Blog
Mock trial team wins state championsip. Next stop: nationals in Washington, D.C.
Competing against high schools many times the size of Catin Gabel, our Blue Team prevailed at the state competition. Congratulations to Catlin Blue team members Talbot Andrews, Conor Carlton, Becky Coulterpark, Eli Coon, Nina Greenebaum, Andrew Hungate, Grace McMurchie, Kate McMurchie, Megan Stater, and Leah Thompson.
Support the Catlin Gabel Difference
Teachers speak about our distinctive programs
From the Winter 2010 Caller
The programs here embody Catlin Gabel’s uniqueness. These important offerings advance the mission of the school by continually reinforcing and refining the notion of progressive education. The teachers quoted here highlight what makes these programs exceptional and what they contribute to a Catlin Gabel education.
Robotics
By Dale Yocum, Middle & Upper School robotics program director
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Catlin Gabel’s robotics program gives students experience with hands-on engineering. More important than that, it is an opportunity to work together as a team accomplishing an impossible goal in a time too short and with a budget too small, just like the real world. Our robotics team is the most decorated in Oregon, advancing to the world championships the last three years in a row. Our membership continues to grow, with 10% of the upper school now taking part. The next phase of work for robotics is to apply our skills earned in competitions towards other problems in the community. Our work to improve the quality of life for the elephants in the zoo is the first example of how we will reach out.Outdoor Education
By Peter Green, outdoor education director & Upper School dean of students
The outdoor education program is the place where students grow in ways that will help them face the challenges of the outside world. It is one of the ways we help prepare them for the unexpected. The program provides leadership opportunities where students are genuinely challenged to lead their peers, make decisions, and confront daunting obstacles. This past year we passed a major milestone with 60% of the current Upper School students having been on an outdoor program trip. January marks the fifth anniversary of the program, and we have offered over 120 trips. Our plan is to involve as many students as possible. We will be offering more trips that are truly adventures, like our trip to Paulina Butte in central Oregon, where the group will hike up in winter conditions and try to construct a pond or tub to warm themselves before camping out.Global Education
By Spencer White, global education coordinator & Middle School Spanish teacher
Global education at Catlin Gabel takes full advantage of the international diversity of parents, faculty, and staff to design activities and travel experiences that do not rely on outside contractors or travel agents. Connections to places and cultures far from Catlin Gabel exist in our students’ daily classes and lives rather than as an isolated, future destination. Our students need to be able to communicate and act internationally at every level of their education. Fostering abilities in cross-cultural communication and critical thinking about global issues is at the forefront of our global initiative. Our global programs are developing exponentially. We have launched the Viewfinder Global Film Series, which showed 23 films this year. We invite families from all divisions to gather monthly to view and discuss films selected by the faculty, connected to curriculum. This series honors the diversity of our families and allows us to expand our perspectives on the world and its cultures. In addition, global trip opportunities for Middle and Upper School students this year include Costa Rica, Martinique, Nepal, Cuba, and Japan.
The Learning Center
By Kathy Qualman, Middle & Upper School learning specialist
The Learning Center is truly the place where each child is the unit of consideration. We help students from all four divisions understand their unique cognitive abilities and work with them to identify and practice strategies that get them to their academic goals. We facilitate communications between families, students, teachers, and outside resources so that we are coordinated in supporting student learning. For students there is no stigma attached to using the Learning Center. It’s seen as a resource for all, just like the libraries. Our achievements are highly personal to each student and family. We believe they are life changing and life enhancing. It makes us proud to see the transformation in students, culminating with graduation, when we see our students walk across the stage every June. In recent years between 75% and 95% of each graduating class has used our services during their time at Catlin Gabel. We are working on improving our ESL support, strengthening our efforts to help students transition between divisions, integrating new technologies, strengthening support for new students, becoming a more active professional resource for teachers, investigating partnerships with other institutions, and becoming a resource to our greater Portland community.
