Category Archives: Education

A Spectacular Student Challenge

Posted on March 22, 2012 | 2 Comments

Tuesday’s “06880” addressed the stultifying consequences of standardized testing — and a proposed state bill that would lead to even more of it.

Today’s post shows exactly what happens when students are set free — and encouraged to learn for learning’s sake. (Plus $14,500 in prize money.)

The event was the 3rd annual Staples Spectacular Student Challenge. For 12 solid hours — from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. — 10 teams of 5 students each sacrificed sleep, engaged their brains, pooled their wits, and created a blueprint for education in the 21st century.

If anyone should know about learning, it’s students. But to get them so excited about it that they’ll spend an entire Saturday thinking, arguing, researching, planning and writing about it — well, that’s learning at its best.

Every Staples Spectacular Student Challenge team had its own style. Above, from left: Michelle Mastrianni, Eric Lombardo, Daniel Ciotoli, Michaela MacDonald, Judy Feng.

Early Saturday morning, the 50 sophomores, juniors and seniors received some background material. It read, in part:

Education has long been the avenue to train and equip individuals and societies for the shifting jobs and skills that are necessary to evolve our world.  At the moment, however, education is at a crossroads.  The old system of school presents a model of a 5-day-a-week, rotating schedule of subject specific classes that assess your individual content and skills with traditional testing.  Many wonder if this is the best model for training our students for the future.

Westport has recently initiated the “Westport 2025” program to address the future of education in our town.  The goal of Westport 2025 is to prepare students with the skills they need to operate in the global 21st century.  The initiative is currently looking at what teachers teach and how they teach it.  However, the Task Force for Westport 2025 wants to hear from you.  If Westport is to meet the 2025 vision and create the global student, what do we need to do to and within the school to create the optimal environment for 21st century learning?

2012 students, designing education for the rest of the century. Above, from left: Tiffany Yang , Megumi Asada, Mark Schwabacher, Neloise Egipto.

Each group had to:

  1. Define the skills of a “global 21st century student” (including content and a means for assessing mastery of those skills)
  2. Redesign Staples to provide a vehicle for learning those skills (including daily and yearly calendars, academic organization and building infrastructure), class size, use of technology, and assessment
  3. Design a plan to bring items 1 and 2 to life — and sell it to the community. Items to consider: feasibility (cost, faculty, qualifications); impact of the plan on local, state and federal funding; how to win over the Staples community, town government and education leaders; whether the plan could be adopted by other school districts.

Most groups agreed on the need for critical thinking, not memorization. They understood the need for students to be creative, apply knowledge in meaningful ways, and think independently and differently.

All were skillful in the use of multi-media to hone their arguments, and make their cases.

Is an all-male team up to the challenge? Above, from left: Mike Holtz, Jacob Meisel, Cole DeMonico, Andrew Bowles, Jordan Shenhar.

Beyond that, each group had its own approach. Some hailed technology; others worried it would overpower social skills. Some thought concretely, others abstractly. Some relied more on numbers, others on words.

All worked furiously, for the entire 12 hours.

It was education at its core.  And it spoke directly to Staples’ school goal:  understand a local theme with much larger real-world implications, and work collaboratively using math, science, social studies and English skills to craft a solution.

There was not a bubble sheet in sight.

(The $14,500 prize money was donated by Melissa & Doug and the Gudis Family Foundation. Next step: The 10 papers will be reviewed by a group of Staples staff members, representing all academic areas. Five will be selected; group members will then make a public presentation in late April, from which the top 3 will be chosen. Prize money is donated directly to each winning student’s college.)

Taking a quick break from solving a crucial educational problem. Above, from left: Baxter Stein, Katie Zhou, Melissa Beretta, Max Liben.

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Posted in Education, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Testing, Testing

Posted on March 20, 2012 | 34 Comments

Across Connecticut this month, tens of thousands of 8th and 10th graders took standardized tests. Classroom instruction halted; bubbles were filled in; formulaic essays were churned out.

In Westport, most students sailed through. They finished early, and twiddled their thumbs. The vast majority of kids in our town pass the tests — easily.

At the same time, an “education reform” bill is headed to the state legislature’s Education Committee. It would substantially change the way teachers teach.

Nina Sankovitch — a Westporter for over 10 years, and the mother of 4 boys — is not a fan. Below, she explains why:

Did your kids enjoy preparing for and taking the CMT and CAPT tests during March? Tell them to get used to it. If Governor Malloy gets his way, our kids will be subjected to more statewide standardized testing. A lot more.

And student test scores on these standardized tests will be used to determine teacher compensation and advancement. The curriculum and teaching will be geared toward test taking.

