拥抱的复杂性

Returning last summer to the American Southwest, MHS Director of Engineering & 技术/ STEAM协调员. Christopher 为了 was struck by the complexity of histories in the region.

在他职业生涯的早期. 为了 studied at the University of New Mexico and lived in Albuquerque, 所以他对这些复杂性很熟悉, 但这一次, 他学得越多, 他发现的问题越多. 答案反过来又引出了更多的问题. It was the kind of professional development he wasn’t going to find at a conference.

“It was a really interesting exploration,” explains Dr. 为了, who shared his experience during a December 8 presentation to the MHS community. “It was the first time I had ever engaged in professional development where I was discovering what to do as we were there, 和人们谈论自己的经历, 随着我得到的信息越来越多, 这段经历变得越来越丰富.”

Dr. 为了 and his family traveled in June to New Mexico as the recipient of the 2022-23 Paternotte Family Faculty Travel and Study Endowment Fund Grant. Established by Nancy Brewster Paternotte ’65 in 2015, the grant supports faculty professional development through travel; faculty share their experiences afterward in a community presentation.

博士的重点. 他的旅行是双重的. The first was exploring the Taos region’s “E艺术hships,“自给自足, nearly self-sufficient homes built from largely recycled materials and in a climate where water is scarce. The second was learning more about New Mexico’s rich weaving tradition, 尤其是奇马约风格, one of several in a region influenced by the converging indigenous, 墨西哥, 西班牙语, 和你.S. 文化.

这次旅行的两个方面. 为了指出, 在MHS教室有申请吗, whether as p艺术 of a unit examining sustainable housing or while thinking algorithmically about math and space, 织造过程的组成部分. There is also room to explore the intersection of history, 艺术, and 技术 in a truly interdisciplinary fashion.

他分享了这次旅行的照片. 海姆斯解释了地球飞船的概念. The homes use passive solar heating and radiational cooling and heating, while employing an intricate water collection and distribution system that provides potable water for drinking and recycled water for growing fruits and vegetables. Many recycled materials are also embedded into the homes’ structural elements, 比如地基和墙壁.

“我们花了很多时间寻找房产, and it’s a really exciting thing that they’ve come up with this idea,”医生说。. 为了, who made the trip with his family — MHS 英语 Teacher Emily Pulfer-Terino ’97 and their son Lyric. “你可以拥有一座自给自足的房子, 这样可以最大限度地减少对环境的影响, that uses materials that would otherwise be in a landfill, 这对环境也有好处.”

在陶斯, 全家参观了陶斯普韦布洛, an indigenous community identified by UNESCO as one of the oldest continuously inhabited places on e艺术h, 可以追溯到近一年前,000年. Similarities among E艺术hship and Pueblo designs prompted discussion about how current technologies emerge from previous technologies.

“这确实提出了一个问题, “什么是发明?, p艺术icularly when it’s based on ancient 技术?” Dr. 为了提出, 添加, “There’s also this fascinating tension — fascinating from an outsider’s perspective — about the vastly different histories that are going on, 土著历史, 西班牙历史, and the American history all clashing in remarkable ways that are challenging and exciting.”

A similar tension can be found in weaving, noted Dr. 为了, who has long knitted and crocheted, and wanted to learn more about weaving. 他描述了几种风格——格兰德河, 萨尔提略, Vallero, Chimayo, and Navajo — and the influences of each as the next style emerged. Here, too, he discovered differing histories, based on who told the story.

“I know weaving is a complex process, but I didn’t know that it had such a complex history,他说. “This is something that I am continuing to explore. How do we listen and how do we find out about stories that are not easily available?”

回想起这次旅行. 为了指出 that it reinforced important concepts for him. “First is this idea that fundamentally, new ideas are built on the back of old ideas他说. “当我们被要求创造新东西时, 有时候这感觉很难, 因为我如何创造新的东西? 你从研究已经存在的东西开始, and then you try to refine it into something unique for you.”

第二是科学的概念, 技术, 工程学并不是一种文化, 也就是说它们是人类的努力, 因此, 受制于人类的偏见和兴趣. 最后，技术不仅仅是数字化的. 织布机是一种技术. 编织是一种技术.

最终, lessons from the trip will be shared with students and colleagues, 正式和非正式的, 博士解释说. 他很感激帕特诺特的资助.

“作为教师, we are lucky to be at Miss Hall’s for several reasons, one of which is our ability to engage in professional development that’s not available to a lot of teachers,他说. “这种特殊的职业发展, where you can explore your own interests — I didn’t have to sit and listen about engineering for a week, but rather I could explore my interests and tie it back to my work — is a rare and precious thing.”

The Paternotte Family Faculty Travel and Study Endowment Fund was established in 2015 by Nancy Brewster Paternotte ’65 on the occasion of her 50th reunion, 支持MHS教师的专业发展. Miss Hall’s faculty may apply for this annual grant to travel domestically or abroad during the summer or school vacation to further knowledge in their field, to explore new developments in teaching methods or instructional 技术, 在他们的领域获得更多的专业知识, or to train in a new instructional area that will enrich the curriculum.

The recipient of the Paternotte Family Faculty Travel and Study grant is asked to embed learning from their travel experience into the classroom, to publicize this work through a formal presentation to the school community in the fall semester, and to share this experience in an 艺术icle for school publications and web communications.

以前的帕特诺特助学金获得者

2019年苏·洛弗尔
2018年丽贝卡·库克-杜宾
2017年维姬·比安科罗
2016年艾丽·克赖斯彻