Teamwork and collaboration are not just about working together; they are about building trust, fostering communication, and creating a supportive environment where everyone can contribute their best.

The collective effort of a team, whether in the classroom, on the court, or on the robotics field, opens the door to discover, learn and grow.

“What brings us together is teamwork,” says Jaleen Tseng ’24, the 2023-24 girls volleyball team captain. “We talk so much on the court, trust each other, and have each other’s backs. It’s not about how many kills you get or how many assists you have. It’s about the family and the teamwork.”

Teamwork is key, even in a sport more known for its individual events, like track and field. When Scarlett Coombes ’26 first started on the team, she was surprised by how supportive her older teammates were. “I wasn’t expecting to get to talk to the upperclassmen, but they made an effort to help me. I didn’t know how to do a lot of things, and they took their time to teach me.”

This coming together in support of each other is also important to faculty. Hilary Thomas, who teaches middle school science, says. “I love my colleagues so deeply, and any chance I get to work with them is so much fun for me, because I really am my best self when I’m collaborating with them.”

You can’t win a game with six individual players; you win a game with a team.” —Jaleen Tseng ’24

For Thomas, this is especially true throughout the process of coordinating the 8th grade Community Impact Projects (CIPs). “To have a group of teachers believe in this project is awesome.”

While Thomas works with every student to help them design their projects, she collaborates across campus with other teachers.

She says, “In science, Claire Kinder helps students measure their progress and impact. In history class, Sarah Cooper and Megan Bowman help them conduct research related to their topics, send letters to politicians, and create deeper meaning. English teacher Megan Burton guides them through wonderful reflections on projects’ impact.”

While this structured collaboration allows students to see the interconnectedness of different subjects and creates an engaging learning experience, it’s also great for teachers.

“I think the pride we feel as a group of teachers versus just one individual managing the project is pretty tremendous.”

Interdisciplinary collaboration is common for faculty at Flintridge Prep, and is reflected by our Professional Learning Communities. These formal exploratory groups bring faculty and staff with different backgrounds together to discuss innovative ideas and share their learning with the wider community on topics including artificial intelligence, media literacy, and storytelling.

Communication is Key to Teamwork

Isabelle Du ’25, a first year varsity robotics team member, says, “The biggest challenge last year was that everyone had strong opinions. Of course, it’s expected that everyone on the varsity team is a strong engineer and has a lot of experience. But if everyone is good at engineering and also confident in their own skills as a roboticist, you still have clashes. Whose idea is better, who spends more time working on the robot, who has the better plan for the robot?”

Everyone on the team must talk through challenges and decide on roles and the direction going forward.

“Communication is key, especially with deadlines and when multiple people are working on the same thing,” says Aurix Hong ’26, the JV robotics team captain. “Being able to communicate effectively helps prevent things from going backwards, having to redo things, and having to fix things.”

“One of the skills I’m going to keep with me forever is talking and communicating on the court,” says Jaleen. “If you have a silent court, no one’s going to get the ball, no one’s going to set the ball, and no one’s going to kill the ball; we’re not going to win a point. Talking and asserting myself on the court makes sure that I’m creating a positive impact for my team.”

Building Understanding and Camaraderie

In a robotics competition, the robot is typically passed between the engineers and programmers as the two groups work independently on their respective tasks for creating a functional machine. Isabelle explains that when the project is siloed this way, seeing the connection between engineering and programming can be challenging.

As an engineer on the team, Isabelle worked a little differently this year, spending time with the programmers to understand their challenges. At one point, they sat together, dragging the robot back and forth so they could talk through solutions collaboratively.

“It was fun to talk so much about the programming,” says Isabelle. “I was able to get insight into some of the issues our robot had and understand the perspective of my teammates. The learning experience was much more important than winning a medal in a competition. My biggest takeaway this year was the value of learning from my teammates.”

Being able to communicate effectively helps prevent things from going backwards, having to redo things, and having to fix things. —Aurix Hong ’26

Team camaraderie is also deeply meaningful to Jaleen. Team dinners, sleepovers, and bonding activities outside of practice solidified their connection. “Knowing each other outside of the court is a key component of trusting each other on the court. Once we brought that friendship from outside onto the court, we were able to lean into each other,” says Jaleen.

When the magic all comes together perfectly, the team simply executes, letting muscle memory kick in. Jaleen adds, “When we beat Mayfield for the first time in a long time, I cried tears of joy because I was so happy that everything I said in the huddle meant something and that we were able to execute on the court together.”