December 8, 2008

Two elections over—one of massive importance to our country and the world, one of equal moment to our much smaller but equally beloved school. We welcome Barak Obama and Tim Johnson with equal enthusiasm and hope Neither’s task will be easy. Tim will be leading the Bay School as it leaves infancy and starts the adolescent phase. He will be refining the mission in concert with the community and making it his own. And doubtless, like the new President, he will be asking for sacrifices in these difficult times

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have a lot on our plate. The board of trustees is moving mountains to rationalize our finances as we approach full enrollment Those preparing our self-study as part of the school’s WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) accreditation process are reaching the conclusion of collecting a vast amount of information, and are working closely with the chairman of our visiting committee. The seniors are completing their college process, and the juniors gearing up for theirs. One school play has been performed with distinction; our first musical is in auditions for actors and instrumentalists. One athletic season has concluded with much éclat, another is in the early stages. As I write, the faculty is facing a mountain of rubrics for trimester one while preparing for their courses for trimester two.

Every year I ask myself and I ask you to ponder priorities at this busy time of year. Time is our strongest and most fleeting resource. How can we use it so that our holiday season is one we relish rather than survive? We are blessed with a time when money is a little shorter; what do we really need? What could we enjoy that is simpler and more joyful? How can we harness the return of the light, rededicating our temples and welcoming new life and hope? The angels sing to everyone, of every religion and none. Will we hear them?

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Fr. Malcolm

Bay Welcomes Tim Johnson as Second Head of School

On November 19th board president Steve Mattoon and search committee chair Jody Jahn announced the appointment of Timothy Ward Johnson as the Bay School's second head of school, effective July 1, 2009. The Board's unanimous decision to select Tim endorsed the enthusiastic and unanimous recommendation of the search committee which believes that Tim's skills, experience, leadership style and educational vision make him ideally suited to serve as Bay's next head of school upon Malcolm Manson's retirement in June 2009. Tim deeply understands the importance of Bay's mission and the special Bay School culture and inclusive community which we cherish.

"I feel honored to succeed my esteemed friend Malcolm Manson as head of the Bay School" said Tim Johnson upon accepting his new appointment. "I am inspired by the school's distinctive mission and the extraordinary level of engagement of students, teachers and parents at the school."

During his distinguished thirty-five-year career in independent schools and non-profit work Tim served as head at Marin Country Day School for fifteen years from 1988 to 2003 and most recently led the start-up sports mentorship program Team-Up for Youth, based in Oakland, as its founding executive director. He has been a teacher, a dean, a director of community service programs and a coach. He has extensive experience as an administrator, a budget planner, and a fundraiser. Throughout his career Tim has shown himself not only to be a strong leader but also a visionary who inspires and empowers others. He has a strong sense of the power of community and the strength it brings in creating successful institutions. Tim lives in Berkeley with his wife, Dr. Caroline Johnson, who is a pediatric neuropsychologist in private practice.

Tim's appointment concluded an eight-month national search--a process that actively involved all members of the Bay School community. The eleven-member search committee included Bay School trustees (several of whom are current and past Bay School parents), representatives from the faculty and administration, and a long-standing educational consultant to Bay. The committee was greatly helped in its work by teachers and administrators as well as parent and student advisory groups-all of whom provided valuable input.
 
Between now and when he assumes the headship on July 1st Tim will be visiting Bay to work with members of the board, administration and faculty to ensure a smooth transition. Opportunities will also be available for him to meet with prospective students and their families as part of the admission process. Please join us in welcoming Tim and Caroline Johnson to the Bay School community!

The 2008 Election - Real Politics at Bay

The first trimester of the 2008-2009 academic year found nearly everyone at Bay actively engaged in the 2008 presidential campaign. From spontaneous discussions between students in the hallways to all-school gatherings and presentations at morning meetings, the complex issues of the day surrounded and engaged us. The national call for change inspired students and teachers alike to inform themselves about the two presidential candidates, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, and the positions they articulated about the wide range of pressing economic, political, and social issues that currently challenge our country.

The election also provided an ideal opportunity to study the American political process in action in the classroom. Teachers Robin Workman and Craig Miller seized the chance to create special units in their junior/senior elective courses that asked students to delve deeply into the candidates' positions in the areas of domestic and foreign policy. In Robin's honors level senior Comparative Government seminar course students researched Obama's and McCain's positions on healthcare, education, immigration, economic and social policies, as well as climate change, tax policy, and government spending. They reviewed the candidates' Websites in depth and read numerous newspapers such as the New York Times and Washington Post as well as periodicals and online resources in preparation for writing individual analyses of both candidates' positions on the issues.

