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Mason Korea hosts Global Career Camp for Incheon middle schoolers

Colleen Rich — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 14:58:56 +0000

Mason Korea hosts Global Career Camp for Incheon middle schoolers Colleen Rich Wed, 08/07/2024 - 10:58

Mason Korea, in partnership with the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education and the GM Employee Foundation Korea, hosted the inaugural Global Career Camp earlier this month.

Photo provided

Approximately 30 middle school students from Incheon, including multicultural and rural students, participated in the two-day camp. The program offered academic mentorship, professional lectures, and company tours, to inspire and guide students in exploring potential career paths.

As part of Mason Korea’s commitment to community engagement, university students served as mentors, sharing their experiences and leading group discussions.

One camp participant said, "I don't usually get the chance to do hands-on activities related to careers, so it was great to receive a lot of information about careers that I could consider."

"It was fun to meet and interact with so many younger students in Incheon," said Jiseon Kim, a junior business major who served as a camp mentor. "This experience also provided an opportunity for Mason Korea students serving as mentors, including myself, to grow through the mentoring process."

“I am thrilled to see future global leaders collaborating to grow together,” said Mason Korea Interim Campus Dean Shannon Davis. “This partnership between Incheon's leading educational institutions and corporations highlights our commitment to nurturing global talent. We will continue to invest in youth education, address community issues, and develop individuals who are eager to make a positive impact,” she added.

To recognize the 10th anniversary of Mason Korea, President Gregory Washington is joined by former campus dean Robert Matz and associate professor Gyu Tag Lee on the Access to Excellence Podcast.

Listen to the episode

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George Mason launches literacy project to support Virginia families

Colleen Rich — Mon, 22 Jul 2024 18:01:30 +0000

George Mason launches literacy project to support Virginia families Colleen Rich Mon, 07/22/2024 - 14:01

A statewide literacy project designed to counteract the educational impacts of the pandemic is now in full swing, thanks to the efforts of educators in ��AV’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD).

Allison Ward Parsons. Photo by Office of University Branding

Called the Literacy Engagement Action Project (LEAP) and designed to build literacy skills in K-12 students with a scalable, comprehensive program for teachers, students, and their families, the program is run by the Elizabeth G. Sturtevant, PhD, Center for Literacy at George Mason with center director Allison Ward Parsons serving as the principal investigator.

Funding for this project through a U.S. Department of Education grant was made possible by the efforts of Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who secured a $1.83 million designated spending provision as part of the Fiscal Year 2022 federal government appropriations bill.

The LEAP project addresses the needs of families, children, and teachers resulting from the negative impacts that the pandemic has had on K-12 learners, particularly those from marginalized or economically disadvantaged populations. “The project overall is geared toward post-COVID support, recognizing that many families know that their students need additional help,” said Ward Parsons, an associate professor of the literacy program in CEHD’s School of Education.

The need for this support is reflected in testing data collected by the state. Ward Parsons and her team members analyzed reading test scores compiled by the Virginia Department of Education and found significant gaps between students of wealthier backgrounds compared with those from economically disadvantaged communities, English language learners, and students from Black and Hispanic populations.

The main components of the LEAP project include:

Community outreach and support where families are provided with free access to books and other literacy resources that include workshops, podcasts, read-aloud events at public libraries, and other venues;
A website, leap.cehd.gmu.edu, developed by the Sturtevant Center for Literacy, that is accessible on its own as a stand-alone site as well as through the main Literacy Center home page (the LEAP website provides tools such as video modules offered in English and Spanish that explore different topics in literacy, activity links supporting various aspects of literacy development across grade levels, and interactive reading guides for literary genres that include comprehension tips applicable to specific age groups);
Tutoring of K-12 learners given by George Mason students who must successfully complete a series of LEAP training modules and pass required background checks conducted by partnering schools (once approved, tutors are provided with lesson plans and tutoring support materials developed by the LEAP team and which are available on the Literacy Center’s website); and
Asynchronous online teacher professional learning modules (now under development), which include content that meets teacher needs assessment and enhances teacher engagement (once finalized, these materials will be housed on the LEAP website).

LEAP bookshelf at Fair Lakes Barnes and Noble. Photo provided

As part of the LEAP project, book bins are being installed in various locations throughout Northern Virginia stocked with a curated set of books available for sharing with students and families.

