Alumni Issue

April 2014
VOLUME 6, ISSUE 8
Special Edition:
Alumni
Issue
Co n t e n t s
2
WHAT IS YOUR
WORKLOAD?
OHS STUDENT
WORKLOAD SURVEY
4
GRADUATION WEEKEND
UPDATES
5
ALUMS, COME TO
GRADUATION WEEKEND!
6
11
COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
REPRESENTATIVES
LUNCHEON
LATIN CONVENTION
12
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHTS
OHS PARENT-STAFF
BOOK CLUB UPDATE
8
13
ALUMNI UPDATES
THE STANFORD OHS
INAUGURAL ANNUAL
FUND HAS BEGUN!
10
FIVE MINUTES
(OR LESS) WITH
COLLEGE COUNSELING
14
STUDENT NEWS
16
FOCUS ON THE OHSPA
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
17
FROM THE OHSPA
18
EVENTS &
OPPORTUNITIES
What is your workload?
OHS STUDENT WORKLOAD SURVEY
BY TOMOHIRO HOSHI, DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION
Student workload has been one of the most widely discussed topics at Stanford OHS over recent years. In addition to ongoing communication with students during the semester, the School administers two surveys in an effort
to best understand student workload. One is the End-of-Semester Course Survey, for which students provide
detailed feedback at the end of the semester about each of their courses at Stanford OHS. Instructors use the feedback for further improvement of their courses. The other is the Student Workload Survey, which is designed to
gain a better overall understanding of student workloads across the Stanford OHS curriculum. The survey was introduced in 2012–13 and the results were discussed in various school forums, including Staff Meetings, Division
Meetings, and the OHSPA Meetings. Discussions have led to various concrete projects, including coordination of
assignment deadlines across courses in the same grade levels, coordination of course exam dates in relation to the
SAT and AP exams, and further adjustment of exams and assignments in individual courses. In order to assess the
efforts from the last year and to update our understanding of the current student workload, the Student Workload Survey was conducted again in January.
THE SURVEY
The Student Workload Survey is conducted mainly through
homerooms, as it targets full and part-time students. It consists of questions about student attributes, including student
status (full or part-time), grade levels, years at OHS, and the
number of courses at and outside Stanford OHS, and questions about overall workload asking the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Is the workload overwhelming?
Does it prevent you from non-course activities?
Do you see any imbalance of workload?
Is the overall workload at OHS in need of adjustment?
What changes might be helpful?
THE RESULTS
227 students responded to the survey, among whom 163
were full-time and 48 were part-time students. The results
were overall very similar to results in 2012–13, with some
hints of improvements. About half of students found the
Stanford OHS workload challenging or overwhelming, but
as illustrated by Negative Responses: Full Time Only and
Negative Responses: Full Time & Part Time, the proportions
of negative responses are equal to or less than (in some cases
statistically significantly so) results in 2012–13. When we
focus on negative responses from the high school population
only, we see improvement for all questions, as in Negative
Responses: High School. We see the opposite trend for the
middle school population in Negative Responses: Middle
School, while we should note that the middle school population in 2012–13 was statistically considered as “small,”
which may mean this year’s population is big enough that we
might consider this year’s result more representative.
2
Free response comments from students further revealed a
significant divide on this matter among students. While some
students enjoy the current workload and seek even more,
others think the workload is challenging, but hope it won’t
be changed. In addition, others think that the workload is
unreasonably heavy and request immediate changes.
We have also found that grade levels are the strongest factor for
concerns on workload among student attributes. The grade levels strongly correlate with negative responses for each workload
question. The higher the grade level is, the more concerned the
student is. On the other hand, years spent at Stanford OHS do
not correlate with negative responses for any question. For the
student workload issue, students’ grade levels are more important than student familiarity with the Stanford OHS curriculum.
The survey results were shared with students in homerooms,
parents in OHSPA Meetings, and instructors in Staff Meetings.
NEGATIVE RESPONSES: FULL TIME ONLY
0
10
20
30
40
WORKLOAD
50
70
80
2012–2013
2013–2014
Overwhelming/A Little Too Much
PURSUING NON-STUDY
2013–2014
2012–2013
Concerned 2013–2014
ADJUSTMENT REQUIREMENT
2012–2013
Strongly Agree/Agree
2013–2014
NEGATIVE RESPONSES: FULL TIME & PART TIME
0
10
20
30
WORKLOAD
40
50
60
70
80
2012–2013
2013–2014
Overwhelming/A Little Too Much
PURSUING NON-STUDY
2012–2013
Very Concerned/Concerned
2013–2014
IMBALANCED WORKLOAD
2012–2013
Concerned
2013–2014
ADJUSTMENT REQUIREMENT
2012–2013
2013–2014
Strongly Agree/Agree
NEGATIVE RESPONSES: HIGH SCHOOL
0
10
20
30
WORKLOAD
40
50
60
70
80
2012–2013
2013–2014
Overwhelming/A Little Too Much
PURSUING NON-STUDY
2012–2013
Very Concerned/Concerned
2013–2014
IMBALANCED WORKLOAD
2012–2013
Concerned
2013–2014
ADJUSTMENT REQUIREMENT
2012–2013
2013–2014
Strongly Agree/Agree
NEGATIVE RESPONSES: MIDDLE SCHOOL
0
10
20
WORKLOAD
30
PURSUING NON-STUDY
2012–2013
Very Concerned/Concerned
2013–2014
Concerned
ADJUSTMENT REQUIREMENT
Strongly Agree/Agree
40
2012–2013
2013–2014
Overwhelming/A Little Too Much
IMBALANCED WORKLOAD
AFTER THE
SURVEY
2012–2013
Very Concerned/Concerned
IMBALANCED WORKLOAD
60
50
60
70
80
While observing a divide among
students and some hints of improvement, we find it significant
that more than half of students
think of the workload at Stanford
OHS as challenging, and even
overwhelming. As we continue on
the projects we have started during
the previous year, we have discussed the topic of student workload in-depth at school meetings.
