April 7, 2008

Dear Friends,

Much buzz is going on at the school about admissions to ninth grade and admissions to college. Annie Tsang and her staff report that we have made our admissions goal of 75 freshmen for the first time. Peter Olrich and his staff report a new piece of good news every day from great colleges all over the country. Congratulations to all. I am so proud of our seniors and the mature and thoughtful way they are concluding the process. I am so proud of a school that can attract so many bright and interesting youngsters so early it its lifetime, and an admissions process and staff which can communicate it so well.

One of you said to me the other day, "If the school can create a good college list and increase admissions yield, you've made it."

I am not so sure.

These two things are indeed a necessary condition for creating a great institution, but they are not in themselves sufficient. There is danger also that we may begin to focus on things quantifiable rather than things of greater matter.

So, to use the modern jargon, let's parse out what these magnificent figures mean.

First, it means that colleges understand and appreciate what we are trying to do here; that our somewhat idiosyncratic curriculum and pedagogy resonate in their minds, and they are willing to support our approach.

Second, we have found that emphasizing to students that their work is intrinsically meaningful has also had the benefit of making our students more attractive to colleges.

Third, the affirmation of the college community strengthens our own internal confidence as we communicate with eighth graders and their parents, sharing our excitement at what we are attempting, reducing the anxiety connected with becoming part of a new school without compromising the mission and methods to which we are committed.

In other words, "It's the mission, stupid." What we have believed so strongly, and what parents and students have trusted to be sound has been vindicated superbly. Let us resolve to remain loyal to the fine underpinnings of the Bay School, to merit the confidence of the outside world, and to work our hearts out as we deepen and renew each year.

...and let's not forget: 2040 is still our target year. You all have my permission to relax if our graduates have realized all our hopes by then.

All best wishes,

Fr. Malcolm

The Audacity of Hoping Technology will Work in English Class

Often when we think of using technology to augment an English class, we think of using the "track changes" feature of Microsoft Word but, during the second trimester, one group of seniors used digital recording devices and the editing tools of the computer software program Audacity to "write" stories inspired by the widely acclaimed PBS radio program This American Life. Students began by learning to write memoir and creative non-fiction in the traditional model by reading David Sedaris and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, but they then took those tools and applied them to the question of "How do you 'write' a story when your material is recorded interviews and atmospheric sounds?" "How might you change your perspective on creating and editing a story when your material consists of digitally recorded stories transferred into visually represented sound waves to be spliced on a computer screen?"

To learn more about the audio editing process in Audacity - visit: http://www.transom.org/tools/editing_mixing/200404.audacity.html.

The Bay School seniors in the This SF Life class learned the skills of interviewing and how to use the recording and editing tools by first talking to their own peers about their experiences at the Bay School. They then moved on to writing creative non-fiction audio stories about topics as wide ranging as the stereotypes of students who commute from Marin, to perspectives on Hip Hop music. These audio stories contained the same format that a traditionally written creative non-fiction journalism piece might have: including rich imagery, using conflict to engage the reader and inserting subtle analysis. However, since digital editing tools enable adding sounds and music into an audio story, students were able to enrich their stories with multiple voices, background sounds relevant to the story, and music that accentuated a point or gave the listener time to pause and reflect.

Students listened to stories published on the radio program This American Life and Youth Radio to cull techniques and tips. The results were some wonderful technologically rich digitally mastered stories that can be published on the web or podcasted.

Listen to student podcasts:

• Mikhail A. - Perspectives on Hip Hop: Play MP3 file
• Ariel H. - Life without Music: Play MP3 file

Visit: http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/17-audacity-tutorial.htm to learn more about producing your own audio story.

