Fostering Lifelong Learning - Episcopal Academy

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Professional Development: Opportunities to Explore, Stretch, and Learn Head of School Ham Clark’s advocacy for foreign travel and study is well known. In addition, he strongly believes in the value of networking with colleagues from around the nation to exchange best practices and curriculum research. As we prepared for our feature on professional development at Episcopal, Anne Marie Heil had the opportunity to meet with Ham and learn more about his vision. AMH: In researching this feature story, it was wonderfully surprising to learn of all the opportunities available to faculty and of Episcopal’s tradition of granting sabbaticals. What events in your professional life led you to become an ardent proponent for enrichment HC: Perhaps the most important experience for Ceci and me, in our professional lives, involved leaving Boston and taking a position at the Zurich International School. We didn’t know anyone. Everything was unfamiliar. I was serving as Assistant Director of the school and Ceci was teaching. I joined a rowing club in order to meet people. All that was new and different tested us daily. The experience became important because through it we discovered what we have to offer and it required us to define ourselves. We gained so much confidence and this single experience caused me to become an advocate for pushing students and teachers out of the nest, out of their comfort zone. AMH: In looking at the list of opportunities for this year, professional development does not always include leaving your home and residing in a new culture or community. Many of opportunities allow faculty to learn while still working or spending the summer with their families. HC: They do include many local and regional programs. What is critical is that the faculty member be exposed to an experience that allows them to try new things and to return to their department or unit and share what they have learned. The experience should be about thinking new thoughts and stretching oneself. I had a faculty member at Sewickley Academy who taught American history and who had never visited the Revolutionary War sites in and around Boston. He didn’t like to travel and was happy teaching straight from the history books. After much cajoling, I got him to accept a school-funded trip for him and his family to Lexington and Concord, so he could see the sites and experience the places where so much of American history took place. The trip infused him with energy and new information and a frame of reference he otherwise would never have had. And he had a great time. AMH: Do you find the faculty and staff here at Episcopal are receptive to taking on the challenge of professional development HC: They are receptive and our teachers are eager to learn. We encourage the faculty to pursue their interests and to Faculty Sabbaticals Span 42 Years 1964-65 Dick Boekenkamp 1966-67 Randy Stone 1967-68 Harry Harris 1969-70 Tony Ridgway 1970-71 Charles Latham 1971-72 Edith Munger 1972-73 Carl Denlinger 1974-75 Dick Borkowski 1977-78 Beetle Fiero 1979-80 Bill Burdick 1980-81 Bill Dixon 1982-83 Jim Straub 1983-84 George Shafer 1984-85 Peter Vennema 1985-86 Jim Auch 1986-87 Bill Whelan and Mimi Callahan 1987-88 Jay Crawford and Bunny Borkowski 1988-89 Linn Carpenter 1989-90 Crawford Hill 1991-92 Dona Pearcy and John Smith 1992-93 Bob Linker 1994-95 Dave Orehowsky 1995-96 Derrick Stephenson 1996-97 Win Shafer 1997-98 Bruce Stone 1998-99 Lance Cave 1999-00 Usha Balamore 2000-01 Mary French 2001-02 Phil Spear 2002-03 Anne Hall (deferred to 2003-04) 2003-04 Andy Hess 2004-05 Chuck Bryant 2005-06 Sue Cannon 2006-07 Jennifer Rea 2007-08 Joyce Gavin (half yr) and Elizabeth Cocco (half yr) 2008-09 Lee Pearcy All dates indicate the year the sabbatical was taken. For years that are omitted, no sabbaticals were granted. 4 Connections
