From a letter to parents from Tyler Thigpen, Head of Upper School at Mount Vernon Presbyterian School:
Dear Upper School Family,
When a representative from Dartmouth College was on our campus Monday, an Upper School student astutely asked, “Beyond test scores and GPA, what can set me apart as a candidate to your school?” The representative responded simply, “That you make an impact.”
Speaking on behalf of the Upper School faculty and staff, we could not be prouder of your students who have done just that – i.e., “made a dent” – over the course of this year. Led by mentors, Upper School students, via their Transdisciplinary Capstone Project work, have collaborated, empathized with others, failed fast to iterate, actively used knowledge, and ultimately engaged real world issues as compelling contexts for learning. Tomorrow’s EXPO is both a showcase and also celebration of the impact students have made. And you are invited to drop in anytime between 9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m. to see and celebrate the wins.
To highlight just one such project, I invite you to visit Wedding Wells, an emerging nonprofit, led by seniors Shelby Garde, Addie Goins, and Judge Jones, and juniors Gareth Tremege and Hannah Zenas, that aims to link the love of selfless American couples bound to be wed with underprivileged men, women, and children in dire need of safe drinking water.
If you are unable to visit the EXPO in person, you can follow the action on twitter via the hash tag #MVimpact.
* With enormous gratitude and genuine awe for the @MVPSchool Project Managers (Kristyn Anderson, TJ Edwards, James Campbell, and Zach Strother), the #MVUpper Faculty extraordinaire, and, especially, the student innovators, collaborators, creative thinkers, communicators, solution seekers, and ethical decision makers. YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
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Real-World Impact: Guest Post @TylerThigpen #MVPSchool #MVIFI #MVImpact, January 16, 2014
it's about learning 