Remarks to the Class of 2012

Well, here we are at that most highly anticipated moment of the graduation ceremony, the head of schools’ remarks. 

I promised the seniors that I would keep my talk to less than the 80 pages of their yearbook, and I just barely met the requirement.

During morning announcements each day we note historical events of great and small importance, as it gives us a sense of our place in the march of history as well as in the world. There seem to be no world holidays today, but it is the birthday of Ida Saxton McKinley back in 1847. She was once famous as the first lady of the United States. Frank Lloyd Wright was also born on this day in 1867, perhaps a better known name, especially to those of you who were with me at Fallingwater a couple of weeks ago.

But Fridays are better known for the tradition, particularly dear to the seniors, of a Friday story that they’ve hopefully brought home each week, so I’ll leave you with one last little bauble. 
As we’ve gone through the year I’ve offered at least thirty puns to you on Friday mornings.  Pun after pun, some you got, some you didn’t.  I was really hoping that at least ten of them would make you laugh, but, alas, no pun in ten did.

Yet another reason they’re glad to be graduating.

Soon to be graduates, today marks one of the few times in your lives that everyone will get together just for you.  Birth, graduation, marriage, death are the biggies, and you probably won’t be there to enjoy the last one, so you’d better enjoy this!

You are here because of the work of many people, most notably your parents and teachers.  I would like to recognize them now.  From the Nora faculty, Mara Nicastro, Scott Madden, Chris Conlon, Nic Galloro, Hedy Szanzer, Patrick Vongchan, Trey Harris, Norman Maynard, Courtney Davis, Ave Luke Simpson,

I’d like to particularly thank the senior advisors, Nic Galloro and Scott Madden for their conversations with the seniors throughout the year, and particularly Scott for all his efforts to help the class plan the next stage of their lives.

We have one faculty member noting a milestone in her Nora career today, as this is the fifth year she’s had to listen to me blather.  Janette is celebrating her fifth anniversary, and while we feel like we’ve already given her a husband, we also have another token of our appreciation for her efforts.

The members of our Board of Directors support and guide the school behind the scenes, giving generously of their time, treasure, and talent. Joining us today from our Board of Directors, Robert Herman, Beau Kaplan, (Matt, others?).

And finally, you need to thank your parents, as they have supported you far longer than we have, and will continue to do so, despite what they’re hoping.  I would like to recognize those whose dedication to you included changing your diapers, reading you bedtime stories, and paying Nora School tuition.  Please stand and accept our congratulations as I call your name.

Russell and Nancy Adise
Linwood and Dianne Brown
Thomas and Kathy Bryan
David Carroll
Darryl and Elizabeth Chang
Michael and Sarah Friedman
Gary and Keri Jacobs
Stephen and Cynthia Johnson
John Joyner and Angela Venerable Joyner
Paolo Lek ki and Alesandra Rovescalli ROVES-KALLI
Peter and Deborah Pappas
Mark Paster and Doreen Cantor Paster
Gary and Barbara Reguerin
Richard and Andrea Sherman
Jeff and Michelle Kuhn
Trent and Anne Tschirgi
Susan Okeefe, Tom Eagles and John and Mary Ellen Whalen
William Wolf and Elizabeth Davenport

Soon to be alumni, I am hopeful that you will take away from today, your last day at Nora, the same precepts I discussed with you on your first day at Nora.  It may seem long ago, but on your first day, and on each first day thereafter, you went around to get lockers, photo ID’s, and to write down your goals.  You also spent time with me discussing the school rules, which can be boiled down to four simple sentences that will stand you in good stead throughout your lives.  I’m going to warn you, there are quizzes for a few of you in my next remarks.

Show up on time.  Do your work.  Take care of your health. Treat others with respect. 

Look back on your time at Nora and honestly assess to what extent I was telling you the truth.  Did you show up on time?  Did that make your life easier or harder?  What are the consequences in the next part of your life for showing up late? What does it say about being trustworthy? 

I can tell you that there are tremendous benefits to showing up on time, being a person of your word, having others see you as reliable.  Noelly and Kylie, in Peace Studies this spring you read The Road Less Travelled by Scott Peck.  How did that book begin? ...  The first sentence is “Life is Difficult.”  I don’t think you’ll find many people here today who would disagree with that statement, but I’d like to follow it up with a question, “Now What?”  OK, life is difficulty, now what?  You still need to show up. If you have to show up, show up on time.  It will make life slightly less difficult.

Do your work.  Same questions.  How was life when you did your work?  How was your life affected when you didn’t take care of business?  What happens in the world when you drop the ball?  What happens when you follow through?  And what kind of work will you do?  Nick, John, Nate, maybe we should have a little quiz going back to your freshman year religion class, what is the Fourth Noble Truth of Buddhism? 

If you don’t remember, it’s the Eightfold Path, one part of which is Right Work. As you do whatever work is before you as you go through your life, whether schoolwork or office work or mechanical work or the work of raising a family, is the work, and are you, making the world a better place?  What are you consciously doing to ease someone else’s burden?  Might I suggest that next week you cook dinner for your family,  or perhaps do the laundry? Making the world a better place can happen in small as well as large ways. In fact, if everyone were to work on the small ways our world would be a much better place.

Take care of your health.  Stay sober, because it’s hard to have any lasting success if your brain is messed up. Exercise and eat healthy food, because you’ll feel better, have more energy, and be a happier person. Monster Energy drinks, ho-hos, and giant Slurpees as an occassional treat are one thing, as part of your daily diet they’re not so great. Take care of your health.

Treat others with respect.  Yes, I know it’s the Golden Rule, but there’s a reason it’s called Golden.  Treating others with respect doesn’t only mean your friends, or people you get along with, it also means those who rub you the wrong way and get on your nerves.  This doesn’t change outside Nora, there will always be people you find annoying. One of them might be your roommate next year!  This is where your room for growth lies. Paula Weymiller says that the person who annoys you the most is like a little angel sitting on your shoulder, telling you to grow up, and that you have the most to learn from that little angel and that annoying person.  In the words of Plato, “be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle.” Treat everyone with respect.

There is an old Persian proverb: If life throws a knife at you, you can catch it by the blade or by the handle.  A vivid image.   The Nora School exists because life, especially for teenagers, is always throwing knives.  Whether the promotion of drugs, sex, and greed in movies and on television, rigid approaches to education fostered by the standardized testing of No Child Left Behind, hormones and pesticides in our food, anxiety about our economic future, depression about our economic future, or the normal stresses of daily life and living in our families in an ADD culture, it’s a wonder that any of you make it to adulthood.  On that cheery note, let’s look at some of the non-Algebraic lessons I hope you take from Nora as you move on into adulthood.

Staying in bed -catching the knife by the blade.

Daydreaming in a classroom with 30 other students, -catching the knife by the blade.

Daydreaming in a classroom with 7 other students -catching the knife by the blade.

Self-medicating -catching the knife by the blade.

Refusing to take help from those who care for you -catching the knife by the blade.

3 hours of Facebook followed by 4 hours of Minecraft... well, you get the idea.

Some of you have experienced catching the knife by the blade, and you know how well that worked out.  I believe that during the time you’ve been with us you’ve learned to catch the knife by the handle, at least most of the time.  If you take this with you, you’ll make out well.  How did you catch the knife by the handle, and how can you continue to do so? 