Westport’s  school system is a good one.  By so-called “objective measures,” we are one of highest performing systems in the state, with kids doing well across the board on CMTs and CAPTs, as well as on SATs and ACTs. Our teachers are committed, smart and motivated, and our administrators are dedicated. The standing-room only “Back to School” nights attest to the commitment Westport parents have to their children’s education. It takes a village, and our village is doing its job.

Standardized tests often test how to take a standardized test.

So why are State Senator Toni Boucher and Governor Dan Malloy pushing an Education Reform Bill that will change the way Westport school administrators and teachers do their jobs?  The cited reason is the achievement gap between lowest and highest performing schools in Connecticut. Numerous years of data are pulled out to show how poor-performing schools are failing.

The same data show that in many school districts, students are succeeding.  For example, virtually all Westport 8th graders are proficient in reading, writing, math and science. Approximately 95% of Westport 8th graders meet or exceed the Connecticut goal scores on the Connecticut Mastery Test (2011). Statewide, about 2/3 of 8th grade students attain that level of competence.

Many other school districts achieve far better results than the state average, and several others have results close to Westport’s.  In other words, many school districts in the state do not need to “reform” their education systems.

Last Saturday, 10 teams of 5 Staples students each voluntarily spent from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the high school. They participated in the Spectacular Student Challenge -- a collaborative attempt to solve a real-world problem. They used 21st-century skills -- and they loved it. Here's one of those teams.

Students in some Connecticut school systems, however, are not meeting state mandated goals. In Bridgeport and Hartford, 2 of the worst performing districts, only 1 in 3 students meet the goal level.

What should Connecticut do to help struggling students? Governor Malloy and Toni Boucher apparently believe that imposing more testing and a wide array of associated requirements on all Connecticut students is the solution. But the needs of Bridgeport and Hartford students are far different from the needs of Westport students.

If you had a group of 50 people and 10 were overweight, would you put all 50 on a diet? Of course not. Fix what is broken, and let the rest of the schools in the state do the great job they are doing.

A numbing photo of a numbing way of learning.

We don’t know if testing students in troubled schools more than they are tested now will help one bit. But we do know that more state standardized testing of students in Westport and in other achieving schools in the state will do nothing to enhance the quality of learning for students in the non-achieving school districts. Malloy’s proposed policy is simply wrong for Westport students and teachers, and for similarly situated well-performing school districts.

For Westport students, expanding statewide testing beyond the CMTs and CAPT testing is a waste of time and resources. The costs of administering the tests are substantial. When we allocate a portion of the school budget to the days spent testing and preparing for such tests, the burden of such unnecessary testing on Westport taxpayers could be in the millions of dollars.

Governor Malloy believes that teacher compensation should be linked to student test scores. Malloy thinks this will “weed out” bad teachers.  Based on our experience of a cumulative total of over 30 years of Westport education of our 4 children, our local schools do not suffer from bad teachers.

Standardized tests are not what a Westport education is about.

But forcing our teachers to spend more time teaching to the test will sap their energy and diminish their morale while doing nothing to reward their enthusiasm for genuine teaching. Teachers come to Westport because they seek to engage students in a profound way – they do not wish to adhere to a narrow and shallow curriculum geared toward test taking, the results of which are aimed at enhancing the resume of politicians rather than improving the learning of students.

Poorly performing schools certainly need help, and a bill should be crafted that helps them. But don’t come up with a bill that has my kids and other Westport kids taking more standardized tests, that forces teachers to teach more and more to the test  (if your salary could go down if your students’ test scores go down, what would you do?), and that will inevitably lead to a more narrow and shallow curriculum.

Malloy’s one-size-fits-all approach is wrong for Westport and wrong for Connecticut. For Westport and other excellent school systems, it will lead to greater boredom in the classroom for students and teachers alike.

That is a burden we would bear if it meant greater opportunities for all the children of the state, but no such benefit is promised. Burdening our school system with more statewide standardized testing does not help students in failing school districts, and will only hurt our students.

(To find out more about the Education Reform Bill, SB 24, visit “Connecticut Parents Need to Know More About SB 24” on Facebook.

Our representatives are Toni Boucher (http://ctsenaterepublicans.com/contact-boucher/) and Jonathan Steinberg (Jonathan.Steinberg@cga.ct.gov).

Governor Malloy can be contacted at http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/cwp/view.asp?a=3998&q=479082.)

Another team in the Staples Spectacular Student Challenge.


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Happy Anniversary To Me!

Posted on March 6, 2012 | 73 Comments

Three years ago today — March 6, 2009 — “06880″ was born.

