Sem News

Wyoming Seminary marked another historic occasion in its illustrious 169-year history on Wednesday, May 15, 2013, when the school officially broke ground for the new $16.3 million Allan P. and Marian Sutherland Kirby Center for Creative Arts on the Upper School campus in Kingston.

The Center, named for two Sem alumni, will house the school’s highly regarded music, drama and dance programs and will include a two-story art gallery in a two-story, 34,652 square-foot brick structure. The Center is expected to be completed in fall, 2014 and is located at the entrance to the Upper School campus on North Sprague Avenue.

The F.M. Kirby Foundation of Morristown, N.J. provided a gift of $7.5 million for the construction of the center, in recognition of the important role that Sem has traditionally played in the Wyoming Valley as an eminent college preparatory school and as a center for exceptional visual and performing arts. This gift is the largest in school history and continues a legacy of support by the Kirby Family.

Participants in the pre-groundbreaking ceremony included Dr. Kip Nygren, Sem president; Rev. Charles Carrick, Sem chaplain; James J. Haggerty, mayor of Kingston; Caroline Reppert ’13, president of Sem government; John M. Vaida, chair of the Sem fine and performing arts department; Brian Davis ’73, AIA, LEED AP, design principal of JCJ Architecture and project designer; Richard M. Goldberg ’55, chair of the Sem Board of Trustees; S. Dillard Kirby, president, F. M. Kirby Foundation; and Charles F. Gommer, Jr., Trustee. The Sem Madrigal Singers and Tyler Harvey ’13 also performed.

The Center will contain a 600-seat concert hall with a balcony and a 40-foot stage and full fly space; a two-story art gallery; studios for choral, dance and instrumental rehearsals; two multi-purpose classrooms; two teaching studios and four practice rooms; and dressing rooms, fine arts office, music library and student lounge.

The concert hall acoustics are designed by Russ Cooper of JaffeHolden, a prominent acoustics and audio-visual design firm, and the hall has been specifically designed to meet the exacting requirements associated with the orchestral, choral, dramatic and dance performances to be presented.

A lantern-like structure at the top of the building will be lit when a show or concert is presented, and the exterior elevation along Sprague Avenue will present an architectural preview of the activity taking place within the building.

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Seen during the groundbreaking for the Kirby Center for Performing Arts are, from left: John M. Vaida, William E. Sordoni ’93, President of Sordoni Construction Services; James J. Haggerty, Dr. Kip Nygren, Mrs. Fred Kirby, S. Dillard Kirby, Richard M. Goldberg '55, Benjamin Schall, Sem physical plant manager; Caroline Reppert '13 and Brian Davis '73.

Architect's drawing of the Wyoming Seminary Kirby Center for Performing Arts.

             The MATHCOUNTS team at Wyoming Seminary Lower School recently took first place in the Keystone Northeast Chapter MATHCOUNTS Competition held at the Martin Mattei School in Pittston. Team members Connor M., eighth grade; Reeya L., eighth grade; Michael K., eighth grade; and Bobby A., seventh grade, won the team first place award while McGowan took first place on both the written exam and the countdown round.

            The team also recently took part in state competition and Connor placed 25^th out of 152 competitors from throughout the state. He also recently competed in the Marywood University Math Contest and tied for third place in the Level I competition.

Sem middle-school mathematics teacher Renee McGowan coached this year’s team.

            Celebrating its 29^th anniversary, MATHCOUNTS is a nationwide math enrichment, coaching and competition program designed to increase interest and achievement in mathematics among all intermediate school students, to assist in developing a technically literate population essential to U.S. global competitiveness, and to improve the quality of life. More than six million students across the country have participated in the MATHCOUNTS program.

Members of Wyoming Seminary’s 2013 MATHCOUNTS team are, seated from left: Michael K.; John K., eighth grade; Daniel P., seventh grade; and Andrew K., eighth grade. Standing from left: Connor M.; Renee McGowan, Sem MathCounts team coach; Reeya L.; Tanaya K., sixth grade; Ethan T., sixth grade; Bobby A.; and Kyle H., sixth grade.

          The Wyoming Seminary Dance Company will present an evening of dances featuring works from the great Russian ballets to famous numbers from Bob Fosse musicals during their annual spring performance, titled “From Russia To Broadway.”