The Power of the Growth Mindset

During recent months I've read three life-changing books about three very different topics that are actually very much related. On Tuesday, March 4th I took my turn to give a talk at our daily all-school morning meeting as an opportunity to discuss an important theme that all three books share. My message was that growth and achievement are not set in stone. Rather, we can continually grow as individuals if we approach new opportunities and challenges with openness and attention. I wanted to introduce the idea to our students that they don't have to set themselves up to fail before they have even tried—there are other options. When they get a C- on a physics test, they don't have to blame the teacher, or the test, or decide that they're just not "good at science". They could talk to their teacher, try different study techniques, and talk to students who did well on the test about their strategies. I used Shellie Banks, one of our foreign language teachers at Bay, as an example of the growth "mindset". Shellie has already mastered French and Spanish, and is now learning Mandarin Chinese as a member of Robin Workman's Mandarin I class.

I then shared parts of the book titled Mindset: the New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck because I think that it speaks about the theme of openness and attention so well. The title sounds like a cheesy self-help book, but it's actually a very empowering book. Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford, describes the characteristics of what she calls a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. For example, the fixed mindset says: "if I'm not good at painting right away, then I won't ever be good at it. In fact, I won't even try because I know I won't ever be as good as Picasso." The growth mindset, however, has this frame of mind: "I would like to learn to paint. I am going to take painting lessons, buy some painting books, visit art museums, and get some tips about painting from other painters. I know that it will take a while to learn, but I'm excited about the process." What sets this book apart from other Motivation 101-type books is that current brain research supports just this: our brains have the capacity to grow at any time during our lives. A very powerful message! With tips on how to change your mindset and helpful advice regarding praise, this is essential reading for all of us, especially parents.

The two other books that I've read recently illustrate the growth mindset in action. Geoffrey Canada, in Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America, uses his experience of growing up poor in the South Bronx in the 50s and 60s to trace the development of extreme violence and debilitating poverty that exists today in inner-city neighborhoods across this country. Returning to work in a community center in Harlem after earning degrees from Bowdoin and Harvard, Canada felt overwhelmed by the devastation that gun violence and crack cocaine had wrought in these long-time depressed neighborhoods; neighborhoods where children couldn't safely go outside to play because of the danger that they could be killed by gun fire. These are communities where schools are run-down and under-funded, and where parks are taken over by drug dealers and addicts. For these children, Geoffrey Canada decided to do something. His organization, Harlem Children's Zone [http://www.hcz.org/] looks at the many factors that affect a disadvantaged child's life and works to improve it through building preschools and charter schools, and offering after-school tutoring, parenting classes, and a whole array of recreational activities. Most importantly, the organization is well-staffed and assessment of services is thorough. If a program isn't working, it's fixed until results are improved. One man saw the way inner-city children lived in one of the wealthiest cities in the richest nation in the world and decided to do something about it. This is an outstanding example of the growth mindset in action.

The story of Greg Mortenson, a mountain climber who took a wrong turn after a failed K2 summit attempt in Pakistan and ended up building a school in the mountain village that took him in, told in his book Three Cups of Tea; One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time, is another example of one man's courage to make a difference. Mortenson saw the kids in the village working on their lessons in their "school", a windswept dirt field. The challenges he faced at each turn are described in detail in the book to the point where you really can't believe he is actually going to be able to do it! He overcomes cultural and language barriers, lack of funds, political upheaval, while also falling in love, getting married, and having children. Like Geoffrey Canada, Mortenson quickly realized that just building a school was not enough to help these poor rural villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. His work has expanded to road and bridge building, disaster relief, water projects, and health care. Check out his organization's web site for a list and description of current projects: Central Asia Institute [http://www.ikat.org/projects.html]. This is a truly inspiring story that continues to unfold and one that would not have even begun if Greg Mortenson had adopted a fixed mindset.

All three books clearly show how the individual can make a difference. Obstacles like poverty or crime can seem overwhelming to fight against. How can one person really change something as seemingly insurmountable as poverty or crime? But it's really about how we perceive the obstacle. One can either become overwhelmed and decide not to do anything (except talk about how overwhelming it is), or one can decide to take action. That's where the growth mindset concept comes into play. If you have a growth mindset about bringing education to the poorest parts of the country, you may not educate every child in Pakistan, but you will at least give it a try. Each of us can choose to see obstacles as a challenge, effort as the road to a solution, and criticism as a way to learn.

