This Year's Theme: Curiosity

We met the star of this week’s Community Spotlight—Curiosity—during our first week of school. Introduced as this year’s school theme back in August, curiosity has been supporting and inspiring all that we do at Newman—from driving our class discussions forward, to leading our teams to successes, to forging new creative pathways in the arts, to inspiring teachers, coaches, and administrators in how they approach their work.

In asking challenging questions, in being ever-curious in the context of our Newman community, we can be more open to multiple truths and perspectives and to ultimately find personalized and yet connected approaches to learning, growing, and our work together. 

We were greeted with a spirited reintroduction to this year’s theme during our all-school assembly on Tuesday through our guest speaker Tanya Wright. "Tanya Wright (born May 3, 1978)[1] is an American entrepreneur, actress, and author. Born and raised in South Bronx, New York, Wright studied Comparative Literature at Vassar College. After her graduation, she joined the cast of The Cosby Show as Tanya Simpson. She is known for her role as Phyllis Brooks on Buddies, as well as her recurring roles on 24 as Patty Brooks, NYPD Blue as Officer Maya Anderson, on True Blood as Deputy Kenya Jones, and as Crystal on the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black.[2]" Wikipedia

Tanya spoke to our full student body with wonderful enthusiasm about her own path to success which she describes as including first identifying her curiosities, then bravely pursuing them even when met by failure, and ultimately making connections between them. She aptly entitled her talk Connecting the Dots during which she emphasized that our lives are built upon the connecting of our own unique dots—experiences, interests, and most importantly curiosities! She assured the audience that how to connect one’s dots would not always be obvious, but that patience and openness to the unexpected would help show the way. Tanya shared how her passions for observing people, story-telling, hair-care, singing, and writing along with being rejected from a job whereby she would have been marketing hair products, would all add up and eventually lead her to launching her own children's book series, brand, and company: Hairiette of Harlem

Tanya’s focus on curiosity affirms and further develops our choice of this year’s theme. Specifically, she added depth to our theme by connecting curiosity to courage. She advocates for allowing curiosity to help lead us through change and discomforts. She asked our students what they are curious about and how they have needed to be courageous. 

After her talk, Tanya ran a workshop with the Grade 11 IB Theater students. She gave the students the  choice to simply talk, to be led through a connect-the-dots exercise, or to do a more physical activity. Students chose the latter which involved each student standing up in front of the class and giving a 60 second pitch about whatever Tanya assigned—from MLK to t-shirts to cheese, students were asked to be courageous in persuading Tanya and their classmates about the value of the concept, person, or item. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While IB Theater is certainly a place where students are asked to be curious and courageous in their creative pursuits, Tanya’s message is relevant for all of us at Newman. Whether a student, parent, teacher, or administrator, we are all part of a teaching and learning community bringing our own dots to bear on our Newman experience. How can we individually and collectively keep curiosity at the helm? Whether asking ourselves how to navigate our own personal pursuits or how to work as a team for the advancement of our school, let's keep identifying our curiosities, leading with questions, being brave when needed, and looking for how to connect the dots!