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Spring Sports Roundup

Lynette Assarsson on June 12, 2025

Director of Athletics Mich Canuso-Bedesem, sums up the awesome spring sports season: 

This spring was a rainy yet exciting time in Westtown Athletics! All of our spring teams qualified for the Friends Schools League (FSL)  playoffs which is a first for Westtown, at least in the last decade. The Oak Lane Athletic Complex hosted games and practices for the first time and our Middle School baseball team had their first season on the new Middle school baseball field.  

  • The girls lacrosse team made the FSL playoffs for the first time since 2006. This is a huge step for the program as they finished just shy of the playoffs the past two seasons. Additionally, senior Sophie Jones broke Westtown’s all time goal’s record scoring 210 goals in her career.
  • Our baseball team was hit with the injury bat this season but still managed to take a spring break trip to Florida, secure a winning record, and advance to the FSL semi-finals for the eighth year in a row.  
  • We hosted our very first “Under the Lights” game this spring for our boys lacrosse Senior Night game against league rival Shipley. It was a beautiful night and the team played an amazing game and beat the Gators! Boys lacrosse finished 2nd in the FSL losing a heartbreaking game in overtime in the FSL Championship match up with ANC.
  • Westtown hosted the FSL Track and Field Championships this spring. It was an exciting event and two records were broken. Laila Atkins ’27 broke her own school records in the discus and shot put and Charlie Reed ’28 broke the 100m hurdles record. Both went on to win the state championship in their respective events.
  • Our golf, softball, and tennis teams had solid performances this year and their ranks are filled with young talent eager to make their mark on the FSL in years to come.
  • We welcomed alums and current players for a Westtown Alums Field hockey event on Alums Day. This event allowed our alums to check out the new field and our current players a chance to play on the turf since it wasn’t completed until after the season. Some alums jumped in to play with our current students while others cheered from the Clubhouse or stands. We even had two board members—Emily Abels and Liz Osterman—come out in support! 
  • Westtown student athletes continue to be amongst the best in the FSL and we took home 23 FSL All League and Honorable Mention recognitions this spring!

Finally, congratulations to the seniors (new graduates) who signed their National Letters of Intent to play their respective sports in college. They are: 

Charlotte Anstine – Dickinson College (golf)
Francisco Benbow – Lafayette College (soccer)
Angelis Bolivar – Adrian College (softball)
Avery Canady – F&M College (track)
Mason Davis – Rhodes College (lacrosse)
Ella Dobrzelewski – Penn State, Harrisburg (field hockey)
Jayden Forsythe – West Virginia Univ. (basketball)
Vianna Kanyamiheto-Watson – Swarthmore College (basketball)
Landon Laney – Hampton University (lacrosse)
Rariwonote Maracle – Clarkson Univ. (lacrosse)
Kash Sanders – Rosemont College (basketball)

To see more of all of our athletes in action, check out the photo galleries on our website!

Spring Concerts

Lynette Assarsson on June 12, 2025

Spring is the time our students showcase their musical talents and demonstrate all they’ve learned throughout the year. If you missed the concerts you can at least enjoy photos our students’ performance here!

The Lower Schoolers sang, danced, drummed their hearts out at their end-of-year concert! See the gallery here.

The Middle School strings ensemble, band, and chorus regaled the crowds at their spring performances, one in the Barton-Test theater, and one showcase in the Center for the Living Arts. Enjoy the photos here!

Bravo to our Upper School musicians on their wonderful performances! String Orchestra (photos by Coco Chen ’25), Symphonic Band, and Jazz Ensemble performed for our community a diverse repertoire written by composers from around the world. The String Orchestra and Symphonic Band also performed at The Hickman, a Quaker retirement home in West Chester, to share live music with their residents. Their performances showcased their hard work and talents! There are more photos of their performances here!

Trills and Thrills

Anne Burns on June 12, 2025

On Friday May 30, our 7th and 8th grade band students participated in their first Trills and Thrills Music Festival. This festival has events throughout the country hosting school music ensembles from elementary to high school to participate in an adjudicated performance before spending the day celebrating at an amusement park. This year the 7th and 8th grade band and their director Jason Wu went to Boyertown Area High School for their adjudication, where they performed two pieces and earned an Excellent Rating which is the second highest rating in the event. They spent the rest of the day at Dorney Park! Well, done middle schoolers!

Integration Bee Buzzing with Westtown Talent

Anne Burns on June 12, 2025

At the 2025 Integration Bee at West Chester University, Westtown students swept the podium earning the first, second, and third places! Third place in the high school division (along with a $50 gift card) went to Kyle Cui ’25, second place and $75 went to junior Max Zhang ’26, and first place and $150 went to Jerry Rao ’27. In the semi-final rounds, Westtown was very well represented with junior Tiantong Hu ’26 and sophomore Jamie Lee ’27. Tessa Kipnis ’26 and senior Vi Kanyamiheto-Watson ’25 also participated.

One Story Week

Lynette Assarsson on June 12, 2025

This year, Lower School hosted author and illustrator Matt Phelan for the 2025 One Story Week. In addition to illustrating books for other authors, Matt has written and illustrated many of his own, from picture books to chapter books to graphic novels. 

The four days of special activities kicked off with an outdoor divisional gathering at the fire circle on Monday, followed by decorating and personalizing One Story Week tee shirts. On other afternoons, students participated in mixed-grade activities based on themes from several of Matt’s books. During these activities, fifth graders served as student leaders, assisting Primary Circle, first, and second grade students. The week culminated with a talk given by Matt Phelan in our Gathering Room.

