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Just as students on the Apricity editorial board have had to make tough decisions compiling their journal, so too have students in the Youth in Philanthropy program had to grapple with choices that not only require real-world skills, but also have real, measurable impact on the community.

While Youth in Philanthropy is not new to Nasho-ba Brooks, this marks the first year that the group has delved into the business of philanthropy itself. Member students – seven from Grade 7 and seven from Grade 8 – were selected among a pool of applicants based on their demonstrated commit-ment to community service. In addition to performing acts of service themselves, members explored what it takes to keep successful service organizations up and running. Partnering with the Foundation for Metrowest, the group raised $7,500 to be distributed to the non-profit organizations of their choosing.

And making those choices, the students discovered, was far from easy. After researching the full spectrum of local nonprofits, the group crafted a shortlist of four organiza-tions whose missions resonated with them. To help them make an informed choice, the group then conducted site visits and interviewed key members of each organization, hoping to glean how their donation would be put to use.

“The site visits were so helpful because they helped us see exactly what each organization is doing and exactly how they’re doing it,” explains Lily ‘16. Through asking detailed questions and taking copious notes, the students found that they responded strongly to the organizations that made a concerted effort to connect with them and learned that a clear mission statement is critical to

soliciting outside support.

Ultimately, the Youth in Philanthropy group chose to fund two local

nonprofits. They donated $4,000 to Household Goods in Acton, a nonprofit that supplies basic household items to families who cannot afford them; the money will go toward buying supplies and the general maintenance of the building. They also allocated

$3,500 to COMPASS for Kids in Lexington, whose mission is to

make sure that vulnerable children are supported by the adults in their

lives, with the caveat that the money is not to be used on employee salaries; the

donation will enable COMPASS to purchase educational materials for children in its programs.

“As adults, we are often quick to do the back work so that kids can jump straight to the fun part,” explains Lau-ren Funk, Service Learning Co-Coordinator. “Learning about the grant-making process and the minute details of philanthropy might not be particularly exciting, but it made the process so much more meaningful. By inves-tigating how the organizations function and determining exactly where their money would go, they were able to make much smarter and more impactful decisions.”

Through programs like Youth in Philanthropy and Apricity, students bridge the gap between school and life outside it by applying their academics to solving real-world prob-lems. The skills they pick up through these programs can be immediately beneficial upon graduation. More impor-tantly, students don’t have to wait until they leave school to put those skills to use; in designating funding for local nonprofits and producing a literary journal for the com-munity to enjoy, students can see the impact of their hard work right now. •

“In real life, there’s a lot of hard work you have to get through before the fun moments and we are excited to see the girls

embracing all aspects of the process.”

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CAMPUSUPDATETrack Team Wins at the Hillside JamboreeMAY 2015The Track Team ended the season with a team victory and sportsmanship award at the Hillside Jamboree. Kathryn ‘15 took first place in the pentathlon, an event consisting of the long jump, shot put, 100 meter run, 400 meter run, and mile run. Alyssa ‘15 won both the 200 meter run and long jump, and Allie ‘15 won both the 100 meter run and 800 meter run. Kaylin ‘15, finishing up her third year on the track team, took first place in the mile run. The relay team – consisting of Kathryn, Sarah ‘15, Siggy ‘15, and Allie – not only took first place in the 4×100 meter relay, but also broke the course record for that event.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/2015/05/18/track-team-wins-individual-team-and-sportsmanship-awards-at-hillside-jamboree-meet/

GRADE 3SHOWCASE THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY AT THEIR FINAL SHARING OF UNDERSTANDING

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Literary Journal Apricity LaunchesMAY 2015Apricity publishes creative student work across all genres; its first edi-tion includes flash fiction, vignettes, poetry, photography, and illustration. All submissions are considered by a board of student editors from the Middle School.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/ 2015/05/12/apricity-literary-journal-launch/

New England Aquarium Brings Tide Pools to PreschoolAPRIL 2015To complement their unit on the ocean, Preschool 1 and 2 students had the opportunity to reach into saltwater tanks and experience ocean wildlife for themselves. The students wrapped up the event by learning about very special guest visitor: a horseshoe crab!

