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School News
S C H O O L N E W S
QUEST Service Learning Trips
They’re Back!
We are excited to announce that, after putting the program on hold last summer due to COVID, we were able to resume our QUEST service learning trips for WFS upper school students this summer.
QUEST Term Service/Leadership Trips engage students in an experiential learning model to increase their understanding of global issues as well as strategies to mitigate the impact of these challenges. During the summers preceding their 10th, 11th, and 12th grade years, students may elect to travel to domestic or international destinations to engage in global issues through service and leadership.
This June, students traveled to Acadia National Park for their QUEST service learning trip (in partnership with Earthwatch). They spent a week on an expedition to track biodiversity in the intertidal zone to see if species are adapting to warming, collect data on island flora, and track bird migration and the availability of their food source. The students’ research and observations will contribute to broader efforts to help solve challenges caused by climate change and other consequences of fossil fuel emissions.
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1. Pre-kindergarten students explored the Quaker testimony of equality. They read the story “Old Turtle and the Broken Truth” and then were challenged to look for the whole truths around them, which is something that is relevant for all, not just a select few (statements that promote equality). The dictations on the hearts are what the pre-kindergarteners discovered and voiced.
2. Seventh graders participated in a "space challenge" in Mrs. Hegenbarth's class, learning all about an astronomy topic that they feel passionate about, including this one about how NASA uses origami to help them transport large solar arrays.
3. Tony Cheng ’22, Frank Murphy ’24, Devin Wallace ’24, and Collier Zug ’24 represented the WFS robotics team 7584, “The Bad News Bots,” at the DE FIRST TECH CHALLENGE State Championship in May. The competition pits robots built and programmed by the students in performing a variety of tasks in two-and-ahalf-minute matches. They had a dozen matches against teams from across the State and had a lot of fun learning and competing in this challenging event.
4. Middle school students recently met WFS parent Dr. Taryn Fletcher, who worked as a teacher and school administrator for almost 20 years before writing a book and starting her own business to help schools incorporate more cultural diversity in their classrooms. Dr. Fletcher
studied the consequences of the Supreme Court decision Brown versus Board of Education as part of a large research project for her doctoral degree. She talked to students about the effects, both positive and negative, of school desegregation on students of color. Dr. Fletcher was joined by her mother, Dr. Olivia Roane, a public school teacher for more than 36 years and a former professor in the Department of Education at Wilmington University. Dr. Roane shared her experiences as a teacher in segregated schools.
5. The WFS Mock Trial team took first place in the 30th annual Delaware High School Mock Trial Competition! Gavel award winners include Tess Wolf '24, Claire Manning '22, Elissa Belleroche '21, Kaylyn Freeman '22, Rohan Mandayam '23, Greer Marvel '23, and Bryce Young '21.
6. WFS science teachers Kelley Cox, Ellen Johnson, Courtney McKinley, and Karen Horikawa participated in a gene editing workshop given by the Christiana Care Gene Editing Institute at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute. The teachers learned more about the curriculum for “CRISPR in a Box” and implementing it in their classrooms. “CRISPR,” or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, is a groundbreaking technology that can harness the activity of DNA repair pathways to generate desired genomic alterations. 7. In computer science class, 8th graders made and flew paper airplanes, then returned to the classroom to write an algorithm (a set of instructions that a computer follows) for making their plane. They also shared their algorithms with a classmate to use to create an identical plane.
8. Fifth graders learned about slavery––how it began, the passage, and modern-day slavery–– and students created a virtual museum. During the unit, Fifth Grade Teacher Beth Hill ’12 said, "The idea of the museum was to evoke empathy and leave the viewer with a deeper understanding of slavery. To do this... they could either present a news anchor/cast, create a podcast with visuals, or create a drawing or a physical project with a caption. They needed to be strategic in how each exhibit was placed and be really creative to evoke empathy. They've been work really hard on this for a few weeks now, and I cannot wait to post them so other students, teachers, and parents can see their hard work."
9. Upper school Spanish students took part in a Black heritage photo challenge as part of Black History Month. The goal was for students to share information and celebrate and learn more about Black heritage. They focused on three criteria for selecting and describing their pictures in Spanish: authenticity, stories, and people.
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Connecting AcrossContinents
Seventh grade social studies students had a cultural exchange conversation with students from Mauritania who are connected with the MindLeaps program. Their teacher, John Hanson, had a chance to visit and see the MindLeaps program in action during a visit to Rwanda two years ago.