The 2008 Faculty – Student Hoops Showdown

The crowd was roaring and the players were ready for the tip-off when a whistle from referee Robert Martinez started the fourth-annual Bay School Faculty-Student Hoops Showdown played at Letterman Gym on Friday, March 7th. The students, hoping to avenge a heartbreaking 45-44 loss in 2007, looked to start off strong, but it was the faculty who drew first blood, on a short jumper off the backboard by Spencer Stevens, less than a minute into the game. After an unsuccessful possession for each side, the students got on the board as Kaneja Muganda banked in a two-pointer to tie the score.

Later in the first half, with the faculty ahead by two, Mikhail Alexander drilled the game's lone trey from well beyond the arch, giving the student Breakers their first lead of the contest--drawing loud cheers from the record crowd! But the faculty was quick to recover, using their vertical advantage to dominate the boards and go on a 6-0 run. The brief spurt gave the teachers a 14-9 advantage as each team's second-stringers entered the court with 10 minutes remaining in the opening period.

Solid defensive play, combined with numerous gaffes and turnovers, kept the scoring to a minimum, but the action was far from boring. With six minutes remaining, David Kornhauser provided the game's funniest moment, using a "korny" juke move to send volleyball coach Jim Scrivano stumbling backward to the ground. A strong final minute for the faculty–including a third-chance lay-up by Steve Glass after a pair of offensive boards by Scott Bell, however, gave them an 18-13 advantage when the Bay Hip-Hop class took center-stage for a halftime performance.

In the early minutes of the second half, the students shook off any rust that had accumulated since the end of the season and authored an impressive rally. A perfectly executed give-and-go sequence by Mikhail Alexander and Cara Vennari, catalyzed by an intercepted pass by Mark Yost at mid-court, led to a lay-up by Mikhail, capping an 8-0 run, and putting the students ahead 21-18 four minutes into the final period. But the teachers would not go quietly, taking advantage of a turnover on a short jumper by Coach Glass, helped by one of Spencer Stevens' game-high four assists, to cut the students' lead to one.

Still, the faculty's lack of experience would prove costly in the second half.

As the students continued swishing shots through the net, the faculty's attempts were missing badly. Down by eight with less than five minutes remaining, the faculty put their best lineup on the floor hoping to repeat the remarkable comeback they staged in 2007. They turned their focus wholly toward the offensive end, leaving their own basket unprotected--a strategy that, in hindsight, served only to widen the students' lead.

Solid defensive work by the Breakers caused problems for the faculty's top-five on their first trip down the court. Breaker Mikhail Alexander corralled the rebound and took it all the way down the floor for an uncontested lay-up, adding two more to his total of 13 points that led all of the game's scorers. After two more defensive stops--and two more Breaker baskets on the opposite end-–the Faculty All-Stars finally notched some points of their own. The students answered quickly, as Kaneja Muganda used a spin-move to beat his coach to the basket, knocking Dennis Hartzell out of commission with a hamstring injury. After suffering the loss of another one of their best, the faculty could not rebound, allowing the students' 10-2 run to continue through the final horn.

With "We Will Rock You" playing in the background, the student Breakers emerged victorious by a final score of 40 to 24, improving their all-time record in the annual Faculty-Student game to 2-1-1.

MVP for the Faculty: Steve Glass – 12 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals
MVP for the Students: Mikhail Alexander – 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks

William Randolph Hearst Foundations Award Bay School Grant

The William Randolph Hearst Foundation has recently awarded a $100,000 grant to the Bay School Opportunity Fund. The Opportunity Fund provides financial aid to ambitious, capable students from socio-economic groups that are traditionally under-represented in independent college preparatory schools.

"The Hearst Foundation Board of Directors funded this proposal because of the high academic quality of the school and due to the Bay School's deep focus on ethics and engagement with the larger issues facing the world," said Paul "Dino" Dinovitz, the Foundation's Executive Director. "We share the school's values of concern about the environment and about the ethical treatment of people. The Foundation is pleased to support the school's commitment to diversity and to providing access to students who cannot afford to pay full tuition."

