Seattle Girls' School

News and happenings in education from the Head of School, Rafael del Castillo

Sunday, September 19, 2010

SGS Alumna Reflects on Experience in Guatemala

An SGS graduate who has gone on to do some amazing things ... among them, a trip to Guatemala, through Global Visionaries. She writes, "My trip to Guatemala has changed my life forever."

Read her amazing story here

Run for Women in the Congo

Wendy Ewbank is leading an SGS contingent of runners, and walkers, at the -

Intiman Theatre's 5K

for Women in the Congo

October 16th, 9am




Leading Without Power





On Thursday, September 16th, several 7th and 8th grade SGS students taught adults in industry how to "lead without power." Here is a description of the event and some photos:

We have all been there: responsibility without authority. In this our 3rd Innovative Session, PMC (Product Management Consortium) partnered with tomorrow's leaders from Seattle Girls' School to explore strategies for leading without power and getting the job done, and done well.

We used a Product Camp format to generate specific conversation topics, break into groups who then presented 'takeaways' back to the group. Each group was made up of Product Professionals and Seattle Girls School middle schoolers.

PMC is about creating a place for “product people” to connect, share, participate, and learn with and from each other. Students of the Seattle Girls’ School are, from day one, charged with being the leaders of tomorrow, and no small part of that has been learning how to lead without power. The information exchange was fresh and fun as we learned from each other.

One adult participant said, "I'm a little scared of who those girls will grow up to be. I'd hire them right now to do anything they wanted on my team."

The vision for this event came from a fabulous role model for the girls, Val Sanford, Senior Vice President at Blinkx, Inc.

To learn more about Val Sanford - http://www.linkedin.com/in/valsanford

To read Val's blog post on the event, CLICK HERE

Monday, September 13, 2010

Want to be inspired by young people?

... starting with SGS alumna, Jessica Markowitz, who founded Impuhwe, a group which gives Rwandan children, especially girls, the opportunity to go to school. This past summer, SGS 7th grade teacher, Wendy Ewbank, traveled to Rwanda with all the founders of the group. These girls have gone on to high schools all over the city; and the impact of their deeds can be felt throughout the Seattle as well as in Rwanda. We are very proud of all of them!

Read more about Jessica and other inspiring youth ...

Ted x Redmond - An independently organized TED event


UPDATE: Several SGS students attended the event and were inspired as they begin to contemplate their "Pay it Forward Projects" for 7th grade. Stay tuned for their impact!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits

This article, brought to my attention by an SGS Board member, suggests that much of what we think is good for our children to study effectively is just ... wrong. Some counter-intuitive or counter-traditional approaches that are rooted in research include:
  • Varying study locations instead of setting up one, quiet space;
  • Varying the types of material studied in one sitting - the brain likes to make and break patterns as part of the learning and re-learning process;
  • Viewing testing as an ideal learning opportunity in and of itself rather than an assessment of what has been mastered.

Link to NY Times Article

Sunday, September 5, 2010

The Beauty of the First Week of School






Here is what I found beautiful last week ...

In The Eye Of The Beholder: Art, Justin Bieber And The Best Equation Ever

If you could only pick one ... Justin Bieber or Math? I am hopeful that girls at SGS would at least have to ponder the question :-)

Although the math is somewhat beyond Algebra I, I know several SGS students who will indeed find beauty in this equation. Check it out!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2010/09/02/129610905/best-equation-ever