MAPA
The Marin Academy Parents' Association (MAPA) organizes activities and events that provide parents and guardians opportunities to get involved and stay connected with Marin Academy. Our activities enhance school life for students, faculty, staff, parents and the larger community.
Helpful Links
- Volunteer! You can participate on campus or at home—weekdays or weekends. Supporting MA is a great way to make connections with other parents/guardians. Click here for the volunteer sign-up form.
- Learn more about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at MA.
- Resources for Parents of Teenagers: includes resources about diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism along with important topics such as race, gender, learning styles, the teenage brain and more..
Outreach and Inclusion
MAPA Parent Outreach and Inclusion works to ensure that the Marin Academy Parents' Association (MAPA) and the MA parent body are inclusive, open to and welcoming of every MA parent/guardian by identifying barriers to inclusion and working to eliminate them. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the MAPA VP Community Engagement and Inclusion at dellsworthyow@mcds.org.
DEI/Racial Justice Resources
Articles:
- “The 1619 Project,” (all the articles) The New York Times Magazine
- "Call a Thing a Thing,” New York Times
- "A guide to how you can support marginalized communities,” CNN
- "You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body is a Confederate Monument,” NY Times
- "Your Guide to Bystander Intervention”
- "America's Enduring Caste System,” by Isabel Wilkerson
Books:
- Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Biased, by Jennifer Eberhardt
- See also:
- Blind Spot, by Mahzarin Binaji
- Caste: The Origin of our Discontents , by Isabel Wilkerson
- How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
- See also:
- How to Be Less Stupid About Race, by Dr. Crystal Marie Fleming
- I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, by Austin Channing Brown
- Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson
- Me and White Supremacy, by Layla F. Saad
- Waking Up White, by Debby Irving
- White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo
- White Like Me, by Tim Wise
Movies/Videos:
- 13th , Documentary about the US prison system, by Ava Duvernay (now legitimately free on YouTube)
- “Let's get to the root of racial injustice “ Megan Ming Francis TEDx Talk
- “Racism Has a Cost for Everyone” Heather C. McGhee
Podcasts:
- Code Switch “Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race head-on. We explore how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between. This podcast makes ALL OF US part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story.”
- The Ezra Klein Show: “Why Ta-Nehisi Coates is hopeful“
- The Ezra Klein Show interview with Isabel Wilkerson on Caste
-
Scene on Radio: “Seeing White” (Season 2): This 14-part documentary series explores whiteness in America — where it came from, what it means, and how it works. Scene on Radio is the podcast from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.
- Unlocking us with Brené Brown—interviews with Ibram X. Kendi and Austin Channing Brown
Organizations:
- Color of Change - Color of Change leads campaigns that build real power for Black communities. We challenge injustice, hold corporate and political leaders accountable, commission game-changing research on systems of inequality, and advance solutions for racial justice that can transform our world.
- Showing Up for Racial Justice - SURJ Marin engages white people to dismantle systems of white supremacy and join the ongoing multiracial movement for racial justice. Our work is informed by relationships of accountability with local Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) organizations and community leaders. SURJ Marin holds regular workshops and leads actions for racial justice.
- Other
- National Museum of African-American History and Culture Website Talking About Race
Parent Education
Upcoming Events
Please visit our MA Events page for current events.
MAPA MAster Class
The MAster Class program is an opportunity for parents to participate in classes taught by members of our dynamic MA faculty. Each year, our aim is to bring you teachers from across the disciplines for an evening of learning and fun. After attending MAster Class, past participants have been overheard saying that they would love to return to high school!
Upcoming Events
Please visit our MA Events page for current events.
Previous MAster Class Events
- Derek Anderson and Candace Chen
- Whitney Davidson
- Travis Brownley
- Katrina Wentzel
- Annie Elias
- Jon Bretan
- Stella Beale
Derek Anderson and Candace Chen
Improbable Voices and Probable Delights: A Conversation about History and Historical Research with Derek Anderson and Candace Chen
This unique event, taught by MA History Department Chair Candace Chen and Improbable Voices author and MA Library Director, Archivist, and History Teacher Derek Anderson, will blend aspects of a typical MA class with elements of a book talk and podcast. We will host a short reading from Improbable Voices, followed by breakout rooms in which attendees will work with short primary source documents and guiding questions. There will be plenty of time for discussion and questions.
Whitney Davidson
The Meaning of the First Amendment: Historical and Contemporary Understandings
Join MA history teacher Whitney Davidson for an in-depth look at the First Amendment to the Constitution. We will discuss the historical context for the genesis of the First Amendment and investigate how interpretations of the First Amendment have evolved throughout American history, including landmark Supreme Court cases. We will also analyze the ways in which the First Amendment takes on new meaning in a politically polarized era, including its ramifications for social media, "cancel culture," and politically charged speech.
