Blog & Resources for Parents

And at Westridge—from 4th grade robot dance parties, to 10th grade “History and Pizza” discussions of important historical moments, to high-level conversations about key motifs in Beloved in junior/senior Perspectives class (a class I got to teach last week)—what are all these things if not intellectual adventure in action all the time? Ideas pinging around, the space and time to practice verbal expression, the satisfying (and maybe even essential) mix of silliness with profound learning, the trust to let go and dance with robots, the trust to munch on pizza while travelling intellectually to places far and wide. This is the opposite of perfection(ism). This is adventure. And in my heart and mind, this is what girls’ schools are at their best, at their core, at their reason-for-being level.

There was no hesitation, the Tigers must field a team! And so, we did! How could a girls’ school not jump at this unique opportunity? But to find later that Westridge was the only school in the greater Pasadena area and the only girls’ school in the greater Los Angeles area to field a team, was sort of incredible to me—in not such a good way.

I have these moments in my studio and at Westridge I call "NOW". It is when I am in the flow, or my students are in the flow, engaged, creating, making, struggling,  pushing themselves, finding their solutions. One day we were painting water with one-inch paintbrushes, there was calm music playing and I watched them for moment as an observer, overcome with joy, listening to the pffft pffft pffft of the brushes as they covered their big papers with paint. It was messy, blue and green puddles and water cups, kids shoulder to shoulder pffft pffft pffft. This was a NOW. I was filled with joy, flow.