Sometimes our coaching connections seem made in heaven – and not necessarily through any particular effort on the part of the site coordinator, just because the fates have aligned.
Yesterday at Albany Middle School, we started working with the 8th graders on their I-Search projects. Our assignment was to help them come up with a guiding question to direct their quarter-long research project. Coach Tony Hawthorne met with a student he has been working with this semester and got down to work.
"What is your topic?" he asked.
The student answered,
"Synesthsia. Do you know what that is?"
"Do I?" responded Tony, "I have it!"
For those who don't know, Dictionary.com defines synesthesia as: "A condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color." Wikipedia.com (yes, we know it's not the best place for serious research, but it sure is handy) says the prevalence of synesthesia has been reported in a range from 1 in 20 to 1 in 20,000).
Regardless of the actual odds, it is pretty amazing to have this kind of a matchup! I know this is one team that will really enjoy their I-Search time together.
-- Karen Larson, AMS Site Coordinator (who takes no credit for this!)