In the Academic Leadership Team
(consisting of division heads and
other administrative directors),
we discussed how to give students
proper guidance on workloads
involving discussion preparation,
assignments and exams—one of
the most requested actions found
among students on the Student
Workload Survey. In Staff Meetings, instructors compared workload estimates based on their
course development considerations
with the workload self-reported
by students in the End-of-Semester
Course Survey. The goal of this
comparison was to identify trends
and generate solutions for the
expressed concern about student
workload. Direct instructor guidance in discussion seminars on
course work will be a topic for the
Pedagogy and Technology Workshop for instructors this month,
followed by the Staff Meeting
discussion to share best practices
on direct guidance regarding time
allotment of assignments and test
preparation. Our goal in all of
this is to ensure that student input
is heard and acted upon—and
to help our students successfully
manage the rigorous Stanford
OHS workload.
2012–2013
2013–2014
2012–2013
2013–2014
OHS NEWSLETTER, APRIL 2014
3
GRADUATION
WEEKEND
UPDATES
BY SUMMAR AUBREY, DIRECTOR OF STUDENT LIFE & COMMUNITY
Can you believe Graduation Weekend is only about a month away?! The
weekend will include a wide variety of events for all ages. Greet friends old
and new at the Welcome Reception on Friday; dance the night away at
the Prom on Saturday night; and celebrate our graduating seniors at the
Graduation Ceremony on Sunday. We hope you’ll join us for what’s sure to
be a fantastic weekend. See you in June!
PROM THEME:
ROARING TWENTIES!
The Prom Committee is pleased to announce that this year’s prom theme will
be “Roaring Twenties” and will be DJed by
our very own Leverett Zantzinger (’14). It
will be an evening of fabulous music and
dancing, inspired by the festive elegance
of the 1920s. If you’d like to dress the part,
pop in a copy of The Great Gatsby for some
fashion inspiration!
SPEAKERS
Sunday’s Graduation Ceremony will
include four special speakers, whose
speeches are the cornerstones of the ceremony. The two student speakers and instructor speaker are chosen by the senior
class and will be announced next month.
The fourth speaker is a special guest.
We are very happy to announce that this
year’s guest will be renowned scientist and
mathematician, Stephen Wolfram. Wolfram
is the chief designer of the Mathematica
software, author of A New Kind of Science,
creator of Wolfram|Alpha, and the CEO of
Wolfram Research—as well as an OHS
parent! We look forward to hearing from this great innovator!
4
RSVP
The RSVP system for graduation events
is now live! Please go to the Graduation
page on Gateway for instructions and the
link to the RSVP system. We encourage
you to register your party as soon as possible to help us have accurate numbers for
graduation weekend. The RSVP system
will close on May 16th, and no refunds will
be given after May 23rd.
PARENT GRADUATION
COMMITTEE
We want to extend special thanks to our
wonderful parent graduation committee,
co-chaired by Cynthia Saitta and Veronica
Forest. This special weekend would not
be possible without the tireless work of
these parents who are dedicated to making this a welcoming, fun, and celebratory
weekend for our entire community.
Veronica Forest, Co-Chair
Kim Laird
Cynthia Saitta, Co-Chair
Yi (Lucy) Lu
Kathryn Besemer
Arlin Pedrick
Mariann Bjorkman
Beth Redd
Mary Ann Bungi
Cheri Rouse
Kathie Byrd
Judy Doherty
ALUMS, COME TO
GRADUATION WEEKEND
BY THOMAS NIELSEN, CLASS OF 2013
It has been a busy year for Stanford OHS alumni, as many of us continue our studies at the world’s universities,
travel, seek internships and career opportunities, and of course, catch up with old friends. I myself have been
in the midst of a gap year—studying piano and composition intensively as well as traveling to China for three
weeks—before starting school at Columbia University this fall. As this year begins to wind down, a foremost
concern of mine has been devoting time and effort to developing a more active alumni association for the
OHS. Through the OHS, I came to know many of the most important and impactful people in my life today.
As a result, I think it is very important to facilitate keeping in touch, even as our lives, once connected by the
OHS, move in different directions.
Due to the unique structure of Stanford OHS, students of different
academic grades often befriend each other, which is why the annual
Graduation Weekend at Stanford offers a prime opportunity for
alumni and current students to socialize. I’ll be attending, as will
several other Bay Area alumni, and feel this is a fantastic opportunity
to organize an official Alumni
Gathering, to take place at the same
time as the Senior-only Meet-up
on the evening of Sunday, June 8th
in the evening. (Alumni will receive
an email next month with more
details about this event). Palo Alto
is a great town to walk around, and
there are numerous restaurants in the immediate vicinity. I hope that we
can continue to organize more alumni gatherings, including meet-ups
specific to geographical location and year of OHS graduation.
I encourage you to remain an active part of the OHS community after you graduate. For me, the four years I
spent studying here were some of the most vibrant, interesting, fast-paced, life-defining years of my life, and
I look forward to remaining involved in that community even as I prepare to move up to New York City and
embark upon the next chapter of my life journey.
SEE YOU
IN JUNE!
OHS NEWSLETTER, APRIL 2014
5
ALUMNI
S P OTL I G HTS
BY TYLER SHORES,
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
Matt Guthmiller (’13):
Around the World in 30 Days
Matt Guthmiller will be making history next month, in
his quest to become the youngest person to fly solo
around the world at the age of 19 (for Jules Verne fans:
Phileas Fogg of Around the World in Eighty Days was
forty years old). Matt—currently a freshman at MIT majoring in electrical engineering and computer science—
will be flying a 1981 Beechcraft A36 Bonanza during his
one month, 28,000 mile journey that includes 20 stops,
in 13 different countries across five continents.
