{"id":968,"date":"2017-07-28T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=968"},"modified":"2017-07-25T18:53:12","modified_gmt":"2017-07-25T22:53:12","slug":"sue-foster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=968","title":{"rendered":"Sue Foster"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Power of Failure\u00a0<\/em><\/h1>\n

By Lorna Oppedisano| Photography by Alexis Emm<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Sue Foster, Manlius Pebble Hill School science department chair, occasionally poses a theoretical, big picture question to her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would you do if you knew you couldn\u2019t fail?\u201d she asks. \u201cIf you were guaranteed success, what would you do that you\u2019re not currently doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her goal is to lessen the seemingly inherent fear of failure that comes when a person stops being an \u201cunabashed toddler, just running around, curious about everything,\u201d she said with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can I construct an environment such that you let more of that out? Because I know it\u2019s in there,\u201d she hypothesized about her students and classroom. \u201cHow can I help you be more of that way?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sue grew up in Gouverneur, N.Y., and attended Hamilton College. Originally intending to study pre-med, she knew she wanted to end up working with people. But one day, she was seated in the geology department studying for her organic chemistry class \u2014 \u201cthey had really nice rooms,\u201d she explained \u2014 when the chair of the geology department walked in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you taken a geology class yet?\u201d he asked her.<\/p>\n

She replied that she hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust take one,\u201d he suggested. \u201cTake one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sue took his advice, and she was hooked. She changed her major to a dual degree in biology and geology.<\/p>\n

After finishing her studies, Sue began her teaching career with two years at Wilmington Friends School in Delaware before moving back to New York state to be closer to family.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d loved the atmosphere of respect and equality at Friends, and had heard equally good things about the teaching environment at MPH. She interviewed and was hired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was going to stay a year, and that was \u201991,\u201d she reflected with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Sue is now in her second run as department chair, and still loves the freedom of MPH. With administrative support, she\u2019s designed a number of classes, including a semester-long geology of Central New York course and a semester-long forensics class, both of which she teaches to juniors and seniors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feeds your own intellect to know that there\u2019s that kind of freedom,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Along with those courses, Sue teaches a sixth grade survey class, covering biology, chemistry, physics and earth science, as well as a ninth grade biology class. Her students joke that she\u2019s like quality control, since she gets to see them grow throughout their high school careers, she laughed.<\/p>\n

Since MPH is a private institution that doesn\u2019t follow traditional curriculum like districts in the area, Sue has the luxury and freedom of time, she said.<\/p>\n

For example, each of the sixth-graders spend a chunk of their year focused on an individual experiment. It helps them experience the value of their own questions, Sue explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat question has inherent value to you, and how you see the world, how you think about things,\u201d she said. \u201cSo yeah, we\u2019re going to spend three months thinking about that one question. I just think that\u2019s so powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

That freedom of time helps Sue instill upon her students a topic she hopes they\u2019ll take with them after graduating: a constructive approach to the notion of failure.<\/p>\n

In science and nature, failure doesn\u2019t exist, Sue explained. A thought process might need to be adjusted, or an experiment repeated a number of times, but nature is going to keep unfolding, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think to extract some of that notion of failure makes kids more willing to take risks, because there\u2019s not this ogre of failure hanging over them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sue discussed this idea in her application questionnaire for the Technology Alliance of Central New York\u2019s award for outstanding teacher, which she won in May of 2015.<\/p>\n

A conclusion she reached drew a parallel in her mind between her teaching approach and a personal philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to learn something new every summer, to remind myself of what it feels like to be around somebody who knows a lot about something, and you know nothing about that thing,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often scary and intimidating, she admitted, but it keeps her in touch with that feeling that accompanies the potential for failure.<\/p>\n

This summer, she\u2019d like to achieve \u201cmoderate proficiency with the bagpipes,\u201d she said with a grin. In the past, she\u2019s tried horseback riding and biathlon training, among other new adventures.<\/p>\n

Sue doesn\u2019t attempt to master any of her ventures. The point is to experiment, overcome failure and grow.<\/p>\n

The infectiously positive attitude Sue renews every summer no doubt stays with her students long after they leave the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to forget photosynthesis when they walk out the door,\u201d she said, \u201cbut hopefully they\u2019ll carry with them that sense of, \u2018My questions mean something,\u2019 and, \u2018My questions have power.\u2019\u201d SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

For more information on Manlius Pebble Hill School, visit mphschool.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Power of Failure\u00a0 By Lorna Oppedisano| Photography by Alexis Emm\u00a0 Sue Foster, Manlius Pebble Hill School science department chair, occasionally poses a theoretical, big picture question to her students. \u201cWhat would you do if you knew you couldn\u2019t fail?\u201d she asks. \u201cIf you were guaranteed success, what would you do that you\u2019re not currently…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[156,293,133,318,319,262],"class_list":["post-968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-alexis-emm","tag-august-2017","tag-lorna-oppedisano","tag-manlius-pebble-hill","tag-sue-foster","tag-syracuse-woman-magazine"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/SWM-AUG-Alexis-Emm-Photograffi-14.jpg?fit=5200%2C3477&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":962,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=962","url_meta":{"origin":968,"position":0},"title":"Purpose Farm","author":"Staff","date":"July 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Living with a Purpose By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm \u201cMy earliest memory in life is riding a rocking horse nonstop. 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