WE DID! $5,000 by 9AM! That means that Tony went back to high school and college theater days while our Stargazers gave him a beautiful makeover! (And to be honest, we're not sure who had more fun 🤣). Thank you for making this start to Giving Tuesday such a success!

Friends,

The Giving Tuesday celebration continues, and we’re just getting started! As we honor 30 incredible years of curiosity, connection, and joy, we’re diving into what truly sets Friends School of Wilmington apart: the milestones that exemplify our mission and values.

In this email, we’re celebrating 30 Moments of Impact—the big and small experiences that have shaped our students, our families, and our broader community. These are the moments when ideas turn into action, hands-on learning takes shape, and the school's footprint leaves a lasting mark.

From our first MLK Day march in 1998 to our 2024 Science Olympiad sweep, every story reminds us why FSW matters. Your support ensures we can continue creating these moments of impact for generations to come.

Thank you for being part of our story. Together, we can make this Giving Tuesday one to remember!

30 Years of Impact

Participating in the City of Wilmington's MLK Day Parade has been a longstanding tradition of FSW. The earliest confirmed record we have is from 1998! 

The Peiffer campus welcomed new modular buildings for Middle Schoolers in 2007.

We broke ground on our school unification initiative in 2019, combining Pine Grove's elementary campus with Peiffer's middle. 

The 2022 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Longleaf Center exemplified our defining commitment to environmental education.

Thanks to the 2023-2024 Fund-A-Need campaign, we raised enough money to install a basketball court on Francisco Field!

Practicing the Quaker Meeting for Worship dates back to our very first days at the Brigade Boys and Girls Club in 1994.

Beginning in 2015, a group of Middle School students travel annually to the Dominican Republic for a hands-on service-learning cultural exchange program. You can read about our first trip in a StarNews op-ed HERE.

Led by FSW parent alum John Jeremiah Sullivan, students at FSW and Williston Middle worked to find and restore copies of the Wilmington Daily Record, a Black-owned newspaper destroyed during the 1898 Coup.

Attending the Waccamaw Siouan Annual Pow Wow has become a highlight of our year. Since 2023, we've even had the honor to watch one of our own students perform! 

Our 2010 ESL Evening Program welcomed local Hispanic communities to campus for English lessons with Rachel Crawford.

The 2019 Destination Imagination team won first place the state-level competition and went on to compete in Globals!

Our 1998 MathCounts mathletes also secured a finalist position in the North Carolina state competition!

Thanks to the expert knowledge of FSW parent Kat Polk, we installed a 3-bin compost system at Longleaf Center in 2024. 

Who could forget all of the exceptional outdoor learning  that took place in 2020? We were (proudly) one of the only schools in the area to conduct in-person instruction! 

Our first-ever Artist Retreat at Bald Head Island in 2018 explored art-as-advocacy issues and met with artists from the International No Boundaries Artist Colony.

The 2012 musical production of Seussical the Musical was a fantastical, magical extravaganza that showcased just how much we LOVE to sing!

Faculty vs. student soccer matches are somehow even better when there's tutus involved. Our first-ever match-up in 2024 was a hilarious success.

Now in its 18th year, the annual 1st & 2nd grade Seahorse campout brings together students and families for a night under the stars with campfires, marshmallows, and song.

In 2024, we welcomed almost 200 GrandFriends to campus. In this picture, we celebrated our first grandparent event in the 2008-2009 school year.

Once an annual favorite, Middle School students (and recent alumni) travelled to the mountains for a weekend ski trip. In fact, it's where 2 FSW students met who eventually married!

What began in 2015 as the first Night of Peace is now the largest community event, bringing together every grade level and 200+ in the audience!

Community service and service-learning projects have always been a defining feature of our curriculum. Just check out this yearbook page from 1999!

When a partial solar eclipse with 75% totality passes through Wilmington, you know we'll make a celebration of it. One GrandFriend in attendance even travelled all the way from Oaxaca, Mexico.

The 2024 JV & Varsity Science Olympiad teams took home more than 20 top-10 awards and a 3rd overall trophy! After a brief hiatus during COVID, this was quite a way to make a (re)entrance!

2023's 7th grade annual trip to lobby on Capitol Hill with FCNL was caught on camera by C-SPAN! Check out the entire video with Reese Walton, Charlotte Lautenbach, and Jane Sullivan HERE.

Beginning in 2024, our 8th grade end-of-year trip shifted to visit the birthplace of American Quakerism in Philadelphia. Here, they're walking into the 1775 Frankford Meeting House.

Go, Cannon, go! The pre-COVID 5K & 1-Mile Family Fun Run was always a blast for students, parents, and onlookers too!

Division champions, baby! Our 2022 varsity basketball team brought home the gold after a stellar season.

Following Hurricane Florence's devastation in 2018, students and faculty worked around the clock to support relief efforts for displaced communities across the state. We saw the same type of community activism for Western NC after Hurricane Helene earlier this year.

Just a few weeks ago, Jean Hall, Supervisor of Innovative and Special Programs for New Hanover County Schools, shared that FSW alumni are well-known for their sharp curiosity and unwavering kindness. (Pictured here: 2011 alums at the 2012 Alumni Day).  

$15,000 by 11:00AM means that our 4th graders will compete in an all-out 30-legged sprint to the end of Francisco Field! How far can we all get?! The clock is ticking!

Progress Check-In

Our faculty believe deeply in the mission of the school and truly love each student for their most authentic self. How do we know? Because this year, 100% of our Board of Trustees, 100% of our administrative team, and 100% of our teachers have pledged or donated to the Annual Fund. Now THAT is how we celebrate 30 years of Friends!

Psst. Missed some of our earlier emails? Check out the these others 30s: