Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer Series Presents: Negin Farsad
Monday, November 17, 2025
7:30 p.m. in the Barton-Test Theater

We invite you to our next Shoemaker presentation by comedian Negin Farsad. Farsad is a TEDFellow and gave a TEDTalk on social justice comedy seen by millions. She is a regular on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and Neil deGrasse Tyson’s StarTalk. She is author of How to Make White People Laugh and host of the podcast Fake the Nation. You can see her on Hillary Clinton’s Gutsy Women on AppleTV+.

Saturday, September 20, 2025
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Join us for food, fellowship, and family fun! FallFest is a carnival-like event for the entire Westtown community.  There will be food trucks, games, crafts, prizes, and so many more special activities. We hope to see you there!

For more information about FallFest or volunteering, please contact Bridget Cadden.

There are several spring events coming up our busy community calendar! In addition to the events listed here, we also invite to check out our athletics schedule and come cheer on our athletes!

Upper School Musical
The Addams Family
Barton-Test Theater
May 1 – 3, 2025
Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Upper and Middle School Dance Performance 
Barton-Test Theater
May 15-16, 2025
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Alums Weekend
Campus
May 16-18, 2025
Register here!

Middle School Music Showcase
April 17, 2025
CLA Gallery
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Upper School Strings and Sings Performance
Barton-Test Theater
May 21, 2025
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. 

Senior Art Exhibition 
CLA Gallery
May 21, 2025
6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Upper School Jazz and Symphonic Band Concert
Barton-Test Theater
May 21, 2025
8:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Middle School Spring Concert
Barton-Test Theater
May 28, 2025
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Commencement
Greenwood
June 7, 2025
11:00 a.m.  – 12:30 p.m.

Thank you to author Tyriek White, who spoke to our community this week as part of our Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer series! White, a writer, musician, and educator from Brooklyn, NY, is the author of the novel We Are a Haunting (Astra House, 2023), which won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, was a finalist for the Gotham Book Prize, and was longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize. He was named a 2024 National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” Honoree and has received fellowships from Callaloo Writing Workshop, New York State Writer’s Institute, and Key West Literary Seminar, among other honors.

Tyriek visited our American Lit, Creative Writing, and Storytelling classes to discuss his experience, do some writing exercises with students, and joined students for the Black History Month Community Dinner before taking the stage with English teacher Kyle Layne-Allen for an enaging conversation. We are so grateful to him for sharing his time and wisdom with our community!

If you were unable attend the Shoemaker, you can watch a video of the livestream here, and you can enjoy the gallery of photos here.

We build community in a variety of ways, but one way is through events that bring us all together. Check out these photos from just a few of the events that brought parents, alums, and community members together so far this year!

FallFest 2024

Middle School Parents’/Guardians’ Day

Upper School Parents’/Guardians’ Day

Friday Night Lights

Campus Dog Walk

Tyriek White 
February 24, 2025 at 7:30 p.m.
Barton-Test Theater

In February, award-winning novelist, musician, and educator Tyriek White will come to Westtown. He will be visiting classes and and spending time with students. He will present a Shoemaker Lecture on Monday, February 24, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. in the Barton-Test Theater. Please join us!

Tyriek Rashawn White is a writer, musician, and educator from Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of the novel, We Are a Haunting (Astra House, 2023) which won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, was a finalist for the Gotham Book Prize, and was longlisted for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize. He was named a 2024 National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” Honoree and has received fellowships from Callaloo Writing Workshop, New York State Writer’s Institute, and Key West Literary Seminar, among other honors. He is currently the media director of Lampblack Literary Foundation, which seeks to provide mutual aid and various resources to Black writers across the diaspora. He holds a degree in Creative Writing and Africana Studies from Pitzer College and most recently earned an MFA from the University of Mississippi.

We were honored to welcome Michael Twitty, culinary historian and world-renowned author of The Cooking Gene, KosherSoul, and Rice, as our first Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer of the year! Tim Mountz, Sustainable Agriculture Educator and Farm Manager, and Twitty had engaging moderated talk followed by a lively question and answer period. The next day, Twitty spent time talking with students in the senior English classes in the Belfry, as well as with students in the Perspectives in Literature and African American Experience classes where he talked about African American culinary history at our Lower School Three Sisters Garden. Our thanks to Michael Twitty for a wonderful visit, and the Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer Committee for bringing him to campus!

You can see more photos from his visit here.

For his David Mallery Fellowship, Alex Ates, Director of PK-12 Visual and Performing Arts, created a podcast exploring the intersection of Quakerism and creativity. In this three-episode series, Ates interviews New Orleans Clarinetist Ben Schenck, New York City Printmaker and Graffiti Artist Todd Drake, and Westtown student poet Jamila Burgos ’27. This podcast is intended as a resource for faculty and staff, students, and the greater Friends community. Click here to listen!

If you have live locally to Westtown, consider signing up to be a host family for the next school year!
The Host Family Program is a valuable experience for Upper School international students and Westtown host families, allowing for close relationships to be built between families and opening the door for connection and cultural exchange. Host students seek to develop relationships, play with siblings and pets, and talk about their culture, life, and ambitions with host parents. Host families are welcomed into a one-year commitment with the Host Family Program with the option of renewing. Many students and host families continue their relationships beyond Westtown, staying in touch through college and visiting each other in their respective homes and cultures.

You can learn more about the Host Family Program on our website. If you have questions, please contact the Director of the International Student Program, Bei Zhang.  

It was wonderful to see all the grandparents and special friends at the Lower School Grandparents/Special Friends’ Day! Visitors got to experience life in the Lower School, special activities, and see a performance by the students. Thanks to all who joined us! You can enjoy
the gallery of photos here!