Beginning School News
Alumnus Gus Van Sant '71 talks about his new movie, "Promised Land"
Oregonian article, December 2012
Alumnus and board member Eric Rosenfeld '83 featured in Oregonian article
Oregonian article, December 2012
Middle School robotics teams take 1st and 2nd place at regionals, qualify for state
Way to go!
Congratulations to the RoboSNAILS for their 1st place win in a tough competition against 20 teams. The team members are 8th graders Robin Attey, Matt Maynard, Grace Wong, Liam Wynne, and Sage Yamamoto. They are coached by senior Tucker Gordon. The RoboSNAILS’ research project was designing a website and iOS app to help senior citizens prepare nutritious meals and build community.
Team Sigma came in 2nd with 8th grade members Adolfo Apolloni, Ian Hoyt, Ryan Selden, and 7th grader Roy Stracovsky. Team Sigma had an over-the-top research project with a working model of a walker that senses the user’s location helps guide them. Junior Elyssa Kiva is their coach for the second year in a row.
Our two rookie teams also competed at regionals. Starstruck won the rising star award for the new team with the most promise. They are 6th graders Sujala Chittor, Natalie Dodson, and Amber Merrill. Their research project featured a puppet show presentation of a device that changes light bulbs. Senior Martina Dimitrov was their coach.
Sophomore Rushdi Abualhaija coached team Delta with 6th graders Avi Gupta, Tyler Nguyen, Quinn Okabayashi, Kian Palmer, and Spencer Shoemaker. Their research project was a working model of an Internet-programmed medication dispenser.
The state competition is on January 20. Good luck to the RoboSNAILS and Team Sigma!
Catlin Gabel News, Autumn 2012
From the Autumn 2012 Caller
NEWS FROM HONEY HOLLOW
The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust granted Catlin Gabel $200,000 for the Campaign for Arts and Minds. The funds will support instructional technology in the Creative Arts Center, including innovations such as energy-saving LED stage lighting. . . . The school completed a comprehensive self-study in preparation for an October visit from a volunteer team from the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools. Visiting team members, including school heads from Lakeside and University Prep in Seattle, Duke School in Durham, North Carolina, and Marin Country Day in Corte Madera, California, will write a report with recommendations for improvement that Catlin Gabel must implement for continued accreditation. . . . The Middle School organic garden is now known as the Tucker Garden, in honor of wood shop teacher Tom Tucker ’66. Tom contributed much to the garden’s utility and beauty, including sheds, gazebos, and artworks. . . . After the April announcement that Catlin Gabel was named a U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School, the Oregon Department of Education announced the school’s 2nd place award for Oregon Sustainable Schools, as well as the Pillar Award for minimizing environmental impact.. . . US science teacher Veronica Ledoux spent three weeks with Teachers Across Borders South Africa, helping math and science teachers from rural schools update their skills. The project director praised her for her personableness, professionalism, and passion for her work. . . . MS Chinese teacher Li-Ling Cheng participated in a summer residential workshop for master teachers in Worcester, Massachusetts, sponsored by the Chinese Language Teachers Association.CATLIN GABEL IN THE NEWS
Catlin Gabel’s FIRST Robotics Team 1540, The Flaming Chickens, demonstrated their robot on KGW-TV’s early morning newscast in September to promote the OMSI Mini Maker Faire in September. They also showed off the program at a summer technology camp hosted by IBM Beaverton. . . . Associate IT director Daisy
Steele spoke on a KATU-TV newscast about internet safety for children. . . The school’s Creative Arts Center, now under construction between the Dant House and Middle School, was featured in articles in the Oregonian and the Daily Journal of Commerce. . . . Julien Leitner ’15 was featured in the Oregonian for sitting in at Portland’s Pickathon with Abigail Washburn and her band. Julien’s Archimedes Alliance raises funds for charities and nonprofits, asking $2 from each person, from as many people as he can reach.
Steele spoke on a KATU-TV newscast about internet safety for children. . . The school’s Creative Arts Center, now under construction between the Dant House and Middle School, was featured in articles in the Oregonian and the Daily Journal of Commerce. . . . Julien Leitner ’15 was featured in the Oregonian for sitting in at Portland’s Pickathon with Abigail Washburn and her band. Julien’s Archimedes Alliance raises funds for charities and nonprofits, asking $2 from each person, from as many people as he can reach.OUR NOTEWORTHY STUDENTS
Freshman Anna Dodson won a Nook tablet as a semifinalist in the America the Beautiful writing contest, sponsored by Rand McNally and USA Today. . . . Senior Marina Dimitrov was an intern this summer in Seattle at the University of Washington’s Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering. As part of their inaugural Young Scholars Program, she received a stipend from the National Science Foundation for her work on a small quadrotor helicopter for autonomous flight.
SPORTS AND ATHLETICS
Doug Heymann ’18 represented Oregon at the Western zone age-group swimming championships in Grand Junction, Colorado. . . . USA Synchronized Swimming named Elli Wiita ’15 to the 13–15 national team and duet team for 2012. She competed this summer in the Pan American Age Group Championships in Colombia, where she placed 1st in the figure competition and won gold medals in duet and team competitions. During the summer, she trained with Team USA at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and in New Canaan, Connecticut.
Our Inspired Teachers: Jennifer Marcus '73
Every day Catlin Gabel teachers inspire their students. 16 faculty members talk about how they came to teaching—and what they love about their craft
From the Autumn 2012 Caller
Jennifer Marcus '73, BS & 1st grade woodshop
Bachelor's in art, Mills College. At CGS since 2004.
