The Highlander June 2010 : Page 1

June 2010 The Highlander Scouten Awarded Teacher of the Year Heathwood Hall receives honor for eighth time in past 10 years S.C.I.S.A. Executive Director Larry K. Watt poses with Provost Anne Weston, award recipient George Scouten and his wife Janet, and Head of School Chuck Jones at the annual S.C.I.S.A. banquet. Third, fourth graders earn highest honors in WordMasters Heathwood Hall third graders placed ninth in the nation while fourth graders placed seventh in the WordMasters Challenge year-end cumulative standings. WordMasters is an exercise in critical thinking that encourages students to use new words, considerably more difficult than grade level, to complete analogies. Three meets were held at intervals during the school year, with 220,000 students competing. Heathwood Hall third- and fourth-grade teachers prepared their students for the competitions. Third graders placed ninth among 519 school teams, while fourth graders placed seventh out of 689 teams. Three Heathwood Hall students won highest honors for year-long individual achievement in WordMasters. Third grader Jacob VandenBerg and fourth graders Chloe VandenBerg and Caroline Hough placed among the highest-ranking students in the country in the year-end standings. Dr. George Scouten was named Upper School Teacher of the Year by the S.C. Independent School Association (S.C.I.S.A.). Heathwood Hall is the only school in the Midlands with a teacher receiving this honor this year. This is the eighth time in the past 10 years that a Heathwood Hall teacher has received this statewide award. To further commend and congratulate Scouten, S.C. Representative and Heathwood Hall parent James Smith presented him with a framed copy of a House resolution recognizing him for “providing high quality education to the children of South Carolina.” Scouten has been part of the Heathwood Hall faculty for 12 years, teaching English and humanities classes, continued page 7 Upper School Students Earn Junior Academy of Science Honors Upper School students earned honors at the S.C. Junior Academy of Science (S.C.J.A.S.) meeting. Two group projects received special awards, while eight projects by 14 students were honored with awards for both their written research papers and oral presentations. Fourteen projects by 24 students were honored with awards for their written papers. Will Norris and Andrew Wood were awarded the Winthrop University Behavioral Science Award for their oral and paper presentation, “The Effect of Texting and D.U.I. Simulation on Crash Behavior,” in the psychology and sociology category. Mackenzie Sumwalt and Amanda Hoefer were invited to represent the state and present their research on “The Effect of Fat Levels in Yogurt on the Inhibition of Growth of E. coli as Measured by Zone of Inhibition” at the national level during the American Junior Academy of Science annual meeting in Washington, D.C. in February 2011. continued page 6

Scouten Awarded Teacher of the Year

Dr. George Scouten was named Upper School Teacher of the Year by the S.C. Independent School Association (S.C.I.S.A.). Heathwood Hall is the only school in the Midlands with a teacher receiving this honor this year. This is the eighth time in the past 10 years that a Heathwood Hall teacher has received this statewide award.

To further commend and congratulate Scouten, S.C. Representative and Heathwood Hall parent James Smith presented him with a framed copy of a House resolution recognizing him for “providing high quality education to the children of South Carolina.” Scouten has been part of the Heathwood Hall faculty for 12 years, teaching English and humanities classes,Including Advanced Placement (A.P.) English language and composition, European literature and global issues, among other courses. He currently serves as director of international studies and student life and is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the school’s International Studies Diploma Program.

“My life’s work has been—and will continue to be—the education of young people,” said Dr. Scouten.

“So it’s impossible to think of a greater professional honor than to have someone say, ‘well done—you’re making a difference in the lives of your students.’ That’s why this award means so much to me.”Scouten’s many honors include: being named a 2009 National Endowment for the Humanities (N.E.H.) Summer Seminar Grant Recipient; receiving a Turkish Cultural Foundation/ World Affairs Council Grant in 2008; serving as an exchange teacher in Hungary from 2003 to 2004 as a Fulbright Recipient; and receiving an Elliott Award for Outstanding Teaching in 1998.

“For me, being a teacher means being a model: living out the engaged, inquisitive, compassionate and ethical behavior I hope to instill in my students,” said Scouten. “I want them to be confident, to use their minds well, and to take intellectual risks, so I try to exemplify the very behavior I seek to foster in my classroom.” Scouten has chaired the school’s English department and served as Dean of Students. Because he believes teaching also involves reaching the total student, Scouten is heavily involved in extracurricular activities.

