Pacific Quest’s Academic Coordinator Isabel Holmes was recently in San Francisco attending the Winter 2018 Learning and the Brain Conference. This event brought together hundreds of researchers, educators, clinicians, and school leaders from across the globe to explore the latest neuroscience research on innovation and creativity in an interdisciplinary forum.
Isabel Holmes, Academic Coordinator
In sessions such as “Being Creative is a Choice”, “Visible Literacy in Learning”, and “The Middle Way: Finding the Balance Between Mindfulness and Mind Wandering for Creativity and Achievement”, Isabel was able to learn about new strategies to develop innovative and creative mindsets in staff and students and see evidence of the benefits of imagination, mindfulness, and mind wandering for memory, literacy, and achievement.
Of particular interest was researcher and professor Alison Gopnik’s opening keynote address, “When (and Why) Children are More Creative Than Adults”, which touched on a number of tenets from her recent book, The Gardener and the Carpenter–a framework for creative learning and exploration that translates particularly well to the gardens of Pacific Quest and has been much discussed amongst staff in recent months. Isabel was grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this exciting meeting of minds, and looks forward to sharing what she learned while continuing to learn alongside her PQ colleagues.
Isabel Holmes joined Pacific Quest in the fall of 2016 after graduating from Vanderbilt University with her M.Ed in Human Development Counseling. She worked as a Young Adult Program Guide for seven months before moving into the role of Academic Coordinator. Isabel dedicated her early career to helping a variety of populations get the most out of their educational journeys and brings a holistic understanding of behavioral health in academic environments to PQ.
As the Academic Coordinator, Isabel strives to creatively integrate the curriculum into our students’ daily process and envisions bringing the curriculum to life in the field through groups and experiential learning opportunities. She serves as an energetic liaison between internal departments and between PQ and external entities, and is invigorated by opportunities to drive staff development and training.