PLACE--Planning and Leadership Across City Environments (formerly the Urban Leadership Program)
By George Zaninovich, PLACE director
This unique program allows students to gain exposure to local government and learn how engaged citizens can influence the future of their communities. Every PLACE class culminates in a service learning project where students form an urban planning consulting firm and complete a plan for a client. This directly benefits the community as Catlin Gabel students, working with students from other public and private high schools, tackle a need in our city and find appropriate solutions. Recently, thanks to the work of PLACE’s advisory committee made up of city leaders and Catlin Gabel students and teachers, PLACE was awarded a prestigious grant from the Edward E. Ford Family Foundation. We have added partners in Portland’s Bureau of Planning of Sustainability, Portland State University, and Portland’s public schools. PLACE has come a long way in the last year by adding summer classes at Catlin Gabel, and offering the course at Lincoln and Marshall high schools. We are looking to build a more robust urban studies curriculum at Catlin Gabel, as well as expanding the summer program to include a middle school City Explorers camp and more opportunities for high school students from across the region.
The Arts
By Nance Leonhardt, Middle & Upper School art teacher
Active participation in the arts is essential to each student’s understanding and appreciation of humanity. We honor the integrity of each student’s work and aim to create an environment that facilitates creative risk taking, where the process is as important as the product. One example of many vibrant programs in the arts is the Poetry in Motion project, which frees students from traditional media conventions and pushes them to explore cinematography and editing from an experimental and expressionistic angle. It generates cross-divisional connections between filmmakers and poets, and joins the community in a creative process. Each year students in the project produce 45 original films, inspired by works of poetry written by community members ranging in age from 4 to 65 and beyond.
To support these, and all of the amazing programs at Catlin Gabel, please visit the giving website or call or email the development office, 503-297-1894 ext. 302.
Catlin Gabel News Winter 2010
From the Winter 2010 Caller
NEWS FROM AROUND HONEY HOLLOW
All Kinds of Minds named Catlin Gabel a School of Distinction. Among other criteria, the school won the honor for “implementing a wide range of creative learning concepts that take into consideration students’ strengths, affinities, and challenges.” . . . Albina Head Start honored Catlin Gabel for its 16-year commitment to volunteer service at its early childhood education center. . . . Lauren Reggero-Toledano’s Spanish V Honors students presented their research project, “The Hispanic Presence in Oregon: From the Great Depression to Today,” to the Latin American studies program at Lewis & Clark College. . . . Retired teacher Dave Corkran accepted a Regional Forester’s award this fall from the Mt. Hood National Forest for Catlin Gabel’s many years of volunteer work restoring degraded land, through the Elana Gold ’93 Memorial Environmental Restoration Project and other student volunteer work. Since 1991, Catlin Gabel students have contributed more than 15,000 hours of labor.FAREWELL!
Upper School counse
lor George Thompson ’66 will retire at the end of the school year. “There is never a good time to leave a vocation that one has loved, but this is as easy a moment as any. I will miss Catlin Gabel and plan to stay in touch with the good friends I have made here,” he says. Also retiring is Bob Kindley, Upper School math teacher. “The teaching of mathematics has always been interesting and exciting for me. I enjoy seeing students understand something for the first time and like hearing their new and interesting questions. I will miss the classroom and Catlin Gabel but feel that it is now time to pursue other things,” he says.HONORS TO KEVIN ELLIS ’10 AND YALE FAN ’10
Kevin Ellis ’10 and Yale Fan ’10 were named finalists in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search in January, two of 40 students nationally receiving the award. They received an all-expensepaid trip to Washington DC in March to compete for more than $500,000 in scholarships. Kevin and Yale were also national semifinalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology, sponsored by the College Board. Kevin also won a Best of Category award in computer science at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2009 in Reno, Nevada, and he presented at the International Symposia on Implementation and Application of Functional Languages IFL 2009 conference at Seton Hall University, along with graduate students and university professors from around the world. OUR AMAZING STUDENTS
An op-ed by Lauren Edelson ’10 on college tours was printed in the New York Times on December 5. . . . Joey Lubitz ’10 won a Golden Key, the highest regional honor in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program, and his artwork will be part of the national judging. . . . Artworks by Claire Rosenfeld ’17, Layton Rosenfeld ’19, and Will Attig ’20 were selected for the “Super Hero” exhibition in the Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum in Eugene, on display through May. . . . Megan Stater ’12 placed first in the recent Oregon Music Teachers Association Classical Piano Festival. Michael Zhu ’11 took first place in the association’s Piano Romantic Festival, after placing third in their Chris Tapang Scholarship Competition. . . . . Middle School robotics Team Delta won 3rd at state championships, with the Green Dragons winning runner-up Champion’s Award and Team Echo winning second in research.
