Powhatan Faculty: National and Regional Presentations
Head of School, Mrs. Susan Scarborough would like to publicly congratulate seven colleagues at Powhatan who have made presentations or will be making presentations at regional and national conferences this year.
Upper School science teacher Mrs. Kathleen Hobbs traveled to Richmond, Va. to co-present a session at the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) in November. Mrs. Hobbs introduced exciting middle school science projects through the JASON Project curriculum.
On October 7th, 2011 Señorita Alex Shourds traveled to Richmond, Va. to present at the annual Foreign Language Association of Virginia (FLAVA) conference. The presentation was titled Service Learning in the Language Classroom… And Beyond! It focused on how service-learning projects can be a part of world language objectives as students go into their community and practice using the language, while performing a service for others. A few examples include students volunteering their language skills to assist others, starting a buddy system where older language students read or teach younger students, or even traveling to other countries where the language is spoken to do service in an international setting. Señorita Shourds teaches K-4 Spanish and Upper School Spanish in 7-8 grades.
In mid-November 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Ryan Gilpin presented at the National Council of Teachers of English 101st annual conference in Chicago, Il. In Writing to Read Builds Analytical Thinking, Mrs. Gilpin showed how writing and drawing about reading can improve analytical thinking, leading the group through written and oral self-reflections on reading and complete writing responses. Mrs. Gilpin was a co-presenter with author, educational consultant and former longtime faculty member, Mrs. Laura Robb and Mrs. Sharon Taberski, a consultant and author.
School Librarian Mrs. Mikie Jones presented over the summer at the Shenandoah Children’s Literature Conference, held on the campus of Shenandoah University. Her presentation, Seasons of Reading, used fiction and non-fiction books to travel through the seasons of the year. Included in the presentation was the integration of writing activities that correlate with the text.
Mr. Dick Bell, Upper School history teacher, will present in February at the Washington Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology. Mr. Bell’s presentation, entitled The Story of the Friends Conference on Religion and Psychology, will cover the history, present and future of the conferences.
In April, Mr. Harry Holloway, Upper School mathematics teacher, will present at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in Philadelphia and 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Cheri Kesler, will present at the International Reading Association (IRA) in Chicago, Il.
This group represents roughly 25% of the faculty. ”Our teachers are totally engaged in their work and are constantly learning right along with their students,” commented Mrs. Scarborough. “To have such a large number of faculty presenting nationally from Powhatan exemplifies their passion for what they do each day. I am honored to work with such a talented group of teachers.”
