Our Wildwood, Volume 48

FEATURE Jaimi Boehm, Director of Middle School & Susan Olsen, Board of Trustees A Legacy of Leadership: What I’ve Learned from the Women of Wildwood

My first task when I came to Wildwood School in 2017 as assistant director of upper school was to plan the Outdoor Ed retreat that would take all 220 upper school students and 35 faculty to Sequoia National Park for four days and three nights. I had no idea how to do that; in all of my previous roles as a teacher and educational leader, I had never been responsible for a community experience like that. I was both thrilled and intimidated by the opportunity and level of responsibility given to me right out of the gate. During one of those summer days early in my first month, longtime upper school humanities teacher Deb Christenson had come by to take care of some things in her classroom and stopped by my office to welcome me. Eager for insights about how Outdoor Ed trips had gone in the past, I was heartened by Deb’s final piece of advice: try reaching out to some upper school teachers and asking them what they’d like from a trip like this. Such a simple and important reminder. Trust the people around you. The trip was memorable and fun, and it was a good introduction to Wildwood for me. What I took away most from the experience was how much trust had been placed in me right from the outset of my time at Wildwood. I sensed it implicitly in ways big and small. It was okay if I had never done this or that before; I could learn it by doing it, and I could do a good job. As a woman and as a leader, that kind of trust is essential, and it’s been modeled for me in our school by the women whose legacy has shaped the culture of our school. To honor and reflect on that legacy and what it’s meant for those of us who benefit from it now, current board member Susan Olsen and I connected with some of the women whose service to the school and whose impact lives on. Colleen Pundyk, a former trustee and Director of Advancement who helped shepherd our school’s

JAIMI BOEHM

DEB CHRISTENSON

COLLEEN PUNDYK

HOPE BOYD

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