There is enormous competition for Hearst Foundation grants, which traditionally are awarded to colleges and universities. "Bay is delighted to receive this honor, which will provide a life-changing educational experience for students who otherwise would not be able to attend Bay," says head of school, Malcolm Manson. "I am thrilled that the Foundation issupporting the deeply held belief that students from of a variety of cultural and economic backgrounds enrich the educational experience experienced by students and teachers alike."

This grant brings the total raised in the Campaign for Bay to $6,031,000 towards our goal of $7,000,000. The Campaign for Bay is a vital part of our plan to fully launch our new school. It will support all programs and operations of the school until we reach full enrollment, and is also providing significant support for the acquisition and renovation of Bay School athletic facilities.

The Campaign ends on June 30, 2008. For more information about the Campaign for Bay, please contact Adam Blum, Director of Development, at 415.561.5800, x 102 or ablum@bayschoolsf.org.

Dr. Marc Hauser Visits Bay – Leading a Discussion about the Role That Nature Plays in Human Moral Development

How do we decide what is morally right and wrong? Historically, there have been two answers to this question. On the one hand, we deliver moral judgments on the basis of a rational, conscious, and deliberate process of accessing principles to justify our actions. On the other hand, our judgments are the result of intuitions mediated by emotions. Though these two processes certainly play a role in our moral deliberations, each suffers from a set of critical problems.

Dr. Marc Hauser, Harvard University Professor of Psychology and Leakey Foundation Grantee, visited Bay on March 20th and encouraged students, faculty, and staff to consider a number of solutions. Offering an analogy to language, Dr. Hauser argues that humans are endowed with a universal moral grammar that generates intuitive judgments of right and wrong based on an inaccessible code of action—just as humans exhibit "hard-wired" interest in and ability to acquire spoken language.

During his presentation, Dr. Hauser posed a number of hypothetical situations to which the Bay audience was asked to respond. Each situation highlighted a different aspect of moral judgment—such as distinguishing between what is perceived to be morally acceptable and/or obligatory, what the differences are between active and passive moral responses, and the differences between human response in situations that demand quick reactions as opposed to offering more time for thoughtful consideration. Dr. Hauser's presentation encouraged all of us to pay closer attention to our moral instincts and to think more deeply about our own thoughts and actions.

Dr. Marc Hauser has donated an autographed copy of his recently published book titled Moral Minds to the Bay School library. To hear an interview with Marc Hauser discussing Moral Minds and his recent research click on: http://www.thoughtcast.org/casts/marc-hauser-on-moral-minds.

The Model United Nations Club at Bay
By Rebecca Roycroft, Class of 2009

The Model United Nations Club at the Bay School both prepares for interschool Model United Nations conferences and provides a forum for the discussion of international issues in general. The club was founded this year with the support of teachers Craig Miller and Robin Workman who serve as advisors. Our group has already attended two conferences and participated in one online simulation. The regular members of the club are: Spencer Stamats, Jessi Peck, Emily Bailinson, Lydia Kim, Nina de Puy Kamp, Rebecca Roycroft, Isaac Schwartz, and Hannah Bockley.

In mid October 2007, we attended the Stanford Model United Nations Conference held on campus in Palo Alto, where we represented Nigeria. To prepare for the conference, we first had to research Nigeria's history and form of government. Then, each delegate was assigned to a committee, representing Nigeria on his/her own. We had to research the many different topics that our committees were dealing with and write position papers addressing these topics--detailing our country's position and some possible solutions. Though we did not have much time to prepare, our delegation made a great showing—Henry Wettersten took the best delegate award and Spencer Stamats earned a verbal commendation. After the conference, we got to work on an online simulation where we represented France as a team. In this simulation, our delegation participated in negotiations with ten other schools on the topics of terrorism, debt and development, and public health.