Scouten founded the school’s Model United Nations program and was twice named South Carolina’s Lacrosse Man of the Year, with induction into the

S. C. Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2006.

“George Scouten is the proverbial Renaissance man—gentleman, scholar and athlete,” said Dr. Anne Weston, Heathwood Hall’s provost and Upper School head. “He truly loves young people, and everything he does emanates from the core belief thatEducation is a true ‘drawing forth,’ helping a young person develop his or her talents and passions to achieve what is desired in the world.” Scouten holds his Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of South Carolina; his M.A. in American Literature from Bowling Green State University and his B.A. in English and history from Salisbury State University.

Students see Scouten not only as their teacher, but as an advisor and mentor.

“If you were to walk into (Dr. Scouten’s) room at any moment, you would find a room bubbling with conversation, ideas, energy,” said Avnika Amin (Class of 2010). “Perhaps most important of all, you would find students who want to learn, who want their opinions to be challenged, who think of English class not as a chore but as a reward because of Dr. Scouten, a teacher who establishes rapport with his students, who inspires a thirst for knowledge and performs above and beyond what is expected.”

S. C.I.S.A. is a nonprofit voluntary organization of 103 schools with total enrollment of 28,000 students in South Carolina. It establishes accreditation standards, coordinates academic and athletic competition and raises funds for member organizations. Each year S.C.I.S.A. presents Teacher of the Year awards to one teacher in the state at three educational levels—lower, middle and upper school.

Upper School Students Earn Junior Academy Of Science Honors

Upper School students earned honors at the S.C. Junior Academy of Science (S.C.J.A.S.) meeting. Two group projects received special awards, while eight projects by 14 students were honored with awards for both their written research papers and oral presentations. Fourteen projects by 24 students were honored with awards for their written papers.

Will Norris and Andrew Wood were awarded the Winthrop University Behavioral Science Award for their oral and paper presentation, “The Effect of Texting and D.U.I. Simulation on Crash Behavior,” in the psychology and sociology category.

Mackenzie Sumwalt and Amanda Hoefer were invited to represent the state and present their research on “The Effect of Fat Levels in Yogurt on the Inhibition of Growth of

E. coli as Measured by Zone of Inhibition” at the national level during the American Junior Academy of Science annual meeting in Washington, D.C. in February 2011.While there, the students also will have the opportunity to attend the annual meeting for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society. Heathwood Hall science students have received this honor two other times in recent years: Frances Ellerbe and Catherine Walker in 2006 and Ian Buckley and Patrick Reeves in 2010.

Held in April at the College of Charleston, S.C.J.A.S. brought together 195 students with 174 projects from eight South Carolina schools. The S.C. Academy of Science is the adult professional scientific organization that is the parent group for S.C.J.A.S. Heathwood Hall was one of two independent schools to attend and present at the meeting. Twenty-six projects in nine different categories were presented by 46 students in ninth through eleventh grade in the Heathwood Hall Honors Science program.

Each year students in the Upper School Honors Science Program conduct independent research projects, submit their written findings, and present an oral report at the

S. C.J.A.S. Annual Meeting. Each project competes in one of thirteen categories: biochemistry, botany, cell/molecular biology, chemistry, consumer affairs, engineering, math and computer science, microbiology, physics, physiology and health, psychology and sociology or zoology. S.C.J.A.S. is the only state-wide organization of South Carolina high school students designed to stimulate and promote interest among its members through the development of independent research in science and mathematics. These investigations are of a problem-solving nature, and their design serves as a means for students to do exciting things in science and mathematics beyond regular classroom activities.

The following students were recognized for their written research paper; some received additional recognition for their oral presentations:Science continued Pinkney Beale Angelica Blalock Ian Buckley Helen Clay Renae Gray Brooke Grice Olivia Harden Amanda Hoefer Connor Hoffman Allison Jones Elise McKelvey Margaret Mercer Christina Miller Thad Moore Maddie Norris Will Norris Freddie Powers Fripp Prioleau Ali Robertson Ellis Sojourner Mackenzie Sumwalt Madison Wactor Andrew Wood Leigh Yarborough

Third, Fourth Graders Earn Highest Honors In Wordmasters

Heathwood Hall third graders placed ninth in the nation while fourth graders placed seventh in the WordMasters Challenge year-end cumulative standings.

WordMasters is an exercise in critical thinking that encourages students to use new words, considerably more difficult than grade level, to complete analogies.

Three meets were held at intervals during the school year, with 220,000 students competing. Heathwood Hall third- and fourth-grade teachers prepared their students for the competitions.

Third graders placed ninth among 519 school teams, while fourth graders placed seventh out of 689 teams.

Three Heathwood Hall students won highest honors for year-long individual achievement in WordMasters. Third grader Jacob VandenBerg and fourth graders Chloe VandenBerg and Caroline Hough placed among the highest-ranking students in the country in the year-end standings.

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