We have been getting our classroom ready to start the new school year. We've got a new teacher, Ms. Rebecca von Gonten, who will be teaching English and History. Dr. Jill will teach math and science this year. We've also got our biggest class ever with 9 students!
We wrapped up this year with a whirlwind of activities! After an eclipse and a ropes course field trip in April, we attended the Global Elementary Model United Nations in May, taking home awards for two of our delegates and recognition for our country display representing Venezuela. We finished the year with a dunk tank fundraiser that launched us into summer!
We are happy to announce that we will host a Preview Day on Wednesday, Feb. 28th for any interested rising 7th and 8th graders. Students will spend the whole day with us at Wildwood and get a feel for how we do school!
We had some very rainy weather this January. For an entire week, it was mostly too wet to go outside, lest we risk putting holes and footprints in our grass and on our trails. But one day, we decided that we should go out and pretend to push each other into the puddles around school. Eventually, some of us decided that we would belly-flop into the largest puddle for the fun of it. Our teacher discouraged it but left it up to us. After the splash, we washed off with the hose, got dry, and changed out of our clothes. The good news is, we are all prepared for this, with a change of clothes at school and some towels that are just waiting to clean off the next incident following, "Hey, that looks like fun!" (by Colin)
To celebrate for the holidays, we prepared ourselves brunch and partook of some holiday traditions. We exchanged secret Santa gifts, and also had a white elephant gift exchange (which included some goofy hats, see above). We also learned how to play dreidel and spent some time learning about Hannukah traditions. We especially enjoyed learning about (and eating) gelt!
For our fall service project, we worked a shift at the Brazos Valley Food Bank. We helped to set up boxes for collecting food at the Food For Families drive that KBTX sponsors every year around the first of December. It is a huge event that benefits our community, and we were happy to be a part of it!
In October, Wildwood lost a friend and champion. Coach Kayci Peterson taught PE and life skills to students at Wildwood for the past three years, and at Aggieland Country School for 15 years before that. Coach Kayci was part drill sergeant, part best friend, and she managed to make a strong connection with every aspiring adult who had the privilege of knowing her. We will endeavor to honor her memory by carrying on the mission that she supported so generously.
In late September, we took a class bonding field trip to Crockett, TX. We stayed at the Crockett Family Resort, taking in the piney woods of East Texas, and visiting Caddo Mounds State Historic Site. A good time was had, and a lot of bonding took place. We even squeezed in a trip to Buc-ce's on the way home! The only thing that was missing was the campfire that we were not allowed to have, due to a burn ban. Droughts have consequences!
During the school year, our class visited Little Free Libraries around town and decided to design our own book box with a goal of always having some books inside that are suitable for middle school students. We stock books for our younger neighbors, too, over at Aggieland Country School. See the full story about our Little Free Library on the LFL tab on this website. Or check us out on the Little Free Library world map. We are box #168098.
Our school year wrapped up on May 25th! Our last week of school involved an end-of-year potluck and talent show. The students performed a musical number, showcased talents of their choice, and gave science and social studies presentations to their families. In the last days of class, we decorated our Little Free Library box, finals were taken, and we had a pool party!! It was a bit of a sprint to the finish, and we said goodbye to our last batch of founding students. We wish them all the best in high school next year.
Wildwood represented Czechia at the 34th annual Global Elementary Model United Nations (GEMUN) on May 12-13. This was the first time that GEMUN was in person since 2019! Our delegates proposed resolutions on police brutality, stamping out diabetes, and curbing deforestation. Our head delegate, Van, won the award for best resolution in the General Assembly for his proposed plan of action for suicide prevention. Congratulations, delegates!
Hello, fellow humans (presumably) welcome to Wildwood!
The first thing you should know is that Wildwood Secondary is not what you might expect from a private middle school, or any school whatsoever. Here, the space outside the school is just as important as the classroom and you should take advantage of your access to it every day. It’s a very small school, and by the end of the year, everyone will be your friend, even if it’s in a slightly odd way. You’ll learn not only math, science, history, and English, but how to cook, do CPR, and so many other things. Everything you learn here, you can learn at your own pace, you won’t have to rush through a concept and take a quiz on it before you know how it works.
Some things you should know before coming here:
First: It’s common to hear things that have no context. If you want context, follow the advice of the other letters and forget about it...
Secondly, wear waterproof shoes or bring rain boots...
Third: When running around on the nature trail, do not be afraid of minor cuts and scrapes. They are minor and very common. If you wish, there are still Band-Aids available to put on them...
Fourth: Don’t avoid running around in the rain and getting soaked, because it’s normal. (Unless it’s also cold, then don’t do it.)
