Breakout Session F – 2024 ICGS Conference

Conference Overview | Registration | Schedule of Programming | Pre-Conference Workshops | Networking Opportunities | Keynote Speakers | Breakout Sessions | INSPIRE! Sessions | Post-Conference School Visits | Hotel Accommodations | While You’re in Baltimore | Sponsors | Participating Schools/Organizations

Breakout Session F
Tuesday, June 25
2:00-2:50 p.m.

Designing for Success – Maintaining Momentum During a Multi-Year Capital Campaign
Momentum is a powerful force. It can carry institutions forward despite inevitable disruptions and obstacles. Momentum is particularly valuable when schools undertake ambitious and exciting campus improvements. While the initial excitement of the proposed design will capture donors’ attention, ultimate success depends upon sustaining the vision throughout the process. Learn how Foxcroft School has created and sustained momentum for their ambitious multi-year improvements to their academic, arts and STEAM facilities. By first establishing a compelling vision and design, the plan is being implemented in purposeful yet flexible phases, while responding to a global pandemic and ever-evolving pedagogies.

Presenters: Peter Winebrenner, Principal | Hord Coplan Macht; Cathy McGehee, Head of School | Foxcroft School (United States)

Audience: Upper/Senior/High School; Heads of School/Principals/Presidents/Headteachers; Senior Administrators; Teachers/Faculty; Admissions/Enrollment; Communications/Marketing; Development/Advancement

Learning to Lead: The power of student agency and voice
Research clearly indicates that when schools provide a positive learning environment where student voice is fostered and encouraged, that girls are more likely to develop a confident voice and an ability to act in the world and a desire to lead others.   With the aim of developing the leadership skills across all year groups in 2023 we expanded our already active Student Representative Council. Enabling the student voice leaders to participate in meaningful projects and decision making has had many benefits, including “higher levels of wellbeing and empowerment, a deeper connection to their learning and school community and developing a range of skills and capabilities”.  In this workshop we will showcase how we developed this new student voice program, our challenges, successes and how we saw our girls put learning into practice and where we witnessed authentic student leadership, decision making, learning of leadership skills and ultimately great joy!

Presenters: Victoria Rennie, Deputy Headmistress and Head of Senior School; Megan Krimmer, Headmistress | Abbotsleigh School (Australia)

Audience: Middle School; Upper/Senior/High School; Heads of School/Principals/Presidents/Headteachers; Teachers/Faculty; Student Life

Entrepreneurship Education Tools to Inspire and Empower Your Girls
Entrepreneurship (even a simple lemonade stand) can inspire girls and empower them with an entrepreneurial mindset to help increase their tolerance for risk, decrease their fear of failure, and teach them life skills to help them succeed regardless of the future path they choose. Join Brian Weisfeld, girls’ entrepreneurship advocate and Macmillan-published author of THE STARTUP SQUAD book series, to learn about the benefits of including entrepreneurship in girls’ education. Brian will also share some of his favorite entrepreneurship books, programs, and resources for your classrooms so that you can start inspiring and empowering your girls today!

Presenter: Brian Weisfeld, Founder and Co-Author, The Startup Squad and Executive Director, The Startup Squad Foundation | The Startup Squad (United States)

Audience: Elementary/Primary/Lower School; Middle School; Heads of School/Principals/Presidents/Headteachers; Senior Administrators; Teachers/Faculty; Extracurricular/Co-Academic Programs

Supporting students in a new school community: Teaching the skills for success
Helping new students navigate the stress of daily life, from learning how to ask for help without the direct support of parents to navigating social concerns, is key to their success in an unfamiliar school environment. Finding the time to systematically teach these skills within a student’s busy schedule can be difficult. At Chatham Hall, we combat this challenge through a program that runs weekly for all new students. Focusing on daily life and social emotional skills, we can equip students to be successful navigating difficulties in healthy and productive ways. Participants will consider the challenges that their new students face and think about what programs can mitigate these challenges on their campuses.

Presenter: Frankie Beyer, Assistant Director of Community Life and Wellbeing | Chatham Hall School (United States)

Audience: Middle School; Upper/Senior/High School; Teachers/Faculty; School Counselors; Student Life; Extracurricular/Co-Academic Programs; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Practitioners

Play Like a Girl: Increasing female participation and retention in STEM through sports
In this breakout session, Dr. Kimberly Clay explains how sport participation builds transferable skills that can set girls up for lifelong success, particularly in male-dominated fields like science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). She discusses how women coaches, teachers and STEM professionals serve as vital role models and provide much-needed guidance for girls during the critical middle school years when they are most likely to drop out of sport and lose interest in STEM. She points to the work Play Like a Girl is doing to highlight the benefits of staying in the game while making positive women role models more visible and accessible. Come by to explore this 100% free program for your middle school girls and learn how you can bring Play Like a Girl to your school. Then, join us in the exhibit hall for “Executive Office Hours” (aka speed mentoring) and FREE professional headshots!

