Returning from winter break brings with it a valuable sense of renewal for Wellington students as they begin a fresh decade mastering new skills, expanding their capabilities, and seeing the world filled with endless promise.
Fourth graders focus on stretching their creative self-expression muscles by writing and performing humorous short stories. As budding playwrights and actors, students learn the power of voice by expressing themselves first on the page and then later the stage. By producing a play of selected works from their class oeuvre, 4th graders grow as communicators, speakers, collaborators, and leaders. The many hats they wear during the process all serve to strengthen their abilities and confidence as they take on greater roles in larger arenas in the future. Check out more moments from 4th grade play preparations on Vidigami.
In December, Wellington’s upper school Model UN team attended the Senior Ohio Model United Nations, the state’s largest global education and leadership program. Students had the opportunity to debate and negotiate as representatives of nations around the world. With teacher advisors Michelle Neely and Maria Baker, the team engaged in the work of the United Nations, as peacekeepers and humanitarians while gaining a broader global education. Over three days, 32 Wellington students attended council sessions, the General Assembly, and the Human Rights Council, as well as contests and social activities. In the closing ceremony, Taso Callanan ‘20 was awarded with Outstanding Delegate and students representing Israel won Outstanding Resolution.
“The team worked hard, laughed often, learned a lot,” Neely says. “They experienced speaking out about all sorts of important topics. We are so proud of everything they have done. The ability to come together with 1600+ students from all over Ohio to practice and dream about how to make the world a better place is awe-inspiring.” Check out more photos from Model UN on Vidigami.
Wellington 5th graders have been busy engaged in their own form of global exploration. In the class “Explorers of the World,” they take a project-based, student-centered approach to researching a topic of personal interest and then presenting a creative display of their work. After first identifying their subject, they establish their own guiding questions, research for greater understanding, analyzing and synthesizing the information to later design a culminating project.
“The research process allows students to both learn about and engage in the world in an authentic manner,” Berc Backhurst, social studies teachers, says. “I am always amazed by the topics Explorers students choose to investigate.”
Selected topics this year were diverse, ranging from Lyme disease (Annabeth Pan ‘27) and cancer (Henry Becker ‘27) to platypi (Lillian Schrade ‘27) and the history of women’s rights (Vivian Johnson ‘27). Reading a book about the Seneca Falls Women’s Convention was a leaping off point for Johnson to further explore her passion for equality and feel empowered by a deeper understanding of an important historical event. “To have that knowledge and be able to see how far women have come,” she explains, “shows me it’s not impossible to change the world.”