Ward Parsons explains that this LEAP feature is patterned after the “take a book, leave a book” free mini-library movement that has become popular in many neighborhoods in cities across the United States. However, she adds that there is one distinguishing feature that makes the book sharing component unique: Each book contains a QR code linking back to an interactive reading guide that is accessible on the LEAP website.

These reading guides, formatted as PDF documents, contain conversation prompts, questions, vocabulary support, and suggested discussion topics related to the characters and plot of the book that families and tutors can use when they are reading and talking about the books with children.

“We want to go beyond a passive read-aloud where the student just sits and listens as the book is being read to them,” Ward Parsons said. “We want children to be thinking about the text and to interact with the adult so that there is more opportunity for fluency and comprehension development in reading.”

She points out that the reading guides encourage families and children to read together and that this can help support literacy development in young learners.

The sites being chosen for the book bins are places where families bring their children in accessing needed services, such as medical clinics, food banks, and homeless shelters. Families can engage their children in an interactive read-aloud of the books provided at these locations. They can also sign up on the LEAP website to receive their own copies of the books with more book sharing support. Book bins are also being placed at schools which have partnered with LEAP to provide spaces where tutors can work with children who have been identified as needing additional help with reading comprehension and literacy.

The LEAP project has made significant gains in its book distribution endeavors over the past year. Some of the most recently installed book bins include: the installation of community book bins with reading guides at General Heiser Boys and Girls Club in Dumfries; a community book bin at Ivy Rehab for Kids in Falls Church that will be available to families in the waiting room and used by staff speech-language pathologists and therapists during speech therapy visits; and, a community book bin at Fort Belvoir to support military-connected families.

In addition to establishing the book bins, LEAP faculty and staff are collaborating with communities in Northern Virginia as they launch initiatives in support of children’s literacy. For example, in March and April this year, LEAP representatives organized four family workshops in the Georgetown South Community of Manassas, Virginia. These workshops were conducted in Spanish and included interactive read-alouds, as well as other activities designed to build vocabulary, background knowledge, and reading comprehension in children.

LEAP also hosted a two-week summer camp for elementary students in the Georgetown South community during which George Mason students provided daily literacy tutoring. The camp's theme centered on science and included experiments and other activities performed by the children who attended the camp which provided them with the opportunity to learn more about science while improving their reading comprehension skills.

Representatives of LEAP continued their work with members of the Georgetown South community with the introduction of a summer book club and lending library for students. In describing this initiative, Ward Parsons stated, “Our goal is to support summer reading and offer students opportunities to talk about their reading, get help as needed, and build a community of readers.”

Other LEAP projects include:

A bookshelf at Fair Lakes Barnes & Noble bookstore;
A family/student literacy workshop and summer STEM read-aloud that was held at the Fort Belvoir military base in Northern Virginia;
A series of three children’s events at the Fairfax City branch of the Fairfax County Public Libraries (following one of these events the library requested a full set of printed reading guides, which are now compiled and displayed in the children’s section for easy patron access);
A partnership with the Fair Lakes Barnes & Noble bookstore where the QR codes linking to the LEAP reading guides are posted throughout the children’s section so that a reader browsing the shelves will see the content developed by LEAP alongside the corresponding books;
A Back-to-School Book Fair to be held Aug. 17 at the Fair Lakes Barnes and Noble bookstore through which a portion of the proceeds from the sale of books will go to the Sturtevant Center for Literacy to purchase books that will be shared with community partners; and,
A back-to-school event sponsored by Micron and Barbershop Books.

Because the literacy resources and tutor training materials accessible on the LEAP website will continue to be maintained by the Sturtevant Center for Literacy beyond the life of the project, Ward Parsons and her team members are confident that this initiative will create a sustainable, practical model for literacy support in Virginia.

“These materials become a durable commodity, something that we can provide throughout Virginia and something that any school can use because it is all made available through federal funding that is specifically dedicated to the support of literacy,” said Ward Parsons.

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Empowering girls in STEAM at the Potomac Science Center

Lauren Reuscher — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 17:31:16 +0000

Empowering girls in STEAM at the Potomac Science Center Lauren Reuscher Wed, 03/06/2024 - 12:31

��AV’s Potomac Science Center hosted the Girls in STEAM Empowerment Conference on Thursday, February 29. This annual event welcomed 60 middle school students for a day of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM). The event promotes STEAM careers for young women through engaging discussions and hands-on activities.

