The
Whittier Miscellany
May 2023 • Wilmington Friends School’s Community Newspaper • Wilmington, DE
Listen Up Underclassmen: Advice From Seniors Katie Bryan ‘24 Staff Writer
As the class of 2023 moves on to the next stage of their lives, they have a lot of wisdom to share about how to get through high school and how to view the world around them. Consisting of 60 kids, the class of 2023 has made it through COVID interrupting their freshman year, the struggles of making friends, and understanding their place in the world. Standing at the top of the hill they have a perspective on their high school years and they have some advice to share with those younger than them who are struggling with the same things that they did: being a teenager, learning how to study, balancing academics, and learning that the most important thing is to be kind to the people around you. An anonymous senior has learned a lot from their teachers and the importance of a good study mindset. Their advice is to “Develop a daily routine and focus on one thing at a time and don’t scroll through social media while doing homework.” Jake Bryson found the indispensable value of friendship to be his favorite thing about his experience, and the amazing sports teams he was a part of throughout high school. His advice is, “RELAX. Life works itself out perfectly.”
Greer Marvel and Izzy Miller agree that worrying and obsessing about the future never results in anything good. Miller advises, “Don’t be scared for next year. By the time you finish this grade, you’ll be prepared for the year to come.” Living in the moment is a common theme throughout the advice from the seniors, another piece of wisdom from a member of the class of 2023 is simple yet powerful, “Don’t forget to be a teenager!” When asked to reflect on the experience of getting a Quaker Education and Wilmington Friends School, almost every senior who was interviewed responded with some version of their gratitude towards their teachers’ dedication. Jace Boland, class of 2023, remarked that his favorite thing about friends was “How devoted the faculty is to the students. They’re all highly overqualified but they choose to spend their time sharing their knowledge with the next generation because they love it. Even the teachers of my least favorite subjects made such an impact on me.”
“Don’t forget to be a teenager!”
Kandid Thoughts With Kampert
When asked what the hardest year of high school was there was more variety than one might expect. 11th grade won for the hardest year. Greer Marvel ‘23 summed it up well by saying, “Shift in workload, new expectations, beginning the college process is what made junior year the worst.” Another popular answer was that freshman year was difficult, Jocelyn Nathan commented on the difficulty of finding your place in a new high school setting, “Everyone is searching for the place where they fit in during Freshman year and, that process can be very difficult and very disappointing sometimes. It’s hard when you just don’t fit in with a group or a class.” Jocelyn Nathan’s main message and biggest piece of wisdom to the school is to be kind to people regardless of their social status or any other difference. She shared a story about doing small kind things for people who may not expect to receive such kindness because it could make someone’s day or even week. She said, “You truly have no idea what people are going through in the halls of these schools. A little bit of kindness, a $2 carnation with a little note, or even just a ‘hi, how are you?’ in the halls goes a lot further than you think it will.”
In short, the seniors say: relax, study hard, enjoy your teenage years, try your hardest to make friends, be thankful for your teachers, and BE KIND!
Temilola Lufadeju ‘25 Staff Writer
In honor of Sue Kampert leaving Wilmington Friends School and heading into her retirement, this article was in remembrance of the dear friend, advisor, and teacher “we all know”. Inspired by the 73 Questions with Vogue, Sue Kampert was asked 15 questions throughout the day and some of the responses were quite interesting. Starting off easy, Kampert was asked how long she had been working at WFS. Kampert responded, “5 years”. For five years, Kampert dedicated her time in educating her students on the importance of their health and physical movement. Five years is a short amount of time, which Sue Kampert has made a tremendous impact on Wilmington Friends School. Sue still plans to be highly involved in the future with WFS. Without the 8 am start of the day and no full time job, Kampert said “I think my interest lies in definitely getting involved in Special Olympics, which I already am involved with. I also would like to work part time in the golfing industry”. The most asked question for Kampert is what sparked the interest in leaving so late in the school year? Kamperts response was quite emotional, “I think 35 years is a really long time to be doing one job which I always wanted to do really well, and give it all of my energy. Now that I am getting older, I feel like I want to do some things for myself and I also want to help my mom out more since she’s aging”. Throughout Kamperts time at Wilmington Friends School, she has made friendships that she will always cherish. Kampert was asked who are the teachers who you could grab a cup of coffee with and not feel weird about it? Ryan Wood, US history
teacher, is also leaving the WFS community. Kampert said “I feel like he and I immediately bonded. Obviously there is a big age difference between us but we think alike, we like a lot of the same things, and it was just really easy for me to talk to him”. Kampert also men-
tioned Jeff Ransom, “Jeff Ransom and I have always been really close. We also share a lot of the same values, and we both like to play golf. We feel really comfortable around each other”. Throughout the interview, Kampert mentioned her love for golf. She picked up golf late and since then has loved it. Kampert has been golfing for 29 years. Surprisingly, Kampert met her husband at the golf course at Dupont Country Club. “He was the one who
introduced me to the game”. Kampert went on to add, “I was working and he was playing and he asked me on a date, he bought me my first set of golf clubs”.
“I have appreciated all the support that I have received for the five years here”
Without Kampert teaching the course of Human Dynamics, there will need to be a new teacher filling in that role. Does Kampert have any opposition or concerns on who will be filling in the role? Kampert said with a grin “I don’t have any concerns because I think the school does a great job on hiring really qualified teachers. I think the person really has to be in a position to connect with young people at where they are developed mentally for this job”. Lastly, with warm wishes from the Sue Kampert to her coworkers, “I would like to say how much I respect each and every one of them for the job they do each day and how much I have appreciated all the support that I have received for the five years here”. We will all miss Sue very mush as she embarks on her next chapter. Everyone in this community wishes you the best of luck!