            Two performances will be given on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11 at 8:00 p.m. each night in the Buckingham Performing Arts Center, North Sprague Avenue, Kingston. The performances are free and open to the public.

The performance, designed and choreographed by company director Bernardine Vojtko, will bring together the dance skills of 45 performers as well as two dance company alumni, Bryn Harvey ’08 and Chloe Kalna ’08. Harvey, guest teacher and choreographer for the season, also has created a number of tap dances for the show.

Performing with this year’s company will be guest artist Sean Bromiley from King’s College and second grade students from Sem’s Lower School.  Bromiley will partner senior Lauren Golden of Dupont in “City Scene Rhapsody,” a dance story filled with amusing characters set to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”  Sem’s second graders will present the comical and fun-filled number “A Day for the Cat in the Hat” from “Seussical the Musical.”

Additional highlights of the performance include a collection of favorite dances from Tchaikovsky ballets such as “Swan Lake,” “The Nutcracker” and “Sleeping Beauty.” In “Scenes from Fosse,” the company’s seniors will perform the “Cell Block Tango” from a collection of songs Vojtko chose to showcase the legendary work of Bob Fosse. Student choreographer Lauren Fernandez ’13, Dallas, and cast will present a piece to “The Garden” by Mirah and six energetic and enthusiastic tap dancers round out the Broadway portion of the program with Harvey’s choreography to “King of New York” from “Newsies.”

This performance is part of the Wyoming Seminary 2012-13 Performing Arts Series. For more information about the Sem Dance Company performance of “From Russia to Broadway,” contact the Sem Communications Office at 570-270-2192.

 The Wyoming Seminary Dance Company will present “From Russia to Broadway” on Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11 in the Buckingham Performing Arts Center on the Upper School campus in Kingston. Senior dancers seen in preparation for the performance are, seated from left: Michael Blaine and Simeon Welcome. Standing, from left: Aria Zarnoski, Anna Warriner,  Ann Marie Karis and Lauren Fernandez.

           Eleven Wyoming Seminary Upper School students recently were selected to perform in district, regional and state band and orchestra festivals. The festivals are organized by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association and honor students for excellence in voice and instrumental music.

 The students named to the District Jazz Band were senior Morgan Dowd, junior Scott Edmunds, senior Tyler Harvey, junior Gordon Steward Kiesling, senior Scott Kwiatek and sophomore Adam Rinehouse. Students named to District Orchestra were sophomore Yale Rosin and junior Katherine Schraeder. Students named to District Band were sophomore Xinyi Chen, Dowd; Harvey; junior Chia-Yen Lee, Rosin; Schraeder; and junior Ian Sherwood. Chen, Dowd, Harvey, Rosin and Schrader were named to Regional Band. Harvey and Rosin was named to All-State Concert Band, and Harvey was named to All-Eastern Jazz Band.

            Seen at the end of the festival season are, first row from left: Chia-Yen Lee, Katherine Schraeder, Adam Rinehouse, Xinyi Chen, Morgan Dowd and Yale Rosin. Second row: Tyler Harvey, Gordon Stewart Kiesling, Ian Sherwood and Scott Edmunds. Not present for photo: Scott Kwiatek.

Twelve Wyoming Seminary students recently competed in the Princeton University Spring Moot Court Tournament, one of the largest and most prestigious moot court tournaments in the country and featuring 80 teams from the eastern part of the United States in this year’s competition.

The Sem students competed in six teams of two players each, and the team of seniors Leah Goldberg and Harold Roberts placed fifth in the tournament, while the team of juniors Alxis Boyle and Salvadore Diaz placed sixth. Roberts and Boyle also were recognized as top attorneys in the competition, and senior Alaina Schukraft received an honorable mention award.

In addition, Wyoming Seminary was the only team in the tournament to place four teams in the competition’s third round and three teams in the fourth round.

The Sem Moot Court team was advised by Sem teacher coach Adam Carlisle and attorney advisors Clancy Boylan, Esq., Fellerman&Ciarimboli, PC; Abigail M. Faett, Esq., Post&Schell, PC; and Nicole M. Santo, Esq., Hourigan, Kluger&Quinn, PC.

Moot court is a simulation of an appeals court or Supreme Court hearing in which student attorneys prepare and present oral arguments in front of a panel of judges.