The Girls in STEAM Empowerment Conference was cosponsored by Mason, Schneider Electric, Prince William County Public Schools, The NEED Project, Dominion Energy, Iron Mountain Data Centers, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners, and ACI Solutions. Pictured: Abigail Weigel, Schneider Electric. Photo by PEREC

Students learned about energy science and engineered energy efficient structures. All the student attendees came from five Title I schools in Prince William County.

The National Energy Education Development Project (The NEED Project) led two energy workshops. Participants built and tested the efficiency of a mocked-up “thermally insulated house” and generated and measured electricity conducted through various objects.

Middle school students engaged in hands-on STEAM activities along the waterfront of the Potomac Science Center. Photo by PEREC

A panel of women in STEAM shared stories about how they came into their careers and responded to student questions. The panel included Cindy Smith, professor of environmental science and policy and director K-12 partnerships for the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC).

Mason Professor Cindy Smith (second from left) with Prince William County Schools staff Melinda Landry, Jeanne Jabara BS Biology ‘80, MS Environmental Biology ‘83, and Jess Doiron. Photo by PEREC

The Girls in STEAM Empowerment Conference is cosponsored by Mason, Schneider Electric, Prince William County Public Schools, The NEED Project, Dominion Energy, Iron Mountain Data Centers, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners, and ACI Solutions.

Conference space at the Potomac Science Center. Photo by PEREC

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Mason, Prince William County Public Schools expand EIP collaboration

Colleen Rich — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 19:48:44 +0000

Mason, Prince William County Public Schools expand EIP collaboration Colleen Rich Wed, 01/31/2024 - 14:48

A shared approach to improving individual student outcomes and leaving lasting positive impacts on families, communities and society at large is what initially brought ��AV and Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) together for the Early Identification Program.

Denise Huebner, associate superintendent for Prince William County Schools; Khaseem Davis, executive director of Mason's Early Identification Program; Anaid Shaver, supervisor of college and career services for Prince William County Schools; and Charlena McCuin, the coordinator of community and business engagement/SPARK for PWCS. Photo by Fathima Samsudeen

Additional funding secured by SPARK, the education foundation for PWCS, will expand that life-changing collaboration and fully support an additional 20 EIP students from Prince William County starting this spring, said EIP Executive Director Khaseem Davis.

“As a public school system, they really value EIP,” he said.

Prince William County Public School representatives were on hand along with Mason officials at Merten Hall on the Fairfax Campus on Jan. 27 to welcome the newest members of the EIP community.

EIP, which has produced more than 2,000 graduates since its inception in 1987, provides access to educational resources for middle and high school students seeking to become the first in their families to attend college.

Services include free SAT prep, afterschool tutoring, mentoring, help with college essays, exposure to various careers, and a three-week summer academy.

Current Mason students and EIP alums Kalkidan Negussie and Ian Solano speak to the new members of the EIP community of their experiences in the program. Photo by Fathima Samsudeen

A $55,000 grant from the Tides Foundation to SPARK funded additional PWCS student participants. The Tides Foundation is a San Francisco-based nonprofit and philanthropic organization.

As a result, there are now 153 EIP students in the PWCS system, and just under 800 in the overall program, with plans to expand further.

Carol Flenard, the deputy superintendent for PWCS, lauded EIP for being a “beacon of hope and opportunity” that empowers first-generation students to dream of higher education and to achieve it with distinction.

“This program is more than an academic pathway,” Flenard said. “It is a commitment to closing the opportunity gaps that often challenge motivated, talented first-generation students.”

“They really gave me so much support, and they didn’t give up on me,” said Ian Solano, an EIP alum who is now a freshman international security and law major in the Schar School of Policy and Government at Mason. “I learned that I have more potential than I ever realized. I don’t know where I’d be without EIP.”

EIP receives support from Mason’s corporate alliances and individual donors, as well as its collaboration with seven local public school systems in Prince William County, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Manassas City, Manassas Park City, Arlington, and the City of Alexandria.

The program’s year-round academic enrichment, personal and social development, civic engagement, and leadership training opportunities prepare students for higher education and more productive lives afterward.

“A lot of people don’t get to work in a job where they get to see the direct impact they can make,” Davis said. “Being part of EIP, you see that impact, and the impact is profound.”

