Whitefield faculty members may stop teaching daily classes during the summer, but they do not slow down in the realm of education! Our faculty members are constantly learning and growing, whether it is through teaching courses, attending professional development seminars, completing higher level degrees or escaping on personal learning adventures. Here are just a few of the ways our faculty has been expanding their knowledge and experience this summer:
• Several faculty members are taking professional development courses on the Whitefield campus this summer:
o Candace Daly and Alyson Powell are attending Helping Girls Succeed in Life, a seminar which addresses how girls learn and the best way to gear specific classroom projects and lessons to their learning styles. This class is a complement to a class offered last year, Helping Boys Succeed in Life. The classes have helped teachers incorporate projects tailored to both boys and girls.
o Several Lower School teachers are attending one or more of the following seminars: Learning Disabilities that Interfere with Reading and Written Expression - This course is designed to familiarize teachers with learning issues that interfere with the reading, writing, and math process
Words for Wise - Teachers learn to teach Latin and Greek roots through song to help students increase vocabulary
Understanding Dyslexia - Teachers learn to recognize specific signs of dyslexia and understand solutions for struggling readers.
Sarah David, Angel Fisher, Lynn Handley, Melinda Lee, Alyson Powell, Adrienne Margine, Laurel Runager, and Vicki Simms are some of the teachers attending one or more of these classes.
• Jessica Bonnem, Upper School English teacher, completed her master’s degree at Oxford through Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School. To complete her master’s degree, she took the course "The City and the Country in British Literature," which explored how writers and artists responded to the rapid growth of metropolitan culture during the 18th century, as well as the corresponding social and aesthetic changes reflected in the English countryside. Bonnem also spent three weeks traveling in Ireland and France prior to her summer coursework and had many bicycling adventures.
• Lynn Handley, Lower School librarian, is traveling to several European cities, visiting the continent for almost a month!
• Kyle Hughes, Upper School Bible teacher, is spending much of the summer completing his dissertation, "The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit: Prosopological Exegesis and the Development of Pre-Nicene Pneumatology."
• Kyle Justice, Upper School math teacher, led a camp for AP Computer Science students at Morehouse College. The camp, organized by Georgia Tech and funded by a Google grant, was created to encourage female and minority students to study computer science. Students who will be taking AP Computer Science in the 2016-2017 school year attended to prepare for the school year. Whitefield computer science students assisted Justice in the camp.
• Jose Lezcano attended the AP Spanish Language Summer Institute at Woodward Academy to stay abreast of all the changes in AP Spanish teaching and testing.
• Elizabeth Qualls, Middle School and Upper School librarian, enjoyed a Bible Lands Study Tour of Greece and Turkey sponsored by Campbell Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Publishers. She and her husband, Charles, traced the steps of Paul and John, visiting historic sites in Greece as well as Patmos. The duo also toured the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey. Qualls took the tour as part of the Retaining the Best program at Whitefield, which grants long-time employees funds for educational trips.
• Stacy Quiros, fine arts director, played a solo Gershwin piece on clarinet with the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra (ACSO) at Peachtree Presbyterian's Summer Pops Concert. Quiros is an active member of the ACSO.
• Vicki Simms, third-grade teacher, is spending much of the summer tutoring individual students.
• Jeanne Thon, fifth-grade teacher, participated in Paddle Georgia 2016 in June, paddling a canoe on several Georgia Rivers. Thon traveled 103 miles over a seven-day period on the Oostanaula, Conasauga, and Coosa Rivers, camping nightly and enjoying tours of historic sites, games, entertainment, and educational programs along the way. The trip was a fundraiser for Georgia River Network and Coosa River Basin Initiative.
• Several faculty members are taking professional development courses on the Whitefield campus this summer:
o Candace Daly and Alyson Powell are attending Helping Girls Succeed in Life, a seminar which addresses how girls learn and the best way to gear specific classroom projects and lessons to their learning styles. This class is a complement to a class offered last year, Helping Boys Succeed in Life. The classes have helped teachers incorporate projects tailored to both boys and girls.
o Several Lower School teachers are attending one or more of the following seminars: Learning Disabilities that Interfere with Reading and Written Expression - This course is designed to familiarize teachers with learning issues that interfere with the reading, writing, and math process
Words for Wise - Teachers learn to teach Latin and Greek roots through song to help students increase vocabulary
Understanding Dyslexia - Teachers learn to recognize specific signs of dyslexia and understand solutions for struggling readers.
Sarah David, Angel Fisher, Lynn Handley, Melinda Lee, Alyson Powell, Adrienne Margine, Laurel Runager, and Vicki Simms are some of the teachers attending one or more of these classes.
• Jessica Bonnem, Upper School English teacher, completed her master’s degree at Oxford through Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School. To complete her master’s degree, she took the course "The City and the Country in British Literature," which explored how writers and artists responded to the rapid growth of metropolitan culture during the 18th century, as well as the corresponding social and aesthetic changes reflected in the English countryside. Bonnem also spent three weeks traveling in Ireland and France prior to her summer coursework and had many bicycling adventures.
• Lynn Handley, Lower School librarian, is traveling to several European cities, visiting the continent for almost a month!
• Kyle Hughes, Upper School Bible teacher, is spending much of the summer completing his dissertation, "The Trinitarian Testimony of the Spirit: Prosopological Exegesis and the Development of Pre-Nicene Pneumatology."
• Kyle Justice, Upper School math teacher, led a camp for AP Computer Science students at Morehouse College. The camp, organized by Georgia Tech and funded by a Google grant, was created to encourage female and minority students to study computer science. Students who will be taking AP Computer Science in the 2016-2017 school year attended to prepare for the school year. Whitefield computer science students assisted Justice in the camp.
• Jose Lezcano attended the AP Spanish Language Summer Institute at Woodward Academy to stay abreast of all the changes in AP Spanish teaching and testing.
• Elizabeth Qualls, Middle School and Upper School librarian, enjoyed a Bible Lands Study Tour of Greece and Turkey sponsored by Campbell Divinity School and Nurturing Faith Publishers. She and her husband, Charles, traced the steps of Paul and John, visiting historic sites in Greece as well as Patmos. The duo also toured the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey. Qualls took the tour as part of the Retaining the Best program at Whitefield, which grants long-time employees funds for educational trips.
• Stacy Quiros, fine arts director, played a solo Gershwin piece on clarinet with the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra (ACSO) at Peachtree Presbyterian's Summer Pops Concert. Quiros is an active member of the ACSO.
• Vicki Simms, third-grade teacher, is spending much of the summer tutoring individual students.
• Jeanne Thon, fifth-grade teacher, participated in Paddle Georgia 2016 in June, paddling a canoe on several Georgia Rivers. Thon traveled 103 miles over a seven-day period on the Oostanaula, Conasauga, and Coosa Rivers, camping nightly and enjoying tours of historic sites, games, entertainment, and educational programs along the way. The trip was a fundraiser for Georgia River Network and Coosa River Basin Initiative.