Congress Catches Up with EFS...But It's a Good Thing!

What do you call someone who can speak two languages?
Bilingual.

What do you call someone who can speak three languages? Trilingual.

What do you call someone who can speak only one language? American.

It's an old joke, but it's truer than many of us wish. And increasingly we speak our one language less and less well. In July, on the very last day the 111th Congress was in session, H.R. 6036, the Excellence and Innovation in Language Learning Act, was introduced in the US House of Representatives. It aims to have every child in the US become proficient in a second language. In other words, it aims to do what EFS and other leading independent schools have done for years: make learning a second language an essential part of what it means to be an educated citizen.

The State of Education

I'm frustrated every summer that when I have time to go to the movies there's nothing worth seeing. And with the start of school, when I have less time and energy to head to the theater, there always seem to be many interesting films that I want to see. This year is no exception. Among the films I'm looking forward to seeing are two documentaries about the state of education in the US: Race to Nowhere and Waiting for Superman. While each offers a different view, they both point to troubling trends that affect the future for our children and our country. Check out the trailers.

New Shoes

Perhaps there's nothing that symbolizes the first day of school more than a new pair of shoes. I remember being so excited to wear the new school shoes my mother had bought in August but I wasn't allowed to wear until the first day of school. Of course, in the old days, shoes meant shoes rather than sneakers, so I remember the blisters after walking to and from school those first few days as much as I remember the shoes themselves. Later, when it was ok to wear sneakers everyday - my mother was a late convert to the idea - there were Chuck Taylors, Stan Smiths, Jack Purcells, and Puma Clydes. I can even tell you what colors I had. And I can recall begging for Nikes when they first became fashionable, but they were just too expensive. As a parent, I'm always amazed that my kids' feet seem to grow exponentially during the last week of August. Those shoes that fit perfectly while we were on vacation earlier in the month are suddenly too small. So off the the mall we go to find the perfect pair of first-day-of-school shoes. As the father of two girls, we keep looking until we find the pair with just the right amount of pink.

So on this first day of school, my new greeting is, "Welcome back! Have a great day! Nice shoes!"

A Bruins Fan in Buffalo

Wearing my Red Sox hat while shaking hands was one thing – I only offended the Yankees fans among our students and parents – but I think I may have gone too far by proudly donning my Bruins cap during the recent playoff series between Boston’s hockey team and Buffalo’s beloved Sabres.

One student, a 4^th grader, came up to shake my hand one morning last week and said, a little dejected and bewildered, “Why are you wearing that hat?”

“I’m a Bruins fan,” I replied. “Did you know that I grew up in Boston?”

He just stared at me for a few seconds and I said, “You’re disappointed, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” And he turned and walked into school.

Some adults I encountered around town were equally bemused and not all were as polite as the 4^th grader. Most just gave me a little good-natured ribbing. Truth be told, I’m not much of a Bruins fan anymore. I don’t get to see them play in person or even on TV very often, and it’s been a while since they’ve had much to cheer about. That said, I’ve been a fan for more than 35 years. What can I say? They’re my team. I assume Buffalo natives all over the Boston area were wearing their Sabres regalia proudly over the last two weeks. The real difference is that few places care about their hockey team as much as Buffalo. Even I root for the Sabres to do well, unless they’re playing Boston, of course. I’ve lived in other cities and haven’t felt even the slightest desire to root for their teams. I like the Sabres because I like Buffalo and Buffalonians.

OK, so now can I count on a little support for my Bruins in the next round of the playoffs?

Confession of a Frankenparent

I was going to be different. With 20 years of experience in independent schools I know the college game and I wasn't going to be sucked in to the trap of living out my own insecurities through my daughter's college acceptances. I know better, right? Maybe not. An op-ed piece in today's Boston Globe, The myth of the Frankenstudent, points out the struggle for many parents, even those of younger children, of balancing our hopes and dreams for our kids with letting them just be kids. I like to think I'm mostly successful at keeping my inner "Frankenparent" at bay, but as I vacillate between being happy to allow my girls to be who they are and registering my eldest for SAT tutoring this summer, I fear I'm really Jekyll and Hyde.

