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Lucky 7: New Courses Coming for Fenwick’s 92nd Academic Year

Four advanced computer science classes, one advanced theatre class, Mandarin and yoga headline exciting curriculum additions for Friar students and teachers!

By Mark Vruno

The Fenwick administration and faculty are excited to offer several new courses to students this coming school year. A series of four Advanced Computer Topics (ACT) classes as well as a new World Language course (Mandarin), an Advanced Theatre class and a new Physical-education class (yoga).

Dave Kleinhans

In discussing the new Advanced Computer courses, “Close to 30% of Fenwick’s graduates pursue a degree in STEM [science, technology, engineering or mathematics],” reports Computer Science & Physics Dept. Co-chair Dave Kleinhans. “Our investment in courses and physical spaces must match this interest.” The school’s new Computer Science Engineering & 3D Printing Lab, which debuted in the fall of 2019, will support four new advanced Computer Science (CS) classes: Data Structures & Algorithms, Introduction to Robotics, 3D Printing and IT Fundamentals for Cybersecurity.

The four, half-credit “ACT” classes are designed for students interested in diving deeper into the so-called computer sciences. They will have the opportunity to explore specific topics beyond the College Board’s AP Curriculum in an online format during scheduled CS class time. Each course has a programming or computer-aided design (CAD) requirement and is taught via an online, education-software platform.

Don Nelson joined Fenwick’s faculty in the 2019-20 school year.

“These topics represent areas that provide valuable preparation to students interested in pursuing technical disciplines — and those that are hot in today’s computing market,” adds CS/Physics Teacher Don Nelson. He should know. Mr. Nelson spent 30 years as a business person/nuclear engineer before embarking on a second career in education. (Prior to coming to Fenwick in 2019, Nelson taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology and DePaul Prep, formerly Gordon Tech.)

“Each of the classes offers students with experience and advanced knowledge of CS through two primary activities,” Nelson explains:

  • The online format is offered through Coursera and more than 100 partner universities (e.g., University of Illinois, Northwestern) and private corporations (e.g., IBM).
  • A capstone project complements the online format with a hands-on application of the concepts presented.

Upon successful completion, the student will receive a digital certificate and hands-on experience valued by universities and prospective employers. “With Don and our five other engineers serving as teachers here, combined with our recent physical space and course investments,” Mr. Kleinhans continues, “Fenwick is uniquely positioned in the high-school arena to serve students interested in STEM.” (See sidebar for additional course details.)

 

“If you want to talk to someone, speak in your language. But if you want to connect with someone, speak in theirs.”

– Nelson Mandela

 

Mandarin I (1.0 credit)

“The sixth language offered by Fenwick will be Mandarin [Chinese],” reports Principal Peter Groom. It is the language of government and education of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan (with the notable exceptions of Hong Kong and Macau, where a local dialect of Chinese called Cantonese is more often used.) Mandarin is one of five major regional languages of China.

At admissions-sponsored events over the past two years or so, “we have heard repeatedly from families that this is an area we needed to seriously consider,” Mr. Groom continues. “We have a current freshman student with some background in Mandarin.” He adds that the language fits within the wheelhouse of faculty member Shana Wang, who offered to teach it as a pilot program this school year.

Shana Wang

Last year, incoming Friar prospect Dylan Zorovich ’23 “was looking for a language but could not find it at Fenwick,” recounts Ms. Wang, who describes the free-thinking freshman from Elmhurst, IL, as both “diligent and delightful.” In true Dominican fashion, mentor and student set out on a journey this past August. “Our quest? To find a common language,” says Wang, who has taught in China.

Principal Peter Groom

The full-fledged course next school year seeks to provide a lively and challenging introduction to the basics of reading, writing, speaking and listening in Mandarin. Students will aim to identify at least 300 Chinese characters by the end of the year and write at least 150 Chinese characters using the correct stroke order. These characters are used to construct simple sentences while employing the proper grammatical conventions. In addition to learning Chinese characters, students will partake in continuous speaking and listening practice. They will watch videos, listen to dialogues and make presentations about important historical figures and events in China, Taiwan and Singapore. There will also be a focus on various Chinese cultures and their specific contributions to the global society.

Theatre II  (0.5 credit)

Caleb Faille

This course is geared toward musical theatre, performance and design, building on the student experiences learned in Theatre I (which is a prerequisite). Students will engage in activities including music and text analysis, staging, scene analysis, choreography, theatre tech, lighting design, stage management and production. The course will culminate with a musical revue including solo and group numbers. The skills learned will not only enhance students’ musical theatre experience but also expose them to careers off the stage. 

