For new families looking for information on Peak's programs and/or our daily routines, please click the link below
Summit Daily News | Wednesday May 25, 2016 Peak students enjoy a California road trip!
This summer while Peak students are enjoying the rivers and mountains that make up our Colorado backyard, new Chinese teacher, Luke Wander will be making his way to Summit County from Hangzhou, China. Luke is a young American, reared in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, and graduated summa cum laude from University of North Carolina with majors in History and Asian Studies (Mandarin). After studying Chinese for 4 years at UNC, Luke has been living in China these past 3 years, teaching for 2 years and continuing his language studies. His experience also includes coaching soccer and directing Youth Theater and choral singing. Nothing could please Luke more than participating in the outdoor activities so abundant here in Summit County.
Here is Luke’s message:
大家好， Not too long ago, a stranger on a train turned to me and asked, "What exactly do you do here in China?" This is a fairly common question and so I gave my standard small-talk reply: that I study Chinese. Not satisfied, he asked, "Why?" For years, there have been many answers to this question. I've explained it using my curiosity, my admiration of the culture, my inexplicable desire to be able to communicate with people so different from myself, and a thousand other reasons. But I had a different answer for this man. I told him about The Peak School. I told him how excited I am to take everything I've learned while working and studying and living here and to pass it on to a group of students who, like myself, share that inexplicable curiosity for China and the Chinese language. I told him how much I miss living in the mountains (I did not, however, explain the difference between the Rockies and the Appalachians) and how thrilled I am to get back in touch with nature. I told him how lucky I was to be joining a small, close-knit community of people who share a hunger for knowledge and a willingness to find their own way. I could have gone on, but at this point I sensed that the stranger had gotten far more than he had bargained for, so I stopped. Odd anecdote aside, I truly am humbled by the opportunity to get to know you all, to speak and to listen, to work and to play, to teach and be taught, and to coach and be coached. 八月见！ -Luke
More about Luke:
Education:
BA, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Beijing Institute of Education
Zhejiang University
Hometown & other places he's lived:
Asheville, NC
Carrboro, NC
Beijing, China
Jiaxing, China
Hangzhou, China
Jobs he's had:
History Teacher
Camp Counselor
House Painter
Farmhand
Bouncer
Dog-walker
Interests:
The Written Word
Soccer
Theatre
Hiking & Backpacking
Skiing
Laughing
Biking
Fishing
For a second consecutive year, Peak is hosting an intern from the Scarsdale Alternative School (A-School) in Scarsdale, New York. Eliza Auchincloss, a senior at the A-School, will join the Peak community from May 9-27 as part of her senior project. In her role as in intern, Eliza will help Peak map out the Senior Year and graduation plans for our first graduating class next year in Spring of 2017. She plans to survey and interview students, teachers, and parents about building strong community in a small school environment. Eliza will also help outline the first Peak graduation,scheduled for Thursday, May 25, 2017, making suggestions about everything from caps and gowns to voting on a speaker.
To get to know the Peak class of 2017, Eliza joined many students from that first graduating class on a college campus tour in California. Along with six students and two teachers, Eliza flew to California and drove down the coast from San Francisco to South of Los Angeles, looking at more than fifteen college campuses before driving East through three national parks.
Peak School Accomplishments 2015 – 2016
Each year, we reflect on the academic and extracurricular achievements of our students by compiling a year-end achievement list. Please take a moment to review our student's outstanding achievements!
Academic Achievements
Students participated in more than 20 field trips, including visits to the Cadaver Lab with Arapahoe Community College, Hiking St. Mary Alice glacier, and visiting the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Planetarium.
Students Completed:
- 51 National History Day Projects
- 40 STEM Fair Projects
- 17 Gateway Projects
- 15 student-driven 20% Projects
- 31 CommuniTeach Courses
20% Projects
The 20% Project was introduced by Literature teacher, Monica Mills, who heard about it at a Google professional development conference. All 10th and 11th graders created a student-designed project aimed at giving back to a community, and twenty-percent of class time was dedicated to students’ developing and carrying out a plan.