Seen following their participation in the 2013 Moot Court Tournament are, first row from left: junior Christina Thomas, sophomore Zubin Gadhoke, senior Alaina Schukraft, junior Christina Adameck; second row: senior Spencer Norris, freshman Samarth Desai, sophomore Joseph-John Simons,  sophomore Drishti Maniar, freshman Nicole Wert; third row: junior Salvadore Diaz, junior Alxis Boyle, senior Leah Goldberg, senior Harold Roberts, New York City, N.Y. Not present for photo: freshman Sara Edgar.

          The music of one of the most prominent German composers will be on the program when the Wyoming Seminary Civic Orchestra presents its annual spring concert in May.

Conductor Yoon Jae Lee of New York City, music director of the orchestra, will lead the musicians in a concert featuring compositions by Gustav Mahler and Mohammed Fairouz.

The concert will be performed on Sunday, May 5 at 8:00 p.m. in the Great Hall of Wyoming Seminary, 228 Wyoming Avenue, Kingston, just north of Kingston Corners, and is free and open to the public.

Lee will lead the orchestra in a performance of his orchestral reduction of Mahler’s towering Symphony No. 1 in D major, a four-movement work completed in 1896. The orchestra also will perform Arab-American composer Mohammed Fairouz’s 2011 composition “Akhnaten, Dweller in Truth,” for solo cello, piano and orchestra. Wyoming Seminary artist-in-residence Christiane Appenheimer-Vaida will perform on the cello and Lee will direct the orchestra from the piano.

Lee is recognized for his multi-faceted career as a conductor, arranger and pianist. As founder and artistic director of Ensemble 212, he has built the New York-based orchestra into one of today’s finest young ensembles. Since its first concert in 2004, he has led the ensemble in 45 performances. He also is music director of the City College Symphony Orchestra, and he has collaborated with such renowned musicians as Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet, mezzo-soprano D’Anna Fortunato, composer Huang Ruo, and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Lee also works closely with award-winning composer Mohammed Fairouz and has conducted the premieres of several of Fairouz’s most recent compositions. He will perform the New York premiere of “Akhnaten” for solo piano, cello and orchestra with Nick Canellakis and Ensemble 212 later in May. He has arranged the finale of Mahler’s Third Symphony for Ensemble 212’s 9/11 tenth anniversary memorial concert.

The 65-member Civic Orchestra, founded by area conductor Jerome Campbell in 1999, includes professional musicians, music teachers, music majors from nearby colleges and universities, talented adult amateurs and gifted high school performers from Sem and area schools; an array of ages, talent and training with a shared love of music.  The Civic Orchestra is under the sponsorship of Wyoming Seminary and the Performing Arts Institute, an international program for young musicians of exceptional ability.

This performance is part of the 2012-13 Wyoming Seminary fine and performing arts program. For more information call the Sem Communications Office at 570-270-2192.

             A ship founders on the shore of a magical island, swept there by an unexpected storm. The passengers, all of whom have ambitions to gain or hold onto power, find that they are forced by a magician’s tricks to face their past treacherous deeds and find forgiveness. It is a story that only William Shakespeare could tell, and the Wyoming Seminary Players will present his highly regarded play “The Tempest” on Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27 in the Buckingham Performing Arts Center on North Sprague Avenue in Kingston.

            The production, beginning at 8 p.m., is open to the public. Tickets are $4 in advance and $5 at the door.

            “The Tempest” takes place on an island that has been the home for 12 years of Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, and his daughter Miranda. Prospero, now a powerful sorcerer, creates a mighty storm that brings a shipwreck to his island and forces the ship’s passengers to come ashore.  Prospero manages to separate the passengers into groups and keep them from coming together until the end of the play. The story has three separate plots that combine in the last act to bring about restoration, reconciliation and romance.

            Sem Theater Director Lydia Traill says the play, which scholars believe was the last play Shakespeare wrote, is actually a revenge story with a happy ending.

            “Like all great plays, it’s about what it means to be human,” she says. “Prospero has to learn the difference between vengeance and mercy and he has to learn that really all we as humans can do is forgive. For all that, the play is also totally bizarre and full of spectacle. I hope audiences will appreciate the strangeness and beauty of it.”