The first post described what this blog would be:  open-ended conversations with a Westport angle, no matter how tenuous.  I invited comments, feedback, tips — anything.

No one responded.

Things picked up soon — my 2nd post, on a Staples PTA “Risky Behaviors” panel, drew 5 comments.  “06880″ was off to the races.

Time flies when you’re having fun.  Exactly 3 years later, my blog and I celebrate our 3rd anniversary.

Thinking of a gift?  That’s sweet.  The traditional 3rd-year gift is leather. (Ahem.)

I’d prefer money.

Donate as much as you'd like to "06880"

For the past 3 years, “06880″ has published over 1,900 posts — nearly 2 a day.  Some have been international in scope — the ones on porn star Marilyn Chambers, “Paranormal Activity” star Micah Sloat and supermodel twins and “Amazing Race” stars Derek and Drew Riker still draw viewers, years later.

Others are intensely local:  the departure and return of Mike Aitkenhead to Wakeman Town Farm. Drivers who leave the Robeks parking lot by going directly over the curb onto the Post Road.  Tributes to remarkable people like Esta Burroughs, Rich Rollins and Manny Margolis.

When snow -- and trees -- fell in October, "06880" was there.

I cover all our crazy weather: windstorms, hurricanes, a freak October snowstorm. When the power goes out — yeah, it happens — “06880″ keeps publishing. With photos, updates on what’s open (the library and Y, usually), and we’ll-all-get-through-this-together tales.

I’ve given shout-outs to Westport kids — international science fair winners, an 8-year-old future hotel owner, even a beloved kids’ librarian.

I’ve looked back at the history of the Mill Pond, chronicled the changes on Church Street, and peered into the Twilight Zone of Westport’s own Rod Serling.

"06880" has gone Down Under for stories -- well, to the Down Under kayak shop in Saugatuck, anyway.

I’ve covered the ABC House, the Tea Party, the environment, education, restaurants,  artists, oystermen, fires, the movement for a new movie theater, the movement of the Y, the demise of downtown and the rise of Saugatuck.

I’ve provided a forum for wide-open discussions of anything and everything — on-topic, a bit tangential, and way, waaaaay off.

And it’s all been free.  A public service, if you will.

Of course, even servants like to eat.  So in honor of my anniversary, I’m making an NPR-style plea.  If you like what you read, please consider supporting “06880.”

Am I worth $1 a month?  $1 a week?  Perhaps (my choice!) $1 a day.

You can turn the page -- or you can help this man eat for a day.

If you think “06880″ deserves 10 cents a day, that’s only $36.60 (2012 is a leap year :) ).  If you think it’s worth more — and you can afford more — well, who am I to argue?

Unlike Channel 13, you won’t get a Peter, Paul and Mary DVD.  Or a tote bag.  Donations are not even tax-deductible.

What you will get is the chance to help me recover a bit of the cost of registering domains, keeping “06880″ ad-free, and spending 2 hours every day interviewing, researching, writing, responding to comments (public and private), taking and sizing and framing photos, and scouring the web for appropriate (and occasionally inappropriate)  graphics.

Thanks for 3 great years.  I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, whether anyone sends an anniversary gift or not.

But it would be nice.

You can donate by PayPal: click here, then go to “Send Money” and enter this email address:  dwoog@optonline.net.  You don’t even need a PayPal account!

Or checks may be mailed to:  Dan Woog, 301 Post Road East, Westport, CT 06880.  Put “06880″ on the memo line.  It won’t do anything for the IRS, but it may help you remember at tax time why you sent me something.

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Posted in Downtown, Education, Environment, Library, People, Saugatuck, technology, Weather

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“A Decade Of Dreams” For ABC

Posted on March 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

Twelve years ago, several Westport citizens had a dream. They wanted to bring A Better Chance — a national program that since 1963 has provided educational opportunities to students of color from economically disadvantaged areas — to Westport.

The challenges were daunting. Where would the students live? Who would provide supervision, meals, transportation, medical care? How would they spend weekends, holidays, school vacations? What about college prep, applications, SAT tests?

And, of course: Where would the money come from?

The founding directors — Barbara Butler, Dave Driscoll, Lisa Friedland, Peggy Kamins, Ann Pawlick — never doubted they would succeed. Their only concern was doing it right.

They certainly did.

Westport’s first ABC scholars arrived at Glendarcy House on North Avenue in 2002. Since then, nearly 2 dozen young men have benefited from the chance to study at Staples High School, and participate in extracurricular activities. Along the way they’ve been helped by hundreds of Westporters, who have volunteered their time, energy and money in areas ranging from fundraising, academic support and hosting, to renovating the residence.