- 15 student-designed projects aimed at giving back to the community
- Kira Benson, Henry Boyd and Arel Svenson taught song-writing, robotics, and engineering workshops to middle school students during CommuniTeach
- Conor Craig helped develop new Outdoor Education curriculum and led the Division I/II hut trip
- Selah Kreeger founded the Peak Theatre Club, whose first performance, “Alice in Wonderland,” was entirely student-led and directed and included students from SMS and SHS
- Hope Armstrong is building two Little Free Libraries using a $300 grant she received from Summit County Rotary. The libraries will be a free book exchanges located at FIRC and Summit County Pre-School
- Will Sharp built a solar-assisted electric bicycle
HSSSE Survey Results
Upper School students took the HSSSE survey, a national survey of high schools, developed to solicit student input on their experience at school. This survey is an effective tool in helping schools improve teaching and learning, and to enhance student engagement. The survey revealed that…
- 100% of Upper School students feel good about being at Peak, care about the school, feel safe at Peak, and feel supported by their teachers.
- Almost all students agree that Peak emphasizes understanding of information and ideas, analyzing ideas in depth in class, and has contributed to their development in thinking critically, reading, writing, and speaking effectively, and treating people with respect.
Accreditation
The Peak School received official accreditation on June 30, 2015 and enjoyed its first year as a fully accredited school.
Outstanding Academic Student Achievements
National History Day Projects
- Jorie Benson won 1st place, Junior Exhibition, at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver.
- Olivia Brown-Wolf placed 3rd in Junior Documentary at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver.
- Tye Brown-Wolf won 1st place in the Senior Paper category at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver, where he came in 4th Tye also won two Awards for Excellence, including Best Regional Project and the Library of Congress Award for outstanding research.
- Selah Kreeger won 1st place, Senior Documentary, at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver.
- Grant Morgan earned 2nd place in the Senior Paper category at the National History Day regional competition and represented Peak at state finals in Denver.
Model United Nations
- Kira Benson and Arel Svenson were awarded Best Delegation at three Model UN Conferences around Colorado, competing against students from 15 other High Schools.
Tye Brown-Wolf secured an internship with County Commissioner, Dan Gibbs.
Outstanding Student Extracurricular Achievements
More than 90% of students participate in clubs or teams outside of Peak with 50% of students participating in sports or extracurricular activities through Summit School District. Students participated in football, volleyball, track, basketball, Nordic and Alpine skiing, lacrosse, Model UN, rugby, speech & debate, hockey, dance & theater.
Tye Brown-Wolf and Grant Morgan placed 2nd in the Western-Slope division for Speech & Debate, co-captained the Speech & Debate team, and advanced to state finals.
In April, Jared Lincenberg served as a delegate at the State Democratic Nominating Convention in Loveland.
Jorie Benson was invited to perform as part of the Café Concert series on her violin at the Silverthorne Pavilion and in the Summit County Orchestra.
Grant Morgan won first place in the Summit Music & Arts Young Composers Competition with a solo piano composition he wrote called “Finnegan’s Fall.”
Will DeLaRosa received his First Class Boy Scout Rank at the young age of 12.
Lauren DeLaRosa earned the Castle Rock Stake Presidents Award, given to outstanding seminary students.
Elli VandeYacht passed her US Figure Skating Intermediate Moves in Field and Juvenile Free Skate tests.
Tye Brown-Wolf and Grant Morgan were listed in the top 30 Public Forum Debate Teams in Colorado.
Conor Albin was elected to Order of the Arrow in Boy Scouts.
Olivia Brown-Wolf and Ali Elston skied for SMS, helping the girl’s team take 2nd in the state.
Luke Mathis earned the defensive MVP award and helped the 7th grade SMS football team place 2nd in the league.
Cole Perkins helped the 8th grade SMS football team finish 2nd in the league.
Sally Rodli finished 2nd in a Big Mountain ski competition in Winter Park.
Phin Smith finished 3rd in a GS race at Breckenridge and had another top-ten finish this season.
Jack Renner, Joey Hodge, Phin Smith and Wylam Mocatta all played on the undefeated Summit Strikers soccer team.
Joey Hodge placed 9th in a slalom race at ElDora.
