By Dr. Denise Lutter
Apr. 29, 2015: On Tuesday, May 19, at 7:00 pm, students, teachers, parents, and the whole community are invited to come together at The Bronxville School to hear from young people now engaged in innovative work and also to participate in activities designed to get people to think in new ways and to solve problems in a creative way.
The words that express the spirit of innovation sought by this family/school partnership are: To innovate, discover, and create; to make something new from what you know.
Dr. David Quattrone, superintendent of the Bronxville schools, will give the keynote address from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm and then introduce the guest speakers. Below are the speakers and workshops that will be a part of this evening.
Speakers:
Eden Full, Thiel Fellow: Eden Full is a software/mechanical engineer interested in building products to solve society's biggest problems. She is the inventor of the SunSaluter, a low-cost mechanism that optimizes solar panels while providing clean water for rural, off-grid communities in fifteen countries. Named one of the 30 under 30 in Forbes's energy category three years in a row, one of the US Chamber of Commerce's IP Champions, and Ashoka's Youth Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Eden was a member of the Thiel Fellowship's inaugural class.
Madison Maxey, Thiel Fellow: Maddy Maxey began interning in the fashion industry when she was sixteen for companies like Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Ricco, Peter Som, and Nylon magazine. After founding a popular fashion blog while in France and then winning a scholarship from the CFDA & Teen Vogue for her work, she started a clothing company of her own. As a Thiel Fellow, Maddy focused on R&D in the wearables and computation design space through her company, Crated.
Workshops:
Below is a brief outline of the workshops participants may select:
Art Show and Still Life Workshop
Facilitators: Courtney Alan, Marijke Briggs, Joanne Dalsimer, Kendall Fousek, Paul Furfaro, and students Natalie Arenzon and Alleigh Thoms.
Join Natalie Arenzon and Alleigh Thoms in the cafeteria at 7:30 pm for Perspectives on a Still Life. Using still life as a starting point, participants will learn different ways to interpret objects. Using acrylic paint, participants will create their own interpretations, from representation to abstraction, of a still life.
Awaken Your Inner Muse
Facilitators: Beth Agarabi and Alexis Petnuch
In this session, participants will craft poetry or paragraphs that will be sure to inspire and awaken the muse in them. Participants will learn strategies for creativity and will leave with some poems in their pockets.
Bang on a Can?!
Facilitator: Pamela Simpson
How about coming to a workshop where our focus will be on playing the xylophones, the Orff-Schulwerk way! Participants will be engaged with hands-on learning that will guide them through imitation, exploration, and improvisation. Come experience the joy that is found in a music classroom!
Building the New Tappan Zee Bridge
Facilitators: Katherine M. Donohue and Pamela Kohlhoff
Have you ever thought about how people collaborate, communicate, and use innovation to build something incredible like the new Tappan Zee Bridge? Engineers, environmental scientists, geologists, iron workers, carpenters, painters, inspectors, and administrative personnel are just a few who have been working together to design and build the bridge of a lifetime. Come learn how it truly "takes a village" to carry out a project of this magnitude!
Design and Build a Bristlebot!
Facilitator: Lynne Torrey
With just a toothbrush, motor, and battery, come test your skills and build a bot that will race or spin or just be admired by everyone in the workshop.
Digitarium Planetarium
Facilitators: Frank Viggiani and MS Science Students
Have you ever looked up at the stars and wondered what constellations are in the Bronxville sky for each season? Is it a star or a planet? Do you want to learn which planets are in the evening sky? Do you want to watch a full dome movie about telescopes? All these questions can be answered by visiting Bronxville's Digitarium Planetarium, which was funded by The Bronxville School Foundation. During this one-hour session, you will learn about constellations, planets, galaxies, solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, and other fun astronomical topics from Bronxville science teacher Frank Viggiani and several of his sixth-grade students. Wear comfortable clothing, since you will be sitting on the floor.
