Our Wildwood, Volume 52

GOOD TO KNOW Useful information about and for us

Deepening Dialogue in Denver

The NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC) is the flagship of the National Association of Independent Schools’ commitment to equity and justice in teaching, learning, and organizational development. This year, Wildwood sent one of its largest delegations of faculty and administrators ever—eager to brave Denver’s winter chill and deepen their skills in teaching and facilitating meaningful conversations about identity, diversity, and inclusion in our classrooms and beyond.

Elementary Students Celebrate the Love of Books During Read-a-Thon Perfectly timed with the opening of the renovated elementary library, the 7th annual Read-a-Thon week was a celebration of all things literary. The week kicked off with in-class story time and parent/guardian read alouds, and included several author visits. Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students took a “Book Break” with The Pumphrey Brothers, authors of The Old Truck . Meanwhile, 3rd and 4th graders heard from author Kate Korsh, author of Oona Bramblegoop’s Sideways Magic series. Other visiting authors included Ben Hatke, author and illustrator of the Zita the Spacegirl trilogy and the Eisner award winning Little Robot , and Grace Seo Chang, author of Birthday Soup. For many though, the highlight of the week was Dress As Your Favorite Literary Character Day. Whether it was Harry Potter, Madeline, or Captain Hook, students and faculty showed off their literary loves in style. “There is something so special about the way literature brings our whole community together,” said Sarah Simon, assistant director of elementary school. “From seeing our students walk around campus in their favorite book character costumes, which spilled out over multiple days because they were having so much fun with it, to the thoughtful questions our students asked the visiting authors about their writing process—it’s all just magical.”

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