            The play also will feature original music composed specifically for this production by students in Sem’s Advanced Placement Music Theory class. The student composers worked directly with Traill and the cast to fit the music to the tone of the play. “It’s adventurous, difficult, really cool music and I am very excited to include it in the production,” Traill says.

The play’s lighting design will include an abstract projection series created by the school’s film club.

            This production is part of the 2012-13 Wyoming Seminary Performing Arts Series. For more information call 270-2192.

Seen in rehearsal for the April 26-27 production of “The Tempest” at Wyoming Seminary Upper School are, seen from left: senior Harold Roberts, as Prospero; senior Siobhan Brier as Ariel; senior William Thede as Caliban and sophomore Katherine Rogers as Miranda.

            Wyoming Seminary Upper School Director of Athletics Karen Klassner recently announced Sem’s Most Valuable Players, Gold Award and other award winners for winter sports. Athletes who earned four varsity letters or three varsity and one junior varsity letters in their sport receive Gold Awards.

            In boys basketball, senior Jason Ellis received the Blue Knight Award and the Gold Award. In girls basketball, sophomore Gabrielle Volpetti was the team MVP, while senior Jessica Casterline received the Coaches’ Award.

            In girls ice hockey, senior Olivia Barragree received the Coaches’ award, while junior Kelsey Atkinson received the MVP Award. Seniors Catahreenah Corcoran, Christine Harris and Marra Wagner also received Gold Awards for girls ice hockey. In boys ice hockey, postgraduate Daniel Moscone received the Offensive Coaches Award, while senior Brett Magnus received the Defensive Coaches Award. Seniors Hunter Obeid and Craig Skudalski received Gold Awards.

            In girls swimming, junior Sarah Cole received the Coaches Award, while senior Lily Williams received the Most Valuable Swimmer Award. In boys swimming, senior Gavin Gagliardi received the Coaches’ Award and junior Noah Brewer-Houghton received the Most Valuable Swimmer Award.

            In wrestling, freshman Chris Weiler received the Most Improved Wrestler Award, while senior Garrett Ryan received the award for Most Team Points Scored. Senior Eric Morris also received the Gold Award in wrestling.

            Seen following the awards presentation are, first row from left: Sarah Cole, Jessica Casterline, Catahreenah Corcoran, Marr Wagner, Kelsey Atkinson and Olivia Barragree. Second row, from left: Gabrielle Volpetti, Gavin Gagliardi, Jason Ellis, Eric Morris, Hunter Obeid and Daniel Moscone. Third row, from left: Lily Williams, Noah Brewer-Houghton, Chris Weiler, Garrett Ryan and Brett Magnus. Not present for photo: Christine Harris and Craig Skudalski.

            Wyoming Seminary’s new creative arts center will be named for two Sem alumni and noted philanthropists, announced Richard M. Goldberg, chair of the Sem Board of Trustees.

            The center will be named the Allan P. and Marian Sutherland Kirby Center for Creative Arts, in recognition of a $7.5 million gift from the F. M. Kirby Foundation of Morristown, N.J.

            Construction is about to begin on the new building, which will be located on the Upper School’s Kingston campus on North Sprague Avenue. The Kirby Center, a 34,652 square foot, two-story structure situated next to the Buckingham Performing Arts Center, will house Sem’s highly regarded music, theater and dance programs and will include a new gallery for the visual arts program. The $16.3 million project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2014.

S. Dillard Kirby, president and director of the Kirby Foundation, said the Kirby Family historically has strongly supported education and the arts. The Foundation’s gift is in recognition of the important role that Wyoming Seminary has traditionally played in the Wyoming Valley as an eminent college preparatory school and as a center for exceptional visual and performing arts. The school’s many musical, theater and dance performances, most of which are free and open to the public, serve as an important resource for the enrichment of community life.

“My grandparents met at Wyoming Seminary and my father and family members always felt it was important to have a significant facility in their honor on the campus,” Kirby said.  “This gift was particularly important to my father Fred and I am so grateful that through conversations with Sem president Dr. Kip Nygren he was aware of the final design and plans for the building, and fully endorsed our gift before he passed away.”

