Taylor Wussow could best be described as the perfect student. Straight As, always on time, above and beyond is her default setting. She recalls studying 13 hours for tests in middle and high school. Which, after her freshman year, she realized was not the way she wanted to live her life. Taylor’s perfectionism - and the school-based conditions that encouraged and rewarded perfectionism - had become stifling. She wanted different.
Taylor came to CSCS and found that authentic learning - which necessitates trying, failing, and trying again - was what was valued above doing things perfectly the first time. Taylor says, “Clark Street focuses on effort, hard work, caring about the process and the product; but I never felt like my perfectionism was reinforced by the system. In school there are so many subtle reinforcements that perfection is the ideal. At Clark Street I got the message that I mattered; I was rewarded and supported for being a human and a learner.”
We often imagine that students like Taylor are succeeding in traditional school. And by some measures, this is true. But by Taylor’s measures, she, “...just wanted something different. The stress and anxiety of maintaining that 4.0 was getting to me.” Stepping into a system without grades, based on projects, and the opportunities to chart her own course was both scary and fulfilling. “That learning discomfort is there; I used to always know the answers, and now I don’t always know the answers. I also realized that my teachers didn’t need me to tell them ‘this-one-answer’. This is something that helped me immeasurably in college.”
“Traditional school systems can feel like an incredibly high stakes tightrope walk - and it just isn’t true. You don’t have to take 100 AP courses to be successful. School doesn’t have to be a game that you tirelessly try to win. At CSCS I learned to use tools and build practices that made learning in college - and learning throughout life - natural processes. I learned time management, self advocacy, perseverance, and the importance of feedback and revisions. Clark Street is a great fit for high achieving kids who feel like they are just going through a system and trying to guess what the teacher is thinking. You can live a different way. You can learn to learn. You can be seen.”
Taylor Wussow graduated from CSCS in 2016 and went on to pursue a degree in elementary education from Cornell College with a talented and gifted endorsement from Drake University. Taylor is currently engaged in training to become certified as a coach for neurodivergent individuals and families.