Our Wildwood, Summer 2021, Volume 46

LOOKING AHEAD Campaign Enhancements

Expansion of the Institutes

by Marika V. ‘22

Marika V. ‘22

Lori Strauss

The Institute Model began in 2014 with the creation of the Wildwood Institute for STEM Research and Development (WISRD), followed by the Wildwood Institute for Social Leadership (WISL) in 2018 and the Wildwood Institute for Entrepreneurship (WIE) in 2019. This innovative model is not based on a curriculum but instead uses authentic contexts such as a science research lab, a social leadership collaborative, or an incubator. Over the last few years, the Institutes at Wildwood have become an integral part of the Wildwood community and have opened new avenues for self-exploration and hands-on learning for all their members. Lori Strauss, former associate head of school and visionary of the Wildwood Institute Model, imagined the Institutes as dynamic, student-centered, collaborative workspaces where students would engage with the real world as scientists, entrepreneurs, activists, and ultimately change-makers, not just increasing knowledge about specific issues but also designing solutions. As Lori stated, “Most importantly, the Institutes take school out of the four walls on Olympic Boulevard. School is now in the community and the community has a home and partnership with the school.” Moreover, the skills members developed in the Institutes would be The Foundation for the Future capital campaign, begun in 2015 and publicly launched in February 2020 at the State of School address, focused on funding three pillars: people, place, and program. The success of the campaign—$13 million raised to date—has allowed the school to increase faculty salaries (people), make major renovations to the middle and upper campus (place), and expand the Wildwood Institute Model (program).

transferable to any area of work and life, resulting in meaningful, purposeful, and joyful education. Members of each Institute have learned to apply the Wildwood Habits of Mind and Heart in their Institute work and in real-world situations. In WIE, members work on entrepreneurial projects with the intention of creating disruptive products that will help transform society. Though members work independently, they also collaborate through a process called “sprints.” As described by Grace H. ‘22, the current manager of WIE, “Every week, we come together to share the current stage of our projects and to receive feedback from other members. During this process, we share our learnings, our goals, our failures, and we are really able to learn from each other.” Now entering his fourth year in WISRD, Ian N. ‘22 shared some of the challenges he has faced and how he has used the Habit of Perspective to overcome them. “In the STEM world, you have a lot of hiccups,” Ian stated. “You could come across multiple problems while working on a project, and you will probably not know how to solve all of them. “So WISRD has really forced me to utilize the Habit of Perspective to come up with solutions, both individually and in a group setting. All our members come from different backgrounds, and have unique ways of thinking, and because of the way Wildwood has taught us to think, we are able to collaboratively work through these problems and incorporate everyone’s ideas

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