At the same time, the ABC scholars have contributed greatly to the school and town. They’ve given their time, energy, unique talents and outsize personalities to countless classes, projects, organizations and causes.

On Saturday, March 31 (6:30-10:30 p.m., Unitarian Church), ABC honors itself and its scholars — and raises important funds — with a “Decade of Dreams” event. In addition to great food, exciting entertainment, and a wide-ranging live and silent auction, the evening will honor ABC’s founding fathers and mothers.

ABC of Westport founders (from left): Lisa Friedland, Dave Driscoll, Peggy Kamins, Barbara Butler, Ann Pawlick.

Dave Driscoll was the man who visualized what ABC could do and be in Westport. His roots were in the corporate world, but he worked tirelessly to make this non-profit a reality.

Barbara Butler‘s intimate knowledge of town agencies was invaluable in navigating the labyrinth of permits, permissions and other red tape necessary to make ABC House a reality.

Lisa Friedland — who knows just about everyone in Westport — was one of the program’s early, and most energetic, guiding lights.

Ann Pawlick gave ABC its “look,” through newsletters, holiday cards, invitations, gift cards, and tons of other creative, handsome graphic material.

Peggy Kamins spent her time in the back rooms, figuring out computer issues, working on spreadsheets, organizing mailings and completing monumental tasks.

Though not a founder, 2-time president Steve Daniels‘ passion for the program, and sensitivity to the challenges faced by the scholars as well as the volunteers, helped make ABC House what it is today.

None seek the spotlight. All will take deserved bows at the “Decade of Dreams.”

Current ABC of Westport scholars (from left): Emerson Lovell, Stephan Patterson, Isaiah Nieves, Luis Cruz, Khaliq Sanda, Ruben Guardaro, Rhyse McLean.

But the evening will really be about the entire town — those who live at Glendarcy House, those who make it what it is, and those who want it to succeed.

To help it continue, a “wish list” is already online (click here). Covering items like computer supplies, yearbooks for seniors, prom expenses, cap-and-gown-fees, sports logowear, snacks like Subway and Chinese food, and Netflix rentals, this allows Westporters to help out with extra costs that help the ABC scholars share the same experiences as other Staples students.

It’s easy to forget what it’s like to be 13 or 14 years old and leave home, friends and school, move hundreds or thousands of miles away, enter a new culture and school, and live in a group home with resident directors.

And we sometimes forget what it’s like to do all the hard work necessary to make such a program succeed — far beyond  its modest beginnings.

March 31 is a fantastic chance to remember.

(Online bidding for the auction begins Thursday [March 8]. Live auction items can be previewed at the website too. Tickets to the “Decade of Dreams” event can be purchased by clicking here.)

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Kevin Strong Dunks The Junk

Posted on March 4, 2012 | 8 Comments

At Staples and Duke University, Kevin Strong was an elite swimmer. Now — 20 years out of college — Kevin is a pediatrician in Maine.

Neither swimming nor treating babies up north screams “hip hop” and “graffiti art.” But Kevin has combined both those mediums with his fervent conviction that junk food is killing our kids. The result: a grassroots “Dunk the Junk” campaign that he hopes will slash childhood obesity, improve health, and make a major impact on the lifelong eating habits of young and old alike.

Dr. Kevin Strong

Kevin is not a rapper or graffiti artist himself. After med school at UConn and residency at UC San Diego, he joined the solo pediatrics practice of Dr. Charles Hemenway Jr. in Fairfield. They worked together for 7 years — a “great experience,” Kevin says — but as the medical model moved toward seeing more patients for less time, he made the tough decision to move.

Three years ago he and his family found Camden, a Maine town on the ocean that he calls “like dreamland.” He’s working now as a pediatric hospitalist at Lewiston’s Central Maine Medical Center.

That’s where he sees an inordinate number of youngsters who are morbidly obese, and/or have Type 2 diabetes.

About half of Maine’s children are overweight — in some counties, a third are obese — and that’s both a health and economic hazard. Compounding the issue: Many of the parents — and doctors — in these kids’ lives are overweight themselves.

Simply saying “exercise more” doesn’t work, Kevin says. Many youngsters are already active. Nor does adding salad bars to school cafeterias. Kids need to be engaged on their own terms.

Kevin is convinced that reducing sugar — particularly soda consumption — is the key. He’s always loved graffiti art, so he hunted down Portland’s leading street artist Too Rich — (real name: Mike Rich)– and enlisted him in the project.

