Wilmot Elementary

🎉 What an incredible year it’s been, Wildcat families!

In the words of our incredible PTA:

We want to take a moment to celebrate some very special milestones:
🎓 Our Preschool Continuations — you’re officially on your way!
🌟 Our Kindergarten Graduates — look how far you’ve come!
🏆 Our 5th Graders — middle school is waiting for you, Wildcats. Go show them what you’ve got!

Cheers to a well-earned summer! 🌊🍦🌻

Look for videos and photos of our year-end lessons and celebrations in the coming weeks!

What happens when students are trusted to create something entirely their own? 💡✨
At our school, Passion Projects are about so much more than the final product. From 1st–5th grade, students spend the year learning with Mrs. Marcus how to dream big, plan, problem-solve, adapt, and persevere through challenges all while creating something completely from scratch! No templates and no step-by-step instructions. Just curiosity, creativity, and determination!
Each 3rd-5th grade student also chooses a character habit they want to strengthen throughout the process. They reflect and journal after their sessions about how they are growing in that area. For example, some focus on engaging and persisting when things get difficult - learning not to give up when mistakes happen, but instead to rethink, adjust, and keep moving forward. That kind of resilience is powerful for all learners, and especially meaningful for our gifted and talented students, who are learning that growth often comes through challenges.
We had 45 incredible creators. Some examples of projects this year are:
📚 Graphic novels and original novels
🎵 Albums of original music
🎬 Stop-motion animation and student-created films
⚒️ Blacksmithing and swordsmithing
🎨 A collection of paintings paired with original songs through QR codes
🍬 A student-run candy business complete with chefs, accounting, and marketing departments
🤖 Mechanical engineers designing and testing robotic builds
🏑 A 4th grader who designed and taught a K–2 lacrosse camp after school in our gym
💄 Special-effects makeup artist
🪨 Geologists, researchers, sculptors, printmakers, writers, filmmakers, and so much more!
Last week, we celebrated their hard work with a Passion Project Showcase and movie premiere, and we could not be more proud of these students. The finished projects were amazing but, of course, the real accomplishment was everything they learned along the way. ❤️

Birds of a feather learn together! 🐦🌲

Our 1st grade elementary explorers took a walking field trip to Evergreen Lake to wrap up their bird study unit. There, they met with the Audubon Society who brought activities and helped students look for birds! Armed with bird guides, binoculars, and sketchbooks, students practiced observing local birds and creating detailed observational drawings inspired by what they saw in nature.

After a morning of learning and exploring, the fun continued with pizza at the park and lakeside recess with friends. What a beautiful day of science, art, fresh air, and adventure right in our own community! 💚🦆✏️

Thank you to the most amazing PTA for spoiling our staff during Teacher Appreciation Week! We appreciate you back!