Our Wildwood, Volume 53

DONOR PROFILE Thanks to our generous supporters

Meet Parents of Alumni Anne Roberts and Wayne Neiman

FOR ANNE ROBERTS AND WAYNE NEIMAN, WILDWOOD SCHOOL is more than a place their children attended—it’s a community that carried their family through heartbreak, growth, and transformation. Their journey began in the early 2000s, when family friend and neighbor Jeanne Fauci, who was Wildwood’s director of communications and outreach at the time, declared that Wildwood was the only school that their son Mitchell should attend. Jeanne’s instincts proved right: Wildwood was a match for Mitchell and, later, for his younger brother Spencer, who would go on to graduate as a “lifer” in the Class of 2009. Though Mitchell’s time at Wildwood was brief—he passed away from cancer in kindergarten—the family found deep comfort and care in the community during an incredibly difficult chapter. “When Mitchell was going through chemo, there’d be times he was well enough to come to school for

FOR US, GIVING IS A REFLECTION OF OUR VALUES. WILDWOOD GAVE OUR CHILD A PLACE TO GROW, TO BE SEEN, TO BECOME WHO HE IS. THAT’S NOT SOMETHING EVERY FAMILY GETS—AND WE FEEL AN IMMENSE SENSE OF GRATITUDE. —ANNE ROBERTS “”

a couple of hours,” Anne recalls. “He’d stop in [Head of School] Hope’s office before going to class. That became our ritual. We were grateful for the love and consistency Wildwood offered him—and us.” When it came time to choose a school for Spencer, Wildwood was the obvious choice. “After Mitchell died, we needed a school that would care for the whole child,” Anne says, “and Wildwood was that place.” Spencer would go on to thrive—

especially once he found his footing in the upper school’s robust theater program. With the support of dedicated faculty and mentors like Stephanie Fybel and Deb Christenson, Spencer discovered a passion for performance that would eventually lead him to major in theater at Northwestern University. Throughout their years at Wildwood, Anne and Wayne were active participants in the life of the school—attending All School Meetings, camping trips, and even hosting fundraising gatherings at their home during the early days of the middle and upper school expansion. Anne even led parent meetings and delivered fundraising pitches for the creation of the middle and

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