April 29, 2020
How we work, and therefore, how we prepare students for their future careers, is changing rapidly in the time of COVID-19. A meteoric rise in telecommuting, virtual learning, and video conferencing has reinforced the tremendous speed at which the work world changes in the 21st century. In fact, the nature of jobs themselves are transforming as antiquated job models are being phased out and new approaches are taking center stage. The fundamental change in career paths and professional expectations, brought on by globalism and technology, and accelerated by COVID-19, is shaping and illustrating how progressive independent schools like Mounds Park Academy prepare students for life beyond the four walls of a classroom.
Alison Kay, global accounts committee chair at Ernst and Young, outlines the key skills that will help students prepare for jobs in this new marketplace that does not yet exist:
- Embracing risk. Kay encourages parents to “…fight against (children’s) fear of failure and embarrassment—and stop ourselves from overprotecting them. It’s important for them to ask, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’, because that process of identifying risks and thinking through consequences will be useful throughout their lives and careers.”
- Nurturing resilience. “We all make mistakes,” says Kay. “We all make bad decisions. But if you have resilience, you don’t give up. You learn from your mistakes. And you do it better the next time. Those are the kinds of people that we need in an age of disruption, where established rules are overturned. We need creative thinkers who know how to dig deep and keep trying.”
- Instilling self-belief. Explains Kay, “Possibly the most fundamental of all is self-belief. I really believe self-belief is one of the most important qualities we need to foster in the next generation. There’s something incredibly powerful that happens when the people who you look up to tell you, ‘Of course you can do it.’”
MPA is preparing students for the new marketplace by modeling and facilitating innovation, adaptability, and resilience, especially during this complicated era of quarantine and social distancing. It starts with great teachers, says head of School, Dr. Bill Hudson. “Teachers are like conductors of an orchestra. They are attentive to the needs of and draw the best from each individual, but also blend together the various sounds into a magnificent whole.”
Innovative educators employ a variety of methods and pedagogical techniques, intermingling different activities to complement the lesson and the situation. Hudson adds, “I’ve said it many times over the last several weeks that great teachers make great online teachers because the core elements of virtual learning happen all the time in MPA classrooms.”
Kindergarten teacher Kristine Peterson saw an opportunity to incorporate a digital component to her lesson on weather. She created an activity in which kindergarteners recorded a clip of themselves doing the weather, just like a like on the local news, and then as a class, they had the opportunity to watch each child’s performance.
Meet 2019-20 Alumni Association Board member Isaac Marshall ’11!
by Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School
by Mark Segal, Upper School director
Consistent with the Executive Order issued on April 23, 2020 by Governor Walz that schools will remain closed through the end of the academic year, Mounds Park Academy is canceling spring sports for the 2020 season. This is not the information we hoped for. We are holding our students and their families in our minds and hearts, as we recognize the deep loss many are feeling.
Thanks to our incredibly generous community, the first-ever MPA Virtual Spring Auction: Light up the Night was a huge success! Our community joined together to raise nearly $230,000! MPA families, alumni, grandparents, parents of alumni, and friends joined together as a community to dream big, do right, and light up the world. Thank you for being part of the most successful auction in several years!
MPA Middle School students were enthusiastic to celebrate the 50th Earth Day on April 22. Dr. Milam challenged students to go outside to be in nature and take photographs, and students in Ms. Atchison’s class wrote poems honoring Earth. Get lost in their beautiful writing and enjoy a few of their poems.
This story series illustrates how our community is embracing, growing, and connecting through virtual learning together. Read on to hear MPA junior Dhruv Muppidi’s experience as #MPAgoesvirtual!
Upper School student Salmah Elmasry and history teacher Katie Murr would like to invite the MPA parent community to a presentation of their work with the Albert H. Small Normandy Institute. Last year, Salmah and Ms. Murr intensively studied D-Day and researched the story of one Minnesota soldier buried in the American National Cemetery in Normandy. The academic culmination of this process was to write a lengthy biography of that soldier that could be archived at the cemetery. Additionally, Salmah and Ms. Murr had the privilege of traveling first to Washington, DC to take classes at George Washington University and research at the National Archives and then to France where they were able to see the D-Day beaches and eulogize their solder at his gravesite. Salmah and Ms. Murr would love for you to hear this story of commitment, perseverance, and valor. Please join them on April 28 at 7 PM.
The MPA Upper School Asian Culture Club, Social Consciousness Club, and Racial Justice and Equity Club met on Zoom to discuss how the language around COVID-19 can produce hate and racism. Students had the opportunity to share personal reflections anonymously, and the conversation will be a part of a continuing ‘series’ on the social and political impacts of this health crisis and a broader effort to document their responses. In this blog post, MPA senior Amanda Khouw shares how she is working and speaking out to eliminate stereotypes and misinformation.