WFS Specific

2016 QUESTTerm

QUEST Term Service/Leadership Experience

The Quaker Center for Understanding, Engagement and Stewardship (QUEST) supports programs that express and build upon the distinctive strengths of Quaker education: teaching students to develop a global understanding of problems and questions they encounter; giving them the skills, motivation and sense of responsibility to engage those questions in thought and in action; and helping them to grow as stewards and leaders, capable and willing to work toward positive change. Toward that end, the center’s QUEST Term Service/Leadership Experience engages students in an experiential learning model to increase their understanding of global issues as well as to practice strategies to mitigate the impact of these challenges. During the summers preceding their 10th, 11th, and 12th grade years, students may elect to travel to domestic or international destinations to engage in global issues and leadership.

In June of 2016, students traveled to El Paso, Texas, for an examination of worldwide immigration issues through the lens of the U.S.-Mexico border. In this program, students saw first-hand the government agencies responsible for controlling the border, including the US Border Patrol and the Mexican Consul in El Paso. Students also met the leaders of a network of non-profit agencies that provide shelter, food, legal aid, and other services to illegal migrants. In partnership with Annunciation House - a long-term house of hospitality serving undocumented adults and children suffering from poverty, injustice, and oppression - students witnessed the impact of their service to the poorest of the poor and the most vulnerable in the El Paso-Juarez border community.
Human Dynamics & Dev 10

This course is required for all ninth and tenth graders. Each student is scheduled for one semester in each of the two years. The upper school wellness program is designed to create an awareness of the benefits of physical fitness, including the need for active attention to personal health and emotional well-being. Classroom concepts are geared toward enhancing the decision-making process for each student.
Human Dynamics & Dev 9

This course is required for all ninth and tenth graders. Each student is scheduled for one semester in each of the two years. The upper school wellness program is designed to create an awareness of the benefits of physical fitness, including the need for active attention to personal health and emotional well-being. Classroom concepts are geared toward enhancing the decision-making process for each student.
AppleCore

A distinctive feature of the Friends technology program⏤and, in particular, the 1:1 laptop program⏤is the student-led tech support group, AppleCore. Maintaining 650+ laptops along with 100+ desktops would be a monumental task without the student leaders involved in the program; and the students gain valuable, practical technology training and experience. Students in AppleCore provide tech support for students, faculty, and staff. No prior tech support experience is necessary. Students are taught troubleshooting techniques and are given access to AppleCore support documentation.
Driver's Education

When possible, a State of Delaware driver's education course, with a State-assigned instructor, is offered on campus.
Independent Study

When a student has a particular passion for a subject that is not available in our curriculum, he/she may design an independent study with a willing faculty member to guide his/her learning. The proposal is to be written by the student, not the teacher, and group independent studies may have no more than four students. Independent studies must be approved in the following order: by the academic department, by the Program committee, and, finally, by the full faculty. For full-year, one-credit or half-credit independent studies, the approval process must be completed in May of the prior school year. Quarter-credit proposals must be finalized before the end of the add/drop period for electives of the fall or spring semester. Full-credit courses are included in the student’s grade point average; they may only be considered as replacing a graduation requirement with permission of the full faculty. Dropping an independent study after the add/drop period will result in a notation of withdrawal on the transcript. Students interested in designing an independent study should speak with the appropriate department head. The application is available under “resources” on the website.
Mastery Program

The mastery program is a vehicle to stimulate Friends School students to develop their talents, to explore deeply felt interests, to challenge themselves in ways they might not otherwise attempt, and to produce an achievement of which they can be justifiably proud. The aim of this program is to meet all of these goals, not one or two of them. In short, the final outcomes of students’ mastery projects should be intrinsically-motivated and extraordinary.

The scope of the program is broad. Any upper school student at Friends School may undertake a mastery project, and, in fact, may wish to undertake more than one during his or her Friends School career. Participation in the program is not limited to the strongest students; the School encourages any interested student to undertake a mastery project. However, the student will have to demonstrate initiative, rigor of approach, persistence, intensity, and follow-through to meet the requirements of a successful project.

Projects should be planned with specific time limitations in mind. Although some projects will necessarily take longer than others, students should generally plan to complete them within one semester. Interested students should speak with the clerk of the mastery program committee. The application is available under “resources” on the school website.
QUEST Scholars
The QUEST Scholars program provides Wilmington Friends School students with significant service learning opportunities that combine academic studies with experiential learning. Students are encouraged to consider service learning projects in one or more of the following areas of focus: diversity, social justice, environmental stewardship, and cross-cultural/international understanding.

QUEST Scholar requirements

• A journal of reflections on all activities

• At least 150 hours of service during upper school years, 50 hours minimum per year

• An independent QUEST study for one semester with a faculty advisor

• Public presentation or cumulative celebration (e.g., Lunch and Learn) to the QUEST Committee and possibly the Board of Directors or whole upper school.

