Month: February 2022

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Fluid and Boundless Education: Open your door to Spanish, one word at a time!

A Clairbourn parent once said, “Clairbourn learning is fluid and boundless. Both of my children learn not only through textbooks, but also from the daily conversations they have with their teachers and their interactions with their peers. It’s amazing how every moment is a learning moment at Clairbourn!” When we think about our lower school Spanish program, this is the perfect description: Every moment is a learning moment!

When you walk by our lower school Spanish classroom, you are immediately drawn to a festive door — the gateway to the world of Spanish! You hear conversations and singing in Spanish and Mrs. Rubio talking about Hispanic culture.

This program is offered from kindergarten to fifth grade. Different teaching approaches are incorporated to keep students engaged. Sensory exploration is a big part of our learning experience. Students run their fingers through orange rice and count the pieces of black bowtie pasta they find in the tray. They practice their vocabulary by singing La Araña pequeñita (Itsy Bitsy Spider) while busy freeing a plastic glow-in-the dark spider from a block of frozen ice. “This is so much fun! I love Spanish class!” a first grader said with such excitement.

The rich culture and history of Spanish speaking countries is also brought to life in this language program. Students listen to stories and taste various Hispanic dishes. They even got to make both sweet and savory tamales which were a big hit! Students stay motivated and learn through a wide range of hands-on activities. To strengthen vocabulary, students toss balls in the air while shouting out Spanish words and then they construct these words into complete sentences. Technology is also used as a supporting tool for students to expand and review their understanding of Spanish.

Currently, students are learning how to make orugüitas (caterpillars) while memorizing a Spanish song called Dos Oruguitas. Mrs. Rubio helps students gain confidence by analyzing the lyrics and using strategies to make the task managable. It is a joy to walk by the classroom and hear the students sing fluently in a second language. At Clairbourn, each classroom is alive and learning is boundless!

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Clairbourn middle school students lead the way to embrace and celebrate diversity.

There is inspiration everywhere we go. It could be something a friend said at a moment we needed to hear it. It could be a phrase we read in a book or from a fortune cookie. It could even be found in a quiet corner of the campus. Clairbourn Student Council has planned five diversity and inclusion presentations for the community this year and the inspiration they have brought to us is profound and motivating.

We kicked off the series with a Hispanic Heritage Celebration at the beginning of the school year. Students learned how Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, stayed resilient and earned her degrees from Princeton and Yale. She has been a part of 3,000 Supreme Court decisions and is an inspiration for many others to pursue their dream. She shows a leader’s courage which Clairbourn embraces.

Next, we recognized the rich and diverse culture, traditions, and contributions of Native Americans. Students listened to stories of a physicist named Jerry Elliott, who was the first Native Americans to work at NASA. He is known for his contribution as the lead retrofire officer during Apollo 13, where his actions helped save the lives of the three astronauts on board. Elliott’s work awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian honor awarded by the President. He shows a scholar’s dedication that Clairbourn encourages.

This month, Clairbourn continues to recognize achievements by celebrating Black History Month. We learned about poet and writer, Langston Hughes, and how poetry including American poet Vashel Lindsay inspired him in his early years! Hughes wrote many influential poems and novels which portray black life in American from the twenties through the sixties. He shows a heart full of passion which Clairbourn values!

We will honor the women in our history next month and then end our diversity and inclusion series with an Asian Pacific American presentation. Fostering diversity is a community effort and we are proud of our Student Council for leading the way. They are “Scholars and Leaders with Heart,” helping the community achieve a goal of fostering diversity and embracing achievement from everyone!

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Clairbourn Board Member – Bhart Manwani, Clairbourn Parent

Since 2006, the Manwani family has been an important part of the Clairbourn community. Bhart Manwani fell in love with Clairbourn while searching for the perfect school for his older child, Vicky, who started Clairbourn in JPK and graduated in 2017.

Bhart recalled Vicky’s transformation during her 11 years at Clairbourn: “Vicky came to school as a timid young girl. When she was in the lower school, the Door of Hope experience and the constant opportunities to speak in front of a big audience at Morning Assembly helped her overcome her shyness. Since then, she has developed and grown into a confident young adult. We are grateful to Clairbourn for helping her blossom into the person she is today.” Vicky is now attending USC majoring in communications and is a writer for the USC Daily Trojan.

In 2019, Bhart’s younger child, Laksh, started Clairbourn in JPK. Even during the pandemic, Laksh continued to thrive academically and developmentally. Bhart credits Laksh’s love for learning to Clairbourn and is grateful he is engaged and motivated. Bhart and his wife Diana love to support the school by volunteering at various events. They have been known to stop by the Book Fair on the last day and buy whatever was left!

