Author Archives: polk@hamlin.org

Virtual Career Day With Hamlin Alumnae

On May 1 the Class of 2020 met with 16 remarkable Hamlin alumnae to talk about the values that shape a life path and what it means to be a Hamlin girl out in the world beyond our walls.

Before meeting, the alums and students filled out their own bios answering questions about personal values and interests. They were put into groups based on these shared values. In her opening remarks, Ms. Holland Greene reminded students that a career and a job are different and are both important pieces of living a value-driven life.

The discussions were focused around the personal values the students and the alumnae hold and how these shape choices and paths that don’t always look clear and straight. As I popped into breakout rooms (2 alums and 6-7 students in each room), I uniformly heard deep reflections on the joys, obstacles and choices that come in life, and the way the skills learned at Hamlin – resilience, work ethic, flexibility, honesty, respect for equity and inclusion – are essential in our changing world.

The wisdom in those Zoom rooms was truly impressive. We are so very proud of this Class of 2020 already – they are truly special – seeing them in a space full of the remarkable women who came before them, we can see how they will shape the world in ways that are both beautiful and appropriate to who they truly are. In this time of pandemic, it was a wonderful reminder that a Hamlin education can help transcend all obstacles- Hamlin students are truly meeting the challenges of their time in so many forms.

It was so incredible hearing the many skills and lessons these women have learned from Hamlin that still continue to resonate with them and have allowed them to be who they are today. –Lexie G.

The following alums shared their time and wisdom with our students:

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Grade 5 Virtual Art Show

These are just some of the beautiful art pieces completed in Grade 5. Students learned about face proportions and created their unique self-portraits incorporating descriptive words.

The Roar: Hamlin’s Student Newspaper

The second edition of The Roar came out earlier this month. The Roar is led by the following students:

Editor-in-Chief: Reeve C.

Student Opinion Section Editor: Lola C.

Sports Section Editor: Sadie C.

Arts/Entertainment/Style Section Editor: Maddie G.

Hamlin News Section Editor: Adele Y.

Calendar/Events Section Editor: Leslie R.

Layout Team: Annabelle B., Darcy D., Fletcher W., Matilda F., and Morgan K.

This edition features movie reviews, a music play list, poetry, a faculty interview, comics, a crossword puzzle, information about the COVID-19, Mad Libs, and much more!

Below is the music play list by Avery B. to help you stay upbeat during quarantine.

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Student Earth Day Film Places In Redford Competition

Students were asked to think “outside the box” and design a product using the theme Circular Economy, then create a short film. Over 100 films were submitted from 26 states, with three from Hamlin selected to be one of the 12 finalists.

Co-founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and his son and board chair, James Redford, The Redford Center harnesses the power of film, video and new media to engage people through inspiring stories that galvanize environmental action.

A team of Grade 6 students won 3rd place and $200 for their film entitled, Eco-Friendly House Project. The film (created by Sophia T., Elena, Cate, and Vivienne) focuses on ways to make a house more eco-friendly by using recycled materials for windows, solar panels, and other features that reduce greenhouse gas production and unnecessary waste.

To learn more about the Redford Center Competition, please visit: https://stories.redfordcenter.org/about/

To watch the winning films (including ours), please visit: https://vimeo.com/409977747

Hamlin Participates In Art Challenge

For years, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles has been famous for its large collection of European paintings, sculptures and other works of art. Recently, it was popular for something else: an art challenge on social media.

The Getty asked its followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to remake famous pieces from its collection. “We challenge you to recreate a work of art with objects (and people) in your home,” the museum wrote.

The rules were simple: Choose your favorite work of art. Use three things from your house to recreate it. Then, take a picture and share it on social media.

Inspired by this endeavor, members of our faculty submitted their art-inspired photos.

Cooking For Wellness

We are continuing our Faculty Wellness Wednesdays online. This week faculty members shared their cooking explorations.

Ms. Biale wrote the following to encourage participation.

There is one thing that I think being quarantined is actually really good for and that’s cooking homemade meals. And, as I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear, I strongly believe that cooking can really help our physical and emotional wellness. Whether you are pulling out those multi-step, complicated recipes that you’ve been saving, trying to replicate a dish from your favorite restaurant, or just cooking your usual fare, let’s see your cooking photos!

Grade 7 Makes COVID-19 Time Capsules

We are living in historic times. With this in mind, Grade 7 students are documenting these days of quarantine to help inform their future selves. Using a written and visual format, students are recording several aspects of their current lives.

