Sant Bani School

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Overview General Sessions Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Register online	All Session 3 offerings run from 11:20 to 12:30 Allan DiBiase: Just What IS Education? Can we distinguish "education" from "mis-education"? Do we know when school experiences are "educative" and when they are not? How are learning experiences part of the fabric of a whole life? What might the experiential paradigm for learning be? These and other questions will be considered in a workshop that encourages sharing of how we learn within life experiences. The purpose of this sharing and subsequent inquiry will be "to find out just what education is and what conditions have to be satisfied in order that education may be a reality and not a name or a slogan. (John Dewey from Experience and Education)." Allan DiBiase, Ed.D., teaches courses in the foundations of education and the arts as the philosophy and ethics of education. He is a specialist in the life and work of John Dewey, as well as a professional musician. He has his doctorate from Rutgers University and has special interests in Ethnomusicology, culture-based approaches to learning, and 19th century foundations of American pragmatism. Dan Huston: Speak Your Mind: How Use of Mindfulness Meditation in Communications Courses Can Increase Students' Emotional Intelligence Recent studies link communication skills with emotional intelligence. In this workshop, Dan Huston, communications professor and author, helps explain that connection. His innovative teaching combines mindfulness meditation--which nurtures the ability to observe oneself and others with acceptance and nonjudgment--with a basic knowledge and application of communication concepts. Professor Dan Huston has been teaching communications at the college level for fifteen years. His lifelong interest in communications has led to numerous presentations and publications. He presented on mindfulness, communication, and emotional intelligence at the annual Cassola Conference on Teaching Communication at Johnson & Wales University. His essay "How Mindfulness Can Help Us Become Better Communicators" was published in the anthology, Teaching with Joy: Educational Practices for the Twenty-First Century. Currently, Professor Huston is teaching Honors Communications at NHTI in Concord, NH. He is working on a book detailing his teaching methodologies, which have helped hundreds of people achieve personal and professional success through their improved communication skills. Todd Lewis: Comparing Religions and Thinking Globally The Golden Rule of treating others as one would like to be treated is universal. Approaching the world's great religions with respect and by seeing this common ground provides a foundation for comparing how different cultures have ordered and explained their universe. Examining these traditions from their lived reality at the center of the bell curve, not their extreme, hearing directly from believers and reading original texts enable the student to gain appreciation for the "many mansions" of world religion. Todd Lewis is Professor of World Religions at the College of the Holy Cross. He has given lectures and done workshops at public and private K-12 schools, colleges, and medical schools throughout the US; he has also directed summer Institutes for k-12 teachers funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Torrey McMillan , Sam Conkling, Dave Coulter and Zach Baron: Sustainability - The View from Two Schools A joint presentation by The White Mountain School (Bethlehem, NH) and Sant Bani. The schools have different but complementary approaches to helping the community tread more lightly on the earth. Torrey McMillan will share several aspects of their approach, including course offerings, departmental design, and overall approach to program design and implementation. Student Zach Baron and staff Sam Conkling and Dave Coulter, co-chairs of the Sant Bani Energy Fellowship, will present the organic but successful approach used by SBS, including how to engage the broader community in this critical work. Torrey McMillan holds a BA from Princeton University and an MS from the University of Michigan. She is chair of the Department of Sustainability Studies at The White Mountain School, as well as the coordinator of "Work Jobs" and an instructor in the Farm and Forest program. She has presented workshops on systems thinking and sustainability at the national level. Sam Conkling has a B.A. from Colby College. He directs the maintenance program at Sant Bani and is the third grade teacher. Dave Coulter maintains the Sant Bani School physical plant. His breadth of practical skills and outdoor experience make him a sought after resource person in the community. Zach Baron has been a student at Sant Bani since grade three; he is now a senior. Last year he undertook an independent study in making and using biodiesel.