African Dance 2022-23

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

This year’s third grade African Dance performance marked the 21st anniversary of the African Dance program at Westtown and the partnership with Jeannine Osayande and the Dunya Performing Arts Company! The African Dance performance is a culmination of an extensive unit of study on the continent of Africa and its countries, cultures, and arts and a six-week residency of Osayande and the Dunya Performing Arts Company (DunyaPAC) during which they teach students West African dances and Capoeira. Osayande, Dunya PAC, and the drummers are professional performers whose mission is to teach children about African culture and its diaspora. During Osayande’s and DunyaPAC’s residency, third grade teachers Vicki Shelter and Kristin Hayman lead the students through this exploration of the countries of Africa, and art teacher Kelly Nicholson worked with students on creating their batik costumes while learning about West African adinkra symbols. Third graders did an excellent job in their performance, and so did parents and teachers, who joined in the dancing at the end of the show. Enjoy the gallery of photos here!

Students: Learners and Teachers

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

Teachers often seek ways for cross-divisional work among students, so that older students can teach younger ones, or students with proficiency in one area can tutor those developing skills as exemplified in the math and English peer tutoring programs in the Upper School. Recently, Upper School students who are native Spanish-speakers (students from Spain, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico) visited Upper and Middle School Spanish 1 classes to help students practice their conversation skills. Spanish 1 students interviewed the Spanish speakers about their homes, and drew pictures based on their conversation. This is just one of the ways our students’ varied experiences and gifts enrich the classroom experience for all.

Additionally, back in February, the youngest members of our community, Primary Circle, joined faculty and students in Upper School for a special visit to the Science Building! Initiated by chemistry teacher Rose Koenig and supported by her science colleagues in the Science Department, students got a taste of chemistry, biology, and robotics in the Upper School. They made giant bubbles, elephant toothpaste, looked through a microscope, and got to try their hand at operating the robots of the Metal Moose, our robotics team. These “crossovers” are reminders that students are teachers, too!

Enjoy the full gallery of photos here.

Into the Mountains

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

Director of Outdoor Education Chris Costa, along with trip leaders Elson Blunt, Fran de la Torre-Shu, Justin Boyer, Jodie Driver, and Melinda Janofsky, traveled to the High Peaks Region in New York’s Adirondack Mountains with a group of 23 students during the long winter weekend in February. Costa reports, “We had early mornings and very full days! Students were fully engaged in programming from Friday morning through Monday night. They worked well together and learned a lot about themselves, one another, and the pace and rhythms of traveling together in the mountains. They unplugged while at camp, engaged in family style meals and joined in the work of making our expedition run smoothly.” They hiked, skied, snowboarded, played games in the evening, and shared campfire s’mores. Costa adds that it was not an easy trip, and that was largely by design. Students faced challenges such as those presented by living in rustic accommodations in the winter, practicing the patience required to travel in a large group, learning to ski and/or snowboard, and shifting their relationship with technology. “They displayed resilience and flexibility and reflected in our closing ceremony about ways that they would bring their experience back to their life at Westtown.” Experiences like these are natural team builders, as well as opportunities to be in and learn from nature. Check out some photos from the weekend here!

Lunar New Year Celebrations 2023

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

The annual Lunar New Year Community Dinner in the Upper School did not disappoint! Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai students worked hard to bring this event back to its pre-pandemic style. Delicious foods, from a menu created and prepared by the students alongside kitchen staff, were served at the dinner which was accompanied by music, student performances, community sharing, and, of course, the Lion Dance. After dinner, students were invited to visit “cultural stations” in classrooms along Main Hall where they could learn about various cultures, play games, and do activities. The wonderful video below, made by students Eric Li ’24 and Coco Chen ’25, captures the joy and excitement of our Lunar New Year Community Dinner.

Lunar New Year 2023 from Westtown School on Vimeo.

In Middle School, 8th grade volunteers supported the Lunar New Year activities throughout the week. All students in Middle School learned about Lunar New Year celebrations, and teacher Jie Song and Mandarin language students created this video below of songs and well wishes for the Lunar New Year.

Students in Lower School learned about Lunar New Year through books, activities, and from parents of Lower School students who came to share how they celebrate the Lunar New Year in their cultures. Students learned about Chūnjié, Seollal, and Tết – thanks to our parents! Have a look at the gallery of photos from this special week of activities!

Slide content

Winter Dance Concert

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

Elements Dance Company’s and the Upper School Winter Dance Ensemble’s Winter Dance Concert, entitled Movements on Equal Rights, was a celebration of those who fought for equity, justice, and belonging. Created collaboratively by dance teacher Amy Grebe, student dancers, and guest artist Inaijah Meaux, the pieces in this concert were inspired by lesser-known activists as well as Westtown’s own archival journalism; the work responds to decades of The Brown & White articles documenting the real-time reactions to equality movements by Westonians of the era. You can enjoy photos from their wonderful performances here and here. Photo credits go to students Eric Li ’24 and Dylan Precious ’24, respectively.

Arts Awards and Accolades

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

This winter, seven Upper School students were honored with 20 recognitions from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers!

