Want to share what’s new with you? Submit a class note! You can tell us if you have moved; or, maybe, you have a new job or are enjoying your retirement. Perhaps you’ve earned a new academic degree, taken up a new hobby, gotten married, or marked a new milestone in your life. Whatever your news, we want to hear about it! And, we know your classmates would love it, too. Class Notes help keep Westonians around the world connected. Submit your note today! We are currently collecting notes for the next issue of The Westonian magazine – please make your submissions by July 1, 2022.
Westtown School has proudly partnered with the Lodestone Collective to offer a special collection of textile products. Inspiration for these products came from items in Westtown School’s Archives, which holds an impressive collection of manuscripts, photographs, rare books, maps and plans, artwork and furniture, and important artifacts — including textiles — from its earliest days. See these samples below, and visit their website to order! A portion of the proceeds of the sale of these items support Westtown School’s programs.
Each year, we invite the entire Westtown community, faculty and staff, Board of Trustees, current parents, alums, parents of alums, grandparents, and friends, to invest in the transformative experience that a Westtown education offers by making a gift to the Westtown Fund. The Westtown Fund supports the school’s daily operations, and the money is spent in its entirety in the year that it is received. Donors can designate their gifts to areas of their choice including the arts, athletics, building an anti-bias, anti-racist community, faculty support, and financial aid, among others.
Director of Annual Giving, Courtnay Tyus, parent of MJ, Class of ’30, says, “Gifts to the Westtown Fund provide resources to address Westtown’s most urgent needs. We are very fortunate to have thoughtful donors who understand the importance of annual giving and the impact of essential unrestricted income on our operating budget. Thank you to all of our Westtown Fund donors — we could not do what we do without your generous support!”
For more information about the Westtown Fund, please click here.
We are so excited to host Spring Fest on Saturday, May 21 from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m. on the Belfry Lawn!
Join us for some food, fellowship, and family fun! This is a carnival-like event for the entire Westtown community! There will be food trucks, games, crafts, prizes, a “pet a pup” area, tractor rides, a balloon artist, and so much more!
Events like this aren’t possible without wonderful volunteers. Please consider volunteering your time and sign up here for one (or more) shifts at Spring Fest! Thank you for your support!
We hope you will also join us in celebrating the college choices of the Class of 2022 at the Senior Car Parade, which will be from 4:30 – 5:00 p.m. at the end of Spring Fest!
For more information about Spring Fest or volunteering, please contact Megan Schlickmann at megan.schlickmann@westtown.edu or (610) 399-7858.
Wrestling is back! After a hiatus due to COVID-19 our wrestlers took to the mats for the first time since 2020. The squad was young and inexperienced, but our numbers were substantial, and we filled every weight class with wrestlers to spare.
The swim teams had a record-breaking season, with our boys’ 200 medley relay team breaking the Westtown team and FSL record. The relay team is: Puddy Boonkongchuen ’22, Jack Nangle ’22,Tee Johnson ’23, and William Nangle ’24. The boys’ 200 freestyle relay team (made up of the same students) broke the Westtown record, and Paige Fisher set a new team 100 breaststroke record.
In Indoor Track, Will Nagy ’23 continues to run circles around the competition literally and finished 12th in the Indoor State Championship meet at Penn State.
For the first time in Westtown School’s history, both our girls’ and boys’ Basketball teams won both the FSL Championships and the PAISAA State Championships! Additionally, Dereck Lively II ’22 was named a McDonald’s All American and received the Morgan Wooten Player of the year award at the event. Kaylene Smikle ’22 and Dereck Lively II were named the Gatorade Players of the Year for Pennsylvania. This season also saw Kaylene Smikle, Quin Berger ’22, and Jameel Brown ’22 pass the 1000 career point milestone. Dereck Lively II passed the 1000 rebounds milestone for his career. Both teams and players gave us a memorable season.
Congratulations to the winter sports Waring Award winners: Olivia Wiggins ’22 (basketball), Christina Wilson ’22 (swimming), and Melanie Flynn ’22 (climbing)! The criteria for the award reads, in part: “The Waring Award is given at the culmination of each sports season to the student-athlete(s) who have dedicated themselves day in and day out, in service of their school, teammates, and coaches. This award is intended to lift up those who constantly strive for improvement, who persevere when things are tough, and who lift up those around them with their tireless effort and positive attitude.”
