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Pinewood Scholars Program 2022-23 Q2 Newsletter

The Pinewood Scholars Program (PSP) is our signature initiative for juniors and seniors. By inviting our students to engage in design thinking, project-based learning, and community partnerships, PSP empowers students to become changemakers in their world.

🗞 PSP in the News! 🗞

🗞 Check out this article in the Los Altos Town Crier featuring PSP and our students' projects!

🗞 And this piece from Zoom Marketing: Gen Z Reveals Emotional Intelligence in Classroom Positioning Assignment.

Senior Project Update

Guided by Design Thinking, the students have discovered their clients’ needs through observation and interviewing. This hands-on approach enables our students to create human-centered solutions for their senior PSP projects. The students have kicked off their senior passion projects, and they can’t wait to share their progress with you!

We ask the Pinewood community not only to watch their projects grow over the course of these quarterly newsletters but also to participate in their journeys! Check out their project summaries and their “ask” of you. Please reach out to any students on the list below if you have an idea or a contact for their projects.

Senior Projects

Oscar Barnes • Grantlada

An independent freelance grant-writing organization dedicated to financially supporting underserved nonprofits

Oscar's "Ask"

  • Mentors & other contacts with experience in the following lines of work: Nonprofit sector, family foundations, grant writers, and social impact researchers
  • Clients: Any nonprofit that needs grant writing, grant identification, or grantor network expansion work

Contact Oscar at 23obarnes@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Rachel Farhoudi • The Flavors of Pinewood

A creative cookbook that celebrates the unique traditions and cultural diversity at Pinewood School

Rachel's "Ask"

  • Do you have family recipes that you want to share with the Pinewood community? Please send them to me!
  • Connections with experienced publishers or people with knowledge of the logistics of book publishing
  • Information on customer experience with Ebooks and Kindle

Contact Rachel at 23rfarhoudi@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Myles Fox • Reflective Learning

Creating an inclusive curriculum for all high school students

Myles's "Ask"

What parts of your culture do you wish were more represented in the curriculum? Do you have experience creating DEI initiatives?

Contact Myles at 23mfox@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Ayana Jassal • Penning Pathways

A mission-driven organization aimed to increase elderly independence, spread awareness about elderly-related issues, and make them feel less alone

Ayana's "Ask"

  • Contacts: Connections with staff at nursing homes and Bay Area school administration
  • Advice: Tips on how to market a WhatsApp bot

Contact Ayana at 23ajassal@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Rathi Kolappa • Pics for Pets

An organization that professionally photographs adoptable animals in hopes of helping them find their forever homes

Rathi's "Ask"

Do you work in marketing? Would you be willing to mentor me? Do you have any specific marketing tactics and methods you can share?

Contact Rathi at 23rkolappa@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Peyton Meinhardt • Ginger Roots

An organization helping people make the most out of the unusual food they receive at food pantries

Peyton's "Ask"

  • Introductions to food banks in the Bay Area
  • Mentor with creative cooking experience who could help me compose recipes
  • Information about traditional Hispanic cuisine/recipes

Contact Peyton at 23anelson@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Audrey Nelson • Comfort Kitz

Decreasing isolation and homesickness for long-term hospitalized children with personalized kits that include comfort foods and stuffed animals

Audrey's "Ask"

  • Contacts: People who work with Ronald McDonald House or Fisher House or another organization that serves kids in hospitals
  • Clients: Family and friends of long-term hospitalized children

Contact Audrey at 23anelson@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Devan Reynard • Saving Seniors From Scams

An organization focused on teaching seniors how to identify and react to scams

Devan's "Ask"

  • Contact: Someone with experience developing digital tests and simulations
  • Contact: Someone with experience in elder-financial abuse and elder scamming prevention
  • Clients: Senior citizens willing to test the initial prototype

Contact Devan at 23dreynard@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Ashton Riches • Soapy Studies

Providing learning opportunities and connections one wash at a time at uninspiring places (such as laundromats) in the Bay Area

Ashton's "Ask"

Brainstorming impactful ideas and other locations (laundromats or other spots) that need inspiration, contributing to future funding events, and connections to Spanish and English teachers for educational resources and tutoring

Contact Ashton at 23ariches@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Carolyn Steeg • Doggie Dash

A fundraiser and social event to spread awareness of dog adoption at Pinewood

Carolyn's "Ask"

  • Partnerships: Pet shelters and/or rescues that may want to partner with her
  • Contacts: Contacts to someone who has hosted a “fun run”
  • Mentors: Anyone who has experience running large events

Contact Carolyn at 23csteeg@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Niki Taradash • Niki's Nisei Project

A collaboration with the Japanese American Museum in San Jose to share and celebrate Japanese culture in unique ways such as curating an exhibit of bi-racial student artists or bi-racial celebration event

Niki's "Ask"

  • Contacts: Someone who has hosted large events
  • Contact: People who have experience working with art galleries

Contact Niki at 23ntaradash@pinewood.edu if you'd like to help.

