Zach Feldman surrounded by thank you cards from grateful New Orleans students

Zach Feldman, a sixth grade student in GEP’s alternative school program, has recently been involved in a very special community service project. With the hope that he could make a difference in the lives of other children in need, Zach collected more than 300 picture books and donated them to a first grade class at New Orleans Success Preparatory Academy, a charter school in Louisiana. First grade teacher, Mrs. Greeley, also Zach’s aunt, reported that the children screamed with excitement when they received the boxes from Connecticut. They wrote Zach letters in which they thanked him not only for his books, but for his love.

Zach is now doing monthly drives of dry erase markers, hand sanitizers, and Kleenex tissues, with a few boxes of cookies for afternoon snacks. He feels that even a small box sent each month makes a big impact on those who are really in need. Ms. Greeley stated her gratitude for Zach’s contributions to her classroom and shared that it is her mission to give every child an opportunity to learn to read. Zach is certainly helping his aunt complete this goal. When asked what this project has meant to him so far, Zach smiled and said,  “I feel happy and proud because I’m donating books to kids who don’t have them, and I’m helping them learn.”

If you would like to contribute to Zach’s cause, please contact Meredith Hafer at meredith@greenwichedprep.com for more details.

Zach shipping books to New Orleans

Meet Nina Freeman Hanlon, GEP’s newest Associate Director.

Since joining our team in May, Nina has quickly distinguished herself as an outstanding teacher, coach, and mentor. She brings a wealth of experiences to GEP: her background in teaching at private schools in Greenwich and Boston; her two Division 1 NCAA championships in rowing as a co-captain at Brown; her tenure as a coach for kids of all ages; her advanced studies in the performing arts; and her career as a professional actress on stage and screen.

Nina graduated from Brown with a BA in Africana Studies, and later went on to earn her MFA in Acting at the American Conservatory Theater. A.C.T. has served as a theatrical training ground to such actors as Denzel Washington, Annette Bening, Anika Noni Rose, Benjamin Bratt, Elizabeth Banks, and many others.  Nina has worked regionally in theater as well as in national commercials (Verizon, Coca-Cola, Dove, UBS, Lowes, and more) and television (All My Children).” Check out her acting website here: www.ninafreeman.net

As a faculty member of the English and Performing Arts Department at Noble and Greenough School, Nina taught high school drama and directed the middle school play, which received national acclaim. In addition to working with GEP students on reading, writing, test prep, Spanish, and study and organizational skills, Nina also plays a prominent role in our art department. She teaches a variety of courses and workshops in the performing arts, including Acting for the Camera, Acting for the Stage, Shakespeare and Classical Text, Dialects/Speech, Directing, Playwriting, Movement, and Audition Technique.

Those of you who attended GEP’s creative writing event in the spring had the opportunity to hear Nina perform firsthand. Her powerful readings of the winning middle school and high school short stories were unforgettable.

We caught up with Nina to ask her what inspires her about the field of education:

What I appreciate most about the teaching profession is that it is always evolving. Every day is different. I’m not just the teacher, but a student as well and it keeps me on my toes. I am invigorated by the mutual learning that happens when my students and I exchange ideas, perspectives and stories.  I come from a family of teachers, who over the years inspired me in a myriad of ways. I’m proud to follow in their footsteps.  I was fortunate to have teachers who positively impacted me personally, academically, and professionally and I hope to similarly inspire and motivate my students.

GEP Assistant Director, Katherine Hafer, above left, demonstrates how to use a circular saw, while repairing a well in Maine.  Below, she blogs about this recent community service experience:

I spent the last week working at H.O.M.E., an organization based in Orland, Maine that strives to ensure life’s basic needs: shelter, food, water, education, and work.  H.O.M.E. is a place that gives everyone a chance, including those who could find a chance nowhere else. It’s part of the Emmaus International movement, which serves the world’s poorest.  One evening, the volunteer coordinator offered, “When you pass a person in a ditch, don’t reach your hand down to pull them out.  Get down in the ditch and rise out from it with them.” Her words point to an important aspect of life at H.O.M.E.: everyone works together, respectful of the talents and the obstacles of one another.

With experience in carpentry, I was given the role of leader and mentor to the young adults, whose grades ranged from seventh to twelfth.   Not only did I have the opportunity to lead a team in reinforcing a Section 8 house to make it safe and livable but I also had the chance to help teenagers from an affluent area learn to approach, empathize with, and learn from people who appear and live very differently from the way that they are used to.  But most importantly, I got to teach middle schoolers how to operate a circular saw.

What stood out to me most of all was the context in which a certain word kept coming from the mouths of the young people in our group:  One night after dinner, a high school girl expressed how much she appreciated time she and the other youth had to bond on their own, because they needed “time to just be weird.”  I heard this word, “weird,” again and again throughout the week, and was reminded of how frequently I used it as a teen.  Kids are weird.

But what does this self-declared alienation mean?  I believe it is how kids express that they do not want to meet our arbitrary, adult expectations.  It is an expression of their desire to be themselves, relaxed and natural, without straining to conform to (adult) societal demands.  They seek to nurture their unfiltered self, this person who they are and are trying to become.  And how crucial it is that we adults respect this!  All people have a right to assert and fulfill themselves as they are.

Even the rising seniors of the group readily self-identified as kids.  They did not hesitate to make clear how crazy they thought our adult ways are. This included everything from drinking coffee to over-planning, discussing, and managing even the simplest of events and tasks.  Yet, for the most part, they always treated each other and the adults with respect.  Could I say the same for the way the adults of our group treated the youth?

The experience at H.O.M.E. was not a casual one in any way.  As a group, we worked together, cooked and ate together, and even slept all together in H.O.M.E.’s learning center library.  At times, emotions ran high, but this allowed me to be able to get to know some of these teens on a personal level.  Each time I asked one of them about their pursuits, they responded with surprise and excitement.  Several of them asked if I could give them feedback on college essays.  They looked at me more as an ally than an adult.  I’m relieved to know that I might yet be a little weird myself.

Please welcome Mindy Rothstein, MA to GE&P. She’s our new Director of Applied Behavioral Analysis. Mindy will lead our practice that helps children and young adults overcome the challenges presented by Autism and related disorders such as Asperger’s Syndrome. Mindy’s expertise allows us to respond to the increasing calls from both our current client base and the communities we serve to bring evidence-based services to children on the spectrum.

(more…)