Category: News

By Michael DeMuro ‘27

One of the newest and most exciting events at Wyoming Seminary is Senior Assassin. It has quite a few similarities to Elimination, which is played in the winter with stickers. The main similarity is the premise; in both games, each player receives a target, and the main goal is to be the last player standing. Senior Assassin, however, only involves the senior class, and players are armed with water guns instead of stickers. Additionally, Elimination can only be played during school hours and only on campus. Senior Assassin is the opposite, and can be played anywhere besides campus during the school day. Players can remain safe by wearing goggles or pool floats, except for certain days which are called purge days.

Senior Assassin has had a huge resurgence in the last few years and has massively increased in popularity. SEM began playing this game last year, run by students. It was a massive success last year, and the graduating class greatly enjoyed it. Following last year’s success, the game is being played again this year, run similarly by a group of students. The main organizers are Sara Williams ‘26, Julia Williams ‘29, Stella Ruiz ‘28, and Hannah Maakestand ‘27, each covering different roles, necessary in order to make this game as fun and fair as possible. As for how the game is played, each player has their different strategies. For example, contestant Emily Marino ‘26 shared “because home is so far away in Bloomsburg, I don’t think many people are willing to drive to my house to get me out so I try to get off campus as quickly as possible.” Other creative strategies included using lower classmen as spies to learn information.

So far, the senior class is having fun. Ryan Finlay ‘26 especially put up a fantastic performance in the game, snagging several eliminations. Many feel that this game brings their class closer together and brings people who are usually more introverted out of their shells. As RJ Gernhardt ‘26 noted, “Some people don’t interact with everyone, so it definitely makes them have to talk more.”

After another successful year of Senior Assassin, it most definitely seems like it will be a new tradition that will be carried on for hopefully several years, giving seniors another highlight to look back on later in their lives.

By: Abby Ryu ‘26

The Wyoming Seminary Academic Concentrations program is an opportunity for students to challenge themselves in conducting independent research, engaging with the community, and exploring passions outside of the classroom. Students work throughout their high school careers to develop their portfolio with key learning experiences and build towards completing a capstone project during their senior year. Over the first two weeks back from spring break, a total of 12 seniors split between the three concentrations presented their work. Most presentations took place after school and brought together faculty, students, friends and family to listen. Aiden Benetos, Maya Gross, Emily Marino, Eshaal Ahmad, Hannah Salesky, and Alex Chen represented the STEM/STEAM concentration. Abby Ryu and Doron Glynn represented the Humanities and Global Studies (HGS) concentration. Emma Rathburn, Grace Rushmer, Caleb Smeraldi and Addie Priebe represented the Climate Science and Sustainability (CSS) concentration. 

While the work presented reflected a wide variety of interests – from puppetry to environmental education to defining humanity –, one thing that remained constant throughout all presentations was the intensity of work put in by the presenters. Every senior who presented had been developing their project, at least, throughout their entire high school career and it certainly showed. When asked about how it felt to finally wrap up such a monumental chapter of her high school experience, CSS concentration’s member Emma Rathburn ‘26 said “It felt very rewarding and satisfying to see all of the work we’ve done put together into one final presentation and I’m so proud of everyone and myself for finishing off strong!”
And yet in some ways, these capstone concentrations don’t just represent an end but also a larger beginning. Most seniors noted in their presentations that they were excited to expand upon their interests in college. Additionally, when asked about the biggest thing she has learned through her concentration experiences, STEM concentration’s member Emily Marino ‘26 importantly noted “My experience in the concentrations has really prepared me for college in that I now feel more confident that I can do a big, long, independent project like this.” Whatever the future may hold for these seniors, their capstones clearly mark both a rewarding culmination of years of dedication as well as an exciting launching point for future exploration!

By Melia Benetos ‘27

On Monday, January 19th, Wyoming Seminary students came together to honor the life and lasting influence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through an incredible opening chapel, student-led workshops, community service, and an all-advisory debrief. The day started with a lovely chapel led by Reverend Carrick, who talked about how important it is to remember Dr. King and how hard he worked to help bring equality through peaceful protests. After the ceremony, students made their way to workshops led by their peers. From “Becoming Powerfully Chalant” to “Different Beginnings, One Journey: Exploring how Diversity Forms Communities and Enriches Traditions,” there was truly a workshop where everybody could learn about something new and truly put themselves into somebody else’s shoes. Simran Sharma ‘27 reflected on her experience, saying “MLK day was an amazing experience because we got to go to different workshops and learn about the different aspects of oppression. I think it was a great way for students to learn more about the effects of MLK day outside of classes.” Simran participated in the workshops “Education for All? Access, Censorship, and Prejudice in Learning” and “Crash Course on the AIDS Crisis.” Nancy Dahal ‘28 had similar feelings, sharing that “MLK day was a really interesting new experience! I deeply appreciated all of the work of the presenters and I thought the workshops I was in were really fascinating! I also got off well with everyone in my slates, so I found it a really fun day off from school!” Nancy engaged in the “Crash Course on the AIDS Crisis” and “Misogynoir: Hardships that Black Women Face in Modern Day Society.” After attending their workshops, students and faculty enjoyed lunch and then came back together in their advisory groups to debrief about what they learned and what Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy meant to them. Although both students and faculty originally saw MLK day as a well-deserved day off from a busy school day, throughout the day, they discovered that it was so much more than that: it was an opportunity for everyone to get educated on many different topics and come together to remember Dr. King’s lasting impact on the world.