But more important to him than a place in the Guinness World Records book, is how this endeavor might
encourage others to dream even bigger: “Setting a
record is exciting, but records are made to be broken. My real goal is to inspire other young people to
attempt things of a similar magnitude. That’s what
I hope to accomplish with this flight.” Matt made
his first solo flight in 2011, and in a testament to the
planning and dedication towards his goal, has logged
more than 500 hours in the air. (Another interesting
fact for readers:
fewer people
have flown solo
around the world
than have been to space).
In reflecting on his own Stanford OHS experiences,
Matt feels that being part of a unique online high
school provided him with novel opportunities that he
might not have been able to experience elsewhere. In
a similar vein, all proceeds from his round-the-world
flight will go to support Code.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing and improving opportunities for computer science education in more schools
around the country. “Computers offer literally anyone
the power to accomplish or build anything they want,
and they’re only becoming more powerful and controlling more things. Additionally, studying computer
science builds critical problem solving skills and opens
the mind to the infinite range of possibilities that exists.
It’s really rather difficult to fully articulate the enormous
freedom and opportunity it represents.”
The list of Matt’s stops include:
San Diego; Aberdeen; New York City; St. John’s,
Newfoundland; the Azores; London; Rome; Athens;
Cairo; Dubai; Calcutta; Manila; Darwin, Australia; New
Caledonia; Samoa; Honolulu; San Diego; Las Vegas;
San Diego; Salt Lake City; Aberdeen
And you can learn much more about Matt’s journey
on his blog.
6
Eugenia O’Kelly (’10):
Stanford, to Japan, and Beyond
Eugenia recently returned to the U.S. after studying
abroad in Kyoto, Japan, and already finds herself
missing the food (including the wonders of Japanese
vending machines) and a hyper-efficient public transit
system. Having had the opportunity to study the Japanese language for three years, she found the experience of living in a different culture and country to be
one of the most rewarding experiences of her life—and
wholeheartedly encourages any fellow OHS alums that
are thinking about studying abroad, to do it!
Eugenia is currently an undergraduate at Stanford
University, where she is part of the Program in Science
Technology and Society (STS), a dynamic interdisciplinary major that provides a uniquely twenty-first century
liberal arts education. At STS, she is putting her multidisciplinary interests to excellent use while currently studying computer graphics technology and its effects upon
corporations and individuals, on a sociological level.
Showing an impressive amount of fore planning, Eugenia was able to study abroad in her senior year thanks
to writing her thesis (which most college students
complete during their senior year), an entire year early.
In creating her own college major and actively crafting her Stanford undergraduate career, Eugenia looks
back fondly on her OHS days
as playing a formative role:
“Being at the OHS was the
most intellectually stimulating and developing period
of my life…including being
an undergraduate at Stanford.” Those demanding OHS
workloads and rigorous courses pushed her to write
and think at a level that had her very well prepared for
college, while also spurring her on to further intellectual
exploration in subjects such as religion, and philosophy
(which Dr. Jeff Scarborough will be happy to hear).
And, she finds time to also meet with another former OHS student currently at Stanford, Arthur Lau,
because there’s something about that bond of having gone through the OHS Experience that is hard to
replicate: “it was the best academic experience I’ve
ever had.” (Speaking of which: don’t forget to check
out details for the Stanford OHS Alumni meet-up at
Stanford mentioned earlier in this newsletter!).
After graduating from Stanford, Eugenia will shortly
thereafter be starting an exciting new adventure with
500 Startups.
Brandon Conley (’10): Passion in Finance
Brandon will be graduating and finishing his degree
in finance from NYU next month, and is excited to
be starting his new full-time position at J.P. Morgan
where he has already spent a busy and dynamic past
few years, gaining experience in structured investments, valuation, and risk management. Finance has
long been Brandon’s passion (The Wall Street Journal
even wrote about him, back in 2007!), and being in
the heart of the world’s most important international
financial centre suits him well. In his free time, he
also works with the Jazz Foundation of America and
is hoping to bring a vigorous, new kind of jazz experience to the venues of New York City.
In between his busy schedule, Brandon has also
found time to enjoy opportunities abroad, having
spent time in London, England and Santiago, Chile.
In reflecting on his Stanford Online High School experience, Brandon values the chance to have been part
of a truly global educational community, one which,
“was not at all like a traditional high school where everyone is the same one, from the same background.”
It sounds like the rigors of that demanding OHS workload, as well as the intellectually stimulating courses
(including Democracy, Freedom, and the Rule of Law)
have Brandon more than ready for the fast-paced
hustle and bustle of the New York financial world. In a
reflection we heard from a few of our OHS alums, the
first year or two of college seemed much more manageable after having gone through the OHS experience: “Nothing compared to prepare me in the same
way that OHS did.”
OHS NEWSLETTER, APRIL 2014
7
ALUMNI NEWS
BY TYLER SHORES
Please enjoy our second installment of Alumni News! You can submit your news and
update your contact information at any time by completing our Alumni News Form—we
would love to hear from you!
NINA BAKER [2013]
has been enjoying her freshman year at Montana State
University, and has refined her interest in the history of environmental science,
economics and political philosophy (*cough*DFRLwasamazing*cough*). While it
has been a challenge to find a way to combine these interests, she has had the
benefit of dedicated professors determined to help her find the perfect customized combination of majors and minors. Outside of school, Nina is loving all that
Montana has to offer outdoors; between days spent skiing, hiking, practicing archery, or riding horses, Nina has kept busy and happy! Whether academic or otherwise, Nina’s first year at university has been filled with welcome adventures and
limitless discovery.
ERSKINE WILSON [2011]
is currently studying at the University of California, Berkeley—and
is currently hard at work in Honors English with a
“researched narrative,” essentially a short novel, instead of the standard formal thesis. All of the hard
work on those Stanford OHS essays may have paid
off, as Erskine notes: “I’ve had an interesting time
convincing different people in the English department to let me embark on creative projects instead
of following the basic rubric for essay writing that
dominates the field.”
