Habesne Latinam?

In the School District of University City the answer to that question (which, by the way, is “Got Latin?” for those of us less educated) is a resounding HABEO (YES)! While the notion of studying this classical language may conjure up images of stodgy old tweed-clad professors and British school boys, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, Latin in U. City is COOL and our Latin students (not to mention teachers) are young, hip, and love learning about language, history, and culture.

One of only six districts in the St. Louis area to offer AP (advanced placement) Latin, students in U. City can begin taking Latin formally in the sixth grade, although many are exposed at much younger ages thanks to outreach programs by the high school’s Latin Club. Courses are offered at all levels through high school, culminating with the AP (Advanced Placement) Latin for seniors. In addition to the coursework offered during the school day, UCHS has an active and energetic aforementioned Latin Club, which meets weekly after school , and many students are involved in the Missouri Junior Classical League (MOJCL), hosts a Winter Classics Fest, and stages fun events like the annual Homerathon (a marathon reading from the works of Homer) in the Delmar Loop.

UCHS Latin Students (along with the head of Pentheus)
prepare to leave for national convention. 

UCHS Latin Club students bring home numerous awards each year at the state convention of the Missouri Junior Classical League, held in April in Columbia (view the cheeky convention trailer here). You can read about this year's attendees and their accomplishments in our previous blog post. UCHS also sends a delegation to the National Junior League Convention each year. This year students will travel to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to attend the 60th annual NCJL convention.

Latin Club students march in the UCHS Homecoming parade

So why, you may ask, as we speed though the 21st Century, should students study a “dead” language like Latin? There are lots of reasons, according to UCHS Latin teacher Jennifer Whinney:

“It is important for kids to study Latin because it emphasizes the importance of the mechanics and structure of language while exposing them to ancient culture and history. Learning Latin leads to improvement in English skills like grammar and reading. It also exposes students to great authors like Ovid and Vergil that they may not read in English classes. “

Numerous studies show that students who have taken Latin consistently outperform all other students on the verbal portion of the SAT, have higher grade point averages, accelerated reading and vocabulary skills, improved math problem solving abilities, improved study skills and greater knowledge of ancient history and culture. Lots of famous people have studied Latin, including popular authors J.K. Rowling and Toni Morrison, poet Langston Hughes, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, civil rights leader W.E.B. DuBois, and former president Bill Clinton (in fact, most former presidents studied Latin.) It is not surprising, therefore, that many of the top academics in the 2013 senior class are Latin students. Still not convinced? Check out this or this or this.

UCHS sophomore Andrew White acknowledges the academic aspects of studying Latin:

"There are lots of Latin roots in English and romance languages so by taking Latin you are learning several languages for the price of one”, but he also appreciates how a good teacher can make it fun, "Learning about the history and mythology is also very interesting if the teacher assigns creative and fun projects. It can be fun to give these classic stories a new twist by filming updated versions, with friends playing gods, for example. We once even cast a cat as the cyclops."

2013 graduating senior and Latin student Grace Deitzler is heading to Missouri S&T this fall to study Biological Sciences and Information Technology. She credits her study of Latin with greatly expanding her scientific vocabulary and her familiarity with terms common in her coursework. Plus, she says, she had a lot of fun.

To be sure, Latin classes are academically challenging. Students must master vocabulary and grammar and derivatives and declensions and lots of translating, along with a serious dose of Roman history, culture, and mythology. But the magic of our Latin classes, the secret ingredient that has made them so popular for so many years, is that the kids have fun. Serious fun, of the kind that spawns a deep and abiding love of learning, not just Latin but across all subjects and disciplines. but our marvelous teachers. Plus, and perhaps most importantly, UCHS Latin students have fun and develop a genuine love of learning.

Our Latin program is something we can be really proud of. In fact, all four UCHS 2013 Valedictorians were Latin students and even incorporated Latin into their commencement speech. 2011 UCHS grad Elliot Wilson (who was president of both Missouri Junior Classical League and the National Junior Classical League while a student at UCHS) loved Latin so much that he is now studying classics at Harvard University! Latin produces top students, and top students love Latin. If you ask them why they study Latin they may well tell you, Ad Vitam Paramus (we are preparing for life), and they truly are!

Many thanks to Brittany Woods Middle School teachers Wu Bakeman and Thomas Riesenberger and UCHS teacher Jennifer Whinney for their help with this post!

Girls on the Run

Yesterday morning our family rose at 5 a.m. to journey downtown and cheer on our "girl" while she ran a 5k with her Jackson Park Girls on the Run team and 8,000 other people.

Getting ready for the practice 5k on the high school track.

Girls on the Run St Louis is a non-profit prevention program that encourages preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running.

The 20-lesson Girls on the Run curriculum combines training for a 5k (3.1 miles) running event with lessons that inspire girls to become independent thinkers, enhance their problem solving skills and make healthy decisions.  All of this is accomplished through an active collaboration with girls and their parents, schools, volunteers, staff and the community.

