Cogito Ergo Facio: Developing Service-Oriented Students

Audience: Middle Years Programme
Session: Block 2: Friday 2:00 to 3:15, Room: Pacific N

A multifaceted panel (administrator, instructional coach, teacher, and Middle Years Programme Coordinator) explore models and strategies for developing authentic community service in a program that serves a large, diverse public school. How can schools serving second language learners and children of poverty work collaboratively to achieve both local curriculum standards and IB best practices? Participants will use interactive technology to explore the dynamic relationship between moral action and the expanding intellectual world of early adolescents. The session culminates with an exercise in video production designed to engage students as they develop new, action-oriented habits of mind.


Robert Harrison, MYP Coordinator, Glasgow Middle School

Robert Harrison is Middle Years Programme Coordinator at Glasgow Middle School in Fairfax County, Virginia, the 13th largest school system in the US. He serves as a consultant, trainer, and site visitor for IB North America and is an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University's Center for International Education where he teaches a course in the IB Teacher Awards program. A special educator and history teacher, he was part of the Teaching American History grant, a professional development model on which he has made presentations to the Virginia ASCD and AERA. Mr Harrison holds his doctorate in religion from Duke University.


Organization website: http://www.fcps.edu/GlasgowMS

Deirdre Lavery, Principal, Glasgow Middle School

Deirdre Lavery was appointed Principal of Glasgow Middle School in 2004. She leads over 100 professionals who deliver the Middle Years Programme to one of the region's most diverse schools. Students at Glasgow speak more than thirty languages; two-thirds are economically disadvantaged; more than half are English language learners. At Glasgow, Ms Lavery introduced Professional Learning Communities and initiated an intensive literacy development program. She is Adjunct Professor at George Mason University. In 2008, Ms Lavery supervised the construction and opening of a new $46 million "green" school.

Michelle Peters, Teacher, Glasgow Middle School

Michelle Peters is a special education teacher and the IB Community and Service Area of Interaction Leader at Glasgow Middle School. She earned a B.A. in Therapeutic Recreation from Virginal Wesleyan College and a Master of Special Education from George Mason University. Ms Peters is actively involved in many community and service projects. Most recently she went on a vocational exchange trip to Africa as an educational ambassador. Michelle is actively involved in encouraging global awareness, organizing read-a-thons that support orphanages in the Sudan, and promoting literacy in schools throughout the United States, Guatemala, and South Africa.

Cherith Pierson, Literacy Coach, Glasgow Middle School

Cherith Pierson has international educational teaching experience in Europe, Asia, North and South America. Her degrees include a master's in Secondary Education and Masters in Literacy. Her overseas teaching experiences provided her with a passion for helping students in the area of literacy. At Glasgow Middle School, her main focus is on providing both teachers and students in a diverse environment with the strategies and skills needed to become lifelong learners.