Twenty-two years ago, when my oldest daughter was attending preschool in Los Angeles, I responded to a flyer to open up the woodworking shed. I had a degree
in fine arts, built my own looms, and had taken child psychology at Mills College. I’d even entertained the idea of becoming a teacher. So, some simple woodworking with a bunch of four-year-olds sounded like fun. It was.
Through those students and all the ones who have come after I have learned to use woodshop as a way to help children build not just wheelbarrows, sailing ships, and airports but pathways for how to think, plan, and empower.
Opening that first shed was like discovering a magician’s closet. The tools and materials had great power and had to be used properly. The children and I questioned, tinkered, and embraced the process of investigating wood and what it could do, what it could become. I learned the benefits of patience with their processing as well as patience with myself. I encouraged them to think out loud: “I wonder what would happen if. . . . ”
The following year I became the official woodworking teacher at the school. I conducted workshops for teachers and established woodworking programs to share my teaching philosophy: greet every child respectfully with an open mind for their way of thinking, their interpretations, and their strengths, and have confidence in their ability to solve problems in ways that are creative and astonishing.
After moving back to Portland, I created “Woodworking with Children,” providing meaningful woodworking experiences to as many children as possible. I am always honored to participate in their journey of invention and resourceful thinking. I feel so fortunate to be a part of the faculty at Catlin Gabel, a place that still values a hands-on, tactile learning-enriched program for young students.
Our Inspired Teachers: Isaac Enloe
Every day Catlin Gabel teachers inspire their students. 16 faculty members talk about how they came to teaching—and what they love about their craft
From the Autumn 2012 Caller
Isaac Enloe, kindergarten
Bachelor's in religious studies, Carleton College. Master's in early childhood and elementary education, Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. At CGS since 2011.
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In 1985, while I was a 2nd grader at the Hiroshima International School, people from around the world converged on Hiroshima to mark the 40th anniversary of the atomic bombing. In response to provocative questions from reporters and inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, a group of my older schoolmates formed the Thousand Cranes Club with the goal of galvanizing young people around the world to work together for peace. The Thousand Cranes Club wrote a book about Sadako that included a call to become peacemakers and instructions on how to fold a paper crane. It was translated into several languages and sent out to schools around the globe; each one contained a paper crane folded by children at our school. Months later, the first box of a thousand cranes arrived from a school in Europe, followed by others from around the world. As a school, we would take the garlands of cranes down to the Peace Park in Hiroshima to be placed at the Children’s Peace Monument, a tradition that continues to this day.The Thousand Cranes Club experience has stuck with me through all of my years in schools. As a student and then as a teacher, I have always held it as an example of what schooling can be: projects and curricula that engage students of all ages in meaningful inquiry and civic responsibility as they reach across cultures. I will never forget the feeling of knowing that my learning and work at school was truly meaningful.
Whether I am working with young children in the Beehive or with middle school students in Leaf Academy, the environmental leadership program I co-founded, I am called to education out of a desire to work alongside young people as they engage in deeply meaningful experiences.
Our Inspired Teachers: Lisa Ellenberg
Every day Catlin Gabel teachers inspire their students. 16 faculty members talk about how they came to teaching—and what they love about their craft
From the Autumn 2012 Caller
Lisa Ellenberg, BS & LS librarian
Bachelor's and master's in education, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. At CGS since 1991.
During storytime at the library, the satisfying language and structure of folktales can create an enchanting bond between the children and me, lingering deliciously in the
air at a story’s close. During such a moment, a kindergartener once remarked, “You’re really old, aren’t you.” At that point, I was actually a relatively young teacher. Curious, I responded, “Well, I’m a lot older than you are. How old do you think I am?” After a studied pause, she ventured a guess, “Seven?” This would be one of many opportunities over the years for the words of a child to swiftly transmit unexpected perspective, surprise, and delight.
air at a story’s close. During such a moment, a kindergartener once remarked, “You’re really old, aren’t you.” At that point, I was actually a relatively young teacher. Curious, I responded, “Well, I’m a lot older than you are. How old do you think I am?” After a studied pause, she ventured a guess, “Seven?” This would be one of many opportunities over the years for the words of a child to swiftly transmit unexpected perspective, surprise, and delight.Teaching requires grappling with questions, both crafting and responding thoughtfully to them. The process keeps me fascinated with my work. Every day children come to the library with questions that require me to listen and interview to discover what is really being asked. “Lisa, where is the robbing section?” I say, “Tell me more about that.” Response: “You know, like a sneak-around book, that would help you find things.” Further investigation revealed some possibilities, including that the child has an interest in techniques of espionage, or is looking to design a recess game involving capture.
Back to the folktales. The text of one traditional tale includes the refrain, “and the dog leaped that hedge in a single bound!” A 2nd grader with wrinkled brow quipped dryly, “Well, how else could you do it?,” instantly illuminating the truth that either you get over the hedge in a single bound or crash into it. For me, it was impossible to not add that question to the refrain as we completed the story. As their fresh eyes and minds absorb experiences, children’s questions fill me with wonder about their potential for invention. I recently heard it said, “Creation is evolution.” I am grateful to witness this every day.
Photo gallery posted: seniors and 1st graders carve pumpkins
So fun – and it didn't rain!
Click on any photo to enlarge image and start the slide show.
Willamette Week calls student newspaper's mayoral debate coverage "impressive"
Willamette Week article, October 2012
Catlin Gabel extends a warm welcome to our visiting reaccreditation team!
Sunday – Wednesday
beginning school News