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November 9, 2009

A TEACHER′S OBSERVATION: WE GET IDEAS
Submitted by Pat Mesthos and Illustration by Stephen Klova, 7th grade

Running down the hall to drop some letters into the college counselor’s maibox , I noticed , walking in the opposite direction, an interesting couple. One, an Upper School student, coat in his arms, backpack on his back, was talking animatedly to a Lower School teacher whom I could hear saying, “that’s a good idea, you should write it down and maybe we’ll try it next year. “ I continued on my way, reflecting that this was the kind of thing Tim Sadar was talking about at the teacher’s meeting the other day when he exhorted us to highlight the interesting things we do in our classrooms. He was talking about projects, but this, I felt was related. Doane Academy is an incubator for ideas. The Upper School student, I surmise, was probably pitching an idea for next year’s scarecrow contest, which is why he was talking to a Lower School teacher. He was building on an idea, the scarecrow contest, which built on an idea, School Family.  Thus we have here a brilliant man-made system for teaching kids to develop ideas, and to lead groups to see those ideas come to life.