Category: News

Katsuyoshi (left) and Bartlett (right), founders of the clothing line Project Ivy. (Photo Courtesy of Beau Bartlett and Niko Katsuyoshi)

Sem Students Start Stylish Streetwear Syndicate

By Philip Gristina ’20

Sem students and wrestlers Beau Bartlett ‘20 and Niko Katsuyoshi ‘20 have released a new line of sweatshirts as a part of their clothing brand, Project Ivy. The brand has been a new venture for the two young men, and it has already found success within the Wyoming Seminary community.
The brand has origins in a concept Bartlett and Kastuyoshi thought of in 2018. They wanted to create a clothing style that embodied west coast fashion and came up with the name Next Wave Apparel accordingly. Early in the following year, the idea solidified under the name Project Ivy.

The name came from Bartlett and Niko’s dream of reaching the Ivy Leagues for college. That goal lasted for a few months until Bartlett announced his commitment to Penn State. The name stuck even though the reasoning changed. According to Katsuyoshi, the “Ivy” part is more for the sound of it. He says it sounds suave and professional, which makes it useful for branding.

The line has produced a limited number of items. For instance, there are t-shirts and, more recently, hoodies for sale. The company started with branded t-shirts and a free sticker. This past month, hoodies have gone up for sale on their Instagram page as well.

The shirts and hoodies come in several different colors, like Carolina blue, red, and yellow. All feature the name of the brand, or simply Ivy with the logo of an ivy branch.

The acceptable payment method is through the application CashApp. Both Bartlett and Katsuyoshi claim it is much more streamlined than sites like Venmo or PayPal. With every new signup to CashApp, the company is offering five dollars off of the first purchase.

In an interview with the two founders, they discussed what the business means to them. Bartlett said, “It’s fun to be an entrepreneur. Besides this, Niko buys and sells clothes. I make graphic designs. It’s more fun to see the people around us support us with our gear. It’s less about the money and more about the support.” Bartlett, as another venture, creates graphic designs and edits for wrestlers when they commit to a college.

Katsuyoshi stated that “going into Project Ivy was to be able to create clothing that actually had meaning behind it and wasn’t just a name. Our goal is to push people to be their best selves and be great people in their community. That’s what Project Ivy represents.”

To these two young men, the brand is a message of unity under a community. With many wrestlers and some non-wrestlers endorsing the brand, it has proven to be efficient in showing support within the Sem community for new ideas and ventures.

Students hard at work during Sem Day of Service 2019.

Community, Love, Heart

By Sophia Galante ‘22

Community service is always a special thing. It brings people together and provides a sense of accomplishment and pride to a person in a way only good deeds can. At Wyoming Seminary, we know this to be true, and nothing captures the warm and loving feeling of our Sem community than our annual Service Day. This year’s Day of Service was one of the best, for it not only was a beautiful day for clean-ups and outdoor service work but the love and kindness forever touched the people of the greater community of our small section of Northeastern Pennsylvania Sem spread all over.

Holly Egbert ‘23, a freshman this year, experienced her first Service Day: “Service Day was so much fun this year! I went to Riverside Parks, and our job was to clean up garbage near the waterfront. I drive past the park all the time and never gave it much thought. Spending time there are cleaning the environment made me realize what a beautiful place it can be!” Holly is one of many Sem students who were genuinely touched by how little needs to be done in order to make a small section of the community beautiful. Some students remained on campus and helped within the Sem community to make Sem better. Organizing costumes and helping different departments in the school were huge roles taken by many. Others went to places such as St. Joseph’s, Mcauley House, and Headstart centers to interact one-on-one with people of the community.
No matter the year, Sem always seems to have an excellent Service Day. The amount of love, energy and commitment put into the projects this year was unfathomable, and the support from the entirety of the Sem community was overwhelming. As a whole, Sem is a community that is like no other and can create a beautiful day surrounded by one of the essential lessons in life, which is community service. Here is to an amazing one, and to many more to come! Well done, Sem.

Sarah Casey ’06 performing soprano aria, “Les Oiseaux Dans La Charmille,” from Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann 

Sem Alumni Return to Campus for Musical Performance

By Aishani Chauhan ’20

On Sunday, September 22, dozens of alumni who have distinguished themselves in the music industry flew in from around the globe to Wyoming Seminary’s campus in Kingston, PA, to participate in a musical showcase celebration in honor of our great institution’s 175th anniversary. To put it simply, it was nothing short of spectacular.

Among the alumni were European international singers, classical piano artists, people who have performed in professional operas, symphony orchestras, and even written songs for famous rappers (including Snoop Dogg), and had successful rap careers themselves. To call the solo performances of returning alumni “great” would be an understatement.

One performance that garnered many laughs, gasps, and claps were by Sarah Casey ’06, a professional opera singer currently working in Vienna, Austria. She performed a magnificent soprano aria, “Les Oiseaux Dans La Charmille,” from Jacques Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, portraying the beautiful doll Olympia. However, Olympia must be rewound frequently due to her mechanical gears in order to keep singing the aria. When Sarah needed to be “rewound,” to the audience’s surprise, it was none other than our own Mr. John Vaida Sr. who ran onstage and “wound” Sarah again so she could keep singing, while the audience burst into thunderous applause and joyous laughter.

Other alumni performers included in the program were Dwight Farrell ’91, Tyler Harvey ’13, Scott Edmunds ’14, Adam Rinehouse ’15, Emma Dong ’16, John Vaida ’00, Sarah Casey ’06, Dominick D’Alessandro ’17, Dylan Jolley ’17, Grant Mech ’01, Jeffrey Martin ’77, Sienna Tabron ’15, Molly Allen ’11, Scott Kwiateck ’13, Matthew Blom ’12, Dawn-Marie Candlish ’04, Harrison Russin ’05, and Jason Sherry ’91.

To conclude the celebration, the Wyoming Seminary Madrigal Singers, Chorale, and all the alumni graced the stage together and sang the school’s Alma Mater. An audience full of alumni rose to their feet and sang the words they knew so well and held close to their hearts. Throughout the auditorium, one could hear the love, fondness, and respect our alumni and current students have for our institution. It was surreal—members of Mr. Vaida’s first-ever Madrigal Singers group performing alongside current Madrigal Singers, and all at once. One could view Wyoming Seminary’s artistic past, present, and future and the clear journey our music department has undergone—from having one room and a single piano to having multi-million dollar state of the art facilities to cultivate the world’s future leaders in the performing arts.