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Dear Baker families,
The weather continues to be lovely but we are transitioning gradually into fall. Here at Baker we continue to utilize outdoor spaces to their fullest, especially when the weather is nice. Fall means many different things for different people, but I've got a few fall-themed updates, in addition to some more welcome notes to new people in our community.
Part of a having a robust community includes our after school programming, which includes BASE, but also sports and clubs. In Fall, we have two sports programs that we offer. We have a 5th - 8th grade soccer program that is overseen by Danny Zamudio, our Athletic Director and Dean of Student Engagement. We also have 4th and 5th grade flag football teams that are coached by parent volunteers.
One of the great aspects of Baker is how we encourage all kids to try their hand at all activities including sports, irregardless of talent or experience. I have coached many different basketball teams at various levels, including Baker's 4th and 5th grade teams, and there is something unique about the sports experience at Baker. The emphasis of inclusivity in our community shines through with our sports teams. I have seen students, new to basketball, start the season afraid to enter the games, due to their inexperience. These students were supported and encouraged by their teammates throughout the whole season, so much so that they became active participants and contributors to the team. Baker teams have been able to strike the important balance of competitiveness and good sportsmanship that make for positive experiences win or lose.
Just so you don't misunderstand me, here at Baker we do like to win! While flag football doesn't start until 4th grade, Ms. Rampey, our Wellness teacher for PK - 5th grade has already started training the 3rd grade class on flag football tactics and maneuvers. Here is a picture and short video of our young trainees.
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Baker Happenings This Week
One of my favorite questions is what is Progressive Education? There are so many shapes and forms that it takes, but I want to share one glimpse that I got in 8th grade science today. The class is learning about the periodic table, but they don't know that yet. When you hear periodic table many of us might start to remember the one and two letter abbreviations for elements, and perhaps there would be some recollection of numbers in the boxes, maybe even all the "ium" endings of the elements. However, I'd be curious how many remembered the purpose of the table, and the patterns located within? The 8th grade is starting with this concept in the form of suspicious suspects that form families of secret agents. Ms. Mohr, our Dean of Faculty and 8th grade science teacher, has students arranging the suspects in a table based on their similar but different characteristics. The most deadly secret agent has yet to be found, and the students are supposed to sketch them last of all.
Here is a picture of one of the 8th grade student team's tables:
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Here is a video of some of the teams in action: | |
This exercise borrows from the early processes used to make the initial versions of the Periodic Table. Students get to bring in their creativity, personal voice, and interpretations to the assignment, learning about patterns, reasoning and of course scientific process along the way. The students defend and explain their choices and will then be ready to see the actual Periodic Table, and understand it on a much deeper level. This is a snippet of what Progressive Education looks like at Baker. Check out your class newsletters sent out by the teachers for more wonderful examples of Progressive Ed at Baker!
Have a great day,
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Mason Rocca
Interim Head of School
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September 15
FAN Event, The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides, Geoffrey L. Cohen, Ph.D. & Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.
7:00 p.m. Register here
September 15
MAP Testing, 6th-8th
September 16
MAP Testing, 6th-8th
September 16
BPO Family Bonfire at Lighthouse Beach, 5:00 - 7:00 pm
September 19
MAP Testing, 2nd-5th
September 20
FAN Event, Behind Their Screens: What Teens are Facing (and What Adults are Missing), featuring Carrie James, Ph.D., Emily Weinstein, Ed.D., and Merve Lapus.
7:00 PM Register here
September 22
FAN Event, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, featuring Gabor Maté, MD and Nancy Burgoyne, Ph.D.
7:00 PM No registration required- In-person
September 26
Rosh Hashanah - No School
You can view Baker's public calendar at bakerdemschool.org/calendar
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The BPO invites all Baker families to attend our annual Bonfire September 16, 2022 at Evanston LightHouse Beach (Sheridan and Central) from 5-7 pm. Gather with Baker families to enjoy s'mores at the fire circle, play at the adjacent "Noah’s Park" playground, make a fire pit related craft and be in good company listening to the waves. Drop in after dinner, before dinner, or bring your dinner (nut free please). S'mores fixings will be provided. Parking is limited, so you may need to use street parking and walk over.