Allan Price Kirby, Dillard Kirby’s grandfather, attended the college prep division of Wyoming Seminary and graduated from the Dean School of Business in 1914.  He served as a member of the Sem Board of Trustees from 1941 to 1957 following in the footsteps of his father, Fred Morgan Kirby, who was a trustee from 1910 to 1941.  Marian Sutherland Kirby also attended both the college prep and business school divisions of Sem as did her father, Walter C. Sutherland, who graduated from the Business School in 1882.

This latest gift from the F.M. Kirby Foundation is the largest in school history and continues a remarkable legacy of support by the Kirby Family.  “The immeasurable impact of the Kirby Family and Foundation is continuously experienced and appreciated on the Sem Upper School campus,” said Goldberg, a 1955 Sem graduate.  “From the Kirby Library to the Kirby – Lafayette Scholars Program, from the President’s Office that bears the Kirby name to the Kirby Endowment given to the School in 1921, this family daily enhances the lives of the students and faculty at Sem.”

Through this gift, Wyoming Seminary will be able to provide its students with the highest quality arts facility which will enhance their educational and artistic performance, as well as provide an inviting setting for the public to enjoy outstanding concerts, plays, dance shows and visual art displays, said Nygren.

“Over the years, the legacy of the Kirby Family has been to enrich the Wyoming Valley community, and most especially the students, faculty and families of Wyoming Seminary,” he said. “This most generous gift makes it possible for this grand old school to continue enabling talented, dedicated students to develop their own gifts and use them for the betterment of their communities.”

Wilkes University engineering students recently celebrated National Engineering Week by working with Wyoming Seminary seventh grade students on a simple engineering project. The Wilkes students, all members of the Wilkes chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association, guided the Sem students in designing and testing simple water filtration devices to remove dirt from water.  Later the Wilkes students tested the designs by measuring the amount of sediment left in the water after filtration. Those student groups whose devices were most successful received small prizes. Seen following a class competition are, from left: Dr. Prahlad Murthy, Wilkes associate professor of environmental engineering and earth science; Wilkes senior Katie Cirone, chapter secretary; Wilkes senior Brian Palmiter, chapter treasurer; Henry Lynett, Sem; Wilkes senior Matt Boyle, chapter vice-president; Sem student Justin Glowacki with the class winning design; and Bobby Austin, Sem.

           Wyoming Seminary is offering an engaging and exciting mix of arts, athletics, academic and activities camps in June, July and August to area students in early childhood, elementary, middle and high school.

            The Early Summer Fun at Sem camp runs June 3-21 and includes a wide variety of activities in adventure, writing, crafts, technology and sports. Children ages 4 to first grade may choose from workshops in ocean life stories and crafts, storybooks about Mo and Friends and other popular titles, insects and farm animals. Children entering grades 2-4 will enjoy workshops on A-Sport-A-Day, board games, snowmen fun, Gym and Swim, LEGO stop-motion movies and Happy Holidays. Students entering grades 5-9 may sign up for sessions on LEGO stop-motion movies, Harry Potter’s World, Mad Scientist, producing music videos and Sport-A-Day. In addition, students entering grades 2-4 may register for the STEM Bugs and Grubs session, while students entering grades 5-9 may consider STEM Explorations, a series of hands-on, lab-based explorations in various areas of science.

All sessions will be held at the Lower School, 1560 Wyoming Avenue, Forty Fort except the “Gym and Swim” and STEM sessions which require travel to the Upper School campus in Kingston; transportation will be provided. Morning and afternoon extended care is also available.  

The Lady Blue Knights Basketball Clinic, directed by Sem basketball coach Renee Casterline, will run in the Upper School’s Carpenter Athletic Center in Kingston. The camp is open to beginner, intermediate and advanced level players and will include individual position instruction, hotshot competition, 1-on-1 competitions, daily games, stations, lectures on various topics and player evaluation.

The Wyoming Seminary Futures Wrestling Clinic will be held June 29-July 3 and will offer wrestlers ages 10-18 an opportunity to learn and train with one of the top 10 prep wrestling teams in the nation. Directed by Sem head wrestling coach Scott Green and featuring top-rated clinicians Troy Letters and Rocky Bonomo, the clinic will be held at the Upper School’s Carpenter Athletic Center in Kingston.

For high school students interested in taking academic courses, Sem offers a four-week College Prep Institute from June 23-July 20 at the Upper School in Kingston. Classes meet every day in morning and afternoon sessions; courses include Public Speaking, Creation of Music, Discovery of Art, The Bible and Western Culture, Health Education and Geometry Proofs and Sequential Thinking.

