Congratulations to Mallory Peters ’23 whose piece “Historial Urn Replication” was selected into American Museum of Ceramic Art 2023 Annual High School Ceramics Exhibition. The exhibit features works by 109 students from 13 states, plus Washington, DC.
Upper School Musical
Our spring musical, Broadway Our Way, was a smashing success! We congratulate the 55 students onstage, backstage, and in Scenic Arts Design who put together such an incredible production. This musical review featured songs from Hadestown, Spring Awakening, Beetlejuice, and others. You can enjoy photos from the musical here.
Spring Dance Concert
The Spring Dance Concert, A Bouquet of Movement, featured wonderful performances by Elements Dance Company, Middle School Dance, and original pieces choreographed by other Upper School Students! You can appreciate their artistry in this gallery here!
Middle School Concert
Middle School’s final concert of the year was an opportunity for students to sing, play, and shine! In case you missed it, here is a gallery of photos of the Spring Concert.
Lower School Spring Concert
Lower Schoolers did an amazing job at their Spring Concert. Please enjoy the gallery of their performance here!
PMEA District Band Honors
Congratulations to our students Milo Salvucci ’23 (center), Ella Cook ’24 (right), and Solveig-Michael Daniels ’23 (left) who were invited to attended the PMEA District Band Festival, and a special shoutout to Milo! After being selected for District Band, District Orchestra, Region Band, and Region Orchestra, Milo has reached the highest level a high school musician can achieve by earning a place in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) All-State Festival music ensembles. For Milo, this is the third year in a row he has reached this level. This year, he was selected as the top percussionist in Concert Band. Congratulations to Milo and all our talented musicians!
There are many highlights from the spring season of athletics to lift up as the school year comes to a close!
And, drumroll please…Westtown wins the 2023 Patterson Cup, earning it back from George School! The Patterson Cup is a yearlong athletic competition between Westtown and rival George School.
In addition to team achievements, the following athletes garnered Friends Schools League recognition on the All-League Team:
First Team Selection
Honorable Mention
The spring season Waring Award winners are: Jack Combs ’23, Avery Allison ’23, and Jack Ingino ’23. The Waring Award recognizes athletes who may not have titles and accolades, but who tirelessly strive for excellence, persevere through hardship, and elevate their teammates with their positive attitudes. It is for those who have devoted their hearts and souls to their teammates, their coaches, and their school.
Waring Award Recipients
Finally, we lift up the the recipients of the Most Valuable Athlete Awards (from left): Lucia Sanchez ’24 (softball), Jack Combs ’23 (lacrosse), Michelle Olak ’24 (track and field), Ella Cook ’24 (track and field), Jack Ingino ’23 (baseball), Carl Wagner ’23 (baseball), and Santi Benbow ’23 (track and field).
Congratulations to all our student athletes for a great spring season! You can enjoy team photo galleries from the school year here.
Introducing the Westtown Toile collection. This collection features images of iconic buildings on the school’s campus. Using the school’s rich archive of historic photographs, artist Joe Kulesza meticulously interpreted each building in pen and ink. The sketches were then digitized, enhanced with elements of the surrounding natural landscape, and put into repeat. The resulting fabric and wallpaper collection is produced by Adaptive Textiles/Lodestone Collective, a local company with alum and teacher ties to Westtown School. Click here to view the collection. Learn more about the print design here. A portion of the proceeds of the sale of these items support the school.
Looking for spirit gear or gifts? Visit Westtown’s online store here. Did you know you can personalize your gear with your name, graduation year, or more? Watch how easy it is to do here.
We (and our students!) were thrilled to welcome grandparents and special friends to this spring to get a glimpse of life in the Lower School! Our guests learned about the Lower School curriculum, did activities with students, and enjoyed being in the classroom. You can see more of this special day here.
It was wonderful to see so many alums on campus over Alums Weekend 2023! There will be a recap of the weekend’s activities and reunions celebrating milestone years in the next issue of The Westonian. In the meantime, please enjoy the photos from the weekend!
After the FIRST Robotics game was revealed on January 7, the Metal Moose robotics team got to work designing and constructing their robot. After many iterations and trials, they landed on their final designs. These systems combined to form “BAMI,” their robot for the 2023 FRC Season.
At their first competition in March, over thirty members of the team participated in a 3-day district qualifying competition. They were finalists (losing the tiebreaker in a close match), came home with two performance trophies, and qualified for the district championship. They won the Autonomous Award for the robot that best integrates environment sensing with robot performance through programming; the other award recognized their ascent to the finals.
On a weekend in early April, there was another 33-hour marathon event and the Metal Moose won the competition as well as the Excellence in Engineering Award for “design elegance and engineering robustness, performance, and full-machine integration.” They were ranked 8th in their district and 88th in the world among 3,297 teams. The intense work, focused collaboration, and iterative progress these students have taken this year now place the Metal Moose in the top 3% in the world.