History Comes to EFS with Skype

EFS 6th graders recently read The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis. The novel tells the story of a family who moved from Michigan to Alabama at the time of one of the Civil Rights era's hallmark tragedies, the bombing of the 16th Avenue Baptist Church that killed four young girls. The book really resonates with middle schoolers, but as we move further and further from African-Americans' fight for civil rights, kids know less and less about what the Movement was all about. They know about Dr. King and a couple of his speeches, but they know little about Jim Crow and the system of oppression that existed in the US. While it might seem impossible, and perhaps a little depressing, that our students largely unaware of depth of the struggle for civil rights, realize that Dr. King was assassinated 42 years ago next month. 42 years before I was in 6th grade Herbert Hoover was president and the US was sinking into the Great Depression. In other words, it's all ancient history to the kids.

In an effort to put a face on the Civil Rights Movement, the grandmother of one of our 6th graders volunteered to speak with our class about her experiences as a young woman. Dr. Marjorie Miller was a student at Tufts University in 1960 when she helped organize and participate in boycotts and marches in Boston. She also helped to organize a concert in the Boston Garden featuring Harry Bellafonte that raised funds for college students in the South who had been arrested at lunch counter sit-ins. Our students were totally engaged, listening intently to her stories and asking excellent questions. Her personal story brought to light many issues of which our students were largely unaware, including the fact that the Civil Rights Movement was not exclusively Southern and that white people played a critical role in the Movement. And did I mention that Dr. Miller spoke to the students from Busan, South Korea? Thanks to the wonders of Skype and a recently installed interactive SMART Board in the 5/6 English classroom, our students experienced some real-time distance learning. Dr. Miller is on a Fulbright from her regular job as a professor of feminist philosophy at SUNY Purchase, but she stayed up late into the night to "meet" with our kids (South Korea is 13 hours ahead of us). It is not hyperbole to say that this is a class that could not have taken place at EFS even just a year or two ago.

EFS 6th graders speaking with Dr. Marjorie Miller from Korea via Skype.

Professional Blogging

I started this blogging business on a whim. In an effort to keep our friends and family in touch with our trip to last year's inauguration, I set-up a blog that chronicled our 4 days in DC. My family and I enjoyed recounting our experiences and hearing from those who were following us. As school started in September I launched this blog to have the forum to discuss various topics having to do with education, parenting, EFS, and anything else that came to mind. Although I hoped to post once a week, I haven't always kept up. Nevertheless, this will be my 19th post; not too bad.

As a result of my vast experience with blogging, I was asked to be one of four official bloggers for the National Association of Independent School (NAIS) Annual Conference - there are over 4000 independent school administrators and teachers at the conference. So here I sit, in San Francisco, attending workshops and general session speakers and blogging in every free moment. I've been to the conference many times over the years, but this is a very different way to experience it. It's meant that I need to be efficient and focused, but it's also been fun to be a voice of the conference for others. I had assumed that most of the followers would be folks who could not attend, but there are many attendees who have told me that they are following as well. Who knew?


I consider myself something of a luddite when it comes to social networking, so this blogging thing, this year and this week, has been an interesting new addition to my life. If you are interested in seeing what I've been up to in San Francisco, click here. Not included in the blog for NAIS, but definitely a highlight of the trip, was a dinner last night with a few EFS alums who live in the Bay Area.

One final note...don't feel too badly for me. In spite of dire predictions of rain all week, the weather here has been quite delightful. Although I've been stuck inside most of the time, it's struck me how nice 55 and sunny can feel for those of us mirerd in a cold and relatively snowless winter in Buffalo. The picture below was taken at a park across the street from the convention center during a break when I was able to sneak out for a few minutes.

 

Hopefully, this is what spring will look like when it finally arrives in Western New York.

Am I Really Too Old?

My mother clearly thinks so.

Last week I sprained my knee - grade 2 tear of the MCL I think the doctor said - playing hockey. I'm not really sure what happened, but I think I caught an edge, causing me to fall and slam into the boards. No one was near me, nor was I moving all that fast. Nevertheless, I wasn't able to continue playing that night, and the visit to the doctor a couple of days later resulted in my wearing a brace while the ligament heals. Hopefully, I'll be back on the ice in a few weeks, albeit with the brace under my shin pad.

