Our Wildwood, Summer 2021, Volume 46

“” JOSEPH: NOT TO MAKE YOU SOUND OLD, BUT YOU ARE A PIECE OF LIVING HISTORY. MATT: IN CLASSIC WILDWOOD FORMAT, WE’D HAVE A FISHBOWL AND ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT IT, NOT JUST LET IT LIE LOW. THE AMAZING TEACHERS AND PHILOSOPHY BEHIND IT MADE THAT POSSIBLE. RACHEL: I REMEMBER MY TEACHER, DOUG, MAKING IT EASY AND WARM—HE IS NOW THE TECH HEAD TEACHING MY OWN CHILDREN.

JOSEPH BENEFIEL ‘21 Joseph, a “lifer,” senior, and Student Council president has a strong connection to Wildwood’s history, with both his mother and grandmother teaching here for more than 55 years collectively. His favorite class this year is the Wildwood Institute for Entrepreneurship (WIE), where he has been developing his nonprofit business, Joe’s Cookies (100 percent of profits go to charity). This fall, Joseph is attending Tulane University on a Posse Foundation scholarship. MATT LEVY ‘04 Matt is a member of the first graduating senior class. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international affairs with minors in Spanish and history at George Washington University, and a master’s degree in international policy studies at Stanford University. After nine years working in various data analytic roles in San Francisco, he is currently the director of data and performance management at First Place for Youth, maximizing the organization’s ability to make meaningful changes in the lives of transition-age foster youth. Matt’s sister Isabella ‘13 attended Wildwood K-12. RACHEL GUTKIN ‘90 (ELEMENTARY) Rachel is a graduate of Wildwood’s elementary school. Twenty years later, Rachel is parent to current students Lucy G. ‘28, Liev G. ‘30, and Mila G. ‘32. She is a maternal- fetal medicine physician. Her career is filled with accolades, and she has worked numerous clinical research studies and published on several public health topics. Rachel’s brother Jacob also attended Wildwood, arriving as a kindergartner in 1989 and graduating elementary in 1996.

RACHEL: The thing I took away from my experience and hope my kids will take away from theirs is the idea of being in a place that values you for you and supports you in childhood. That they want you to stay a kid for as long as possible. That is the gift I got from being there and the gift we’ve been able to give our kids. My daughter talks constantly about how this has been her other home. And I just can’t thank the school enough for that experience because I feel like there’s no other place I could imagine would give that to my children.

RACHEL: Yes. It’s interesting—All School Meeting was the same in that we had it every week and we sang the same songs. Good Morning every Friday! The system that’s in place now with 5th graders leading it allows kids to grow into a place of confidence that they can stand up in front of the school and give this presentation.

JOSEPH: Is there something you’d like to say to the community, to your kids, to your past self?

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CELEBRATING 50 YEARS! | OWW SUMMER 2021