“Theatre I is for students with no theatre background,” Mr. Groom notes. “This second-level addition will attract those who do have some background in theatre.” Therefore, previous experience is required, as is approval from Theatre Teacher Mr. Caleb Faille, whose responsibilities within Fenwick’s Expressive Arts Dept. gradually have been increasing. “Mr. Faille now is in charge of our spring musicals,” Groom reports. An additional benefit is that Blackfriars Guild members can study their craft during the school day, he adds.

 

“Yoga is like music; the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.”

 – B.K.S. Iyengar

 

Yoga (0.5 credit)

Also coming to the Fenwick curriculum in 2020-21 is a yoga course, “which can fulfill the P.E. [physical education] requirement, for sophomores,” Groom says. Expressive Arts Chairperson Rizelle Capito will teach the course. She has conducted yoga instruction for Fenwick faculty as well as for the varsity football team.

Rizelle Capito

Ms. Capito says, “Studies and research have shown that yoga and mindfulness exercises not only promote physical health, but also mental health. Our students are under a lot of pressure and stress and we need to provide them with healthy ways of dealing with their stress. The class will include the physical practice of yoga to build physical strength and flexibility, meditation and mindfulness exercises. The hope is that the students will take these tools and incorporate them into their daily lives as a means of staying both physically and mentally healthy.”

Sophomores have the option to choose a regular PE class or yoga as their physical-education credit. (Placement is not guaranteed and is dependent on period availability and scheduling.) The course is designed to introduce students, safely and accessibly, to the basic postures, breathing techniques, and relaxation methods of yoga.  Areas of focus will be on low-impact activities to improve overall flexibility, strength, core and cardiovascular endurance.

Find complete course descriptions in Fenwick’s 2020-21 Course Selection Guide.

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The Moments Between the Moments

Seven Days. Three Countries.
Much Schnitzel.

By Garett Auriemma ’85

I’m 4,700 miles from home, I’m sitting in a church organ loft, and I’ve got chills.

Not because I’ve managed to cajole the church administrator into finally shutting down the giant heater that, until just moments before, had been noisily baking the left side of my head. But because below me, 44 members of the Fenwick Band and Choir are giving a performance that most musicians—most anyone, really—could only dream of.

We’re in the Minoritenkirche, a nearly 700-year-old Gothic cathedral in Vienna, Austria. It’s Spring Break, and we’re at the halfway point in the Fenwick Band and Choir European tour— seven days, three cities, three performances.

This is the group’s second performance. The first performance, two nights earlier at the Danube Palace in Budapest, had led to raucous applause and requests for encores. Likewise, the final performance, at Hlahol Music Hall in Prague two days later, would see the student vocalists and musicians in top form before another packed house of enthusiastic concertgoers.

The Minoritenkirche concert, however, elevates the already extraordinary to the sublime. The choir voices spread throughout the cathedral, becoming one with the building, while the instrumentalists’ final notes resonate throughout the structure for what seems like an eternity.

Had you told me the church walls themselves were singing, I would have believed you without hesitation.

*  *  *

When I initially decided to take part in the trip, I did so as an opportunity to visit parts of Europe that had thus far escaped me, and to share the experience with my son, Evan, a sophomore and member of the Fenwick Wind Ensemble.

Although our itinerary was jam-packed, a few weeks removed from the trip, I’m finding that, along with the performances, what my mind flashes back to frequently are the “moments between the moments.”

The “moments” are exactly what you’d expect: the walking tours, the museums, the guided visits to landmarks and castles—the itinerary items that were carefully planned out, timed, and pre-arranged. The “moments between the moments,” though, are those bits that didn’t show up on the itinerary—the times we took Europe into our own hands and decided to see what was there.

The Hogwarts of Eastern Europe?

In Budapest, one of those moments between the moments was a post-performance, after-dinner walk (fully condoned and chaperoned) to a castle-like structure that we had glimpsed from our touring coach earlier in the day. Crossing under the regal entryway, we learned that the building was actually the “Magyar Mezogazdasagi Muzeum,” or Hungarian Agricultural Museum, although from a distance, and illuminated under the night sky, it could have served as a stand-in for Hogwarts’ Eastern European counterpart in the Harry Potter universe.

Though the museum was closed, the grounds remained open, providing us with a serene, fairy tale evening in the midst of modern-day Budapest. Harry Potter never turned up, but it was magical nonetheless.


*  *  *

In addition to chaperoning my own son, I was also assigned the responsibility for a small group of additional students. My group —”Best Group Ever,” as we humbly christened ourselves—quickly bonded. Specifically, we bonded over schnitzel.

