Category: Features

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.

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.

By Izzy Shoemaker ‘26

The charity Dance Marathon is a beloved tradition at SEM. This year marked the 13th year of “SemDM”. SemDM is the largest student-run organization at SEM, and certainly a fan-favorite event. Throughout the year, executives and committee members run several fundraisers and events, all culminating with a dance marathon in April. This year the team put on a sweatshirt sale, a Powderpuff football game, and a car wash to help raise money and awareness for the Children’s Hospital. 

Families Committee Executives, Mirabaai Reitsma ‘26 and Ellie Scullion ‘25 were thrilled to be working with Sem’s biggest group of Miracles Children attendees in event history. Reitsma said, “This year we all knew we really wanted to focus on the families at the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. We actually invited ten kids to the event, which is double the attendance of last year. We couldn’t be more happy that we did. Seeing the kids at the event is always the best part.” The Sem student body also showed up big time to the event, from 12-7pm the gym was jam-packed with students, day and boarding, of all grades. 

The event included lip-sync battles between SEM students, JustDance breaks, and performances from the incredible Miracle Children. Each child also had a segment of the day dedicated to them and their journey in the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital and through the Miracle Network. The events committee was sure to leave enough time in the schedule for the highly anticipated faculty pies and tape a teacher. This year six faculty members volunteered to be pied by their students: Mr. Cruz, Ms. Dohn, Ms. Rossi, Mrs. Stretanski, Ms. Barton, and Rev. Carrick. Mr. Kersey also got in on the action, getting taped to the wall of the Blue Gym. 

Fundraising Committee Executive, Maya Gross ‘26, said, “This event is so special, because everyone at the school is so supportive and involved. And it’s really cool to be able to have so much fun while supporting such an amazing cause, and it’s just incredible to see everyone rally around it.”

This year, the cause is more important than ever, as Janet Weis lost funding that they usually can count on. Through the Miracle Network, funds raised directly contribute to renovations, new technology, and life-saving equipment in the hospital. In total, SemDM raised an outstanding $32,801 for the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital.