Someone forgot to teach Flo Miniscloux the word “impossible.” In fact, someone must have told her to dream big, because big dreams come through as she talks of her current endeavors and her hopes for the future.
Flo, a 2002 graduate of WMS, is now a senior at Cab Calloway School for the Arts in Wilmington. As she looks to graduation, she also fondly looks back at her 8 years at WMS. She found the experience so profoundly meaningful that she is making a documentary about WMS for her senior year film project. Flo feels that people don’t understand the value that Montessori education holds. She wants her documentary to capture some of that value so she filmed the many aspects of childrens’ days at WMS to demonstrate what she believes. She emphasizes Maria Montessori’s ideas about classroom set-up, child-sized furniture, self-correcting materials and more. She highlights the strong mathematical foundation offered through Montessori learning, as well as social and emotional maturity, the sense of community that is developed in each classroom and the respect and love of nature that is nurtured in each child. If making the documentary isn’t enough, she is also writing her senior research paper on the same topic. While the paper is for her teachers to read, the documentary will be entered into competition for both Scholastics and Student Emmys.
Ask Flo about her years at WMS and she raves. She holds dear the memories of teachers in every grade, unwilling to single anyone out as her favorite: “They were all fantastic!” On a recent visit back, she was surprised they all remembered her. She also speaks fondly of (and mentions by name) two class pets: “Rocky” the albino ferret and “Corny” the snake, the latter of which she took home for the summer for an extra special bonding experience.
The stand-out experiences for her at WMS include: Fun Day and the Fun Run; Steel Drum assemblies in which she played; the African Dance assembly; learning Hula Hoop from an expert; and her experience as a Buddy to a preschooler. As the youngest member of her family, she learned a lot about caring for younger children through her buddy experience.
Flo came to WMS via France, her country of origin. She moved here when she was 4 years old and her sister Cindy was 8. When not in school, she learned dance 6 days a week with performances on Sundays. Since June of this year, she has shifted her commitments to readying herself for college, so dance has been cut back to one day per week.
Instead she has her eye on majoring in film production – at USC or NYU. USC, she has learned, only accepts 24 students into their program each year, so while that is her first choice, she is trying to be realistic about her chances.
Beyond college, Flo isn’t sure what life holds for her. Perhaps independent film making or work as a cinematographer. Wherever her plans take her, we know it will involved big dreams and lots of success. And we’ll certainly remember her.
Since this article was written we've learned of Flo's newest endeavor, this time in front of the camera. She has been invited to participate in the upcoming movie, The Lovely Bones, directed by Peter Jackson, who also directed The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. The offer came after she attended an open call in Philadelphia. Acting is not new for Flo. She toured the United States performing in Dragon Tales Live as the leading performer, Emmy, from 2003-04. And, in 2003 she played a principal role in the movie, The Woodsman, starring Kevin Bacon. Congrats, Flo. We'll be watching for you!