Travis Brownley
MAster Class: "20th Century Poetry with Travis Brownley"
William Wordsworth said that "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions recollected in tranquility." Another 19th-century poet, John Keats, defined this craft as "the knowledge of contrasts, a feeling for light and shade." Using two poems, Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night and Elizabeth Bishop's One Art, we will look at how two 20th Century poets used structure to examine their own experiences of powerful emotions. I hope that participants will walk away with a renewed or new appreciation of this art form, the role that structure plays in expressing our most passionate experiences, and reflections on their own experiences.
Katrina Wentzel
"Do the Right Thing"
How do seemingly good people come to different decisions on ethical responses? What does it actually mean to be responsible for an action? What is justice? What does it mean to do good? These are the questions that seniors in the English elective, Freedom, Choice, and Obligation ask, and they're the same ones you explore with KaTrina Wentzel, Academic Dean and English teacher.
In this Master Class, you'll learn about three ethical frameworks, grapple with some standard ethical dilemmas, and apply those principles and thoughts to modern day examples. Like the teenagers who take the elective course, you won't leave the room with answers. But hopefully you will leave with new understandings and questions to ponder about ethics, justice, and the greater good. If time, KaTrina will spend the last 10 minutes of the class sharing some of the unique aspects of this full MA course including competency-based grading and the final performance assessment.
Annie Elias
"Don’t Be Prepared!”
If you are afraid of improvisation, associating it with having to be funny and clever, this workshop is a gentle, non-threatening introduction to improvisation through theater games that are applicable to all creative endeavors, whether in the arts or other aspects for life. The workshop will explore spontaneity, imagination, and other topics through fun group exercises. Remember - you’re always improvising; it’s our natural state!
Annie Elias has been teaching theater and directing at MA since 2000. She took her first theater class at age 27, a theater games workshop in a Vermont town hall. The class changed her life and she’s been teaching and practicing theater games ever since. Annie holds a BA in English and Art History from Mills College and studied dramaturgy at the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Studies in Cambridge, MA. She is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and Ensemble Studio Theater/Sloan Foundation Science and Technology grant for her original adaptation of Einstein’s Dreams. She has studied directing, writing and acting with a number of outstanding theater artists, including David Esbjornson (directing) and Ken Prestininzi (playwriting). Annie has a special interest in documentary theater and is reprising her original 2012 documentary theater piece “Tenderloin” this January at the Cutting Ball Theater.
Jon Bretan
Explore the Night Sky with Astrophotography
In our modern society, everyone is a photographer. Most people now carry a camera at all times. A consequence of this mass proliferation of camera technology is an amazing renaissance in night sky and astrophotography. Indeed, nighttime and sky photography can serve both artistic and scientific purposes. Jon comes to photography from scientific and astronomical perspectives. He picked up his first serious digital camera ten years ago (coinciding with his start at MA) and has been practicing ever since. This past summer, he had the opportunity to travel to Chile to photograph a total solar eclipse and the southern skies as a recipient of an EE Ford grant. Jon will spend the first hour of his class introducing techniques for photographing the night sky using everything from iPhones to GoPros to DSLRs. He will present photographic methods that include wide-angle to deep-sky, short and long exposures, and various image-stacking techniques for both deep-sky and high dynamic range (HDR). Objects of interest will consist of the Sun (yes, some daytime techniques too!), Moon, planets, stars and star trails, Milky Way and some fainter nebula, and deep sky objects, as well as lunar and solar eclipses. The goal of this Master Class is to present various entry points into the field of nighttime and astrophotography, as well as what is necessary to get started. There will be an optional half-hour after the main session for those interested in trying to capture images of a setting crescent moon over Mt. Tam or some star trails from MA. RSVP to event chair Vanessa Friedman to share your experience level and photography gear.
You can see some of Jon’s work here:
Jon currently teaches the Astrophysics and Electrical Engineering + Computer Science classes at Marin Academy. He is grateful the school is a place where he can create courses of such personal interest. He has also taught Chemistry, Advanced Chemistry and Advanced Physics, and is head coach for the Boys Cross Country Team. He holds a BA in Physics and Astronomy from UC Berkeley. He spends most of his time photographing his favorite subject: his 21-month-old daughter, Gemma.
Stella Beale
Truth and Power in This American Moment
Join humanities teacher Stella Beale for an interactive hour of exploration of some of the questions and implications raised both by history, classic literature, and this moment in time with respect to truth and power. Participants will engage in robust discussion, the interpretation of poetry, and the reading of fake news! Stella will also share insights from her class and model some of the ways in which students have been addressing these same issues in class.
MAPA Shop For School
Make a Difference! Shop and Earn for MAPA’s 75+ Programs. Check out these EASY ways to earn money for MA (at NO cost to you) while shopping for the things that you are purchasing everyday. Questions? Email: MAPAShopForSchool@ma.org.