Of the 127 EIP students who graduated from high school last spring, 125 went on to college. Of those, 93 were admitted to Mason, with 37 of those enrolling. Most of those who did enroll received partial or full academic scholarships.

There are currently more than 200 EIP alums attending Mason.

In This Story

Khaseem Davis, Ph.D

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Two Virginia Department of Education grants will help prepare special education teachers

Colleen Rich — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 17:30:28 +0000

Two Virginia Department of Education grants will help prepare special education teachers Colleen Rich Mon, 01/22/2024 - 12:30

Two new Virginia Department of Education grants to ��AV’s School of Education promise to facilitate a pipeline of well-qualified special education teachers in the commonwealth.

Kelley Regan. Photo by the Office of University Branding

Kelley Regan, a professor in Mason’s Special Education Program, was awarded funding to support two initiatives.

“Although these are two separate awards, they both address the preparation of provisionally licensed special education teachers serving students who access the general education curriculum,” said Regan. “One award provides these teachers with a tuition stipend, and the second award focuses on coaching their development as special educators.”

Working with Regan as co-principal Investigators on one of these projects, Traineeships for Education of Special Education Personnel (Special Education-General Curriculum K-12), are Mason faculty members Pam Baker, Margaret (Peggy) Weiss, and Kristen O’Brien, all associate professors in the Special Education Program.

The goal of this grant is to maintain and expand Mason’s Cohort Outreach Program, which provides high-quality special education teacher training for employed Virginia teachers. If a school division has at least 20 employed individuals who are provisionally licensed and need to complete their Special Education: General Curriculum K-12 five-year, renewable state license, the individuals are provided a 25% discount per 3-credit class. The state grant provides teachers in these cohorts with a tuition stipend to complete a 3-credit licensure course during any single semester.

Pam Baker. Photo by Office of University Branding

The course delivery modes vary, and the Mason team collaborates with division staff and the special education advisors to support the coordination and recruitment of cohort members.

“We have had a long-standing partnership with our district partners, delivering more than 110 cohorts,” said Baker, who serves as division director of special education and disability research and the outreach program coordinator at Mason. “Support from the Virginia Department of Education for our students makes an incredible difference in how accessible our programs continue to be.”

Regan, Baker, and Weiss are also co-principal investigators on the second project titled Traineeships for Special Education Personnel: A Dynamic Coaching Outreach Program in Special Education: General Curriculum, also known as DCOP. The award supports the School of Education’s teaching internship course (EDSE 783) for provisionally licensed teachers in the cohorts.

Margaret Weiss. Photo by Office of University Branding

This grant focuses on using technology to provide provisionally licensed teachers with timely and relevant performance-based feedback while in the classroom. It also facilitates a more dynamic coaching experience during the required 10-week internship of provisionally licensed teachers enrolled in Mason’s general curriculum (K-12) licensure program.

Weiss provided an overview of the different technologies that have been integrated into this project. “We call it ‘eCoaching’ where we use email, Zoom, video capture, and bug-in-ear technology to provide delayed and immediate feedback to our students as they are teaching,” Weiss said. “It has been a great success. Our newest eCoaches value this model of supervision.”

As the program advancement liaison in the school’s Division of Special Education, O’Brien orients cohort students to their internship, supports the onboarding of university supervisors, and works with the research team to expand the eCoaching model.

Kristen O'Brien. Photo by Office of University Branding

“During the internship, the teachers receive mentoring, coaching, and supervision from an on-site experienced special education teacher and a [Mason] faculty supervisor,” said O’Brien. “In 2023, 48 provisionally licensed teachers completed on-the-job internships. Each semester, 10 to 15 faculty members supervise these internships.”

Regan said the financial support provided by this award has allowed the research team to develop a flexible model of eCoaching and a series of professional development modules on eCoaching with built-in measures of fidelity. The team is conducting research to better understand the role of the coach and how eCoaching’s professional development influences their supervisory practice.

Regan believes that the eCoaching design has the potential for more widespread use in the future. “Not all on-the-job internships use eCoaching at this time, but the research team is piloting the model, and we are encouraged by the data outcomes so far,” she said.

According to Regan, the faculty involved in these projects have taught courses in the cohort outreach model and both grant initiatives closely align with their research interests in providing high-quality teacher preparation, which aligns with Mason’s strategic goal of meeting workforce demands.