We look forward to seeing you and your family. RSVPs appreciated but not required. Please RSVP if you have food allergy requests as we want to accommodate all needs. We're also still looking for a few volunteers to make the evening a success. Check out our sign up genius if you're interested. Thanks!
We look forward to seeing you there! Questions: [email protected]
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New Faculty and Staff info | |
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Michelle Brookfield- School & Office Support Receptionist
My name is Michelle Brookfield and I am thrilled to be joining your team here at Baker Demonstration School! I am coming from doing admin and event work at the Kenilworth Park District and before that, I taught preschool for 10 years. I have two boys off at college and just love being back in a school setting. I look forward to supporting all of you in any way I can so please do not hesitate to ask. In my free time, I am an avid gardener and love to oil paint as well. Please stop by and say hi!
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The Baker Board of Trustees has welcomed three new members, Hilde Kaiser, Ken Powers and
Rhiannon Schmieg. While the Head of School oversees the day-to-day operations of the school,
the Board focuses on the strategic, long-term direction of the school and establishes goals and
plans consistent with Baker’s mission. To learn more about the current and new members of
the board, visit the board page.
Hilde Kaiser is a wellness facilitator and the founder of The Poetic Field LLC. She returns to the
board for a second time, after having served in 2010-2013. She and her spouse, Bill Michalski,
live in Evanston and are proud parents of Baker alum Karl Michalski ('19).
Ken Powers is the President of Titobi Ventures (TVI) a firm that invests in small businesses and
focuses on unlocking value through commercial excellence and operational improvement. He
lives in Evanston with his wife, Allison, and two kids, Sydney and Julian, who all keep him quite
busy and entertained.
Rhiannon Schmieg spent 25 years practicing law in the areas of employment, litigation, and
compliance, with 15 of those years serving as in-house counsel in the financial services industry
and industrial sectors. Rhiannon looks forward to her daughter graduating with the Baker Class
of 2022-23.
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Baker Spirit Wear Shop is open! | |
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The Baker spirit wear pop up shop is open! The pop-up shop website is provided by Freadom Promotions. Freadom Promotions is "... the ONLY promotional products company investing 100% of net profits to end America's literacy crisis." Bernie's Book Bank is one of the beneficiaries of Freadom Promotions. You might recall Bernie's Book Bank because Baker students have done service work for them in the past. Furthermore, $1 from every spirit wear purchase will benefit Baker.
Deadline is now September 22, 2022 11:59 p.m.
Questions: Contact Stacie Erck
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Baker Parent Organization (BPO) | |
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Baker is a sponsor for Evanston's Bike the Ridge on Sunday, September 25 from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Have your student(s) put on their Baker t-shirt, grab your helmets and non-motorized wheels and head to Ridge Avenue between Howard Street and Church Street. There will be vendors, bike repairs, live music, activities, and food trucks at Ridgeville Park located at 908 Seward St, Evanston. Sign up to be a Baker ambassador at our booth! Staff, students, and families are all welcome to sign-up. We will be passing out bananas to energize riders. This is a fun-filled way to get involved with the Baker community. Please review the available volunteer time slots below and click here to sign up.
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Green Team- Garden Work Days
We hope to take advantage of end of season good weather to do some clean up in the garden. If you’re free to join us, we will be gardening from 9:00 AM until everyone’s gone.
Dates:*
Saturday, October 1
Saturday, October 15
Saturday, November 19
Tasks:
Cleaning, weeding, watering
9:00 AM-until done. Typically 2-3 hours. Feel free to drop in at any point.
Bring your gardening tools!
*Weather dependent
Questions? Contact Natasha @Moss Family.
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I am grateful for the amazing turnout of engaged parents at last week's Back To School Night. It was so great to see so many parents in our building and interested and invested in the school and their children's education. We all live busy lives and I so appreciate everyone making time for this event. It was a lot of fun and I think a great community building event. Thanks to all who participated, and if you didn't make it, we hope to see you at the next event!
