Students returned from spring break to a full day of immersive experiences designed to enrich their learning for the rest of the year. The theme for upper school students was successful habits, and their morning began with guest speaker and New York Times' best-selling author, James Clear. His book “Atomic Habits” is about making the most of your potential by mastering daily habits. “Excellence isn’t about radical changes,” he told students, “but small improvements.”
Clear, who suffered a traumatic sports injury as a high school student and later went on to be an All-American baseball player in college, explained that habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. He also shared the four stages to forming habits:
Cue: a trigger that tells your brain to initiate a habit
Craving: the prediction that compels you to act
Response: the actual habit you perform
Reward: the result that satisfies your craving
“True behavior change is an identity change,” Clear explained. “Ask yourself what identity you want to have and build habits to reinforce that identity.”
For the rest of the day, seniors visited The Ohio State University, where they learned more about college life and the college transition. Juniors worked with human resources professionals to learn more successful habits regarding resumes and interviews. Sophomores completed their service-learning projects FLEX, while freshman class participated in a public speaking workshop.
Middle school students engaged in a Grow Your Mind Day to further cultivate areas of expertise. They chose from a variety of activities to broaden their knowledge base. Wellington parents Laura Cooke ‘90 P ‘21 ‘21 ‘24 ‘27 and Sue Vargo P ‘21 ‘24 provided their expertise in reducing stress and anxiety with art and service dogs, respectively, and Lisa Armitage P ‘25 talked entrepreneurship. Senior Alfonso Botta-Lopez ‘19 worked with students to build a Model United Nations group, and Middle School English teacher Marianne Crowley introduced the art and science of beekeeping. Fashion design, geometric art, readers/writers’ workshop, and robotics were just a sampling of other offerings.
After time away from school for spring break, students had a terrific jumpstart on learning, developing, and growing in a most delightful way.
Check out more photos from Upper School Immersion Day and Middle School Grow Your Mind Day.