2008 Travel Grants advance their concerns. We spent nearly $70,000 in the 2006-07 school year on reimbursement for advanced degree studies. It is heartening to see teachers who are willing to commit their free time to returning to school. We have funded a number of conferences and programs for teachers and hope to continue to do so in an even greater way. This summer we have Susan LaPalombara headed to Oxford. Kate Sullivan will be visiting the Roberts School in Turkey in the Spring and we have awarded 11 foreign travel grants. Lee Pearcy will be on sabbatical next year and will spend the time writing his next book. The experiences I have had, and the feedback I have received from faculty supports the fact that professional development builds confidence, tests resilience and wards off the urge to get too comfortable with academic material, surroundings, and routines. AMH: Do you envision that the menu of opportunities available will grow HC: I think the menu will grow and I hope that more teachers will be able to take advantage of all that is offered. The Board of Trustees has approved an important, and needed, salary increase for faculty. This move will keep our salaries competitive with other top independent schools. In addition, I am hoping the increase will mean a few more faculty members will be able to take advantage of summer professional development opportunities, rather than having to work a summer job. And from these experiences, our curriculum and academic programs will be enriched. “The experience should be about thinking new thoughts and stretching oneself.” Suzanne Zeleznik (27 years at Episcopal) Will attend a Spanish University summer course. Eddie Rodriguez (12 years at Episcopal) Will visit Venezuela and Columbia to gather teaching materials and experiences to share with his students. Cheryl McLauchlan (13 years at Episcopal) Will travel to Alaska. Linda Lew (10 years at Episcopal) Will visit a local school in either Singapore or New Zealand to learn about their technology and robotics programs. Nancy Taylor (7 years at Episcopal) Will travel to a beach resort or go on a cruise with her sister. Both Nancy and her sister are breast cancer survivors and they plan to celebrate being cancer free. Lisa Fox (5 years at Episcopal) Will take a memorable family vacation to the Grand Canyon. Matt Lake (5 years at Episcopal) Will tour England, Wales, and Ireland in search of Saxon churches to study ornament decoration and folklore. Matt will be teaching a folklore class next year. Carolyne Doubman (4 years at Episcopal) Will visit her brother Keith in Seoul, South Korea. He was born in South Korea and adopted by her family at age seven and has since returned to South Korea. Grace Na (4 years at Episcopal) Will travel to Indonesia, the Philippines, and Korea. Jennifer Tierney (2 years at Episcopal) Will visit London and “live like a Londoner” and will then travel on to Ireland. Anne Barr (2 years at Episcopal) Anne will be teaching Senior British Literature next fall and will be traveling to England to prepare for the course. Lauren Bowes (3 years at Episcopal) Lauren will travel to Spain to participate in a Master’s program in Spanish. Susan LaPalombara (10 years at Episcopal) Susan is the 2007-2008 Kulp/Oxbridge Fellow and will study at Oxford University this summer Kate Sullivan (First year at Episcopal) Will visit Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey during spring break. Episcopal will host a Robert College faculty member later this spring. Win Shafer (28 years at Episcopal) Will be given paid leave to trek the Appalachian Trail with his son, Blake ’08, for five months. Lee Pearcy (23 years Episcopal) Has been granted a sabbatical next year to write his next book on classical education. winter 2008 5
Page 1 and 2: Connections The Magazine of The Epi
Page 3 and 4: Fostering Lifelong Learning The hea
Page 5: Jennifer Rea’s kindergarten class
Page 9 and 10: Several of the suggestions made by
Page 11 and 12: Ever Episcopal Campaign Hits $80 Mi
Page 13 and 14: various reasons) tell you what happ
Page 15 and 16: Merion 4th Graders Explore WWII Fro
Page 17 and 18: Football (Boys) 1st Team Bobbie Fit
Page 19 and 20: During Haverford/AIS Weekend winter
Page 21 and 22: Middle School Junior Honors Art Stu
Page 23 and 24: Reunion Celebrations Class of 2007
Page 25 and 26: Save-the-Dates - Two Alumni Network
Page 27 and 28: Pictured left to right: Sonja (Voll
Page 29 and 30: Sophomore Kelsey Baldwin poses with
Page 31 and 32: Class Notes Edited by THE Alumni OF
Page 33 and 34: Abby (age 4) and Reilly Rose (age 2
Page 35 and 36: EA Alumni celebrated the wedding of
Page 37 and 38: Anne Putnam ’96, James Casey ’9
Page 39 and 40: Patrick O’Neill ’98, Mike Ianna
Page 41 and 42: Lexi Nicholls ’01 and Megan Hayes
Page 43 and 44: A Tradition of $ 2,075,000 Goal The

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