Filmmaking
Facilitators: Chris Doyle and HS Students
Participants will experience the world of filmmaking--students will lead the group in acting a scene, filming it, and editing a short video of it. Several scenarios will be proposed and storyboarded; the scenes will be filmed and downloaded onto Mac laptops for editing. The editing process will be explained and the final result will be a completed video that will be used on Bronco TV. The history of Bronco TV and the film club will be detailed and a few examples will be shown to the group. We will also explain how the clubs plan to move forward.
Gibberish versus Comprehension: Create Your Own Language!
Facilitators: Madame Toby Gillen and Señora Millie Guzman
After exploring the different modalities of language (gestures, pitch, emotions, visuals, actions, words), participants in this workshop will work collaboratively to create their own language and then teach others to communicate in the newly created language!
Life-Size Tangrams
Facilitators: Jennifer Oliveri and Lori Palma
The tangram is a centuries-old Chinese puzzle and art form in which various shapes are combined to create new, more complex shapes. In this workshop, you will work with sets of life-size polygons to create complex designs. Your job is to use ALL of the tangram pieces and fit them together to perfectly recreate a silhouetted shape. You will spin, flip, and connect shapes while you think hard and visualize all the possibilities! They say exercise is the key to staying fit . . . give your brain the ultimate workout with the Life-Size Tangrams workshop!
Playful Tinkering
Facilitators: Adrienne Laitman, Justine Rutherford, and Jeannine Holzmann-Scaramuzzino
In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to revisit their inner "tinkerer" as they explore and create using classroom building materials and manipulatives. The workshop will provide opportunities to investigate through play as well as guided activities and discussions. Participants will explore what primary age students experience throughout the school week.
"The Play's the Thing"
Facilitator: Victor Maxwell
Active approaches to Shakespeare combine literary analysis with dramatic urgency and a sense of play. Workshop participants will be able to enter into the minds and hearts of some of Shakespeare's characters to bring his language and dramatic imagination to life. If you're afraid of acting or Shakespeare, this workshop is for you.
Science Olympiad
Facilitators: Jean Windels and MS Science Olympiad Team
Members of the Middle School Science Olympiad team will join middle school science teacher Jean Windels to demonstrate some of the devices that they made during the annual Science Olympiad competition. The devices include an air cannon, a helicopter egg drop, an elastic-launched glider, an elastic-launched car, and a bottle rocket. The students will talk about how they built their devices, the rules that they had to follow, and the goals for their devices.
Scientific Explanations for the World's Great Mysteries
Facilitator: Jonathan Peter
Don't let talk of an "Arduino" or "circuit inquiry" frighten you away from this workshop. Stop by the science room and help Mr. Peter solve some of the world's greatest mysteries.
Solving a Physical Problem in a Virtual World
Facilitator: Philip Wiser and Arsalan Habeeb
Many real-life problems are going to be solved in virtual realities in the near future. This workshop will have a group work together in a virtual world. The result of the joint effort will be pulled from this world and brought to life through a 3D printer. Hopefully, the solution will work in the real world!
Thiel Fellowship
Facilitators: Eden Full and Madison Maxey
The Thiel Fellowship brings together some of the world's most creative and motivated young people and helps them bring their most ambitious projects to life. Fellows are given a grant of $100,000 to focus on their work, their research, and their self-education while outside a university setting. They are mentored by a community of visionary thinkers, investors, scientists, and entrepreneurs who provide guidance and business connections in a way that cannot be replicated in college classrooms. Alumni and current fellows have produced more than $100 million in economic activity and have founded fifty-eight organizations and startups, employing over 200 people. During this workshop, Thiel Fellows Eden Full and Madison Maxey will share information about the application process and the outcomes of their work as Thiel Fellows.
Twenty-First Century Curriculum Design
Facilitators: Denise Flood and Mara Koetke
How do we design courses that encourage students to ask questions, delve into the sources, and solve a problem? How do we help students to develop their abilities to think critically and creatively, to collaborate, and to communicate effectively? In this workshop, Dr. Koetke and Ms. Flood will provide a brief overview of the innovative curriculum design. Then we will work together as a team of faculty, students, and parents to design innovative and creative projects for a course that will be offered next year.
Pictured here: Members of the Family/School Partnership Planning Committee.
Photo courtesy Denise Lutter