Page 6 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 1 Fall 2012

6

LETTERS

maintenance projects, with an eye on the

least disruptive time of year for students

and faculty (not to mention the longest

stretch of cooperative weather).

At Sheldon, the familiar pre-cast con-

crete fa

ç

ade on the building’s pond-

facing side had deteriorated over many

years due to water infiltration and ex-

posure to the elements. It took cranes

to carefully lower the existing concrete

globes – each weighing in excess of two

tons – that adorned the building’s front

entrance. The original pieces were used

to create a mold to replicate the vintage

fa

ç

ade.

Also receiving significant attention

this summer was the Schoolhouse, where

workers replaced approximately 500

leaded windows with energy-efficient

versions. Lead caning was then applied

to the window exteriors to duplicate the

original look.

On the lawn of the Schoolhouse, ela-

borate staging was erected for a con-

struction crew to recreate the spire that

sits atop the building. Over the years,

water infiltration had caused rotting of

the wood structure underneath the vin-

tage spire’s copper cladding. Similar to

the Sheldon globes and the Schoolhouse

windows, the spire was refaced to mimic

the look of the original structure. Work-

ers reused as much of the existing ornate

copper fa

ç

ade as possible when replac-

ing the spire. The familiar weathervane

was reinstalled at the conclusion of the

project.

Another major summer project trans-

formed the Upper, where the servery

underwent a cosmetic upgrade. The new

look includes an Ashfield stone floor,

with stone quarried in Western Massa-

chusetts, new wood cabinets and coun-

tertops, and a slightly modified layout to

enhance functionality.

Penn Residency Masters in Teaching Fellows

Samuel Crihfield

Maxwell Gordon

Katharine Laco

Ishiaka Mansaray

Lina Feuerstein

Harvard ’11

Carnegie Mellon ’12

Davidson ’11

Macalester ’11

Carleton ’12

Humanities

Mathematics

Physics

Humanities

Twenty-four teaching fellows and

their mentors gathered at St. Paul’s

School with faculty from the Univer-

sity of Pennsylvania from October 5

to 7 to engage in a series of intensive

sessions about the practice of teaching.

Five fellows – Samuel Crihfield,

Max Gordon, Katharine Laco, Ishiaka

Mansaray, and Lina Feuerstein – are

in their first term at St. Paul’s as part of

the initial year of the Penn Residency

Master’s in Teaching program (PRMT),

a first-of-its-kind collaboration be-

tween the University of Pennsylvania’s

Graduate School of Education and a

consortium of the nation’s leading

boarding schools. The program was

conceived and developed by SPS

Rector Mike Hirschfeld ’85 and Aca-

demic Dean Lawrence Smith.

Other participating schools include

Deerfield Academy (Mass.), the Hotch-

kiss School (Conn.), the Lawrenceville

School (N.J.), Milton Academy (Mass.),

Miss Porter’s School (Conn.), and North-

field Mount Hermon (Mass.). Casey

Kelsey ’06 is a first-year teaching fel-

low at Deerfield.

The weekend at St. Paul’s was the first

of three scheduled for the 2012-13

academic year. The second is slated for

January 25-27 on the campus of Hotch-

kiss School while the final session of the

year will take place at Miss Porter’s from

April 12 to 14.

Conducted by Penn faculty and faculty

mentors from the seven-school consortium,

sessions at St. Paul’s included topics that

explored reflective practices, pedagogical

content practices, and the history and

culture of boarding schools.

Perhaps most palpable over the week-

end was the depth at which the fellows

are studying the art and practice of teach-

ing in the distinct world of boarding

schools, contemplating student engage-

ment and motivation, how to assess

student performance, and examining

models of teaching and learning in

terms of what might make them suc-

cessful in a real classroom setting.

Penn faculty member Frances Rust

spoke of the value of the cohort of

fellows and mentors at the seven

schools, noting that it helps teachers

see themselves as part of a profes-

sional learning community.

In addition to the upcoming school-

year sessions at Hotchkiss and Miss

Porter’s, the fellows will be reuniting

again next summer at the University

of Pennsylvania for a week of intens-

ive workshops. They will be joined

by up to 25 new first-year fellows at

that time, creating a group of 50 in the

PRMT program overall.