As the sign outside my door says, Smart People Ask For Help.  Indeed, if I have had any success in 21 years as Head of The Nora School, it’s because I was smart enough to hire folks smarter than I, able to do their jobs well, and I ask for them for help.  Next year it will be up to you to chase after the help, rather than having the help chase after you.  Asking for help, and indeed recognizing when you need help, is catching the knife by the handle.

Some days you just have to get out of bed and put one foot in front of the other. When you have a problem, face it.  Engage the issue, whatever it is, rather than retreat to bed, Facebook, Minecraft, sex, drugs, or other compulsive and blade catching activities. Your teachers and your parents don’t always have wonderful days, Professor Guttman, President Obama and Dave Mullen all have days they just don’t want to face.  Yet successful people are successful because, despite whatever it is that’s weighing them down, they swing their legs out of bed and put one foot in front of the other. 
Sometimes you can tell they’re having a tough time, but usually the movement creates the inertia necessary to be productive, if not at 100% then at least better than 0%.  So when you’re down, get off your butt and do something, preferably something that makes the world a little bit better.  Taking action is catching the knife by the handle.

Recognize the need to pace yourself.  As you look back on your time at Nora, remember that you never had more than two classes in a row before a break.  You’ll note that the school year was broken up with retreats, field trips, all-school activities, community service, and class trips.  That is purposeful, as life is lived in the margins as well as the main text, and the margins are often what give the main text it’s richness. We never neglect the main text, which for us is learning, nor should you in your future endeavors, but be purposeful in creating renewal for your body, mind, and soul.  Whether that takes the form of getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, contributing service to others, be mindful of the choices you make, and the reasons you make them.  This will give you the stamina to continue catching knives by the handle.

And again, do your part to make the world a little bit better.  There are lots of knife throwers out there who have  political or economic interests in tearing things down, denigrating others, and making sport of bullying.  You live in a coarse culture, but you’ve gone to a counter-cultural school, where these activities go against the grain. Take that with you and spread it, not through great acts of charity, but through small kindnesses.  Often when we’re busy catching knifes ourselves we forget that all those around us are catching their own knives.

Mother Teresa tells a story of bringing food to a poor family: “When I came to that family I saw the faces of those little children disfigured by hunger.  I gave the rice to the mother. She divided the rice in two and went out, carrying half the rice. When she came back, I asked “Where did you go?”  She said, “To my neighbors, they are hungry also”.  I was not surprised that she gave, poor people are really very generous. I was surprised that she knew they were hungry. Generally we’re so focused on ourselves we have no time for others.”

So be aware of the suffering of others... the kid in your class who learns differently, the kid in your dorm who is homesick, the kid you work with who talks too much.  All are busy catching their own knives, and the grace with which you treat them says everything about you.

I think you’re ready to move on.

Our goal has been to help you to pursue possibilities. The broad liberal arts education that you received at Nora has opened doors to a variety of possibilities, but note that the harder you worked the more possibilities you had. Now it’s up to you to find those passions worthy of your pursuit. Here is where the fun, and the fear, come in.  You don’t have to know your passion right now, most of you will change careers at least once before you’re my age. But right now you’ll get to study and work at things that are interesting to you, and that’s the fun part of moving past high school.

But try to take courses and have experiences outside your areas of interest as you pursue your further education, as you never know what new endeavor might spark a new passion. Be open to serendipity, when a door opens go through it and see what happens. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t Know,” and remember that “smart people ask for help,” you’re smart, ask! Think about others, as you are, in terms of the rest of the world, in the top 10% of wealth. You have an obligation to others, and helping others can be a great antidote to overinvolvement with yourself.

Class of 2012, we’ll miss your different ways of thinking and your unique approaches to the world.

Allen - you’ve always had a logical reason for every decision you’ve made, usually contrary to the ideas of your parents and teachers. I hope that you’ve come to see that pursuing your passions and meeting your responsibilities is not an either/or choice, but a both/and possibility.

Sarah - You’ve learned a lot socially over the time you’ve been with us, and we’ve enjoyed your flute playing in the band. You’ve taken advantage of the lessons we’ve tried to teach, and have a good foundation on which to grow at Shepherd next year.

Rollin - As a quite observant presence with us you’ve added a great deal to our community. Your caring presence, especially toward your female classmates, has helped them get through some rough patches. You’ve plugged away at the academics, and have asked for help when needed. Good job, have fun in Iowa.

Daphne - As you’ve matured with us over the years you’ve softened up, a bit, in dealing with others. We hope you will continue to grow in empathy for others as you learn to work and live with them in dorms and classrooms in the years to come.

Shana - We’re not sure where the next neighborhood hangout will be once you’ve headed off to college, but you’ve been the social butterfly that has kept everyone going throughout your time at Nora.


Ariana - hypothetically... no, not hypothetically, in reality you’ve really blossomed during your time with us, and now that you’ve hit your stride it’s, sadly for us, time to go. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a student both dance at the prom and play in the outfield in the same dress.  We expect to hear great things when the class of 2013 visits Shepherd College next September.

Erick - I hope that you find the answers to ALL your questions over the next four years at UMBC. I know that Nic is ready to work for EF Tours after answering your inquiries throughout Europe over these past four years, and we’ll all miss your infectious enthusiasm, and the top hat!

John - It’s been wonderful to see you mature from the goofy freshman who wouldn’t or couldn’t  take notes in Religion class to a serious student with a clear vision of the future for himself.  We wish you the best as you pursue the possibilities opening up before you in one of the few careers that can’t be shipped off to another country.

Nick P. - You managed to get through four years without ever eating lunch, and you’ve been an exeplary student with perhaps the highest GPA of any Nora grad. We hope that you won’t be too tough on yourself, as you’re a great kid and a superb student, and the classes you now get to take going forward are mostly those that interest you. College is a lot more enjoyable than high school.

Carin - You’ve come a long way from the soccer player who would stomp off the field if she missed a kick. Who would have thought you’d be sharing the Athletic Award at the end of your senior year?  Be forgiving to yourself, as life is never a series of uninterupted successes, and your ability to bounce back is at least as important as your ability to succeed on the first try.

Greta - Sadly we only got to know you for this one year, but you’ve been a great addition to the class of 2012. We’re glad you’re able to pursue your artistic passions, and we look forward to your first solo exhibition.

Kara - It’s been a long road to today, and you owe your parents a huge thank you for working so hard to get you to this point. You now have possibilites open to you, and it’s up to you to take advantage of them without the advantages of Homework Club hanging over your head!

Nate - You’re welcome. Remember that second, and third, and fourth chances don’t come your way everyday, and be sure that you offer those same chances to others that you live and work with at Eckert and in your life.

Kylie - You’re the only student who cries as easily as Hedy, and I expect you both to be teary-eyed as you leave the stage today. We’ve enjoyed your poetry, or at least the cheerful ones (there were some cheerful ones, weren’t there?), and how well you integrated various people into your social network.

Nick L. - How nice that Bard is getting another Bard, and another Nora student. Unfortunately, you’ll be in New York, with Tebow, not terribly hospitable territory for a Celtics and Patriots fan. We look forward to your continued growth intellectually, and hope to see you in Courtney’s Nora fantasy football league next year.

Noely - Like Greta, we’re sorry that you were with us for only one year, as just as we’re getting know you it’s time to leave. We hope that as you pursue you passions that you look back on your time at Nora as a model for how caring adults work together, and that you create your own community that sustains and supports you.

Rachel - As you pursue possibilities you might consider the circus, because you really seem to enjoy the high wire act!  We hope that as you pursue the possibilities open to you that you find one that has you jumping out of bed and arriving early every day.