By the end of the district championship, they had moved up to 7th in the district, 87th in the United States, and won the Quality Award which “celebrates machine robustness in concept, design and fabrication. Building the robot is only part of their success and the judges recognize them as a quality example to others.” This performance also qualified them for the FIRST [For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology] World Championships once again and they headed for Houston. After three exciting days, Team 1391 and their alliance partners made it into the semi-finals, where they performed well but ultimately did not qualify for the finals. Now back home, finishing in the top 7% of all teams in the world, the team is meeting to review the year, identify systems for improvement, and set goals for next year, which include aspirations for another trip to the World Championship in 2024. Well, done, Metal Moose!
Check out the galleries of student photos from their competitions here!
Recently, Philadelphia-based artist Tim McFarlane came to our Lower School to teach as the 2023 Candace Freeman Artist-in-Residence. Along with the students, he created four panels that will hang in the Lower School hallways. Tim’s paintings and collages include vibrant colors, layers, and expressive marks, or “glyphs,” that are representative of a unique visual language that Tim has developed over time. The Visiting Artist Program began over thirty years ago and focuses on bringing professional artists to Westtown’s Lower School who embrace a child-like approach to exploring their own creativity. The opportunity for young artists to work alongside a professional artist to learn about abstract art and explore varied art media is a valuable and an important piece of our arts curriculum. Enjoy the gallery of photos from McFarlane’s visit!
Thanks to the McLear Artist in Residence Fund, Westtown welcomed ceramicist and sculptor Kourtney Stone to Stephanie Wilhelm’s Upper School ceramics classes. Stone worked virtually for a time with Upper School art students teaching how to sculpt eyes and mouths on clay tiles. Then, during her week-long residency on campus, she worked with students on making silicone molds of their tiles and instructed them on pressing and molding techniques to make multiple clay casts. Through this project, students learned about close observation, creativity, and the unique history carried within every person. You can see examples of student work and photos from Stone’s time on campus here. Stone’s work, along with the work students did with her, will be featured in an upcoming show in the gallery. She will return to campus for the opening reception on April 28, and will once again visit Wilhelm’s classes.
In the Lower and Middle Schools, celebration of Black History Month centered on the themes of Black joy, Black Excellence, Black Achievement, and Black families. Kelly Yiadom, Director of Equity, Justice, and Belonging for Lower and Middle Schools, engaged students in a series of activities throughout the month around these themes. Students learned about Black inventors and entrepreneurs—Frederick McKinley, Granville T. Woods, and Dr. Patricia Bath, among others—as well as the achievements of Black Americans. Fifth graders visited the Archives to learn about Black history at Westtown. Students in each grade read a variety of works from the poetry of Amanda Gorman and books like Hair Love and Put Your Shoes on and Get Ready by Raphael Warnock. Primary Circle students had a special visit from 8th grader Ryder Tookes, who read I’m Loving Me, which was written by his aunt and uncle, Dr. Clarissa Henry-Adekanbi and David D. Henry II. In addition to readings, third graders listened to music, watched StoryCorps videos and Hidden Figures. All of these activities across the grades led to robust discussions among students. Queries in Meeting for Worship in both divisions centered around why celebrating Black History Month is important. In addition to readings, discussions, and classroom activities, Middle School students learned about the incredible life of Thurgood Marshall in a one man-show at the People’s Light Theater.
Eighth grader Jamila Burgos was invited to compete in a Black History Month oratorical contest at Penncrest High School. Jamila competed against five high school students and took home the grand prize with her performance of her original poem which was inspired by Nikki Giovanni’s Rosa Parks! Congratulations to Jamila!
Upper School students, faculty, staff, and families came together for our Black History Month Community dinner. The Black Student Union worked with the Dining Room staff to coordinate the dinner, decorated the Dining Room, and planned a delicious menu that included sweet tea, mac and cheese, greens, and sweet potatoes. It was a joyous event that included singing, shared poems, and dancing together in celebration of Black culture at Westtown. Enjoy the gallery of photos here (photo credits to Coco Chen ’25)!
The Upper School wrapped up Black History Month with an assembly featuring a performance by Amari Rebel and the Movement which honored Black culture and celebrated the history of Black music. Students and faculty were singing and dancing to this lively, lovely performance in the Barton-Test Theater! Our thanks to DeVon Jackson, Director of Equity, Justice, and Belong for the Upper School, for bringing this talented group to campus! See images from this performance here.
The assembly was a joyful end to the month that also celebrated Black love in Community Collection, and Meetings for Worship that centered around the five senses of Black excellence. In collaboration with DeVon Jackson, each of the Black affinity groups—Black Women Affinity Group, Multicultural Student Union, In the Know (young men), and Black Student Union—presented queries at a Meeting for Worship aimed at sight and touch (identity, being seen), taste and smell (cultural cuisine, scents), and sound (the impact of Black music). Within these Meetings were also queries about Blackness at Westtown, the impact of Black women in our daily lives, the ways in which Black men impact our lives, and considering which achievements or stories from Black history resonate with us individually.
Congratulations to the cast and crew who staged the awesome Middle School production of The Story Store by Lana Haehnel! The play takes place in the near future where there is a service that helps you craft the narratives of your life, from the casual (“What do I say when people ask about my family?”) to the world-changing (“Who should I vote for?”). What does this service mean when it comes to digital privacy, individual thought, and the nature of truth? Roughly 52 Middle School students were involved with the production both on and off stage. Well done, students! Check out the gallery of photos here!
