Thistletalk Summer 2010 - Winchester Thurston School

More documents

Recommendations

Info

wt todayParents Association:Another Great Season of Community, Camaraderie, and CommitmentIn response to a generous donor'schallenge, a corps of committedparent volunteers rolled up theirsleeves for the WT Fund this year,serving as WT Fund Class Agentsand reaching out to fellow parentsto garner support for the school’sannual fund. Their work resultedin unprecedented support: WTFund gifts from 348 families, and anall-time record participation levelof 74%! Seven classes reached 100%participation. This is the highestparent participation on record at WT!Auction ActionParents, faculty, grandparents, and alumsunited this spring in one of the mostprofitable WT Online Auctions to date,helping to raise more than $40,000 tosupport WT’s scholarship and financialaid program. Veteran auction volunteerand parent leader Tracey Reading devotedcountless hours in creating the catalogof experiences. New parent Nat Cohenprovided the leadership and enthusiasmthat was directly responsible for thesuccess of this year’s 50/50 raffle. 518tickets were sold resulting in $5,387.SPRING FLING Under the leadership of ParentChair Adam Leong, the 32nd Spring Fling Carnival was a great success! Volunteerscreated a fun afternoon of bouncing, gaming, singing, and celebrating for ourchildren and families. Parent Volunteer Allison Thompson led the tenth-grade classin an amazing Flower Sale to supportthe Class of 2013 prom. Joanne Averch,Kate Stainton, Laurie Winslow, NoreenTompkins, and Terri McDonnell providedthe organization and brainpower behindthe class booths, café, raffle baskets,and tickets sales. Kudos to the entirecommittee for a super job!GoGreen! OnSaturday, May 8, faculty and parentsjoined to build, dig, plant, tie-dye, spud,and create at WT’s North Hills Campus.Special thanks to Lee and John Bares whodesigned and created wood storage cheststo add to the Natural Playground, SabrinaWojnaroski for her leadership relatedto all things“green,” CindyFrohlich forher hard workin the gardens,and to BrockPerkins andLynne Raphaelfor theirvision relatedto GoGreeninitiatives.Thank You, Deesha!After two years as President of the Parents Association,Deesha Philyaw handed the baton to Noreen Tompkinson June 30. Philyaw reflects, “My deepest appreciationgoes out to the WT community....I count it a privilegeto have worked in this capacity with such a thoughtful,creative, and committed group of parents, educators,administrators, and students.”Breakfast withthe Birds Alisa Blatter, ParentVolunteer Leader for the Gardens Committee,and Kelly Vignale, Lower School City scienceteacher, hosted the second annual "Breakfastwith the Birds" at the City Campus LowerSchool Learning Garden on Saturday, May 15.Students enjoyed an interactive session onbackyard birds, a puppet show, and a scavengerhunt in the garden before painting miniaturebirdhouses and planting flowers. The eventhelped to raise funds for a picnic bench.w w w . w i n c h e s t e r t h u r s t o n . o r g19
faculty highlightsKatheleen Russell, Music Teacher,RetiresKatheleen Russell retired after 21 years as afull-time faculty member. “I have made manylifetime friendships over the years. I willreally miss the students, too; all the differentage groups and seeing them grow each yearis so wonderful,” reflects Russell.Russell taught Lower School Music andChorus, Middle School Music and Orchestra,oversaw the Middle School musical for 11 years and the Upper Schoolmusical for 14 years. “In her two decades of service to WinchesterThurston, Kathy has had impact on all of our students, Pre-K through12,” says Performing Arts Department Chair Daniel Sadowski. “She’salso been a participant in the wider community, serving on committees,including a stint as chair of the Professional Development committee.She’ll really be missed.”In retirement Russell and her husband plan to travel and spendtime with their grandchildren.Pat Leddy, Business Office OperationsCoordinator, RetiresAfter 31 years as Business Office OperationsCoordinator, Pat Leddy retired last winter.Leddy coordinated benefits, transportation,and accounts payable. Gaylen Westfall,Director of Development and Alumnae/iRelations, who has been at WT for 35 years,describes Leddy as “efficient, effective, andusually not overly expressive, except whenshe was shrugging off someone’s compliments of herself or her work.”Westfall recently spoke with Leddy and says, “Pat is enjoying herretirement and when recently