Trust. Collaboration. Action. United against environmental destruction and poverty, we stand.

That is the mission of Project Jatropha, a remarkable collaboration between two College Prep students. Along with his sister Apoorva (‘12), Adarsha S. (‘11) created the ambitious Project Jatropha not just to protect the physical environment in rural south India, but also to boost the local economy.

The Brower Youth Awards honor young, emerging environmental leaders in North America, raising their profiles and furthering their work. Since 2000, 55 young people have received the Brower Award, and this year Adarsha S. was honored for his work with Project Jatropha.

As you can see from the video, Adarsha’s project is about so much more than the individual communities he is affecting. This is global citizenship in action and will hopefully inspire other young people to go out and change the world for the better.

Project Jatropha has a fantastic website where you can learn in great detail about this amazing work and get involved yourself!

Last week I spent time talking with eighth graders at three East Bay middle schools. I  visit about 20 middle schools in a typical admission season, and in addition to talking about the programs and people at College Prep, I also offer the students some general guidance about the high school application process.

I recommend that each eighth grader visit all of the high schools that he or she is interested in. On a high school visit, observing how the students interact with one another and the faculty, visiting classes, and getting a sense of the physical campus all provide valuable information to evaluate a school. Less scientific and more visceral reactions may also emerge, leading the student to think, “This is the right place for me!” or “This isn’t a great fit for me.”

I recommend visiting classes in subjects near and dear to the applicant’s heart. Whether you have a passion for math, music, literature, history, or dance, see what you love!

This is all a preamble to discussing our arts program. You are forgiven if the Arts are not the first thing you think about when it comes to College Prep. Lots of people know about our amazing academic program, but our offerings in Dance, Drama, Music, and Visual Arts help balance a well-rounded curriculum. If you are an eighth grader with a love for the Arts, be sure to request a visit to one of the fantastic classes and check out a performance or two in the coming months. I hope the video below whets your appetite for the Arts at College Prep!

Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too? On the heels of the most successful year for College Prep athletic teams in recent history (seven of a possible seventeen league championships were won by the Cougars), the Bay Area Conference – Bay Counties League East has voted College Prep the “Most Outstanding Sportsmanship School” for 2008-2009.This award was voted on by the schools in the BCL – East (Athenian, Bentley, College Prep, Head Royce, Redwood Christian, St. Elizabeth, and Redwood Christian) and was given based on the following criteria:

• Treating opponents and officials with the respect that is due
• Taking victory and defeat without undue emotionalism
• Controlling of tempers on and off the playing field
• Being positive with officials — supporting their decisions
• Cooperating with other coaches in promoting good sportsmanship at contests
• Making the opponents feel welcomed to your facility
• Fans are hospitable and positive in their support of both home and visiting teams
• No player or coach ejections throughout the entire school year

Congrats to the athletes, coaches, parents, and fans for this achievement!

We have already documented the retreat program and in particular, the Senior Retreat. This past week, the new ninth graders in the Class of 2013 concluded their orientation by spending a day and night at Walker Creek Ranch in Petaluma. I have attended the Freshman Retreat each of the last five years, and the formula for this retreat is wonderful. Approximately 30 seniors (from the Class of 2010) led the new students in games, trust walks, and other spirited activities.

For the new students, all the months of anticipation between enrollment in March and the start of school in September melts away, as they get to know their new classmates and start to take ownership of College Prep. Though each new class is filled with smart, talented, and kind young people, there is always a shape to the personality of a class, and it usually emerges on the Freshman Retreat.

So, what do I make of the Class of 2013? I am happy to report that this group had natural spirit and positive energy in abundance! They needed no encouragement from the seniors (though they got it anyway!) to jump right in and participate fully in everything. Spirit is the word I kept using to describe the new class after we returned to College Prep. But don’t take my word for it. See for yourself!

The story of our new solar panels has a distinctly College Prep feel to it. In the fall of 2008, senior Abby H. wrote a research paper for her AP Environmental Science (APES) class. With the help of the school’s Chief Financial Officer, Abby performed an energy audit on the entire school, analyzing College Prep’s energy use and proposing ways to help the school reduce its carbon footprint.

