ILP

Certificate Program

The Wayfinder Certificate is a two year, optional, leadership experience for Calvert Seventh and Eighth Graders seeking to enhance their leadership growth and potential.

Students in the program meet weekly with faculty certified as Wayfinder Guides. The curriculum provides a central thread to leadership development and purpose formation by prioritizing reflection, experiential learning and individual coaching. Students follow individual tracks that integrate academic projects and civic engagement into an Eighth Grade capstone experience created in partnership with Project Wayfinder.

Program Overview

Expectations

Students in the program must be in strong academic standing, attend weekly certificate meetings, participate in one outreach or service event each academic quarter, be active participants in school-sponsored clubs, and attend at least one school-sponsored global travel trip. The application window for the certificate program opens in April of a student’s Sixth Grade year, and closes in September of their Seventh Grade year.

Individual Leadership Tracks

In their Seventh Grade year, students select a personalized leadership track aligned with one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This personalized track allows for students to dive deeper into areas of interest for their Seventh Grade City Project, Eighth Grade Castalia Project, and community outreach opportunities. Click Here to learn more about the 17 Sustainable Goals.

Seventh Grade City Project

Embedded in their history class, the City Project allows students to research, understand, and take action on a social issue of interest. Topics range from gender equality, homelessness, sustainable energy, animal welfare, and food insecurity. Students work individually or in teams to collaborate through the design thinking process to cultivate a holistic, social entrepreneurship approach to solving these local and global issues.

Eighth Grade Castalia Project

Embedded in their English class, the Castalia Project allows students to research, explore, and experience potential careers aligned with their individualized leadership track. Focus areas range from medicine, politics, engineering, health care, non-profit management, to educational leadership. Students have a one-day externship to learn more about their field of interest, and use the Castalia Project as the platform for their Capstone Presentation of their Wayfinder Leadership Certificate.

The Project Wayfinder curriculum is based on extensive research by Dr. Bill Damon, author of The Path to Purpose. This research, out of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, focuses on youth purpose formation. Developed in partnership with Stanford’s Design School (d.school), the Wayfinder toolkit provides a foundational element to our students’ emotional development as young leaders. The Wayfinder Camps will utilize one activity each day to inspire greater reflection and leadership development. Collectively, we have nine Calvert faculty members certified as Wayfinder Guides who collaborate on the development of this partnership.

Click here to learn more about Project Wayfinder.

Wayfinder Guides