Teachers become students for an afternoon of education at Samohi University

Muhammad Yusuf TarrStaff WriterTeachers learned from each other in a series of workshops, entitled Samohi University, which took place in the History Building on Wednesday, April 24.In past years, Samo held similar community building days, but due to budget constraints, Samo faculty was forced to use only campus resources and decided on a mini-college day with two rounds of 23 workshops.The result was a broad range of presentations, conducted by staff, faculty and students, that explored everything from classroom techniques to administrative assistance to personal sanity.“While some sessions focused on physical well-being like stress management and yoga, the new component that [made] this Samohi University [was] a focus on sharing [the] best practices from our classrooms and experiences,” English Department Chair Jennifer Pust said.Linda Gordon (’14), who led a workshop with the Human Rights Watch on human rights education, said this was the first time that students in Calif. had discussed incorporating human rights into the curriculum with teachers.“It’s extremely important to discuss human rights issues and show how relevant they are in all of our classes,” Gordon said. “Even though a story about arranged marriage or child slavery may be a work of fiction, it is a harsh reality for many young girls and boys around the world. It is important to make that connection.”Student Outreach Specialist Kimberly Nao facilitated a seminar on gender and sex.“Once [teachers] did a self-exploration about their own personality, I went into a large discussion [about] defining ‘what is gender?’ Nao said. “I hope that [teachers] look at the issue of gender from a deeper perspective and piece it apart a little bit.”According to Pust, the event was ultimately for the students’ benefit.“We believe so strongly in helping our students to become reflective, thoughtful, lifelong learners, and to me, Samohi University is an opportunity for us as teachers to practice what we preach — we can model the importance of sharing ideas and learning from each other, and that schooling is never finished,” Pust said. “As Seneca once proclaimed, ‘We learn not for school, but for life.’”Gordon was happy with the collaboration Samohi University sparked between students and teachers.“Teachers seemed extremely receptive to our ideas and happy to work together,” Gordon said.Math Department Chair Marae Cruce said that Samo plans on continuing the Samohi University program in the future.“The event ran rather smoothly,” Cruce said. “It was great to interact with colleagues and explore topics within our profession.”mytarr@thesamohi.com