Now back to my mother. We spoke a couple of days after the incident and she made it very clear that I was too old to still be playing hockey. "It's time to stop that," is what I remember her saying. Those who know Mother Featherston know she's nothing if not direct. And I think my brothers would agree that she continues to take seriously her role as mother and not-so-gentle voice of reason, even though we're all in our 40s. In other words, I expected nothing less. Just think what she might have said if I told her that before I played hockey that fateful evening I'd gone snowboarding with our middle schoolers. I'm certainly not too old to know there are some things you don't need to share with your mother.

So, back to the original question. Am I really too old? I guess the answer is that while my body may, in fact, be too old to keep up with my athletic aspirations, I'm not mature enough to know when to stop.

Sorry, Mom.

Let the Games Begin

Molly Clauss, Prep music and Friendship Club teacher, is our resident Olympics guru. In an effort to bring the Olympics home to her students, Molly has created a blog through which the class is communicating with people in Vancouver, fans, parents of athletes competing in the Games, and even some athletes themselves. In her first post, Molly spelled out the mission for the site and for her class: "We are a class from New York State that wants to know more about the Olympic experience, and we are hoping that people who are attending the Olympics will become our eyes and ears, and write to us about the events they attend." I think it's safe to say, we've all been surprised, pleasantly so, by the response. And it is great to see a committed and innovative teacher making use of technology to teach our students about competition, sportsmanship, geography, and more. Thanks, Molly!

 

Molly Clauss and the Prep students taking the Olympic oath.

Characteristics of a Good Student: The Top 10 List

Last night EFS inducted 20 7th and 8th graders into the National Junior Honor Society. This recognition is given to students who have earned an A- average in their classes and who maintain high standards of character, service, leadership, and citizenship. In my talk to the students and their parents I proposed a list of 10 characteristics that I feel are critical for success in school. While this list is not meant to be definitive or exclusive of other worthy traits, I do hope that it sparks reflection among students about their own strengths. I'm anxious to hear from others about important characteristics I've failed to include.

Top 10 Characteristics of a Good Student
10. Ability
9.   Luck/Blessings
8.   Humor
7.   Humility
6.   Self-awareness
5.   Empathy
4.   Confidence
3.   Sense of Wonder
2.   Discipline
1.   Positive Attitude

How Much is Too Much?

Is there a parent out there who didn't gasp a little when it was recently announced that a new study found that children 8 to 18 spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes a day using recreational media? It sounds unbelievable, especially when you realize that "recreational media" means time spent on the computer, TV, mobile phone, iPod, handheld game, etc. for fun; time spent on the computer for homework is not included. The research, conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family foundation found that the time on entertainment media had increased over and hour and a quarter since 2004, with most of that increase due to more access to mobile media. According to the study, "Over the past 5 years, the percentage of students owning cellphones jumped from 39 to 66 percent. The share of students who own iPods or other MP3 players rose from 18% to 76%." (Education Week, 1/27/10) And due to multitasking, young people are actually packing 10 hours and 45 minutes of recreational media content into the 7 hours and 38 minutes! If my kids can be considered normal in this context, I can certainly attest to the fact that they tend to watch a show on Hulu.com in one corner of the screen and browse the web or play a game in another corner. Not surprisingly, the study found that heavy users reported a negative impact on grades. The shocking piece of this is that a heavy user is defined as consuming, on average, more than 16 hours a day of recreational media content! How is that even possible?

So what's a parent to do? How do we balance the need to develop media literacy with the tendency of young people to overdo it? Is it possible to effectively monitor and limit all this access to the recreational use of media? Is it really worse than all the TV I watched as a kid? The best answer probably lies in what most EFS parents are doing already: engage children in athletics, theater, music, and other outside activities; spend as much family time...unplugged family time...as possible; continue to encourage independent, leisure reading. Over the summer, I read a great book, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30). This fascinating, research-based book posits that all this time spent plugged-in comes at the expense of leisure reading, and is resulting in the least literate, least informed, and most self-absorbed generation ever. While it doesn't necessarily provide THE answer for parents, along with this recent study, The Dumbest Generation provides a compelling and cautionary tale for parents and educators alike.

