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Faculty Participate in Professional Development Over the Summer

Faculty at Tower Hill are daily learners in an ongoing effort to help students grow. Over the summer, the Faculty Development Council provided funds for many teachers to pursue Professional Development opportunities.

For the second year, Director of Middle and Upper School Choirs Zerrin Martin was selected from an international competitive audition process to perform with the Fourth Weimar Bach Academy Choir under the baton of the great Bach interpreter, Helmuth Rilling. Zerrin sang in a series of concerts that focused on four of Bach's cantatas for major church festivals. She also sang as a soloist in the chorus performance at Erfurt.

History Department Chair Tara Malloy Fletcher was accepted into a highly competitive course on American Protest Literature through the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The course was held at Boston University under the leadership of Professor John Stauffer, Professor of English and of African and African American studies at Harvard. The week-long course brought teachers of English, history and American studies together to examine elements of protest literature within a historical context. The course focused on the power of words to create change, which is a theme Tara is bringing to her teaching this year. While there, she also took an abolitionist trail walking tour and was able to visit Harvard University's Houghton Library where she handled one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence, Paul Revere's depiction of the Boston Massacre and a first edition copy of Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense.

Director of Social Justice Dyann Connor attended the National Association of Independent Schools' Diversity Leadership Institute, a week-long residential institute in Alexandria, Virginia, ​attended by educators from top schools across the country. The curriculum is designed to guide school leaders as they support their institution's mission and strategic plans toward building and sustaining a school community that "maximizes the potential of students and adults alike." She also attended the Multicultural Teaching Institute in Weston, Massachusetts, a three-day collaborative conference with a curriculum designed for multicultural teaching and best practices in independent schools.

In July, preschool teachers attended a Reggio-Emilia conference in New York City. Emily Zachary, Marina Attix, Christy Stroud, Theresa Shorey, Jean Snyder and Beth Orsetti learned about the Reggio-Emilia approach to early childhood education, which incorporates an emphasis on the learning environment, process vs. product, developmentally appropriate practice and the importance of the community of learners.

Cherie Martinez, Debbie Stuebing, Michelle Coulter, Literacy Coach Mary Jane Martin and Head of Lower School Susan Miller attended the Reading Institute at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. Kindergarten teachers Debbie Stuebing, Ashley Gillerain and Julie Roca attended a Wilson Language Training Fundation workshop. Susan Miller, Amy Cuddy and Michelle Coulter continued taking classes on mindfulness.

Middle School Learning Specialist Samantha Spruance attended a Teaching and Living the Yoga Sutras- Being Still with Skill workshop in July. Dean of Teaching and Learning Andrea Glowatz attended a Summer Philosophy Program at the University of Connecticut, where she learned how to incorporate philosophy into the Upper School curriculum.

These are just a few of the opportunities Tower Hill’s faculty and staff experienced this summer. Tower Hill is committed to providing ongoing support and professional development for its faculty and staff.
 
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