Fifth: Despite all the teasing or jokes directed at you that you might face, none of it is serious, ever. This is not an exaggeration. Just continue life and don’t be afraid to express yourself...
Just remember– have fun during your time here, and go with the flow of things.
Sincerely:
Diya (student at Wildwood for 3 years)
On February 25th, 2023, please join us for our annual open house! We invite our alumni to join us for food and conversation. This is a great opportunity for future students to hear where Wildwood has taken former students. examples of the students’ work, learn about where current students are headed for 9th grade, and to see first-hand what Wildwood Secondary is all about! Grab a voucher at the open house for $50 off enrollment fees for new students!
In mid-February, we hosted our first ever preview day for prospective students! We had 8 visitors, who worked through sample lessons in math, English, history science and PE! It was a chance for the current Wildwood students to step up and be leaders, and for them to show a group of younger kids how great middle school life can be! It was a fun day for everyone.
In January, we visited several Little Free Libraries around the B/CS area. Our goal was to add books to existing libraries that might appeal to middle-school aged students, as well as to get some ideas for a library of our own. After driving around town collectiong data, we stopped off at a local coffe shop to start the brainstorming process. We will complete construction of our library before the end of the school year.
In December, we had the opportunity for an overnight field trip to Galveston Island. We started our visit at the Bryan Museum to learn about the history of the island. Next, we visited Galveston Island State Park to observe the local ecosystems. On the second day, we had a VIP tour of TAMU Galveston, organized by Dr. Debbie Thomas, the Chief Academic Officer for the campus (and a Wildwood board member). We learned that TAMU-G is a great place to study all things related to the ocean!!
We orchestrated a food drive this fall to benefit local families dealing with hunger. Working with our sister school, Aggieland Country School, we gathered 475 pounds of food to donate to the Brazos Valley Food Bank! This was our second year to do a food drive, and we love the feeling of serving our local community.
We are always looking for new ways to garden at Wildwood. In addition to planting cool season vegetables like radishes and carrots, we decided this fall to grow Monster Plants from the Junior Master Gardiner program. In the weeks following, they were entertaining to watch. Each student got to take their "monster" home, and one was planted in a flower pot at school. Perhaps it will re-emerge next year at Halloween?
We had a great turnout for our annual fall workday/reunion. Most of our students who graduated in the spring came back to visit us. We learned a lot about the transition to high school, and caught up with our alumni. Many jobs were done to help cleaning and maintenace around the school, and we shared a picnic lunch. This is great tradition that we expect to continue!
We spend all year getting ready for the Global Elementary Model United Nations (GEMUN) in May. This year, Wildwood Secondary will be representing the Czech Republic, or Czechia. Our students all suggested possible countries to represent, and this was the clear winner. We can't wait to learn more about this country!
As a year-end, overnight field trip, we visited Crockett, TX to experience the piney woods of Texas. We visited a site where Dr. Asko Noormets is doing research on the pine forest ecosystem, and we relaxed and had fun at the Crockett Family Resort. It was a lot of fun and great end-of-year bonding for our students!
On February 26th, 2022, please join us for our annual open house! We will have students and families on hand to talk about their experiences at Wildwood. There will also be an opportunity to see examples of the students’ work, learn about where they are headed for 9th grade, and to see first-hand what Wildwood Secondary is all about! Grab a voucher at the open house for $50 off enrollment fees for new students!
In mid-January, we visited Texas A&M University before the college students were back for the semester. Our aim was to get students thinking about applying for college, and what it might be like to be a college student. It is a short jump from 8th grade to college applications! We rode the bus to get to campus, took the prospective student tour, and explored some areas of campus that interested our students. The 3D printing lab in the basement of the Zachry Engineering Education Complex was a huge hit!
This fall, the students spent some time choosing and organizing a service project during their life skills time over several weeks. The group came to a consensus that they wanted to help out people who experience food insecurity in the Brazos Valley. Once a project was chosen, they elected a leader to organize their service project. Annie set to work creating a vision, asking for input when she wanted it, and delegating tasks once it was clear what to do. The group worked collaboratively, raising money and collecting food donations from Wildwood and Aggieland Country School families, as well as our neighbors, the residents of Quail Run. The students made a trip to the store to strategically purchase $20 worth of groceries (paid for with cash donations), so they learned about the costs of food, and how to stretch a dollar at the store. In the end, we delivered 698 pounds of food to the Brazos Food Bank! We were also able to work a volunteer shift at their warehouse, so we could see how the operation works! So rewarding on so many levels!
Last year, we made a complete Thanksgiving dinner, including the turkey in our kitchen space at school. It was tasty, but this year we wanted a twist! We are representing Belize at the Global Elementary Model United Nations next May in Dallas, and thought this was the perfect excuse to cook up some food from Belize! We had the traditional stewed chicken, plantains, rice and beans, fresh tropical fruits, Caribbean coleslaw, sweet potato cake and more. The best part was that families were able to join us for a feast on the porch! It was such a special time that I forgot to grab my camera and document the meal!