http://nashobabrooks.org/new-england-aquarium-brings-tide-pools-to-preschool/

Two Students Win Awards in Letters About Literature Writing ContestAPRIL 2015Caroline ‘17 and Missy ‘16 received recognition in the national 2015 Letters About Literature writing contest, sponsored by the Library of Congress. Letters About Literature encourages students in grades 4-12 to write a letter to the author of their favorite book explaining how the book has affected them.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/2015/04/27/students-win-awards-in-letters-about-literature-writing-contest/

Learning Through Play with Stop, Drop, and CodeAPRIL 2015Stop, Drop, and Code was an interactive hour of engineering and coding across all grade levels. Build-ing on the skills acquired through previous in-class coding experiences, including December’s all-school event Hour of Code, students took on projects specifically designed by the

Information Services team to be challenging, developmentally

appropriate, and curriculum-focused.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/2015/04/06/learning-through-play-with-stop-drop-and-code/

MARCH 2015Held in conjunction with the annual Book Fair, Nashoba Brooks encour-aged families and employees to buy books for others as well as them-selves through the Service Learning Book Drive. Between March 3 and 6, 2015, members of the community donated hundreds of picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, and more. The donations were then delivered to Bridge Boston Charter School, a tuition-free charter school in Dorchester.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/2015/03/31/service-learning-book-drive-a-resounding-success/

Students Win Honorable Mention for C-SPAN DocumentaryMARCH 2015This marks the third nomination for a Nashoba Brooks team since Lauren Funk, Grades 7-8 Social Studies teacher, integrated the project into her classroom in 2013. Three students in Grade 8 earned an honorable mention in the C-SPAN StudentCam 2015 documentary competition for their documentary “The Wage Gap.” Their documentary was one of only 150 recognized by C-SPAN out of 2,280 videos submitted worldwide.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/ 2015/03/10/students-win-honorable-mention-from-c-span-for-documentary/

VARSITY BASKETBALL PLAYERS GO IN FOR THE LAY-UP.

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Service Learning Book Drive a Resounding Success

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Students Create Food Truck Business Plans, Compete for Funding in Shark Tank ProjectMARCH 2015Students in Grade 8 drafted busi-ness proposals for a new food truck, creating a mission statement, priced menu, marketing collateral, and financial projections. In the style of the ABC television show Shark Tank, each group then pitched their ideas and financial plans to prospective investors from the local community with the goal of securing enough investor support to fund their hypo-thetical business.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/ 2015/03/05/nashoba-brooks-stu-dents-create-food-truck-business-plans-compete-for-funding-in-shark-tank-project/

MATHCOUNTS Team Finishes in Top Ten at Regional TournamentFEBRUARY 2015The Nashoba Brooks MATHCOUNTS Team competed in a tournament consisting of 180 students from a total of 31 local schools. The team – consisting of four Grade 8 students – earned a ninth place team finish; one student, Sarah ‘15, finished 20th out of 180 total competitors.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/2015/02/06/nashoba-brooks-mathcounts-team-finishes-in-top-ten-at-regional-tournament/

Kindergarten Students March in Fairytale ParadeFEBRUARY 2015Kindergarten students dressed in their best royal attire and marched through the halls to the cheers and well-wishes of their teachers, parents, and schoolmates to mark the conclusion of a month-long unit on fairy tales. The event concluded in a Sharing of Understanding, during which students shared with their families and friends the many stories they read and pictures they drew throughout the unit.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/2015/02/05/kindergarten-stu-dents-march-in-fairy-tale-parade/

JANUARY 2015New York Times bestselling author and Co-founder of the Girls’ Lead-ership Institute, Rachel Simmons, spoke at Nashoba Brooks School on January 29, 2015. Her lecture, enti-tled Leading with Integrity: Helping Girls Build Strength and Resilience, addressed how to help girls and young women grow into authentic, emotionally intelligent, and assertive adults.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/2015/02/06/nashoba-brooks-mathcounts-team-finishes-in-top-ten-at-regional-tournament/

Nashoba Brooks Fund Reaches 100% Employee Participation in 100 DaysDECEMBER 2014Every single employee at Nashoba Brooks School donated money to support the Nashoba Brooks Fund! “That we were able to hit 100% is a great testament to everyone’s com-mitment to this community,” said Jane O’Connor, Assistant Head of Lower School.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/2015/02/05/kindergarten-stu-dents-march-in-fairy-tale-parade/

DECEMBER 2014To finish up the month of service, nicknamed “Tender November,” students spent a morning assem-bling 50 tote bags for Project Night Night, a national charity that gives homeless children comfort and sta-bility by providing them with bedtime essentials. The project was funded in part through a Parents’ Independent School Network (PIN) grant that Par-ent Service Learning Representative, Sarah Faucett, and Service Learn-ing Co-Coordinator, Lauren Funk, received.

http://nashobabrooks.org/news/ 2014/12/03/students-celebrate-month-of-service-learning-by-creating-totes-for-project-night-night/

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Rachel Simmons at Nashoba Brooks: Helping Girls Build Strength and Resilience

Students Celebrate Month of Service Learning by Creating Totes for Project Night Night

CAMPUS UPDATE

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JEVAN JAMMAL was thrilled to be accepted to law school, certain that her passion and inquisition would be well suited to the rigors of law. She was not wrong: the three years she spent at Suffolk Law School were some of the most challenging and exciting of her life.

Upon graduating in 2014, Jevan found that as far as a career in conventional law was concerned, she just wasn’t sold. “I wanted to work in a dynamic and inno-vative field, and law offices often felt stiff. I was looking for more than a vocation; I was looking for a meaningful career.”

While waiting for her bar results and contemplating her next move, Jevan circled back to one of her earliest sources of inspiration: Nashoba Brooks School. “I was envious of friends of mine in education,” she explains. “They had the same professional drive and opportunities for growth, but were serving a purpose bigger than them-selves. So I started thinking: maybe I can leverage my law degree to work in a field that truly excites me.”

At a Nashoba Brooks Board of Visitors meeting, Jevan brought up her new plan and was met with resounding encouragement. Alumni, trustees, and current faculty applauded her decision and peppered her with advice, recommendations, and suggestions for further contacts. Says Jevan, “Receiving such support was incredibly validating.”

Jevan passed the bar. Shortly thereafter, a position opened up at Nashoba Brooks, and she applied. She now works as the Admission Assistant in the very school she attended as a student.

“I’m back in my school and I’m loving it!” Jevan exclaims. “It’s the best of both worlds: I’m challenged professionally and intellectually every day, and feeling invigorated by a sense of greater purpose.”

As for that law education? Jevan draws on it every day. “While I don’t use my specific legal knowledge very often, I’m constantly drawing on my analytical problem solving skills and ability to articulate a compelling argument. In fact, that’s been critical to working in admissions since so much of what we do is communicating with families about how we can best meet the needs of each individual child.”

Though returning to Nashoba Brooks was not part of her initial plan, Jevan is thrilled to have come full circle. “I’ve always said that this place was my first introduction to a standard of excellence I haven’t stopped striving for since. Sometimes it’s strange to be back because I’m such a different person now, but what’s even stranger is how similar I am. It all started here: this is where I learned to truly be myself.” •

JEVAN JAMMAL ‘02

Employee Spotlight:

FROM LAW SCHOOL TO PRIMARY SCHOOL

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John Moriarty TG’98 and Kath Ganz ‘03 became engaged on April 5, 2015.

Kristen A. M. Achtmeyer ‘98 worked in the costume department on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 1 for six months in Atlanta. Kristen writes that, “It was a lot of fun!” Be sure to look for Kristen’s name in the credits!

Fenn alumnus, Josh Hahn, Assistant Head of School, Director of Environmental Initiatives, and Megan Denault ‘99, Associate Director of Alumni Relations at Hotchkiss School hosted the first Nashoba Brooks School/Fenn feed on November 3, 2014. Megan writes that Hotchkiss “had pizza and talked about

faculty and experiences we had in common and the various construction projects on both campus-es.” In attendance were Quincy MacShane ‘13, Em-ily von Weise ‘11, Annabel von Weise ‘13, and Fenn alumni Ben MacShane, and Alan Zhang.

Hunter Baggen TG’01 [1] will be heading to Ghana to work as a field repre-sentative for the NGO Saha Global, an organization that works with women in rural Ghana to create sustainable businesses that provide clean water and electricity to their local communities.