Abby’s tremendous project revealed that adding solar panels to the large roof of the Baldwin Gymnasium would reduce our carbon footprint as well as the school’s energy bill. Around this same time, College Prep’s Green Council was formed, led by APES teacher Jonna Smyth. The council is comprised of students, parents, and faculty and aims to further reduce the school’s carbon footprint through action-based initiatives.

Thanks to Abby and the Green Council, the gym’s solar panels (installed by Borrego Solar) should be functioning by the start of the school year and will provide enough energy to offset our PG&E bill by 20%! We hope to add more solar panels in the near future to other buildings to offset another 20% of our energy costs. Below are some photos of the project.

At the beginning of each school year, I sit in on as many classes as I can, across all grade levels and disciplines. Whether it is a group of new ninth graders, already comfortable enough with one another to passionately discuss and argue the meaning behind a Salinger short story, or a visual arts class in which students are listening to good music as they work with pastels,  this yearly exercise never fails to remind me of the magic that happens daily in our classrooms.

At the end of each school year, after the incoming class has been enrolled, I enjoy talking to students across all grade levels about their experiences at College Prep. This is both instructive and fascinating for me as an admissions director. Themes emerge, and they are not necessarily the one’s I expect. With this is mind, I thought I would document some of these conversations for the blog. I interviewed a random sampling of College Prep students and give them only two instructions: there are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers and speak as honestly as possible.

I asked questions such as:

• What do you like most about College Prep?
• What do you like least about College Prep?
• What were you most nervous about before starting College Prep and how did it turn out?
• How would you describe the kids at College Prep?
• How hard is the work assigned/how much homework do you do on average?
• What has surprised you the most about College Prep?

The first video installment, from June 2009, is based on the first question: “What do you like most about College Prep?”

We know where they are going, but Sunday’s forty-ninth commencement at College Prep was distinctly about where the class of 2009 had been. This graduation ceremony captured the magic of College Prep better than any event I can remember in my five years in the Admission Office. It began with a moving invocation by beloved Spanish teacher Marta Ginebreda, made all the more special because her daughter was among the 85 graduates.

Christina Romer, the Chair of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and mother of two College Prep alums, then spoke to a rapt audience about the first months working in Washington in the Obama administration. Tasked with finding the country’s way out of a historic recession, she spoke humbly of her own uncertainty in these unprecedented times.

Faculty speaker Jack Coakley’s awesomeness was confirmed when he preceded his speech by passing out Red Vines to the graduates and concluded it with a quote from Flight of the Conchords! Students in Mr. Coakley’s Chemistry classes love him for his positive energy and easy-going nature. Those lucky enough to have been coached by him on the Cross Country and Track teams know that he is also a master motivator. The rest of us caught a glimpse of his coaching genius, as he mentored the graduates and audience in his uniquely upbeat style.

These were two truly wonderful speeches, but what I’ll remember most about this day were the two student speakers. Two days after graduation, Head of School Murray Cohen began our end-of-the-year faculty meeting by dissecting these two speeches and how they captured something essential and magical about College Prep.

In her heartfelt and reflective speech, Maya S. said, “I doubt that I will ever stand in such good company again” a line worthy of immediate inscription somewhere according to Dr. Cohen (we will try to oblige him in the admission materials!) She spoke of a community where the engaged and bright citizens moved beyond respecting one another for their considerable academic and intellectual talents to the more important — and rare — business of truly caring about one another. This is why, I imagine, that so many of our graduates go on to do the healing work of the world in their various professions.

In his inimitable and comedically brilliant style, Ilyas K. delivered these philosophical lines: “To expunge CPS from memory would be to erase completely the axis around which our decisions, our daily activities, and really, our lives, were defined for the last four years. The first rule when sketching a graph in a CPS math or science class is to draw your axes. Without them, the graph is meaningless, set adrift in an infinite Cartesian plane.” This grounding that the College Prep experience provides helped transform Ilyas from a loud, unsure freshman four years ago to a young man who embodies the heart of our mission statement as we “prepare students for productive, ethical lives in college and beyond.”

