character education – Page 3 – Clairbourn School News

May 8, 2020June 12, 2020

Alumni Legacy Family: Anne Gifford Ewing, Class of 1992 – Trusts and Estates Lawyer

Trusts and Estates Lawyer Anne Gifford Ewing, Class of 1992

Possessing an Audrey Hepburn elegance coupled with the intelligence of Madeleine Albright, Anne Gifford Ewing from the Class of 1992 speaks with an arresting precision and poise. One could point to her training and current profession as a trusts and estates lawyer as the key ingredient for her competence as a wordsmith. One could also note her passion for literature, writing, foreign language, history, music, and theater as influential in shaping her career interests and encouraging her to lead a reflective and well-examined life. While all of these factors played integral roles in honing Anne’s skills, what stands out the most is her time at Clairbourn School, which laid the foundation for her future and cultivated a love of learning.

May 1, 2020May 8, 2020

Alum Christian Yeghnazar – Social Entrepreneur Paving the Way for Change

Christian Yeghnazar from the Clairbourn Class of 2013, is mature, reflective, and thoughtful—a paragon of excellence that is representative of our Clairbourn students and alumni. Currently a junior at USC, Christian is majoring in Business Administration with minors in Computer Programming and Applied Analytics.

He attended Clairbourn from 2004 to 2013 paving the way for both his younger brothers to attend Clairbourn as well. He is currently pursuing a career in the entrepreneurial world by starting his own venture. Most recently, he launched a new website called College Connect, which pairs high school students with current college students and guides them in making informed decisions about college. His mission is to help make a positive social impact through his endeavors. We are so inspired by Christian. Read about his story and experiences here.

April 30, 2020June 12, 2020

COVID-19 Reflections: Alum Nina Luo, Technologist and Humanitarian

Nina Luo, Class of 2018, is determined to improve our world through journalism and technology.

A deep thinker, with a thirst for knowledge and an agent of change, Nina Luo from the Class of 2018 is determined to improve our world through journalism and technology. Her motivation, which was nurtured and shaped at Clairbourn school, is to help others and save lives. She wants to make a positive impact on our society and world. After becoming aware that Nina recently published several COVID-19 related articles on WeChat and was starting a website featuring overlooked and under-reported news, we caught up with her to ask about her current projects and future endeavors.

April 30, 2020May 1, 2020

Need a Morale Boost? Help is Right at Home

If you are a fan of vintage American sitcoms, you may have seen the show Hogan’s Heroes which depicts a scrappy group of Allied prisoners in a German POW camp who managed to run countless special operation campaigns under the noses of their jailers. The main character was Colonel Hogan, an effective and clever leader with tremendous morale-boosting skills. His well-oiled machine of dedicated men knew how to cooperate, stay safe, and simultaneously do some good even when the odds were severely stacked against them.

Is it crazy to think that this show has something to teach us as we find ourselves confined in our homes during the COVID-19 pandemic? There is no doubt that, after considering the hardships faced by frontline healthcare professionals, essential workers, and small business owners, parents are the next group under tremendous strain trying to meet the intense demands of their households. This situation has dragged on with no clear end in sight, and the uncertainty is taking its toll on everyone’s emotions and ability to cope.

Clairbourn School students already know a lot about doing good deeds and alleviating distress in the community, and many of them are supporting healthcare workers and first-responders. But there is now a new frontline in the larger battle which is our very own doorsteps. These times call for a deeper level of service to precious family members who we often take for granted. The need of the hour is to make family care and balance a priority. So take a moment to imagine, how quickly the atmosphere in your home would change if you could take a tip from the military and assign a Morale Officer to take care of each person in the family?

April 23, 2020June 12, 2020

Sarah Soza, Class of 2015 – Extraordinary Viola Player

Sarah Soza’s high school graduation with her parents

For anyone who’s had the privilege of watching Sarah Soza perform, there is no doubt about her extraordinary talent and her passion for music. Many of her memories from Clairbourn relate to the music program, where she loved music class and loved playing for the school ensemble. Currently, Sarah is a first year student at the University of California, Irvine, majoring in music, with a specialization in viola performance. Originally a violin player, Sarah switched over to viola at the beginning of her senior year in high school.

