EDUCATIONAL FORUM: OCT. 18, 2015
ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL
9:15 am – Door Opens
9:50 – 10:00 – Welcome and Guide to Forum
David Faus, Headmaster, St. Paul’s School, Patsy Kumekawa, Scholar Search Associates
PRESENTATIONS - 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
10:00 – 11:00 a. Trends and Issues in College Admission [ WARD CENTER ]
Girding for the college admission process? The process has evolved significantly since today’s parents applied way back when. There is a plethora of
new terminologies, shifted priorities, and added procedures reflective of the contemporary college admissions environment. Find out about the re lative
importance of GPAs, curriculum choices and 8th grade performance. Become familiar with the unfamiliar - the re-designed SAT, the Common Application,
Snap Apps, FAFSA’s “prior-prior year”… And, get the take from two highly-experienced college admission professionals on the current admission climate
including subjects as the globalization of the general applicant pool and those record application numbers. So join a discussion of present trends and
issues and look to preempt any angst you might have.
Presenters: Calvin Wise, Sr. Assoc. Director of Admissions, Johns Hopkins University, and Jake Talmage, Director of College Counseling, St. Paul’s School
b. What Experiential Learning and Cross Cultural Living Can Teach [ CHAPEL ]
Experiential learning, a process of acquiring knowledge through personal experiences, is one of the most engaging and effective ways to confront and understand new concepts.
Experiential living as a cross cultural experience presents a multitude of new concepts on all sorts of levels. All of us have had to face uncertainties in small and big ways: the first day
of school, a new job … some of us welcome the challenge more than others. Through interactive activities, understand how “learning by doing”; and cross cultural experiences can
teach self-reliance, communication skills, team work, and problem solving, and provide the self-confidence to face future challenges with aplomb.
Presenter: Ryan Buck, Admissions Officer, The Experiment in International Living
11:00 – 12:00 a. Strengthening Goal-Oriented Behavior by Developing Executive Function Skills [ WARD CENTER ]
Executive function skills provide the basis for goal -oriented behaviors so important to achieving personal and academic goals. Such skills include
problem-solving, cognitive flexibility, organization, planning and self -assessment. Discover how specific executive function skills are defined and learn of
the impact each of these skills has on the teenage experience. Then, through concrete examples, taken from interdisciplinary art and design classes that
develop executive function skills in talented and often gifted students with language-based learning differences, find out about practical approaches to
building and supporting goal-oriented behavior both inside and outside the classroom.
Presenter: Pauline Savage, Arts Department Chair, and Brandon Emmons, Jemicy School
b. Smart Girls, Challenging Times
[ CHAPEL ]
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck’s research reveals that high-achieving girls are significantly and disproportionately quick to display characteristics of
helplessness when confronted with challenging tasks. Why does this happen? What makes the smartest girls this vulnerable? Com e explore the
challenges that girls and their parents face as they navigate a society, and even a world, that marginalizes female intellige nce. Gain insight into the
subtleties that govern the lives of smart girls and their perception of their ability, their potenti al, and their value. And, become better aware of how a high achieving girl can address the obstacles she must meet in her quest for happiness and success.
Presenter: Laura Burgess, Director of Recruitment, Emma Willard School
c. Tour of St. Paul’s School (meet at the St. Paul’s table in The Octagon)
12:00 – 1:00 ---------------------
LUNCH BREAK
Families welcome to meet one another
---------------------
1:00 – 2:00 a. Academic Talent Development: Five Paths for Parents [ WARD CENTER ]
A survey of the field of gifted education reveals few agreed -upon approaches for educating advanced learners that are sure -fire for every child. But take
heart: there are some ways to proceed as a parent that raise chances for success. We’ll examine defini tions of academic talent, parenting approaches
that encourage motivation, considerations for a broader purpose for school, and a rubric for selecting providers of talent de velopment opportunities
beyond school. Come away with a deeper understanding of the choices before you, and a better idea of the paths that would most benefit your child.
Presenter: Charles Beckman, Manager, Parent and Volunteer Relations, The Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth
b. Developing the Writer in Each Student
[ CHAPEL ]
In this day and age, the significant educational discussion that is directed to STEM - and STEAM-oriented disciplines may well have come at the expense
of prioritizing the development of writing skills. Every older generation would lament the decline in writing ability among the younger set - and this is
especially true today with the prevalence of texting and reliance on internet sources for crafting school assignments. Yet, a ll would agree that writing well
remains essential to any student’s success. For without writing proficiency, the ability to convey ideas and viewpoints is se verely diminished. Come learn
about pedagogical approaches that can help one become a more efficient and effective writer. An d, help enable a useful, and lifelong, skill.
