On Calligraphy, Failure, and Discovery
October was extraordinary for recognizing and remembering true geniuses. Nobel Prize winners were announced, including one in our community: Saul Perlmutter, father of Noa (3rd) who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of distant supernovae that indicate our universe is expanding at an astonishing velocity. I had the pleasure of greeting Noa when she arrived at school the day of her father’s announcement. “My dad won the Nobel Prize in Physics!” she exclaimed to me and whomever she encountered. Indeed, how many children are able to say that? At that moment, I had a...
Read MoreTeaching Resilience
In the September 19, 2011 education issue of The New York Times Magazine, I was pleasantly surprised to read several articles that identified seemingly counterintuitive ideas about how to prepare students for success.
Read MoreWelcome Back!
Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful, restful vacation full of great stories and happy memories. My summer included much time for play, including many hours with my son, Henry, engaging in America’s—and most definitely his—favorite pastime: baseball. Whether as pitcher, catcher, or fielder, I was put to good use as Henry lived out his fantasy of one day playing in a bigger venue than our back yard. Which leads me to some major themes in our life at school: imagination and play. This summer, I was reminded often of Stuart Brown’s book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the...
Read MoreSummer Activity at Prospect Sierra
I hope that you are in the midst of a warm, relaxing summer, full of rest and fun adventures. Although it seems like a lifetime ago, we are still basking in the glow of a wonderful 2010-11 school year, feeling immensely proud of our most recent graduates, grateful for the incredible TEDx conference that was a huge success, and appreciative of each member of our community who enriches our school. Our summer crew is keeping Tapscott and Avis bustling with work, exploration, and even some play. Steve and Kate’s Camp has been welcoming campers to Tapscott since June 20. Meanwhile at Avis, our...
Read MoreHonoring Our Alumni
On May 20 we honored our fourth Prospect Sierra Alumni Action Award (PSAAA) winner, Maya Drexler, Class of 2006. Maya was recognized for her amazing leadership in the “Boss of Me” campaign, which is aimed to reduce and raise awareness about teen dating violence. The Boss of Me Campaign is a California-wide teen dating violence prevention campaign sponsored by Blue Shield of California. Over the past several years, Maya has devoted countless hours toward developing multimedia presentations, videos, posters, and managing a $1.3 million dollar budget for her projects. Her commitment to...
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