In Craig Miller's United States Foreign Policy class the trimester began by reading two articles in the journal Foreign Policy that provided students with an overview of different perspectives on America's role in the world. Students then researched each candidate's positions on national security matters, trade, the role of U.S. involvement in alliances such as NATO and the United Nations, and our country's relationships with major world powers Russia and China. Students also investigated the candidates' views about the role of the United States in promoting democratization in the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia and its humanitarian role in the world including foreign aid, debt relief, and investment.

The 2008 election units culminated in both classes coming together to make an all-school presentation on October 24th that was designed to inform the student body about the major issues that defined the 2008 presidential election and the candidates' positions on those issues. Students in the two classes worked collaboratively in researching and distilling an enormous amount of information about very complex issues. They played the role of peer educators and learned invaluable skills through modeling professional presentation methods.

Download Student Presentations:
2008 Election | Obama/McCain Foreign policy PowerPoint presentation
2008 Election | Obama/McCain Domestic policy PowerPoint presentation

Both Foreign Policy and Government students were pleasantly surprised by the interest and seriousness with which their peers listened to such detailed information for an extended period of time and were very impressed by the quality and number of the follow-up questions that were posed. A Bay School parent later commented: "Indeed, it was a very impressive presentation. I listened on Bay's pod cast and was in awe of each and every presenter. I agree with your teacher that you know more than most Americans who are about to vote. You have done your research well and presented so articulately that I understood some points more clearly from your presentations than from NPR, MSNBC and Air America. Congratulations to each and every one of you! I hope a lot of you will be18 by Election Day."

Bay School Seniors at the Polls

Forty-one Bay School seniors had a memorable first-hand experience of Election Day 2008 action as they served as student poll workers throughout San Francisco on November 4th. Thanks to the superb organizational efforts of senior dean Shelton Shepherd students worked at 37 different polling stations throughout the city and nine students manned phone banks in San Francisco and Southern Marin. The High School Poll Worker Program required students to work from 6am-8pm and they assisted in distributing ballots and answering questions during the voting process. In addition to their great experience, seniors have collectively decided to donate their day's earnings as a contribution towards the cost of their grad night party in June.

Bay School Teachers are Life-long Learners

Bay School teachers actively practice the school's mission of being lifelong learners by engaging in professional development on a continuous basis-through regular faculty and discipline team meetings, in daily collaboration with colleagues in lesson planning and course development, and as participants in workshops along with fellow teachers in local schools. Bay is dedicated to providing teachers the time and resources to renew themselves and grow as professionals. During this past summer a number of teachers took advantage of the opportunity to engage in in-depth professional development across a range of topics and professional interests.  Following are three examples of their recent studies: .

English Literature Teacher Lori Cohen's Studies at Oxford University

During the summer of 2008 I spent one week at Oxford University's Summer School for Adults (OUSSA) taking a course titled "Writing Historical Fiction." The course was an intensive seven-day study of the genre of historical fiction, including the elements of writing a historical novel-from character to form to craft; the challenges of research-making the story authentic to its time and place; the vagaries of publishing-how publishers rarely get beyond the first page; and the benefits of receiving feedback from professionals in the field-which was both daunting and rewarding. Before the course began, students were required to submit a 1500-word story set in pre-20th century England, which demonstrated mastery in characterization, a sense of place, authentic dialogue, costume, and language akin to the time period. During the course, students submitted another 1000-word story as we learned about and layered the different elements of historical fiction into our narratives. I'll complete this same process with my students this winter in my literature course.

Overall, the experience was challenging, intimidating, and gratifying. I completed two stories about pre-Raphaelite England, lived in the Oxford dormitories, spent time writing in the vast variety of pubs the town had to offer (including the one where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien met every Tuesday), and basked in the rich history of this English treasure.