FALL ATHLETICS and SPORTS ROUNDUP
Both the boys and girls soccer teams were finalists at state. The girls cross-country team won second at state. . . . . McKensie Mickler ’11 was named an Oregonian athlete of the week in October after she had “27 kills to power the Eagles to a four-game victory over Vernonia” in volleyball . . . Students who recently placed high in state and national competitions in sports outside of CGS included Conner Hansen ’15 in Tae Kwon Do, Anna Byrnes ’11 in competition with her horses, Neil Badawi ’12 in soccer, and Ashley Tam ’15 in swimming.
Intel Science Talent Search photo of Intel's Bill MacKenzie with Kevin Ellis '10 & Yale Fan '10 courtesy The Oregonian
A Tribute to Rummage, A Look Ahead
From the Winter 2010 Caller
This past November was Catlin Gabel’s final Rummage Sale. Forces that include changes in the way goods are sold in the digital age, the growth of second hand and discount retailers, and the shrinking pool of volunteers eroded the ability of this cherished 65-year tradition to raise the funds Catlin Gabel needs for financial aid. After the sale, it was time to find new ways to bring people of all ages together the way Rummage did, and to teach our students the lessons they could learn outside the classroom from Rummage. The Catlin Gabel community— students, teachers, staffers, parents, alumni, trustees, and friends—began working together to figure out What’s Next? at a meeting on January 23.
The group of more than 100 met in the Barn for most of the day to figure out what was important to them and to the school and wider communities through self-reflection and a series of group discussions led by past trustee and parent Mindy Clark. In addition, the event was streamed live on the website, and those off campus were able to participate online. Every idea and contribution was given respectful consideration at all times as the group worked towards final consensus at the end of the meeting. From smaller to larger groups, and then to the group as a whole, participants brainstormed ideas for what’s next, given a set of basic parameters. The final products were a list of events or activities that all agreed on, a list of what was agreed to be common ground, and a list of ideas that not every one agreed to, but that were important to some. No idea was thrown away, however—all ideas were captured and will be kept for future consideration.
Common ground—values that all thought should undergird what’s next— included attributes of multiple generations, physical activity, a learning component, a local connection to the community, a service component, financial sustainability, ability of students to run or organize the activity, and a way for the school community to bond or connect.
Projects, activities, or events that drew consensus were something to do with gardens, farms, or growing food (what one called a “Honey Hollow Farm resurrection”); a “Barn Raising” as a metaphor for building and working together on a specific project on or off campus; one specific event; a Catlin Gabel service corps; and an annual Campus Day connected to a worldwide day of service so that those who don’t live nearby can take part.
The day’s discussions are available online for everyone to see and to comment on. Members of the What’s Next steering committee will consider all the input and come back to the entire Catlin Gabel community with proposals for consideration. Whether it be one event, or many, or what shape it will take, remains to be seen. But what’s definite is that the community will decide, and try it out, and see what works. A new tradition may be born, or it may take time, but we will do it together.We’ll never forget Rummage and the memories we have. Two stalwart volunteers reminisce here about what the Sale meant to them, and think about the directions we can go from here. 
Dreams are Powerful
Celebrated actress Gretchen Corbett '63 was destined for a life in the theater, and a Catlin Gabel teacher gave her the background for success
From the Winter 2010 Caller
By Nadine Fiedler
One evening at the theater set young Gretchen Corbett’s life on its course. She was in Ashland with her family to see the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as they had done for many years. They would sit in Lithia Park in the afternoon reading that night’s play, and then they would go to the performance. That night’s play was “Hamlet.”
“’Hamlet’ completely blew me away,” says Gretchen. “I could not sleep after seeing it. I was overwhelmed with the possibilities of a life in theater, and how moving and important the story that the play told felt to me.”
Her dream was to be onstage at Ashland. She got there, eventually. “Dreams are powerful, as everyone knows,” says Gretchen.
