St. Margaret’s Alumni Enhancing Student Learning at Their Alma Mater

In part of their normal studies of subjects ranging from English literature to visual arts to San Juan Capistrano history, St. Margaret’s students were fortunate to have alumni presenters join classes as guest speakers recently, as they share their personal experiences and creations.

 

The cherished St. Margaret’s graduates put together video presentations, shared artwork, and answered engaging questions from current students via Zoom discussions. Here is a look at a few recent alumni/student connections:

 

 

St. Margaret’s alumnus Brayden Windes ’20, currently a student at Brown University, created a video presentation for grade 3 students as part of their annual San Juan Capistrano Day educational activities.

 

Brayden, whose grandfather is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation tribe of Oklahoma and whose grandmother is a Canadian Algonquin from Manitoba, educated students on the Native American history of the San Juan Capistrano area. He then led a panel discussion with his grandparents, who answered questions submitted by grade 3 students on Native American life. The three also led a presentation showing different Native American artifacts for the students, such as gourds, baskets and beadwork.

 

 

Sahar Khashayar ’18 spoke to the English IV: postcolonial science fiction and fantasy class this week, sharing their work as a webcomic creator.

 

Sahar, currently studying physics at Harvard University, created a post-apocalyptic sci-fi webcomic “End Behavior” that the English IV students, taught by Jamie Bunch, read in class as part of their comic/webcomic unit. Sahar shared some other work, such as a webcomic adaptation of Moby-Dick, answered several student questions, and spoke to the class about tying racial and gender identity into their work as an artist.

 

 

St. Margaret’s Upper School visual arts students were invited to take part in an entertaining and educational presentation by Shelby Nicholas ’16, a student in the Brown University/Rhode Island School of Design dual-degree program who is planning to pursue a career in animation.

 

Shelby gave a student perspective on going to art school and specifically the Brown/RISD dual-degree program. She shared some of her artwork and spoke about her recent internship with The Cartoon Network, which solidified her desire to focus on animation as a career path.

 

“It was great to see a St. Margaret’s alumna who’s also an artist in love with what they are doing,” said Jesse Standlea, visual arts department chair.

 

Shelby has been an instrumental connection between St. Margaret’s and RISD, one of the top art schools in the world, which has led to professional development opportunities for St. Margaret’s teachers, an artist-in-residence program with an RISD professor and, last fall, a presentation for students led by an RISD admissions officer.