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Mason hosts Dell Technologies Education Innovation Summit at Mason Square

Colleen Rich — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 18:51:27 +0000

Mason hosts Dell Technologies Education Innovation Summit at Mason Square Colleen Rich Wed, 03/08/2023 - 13:51

Experts and leaders in the fields of education and information technology came together at ��AV to discuss how advances in the digital landscape can be harnessed to solve the unique challenges facing today’s educators and reinvent the classroom post-COVID. They were part of a two-day Dell Technologies Innovation Summit held in February at Mason Square in Arlington, Virginia.

From left, Provost Mark Ginsberg, Dell's Tara Nattress, Michael Horn and Dean Ingrid Guerra-Lopez. Photo by Stephanie Aaronson/OUB

The summit included presentations and panel discussions examining how technology can play a key role in expanding instructional delivery methods to reach more students and thus create a more personalized learning experience for students. The event also provided teachers with opportunities for professional development and collaboration, and ways to maximize efficiencies and facilitate solutions to teachers’ problems of practice.

Provost Mark Ginsberg opened the summit with Tara Nattress, senior education strategist with Dell Technologies, who most recently served as assistant superintendent of teaching and learning for Arlington Public Schools. Ginsberg said this is an important moment in time following the pandemic, which pushed schools in terms of leveraging technology to teach and engage different learners. He emphasized the need to partner as we adapt to change and address gaps.

Award-winning education author Michael Horn gave a keynote talk, “Defining and Articulating What’s Possible.” Horn, co-founder of and a distinguished fellow at the nonprofit think tank Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, frequently writes about the future of education and is widely recognized for his contributions on the topic of advancements in the use of technology in education.

Ingrid Guerra-López, dean of Mason’s College of Education and Human Development, delivered opening remarks on the second day highlighting how technology can influence society, the workplace, learning, and education. She also introduced a panel discussion on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, featuring Shahnaz Kamberi, an associate professor in Mason’s Department of Computer Science, and leaders from Microsoft, ITSE, Discovery Education, and aiEDU.

Also on day two of the summit was the “Innovation Slam,” introduced by Kamaljeet Sanghera, executive director for Mason’s Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA), and featuring examples of Mason’s innovative programs, including the Early Identification Program (EIP) for middle and high school students who will be the first in their families to attend college, CEHD’s School of Education’s learning technologies that are supporting students with disabilities and regional teachers to measure and improve blended teaching readiness, and College of Science’s Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program designed to help area high school students see themselves in STEM professions.

Representatives from Prince George’s County Public Schools, Winchester Public Schools, and Newport News Public Schools were also on hand to provide an overview of proposed initiatives within their respective school districts that use technology to build innovative learning models. School district leaders anticipate that implementation of these models will strengthen human capital, result in the increased effectiveness of teachers, and provide improved learning experiences for students.

Dell will be producing a white paper as a follow-up in the coming weeks.

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CyberSlam 2023 introduces area high schoolers to cyber career opportunities

Rena Malai — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 19:44:26 +0000

CyberSlam 2023 introduces area high schoolers to cyber career opportunities Rena Malai Thu, 01/12/2023 - 14:44

Students at CyberSlam 2023 were surprised to get anonymous Air Drop alerts to their phones.

High school students fly drones during CyberSlam 2023. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

Luckily it was part of a test set up by U.S. Secret Service members Michael Johns, Matt O’Neil, and Michal Condor to demonstrate that cyber-related hacks can happen anytime, anywhere. They also highlighted the illicit use of cryptocurrency.

“Hopefully, what you’ll get out of this is one, don’t accept any of those Air Drops you may have been seeing, and two, watch your social media,” said O’Neil, an expert in cyber-related crimes who leads Secret Service’s Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC) and Cyber Intelligence Section (CIS).

The Secret Service members joined Homeland Security experts, high school teachers, ��AV faculty and more than 400 students from five counties and 22 high schools for the hands-on cybersecurity event held on Jan. 9.

Last year’s event was open to Loudoun County students, but with increased interest and participation, the Johnson Center at Mason’s Fairfax Campus was the ideal venue.

Students flew drones, tested their cybersecurity knowledge, and even blocked a theoretical cyber hack. They also got career advice, including guidance on keeping their social media feeds clean.

Professor and Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Community Engagement in the College of Engineering and Computing Liza Wilson Durant also spoke about the importance of cybersecurity.