Conor Craig captained the Summit Renegade men’s rugby team and was the highest scoring player on the team.
Henry Boyd won his age category in the Imperial Challenge, a winter mountain race involving biking (or running), skinning to the summit of Peak 8, and skiing down Peak 8 at Breckenridge.
Henry Boyd participated on the SHS mountain bike team and finished 16th at state finals.
Henry Boyd participated on the SHS alpine ski team and qualified for state finals.
Elli VandeYacht, Piper Miller, Alex Goode, PK Vincze and Madi Rothey helped the Summit Hockey U14 team win their league this season. The Summit Girls U14 hockey team finished 4th in the state and PK and Elli scored their first goals!
Will Bird received his First Aid/CPR/AED card.
Jake Mallory got accepted to two AAA hockey-training camps and goalie clinics in Denver and Colorado Springs.
Summit Extreme Baseball
Luke Mathis played on the U12 Summit Extreme Team that won the 2015 CABA Colorado State Championship.
Koa Rashidi and Luke Mathis are on the U13 Summit Extreme Team that took 1st place at the 2016 CABA Spring Blast Tournament.
Community Involvement
Jorie Benson and Kira Benson both participated in the Summit Youth Orchestra.
Olivia Brown-Wolf, Jorie Benson, Arel Svenson, and Selah Kreeger performed in The Little Mermaid at Backstage Theater.
Connor Albin represented Peak on the SMS Alpine ski team.
Wylam Mocatta & Phoebe Smith represented Peak on the SMS Nordic ski team.
Olivia and Tye Brown-Wolf collected over 100 books and donated them in Nicaragua.
AnnaRose Craig was part of a Destination Imagination team that competed at regionals.
Sally Rodli and Phin Smith represented Peak on Team Summit.
Joey Hodge, Jack Renner, Arel Svenson, Cassidy Citron, Ethan Fulkerson, Kayla Fulkerson, Jorie Benson, Kira, Benson, Lauren DeLaRosa and Hope Armstrong all performed in Peak Theatre Club’s inaugural performance of “Alice in Wonderland,” cast, directed and produced by Selah Kreeger.
Maggie Hoehn, Brielle Quigley, Marina Ganceva, PK Vincze, Alex Goode, Natalie Anderson and Piper Miller played on the SMS girl’s rugby team.
Riley Lineaweaver participated in The Jungle Book at Backstage Theater and a Halloween dance show and year-end recital with Alpine Dance.
Selah Kreeger performed in Backstage Theatre’s The Jungle Book.
Will Bird participated as a Junior Sherpa in SOS, helping a group of 2nd graders learn to snowboard.
Tye Brown-Wolf was a member of the SHS Football and Basketball teams.
Summit Daily News | Monday, May 16, 2016 Read the story on Page 3 here.
Next week, thirteen 9th and 10th grade Peak students will be participating in a 6-day long rafting adventure as part of our cornerstone Outdoor Education curriculum at Peak. Students depart from Peak on Monday, May 16 and head for Sand Wash, Utah where they will camp one night and meet up with guides from Adventure Bound Rafting Company. Students will spend the next 5 days rafting the Desolation Canyon section of the Green River in eastern Utah. During the trip, students will learn specific aspects of river safety, equipment and the use and precautions of such equipment, river etiquette, resource management and general information pertaining to the Geology and History of the surrounding area and Governing Agencies. They will also continue their STEM curriculum on the trip, guided by Peak STEM teacher Laura Davies. The Peak School's Outdoor Education program is a cornerstone of our curriculum, giving students an opportunity for environmental education fieldwork, to challenge themselves, use teamwork, and develop leadership skills.
Six Peak School 11th grade students and two teachers will embark on a college trip to California next week that is part road trip, part campus tour. The group will fly from Denver to San Francisco, where they will spend a day touring the campuses of Stanford, UC Berkeley, and USF. They have rented two cars, so students can pick and choose which campuses they see and activities they do at each stop. The teachers and students will spend three days driving down the coast of California, making stops in Santa Cruz and Los Angeles to tour UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly, UCLA, Loyola Marymount, Occidental College and more than five other college campuses along the way. After four days of touring colleges, the group will spend three days driving back to Colorado, with overnights camping in Joshua Tree, Zion, and Arches National Parks. They will be gone for a week in total, on a journey that incorporates several cornerstones of a Peak School education. They will receive personalized instruction and counseling from dedicated teachers who know each student well; they will learn what they want in the next step of their education; and they will continue their appreciation for environmental stewardship and nature.
