Blues Guitar Player Visits Needham High
NEF was proud to award the “Blues in the Schools” grant to Needham High School to fund a visit from Toby Walker, a Master Blues Artist and member of the NY Blues Hall of Fame. He provided an engaging presentation to the African American Studies classes that follows the history of blues from slavery, emancipation, and beyond. He also shared his personal narrative of how he came to acquire his knowledge journeying through the South. He also worked with guitar classes to teach them how to play blues style music, including rhythms and picking techniques.
See the article that appeared in the Hometown Weekly.
You’ve Got Mail! Helps Prevent Summer Slide at Broadmeadow
Film Screening of “Beyond Measure”
Piven World Comes to Mitchell Elementary
Through a small grant funded in the Fall 2015 cycle, Mitchell Elementary School students experienced the unique artistic talent of Israeli illustrator Hanoch Piven during self-portrait workshops with the artist. Piven’s illustrations, known for their playfulness, use everyday “found” objects to create unique works of art.
This collage technique encourages creativity and communication through play. Mitchell art teacher John Walek summarized the visit: “Having a world-renowned artist like Hanoch Piven teaching at Mitchell is not only a wonderful experience for the children, but also enhances our elementary art curriculum beyond measure.” To read more about Piven’s visit, check out this article in the Needham Times.
Film Screening of “Most Likely to Succeed”
“Most Likely to Succeed” has been heralded as the “best film ever done on the topic of school.” This film talks about a project-based approach to teaching and learning.
For most of the last century, entry-level jobs were plentiful, and college was an affordable path to a fulfilling career. That world no longer exists. The feature-length documentary Most Likely to Succeed examines the history of education, revealing the growing shortcomings of our school model in todayʼs innovative world. The film has been named “among the best edu-documentaries ever produced” by Education Week, and called a “smart and engaging look at education in the 21st century” by The Hollywood Reporter. Most Likely To Succeed, a film by award-winning documentarian Greg Whiteley, was an official selection of the 2015 Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals.
In collaboration with all seven Needham PTCs, the NEF offered a free screening and panel discussion of the award-winning documentary on Thursday, March 24th at Newman Elementary School.
The panel included:
- Daniel E. Gutekanst, Superintendent of Needham Public Schools
- Robert Martello, Professor of the History of Science and Technology, Olin College, Needham, MA
- Mark Somerville, Special Advisor to the Provost, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics, Olin College, Needham, MA
- Daniel Warren, Sample & Recruitment Manager at the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University; Former Grade 5 Teacher at Newman Elementary School in Needham, MA
Excerpt from The Needham Times:
“Faced with a college admissions-obsessed, achievement-driven student body, Needham educators and parents began a discussion last week about whether they should – or even can – reinvent education in Needham.
Some 500 concerned parents gathered with educators for a screening of “Most Likely to Succeed,” followed by a panel discussion. According to the provocative, recent documentary, a college degree no longer guarantees a good entry-level job, because those jobs do not exist anymore. But most parents want their children to go to college – the best possible college – anyway. Subsequently, the high school curriculum is focused on AP classes and standardized test preparation to get kids into these colleges. This is a big, vexing problem, which calls on educators, administrators and parents to re-imagine U.S. education practices so that they might better prepare students for life in the 21st century.” Continue reading coverage of the event in The Needham Times.
Learn more about the film at http://www.mltsfilm.org/
“Own Your Peace” at NHS Promote Community and Individual Well-Being
Two senior art classes collaborated with art teacher Wendy Hodge and visiting artist Jodi Colella to design, build, and publicize two temporary school-wide art installations as part of the Own Your Peace-Piece initiative. This initiative was funded in Fall 2015 with an NEF small grant. Members of the school community were invited to write on colorful fabric pieces about how they “own their peace” and to tie what they wrote to two sculptures: “The Bridge,” which is located in the area connecting the old and new school buildings, and “The Cave,” which is located under a staircase and symbolizes the creation of a comfortable space of “protection and safety.”
This project taught students how to organize community art installations and connect them to the high school’s annual Speak Out assembly and the Own Your Peace sculpture outside of the school. As one student said, “This was a beautiful and fun way to share your voice and let it become part of something bigger.”
