The Seattle Girls' School Mentor Program Needs You

The goal of the Mentor Program is to make our students "strong from the inside out" by building a village around each girl. SGS has a student population of 116 with 40% girls of color and we are looking for a diverse group of women mentors to match with our girls.

We welcome mentors from any race, religion, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin. In particular we are looking for women of color to match with girls of color. The unique experiences and insights that each student will gain by having a mentor will enhance her education at SGS and be a rewarding growth experience for each mentor as well.

For more information, please go to http://www.seattlegirlsschool.org/volunteer/mentor.php for the online application or contact Fleur Larsen at 206-709-2228 Ext. 224.

Thank you for supporting Seattle Girls' School.

SGS Fathers - Mark Your Calendars

Here is a date that fathers do not want to miss. Holy Names Academy has invited SGS fathers to participate in a Just for Dads Breakfast on Thursday, October 28th from 7-8:30 am at the Washington Athletic Club. Dr. JoAnn Deak will be presenting, How Girls Thrive - How Dads Survive.

Watch for a flyer in next week's Thursday Notes Home. For now, find out more about JoAnn Deak who has inspired SGS faculty and staff for many years.

Dr. JoAnn Deak

Your teen's brain is not "finished" just yet

There is much current research that helps explain why teen brains can be "so smart" while simultaneously making really poor decisions. It has much to do with the gray and white parts of the brain. Check this article out! An interesting perspective on presenting data to teens rather than lecturing from an adult perspective.

Link to Article

Is your child's teacher's hair on fire?

... when it comes to teaching, that is. Rafe Esquith, author of Teaching Like Your Hair's on Fire and the latest, Lighting Their Fires: How Parents and Teachers Can Raise Extraordinary Kids in a Mixed-Up, Muddled-Up, Shook-Up World, will be at Seattle's Central Library on August 5th from 7-8:30pm.

Link to Library Site

Esquith will show video clips of his students from Hobart Elementary performing Shakespeare and rock ‘n roll.

In “Lighting Their Fires: How Parents and Teachers Can Raise Extraordinary Kids in a Mixed-Up, Muddled-Up, Shook-Up World,” Esquith expands on the techniques presented in his New York Times bestseller, “Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire,” to show that any child can become extraordinary. For parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, teachers, the book relates concepts that help children build character and develop enriching lives.

Esquith’s work was featured in the award-winning POV documentary, "The Hobart Shakespeareans."

Rafe Esquith has taught at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles for 24 years. He is the only teacher to have been awarded the president’s national Medal of the Arts. His many other honors and awards include the American Teacher Award, Parents magazine’s As You Grow Award, and People magazine’s Heroes Among Us Award.

Empowering a girl changes the world

... this is one of our core beliefs at Seattle Girls School. The voice of women in government, science, technology, and mathematics - to name a few arenas - is under-represented and hurts the overall outcomes in each field. I recall that when I was in the College of Engineering at The University of Florida, back in the '80s, there was one woman among 20+ students in my program. To this day, I wonder how my own learning was impacted by the lack of multiple perspectives in my classrooms. While we work to empower locally, we must remind ourselves of the global struggle. This article passed on by an SGS board member, provides a striking contrast to the privilege of education in the US.

Afghan women fear peace may come at cost of rights