Our Wildwood, Winter 2019, Volume 44

GIVING VOICE A conversation between community members

Wildwood Parent Sara Noyes & Parent of Alumni Lewis Kanengiser

Sara Noyes and Lewis Kanengiser are at very different stages in their journeys as Wildwood community members. Sara’s son recently culminated from the elementary campus and started our middle school. Lewis is one of the pioneering parents who founded our secondary school in 2000. He was a member of the Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2011, and his son Joseph was in the first graduating class in 2004. His son Gabriel followed, graduating in 2010. Here, Lewis explains why progressive education was a good fit for his sons and gives Sara a glimpse into alumni life after Wildwood.

SARA: You were instrumental in the creation of Wildwood’s secondary school, and you sent two of your three kids here in the earliest days. What was it that drew you to a program that was so young? LEWIS: We used to kid ourselves that we were the group of parents that wore raccoon hats. We were the pioneers. It was the pedagogy, the progressive philosophy. Joey’s needs were addressed so well that he became a leader here. And for our second son, we thought, “Why would we keep him in a traditional school when he could be here?” The school evolved and grew along with our kids. SARA: So you chose the school because of its progressive education, and your boys are thriving after having experienced it. I love hearing that, I’m always so impressed with the Wildwood graduates I meet and college will be here before we know it. What are they doing now?

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