Recently, over the weekend of March 15, 2008, the Bay Model UN Club represented Somalia at the Berkeley Model United Nations Conference—the largest Model UN conference in the Bay Area, hosting about 1,500 students. We ended up sending five delegates to the conference: Spencer Stamats, Jessi Peck, Emily Bailinson, and Rebecca Roycroft, who had been to Stanford in the fall; and Nina de Puy Kamp, who was a new member. We all participated in productive negotiations with hundreds of other delegations at the conference, and it was a challenging and inspiring experience. We look forward to representing Bay at future conferences next year and are eager to continue our research and study of international issues, events, and conflicts.

Bay Splash 2008 is Coming in May

Mark your calendars now because coming up on May 17th is Bay Splash 2008—the school's most fun and important annual community fundraising event.

Last year's Splash raised more than $100,000 to support student financial aid at Bay, enabling talented and motivated students from all socio-economic backgrounds to have the opportunity to attend the Bay School. Now, we have the challenge to make this year's Splash an even greater success! But not only is the event an effective way to raise money--it also happens to be a TON of FUN.

Here are the details for this year's event:

Online Auction from May 9th – May 16th. Bid on items from the comfort of your own home. Encourage your friends, family, and co-workers to participate too! The more people who bid, the more our financial aid program will benefit.

The Bay Splash event itself will be held on Saturday, May 17th, starting at 5:30 with cocktails, appetizers, and a silent auction in the Bay School Great Room.

At 7 pm we'll "follow the footsteps" up Keyes Avenue to the Herbst International Exhibition Hall where a delicious catered dinner and live auction await. Acclaimed Bay Area broadcast journalist, Jan Yanehiro, will guide the crowd through the fabulous excitement of the live auction.

Don't miss the chance to bid on these premier items!

• 1-week stay at a 4-bedroom luxury residence overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• Behind-the-scenes visit for 4 to a movie set as the movie is being made
• 2-night stay at any Kimpton Hotel
• “The Kite Runner” book signed by author Khalid Hosseini
• “The Chronicles of Narnia” autographed by Robin Williams himself (one of his favorite childhood books)
• 4 tickets and backstage passes to Huey Lewis & the News show at Wente Vineyards
• Gift certificates to acclaimed Bay Area restaurants such as Boulevard and Acquerello
• Private tour for 10 at the de Young Museum
• A sail aboard Franklin D. Roosevelt's historic presidential yacht, the USS Potomac, while enjoying wine and food pairings
• TBS Penthouse Cocktail Party to watch The Blue Angels

...and lots lots MORE!!!

It doesn't stop there. From 9 pm to midnight there will be dancing to the hot sounds of Keith Johnson's All Stars—playing the best of dance music from the swing tunes of the 40's through to the hottest contemporary hits.

Invitations will be mailed in mid-April, and the deadline to RSVP is May 2. Enthusiastic Bay School parents, community leaders, and school supporters numbering upwards of 340 are expected to attend this year's event. Please join us for a fun-filled evening and show your support for the Bay School.

Click here to find out about the many ways to support Bay Splash 2008 by donating to our auctions, advertising in the auction catalog and event program, as well as underwriting and corporate sponsorships.

Volunteers are needed to assist on the night of the event or help with preparations, please contact us:

Bay Splash 2008 Co-chairs:

Peggy Barbieri - pbarbier@pacbell.net

Alison Mattoon - mattoon4@comcast.net

Jane Vaughan - vaughan@menloequities.com

For more information, contact Janette Englert, Development Associate, at jenglert@bayschoolsf.org.

Bay Honors

Congratulations to the following member of the Bay School community for her recent achievement:

Three enormous cheers to go Stephanie Hamilton, Assistant Athletic Director, for placing first in her age group running the Hilo International Marathon on March 16th in Hilo, HI. "The 26.2 mile course was an amazing experience that taught me a lot about patience, humility, and delayed gratification" says Steph. "The most rewarding part of the experience was the training--long runs with my sister. The minute I crossed the finish line, I felt relieved, excited, and sad...all at the same time." Stephanie came in 16th overall for females running. She's an inspiration!

April 2008 Events Calendar