Danny - In many ways you’ve been the “straw that stirs the drink.” You’ve always been kind to your classmates and worked hard with your teachers, a model of what we’d like to see in all our students. Remember not to leave your speech until the last minute, and we wish you the best, and a great alarm clock, as you pursue your college education.

Class of 2012, you have worked hard to get here.  You are survivors.  Not only did you survive middle and high schools that were big, impersonal, and bureaucratic, you survived Nora, which is no easy task.  Not everyone can handle it, but you did.

Seth Godin posits that “small is the new big,” and as graduates of one of the smallest schools in the country, you should understand that it’s a big accomplishment to graduate from a small school. It’s a small accomplishment to find a clique of people you get along with in a big school, but it’s a big accomplishment to get along, intimately, with everyone, even with people who annoy you and get on your nerves in a small school. 

It’s a small accomplishment to hide in the back of a big classroom and avoid the teacher’s radar and do the minimum necessary to get by, but it’s a big accomplishment to push through your resistance and actually do the work, because you know that in Chris’s small classroom your missing homework will be noticed. 

Small is the new big.  By doing something small, like saying hello and making eye contact with the cashier at McDonald’s, you can make a big difference in someone else’s day.  We all have our daily frustrations, but by doing the small kindnesses to others we can, collectively, make a big difference in the world.  By cutting another person some slack, you can make a big difference. 

There is often a misperception that being in a small school like Nora is easy, because the teachers know you and work with you and give you lots of chances, and all of that is true.  But equally true is that going to a small school is hard,  because the teachers know you and work with you and give you lots of chances.   There’s nowhere to hide if you haven’t done the reading, and your math homework always gets checked, and when it’s your turn to present there’s no one to hand it off to. 

Your parents hear if you missed the trip to the Smithsonian, and they know when you’re not doing your Pre-Calculus homework.  Courtney notices when you show up late to Physics, and Patrick notices when you didn’t do your Chemistry homework.  It’s tough to stand up to that amount of scrutiny, but you have. 

You’ve survived not only the classrooms,  but also the whitewater rafting of your sophomore year, the high ropes and goal setting of the junior retreat, and writing your own recommendations and sharing your life stories on the senior retreat.  You set up your own senior community service, late though it may have been for some of you, and you learned to balance two of the most precious gifts of adulthood: freedom and responsibility. 

The freedom part is easy, every teenager gets that.  The responsibility part is a lot harder.  Not all that many adults get that, as witnessed by the various crises on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill.  Learning when to have fun and when to work, when to sleep in and when to get up, finding where the boundaries are, and which ones it was safe to cross, these are things that your parents and teachers have to juggle every day.   

You managed, if imperfectly, those four lessons with which we start every school year.

You’re now at the end of a long road. Ralph Waldo Emerson had this advice: “Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”           

Guy Kawasaki, one of the early employees at Apple, says to “Pursue joy, not happiness. Sure, the future is bright and all that stuff, but life is not uninterrupted, pure happiness. You will go through difficult times. But what balances and overcomes difficulty is episodic joy. Joy does not come from the possession of material things—it comes from experiences such as falling in love, making close friends, creating or doing things that delight and help people, and eventually raising children, especially if they move out.”

Life is difficult, but today is a joyful day.

On behalf of the entire faculty of Nora I wish you many joyful episodes in the years ahead, and hope that by bringing happiness to others you may construct a fulfilling life for yourself.

Congratulations.

It's been a long time!

Wow, how the urgent squeezes out the important, and how the important squeezes out the "nice to do." I can't believe it's been 3-1/2 months since I updated this puppy, as we've had so much happening at Nora over the past few month.  But like the tides, no sooner is one event finished than another is before us, leaving little time for reflection. But yesterday's graduation, an occasion of mandatory reflection, was a nice opportunity for me to think back on the lives of our Class of 2012 as they close the book on their mandatory schooling. I'll post my remarks soon, but it was with a great deal of pride that I saw them off to their next steps: Bard, Shepherd, UMBC, MC, and other colleges, including art schools and automotive schools.  It's a list as varied and diverse as the class itself.  Photos and remarks will follow, but if you'd like to relive the slideshow, you can find it here. Hope you have a great weekend!

Maurice

Another hero of my youth passed away this weekend at the age of 78. Maurice Andre, like Maynard Ferguson, was know to us trumpeters by first name only. Whenever we would pull out our piccolo trumpets and attempt the Brandenburg or any other virtuoso piece, the cry would go up... "Maurice!" Here's a video of Maurice performing the third movement of the Brandenburg pack in his prime.

Dyslexia and Ansel Adams

This week my photography class has been watching a film about Ansel Adams, and they've learned that he was a hyperactive child who suffered from dyslexia. Despite these challenges, through the love and patience of his father, he was able to pursue his passions for music and later photography. His school was a year-long pass to the World's Fair in San Francisco at the age of 12... how many of us would give our 12 year-olds carte blanche to go to the Smithsonian on their own every day for the next year rather than attend school (not to mention what the state of Maryland might say about it). It's a useful reminder that the skills required for academic success are not the only skills required for life success, and that many of the traits that can make school difficult for our kids are indeed great gifts in the wider world... if only we have enough love and patience to weather their adolescence!

Happy Holidays

from all of us at Nora!

Art & Photography

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted... life, the website, Facebook, emails, all seem to have taken the steam out of blogging. Just so you know that I remember it's here, I'm posting a TEDx talk by photographer Chris Orwig for my photography class (which is doing fantastic work, by the way). Hope you enjoy it.

Building Community, version 48

As in each of the past 47 years, building a new and vibrant school community is an important task at the beginning of each school year, and as always we've been hard at work on it this year. As we finish up the first Advisory and begin the second, it's been interesting to look back at all we've done toward that end.

From our faculty first-aid training in August when we began to integrate Ave and Trey into our community, to the first day ice-breaking activities when we welcomed our new students, to the Billy Goat Trail hike which gave everyone something in common to struggle through, after the first week we had begun to get a sense of ourselves as a new community.

On to field trips to the King Memorial and the Occupy DC rallies, as well at trips closer to home, where classes had adventures that took them beyond the school walls.

The soccer season, while challenging in the "wins" department, allowed us to make some new friends at the Parkmont School.

Finally there are the retreats, four in all so far this year, with the Sophomore Rafting Trip still in line for May. The seniors went off to visit several colleges and work on their applications, then the SGA went off to plan social events for the year. This week, while the juniors were camping at the Sheridan Mountain Campus, the freshmen went off for a day of their own.

We've managed to create rain and muddy fields by scheduling the Student/Faculty Soccer game twice, without yet playing a single minute. Perhaps in the springtime when the weather is more cooperative we'll manage this. Coming up we have the Homecoming Dance tomorrow night and the Haunted Forest trip on Saturday.

So what have we learned about our new community so far this year? Academically they're doing very well, with Homework Club referrals at an all-time low. Socially they're a cohesive group. The seniors are serious about their plans for next year and are working hard to make them come to fruition. This year's juniors are braver than last year's juniors (sorry, guys, but they all did the leap of doom, er, faith from the top of that telephone pole). While there have been a few missteps, most have been recoverable. Our new teachers bring great energy and enthusiasm to their work, and we've all learned, once again, that creating community is hard, but rewarding, work.

Steve Jobs

Not a fan of the company, but definitely of the man...