Presenter: Kimberly Clay, Chief Executive Officer | Play Like a Girl! (United States)

Audience: Middle School; Upper/Senior/High School; Heads of School/Principals/Presidents/Headteachers; Senior Administrators; Teachers/Faculty; School Counselors; Extracurricular/Co-Academic Programs; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Practitioners

Creating a Sustainable Faculty Evaluation and Professional Development System
This session will explore our efforts at The Bryn Mawr School to create a new faculty evaluation and professional development system. Our Professional Development Committee created a set of Essential Expectations for Educators for annual faculty evaluation and a so-called REACH (Reflect, Explore, Apply, CHallenge) cohort program for self-directed professional development that we are piloting this year. We will share best practices based on our conversations with other schools and our initial efforts to implement the system.

Presenters: Jason George, Academic Dean and Assistant Upper School Director; Anne Puckett, Music Teacher | The Bryn Mawr School (United States)

Audience: Elementary/Primary/Lower School; Middle School; Upper/Senior/High School; Heads of School/Principals/Presidents/Headteachers; Senior Administrators; Teachers/Faculty; Academic Deans; Deans of Teaching and Learning

Teaching Spanish Through Women’s Stories
As a languages and cultures educator at an all-girls school for two decades, I’ve learned to be intentional and mission driven with our goal to transform society and seek justice by guiding the next generation of women leaders to see themselves in what and how we learn. Come and explore how to use the power of women’s stories–the work of activists, artists, writers and feminists throughout history such as the Mirabal Sisters, Berta Cáceres and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and more in your courses! Be inspired by their courage and luchadora spirits!

Presenter: Amanda Rosas, Spanish & Social Studies Teacher | Visitation School (United States)

Audience: Middle School; Upper/Senior/High School; Teachers/Faculty; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Practitioners

Male Staff Negotiating Identity and Showing Up to Serve Their Best at an All Girls School
Male identified staff members in an all girls school must show up in a way that supports the academic and social emotional needs of the student population and female identified staff while maintaining an authentic voice. At Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy, an all girls school of color in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, leadership has created a “Male Identified Affinity Group” to provide support, discuss the struggles and consequences of male presence in this space. This session shall examine the approach BELA uses to allow space for male staff members to become the leaders they need to be.

Presenter: Donny Peters, IB History Teacher & Head Debate Coach | Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy (United States)

Audience: Upper/Senior/High School; Teachers/Faculty; School Counselors; Student Life; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Practitioners

Refreshing a Heritage School’s Marketing and Communications
The Bishop Strachan School (BSS) is a leading Junior Kindergarten – Grade 12 day and boarding school in  Toronto, Canada. For over 150 years, BSS has inspired students to be fearless and educated them to be leaders. To ensure BSS remains a top choice for best-fit families, we had to differentiate ourselves in a crowded market. In this session, we’ll share the process for refreshing our marketing and communications and the successful outcomes. The audience will come away with an understanding of how research, clear benefits and brand voice come together to create an impactful campaign and effective communications.

Presenter: Emily Rabe, Director, Marketing and Communications | The Bishop Strachan School (Canada)

Audience: Early Childhood; Elementary/Primary/Lower School; Middle School; Upper/Senior/High School; Heads of School/Principals/Presidents/Headteachers; Admissions/Enrollment; Communications/Marketing; Development/Advancement; Alumnae Relations

The 7 Principles of Practice.  A school guide to encourage joyful and impactful learning.
The presentation will include sharing the story of the 7 Principles of Practice and their alignment with the School Vision, Mission and Values.  The Principles define how learning should happen in every classroom, describing the conditions that can maximise learning for every child.   Participants will discover how the Principles were developed and how they are made visible throughout the school.   They will engage in understanding the specific intent of each one and the importance of a shared language of learning.  They will be challenged to think how learning is constructed and how the 7 Principles could be reshaped for their context.

Presenter: Jenny Williams, Principal | Firbank Grammar School (Australia)

Audience: Early Childhood; Elementary/Primary/Lower School; Middle School; Upper/Senior/High School; Heads of School/Principals/Presidents/Headteachers; Teachers/Faculty

At the Intersection of Science and Tikanga: Unpacking Complex Concepts Through Values-based Learning
Global Action Research Collaborative on Girls’ Education Research Presentation
Explore the transformative power of intertwining science education with cultural values in our presentation, “At the Intersection of Science and Tikanga: Unpacking Complex Concepts Through Value-Based Learning.” Discover how Year 10 girls engage in collaborative systems thinking to become environmental guardians, while Year 9 girls deepen their understanding of service through environmental projects. Our session will illuminate how this approach cultivates not only scientific understanding but also fosters values-driven learning and empowers girls to enact positive change.

Presenters: Alex van der Loos, Teacher | Westlake Girls High School (New Zealand); Dianne Smith, Head of Middle School | Samuel Marsden Collegiate School (New Zealand)

Centering Our Seniors: Elevating Student Perspectives Through Collaborative Strategies
Global Action Research Collaborative on Girls’ Education Research Presentation
Finding purpose beyond the classroom can sometimes be a challenge amidst the demands of senior year. In this session, join two teacher-researchers on how they use collaborative strategies to facilitate this sense of purpose and consequently build connection. Adrianne uses the thoughts, questions, and epiphanies method, a student-led reading and discussion strategy, to help university-bound seniors reflect on their personal sense of purpose. Lauren implements presentist approaches to critical interpretation and creative writing to build relevance and connection through the study of literature.

Presenters: Adrianne Warlick, English Teacher | Girls Academic Leadership Academy (United States); Lauren Walsh, Head of English | Kambala School (Australia)