Head Coach Nancy Mozier

At Jackson Park we are fortunate to have Nancy Mozier and Peggy Stein as the teacher coaches and Vanessa Schrader and Amanda Elliott as our volunteer coaches. To their credit, there were a number of other teachers that assisted along the way.

JP "vogues" as they get ready to race.

 

Over ten weeks the girls improved their teamwork, respect for one another and self-esteem. I especially loved the day my daughter came home and told me how she and another girl had become friends through GOTR when previously they thought they had reasons to dislike one another.

 

But race day isn't just for the girls - it's a family affair. Mothers, brothers, dads, sisters, aunts, and uncles and grandparents too, all converge on downtown St. Louis to run, watch, and cheer on the runners to the finish line.

Brothers running to support their sisters, while others prefer to cheer on the runners...

 

 

What a sense of accomplishment for these girls to finish a 5k race with the excitement of 8,000 other runners. Our girl is moving to middle school next year. While she may miss some of her GOTR JP teammates, she'll be joining others at Girls on Track at Brittany Woods Middle School.

 

A well-earned rest after the race.









University City Teachers seek Nation’s Highest Professional Teaching Credential: National Board Certification






Brittany Woods librarian Kelly Werthmuller is
 one of six district teachers currently seeking
National Board Certification 

Teachers tend to be busy.  Really busy.  Between lesson planning, grading, meetings, conferences, training (not to mention teaching) free time is not something most teachers possess in abundance.  So what could possibly motivate six School District of University City teachers to willingly take on a grueling three-year, 400-600 hour-long project (!)?  Could it be a sadistic love of paperwork?  Or perhaps an aversion to quiet evenings spent with loved ones? Maybe a strict adherence to that old wives’ tale about idle hands? Most likely it is the satisfaction of knowing that once the work is completed they will rank among an elite 3% of educators nationwide who hold the most prestigious professional certification available in their field: the National Board Certification.

National Board Certification is an advanced teaching credential, similar to certification in fields like medicine and law.  The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards  website describes it as “a rigorous, peer-reviewed process that ensures that Board-certified teachers have proven skills to advance student achievement” through which “teachers expand and refine their content knowledge and pedagogy. The outcome is more powerful teaching that improves student achievement and reflects college and career readiness.”

Retired Jackson Park Elementary teacher Kelly Mueller was the first in the district to earn the distinction, and now she serves as the NBC coordinator for Maryville University and works with NBC candidates both locally and nationally.  She says that the importance of the National Board process is easily understood when you think about it this way:

“Other professional development tells us what to go back and do in our classrooms. The NB process simply says ‘Here are the highest standards in your teaching profession - recognized across the country. Give us evidence of how you meet them.’ They recognize there are countless ways to get there. Each of us is an individual. We teach different children in different settings at different times. Each is a professional, and in that role makes thousands of decisions in a week. An accomplished teacher uses his/her knowledge of the students in the class, knowledge of the subject area, and knowledge of available resources to plan worthwhile lessons to meet the goals they children need to learn at this point in time. WE say what we did, giving the rationale for our decision(s) as to what to teach, how to teach it, and how to evaluate student performance. THAT is teaching.”

The certification process involves a series of performance-based assessments that include teaching portfolios, student work samples, videotapes and thorough analyses of the teachers' classroom teaching and student learning. In all, teachers spend hundreds of hours beyond their normal workload preparing materials and being tested in order to attain this lofty distinction.

Although the process is entirely voluntary, the School District of University City has stepped up to not only cover most of the registration fees, but also to provide a generous stipend (which Ms. Mueller notes is on par with some of the best in the country) to all district teachers who become National Board Certified.   Candidates claim that this sort of financial support is a great motivator and a wise move, as research continues to show that the students of National Board Certified Teachers (NCBTs) out perform those of non-NCBTs on achievement tests (particularly in STEM fields), and that the impact is especially significant for minority and low-income students.

Brittany Woods Middle School librarian Kelly Werthmuller is one of the current crop of six NBC candidates in the district.  She says that that seeking certification is making her “reflect more on my teaching practice. I am pushing myself to be more innovative and focus on each individual and class, instead of the entire grade. It is a VERY frustrating process, but I can already see positives in my teaching.” 

Likewise, Brittany Woods communication arts teacher and NBC candidate Katherine Adams explains that the process has prompted her to “deepen my reflection and really analyze why I make the choices I make in the classroom. In the past I have thought, ‘Well this worked well last year, so I will do this activity again.’ Now I am analyzing why the particular activity worked. How exactly did it impact my students? What aspects need to be retooled so all my students are impacted by this lesson? How can I involve my parents and our community as part of our learning process? While I am still working through the certification process, I feel the work itself has truly made me a more reflective and effective educator.”

If this year’s six candidates succeed in achieving certification they will join current district NBCTs Dr. Jamie Jordan (Principal, Brittany Woods Middle) and Shenelle Dubose (UCHS Assistant Principal).  Seven additional district teachers have signed up for a pre-candidacy class, suggesting that we will soon see a flourishing of NBC teachers in our schools.  This is exciting news for our students and for our community. 

