“The Moth” Stops by SWS!

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Filed under Academics, Community, Students

This quarter, Wheatley’s School Within-a-School Program (SWS) has been offering two sections of a class, “Facing the Unknown,” in which students write and tell stories modeled on The Moth, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on the art and craft of storytelling. Founded by American novelist George Dawes Green, “The Moth” is a popular radio show and podcast.

During the first section of the class, students shared stories about their own personal experiences. These stories included tales of first arriving at Wheatley from China, attending a diabetic summer camp, and learning to ski.

In the second section of the class, we had the pleasure of hosting an actual Moth Storyteller! On Monday, 11 March, the SWS class hosted Maris Blechner, the grandmother of one of our students. Mrs. Blechner shared her story about the joys and misconceptions surrounding adoption. She also explained how she ended up on the program and offered some valuable tips about storytelling. We thank Ms. Blechner for providing this wonderful experience for our students.

[Thanks to Patrick Clarke for the write-up and the photos!]

After a Back and Forth Competition, the Class of 2019 Emerges Victorious in #Showdown2019

The culmination of Wheatley’s Showdown week is the Friday Night Finale. This finale took place last night! Beginning at 6:45 pm and continuing through 10:16 pm, grades competed against each other in a wide variety of activities. The activities included:

  • Chess
  • Myers Math Problem
  • Badminton
  • Sneaker relay race
  • Foul shooting
  • Egg and Spoon Race (faculty competition)
  • Volleyball
  • Scooter Polo
  • Over-Under Ball Pass
  • Pyramid Cup Stacking
  • Target Rock

Over 500 students attended the night’s activities. The “cost” of admission to the evening was a donation item for the Mary Brennan INN (this was one of the competitions). Each class was assigned a category, so a wide variety of soups, canned goods, cereals, pasta, rice and beans was collected. Over 6,300 items were collected for the donation!

After an intense evening of competition, the Class of 2019 emerged as the winners of Showdown2019!

A huge thank you to our Class Advisors, our PE faculty, our custodians and our Wheatley PTO for all the work they did in order to help us through the week of Showdown2019! Thank you to ALL of the students for a wonderful week of spirited competition!