Lia Wayman ‘03 writes: “After moving from New York back to Boston, I noticed that there was a need for a roommate matching website (none of my friends needed room-mates at the time of my

move!). I have recently launched The Room Ring (theroomring.com), a site that allows users looking for a room to connect with users who need a room-mate based on mutual friends, industry, university attended, and a number of other living preferences. The site is off to a great start and perfect for any-one recently graduated from college and looking to move!”

Tandy Bryant ‘06 [2] has made her way back to NBS this year as an employ-ee! Tandy is working as a development assistant and says, “It’s great to be back!”

Gabriela Weigel ‘06 was selected for an English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) with the U.S. Student Fulbright program. She writes: “I will be teaching English at a middle school (grades 6-8) in Chennai, India for nine months, and by chance, was placed at an all-girls school which I am thrilled about!”

Led by junior Kelseagh Budris ‘08, a total of 25 American University student-athletes were honored with selection to the Patriot League Cross Country Academic Honor Roll. Budris was one of 17 honorees across the league who earned a 4.0 in the fall 2014 semester. Overall, 78 percent of the American University Eagles listed on the cross country rosters in 2014 earned PL Academic Honor Roll status.

CLASSNotes

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Daniel Kramer TG ‘08 is a rising junior at Middlesex School. He will be attending the US Rowing Junior National Development Camp this summer – a 3-week intensive training program – and will also compete with the Riverside Boat Club youth rowing team. In August, Daniel will compete at Canadian Henley.

Sasha Kramer ‘08 just completed her junior year at Bowdoin College. She was awarded a National Science Foundation summer research fellow-ship at Woods Hole Ocean-ographic Institute (WHOI) and will be spending the summer studying the phy-toplankton community in the waters off of Martha’s Vineyard. Sasha has been having fun reconnecting with classmate Chloe Fross ‘08, who is also working at WHOI this summer.

Talya Kramer ‘10 just completed her freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania, where she and Colby Schofield ‘10 both serve as campus tour guides. This summer, Talya

has a research internship in the neurobiology depart-ment at Children’s Hospital studying the role of specific proteins in post-synaptic development.

Maggie Crowley ‘09 [3] ran the Boston Mara-thon in support of MR8, a group dedicated to sharing Richard Martin’s message, “No more hurting people – Peace.” Maggie raised a total of $17,715 for her ef-forts and states, “So many people were very willing to give to the Martin Richard Foundation because it is such a great cause. The actual marathon was so much fun. It was an amazing experience!”

Three Nashoba Brooks alumnae – Paige Winn ‘11 [4], Lowell Hutchinson ‘13, and Paige Walker ‘13, performed in the May 2015 Concord-Carlisle High School Theater Company production of Chicago: The Musical.

Emily von Weise ‘11 graduated from Hotchkiss School with three senior awards: the Photography Prize, the Environmen-

Caeli Cavanagh ‘06 won the Youth Activist Award 2015 from the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services. “The award honors her commitment to providing support and advocacy to victims and survivors of domestic and sexual assault at the college [Dartmouth].”

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tal Science Prize, and the Charles E. Lord Award, given to the senior who, over her course at Hotchkiss. has

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Keep in touch!

Submit your class notes for our 2015 Fall/Winter Bulletin to

development@nashobabrooks.org.

2

shown the largest measure of general improvement, perseverance, and courage. •

NASHOBABROOKS.ORG

“I hope that you will have the gumption to believe in yourselves and each other and in the very positive

impact that you can – and will – have in this world.”– Danielle Heard, Head of School

CONGRATULATIONS CLASSES OF 2015!

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GRANDPARENTSand SPECIAL FRIENDS

Grandparents’ and special friends’ were welcomed to campus on May 11 for one of the most beloved traditions here at Nashoba Brooks School. Students invited their grandparents and special friends to spend the morning on campus, and experience a day in the life of a Nashoba Brooks student.

Save the date! Join us on Monday, May 9, 2016, for Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day.

To be added to our mailing list and receive an invitation, please contact the Development Office at development@nashobabrooks.org.

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NASHOBA BROOKS SCHOOL200 Strawberry Hill Road

Concord, MA 01742

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