I had the privilege of traveling to Oahu, Hawaii this past summer, to conduct an educational site visit at the SEEQS school. Here, I met with one of the school's directors who provided an extensive tour of the school, shared a variety of art work and provided an experience in the school's botanical garden that was magnificent. This school distinguished itself through its innovative integration of science and arts education, which served as the primary motivation for my visit. Given the fact that I work in an arts high school, I was interested to learn about how the faculty of SEEQS integrates science and arts and the pedagogical dance the departments partake in to accomplish this feat. It was admirable and impressive how the school's unique pedagogical approach promotes students' artistic development and expression while simultaneously advancing their scientific research capabilities. 

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The SEEQS educational model centers on student-driven scientific inquiry, requiring each student to develop and investigate a scientific question throughout the academic year. This is something they choose so that they are interested in conducting the research. Students participate in weekly advisory sessions dedicated to research methodology and solution development. This structure reflects the school's core vision: "SEEQers will be stewards of planet earth and healthy, effective citizens of the world." Students understand that their educational experience integrates community engagement with core academic content and project-based learning, developing sustainable skills essential for environmental stewardship and global citizenship. 

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The advisory curriculum emphasizes five fundamental sustainability skills that are taught and reinforced over the course of the school year and through the end of the educational career at the school. These skills can be seen visible all around the school and on their website. They include: Communicating Powerfully: students learn to articulate their ideas effectively across various media and audiences, developing proficiency in expressing complex concepts to peers and broader communities. Collaborating Productively:while developing individual research theses, students learn to work collectively toward shared objectives. They identify peer strengths and cultivate collaborative relationships around common research themes. Managing Effectively: students develop organizational skills necessary for completing projects with attention to quality and detail. They learn to deconstruct complex tasks into manageable components that can be executed within established timeframes. Reasoning Analytically: the curriculum emphasizes evidence-based decision making, teaching students to evaluate data critically and distinguish between opinion and empirically supported conclusions. Thinking Systemically: students learn to identify patterns, establish connections, and design comprehensive solutions. This skill represents the synthesis phase where students integrate their analytical work to develop formal solutions to their environmental research questions. Through consistent practice of these five skills, students embody the school's vision of becoming true stewards of the planet—not just understanding environmental challenges, but becoming effective agents of change in their communities. Each student is equipped with both the mindset and the toolkit necessary to make a lasting impact. 

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Each semester, advisory classes conduct two-day off-campus field studies related to students' environmental research. The school provides several vans to teachers so they can transport the students to a variety of destinations around the island. During my visit, I had the opportunity to view several impressive and memorable research projects that were completed last school year. These projects include studies on global plastic pollution impacting Hawaiian shores and the effects of waste contamination on aquatic ecosystems and human health. Students used materials they collected from the shorelines to create majestic pieces of art to call attention to their environmental issue, and to call the viewer to action. 

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In addition to creating the artistic expression, students present their research findings through a formal presentation to a panel and peers. Here they share their research question, and their possible solutions. Here they debut their completed artistic piece that powerfully communicates their discoveries and asks the listener to take action. Notable examples included: several 3-D images featuring beach-collected plastic debris arranged to depict marine life, such as dolphins. beautiful mosaic artworks incorporating plastic fragments and bottle caps to create sea turtles and ecosystem representations, accompanied by calls for environmental action and several painted murals illustrating wildfire impacts on natural environments, depicting mother earth protecting wildlife, and demonstrating industrial pollution's effects on our water systems. As we toured the building, there were 

 

memories of projects past, through several murals, inspiring the next generation of students who will walk through the door. 

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Although the school was not in session during my visit, the student work and program description provided compelling evidence of the educational model's effectiveness. Students demonstrate genuine engagement with environmental challenges and embrace ownership of developing practical solutions. Through photographs and staff narratives, I encountered numerous examples of students and groups developing their research throughout the year, each project revealing deep inquiry and sustained commitment. The advisory program successfully cultivates global citizenship awareness and environmental stewardship. A unique resource enhances this work: advisories have direct access to a public botanical garden located on the school's property through a private entrance reserved for students and staff. Here, students learn about native plant species and their ecological significance, studying drought-resistant and fire-resistant varieties and their environmental impact. During my visit, I observed a section of the garden where students had planted native, fire-resistant species to beautify the space. This hands-on work allowed students to understand firsthand how plant selection affects ecosystem health and resilience, transforming abstract environmental concepts into tangible, meaningful action. 

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This experience will leave both immediate and long-term impacts with me to bring back to my school. In the immediate future, I plan to consult with visual arts faculty to share observations on environmental-arts integration and how they may consider it for their classes. I will collaborate with the art department to enhance student access to local natural environments for environmental awareness projects, and support initiatives for teachers to bring students out of the building into our local area. I will facilitate a discussion with advisory program coordinators and registrar regarding scheduling logistics for similar program implementation for our school. Impact on long-term goals for myself will be to develop a formal proposal for the academic and arts programming decision-making committee(ILT) around scheduling a similar program for students. I will facilitate conversations with the STEAM team that could lead to the seamless bridge of science and arts integration, mirroring that of the SEEQs model. Through these strategic discussions and initiatives, we can implement meaningful educational changes that enhance students' capacity to address environmental challenges through traditional learning and artistic expression. 