April 23, 2020April 23, 2020

The Case for Morning Assembly & Chapel at Clairbourn

If people—specifically children—were similar to computers, then giving them a quality education could be likened to a straightforward system of installing robust processing components, memory, and storage capacity as well as loading them with the right software, information input, and maybe even artificial intelligence necessary to turn them into problem-solving powerhouses.

But, when student are treated like computers to be “loaded,” and are shaped into impressive towers of narrowly-focused achievement, there is an associated risk of their tower crumbling to the ground when life gets difficult. In order to build a student that will withstand the challenges of life, there needs to be an ongoing, sincere investment in the qualities, habits, and connections that build true resilience and that will carry them through major challenges like the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though it would be simpler to function like computers, the truth is, we all have emotions that need to be managed. We all have a need for social connection that can’t be denied. We all need a sense of purpose that extends beyond our current talents. More importantly, we all need to cultivate a connection to a “Source” so we can find good ideas when we have exhausted our own efforts to handle a problem.

At Clairbourn’s Morning Assembly and Chapel, students lead the proceedings and share not only school-related announcements, but also share inspirational messages that build character, resilience, and community.

April 15, 2020June 12, 2020

COVID-19 Reflections: Alumna Mei-Tung Chen on Living in the Moment

Alumna Mei-Tung Chen. Class of 2017, shares her thoughts on living in the moment.

Our wise and deep-thinking alumna Mei-Tung Chen, from the Class of 2017, is currently a junior at Flintridge Preparatory School. Not only is she passionate about math and science, but she is also huge fan of literature—an enthusiasm first nurtured at Clairbourn, where she regularly submitted short stories and poetry to the award-winning, student-produced, literary magazine Paw Prints. Her interest in writing is most evident in her role as the Editor-in-Chief of the satire literary magazine at Prep called The Yell at Prep.

March 6, 2020June 12, 2020

Clairbourn’s New Trustee Debbie Chen

New Clairbourn Trustee Debbie Chen with Chris Chen.

Current Clairbourn parent Debbie Chen has been an important presence on campus for all of the years her son and daughter, Matthew and Natalie, have attended. This is her 13^th year as a Clairbourn parent. Natalie is currently in Grade 11 at Westridge and Matthew is in Grade 8 at Clairbourn. And now, Debbie has stepped into a whole different role as the school’s newest Trustee. In order to properly introduce her to the school community, we asked her to share the following information about her life, family, and qualifications:

January 29, 2020June 12, 2020

Jeffrey Karsh, Class of 2002 – Partner at Real Estate Investment Firm

Jeffrey Karsh, Class of 2002, is a Partner at a Real Estate Investment Firm

Meet Jeffrey Karsh, a partner at private real estate investment firm Typerion Partners in Los Angeles, and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Jeffrey attended Clairbourn in the early 1990s, from preschool through sixth grade, before his family moved to Beverly Hills. Jeffrey recalls his time at Clairbourn as still “vivid” in his memory, where he recalls the teachers who inspired him and the friends he enjoyed and loved spending time with. Emily Coolidge, Class of 2012, interviewed Jeffrey to find out more about his cherished time at Clairbourn and how it helped boost his confidence in third grade as a top tennis player and influenced his further education. She also asked him what advice he has for those interested in a similar career path.

December 10, 2019January 9, 2020

Fourth and Fifth Grade Service Project: Learning The Power of Giving

C lairbourn School ’s service opportunities for students hold impactful lessons on giving, empathy, selflessness, and kindness. Whether it’s donating food or holding a book drive, such opportunities can improve work ethics in young students and can provide them with a sense of greater purpose. It can also help them become valued, contributing members of society as well as good human beings. Aristotle once wrote, “What is the essence of life? To serve others and to do good.”

Grades 4 & 5 Operation Santa Paws
Grade 4 and 5 students at Clairbourn School are seeking donations for Operation Santa Paws to help animals in shelters. Students are asking for a variety of pet supplies including dog and cat food, blankets/towels, and durable animal toys. Bring your donations to Clairbourn’s Reception Office by Thursday, December 19, to support our students’ service-learning effort.

Clairbourn fourth and fifth graders announce their service project with Operation Santa Paws