The program is supported by private donations, healthy-food companies and foundations.

The campaign’s name –Dunk the Junk — draws on the image of “dunking” junk, the way a basketball player dunks a ball.

A Dunk the Junk video shows 10 of the worst junk foods — energy and sports drinks, fruit snacks and fruit juice, gerasy chips, sugary cereals, chocolate milk and the #1 offender, soda — being dunked into oblivion, replaced by healthier alternatives.

Hip hop music plays; the graphics are street art. A web module is being prepared for doctors’ offices; an illustrated children’s book will be given to mothers of 6-month-olds, to entertain their kids while teaching the parents how to avoid introducing processed foods that instill in infants a craving for junk food that could persist throughout their lives.

The project will move from Maine to Philadelphia this summer, with a major event at an outdoor basketball court. Big-name entertainers and athletes will show up; Mike Rich will paint a graffiti mural that becomes the city-wide symbol of dunking junk food.

The Roots — Jimmy Fallon’s house band — have gotten involved too.

Kevin Strong sees too many kids like this in Maine. (Photo/www.foodfacts.info/blog)

And Kevin is taking his show on the road to healthcare workers. On March 21 he’ll present his program during pediatric grand rounds at Bridgeport Hospital. In May he’ll do the same at Norwalk Hospital.

Kevin says he’s using his own entrepreneurial spirit to try to do something good. He is harnessing creative artists to help deliver “a powerful, captivating message” for kids.

There was once a saying in politics: “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”

Kevin Strong is betting it’s true for fresh fruit and vegetables, plain peanut butter and whole milk too.

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Growing Through A Gap Year

Posted on March 2, 2012 | 15 Comments

From time to time, I’ve reprinted Staples principal John Dodig’s thoughts from the PTA newsletter, “For the Wreckord.”

This time, the newsletter’s insights come from a 2010 graduate, Harry Moritz. Whether you’ve got a child now of any age, are a kid today — or once were one — his words are worth reading.

Staples has more opportunities for its students than many other high schools in this country. For me, Staples was a place to explore my creativity through the variety of art classes that were available.

Harry Moritz

However, being the unsettled teenager I was (as are many teenagers), I quickly rejected subjects that to me made little “sense”– such as math. My first 3 years in high school were overall positive and exciting. But the moment I heard that I had gotten into college, high school seemed more meaningless to me than ever. The idea of even trying in math class was more pointless to me than it was useful or productive. I just wanted to be free.

By December of senior year I felt very unmotivated. I dragged my feet to school, seemingly unhappy with my situation: Why did I have to go to high school? I thought of school as such a burden, and could not wait until I was done.

Sometime in the early winter months I began asking myself if going to college straight after high school would be the best idea for myself. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to attend college but I simply was not ready. I thought, “What is the reason for spending $50,000 a year on a college that I am not mentally prepared for?”

It was this question that has made my life as amazing as it has been. I decided that I would take one year off before attending college in order to get my brain in the right place. So, upon graduating I worked endlessly throughout the summer in order to save money. At the end of August 2010 I left Westport and began my journey. The details of my year are not as important as what it is I am trying to explain.

The important aspects of my year off are the lessons that I learned: Hard work, keeping an open mind and staying positive. These 3 attributes are what I acquired by taking a year off.

A year on a farm can provide a valuable education.

For a parent, it may seem very far off that your child should ever be set free into this world of madness. However, the qualities that can be achieved through experiences of traveling, farming and connecting with nature are what truly feeds the work ethic and responsibility to get the most out of a college education.

For some, college is a party. Classes can take a back seat for too many students, especially in their first year when they are finally “free” from their parents. With all of the drinking and drugs readily available to students on a college campus, it is no wonder why a freshman year (if not longer) can turn into an endless time of debauchery.

For me, taking a year off put this behavior in perspective. Not only that, but I gained a sense of independence to where I felt that I did not need to give in to peer pressures of just “hanging out” or going to a party.

I realized that I have my own individual characteristics and passions that in order to feed, I must prioritize my time. I came to understand that partying is not what college should really be about.

College is about challenging oneself, and in turn gaining knowledge and personal beliefs about the world in which we live.

Through my experiences I learned what the balance of opposites truly means (otherwise known as the Chinese philosophy of yin and yang). Our lives are balanced by what are sometimes seen as imbalances. What I have found through my experiences is that the time I took to travel and the work I put in on farms directly correlates to the mentality and work ethic that I hold in college. Without my year off, my college experience would be completely different (and in many cases much less satisfying).

So, for any parent to who feels that a gap year between high school and college is a complete waste of time or that it may have a negative impact on your son or daughter: Please reconsider.

