Katrina St. John’s seventh-grade earth science students recently welcomed Dana Waring from the Harvard Medical School genetics lab to class. Dana, who is the the cofounder and education director of the Personal Genetics Education Project, spoke about CRISPR and its potential role in helping prevent climate change. (CRISPR is a gene editing tool that allows scientists to remove or deactivate a gene within an organism’s genome. It is being used for many applications, from eradicating mosquitos to curing sickle cell disease.)
Patricia Davis Klingenstein ’47 receives inaugural Alumni Leadership Award
Patricia (Pat) Davis Klingenstein, Class of 1947, has been named the first recipient of the school’s Alumni Leadership Award in recognition of her work as an education advocate, devoted community leader, volunteer, and philanthropist. The award, which will henceforth be known as “The Klingenstein Award,” was conceived by Waynflete’s Board of Trustees as a way to celebrate alumni who live as responsible and caring participants in our world (key tenets of the school’s mission).
Pat and her family have long believed that independent schools play an important role in society by instilling in young people a sense of civic responsibility, leadership, and public service. In partnership with her late husband, Pat acted on this belief by helping envision, support, and sustain the transformational establishment of the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College in 1977, which has grown to include five programs serving early and mid-career educators, administrators, and heads of school each year. The Center has been widely credited with contributing to the professionalization of the field.
Pat’s lifetime love of libraries has impacted many institutions, including the New York Public Library (where she serves as a longtime trustee), Waynflete (where she invested generously in the construction of the Lower School’s new Klingenstein Library), and other institutions such as Smith College, the Barnesville School, and the New York Historical Society, whose library is named in her honor and where Pat is a long-serving trustee.
In Maine, Pat’s family foundation was instrumental in championing “From the First Tooth,” a pediatric oral health initiative for infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children, and “The Partnership for Children’s Oral Health,” a broad coalition effort that aims to improve the oral health of all Maine children. In 2018, Pat and her husband made the largest gift of its kind to Mercy Hospital, in honor of her father, Dr. Harry Davis, a longtime chief of pediatrics at Mercy.
Congrats to Waynflete’s 2019 Model UN award winners
Congratulations to the seven award winners from this year’s Model UN team:
Lily F: Distinguished Delegate, Czech Republic
Emma Irvine: Honorable Mention, UK
Andrew Johannen: Honorable Mention, Madagascar
Blythe Thompson: Distinguished Delegate, UK
Adriel Barnham: Honorable Mention, UK
Caroline Routh: Distinguished Delegate, UK
Sam Yankee, Distinguished Delegate, Czech Republic
Exploring dog genetics in Upper Schoo bio
Students in Upper School biology recently delved into the practical application of dog genetics. Science teacher Katrina St. John arranged for her classes to collaborate with Debbie Landry, founder of iXplore, an organization that promotes STEM lab activities and curriculum in classrooms.
For this project, students looked at the trait of furnishings (longer facial fur) in dogs. By using DNA extracted from eight dogs and running it on gel electrophoresis, students were able to determine whether a dog was homozygous wild type, homozygous mutant type, or heterozygous (a mix of both).
Students were able to deduce the dominance pattern in this trait. Having furnishings is dominant, which is why we see dogs like golden doodles with long facial fur. Using sophisticated laboratory equipment, biology students were able to put their newfound knowledge of genetics to use and witness the power of genotyping.
Abby Aleshire takes first place in Chinese speaking contest
Abby Aleshire ’20 competed in the “Maine Chinese Speaking Contest” in Bangor on May 17. This annual competition includes a 3-4 minute speech written on a topic of the applicant’s choice—and recited from memory. Abby’s recital of an ancient Chinese poem so moved the contest judges that they asked her to recite it a second time. She won first place in the “advanced Chinese level” category. Congratulations Abby!
Pictured above: Abby with Chinese teacher Huiru (Whitney) Zou
Congratulations to this year’s Upper School student award winners
Caring participation in the community is a fundamental value at Waynflete. We believe such engagement promotes social welfare and justice in the world while cultivating important attitudes and meaningful connections for those who serve. Each year, the faculty confers recognition to all eleventh and twelfth grade students who have distinguished themselves as community servants. Such distinction derives from a devotion to service, both in and outside of Waynflete, as indicated by dedication over time and a current level of involvement that exceeds school expectations.
Robotics team finds success at Maine Robot Track Meet
On May 11, Waynflete’s Enrichment Robotics Team competed in the Maine Robot Track Meet at South Portland High School along with 16 other teams from southern Maine. Students in Grades 4-8 have been participating in the Enrichment Workshop once a week since January, learning how to build robots that meet seven specific engineering challenges.