“You’re here because of your interest in cybersecurity,” Durant said. “We hope that for the next several years, those skills you’ve been honing develop into a real expertise that’s going to have an impact on the quality of our lives and even the security of nations around the world.”

In Virginia alone there are more than 60,000 open cybersecurity jobs right now, a number Durant said will continue to grow in the coming years.

“Energy grids, autonomous vehicles, even your doorbell, your microwave, refrigerator, think about medical systems, [all of these] are things that have to be secure now and that are vulnerable,” says Durant. “This is a critical time for the work you’re going to be doing.”

Mason established a first-of-its-kind cyber security engineering department in Virginia in 2020. The College of Engineering and Computing will be a key part of Fuse at Mason Square (formerly Arlington Campus), which will house a mix of university R&D and related education programs, as well as corporate innovation labs, incubators, accelerators, and co-working facilities when it opens in 2025.

The event was put on with the assistance of members of Mason’s Systems Engineering and Operations Research department along with teachers from Briar Woods and Loudoun County high schools.

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Helping high school girls master the art of negotiations

Jennifer Anzaldi — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 17:25:10 +0000

Helping high school girls master the art of negotiations Jennifer Anzaldi Thu, 11/10/2022 - 12:25

Suzanne C. de Janasz

On the morning of Wednesday, October 26^th, ��AV professor Suzanne C. de Janasz conducted her first-ever negotiations workshop for female high school students at McLean High School in Northern Virginia. An enthusiastic audience of about 100 young women came to hear de Janasz explain why negotiation is important for women of all ages and walks of life, and how to build negotiating skills for the future.

De Janasz, an organizational researcher who holds a joint appointment in the School of Business and the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, says there is a pervasive cultural bias against women who ask for what they deserve. The negative labelling begins in childhood, with terms such as “bossy” being applied to more assertive girls.

As she writes in a recent post for AACSB Insights, “Equality-minded negotiations professors can enable women to overcome this gap…by engaging younger age groups. If we introduced core negotiations concepts and skills to high school students, they would hopefully be seasoned and poised self-advocates once their careers began in earnest.”

To that end, de Janasz’s McLean High School workshop, which was organized by the student body’s Girls’ Leadership Group, touched upon the obstacles women negotiators face but mainly offered advice on getting around them. She detailed how the strengths commonly associated with women—asking, involving, seeking participation and consensus—can be leveraged for positive results in negotiations and interpersonal conflicts.

A good negotiator, de Janasz explained, is well-equipped to turn gender-biased situations into fairer ones. She called on the students to recognize incidents of bias or unfairness as opportunities to negotiate better outcomes rather than as fixed and final. She also suggested that the girls look out for each other, amplifying other girls’ voices or inputs (that are more often ignored than those of boys), and introducing their accomplishments or expertise, which girls frequently find it hard to do for themselves. This sets the model for others to follow and invites reciprocity.

For example, she asked the McLean students what they would do if they discovered they were being underpaid for a babysitting job. One of the students countered this hypothetical scenario with one from her own life, in which the couple for whom she was babysitting neglected to pay her for her services. The student let the apparent oversight pass without comment, for fear that the couple would think she was too demanding and not call her again.

For de Janasz, the student’s story perfectly illustrates why the workshop was necessary. “As women, we often face an opposition between being seen as a nice person and getting what we deserve. I want to teach young women strategies for negotiating that, which they can carry throughout life,” she says.

Toward the end of the workshop, students paired off for a simulated negotiations exercise. One played a student wanting to hold a potentially divisive fundraising event at their school; the other acted the role of the principal, wary of the pushback from parents and administrative headaches such an event might cause.

The workshop was well-received by the student attendees, as well as McLean High School principal Ellen Reilly. McLean sophomore Maymuunah Little says, “I found your workshop to be helpful and informative. I have been slowly implementing the negotiation skills and tactics you taught me in my daily life. And this upcoming week, I plan to use them in my very first job interview!”

De Janasz says she hopes this is only the beginning of a much broader initiative. “My hope is that we use this event as a springboard for other events like this in the community, state and nation,” she says.

Suzanne C. de Janasz is the author of Interpersonal Skills in Organizations and Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, among other books. She is available for comment, as is Principal Reilly and the co-presidents of the Girls’ Leadership Group at McLean High School.

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