Our Wildwood, Summer 2019, Volume 45

DEAR FRIENDS A Letter from Landis

sandwiched between the important phase that preceded it and the important time to follow. She pushed us all to see this transitory period as worthy in its own right. Our students’ reflection and philosophical approach to life, honed very carefully over the course of many years in the care of my incredible colleagues, consistently inspires me. The unique blend of wonder, humility, curiosity, and wisdom that infuses the reflection I see in Wildwood School seniors is a prerequisite for the discovery—of the self and of the world—around which this issue of Our Wildwood is designed. You’ll read about discovery in Owen Leddy’s beautifully crafted essay as he experiences the liminal space between his commencement from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. in biological engineering at MIT, which he’ll begin this fall (page 36). Discovery will also be front and center as you read about the 3rd graders’ ecosystem project (page 12), 6th graders’ transdisciplinary STEMinar (page 22), and Ximena P.’s ’21 hydroponics lab (page 18).

At this spring’s State of School, Henry Wilson ’19 introduced himself and his work in advanced physics simply, humbly, and with good humor. In front of 300 or so parents gathered for this year’s annual event, which was to focus on the K-12 science curriculum at Wildwood School, Henry started with the following disclaimer: “I’m not a STEM kid. I don’t plan to major in STEM in college. I’m just curious, and I want to understand how the world works.” He went on to describe in great detail a project that helped him to do just that. It was one of those moments teachers live for. In one casual and easy reference, he made it clear that we, his parents and teachers, had succeeded. He’d chosen to take a particularly challenging course of study not because it would look good on his college applications but because he wanted to know more, to understand. That ethos, so central to our work with children at Wildwood from the first day in the Pods through senior year, is the antitheses of the accounts of unethical, unjust, and illegal actions reported this past winter as the now- infamous college admissions scandal came to light. You can read some of my immediate thoughts on that topic via The Head’s Perspective blog on our website. I was reminded of Henry’s casual aside during his self- introduction when his classmate, Violet Lewis ’19, as one of our six commencement speakers, carried on a beloved tradition at Wildwood School of having seniors serve in that role. Violet’s remarks were memorable, too, as she recounted a conversation in her literature class, in which my colleague Vanessa Mancinelli Stotland talked with her students about liminal spaces. Recognizing her own commencement as a particularly momentous threshold, or liminal space, Violet pushed back. She refused to see that precious moment in time as something less than,

I hope you enjoy them all.

Warmly,

Landis Green Head of School

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OWW SUMMER 2019