Our Wildwood, Volume 53

“The beauty of the Portrait is its ability to scaffold up as students grow through elementary and beyond. Even as young as kindergarten, we’re able to introduce these concepts and ask students to reflect on their learning in age-appropriate ways.” — CRYSTAL JOSLIN-MIKELS, KINDERGARTEN LEAD TEACHER

“We’re planting the seeds of self-awareness early,” Crystal added. “When students learn to talk about their strengths and stretches in kindergarten, they’re building the foundation for lifelong reflection and growth.” In teacher Will Schaer’s 3rd grade class, a collaboration with his students and Wildwood 10th graders helped bring the progression of the Portrait to life. As 10th grade students guided younger peers through visual storytelling, 3rd graders engaged deeply across the Portrait’s pillars: they thought critically about narrative structure, felt encouraged and validated through peer collaboration, did the hands-on work of storyboarding while reflecting on their writing process, and explored who they are as emerging learners and communicators. “When my students saw 10th grade students take storyboarding seriously—and still have fun with it— it gave that prewriting process real weight,” Will shared. “They weren’t

By the end of the session, many teachers had begun to brainstorm concrete ideas for how to bring the Portrait into their classrooms and assessments, whether through Gateways and

just hearing it from me. They were seeing what it could look like, and who they could become.” What began as a midweek writing boost became, in Will’s words, “a portrait of what’s possible.”

Senior Exhibitions, Advisory discussions, or daily lessons.

BUILDING LIFELONG LEARNERS

“The beauty of the Portrait is its ability to scaffold up as students grow through elementary and beyond,” said kindergarten lead teacher Crystal Joslin-Mikels. “Even as young as kindergarten, we’re able to introduce these concepts and ask students to reflect on their learning in age-appropriate ways.” To make the Portrait accessible to Wildwood’s youngest learners, Crystal and her fellow kindergarten teachers Francesca Bill and Rachel Hedgepath ‘13 reframed conference preparations by asking students to reflect on “what they can do” (strengths) and “what support they need” (stretches).

27 and why.

OWW SUMMER 2025