MindLeaps (Mindleaps) is a USA-based organization working in developing countries to improve school performance and create positive livelihoods for at-risk youth. MindLeaps runs a unique program, based on a standardized dance methodology, that helps out-of-school and vulnerable youth undergo behavioral transformation, catch up on basic cognitive development and learn work-ready skills. MindLeaps creates educational paths for the most vulnerable children in the world through a creative arts program that is built on data-driven metrics.
Three WFS students, Cereniti Johnson, Naomi Allen, and Arlo Nekoukar, gave presentations about their family backgrounds as well their own hobbies. In addition, other WFS students asked questions and shared examples of their hobbies as well as likes and dislikes about aspects of American culture. The students from Mauritania also shared aspects of their culture and families as well as a poem that was read and shared.
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
“I thought it was interesting to have the zoom call with the students from Mauritania. I liked hearing about their hobbies. I think the students were very similar to us. I think it was nice to have a chance to meet students from so far away. We were able to do this because of technology and I thought that this would not have been possible to do a few decades ago. I wish we had more time to hear about what they are learning at school and also what kinds of things they would like to know more about us?” - Zach Altshul
“I took away that Mauritania has a very different type of culture, weddings, languages, etc. What sticks with me is that one whole family doesn’t share the same language. I would’ve liked to learn more about schooling there and what a daily life is like. “- Sami Mayer
“I learned about all the different cultures. Like in one of the presentations they showed all the different types of weddings from different cultures. Something that also stuck with me was how people in one household speak different languages. That was a very interesting thing that I never really thought about before. I would have liked to know more about the hobbies of the people living in Mauritania. It would have been cool to see what their life is like and what they do.” - Piper Roskovensky
“I took away that Mauritania and the USA are somehow both extremely different and extremely similar at the same time. I would of liked to learn more about what sports they do there and how it is different from the USA.” - Vincent Ramunno III
“I took away that they learned how to speak like 3 different languages and are fluent in them and I knew what they were saying when they spoke French and asked questions of us.” - Logan Jones
VirtualArt
Exhibits
IB HL Art and Visual Arts Major seniors presented their portfolios in virtual exhibits. Along with their work, they included a curatorial statement of purpose, theme, and descriptions of each piece. Visit our website to see the full exhibits!
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
Our first grade city planners put a lot of thought into their fictitious town, thinking about the needs of the residents and where things should be located.
First and foremost, they put the "Nine One One Center" in the middle, so everyone could easily be reached in case of emergency.
Next, they made sure to include an apartment building where everyone could live. For all of those working parents, they placed a daycare close to the apartment building, along with a pet store (because pets are family too). Not too far from there is a bookstore, which is always fun to visit.
A nice, big gym is easily accessible to the apartment building along with a restaurant. (There is another restaurant on the other side of town to accommodate everyone who wants to go out for a nice meal.) The mall is also nicely situated right next to the apartment building, and just a few doors down is the grocery store.
The auto shop/gas station is across town, but the bank is right next door to it, because you know how gas prices are these days. They couldn't forget to include a hospital to care for the residents, and a nail salon next door in case someone would like to get their nails done before visiting any sick loved ones.
Wilmington Friends School is the lovely little building in blue (GO BLUE!) which has a wonderful, large spa next door. Perhaps for the teachers to relax and rejuvenate after a busy week at school? Good thinking, Friends!
Student Empowerment
Socially Conscious Statistics
The AP Statistics course at WFS acquaints students with the major concepts and tools for collecting, organizing, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Students work on projects involving hands-on gathering and analysis of realworld data, and ideas and computations have immediate connections with actual events. It is an ideal structure for integrating socially conscious concepts. For instance, students look at the historic Swain vs Alabama case from 1965 and do a hypothesis test on whether the make-up of the jury was racially biased. Another project uses a real example from history where statistics was used to determine the total number of tanks that the German army had during WWII.
Author Visits After Reading Student’s Letter
As a part of their reading unit, third graders wrote to beloved authors.
Charlie H. ‘30 wrote to Nick Bruel, author of the “Bad Kitty” series, among many others. After receiving Charlie’s emailed letter, Nick immediately responded and offered to visit our third graders virtually. He joined the class through Zoom, talked about his new book, shared some drawing ideas, showed some of his artistic techniques, and answered questions.
Passion Projects in Middle School
Mastery projects are an opportunity for middle school students to explore a topic they are passionate about, but isn’t offered in our curriculum. Sophia ‘27 had an interest in learning about sign language, so she took an online course and met once a week with her advisor to go over what she learned. Sophia then presented the information to her grade, complete with research she had done about the deaf community, a sign language conversation between her and her teacher, and her signing the song, “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas.