Check out coverage of this initiative in the Needham Times and Hometown Weekly.
“Authoring Inspiration” at NHS – Young Adult Author Nancy Werlin Inspires Students
In February, young adult author Nancy Werlin visited Needham High School to conduct a series of workshops and speaking sessions with students. Nancy Werlin is a New York Times bestselling author whose young adult books cover a wide array of genres, including realistic fiction, suspense, fantasy, and comics. Her book, The Rules of Survival, is a National Book Award finalist. Locked Inside is an Edgar Award finalist, and The Killer’s Cousin is an Edgar Award winner.
According to NHS Librarian Paige Rowse, “About 175 students attended the events. Ms. Werlin spoke about a number of relevant topics and was able to connect with students. Students were engaged and eager to ask questions – we actually ran out of time during each session because so many students wanted to participate.” One NHS teacher said it was “a great opportunity to ask questions and gain insight and inspiration.” Students “liked how she talked about her whole experience, not just talking about books” and how “she gave great advice about deadlines and goals.”
The visit was funded by a grant from the NEF’s Fall 2015 Small Grants cycle.
See coverage of Ms. Werlin’s visit in the Hometown Weekly.
Robotics Are Elementary
NEF funded this grant in the Fall 2014 cycle, which financed the purchase of Bee Bots, Curriculum Mats, Lesson Plans and a set of 24-unit LegoWeDo robots for each of the five Needham Elementary schools.
According to Barbara Tennyson, Instructional Technology Specialist at Broadmeadow, “Bee Bots help us teach coding to young children. Specifically, teaching sequencing, estimation, and problem-solving are made very visual by using the BeeBots.
We have incorporated them mainly into 1st and 2nd grade STEAM classes but have even introduced them to Kindergarteners. We used them during International Dot Day and challenged the students to program them to spell the word DOT.
The individual challenges can vary greatly, from programming them to travel through a maze to completing an odd/even race using dice to using the number line mat to program addition and subtraction problems to using the alphabet mat to program it to spell their name. Lots of fun and learning!”
NEF Sponsors Another Series of Needham Talks Lectures
Needham Talks is proud to present another exciting free series of talks focused on the promotion of supportive and healthy parenting practices. New York Times bestselling authors and internationally acclaimed speakers will be visiting our community to share their knowledge of…
- How to effectively manage hectic lifestyles and enhance family relationships.
- Strategies for raising authentic and emotionally intelligent girls.
- The impact of fathers/male role models on children’s development.
- Understanding adolescence and how to build a new relationship with your tween/teen.
- How to discuss hard or sensitive topics with your child.
All lectures will be held at the Newman Elementary School Auditorium from 7:00 – 8:30pm.
Speakers and Dates:
- October 29, 2015: Edward (Ned) Hallowell, M.D. – Crazybusy: Overbooked, Overworked and About to Snap! How Parents Can Cope in a World Gone ADD
- December 2, 2015: Rachel Simmons, M.A. – Be You: An Interactive Workshop for Girls and Adults (Girls 8-14 Years of Age)
- February 4, 2016: Michael Thompson, Ph.D. – The Importance of Fathers/Male Role Models in Children’s Lives (Male-Only Event)
- April 6, 2016: Joani Geltman, M.S.W. – The Tween/Teen Years: Understanding Adolescence and How to Build A New Relationship With Your Child
- June 2, 2016: Jeanine Fitzgerald, M.A. – The Truth About the Hard or Sensitive Topics
This free speaker series is funded by a Spring 2015 NEF grant.
One School, One Book: Schooled
NEF and the Pollard PTC co-funded this grant, which gave each student and teacher a copy of the summer reading book Schooled by Gordon Korman.
Tamatha Bibbo, Pollard Principal and grant writer said, “We had a team of teachers work incredibly hard over the summer to create activities for advisory for the first month of school.
“Overall, Schooled has been a huge success. The teachers were excited to experience a common read with the students and to emphasize ‘being kind.’ Students have been enthusiastic and a majority really liked it. We are having a full school – one day – workshop on the text in November. This day will be our culminating experience for all students- it will prove to be educational, valuable, and fun (some 60’s music, speakers on home schooling, tye-dye T-shirts, Tai Chi, and so much more from the text.)”