Creating Community

Another school year brings with it the creation of an entirely new school community, containing the remnants of those gone by along with new DNA brought in by our newcomers. This is my 21st go-round at a new community at Nora, and my (gulp) 33rd as an educator... how time flies! It's always amazing how in ways both intentional and random our community comes together. With a first week hike along the Billy Goat Trail, a Senior Retreat, a trip to the new Martin Luther King Memorial, or just hanging out at lunchtime, our new students and teachers both affect and are affected by the Nora community. While some may think that "community" means that we all just get along, that's not what a real community is like. In fact, it's in working through conflict and difficulties, both stylistic and profound, that we become one community. While we might like to think it's already happened, that would be magical thinking. Communities evolve and change, for the better if we do our jobs well, and the Nora community next May will be different in many ways than the group of folks we are today. So I hope that everyone enjoys the journey, understanding that it will be more like the Billy Goat Trail than like the towpath, and that straight lines, in life as in hiking, are usually not all that interesting.

Some mad Photoshop skills for your summer amusement

Photographer Dave Hill takes you through his composite layers in Photoshop to create this 3-D video. Amazing stuff, and an interesting way to understand layers. Look out next year's Photography class!

Adventure Series - Exposed from Dave Hill on Vimeo.

So where is the problem?

My Home Town

A nice little documentary about the history of industrialization featuring my hometown. One has to wonder if there will be something similar about Apple or Intel in 100 years.

"Waltham's Watch" from Jonathan Boschen on Vimeo.

Cool fun summer stuff...

Winner of the Nokia Shorts competition 2011, shot on a cell phone.

Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

Director: JW Griffiths
Producer: Kurban Kassam
Director of Photography: Christopher Moon
Editor: Marianne Kuopanportti
Sound Design: Mauricio d'Orey
Music composed by: Lennert Busch

Congratulations Class of 2011

Accepted to the following colleges and universities:

Arcadia University, University of Arizona, Bard College, California Institute of the Arts, Centre College, Clark College, Cornell College, Denison College, Elon College, Emerson College, Farleigh Dickinson University, Fitchburg State University, George Mason University, Grinell College, Guillford College, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampshire College, Hood College, Howard University, Lesley University, Lyndon State University, Marshall University, Maryland Institute College of Art, University of Maryland, St. Mary’s, Naropa University, New England College, University of North Carolina, Asheville, Ohio Wesleyan University, University of Oklahoma, Penn State University, Pratt Institute, Ringling College of Art and Design, Rutgers University, St. John’s College, School of the Visual Arts, Springfield College, SUNY Plattsburg, Susquehanna University, College of Wooster, Wheaton College, Worcester State University.

Good Luck!

From a grateful parent, after graduation yesterday

Dear Dave and Nora Staff,

Thank-you, all, for the lovely send-off you gave to the class of 2011 yesterday.

Thank-you also for the past four years – Nora was the best thing that ever happened to my son academically. At Nora he found stability, support, respect, challenge, and community, and it has made a huge difference in his life. The Nora School held him to high academic and personal standards, but Nora’s teachers also “cut him slack” when needed, and helped him to develop confidence in himself and his abilities.

I’ve witnessed enough bad school experiences elsewhere to know that teachers can’t perform this way without backing from school administrators, and so am very grateful for The Nora School’s wise administrators who set the tone for the school environment, but also give teachers the freedom, trust, and respect necessary for them to adjust their teaching methods as needed for each student. I am also grateful for the many extra-curricular opportunities Nora gave my son, not only the sports and volunteer service programs, but also the many cultural events, foreign travel opportunities, and wonderful school traditions, and for the teachers and staff who gave of their time to make these events possible.

I have also been very impressed by the balance Nora has struck between school safety and student freedom, and the ease and grace with which teachers and staff have handled the occasional incident. I realize that this type of response is the result of careful contingency planning.

The Nora School is truly a unique and wonderful place, and I am very grateful for all that it has done for my son.

Just in time for Semester Exams

An Android app (perhaps available for iPhones as well)... StudyUp! Create quizzes, flashcards, and other study devises and review on your Metro trip into Nora this week!

Sligo Street Band in concert last night

Great tool for the ADDers among us!

I've been using Evernote for the past few months, and I must admit that I've become quite addicted to it. This tool runs as a website in your browser, or as an application on your computer, or as an app on your Android (and probably iPhone) smartphone. What's great about it? From any of those three places you can add a note and have it synced to the other two. From your phone you can save pictures, websites, and audio notes to yourself as well, and have these show up on your computer, or any computer that has a web browser. I've found it a great application for collecting the random bits of information that I'd like to follow up on later, as well as creating my "to-do" list for the day/week/month. It's well worth a look, and pretty low risk, as it's free!

Yearbook Tips: Book Design & Layout

Great Time at Prom!

Despite the late hour, well past my bedtime on a Friday night, I thoroughly enjoyed watching our kids have a great time at the prom. It's easy to get so caught up in the day to day academic struggles that we lose sight of the other parts of adolescent education that are equally, and sometimes more, important for adult success. Balancing work (or school), family, and a social life are tough enough, but throw in the stress of discovering your identity, personality, and life's work, and it's amazing they get out of bed at all! There was a wonderful article, Cherish the Good in Your Teen, in the Washington Post last week, in which a mom (Tracy Grant) does a great job of putting things in perspective as she struggles with raising a teenager. I had a long talk with a mom concerned with her son's academic struggles as he works his way through his first serious love interest. He's actually doing it very well, and in 16 months he's going to have to do it on his own, but we as parents (and teachers) are often so anxious that our children avoid pain and suffering (and poor grades) that they never learn to be resilient, to work through problems on their own, and to ask for help when they need to.

A Prom helps put all this in perspective. The joy of spinning wildly around the dance floor with youthful abandon is just as important to kids today as it was to us 35 years ago. We've just forgotten. And how well do we as adults balance work, family, and a social life? Do you even have a social life? If so, you're doing better than I am! So if you want to see what having a social life looks like, here are some more photos from the prom.

Nora School Photography Festival

Wow! Almost 400 photographs entered this year, with 236 selected to be shown this Saturday night. Students from the following 22 schools and teachers have works being shown...
Academy of the Holy Cross, Martha Schlabs and Mrs. Hoffman
Albert Einstein High School, Amber Carroll
Bethesda Chevy Chase High School
Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Jerry Eisner
Clarksburg High School, Lynn Galloro
Earle B. Wood Middle School
Edmund Burke School, Allen Jackson
Gaithersburg High School, Stephen Walker
Green Acres School, Victor Stokoll
James Hubert Blake High School, Sarah Hartenstine
John F. Kennedy High School, Ms. Ingersoll-Gilbertson
The Nora School, Dave Mullen
Paint Branch High School, Emily Aumaitre
Poolesville High School, Nori Thorne and Shannon Heaton-Pembleton
The Potomac School, Elizabeth Kupersmith
School Without Walls, James Cunningham
Sherwood High School, Deborah Bernhardt
Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart, Mary Battaglia
Washington Waldorf School, Barbara Bancroft
Watkins Mill High School, James Wu
Westland Middle School, Mr. Ritter
Winston Churchill High School, Michael Foo

The exhibition begins at 7:30 pm, with the awards ceremony around 8:15pm.

A musical treat for Passover and Easter

Dan's revenge

The same kid who moaned and groaned while hiking and backpacking all the way through scouts, ten years later can't wait to show his mother and me the peak of Camelback Mountain... 1.5 miles straight up. Nice views of Phoenix from here, but it may take weeks for our knees to recover. Karma!