Over Spring break, two students flew back to New York with Head of School, Steve Coleman to tour East Coast colleges and universities in New York, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. Both trips are part of Peak’s unique and comprehensive college counseling program, and most of the students attending will be a part of The Peak School’s first graduating class next year in Spring of 2017.
On Friday, May 6, The Peak School will open their doors to the second annual Game Night, benefitting the Summit County Animal Shelter. Kids of all ages are welcome to join in the fun, with this year's games including a Mario Cart competition, giant Twister, relay Tic-Tac-Toe, lawn games, and a photo booth! There is a suggested $5 donation and prints from the photo booth will be $1 each. Please come, spread the word, and bring your friends to Game Night!
Summit Daily News | Thursday, April 7, 2016 Peak sophomore Conor Craig is featured in a recent Summit Daily News Article about his role on the Summit High School rugby team. Check out the full story here.
Results of 2016 Parent Survey
Not surprisingly, the results of the 2016 Parent Survey align to a large extent with the results of the HSSSE survey that Upper School students took. Overall, the feedback is extremely positive and parents voiced strong and universal support and appreciation for the kind of learning that takes place at The Peak School.
Strengths
Type of Learning
- Independent, hands-on, in-depth, and personalized
- Small class sizes and small teacher-to-student ratio
Incredible Teachers
- The dedication, accessibility, and responsiveness of the teachers
Community & Culture
- Students learn responsibility and leadership
Increased Academic Rigor
- Appreciation for accountability
- Multi-disciplinary projects
Student Experience
- Students enjoy going to school and are engaged with their learning
- Community encourages self-confidence
- Students feel safe, comfortable, and supported in the environment
Areas for Growth
Communication
- Readier access to information about students progress – keeping Jump Rope more updated and more regular communications from Base Camp and subject teachers.
Community
- Peak students giving back more: Several parents would like to see Peak students more involved in the community, as well as giving back to Peak.
- Form a PTSA and get more involvement from parent community in recruiting new students, with the aim of a larger and more diverse student body.
Peak Parent Testimonials
My children are engaged in the community and the learning. The teachers are supportive and responsive. I like the democratic approach. I love the college advising and tutoring. I like it all!
I know I'm welcome in the school to observe, that I can have access to the teachers and administration, that I am supported in giving my child the best possible education, that we have help financially to do so.
I love the way my daughter LOVES to go to school every day. She is excited about learning and loves her teachers!
The Peak School is a unique environment that offers a very special way of learning and a path through education for dedicated learners.
[Students] feel comfortable in the community. They feel safe and able to communicate both with students and staff. Their voice is heard. They are owning their education
Outdoor education = experiential hands on learning. Learning through challenging experiences in a group and solo.
Such a close and caring community! I feel someone is looking out for my child all the time. All the outdoor activities really keep him positive about school.
My student is really empowered to own and take charge of his education at Peak, also advanced, deep, thorough and unhurried coverage of content, such encouragement of a creative approach to learning, the leveled math and genuine relationships he builds with teachers- they really know and care about my child. The school really works to make my child's education right for him.
It coincides with our family philosophy of education being engaging, with lots of experiential learning, plenty of support to pursue unique interests, all in a democratic style community, which teaches communication and life skills beyond the traditional classroom.
We like that student's are allowed to have an unsuccessful attempt at something, but then are given another chance to improve the outcome without having it turn into a permanent grade on their transcript.
He loves going to school. He is able to pursue his interests. He is generally interested in learning and the style of learning works for him.
We love how our child's attitude about school has improved since attending Peak!
He chooses to learn. It's all him. And he is learning.