Field Trips

Venturing into the community for short field trips is a significant component of the PSP program. Students gain inspiration for their senior year PSP projects by meeting change makers in our neighborhood. Experiences outside the classroom help the students understand first-hand how local mission-driven organizations approach community issues.

Visit to The St. Francis Center

In October of 2022, the PSP students, led by Kathleen Hamilton (Science & Religion Teacher) toured the St. Francis Center in Redwood City to learn about their multifaceted approach to education, food insecurity, homelessness, and gang violence. The inspiring adventure began with a visit to the kindergarten and 8th-grade students to discover more about the Holy Family School curriculum. Ms. Hamilton guided our students through all of the services that the impactful Sr. Christina Heltsley (Executive Director) has created to serve her clients, such as a food pantry, housing, afterschool programs, school, garden, toy program, and immigration counseling. The PSP students were awestruck by the sheer number of opportunities generated by the St. Francis Center.

Visit to Nirvana Soul

In December of 2022, the PSP students headed to Nirvana Soul to learn how this unusual coffee shop uses creative marketing techniques and outreach programs to connect with its community. Using the universal power of coffee and tea, this shop creates joyful experiences to bring people together and support local businesses. The students met with one of the shop’s owners, Jeronica, to learn how the store executes its core values of kindness and accountability. The students learned how these two female black entrepreneurs overcame challenges to create an inspiring fairly-sourced coffee company. As with many of the ideas and activities in the class, a current PSP student, Myles Fox, suggested this classroom trip.

Real-World Learning Opportunities

In November of 2022, the PSP seniors learned real-life skills in networking and pitching. The students presented their project ideas and networked with the parents of the PSP family at Mrs. Gannon’s house. The evening began with a short introduction and welcome by Mrs. Gannon. Mr. Meinhart, a father of a student in the program, briefly discussed his PSP classroom series, Start Me Up: Lessons from the Frontline. This unique series supplements the existing PSP curriculum and provides practical information about entrepreneurship from real and relatable entrepreneurs and business experts. The students then presented their “elevator pitches” to the parents. After the presentations, students handed out their business cards and networked with parents as they sipped hot apple cider. The goal of the evening was for the students to find mentors and contacts in their fields of interest. What better place to look for those adult guides than the parents and guardians of our class? The students are now off and running with their project ideas for their senior year PSP passion project.

Check out the students' pitch decks here!

Photos from Pitch Night!

Guest Speakers

START ME UP: LESSONS FROM THE FRONTLINE

Start Me Up: Lessons From The Frontline comprises six individual class sessions spread out throughout the year. The goal of this series is to provide PSP students with relatable and practical information about what it’s really like to start a business or social entrepreneurship-minded organization.

Rob Meinhardt, a Pinewood parent, is a seasoned entrepreneur who has been on the founding team of several companies, including roles in Product Management, Marketing, and Founder/CEO. In fact, Rob has never started his first day of work at a company of more than five people, so he emphasizes true-to-life storytelling to engage our PSP students!

START ME UP SERIES #1: Thinking Different

On October 24th, Rob Meinhardt discussed how to develop an entrepreneur's mindset to identify opportunities and drive them to success

START ME UP SERIES #2: LESSONS FROM THE FRONTLINE

In December, the PSP class welcomed Ellie Victor, a long-time colleague of Rob’s and a marketing and positioning expert. The students learned about how influential companies use positioning to establish market dominance.

NEW STORY

Julie Ordonez (Sr. Philanthropy Officer) and Danielle Armour (Key Partnerships)

On Friday, December 2nd, the class met with Julie Ordonez (Sr. Philanthropy Officer at New Story) and Danielle Armour (Key Partnerships). While a relatively nascent organization, they have achieved so much with their innovative approach to homelessness. Check out these inspirational videos to learn more about their programs:

LALAFOFOFO

Laura Vaughan of Lalafofofo came in October to share her stories about being a social entrepreneur in the Bay Area. The PSP students were blown away by the amazing organizations Ms. Vaughan has impacted in her career. For over 20 years, she has been organizing and executing Projects and Programs in the U.S. and internationally relating to Health and Education. As co-founder of a U.S. & Tanzanian Non-Governmental Organization based in a Maasai community near Kilimanjaro, she discussed how her organization helps improve access to education, nutrition & sanitation for small communities in Tanzania.