As the school year comes to an end, we look to wish our dear Mrs. Kooistra a farewell. Those readers of Voices only familiar with her through our articles may know her for her sim form,

her prom photo form,

or her willingness to report clock fixes.

If you have been reading Voices since the caveman times, 2022, you might have read “Meet Ms. Kooistra, the Incoming Director of the Upper School.”

Since that initial article, she has contributed so much to the WT community. Beyond her cheerful presence and quirky speeches, she has assisted in transitioning the school from online to in-person after COVID, worked to create an equitable school for all, and even served lunch on occasion. We wanted to make sure that Mrs. Koositra got a proper Voices goodbye for all her hard work, so we decided to conduct an interview reflecting on her time at dear old WT.

What is the biggest thing you did here in your time at WT?

I was able to work on shoring up, in the interest of equity and access, helping the division to be more consistent with academic policies. I just felt like when I got here things were all over the place. I think that was to an enormous degree just COVID. When I first got here students were still getting used to ‘Oh wait, I have to go to school everyday?’ So, I tried to reestablish what the boundaries of the school day are and how we handle these things when kids are struggling. If you have a course, like Precalculus, how do we make sure that it is consistent across the whole course, not dependent entirely on who your teacher is? Trying to help to shore up some academic policies here in the interest of fairness and access. We have also been making some changes to make sure that we see greater equity and access in courses. For example, when I walk in to look at the algorithm design course, I see a lot more guys. I would like to see that class be a lot more balanced. So, thinking about what is the pathway to it and how do we make that more accessible for folks. Same goes for, for example, when I first got here, we weren’t offering an algebra one class so that meant that any kid coming out of the public school system couldn’t come here for high school. We were saying no to really amazing students because they just didn’t have the good fortune to be in advanced math in middle school. That’s just not their fault. Especially after COVID, there was so much wreckage around math. So I am really proud that we have been making changes that not only amplify student voice and choice but also that help us to be a more equitable and accessible space.

If you had to take any class at WT, what would you take?

Because I am a history dork, I would love to take Past and the Present. I have been on the trip both times, and it is the kind of stuff I love to do. I would love to take Altruistic. I just love the way that they interface with actual folks in Pittsburgh and are able to work with those populations to make sure that the things that they think people need in the world are actually things they need in the world. I would want to take the Metal Smithing and Decorative Glass classes. I just feel like the stuff people make is super cool. I think I would also want to take the Advanced Stats and Data Analysis class. We are all being manipulated all the time when it comes to numbers that folks are putting out for us. What I really want is for those folks to work with people in either Art of Persuasion or an art class to design infographics that are accurate representations of statistical arguments. 

As you leave, what do you hope for WT?

I have been pretty focused on the academic side of things. That is just my wheelhouse, and it was just the work I could see we needed to do after COVID. I think that I would love to see in the high school a strengthened advisory and seminar program to help kids just navigate the world right now. I think you all, and my kids too, have been subject to repeated unregulated societal experiments for corporate profit, frankly, that are not helping you. First, social media and big data screens everywhere in classrooms and beyond, and now AI. All of these things have been done to you without folks creating them thinking about how it is going to affect your presence and your future. I don’t condemn all these things obviously, I do use AI in my world, but it enrages me that all of these things have happened to you folks in ways that have been deleterious to your mental health, to your capacity to focus on learning. I hope, truthfully, WT would institute a phone ban at school. I think that would be good for people. I know we have a wonderful group working on AI policies and curriculum, and I look forward to that for you so that you can come out of school understanding the best of it and able to pivot away from the worst of it. I think more energy put in on the student side about how to communicate more effectively person to person, how to lean into kindness. Some of the dumbest things that are out there, ‘mogging,’ ‘looksmaxxing,’ ‘rating programs.’ I would love to have a student body that is like, ‘That is so stupid,’ instead of being like ‘Ohh I am going to do this.’  I know it is hard, y’all are young, but I just think that we can build more practice and conversation into those advisory and seminar spaces to equip people to navigate what they are being fed. 

What will you take from WT, physical and emotional?

I will take this one, that Stronger Together screen print that I got here.

I think that the way that it represents all of the different groups of WT coming together in a way that is impactful and beautiful is something that I look forward to taking physically. I think emotionally, what I am taking from here is just a lot of inspiration. I am inspired by the faculty I have met and worked with, and the incredible inventive things they have created for you all, inspired by so many of you. My very close colleagues here. I think Kevin Miller might be the kindest person I have ever met in my life. I will carry the memory of what it feels like to work with someone that is so nice. Hopefully, carry Ms. Skiba’s ruthless efficiency. I have all these memories, and I probably have close folks from my advisees just because they are my advisees. But just watching people grow up over four years is such an honor and a gift to see you folks do this.

Thank you Ms. Koositra for a lovely four years, and good luck at your new school!