CAELIN TRAN [2013]
is enjoying his third quarter as a freshman at Stanford University. Right now
it’s bright and sunny, and he's taking the opportunity to throw the Frisbee around, dine out in Palo
Alto, and listen to music with friends. Although he
can barely believe that his first year of college is
approaching its end, he’s excited about declaring
a Chemical Engineering major in the Fall. Caelin is
very much looking forward to working abroad at an
internship this summer in Munich, Germany.
CJ CRUZ [2010] returned to Occidental College from a semester abroad at the
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. While in Hong Kong he met up
with OHS students, Faith Cheng and Richard King. In November, CJ attended the
Global Social Business Summit as one of the selected global Young Challengers.
The summit was hosted by Nobel Laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. Upon his return to Occidental College, CJ served as one of the
16 student organizers of the first TEDxOccidentalCollege, which featured talks on
the theme of "Reinventing the American Dream." He looks forward to attending
the One Young World summit as a United States candidate this upcoming October. You can connect with CJ on Twitter @cjocruz.
8
MARTIN LIVINGSTON [2010] will be graduating from Whitman College this
May with a BA in Biology, and a minor in Chemistry. During his time at Whitman
College, he has kept himself quite busy—having worked as a Lyman resident assistant, a Bio112 lab TA, a writing fellow, while also helping to start a bike-share
program, and being actively involved in environmental and social activism. After
graduating, Martin will be seeking post-college positions in the Biotech/Biomedical engineering fields.
SARA (EHLERT) TAYLOR [2010] recently got married to Cameron Taylor. She was also recognized as a Hertz Foun-
dation Finalist. Sara will finish her undergraduate degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics at Brigham Young
University in April 2014. In the fall, she and her husband are looking forward to starting graduate school at the MIT Media
Lab, where Sara will be joining the Affective Computing group.
MATTHAEUS WEINHARDT [2009]
is currently in his first year at Stanford
Law School and this summer he’ll be splitting time between two law firms—Jones
Day, a large multinational law firm, and Dovel & Luner, a small patent litigation
firm in Santa Monica. He’s also enjoying doing pro bono work helping people in
Redwood City apply for their U.S. citizenship and navigating the naturalization
process. In his free time, Matthaeus is enjoying taking trips to the beach, playing the ukulele and piano—especially together with other musically interested
friends! (The photo is of Matthaeus and his lovely girlfriend of nearly 3 years—who
is a senior at Stanford and the captain of the Stanford Cheer team)
LINDSEY ZEMEIR [2009]
will soon be graduating from University of Maryland, College Park where she is completing degrees in Psychology, and Family
Science. Following her passion for nutrition education and public health, Lindsey has worked for FSNE (Food Supplement Nutrition Education Program) on
such initiatives as Text2BHealthy (an innovative text-message based approach
to healthy eating using dialogue learning), Feeding 4 Healthy Eating (a program
to teach and encourage healthy family eating habits), and 1-2-3 Feed Me! (a program which teaches child care providers how to encourage healthy eating habits
with preschool-aged children). In addition to her nutrition work, Lindsey has also
gained valuable experience in family therapy, while also being named a UMD College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Emerging Scholar.
OHS NEWSLETTER, APRIL 2014
9
Five Minutes (or Less)
with College Counseling
BY ADAM LIPS, DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE COUNSELING
& KATE ROSSETTI, COLLEGE COUNSELOR
Our goal each month is to offer the Stanford OHS community five ideas, tips, or
other pieces of advice that families will find useful as their students look toward applying to college. We know that many OHS juniors took advantage of Spring Break
to visit college campuses near and far. A campus visit is an excellent way to get a feel for a school, however other opportunities exist for students to learn about schools far from home. This month, we look beyond the campus visit, highlighting alternative ways
for students to gain insight into college options.
The College Fair
Each year, primarily in the spring and fall, college admissions officers travel the country for the purpose of providing
information to students about their college or university. At
college fairs, admissions representatives are available to answer questions from students and their parents. College fairs
can be a great starting point to gather general information
and learn about schools you might not otherwise have considered. Check out the NACAC website (www.nacacnet.org)
for details about upcoming college fairs in your area. Some
brick and mortar high schools offer college fairs and welcome
students from other schools; consider contacting schools in
your area regarding this possibility.
Regional presentations
Even if you cannot travel to the campus of a college of
interest, a representative from the admissions office may
be headed to your local area. Many admissions offices host
‘regional presentations’. These presentations tend to be
held in large metropolitan areas, frequently at hotels, and
may be jointly presented alongside representatives from
several other colleges. These events typically include a formal
presentation followed by time for Q&A. To find out whether a
particular college is offering a regional presentation near you,
check that college’s admissions website, or you may receive
information about an event via mail or email.
College representative
visits to OHS
Each fall, college admissions officers travel to high schools
to give small, personalized presentations to interested students. Last fall at OHS, over thirty colleges visited the College
Counseling Office on campus at Stanford and conducted
10
presentations in Saba. These presentations are available to
all OHS students to watch via playback. Juniors and seniors
are eligible to attend these visits and should keep an eye out
in early fall for a schedule from the College Counseling Office.
This is an opportunity to chat one-on-one with an admissions
officer—oftentimes the individual who will ultimately read
your application.
Virtual tours
If you can’t make it to campus, a virtual tour can offer the
next best thing to a real-life visit. Available on many college
admissions websites, virtual tours strive to provide an authentic feel of the campus, highlighting central buildings and
some include video clips of students sharing their favorite
aspects of their college experience.
Social Media
If you use Twitter or Facebook, you might consider following
schools of interest through these popular social media sites.
