Finding Light in the Dark: 10 Things We Are Grateful for in 2020
The Whittle community is grateful for many things this year: for members of the healthcare community, essential workers, advocates fighting racial inequality and promoting justice. And as the world says goodbye to a difficult year, we are taking the opportunity to reflect on the positives within our own community - the bright moments of 2020 that helped our Whittle world find light in the darkness, and the wins that kept us motivated to continue moving forward. Here, in no particular order, are ten things we are grateful for in 2020:
Lower School students worked creatively to re-imagine teamwork in the face of social distancing.
Whittle Students
We could not be more grateful for or proud of our Whittle student body. They have shown us resilience under the pressure of remote learning, compassion in the face of global and national tragedy, grace in response to constant uncertainty, and growth in character as young academics. Our Early Learners kept up with their language immersion at home and even guided their parents and guardians as they followed a recipe in Chinese to bake bread. Lower Schoolers reinvented teamwork upon returning to campus, devising creative ways to work together even when socially distant. Middle Schoolers coded interactive games and worlds from home, bringing the topics they learned about in STEM class to life. Upper Schoolers inspired us all by taking every opportunity to show gratitude to frontline workers and engage all divisions in numerous community service initiatives. Our students have not only coped with the difficulties of 2020, but they have also persisted in their pursuit of our values: dare to imagine, honor potential, and forge connections. They have proven themselves to be true pioneers, ready for whatever lies ahead.
A highlight of their 2019-2020 school year, our Early Learners were the main act in our Chinese New Year Celebration Parade in January.
The Completion of our First School Year
When Whittle first opened its doors in Shenzhen, China, and Washington, DC in September 2019, we never expected our inaugural school year to end the way it did. Our transition to online learning in March and April foretold an unusual end to our first school year. However, our virtual DC Campus end of school celebration in June did not convey a sense of defeat or disappointment. Rather, our community came together with a collective feeling of accomplishment. We reflected on the pioneering spirit that drove us to join a community committed to paving a new path forward in education and the triumph of a curriculum that prioritizes project-based and experiential learning across all divisions. Before the pandemic hit, our students used the early days of 2020 to celebrate the Chinese New Year, participate in our inaugural house sorting ceremony, and put on an impressive art showcase. When COVID forced us into distance learning, we gained an even deeper respect for our educators. Their unfailing commitment to bringing a Whittle education to life online meant sleepless nights, long hours, and unprecedented out-of-the-box thinking.
Early Learning Center teacher, Alice Yang, quickly stepped up to the challenge of creating engaging virtual cooking lessons for students.
A Quick Pivot to Distance Learning
Thanks to our leadership, educators, IT team, and support staff, our swift transition from in-person to online learning took only a few short weeks. Many members of our staff put their Spring Break on hold to meet the challenge of implementing a brand new remote learning infrastructure and spent nights on Zoom learning from our counterparts in Shenzhen. Leadership oversaw the complex integration of online learning tools including Agilix Buzz, Ring Central, DreamBox, and AtoZ. Parents and guardians met the incredible demand for setting up dedicated learning spaces in their own homes and took precious time out of their workdays to support their children’s educational needs.
Inspired by the words of Chris Whittle, our team also sought out every opportunity to help the broader community cope with the transition to online learning. Mr. Whittle reminded us all that, “In times of stress, the independent school community has a responsibility to help our public school colleagues even more, and I urge all of us to think of ways we can.” Our Whittle Online initiative set out to open our virtual doors to the world and share the online-learning resources and lessons our faculty found particularly valuable.
A Whittle Shenzhen student shares the post card she made for her peers in DC.
Our Global Network
As the world began to close its borders and travel between our Shenzhen and DC campuses ceased, one could have expected the connection between our campuses to suffer. Instead, our global sense of community only grew greater in strength. Students from Whittle Shenzhen provided our DC students with messages of sympathy and advice, making bilingual hand-drawn postcards and writing poems expressing their good wishes. Their kind words gave our DC Campus a sense of comfort and hope.
Another reason for our quick pivot to distance learning was the ability to tap into our global network. By the time lockdown occurred in the US, our counterparts in China had already transitioned to remote learning. Not only did they share their lessons learned with us, but also put together a free webinar series documenting their remote learning recommendations for fellow educators around the world.
A StudioSummer @ Home camper shares a project with their Mandarin immersion instructor.
The Launch of StudioSummer @ Home
The launch of our inaugural summer program, StudioSummer, had been over a year in the making and could have been delayed another year due to COVID’s logistical complications. However, our dedicated Studios team and summer instructors met the challenge head-on, opting to organize, publicize, and launch an online program, StudioSummer @ Home, in a matter of weeks. Buoyed by the school’s distance-learning wins and lessons learned, the Studios team put together a comprehensive program, offering weekly distance learning programs in language immersion, culinary arts, and life skills for children ages 3-17. These diverse learning experiences allowed children to stretch the boundaries of their knowledge and skills, take intellectual risks to reach their potential, and connect virtually with other children and encouraging adults.