Gr8 Db8

Although educators have become enlightened about the link between spelling and intelligence or academic ability - there is none - any teacher of writing will admit to being both amazed and amused from time to time at students' creative misspellings. While spell check certainly helps writers produced more polished essays, my experience is that it doesn't seem to actually help children learn to spell. And with the advent of instant and text messaging, the job for all teachers of writing has gotten more difficult. As Ammon Shea points out in The Keypad Solution, from Friday's New York Times, many have tried to "fix" spelling in the English language, without much success. Now text messaging may be the start of a populist spelling revolution - every English teacher I know cringes at the thought. Will it happen? Is it a good thing? You be the judge.

Why MLK Matters

Every family has its stories. Or perhaps they should be called legends, because that’s what they become over the years and through the many retellings. And often they change as time passes and our memory plays tricks on us, or they change simply to make a better story. One of the legendary stories in my family involves my eldest daughter, Riley, and Martin Luther King, Jr. She was in kindergarten and had been learning about the civil rights leader in school, so at dinner one night she excitedly told us all about him. The conversation led us to talk about my father who had died the previous year. Somehow, she hadn’t made what many of us would probably think was the most obvious connection between the two men: they were both African-American. When I informed her of this and that it meant that I, too, am African-American, she was pretty impressed. And because at five she wasn’t quite ready to make the final connection on her own, I finally let her know that this meant that she is African-American. To which she responded excitedly, “I am?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

That’s our family story, one that’s been told many, many times. And no doubt my telling of it has gotten better over the years, for the sake of maximum humor if not maximum accuracy. Riley just grins and shrugs now, as if to say, “I was five. What did I know about this stuff?” Over the years, I’ve had many interesting discussions around this story, from the innocence of children and if they see race on their own or only after they are taught to see difference to whether African-American is a more inclusive, accurate, palatable term than black. But as the national observance of Dr. King approaches, I’ve been thinking about another thing about this tale points out: his story resonates with children. Why?

While the specifics of slavery, Jim Crow, the Civil Rights Movement, nonviolent resistance, the Poor People’s Campaign, war in Vietnam, the social and political atmosphere of the 1960s, and Dr. King’s assassination may escape most children, even a five year-old understands what’s fair. And really Dr. King’s work was just about doing what was right and fair. As he said in his famous speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, “In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” I often implore our students to work hard, play fair, be kind, and get involved. Dr. King asked the same of all of us and then led by example. Kids know fake from real. And they know Martin Luther King, Jr. was the real deal.

What's a parent to do?

A recent New York Times article, Tips for the Admission Test...to Kindergarten, is thought provoking, if a little disturbing. The article details a new phenomenon in the ever more competitive world of independent and public test school admissions. It seems that it is now possible to pay to have your three or four-year-old child tutored in preparation for the aptitude tests schools use to help evaluate student readiness for school. Is this going too far? One independent school admission director calls it "unethical". Really? Don't we all try to give our children a leg-up in various ways? Isn't that precisely why we choose to invest in an independent school education in the first place? So why is this so wrong? As the article points out, how is this different from SAT prep classes? Schools in New York and a few other big cities have the "luxury" of many times more applicants than spaces available, so who can blame parents from trying to help their child put her or his best foot forward? On the other hand, does it negate the validity of the test as a part of the admission process? Thankfully, independent schools don't use testing as the only criteria for admission, but without a somewhat objective criteria as a part of the process, schools are left with purely subjective measures by which to make admission decisions. What will this mean for the make-up of a school's student body? No doubt, independent schools in New York and other cities where this test-prep phenomenon has taken hold will find new ways to get accurate information on their applicants. Otherwise, my guess is that the only people who will be concerned about this trend is those whose children are not accepted. And then they'll have the choice to complain or join the crowd.

The Season of Giving

Buffalo spent last week gripped in what can only be called Extreme Makeover: Home Edition fever. The popular ABC television show spent its time in Buffalo making-over the home and the lives of the Powell family on the city's West Side. As I learned during the October storm, in my first year at EFS, Buffalo takes it's moniker of "City of Good Neighbors" seriously. And the occasion presented by Extreme Makeover provided the people of Buffalo and Western New York another opportunity to live up to that ideal. While the show typically gets hundreds of volunteers, Buffalo had thousands (upwards of 5000 in some reports). Where other projects fix up one family's home, the effort of all the volunteers in Buffalo improved 50 houses in a neighborhood that needs the help.

