A MESSAGE FROM MS. BROWN
Principal’s Column
Summer
Are we changing as fast as the world around us?
Recently, I read a book review of a book where the writer of the review posed this question. I thought it would be a great one to reflect on as we end our second year at the Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush.
The vision for the Arts Academy is to create an academic environment which fosters students careful questioning about what they are studying and the world around themselves. Have we done this? As a leader of the school, I have generated my own questions to this question: Have I created the systems of organization that are needed to allow teachers and courses to create an inquiry classroom? What more is needed to develop and support units of study which require well thought-out essential questions connected to learning tasks and authentic assessments? Have we used technology well as a tool for developing knowledge and concepts that we feel students need to know in English, math, science, etc? Or do we use technology for technology sake? How have we applied what we require students to learn in our courses to the world?
Further, the writer of the book review also included a list of values that companies see as important. I thought that these were values that schools should embrace. The values included:
Passion
Creativity
Initiative
Intellect
Diligence
Obedience
They mesh nicely with our core values at The Arts Academy:
Imagination: What if?
Communication: How can I be sure I’m understood?
Empathy: Who is affected?
Perspective: Through what lens do I examine this? Where does this come from?
Analysis: How do I know what I know?
Commitment: What action do I need to take?
As I look forward to the transition of another freshman class, and having 11th grade students, I hope to continue to build a school where important and critical questions are generated (and rewarded) around all subject areas. I believe that “high stakes testing” occurs when students are asked to take the questions that they are passionate about from their classrooms, research these questions deeply, and articulate their findings in a way that has caused a shift or expansion of their thinking.
The world is a fast changing place. We want to continue to instill in our children the values of collaboration, morally good decision making, and a thirst for learning, but we also want to ensure that what we are doing at The Arts Academy is innovative.I will use the term “new thinking.” Our world is changing fast, and we want to prepare students to be as successful as possible.
We look forward to another successful year in 2010-2011! Have a great summer.
