Bright and early on the morning of Saturday, May 8th, members of the Classics Club headed off to Worcester for the annual Massachusetts Junior Classical League Convention. The MJCL is an organization of individual Latin club chapters from schools across the state, and is itself one chapter of the National Junior Classical League.
     Although it rained feles et canes (cats and dogs) all day, the girls nevertheless joined with the other 500 attendants to have fun and celebrate classical culture. After they wove their way among toga-clad students to get to the gymnasium, the girls watched brave athletes challenging each other with swords and tridents (made of foam), just like the ancient gladiators in the harena of the Roman Colosseum. Unfortunately the poor weather canceled many activities, but now our appetites are whetted for an even more exciting time next year.
     In Attendance Were: Tayla Burns, Zoe Shannon, Lori Wong, Shannon Galvin, Katie Preble, Erin Pemberton, Uche Onwunaka, Katelyn Hegarty, Maggie Wills, Bianca Ruma and Joanna O'Brien.

The Anatomy & Physiology class attended Harvard University in the spring and participated in a lab exercise on "Reporter Genes in C. elegans". The Howard Hughes Medical Institute provides funding for this program. The girls observed differences in five strains of C. elegans. They also performed a behavior lab observing the differences between wild type and mutant C. elegans. The students who attended were Lisa Sullivan, Tayika Joseph, Elizabeth Egan, Lori Wong, Shannon Galvin, Aoife Leonard, Samantha Mitchell, Shanice George and Phoebe Walsh.

The Art Department will be presenting its Annual Art Show on April 28th, from 6-8 pm, with an awards ceremony at 7:30. The Art Show takes place every spring; it is a culmination of months of hard work. The students have worked on many different projects, learned how to use new materials and perfected certain skills. There are 103 art students in this year’s show. Many of these students are experienced participants. However, there are also several new students whose work is on display for the first time.

The show is divided into sections by art class. Students are displaying their best work; show pieces can be from class projects, weekly sketchbook assignments or from independent study. Middle school students are showing 2-4 selections, while high school students are showing 5-6.  The overall work of a few selected art students will be highlighted in the exhibit, based on their overall skill or dedication to the program. These students are from both the middle school and high school programs. They are displaying 8-10 pieces and are writing an Artist Statement.  The artist’s statement can be about why that student creates art, her favorite artists or art periods, or what she hopes to do with art in the future.

The Art Show is a great evening for our students and the School. Please join us and support the arts at Woodward!

·      Boost student self image through recognition and encouragement.

·      Bring together students and professional artists from diverse disciplines to work in a studio setting.

·      Allow students to work in collaboration with these artists and their peers from other schools in the Commonwealth.

·      Introduce students to the Museum as a resource for the practicing artist.

·      Provide a forum for parental inquiry and discussion regarding their children's future in art.
The Woodward School is very proud to announce that Maggie Will, Class of 2011, has been selected to participate in the program. Applying to the program has been a long and challenging process. In the fall, Maggie was one of two juniors to be nominated. Maggie had to obtain teacher recommendations, prepare a portfolio and create two pieces of art for her application, a free choice and a self-portrait. After submitting, she had to participate in an interview with a panel of art teachers from around the state. Congratulations Maggie on your achievement and best of luck at the program!

The Woodward School community gathered for its annual Founders’ Night on Thursday, March 18th at the School in Quincy. The annual event celebrates the vision and generosity of the School’s founders’, Dr. Ebenezer Woodward and Mary Greenleaf Woodward, as well as the academic achievements of its students, including the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony and awards presentations for the Founders’ History Paper Competition, and Declamation Awards.

 

Students inducted into the National Honor Society in recognition of their scholarship leadership, service and characters:

Class of 2010: Lorraine Anyango of Randolph; Tzu-hsien Wu of Quincy.
Class of 2011: Maggie Will of Quincy.

Class of 2012: Emiljia Baksys of Quincy, Bryn Coulsey of Rockland, Yan Gong of Weymouth, Lida Grabowicz of Milton, Lillianne Plourde of Quincy, Katelyn Preble of Weymouth, Barbara Spidle of Waltham, Angie Taho of Quincy, and Mariana Verenis of Quincy.

 

Also recognized on Founders’ Night were the finalists and winner of the Founders’ History Paper Competition and Scholarship Prize, The Founders’ Paper is a junior class requirement. Students write a thesis paper on a topic in U.S. History, and an independent group of judges from outside of the School read and score the finalists’ papers, whose authors are identified only by number. The Grand Prize Winner is the recipient of the Susan M. Hayes History Award, a tuition scholarship established in memory of former Woodward history teacher and Dean of Students, Susan Martin Hayes. 

Founders’ History Paper Competition Winners: 1st Place (scholarship winner), Aoife Leonard of Braintree; 1^st Runner-Up, Shannon Galvin of Quincy; Honorable Mention, Elizabeth Egan of Braintree and Maggie Will of Quincy.

 

Declamation Awards:

Grade 8 Declamation Awards: Runners Up, Bridget Higgins of Randolph and Maura McDonough of Quincy; Grade 8 Declamation Prize Winner: Ava Small of Stoughton.