Photo by Jaden Russell ‘22. Families joined us in celebration during our Halloween Fun Run, one of our first socially-distanced community events back on campus.
Whittle Families
Our Whittle families are true heroes of 2020, taking on the unexpected and heavy burdens of remote learning with patience and perseverance. They have supported our Whittle students in their academic endeavors at home, ensuring they keep up with assignments, show up for remote classes, and stay engaged with their peers. They have brushed up on their videography skills, filming student projects to memorialize key project cycles. They have cheered our students on as they experimented with new forms of self-expression in isolation (listen to Asher Rizer ‘22 kick off his podcast series with an enlightening interview with mom, Monique Rizer). Parents and guardians joined us in celebration for one of our first community events back on campus, a socially-distant Halloween fun run. Most recently, they entrusted us to keep their children safe as we transitioned back to in-person learning.
Upper School students quickly adjusted back to life on campus during their hybrid return.
Our Return to Campus
With safety protocols in place, we began to open our doors to students in October, starting with our Early Learners. Their joy was immeasurable and their ability to see friends and teachers again was a much-needed relief. We couldn’t have been more proud of their willingness and ability to adapt to new safety protocols. This school year looked very different from the last, but the sense of pure happiness that filled our school upon their return reminded us of life before COVID and the power of connection, even when socially distanced. Furthermore, our Early Learners set an excellent example for our Lower School students upon their full return, and our Middle School and Upper School students upon their hybrid return. With all of the challenges our world currently faces, our return to campus was a notable win for our students and families, and a logistical accomplishment for our faculty and staff.
One of 5 soaring atriums acts as a community gathering space for students.
The Completion of the DC Campus Renovation
The completion of the new wing of our DC Campus in November brought with it a wave of excitement within our Whittle DC community. New performance spaces provide students with more opportunities to express themselves on stage. Additional atriums increase capacity for community gatherings as our student body continues to grow. A bright, sweeping entryway meets students, families, staff, and visitors off International Drive. And a gym with a vaulted, glass ceiling will inspire our athletes for years to come. We are thankful for all of the families and community members who joined us on campus this November for a celebratory, COVID-safe tour of the new spaces.
Students of all ages joined the Community Service Club’s virtual event to make cards for local senior citizens with messages of hope and support.
A Sense of Community
COVID had the power to make our world seem smaller, to make connection feel out of reach. But those in our Whittle world resisted and insisted on preserving a sense of community. Students made new connections with vulnerable members in the local area - organizing food drives, crafting thoughtful cards and notes for residents of nursing homes, launching campaigns to thank healthcare workers. Parents and guardians stepped up to take precious time out of their workday to ensure their children had every opportunity to remotely engage with peers and keep up with schoolwork at home.
Furthermore, our faculty made it a point to help our students recognize the privilege of being members of the Washington, DC community. As locals in the nation’s capital, our students had unique opportunities to connect with change-makers and experts during a time of national reckoning on race, healthcare, and the inequalities that plague so many in this country. Our students made it a point to share their knowledge and voice with others in the community: listen to student-produced podcasts on the pandemic and stream Helena McAllister’s ‘23 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award-winning song contemplating injustice.
Early Learning Teacher, Shiying Zhang, created a series of educational sing-along videos in Mandarin to keep our Early Learners engaged in their language immersion curriculum.
Whittle Faculty and Staff
From the faculty members re-imagining a Whittle education amid a pandemic to the security staff keeping our community safe, we commend all employees for their resilience in the face of challenge and steadfast dedication to our students and families. The impact of our faculty on the wellbeing of our remote student body couldn’t be better summarized than in Charlotte Weir’s ‘22 reflection piece on Whittle’s first year, “Teachers made sure you knew they were available, for whatever you needed and really listened to students when students needed them to. [...] In my final STEM class, my teacher brought me to tears with his words of encouragement, gratitude, and hope. I could tell how special that moment was and felt the same way at our closing ceremony on the last day. Our community was so far apart, yet so close.”
With our teachers supporting the academic and emotional wellbeing of our students, we turned to our staff to focus on the physical wellbeing of our community and plan for a safe return to campus. Leadership worked tirelessly to craft a return to school safety plan and relied on the hard work of staff to see to its implementation in October. The collective strength of our faculty and staff has shepherded our community through adverse times. It is because of them that we look ahead to the remainder of the school year with hope and an expectation of great things to come in 2021.