Have you seen the new Wickliffe rock at the corner of Wickliffe and Cimmaron Roads? If you wondered where it came from, this guest post from Joe McCarthy will tell you a little about the genesis of this project that he initiated last year as a 5th grader in Ms. Blair’s class. This is a great example of the types of authentic learning experiences that regularly emerge in Wickliffe classrooms. Though Joe has now moved on to 6th grade at Hastings, because of his efforts and support from his Mom (Nikki McCarthy), the PTO, and the district facilities folks, the rock will be an important part of Wickliffe family memories for many years to come.
I ride my bike all over Upper Arlington. As I rode around I noticed that all the schools have an engraved rock that with the name of their school. “I wonder why Wickliffe doesn’t have a rock”, I thought. I actually wrote about it for an assignment in Mrs. Blair’s class. My mom convinced me that rather than just sit and wonder, maybe I should ask the question to someone who might know. It started as a writing assessment but turned into a real inquiry. My mom is involved with the PTO so I asked her to help me bring it up and see if there was a way we could get a rock for Wickliffe.
The PTO liked the idea and said it would be ok for us to go ahead and start looking around for a rock to be engraved. We went to a couple different places and picked out something we liked. It took kind of a long time but on the very last day of school our rock was delivered and placed on the corner of Wickliffe and Cimmaron. I hope the Wickliffe Community likes it as much as we do!
by Joe McCarthy – Class of 2022
(Pictured: Joe McCarthy posing with his brother on the new Wickliffe rock)