April 2016 In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the publication of John Dewey’s seminal work, Democracy and Education
John Dewey (1859-1952) was arguably the greatest thinker that America has produced. He thought deeply, wrote prolifically in the fields of philosophy, psychology, journalism, aesthetics, politics, and education, and was actively involved in the public arena. He was a founder of the New School for Social Research, the NAACP, the ACLU, and a host of academic and professional organizations.
But he is probably most frequently associated with his writings on education, and can be considered the ‘patron saint’ of progressive education. Dewey thought and wrote about education, but he wasn’t much involved in the implementation of his ideas. His thoughts and books were subsequently interpreted by a great many educators during the past century, who were inspired by his thoughts to create hundreds of schools, many more programs at existing schools, and by countless teachers in the way they approach the work they do in classrooms.
There have been, and still are, a wide variety of schools, programs, and approaches that call themselves “progressive.” Because of this, the term “progressive education” is therefore not very helpful at best, or misleading at worst.
Democracy and Education is therefore refreshing because it articulates principles that are unambiguous, and describes situations that are remarkably relevant today; and some of them point the way to how we, at Peak, can move forward. Not bad for a work written 100 years ago.
About the title, and Dewey’s focusing this work on the question of democracy. While the term ‘democracy’ may not be much used in public discourse today, it certainly was when the book was written and published. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson was about to bring the United States into what was called the European War (WWI) in order to “make the world safe for democracy.” Threatened not only from abroad, many feared democracy was also being undermined by the industrial nature of our economy and society, and the huge and growing inequity between the living conditions of the wealthy few and the masses of workers in the sweatshops, mines, and factories. John Dewey made it his life work to strengthen our democracy and democratic institutions, and he looked to the schools to be at the front lines of this endeavor. He argued that schools and education in America should above all reflect and sustain a democratic way of living.
Dewey’s conception that education is fundamentally a method of improving society was influenced by his relationship with the social reformer Jane Addams during the time that he was at the University of Chicago (1894-1904). Along with Ellen Gates Starr, Jane Addams established and ran Hull House, a model that inspired over 200 other Settlement Houses across the U.S., whose mission was to provide social and educational opportunities to immigrants and other working class people: children and adults, men and women.
Dewey had his detractors. Most people in the educational establishment liked things just the way they were – with rigid rules about what should be taught and how that knowledge should be drummed into the heads of students. There were also those reformers in the field of education that said, “We are now in the modern, scientific, industrial age and we need efficiency.” These ‘efficiency’ proponents believed that just as we should set standards and measure output in mills, mines, and factories, we should set standards and measure output in schools. These folks continue to have perhaps a far greater influence on schooling than John Dewey.
But thanks to Dewey and the progressive educators who followed him, approaches to teaching and learning that are key to the mission of The Peak School have been created and developed over the past century.
What follows is a selection of the many topics Dewey covers in Democracy and Education, and how the principles he articulated are relevant to what we do at Peak.
What exactly is education?
In discussions about education and learning now, one often hears about such things as the mind/body connection, neuroscience, and multiple intelligences. Dewey’s thoughts were not just more elemental – they were concerned with the social interchange between teacher and learner. A great deal of learning occurs in the real world; people become a community or society by sharing and communicating “aims, beliefs, aspirations, knowledge.”
Dewey advocating bringing the kind of learning experiences one encounters in the wider world into the classroom. In this conception of education, both the teacher and the student learn and grow. As Dewey puts it:
Communication is a process of sharing experience till it becomes a common possession. It modifies the disposition of both the parties who partake in it.
How is this manifest at The Peak School? Certainly it is part of Personalization in the classroom. But I think equally important are the roles of teacher-as-coach and Base Camp advisor, which are characterized by the relationship that is built between teachers and students, where the shared experience leads to a change in both.
Principle #1: Education is an exchange between teacher and learner, wherein both grow from the experience.
Teaching: what it is and is not
Closely connected to that first principle is the recognition that the student, regardless of the age and level of learning, has been continually experiencing life, responding to stimuli, and making connections; and not just waiting to be enlightened by a teacher. Dewey rejected traditional attitudes about teaching; it is not, “pouring knowledge into a mental and moral hole which awaits filling.”
The value of teaching is not the transfer of knowledge; it is stimulating the desire to learn and supplying the conditions that insure growth.
