When students returned to Falk Laboratory School this year, they were greeted by a new work of art installed in the building over the summer. While art displays are common at the school, this piece is especially unique because it results from a collaboration among faculty members. 

Standing in Falk’s lobby is a dandelion with the school's 21 wishes written on each of the flower’s petals. Throughout the school, students and visitors will encounter individual dandelion spores on which these wishes have been translated into simpler and more succinct phrases. For example, wish #17, “To know how to make healthy decisions concerning diet and nutrition,” has been rewritten as “Balanced Food Choices” on a colorful spore decorated with cartoon images of fruits, vegetables, and a smiling slice of pepperoni pizza.  

Falk’s director, Dr. Jill Sarada, says the project’s meaning is rooted in inclusion—translating the wishes into “kid-friendly” language is a way of including students in Falk’s hopes and ideals rather than communicating them only to adults. 

Additionally, the scattering of the wishes throughout the school symbolizes how these values and ideas float freely among Falk’s student body, planting seeds wherever they land. 

Many prospective Falk Laboratory School parents find the school’s “Wishes for Our Children” to be an inspiring encapsulation of the school’s mission and values. The wishes touch on every aspect of Falk’s educational philosophy, from learning to study and take effective notes to developing friendships, experiencing the satisfaction of working with their hands, and caring for the world around them. 

In recent years, Falk teachers and administrators have sought ways to communicate these foundational values to younger members of the Falk community. “Wonder, Care, Act”—a succinct, kid-friendly phrase that captures Falk’s overarching philosophy of curiosity and community—is just one example of these efforts. 

Kindergarten students on a scavenger hunt to find and reflect on Falk's wishes.

The idea for this year’s dandelion project—another effort toward deeper inclusion and accessibility—emerged from faculty discussions on how best to communicate the wishes to students. Teachers spent time brainstorming a design, posting their suggestions on an idea board, and ultimately voting for the ideas they liked most. 

When the dandelion concept was chosen for the project, faculty worked on putting the school’s wishes into kid-friendly terms, a task that required tapping into the student perspective and considering what language would resonate most deeply with Falk students. To help finalize the translations, teachers turned to a past project from Dr. Joanna Newlin’s “How to Be a Middle Schooler” class, in which sixth graders reworked the 21 wishes to be more accessible to students. 

Faculty members working on the "Nature Rocks!" dandelion seed.

Art teacher Cheryl Capezzuti then spearheaded the design and creation of the flower and its 21 spores, enlisting help from faculty along the way.

Faculty members spray painting dandelion pieces on the terrace.

In August, with all the project pieces in place, the finished dandelion and spores were installed throughout the building to welcome the Falk community back during the first week of school.  

“This installation is an exciting new way to include students of all ages in our hopes and ideals for the upcoming year and beyond,” says Dr. Sarada.