Mandarin Teacher Robin Workman Studies Mandarin in Beijing

Last summer I took a two-week class in Chinese language and culture pedagogy at the Beijing Language and Culture University. The class was geared towards native speakers of Chinese teaching Chinese as a second language to American middle and high school students. I was the only non-native speaker in a class of 19. We were in class every day from 8:30-5:30 (with a two-hour lunch break) and were taught by professors from the university. The focus of the course was Chinese phonology, the study of speech sounds, but we also had multiple sessions on Mandarin grammar, characters, methods for teaching Chinese vocabulary, and a four-hour segment on contemporary China. Given that instruction was entirely in rapid-fire Mandarin, and involved a lot of linguistic jargon, I was well out of my comfort zone-and up late every night filling in the gaps (needless to say, I was beyond exhausted by the end). While I learned a great deal about Chinese pedagogy, the experience ultimately gave me a tremendous amount of empathy for students struggling to learn this exceedingly challenging language. My students probably have a hard time envisioning me as a quiet student, but I lived in terror of being called upon. It was a most humbling experience.

After the class, I traveled to Yunnan and assisted a group of USC graduate students with their field survey of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lijiang. I interviewed locals and translated for the students. What an experience!

Spanish and French Teacher Ana Bayat Builds Filmmaking Skills

I took an intensive two-weekend video production course at BAVC (Bay Area Video Coalition of San Francisco) this past summer. While the first weekend involved a day of theory and a day of filming a collaborative project of our choice (topic: what is happiness?), the second weekend was dedicated to post-production, editing, and showcasing the final five minute DVD piece.

As part of the advanced Spanish IV and V courses at Bay students are required to embark on a creative project using language and technology.  While my background in film and theatre enables me to assist my students with pre-production and the filming process, I was eager to build more advanced editing skills. The summer video production course helped me to realize that editing is a complex skill that can't really be mastered in a short, intensive workshop dedicated to the vast number of skills involved in creating a DVD. I look forward to continuing my studies in this area in order to gain more confidence in the field.

In addition to my in-class use of video production skills, one of my ongoing aims is to use technology to showcase the work of all of our students in many different disciplines in collaboration with Bay's admission and communications departments.

The Bay School Players' Performance of The Last Night of Ballyhoo

The 2008-2009 Bay School theater season opened on November 13th with an inspiring three-night run of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" by Pulitzer Prize-winning Southern playwright, Alfred Uhry, directed by Bay School teacher Mary Ann Rodgers. The play, the second in what is known as Uhry's "Atlanta Trilogy", is set in Atlanta in 1939 during the premiere of Gone with the Wind and deals with a Jewish family and their struggles to fit into Southern society.It was commissioned for the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival and received the Tony Award for Best Play when produced on Broadway.

Photo album of the players

The Ballyhoo cast included seniors Brianna Gill and Rebecca Roycroft , juniors Micah Flock and Jonathan Hunt, sophomore Benjy Wachter, and freshmen Zoe Pressman and Amara Taylor. The able production crew included Meyer Jacobs, James Salazar, Jessi Peck, Thea Rodgers, Veronica Stamats, and Nate Tellis.

Excerpt from Mary Ann Rodgers' Director's Notes:

"When I was presented with the possibility of directing the fall play at Bay I jumped at it. I wanted to find a play that everyone would enjoy (of course!), that provided acting opportunities to students interested in exploring the art form, and that furthered the mission of our young, exciting school. I believe I found it in Alfred Uhry's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo."

Uhry has a wonderful way with words and comedy. His dialogue is almost impossible to ruin, his timing is sharp, and he tells his story with a readable twinkle in his eye. His characters are simultaneously unique and recognizable. They are people with whom you fall in love because they are real. Quirky, but real.

My second criterion had to do with the school's mission. "Are you really Jewish?" asks Joe Farkas, a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn. "Fraid so," replies Sunny, a nice Jewish girl from Atlanta. In "Ballyhoo" Uhry explores his own roots as a Southern Jew growing up in pre-WWII Atlanta. In "Ballyhoo" we are invited to explore our own prejudices not only towards others but towards ourselves. And we are invited to do this important work with a light hand and a compassionate touch.

The actors who have lived with these characters for the last two months have walked beside them, listened to them, and laughed with them-all in their attempt to become them. They have stretched their minds, voices, and bodies looking for the truth of their characters. They have become an ensemble of players-actors who work to make each other look great, artists who take their work seriously. So my hat is off to them. I have enjoyed every rehearsal, brilliant and awful, messy and artful, that I have spent with them.

