Congratulations to the ten 5th and 6th graders who were selected to perform in this year’s Chesco Band Fest hosted by Phoenixville Area Middle School! The Fest brought together over 100 5th and 6th grade band students from around Chester County representing 25 elementary and middle schools. Students spent the day rehearsing with a guest conductor in preparation for an evening concert that same day. This year, students got to work with Dr. Scott Watson and premiered a new piece titled “Legend of the Blue Flame.” Well done, musicians, and thank you, teacher Jason Wu!
Congratulations to 8th graders William B., Daniel D., Cass H., Rylan K., Nandan N., and Abby S.! Their artwork is featured in The Youth Art Month (YAM) Exhibit . This statewide online art exhibition, organized by the Pennsylvania Art Educators Association, is part of the nationwide Youth Art Month administered by The Council for Art Educators and The National Art Educators Association.
Art teacher Marta Willgoose Salo shares, “As 8th graders, this is a special honor. Their featured art works and their studio habits as artists, reflect creativity, artistic risk-taking, persistence, development of craft, and their attention to the expression of their ideas. They each represent the power of an arts education at Westtown and are role models for their peers in our Middle School art studios.”
The Council for Art Education administers Youth Art Month. Youth Art Month encourages support for quality school art programs and promotes art material safety. The program provides a medium for recognizing skills developed through visual arts experiences unlike any other curriculum subjects, including problem-solving, creativity, observation, and communication.
The Elements Dance Company and the Upper School Fall Dance Ensemble recently performed their showcase Danse Macabre, a showcase of supernatural folklore and cultural traditions with dances created collaboratively by dance teacher Amy Grebe and student dancers. Congratulations on a wonderful concert, dancers!
This fall, the Upper School staged The Tempest Reimagined. This is a brilliant adaptation of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, filled with magic, romance, and revenge. Commissioned for Westtown by our former Theater Director, Alex Ates, this play by James Bartell dazzled audiences. From acting to set design and costuming, to light and sound, our students on and off stage put on an amazing production! Our thanks to new Theater Director Shawn Rowley who helped bring this show to life. Enjoy this gallery of photosfrom their dress rehearsal.
And, save the date for the Middle School play, The Edgar Allen Poe Afterlife Radio Show! A tap at a chamber door, and the beat of a hideous heart evoke the very best and creepiest of Edgar Allan Poe. So when Poe sets out to keep his stories alive from beyond the grave, an otherworldly radio studio proves just the thing. Wandering spirits gather to play the roles in Poe’s most classic works, from The Cask of the Amontillado to The Fall of the House of Usher. But the grim master of the macabre is a little new to radio. What’s all this about commercials? And why is a skeptical cemetery cat sticking around for all these stories? Please join us on January 31 at 7:30 p.m. and February 1 at 2:00 p.m. to find out!
Finally, don’t miss the Upper School spring musical, The Addams Family! A comical feast that embraces the wackiness in every family, features an original story and it’s every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family—a man her parents have never met. And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before—keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents. Coming to the Barton-Test Theater on May 1 and 2 at 7:30 p.m. and May 3 at 4:00 p.m.!
There’s nothing scary about Halloween in Lower School! Guided by our amazing art teachers, each student imagines and crafts their own mask. Their creativity and artistic expression shine in this project and they are proud to share their work with our community at the annual Lower School Parade of Masks, a beloved tradition. See the students’wonderful creativity here!
We are excited to share news about the newest members of Westtown’s Thespian Troupe! Recently, seven students joined the Thespian Troupe and four seniors received high honors from the program.
The International Thespian Society is the honor society for students who’ve engaged in over 100 hours of participation in our Theater program. Westtown’s troupe has 32 members and is self-governed.
The following students were inducted: Lena Johnson ’26, Shawn Sprott ’25, Terry Ma ’25, Jamila Burgos ’27, Emily Kessler ’25, Preston Morefield ’27, and Victoria Potts ’26.
The following seniors received high honors: Odina Achike ’24, Sasha Khalo ’24, Eric Li ’24, and Jess Schottland ’24.
One additional note: All new membership fees were paid for by student-organized troupe fundraising this year!
The Senior Art Show, a long-standing Westtown tradition, opened on May 22. Students, faculty, parents, and community members gathered to celebrate with a reception and viewing. The exhibit was a showcase of senior artists’ creative expression and talents and represents a culmination of their artmaking. Well done, seniors! We invite you to enjoy the wonderful work of our talented senior artists in this gallery here!
Spring is concert season at Westtown, a time when students share their talents with the community. We are grateful for the joyful voices and instruments that filled the theater and the halls of our school. Below are links to images of our student performances. Enjoy!
The Upper School Spring Musical, Chicago: Teen Edition, was a smash! Featuring 25 students on and offstage, this was a spectacular production showcasing the many talents of our students. Our thanks to teachers Amy Grebe, Justin Baker, and Jack McManus for helping bring this to the stage! Well, done, everyone!
Westtown Middle School and the Westtown Arts Department welcomed Marek Bennett to campus as our 2024 Visiting Artist. Marek worked with our students on the fundamentals of creating comics and graphic novels and guided them as they created three-panel comics inspired by our Quaker values. Marek opened his visit with an assembly, where he shared details of his own work and began a sketch of the Meeting House inspired by feedback given by students. All students participated in Marek’s workshops. His visit concluded back in the Meeting House where he shared student work and the completed sketch of the Meetinghouse. Our thanks to art teachers Marta Willgoose Salo and Cindy Hodgson, as well asAlex Ates and the entire Arts Department for making this experience possible for our Middle School students! Enjoy more photos here!