The path to a college diploma need not be straight.

It is actually an investment. It is an investment in their lives and yours. All too often our society urges people to rush from one thing to the next. Rushing will not enable anyone to get the most out of what it is they are trying to achieve. By taking a year off, your son or daughter will have time to develop the part of themselves that is completely individual. This aspect will in turn yield a happy and wholesome sense of well-being, while building up a work ethic that will directly impact their mindset upon attending college.

Harry welcomes any questions, from anyone: harrymoritz@hotmail.com

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Giving Grants, Transforming Lives

Posted on February 29, 2012 | 4 Comments

After Cory’s father died in 2006, finances grew tight. His mother worked hard to support Cory, and 2 younger sons. He worked as a landscaper each summer, never forgetting his dad’s own work ethic.

Cory knew that his life in Westport was different from that of most friends. But he felt special, with a sense of purpose. “My father always said, ‘You can count on Cory,’” he explained. “It’s my goal to live up to that standard for the rest of my life.

Cory now attends the University of Connecticut, studying to become a landscape architect.

TJ, meanwhile, attended Westport schools just like his parents. After Staples he took part-time liberal arts classes at Norwalk Community College, while working in trades like plumbing, carpentry and HVAC.

He enrolled at Parsons School of Design at 23, when he had skills, maturity and appreciation for academics he lacked earlier. He will graduate this May, with a BFA in architectural design, and plans to pursue a masters degree in architecture. He’s fully self-supporting; his father, a contractor, was hit with enormous medical bills during TJ’s mother’s 8-year battle with cancer that ended last May.

Marykate entered Staples in 10th grade, when she moved here (it’s her mother’s hometown). Her father had lost his job upstate; the family lost their home, and her parents divorced. The transition was not easy, but Marykate made the honor roll each year. Neither parent graduated from college, but she has a goal: to become a physical education teacher.

Asia — an Open Choice student from Bridgeport — rose at 4:30 every morning, to catch a bus to Westport schools. It took her a long time to get over feeling different, and realize she’d been given a chance for an excellent education. As the 1st person in her family to attend college, she hopes to set a good example for her 2 younger brothers. She has set her mind on becoming a pediatrician.

What ties those 4 people together — beyond their remarkable stories — is that all had a burning desire to pursue their education after Staples. All faced financial difficulties. And all were helped by Staples Tuition Grants.

Since 1943, the organization has provided college tuition assistance for Staples seniors — and after, if needed.

Last year, STG awarded $300,000 to 108 Staples graduates attending 4-year undergraduate programs, community college, technical and vocational schools. Applications for grants have risen 63 percent, in just the past 4 years.

While the scholarships — ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 — may not seem like much, they often close the financial gap that can make the difference between attending college, or not.

Staples Tuition Grants is in the midst of its final fundraising appeal for this year. It relies solely on contributions from individuals, PTAs, civic organizations, local businesses and trusts.

STG is a low-key group. But the work they do is high-powered — and life-changing.

Tax-deductible contributions may be made by clicking here, or sent to Staples HS Tuition Grants, Box 5159, Westport, CT 06880-5159.

In 2009 -- at their 40th reunion -- the Class of 1969 presented a check for $1969 to Staples Tuition Grants.

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Nat Smitobol Brings The Best And Brightest To Abu Dhabi

Posted on February 26, 2012 | 43 Comments

At Skidmore College a few years ago, Nat Smitobol was the 1st admissions officer anywhere to use Facebook to connect with applicants.

Today, as admissions officer at New York University Abu Dhabi in charge of all candidates from the US and Canada, Nat helps select one of the most diverse and globally engaged student bodies anywhere in the world.

Last weekend he traveled from his Westport home to the Middle East for an NYU Abu Dhabi Candidate Weekend. Three hundred finalists– carefully culled from the 15,000-plus applicant pool — came to Abu Dhabi for an intense round of sample classes, written work, one-on-one discussions with faculty, and explorations of the campus and city.

All expenses are paid, from anywhere in the world. It’s mandatory — you can’t get into the prestigious university without participating. That’s one of the many reasons the school is so special.

Nat’s long-standing interest in globalization and diversity was nurtured in Westport.

Nat Smitobol

The son of Thai parents — his father worked for the UN — Nat had some “tough experiences” growing up as a minority here. But, he says, “I wouldn’t be who I am — or be so passionate about social justice — if I hadn’t gone through that.”

His role models at Staples — where he achieved great success in tennis and track — included 2 older black students, Gibran Patterson and Cameron Keeler. As Nat became an upperclassman, he in turn tried to look out for students of color who, he says, “were the butts of racial jokes.” (One is now a doctor at Harvard.)