called was breathless when she answeredthe phone. Asked if she was out exercising she replied, ‘Good heavensno; I was gardening!’”Mary Martin ’88 Named 2010Jane L. Scarborough Award WinnerWT congratulates Middle School visual artsteacher Mary Martin ’88, recipient of the2010 Jane L. Scarborough Award, WinchesterThurston’s highest accolade for excellencein teaching. Martin, a WT alumna andparent, humbly reflects, “It is a wonderfulfeeling to know that your work is valuedand appreciated. I feel that the award is areflection on all those that have impacted my work and I truly feelthat the WT community motivates me to challenge myself and mystudents. I strive to continue to serve the community by giving backand by striving to impact youth in a positive and constructive way.”Kylie Malack Receives Judy AptNathenson Memorial AwardNorth Hills Campus transitional classroomteacher Kylie Malack received the 2010Judy Apt Nathenson Memorial Chairfor Excellence in Childhood Education.Malack, who has been at WT for four years,appreciatively says, “Knowing the legacy ofMrs. Nathenson and the incredible teachershe was, I feel extremely honored to receive this award. Working at WTis an award in itself. Not only do I get to work with amazing kids, butI am surrounded by excellent colleagues who are dedicated, talented,hard-working, and in my opinion the best in the field.”New Director of Lower SchoolCity Campus AnnouncedJill Fetzer has been appointed Director ofLower School at the City Campus. Fetzercame to WT last fall as an AcademicEnrichment and Challenge teacher; shebrought to this position considerableexperience in gifted education, as wellas more than 20 years in many areas ofelementary education. Her career includesa wide range of teaching and administrative experience in grades1-5, including coordinating gifted and talented services, building andimplementing instructional strategies, evaluating school improvementobjectives, supervising instructional programs, and initiating,designing and developing curriculum. Fetzer has been recognized forher excellence as an educator, having been a 2004 finalist for DistrictTeacher of the Year in the McKinney Independent School District,McKinney, Texas, and a 1998 Disney Teacher of the Year Candidate. Sheholds a M.Ed. and a B.S. from California University of Pennsylvania andAdministration certification from Texas Woman’s University.Bridging the Gap BetweenResearch and EducationCity Campus third grade teacher KarenGaul will attend a week-long session atHarvard’s Graduate School of Educationtitled, “Connecting the Mind, Brain andEducation” this summer. The goal of thesession is to bridge the gap between researchand practice in education.Japan BoundLisa Allswede, Upper and Middle Schoolvisual arts teacher, embarks on a three weekjourney to Japan this summer. Allswedewas one of 15 teachers chosen to attend theNational Consortium of Teaching AboutAsia’s (NCTA) program, “The Makingof Modern Japan; Ideas, Innovations,Technologies.” The goal is to enrich teachers’experience by immersing them in theculture. The group will be based in Kobe, Japan, visiting and observinglocal schools, points of interest, temples, and even a baseball game.The group will also take day and overnight excursions to other citiesand villages.Presenting at the AnnualAP ConferenceThis summer Jill Kazmierczak, EnglishDepartment Chair, will present at the APAnnual Conference in Washington, D.C. Herpresentation, “A Toolbox for Synthesis,” willprovide teachers with practical strategiesand tools for teaching synthesis to highschool students.20 T h i s t l e t a l k S u m m e r 2 0 1 0
Page 1 and 2: WinchesterThurstonSchool555 Morewoo
Page 3 and 4: Rigor, Authenticity, Immersion:The
Page 5 and 6: cover storyBe h i n d t h e M AT H
Page 7 and 8: The Power of “Why?”Articulating
Page 9 and 10: feature storyCynthia Pearson Turich
Page 11 and 12: ON POSSIBILITYMany people in our so
Page 13 and 14: wt todayUpper School OrchestraIN FU
Page 15 and 16: wt todaySHAKESPEARE STUDENTSTAKE CE
Page 17 and 18: wt todayWinter/Spring HIGHLIGHTSHig
Page 19: wt todayWinter/Spring SPORTS ROUNDU
Page 23 and 24: development & alumnae/i newsReUNiON
Page 25 and 26: development & alumnae/i newsMiss Mi
Page 27 and 28: class notesclass notes2 0 0 7Michae
Page 29: class notesclass notes1 9 7 9Peggy
Page 32 and 33: class notesCynthia Hill Smith write
Page 34: City as Our CampusTeresa DeFlitch A

Thistletalk Summer 2010 - Winchester Thurston School

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?