I believe this is applied to what we do at Peak in two ways. First, it demands a tone of decency and respect by the teacher towards the student. And second, it gives firm foundation to our de-emphasis on knowledge accumulation while valuing student’s passions and interests and helping them acquire the skills to learn more about them.
Principle #2: The value of education is not how much knowledge a student accumulates, it is rather the desire in the student to continue learning and having the skills to pursue that.
The role of schooling in educating students and improving society
In Democracy and Education Dewey is very clear about one social purpose of schooling:
The school environment [must] see to it that each individual gets an opportunity to escape from the limitations of the social group in which he was born, and to come into living contact with a broader environment.
In 1916, Dewey was specifically referring to the assimilating force of the American public school for the enormous waves of arriving immigrants, and in doing so bolstering our American democratic society.
I think this applies to us here at Peak – our students must “escape the limitations” of their privileged social group. They need to know of and empathize with the experience of “other” populations, locally and globally, if we are to fulfill the mission of the school. This directs us to renewed efforts to recruit both from the Hispanic population in Summit County and international students, and we must also include the experience of others in our curriculum at all levels.
Principle #3: Schooling is an opportunity to engage with people from different backgrounds in a safe environment that would lead to an improved society at large.
The importance of guiding students in their development
There are progressive educators – for example those at Free Schools, Sudbury Schools, or advocates of unschooling – who believe that the growth and development of students should be completely natural and not be directed by school staff. Dewey is not one of them. He believed that educators should guide students in their development, although he rejected the notion current at the time that students needed to be controlled in a rigid environment.
He had a profound belief in the innate motivation of individuals towards positive interaction with others, and encouraged educators to give students the opportunities to interact with each other. He advocated for creating learning conditions that took advantage of “the social sense that comes from sharing in an activity of common concern and value.” He believed this would help students better understand the meaning in what they were learning.
Obviously, this speaks to the value of having students work together to solve problems; a notion that seems self-evident but was in fact revolutionary. This concept was enhanced two years later with the publication of “The Project Method” by one of Dewey’s colleagues at Teachers College.
The use of projects, and students collaborating on them, is an example of a practice initiated by progressive educators and now a common element in institutions of all kinds, and one used very effectively at The Peak School.
Principle #4: Students learn best when engaged in cooperative activities with others, and should be guided by teachers towards these activities.
Interdisciplinary approaches; a direction for Peak’s OE program
While Dewey rarely was specific about how to implement his principles, in Democracy and Education he provided some examples of thinking about curricular approaches, and one of them seems particularly intriguing to me.
All of us at Peak – students, parents, and teachers – value our OE program. I have been thinking of ways to expand it, and I want to do that in a way that connects the outdoor learning with our indoor learning. In this book, Dewey notes the “complementary nature between Geography and History.” He wrote about the “interdependence of the study of history, representing the human emphasis, with the study of geography, representing the natural,” and if we separate the two history becomes a list of dates, places, and events, and nature become an accidental setting for human development.
I think this provides an excellent framework with which we can integrate OE with our Humanities – both History and Literature – as well as our STEM curriculum.
Principle 5: When appropriate, integrate disciplines to enhance meaningful learning.
In the classroom: why subject matter and approach are critical
A recent survey of our Upper School students revealed that they only occasionally saw the connections between what they are learning in their classes and their lives outside of school. Similarly, they infrequently learned about the life experiences of people whose backgrounds were different than their own. I think we need to address this. We can find some direction from Dewey, who writes that basic skill acquisition should not be the end result of education, because it does not “concern with the deepest problems of common humanity.”
He said we must “present situations where problems are relevant to the problems of living together, where observation and information are calculated to develop social insight and interest.”
This seems to be worth incorporating in all the courses we teach as part of our Scope and Sequence in all fields.
Principle 6: Ask real world questions and solve problems in all classes that are designed to raise the social awareness of students.
Externally imposed aims in education
Dewey opposed the notion that education was a preparation for life, and that aims should be determined by those in authority to direct the knowledge and skills that will be taught to students so that they will be best prepared for the future. He believed, instead, that education was part of life, that schools should provide the environment for students to engage with ideas and with other students and their teachers, and that learning the skills necessary to be successful in those encounters are much more valuable than aims determined by outside authorities.