After graduating in 1994 he went to Skidmore, where he thrived. He majored in exercise physiology, met his wife, and headed to San Diego State to start a sports psychology masters degree program.

He switched to a masters in cross-cultural education. He also taught tennis to top junior players and coached high school, then in 2003 returned to Skidmore. The admissions office wanted someone to “articulate the student-of-color experience.” Nat coordinated multicultural recruitment efforts, and helped increase the number of minority students from 12% to over 20%.

After a stint as a college counselor at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan — where Nat saw the search process through the eyes of students and parents — he moved in 2010 to NYU’s Washington Square campus. He worked on diversity initiatives, then this fall took on the Abu Dhabi assignment.

NYU is, he says, the 1st American institution to run a 4-year liberal arts school in the Middle East. It is “mind-blowing. We’re blowing the doors off diversity. We have incredible kids, from all over the world.”

As an example, he points to a class that president John Sexton teaches on the church and state. In New York, Nat says, nearly all the students say those are 2 separate institutions. When Sexton teaches it to a class of mostly female Muslim scholars in the Middle East, they say church and state are the same.

In Abu Dhabi, though, Sexton finds the NYU freshmen have an enormous range of opinions. “He never knows what they’ll say,” Nat notes.

The Candidate Weekend plays a key role in forming that diverse group of students — and Nat plays a key role in that weekend (there are 4 each year).

This past weekend, 80 applicants from over 50 countries descended on Abu Dhabi. “They’re all super-bright,” Nat said, just 2 hours before boarding a flight to the Middle East.

“Our job is to measure their ‘emotional and intercultural intelligence.’ We take them out of their comfort zone. We want to see how they interact with each other, and what their leadership style is. Those are the kinds of things that are important for them to succeed in today’s interconnected world.”

NYU Abu Dhabi students, ready to challenge the world.

When Nat left Skidmore in 2008 to work for St. Luke’s, he moved back to his home town. Now he lives 3 houses down from his father.

Westport today is more diverse than when Nat was growing up, he says. There are more people of color, and more organizations and programs — like TEAM Westport — that reach out to and speak for them.

Nat says — admitting this is “a gross generalization” — he senses that Westport parents teach their children to be “color-blind.”

“That’s honorable. It’s what most people think they should do,” he says.

“But I think that misses really thinking about the ramifications of what it means to be a minority. People’s hearts are in the right place, but I’d like to see even more in-depth discussions and activities about the experiences of minorities.”

Nevertheless, he says, “My wife and I will raise our family here. We know what to expect. I feel 100% lucky and blessed to live here. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

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Nate Fox, MIT President

Posted on February 18, 2012 | 5 Comments

Getting into MIT is a pretty impressive accomplishment.

But thousands of students do it.

Only one can be president of the class, though.

Nate Fox has been elected 3 times.

Nate — now a senior — has long been destined for success. At Staples he was a self-described “math and science geek.” He starred on the math and robotics teams, but also enjoyed being part of a broader community.

“It’s an awesome place,” he says of the high school from which he graduated in 2008. “There’s something for everyone. No matter how you want to get involved — sports, drama, radio — you can.”

Nate Fox, pitching one of his many ideas.

Nate calls MIT “the next logical step.” From his Lego days on, he liked inventing and creating new things. “Math and science have power to impact people’s lives,” he explains.

He finds MIT to be — like Staples — “an amazing place. There’s intense intellectual curiosity and rigor. Everyone asks questions, and everyone tries to find answers.”

The school offers world-class professors, funding for research, and an environment in which “really cool ideas can grow.”

Though Nate loved physics at Staples, he found the MIT program too theoretical for his tastes. “Studying black holes is really important,” he says. “But for me, I want to effect the world more immediately.”

He went into mechanical engineering. A toy product design class satisfied his “childlike passion” for creating. “People do this for a living?!” he asked.

To complement the project-based, hands-on engineering curriculum he took marketing and business classes at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

His first internship, after sophomore year, came in the product development group at Volkswagen. He learned a lot, then did a winter internship at Continuum, a design and innovation consultancy. “That was a fun, wacky place,” Nate reports. MBAs mixed right in with English, anthropology and engineering majors.

Those work experiences reinforced Nate’s desire to work in product design. Now he’s landed a job with Microsoft as an associate product manager. Starting this summer he’ll work in the Seattle-based Windows business group, examining product development, marketing and finance.

With a job with Microsoft already set after college, Nate Fox is on top of the world.