Presenter: James Garcia, English Teacher, The Webb School
EDUCATIONAL FORUM: OCT. 18, 2015
ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL
PRESENTATIONS - continued
1:00 – 2:00 - continued
c. Early College Alternatives
[ FISHER HALL ]
Curiosity and the desire to learn can be sustained throughout one's formal educational experience. For some in high school, early college alternatives
can provide not only the advanced course material but also a suitable learning environment that can spark intellectual and em otional growth. An
admission administrator of the institution that was the first in the country to be devoted to early college will explore thre e kinds of early college models
and the kind of students who most benefit from this experience.
Presenter: Amanda Dubrowski, Assistant Director of Admission, Bard College at Simon’s Rock
2:00 – 3:00 a. A Practical Map for the Road to College [ WARD CENTER ]
It is one of life’s burdens - the college application process. Make it easier on yourself by learning some of the tools that will enable you to be an appealing
admissions candidate. Most importantly, discover and be reassured that you do not need to compromise on hopes and dreams to find a college that will
serve you best.
Presenter: Keith Berman, President, Options for College
b. Maximizing the High School Educational Experience
[ CHAPEL ]
Cognitive neuroscience indicates that students learn best when engaged in experiential, real-world settings. There are many ways that schools and families can identify
and incorporate authentic learning opportunities that allow students to build their resilience, collaborative skills, and empathy so useful in becoming independent, and
life-long, learners. Providing avenues for students to explore beyond traditional institutional bounds serve to deepen and optimize both education and engagement.
Learn how University partnerships, extra-disciplinary certificates, service learning, and other programs can both amplify and strengthen learning and find out how to
identify and enable these opportunities so that students can prosper.
Presenters: Steve McManus, Upper School Head, Josh Carlin, History Teacher, Christine Koniezhny, Academic Dean, Friends School of Baltimore
c. Tour of St. Paul’s School (meet at the St. Paul’s table in The Octagon)
3:00 – 4:00 a. Effective Education: The IB Program [ WARD CENTER ]
We know that the best learning takes place when the content of coursework is not an end in itself, but the raw material with which students make connections between
disciplines and between cultures … when learning takes place not in a vacuum, but when students must confront relevant issues and use their skills to seek out and
solve real-world problems … when students can understand and can articulate why their learning matters. This describes the International Baccalaureate program; an
approach that has been recognized the world over as a superior pedagogy. Hear three administrators from diverse institutions present this program’s methods for
meeting the needs of students who will confront the challenges of the 21st-century world.
Presenters: Joel Coleman, Upper School Head - St. Paul’s School, Lori Dembo, Lower School Head – St. James Academy,
Ghada Jaber, Academic Dean - St. Timothy’s School
b. The New SAT, New ACT and College Admissions
[ CHAPEL ]
The College Board and the ACT organizations have both announced upcoming changes to their tests that will dynamically alter the college admissions playing field for the future. With
their vigorous market campaigning coupled with their extensive educational business relationships, both test administrations have been effectively targeting state-level standards and
college admission approaches to better comply with the testing adjustments that will soon materialize. Come and find out what exactly will be changing on the SAT and the ACT and
the very real ramifications on college admissions. More importantly, see how you can prepare yourself for what’s coming next.
Presenter: Edward Kim, Director of Curriculum, C2 Education
EDUCATIONAL FORUM: OCT. 18, 2015
ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL
STUDENT SESSIONS 10:00 am - 4:00 pm student sessions are
open to all students in 4 t h -12th grades.