Many colleges now use social media as a way to share recent
news and provide campus life updates, so staying connected
this way can be an excellent way to get a feel for the campus
culture. Colleges use Facebook and Twitter to share student
accomplishments, showcase speakers who come to campus
and highlight prominent events. And as a reminder—whether
or not you choose to follow a college through social media,
students going through the college application process
should ensure that their own social media presence is presented in the best possible light, as in recent years increasing numbers of college admissions officers report having
searched an applicant’s name on Google, or Facebook.
College Admissions
Representatives Luncheon
BY KATE ROSSETTI
On Tuesday, April 8th, the College Counseling Office hosted a luncheon at the Stanford Faculty Club for college
admissions representatives. The event was attended by over thirty admissions officers, from colleges and universities across the country who traveled to the Stanford campus to learn more about what makes Stanford Online High
School so unique. The event included presentations from OHS founder Ray Ravaglia and Director Kathlyn Gray,
an overview of our college counseling program from the OHS college counselors, and an opportunity for guests to
meet OHS teachers and OHS alums currently attending Stanford. By all accounts, the event was a great success!
Latin Convention
BY KATHRYN BALSLEY, ENROLLMENT COORDINATOR
At the beginning of this month, Magistra Pisarello and
I had the pleasure of attending this year’s California
Junior Classical League state convention in Irvine, CA,
with ten of our OHS Latin students. This two-day long
convention gives Latin students from across California
the opportunity to come together in the spirit of camaraderie and competition. From launching our catapult,
to taking late-night academic tests, to donning togas
and watching chariot races, it was an amazing weekend at University High School in Irvine. The highlight
of the weekend, by far, was the final dinner at Knott’s
Berry Farm, which was followed by roller coasters, a
giant bag of taffy, and far too much giggling.
This was our first year attending the convention with OHS
students, and Magistra Pisarello and I had a wonderful
time. We were, as always, blown away by our amazing
OHS families, who happily shuttled students back and
forth from the hotel to the convention to the amusement
park, and by our students, who are equal parts caring,
engaged, and silly. Gratias discipulis agimus!
OHS NEWSLETTER, APRIL 2014
11
OHS Parent-Staff
Book cluB
book
club update
Update
BY KATHRYN BESEMER, OHS PARENT
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive
Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work
BY SHAWN ACHOR
On the afternoon of April 3rd, about a dozen parents and Stanford
OHS staff members gathered together in Saba for a discussion of The
Happiness Advantage. What made this gathering so special was the
sense of community created by everyone's participation. As parents,
we are often apprehensive to use the technology to actively engage
in a conversation, deferring to faculty and staff to lead the dialog,
so we won't disrupt the flow by our relative lack of Saba experience.
However, one simple prompt at the start of the meeting, before we
ever began discussing the book, connected us. The prompt was:
"What is one way that you foster happiness for yourself and your
family?" That simple question was enough to overcome our Saba
shyness, and got the conversation rolling. Answers varied, but there
were common themes that we all shared:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Physical activity outdoors (skiing, hiking, swimming, kayaking, etc.)
Long walks (for either quiet time, or a good conversation)
Smiling
Playing with our pets
Being by/or on the water
Gathering for a family meal
The nods of agreement and smiles connected us from our remote
locations across the country, and laid the foundation for a fun and
engaging book conversation.
In The Happiness Advantage, Mr. Achor posits that the conventional wisdom of ‘work hard, achieve success, and then you'll be happy’
is broken—or at least backwards. His book argues the case that happiness is the precursor to success. He cites extensive research over
the last 15 years (from students at Harvard, to large corporations like
Samsung or KPMG) showing that when we are happier "our brains
become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and
productive." Mr. Achor suggests that waiting to be happy limits our
brain's potential for success, and he proposes that happiness and
optimism actually fuel performance and
achievement, creating a competitive edge
that he calls "The Happiness Advantage."
Sharing research from the blossoming
field of neuroplasticity, Mr. Achor asserts
that we can train our brain to be more
positive by tapping into the brain's enormous potential, to adapt and grow at any
age. Far beyond simple positive affirmations (remember Al Franken’s Stuart Smalley character from Saturday Night Live?),
Mr. Achor has sifted through mounds of
research identifying proven ideas and
12
techniques that can lead to happiness. He has distilled this work
into Seven Principles, which are at the heart of the book:
THE HAPPINESS ADVANTAGE: understanding
happiness, and how you create it
THE FULCRUM AND LEVER: proper mindset is the
fulcrum for our actions, which are the lever
THE TETRIS EFFECT: how to retrain the brain to spot
patterns of possibility versus negativity
FALLING UP: When things go wrong, how to find the positive
path up and forward
THE ZORRO CIRCLE: breaking overwhelming tasks into
small, manageable accomplishments
THE 20 SECOND RULE: how to keep old habits and lack
of will-power from hijacking newer, more positive habits
SOCIAL INVESTMENT: a connection with others is a key
predictor of happiness
We briefly discussed each of the principles, but spent the bulk of
our time talking about which ideas resonated with us, with the Zorro
Circle, 20-Second Rule, and Falling Up sparking the most resonance
among us. The conversation then turned to how we can use these
ideas and principles with our students at home, to help alleviate the
stress that many of our kids feel. The book club discussion concluded with our brainstorming ideas for integrating some of these
concepts into our OHS community.
This meeting was a delight, not just because of the topic, but because of the people who were there. Through the conversation, we
connected with one another outside of our defined roles as parent
or staff; it felt like we were talking as friends.
There was strong enthusiasm to squeeze in one more club meeting
before the end of the school year. Being mindful of all of our end-ofyear commitments, we will plan to discuss one or more short articles
around a topic that is very popular right now in parenting, education, and psychology circles. You have likely heard different terms
used for similar concepts: academic tenacity, resilience, and grit are
a few of the buzzwords that center around students’ character and
coping skills. We will discuss how we observe and affect the development of these skills in our children. Please join us, whether you
have time to read all, one, or none of the articles! The articles and
the exact date and time of the next club meeting will be announced
in the OHS Weekly Bulletin and on the Parent Forum. Be part of the
conversation in our OHS community, and experience the added
bonus of making new friends!