For serious students of music, dance and musical theater, ages 12-18, the Performing Arts Institute (PAI), running June 23-August 4 at the Upper School, offers opportunities to study and perform intensively with professional artists and highly experienced teachers. The program offers tracks in instrumental music, including symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, wind ensemble and chamber music; vocal music; and jazz. The musical theater program provides opportunities to work collaboratively with professionals on a Broadway musical production; this year students will perform in the classic musical “Les Miserables.” The dance program, for students ages 10-18, features classes in ballet, modern, improvisation and jazz as well as choreography and instruction by highly regarded principal dancers and includes a major performance. Most of PAI’s nearly 40 concerts, recitals and performances are free and open to the public.

The Junior Performing Arts Institute, running July 22-August 3 at the Upper School, is a high energy and high quality musical experience for children in grades 5-8 who have studied their instrument for at least two years.  Open to voice, string, woodwind, brass, percussion and piano players, the Junior PAI is designed to inspire young musicians to make the leap into a lifetime of music making. The Institute is comprehensive, including basic musicianship, instrumental and vocal ensembles, chorus, music classes, performances and recitals.

The Music Makers and Young Artists programs, running June 17-29 at the Lower School in Forty Fort, are intended for students in grades 1-8 who are interested in the performing arts. The Music Makers program fosters creativity and imagination while providing a solid foundation in pitch, rhythm, phrasing, music listening and movement for students ages 7-9 years old. In Young Artists, students ages 10-13 will improve their musical skills while producing a Broadway musical theater revue.

For more information on any of these camps and PAI, call the Summer at Sem office at 570-270-2186 or visit the Web site at www.wyomingseminary.org/summer.

            In recognition of Earth Day on April 22, the Wyoming Seminary Environmental Clubs at both Lower School and Upper School and the Louis Maslow STEM School will  present the acclaimed documentary “Chasing Ice” by cinematographer James Balog.

            The film will be shown on Monday, April 22 at 7:00 p.m. in the Lower School’s Amato Auditorium, 1560 Wyoming Avenue, Forty Fort. The event is free and open to the public.

            In addition to showing the documentary, students in the Upper School environmental club and Advanced Placement (AP) environmental science class will offer presentations on their projects that reflect the “We Can Change the World” theme. The Lower School Environmental Club also will describe its international Earth Hour Challenge.

            “Chasing Ice” (www.chasingice.com), the recipient of several film festival awards in the documentary category, tells the story of Balog and his multi-year efforts to carry out the Extreme Ice Survey in Iceland. Using time-lapse cameras and confronting the challenge of working with sensitive technology in extreme Arctic cold, Balog filmed the rapidly accelerating disappearance of Arctic glaciers and ice. His documentary captures the stark beauty of the northern ice cap and how climate change is affecting the region and its inhabitants.

            This presentation is supported in part by the Louis Maslow STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) School at Wyoming Seminary, which hosts a monthly series of lectures on a variety of science topics. The lectures are intended to show the integration and application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics across disciplines and within society. For more information contact STEM School Director Rachel Bartron at rbartron@wyomingseminary.org.

            Six talented high school performers will join an up-and-coming singer and entertainer from Northeast Pennsylvania in the annual PAI Musical Theater Scholarship Gala Benefit on the stage of the Amato Auditorium at the Wyoming Seminary Lower School, 1560 Wyoming Avenue in Forty Fort on Sunday, April 14. The students will compete for three scholarships to attend Sem’s summer Performing Arts Institute (PAI).

            The gala performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. and is open to the public.

            Tickets are available in advance or at the door and are $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are $40.00 for adults who wish to attend a pre-performance reception and the show.

            Kelly Jesikiewicz of Mountain Top, Sarah Kandel of Peckville, Emily Mackesy of Shavertown, Jonathan Mengoni of Eynon, Matthew Moorhead of Wilkes-Barre and Ariana Notartomaso of West Wyoming will compete for one full scholarship for PAI; a second-place, $1,000 scholarship; or a third-place, $500 scholarship.

            Three judges will determine the scholarship winners: M. Sheileen Corbett, department chair and associate professor of theater at King’s College; T Doyle Leverett, musician, actor, teacher and director; and Larry Vojtko, program manager for WVIA-FM and a professional vocal soloist.

