May 6, 2021 | Vol. 20-21, No. 30 STUDENT COUNCIL LEADERSHIP TRANSFER Neil Shah '21 congratulates Shiv Tickoo '22 A MESSAGE FROM OUR ADMISSION DIRECTOR
Gerard Gonnella '89, Director of Admission and Financial Aid, shares the many positive ways in which It's Personal at W+H his recent blog post. Below is an excerpt:
Happy May Day! Wow, it is May already, and we have been learning in person since September. Now that's personal, and not an easy accomplishment in a global pandemic. The only way we could achieve this incredible accomplishment is by being personal. Paying attention to details ensures that our approach is appropriate during these extraordinary times. Being personal is Wardlaw+Hartridge's specialty.
SCHOOL CALENDAR SCHOOL NEWS MAY-JUNE EVENTS FILL CALENDAR With just over six weeks remaining before this year's Commencement Ceremony on June 18, the school calendar will become packed with end-of-year events. Concerts, art shows, speeches, awards nights and graduations are among the many events that will fill the next six weeks. Andy Webster, Head of School, recently shared a letter with W+H parents with details about the year-end events.
CAPSTONE SCHOLARS SHARE RESEARCH Twelve seniors in the Class of 2021 shared their research and findings on a variety of pertinent topics in last week's Capstone presentations in the Center for Global Learning. This project, a requirement to graduate with the Global Scholars Program diploma, involves many components including a written paper, action research component and a presentation in front of students and a panel of teachers. The Capstone Research Seminar supports cohorts of Grade 12 students through the original research process. Our scholars engage in many sophisticated research techniques: they form research questions on issues of their choosing, they form their own definitions of key concepts based on the current knowledge in their fields, and they answer their questions with original data collected through interviews, observations, and primary source analysis.
TALIYAH WILLIAMS '21 WINS DAR AWARD Taliyah Williams '21 was one of three local high school seniors to receive Good Citizen Awards from The Westfield Chapter of The Daughters of The American Revolution (DAR). Each school selected one Good Citizen from their senior class based on Dependability (truthfulness, loyalty, punctuality), Service (cooperation, courtesy, consideration of others), Leadership (personality, self-control, responsibility), and Patriotism (unselfish interest in family, school, community and nation). "I feel so grateful to have been considered for the award and to be a finalist. It is an honor to represent our school. This award means a lot to me as I try to make a positive impact on our community as much as I can and hold some of the same values as the Daughters of Revolution," Taliyah said. Taliyah performed extremely well in all the criteria for this recognition. She wrote an outstanding DAR Scholarship Essay, which was administered under strict guidelines without prior knowledge of the topic. She has demonstrated exceptional DAR qualities with her involvement in various school and community projects holding leadership and advisory roles. DAR members Barbara Benko and Victoria Freeman '92, a W+H alumna, presented Taliyah with a DAR Good Citizen Certificate, pin and wallet card in the W+H front courtyard on April 30. Each winner also received a $100 cash prize donated by the Westfield DAR Chapter. The DAR is a non-profit, non-political national women's volunteer organization which believes in promoting historic preservation, education and patriotism. MS STUDENTS CELEBRATE SPIRIT WEEK Middle School students are celebrating their own divisional Spirit Week from May 3-7. Students are having a blast embracing daily themes to begin the home stretch of this unprecedented school year in style. The week kicked off with Match a Friend Monday on which students joined up to four friends with matching outfits. Teachers joined the fun with matching plaid. Tropical Tuesday featured students and faculty dressing in their most fabulous tropical, beachy attire. Students and teachers showed off their team pride with their favorite team jerseys on Wear Your Team Wednesday. Creativity took center stage on Throwback Thursday, which required some retro fashion from previous decades. Tomorrow's Movie Madness Friday, capped by Middle School Movie Night, will wrap up an exciting week.