So, kudos to you class of 2009! You have made us proud.

Our own Varun S. (‘12) was featured on local news this week for his work with the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Please click this link to read the article and make sure to check out the video on the right side of the page. For those Facebook members among us, you can become a fan of Varun’s page, The Vsanthanam Initiative or you can visit his website. Varun, you rock!

The retreat program at College Prep often produces lasting memories for our students. Each class goes on a one-night overnight retreat each year. These class-bonding trips focus on different aspects of the student/adolescent experience and are an annual highlight for students and chaperons alike. Part of the Senior Retreat every year involves inviting a few members of the prior year’s graduating class to talk to the soon-to-be graduates about their transition to college.  At this year’s retreat, I was lucky enough to catch up with two members of the class of 2008, Justin S. and Tia F. They shared some thoughts with me about how College Prep readied them for college and about their transition from middle school to high school four years earlier.

Clubs are a great way to get involved in campus life. By my count, there were 42 active clubs this school year! It is also easy to start a new club. All it takes is two students and a faculty sponsor. Here are some of the clubs on campus:

• Arts Mag
• Anti-Gravity (juggling)
• Asian American Association
• Bike Polo
• Black Student and Faculty Union
• Chess
• Drama
• Environmental Action
• Film
• Game
• French
• Gender and Sexuality Awareness
• Gilmore Girls
• Jewish Culture
• Junior State of America
• Knitting
• Latin
• Latino Unidos
• Math
• ROCK (Reaffirming Our Christ as King)
• Science Fiction
• SWIRL (Students with Interracial Lives)
• Twilight
• Urban Photography
• Youth Medical Care Association

But I must confess that a favorite club of the Admission Office this year was a brand new club started by a group of freshman: Pancake Club! The Pancake Club managed at least three pancake days, including this one just last week.

It was a great year all-around for College Prep athletics as detailed in an earlier bog entry and the softball team was no exception to this general excellence. Having  lost a close 3-1 decision to Redwod Christian in the Bay Counties League – East championship game meant the Cougars had to play a very tough Hoopa Valley team in the North Coast Section quarterfinals. Hoopa Valley made one outstanding defensive play after another, stifling several potential rallies to take the game. Cougar softball should be in good hands for years to come, having received strong contributions from quite a few young players, though it is sad to say goodbye to our seniors. The softball team finished the year with 15 wins and just 5 defeats. Enjoy the gallery of photos from the Hoopa Valley game.

Every year I look forward to Nancy Steele’s poetry class sharing their work in the amphitheater. This year’s students and poems were nothing short of phenomenal! What a great way to cap the last official school day for the class of 2009. Click the “Keep Reading” link under the video to see pictures of the event. For more videos of the poets, check out our nifty new YouTube channel!

The #5 seed Cougars moved into the second round in decisive fashion, defeating Calistoga 19-0 in the first round of the North Coast Section Division V Championships. College Prep is now 17-7 and faces the tough #4 seed Valley Christian  at their home field in Dublin on Saturday, May 23 at 5:00 pm. Continue reading for a gallery of images from the Calistoga game.

Junior Jason L. heads home

AP Environmental Science, known around these parts as APES, is taught by the incomparable Adrianna Smyth. This past Tuesday, May 19,  the Third Annual AP Environmental Science Research Symposium took place in the Buttner Auditorium. Here are some images of the amazing posters produced by the APES students, which are both fantastic research projects, and works of art! Click on any picture to enlarge.

This is the last week of school for the class of 2009 (seniors do not take final exams in the Spring), which can only mean one thing: the juniors are ready to take over the school! I found this group of jubilient soon-to-be seniors roaming the courtyard. Jen, Avram, Wumi, and Sonamtso, collectively known as “JAWS” will lead the school’s Spirit Committee next year, in charge of dances, Spirit Week, and more. I think we’re in good hands!