Wilton Students Participate in Unconventional School Experiment

For two weeks in December the students and faculty at Pomfret School in Pomfret, CT, were at school, but not, in the conventional sense, in school.

From December 3 – 18, 2013, in place of class time and homework, students and faculty instead each tackled one of twenty-nine projects – among them designing and building a real footbridge, conducting statistical and laboratory analyses on the economic and nutritional value of organic produce, and trying to make sense of the Middle East, the environment, hip-hop music, the practicality of dams; and actually producing and using biodiesel fuel.

"Project: Pomfret," according to a release from the school, "was an experimental retooling of the 120-year-old school's academic matrix, harvested from the year of self-examination that resulted in a new strategic plan."

"Project: Pomfret" was based on the principles of project-based learning  in which students engage to the fullest when they experience and solve real-world problems. 

Participants broke away from established academic routine and focused instead on a particular topic. "The goal," according to the release was, "to make the learning viable and real."

Three Wilton students -- Charlotte Apuzzo, Edwin Hollingsworth and Sophia Walsh -- participated in "Project: Pomfret."

Charlotte Apuzzo was in the student-faculty team whose project was entitled "Eastern and Western Educational Systems: A Comparative Perspective."

Edwin Hollingsworth was in the student-faculty team whose project was entitled "To Buy Organic Produce or Not, That is the Question."

Sophia Walsh was in the student-faculty team whose project was entitled "Teaching the Kids Next Door."

Founded in 1894 and coeducational since 1968, Pomfret School is an independent college preparatory boarding and day school for approximately 360 students in grades 9 through 12 and postgraduates, and the more than 40 faculty members involved in their lives. Set on 500 acres in the celebrated Last Green Valley of Northeastern Connecticut, Pomfret offers eight academic disciplines, 19 AP and 16 Honors courses, over 100 elective courses; 25 sports options, and numerous opportunities to participate in community outreach and service programs. At Pomfret we endeavor to teach, guide, and above all, inspire.