The Stanford OHS
Inaugural
Annual Fund
Has Begun
BY KATHLYN GRAY, DIRECTOR
I hope all families have had the opportunity to read about the launch of the first-ever OHS Annual Fund
Campaign through the announcement from parents William and Leslie Elkus, and Jeff and Stacy Drazan.
You can view a copy of the letter online, HERE.
We look forward to sharing the progress of the drive with you through the official GIVING PAGE on our
website. We will be tracking participation rates from parents, as well as from staff and instructors, toward
our goal of reaching 100%. A gift of any size makes a difference in our efforts to provide an exceptional
education for our students. Having spent out our Malone Family Foundation grants leaves the school in
need of additional funding beyond our current tuition level.
This campaign combines all fund-raising efforts of the School, supporting funding of all of programs
and activities including Graduation Weekends, student activities and clubs, our Summer Program and
financial aid.
For those in the Northern and Southern California areas, invitations have been sent to join Ray Ravaglia
and me at two Annual Fund receptions, generously hosted by the Elkus and Drazan families. At these receptions you will meet other OHS parents, hear about plans for the future of the school, share your input
and learn how you can help.
The four key priorities of the drive this year are:
Hire and retain our unparalleled group of instructors
Upgrade our technology to the state of the art
Expand curricular and co-curricular offerings
Continue to keep an OHS education affordable
Stanford OHS is a special place. I hope that our community will join together to secure a future for our
school that is even more successful than its past.
» Join our Inaugural Annual Fund Campaign «
OHS NEWSLETTER, APRIL 2014
13
Stu d e n t N ews
BY TYLER SHORES
PEYTON ROBERTSON AT THE NCAA FINAL FOUR INNOVATION SUMMIT
Peyton Robertson (’20) joined other students from Princeton and Harvard at the second annual
NCAA Final Four Innovation Summit. The event, hosted by Brooke Baldwin of CNN and Rachel
Nichols of ESPN, is aimed to “to celebrate those who are pushing the boundaries of innovation—
from students and student-athletes who represent the next generation of leading innovators, to
high-profile business leaders who began their path towards innovation while in school.”
Reflecting on the experience, Peyton says that, “being asked to participate as a panelist at the Final Four Innovation Summit was such an honor. The entrepreneurial stories of the other panelists
were inspiring … the only downside was Stanford wasn’t in the final four! Next year!”
And it has been quite a year for Peyton, having been
named America’s Top Young Scientist for 2013, and making
appearances on ABC World News, The Ellen DeGeneres
Show, the Huffington Post, and TED talks.
You can learn more about Peyton’s NCAA Final Four Innovation Summit here.
» L E A R N M O R E AB O UT P E YTO N ’ S E XP E R I E N C E
JACOB CORDEIRO PUBLISHES HIS SECOND BOOK:
GAMESTAR MECHANIC FOR DUMMIES
Jacob Cordeiro (’15), who wrote his first book, Minecraft for Dummies at the age of 15, will be releasing
his second book next month: Gamestar Mechanic for Dummies. Gamestar Mechanic is an online game and
community designed to teach young people about the principles of game design and systems thinking in a
highly engaging environment—and in many ways is the ideal type of creative, dynamic platform for thinkers
just like Jacob.
In his latest project, Jacob writes about how readers can learn about all phases of game design, from
planning and designing games, to learning the principles of good interactive game design. You can get a
sneak preview of Gamestar Mechanic for Dummies on Amazon.
GWYNETH CAMPBELL
HAS AN AWARD-WINNING SPRING 2014
Gwyneth Campbell (’16) has had a perfect-pitch past few months, with
honors that include: Grand Prize in the New York Concerti Sinfonietta
International Competition; Grand Prix winner at the 2014 Concert Festival International Competition (piano); First prize (voice) at the American
Fine Arts Festival Piano, Strings, Winds & Voice International Concerto
Competition; and First prize for the 2014 Regular Season at the American Fine Arts Festival International Competition (piano).
» SEE G WYNE TH ’S P E R FO R M A N C E
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The 2014 New York City Region of the Scholastic Art and Writing
Awards were also a showcase for Gwyneth’s multiple talents, with two
Gold Keys for Poetry, two Gold Keys for Drawing, two Silver Keys for
Poetry, and a Silver Key for Drawing. You can view Gwyneth’s New York
Concerti Sinfonietta performance on YouTube.
ELEANOR BRAGG IS A 2014 YOUNGARTS FOUNDATION WINNER
Eleanor Bragg (’15) has been named a 2014 National YoungArts Foundation Winner –as one
of the recipients selected from a pool of approximately 11,000 applicants nationwide, she
and her fellow YoungArts Foundation Winners represent some of the most outstanding young
artistry across a range of disciples in the visual, design, and performing arts. As the Foundation notes, “being selected as a YoungArts Winner is a testament to a student’s commitment,
artistic talent, discipline, passion and dedication.”
The YoungArts awards are designed to recognize and support talented young artists, and
provide life-changing experiences with world-renowned mentors. Eleanor has written over 25
original compositions, which include three orchestral pieces, chamber pieces, works for choir,
one chamber opera and solo works. Her compositions have been performed in many musical
venues, including Sanders Theatre (Harvard University), Old South Church (Boston), Ryerson United Church (Vancouver, BC, Canada),
Jordan Hall, Williams Hall and Brown Hall at the New England Conservatory
of Music and at the Longy School of Music.
You can watch and listen to some Eleanor’s work as a composer on YouTube.