At Elmwood Franklin, we try to do our little part to help our neighbors as well. Giving is our theme for the month of December, and our students are proving already that they're well acquainted with the concept. Our annual food drive to support the Food Bank of Western New York and the Ronald McDonald House has generated a mountain of canned goods and other foods that seems to grow by the minute. The third grade has even started a friendly competition between Mrs. Karassik's class and Ms. Constanzo's class to see which one can collect the most food to be donated. The 8th grade has donated money raised at their annual skate-athon to support Buffalo's Ronald McDonald House. Usually earmarked for a class gift and a day of fun at an amusement park at the end of the year, this year's class opted to make the gift in honor of a classmate who recently had a serious operation and whose family used the services of the Ronald McDonald House in another city. The Prep II class is corresponding with Master Sargent Coleman in Iraq. A local firefighter and member of the National Guard, Master Sargent Coleman has shared the messages and pictures from our students with the men in his unit.

As I see our students coming in to school each morning weighed down with canned goods but excited to be making a contribution to those in need, I'm reminded of the traditions of Thanksgiving, the spirit of this season of giving, and the reach and power of young people to make us all smile.

Buffalo's Young Philanthropist of the Year

We're always proud of our graduates, but it is especially gratifying when their accomplishments are recognized by others. One of our recent graduates, Kilby Bronstein '06, has been chosen Outstanding Youth Philanthropist of the Year by the Buffalo chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She was nominated by both EFS and Roswell Park Cancer Institute and is featured in today's Buffalo News. Kilby will be honored at a luncheon at the Adam's Mark Hotel on November 18th. Her involvement at EFS includes being a committed caller on behalf of the Annual Fund and a speaker at our annual Upper School Information Night, where she shares her perspective on the preparation she received in our 5th through 8th grade program that led to her success at Buffalo Seminary - this year's Information Night will be on Thursday, November 19th at 5:45pm. Kilby's passion for giving back to EFS follows in the footsteps of her mother, Jennifer Prince Bronstein '74, also one of our most devoted and tireless volunteers.

In addition to all the good she does in the community, Kilby serves as a perfect roll model for Elmwood Franklin's growing service learning program. Committed to teaching our students the value of service to the community and the power that even our youngest students can have in Buffalo, Western New York, and beyond, we are developing meaningful service projects connected to the curriculum at each grade level. My October 22 post (Real World Lesson) is an example of how kindergarten students can learn new skills and help others at the same time.

Congratulations, Kilby. Your Elmwood Franklin family is exceedingly proud of your accomplishments.

Addicted?

Ever feel like a slave to technology? Worried that your teenager spends too much time on-line? Drawing parallels to alcohol or drug addiction, today's Boston Globe has an interesting article about the signs and costs of Internet and computer addiction. Interestingly, yesterday's edition featured a story titled, Why an iPhone could actually be good for your 3-year-old.

Confused by the seemingly mixed messages? Me too. Welcome to parenting in the technological age. Perhaps the real lesson for parents is to beware and be aware. 

Tribute to a Mentor

The field of education, and education reform in particular, has lost one of its giants. Theodore R. Sizer, Ted to those who knew him, passed away last week at the age of 77. His obituary chronicles an extraordinary life spent in some of the nation's finest secondary and post-secondary schools as well as his efforts to remake American education around small schools, committed teachers, and authentic demonstrations of mastery.

Although I entered our first meeting in 1989 with a not-so-healthy balance of curiosity and cynicism, I quickly become one of many who consider Ted Sizer to be a friend and mentor. He had recently stepped down as chair of the education department at Brown University, but Ted was still very involved, respected, and even worshiped. In fact, the whole teacher education program had been formed around his ideology. Of course, I didn't know any of this when I started there that summer. In truth, I'd never heard of the guy. When the opportunity arose to meet him to discuss the possibility of being one of a dozen or so graduate assistants for his very popular undergraduate class on school reform, I tagged along with a few friends, as interested in the free food that was promised and meeting the person of whom everyone at Brown spoke in such reverential terms as I was in being a TA.

Having been around the block once or twice, Ted had experience with smart alecks of my ilk and won me over almost immediately. Without a doubt one of the smartest people I've ever known, he was also among the most unpretentious. Perhaps what made him such a wonderful teacher was that Ted was a great listener. Our weekly evening meetings at his home to discuss his class and our discussion sections were characterized by his giving us a little direction, our doing lots of brainstorming and a fair amount of arguing, him providing more gentle direction, and us reaching the exact point he knew we would at the beginning. Of course, at the time, we thought it was our brilliance that brought us to great clarity, when it was really him all along.

