On January 13th, 2023 we had our first Student Discovery Day. We had all different classes like Milkshakes & Smoothies and many others. I decided to get feedback on how students and faculty felt about Student Discovery Day.

Overall, the feeling of the day was a success.  Imagine walking through the hallways and seeing your math teacher cook french toast or your language arts teacher playing guitar. Or your science teacher teaching students how to wrap gifts.

Mr. O’Halloran, our vice principal at WMS, said, “Overall it was a huge success. It was a very positive thing for the school. I felt that most of the students like it. I mean the results do speak for themselves. 71% got into the workshop of their choice. 88.4% had a fun time, 75% said they learned a new skill and 96% said we should have it again this year.”

Sophia Oloriz, a 7th grader at WMS explained Student Discovery Day was different from the assemblies, “You got to find a lot of people you could relate to. But, I think the assemblies we had were more special because we were all together but Student Discovery Day was empowering.”  This represents part of Dr. Lott’s initiative to have a diverse range of events for students.

Lugina Elshikh, a 7th grader at WMS, described what she learned about volleyball, “ I learned a lot of new things about hitting, feet placement, and a lot of other things. Communication was a big thing that brought us together more. But, I personally loved beautiful tomorrow because I got picked but I liked the hands-on during Student Discovery Day.” Lugina showed us how Student Discovery Day brought us together, but also how our assemblies brought us together in very different ways.

The results for Discovery Day were overwhelmingly positive to the point where students already want to have more next year.  For example, Samantha Morel, a 7th grader at WMS explained when she would like to have Student Discovery Day next year, “We should have Student Discovery Day before our breaks like Fall Break, Spring break, and Winter break.” 

A language Arts teacher at WMS, Mr.Malmstrom, talked about the value of having students come together for a shared passion, “Almost everyone in my class was new to me. I have seen some in the hallways and the cafeteria. But, mostly they were all new. The best part about meeting them was having students come together for a shared passion.”

A 7th grader at WMS, Guliana Traschetti, talks about being in a Milkshakes and Smoothies class, “I feel that we all learned from Student Discovery Day. I liked Student Discovery Day more because of all the hands-on activities. I liked having only two hours because after we were done doing what we did it got boring.”

Avery Carlson, a 7th grader at WMS, discussed that although the day was fun, the lessons should be shorter, “ It felt way too long. I was bored of making smoothies and milkshakes but if it were soccer I could do that all day.”

Mostly everyone thought it was an overall success, students and teachers can not wait to have Student Discovery Day again this year or next year. We all loved to have Student Discovery Day.