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1. How have your knowledge, skills, and capabilities grown? 

 

My knowledge has grown from this experience by shifting my focus from primarily personal creative development to examining how creative work intersects with complex sustainability challenges. One of the foundations of the SEEQS school is their EQS (Examining Essential Questions of Sustainability) course, which cultivates students' understanding of environmental stewardship through sustained inquiry. This "2-hour, 4-day-a-week block examining an essential question of sustainability" is designed to help students become "stewards of Planet Earth." It was transformational to witness how students explore critical environmental issues and think analytically while expressing their findings through creative art. My skills have developed in program design and cross-disciplinary collaboration. I now understand how to structure advisory time that balances research methodology with creative expression, and I've learned frameworks for teaching sustainability skills systematically throughout a school year. The school's commitment to community-focused relationships and interdisciplinary, project-based learning has given me concrete models for connecting creative projects directly to real community needs. My capabilities as a leader have expanded—I'm now equipped to facilitate conversations across departments about integrating arts and academics in meaningful ways. I can envision and articulate a program structure that doesn't simply add art to science or vice versa, but truly bridges both disciplines. The idea that resonated most strongly was that making art can be a powerful tool for understanding and addressing real-world problems, and I now have the capability to bring this vision to life in my own school. Seeing and experiencing the art, using materials collected from the shorelines of the island will remain with me for my lifetime. 

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2. As a result, in what ways will your instructional (or other) practice change? 

 

As a school leader, this experience has shown me the importance of bridging arts and academics. Students shouldn't be limited to using analytical thinking or creative thinking in isolation—both can and should work together, especially when developing solutions to pressing environmental challenges. 

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3. What is the greatest personal accomplishment of your fellowship? 

 

My greatest personal accomplishment was gaining a deeper understanding of how to effectively integrate environmental education with creative expression. While the entire experience was impactful, what stands out most was witnessing how students use art as a powerful tool for environmental advocacy. Seeing their work promoting environmental change through artistic pieces was awe-inspiring. Learning about the advisory model—where students have dedicated time and space to explore, research, and create—gave me a concrete framework I can adapt for my own school. This experience transformed my perspective from viewing arts and academics as separate entities to seeing them as essential partners in developing students who can think critically and creatively about real-world challenges. As a school leader, this experience has fundamentally changed how I think about program development and curriculum design. Rather than keeping arts and academics in separate silos, I will actively work to create structures that bridge them together. Specifically, I will advocate for dedicated time in our schedule where students can engage in sustained, interdisciplinary inquiry that combines research with creative expression. I will facilitate collaboration between arts and academic teachers to co-design projects that address real environmental challenges in Boston. And I will advocate for more community-based learning experiences that take students outside the classroom to explore local environmental issues. This effort will break down traditional barriers between disciplines to create more meaningful, integrated learning experiences for students (and staff). 

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4. How will your experience positively impact student learning in new ways? 

 

This experience will shift how students engage with both art and academic content. Instead of treating artistic expression as separate from academic inquiry, students will learn to use artistic processes as tools for understanding complex interconnections between environmental, social, and economic systems—particularly as they relate to Boston and their own communities. Their artwork will move beyond personal expression to reveal and explore these real-world connections. Most importantly, students will use their creative work to communicate critical ideas to broader audiences, engage community members in meaningful dialogue, and advocate for positive change. This approach transforms students from passive learners into active problem-solvers and community advocates who can think both analytically and creatively about the challenges facing their city and planet. 

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5. What are your plans to work collaboratively with colleagues? 

 

I plan to initiate conversations with key staff members across our school to explore implementing a similar model. First, I'll meet with our advisory program coordinator to share the SEEQS framework and discuss how we might adapt it for our context. I'll then engage teacher leaders from both arts and academics to collaboratively design a program that integrates environmental research with creative expression, focusing specifically on Boston-area challenges relevant to our students. These discussions will be collaborative from the start—I want to build shared ownership of this vision rather than present a finished plan. By involving colleagues early in the design 

process, we can create something that feels authentic to our school culture and sustainable for our teaching community. 

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6. Are there issues or challenges in your school, community or the world that you feel better prepared to address with your students? 

 

Right now the challenge is time and carving out space in the schedule for this type of work. We would need dedicated class time and to figure out what that looks like in academics and the arts. Teachers would need collaboration time to discuss the academics and how it is being created in the arts. Currently students have a lot of pressure balancing arts and academics, so I need to be mindful that we are not adding to their workload, but rather creating an opportunity that feels organic that bridges academics and arts. 

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7. How would you describe to a friend the most fundamental ways in which your fellowship has changed your personal and/or professional perspective? 

 

I used to think empowering students meant helping them find their creative voice through art—and while that's still important, I now understand it's just the beginning. Students don't have to choose between being analytical thinkers or creative thinkers; they can be both, and that combination is powerful when addressing complex world problems. At SEEQS, I saw countless examples of students using creative expression not just for personal fulfillment, but to help their community solve real problems and raise awareness about critical issues. I witnessed how art helps students understand their responsibility to each other and the planet in a truly beautiful way. This experience fundamentally changed my view: art doesn't just create artists—it develops global citizens who use creativity as a tool for problem-solving and community change. Art can be a call to action, not just self-expression.