S P O T L I G H T D E P A R T M E N T S - The Taft School

S P O T L I G H T
far? As some of the voices that accompany
this article attest, there are as many
reactions as there are students in the program.
Certainly, all would agree that it
has challenged them in ways that are personal
and profound, and that they have
discovered heretofore untapped resources
within themselves. Certainly, seminar
student Cathy Schieffelin’s reflection indicates
the richness of her experience and
embodies many of the aspirations of all
who had a hand in bringing this kind of
experience to Taft. She writes:
“Although I have learned a great deal
about my topic—the relationship between
manic depression and creativity—I
have learned even more about my abilities
as a student. I now realize that,
ironically, it is often important to consult
other experienced minds even while
working in an ‘independent’ seminar.
However, as Emerson said, ‘There is a
time in every man’s education when he
arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance;
that imitation is suicide. . .’
These words are especially relevant when
I consider what I have gained from my
senior seminar. By being enthusiastically
engaged in learning about something that
fascinates me, I have realized the impor-
Cathy Schieffelin
“Although I have learned a great deal
about my topic—the relationship between
manic depression and creativity—I have
learned even more about my abilities as a
student. I now realize that, ironically, it is
often important to consult other experienced
minds even while working in an
‘independent’ seminar. By being enthusiastically
engaged in learning about
something that fascinates me, I have realized
the importance of self-reliance in
education. In this seminar the knowledge I
have gained is directly proportionate to my
curiosity, diligence, and desire. Even
though I pay dearly for it, no college will
give me an education, for, to quote
Emerson again, ‘no kernel of nourishing
corn can come to [me] but through [my]
own toil bestowed upon that plot of ground
which is given [me] to till.’”
tance of self-reliance in education. In this
seminar the knowledge I have gained is
directly proportionate to my curiosity,
diligence, and desire. Even though I pay
dearly for it, no college will give me an
education, for, to quote Emerson again,
‘no kernel of nourishing corn can come
to [me] but through [my] own toil bestowed
upon that plot of ground which
is given [me] to till.’”
Mike Townsend is a member of the English
Department and dean of the Senior
Class. Fellow English teachers Willy
MacMullen and Linda Saarnijoki also
contributed to this article.
Laura Stevens
“Senior Seminar gave me the opportunity
to explore a subject—the effects of stress—
that I am really interested in, and it also
gave me the chance to become a certified
Emergency Medical Technician, something
I wouldn’t have been able to do this year
otherwise. Also, because my paper is about
the effects of stress on EMT’s, I learned a
lot of important things that my class outside
of school didn’t teach me. The learning
in my Senior Seminar project was a perfect
complement to my EMT training; I know it
will make me a better EMT.”
Sarah Sicher: The Effects of the Fundamentalist
Taliban Regime on the
Lives of Women in Afghanistan.
Elliot Sharron: Stanley Kubrick and
Woody Allen: How their Personal Lives
Intersect with their Art.
Laura Stevens: Emergency Medical
Technicians and Critical Incident Stress.
Peter Walke: An Analysis of Four Major
Types of Constructed Wetlands
(which are used to purify water) and
an Argument in Favor of Taft’s Embracing
such a System.
Akio Yamanaka: An Examination of the
Khmer Rouge Regime in Cambodia
(and how the devastating effects of
that rule can still be seen in the
country’s educational and medical infrastructure).
Senior Year Committee
Bob Wheeler, chair
Rusty Davis
Gerry DePolo
Helena Fifer
David Hostage
Barclay Johnson
Jack Kenerson
Willy MacMullen
Debora Phipps
Mike Townsend
Carolyn White
Gail Wynne
Bill Zuehlke
Taft Bulletin 15