1) Meet the Fibonaccis (grades 4-6) with Bryan Johnson, Instructor, Johns Hopkins CTYOnline (ROOM 205 – CHAPIN HALL)
(10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm)
No one likes patterns more than mathematicians, and Fibonacci numbers stamp their patterns everywhere they go, from flower petals to nautilus shells. We’ll set you
loose with dominoes and Starbursts so you can discover why this classic number sequence amazes mathematicians. The session promises to build your math agility
and maybe even your appreciation for pure math . . . and Starbursts. (for grades: 4-6, session limit: 20)
2) Reverse Engineering Workshop (grades 4-6) with Mike May, Discovery Center Coordinator, St. Paul’s School (ROOM 202 – CHAPIN HALL)
(10am, 11am, 1pm)
It is a standard procedure by which engineers take an object apart to analyze its structure and function in order to make viable design improvements. Reverse
engineering is engineering in reverse - it is the breaking down in order to build something better. Now, you have the opportunity to explore, discuss and brainstorm to
create something superior in the reverse engineering way. Through teams, investigate the internal workings of a basic push toy. Break down the design and build a
better toy, with recycled materials, that two to four children can play with together. Come grab a screwdriver and your imagination and produce something a cut above.
(for grades: 4-6, session limit: 20)
3) Let Your Creativity Flow! (grades 4-6, 7-12) with MD Destination ImagiNation (ROOM 102 – CHAPIN HALL)
(gr. 4-6: 10am, 2pm, 3pm) (gr. 7-12: 11am)
And flow it must when you and your teammates are tasked with confronting challenging, time-sensitive, trials that test the boundaries of your imaginative capabilities.
How would you build a bridge of straws? or create a load-bearing container made of newspaper? or develop a non-verbal communication code? The mission will be
revealed. And then, if you tap abilities you never thought you had and appreciate the fact that a team is greater than its parts, you will discover that creativity just
doesn’t flow, it gushes. (for grades: 4-6 and 7-12, session limit: 25)
4) Designing the Optimal Paper Airplane (gr. 4-8) with James Walsh & Alison Glace, Teachers, St. James Academy (RM.108 – CHAPIN HALL)
(11am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm)
The mystique of flight … Experience this firsthand in this paper airplane design adventure where you can build, test and compare your flyer against all comers. You
already know how to grasp and fold paper, but you will get acquainted with ways to measure and adjust for an airplane’s lift characteristics and horizontal threshold.
Through the cycle of design, testing and production, create an aircraft that may well exceed the performance standards of anything you have constructed before.
Whether or not your airplane achieves the longest flight time, or the furthest distance, you will come away with an item that is the result of your own innovation and
creativity. (for grades: 4-8, session limit: 25)
5) Adding Movie AudIo to the Movie Visual (grades 4-12) with Sofia De Jesus, Teacher, St.Paul’s School for Girls (RM. 203 – CHAPIN HALL)
( 1pm, 2pm, 3pm)
Sound editing, circuitry building, programming and creative thinking are all combined when you are tasked to develop and apply the audio to a video stream. The
process can be surprisingly unconventional … you will be creating sound using beet roots, and editing for sound effects that can be programmed ingeniously into a film
clip. The session requires your imagination, artistry and elan, but at the same time, demands the precision of timing and detail. Come get the two halves of your brain
in sync and produce a piece that you can write home about. (for grades: 4-12, session limit: 20)
6) The Cholera Mystery (grades 5-8) with Andrew Spawn, Middle School Science Coordinator, Friends School of Baltimore (RM. 103 – CHAPIN HALL)
(10am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm)
Travel back to the past and join in for a session of old-time medical detective work. In 1854, a virulent epidemic broke out among the overcrowded tenements of the
Soho district in London. People recognized the outbreak as cholera, but nobody knew where the disease came from or, more importantly, how to stop its spread - that
is, until a pair of investigators discovered the answers that enabled thousands to be saved. Working as a team, follow in the footsteps of those intrepid investigators
and see if you too can help solve the mysteries of the 1854 cholera outbreak before the city of London becomes a dead zone. (for grades 5-8, session limit: 25)
7) The Fiction Writer’s Workshop (grades 5-8) with Steve Barish, Writing Instructor, Johns Hopkins CTYOnline (RM. 104 – CHAPIN HALL)
(10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm)
It is the first line, they say, that establishes the story. But the road to a great tale begins earlier with the consideration of a setting, of a plot and of characters, and of
overcoming writer’s block. Learn how to address all of these challenges and more so that you can create that dynamic first sentence (you’ll get tips on that, too) and
craft stories that will enthrall your readers. In this workshop, boost your creative capacity to write fiction that comes alive - or non-fiction that reads like fiction.