Lower School Principal Karyn Payton shares, “Matt gave an engaging and inspiring presentation to our young artists and writers. He shared his journey to becoming an illustrator and author by connecting his childhood to our students’ using a photograph of himself as a first grader and drawings he made in second and fifth grades. Simply put, Matt shared that anyone who plays, uses their imagination, and/or draws can become an author or illustrator. Highlighting the phrase, ‘creativity is superpower,’ Matt’s tips for the creative process included starting with an idea, being curiously attentive to the world around you, and finding the story in history. Matt showed us an example of his own drafting to final story process for a graphic novel—from scribble to sketch to final picture.”

Thanks go to Heather Tannenbaum, Lower School Library and Media Specialist, and the Lower School faculty One Story Week Committee for planning this special week. You can enjoy the gallery of photos here!

Guest author/illustrator Matt Phelan and Lower School Librarian Heather Tannenbaum

Evening of the Arts/Senior Art Show

Lynette Assarsson on June 12, 2025

At the end of the year, students, faculty, and families gathered for Senior Art Exhibition. The Senior Art Exhibition is a summative experience that brings together works of students from all visual arts disciplines — drawing and painting, photography and digital art, sculpture, ceramics, and fiber arts created during the 2024-2025 school year. This year’s talented artists included Sophia Atkins, Sofia Burgos, Coco Chen, Ella Dobrzelewski, Adele Daughenbaugh, Nick Fabricatore, Nia Foote, Kennedy Hall, Georgia Smith, Bitong Sun, and July Wen. You can visit Westtown Senior Art Exhibition website to see the students’ work and can visit the gallery here for more photos of their work. 

The Senior Art Exhibition was part of the Evening of the Arts celebration which began with a reception in the gallery and concluded with performances by our Jazz Ensemble and Symphonic Band.

Spanish National Honor Society Inductees

Lynette Assarsson on June 12, 2025

At the end of the school year, students were inducted in to Las Alas Sociedad Honorífica Hispana de Westtown – the National Spanish Honor Society. The National Spanish Honor Society’s goal is to recognize high school achievement in Spanish and Portuguese and to promote interest in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian studies. Upper School Spanish teachers Mercedes Ureña Durán, Juan Rodriguez, and Cynthia Voorhees and Middle School Spanish teacher Franco Yanelli led a candle-lighting ceremony (outside, of course!) then awarded students their certificates. ¡Felicidades, estudiantes!

Madeline Abah ’26
Logan Amaya ’28
Charlotte Anstine ’25
Kaitlin Boston ’27
Payton Corp ’26
Jesaiah Curden ’25
Ronan Duffy ’28
D-Liz Esaka Esaka ’27
Melissa Freeman ’26
Aneesa Hernandez ’28
Wynnie Herrera ’28
Tiantong Hu ’26
Addison James ’27
Brielle Kazemi ’27
James Kelleher ’26
Tessa Kipnis ’26
Emma McDonough ’26
Alex Moschella ’27
Gabriela Poyo ’26
Delia Sanchez ’27
Yeji Shim ’25
Avery Shorter ’26
Meredith Smith ’25
Grey Sobel ’26
Kate Stephan ’26
Radhi Sundararajan ’28
Ishana Sundararajan ’28
Alana Thomsforde ’25
Elijah Tulleners ’28
Maitreyi Vadigepalli ’27
Anqi Wang ’26
Mady Wiley ’26

National Chinese Honor Society Inductees

Anne Burns on June 12, 2025

The National Chinese Honor Society was established in November 1993. Its objective is to acknowledge the superior achievement of secondary school students studying Chinese as a second language. Like other honor societies, the National Chinese Honor Society not only recognizes high scholastic achievement but also good character, leadership, and service. National Chinese Honor Society members should exemplify all these standards. The Society’s goal is to promote enthusiasm for Chinese language and culture learning, commitment to advanced study, and greater cross-cultural understanding. In addition, the National Junior Scholars for Excellence in Chinese award is to recognize our eligible Middle School 8th grade Mandarin students’ achievement in the study of Chinese language and culture.  

After reviewing their Chinese course work throughout their middle school and high school years, examining the national standards set forth, and discussing the many qualifications of gifted students, the Westtown School chapter of the National Chinese Honor Society was pleased to induct 12 new members into the society and renew seven students’ memberships, as well as award four Middle School students into the National Chinese Junior Scholar in Chinese.

At an induction ceremony in the South Room this spring, teachers Jie Song, Nina Li, and World Languages Chair Bei Zhang presented the students with their certificates. Congratulations!

Upper School Newly Inducted Members 

Alondra Garcia Almonte 顾明兰
Camille Bley 林可芯
Payton Corp 孔沛萱
Ben D’Alessandro 邓杰
Evan Holgate 侯昱
Insaaf Imtiyaz  张先尧
Catherine McDonough 麦熙婷
Fernanda Paredes 潘悦珂
Celia Perkins 彭静
Victoria Potts 潘诗颖
Ayla Riley 阮庆玲
Miriam Smith 史幂

Upper School Renewed Members

Sofia Burgos 包慧珍
Parker Coates 寇晓洁
Aveline Heryer 何美琳
Emily Kessler 艾明兰
Grace Malavolta 马悦晴
Liam Sellers-Johnston 孙俊
Auden Vosburgh 王嘉奇

Middle School Newly Inducted Members

Abby Sellers-Johnston 沈佳怡
Sam Marsini 马珊珊
Molly Kramer 康明慧
Kayla John 蒋敏静

Enjoy the whole gallery here!