Some of the items students are putting in their time capsules are:

-Favorite things in their 2020 lives- pets, books, movies, friends

-Artistic creations, photos from this time, newspaper clippings, special memories

-Descriptions of how they are feeling and what they are learning from this experience

-Descriptions of their local community and how it has been impacted by COVID-19

-Descriptions of how they are continuing to have fun

-Descriptions of how special occasions are being celebrated- birthdays, Passover, Easter, etc.

A Letter To Self, imparting wisdom to remember (likely) emphasizing gratitude, patience, and other intrinsic lessons from this time period

Hamlin Celebrates Spirit Week Online

Distance learning doesn’t mean that our Hamlin spirit has diminished. This week students celebrate Spirit Week virtually by wearing spirited outfits to Zoom classes. The above photo is of the Banana Biales for Tuesday’s advising theme.

Below are the various spirit day themes:

Red and Gold Monday – Dress up for red and gold day to support your color team from home on Monday!

Advising Theme/Mascot Tuesday – Coordinate with your homeroom/advisory on a theme that you will all dress up as on Tuesday! Consider dressing up as an advising mascot or something that represents the name of your advising. 

 Wacky Wednesday – Dress up in the wackiest, craziest clothes you can find on Wednesday! You can wear funky patterns, mismatched socks, and much more. 

Meme Thursday – On Thursday, dress up like your favorite internet meme! Please make sure it is school appropriate.

Formal Friday – Dress up on Friday in formal attire!

Hamlin Student: Finalist for EngineerGirl Essay Contest

Emily M. (Grade 7) is a finalist for the EngineerGirl essay contest.

Her essay addressed the following prompt:

Tell a story about a person learning to live on a new world while traveling through space.

Learning…A lifelong journey. These are stories from the spaceship Vestigo. Its 20-year journey will take a large group of people from Earth to a new home outside our solar system…

The passengers are from 2- to 50-years-old and will have little contact with Earth. They will have access to books and other resources onboard the ship. Many are experts in different fields.

Vestigo is equipped with artificial gravity and large areas for growing food. Living quarters are like compact apartments.

Everyone onboard will need education and training. They will need to maintain the ship and to prepare for life on a new planet. Most people will need to be skilled in more than one area.

Emily’s essay, “Tides of Learning,” was selected from hundreds of essays that were submitted.

One judge said the following about her essay:

The story is very well-written and creative. I like the author’s idea of duplicating water molecules by combining a droplet with nutrient solution and oxygen. In fact, this could be a realistic technique in the future. In order to make water molecules (H2O), you need oxygen atoms (maybe from oxygen gas) and hydrogen atoms (maybe from a protein isolate like the author proposed) and also an efficient catalyst under proper conditions (like heat) to make them react. The essay shows deep understanding of engineering design ideas.

Contest winners will be notified in May.

For more information about the EngineerGirl Essay Contest, please visit: https://www.engineergirl.org/

Hamlin Makes Face Shields For Local Health Personnel

Hamlin has connected with other Bay Area Makers to 3D print PPE (protective personal equipment) Face Shield visors for our local health personnel working on the frontlines fighting COVID-19. They need as many shields as possible and we have risen to the challenge! One Hamlin parent, (Alex Belenson P ’23) even started a gofundme campaign and raised enough funds to purchase additional 3D printers to ramp up production and enough PLA filament to print the visors 24/7 for months to come. We are currently able to produce 9 visors a day.

Amanda Sammann, a trauma surgeon at UCSF/SF General and Director of the Better Lab, has approved the PPE Face Shield known as the Budmen design and is accepting them.

We are obviously not capable of sterile manufacturing but we do our best to ensure we don’t spread anything by removing the model from the 3D printer while wearing gloves and a mask and inserting the printed model into a plastic bag.

The first batch of 50 completed face shields was delivered last week to UCSF/SFGeneral emergency room. Special thanks to Diego Fonstad, Founder of Lectrify.it for connecting Hamlin to this meaningful project.

-Guest blog by Brian Louie (Hamlin Design and Maker Teacher)

More about our Maker Program at Hamlin:

The Hamlin School Maker Program is designed to deliver moments of impact where girls engage in real world problem solving through Human Centered Design Thinking. Students become problem seekers, focusing on community empathy and collaboration, using ongoing client feedback to drive the direction of their projects. Through their Maker work, our girls work diligently with tools, while developing a new lens by which to see possibility, adaptation, and innovation.