(for grades: 5-8, session limit: 20)
8) Neuromagic … Sleight of Hand, Sleight of Mind (grades 5-8) w/ Diana Allen, Instructor, Johns Hopkins CTYOnline (RM.107 –CHAPIN HALL)
(10am, 11am, 1pm)
The brain is a powerful force but sometimes it seems that it has a mind of its own. Thanks to those cerebral components that determine how we are to perceive our
surroundings, we succumb, under beguiling circumstances, to the fallacy of illusions - we think it magic. Discover what makes us prone to misdirection and unlock
some of the “secrets” of mind-bending tricks. (for grades 5-8, session limit: 20)
9) Wood Carving: Carving by Hand, Carving with Power (grades 5-8) with Doug Finkel, Teacher, St. Paul’s School
(10am, 2pm, 3pm)
(WOOD SHOP)
Spend some carving time with a master wood carver and discover the very real appeal of whittling and working with wood. To be sure, you will craft a small hardwood
tree ornament or a key chain. But in the process, you will incorporate lessons from math, history, biology, environmental science … that can extend well beyond basic
notions of shaping and forming. So, get armed with a pencil, a carving knife, a carving glove, and your imagination, and find out how it really feels to cut and shape
wood. Then, try some power-carving on a lathe and test your skills in spatial relations, creative 3-D visualization and spontaneity. You will come away with a
heightened appreciation for wood’s beauty and practicality, and quite possibly, a new interest. (for grades 5-8, session limit: 20)
EDUCATIONAL FORUM: OCT. 18, 2015
ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL
STUDENT SESSIONS - continued
10) Developing Confidence to Assert (grades 7-12) with Jennifer Shelley & Georgie Chiamulera, Assoc. Dirs. of Admissions, St. Timothy’s School
(LIBRARY – CHAPIN HALL) (10am, 1pm, 2pm)
Assertiveness - there are those who have more of it than others. The more assertive are heard more and, certainly, gain access to more opportunities. But what
about most of us who are not especially assertive; who are held back by personal shyness, or cultural background, or societal norms? The reasons can be as
nuanced as when a boy asserts himself, he’s labeled a leader; however, when a girl does the same thing, she risks being branded “bossy” or “pushy”. The good news
is that anyone can develop assertiveness. Come experience how you can flex your risk-taking muscles so that others can hear your voice.
(for grades 7-12, session limit: 20)
11) Getting SAT/ACT Savvy and Boosting Scores (grades 7-12) with Abby Kelly, Vice President, Options for College (RM.105 – CHAPIN HALL)
(11am, 1pm, 3pm)
Did you know that many of the qualities that enable one to be a great student actually can inhibit SAT/ACT test performance? If you didn’t know, then this workshop
may well be worth attending. Discover some of the biggest mistakes capable students make when they take standardized exams. Learn how to recognize and avoid
these mistakes and how to adopt test strategies that can transform the overall testing experience into an easier and less stressful challenge. The added benefit is that
lowered anxiety levels almost always lead to performance gains. So, get empowered to ace the exams and even find enjoyment along the way.
(for grades 7-12, session limit: 25)
12) A Way of Managing Uncertainty & Developing Resiliency (grades 7-12) w/ The Experiment in Int’l Living (ROOM 204 – CHAPIN HALL)
(11am, 2pm, 3pm)
Any time we begin a new experience such as a new project, the first day of a new school, a new job, we encounter new and dynamic challenges. The novelty of “what
may be coming” can often foster uncertainty and apprehension in any of us. Discover how you can better manage the stress of the unknown through role-playing and
scenarios derived from the cross-cultural living - an experience that continually generates new and different uncertainties every day.
(for grades 7-12, session limit: 25)
13) Ready, Aim, Shoot (grades 7-12) with Casey Patrick Kleiman, Teacher, St. Paul’s School (STEM LAB)
(10am, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm)
From time immemorial, civilized (and uncivilized) societies have applied physics and engineering to better their lots. The torsion catapult is a prime example of how
people used the laws of physics to gain an upper, albeit destructive, hand. In fact, before the advent of gunpowder, this weapon came to represent the zenith of preNewtonian engineering through its ability to heft and hurl the heaviest of objects the furthest of distances. Tread the path of those early engineers by getting your
hands dirty exploring the marvels of the torsion catapult. Along the way, learn and experience how computer aided design (CAD) and laser cutting can be utilized to
build and test your own torsion catapult … and “gain the upper hand”. (for grades 7-12, session limit: 15)