Fall Athletics Re-Cap

Basketball season is suddenly here after an exciting and successful fall sports season highlighted by our girls' varsity volleyball team. The girls completed their league season with a perfect 12-0 record in the BCL-Central division and a 20-9 overall record. The team was anchored by three veterans on the wings; opposite junior, Chelsea Mattoon, senior captain outside hitters, Kayla Shapiro and Jaime Weber, and one in the back court, playmaker/junior libero, Zoe Littman.The Breakers earned their second North Coast Section berth this season since forming a varsity program in 2006. Congratulations to Coaches Jim Scrivano, Cecily Scherschligt and the rest of the varsity volleyball team for earning their second BCL-Central championship title, a 20 win season, and first ever North Coast Section victory.

The Bay School's athletic program continues to grow with the addition of a girls' varsity tennis team. The girls had a great season with a team comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores who have considerable potential to make an impact in the BCL-West in future years. The Bay School's girls' golf, cross-country, and boys' soccer programs all continue to grow in the Bay Area Conference (BAC). Our varsity boys' soccer team narrowly missed qualifying for the BCL-Central playoffs and they are looking forward to next season. Our JV boys' soccer team was led by a group of spirited ninth grade boys who will make a positive impact on the overall program in years to come. The girls' golf team celebrated the end of their season by qualifying for a North Coast Section appearance with junior, Emma Kaufman moving on to the Tournament of Champions. The Breakers cross-country team experienced a rebuilding year with the loss of several runners; however, with the addition of a group of promising new freshmen runners, the program is sure to experience success next year.

Congratulations to the following Breakers athletes for earning BCL-Central all-league honors:

First Team All-League
Chelsea Mattoon, Junior-Volleyball
Jaime Weber, Senior - Volleyball
Kayla Shapiro, Senior - Volleyball
Blake Lawrence, Senior - Soccer

Second Team All-League
Zoe Littman, Junior - Volleyball
Genevieve Watts, Junior - Volleyball
Brendan Armstrong, Junior - Soccer
Andrew Seaman, Sophomore - Soccer
Annie Steinberg, Freshman - Tennis

Bay School athletics are in full swing. Join us to cheer the Bay Breakers to victory! View athletic schedules.

Grandparents & Friends Day 2008

On October 30th more than one hundred grandparents and friends of Bay School students visited campus where they jumped right into the Bay routine by attending classes, enjoying a delicious organic lunch, and attending an all-school assembly. The gathering featured fascinating presentations about a broad range of topics: how students made aspirin in Chemistry classes, how they digitally restored historic photographs, and how they have learned to use mapping software Our Bay School guests also enjoyed several students' poems about science, the sounds of our Jazz combo group, and the voices of our A Capella singers.

Read the November 2008 issue of Writers Block (PDF 3.9 MB)

The Shaolin Monks Visit Bay

Learning about cultures is at the heart of the foreign language program at Bay as students in Ting-Chi Li's Mandarin V class recently experienced during the visit of a group of Shaolin Monks to campus in October. "One of the reasons why I designed this class is because I have always wanted to introduce the essence of Chinese cultures and values to my students" said Ting-Chi.  The advanced level Mandarin course centers on W_xiá, a Chinese martial literary form that has figured prominently in the popular culture of Chinese-speaking areas from ancient times to the present. The w_xiá genre is a blend of the philosophy of xiá (_, "honor code", "an ethical person", "knight-errant"), and China's long history in w_shù ("kung fu" or "martial arts"). Mandarin V course materials include classic novels, poems, films, video games and comics.

During the last week in October the Mandarin V class had a full week of training from two Shaolin Monks. Through both observing the monks in action and by practicing their ritual movements, students experienced first-hand the mental and physical discipline at the heart of this major branch of Chinese culture.

Bay Honors

Congratulations to the following members of the Bay School community for their recent
achievements and accolades:

Colin Williams, Bay School jazz teacher, will be heard on the radio on Saturday, December 6th playing and recording from Portland with the Bridgetown Sextet.  The sextet plays New Orleans style jazz, such as the music of Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller and Count Basie. In the Bay Area, you can tune in online at 2pm at: http://www.kmhd.org.

Ellen Greenblatt, Bay School literature and writing teacher was invited by The European Council of International Schools to be its Featured Language Arts Presenter at its conference in November held in Nice, France. This year's conference attracted thousands of teachers from English-language schools all over the world. Ellen presented three workshops: "Creating a Family Memoir," "Poetry: Formal, Informal and Found," and "Writing with Style." Congratulations Ellen!

December 2008 - January 2009 Events Calendar