Dr. 克里斯·海姆斯，《澳门威利斯官方网站》， & 新墨西哥州的纤维染色

在很多方面, the American Southwest is about as different from the Berkshires as a place could be. MHS工程总监 & 技术/STEAM协调员. 克里斯托弗·海姆斯十多年前就发现了这一点, while doing research at the University of New Mexico and living in Albuquerque.

“I was awestruck by the landscape, culture, and overall environment,克里斯解释道。. “I felt like the environment forced me to consider my relationship to the place, 我比过去活得更深了. Also, culturally the region is very different from other places I have lived. 所有这些都创造了很多灵感.”

事实上, Chris’s experience at UNM and subsequent visits to the Southwest inspired plans for a return to the region, so he can dig deeper into concepts to be shared with students on Holmes Road. 作为接收者 2022-23 Paternotte Family Faculty Travel and Study Endowment Fund Grant由Nancy Brewster Paternotte于2015年创立, 在她50岁同学会的时候, the fund supports faculty professional development through travel., Chris is traveling to New Mexico in June to explore the Southwest’s traditional fiber arts and its sustainable housing, 他可以将这两个主题纳入他基于steam的澳门威利斯网站中.

Not only is Chris the recipient of the latest Paternotte grant, but he has also been named the most recent Leonhardt Family Teaching Chair. 每四年授予一次, the Leonhardt Chair recognizes an MHS faculty member who possesses the highest personal and professional ethics, 谁对年轻人做出了一生的承诺, whose skillful instruction enlivens the experience of learning, and whose wise counsel and guidance to students extend beyond the classroom. 教职员工和学生提交荣誉提名.

“The Southwest has a rich history that intersects with new and traditional innovations,克里斯解释道。, who made the trip with his family — MHS 英语 Teacher Emily Pulfer-Terino ’97 and their son Lyric. “Many of the issues that will be faced by our students in the future will be environmentally driven, and I feel that the concepts I can introduce will help the role of adaptability and sustainability in facing a changing environmental ecology.”

这是他旅行的第一部分, Chris visited and took classes at the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, 圣达菲北部. 在那里, 他研究大型织布机的织造原理, 项目设计, 用植物色素染色纤维.

“Fiber-dying is a form of technology and is also fundamentally tied to chemistry,他指出, 这些原则也可以推广到其他学科. “From the way the pigments are extracted from natural sources and then fixed into wool is all about conducting some type of chemical experiment. My hope is to eventually guide students in making their own dyes from plants in the Berkshires.”

在旅程的第二部分, 克里斯参观了新墨西哥州北部的“地球飞船”,” self-sustaining homes that are made from recycled materials and designed to collect and use resources as efficiently as possible. The homes are fully independent structures that operate with passive solar heating, 发电, 收集并重复使用水, 并拥有自给自足的花园.

克里斯和他的家人住在一艘地球船上。!), 帮助他理解他们的设计, 美学, and sustainability — all of which he can bring to the Hopper Innovation Lab. 的概念, 他补充说, have been incorporated into the Department’s Engineering and Ready SET Go courses, but they can be expanded upon as students explore systems and consider solutions to challenges.

“The EarthShips are strange-looking and wonderful structures that really inspire the imagination,克里斯补充道. “Fundamentally, engineering is problem-solving through design thinking. 我相信这次经历会激发出新的思维方式, and I hope that sharing this perspective can help our students to think differently about what a home can do and what it can look like.”

Chris expects his experiences in the Southwest will impact the students’ experiences in the MHS classroom in several ways.

“Each of these pursuits is fundamentally about 项目设计 and management,” he explains. “This is an essential and ubiquitous skill in engineering and tech. Further, each area has subcomponents/subsystems to ‘build’ a larger artifact. 其次, each project can be redefined and scaled to fit the MHS campus and the environment of the Berkshires. This highlights another important aspect of design, which is understanding constraints.”

We look forward to hearing more about Chris’s trip when he presents to the MHS community on Thursday, 12月7日!

澳门威利斯网站帕特洛特基金

The Paternotte Family Faculty Travel and Study Endowment Fund was established by Nancy Brewster Paternotte ’65 in 2015, 在她50岁同学会的时候, 支持MHS教师的专业发展. Miss Hall’s faculty may apply for this annual grant to travel domestically or abroad during the summer or school vacation to further knowledge in their field, to explore new developments in teaching methods or instructional technology, 在他们的领域获得更多的专业知识, or to train in a new instructional area that will enrich the curriculum.

The recipient of the Paternotte Family Faculty Travel and Study grant will be asked to embed learning from their travel experience into the classroom, to publicize this work through a formal presentation to the school community in the fall semester, and to share this experience in an article for school publications and web communications.