REPORT
ON
ST.MARY'S SCHOOL
2025-2026
Philanthropy
DESIGN THE FUTURE
YEAR ONE IN THE SILLERS CENTER
When the St. Mary’s Sillers Center opened its doors, the vision extended far beyond a new space filled with innovative tools and technology. The goal was to create an environment where students could imagine, experiment, build, collaborate, and turn ideas into tangible solutions to real-life problems.
One year later, that vision is taking shape across every grade level.
Building Skills from the Beginning
For our youngest designers, Year One focused on building confidence and foundational skills. We introduced students in Grades 1 and 2 to the BeaverBot, a child-safe cardboard cutting tool that builds hand-eye coordination, tool control, and safety awareness.
Grade 1 students learned to cut lines and simple shapes, while Grade 2 students applied those skills to create cardboard bones for life-size skeleton projects. These early experiences introduce students to the design process while helping them see themselves as capable makers and creators.
Where Disciplines Come Together
As students advance, the Sillers Center becomes a place where disciplines intersect.
In the interdisciplinary unit “Rome Built a Legacy—What Is Ours?” students studied how Roman architecture and engineering shaped communities and then applied that knowledge to a modern design challenge.
Using laser cutters, 3D printers, and programmable microcontrollers, students designed public spaces that combined elements of Roman architecture with contemporary ideas around sustainability, accessibility, and community needs.
History became engineering. Research became problem-solving. Ideas became prototypes.
Learning Through the Process
The Sillers Center's greatest impact may not be the projects students complete, but how they learn to approach problems.
Through Design Thinking, students identify needs, generate ideas, create prototypes, test solutions and try again. They learn that revision is part of innovation and develop the collaboration, creativity and perseverance needed to solve increasingly complex problems.
A Place to Grow
Ask Polina and Tim Mudrick what they hope for their children, Bennett and Ameline, and their answer is one many parents would recognize.
They want them to be kind. Curious. Resilient. Grateful. They want them to work hard, treat people well, and understand that success is about more than what you accomplish.