» LI ST E N TO E LE AN O R ’ S MUSIC
ANNABEL BARRY WINS A NATIONAL SILVER MEDAL
AT THE SCHOL ASTIC ART & WRITING AWARDS FOR 2014
Annabel Barry (’15) was awarded a silver medal in the category of persuasive writing at the Scholastic
Art & Writing Awards, for her essay, "Caliban Transformed: Linguistic Patterns and Identity in Shakespeare
and Brathwaite." The essay is a post-colonial study of the relationship between language and identity, and
stemmed from work in her AP Literature course (with thanks to Dr. Claire Dawkins, who mentored Annabel during the competition). As Annabel notes, it is “a validation of my ability as a writer and gives me the
confidence to continue improving my writing” and she’ll be attending an award ceremony at Carnegie Hall
in New York this coming June, while also having her work published online.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the longest-running, and most prestigious recognition program for
creative teens in the U.S. with a long history of past winners that include: Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman
Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, John Updike, and many others.
You can learn more about the awards at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards website.
SHALIN SHAH CAPTAINS OHS ROBOTICS TEAM
TO A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Seventy-two robotics teams, from 12 States across the western United States converged in Sacramento, CA to compete in the prestigious
FIRST Tech Challenge West Super-Regional Championship from March 20–22 (www.usfirst.org). The youngest and smallest team in the
tournament, RoboKnights, with Stanford OHS student Shalin Shah (’18) as captain, had an outstanding showing and emerged as the Winning Alliance Partner of their division, advancing to the World Championship, which will be held in St. Louis, MO, April 23–26, 2014.
Shalin expressed his excitement, “I could not have achieved this without the unique opportunity that Stanford OHS offers: I can immerse myself in Stanford OHS’ rigorous academics and passionate intellectual debates with classmates from around the world, while
continuing my Chess and Robotics pursuits with my lifelong friends and teammates locally. With Stanford OHS, I get the best of both
worlds… I can be in the Stanford OHS classroom from anywhere in the world, and talk to my classmates on live video, while teaching
Robotics workshops to kids in India, day after day, as I was able to do in December-January. The program was featured in The Times
of India, India’s largest newspaper, and the Government of the state of 60 Million people reached out to me to collaborate to spread
Robotics all over the State! This would be impossible without the virtual classroom of Stanford OHS.”
For those interested in watching this “Sport for the Mind” in action at a tournament, the World Championship is in St. Louis, MO, April
23–26. For more information on Shalin’s team, RoboKnights, please see www.theroboknights.com.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR OHS STUDENTS
AND THEIR WONDERFUL ACCOMPLISHMENTS!
OHS NEWSLETTER, APRIL 2014
15
Foc us o n t h e O H S PA
BY KATHLYN GRAY
As Director of Stanford OHS, it has been clear to me from my arrival in August 2012 just how essential the role of the OHS
Parent Association (OHSPA) is to the health and success of the School. In our new and unique model of schooling, we are
continually establishing best practices by creating the relationships and family communication that are necessary to best
serve our students.
SH ARING CONCE R N S
For this effort to be effective, it is essential that there be
a strong, formal connection between our families and our
School. Over the last two years, the OHS Parent Association
has continued to grow and establish itself as a key communications venue between parents and the School, as well
as serving as a community for OHS parents. I meet with the
officers of the OHSPA at least every month to discuss common topics that have come to our attention and any items
on which I need parental input. Such topics have included
student workload, online proctoring, establishment of the
Parent Ambassador Program and the Parent-Staff Book Club,
the process to determine the leadership of the OHSPA, and
the structure of our Summer Program. Having this opportunity for dialogue is a requirement of our WASC accreditation.
SPONSORING M E E T- U PS
Equally important, the OHSPA serves as the bedrock of
the essential family-to-family relationships that our students need to accompany their online social networks. Our
students clearly thrive on having face time with their school
friends; the energy from the student gatherings that occur
on the Stanford campus is close to cosmic! We are proud
to report that we’ve had the highest number of meet-ups
to date during this school year—25 gatherings that have
spanned the globe – from London, England to Cambridge,
Massachusetts to Honolulu, Hawaii.
L EADERSHIP TRA N S ITIO N
The OHSPA officers that I have had the opportunity to
work with both last year and this year have been true
partners in moving the school forward to higher levels of
excellence. Last year, formal elections were held to determine the next officers. This year, however, we have had one
candidate coming forward for each office. It is with much
gratitude that I announce these three individuals who have
stepped forward to take over the leadership for the OHSPA
for the 2014–2015 school year.
16
O H SPA LE AD E RSH I P 2 0 1 4 – 2 0 1 5
PRESIDENT
AMY CARLISLE
PARENT OF AVERY (’16) AND ELLIOTT (’19)
(THIS YEAR’S OHSPA VICE-PRESIDENT)
FALMOUTH, ME
VICE-PRESIDENT
GINA CHAFFIN
PARENT OF RACHEL (’16) AND ALUMNI BETHANY (’13),
IAN (’11), AND ZACH (’08)
ELK GROVE, CA
SECRETARY
SUSAN SMITH
PARENT OF WARREN (’16) AND CAMPBELLE (’19)
CHARLOTTE, NC
I know that this trio’s wealth of knowledge, breadth of experience and amount of energy will further develop the OHSPA
as an organization of new, innovative programming that will
benefit the School and hence most importantly, our students!
A rtist S potl ig ht
S EE MORE STU DEN T A RT ON THE G AT E W AY !
MARGARET MCGUIRE,
STUDY OF PEPPERS,
ACRYLIC PAINT
From t h e O H S PA
THE TOOLS FOR SUCCESS, PART 3
This is the final article in my series discussing the changes
in technology, collaboration and management that are
transforming the workplace our students will inherit—and
which can be applied today to increase their success and
enjoyment at the OHS.