Now, about that MIT class presidency…

As a sophomore Nate ran against the incumbent, and won. He’s been re-elected ever since, based on his focus of getting more back for the class’ budget bucks.

As president, he’ll speak at graduation.

“It’s an incredible honor,” he says. Realizing that commencement speeches are filled with cliches, and that “it’s hard for a 21-year-old to be profound,” Nate plans to focus on what makes his class happy, what drives them, and what makes them who they are.

“We go through life trudging along,” he notes. “But every day is a gift. We really need to make the most of it.”

As Nate Fox clearly already has.

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David Gold Strikes Oro

Posted on February 14, 2012 | 6 Comments

Ten years after high school, some Staples graduates work at jobs they hate. Some still live at home.

David Gold is doing exactly what he loves: teaching and being an entrepreneur. And he’s doing it in the old quarter of Panama City, a neighborhood he calls “exciting and vibrant” in a capital city that’s “beautiful and historic yet modern.”

Earlier this year, David opened Casco Antiguo Spanish School. The school offers a variety of Spanish language instruction — half-day survival courses; week-long sessions, even a month — to anyone wanting to learn while immersed in the environment.

The school also provides opportunities to volunteer in the neighborhood, tour the area, and partake in its nightlife. It’s a full-service language course. Just a few weeks after starting,  Casco Antiguo has nearly outgrown its building.

David Gold (2nd from right) gets some good press in Panama.

It’s a high-stakes adventure, but one David seems born to. After graduating in 2002 from Staples — where he starred on the wrestling team — he headed north to McGill University. He then took his degree in international development and economics to the Peace Corps. Assigned to Bolivia, he worked in agriculture and taught small business ventures to women’s groups.

His next gig was teaching 4th grade at an international school. He spent 10 months backpacking around South America, before moving to New York.

“I was thinking about what was next — maybe banking or law — when I realized that was not what I wanted to do,” David says. While temping — “stuffing envelopes, literally” — he realized he wanted to return to South America.

He started a business offering SAT tutoring in Panama City — a place he loves — with just $150 in his bank account. Next: teaching English to Dell customer service representatives.

Panama City -- and the canal.

He borrowed $1,000, and began teaching English in a storefront. He’s still doing that, having added a children’s program and classes in “survival English” for front-line hotel staff.

But David also wanted to teach Spanish, to non-Spanish speakers. Six months ago he found an old schoolhouse to convert into rooms for his venture.

His aim is to help the Casco Viejo neighborhood — Panama City’s old quarter — make its next transition. Once it was filled with beautiful homes. Then it fell into disrepair. Now — safe, pulsing with nightlife, sitting right by the entrance to the Panama Canal — it is poised for rebirth.

David’s first students are people already living in the city. Some are backpackers, who want only enough Spanish to order food in a restaurant or get on the right bus.

Others hope to learn more. One class is filled with the wives of mining company executives. A woman from mainland China enrolled; she did not even know enough Spanish to say “¡Hola!”

The age range is 19 to over 70. David’s first student was the founder of the Toronto Film Festival. He was in Panama City to plan a festival there.

Soon, David hopes, students will include people for whom his school is a destination. He wants them to come from all over the world. They’ll learn the language in the morning, then stay for volunteer opportunities and fun.

Among the volunteer efforts: helping local children with homework, arts and dance; aiding women with job skills; teaching English, and working in a nearby orphanage.

The staff of 10 teachers includes a full-time director — David hired her away from the Peace Corps — who wrote all the course materials.

Nearby housing options include youth hostels, apartments and 5-star hotels.

Feedback, he says, is “fantastic. People love the instruction, the restaurants, the wine bars, galleries, theaters, everything. We’re really at a tipping point.” The neighborhood has embraced the new school, because it has embraced the community.

David Gold (right). The laid-back dude on the left is Ricardo Martinelli, president of Panama.

In fact, all of Panama is thriving, David says. “There’s an energy here I haven’t seen anywhere else. People are doing really cool things. There are hundreds of islands, beaches, mountains — it’s amazing.”

There’s not a huge marketing budget, so much of the buzz comes from Facebook. Casco Antiguo got a big boost when Ricardo Martinelli — the president of Panama — posed for a photo with David and the school’s sign. “He was just hanging out in the plaza, talking to people,” David says. “I went up to him, told him what I was doing, and asked if I could take a picture. He thought it was a great idea.”

So do many others.

“We’re already so booked we’re holding classes in the hallway,” David says. “Luckily, we have a great view of the Panama Canal.”

(For more information on Casco Antiguo, click here. To contact David directly, email david@cascospanish.com)

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