Born in Nigeria, Bhart relocated to California during his youth. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona and has extensive experience in the general merchandise industry and information technology. He runs a textile company and regularly donates his merchandise to Clairbourn.

Bhart is excited to be on the board to continue giving back to the community he loves.

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Hand in Hand. Heart to Heart. One Clairbourn!

There is no place like Clairbourn! Our students love coming to school from the moment they get dropped off to greet the Head of School, Dr. Patzlaff, and walk across the beautiful campus to their locker or class. “I can’t wait for school, every day!” said a second grader with great enthusiasm. We love seeing our students on campus and enjoy their cheers, laughter, and most of all their Clairbourn connection with one another.

Seeing the creative ways our students make their Clairbourn connections is truly extraordinary. Our older students prepared bags of popcorn and delivered them to each lower grade classroom as a cheer to celebrate a week of testing and National Movie Day. Student Council initiated a handprint project to connect students across different grade levels. Each fourth through eighth grade student made a handprint inside a heart shape, and then each kindergarten through third grade student added their handprint to complete a heart. Students produced two prints so each younger student could keep one heart and each older student could keep another. Students enjoyed finding out who belonged to the other handprint!

We asked our students why they are grateful for Clairbourn: “Clairbourn is a place I call home!” answered a six grader. “I love Clairbourn because it is caring.” a second grader said. “My teachers give up their free time to help us all the time.” A fifth grader shared.

Here at Clairbourn, students motivate each other and embrace growth together. They share successes and pick each other up as a team. These hearts handprints signify the love and care we all have for our school and each other. Hand in hand and heart to heart, we are One Clairbourn!

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Clairbourn Celebrates Love and Kindness

Morning Assembly is one of Clairbourn’s long traditions. School members come together to hear announcements and start the day with gratitude and an inspirational message. The Clairbourn Code of Ethics – honesty, respect, responsibility, spirituality and citizenship — provide the basis for our Morning Assembly and students from first through eighth grade have an opportunity to work on their public speaking skills learning to confidently deliver a message in front of a large audience. It is a key component of our educational program and reinforces our core values.

Even though we can not yet return to meeting in person, our Morning Assembly tradition continues and we find new ways to celebrate this special time. Dr. Patzlaff and students record an assembly video and the classes view it each morning. We continue to thrive and stay connected as a community. The inspiration for this week’s assembly is love, which is a word used often for so many emotions.

“I love that color on you.” To a friend.
“I just love pizza.” To yourself.
“I love, love, love you!” To grandchildren.

According to the University of Utah Health, there are Four Types of Love: Eros (“air-rose”) is a romantic love. It can cause great joy and sorrow, like the story of Romeo and Juliet. Philia (“Fill-lee-ah”) is love of friends and equals. It can be love between siblings and friends, and helps us be resilient when hard times come. Another type of love is storge (“store-gay”). This is the love of parents and guardians for children. It is described as the most natural of loves and the foundation for happiness and contentment. The fourth type of love is agape (“ah-gah-pay”). It is the love that is given whether or not it is returned. This kind of love is important in the process of forgiveness, which is important to our mental health. Expressing love for others is the best way to be happy and find joy in your daily living.

C.S. Lewis described a mother’s love for a child in The Chronicles of Narnia as “humble.” Parents’ love for their child is not about grand gestures but the steadfast, reliable, humble care, concern, and nurturing given freely that enables children to thrive and grow. C.S. Lewis also wrote about friendship. He believed that friendships begin by finding something in common, and then was freely given. Friendships can blossom anywhere we are doing common things together: on the playground, in the classroom, on the playing field.

Love comes in many forms: it could be food in our belly, a roof over our head or simply a reassuring hug after a tough day. Love is around us all the time and we can show love every day.

Clairbourn, as a community, is grateful each and every day for the simplest things we have in life and we celebrate all kinds of love!

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Clairbourn Board Member – Livia Aryananda, Alumni Parent

Livia Aryananda has been a supporter of Clairbourn since 2009. Both of her sons, Kristofer and Anthony, were at Clairbourn since JPK and the family spent a total of 12 years here. Livia could call Clairbourn her second home. She was very involved with school events during her time here, from volunteering and recruiting new parents and chairing various events to being the CFA President twice. She also successfully chaired the Annual Fund twice and reached 100% participation in 100 days. Livia is excited to continue giving back to the community she loves as a Clairbourn board member.

