Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Winter 2008 | Página 2

www.thorntonacademy.org Creating a Curriculum for a Changing World By Carl J. Stasio Jr. Headmaster I think a lot about our “chang- ety, traditionally regarded as ing world” and the idea of suf- cultural conservators. Schools ficient preparation. How do we nourish society by developing ready our young people to meet young people into participating unknown challenges? Are we citizens who share significant teaching the right things? Are we common elements of our way of using the right methodologies? life. A sort of national defense Thornton Academy Winter 2008 Vol. 43, No. 1 “Teaching for the 21st century” is role is attributed to schools an engaging idea, but what does it as well, starting with the post- Postcripts is published twice a year for Thornton Academy alumni and friends. The mailing of Postscripts is made possible through gifts to the Thornton Fund. Please address alumni news & correspondence to: Postscripts, Alumni Office, Thornton Academy, 438 Main St., Saco, ME 04072-1595, or call 207282-3361. really mean? Our current curricu- Sputnik era in the early 1960’s. lum is essentially the same as my And now schools serve many own from the 1960’s. Is it really children as family, assuming the answer for today’s students? many of the responsibilities What will be essential for tomorrow’s world? If we that earlier lay with parents. The role of schools has Production by: Jennifer Hass, Caron Smith Pelletier ’98, Nancy Tripp ‘67 and Lisa Morin. don’t know what students will need, how will we mea- expanded but the essential framework—what and how sure success? we teach—hasn’t changed. Will this be enough? Photo by Jennifer Hass Annual Phonathon Each year, students like Katie Pinard ‘10 donate their time to participate in the Thornton Fund phonathon. Postcripts Development Director: Lisa Morin Alumni Director: Nancy Tripp ‘67 COVER PHOTO: Alumni of all ages enjoyed a recent field hockey game, which recognized 55 years of the sport at TA. Pictured from left to right are Hope Smith Cote ‘76, Sally Gochie Chase ‘55 and former field hockey coach Caroline Strong. Photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette ‘89. ture, the Canon Committee. Continuing to hold firmly attention to a fascinating video called “Shift Happens.” to the structures and methods of education that have It presents the magnitude of change going on around existed for so many years raises questions of sub- us. Think about this: stance. We read, reflect and discuss. In this issue of •34 babies are born into the world every 8 sec- reflects on the “hidden curriculum”—the crucial knowl- •For every American baby, five are born in India edge, skills and attitudes that all teachers share with and four are born in China. their students at the same time they are teaching the •In ten years, the #1 English speaking country will official curriculum. be China. •While it took radio 38 years, and television 13 people with a strong set of core skills in reading (and, years, it took the Internet just 4 years to reach an hopefully, a love for reading), writing, math and com- audience of 50 million. puter savvy. As important as academics are, though, •2.7 billion Google searches are conducted every today’s schools cannot limit themselves. Education month. equally has to help kids develop into adults who are •Between 2003 and 2006, visitors to the social net empowered, confident self-advocates. They need to be working site MySpace skyrocketed from under 10 thoughtful, with a broad worldview and compassion million to nearly 60 million. In fact, if MySpace was for those in need. They need a strong sense of com- a country, it would be the 8th largest in the world. munity, the broader world, and their place in it. There •There are currently 540,000 words in the English is academic preparation, but there is also mental and language, five times more than in Shakespeare’s emotional preparation—especially in this age of expo- day. nential growth. •The amount of technological information is doubling every two years; by 2010 it is predicted problems using the same kind of thinking we used to double every 72 hours. (Video link: http://www. when we created them.” How best might schools like youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U) Thornton Academy evolve to meet the future? It’s a Education has always striven to provide young To quote physicist Albert Einstein, “We can’t solve Who will our children be sharing the world with? What question deserving purposeful thought. does it mean to prepare them, as the video notes, “for jobs and technologies that don’t yet exist, in order to for the Canon Committee, please send them along in solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet”? hard copy or by e-mail: [email protected].  Postscripts on page 3, science teacher Beth Bussiere onds. TRUSTEES: Vangel Cotsis ’85 Philip D. Fearon ’70 Dennis Flaherty Bernard Gaines ’65 Stephen Garland ’64 Robert Gowen Kenneth Janson ’72 William D. Johnson William S. Kany ’77 Karen B. Lovell Joyce Haley-Martin ’75 James E. Nelson ’67 (President) Eric A. Purvis ’81 Joan Vachon Victor ’48 Mark G. Willett ’65 Corrections will appear in this space. Please bring errors to the attention of the editor by calling or writing the Alumni Office. We appreciate your bringing these items to our attention. A group of teachers have joined me in a new ven- idly than I ever thought. A faculty mem ber called my TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO on page 1: Mike McDonald ‘11 and Jarrett Woodward ‘11 are among the students enrolled in an all-boys English class at Thornton. Photo by Jennifer Hass. ALUMNI BOARD: Kathy Allen ’72 Patricia Martin Beaudoin ’71 (President) Todd M. Davis ’81 Lauren Chenard Folsom ’75 Scott Gallant ’86 Kenneth Janson ’72 Vera Gallant Kalagias ‘80 William S. Kany ’77 Debra Ketchum ’75 Melody Jordan Laskey ’79 Anthony M. LeBlanc ’88 David K. LePauloue ’84 Susan Willey Marston ’78 Mary Ann Stickles Martin’ 78 George Mendros ‘76 Richard Milliard ’66 Richard Parker ’60 Kirk Purvis ’93 Kathleen Boutet Santamore ’80 Allen R. Sicard ’75 Giselle Tardiff ’90 Certainly the world is changing—and far more rap- If you have thoughts, or suggestions for reading Schools are a remarkably stable element of soci- POSTSCRIPTS * WINTER 2008