Banyan Tree Education

I had forgotten how magical Paris truly is, or perhaps I just hadn’t reached the age to appreciate its magnificence. We traveled there to attend The Last Ship’s premiere. Rob & Sting have been working the show for over a decade, and it’s brilliant - standing ovations every night; everyone was thoroughly captivated and impressed.

As I watched the crowds in the huge La Seine Musicale theater jump to their feet each night, I thought about how Sting and Rob, and many others involved in the project, had modeled what perseverance, dedication, and VERY hard work can bring - an incredible result. Ever the teacher, I wondered how to pare this down for children to understand. It’s such a wonderful example.

Here are a few shots, including our visit to the Richter retrospective, Rob playing a snippet with the lingering cast after the party, and our middle daughter, Sarah, being my travel buddy as Dad worked tirelessly with Sting throughout the week.

You know you’re obsessed with your job when you ask a buddy about negative exponents at a wedding! Or, while you’re picking up your dry cleaning, you beeline it to Acme because making letters out of cookie dough would really help the little guy who's coming in a couple of hours. You delight in reading Of Mice and Men, The Odyssey, The Scarlett Letter, and all the great classics over and over again, and teaching improper fractions, functions, and more advanced concepts is actually fun, particularly when you get creative!

You love talking to parents and sharing insights about their children’s learning. Of course, you adore your students, even the grumpy teens, and since you’re almost 62 and have raised three kids, you have no problem telling a teen to stand down if they’re being uppity, and it’s amazing that they listen because they can hear that yes, I am one seasoned mama, who can’t be messed with - ha!

Positive brings positive, and this is so important in teaching. How can we expect our kids to love learning if we don’t? It’s such a thrill to watch a kid transform from someone who doesn’t particularly care about their work or school to someone who does, and also delights in learning, which we all should.

I took my 86-year-old mom to the Frick last Friday, and promptly lost my keys in the cab. I spent the weekend tracking them thanks, to my Apple tag. It was sort of fun watching them travel around NYC; they were probably tucked in a cushion so nobody noticed them for a couple of days. Finally, they landed at a taxi depot on W 127th St., but I still couldn’t locate a phone number or company name until Emma Mathes stepped in, and with a few strokes and a quick deep dive, she figured it out!

Congrats to a former student, who is now way too smart for me! I started working with Kayah back in elementary and middle school, and when she got to GHS, she no longer needed help with math because I think she was teaching most of the adults by then! She just completed her sophomore year, and Harvard already offered her a spot - and she accepted! So, congrats that all your hard work and dedication have paid off; and thank your parents for their incredible support, your little sis for being so dang proud, and of course, all those excellent teachers and coaches at GHS!! 🔥👏❤️

There's something about muscle memory. I can still picture those hours playing ping-pong with my dad, when he'd transformed our dining room into a game room on Shore Road in Old Greenwich back in the 1970s. I would be in my nightgown, staying up late, and Mom would yell, "Bob, she has to go to bed!" Dad and I would laugh and reply, "Just one more match!" By thirteen, I was getting pretty good, although Dad was always much better. However, he taught me about topspin and to serve with a punch. I'll never forget the one time I beat him. He didn't like it, but he was proud.

Yesterday was the first time I'd played in 45 years. It was a birthday party, and I was paired with a stranger, albeit thankfully, a nice one. Soon, my muscle memory kicked in, and I felt, in some ways, I was back in my dining room, because some shots returned. However, others didn't, and I missed many! However, I improved with each game, and when we finished, I hoped to play again soon.

With only one parent still alive, I find that random memories resurface more frequently. They remind me how much those experiences have shaped me. And, even my muscles have been "shaped" by life experiences, like my ping-pong muscles - albeit I need to strengthen those!

Learning styles have always fascinated me. Sarah’s gifts are plenty. She’s of course extremely musical, and to name a few others, she has incredible comedic timing, amazing oral and aural recall, and insane rhythmic abilities, like her pops. Here’s her latest…

My daughter Sarah, the middle of three magnificent young women (all due to their mother's influence), has a new song out. I have been trying to encourage her to just release more and send things out into the universe. She's a perfectionist. She is doing it and this one is the first of a bunch of wonderful new songs. So proud. Go get 'em Mathes!! https://music.apple.com/us/album/mila-kunis-single/1822285654

I was reminded this week that we all are beings that crave love and deep, faithful commitment. People clearly want confirmation that it exists and that there's hope. My 93-year-old father-in-law waxes about his 67-year love for his Joanie, as he anxiously waits for her to return. Our daughter Sarah, who posts regularly, adores her grandparents but had no idea that "Birdie" would become an overnight sensation. While I usually post about teaching, the bottom line is that it's always about spreading goodness, kindness, and love. (And kids need this just as much both inside and outside the classroom.)

TikTok · im.mathes 448.6K likes, 2469 comments. “ he is perfect”

The first photo was taken this weekend at my 40-year college reunion on the KAT porch at DePauw U. in Greencastle, Indiana; the other was at my college graduation - on the same swing.

It's a crazy powerful thing, reunions. It took me two canceled flights at two NYC airports, a delayed flight to Indy via Atlanta, an air train, another flight—finally to Indy —and a 2 a.m. Uber to arrive at my destination. My college roommate and lifelong buddy, Red/Jane, was waiting in her PJs for me, and I fell into her arms and cried with exhaustion.

The question is, why didn't I give up at any time during that horrible day?
While I met some wonderful people throughout the journey, I persevered for a few reasons: to spend time with the people waiting for me, to remember a time and a life long ago, and then to look forward to the future.

The impact and memories from one's schooling are monumental, and sometimes we forget this as students and teachers. Yet, as the school year comes to a close, let us be thankful for the magic of school, that we are not only academically educated but learn and grow on so many other levels, too.

I spent an amazing weekend with friends. We walked the beaches, ate lots of food, talked about everything from our jobs to our childhoods to our kids, and even found time to play the New York Times Spelling Bee. You never stop learning, and it’s amazing to do it with friends. By the way, the weekend was actually for our husbands’ men’s book club. The guys have put book clubs on a whole new level, and put the rest of us to shame. They have had an author come speak to them, have incorporated film with one of their books, and of course, pulled together this weekend at a beach house in Rhode Island. One of the men even made incredible walking sticks, from large branches,to tie in with the book they read, which was The Overstory by Richard Powers. I love the men’s passion for good books and a reminder that learning with others is a wonderful thing.
learning & growing

Last week, I spent a lot of time helping with early decision supplemental essays. Today, I worked with cos, sin, tan, inverses, and on a geometry unit review packet. Reading and writing were always my favorites, but math is running a close second.