Category: News

Sem Shows Spirit

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by Maya Rosenthal ’23

On Oct. 17, 2022, the spirit week dress down got students excited about the upcoming football game against Williston Northampton School. The themes were Throwback Monday, Celebrity Tuesday, Societies Wednesday, Little Miss Thursday, and Homecoming Shirt Friday. “I always love Spirit Week- every person takes it in their own direction and seems to have fun with it! I am always up for taking requests and themes. This year’s themes were definitely student driven which is what we are all here for” says Ms. T, Director of Student Activities. Some of the themes even got changed due to students taking action. 

Monday was throwback day. A variety of different decades were displayed through the way people dressed and the band t-shirts that were worn. Popular styles that day include the early 2000’s or Y2K style and hippies. On Tuesday, students dressed up as characters and celebrities. We saw a wide range of outfits including cartoon character t-shirts, Adam Sandler, and Santa Claus. Wednesday was society dress up and everyone really got into the spirit. This day was a competition between the societies. Students were rated one through three. This incentive made people go all out, “Society Colors Day this year was taken so seriously and it was a blast” says Ms. T. The standings in the end were Oxonian in first, Athenian second, Florentine third, and Alexandrian in last place. Thursday’s little miss day had people giving themselves superlatives including Little Miss Sleepy. Friday everyone wore their homecoming shirts in preparation for the football game on Saturday. 

Ruby Hackett ‘23 expressed her opinion on spirit week by saying, “I like the idea of it but I personally don’t like dressing down with certain criteria. It is hard to dress up as a character or in throwback clothes with short notice.” Ford Boock ‘23 says, “Some people got more into the spirit than others, but everyone still had fun. Spirit week effectively got people excited for the big football game and it was very exciting. The student section was packed with students even though it ended in an unfortunate loss for the football team in overtime.”  

Sem DM Raises its Largest Amount Yet

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Sem DM raises over 46,000 this spring (Photo courtesy of the Wyoming Seminary Communications Department)

by Kim Nguyen ’23

Fully in-person, the 10th annual Sem Dance Marathon was held on Saturday, April 9. SemDM is student-run and works with the Children’s Miracle Network to raise money for the local Janet Weis Children’s Hospital. In the upcoming weeks before the main event, many opportunities are held to raise money. The main way to donate is on Sem’s Donor Drive website. On-campus there were bake sales, a dress-down day, and music during lunch. Local businesses also pitched in with Rita’s and Melt Hot Yoga holding fundraisers. 

It was held in the Blue Gym with colorful posters placed on the walls, streamers, and lights strewn. The main event included the four miracle children. Each accompanied by their family they were introduced with a video describing their journey. Kimmie, Martin, Laila, and Emma were all assisted by the Children’s Miracle Network. After the introduction, there were various events like the morale dance, lip sync battles, and Just Dance Battles. There were also more opportunities to donate like raffles or bidding for the chance to pie a teacher in the face. Then there is the bracelet cutting at the end, a more serious event. They are the same bracelets the children wear when they are admitted to Janet Weis. For Mr. Shafer it’s his favorite event saying, “We spend a lot of time having fun, being silly, and celebrating the whole day long. But it’s that moment of silence before it starts, seeing the kids walk around and cut the bands, and hearing our students talk about the real meaning behind the day that makes SEMDM so special and powerful.”

The committee raised a whopping amount of $46,513. While they have been topping their previous amounts each year, almost double was made. When reflecting on the event, Shane Holcombe ‘23 an executive of the Promotion committee, highlighted the energy. “The energy was amazing among the children and the student body. I could see the kids building off the excitement of everyone else. It was my first one when everyone was together.” 

Accepted Students Day Held on Campus

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Current Sem Students welcome accepted students at Upper School Campus (Photo courtesy of the Wyoming Seminary Communications Dept)

by Olivia Sekel ’24

During the weekend of April 23rd, 2022, Wyoming Seminary came together as a community to welcome newly accepted students. The Upper and Lower School campuses hosted events throughout the day by giving tours, answering questions, and showing the clubs we have to offer. A total of 72 families attended the event to see what it would be like as a student at Sem. 

The families included 8thgrade families, admitted families for next year, accepted families, and prospective families looking to attend the Open House in the fall. A total of 30 clubs represented the school by showing off the sports, extra-curriculars, and academic offerings at Sem. 

Sarah Stewart, the Interim Director of Domestic Admission at the Upper School, organized the day. She said, “After seeing our current students and faculty interacting with our new and prospective families, you realize all of the difficult decisions and long hours of planning are all worth it. We cannot wait to have everyone back together in the Fall for the 2022-2023 school year.” 

At the Upper School, the street of North Sprague was filled with tables for clubs and student  organizations. Another benefit of having students participate in the event is that it provides a sincere  welcome into the Sem community. 

Lauren Finlay ‘23 shared, ” Accepted Students Day was a great experience for everyone involved. [It] went amazing this year, and the Sem community got to see so many new faces! It was really nice to meet potential incoming students, and I think all the students really felt like it brought our community together!”