Classes Took a Pause for Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences

Last week, as we all know, we didn't have school on Thursday and Friday because we had Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences. Every year they take place in the gyms and the MS Building over the course of two days. Each conference is 10 minutes long and it lets students have a chance to showcase, reflect and share with their parents and teachers what is going well and what should be improved on. Since 2015, Parents-Student-Teachers Conferences have been a thing everyone enjoys but it hasn't always been this organized. In 2015, the conference time slots were not scheduled and parents and students would show up and just wait in line which caused major chaos. Because of this the following year time slots were put in and that's when each conference became ten minutes and pre-scheduled. Let’s see what some of the students and teachers have to say about them. 

Mr. Knight enjoyed the conferences as a new teacher. He said he has never been to a conference like this before. He loved the way the students talk about how they are doing from their perspective. He has never heard so many students be positive and see their ownership and leadership while he gets to listen instead of leading the conference. 

Luca Farkash, who is now a junior, has been at Wooster since kindergarten. He has gone to conferences every year, and he said the structure has pretty much stayed the same for all those years. From having them in middle school to then now having them in the gym was the major shift from middle to upper school. 

Now it's not just students and teachers who are at conferences. We have some teachers who not only are the teachers at the conference but also have to do them as the parents of their kids. Ms. Simard, the mother of Amelie (11th grade) and Gabe Simard (9th grade) does conferences for her music classes but also does conferences for both of her children. She says  “I love PST conferences, they always remind me why I love Wooster as both a teacher and a parent. Faculty parents get to set up their conferences early so that we can make sure we get time to meet with our children’s teachers” 
“On Thursday I was walking around all day long from gym to gym, alternating between my parent and teacher roles. It’s a long day, but the food Chef Rick makes, the camaraderie with colleagues and families, and getting to meet with my kids’ teachers makes it all worth it.” There's no surprise from teachers, students and parents that most see the positive in PST conferences. 

These conferences don't only happen in the fall trimester they also happen again in the spring trimester. This is a unique thing to Wooster that is going to continue for many more to come.