• Completed prerequisite Peace & Justice course

All WFS upper school students are eligible for participation in the QUEST Scholars program. In applying for participation, each potential QUEST Scholar develops a program proposal. In doing so, the student works with the appropriate adults (in school and in the broader community) to develop a plan to meet the requirements of the particular QUEST Scholar program. The proposal is submitted to the Upper School Service Coordinator and reviewed and approved by the members of the Upper School Service Committee.

With the completion of the proposed program, the Scholar provides the Upper School Service Coordinator with evidence from the school programs and outside programs of participation in–and contributions to–the elements of the Scholar’s chosen plan. The members of the Upper School Service Committee review the student’s engagement in all proposed activities and recommend to the head of upper school the names of those who have met the requirements successfully. With the approval of the head of school, these QUEST Scholars receive recognition for their achievement. Oversight of the QUEST Scholars program is the responsibility of the Upper School Service Coordinator, who works with the QUEST committee and the head of upper school in the development and implementation of the program.

Application:
- An essay which describes how community engagement is connected to the applicant’s academic and career goals and identifies the core issue that the student will investigate in their independent study.
- Proof of completion of Global Peace & Justice course
- Plan to enroll in independent study and name of faculty advisor for the same
- Independent study faculty advisor approval
- Commitment from the Agency of service and signature of supervisor
- Guiding question
- Commitment to a minimum of 50 hours of service per year for three years, with the goal of growing into different roles with the start of each new year.
- Service contract, signed by student, parent, advisor and Service Committee
Senior Exploration

In May, the Senior Exploration provides seniors with a chance to integrate and apply skills and knowledge in an authentic, in-depth experience. Using a personal question as a guide, students are encouraged to find an experience that will require them to reflect on their own growth while at WFS. Students may explore any of the following: career options, service, immersion in a different culture, an old passion, or a new interest. Students work with a mentor/expert, document the experience through guided journals and photographic evidence, and present to family, peers, and faculty.
Service

Students must do 50 hours of community service some time during their upper school years as part of their graduation requirements. (Please note that additional restrictions apply to service completed toward the IB Diploma “CAS” requirement; students will be advised about how to schedule their service, generally starting the summer prior to junior year, to meet the IB criteria.) The WFS service requirement is rooted in the history and practice of Quaker humanitarian service. It is an opportunity for students to implement personal values through service to others. This service may be performed during unscheduled periods of the school day, after school, on weekends, during school vacations, or in the summer.

Service projects must...

• be performed outside of the Wilmington Friends School community.

• be a steady involvement in one activity with one sponsor agency.

• be a minimum of 50 hours during a 12-month period up to 10 hours of which may be training and preparation. IB diploma candidates can perform the 50 hours over 24 months, during their junior (including summer prior) and senior (with the caution below) years.

• be performed, for non-IB diploma candidates, any time during the student’s years in the upper school beginning with the summer before ninth grade and ending before the start of the Senior Exploration.

• be completed by all new students entering after ninth grade who have not previously met the requirement at another school.

• be performed for any organization (or person) whose purpose is that of service to the community and for which (whom) volunteers are used to perform an essential service. This does not include working for groups whose programs are inconsistent with the testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends.

• be an experience involving direct service either to the participating community agency or the clients served by that agency.

•be approved in all cases by the service program coordinator, advisor, and the service program committee (during the school year) prior to student involvement.

• include a completed proposal form, a satisfactory agency evaluation of the student’s performance, a final self-evaluation, and a product which is designed to pass the service experience on to others. This could be a poster, a journal, a student-designed Web site, or a formal presentation before a group such as a lower school class, a committee of the Board of Trustees, a collection program, or an outside community group.

Seniors are strongly encouraged to have their service project completed and documents submitted by the first day of school their senior year. Experience has shown that the senior year is a very difficult time to complete service hours. Note also that the service hours may not be counted toward Senior Exploration requirements.
Whittier Miscellany

The goal of this course is the production of the student newspaper (including an online edition). While any student in the upper school may become a member of the Whittier staff, enrollment is limited so that each student has the opportunity to contribute. In addition to the regularly scheduled meeting times, Whittier staff members are also required to participate at least once per semester in layout sessions that take place during the evenings in the weeks leading up to publication.

Students may participate in various ways—as writers, photographers, columnists, or editors. All students who wish to take on the role of editor, including editor-in-chief, must submit an application to the faculty advisor. The application process and the selection of editors are in the spring for the following academic year.
Yearbook

Students in this course work together throughout the year to create the Continuum yearbook. They work with the Adobe PhotoShop and Acrobat programs and use online publishing software. They are involved with all facets of production, including layout, folio design, caption writing, photo cropping and manipulation, scanning, digital photography, sales, and requirements for submission for production.

US Curriculum Detail

WFS Specific