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Interesting questions from Rabbi Mitelman

I just read an interesting article on Huffington Post by Rabbi Geoffrey Mitelman posing the propositiong that the question "Do You Believe In God?" is profoundly uninteresting. In Mitelman's view, those who ask the question generally believe that the answer is "yes," while for those of whom the question is asked the answer is generally "no" or "I don't know." The question itself, being closed ended, invites little dialog, and is often purposely provocative. The more interesting questions that Mitelman proposes we ask "How can we bring more kindness and justice into the world?" and "When have we felt moments of deep connection?" Interesting to ponder, and interesting to see what's left out. A link to the full article is here.

Rather bizarre photo movie

After all, who still shoots large format film?

Japan and US

From Mike Johnston at "The Online Photographer" blog...

"I worry about my own country; it seems natural at this time to think "what if." We are far less well prepared than Japan for such an event... Our government has been weakened by systematic antagonism from within, our economy made fragile by the irresponsible behavior of the greedy. Our response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was far less adequate than our response to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and things aren't getting better: just days before the disaster in Japan, the newly elected majority in the House of Representatives passed a bill gutting the funding of, among many other things, California's tsunami early warning system—yet another irony in a dispiriting parade of ironies in America. Japan, with a far more homogenous population and greater political unity, arguably as much wealth, and far better preparation, is reeling terribly. How would we do?"

Could not be said any better.

Good Habits

With far too much attention given in popular media to teenagers making bad decisions, it was delightful to see our students beginning what I hope will be a lifelong habit of donating blood to the Red Cross. I first gave blood in college, around 1976 or so, and have been doing so ever since. It costs me nothing, as it's pretty nice to have an hour of uninterrupted reading time, and I imagine that someone, somewhere, is being helped by this act. Our kids were fantastic, as were the several teachers who set such a great example. I hope that they're all still giving in 35 years. I hope that I am as well!

Thomas Edison Plays Basketball (or could have)

Tough week, four basketball games in five days, ice skating, late nights, wild NonValentines Party going on here at Nora as I write this. Our team has had a tough season, but they keep playing hard and consistently display great sportsmanship. Courtney has done a great job keeping enthusiasm high even as three players went down to injury this week. Patrick's first aid kit has come in handy as well. Scott stepped in today to help Eric coach, and Mara, Chris, Norman, Hedy and many other teachers have made it to games this winter. Today is the birthday of Thomas Edison, who once said that "genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration." Especially true for those who struggle in the face of daunting odds... Edison held over 1,200 patents when he died. He once said that he hadn't failed in 10,000 attempts to create an incandescent bulb, but had successfully found 10,000 ways that didn't work. Good things to think about in a time of adversity.

How to get your teenager's attention

If you like this graph, you'll love the "My Parents Joined Facebook" website. A sign of our times, alas, and as with so many things, can be used for good or ill.

Are things turning around?

Hopefully this means that our Great Recession is coming to an end. Conventional wisdom that employment is a lagging indicator, nonetheless the turnaround beginning with Obama's inauguration and the passing of the first stimulus would seem to be reflected in this chart. It will be nice when the highs soar as high as the lows of Dec08/Jan09 dip.

A Few Study Tips to Help With Semester Exams

Yes, you've heard this all before, but that's because it's TRUE! Good luck on semester exams next week... be like a boy scout and "Be Prepared."

1) Set aside scheduled time for yourself to study. Make this appointment something that can’t be changed or interrupted.

2) Take a (short) break every 20-30 minutes...get up, stretch, walk around...after 5 minutes get back to studying.

3) Set aside a space that is free from distractions (ie. TV, computer, stereo, kid brother, etc.).

4) Get plenty of sleep, eat healthy food, drink plenty of water.

5) Practice! Complete all review worksheets, re-take old exams and quizzes (where do you think your teachers are getting their questions from?), go back to Chapter Tests and Reviews. Just like learning a musical instrument or improving a sports skill, you must practice the skills you’ll need on the exams, particularly in math and science.

6) Ask Questions of your teachers, particularly during review days and during the Reading Period.

7) Create a Study Group with a few classmates to meet at lunch, after school, and during the Reading Period. Find a Study Buddy to review with at home or on the phone.

8) Take notes during teachers’ review periods...and ask questions when you don’t understand something.

9) Make flashcards to review foreign languages, unfamiliar science terms, and other unique vocabulary.

10) Ask your teachers what will be on the exam. They’re not trying to surprise you ... in fact, they want you to do well!

11) When reviewing English and Social Studies, visualize events and people that occur in your readings.

12) When a teacher permits the use of notes or notecards, make them and use them!!!

13) Re-write or type your old notes to separate what’s important from what isn’t. Write important events, people, facts, vocabulary on notecards. The physical act of writing the information is one way of reviewing it.

14) Review what’s on old tests and quizzes...your teachers are likely to recycle many of these questions.

15) Read your notes aloud into a recording device and put it on your I-Pod to listen to as you ride to school.

16) When you take the test, do the easy questions first, then go back and tackle the tough ones.

17) When writing on an essay question, take a few minutes to outline your thoughts before you begin writing sentences.

18) Read all questions carefully and thoroughly, to be sure you understand what’s being asked.

19) Go back and review the questions on the exam. Often, a question you answered on the last page will spark a better answer on the first page.

20) When you feel stressed, take some deep breaths, get a drink of water, use the restroom, and start again.

Happy New Year!

Jay Maisel, photographer

Happy Holidays

A bit melancholy during services tonight, as this was my mom's favorite time of year. Can't help but think of Ariana's family, and I'm missing my oldest son (happy in Arizona), but joy nonetheless with those I'm with. Another year with too little peace and too much war,but if we all do a little to make another person's life better then there's hope.

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Astronomers Find First Evidence Of Other Universes

Not from the National Enquirer or World News Weekly, but from MIT...

"Our cosmos was "bruised" in collisions with other universes. Now astronomers have found the first evidence of these impacts in the cosmic microwave background."

See the full article here.

Isn't science wonderful!

Sam Smith, '07

Sam Smith, '07, star of a couple of Nora School Photography Class videos, now appears in his own show here. Now studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, he goes by the name of Harvey Moon.

Gettysburg

Walked the Gettysburg battlefield this weekend, camping with some old friends. Yes, it was 14 degrees Friday night, but nonetheless good for my soul (if not my cough). On a quiet Saturday in December it's hard to imagine the scene 147 years ago when thousands fought and died on these fields. The nature of warfare was so different from today, yet young men and women still fight and die so that others may enjoy a better life. If only we civilians living comfortably behind the front lines were willing to make some type of sacrifice in their support. Instead, we fuss about our taxes and the price of gas.

Giving Thanks

From our pre-Thanksgiving alumni/student/faculty dinner today...

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.

May all beings be free from sorrow and the causes of sorrow.

May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless.

May all live in equanimity, without attachment or aversion, believing in the equality of all that lives.

- Traditional Buddhist prayer

I hope that you and your family have a happy and restful Thanksgiving weekend.

The Mirror

Our Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Accreditation Team is here this week, looking at the self-study we've conducted over the past year and our plans for the next seven years. Looking at ourselves in the mirror has, as always, been invaluable in terms of analyzing our strengths and weaknesses and planning our work on the latter. The team will give us fresh eyes on the work that we do, and will hold up the mirror for us, and help us see ourselves more clearly. We're grateful for their time, thoughtfulness, and hard work.