The bottom line, says Kelly Mueller, is that seeking National Board Certification is a “great opportunity for teachers to work on their practice. Showing evidence makes you think about teaching much more methodically than ever before....cutting out fluff and things that really don't impact student learning. THAT is what this process is all about!”

What's Right with the Region!

On Thursday, May 9, 2013, FOCUS St. Louis will honor 20 organizations, individuals, and initiatives that have made a profound difference in the St. Louis region. The 16th annual What’s Right with the Region! awards recognize outstanding individual leadership and community success stories. One of those success stories is the Brittany Woods Community School Initiative.

Three years ago, the University City School District forged a 25-year committed partnership with Washington University, beginning the Brittany Woods Community School Initiative. Together, with additional community partners, including Wyman Center, they are raising expectations, providing needed services, and connecting the community to their goal of social, emotional, academic and personal success for all students.

The steady and intentional transformation of Brittany Woods Middle School began in response to conditions of low academic achievement, high rates of leadership turn-over, a school climate that was perceived to be chaotic, and a negative perception of the school in the local community. Evaluating models of school turn-around, the district and university – through both the Brown School of Social Work and Institute for School Partnership – committed to a “community school” model. The community school integration includes a strong instructional program, expanded learning opportunities for students, and additional services aimed at supporting healthy development, including Wyman’s Teen Outreach Program. Research has demonstrated that these types of comprehensive approaches support the overall achievement and growth of students.

As a part of the Community School Initiative, Wyman’s Teen Outreach Program is
integrated into the seventh grade curriculum at Brittany Woods Middle School.

 

Since 2009, Brittany Woods has seen impressive outcomes for students, families and the University City community, including:

• Increases in student attendance
• Decrease in annual behavioral referrals
• A positive trend in student achievement on benchmark and standardized tests
• Significant increases in parental involvement
• Passing of a bond issue for renovations and to add a new library to the school
• Development of a Community School Fair, attended by over 100 families and 20 community organizations

The Brittany Woods Community School Initiative leverages the shared physical and human assets of numerous local organizations, a collaborative leadership structure, and a data-driven process to help students succeed. It demonstrates a deep commitment to transforming and strengthening urban education – and communities – and provides a beacon of hope for others in our region.

Congratulations to our friends and partners at Brittany Woods Middle School and Washington University in St. Louis, and thank you for being a part of a collaboration that is helping young people succeed, and contributing to a stronger community.

FOCUS St. Louis is the region’s premier leadership development organization that connects diverse leaders from public, private, and civic sectors and empowers them to work together to build a thriving St. Louis community.

Originally posted on the Wyman Center Web site by Emily Black.

Dr. Jamie Jordan Named Missouri Middle School Principal of the Year

Good news for the school district just keeps rolling in!  Yesterday morning we awoke to the delightful announcement that Brittany Woods principal Dr. Jamie Jordan has been named Missouri Middle School Principal of the Year by The Missouri Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP). This follows hot on the heels of her 2012 Middle School Principal of the Year award from the St. Louis Association of Secondary School Principals.  This is a big deal – Dr. Jordan was selected from a pool of more than 400 middle school principals across the state – but not really surprising to those of us with kids at Brittany Woods. 

I spend several hours volunteering in the building each week.  While there, I have the opportunity to observe a lot of teachers and a lot of students, and I can give a firsthand account of the pleasant atmosphere at Brittany Woods - spending time there is something I look forward to.  I give credit to Dr. Jordan for cultivating an environment in which staff clearly care about the students and understand their unique and diverse needs, and strive to meet those needs with compassion and professionalism. The students I encounter are polite and respectful and engaged in the learning process, another feather in Dr. Jordan’s cap.  There is a palpable sense of dedication (to students, to parents, to families, to staff, to learning) among all of the stakeholders at Brittany Woods, and that speaks to strong leadership.

After the news broke I was chatting with BW librarian Kelly Werthmuller about the exciting announcement.  She remarked that the staff was proud, and that Dr. Jordan’s accomplishments “underscore the many good things that are happening at Brittany Woods each and every day. “  She’s right – as much as Dr. Jordan should be recognized for making positive changes at Brittany, we should also recognize that this is an honor shared by the many people who make those good things happen, day in and day out.  Recognition has long seemed to be something we don’t get enough of. Perhaps this honor will change that.

We have much to be proud of - we’ve got robotics and archery and chess club and cool field trips to learn about nanotechnology at Wash U. We have outstanding young musicians in our jazz band and other music programs, a Latin program that is optime, and all kinds of sports opportunities.  We have rigorous academics,  stars of stage and screen, a huge chapter of the National Junior Honor Society, and generous hearts that reach out to the community.  We have all this, and so much more.  And now, we have the Missouri Middle School Principal of the Year.  Good things indeed.

Kim Deitzler, guest blogger