He wrote that when aims and methods are imposed upon teaching/schooling, they do not stimulate intelligence and “render the work of both teacher and pupil mechanical and slavish.”
I would say that Peak’s commitment to student participation in Forum, Choices, and hiring committees; taking on the responsibilities of forming and running clubs; and in general empowering students can be traced to Dewey’s assertion that students learn lessons of life by living them.
Principle #7: Education is engaging with life; not preparing for it.
The liberal vs. the utilitarian argument, and its importance for democracy
There has been much debate these past few years about the value of a liberal [expansive] education vs. a utilitarian education. In other words, how much should an education prepare one for a job or career?
Dewey recognized that we must develop the capacity in students so they are able to choose a career and be successful after school. But he argued that we do a disservice to young people if we prepare them too narrowly:
Industry at the present time undergoes rapid and abrupt changes through the evolution of new inventions. New industries spring up, and old ones are revolutionized. Consequently an attempt to train for too specific a mode of efficiency defeats its own purpose. When the occupation changes its methods, such individuals are left behind with even less ability to readjust themselves than if they had a less definite training.
We further handicap individuals by not providing them a broader education because, as Dewey wrote, “No one is just an artist and nothing else” – they will also be members of a family and of various communities, etc.
I happen to agree with both of those arguments, and therefore I am a strong proponent of our graduates going to liberal arts institutions, and better able to “embrace their roles as local and global citizens.”
But I am more inspired by Dewey when he goes further, and challenges us to think about the aims of education beyond the individual; and the reason he dedicated so much of his life’s work to strengthening democracy in America. He wrote that in return for giving each person the opportunity to develop his or her distinctive capacities, democracy demands a social responsibility of everyone. And schools play a critical part in communicating this to students:
Most of all, the present industrial constitution of society is, like every society which has ever existed, full of inequities. It is the aim of progressive education to take part in correcting unfair privilege and unfair deprivation, not to perpetuate them.
Not long after writing Democracy and Education, Dewey wrote that to revitalize a complacent American public, schools would have to become “the dangerous outposts of a humane civilization” and “begin to be supremely interesting places.”
I like to think of The Peak School as one of those “dangerous outposts.”
Steven Coleman, Head of School
The Peak School
The Peak School seeks to ignite a passion for learning; to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity; and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their roles as local and global citizens.
Summit Daily News | Sunday, March 27, 2016 Read the story on Page 3 here.
Last week, Peak students observed Brain Awareness Week. They heard from multiple guest speakers throughout the week and played some 'brain games' to celebrate the complexity of their brains! In this photo, students are looking at Magic Eye pictures--which show that your brain is perceptive enough to make 3-dimensional images out of 2-dimensional things. On Monday, CMC Professor Drew Mikata spoke to students about brain injuries, mental health, and the importance of wearing helmets. Later in the week, students heard from Clinical Psychology Counselor, Michelle Marzo, who spoke about neurotransmitters in the brain and how they relate to addiction. Marzo also spoke to students about mood disorders, and what they look like on a neurological level.
Each year, Upper School students at Peak participate in National History Day, a nation-wide academic celebration of our national origins. National History Day frames students’ research within a historical theme, chosen for broad application to world, national or state history and its relevance to ancient history or to the more recent past. This year’s theme is Exploration, Encounter, Exchange in History. The intentional selection of the theme for NHD is to provide an opportunity for students to push past the antiquated view of history as mere facts and dates and drill down into historical content to develop perspective and understanding. Most students presented their NHD projects at an Exhibition in January, but some students chose to create film documentaries for their NHD projects. Take some time to check out Ethan F.'s project, Gender Stereotypes of Disney Princess Movies or Selah K.'s project, The Jazz Age: Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange.
20% Project: Incredible Student-driven Community Service & Outreach at Peak
Upper school students at Peak are participating in The 20% Project, a student-designed project aimed at giving back to a community, be it The Peak School, Summit County, Colorado, or beyond. In their Upper School literature course, twenty-percent of class time is strictly dedicated to students’ developing and carrying out a plan, and sharing what they learn and accomplish through the experience.
