Category: Features

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. 

Izzy Shoemaker ‘26

The 2024-2025 mock trial season is well underway for the team at Wyoming Seminary. After graduating all 12 of the varsity team members from last year, this year’s team stepped up and filled in. Twelve new team members filled in, four of whom had never done mock trial before. Additionally, four other members had never competed before this season. In addition to new team members, the team also welcomed Lieutenant District Attorney Tony Ross as a coach alongside returning coach, Dr. Froehlich. Ella Magida ‘26, Nick Delayo ‘25, Isis Gonzalez ‘25, and Kavin Patel ‘25 were named as captains for this season. 

The season began with two invitational tournaments in Philadelphia, LaSalle Blue and Gold and UPenn Benjamin Franklin Invitational. The Blue and Gold and Ben Franklin Invitational are two of the highest level competitions in the state. At the Blue and Gold, Wyoming Seminary went 1-2-1. The next weekend, at the Benjamin Franklin invitational, the Knights went 1-1, as they were unable to compete the next day as a result of weather events in the Philadelphia area. Following the two invitationals, the team had a few days to refine their case materials before moving on to preliminary rounds of district mock trial at the Luzerne County Courthouse.

Sem has done remarkably well in districts thus far. In their first trial, the varsity defense team defeated Marian High School in a unanimous decision by all five judges. Kavin Patel ‘25 and Mirabaai Reitsma ‘26 were awarded best advocate and best witness respectively. Patel said, “It’s great to get results like this in districts. We had big shoes to fill from last year’s team, and I think we are in a good position to have a shot at back to back district titles.” 

A week later, the varsity prosecution team was back in the courthouse against Pittson area. The prosecution swept the judges in a unanimous 5-0 decision once again. Josie Carpenter ‘26, awarded best witness at the trial said, “I think everyone is feeling really good moving into the next rounds of districts. The team will continue competing in high level district competition through the rest of February, culminating with the district championship. If the team comes out victorious, they will continue on in the regional championship, a title last one by the Sem 2023-2024 varsity team.