Kristofer graduated from Clairbourn in 2016. He was an outstanding student and also a leader as the Student Council President. He went to Flintridge Preparatory High School and was selected as a U.S. Presidential Scholar Semi-Finalist in his senior year. Kristofer is now attending Harvey Mudd majoring in mathematical and computational biology.
Anthony graduated from Clairbourn in 2021 and is now a student at Flintridge Preparatory High School. He is on the football team and is passionate about creating new recipes to surprise his family. Anthony is a child full of heart and continues to enjoy and excel in his studies. When talking about Clairbourn, Livia is full of gratitude and credits Clairbourn for giving both of her children a strong foundation for a successful future.
 
Livia graduated from Claremont McKenna College majoring in economics. She also holds a MBA from Peter Drucker Claremont Graduate School where she met her husband, John. Besides being a full-time mom, she is also a successful business entrepreneur. Livia lives in Arcadia with her family and she loves to travel to Indonesia to visit her parents whenever time permits.

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Clairbourn Board Member – Dr. Robert Nafie, Former Clairbourn Headmaster

Dr. Robert Nafie served as the Headmaster of Clairbourn from 1979 to 2018 and is one of the longest-tenured heads of school in the San Gabriel Valley. During his long and dedicated service to Clairbourn School, he led with vision and wisdom, and transformed the school to one with state-of-the art facilities equipped with the latest technology.

After nearly four decades, Bob retired in 2018 and is now enjoying his retirement with his family and grandchildren. He lives with his wife Leslie in Big Bear and loves to run, ski, ride his motorcycle and go boating on the lake. Bob’s two married daughters, Anne and Sara, are both Clairbourn alums. His wife was a dedicated Clairbourn parent and a former CFA President.

Bob was born in Michigan where he spent his earliest years. He grew up in Minnesota, where he served as Executive Director of the Washington County Developmental Learning Centers of Duluth and Eveleth. He holds a B.A. in Economics and History and a B.S. in Education from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Science in Educational Administration from the University of Wisconsin, and a Doctorate from Claremont College.

Bob is passionate about education and is excited to continue his support of Clairbourn in his current role as a trustee.

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Growth Mindset: Creativity and Imagination

Growth mindset is a quality we value greatly at Clairbourn. We want our students to believe in themselves, be open-minded, be comfortable with uncertainty, show strong awareness and the ability to grow. We believe our well-rounded program will promote a growth mindset in our students. Besides a rigorous academic program, we offer robust art, music, and drama programs to support and develop all aspects of our students.

You can daily find our students busy expanding their creativity and imagination at all grade levels from JPK to eighth grade. Younger children work on dexterity and motor skill development through art. They begin by learning how to hold a brush, make marks and even mix paints with their bare hands. All of those experiences are essential for their school readiness. Older students have weekly art lessons to further their understanding in art, develop technical skills, and expand their curiosity. Students are challenged in various ways. They learn shading and sketching in different mediums to create realistic and abstract art. Students discuss different artists and their composition, values and tints. They are introduced to color theory and the concept of perspective and experiment with ceramics, photography, and much more. It is truly an amazing journey in the world of creativity!

Students sharing their art is also an important component of our program. Besides the art displays around the campus and the art show at the annual Book Fair, students also participate in the annual art exhibit in the spring. They love to discuss their art with their friends and family. We are proud of our students who come to school with an open-mind, eager to learn, and ready to be challenged and grow!

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Readers’ Theater: Clairbourn Middle School Spanish

The Middle School Spanish Program at Clairbourn focuses on both written and oral Spanish, along with the culture and geography of regions where Spanish is spoken. Language is one of the most important parts of any culture and we embrace the diversity and love for languages among our students and faculty at Clairbourn.

Middle School students recently completed a Reader’s Theater activity in Mrs. Drazic’s Spanish classes. Students were grouped and assigned a story to read aloud for the class. They first read the story to themselves and were asked to think about how many characters and narrators they would need. Once they selected their roles, they planned how their play would be presented. Students asked themselves: What staging should be used? What props should be incorporated? Students decided which role they would feel the most comfortable interpreting and no memorization was required. They completed a dress rehearsal to put the final touches on their performance before presenting it to the class.

Through the Reader’s Theater, our students developed fluency, increased reading comprehension, and integrated reading, writing, speaking and listening in an authentic context. Working collaboratively also allowed the students to engage in skills that are essential for interpreting information, evaluating and solving problems, and developing management skills to create a final product. At Clairbourn, we continue to create scholars and leaders geared toward life-long learning and equipped with problem-solving skills they will need to thrive in their future endeavors.

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