Mr. Happy

No, not about the election, but about all the kids who made the honor roll this quarter. (I think I'll be focusing closer to home over the next two years.) Almost half our students had all A's and B's, and four of these had all A's. Running an analysis of homework completion vs. GPA for the first quarter, it's notable that of those who completed 90% of their homework (averaged across all classes) all had a GPA above 3.0. Of these, 17 of the 21 had GPA's above 3.5. Conversely, of those who did less than 80% of their homework, all had a GPA lower than 2.5. We're having nice lunches at Vicino Ristourante next door with the honor rollees and their advisors, all of whom worked very hard over the past two months to reach this academic accomplishment.

Dr. Doom

The convergence of today's Washington Post story on BMW's hiring practices with the book I'm currently reading, Robert Reich's Locked In The Cabinet, and an interview with Fareed Zakaria last night, has me feeling pretty blue this rainy Wednesday morning. The Post story describes how the demand for jobs in the US has folks, many of whom had once had salaried positions, lining up to earn $15 an hour at a BMW plant in South Carolina. This is half of what German BMW workers earn, making the US a low cost provider of labor to the automaker. What our corporations did in moving jobs overseas to low wage countries is now happening to us.

Robert Reich's memoir of his time as Secretary of Labor during the Clinton administration is eerily reminiscent of the issues we face today. As Labor Secretary from 1993-96, Reich pushed the administration to invest in education and training as one way of dealing with the increasing income disparity between the top 5% and the bottom 40% of wage earners. With NAFTA, outsourcing and globalization put those bottom 40% of earners in jeapordy of having no jobs at all, never mind minimum wage jobs. Reich's goals were frustrated by the takeover of Congress by the Gingrich forces in 1994 and Clinton's subsequent placing of deficit reduction as a higher priority than workforce investment. Fifteen years later the problem is, if anything, even worse. It's interesting to read Reich's frustration at being called a "socialist" for putting the interests of people ahead of the interests of corporations.

Finally, Zakaria made a comment last night that really resonated... that we may have finally found the genetic flaw in democracy, that it is incapable of putting long term interests ahead of immediate gratification. Certainly we have heard this since 1980, that we can have our cake and eat it too! Deficits and spending don't matter when it's corporations getting the breaks, but they do matter when Democrats are in control. The cycle seems to be swinging ever more quickly however, as our Attention Deficit society demands quick solutions to systemic problems, which can only be solved through means that society will not accept or have the patience to see through to completion. Is this what Rome was like at the end? Yup, it's a gloomy Wednesday morning all right!

Atget's Paris from the NY Times

Publish Post

Ariana Remembrance

The Nora School Community will hold a Remembrance of Ariana's friendship this Friday at 2:00 pm. Current students, parents, and members of the class of 2010 and their parents are all welcome to attend.

Ariana Kosok, '10

August 7, 1992 - September 18, 2010

A life well lived, but far too short, Ariana passed away yesterday of a blot clot that traveled to her heart. Ariana was a kind and caring member of the Nora community, frequently bringing cupcakes and other home-baked goods for her classmates. She was a gifted photographer and artist, seen here with her award at the Washington School of Photography High School exhibit last December. Please keep Karl and Emily in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Why Nora will always remain a non-profit school.

Only one motive... meeting the needs of the student. Does having investors and shareholders, expecting a return, skew things? Watch the video and decide for yourself!

When Ideas Have Sex

The payoff really comes at the end, when IQ comes up... some real food for thought as we think about educating those who'll be paying our Social Security in 2040!

Does the Internet make us stoopid?

Or do we accomplish this all by ourselves?

Eighteen-percent of our fellow Americans believe that President Obama is a Muslim according to a report from the Pew Research Center. Not that there would be anything wrong with a Muslim (or a Jew, or a Buddhist, or an atheist) being president, but Obama has publicly proclaimed his Christian faith repeatedly over the past several years. This 18% represents an increase in that belief over the past two years. We also know from the report that beliefs about Obama's religion track people's political assessment of him: 2/3 who think he's a Muslim disapprove of his presidency.

Lest we think stupidity is related to one's political beliefs or the crazy web sites one reads, the Gallup organization polled Americans and came up with the following:
-24% of Americans do not know the country from which America gained independence in 1776;
-18% believe that the sun revolves around the earth (maybe the same 18%?).

Ahhh, this is why we still need schools, with actual sane, smart adults talking with children about history, science, philosophy, thinking, and the evaluation of all the sources of our knowledge.

And why we need small schools in particular, where we have time to talk about these things without worrying about Annual Yearly Progress.

Remember Haiti

From photographer Ryan Booth on Scott Kelby's blog about his current trip in Haiti: "I say all of this only to remind us that in so many parts of the world tonight families will sleep on the ground without shelter. For many, clean water is a rarity at best. Many are hungry. Many are sick. The world is an impossibly beautiful place and photography is such a conduit to truly seeing that beauty. But the truth is that when you really start to see, and I mean really, really open your eyes to the world around you, you find dichotomy. Beauty and suffering seem to co-mingle. I only bring this up so that we may not forget the silent majority in this world that lack even the most basic of elements. Water. Food. Shelter." While Pakistan is in the news, and we've moved on from Haiti, it's important to remember that so many people in the world are suffering even as we deal with our brief (2-3 days) losses of power and suffer only traffic jams caused by flooding.

Dont Forget Haiti: Sidewalks from Ryan Booth on Vimeo.

Good news for those of us 'approaching' middle age...

A new book by science writer Barbara Strauch examines a number of studies that show our brains reaching their peak between our 40's and 60's. In The Secret Life of the Grown Up Brain, Strauch looks at the Seattle Longitudinal Study, among others, which followed 6,000 people since 1956 and tested them every 7 years. It found that the study participants did better on a variety of cognitive tasks in middle age than they did in their 20's, particularly in vocabulary, spatial skills, verbal memory, and solving problems. Alas, we did less well with math and perceptual reflexes.

Strauch is the health and medical science editor and a deputy science editor at The New York Times. She previously wrote about teenage brains in The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids, another good read for parents.

Another Historical Note

Thirty-six year ago today (gulp) Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency. This was the theater that dominated my own high school years, and what we thought was the culmination of years of partisan bickering may have only been the precursor to today's gridlock in Washington. That notwithstanding, Richard Nixon has been a fascinating case in leadership for my generation. Even having achieved his lifelong goal of becoming president was not enough to fill the needs in his psyche, which raises the question, how do our own goals fulfill the needs in our own psyches? Whether material possessions, wealth, grade point averages, college acceptances, advanced degrees, titles, our childrens' success, do we recognize when our own strivings have become fulfilled, or destructive, as Richard Nixon's did? A fascinating character!

Hiroshima Anniversary

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” -Pema Chodron

Sixty-five years ago today 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima, Japan, a fact little noticed in today's news. Given the state of the world today, one must ask what we've learned as a species. We don't even have the attention span to acknowledge the anniversary of one of the central events of the 20th century.

Not everyone

I'm reminded after shopping for a new cell phone (now much more than a phone) that not everyone was reading books instead of Nooks... my wife was checking her email and surfing the web at the beach. I was just surfing the waves, which was much more relaxing!


Rock Harbor, Cape Cod, at sunset, July 18, 2010.

Keeping up

Just back from vacation on Cape Cod, visiting dad, kind of sad, but not so bad...
with a couple of rounds of golf (9-holes: 42, 51), and a few trips to the beach...
while walking the beach, noticed many folks reading... perhaps not a dying skill...
also noticed zero Kindles, zero Nooks, zero iPads...
it might have been 1965.

Here's Seagull Beach, South Yarmouth, last Friday, in a 1965 sort of way.

Later start times for high school improve conduct, grades and even save lives.