Priyanka Acharya ’23: Gold Key for “Alone” (Visual Art); Gold Key for “Evolution of Change” (Three-Dimensional Visual Art); Gold Key for “Generational Change” (Visual Art); Silver Key for “Family Line”(Visual Art)

Chloe Baker ’23: Gold Key for “Striving in the Souls of Black Folk: Resisting Humanization” (Critical Essay);Honorable Mention for “Ending an Epic: What Modern Retellings of The Odyssey Get Right” (Critical Essay); Honorable Mention for “Disgust, Desire, and the Transfeminine Body” (Critical Essay); Honorable Mention for “Ouroboros” (Flash Fiction); Honorable Mention for “Pondscum” (Science Fiction and Fantasy)

Coco Chen ’25: Honorable Mention for “May God bless you” (Digital Art)

Peishan Huang ’24: Gold Keyfor “Enemy” (Short Story); Gold Key for “Jiajia” (Short Story)

Eric Li ’24: Gold Key for “Surveillance” (Photography);Silver Key for “Forgotten Home” (Photography);Silver Key for “Mother” (Photography);Silver Key for “The Builder” (Photography);Honorable Mention for “Ferry Terminal” (Photography); Honorable Mention for “Moon at Dawn” (Photography)

Jacob Liu ’25: Honorable Mention for “An Elegy of Home” (Poetry)

Tina Zhu ’25: Gold Key for “self-portrait” (Visual Art)

In other Upper School visual and performing arts news, carved ceramic tiles by Karah Blunt ’25 were selected by the National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition out of 1,300 entries nationwide, and percussionist Milo Salvucci ’23 and flutist Ella Cook ’24 ranked as the top and second musicians respectively in our district of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Honors Festival. They joined the District Band Festival with tubist Solveig-Michael Daniels ’23. Join us in congratulation these talented artists, writers, and musicians!

Middle School Artists Receive Honors

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

Delia Sanchez’s ’27 sculpture was selected as a Juror’s Prize by the Council for Art Education and the Pennsylvania Art Educators Association—the piece will be on exhibit in the State Capitol. Pieces by Maura Wiggins ’27 and Maitreyi Vadigepalli ’27 were included in the association’s Youth Art Month exhibit. These pieces were produced in teacher Marta Willgoose Salo’s art class.

Chesco Band Fest Nominees

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

Congratulations to the six Westtown students in 5th and 6th grade who were nominated to participate in the Chesco Band Fest: William Bromage, Norah Davidson, Felix Hopf, Hamilton Kreiling, Kayla Park, and Griffin Richards! These students participated in a one-day festival and worked with a guest conductor to rehearse and prepare music for an evening concert. This year’s fest took place at Owen J. Roberts High School and featured guest conductor Ken Kemmerer. We are proud of our young musicians!

Third Grade Celebrates Carnaval!

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

In February, the Lower School lobby was bedecked with a beautiful Carnaval display assembled by third grader Lucas Donatelli and his family. His mother, Tamara Rausa, also came to talk to third graders about Carnaval and Lucas shared a presentation about the famous Brazilian celebration, followed by a demonstration of instruments used in Samba. To finish, students danced Samba and had a Samba School Parade! You can see the gallery here!

Sports Roundup

Stacey Lopez on March 27, 2023

Spring athletics are well underway, and here’s a quick look back at some of the highlights from an excellent winter season!

Girls Varsity Basketball Team Wins Friends Schools League and State Championships!

Double congratulations go to the girls varsity basketball team! This powerhouse team, undefeated in League play, won the Friends Schools League Championship in February, then went on to win the PAISAA state championship.

And, For the first time in Westtown School’s history, one of our varsity teams was invited to a National Tournament! Coming off of back-to-back PAISAA State Championships, our girls basketball team was invited to GEICO Nationals during the first weekend in April. This invitation-only event featured the best high school basketball teams in the country and included eight boys teams and four girls teams. Their game against top-seeded Monteverde School was aired on ESPNU and shown in the East Collecting Room, where students, faculty, and staff gathered to watch and cheer them on! The girls played hard, fought valiantly, and represented themselves and our school extremely well, ultimately falling to Monteverde 58-51. Given their young roster, including three eighth graders, there is no doubt this will be a team to watch for years to come.

Wrestling Team FSL Champions

The wrestling team, under the leadership of Jay Farrow, won its 25th FSL Championship this season! It was a storybook ending in which the FSL Championship meet between ANC and Westtown hung in the balance until the last match of the day. As fate would have it, the Westtown wrestler was a first year wrestler who had not won a match all season—and he was facing an experienced ANC foe. As you may have deduced, our novice wrestler was victorious, securing the win for Westtown!

Friends Schools League Honorees

Westtown had 17 student athletes recognized as FSL All League or Honorable Mentions this winter, more than any other FSL school! Join us in congratulating the following student athletes:

All-League:
Boys Basketball: Matt Mayock ’23
Girls Basketball: Grace Sundback ’23, Joniyah Bland-Fitzpatrick ’23, Savannah Curry ’24, Jordyn Palmer ’27, Zahra King ’24
Wrestling: Titus Henderson ’23, Ryan Tookes ’24, Ryder Tookes ’27, Luke Holgate ’24, Sam Olojo ’24, Will Nangle ’24

Honorable Mentions:

Boys Basketball: Jayden Forsythe ’25
Girls Basketball: Atlee Vanesko ’26, Jessie Moses ’27
Wrestling: Santi Benbow ’23, Nick Ross ’23

WaringAward Winners

We also congratulate this year’s winter sport Waring Award winners. 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. The recipients are: Santi Benbow ’23, Atlee Vanesko ’26, and Noah Fisher ’23!