But before she got to Ashland, she received theatrical training at Catlin Gabel that she credits with helping her become the powerful, lauded actress she is today.
The much-beloved “Mrs. Jo,” Vivien Johannes, taught Gretchen English and theater. Mrs. Jo demanded energy, excitement, and passion from her students, and woe were you if you came to class without something in mind to discuss or debate. “If you didn’t, she’d tell you that you were just a pip on a log, and you should get out,” recalls Gretchen.
They worked on scenes in Mrs. Jo’s class for two or three hours a day, performing a play a year. Her eclectic repertoire included some pretty heavy going, like Euripides’ “Trojan Women” and Ugo Betti’s “The Queen and the Rebels.” Mrs. Jo’s space at first was a roped-off section of the Barn, until she and her students designed the Nutshell (the name, incidentally, from a line in “Hamlet”) and the school built it for them.
“Mrs. Jo required us to tap into our self-motivation and passion,” says Gretchen. “This has been essential to my growth as an artist.”
Gretchen won entrance to Carnegie Mellon University through an audition. She was almost immediately cast in Euripides’ “Electra” (which she loved: she had spent two years working on Euripides with Mrs. Jo). And her dream came true when she finally got to Ashland, performing during the summers. After two years Gretchen left Pittsburgh and returned to Portland, taking English classes at Portland State.
That didn’t last long. “This was the sixties, the Kennedy years, when the country believed in the arts,” she says. That fall a representative of a government-sponsored program offered Gretchen roles in “Romeo and Juliet” and “Our Town” in the Repertory Theater of New Orleans, playing to 2,000 high schoolers a day. That phase of her life lasted until she came to New York a year later.
Gretchen was in the city on her way to Europe when she met an agent. “I didn’t know about agents. I didn’t even know how to hail a cab,” she says. But he saw her talent and potential, and soon she was cast in a film, an off-Broadway show, and a Broadway show. “Thanks to Mrs. Jo I could handle heavy classical stuff,” she says.
“When I first played Broadway I walked on the boards as a very young girl with a lot of stage chops. It was unusual to be so young and hit the back of the house with your voice and personality. It was one of those things that has to be learned,” says Gretchen.
She spent 10 years in New York on the stage, in productions with many notable actors, including Alec McCowen, Julie Harris, and Irene Papas, and directors that included Michael Cacoyannis and Abe Burrows. She loved her life in New York theater, so much so that when Universal Studios offered her a contract for film and TV, she refused. The second time they offered, she decided to give it a try and went to Hollywood.
Her life became a constant whirl of roles in films and television, most prominently the unforgettable role of lawyer Beth Davenport in The Rockford Files with James Garner. She also appeared in The American Revolution, with Michael Douglas and James Woods, and a long list of TV series and episodes, including Marcus Welby, M.D., Kojak, and Columbo. She worked so incessantly on so many projects that it’s hard for her to recall everything she’s done, she says, explaining that TV filming takes only a couple of weeks at the most for each project.
And TV work is particularly crazy and demanding. “You do an astonishing amount of work in a day, shooting 12 hours with a script you may have gotten two days before if you’re lucky, and then you have to walk and talk so you don’t block anyone’s light and you’re in complete synch with the cameraman and the 150 people behind him, and you have to create a believable character and bring life and truth to the words you’re saying.”
She began losing her appetite for TV and film, and felt more pride in her stage work. “I didn’t own a TV and was making a living doing TV. Something was wrong,” she says. When it was time to enroll her daughter Winslow Corbett ’98 in middle school, LA schools were uninviting, and Gretchen looked back to the Catlin Gabel she had loved. She and Winslow moved back to Portland, Winslow entered 7th grade at Catlin Gabel, and Gretchen found herself at a loss.
Gretchen wanted to pursue stage acting in Portland, but the local theater community was a hard one to break into. She found other ways to express herself, including learning to throw pots, but that just wasn’t who she was. After serious soul-searching, she found a way to bring theater back into her life. Gretchen had served as resident director in LA at a nonprofit organization that nurtured new plays and playwrights, so she was familiar with nonprofits. She took a deep breath and launched the Haven Project, which paired underserved children with local theater artists to create and perform plays.