LS STUDENTS COMPLETE READ-A-THON Lower School students capped a three-week Read-a-thon in April with some impressive numbers. The students logged 20,438 minutes of total reading. Fourth-grader Josh Culver '29 led all students with 1,368 minutes, which is nearly one full day! Total donations reached $4,130 and the proceeds will go toward a fund to diversify Lower School classroom libraries. UPPER SCHOOL ATHLETES OF THE WEEK Karl Miran, Athletic Director, announced this week's Upper School Athlete of the Week. Congratulations to track and field athlete Angelina Vargas '23. Angelina is finally running outdoor spring track after two seasons of impressing GMC opponents in the winter season (indoor or outdoor). At Friday's Spring Series meet, she served notice that she belongs among the best in the conference, winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.77. She also ran 13.63 to place third in the Sophomore 100 meters. Honorable mention goes to track and field athletes Naomi Valcourt '24 and Samia Silver '24. In Friday's Spring Series Invitational Meet at Metuchen, Naomi and Samia ran very well against a strong field in the Freshman 100 meters. Samia's 14.88 earned her a fourth-place medal, and Naomi ran slightly faster (14.68), good for second place. MIDDLE SCHOOL ATHLETES OF THE WEEK Karl Miran, Athletic Director, announced the Middle School Athletes of the Week at last Friday's full division meeting. Congratulations to baseball player Nate Mitchell '26, softball player Aarna Vachhrajani '27 (pictured) and track athlete Pallavi Shah '27. Despite having a wrist cast that left him unable to swing for the first few weeks, Nate has not missed one practice, showing a nice glove in the field in early practices. Once cleared to hit, Nate has shown off a sweet swing that is sure to produce some big moments this year. Aarna is one of the more skilled players, but her consistent hard work in practice allows that talent to shine. In two games, she has struck out 18 batters while going 4-for-5 when she is batting. For a sixth-grader, she already shows great maturity and sportsmanship. Pallavi had done many things to earn this honor, but her most colorful achievement so far was anchoring one of the girls' relay teams at the April 28 meet while she had a bloody nose. She was insistent on dusting herself off and being there for the team. The relay team recorded a time of 1:05.2. COMMUNITY SUPPORTS DAY OF CARING W+H extends sincere thanks to its full community of parents, alumni, faculty, staff and friends who participated in our Day of Caring. Contributions will help support the additional expenses incurred by safety enhancements that the school has implemented to remain open and offer in-person classes during the pandemic. CHECK OUT W+H SUMMER PROGRAMS Wardlaw+Hartridge is offering a robust array of summer programs in 2021! The year's programs include Camp Funshine, Adventure Camp, Brain Boosters Junior Academics, Summer Scholars, Teen Leadership Camp and Summer Sparks Enrichment. Other special camps including Drama, Egypt, Technology and Entrepreneurship, Dungeons & Dragons, and Marine Biology will also be held. To learn more, visit WHschool.org/summer
From the W+H Parents' Association Give Mom a Box of Love!
The WHPA has a great way for you to show the moms, grandmas, aunties, and favorite people in your life how much you love them, just in time for Mother's Day. Order a Box of Love, $10 each, by visiting WHPA.givesmart.com. Additional plants will be available for purchase after school on Friday, too. Each festive, beribboned box will contain two hearty, blooming annuals in grower's pots, kid friendly recipes and tips for making Mother's Day treats, and a special gift tag for you to personalize. There is no deadline, but please get your orders in as soon as possible so we can make sure we have enough boxes prepped! Moms: make sure your kids and partners see this so they can "surprise" you!
Check in with Administrators at Virtual Meeting - May 6
Here's a great way for you to hear about plans for year-end celebrations and look ahead to the 2021-2022 school year: the W+H Administrative team will headline the next WHPA virtual meeting, Thursday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. We'll also share news about the PA leadership slate and other plans for next year. Please join us by logging into our Zoom meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3198110157?pwd=bmUxYXdlMUtUYVFPek53cDN0UVR2UT09 IMPORTANT REMINDERS Giving Thanks for Our Wardlaw+Hartridge Fund Parent Donors
The Development Office would like to thank the W+H community for supporting The Wardlaw+Hartridge Fund. Click here to view a list of W+H parents who have contributed to The 2020-2021 W+H Fund between July 1, 2020 and May 4, 2021. Please note that this list does not include the many donors who participated in our Day of Caring.
Join Doorstop Donations to Help Serve Those in Need
Doorstep Donations is a nonprofit organization founded by a group of New York high school students committed to serving underprivileged and food-insecure families. We are starting our own chapter here at Wardlaw+Hartridge!
Donors will receive a Doorstep Donations reusable grocery bag, filling it every other month with non-perishable food items and either leaving items at their doorstep or bringing it to W+H. Every two months, a volunteer driver will pick up the bags of non-perishable food from outside the donor's door and take them to a local food pantry.
Our school's next pick-up and drop-off is Monday, May 24. If you have any questions, please reach out to Nicole Nolan, Director of Global Scholars and Community Outreach, at nnolan@whschool.org.
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