Category: News

Sem Students Gain Excitement as Fall Season Approaches

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Sem Students Gain Excitement as Fall Season Approaches

By Kyleigh O’Hara ‘21

As the leaves start to fall around campus and the air gets slightly chillier, it’s not hard to see that it’s fall once again in Northeastern Pennsylvania! The Opinator recently sent out a survey to all Upper School students, asking what their plans are for the fall season. While some people have mixed feelings about this season, there are plenty of things that people are excited about. There are lots of fall-related activities to take part in nearby, such as haunted houses and Roba’s Family Farm for apple picking and the corn maze. There are also plenty of things about fall that reminds students about Sem activities, such as finally hanging out with friends at school after summer is over, the fall musical 1776, and watching fall sports. Though the end of summer is usually a sore subject for many, there are so many things about fall to be happy about. At the very least, fall treats, such as apple cider, are a favorite around campus. The Opinator wishes all students a happy fall!

Midterm Grades Are Here, and Students Don’t Know What to Think

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Charlie Wright ‘20 reacts to seeing his midterm grades on PowerSchool (Photo courtesy of Adam Rogers ‘20)

Midterm Grades Are Here, and Students Don’t Know What to Think

By Adam Rogers ‘20

It’s that time of year again. School has started to settle in. Teachers have been diligently educating, testing, and grading their pupils. But now we have finally reached the first checkpoint of the school year: midterm grades.
Midterm grades are the first sample of grades the students and parents of Wyoming Seminary see halfway through each term. They include the overall academic grade, an effort grade, and teacher comments from each class. These types of grades are used as a way for students to check their progress and see where they should improve before the end-of-term grades are completed.
Until the spring of the 2018-2019 school year, midterm grades were filed in the same format as the transcript at the end of each term. It included the letter grade, the effort grade, comments, and the student’s current and previous grade point averages (GPAs).
Now, however, the format of these has changed. In the midterm, students temporarily gain access to PowerSchool for ten days, which includes individual assignment grades, letter grades, and grade percentages. This program does not calculate GPA.
Many students have come to like the new changes. Phil Gristina ‘20 describes it as a “…more in-depth analysis of my grade. I get to see every class and every grade individually.” One of the features of PowerSchool is being able to see the grade of every assignment in each class, giving a more detailed break-down of the overall percentage grade.
“I like how I’m able to see my individual grades so I can know how to improve my GPA,” says Jared Weisenberger ‘20. Knowing why you are struggling in a class can help you focus on what you need to fix.
There are some downfalls to using PowerSchool to report midterm grades. “I have to calculate my own GPA, which can be scary if I get it wrong,” says Owen Li ‘20. Li, among many other students, find it nerve-wracking to guess their GPA based on their grades.
Teachers are also not entirely on board with reporting midterm grades with PowerSchool. Anne Lew believes “the ability to see your grades as a student might prohibit a really good conversation with your teacher.”

The Hexagon Project at Wyoming Seminary

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Wyoming Seminary’s Hexagon Art for Opening Reception(Photo Courtesy of PA Environment Digest Blog)

The Hexagon Project at Wyoming Seminary

By Lanie Fenster ‘20

 

Wyoming Seminary’s Kirby Center for Creative Arts has been brought to life with a new imaginative project that brings artists and scientists together.

This collaboration, known as The Hexagon Project, according to the official website, “…invites young people, adults, and communities worldwide to realize social and global challenges facing the world today and use art as a vehicle to reimagine how these challenges can be addressed through critical thinking, research, and creative expression. The project illustrates the connections between the society, economics, and the environment in the solution to the problems created by local abandoned mining operations.”

The idea of the project is simple yet creative. As the name suggests, students used their talent to design individual hexagons to highlight one aspect of the nature of the local community and the impact of abandoned coal mines. Once this step was completed, they composed their work into one cohesive design meant to tell a story that words would not do justice.

Dr. Andrea Nerozzi, teacher, Science Research Group Coordinator, and former Science Department Chair, established the idea at SEM after a positive experience visiting the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation on Service Day this year. She encouraged her STEM program students to take part in the inspiring project and ultimately coordinated the production and development.

The students involved also had a great experience participating in the project. Emily Urbanski ‘20 contributed immensely to the project. “Making the hexagon was a really cool experience because I got to use paint with the iron pigment from the mines,” Urbanski remarked. “I liked how all the hexagons from the students came together into one cohesive exhibit.”

The surrounding school community is greatly appreciative of the project. Kirsten Kizis ‘20, a student who observed the exhibit on its opening night, provided her opinion on the exhibition. “I decided to go to the opening of the Hexagon Project, and I am so glad I did. The project is so creative and informative, and everyone who worked on it is really talented.”

The Hexagon Project truly opened up a conversation that did not exist at SEM before. It brings people from different backgrounds and interests to talk about important aspects of Earth science, historic preservation, and creative arts. The Eastern PA Coalition will further use the display for Abandoned Mine Reclamation in their educational programs.