Healthy Debates in World Affairs Club
Sponsored by the Upper School World Affairs Club, Sam Ritschel ’22 and Eden Cottone ’22 participated in a lunchtime debate on the question “Should recycling be a top ’green’ priority?” The purpose of the club is to foster friendly discussion on and provide a forum for analysis of issues of global importance. Topics range from school-wide issues to domestic and foreign policy. It offers students diverse perspectives and sharp but courteous argumentation. Guidelines require that topics should be topical and controversial; grandstanding is discouraged by focusing debate on substantive and serious issues; debaters cannot put forward a “straw man”; and debates allow good arguments to be developed on both sides.
Music News
“Be the Change” -- Music That Reflects Our Values
In the recent upper school Chamber Singers concert, students sang “Be the Change,” chosen by music teacher Margaret Anne Butterfield, who noted in her introduction that the piece adapts texts of Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., The Gospel of Matthew, and the composer Laura Farnell, and employs a phrase in Swahili. She noted that the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote that is part of the lyrics is also on a banner that hangs in the Wilmington Friends middle/upper school meeting room.
LIVE concerts!
We were very fortunate to be able to hold our middle and upper school choral and instrumental concerts in person this spring. The exterior of the library made a beautiful backdrop and the weather was almost perfect. Thunderstorms threatened the upper school symphonic and jazz band concerts, which were subsequently held in the West Gym with limited seating.
Project MUSIC
Several lower school students participated in Project MUSIC through the University of Delaware. Students worked on developing their skills in online workshops, from musical theater and digital music to songwriting and even dance lessons.
Melody Scavenger Hunt
Enjoying the beautiful spring weather, lower school music teachers placed melodies outside for fourth grade students to find as part of a melody scavenger hunt. As students located each melody, they labeled the solfège, sang it, and notated it!
Learning About Voice
In their voice unit, sixth graders demonstrated their understanding through short essays on the process of creating sound, followed by creative projects on the anatomy and function of the larynx. Projects included rap songs (by the Epigolottis), skits (such as "Larynx Detectives"), Kahoot trivia quizzes, board games, paintings, and models.
Winter Sports 2020-21
Boys’ Basketball
The WFS boys’ basketball team competed in what many call the toughest conference or “ACC of Delaware Basketball.” The team played hard in every game and continued to improve and support each other throughout the season. They finished up the year 4-10 and competed in the first round of the Delaware State Tournament losing to a tough St. Georges team.
ALL-DISC Honorable Mention: Patrick McKenzie ‘21 Robby Tattersall ‘23
Girls’ Basketball
The WFS girls’ basketball team had an outstanding season finishing with an 8-5 record and a postseason record of 1-1. They started off their tough schedule with a win against conference foe Tatnall, followed by two wins against Tower Hill and finished the season with an almost 20-point victory over Wilmington Charter. The team ended up second in the conference and played for the first time in the third round of the State Tournament. ALL DISC First Team: Kayla Farley ‘21 Madison McCoy ‘21
Second Team: Margo Gramiak ‘22
Honorable Mention: Caelen Grubb ‘22
ALL-STATE Honorable Mention: Kayla Farley ‘21
BLUE GOLD TEAM Kayla Farley ‘21
Winter Track
While there were no regular-season indoor track meets this year, our runners stayed fit and focused, and three runners participated in the State tournament. Congratulations to Max Leffler ‘22 who was the state runner-up in the 1600m with a time of 4:31!
State Meet Results Max Leffler ‘22: 2nd in the 1600m - 4:31 Luke Munch ‘21: 8th in the 1600m - 4:43 Ellie Criscimagna ‘23: 7th in the 800m - 2:39
Swimming
Congratulations to our boys’ and girls’ swim teams on a great season! Although it was a shorter season, there were many highlights, including the boys’ team capping off the season with an historic finish.
ALL-STATE First Team Boys: Ty Wilmore ‘24
First Team Girls: Kira Agne ‘23
Honorable Mention: Marcel Stewart ‘22
DISC Conference Boys’ Coach of the Year Robin Lebauer
State Meet Results The boys’ team finished 6th place overall in the state, girls finished 13th.