“I had no idea how to get the Haven Project going, but I like having a steep learning curve. I simply started writing grants,” she says. Thanks to Gretchen’s grace and determination, the Haven Project was a great success for its 10-year duration. In its day the Haven Project produced 90 plays a year, with over 200 Portland theater professionals touching the lives of 700 children. “I liked making a difference in kids’ lives, and I liked giving artists a way to give back, in the way they knew best,” she says. Her nonprofit venture brought Gretchen into the lives of Portland actors and playwrights, into the city’s public eye, and onto its stages—where she has received continual acclaim.
Gretchen has acted in many plays with several Portland theater companies, and is a core member of Third Rail Repertory Theatre. She will continue to act, and to awe Portland audiences. When you hear her talk about what it means to her to act on stage, you can feel in your own bones the intense physical and intellectual commitment she has to her art.
“I’m an intuitive actor yet it takes a long time for the character to set in my bones and heart, and for me to discover the character’s secrets. I’m curious about people, especially those so different from myself. I care about literature and the way a story is being told. I care about the brain that has created the words I’m speaking.
“I’ve played characters who have had wonderful senses of humor and a more positive outlook than I have. Recently I played a suicidal woman in “A Lesson from Aloes,” and it took me months to get back to myself. Now I consider more carefully. Acting is so internal that it becomes physical, and it can become difficult to stay healthy.
“At its heart the experience of acting is like any creative art form. What comes out of me surprises me as much as it surprises an audience. It’s as if I’m not in charge. At its best it feels like a religious experience. That’s the creative process. After you do all the work on a character you come to that place. I imagine the same is true for writers, musicians, and painters.
“Some actors are attracted to theater because they like to have fun showing off, like kids. That’s not my impetus. I’m personally shy, an introvert. I open my heart in front of an audience so that we can share and learn together about being human.”
Places Please
By Gretchen Corbett ’63
Hamlet pondered
way out on the apron
That’s all it took.
I moved onto the boards
met my family out on the ice
found home in make-believe rooms
with no walls.
Years collapse. Cities merge.
All over the globe
rehearsal halls without windows
invite unexpected music
I walk down taped-on-the-floor steps
into the heart of a stranger.
Countless nests I’ve built
in backstage branches of tumbledown barns
sleek city centers
gilt-edged arenas
each dripping peonies and
pink powder
each pinned with reminders on mirrors
about flying naked
tight rope walking
the fat lady in the front row.
Places please. Places.
Move down secret, blue-lit corridors
past fly rigging and brick
to the edge of the boards
wait
and breathe
and wait
‘till a hush falls
and wait
then an oboe
inside my body
takes over
the stage erupts
spills exquisite light.
I step out into it.
Send life out into the darkness
Photo: Owen Carey
Nadine Fiedler is the editor of the Caller.
Chronicle of a Senior Project
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Each year all the members of the senior class do a project of their choice out in the community, and part of their responsibility is reporting back to the school. Last year students worked in venues that included political and doctor’s offices, TV and radio stations, wildlife rehabilitation centers, and many more. Their writings about their experiences revealed how much they had learned—and how much they had taught others about themselves and about Catlin Gabel. Below is one student’s report on her project experience.
Participles & Pig's Feet: Shadowing an ESL Teacher
By Madeleine Morawski '09
If you had asked me three weeks ago what a noncount noun was or how American pronunciation differs from written English, I would have offered a blank look or 
shrugged shoulders at best. If you had asked me whether I ever considered becoming a teacher, I would have voiced a polite but very firm “no.” Though a lack of knowledge concerning English grammar and only minimal interest in teaching seem strange qualifications for three weeks shadowing an ESL teacher, I greatly enjoyed my senior project and learned more than I could have hoped about everything from stressed syllables to Korean idioms.
I completed my project at the Portland English Language Academy (PELA), a small language school in downtown Portland. The school consists of a number of classrooms, a computer lab, a study room, and a student lounge. With a total enrollment of 65 students and a teaching staff of three full-time and three parttime teachers, the school offers a small community environment for English students from all over the world.
My mentor, Annae Gill, has taught at PELA for two years and previously taught English in Japan and ESL in Seattle. During my project I shadowed her while she taught classes on reading, vocabulary, pronunciation, writing, and grammar to groups of students with different levels of English proficiency.
