LS Choir Places First in Delaware Music Educator Association's Youth Composers Contest
The WFS fifth grade choir recently won first place in the Delaware Music Educator Association's Youth Composers Contest for the piece they composed, "Live Your Life."
Facilitated by teachers Katie Martinenza and Emily Fareed, this was a class project where all aspects were determined by students working with the teachers.
That process was described as: "This year our school is celebrating the Quaker Testimony of Simplicity and that message was the focus for the piece. The ensemble brainstormed ideas for the song. In response to the discussion, Teacher Katie and Teacher Emily shared the Mary Oliver poem, “Mornings at Blackwater” to anchor the theme. The excerpt, “come to the pond…” was selected for the chorus. After coming to a sense of the group regarding the form, students were given an opportunity to share individual lyric ideas for each verse. The final lyrics were decided on through a democratic process. Different harmonic progressions were then explored and the ensemble selected the chords, d minor, F major, C major, and B flat major. Students then improvised melodies over the recorded harmonic structure. The teachers combined student lyric ideas and melodic ideas together and presented the product to the whole ensemble. Changes were made based on students’ suggestions for altering the key, mood, tempo, and expression."
The choir performed the piece at Grandparents and Special Friends Day to an amazed audience!
Congratulations to the students and their teachers!
Kindergarten students traveled to the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science and had a blast learning about the dryptosaurus (Delaware's dinosaur), seeing fossils, meeting a ball python, and more!
Earlier this week, International Baccalaureate and Advanced Science classes visited Incyte labs to speak with chemists and biologists and learn more about the drug development process. Thank you to Scott Larsen, parent of Emma '25, for arranging the presentations and tours.
Lower school students had the opportunity to meet with author Sarah Weeks, who has written more than 60 books for young readers including the best-selling novels, Pie, Save Me a Seat and So B. It, which is now a feature-length film. Our 5th grade students shared and got feedback on first lines and stories based on picture prompts and writing techniques.
Donovan Aldridge '18 and Jack Hanson '18, both currently living in Europe, recently met in Granada, Spain, where they joined the parents of WFS Spanish teacher Dario Robles for dinner in their home!
Last week, the WFS 10th grade visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. as part of their continuing study of American History.
Thank you for an incredible Quaker Game Night! This year's event was the largest and most successful yet, and we couldn't have done it without this amazing community.
Congratulations to Katie Bryan '24 who, after winning the WFS Shakespeare competition in January, qualified to compete in the Philadelphia English Speaking Union's branch competition at the Museum of the American Revolution. Katie's Shakespearean monologue and sonnet earned her third place and a $500 scholarship!
The WFS Mock Trial team had a great showing at this year's state competition. Temi Lufadeju '25, Scarlett Murphy '27, and Tess Wolf '24 all won gavels for best attorney. Best witness gavels went to Payton Altland '25, Lucy Cericola '25 (with two gavels), Carter Fenimore '25, and Abbie Thurlow '26.
Statement of Nondiscrimination as to Student Enrollment
Wilmington Friends School admits students of any race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students of these schools. Wilmington Friends School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, national and ethnic origin in administration of their educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.