In October, we had four birthdays as well as Halloween to celebrate! At Wildwood we take the time to celebrate each student’s birthday with singing and a treat of their choice. It is important to celebrate these moments with the students to honor them as individuals and to make it clear that they are part of a group.
At the end of the month, we carved pumpkins for our Halloween celebration. Everyone was required to dress up and demonstrate their own version of a Halloween costume. We had everything from a T-shirt with a witty saying on it to full-body camouflage and costumes with masks. Kids this age still want to participate in these traditions, and we actively cultivate a social environment where they can dress up in costume or wear a funny wig and know that they are accepted as part of the tribe.
The Wildwood class took its first field trip of the year to Veteran’s Park in College Station. While many of us had been to the park to play on the playground, play soccer, or attend events at the pavilion, few had actually visited the veteran’s memorials that give the park its name. The students broke up into teams on a scavenger hunt-type activity to find certain bits of information from each monument. We finished with a few impromptu reenactments and a photo by the flags. It was nice to explore a new dimension of a place that is so close to home!
We had our first workday in September, and all of our families showed up to support our mission! A space had been cleared for an athletic field, and seven pallets of grass were delivered and ready to install. With so many hands working, the grass was in place before 11:00 a.m. and it was clear that we needed more! The crew took a break while a dad with a truck drove to the landscaping supply store to pick up more grass. When the dust settled around 2 p.m., eleven pallets of grass were in place, everyone had contributed to the effort, and we had the satisfaction of a job well done! We will enjoy this space for years to come, thanks to all of our students and their families!
We are excited to begin our second year at Wildwood Secondary! We have several familiar faces and a few new ones in our classroom this year. We have both 7th and 8th grade students, and a new teacher, Ms. Courtney Martinez for English and U.S. History. We started this year with some team building exercises, but quickly discovered that everyone felt very safe and comfortable in the classroom, like they had returned to their tribe from a short break, not an entire summer vacation. Our new students blended right in with the veterans, and the collaborative learning has begun!
We are seeking to hire a part-time teacher 12-15 hours per week who can take over teaching two core subjects (English, Social Studies, Math, Science) to a small, mixed-level class (7th and 8th grade) beginning fall 2021. The ideal candidate will have some classroom teaching experience, interest or experience using inquiry-based and student-led learning, and a bit of a sense of adventure. The teaching schedule will be set within our regular school week (M-F 8:30-3:30) with the input of the candidate. We sit on the campus of Aggieland Country School, a Montessori school with programs for children 18-months olds through 6th grade. While not officially part of ACS, we provide an extension of the school through 8th grade and carry through many of the Montessori principles and practices through the middle school grades. Wage negotiable depending on experience. For more information about the school, visit www.wildwoodsecondary.com. Contact Dr. Jill West at wildwood.secondary@gmail.com to inquire or apply.
In an effort to blur the lines that separate disciplines as much as possible, the logical follow-up to a unit on cells in science is an art project showing the anatomy of a cell! We have been studying watercolor techniques and sketching this year to minimize the need to share supplies. Next year, we will expand our repertoire of art techniques and media, and continue to look to our other subjects and natural world for inspiration!
Without knowing what new challenges this school year might hold, we boldly opened our doors in August of 2020. Our class stabilized at 7 students who were all grateful to be able to attend in-person school that felt SAFE. In the ultimate show of faith, we planted garden boxes to grow winter vegetables that were kindly lent to us by Aggieland Country School, our neighbor. Working together, the students prepared the garden boxes, tested the soil, experimented with different fertilizers, and grew a bounty of vegetables.
Our school building sits on the campus of Aggieland Country School. We are located along what is known as the nature trail, surrounded by trees, and in the spring, wildflowers!! This spring, the elementary students at Aggieland began the process of cataloging the wildflowers along the nature trail and around the Wildwood Secondary building. As we observe new species throughout the year, we will add them to our list. Check out the guide to our first 24 wildflower species.
Construction has been moving right along! The interior is nearing completion, and the porch will go on soon. We are confident the space will be ready to show off for our Open House on February 8th from 10-1. If you're curious about Wildwood Secondary, plan to come to the open house to ask questions and take a tour!
In January 2019, our unfinished building arrived along the nature trail at Aggieland Country School. Construction to finish the insde and build a porch is currently underway. We expect that the building will be finished by mid-February at the latest. New photos will be posted as the work proceeds! We are so excited to move into the new classroom! Work is being done by https://www.facebook.com/mandhconstructionbcs/