Faculty and Staff Reflect on Their Summer Professional Learning and Growth

“The George Taylor grants offer our colleagues a different type of professional development,” said Assistant Head of School Matt Lai. “Teaching is hard, and it can be challenging for members of our community to step away from their responsibilities. These grants offer our faculty and staff an opportunity to recharge during the summer in a way that they might not otherwise be able to access.”

Upper School History Faculty Paula Dowtin explored Amsterdam and London with her family while experiencing the value of learning beyond the classroom through the lens of a young student. 

“Though I set out with less tangible goals about what I hoped to gain from my experience, I had the opportunity to watch a learner in real time engage with history in a way that was meaningful to my son, Jack,” shared Paula. “Without bounds or even expectations, I could see what drove him to explore museums and the cities we visited along with the knowledge he took away from it. Months later, I’m watching him find connections with books and other learning opportunities, and I hope to find ways to foster that with my students in the Upper School.”

Lower School Learning Specialist Shannon Salverda, Upper School English Faculty Bea Chang, and Registrar Megan Peter also traveled abroad for self-reflective trips and adventures that provided inspiration and relaxation before the start of the year. 

“I conducted a three-week, solo hiking trip on the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia,” said Shannon. “Every handful of years, I intentionally travel on my own as a way to reconnect to myself, reset some habits, and reflect on what I want to let go of and grow in my life. This trip will support my work at Bush because I will be able to draw on the stillness and peace that I was able to reconnect to during my travels. I hope the commitment of my strength, peace and well being will allow me to bring as much joy and clarity to my work as possible.”

“I used the George Taylor Travel Grant, in concert with another grant, to fund a summer of travel and residencies in Nordic countries,” shared Bea. 

“For our school community, I was incredibly thrilled to learn more about Norse mythology to bring into my Junior and Senior-level E-lective course, Origins of Western Literature. In terms of my writing, I completed a full draft of my manuscript during my first residency at Villa Kivi Writer House in Helsinki, Finland. Overall, the fellowship was incredibly fulfilling. It gave me ideas for my curriculum, gave me time to write, and provided me space to recharge before another school year.”

“I was lucky enough to go back to the Tuscany area with my husband and son after visiting for the first time nearly twenty years ago,” shared Megan. “The lessons I learned were more around how to travel well within my family. I was able to utilize the grant for something that filled my soul.”

Eight faculty and staff also participated in Summer Professional Development events, trips, and conferences that provided them with lessons and tools they can apply in the classroom.
 

“I attended the ISEEN (Independent Schools Experiential Education Network) Summer Teacher’s Institute,” shared Upper School Science Faculty Laura LeBlanc. “I gained a deeper understanding of experiential education and how to effectively implement Kolb’s Cycle in my academic courses. The institute modeled experiential learning in the way the workshops and lessons were conducted.”

Lower School Faculty Cecily Metzger, Anna Belknap, and Juli Kilman explored the science of reading and dyslexia, and how targeted assessments, early intervention, implementation, and knowledge of brain plasticity can boost reading success. “We learned so much about the brain,” Cecily said. “One big takeaway was that students who are diagnosed with dyslexia use different areas in their brain when reading compared to students who are not dyslexic. We learned that one of the most common screeners for reading disabilities is the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)  screening, which is what we use in the Lower School.”

“At this conference, we learned that executive function contributes to reading success but represents a distinct developmental system,” Anna shared. “Reading tasks place various executive function loads on learners, requiring instructional flexibility and adaptation.”

“A key takeaway for me was that teaching executive function strategies can help students better process, monitor, and extract meaning from text,” Juli said.

Middle School Music Faculty Matt Swanson presented a session titled “Making the Most of Modern Band” to a community of K-12 educators, administrators, policymakers, and academics at the International Society for Music Education in Montreal. 

“It is always an enriching experience to pull together one of these presentations, as it helps me synthesize my thoughts, identify successes, and plan next steps,” Matt shared. “I was also very inspired by a performing group called the Shesh Besh Arab-Jewish Ensemble. Not only did they play fantastic music, but they offered a roadmap for peace and cross-conflict understanding through the universal language of music. I shared their music with my Middle School students on the second day of class as a model for their Song of the Day Presentation assignment.”