Boys’ individual results Ty Wilmore ‘24: 2nd, 200 free/3rd, 500 free Marcel Stewart ‘22: 10th, 200 IM/12th, 100 fly Ameer Bashir ‘22: 10th, 100 backstroke Jalen Stewart ‘24: 10th, 500 free/13th, 200 free
Boys’ medley results Ameer Bashir ‘22, Marcel Stewart ‘22, Jalen Stewart ‘24, and Ty Wilmore ‘24: Boys 400 free relay, 3rd/Boys 200 Medley relay, 6th
Girls’ individual results Kira Agne ‘23: 3rd , 200 IM/4th , 500 free Leila Mulveny ‘21: 12th, 50 free Girls’ medley results Kira Agne ‘23, Leila Mulveny ‘21, Leah Agne ‘21, and Peri Mulveny ‘23: Girls 400 free relay - 11th/Girls 200 free relay - 13th
Wrestling
In an incredibly abbreviated season, Quaker wrestling still sent students to the State Open Tournament. The following wrestlers competed in their first State Tournament: Ethan Weiner ’24, Kaeden Fleming ’24, John Ursomarso ’24, Philip Crock ’23, Xavier McElderry ’22, and Max Grimes ’21. They all represented the team well in competition. Phil Crock went 3-2 on the day and finished one round short of placing in this year’s tournament. Aristotle Makoujy ’21, a four-time state tournament participant, finished 4th at the Wrestling State Open Tournament. He lost his first match of the tournament and then reeled off six straight wins (including one over a state runner-up from last year) to reach the 3rd place match. Aristotle is the first WFS wrestler since 2010 to reach the podium at the state tournament!
Congratulations to our winter athletes! Although not a typical winter athletic season, our student athletes made the most of it. We are proud of their continued dedication to their sports and thank our fans for their support even during this difficult year!
Swim Team Makes History
The Wilmington Friends School boys 400 relay team made history on Sunday, February 28, when they placed third in the State Championship race, becoming the first known all-Black swim relay team in Delaware to make the podium. Ameer Bashir ‘22, Jalen Stewart ‘24, Marcel Stewart ‘22, and Ty Wilmore ‘24 were also the first WFS boys swimming relay team to medal at the State Championship in the School’s history. The win was even more fitting as it came on the last day of Black History Month.
“This is an historical accomplishment that calls for celebration,” Friends Athletic Director Jeff Ransom said. “The learning opportunity for our community, in a sport where people of color make up such a small percentage of the population, is a triumph we can all salute.”
Senior Winter Athletes
Spring Sports 2021
Baseball
The team battled through one of the toughest schedules in the state, playing close games with several of the top ten teams. The team finished the season 9-9.
ALL-STATE Second Team: Peter Erskine ‘21, Utility; Patrick McKenzie ‘21, 1st Base
ALL-DISC DISC Conference Player of the Year Peter Erskine ‘21
First Team: Peter Erskine ‘21, Shortstop and Utility; Patrick McKenzie ‘21, 1st Base
Second Team: Peter Erskine ‘21, Pitcher; Nathaniel Huxtable ‘22, Catcher; Aristotle Makoujy ‘21, Designated Hitter; Adin Shweiki ‘22, Outfield; Corey Silberglied ‘22, Utility and Pitcher
DISC Honorable Mention: Jason Hughes ‘24, Third Base Bennett Ross '21
Golf
The team got off to a great start by playing three of the four top teams in the State. The team’s only losses came at the hands of these four teams, while they were able to win all of their other conference and non-conference matches.
National High School Baseball Coaches Association Academic AllAmerican Team Peter Erskine '21 Patrick McKenzie '21 Golfers Jake Bryson ‘23, Josephine Wellons ‘23, Zac Antao ‘24, and Danielle Higbee ‘25 finished sixth in the state in the team's very first tournament appearance. This was only the team's second year of existence and for three out of the four golfers it was their first time participating in the tournament. The team's overall record this year was 10-5.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The boys’ lacrosse team started several freshmen and sophomores this year, showing real promise for the future, and returned again to the playoffs. The team faced the state’s best competition, both in and out of the conference, finishing the regular season at 8-6. Academic All American Andrés Pardo '21
ALL-DISC First Team: Lyle Knudsen ‘21 Jackson Redd ‘23
Second Team: Max Grimes ‘21
Girls’ Lacrosse
The girls’ lacrosse team had an amazing season with a 14-4 record. A few close games made it an exciting season for fans to watch. The team went to the semifinals of the State Tournament for the first time since the 1990s.
Alexa Donahue ‘22, Meghan Malone ‘21, and Caroline Schumacher ‘21 reached 100 goals this season while goalie Lucy Wood ‘22 reached 100 saves. Moira Marcozzi '23 was also named the Delaware Online Athlete of the Week.