Most of my time was spent observing class. While it may sound boring to sit and watch a class in a subject I am quite familiar with, I was surprised at how interesting I found each lesson. While English is my first language, there are many aspects, particularly of spoken English, that I take for granted. I kept a journal each day and recorded each activity from the lessons and followed along with the handouts and worksheets the students used.
I was able to participate in many classroom activities as well. The students frequently completed practice activities and conversation exercises in partners and small groups, allowing me to join in. From practicing dialogues about birthdays, to discussing the weather and playing language-learning games, I got to take part in many of the classroom exercises with the students. I was also able to offer them help and answer questions about everything from vocabulary to grammar to spelling.
The most important way I was able to help the students was by giving them a chance to practice their conversation skills with a native English speaker. Outside of class, the students do not always get enough opportunities to practice their skills in an informal setting with someone who will be patient and willing to help. In addition to time spent conversing with the students in class and during lunchtime, I led a weekly conversation group. I usually started with a topic such as where they were from and why they were studying English or what activities they had done over the weekend. After these initial conversation starters, the discussion usually flowed naturally based on topics the students were interested in. Besides giving them a chance to practice their English, the conversation groups were a great way to get to know the students and learn about their cultures. Our discussions ranged from the ISO system of standardization to Polish pronunciation to favorite television shows, giving each student a chance to speak up and often sparking rather lively debates.
One aspect I noticed that made me look forward to my project each day was the unique atmosphere of Annae’s classes. Because the students enroll of their own accord, unlike high school students completing a language requirement, all of the students I met were very motivated to learn English. Even those who did not come to class regularly were eager to ask me questions or learn new slang and idioms. Also, because the objective of each lesson was to improve the students’ English abilities, spontaneous and tangential discussions were encouraged, rather than avoided as in the high school classes I am familiar with. A simple practice sentence about car companies could turn into a discussion of the bailout plan, while another exercise led to a lesson on the slang words “homegirl” and “homie.” Compared to typical high school classes, the lessons are far more focused on what the students want or need to know, rather than a syllabus full of grammar topics and assigned readings. This type of environment allows for a great deal of interaction both among students and between students and teachers.
My favorite aspect of the classroom atmosphere, however, was the wide variety of backgrounds and experiences represented in one room. I met students from Switzerland, France, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Libya, with ages ranging from 18 to almost 50. Everyone was studying for different reasons, some for university, some for their jobs, and others because they had recently settled permanently in the U.S. I met journalists, law students, doctors, and artists, each of whose experiences contributed to the unique classroom dynamic. Any normally boring topic can become interesting when you compare practices and viewpoints from so many different cultures. Sure, talking about birthdays can be boring, but did you know that people in Taiwan celebrate with seaweed soup and pigs’ feet?
Because I was able to spend so much class time as well as lunch and after-school time with the students, I got to know many of them quite well. They were all very welcoming and acted just as interested in me as I was in them. My favorite part of each school day was lunchtime because I got to speak with the students in an informal setting, hearing about everything from their weekend trips to their jobs and families. I loved watching students from such different cultures talk and share food. Everyone was eager to have their friends try their native dishes, and during my time at PELA I sampled everything from mole to borscht. Also, one of the bonuses for me was the chance I got to practice some of my own language skills. When not in class, many of the students speak to each other in their own languages, meaning I was able to test my Chinese comprehension and learn some Spanish slang. Though I enjoyed each class and learned quite a bit, it was the students that made my project so enjoyable.
I hoped this project would allow me to interact with people from other cultures and backgrounds, but it went far beyond that. I not only got to know a group of interesting and diverse people, I also learned an incredible amount about teaching English as a second language. I had never considered teaching to be something I would like to do in the future, but my time at PELA has caused me to reconsider. The dynamic classroom atmosphere and community created by such a diverse mix of students made for an environment that makes teaching seem fun and just as educational for the teachers as it is for the students.
Madeleine Morawski '09 attends the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Catlin Gabel students are a fascinating and inspiring group of young people who manifest their engagement with the world in equally fascinating ways. We spoke to students from 2nd to 12th grade about the pursuits they really, really love—and here are excerpts from what they said about where their interests take them, and how Catlin Gabel teachers support those interests and help feed their curiosity. Explore their stories below.
