Our Wildwood, Volume 50

DEAR FRIENDS A Letter from Landis

learning. It was that early work that set me down my own path, eventually leading to Wildwood. I’ve offered up my own reflection on page 14. Wildwood is the ideal environment for futurists. Threaded throughout this issue are countless examples of how my colleagues and our students orient themselves around new ideas, born of research and reflection and in service to the creation of something new. Just one example, on page 20, is our Research Exploration and Advancement Program (REAP). REAP has enabled colleagues to traverse the globe, deepening their own knowledge of their fields and bringing their learning back to Wildwood. I hope you read their stories with the same sense of inspiration and excitement as I do. Later this spring, when we welcome the Class of 2004 back for their 20th reunion, I’m eager to hear their reflections. What of Wildwood have they taken with them into the world? How has Wildwood impacted their lives, personally and professionally? What can we learn from them, and how are they contributing to the lives of others?

Those just getting to know Wildwood School—as job applicants or applying families—often ask others of us to describe the place. I’ve heard colleagues talk about community, innovation, kindness, joy, purpose, and the list goes on. My go-to is usually more than one word. I often recount how, more than any school I know, Wildwood sends graduates off into the world assuming that the educators in their lives—their teachers here, and later, their professors at college—want them to be successful. Our students know that we’re in their court. Reading through this edition of Our Wildwood , another word that often comes up is on my mind. It’s reflection. In the following pages you’ll read of colleagues of mine who literally envisioned and built the programs that Wildwood students enjoy. Our early middle and upper school students and families often referred to themselves as “pioneers,” people who signed on to the compelling idea in the late 90s and early 2000s of what a K-12 Wildwood School could be. Fast forward almost a quarter of a century, and our first graduating class is about to celebrate their 20th reunion. One of them, upper school humanities teacher Corey Fetzer ‘04, has joined those who created our program and those of us who’ve continued to steward it. I’ve loved getting to know Corey and her classmates, people who—even in adolescence—were the type of individuals who were drawn to being part of something bigger than themselves, a school entirely different than what had existed before. A school in which students would be at the center of their learning. As a graduate student and a young teacher (pictured at right), my scholarship focused on understanding the impact of new ways of thinking about teaching and

In the meantime, I’ll simply enjoy the reflections in this issue of Our Wildwood .

Warmly,

Landis Green Head of School

OWW WINTER 2024

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