4-5 Art Step-Up Day
4-5 students recently accompanied Lower School Art Teacher Mary Rehak on a visit to the three Middle-Upper School art classrooms where they met teachers and became familiar with the spaces. Pictured above: Upper Schooler Ellis Dougherty explains her book arts project from the “Word and Image” class taught by Lorry Stillman and Judy Novey.
Hands-on engineering at Texas Instruments
A group of Upper Schoolers recently attended an afternoon workshop at Texas Instruments’s South Portland facility along with teachers Stephanie Dolan and Sue Stein. Students toured “the Fab” and had a Q&A session with both veteran engineers and recent graduates.
Texas Instruments designs, manufactures, tests, and sells semiconductors—key components of items we experience every day, from robots and refrigerators to drones and door locks.
It was a great opportunity for students to put their Chemistry knowledge to use. Thanks to TI employee Heather Maines for facilitating the visit.
“Can We?” Project participants featured on Harvard podcast
Three student participants in Waynflete’s “Can We?” Project, along with co-creator and facilitator Deb Bicknell, were recently featured on the Harvard Negotiation & Mediation Clinical Program podcast “Thanks for Listening.”
Holocaust survivor Charles Rotmil shares story with middle schoolers
Eighth graders welcomed guest speaker Charles Rotmil to Waynflete on May 7. Originally from the Alsace-Lorraine region, Mr. Rotmil lost family members to the Holocaust. He was hidden by Catholic priests and escaped persecution by the Nazis. He shared his story with the eighth grade along with a slideshow of news stories, photographs, and original artwork.
Seventh-grade stories of place
Working in their history classes in groups of three or four, seventh graders were recently tasked with writing a one-act play to tell the story of a city in Southwest Asia or North Africa through the eyes of someone who lives there. Cities covered included Kabul, Istanbul, Mecca, Baghdad, Dubai, Jerusalem, Cairo, Beirut, Tehran, Damascus, Ramallah, and Marrakech. Students spent a week researching their cities and developing their plot and characters. After building their knowledge about the historical, geographical, and cultural background about their cities, students wrote their plays to depict that information, collected props and costumes, memorized their lines, and rehearsed.
Lower School architects recognized by AIA Maine
Congratulations to Scott Simons Architects, who have been recognized by AIA Maine with an Honor Award for their design of our new Lower School!
Seventh graders create “Africa: Past to Present” blog
This spring, Waynflete seventh graders created the blog “Africa: Past to Present” in their history classes. They shared their work with grade 7 students at Berwick Academy, each of whom viewed and commented on at least three Waynflete projects.
The public platform and the Berwick partnership gave our students a whole new sense of accountability. Rather than producing projects for a grade, they did so for a real audience.
Visit the blog — please comment on posts and share!
Upper Schooler addresses climate change in speech at Maine Legislature
Waynflete senior Quilla Flanagan-Burt spoke outside the State House on April 23 as a representative of Maine Youth Climate Justice (MYCJ) , a group that is working to get youth more involved in environmental issues and the related political process. Quilla’s speech focused on climate justice and the transition to a green, sustainable economy in Maine.
Emergent curriculum in Early Childhood: a gateway to community collaboration
Waynflete’s Early Childhood program is inspired by Reggio Emilia and embraces an emergent or “negotiated” curriculum. We never study the same thing twice. We don’t know when we may need a dock (study of lobster boats and lobstering), a squid to dissect (study of cephalopods), or—for this year’s study of the desert—saguaro cacti.
Lower School students treated to traditional dance and music from southern Spain
As part of the Lower School’s in-depth study of Spain, local flamenco dancer Lindsey Bourassa returned to campus to perform on Monday, April 29. She was joined by guitarist Andreas Arnold and singer/dancer Barbara Martinez who dazzled lower schoolers with the traditional dance and music from the region of Andalusia in southern Spain.
Middle and Upper School students share creative writing work
Hannah Chappell’s sixth and tenth grade English classes recently gathered to share their creative, personal writing. This winter the sixth graders experimented with expressing themselves and their experiences through both poetry and prose (compiling their entries in handmade books) while the tenth grade students were developing portfolios of personal essays for their autobiography projects. This event allowed students to present the results of their hard work while giving tenth graders the opportunity to connect with and mentor their younger schoolmates.
Lit Mag – Spring 2019 edition
Get ’em while they’re hot! Click here to read the latest issue.
