Student Spotlights | November/December 2023

Headwaters School
From high school Model UN to Montessori sewing work, we have some great spotlights of our students!

Elementary Student Council

This fall, the Creek Campus launched our inaugural Student Council for Upper El students! Elementary Director Tim Reilly shared the following about this exciting new opportunity:

We are thrilled to have officially launched a student council for our Upper El students. In my last communication, the students were just beginning to organize their campaigns. Since then, we had close to twenty students run successful campaigns, some of which included campaign managers! The campaign week concluded with each candidate delivering a speech in the library in front of their classmates, faculty, and the admin team. It was such a pleasure hearing the students share why they felt like they should represent the student body. Our candidates delivered impassioned speeches which included quotes from Thomas Jefferson, leadership qualities they hold, and ideas they have for improving our campus. It was an impressive effort from our UE students and could not be more proud of our students who leaned into trying something new. It is with great pleasure to announce our inaugural student council at Creek.

While elections were only about a month ago, student council members are already at work! The first initiative was a toy drive for Toys for Tots– a great success with so much generosity from our community. Thank you to all who participated! Then, they presented the new PACT focus at the latest school assembly. Student council members were naturals in front of their peers as they presented the new PACT Attribute for December and January–what it means to be a PEACEMAKER.

Congratulations to our first Elementary Student Council members!

Headwaters MUN at AUSMUN

By Jenna Evans ‘25
Headwaters’ Model United Nations delegation attended two conferences this semester! During these conferences, students from schools all around Texas come to engage in discourse and in the problem-solving of global issues. Headwaters delegates made their presence known this year and engaged in fierce debate. Participating in these committees, especially a historical one that covers events of the past, allows us to recreate history and see what could have been had individuals in charge acted differently.

On Saturday, September 23, we attended our first conference at Austin High School (AUSMUN). Topics included The Berlin Conference, The Ethical Repatriation of Artifacts, and Animal Testing. At AUSMUN, our delegation won three awards, Best Public Speaker (Eli Floyd), Best Delegate (Uszee McCoy), and Most Diplomatic (Jenna Evans).

On November 10-12 we attended CTMUN (Central Texas Model United Nations), a three-day conference held on the UT campus and run entirely by UT students. The committees our delegation participated in included: The Space Race, The Nigerian Civil War, and the UN Security Council. Nathaniel Rostvoid from the Headwaters Delegation received an Honorable Mention Award for his role as China in the UN Security Council.

Big thanks to Lei, our staff sponsor, for making time to be there with us during his precious weekends!

Primary Sewing

In our Montessori program, Practical Life skills are a building block and teach children the steps to take, materials to use, and the skills needed to “do it myself.” Sewing is an example of a Practical Life staple of the Montessori classroom and scales for the age of the child. The work changes and continues to challenge children at whatever level they are at. Here is a peek into the Primary Bluebirds Classroom of children ages 3-6 years old from Lead Guide Jaclyn Anderson:

There has been a heavy focus on sewing this week in Bluebirds. We have been laying the foundation of threading needles and learning basic stitches and many of the children are moving into bigger projects. Sewing in the early childhood environment offers so many benefits such as developing hand strength, pre-writing skills, and the mark of every good Practical Life work developing OCCI (order, concentration, coordination, and independence.) It has been so exciting to see the excitement and enthusiasm for sewing grow in our students. Many early works are imperfect–and that is fine! The benefits of these works are in the process, not the product. When sewing works come home, invite your child to tell you about them or about how they made it, so that the focus is on the process. Another good tip is to reflect the pride of accomplishment back onto your child with statements like “I can see that you worked really hard on this” or “this took a lot of focus and concentration, you should be proud of yourself.” 

“He does it with his hands, by experience, first in play, and then through work. The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.”
~ Dr. Maria Montessori

High School Student Advocacy In Action: I-35 Expansion

This semester, a group of students in our Student Advocacy Group joined together to learn more about the proposed I-35 expansion project through Austin. This group is a student-generated club that meets with guide support and works together to learn more about things in our community that matter to them. They diligently research topics and educate each other. 

In late October, a few students in this group went to City Hall to speak in favor of agenda item number 45. They spoke about how this project will evict people and businesses, make traffic harder and less safe, and bring more greenhouse gas emissions. Congratulations to Jenna Evans ’25, Max Ivy Keyton ’27, Liza Buechler  ’25, Olivia Bushover ’27, and Eleanor Steck ’25 for their heartfelt testimony. The motion was approved and our students testimony was called out as a hopeful beacon for the future of Austin. The students shared in a recap that this is the first step in holding TxDot accountable to the citizens of Austin’s wishes and “this is a small victory that we can celebrate.”

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As a 501(c)3 non-profit school, Headwaters School does not discriminate because of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other classes protected by federal, state, or local law in its admissions, financial aid, hiring, or board membership processes.