On my best days, I'd like to think that I live up to the model that Ted provided and to the belief he had in me. On my worst days, I take comfort in knowing that he would know just what to say to inspire me to be my best. Although it's been a few years since I last saw Ted and his wife Nancy, a great teacher and scholar in her own right, his ideas, his model, and his manner continue to inspire me as an educator and as a leader.

Hopefully, it's not too late to say what I should have said years ago. Thanks, Ted.

Real World Lesson

I think we often think of school, particularly the early years of school, as preparation for doing bigger and better things: learning letters and sounds to become a fluent reader later; learning math facts early enables higher level mathematics down the road; learning to write an effective topic sentence in elementary school leads to effective paragraph and essay writing in middle and high school. And on and on.

Molly Clauss and her Prep II class signing their greetings via Skype to their 

new friends at St. Mary's School for the Deaf. 

But even our youngest students can learn valuable skills that they are able to put to use right away. For many years Prep II students have learned American Sign Language, which they practiced in school, showed off to parents, and used at performances in the theatre. This year, long-time Friendship Club and music teacher, Molly Clauss, has taken signing another step. As we’ve looked for opportunities for EFS students to have an impact in the community through service learning – community service tied directly to curricular goals – Molly has partnered with St. Mary’s School for the Deaf. In September, Molly used the new interactive SMART Board in her classroom and Skype to conduct a joint lesson with a kindergarten class at St. Mary’s, giving both classes the opportunity to practice their signing skills in a real-world, real-time setting without ever leaving their classrooms. This week EFS welcomed the class from St. Mary’s here to perform a joint telling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The cast, made up of students from both schools, signed and spoke the story to the delight of classmates and teachers. Cute doesn’t begin to describe it! The children, both those performing and watching, were totally focused and very proud. Molly said later, “Afterward, all the children went out on the playground, where the real magic began. The children were signing to each other, asking each other to play, asking what their sign name is, and using their knowledge to effectively communicate through the universal childhood language of play. The Prep teachers stood in awe as we watched.” 

EFS and St. Mary's students performing Goldilocks and the Three Bears in spoken 

word and American Sign Language.

Five and six year-olds practicing new skills, using technology, and having a positive impact outside the school. In other words, they were living out the mission of EFS. Next month, the EFS students have been invited to St. Mary’s for a Thanksgiving feast.

Living the Dream

Although The Buffalo News neglected to mention it in its October 2, 2009 story, Worth a look: Adam Lippes makes a name in design, Adam Lippes, founder and creative director of the fashion line ADAM, is a 1987 graduate of Elmwood Franklin School. He remains closely connected to and supportive of the school, even hosting an alumni event last year at his flagship store in New York City. 

Adam signing autographs for some of his fans in Upper School.

An early highlight of the year was to have Adam visit on Friday and speak to the Upper School about his path to success and the importance of the foundation he received at EFS. Adam showed a short clip of his recent runway show at Fashion Week in New York and answered lots of great questions from our students and teachers. While many of the students were very interested in the celebrities he’s dressed (Oprah, Brad Pitt, Halle Barry, the cast of Gossip Girl, to name just a few), they also asked about his fashion inspirations, educational path, travels, the challenges of running a business, and social and environmental responsibility. Adam told them how important a second language, especially French or Italian, is in his business. He warned them that while modeling looks glamorous, it is anything but. Adam mentioned the important role that mentors have played in his success and that he now tries to do the same for young, aspiring designers. He spoke of learning to write a business plan. And he talked about the importance of having a family who believed in him and supported his dream. Perhaps the best messages of the day, delivered explicitly by his words and implicitly by his very example, were ones we’ve been stressing with our students this year: set goals, work hard, and surround yourself with allies who can help you realize your dreams. It's safe to say our students will not soon forget Adam's visit.

Adam spoke of the importance of mentors. In his case, they 

include his mom and Oscar de la Renta. Here Adam is pictured with

a couple of his non-fashion mentors, Tom Ryan and Mr. Ziggy.