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Singer-songwriter, artist, senior
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Scout, community enthusiast, 10th grade
Tango & aerial dancer, 10th grade
Chess player & chicken steward, 2nd grade
Synchronized swimmers, 10th grade & 7th grade.jpg)
Math & puzzle problem solver, 5th grade
Soccer player & scientist, 5th grade
Dedicated to community service, 10th grade
Photographer & scientist, senior
Robotics team wins top honor at regional competition, qualifies for world championships in Atlanta
Catlin Gabel's Upper School robotics Team 1540 won the prestigious Chairman's Award at the Oregon regional competition for their extensive support of other teams. Check out the three-minute Chairman’s Award video created by Tucker Gordon and Henry Gordon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxPocQQC5Cs.
The Chairman's Award qualifies Team 1540 (the Flaming Chickens) to compete at the world championships in Atlanta, April 14–18. This is the fourth consecutive year Catlin Gabel’s robotics team has qualified for the world championships, the most of any team in the Northwest.
Junior Henry Gordon ’11, marketing manager, fabrication co-manager, and Middle School FIRST LEGO league coach, was one of two finalists for the Oregon regional FIRST dean’s list for student leadership and commitment to the ideals of FIRST, as well as for contributions to his team and community. Henry is in the running for one of 10 FIRST dean’s list awards granted at the World Championships.
Congratulations, Flaming Chickens!
Follow Your Passions!
By Lark P. Palma, PhD, Head of School
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Five o’clock on a South Carolina summer morning. My rounds started early, for a young girl. First I took care of my horse, Cricket—feeding, mucking, a ride on the beach, then out to pasture. Then I attended to my 35 rabbits, gathered eggs from the six red hens that scratched around the house, and released the ducks to the creek. Finally I wrangled Thistle the collie and Ginger the lamb for walks on their leashes.
Animals were my first great passion—and my parents allowed me to have them if I cared for them well and showed responsibility. I was filled with the same passion when I first played school in my room, lining up all of my stuffed animals and dolls, assigning arbitrary grades from A to F and relegating some to smart status, some not so smart. At school I watched with rapt attention how my teachers would teach us. At home I would either try to do it the same way or try to modify the techniques that didn’t work for my little class.
It was not until I became a teacher myself that I understood that, as someone with a passion for teaching, I could go beyond what’s expected and work with students to realize their own personal goals and passions. I finally saw that the very best model for teaching and learning centers on the relationship between the student and the teacher. What happens collectively as a class is important, but the one-on-one time a student and teacher have together is the most critical element.
It was a breakthrough for me when I realized that and learned—thanks to Roland Barthes, John Dewey, and others—that children are not receptacles for knowledge from adults, but teeming petri dishes of their own ideas and imaginations. How little my teachers in the fifties and sixties understood that—although teachers in Ruth Catlin and Priscilla Gabel’s schools certainly did get it.
Catlin Gabel is a school where teachers are drawn to teach, and we select them to do so, because they understand how children’s minds work, and they want to be surrounded by colleagues who feel the same.
This Caller is filled with stories of alumni and students who have pursued interests, passions, and yes, even obsessions. Graduates who fall into this category are legion, and the students and alumni represented here are just a small sample. Why would a school of this size produce so many people who lead with their passions and know themselves well enough to do that?
For one, Catlin Gabel provides an unfettered, free-ranging approach to solving problems, approaching assignments, and celebrating process over product. I learned to be a good rider because I studied my horse, paying heed to her temperament and the look in her eye, and treating her in a way that reflects that knowledge. In the same way, the students profiled here, whether involved in a sport, an academic pursuit, or an art, learn the value of deep concentration and focused attention. For example, visual artists, like the ones you’ll read about, see relationships among all disciplines, in color and in shapes, and takes those elements to create an original. But mostly, we at Catlin Gabel encourage students fully and unabashedly to follow their passions. And of course, there is the child herself, who has the gift inside. Parents, teachers, and the overarching ethos of the school only undergird those passions.
Alumnus, alumna, or current student, their uniqueness binds us all together and makes for a very, very interesting place to teach. Enjoy these stories.
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