No news to us here at Nora, but a recent study published in the July issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine reports that giving adolescents an extra 30 minutes in the morning leads to more alertness, better moods, lower levels of tardiness and healthier eating (at least at breakfast). As part of the study, seven high schools in Minneapolis began classes at 8:40 am (like Nora) instead of at 7:15 am (like MCPS). The University of Minnesota study found that students at these seven schools got more sleep and missed fewer classes among other benefits. They even turned out to be safer drivers! For more on adolescents and sleep, visit the National Sleep Foundation summary.

100 Degrees the next two days... a cool reminder

Five short months ago!

Congratulations Class of 2010!

You worked hard to get to this day. You are survivors, having not only survived middle and high schools that were big, impersonal, and bureaucratic, but also having survived Nora, which is no easy task. There is often a misconception that being in a small school like Nora is easy, because the teachers know you, and work with you, and give you lots of chances, and all of that is true. But equally true is that going to a small school is hard, because the teachers know you, and work with you, and give you lots of chances. There’s nowhere to hide if you haven’t done the reading, your math homework always gets checked, and when it’s your turn to make a presentation there’s no one to hand it off to. Your parents hear if you missed the trip to the Corcoran and they know when you’re not doing your Pre-Calculus homework. Lorraine notices when you show up late to Physics and Patrick notices when you didn’t turn in your Chemistry lab. It’s tough to stand up to that amount of scrutiny, but you have. You survived not only the classrooms, but also the whitewater rafting of your sophomore year, the high ropes and goal setting of your junior retreat, and writing recommendations and sharing your life stories on the senior retreat. You finished your senior community service (late though it may have been for some of you) and you learned to balance two of the most precious gifts of adulthood: freedom and responsibility. The freedom part is easy, every teenager gets that. The responsibility part is a lot harder. Many adults have yet to figure it out, as witnessed by the various crises on Wall Street and in the Gulf of Mexico. Learning when to have fun and when to work, when to sleep in and when to get up, finding where the boundaries are, and which ones it was safe to cross, these are things that your parents and teachers have to juggle every day. You managed, if imperfectly, the four lessons with which we start every school year.
These same lessons will stand you in good stead as you move forward into your adult lives: Show Up On Time. Do Your Work. Care For Your Health. Treat People Respectfully. These fourteen words are perhaps the most important lesson you take from Nora, because you have to keep living them the rest of your life if you wish to be successful.
Business writer Seth Godin posits that “small is the new big,” and as graduates of one of the smallest schools in the country, you should understand that it’s a big accomplishment to graduate from a small school. While it’s a small accomplishment to find a clique of people you get along with in a big school, it’s a big accomplishment to get along, intimately, with people who annoy you and get on your nerves in a small school. It’s a small accomplishment to hide in the back of a big classroom and avoid the teacher’s radar and do the minimum necessary to get by, but it’s a big accomplishment to push through your resistance and actually do the work. You know that in Chris’s small classroom you’d better have done the reading so you can participate in the discussion. Taking this a bit further, keep in mind that while we all have our daily frustrations, by doing the small kindnesses to others we can, collectively, make a big difference in the world.
Good luck Class of 2010! Your small school made a big difference for you, and in any number of small ways you have made a big difference in your peers and teachers. Now take this out to the world!

Looking Back

With semester exams ending Friday, we've almost arrived at the end of the school year. Our students have done a fine job this year, and I am very proud of their accomplishments. On Tuesday the members of the Class of 2010 will receive their diplomas and head off to a variety of colleges and Americorps as they begin their adult lives. We wish them the best.

As I look back on the year, I am, as always, amazed at the breadth of activity that goes on here at Nora. Beyond the four quarters of academic classes, the eight days of community service, the soccer, basketball, volleyball, and softball games (the faculty remained undefeated), we had three poetry readings, four parent lectures, college night, the photography festival, the arts festival, the alumni Thanksgiving feast, assemblies on drugs, sexuality, and a host of other topics, the guacamole challenge, and the prom. We've gone rock climbing, camping, hiking, whitewater rafting, ice skating at the Archives, and bowling. We've climbed high ropes, walked the Billy Goat trail and braved the haunted forest. We've had trips to the Newseum, the visionary art museum, the Round House theater, the Portrait Gallery and National Gallery of Art, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, and the Vietnam memorials. In addition to our breaks in December and April, we also survived Snowmageddon!

I'm continually amazed by what happens at this small school, where the external activities are matched only by the internal growth that our students experience during their time with us.

I offer a big "Thank You" to the dedicated Nora teachers for the caring, nurturing, and support you offer our students in their journey through adolescence. Have a great summer!

Fun and Danger

It's ironic that the sophomore class went whitewater rafting without incident (well, a bit of swimming) while after yesterday's softball game two students needed to see a doctor following an outfield collision! The teenage brain seeks excitement, which leads to many risky behaviors. We try to structure some of that thrill-seeking into activities like sports, but far too many kids have no outlets other than drugs, sex, and other, unsupervised, dangerous activities. Whitewater rafting and softball are no cures, but they are alternatives. I wish every kid in high school had the opportunities that our kids have to challenge themselves in ways that are healthy and (relatively) safe.

Budget cuts and tuition.

Prince George's County in Maryland is cutting hundreds of jobs, increasing class size, reducing transportation, and requiring unpaid furloughs. Times are tough, but for all the politicians' lip service to improving education, when it comes to raising taxes to pay for things, the will just isn't there.

I'm sympathetic, as, on a much smaller scale, our Board has to make similar decisions each year. The only way to improve "productivity" (getting more done with the same resources) is to increase class size, as education is a people intensive business. So do we increase class size, cut programs, or increase tuition to what it costs to operate our program? In an independent school, our reason for existing is our program, so while increasing tuition is never ideal, it sure beats cutting our program. Of course, our families have the choice to return to public school if they don't feel that what we're doing is of value. I imagine that the parents in Prince George's County will be looking for safe havens, which is good news for Queen Anne School, Bishop McNamara High School, and other private schools. Not so great for folks who can't afford them.

Graphic Representation of our Economy

Enough said!

Social media research

Just stumbled across an interesting lady, danah boyd (spelling is correct, you'll have to see her blog to understand). As we wrestle with kids and social media/web 2.0 it's nice to see some real research going into it's effects. Assignment books being so 20th century, if we put assignments on Google Calendar will kids check their text messages from us? Looking at her research and career also reminds me of why I had no desire to spend my life in academia (at least at that level). Hands on applications are better for many adults as well as adolescents (or perhaps adults who are still a bit adolescent?)!

Good news for photographers

Apropos of nothing, the National [U.S.] Park Service has announced that all 392 national parks will have free admission during National Park Week, April 17 to 25. A good week to head off to Great Falls or White Oak Canyon (in Shenandoah) to shoot waterfalls!

What teachers make

A thought about teaching as we begin spring break.

Thank goodness, it's finally passed!

For anyone who thinks that having health insurance isn't necessary, take a look at my healthy 18-year-old son's bill for an appendectomy. Even less pretty than his scars!

Perspective

We live around the little red dot labeled "Sol." This chart was created by Harvard academic Samuel Arbesman. But we should still do our homework, so that someday we can be as smart as Dr. Arbesman! Want more? Read his blog here.

A new useful tool for school!