The project idea was the brainchild of Peak literature teacher, Monica Mills who heard about The 20% Project at a Google professional development conference for teachers last year. Peak upper school students, looking for a way to model leadership and give back to the community, immediately took ownership; and the idea took flight.
Some High School students are opting to give back to the Peak community by facilitating and leading classes that interest them. Each quarter, Peak hosts CommuniTeach, which aims to meaningfully engage Peak students with local community members through small, focused workshops. Generally the “CommuniTeachers” are professionals in the community, but during the last CommuniTeach, Arel S. and Kira B. taught Engineering and Songwriting workshops to Middle School students as part of The 20% Project. Conor C. helped develop new Outdoor Education curriculum with guidance from professionals in Summit County as part of his project, laying the groundwork for future student-let trips. He led the trip alongside Peak faculty members, helping them with all trip logistics from the route to the grocery shopping and menu.
Tenth grade student Hope A. seeks to promote literacy in Summit County through her 20% Project by building Little Free Libraries, a book exchange where readers can “take-a-book, return-a book.” Hope is building birdhouse-like structures set on a post with a door that opens, revealing bookshelves. She has three such birdhouses in the works and plans to place them at Frisco Town Hall, FIRC, and Summit County Pre-School.
The 20% Project has offered the 15 Upper School students involved the freedom to design a project that interests them and enhances their community, and another incredible example is the founding of Peak’s Theatre Club by 11th grade student Selah K. The group performed Alice in Wonderland in conjunction with students from SMS and SHS on last weekend at Colorado Mountain College in Breckenridge. The entire production was student led, from the casting to the costumes to the directing, and the dedication and passion of one student fostered cross-age interaction within our Summit County school communities.
In his weekly newsletter, Head of School, Steve Coleman, wrote “’Alice in Wonderland’ was not only entertaining and fun, it was an extraordinary example of what dedicated and talented young people can do when given the freedom and responsibility to create their own work. A huge shout-out to Selah, the mastermind and driving force behind the magic of “Alice,” and my utmost admiration to all members of the cast and crew. I’m so pleased, too, that students from SMS and SHS were intimately involved – Selah has shown that The Peak School can play a key role in the arts in Summit County.”
[huge_it_gallery id="6"]
New Division III Peak student Kira Benson gives her recent move to Summit County “two thumbs up.” The 17-year old moved from Ohio in August and is experiencing her first Colorado winter as a local, and she LOVES it! “It’s truly an amazing community and I’ve just felt so welcomed and embraced by the people here--I feel like I’ve known them my whole life.” Although Kira grew up vacationing and skiing in Breckenridge, now that she lives here, she has been branching out and skiing at A-Basin with her friends from Peak and she also hopes to ski with her dad, a ski instructor, in Utah this winter.
In the classroom, Kira is a history buff and finds Jeffrey’s approach to teaching her favorite subject fascinating and comprehensive. In the class, students look at different sides of world conflict and political argument so “it’s not like reading history out of a textbook,” she explains, “It’s about experiencing it.”
Kira’s main passion is music, which she decribes as a ‘form of emotional expression,’ and she is working hard to get a band together comprised of Peak students and possibly other kids from Summit County. A trained fiddle player, Kira finds vocals equally as special, and she has branched out to playing the acoustic and electric guitar, and the Viper, a 5-string fretted electric violin. Kira describes her style of music as “a blend of country with influences of classic rock and roll and always has the foundation of strong and unique songwriting.”
Her debut album, The Radio Plays, was released last summer on Soundcloud and Band Camp, and Kira is forging ahead with her music career and is working with her co-writer to create a portfolio of songs to enter in upcoming songwriting competitions. Whether she’s performing by herself on the street, or stage with professional musicians at the prestegous Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp, Kira’s tries to “perform and write songs that have meaning and connect with people’s emotions,” she says.
Kira’s lifelong goal is to win a country music award or grammy and to be writing music and performing at that level. For Kira, it’s not about the attention but about sharing the songwriting and music that has had a tremendous impact on her life.