Latin Declamation Prize Recipient: Shannon Galvin of Quincy;

Sophomore Rhetoric Prize Recipient: Barbara Spidle of Waltham.

 

The Woodward Wildcat Basketball team's very successful season came to an end at the hands of Brimmer and May in the semi-final tournament game. The 2009-2010 young and inexperienced team, featuring only one senior and one junior, went on to a 11-5 record and recorded a quarter final tournament win.

Highlights of the season include eighth grader Ava Smalls' second consecutive 200 plus season. Ava will begin her varsity basketball high school career with 441 points, which puts her on track to become one of Woodwards' all-time leading scorers. Sophomore Bryn Clousey, in her first year at Woodward, scored 238 points. More important than her points, Bryn quickly joined Senior Sarah Bender as a team leader. Her passion for basketball came thru on the practice court as well as in the games. Ava and Bryn became the best 1-2 offensive punch in the Independent Girls Conference and were named First Team All-League players. Woodward is the only school with two players so honored. Sophomore Antoinette Jean-Louis, was among the league leaders in rebounding.

Our team breakup dinner was held at Assistant Coach Sarah Jacobs' house. It was a great night attended by all. The party was highlighted with the team presenting Senior Captain Sarah Bender with a game ball.

A very special thank you to Senior Sarah Bender for her years of leading by example. Her love and dedication to her team will be sorely missed. Sarah was voted one of the leagues top defensive players again this year. Athletic Director and Head Coach Bob Giordano has always considered Sarah a "coach on the court". Mr. Giordano also thanks assistant coaches Jim Lynch and Sarah Jacobs for their tireless work and enthusiasm on a job well done.

Woodward students and staff enjoyed a terrific performance from the vocal jazz septet, Prism. The seven voice group all attend, or are alumni of the New England Conservatory. Each are accomplished and award winning musicians and solo artists, but have joined together to sing traditional songs, jazz pieces and their own compositions for a vocal ensemble. “The focus of the group is to further the art of vocal ensemble through creative improvisations, the writing and arranging of original material, and the use of each voice as a finely tuned instrument.” (Prism) The group sang several terrific pieces and answered many questions following the performance. Woodward students leapt to their feet in enthusiastic ovation at the close of the performance and managed to convince the singers to reprise one of their numbers for an encore. Prism will be performing in Boston at Scullers Jazz Club at the Double Tree Guest Suites in Boston on Tuesday, February 23, 2010.

The Woodward School's class of 1988 gathered together in mid-December to celebrate the holidays and the life of their friend and class mate, Bernadette Verrochi Ezell who recently passed away and whose birthday was December 23rd. Classmates explained that they "wanted to come together each December in order to remember Bernadette, keep her legacy alive, and to honor The Woodward School, since it's the way we knew our dear friend".

Congratulations to the Woodward Float Club for creating the School’s first place winning entry into the  Annual City of Quincy Christmas Parade. This year’s parade theme was “Fond Christmas Memories”, and the float was conceived, designed and built by about 13 students and several parents. The Float Club, chaired by Sandy Whatley, parent of Emma ’13, organized and led this year’s Club through the busy fall season of float preparation. Club members met each weekend from October through Thanksgiving to work on the project. Special thanks go out to John Dobie  of Quirk Cars for generously donating warehouse space for the final construction of the Float and Sean Farrell for his generous donation of a flatbed truck to transport the Float.  The parade marches down Hancock Street in Quincy concluding at North Quincy High School.  It includes about 90 different groups of participants, including nine floats. Float Club Participants: Grade 6 - Jillian Fabiano, Alison Fitzgerald, Mikalia Jackson, and Cherise Madrid; Grade 7 - Tayla Burns; Grade 9 - Katherine Dunn, Elizabeth Migueles, Sarah Saccoach, Caitlin Sullivan, Emma Whatley, and Nadia Zimo; Grade 11- Maggie Will; and Grade 12 - Lisa Sullivan. Thanks to parents: Sandy Whatley, Richard Burns, Barbara Clemmer-Dunn, Cathy Dwyer, Bill Fabiano, Scott Fitzgerald, Barbara and David Madrid, Ed Migueles, Diane Sullivan, and Kathy Zimo. Thanks also to past parents Mike Patrizi and Aisha Saunders.

This year’s Alumnae Reunion Weekend ’09, was held on the 6th & 7th of November. Alumnae were invited from the class years ending in ‘4 and ‘9 and Woodward women attended in strong and enthusiastic numbers. Friday evening kicked off the weekend with a cocktail reception at The School. Attendees caught up with former classmates, toured the school, seeing what is old and new, watched a slide show with photos from years past and Woodward today, and enjoyed speaking with teachers and administrators. Headmaster Wesner talked about the state of the school, its financial outlook, and special projects. Saturday morning, alumnae met for brunch at The Fox & Hounds in Quincy and lingered to enjoy each other's company for an extended time. Their festivities included an impressively sung rendition of the School Song (see video on Alumnae page). We were especially pleased to welcome the classes of 1954 for their 55th Reunion, 1974 for a 35th reunion, 1979 for a 30th, 1989 for their 20th and 2004 for their 5th. The class with the highest attendance was 1974, with 72% of class members present. More photos are posted on the alumnae page.