The Ashley Hall Bee Program continues to buzz. Begun four years ago with one Bee Cause observation hive installed in the Pardue Hall Science Lab, the Bee Program now expands through the Upper School curriculum with rooftop Langstroth hives (a wood hive built in a frame for easy bee and honey removal) being explored daily by students of all ages. It is a signature component of Ashley Hall’s science program giving the girls a “hands on” experiential learning opportunity to connect with the natural world and understand the bee’s critical impact on the ecosystem.

With a desire to start the program with the younger children, Ms. Flowers and the Lower School Bee Club took the helm, and a new Bee Cause hive was recently installed in the Ross Early Education Center. “This is a terrific Reggio Emilia tool,” shares Early Education Center Director Dana VanHook, “and the Lower School girls taking the initiative on installation made the opportunity perfect. The younger children are thrilled to now have a hive to explore and respond to.” Now to share some bee hive love with the Intermediate Program…stay tuned girls!

Last week’s severe weather created challenges for many in the Charleston area, including Ashley Hall’s 7th grade girls participating in Model United Nations (UN). Scheduled to leave early Wednesday morning for the conference in Black Mountain, North Carolina, the trip was sadly canceled due to high wind advisories in the mountains for high profile vehicles, aka buses! With student safety front of mind, faculty quickly adjusted plans to hold our own Model UN on campus. “It was a true PQV moment,” said Upper School Director, Mary Schweers. “Our faculty, and students, rose to the occasion not losing this learning opportunity. Everyone was terrific and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day.”

Inspired by our Hallmark, Worldly, Ashley Hall is a proud participant in the Model UN program. This program offers an authentic simulation of the UN General Assembly which introduces students to the world of diplomacy, negotiation, and decision making.

Over the course of several months, the girls identified a third-world issue, conducted thorough research on this issue, created an informational booth display, and presented a bill for funding to the UN General Student Assembly. In lieu of sharing their work with other schools, the students opened their booths and made formal presentations to members of the 8th grade and also their little sisters. PQV to these true global citizens!

Ashley Hall fifth graders are working with the Lowcountry Maritime Society (LMS) on a unique STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) project. LMS staff come to campus weekly to work with the girls on creating their own fleet of wooden boats. The girls are guided through the process of learning how to read scaled plans and transform those plans into a wooden boat they build themselves. Throughout the semester students are also taught about local maritime history and seamanship skills. Research shows that girls decide as early as fifth grade if they will consider careers in the areas of math and science. Ashley Hall understands the importance of STEAM related programming as it relates to an all-girls’ education.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, giants of American musical theater, created legendary Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 50s and initiated what is widely considered the “golden age” of musical theater. The composers were geniuses at weaving challenging thematic issues into romantic love stories shared through dance and song. Consider The King and I, Oklahoma, South Pacific, and Carousel, all musical theater chestnuts that carry a powerful social commentary punch.

With their original production of Café Carousel, the Ashley Hall Theater Department, under the direction of Director Maida Libkin, created an evening to celebrate and examine the work Rodgers and Hammerstein through the lens of social justice. The team crafted the show’s poignant narrative through meticulous research of the musicals and by working closely with Upper School humanities faculty who teach classes such as Human Rights and International Law, American Studies, and Race Class, and Gender for historical and social context. Café Carousel proved enormously successful giving audiences of all ages much to think about.

Taking their efforts one step further, the Café Carousel cast and crew generously donated a portion of ticket sales, $2,000, to the local Charleston non-profit, My Sister’s House, which provides services and resources to empower victims of domestic violence and their children to live free of abuse. Brava to all!

Senior Project at Ashley Hall is one of the school’s most distinguished programs. This student-directed, year-long class is a synthesis of intense research, critical thinking, and targeted community outreach allowing students to delve deeper into a specific topic of interest. Selected through a competitive application process the prior spring, Senior Project girls begin researching their proposed topic over the summer months. This research then fuels their work over the course of the school year as the projects evolve. During April of the following year, the girls present their Senior Project research findings to the Upper School student body along with distinguished guests.

Below you’ll find a brief overview of current Senior Project topics. We plan to follow the girls’ work throughout the year via social media and various school communications pieces so stay tuned to learn more.

Carter Bitter: Human Trafficking

Elise Coleman: The Long-Term Effects of Slavery

Erin Goedecke: Preventing Sports Injuries for Adolescent Girls

Anna Hildebrand: Sustainable Technology

Lauren Marshall: Mind-Body Connection in Trauma Recovery

Emily Ockerman: Meat Consumption in the US

Elizabeth Puckette: History of Charleston

Sophia Yao: Cyber Security

Zoe Watson: Diversity in Literature

Lower School Art Teacher, Tina Hirsig, and Kristen Callahan, Director of Technology, Innovation and Education have teamed together to create several dedicated “tinkering” spaces around campus which feature unique collaborative installations. Tina and Kristen believe that shaping and reshaping the world around us through the process of creative play promotes, supports and fosters critical thinking, curiosity, collaboration, problem-solving, exploration, and self discovery.

Each installation—Earth Loom, Lego Wall, and Chalkboard Wall—incorporates our school  Hallmarks: Worldly, Compassionate, Discerning, Creative, Intelligent, Purposeful, Collaborative which serve as guiding principles. Teachers bring their disciplinary knowledge to the installation in order to expand and elaborate on their curriculum. These spaces serve as an incubator for new ideas with emphasis on what is already being taught in the classroom. These interactive installations have the potential to extend what students are learning academically, socially, and/or creatively.