Alumni Corner: Ben Griswold

We love celebrating the accomplishments of our Saklan alumni, and today, we’re thrilled to highlight Ben Griswold, a member of the Class of 2011!

Ben was recently promoted to lead the Special Events Department for the Tahoe District of California State Parks—a role that has him planning and managing everything from weddings and concerts to triathlons and film shoots! He loves the diversity of events he gets to be part of and takes pride in making each one a memorable experience.

Ben also works at a local veterinary clinic, spending his free time caring for dogs and cats. He finds this work incredibly rewarding, especially getting to witness the special bond between animals and their owners.

After graduating from Saklan, Ben attended The Athenian School before earning a BS in Parks and Recreation Management from Northern Arizona University. He feels lucky to live and work in one of the most breathtaking places in California, Tahoe, but frequently visits the Bay Area to see family.

Ben, we are so proud of all that you’re accomplishing! Next time you’re in town, be sure to stop by Saklan—we’d love to see you! 

We enjoy seeing what our alumni are up to. If you or your alum have an update to share with us, we would love to hear it!

#SaklanAlumni #AlumniSpotlight #SaklanCommunity #MakingAnImpact

Fostering Curiosity & Creativity

During March, all Saklan students are focusing on being curious and creative! Students are discussing what it means to show curiosity and creativity, teachers are posing lots of questions for students to ponder, and everyone is working on keeping an open mind when it comes to listening to others or trying new activities.

#SaklanSEL

March Madness Pickleball

Saklan is having a “March Madness” Pickleball Tournament! The tournament, open to those in 5th grade and up, will feature both a doubles bracket and a singles bracket with play beginning next week.

How to Sign Up:

  • Doubles – Grab a partner, decide on a team name, and head to Coach Rob’s office to register. There are some pretty creative team names already!
  • Singles – Flying solo? No problem! Sign up for the singles bracket.

Coach Rob will share the tournament brackets and rules to ensure everyone knows exactly how the games will play out. However, this tournament is all about having fun and enjoying some friendly competition. Good sportsmanship and high-energy fun are a must! Matches will occur during lunch, recess, LBD, LP, or whatever times work best for the teams.

Click here to learn about the rules of pickleball, and here to see how scoring works. We can’t wait to see everyone on the court!

#SaklanWellRounded

Resilient Family Groups

On Thursday, Saklan’s 1st – 8th grade students gathered with their family groups to discuss ways to be resilient, the February social emotional learning focus. After sharing what resilience means to each family group member and ways they hope to show resilience in the coming weeks, each group made a poster using flower cutouts noting things they are working towards accomplishing. Check out the posters in the school entryway!

Next, the families were on to showcasing their resilience through a series of challenges. First up was trying to get 1 – 3 ping pong balls into a cup using teamwork and a piece of string. Students enjoyed working together to find the best methods for success!

The second challenge was a game of Bam the Ram, which was also a ton of fun! Check out images of both challenges below.

#SaklanSEL #SaklanFamilyGroups

Staff Spotlight: Dianne

Charity scavenger hunts? A trombone stuck on a shoelace mid-performance? Our Kindergarten-8th grade music teacher, Dianne, is an expert at navigating the unexpected and problem solving on the fly both in and out of the music classroom. Scroll down to read more about the part of our upcoming March Spring Concert that she is most excited for and her love of creative pursuits! 

What is one secret talent or expertise you have that you hope to one day include in your music classes at Saklan?

I used to participate in GISHWHES (greatest international scavenger hunt the world has ever seen), which was a weeklong charity scavenger hunt where each team completed as many curious, kind, and collaborative challenges as possible. This incredible annual event had me dancing in costume with friends in a supermarket, building a 4’ tall 120-sided die, and bringing eclairs with chocolate ladders to my local firefighters. One standout challenge for me was to play “A Little Help from My Friends” by the Beatles on four stringed instruments, but each instrument must be played simultaneously by at least three musicians. I rallied my summer camp crew, and we spent much of the time laughing through our creative struggles and successes. I would love to lean into this idea at Saklan, combining whimsy, compassion, large-scale building, and intense collaboration to make music in wonderfully weird ways.

The Spring Concert is a memorable Saklan event each year. What are you most looking forward to as you prepare to direct your first Saklan Spring concert?

To paraphrase Arlo Guthrie, “can you imagine 50 people singing in harmony; they may think it’s a movement!” I’m most excited to hear our whole school singing together in harmony.

With the MS musical, Shrek Jr. just around the corner, what is your favorite musical performance memory from childhood?

I was in a production of Guys and Dolls as a trombone player in the mission band. A small group of us would march down the theater aisle playing, while intentionally sounding like we couldn’t quite play. We then had a scene on the stage before we were meant to march and play off stage. During the scene I rested the slide of my trombone on my shoe, but didn’t notice the lever for the spit valve getting caught on my shoelace. When we were meant to play our way off stage, I couldn’t lift my trombone because it was caught on my shoe.  I had to march off, keeping my leg aligned with my trombone while facing my friends off stage who were giggling hysterically at my comical walk. I love the unexpected challenges of live theater!

