Author: Jeanette Zamora, Director of Marketing and Communications

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From Ideation to Voltage: Wind Turbines Designed by K-8 Students

Students in kindergarten to eighth grade embarked on the full Human Centered Design (HCD) approach from the Stanford University (d.school) and IDEO to design windsocks, anemometers and wind turbines to harness the kinetic energy of the wind and convert it into electricity. We began by learning how to assemble the turbine base out of PVC pipes, followed by cutting, stripping and electrical taping motors wires and alligator clips threaded inside the pipe bases.

Next we brainstormed, or ideated as it’s called in HCD, Students drew plans and listed options for different variables including the material, length, width, angle and number of blades for their wind turbines. We researched what made turbines successful and learned some modern wind turbines use biomimicry to borrow from the serrated feathers of owls to reduce noise and increase output. With thousands of options, we narrowed the list down to the ones we had the materials for and, based on our research, thought would give us the best chance of success.

Students constructed hundreds of prototypes across the school and began testing them using multimeters to measure the amount of voltage their turbines generated when the wind blew via either a house fan or the Santa Ana winds. On average each turbine was able to generate around 0.15 volts. With 50 turbines in the school we could generate the same push as 5 AA batteries using just the wind!
 
Our engineers persevered through struggles learning each setback made their final product that much better on their way to their completed wind turbines. It was wonderful to see the students problem solve, identify what wasn’t working or what they wanted to improve and had the agency to fix it themselves. Special thanks to our I Lab teacher, Mr. Beaber for leading this year’s Engineering week and for all of his patience working with many students!

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Clairbourn Student Council Leads with Heart!

Red Ribbon Week is an annual event that takes place from October 23 to 31, emphasizing the importance of living a drug-free life. It offers an opportunity for schools, families and communities to engage in discussions about drug awareness and the importance of making good choices.

The Student Council planned a variety of activities to help students think about the significance of making positive choices in their lives. The theme for Red Ribbon Week in 2023 is “Be Kind to Your Mind. Live Drug Free.” Throughout the week, students are encouraged to reflect on making choices that promote happiness and health — this is the essence of being kind to our minds.

As we reflect on Clairbourn’s code of ethics, we think about how to demonstrate kindness to all, including ourselves! Being kind to one’s own mind involves not only speaking kindly to oneself but also practicing self-care, including maintaining a healthy diet, engaging in regular exercise, adhering to good hygiene practices, and exercising caution around drugs. Students learn how to pay attention to prescription drugs and to confidently say “no” under peer pressure, never allowing anyone to force or persuade them into dangerous actions.

Students from all grade levels connected with each other through a buddy activity in which they created origami hearts and wrote kind notes to themselves and each other. It serves as a reminder about the importance of making positive choices and practicing self-care.

It warms our hearts to see some of the students’ notes: “Believe in yourself,” “I am enough,” “I will succeed today,” “Always respect yourself,” “I am me,” “Think positive!,” “You are loved,” “Be yourself,” “You are unique,” “Trust yourself,” “I am loved,” “I am worthy,” “I am blessed,” “Always be grateful,” “I love myself,” “I am perfect the way I am,” and many more.

Thank you, everyone, for making a pledge and signing the school poster together as a community to demonstrate your commitment to being kind to your minds, striving to be your best, resisting drugs, showing empathy, standing up against wrong behaviors, seeking guidance from trusted adults about unsafe situations or dealing with potentially harmful people, and consistently making positive choices!

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Building a Strong Foundation: STEM in Early Childhood Learning at Clairbourn

Clairbourn’s preschool and kindergarten students had an exciting STEM learning experience, taking inspiration from the classic tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. The project centered on the scientific exploration of parachute design, giving our young students a fascinating and educational journey. Students embraced the design thinking process, an approach that includes empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping and testing. To start, they had a special visit from Mr. Beaber, the I-Lab teacher, who discussed the fundamental principles of wind, gravity and air resistance. These concepts laid the groundwork for their parachute design exploration.

As they dove deeper into the project, the students began to appreciate the relationship between surface area, material properties, and air resistance, all of which are important factors in countering the force of gravity. Students learned through brainstorming, testing and hands-on construction of parachutes designed to ensure Jack’s safe landing from the beanstalk.