ALL-STATE 2nd Team: Alexa Donahue ‘22 Lucy Wood ‘22
Honorable Mention: Meghan Malone ‘21 Caroline Schumacher ‘21
ALL-ACADEMIC Meghan Malone ‘21 ALL-DISC First team: Alexa Donahue ‘22 Meghan Malone ‘21 Madeline Rowland ‘23 Caroline Schumacher ‘21 Lucy Wood ‘22
Second Team: Moira Marcozzi ‘23 Kaely Tornek ‘22
Honorable Mention: Lilly Hebert ‘25 Sawyer Rowland ‘25
Girls’ Soccer
The girls soccer team finished the season with a loss at Archmere but not before they won the conference and defeated 5th ranked Newark Charter in the first round of the DIAA state tournament. The squad finished with a record of 10-5-2. Coach Scott Clothier marked his 100th regular season win as head coach at the team’s 6-0 win over Wilmington Christian.
ALL-STATE Second Team Abby Emsley ‘21
ALL-DISC First Team: Abby Emsley ‘21 Giuliana DiPrinzio ‘25 Jocelyn Nathan ‘23 Maddie Osbourn ‘22
Congratulations to our spring athletes! It was an incredible, record-breaking spring for many of our teams. We are proud of our students’ continued dedication to their sports and thank our fans for their support even during this difficult year!
Peri Mulveny ‘23 Emma Slease ‘23 Lucy Taylor ‘21
Boys’ Tennis
The boys’ tennis team had a great season, finishing the year 3-8, boasting wins over Tatnall, Brandywine, and Newark Charter. The team shows lots of promise and potential, with a record number of freshmen joining the team this year. Congratulations to our only senior, Matt Banschbach ‘21, for a fantastic season and a great second round finish at the State Tournament.
Girls’ Tennis
Girls’ tennis had another solid season finishing at 8-4 in the toughest conference in the state. Everyone worked hard and in spite of some injuries showed continued improvement all year, and the team finished sixth in the state. Alexis Montana ‘22 had a huge win in the state quarterfinals over a St. Andrews’ rival: 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6 in the tiebreaker) to reach the semis where she took four games off the eventual winner from Dover, the only player to take more than two games.
Track and Field
State Championship Margo Gramiak ‘22 was the state champion in the 300m hurdles, jumped a personal record to medal in third place in long jump, and rounded out her points scoring as fifth in the 100m hurdles. Marcel Stewart ‘22, Chris Rosado ‘21, Jalen Stewart ‘24, and Luke Munch ‘21 were state champions in the 4x800. Chris and Marcel came back in the boys 800m, with Chris in fourth and Marcel in fifth place overall. Luke ran the 3200m, scoring in sixth place and the 1600m scoring in fifth.
Henry Wieman ‘21 ran the 3200m coming in 13th place. CJ Wise ‘21 had a massive 118’4” personal record in discus, coming in fifth place. He also competed in shot put, placing twelfth. The team overall tied for ninth place with 30 points out of 22 teams.
School Records Broken
-Margo Gramiak ‘22 - 800m run with a time of 2:25.34, more than four seconds faster than the previous record.
-Caroline Vanderloo '22, Margo Gramiak '22, Payton Williams '24, and Olivia Delgado '21 - 4x200 with a time of 1:53.60, three seconds faster than the previous record.
-Chris Rosado '21, Max Leffler '22, Luke Munch '21, and Marcel Stewart '22 - 4x800 with a time of 8:11.94, nine seconds faster than the previous record.
WFS Collegiate Athletes
Congratulations to the WFS athletes who will continue to play their sports for their college teams: Christian Rosado '21, cross country/track at Ursinus College; Bella Bukowski '21, field hockey at Cabrini University; Luke Munch '21, cross country/track at Amherst College; Caroline Schumacher '21, lacrosse at Denison University ; Rosa Cochran '21, field hockey at Bryn Mawr College; and Max Grimes '21, lacrosse at Washington College.
Spring Sports 2021
Senior SpringAthletes
Sportsmanship Award Olivia Delgado '21 was honored by the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association with a Sportsmanship Award. Olivia's score was misreported during the Division 2 Girls' Long Jump event at the state championship, and she ensured that her actual score (which was lesser) was corrected and accurately reported. By coming forward to scratch her result at this event, Olivia removed herself from receiving a medal. "This is a true display of honesty and integrity," DIAA said.
