Matt Freese ’17, Alexa D’Ambrosio ’17: Not only does Grace Wingfield, Head of the Upper School Math Department, teach her Pre-Calculus classes to dive into formulas and functions, but she also has begun to teach about appreciation of one’s self and others. This education on appreciation is through a new program called “Treasure What Is.” When asked to describe the program and its objectives, Wingfield explained, “‘Treasure What Is’ is a campaign we started in my Pre-Calculus classes. We are hoping it will continue to grow. It came out of a concern of mine that students in particular were only being reminded about the greatness of individuals after they were gone – graduated, passed on, etc.,”
Photo courtesy of Alexa D’Ambrosio ’17
After realizing that students should recognize the positive attributes of others in the present, Wingfield then “talked with students about their experiences and thoughts. Their first idea was to say nice things about each other in our classes. I typed up ‘Treasure What Is…Matt’ for example and each student received a paper to write about a peer in the other section of Pre-Calculus. We then shared these with each other.”
Similar to this first activity, each student’s next assignment was to write a “Treasure What Is” paper about his or herself. “I then wrote a message back to each student about what they wrote and also something about what I noticed about them that they should treasure,” Wingfield noted.
She then went on to say, “Third, I told students to pick either Mr. Gallagher or Mrs. Tassoni or both to write a ‘Treasure What Is’ paper about… Students were given a week to research, particularly if they had not had a personal anecdote or interaction to share with either person. At the end of the week we wrote these up on special card stock. I boxed each set up and tied a bow. A student from each class presented it to Mr. Gallagher and Mrs. Tassoni separately as a memento towards their retirement and to let them know, while they are still here at EA, how much they are treasured by us.”
Katie Kane ‘16 a member of Wingfield’s “Treasure What Is” program explained that one of the best aspects of the program is that it is “not supposed to be expected so one day you just get a bunch of compliments.” Kane also believes that “the idea helps guide me into being a better person through the activities, and my appreciation towards others will spread and more people will be hit by the compliment wave.”
Currently, the next installment of “Treasure What Is” has not been confirmed, but Wingfield has a few ideas. “It may be another writing exercise centered around noticing similar and different qualities within our community. Students would write about something that makes them uniquely them and there would be a heading ‘Treasure What Is…Same or Different.’ Another idea is to write positive messages for other members of the community anonymously. A third idea is to take time to talk with someone they normally would not, have a positive conversation, and find out something about that person they did not know,” Wingfield explained.
To sum up her favorite part of “Treasure What Is” and how it affects others, Kane stated, “I love the reaction. When we did one for Mr. Gallagher, he told me that he appreciated it so much…It only took us about 10 minutes to write but hopefully it had a long lasting effect on him.”