Fridays with Fiona: A Conversation with Ms. Coogan

Second grader Fiona L.'s monthly webseries features conversations with Sacred Heart community members
January - Conversation with Ms. Finch
February - Conversation with Ms. Chamorro
March - Conversation with Mr. Dwyer

Fridays with Fiona – A Conversation with Ms. Coogan

Today I interviewed Ms. Coogan.  She is the director of the new Creativity Hub.  In the Creativity Hub the Lower School is making solar ovens.  I hope you enjoy hearing about Ms. Coogan.
 
FIONA:  Hi, Ms. Coogan.  So, what do you do at SHS?
 
MS. COOGAN:  The name of my job is Director of Strategic Initiatives, which is a big title and it's not super clear, right?  It’s a little bit hard to figure out what someone with that title would do.  I used to be the Admissions Director here for about five years and was ready for a new challenge. [My colleagues] Mr. Kalmbach and Ms. Syed and I had been brainstorming and dreaming about a space where students could do creative projects and so we talked to Mrs. Brake and Mr. Dioli about maybe building a space.  
 
As our plans got more and more detailed and our imaginations ran a little bit wild, we started to think about all the really cool things that we could do and all the things we wanted to have in the space for the students.  It became clear that it was going to be hard for any of the three of us, who have pretty busy jobs, to really manage it, so I stepped forward and I said I would be in charge.
 
What it means to be a director of strategic initiatives is I help the school with big projects and big ideas.  Things that we would like to have here that we haven’t thought of before and then making them happen.  The first initiative I had was creating this space and then trying to find ways for us to have more STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) in our curriculum, school community and some of the activities and opportunities we have for students. 
 
FIONA:  Can you tell us more about the Creativity Hub?
 
MS. COOGAN:  Yes!  The Creativity Hub is a space where we want students to be able to work on creative, out of the box, open-ended projects.  It’s a space that will probably change and look different from year to year.  It’s evolving and growing and, based on the projects we do the space, will change as we get more things that we need. 
 
Now, the space is what I would call a hybrid of a wood shop, a digital fabrication lab, and a maker space.  We do a lot of stuff, as you know, with cardboard, glue, pens and paint, and have tools that allow us to make things out of wood. [In the Hub,] we have a 3D printer and a laser cutter, which are more complicated, but cool, pieces of technical equipment.
 
FIONA:  Can you tell us how you got interested in STEAM?
 
MS. COOGAN:  I am a good example of how STEAM doesn’t just have to be for people that love math and technology.  I was always a student that loved to read and write, so I was more interested in what we would call the humanities.  When I went to college, I went to a liberal arts college on the East Coast called Brown University, and one of the cool things about Brown is there are no general education requirements for students. When you get there you get to pick and choose the classes you want to take.  It’s a place you can go if you have a lot of different interests. I actually was always interested in reading, writing and education, and I was very passionate about performing in musical theater. 

I have always done creative things–I was an actor, a singer, a dancer and I love to knit.  As a kid I loved to make stuff, but I never really loved math and science.  Those were never my favorite classes, but I’ve always loved being creative, making things and solving problems.  That’s probably what I am best at now–being a problem solver–and a lot of what happens in a space like this is problem solving, like the solar oven that you and [your second grade class] are working on. You are going to test that out and are going to find parts of it that work and parts of it that don’t. Then you will work with your group to find out a solution to the problems that come up. That’s the part of STEAM that I like, the problem-solving piece, and watching kids work together.
 
FIONA:  What’s your favorite thing about SHS?
 
MS. COOGAN:  My favorite thing about Sacred Heart is probably the community here–the people, the kids and the families.  It’s a pretty warm and welcoming place and I really like the feel on campus. It’s a happy place where people want to be.
 
FIONA:  What’s your least favorite part of your job?
 
MS. COOGAN:  When I have a lot of tedious stuff to do, for example, if we are doing a big event and there is detail-oriented stuff, like making sure we have nametags and everybody’s name is spelled correctly.  I’m pretty fastidious about when emails go out or when I am running something. I like everything to be done right, so there is a lot of energy that goes into monitoring all those details and that part can be time-consuming.
 
FIONA:  What are your hobbies?
 
MS. COOGAN:  When I am not at school, I like to exercise, play tennis and to knit.  I love to cook and entertain and have people over to my house.  So its usually related to family and friends and being outside.
 
FIONA:  What is your favorite book?
 
MS. COOGAN:  It’s really hard for me to pick a favorite book because I love to read, but when I was your age, in elementary school, my favorite books were the Anne of Green Gables series, the Little House on the Prairie series and I loved the Boxcar Children series, as well as Nancy Drew. 
 
FIONA:  I love Anne of Green Gables.  Do you have any pets?
 
MS. COOGAN:  I have a Golden Retriever whose name is Bob and he lives at my mom’s house, but he’s kind of my dog.  We got him two years ago– he’s a rescue and came all the way from Taiwan.  So he flew on a plane from Taiwan to San Francisco and we rescued him when he was about five and now he’s about seven.  He is a great dog.
 
FIONA:  Can you tell us about when you were a little kid?
 
MS. COOGAN:  Yes!  I grew up in San Mateo, which is not too far from here.  My sister came to the high school here, so I have been around this campus for a long time. My mom grew up on Atherton Avenue, so I’m from this area in California.  When I was a little kid, I loved making stuff and reading. I did dance, I played the violin, I played tennis and soccer and I swam.  I was really lucky that my mom’s parents lived about two minutes away from me when I grew up, so I did a lot of stuff with my grandparents, my cousins and my younger sister. 
 
FIONA:  Are you going to the Maker Faire in San Mateo next month?
 
MS. COOGAN:  I went last year when I was doing research for this space. Maybe in year or so we will look at taking a group of our students to the event and having them have a display area or do a presentation, but since we are not there yet I didn’t need to go this year.
 
FIONA:  Thank you for your time, Ms. Coogan.
        
MS. COOGAN:  Thank you Fiona this was a great conversation!
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Sacred Heart Schools Atherton

Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton

150 Valparaiso Ave
Atherton, CA 94027
650 322 1866
Founded by the Society of the Sacred Heart, SHS is a Catholic, independent, co-ed day school for students in preschool through grade 12