An initial lunchtime excursion in Budapest had led us and another chaperoned group to a small 20-seat cafe, 18 seats of which we filled. While the server tried his best to steer us toward the (likely already prepared) “Tourist Lunch,” we opted for variations on prepared-to-order Hungarian schnitzel. We were hooked.

Flash forward two days, and fresh off the coach in Vienna, there was a temptation among several of my bus-weary charges who eyed familiar-looking arches on a restaurant storefront to take the path of least resistance, food-wise. Risking the wrath of hungry teenagers, however, I stood my ground, reminding them that we were only in Europe for a short time, and that we had only a few meals on our own. And I could not, in good conscience, allow those meals to take place at an American fast food chain.

The area in which we alighted was rich with open-air food stands and vendors–many of them schnitzel-based. Recalling the experience in Budapest, we picked one, and thus began another moment between the moments—my group’s obsession with “street schnitzel.” From that point forward, any independent dining opportunity included at least one — and sometimes several — attempts to secure additional schnitzel.

*  *  *

Later in Vienna, following the performance at the Minoritenkirche, an after-hours visit to — of all places — an amusement park, provided yet another unexpected moment between the moments. From our hotel, we could see the Wiener Riesenrad, or “Vienna Giant Wheel,” a 200-foot-tall Ferris wheel that pierced the Vienna sky. It was originally constructed in the late 1800s, and until the mid-1980s, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. We were later reminded that the Reisenrad had a rich cinematic history as well, having been featured in classic films such as The Third Man.

At the time, however, we knew none of that. What we did know was that it was still relatively early, the weather was beautiful and there were a whole bunch of other rides near the Ferris wheel. Those other rides were part of the Wurstelprater, or just “the Prater,” as it is often referred to, an area of a park in Vienna that has been designated as a public amusement and recreation area since the mid-1700s.

While the Prater at first appeared to be closed (or closing), the rides were in full swing. So, armed with Euros for admission to the rides and the boundless energy that can only come from being a teenager roaming an amusement park in Europe, the kids (and a few chaperones) embarked on an impromptu history lesson/adrenaline rush that lingered long after their curfew and lights out.

*  *  *

Prague, the final stop on our tour, provided more moments than should logically be able to fit into one day. As we walked the city, from Prague Castle through Lesser Town, across the Charles Bridge into Old Town, every turn, every street in Prague revealed itself to be more beautiful and more majestic than the one prior. It gave us enough moments — and enough moments between the moments — to last several lifetimes.

It also gave us trdelník.

A trdelník, for the uninitiated, is a rolled pastry cylinder that is baked, stuffed with Nutella, ice cream or other filling, and then—and this is the important part—coated in actual magic. By my unofficial estimation, it is literally impossible to take more than five steps in any direction in the Czech Republic without encountering a trdelník stand. Failure to consume a trdelnik in Prague is, I believe, punishable by law. Or at least it should be.  

*  *  *

I’m back in the Minoritenkirche organ loft. Not literally, of course. Literally, I’m in an office in downtown Chicago, 4,700 miles from that loft. But mentally, I’m back in Vienna, surrounded by the majesty of the cathedral and embraced by the sound of our student musicians. I close my eyes and I hear their performance anew.

The church walls sing again. And I still get chills.

*  *  *

My thoughts on this extraordinary trip would not be complete without a shout-out of gratitude to Fenwick Band Directors Ms. Rizelle Capito and Mr. Andrew Thompson, without whom the promise of this unforgettable adventure would have remained unfulfilled; to Mr. Brennan Roach and Mr. Phillip Videckis for leading and accompanying the Fenwick Choir; to the other Fenwick parents who helped make the week so memorable for everyone, especially the students; and to “Best Group Ever” for being .. .well, you know, the best group ever. Thank you. The next round of street schnitzel is on me.

About the Author

Alumnus Garett Auriemma ’85, is Director of Communications and Development for the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS), a Chicago-based national animal protection nonprofit organization. He has worked as a marketing, communications and development professional in the Chicago area for 30 years, primarily in the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining NAVS, Mr. Auriemma was Director of Marketing and Communications for the American Brain Tumor Association and Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago (EFGC). He served as Interim President of the EFGC from 2005 to 2006. Over the course of his career, Mr. Auriemma has also directed general marketing, public relations and communications activities for Oak Park Hospital, Borders Books and Music, the Chicago Sinfonietta, Levy Home Entertainment and Proviso Township High Schools. 

Mr. Auriemma received his B.A. in English from Rosary College in River Forest, and his M.A. in Communications from Northwestern University. While at Fenwick, he served as editor of The Wick. He and his wife, Brenda, live in Chicago with their son Evan (’21), daughter Rowan (Future Friar ’24) and dog Maddie.