Getting caught up on my online reading last weekend, I came across this David Pogue New York Times blog entry on Microsoft's Skydrive service. This is a free 25 GB server share somewhere in the "cloud" where one can store files. This is the perfect solution for Digital Art and Photography classes where large files are created. Rather than save work on a flash drive to bring home, students can save their work on their Skydrive. A related program, SDexplorer, allows one to treat the Skydrive just like a flash drive or a floppy disk, dragging and dropping files from the school or home computer to the Skydrive. A nifty, free, solution to a longtime problem. How nice!

What the...

In yesterday's Washington Post we learn that Virginia's Attorney General wants state universities to allow discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. "It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including 'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' 'gender expression,' or like classification as a protected class within its non-discrimination policy absent specific authorization from the General Assembly" says Ken Cuccinelli. Perhaps voters in Virginia deserve the same "information," and Cuccinelli and members of the State Assembly can outline their sexual practices prior to the next election so that everyone is fully informed!

Film

My photography class has been shooting Tri-X the past couple of weeks, getting their hands wet in the darkroom and learning to slowwww down the process of creating photographs. Though several years have gone by since I spent significant (any?) time in the darkroom, I still love the quiet, the smells, the anticipation, the pace, and the unique vision that is part of the experience. So as I wind down from what has been a tough week, I stumble across this, perhaps the best costume ever for a photographic subject. No, it's not Photoshopped. Just don't shoot it on Tri-X!

Because life is a multiple choice test.

There's an interesting article in last week's Washington Post about the Commonwealth of Virginia curtailing the use of portfolio assessments in lieu of the multiple choice Standards of Learning test. But what is the real issue? One quote gives a clue: "Portfolios can be valuable assessment tools within classrooms, but they are problematic for a large-scale accountability program, in which cost-effectiveness, consistency and validity are paramount, Wright said. Teachers spend many hours compiling portfolios, and local school systems are responsible for scoring the tests." The emphases are mine. Scoring the SOL multiple choice test takes seconds, and requires a machine rather than a teacher. So the implication is that the multiple choice test is more valid, because so much of life is like a multiple choice test (sarcasm mine). Cost effectiveness rates only a passing mention. Perhaps the Virginia legislature should have their effectiveness measured by a multiple choice assessment rather than by an evaluation of the body of their work. It might raise their scores.

Stuck. Twice.

So two weeks ago we were stuck in a hospital room in
Miami (see previous entry), and this week we're stuck at home. Our personal teenager, not allowed to do any heavy lifting, cannot help shovel the worst snowstorm in DC history. Does a picture truly speak a thousand words? What a difference two weeks makes!


More snowpics at my Flickr Snow Gallery.

The first forty years of parenting are always the hardest.

My wife and I, having shepherding two kids through visits to various colleges throughout the northeast (cold, damp, gray), finally have one who wants to go someplace interesting. His application filed, he now needs to audition at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Great! we think, a long weekend trip to visit the school, audition, and see a part of the country we've not yet toured. What could be better than Miami in January? Our itinerary set, we're headed for "the U", South Beach, and the Everglades on our latest 2-1/2 day ADD tour. Jeff auditions at the college, and we have a nice dinner after walking around South Beach and dipping our toes in the ocean. Then...

... the phone rings at 10:45 pm, with our college sophomore daughter bringing news that she's broken down outside Gettysburg with a flat tire, a dead battery, no cell phone, no AAA card, and only her laptop with Skype with which to communicate. Then...

... Jeff is having cramps and pain in our hotel room. First we think it's gas, but after a couple of hours we realize that we need professional treatment, so off to the emergency room we go. Chris, meanwhile, has gotten our AAA number, and used Skype to get a tow truck to get her back to Carlisle, PA. After five hours in the emergency room, Jeff is diagnosed with acute appendicitis, which will require immediate surgery. Then...

... after the surgery, which took a bit longer than normal because his appendix was tucked up high, touching his liver, his temperature shoots up, as does his white blood cell count. No trip to the Everglades today! Then...

...we wait, day after day, for some information from a doctor. The surgeon drops by once each day sometime between 11 am to 11 pm, while the infectious disease doctor makes her visit between 9am and 2am! Communication is difficult, and there seems to be little sense of urgency. As one IV after another is hooked up, we have little knowledge of what progress is being made.
Finally, on Friday, a week after arriving, Jeff is released, and we can try to figure out how to get home before the snowstorm hits and has us diverted to Newark!

A few lessons here: hire good people so you don't have to be at work for the place to run well, be flexible, the DC area is blessed with great medical care compared to some other parts of the country, a good health insurance plan is critical (come on, Barak), and paradise isn't so great if you're spending it in a hospital room.

More bad electronic news

Our kids' brains are turning to mush! Well, not exactly, but from a story in The New York Times:

"The average young American now spends practically every waking minute — except for the time in school — using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device, according to a new study from the Kaiser Family Foundation... And because so many of them are multitasking — say, surfing the Internet while listening to music — they pack on average nearly 11 hours of media content into that seven and a half hours.

"While most of the young people in the study got good grades, 47 percent of the heaviest media users — those who consumed at least 16 hours a day — had mostly C’s or lower, compared with 23 percent of those who typically consumed media three hours a day or less. The heaviest media users were also more likely than the lightest users to report that they were bored or sad, or that they got into trouble, did not get along well with their parents and were not happy at school.

"The report is based on a survey of more than 2,000 students in grades 3 to 12 that was conducted from October 2008 to May 2009.

"On average, young people spend about two hours a day consuming media on a mobile device, the study found. They spend almost another hour on “old” content like television or music delivered through newer pathways like the Web site Hulu or iTunes. Youths now spend more time listening to or watching media on their cellphones, or playing games, than talking on them."

We've got ours, too bad for you!

The election results in my home state of Massachusetts yesterday seem to bode ill for the passage of health care reform. Of course, Massachusetts went through this exercise half a decade ago, and all state residents are now covered by a plan similar to the one pending in Congress. If I seem to have a couple of dogs in this fight, I do. At the Nora School, our health plan costs have been going up 20% each year, necessitating benefit cuts on our teachers to maintain reasonable costs. My adult son, the genetic inheritor of a pre-existing condition (type 1 diabetes), cannot get health insurance unless he works for an employer who offers it. Or moves to Massachusetts.

In case there was any doubt that our future is electronic.

Here's a 13-minute video by Alex Roman created almost entirely in a computer. There are a few digital photos used as part of it (the Milwaukee Art Museum has those cool wings), but the music and almost all the architecture and creatures were created in a computer. One photographer referred to it as a "soak," and I'd agree. Watch it full screen with the TV off and the lights out!

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Homework help

A couple of new websites have crossed my browser recently which may be of use to students and teachers. The New York City Library has set up a deep website with lots of resources and live help between 4:30pm and 6:30pm every day. It includes an interactive whiteboard where students can draw their geometry or algebra problems and get live help. My understanding is that the service is not limited to students in New York City.
A second site requires payment, but tutor.com promises immediate and live help in almost any subject. It might be just the thing at 10pm when that quadratic equation won't fall into place! The pricing is reasonable (I've paid 3x this amount for a live tutor), but the 24/7 aspect is what really sells it.
I'd love feedback from anyone who uses either of these sites.

A new generation gap

The New York Times described on Saturday a new generation gap, between people born in '80s, '90s, and Oughts. Those in their twenties spend more time talking on the phone and using email, while their younger siblings (our current students) spend more time texting, and instant messaging. The author describes young children referring to the Amazon Kindle as "daddys' book" and drawing a finger across a computer screen expecting a response like the iPhone. All of which points up the importance of us Digital Immigrants to remain curious and keep on learning. Though I'm still not ready to tweet!