Conant senior Wren Wolterbeek was designated a “ranking scholar,” the highest distinction awarded by Saint Paul’s School Advanced Studies Program this summer.
“I’ve taught at St. Paul’s for 23 summers and this is only the second ranking scholar I’ve had,” said Mark Holding, Wolterbeek’s primary teacher at the ASP. He described Wolterbeek as “a leader by example. She brought out the best in her peers, she never had a day where she wasn’t engaged and prepared, and her contributions to class were exceptional.”
Wolterbeek spent five and a half weeks at the Concord school’s campus with 248 of the brightest rising seniors in the state. The program is a pre-college experience that allows students to immerse themselves in learning without the typical distractions of high school.
“There are no grades,” said Holding. “It’s a hugely liberating aspect of the class … you see them just blossoming as students who are engaged and excited about the readings, and the work, instead of thinking about “what grade am I going to get”… These are the best and brightest from across the state. They volunteered to spend their summer working hard.”
In lieu of grades, Holding said students receive one of three passing classifications for completing the program. “The very pinnacle is ‘ranking scholar.’ Some years there isn’t one,” he said of the distinction. “It means the student has significantly changed the equation of the class, if you will. They’ve brought out the best in their peers, elevated the tenor of the class, so the other kids are challenged more.” Holding said that most student participants receive “satisfactory” classifications, and a handful receive “superior” if they demonstrate substantial growth during the program.
Wolterbeek was “a little shell shocked” when she found out she’d be receiving the distinction. She described the whole auditorium’s applause, and the enthusiastic encouragement from her instructors and colleagues. “At Conant, I’ve won some awards but never with that amount of support.”
Mark Wolterbeek, Wren’s father and an alumnus of the ASP, said it “blew all of our minds” when she was recognized as a ranking scholar. He referred to the distinction as, in part, a testament to Wren’s instruction at Conant. “There are some really good teachers at such a little school,” he said. Holding, who retired from teaching at ConVal in 2017, also noted the distinction as a “feather in the cap to [Conant’s] teachers and administrators.”
The ASP’s curriculum is based around a “major course,” that students attend six days a week. Topics range from Ancient Greece, to Ecology, to Artificial Intelligence. The least-descriptive course title is “The Quest.” Wolterbeek said the “unknown” of the class appealed to her, as it apparently did to others. She said that as she met other “Quest” enlistees they asked one another “Do you know what we’re actually doing?”
Holding has been teaching The Quest for nine years, and describes it as a humanities seminar that covers literature, philosophy, and film studies. The point, he said, is for students to understand that “we’re all on a quest. The search for knowledge and understanding is something we all strive for, but we have to pay a price for that.”
Wolterbeek said one of the most important parts of the overall program was becoming comfortable with new ideas. The class read books including “Frankenstein,” “The Aeneid” (which she was delighted to see in the curriculum, as a Latin student), Dante’s “Inferno,” and “The Epic of Gilgamesh.”
“I wouldn’t have necessarily picked it up as a summer reading book,” she said of the latter, but enjoyed the opportunity to explore it, and the other texts. She said the frequently philosophical texts prompted deep questions among the lightly facilitated class of ten.
“Mr. Holding was a wonderful teacher,” Wolterbeek said. In class, she said she was encouraged to ask questions, take risks, and try as hard as she could. “The Quest was all about how we can all find meaning.”
Interspersed with students’ major course activities were writers workshops, group study sessions, recreational opportunities, group meals, and presentations in the school chapel. Wolterbeek said the writer’s workshop class was based around creative nonfiction, a genre that was new to her. She was impressed with the focus on revision and editing, rather than abandoning a piece when it was “good enough.” According to Holding, that’s what the ASP is about. “When you hand them back an essay, there’s no grade at the end. It’s what’s written in the margins of the paper,” he said, that helps a student grow their ideas and techniques.
Wolterbeek said she’s written to Holding and her writers workshop teacher for their being “such a huge part of being able to challenge myself.”
She said she knew about the ASP since eighth grade, and applied as soon as she received a flier from school. Although her siblings went to sleep away camps, this was her first extended period away from home.
To her, the most remarkable aspect of the program was being surrounded by other similarly driven students. As compared to regular school, she said “everyone wanted to be there,” and that as a community the students were encouraging to one another. She said she appreciated the space the program gave students to put all their effort in. There were minimal distractions: no chores, and no phones outside the dorms. Wolterbeek remarked on the novelty of attending a study session in the library where every student was present and collaborating.
She described her previous tendencies of going straight from school, to work, to homework. During the ASP, she said the group meals, breaks, and “mandatory fun time” shook up her routine and showed her that time management isn’t just for getting homework done, but can also be for having fun. “You understand the power of twenty minutes after you have a twenty-minute break,” she observed. She said the experience encouraged her to schedule time for fun while furthering her education.
“I have a lot more confidence,” Wolterbeek said, in the aftermath of the program. She said she hopes to teach someday, and her experience this summer bolstered that desire. Some of the program staff even specifically encouraged her to think about teaching. She fondly recalls the program as she prepares for her senior year, and said she’s excited to promote the ASP to fellow students. With the start of the new school year, she will resume her role as president of the school’s Interact club, National Honor Society and drama club.