Category: News

by Brady Wood ’24

Wyoming Seminary Upper School has a recurring issue with students not having fobs and student cars not being registered to the school. The security office works very hard to keep all of the students and faculty members safe, students not having fobs is not only putting themselves in more danger. It puts students in danger because if there is ever a threat outside on campus and students seek for shelter, they will not get in without a fob. An emergency can be anything from weather, chemical spill, suspicious individuals and armed individuals.

Recently many public schools around the area have been getting bomb threats, luckily none came to Wyoming Seminary but security expresses that everyone knows the procedure just in case but students will be locked out of buildings without a fob.

The head of security and former state trooper Matthew Grebeck puts in a lot of work for the safety of faculty and students, he said, “Fobs also dictate who is allowed to access certain buildings through authorization.”

Fobs are not only for students to be able to enter the buildings but for people to not enter the building. If you ever see a suspicious person on campus and they try to act as if they belong in a building, don’t let them in! They can cause great danger to everyone in that specific building, thankfully due to the Security team, people are seen walking onto campus before potentially trying to do something they shouldn’t.

Another occurring issue for the security at Wyoming Seminary is day students registering their cars. Grebeck said, “vehicles parked on campus property need to be registered so the security department can identify  who the vehicle belongs to in case of an emergency.”

An emergency in this case would be somebody illegally parked, car broken into and damage to their vehicle. If there is not a sticker on the back of an illegally parked vehicle that says Wyoming Seminary, security will not know that they can save a student from getting their car towed.

by Evan Coates ’24

Improvements to campus have been going on since the start of school. So far, they have included the exterior and interior repainting of different buildings and various landscaping upgrades. Some of the more routine work around the 25 acre campus ranged from the cutting of lawns, making and laying new mulch, and pruning trees, all the way to seeing up every single on campus event, both athletic and social.

The amount of time and work that goes into these tasks is remarkable and should be appreciated by the entire community, as many on campus events would never be possible without the maintenance team led by Janet Murray, Director of Facilities Operations. 

One of the more current project on campus was the repainting of the Sprague Hall basement and offices. This brought a refreshed and updated look to the building, making it a more pleasant experience to spend time there for both faculty and students.

These are just some of the improvements done during the school year, while the vast majority of the work to residential houses, school buildings, and dorms were completed over the summer.

Sem residents were happy when they returned from summer break to find common spaces and residential spaces fitted with multiple upgrades. These included, but are not limited to; a new roof for the Pettibone Dickson Darte Center , new flooring and painting for the 3rd floor of Swetland Hall, along with new furniture for the 3rd and 4th floors, 45 new windows, trims, trims, surface sills, and painting in Nesbitt Hall, the expansion of the athletic training center, and repairs to the tennis court. The combination of these projects adds to the visual aspect of Sem’s sophistication and appeal as a day and boarding school. Looking into the future, the maintenance team is considering seeking board approval for pool renovations, more roof replacements, new HVAC chiller for Sprague Hall, and possibly more.

 By McKayla Williams ‘24

Wyoming Seminary’s campus was packed with students, alumni, and parents alike for homecoming weekend this year.  From the homecoming dance, to alumni events to a pep rally at the lower school, both campuses were filled with activities and loads of Sem spirit that persisted even through rainy weather.

Students started off strong showing their pride during spirit week. On Thursday they went all out with wigs, tutus, boas, costumes and more in their society colors for points, and on Friday they took part in a class competition donning blue and white.  

The football team led Wyoming Seminary to victory against St. Francis’s regional team on October 14th while they were cheered on from the bleachers. The Sem community came out to support the football team despite the cold and rainy conditions and helped celebrate their win. “Seeing friends and family cheer you on when battling through tough games can make a huge difference,” Edwin Lora ‘24 states. “It means a lot to some people on the field.” At halftime the alumni service award was given to two extraordinary students, Lucy Lew ‘24 and Paul Stevenson ‘24. Sem’s Blue Knights finished off the game with a score of 7-6 ringing in the third victory of the season. 

Even down at the lower school students were included in the homecoming festivities with a pep rally run by upper school students. They kicked off the weekend Friday morning by welcoming the parents in the car line and later throwing shirts and rally towels into the crowd. During the pep rally lower school students were encouraged to attend the homecoming game to help bridge the gap between the two Sem campuses. “Many of the students who started at the upper school didn’t realize there was a lower school just three miles down the road,” Ms. Cinti, who organized the pep rally and many other events on campus, said. By including the lower school in homecoming, not only did they create a tighter knit community but showed the younger students what they had to look forward to when they reached the upper school. “The lower school students love when the high schoolers come to visit. It feels like they have big brothers and sisters.” Several lower school students came out to support the team for their homecoming game. 

Past students joined in on the campus festivities as well. Sem alumni celebrated their own class reunions while parents met with teachers and dorm heads to get a better understanding of what students experience here at Wyoming Seminary. Alums enjoyed a reception on back campus while the students held their homecoming dance in the Blue Gym. There they enjoyed music, snacks, and most importantly, the time they spent with their friends and classmates for their 2023 homecoming. Sem’s community including faculty, staff, parents, and students both past and present showed up to celebrate homecoming and demonstrate that, rain or shine, the pride of the Blue Knights shine through.