We started the day at Zynga, home to Farmville and Words with Friends, and where Andrew Bell, son of our Lower Middle School Head, Jane Bell, works as an Executive Producer for Farmville. From right when you enter Zynga headquarters, located in the Design District in San Francisco, the focus is clearly on play.
After spending some time actually playing - foosball, pinball, ping pong, basketball - we went on a tour of their work spaces. The spaces are open to foster collaboration. We even got to meet Zynga CEO Don Mattrick.
The highlight of the visit was a panel discussion by women executives at Zynga. Their roles ranged from human resources to user interface design to computer/software engineer to executive vice president. Each one of them told a compelling story about why they were at Zynga, and how women are valued contributors and on par with their male counterparts. Andrew's design team of seven is comprised of five women!
During the session, students were encouraged to seek out new learning opportunities and to use each of those experiences to build a compelling story for the workplace. Moreover, our students learned that both men and women need to work together to move a business forward, not working in exclusion of one another.
After a drive over the Bay Bridge and some free time at the hotel, we headed back to Castilleja for a performance by a capella group SanFran6. SanFran6 appeared on the NBC show "The Sing Off" back in December and this was their first private high school performance. After performing songs such as Bang Bang, Immortals and Chandelier, it was workshop time.
We learning how to warm up our voices and to warm up our bodies as a singer, as well as how to respond to miscues when performing in an a capella group. Perhaps the highlight of the evening was a beatboxing workshop led by group member Danny Cavero (who is a collegiate beat boxing champion). The second highlight - Claire Chuff being serenaded by the group to the song, We Found Love.
The performance wrapped up with a Spongebob Square medley and Night Changes by One Direction. During the Q&A session that ended the evening, group members Kevin Redrico and Jaron Liclican reminded our girls that, while each one of them had "real jobs" and had graduated from college, it was very important to not give up your hobbies - in this case, singing.
For more information on SanFran6, check out their Youtube Channel or follow them on Twitter.
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