If someone has done something special or nice for you or your children, let them know! It will make their week and will also feel good to you. We've received 13 gratitude notes so far, so let's keep the Gratitude train rolling!
Gratitude Notes
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September 15
FAN Event, The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides, Geoffrey L. Cohen, Ph.D. & Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.
7:00 p.m. Register here
We live in enormously divisive times. Divisions based on class, politics, race, religion, gender, and nationality are erupting around the globe. The consequences of not having a sense of belonging range from political strife to illness to underperformance at work and in the classroom. Americans have become disconnected from their communities, and about one in five Americans suffers from chronic loneliness, especially young adults. Why is our sense of belonging so undermined? What if there were a set of science-backed techniques for navigating modern social life that could help us overcome our differences, create empathy, and forge lasting connections across divides?
Geoffrey L. Cohen, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and the James G. March Professor of Organizational Studies in Education and Business at Stanford University, answers these questions and more in his new book Belonging: The Science of Creating Connection and Bridging Divides. As Prof. Cohen explains, often inadvertently, we behave in ways that threaten others’ sense of belonging. Yet small acts that establish connection, brief activities such as reflecting on our core values, and a wealth of practices that he refers to under the general rubric of “situation- crafting” have been shown to lessen polarization in our politics, improve motivation and performance in school and work, combat racism in our communities, enhance health and well-being, and unleash the potential in ourselves and our relationships. The book’s research is essential for managers, educators, parents, administrators, caregivers, and everyone who wants those around them to thrive.
Prof. Cohen will be in conversation with Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D., interim president of Mount Holyoke College and a clinical psychologist widely known for both her expertise on race relations and as a thought leader in higher education. Her thirteen years as the president of Spelman College (2002-2015) were marked by innovation and growth and her visionary leadership was recognized in 2013 with the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award.
This event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on our website and YouTube channel.
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September 20th
FAN Event, Behind Their Screens: What Teens are Facing (and What Adults are Missing), featuring Carrie James, Ph.D., Emily Weinstein, Ed.D., and Merve Lapus.
7:00 p.m. - Zoom - Register here
In Behind Their Screens: What Teens are Facing (and Adults are Missing), Emily Weinstein, Ed.D. and Carrie James, Ph.D., researchers at Project Zero at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education who are experts on teens and technology, explore the complexities that teens face in their digital lives, and suggest that many adult efforts to help—“Get off your phone!” “Just don't sext!”—fall short.
Drs. Weinstein and James, whose work has been covered in Time, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic, warn against a single-minded focus by adults on screen time. Teens worry about dependence on their devices, but disconnecting means being out of the loop socially, with absence perceived as rudeness or even a failure to be there for a struggling friend.
Drawing on a multiyear project that surveyed more than 3,500 teens, the authors explain that young people need empathy, not exasperated eye-rolling. Adults should understand the complicated nature of teens' online life rather than issue commands, and they should normalize—let teens know that their challenges are shared by others—without minimizing or dismissing.
Drs. James and Weinstein will be in conversation with Merve Lapus, vice president of education outreach and engagement at Common Sense Media.
This event will be recorded and available later on the FAN website and our YouTube channel.
AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy of "Behind Their Screens" from FAN's partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS Zoom event hosted by Drs. James and Weinstein and Mr. Lapus that will start immediately after the webinar. Copy and paste this link to purchase the book: https://bit.ly/JWBookPurchase
NOTE: FAN collects registration data to inform event planning.
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September 22nd
FAN Event, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, featuring Gabor Maté, MD and Nancy Burgoyne, Ph.D.
7:00 p.m. - No registration required
In his revolutionary new book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, renowned physician Gabor Maté, MD eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health?
Over four decades of clinical experience, Dr. Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Dr. Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing.
Dr. Maté, the bestselling author of four books published in over thirty languages, is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. He will be in conversation with Nancy Burgoyne, Ph.D., chief clinical officer at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. Dr. Burgoyne previously appeared for FAN in January 2022 with her colleague Maru Torres-Gregory, Ph.D. on the topic of mental health throughout the pandemic.
This event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded but not live streamed and will be available on our website and YouTube channel.
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