Several years ago, I wrote a piece entitled, “Preparing our Students to be Community Leaders: An Initial Brainstorming.” After attending TEDxMemphis this weekend, I remembered the piece because I was reminded again and again during the TED talks of the vital importance of developing an interest in civic engagement and community leadership in our students. My thinking […]
Luncheon Speech to The Germantown Chamber, August 20, 2015
(The text here is edited in minor ways from the speech I gave last Thursday to the Germantown Chamber of Commerce.)Thank you for the invitation to be here today. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to speak to this group because a good school and a successful Chamber have important characteristics in common. A […]
Big Success, Small Scale: Westminster’s JanTerm Internship Pilot
Westminster’s first experience with JanTerm was not an end unto itself. It was always part of something larger. As the final part of a two-year rollout of a new daily schedule and school calendar, the JanTerm represents the single biggest curricular step forward in the Upper School since its founding–45 new challenging and varied electives, offered […]
JanTerm Debrief #3–Smart Logistics and Keeping the Temperature Low
In three weeks… 370 separate buses traveled off campus as part of JanTerm and traveled more than 17,000 miles. Westminster students visited Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, California, and Guatemala. Westminster students enjoyed 790 cupcakes, 690 snow cones, and 500 ice cream sandwiches. Logistics. Success in any complex step forward in a […]
JanTerm Debrief #2–The Course Catalogue and Reimagining the Campus
https://twitter.com/WestminsterATL/status/552217766321586176 [I am including the course catalogue here of JanTerm Courses from this January at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. Even a cursory read through the course descriptions reveals the interdisciplinary focus of much of our JanTerm work. Other themes become apparent as well, including pushing out the boundaries of what has traditionally defined our […]
Westminster’s JanTerm–Debriefing the First Year
I wrote the piece above back in the early Fall for the Fall/Winter Westminster Magazine for The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. (Just click on it for a full sized rendering). Now that our first JanTerm is over, it is a good time to share what has been a stunning success. The overall satisfaction with […]