#SaklanStaff

Mission to Mars

The Hoot Owls have continued their adventure into space. One planet the students were very excited to learn more about was Mars, and especially the rovers on Mars! After watching a Mars Rover video, the students were inspired to create their own rover. After gathering useful items from around their classroom, the Hoot Owls used a huge box to create a rover. Next, the class brainstormed ways to supply the Rover with energy to move around: solar panels and batteries were the winning ideas. The class worked as a team, with some friends making solar panels while other friends made batteries to attach to the rover.

The Hoot Owls welcomed guest expert Jordan to teach them more about rovers and answer their questions. Jordan worked with the people who constructed the head for NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover. He shared that Perseverance’s head is about the size of a shoe box, and contains its eyes (cameras) and a bigger eye that is a laser, which is used to examine rocks. The students were intrigued to learn that scientists tell the rover where to go to find a special rock, then they zap the rock, which causes dust to puff up, which allows scientists to examine the dust and determine what the rocks is made of. 

Thank you, Jordan, for sharing your knowledge and experience with the Hoot Owls!

#SaklanGuestExpert

Gaining Confidence

Middle school musicians in the instrumental ensemble class are gaining confidence in understanding the different musical keys of the various ensemble instruments. For example, while the clarinet is a B flat instrument, the trombone is in the key of C. Students are then able to interpret the correct pitch to play when they are collectively playing in concert C. Using this base understanding, the class has explored playing chord progressions, arpeggios, and playing back a short improvised phrase as a whole ensemble.

We look forward to hearing them play two songs during the All-School Concert on March 21!

Hot-Ticket Treasures

Saklan’s Auction Committee is on the hunt for some razzle-dazzle auction items to make this year’s auction the real McCoy! We’re talkin’ about hot-ticket treasures that’ll have the crowd jazzed and ready to bid big. Here’s the skinny on what we need to bring the excitement and rake in the dough:

  • Vacation Homes – Do you have or know someone with a vacation property, timeshare or other access to destination properties?
  • Unique Experiences – Do you have a connection to something unavailable to the general public? Think Club 33, behind the scenes tours, throwing out the first pitch, dinner with someone famous, or an opportunity to sit in an owner’s box.
  • Event Tickets – Do you have season passes for the Giants, Warriors, theatre, symphony, or live music venues?
  • Luxury Items – Artwork, handbags, jewelry, etc.
  • Adventure Experiences – Hot air ballooning, horseback riding, and cooking classes are always popular items.
  • Wine – Do you belong to a winery and have a few extra bottles of your favorite Cab you would be willing to part with for a good cause?
  • Gift Cards – Your unused gift cards can enhance a basket of themed goods.

Got a genius idea for a show-stopping auction item? Don’t be shy—lay it on us! As our mission says, think creatively! Hit the button below to fill out the online donor form, or drop a line to ewilliamson@saklan.org to share your brilliant ideas with the committee. Let’s make this auction the cat’s pajamas!

Auction Donation Form

Saklan’s 1920s-themed 70th Anniversary Gala & Auction will be held at Lafayette Park Hotel on Saturday, April 26, 2025 from 6:00 – 11:00 p.m.. This adults-only shindig is always the bee’s knees—a roaring good time to toast our vibrant Saklan community while throwing some clams behind its ongoing success. Funds raised from the event support our top-notch programs like field experiences, guest experts, Project Based Learning, family groups, and primo training for our wonderful teachers.

#SaklanAuction

Head’s Corner: What Our Parents Are Telling Us

This year, we introduced a new way of listening to our parent community – Parent Pulse surveys that flow throughout the semester, capturing your feedback and insights over time. The results paint a vivid picture that matches what we see daily: engaged learners, strong connections, and a creative, compassionate, courageous community. 

Let me share what we’ve learned.

When 94% of parents see teachers who genuinely love their students, 89% find our curriculum challenging and engaging, and 93% value our approach to learning, it tells us something important. Add to this our Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 75 – far above what’s considered excellent.  These aren’t just numbers to us; they validate how we think all schools should work with children.  

Our commitment shines through in two key ways: making every child feel “seen and heard” (the primary reason 48% of families choose Saklan) and our project-based learning approach that creates meaningful connections between classroom learning and real-world challenges. Walking through our classrooms, you see this dual promise in action – teachers who know each student deeply, partnering with them through learning experiences that spark curiosity and build confidence.

While 91% of parents agree that Saklan welcomes families from all backgrounds, we know there’s more work to be done. Building a diverse, kind, inclusive community requires ongoing commitment and growth.

The type of work we do at Saklan is never finished; the school, like the humans that inhabit it, is always a work in progress. To those who filled in the survey last semester, thank you- your feedback is both validating and instructive. To our faculty and staff, parents, and students, your work making Saklan a model of what education should be is deeply appreciated. 

With gratitude and warmth,

David

PS- Keep an eye out for the next round of surveys.

Exploring Similarity: Scaling, Ratios, and Operations 

In math, sixth graders have been studying the concept of similarity, when two figures are of the same shape, but have different sizes. They began by getting several 1-inch squares with a bit of a picture on them, and they had to draw them on a 6-inch square. After the class finished, they looked at the enlargement, measured several parts, and determined that everything on their enlargement was 6 times larger than the original. They then began exploring what operations they could use to maintain similarity. They tried drawing triangles that changed by adding and by multiplying. They determined that using addition did not retain the original shape of the triangle, but multiplication and division did. Their work continued into using ratios, first of corresponding sides but then into other and more challenging situations.

#SaklanHandsOn