Wyatt Hoffman- 3/1/21 Academic Standout

Academic Standout: Wyatt Hoffman

Presented: March 1st, 2021

Presented by: Allison Resnick

Written by: Courtney O’Keefe

The KMS teaching faculty is proud to recognize Wyatt Hoffman as this week’s Academic Standout! Wyatt is a 12th grade U19/U21 Men’s Alpine athlete, who comes to KMS from Old Lyme, Connecticut. Wyatt was enthusiastically nominated by many of his teachers, who recognize the growth and maturity this young academic has had throughout his senior year. Each notes Wyatt’s eagerness to learn, his increased focus and drive within the classroom, and his overall dedication towards becoming the best student possible.

Full-Term Math and Science teacher Allison Resnick was the first to put forward a nomination for Wyatt this week as well as present for him this past Monday at our all-school meeting. Allison writes, “Right from the start of this school year Wyatt has constantly pushed himself academically. Eager to learn, Wyatt got a head start on physics concepts over the summer and transitioned into the honors level physics class within the first month of school. Wyatt is an active participant in the classroom for both Physics and Pre-Calculus, but his efforts go beyond our scheduled class times. He never hesitates to meet individually to solidify his understanding of the material, which has clearly paid off as he has been crushing his tests in both Physics and Pre-Calculus all year. These past two weeks, Wyatt has gone above and beyond. To catch up on work missed while out sick, Wyatt and I did a video session on a Sunday in order to be ready for class on Monday. Well done Wyatt for willingly sacrificing your day off for academics! Congratulations!!”

Social Studies Department Co-Chair Courtney O’Keefe also supported Wyatt’s nomination. Courtney reflects, “It is my pleasure to put forth a nomination for Wyatt Hoffman for Academic Standout this week! Throughout this year, I have had the pleasure of watching Wyatt become a true student of Cultural Anthropology. As a subject dedicated to the exploration of world cultures and diversity, Cultural Anthropology focuses on not only introducing students to unique cultural practices and beliefs found throughout the world, but it also focuses on educating students in the rich, and sometimes complex, reasonings behind such diversity as well. Although this might sound easy to do, to truly understand the why behind certain cultural practices and beliefs can be challenging, especially when the cultural practice and belief in question is something not accepted within Western Culture or can easily be dismissed as nothing more than strange or unusual. Along with his classmates, Wyatt has worked hard to genuinely understand the reasonings behind such cultural practices and beliefs as child marriage and compassionate cannibalism. Working through his initial reactions and feelings with regards to these subjects and more, I have found Wyatt to have a genuine and natural curiosity as to the whys behind such cultural diversity. He also has consistently exhibited a genuine openness to learning more about the different peoples throughout the world, finding their unique lifestyles, practices, belief systems, and general worldviews to be worthy of study and reflection. Wyatt has also worked hard at reflecting upon his own cultural values and beliefs, why he may or may not agree with specific belief systems or practices, and how he still can be respectful of them even if he does not share the same views. This has led to a deeper understanding and respect of the world around him as well as the people within it. This year I have also seen Wyatt progress into a more driven and focused academic. He seeks to improve upon every assignment and assessment he completes, looking to grow his academic skills even further. He often reaches out for extra help, and does not shy away from using extra time with me to work on these improvements and more. I have found myself having many one-on-one in-person as well as virtual conversations with Wyatt about the topics we are studying in class. I have enjoyed these conversations, and have found Wyatt to be a very mindful and thoughtful young man when chatting. Wyatt is also a great participant in class as well. This past week, for instance, Wyatt participated strongly in our virtual discussions on love and marriage, which aided in adding to the richness of our exploration on this subject. Overall, Wyatt has done wonders in our class this year. I am truly proud of the young academic that he has become, and I continue to look forward to what he contributes next within the classroom. Nice work, Wyatt! Congratulations!”

Student Life Coordinator and Studio Art/Graphic Design/Photography teacher Eric Kuntz support this nomination as well. Eric states, “Wyatt has been showing improvement every week in Digital Photography I. He has taken on each assignment with as much passion and drive as he does with his training on the hill. He likes the new challenges set for each week, and strives to turn in the best work he can produce. Congratulations, Wyatt.”

And rounding out this impressive list of nominations is English teacher Charlotte Gerstein. Charlotte comments, “I appreciated how proactive Wyatt was about communicating and making sure he was on the right track for various assignments. The piece of writing he did on his name-- that all the students in the three English classes of Shayna's I was subbing for were assigned--was creative and full of voice, personality, and humor. He also freely contributes his positive energy and relevant ideas in class discussions. Wyatt helped make my seven weeks at KMS enjoyable and rewarding!”

Way to go, Wyatt! Congratulations on all your hard work so far this year!