The design process included testing of various materials and parachute shapes. The students developed prototypes, expanding their creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Thorne, facilitated the parachute drops from a tall staircase on campus. These exciting experiments led to further design modifications and several more rounds of testing, giving the students the opportunity to refine their designs.

The highlight of this educational adventure was our annual Clairbourn Early Learning STEM Event, where parents actively participated, joining their children in building and testing parachutes. The event was a thrilling experience for all involved, establishing a strong collaboration between teachers, parents and students while reinforcing the hands-on STEM education at an early age.

At Clairbourn, we are committed to establish a positive foundation and design a program to encourage children’s natural love of learning in an environment where they feel comfortable, confident and secure. Children in our preschool program are prepared to enter kindergarten with a positive self-concept, the spirit of inquiry and critical thinking and problem-solving skills!

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Persist + Adapt = Succeed. A Growth Mindset!

Students at Clairbourn look forward to the Engineering Design Challenge every year where they work on their analytical creative, and problem-solving skills. Students in grades one through eight were given cardboard, foam tubing, craft sticks, index cards, chicken wire, and paper clips to design and construct a marble run that takes the longest and most predictable time for the dropped marble to complete the run.

We welcomed three engineers to discuss what engineering looks like in the real life. April Shewry is a civil engineer working for Lakeside Alliance on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois. Chance Casas is a senior network engineer at HRL Laboratories in Malibu. Russell Smith is in the Robotic Actuation and Sensing Group at JPL in La Canada Flintridge. The three guests discussed their careers, the skills required for their jobs, and how they use the engineering design process. They provided advice for the marble runs, such as the importance of a strong foundation, the effect of friction, and strategies for utilizing gravity.

Ms. Vinnedge, our Middle School science teacher, and Mr. Beaber, our innovation lab teacher, visited each class during the build time to support students in thinking through their approach to the challenge. When it came to planning their own engineering work for the marble run, the students sketched, discussed, brainstormed, and imagined outside the box. We saw a variety of design thinking, from a zig-zag pin ball machine to a roller coaster design.

A growth mindset occurs when a person is not afraid to try, test, or experiment. When one is not afraid to make mistakes and adjust, learning occurs. Our students view challenges as opportunities, celebrate others’ successes, and understand that growth is a process. It’s exciting to see our students develop this mindset and progress toward becoming scholars and leaders with heart!

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Building an all inclusive community with Clairbourn’s five core values

Our daily Morning Assembly is a way our students, teachers, and parents build close connection, identify role models, and experience the reinforcement of positive messages. “Morning Assembly is my favorite time of the day. I enjoy this quiet time with my kids and our school community. I love starting my day with gratitude. It gives me such peace.” shared a current family. This special time not only lays a foundation for our Clairbourn life but also provides opportunities for our students to practice public speaking.

We believe what sets our students apart is the character of our Cougars. Our robust character education program is built on the school’s five core values: honesty, respect, responsibility, spirituality, and citizenship. Thank you to our middle school Student Council for starting the year with reminders about the importance of Clairbourn’s core values.

Our students are HONEST and truthful to themselves and others. They are RESPECTFUL because they know respect is the cornerstone for developing and maintaining a good, working relationship with all members of our community. RESPONSIBILITY is being accountable for their actions. Every time our students show Cougar pride and empathy for others, such as lending a hand to someone in need, their SPIRITUALITY comes through. Some of the qualities of spirituality include compassion, forgiveness, generosity, gratitude, humility, kindness, and a genuine love for humankind. We try to be the best we could possibly be, and recognize the best in everyone around us. Lastly, CITIZENSHIP is the value which calls for every member of a community to work to better that community with their actions and attitudes.

When diving deeper into our core values, you will see the one quality that surfaces over and over at Clairbourn: Gratitude. Our community, including students and faculty, are reminded each and every day not to overlook the good around us. We take quiet moments to think about something or someone we are grateful for, and something good that happened to us. We practice empathy, fairness, open-mindness, patience, and inclusiveness as a community. This gathering, which precedes academic work, is where students and school members come together as one. Clairbourn takes actions and embraces these values which help us grow to be Scholars and Leaders with Heart.  

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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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