Writing is a core element of the curriculum at Wakefield, but not just in the English department.
Wakefield believes that interdisciplinary collaboration provides students with the capability to make and complete connections between and among subject matter.
From the Upper School Interdisciplinary Writing program to the integration of fourth and fifth grades to special opportunities such as art and writing for second graders to eighth grade science laboratory reports, these are all examples of the emphasis on clear communication of subject matter through writing. While the Upper School has a formal program for freshmen and sophomores, the middle and lower schools are mindful of opportunities to reinforce interdisciplinary interactions. The teacher works in conjunction with another department to develop an interdisciplinary assignment that will be completed for two classes (e.g., critical analysis of a musical composition or an oral history project).
There are many opportunities for students to express themselves through their writing. Our award winning student produced magazines, Talisman and Amulet, are two examples. In addition, students may join the online student newspaper staff and/or contribute to that publication as they choose. Noctua is the online student newspaper. Middle School students have launched their student-reported and written Wakefield Middle School News Blog. Click here to view the latest Middle School blog entries.
Learn More about Writing at Wakefield in our Media Center »
The Senior Thesis Project
The Senior Thesis Project is the culmination of the student’s intellectual experience at Wakefield School. Each student uses the skills of scholarly interdisciplinary research, original composition, and multimedia and written presentation to explore a topic of intense personal interest and report on it comprehensively.
Honors
- The Honors Senior Thesis is a year-long project beginning in the summer prior to the student’s senior year.
- The final thesis is the equivalent of a college level, thirty page paper, but it may be presented in a variety of multi-media forms.
- Students must seek, meet, and collaborate regularly with two advisors (one from the school and one from the community).
- Upon completion of their Senior Thesis, students present their work to various audiences within the academic community.
- Through regular oral reports to their peers, students develop the skill and confidence to defend their completed theses before a committee of Wakefield faculty.
Standard
- Although preliminary thinking on the Senior Thesis commences at the beginning of the school year, work does not begin in earnest until the second trimester.
- The final thesis is the equivalent of a college level, fifteen page paper.
- Students work closely with their instructor to develop their thesis from the initial topic selection, to research and thesis formation, to the final printed version.
- During the first trimester, students continue to develop their writing and research skills through essays and other written assignments.
- Upon completion of their Senior Thesis, students present their work to various audiences within the academic community.
Talisman
and
Amulet
-
For 19 of the last 22 years, Wakefield's Upper School literary/art magazine, Talisman, and its Lower School companion, Amulet, have been awarded the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's highest rating in its annual critique. In three of those 19 years-1991, 2002, and 2005-the magazine additionally received the Association's prestigious Crown Award, a distinction awarded to only a handful of magazines nationwide out of the Association's more than 1700 member schools. The Talisman's 2005 award was a Gold Crown, the highest honor awarded by the Association.
Entirely student produced, these showcases of Wakefield students' writing and art reflect both the quality and diversity of the writing and art work submitted, and the unique professionalism of the student editors and staff.
Talisman's editorial policy, printed in each magazine, reads as follows:
-
"Talisman is a literary-art magazine showcasing the creative efforts of Wakefield's Upper School, including works from students in grades nine through twelve. It is designed and produced by a small staff of students under the supervision of a faculty advisor. In choosing pieces for publication, the staff strives to highlight originality in content and in expression, and to offer a broad range of genres and subject matter.
"We believe that the pulse of a society lives in its art and its writing. In producing this magazine, we seek to reveal the texture of our selves, our lives, and our community."