M I ND MA PP ING
It’s interesting to note that documents and notes, even
when composed electronically, have not changed dramatically from that of our printed and handwritten legacy. But
new formats are evolving, which take advantage of the benefits of electronic media and are a better fit for how many
of our students think and learn. One of the most successful
of these formats in business—and now education—is the
mind map.
A basic mind map requires no technology and can simply consist of nodes of information, connected together
by lines to show the various relationships between ideas.
However, modern mind mapping tools such as Mindmeister
(www.mindmeister.com) make it far easier to build maps
with rich graphics and external links, manipulate the maps
to discover new relationships, collapse branches to expose
and obscure details and even collaborate with others over
distances.
I have used collaborative mind mapping techniques in my
business as well as to facilitate the OHSPA officers meetings all year. The educational uses of mind mapping are still
in its nascent stages, but this article describes many good
reasons to introduce your students to the concept today.
G AM I FI C AT I O N
Another surprisingly effective technique emerging in
the business world is the field of gamification. In the last
several years, many employers and parents have noticed
that customers, employees and students are willing to put
tremendous amounts of time and mental energy into mastering some very cognitively challenging games.
Rather than continue to bemoan the fact that people
are choosing to spend time on games, some have instead
productively begun to ask: what is so intrinsically motivating about these games? Could such elements be adapted
to the types of consumer, employee and student activities
that businesses and parents value?
In my own corporations I have been a participant and
a designer of games that have been far more effective at
conveying information than any traditional presentation
format. My wife Kathy and I have also learned a great deal
about the application of gamification to business by taking
Kevin Werbach’s excellent Coursera course on the topic.
Gamification in education is gaining traction. The MinecraftEDU community is focused on adapting the wildly successful communal building game for use in the classroom.
Gamestar Mechanic is a site that introduces students to
coding through their interest in playing and building games.
And one of the sponsors of Gamestar Mechanic, Institute of
Play, has even developed the Quest Schools to challenge
the assumptions about how we evaluate and encourage
students in a brick and mortar environment.
M O R E TO D I SCUSS
PERI BECKERMAN,
LUNAR TRANSIENT PHENOMENA,
COLLAGE
Please join me on the OHSPA forum to discuss more about
these tools for enabling the success of our students and to
share with other families what you have discovered. Over the
summer, we will also plan to have informal meetings again to
help each other troubleshoot our enabling technologies and
talk about other best practices to better take advantage of
the excellent opportunities afforded by the OHS.
DAVID CORDEIRO
OHSPA PRESIDENT 2013–2014
DAVID.J.CORDEIRO@GMAIL.COM
OHSPA MEETING
T H URSDAY, M AY 1 5
4 P M PAC I FI C T I M E
OHS NEWSLETTER, APRIL 2014
17
Ev e n ts & O p p o rt u n i t i es
Share your
News!
U PCOMING E VE N TS
MAY 5 – 16
AP EXAMS
MAY 15
LAST DAY OF CLASSES
MAY 19 – 21
STUDY DAYS
MAY 22 – 23
SPRING SEMESTER FINALS
MAY 26
MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY
MAY 27 – 30 SPRING SEMESTER FINALS (CONTINUED)
JUNE 6 – 8
GRADUATION WEEKEND
Students, we’d love to share news of your endeavors
and accomplishments beyond the classroom with
our community in future issues of the OHS monthly
newsletter.
We invite your submissions whenever you have
something interesting to share. To be included in the
next issue, please submit your news to Tyler Shores,
Communications Officer: tshores@stanford.edu
Artist
Spotlight
F I NA L E X A M S C H E DU L E
MAY 22
COMPUTER SCIENCE, ENGLISH
MAY 23
MATHEMATICS, MUSIC
MAY 27
CORE, FOREIGN LANGUAGE, ECONOMICS
MAY 28
HISTORY, SCIENCE
MAY 29 – 30
FLEX DAY
Do you have a piece of artwork that you would like
to share with the OHS community? Please send us
your photography, paintings, drawings, and digital
art, and your work may be highlighted in our next
newsletter and will be posted on the Artists' Corner
on the Gateway.
To submit your artwork, send high resolution photos
or scans to our graphic designer, with your name, title
of your piece, and medium used. Send submissions to
Stephanie Griffin sjgriffi@stanford.edu.
GRA DUATION W E E K E N D
JUNE 6 – 8, 2014
We hope you’ll join us for Graduation Weekend. This is a weekend for the entire
OHS community and will include events for all grade levels, including the
Awards Ceremony & 8th Grade Graduation, Prom, and the Graduation Ceremony!
The RSVP system is live on the Gateway, and more updates will be announced in
the May newsletter.
COVER ART:
ANNE BLYTHE DAVIS,
BUTTERFLY,
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPH
CONTRIBUTORS
EDITORIAL TEAM
KATHRYN BALSLEY
ENROLLMENT COORDINATORR
BALSLEYK@STANFORD.EDU
ADAM LIPS
DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE COUNSELING
ALIPS@STANFORD.EDU
KATHRYN BESEMER
OHS PARENT
KATHRYN@BESEMER.COM
THOMAS NIELSEN
STANFORD OHS ALUM (’13)
DAVID CORDEIRO
OHSPA PRESIDENT 2013–14
DAVID.J.CORDEIRO@GMAIL.COM
KATHLYN GRAY
DIRECTOR
KGRAY2@STANFORD.EDU
TOMOHIRO HOSHI
DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION
THOSHI@STANFORD.EDU
KATE ROSSETTI
COLLEGE COUNSELOR
KATEROSSETTI@STANFORD.EDU
SUMMAR AUBREY
DIRECTOR OF STUDENT LIFE
& COMMUNITY
SUMMAR.AUBREY@STANFORD.EDU
STEPHANIE GRIFFIN
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
SJGRIFFI@STANFORD.EDU
TYLER SHORES
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
TSHORES@STANFORD.EDU