Author: Michael Demuro

The Sem Spring Play: Sparks Fly in a Snowy Small Town

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By Cecilia Pons ’27

There were many magical moments in Almost, Maine, the spring play this year at Wyoming Seminary.  From first loves to the rekindling of an old flame, the characters in the play experienced love in many different ways. Set in the fictional town of ‘Almost’, it illustrated a series of scenes about love and loss. Almost, Maine took a whimsical approach to the ups and downs of romance. While the topics of romance are universal, the origins of the play come from the author’s own life.

 John Cariani, the playwright of Almost, Maine, moved to the town of Presque Isle, Maine, when he was eight years old. He gathered inspiration from both the physical landscape of the town and the emotions of the people who lived there to compose the play.

Sem’s production of the play captured the rural, cozy atmosphere of the town–the stage set up in BPAC was set for winter, and the Northern Lights appeared overhead, usually when sparks flew between two characters. 

The cast was made up of 18 students, ranging from freshmen to seniors. They appeared in pairs or trios throughout 9 scenes, which had different subjects. This vignette model allowed for quick views into characters’ lives, so the audience saw a common theme. However, there were some drawbacks to it for an actor. Laura Olsen ‘27, when asked about any challenges she experienced, said, “The play is made of 8 separate segments, so you don’t have a lot of time [with the character], but there’s a lot packed into the scene. So, you need to make sure to get the character right.” Even if it did make the scene harder to act, the unique genre made the play amusing to watch, since many viewers never witnessed a vignette-style play.

Almost, Maine was held in BPAC, on May 2nd and 3rd at 7:30. Opening night caused different reactions among the players. Laura’s feelings about her first showing of the play were, “It’s exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. People are seeing it, so it’s scary, but [the cast] also gets to introduce them to the play, so it’s exciting!” Nerves are normal, but Kathryn Eidam ‘27 felt slightly different, “I’m ready, my lines are down, and the blocking is solid. [During tech week] we’re just working on the last little wrinkles.” Either way, both actors seemed equally ready to perform: a sign of a good performance.

Society Day ’25

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By Michael DeMuro ’27

Society Day is the most anticipated event at Wyoming Seminary. Throughout the school year, it builds up more and more until the day it arrives. As the year progresses, there are different competitions between all four societies, those being Alexandrian, Florentine, Oxonian, and Athenian, to gather points. Some of these competitions can be a food drive, SEM DM, or a pep rally. All these points accumulate over time, setting the stage for the final event: Society Day.

Out of every sports game, every school dance, and every ski trip, all pale in comparison to Society Day, not just in terms of the effort it takes to organize and set up, from both faculty and society leaders, but also in terms of how well it is received by the student body.

Society Day is the last day of school before finals begin. According to Brennan Twardowski ‘10, “Society Day has been around for decades; it went on hiatus from 1992-2005 and has continued every year since it was brought back by the Class of 2005.” While the other small society events set the stage for who wins, Society Day is the ultimate factor because of the sheer number of activities and points that can be won from those activities.

In terms of the process that goes into preparing for society day, the same activities are chosen every year, for example, dodgeball and the dance competition. For the society leaders, the real process is having to organize who does what activities when. In terms of preparation, Jagar Macdonald ‘25 said, “We’ll meet up at somebody’s house, order food, and put together some ideas so we don’t have to rush it.”

When Society Day ends, everyone meets at Nesbitt Stadium for the big reveal of who won. The crowd’s tension is at its highest until finally, the banner drops with wins. Last year, Oxonion won Society Day, and the energy when it was revealed was unprecedented. Every time a society wins, they receive a banner that is hung inside the blue gym. Until this year’s Society Day arrives, all we can do is wait and see who’s on top this year.

FBLA Season

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By Izzy Shoemaker ’26

The inaugural group in Wyoming Seminary’s Future Business Leaders of America program had a very exciting and successful season. Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is a statewide competition that challenges highschool students to make business decisions and pitches in order to better prepare them for careers in business. FBLA intends to create dynamic, self assured students who are able to confidently navigate through real world problems.

To qualify for the State Leadership Conference, delegates must place in the top four in their region. After achieving this, Wyoming Seminary was able to enter a team in the state conference for the first time. The competition included 276 chapters of FBLA, yet SEM placed in the top three.  FBLA standout, Tanish Patel ‘26, said, “We had a lot of fun at the FBLA State Conference, and it was full of opportunities to learn and grow as people. As a first-year program, we didn’t have many expectations going into this, but now Ben and I will be attending the National Conference in California. At Nationals, Tanish Patel and Ben Mauriello ‘26 will compete against the most elite young business leaders in the country.

Mauriello and Patel also plan on expanding the program next year. Patel said, “We’ve really enjoyed FBLA so far and we are looking forward to sending more teams to the state conference next year. We got a lot of exposure and met a lot of new people and had an incredible time this year, and as a first year program we are hoping to grow into a huge program in the future.”

The team’s success has the student body excited to watch them perform at the National Level. It also sparked interest in other business activities at SEM, such as Investment Club and Business Club. Over the course of the next few years, SEM will be able to grow a young generation of competitive business professionals, who are sure to continue competing at the highest level. FBLA, and other professional clubs, will certainly become flagship programs at the Seminary.