18 student-athletes were recognized as FSL All-League or Honorable Mentions this winter, more than any other FSL school! Congratulations to our athletes! You can view the complete list of All-League Athletes here.
Hats off to the Calculus 2 students who competed at the West Chester University Integration Bee! Alena Zhang ’24, Eric Ochis ’23, Ellen Jang ’23, Milo Salvucci ’23, Christina Wilson ’22, and Noah Fisher ’23 represented Westtown School well in the high school division. Sweeping the top three places were Ochis in first place, Salvucci in second, and Wilson ’22 took third. Congratulations to all!
Our Upper School musicians have been busy! The following students have been standouts at a number of festivals:
Natalia Swaitek ’24 and Milo Salvucci ’23 were selected for the District Orchestra Festival.
Natalia Swaitek, Milo Salvucci, Ella Cook ’24, and Melanie Flynn ’23 were selected for the District Band Festival.
Jake Richards ’22 was selected for the All National Concert Band Festival as one of the top clarinetists in the country!
Otto Hillegas ’24 auditioned and was accepted to the Drum Corps International Marching Band for the Spring/Summer 2022 season.
Both Natalia and Milo also auditioned and were accepted to both Region Orchestra and Region Band Festivals and are currently preparing for their All State auditions!
Join us in congratulating these talented musicians!
The Green Coalition, Westtown’s student-led environmental club, hosted its first-ever Clothing Swap on Friday, February 4. Three months beforehand, cardboard bins were placed on each dorm floor (a total of six bins were spread out across the school). Students spent those three months cleaning out closets, donating clothing that they may not have been wearing as often or liked anymore. All of the clothes were clean and in good-condition. Almost every bin was full after a few months, and members of Green Coalition folded and organized the clothing onto racks and couches to display to the students. When the doors opened up, everyone came into the south room and was able to take anything that they were interested in. It was a huge success and nearly all of the clothing got a new home. The remainder of the clothing will be placed into the Helpsy Bins on campus which properly recycle clothing and ensure that it does not end up in a landfill. Green Coalition plans on doing a similar event in the spring due to the great success of our first run!
Students who take Mandarin Chinese in Middle School and Upper School celebrated Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival with a series of special activities. Lunar New Year activities included making dumplings from scratch, writing traditional calligraphy on the lucky red new year paper, and making paper tigers to welcome the Year of the Tiger. Upper School students celebrated the Lunar New Year with a festive Community Dinner. The delicious menu, created and prepared by students who celebrate the Lunar New Year and our kitchen team, included Vinegar-Pepper Shredded Potatoes (醋溜土豆丝), Tomato Egg Drop Soup (西红柿鸡蛋汤), Beef Bulgogi (불고기) Hanoi Spring Rolls (nem rán), Chicken Satay (สะเต๊ะ), and Mochi Ice Cream (餅アイス)! The International Student Organization made a video of the event, which you may enjoy below!
Maple sugaring on campus is a tradition that dates back to 1922 or 1923 when Albert Baily, a Botany teacher, incorporated it into his curriculum. The process of tapping the maple trees, collecting the sap, and boiling it down into syrup has continued off and on and in various forms over the last one hundred years. Back in the day, Upper School student leaders oversaw the maple sugaring and were known as “Sap Heads.” Today, the sugaring process is stewarded by Upper School Outdoor Leadership students and students in the Lower School’s Farm and Forest classes under the direction of Chris Costa, Director of Outdoor Leadership, Tim Mountz, Sustainable Agriculture Teacher, and Bruce Harrison ’81 who revived the tradition in the late 90s and has been participating in the process with current students each year since.
In late February, eight maple trees on campus were tapped by students, including the Grandmother Maple (located across from the Admission Office), which was tapped by first graders. The flow and collection buckets were monitored over a period of about two weeks. On March 8, the boil began in the pit on Sugar Hill, located in the woods behind the Meeting House. The sugaring teams kept watch over the fire, adding sap to the evaporator pan over the span of almost 11 (wet and cold!) hours, then the final cook down was done in the steam kettle in the kitchen for about two and a half hours. The boil began with 98 gallons of sap and it produced 3.75 gallons of syrup. Student groups stopped by the boil to stoke the fire, taste the sap, and observe the production. You can enjoy the gallery of photos here!