            One highlight of the gala will be a special appearance by Melanie Goerlitz, a Montrose native and lyric soprano who recently returned from her European debut concert tour in Poland. Now based in New York City, Goerlitz has recorded her first album titled “Broadway after Midnight,” and made her Carnegie Hall debut last December. An alumna of Sem’s Performing Arts Institute and Carnegie Mellon University, she has studied opera in Italy. She also starred in the national tour of a revue show called “Hooray for Hollywood!” and has performed as the lead singer on a luxury cruise line and as the back-up artist for Florence Henderson.

            Joining Goerlitz in performance will be PAI alumni Molly Allen, Kris Carmello, Gwyneth Hecht, Juan Huertero and D’Quan Tyson, most of whom have performed in leading roles in previous PAI productions.

Proceeds will benefit PAI’s Musical Theater Program and will fund three Performance Scholarships, rewarding three serious students of musical theater.

For more information or to order tickets to the PAI Musical Theater Scholarship Gala Benefit, please call the Sem Performing Arts Institute office at 270-2186.

            Families may tour toddler, preschool, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms and will have the opportunity to speak with the dean of the Lower School, teachers and admission staff about Sem’s early childhood program. Applications are accepted up to one year in advance of entry. The school will maintain waiting pools when necessary for all programs.

             Please call Heidi Sims, Associate Director of Lower School Admission, at 718-6610 for more information or e-mail her at lsadmission@wyomingseminary.org. Advance registration is recommended.

            Wyoming Seminary is an independent, coeducational day and boarding college preparatory school with a Lower School campus in Forty Fort and an Upper School campus in Kingston. It enrolls about 755 students in grades toddler through 12, as well as a postgraduate year.

            The instrumental and vocal works of Swiss-born American composer Ernest Bloch will be celebrated in a special chamber music festival to be held at Wyoming Seminary Upper School on April 6 and 7.

            The festival, consisting of two concerts, will be held at the Great Hall of Wyoming Seminary, 228 Wyoming Avenue, Kingston, just north of Kingston Corners. The concerts will be free and open to the public.

            Bloch (1880-1959) studied violin and composition in his native city of Geneva as well as Brussels and Frankfurt and wrote many masterful works for strings. Considered a neo-classic and neo-romantic composer, he is highly regarded for his four string quartets and for his ability to compose highly emotional and dramatic works that frequently express religious themes.

            The concert on Saturday, April 6, which will begin at 8:00 p.m., will include Bloch’s Three Nocturnes for Piano Trio, the Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, and the Quintet No. 1 for Piano and Strings. Concert performers include festival organizer Christiane Appenheimer-Vaida on cello, Sophie Till on violin, Cathy Liu on piano, John Michael Vaida on violin and Amy Iwazumi on viola.

            The concert on Sunday, April 7 will begin at 2:00 p.m. and will feature Bloch’s “Baal Shem for Violin and Piano,” the Meditation from Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service), and the Concerto Grosso No. 1 for String Orchestra and Piano. Cantor Hazzan Ahron Abraham of Temple Israel, seen at right, will perform the Meditation and will be joined by the Wyoming Seminary Madrigal Singers and soloist Tsukasa Waltich, piano. The concert also will include three pieces for cello and piano titled “From Jewish Life,” performed by Appenheimer-Vaida and Waltich, and The Rhapsody from the Suite Hebraique for Viola and Piano. In addition to Till, Iwazumi and Liu, the Wyoming Seminary String Ensemble, directed by Appenheimer-Waltich, will perform.

            This festival is supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and The Pocono Arts Council, and is part of the 2012-13 Wyoming Seminary Performing Arts Series.

            For more information about the Bloch Festival at Wyoming Seminary please call 570-270-2192.

           Eric Morris of Mechanicsburg, a senior wrestler at Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School, has been selected as the 2013 NHSCA/GTM February Athlete of the Month, a national award.

            This is the first time that any athlete in the area has received this award, according to the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA).

            Morris was one of seven athletes from across the country nominated for the award. He is in the running to be recognized as the NHSCA/GTM Athlete of the Year.

            In addition, Morris, who is ranked No. 1 in the nation at 182 lbs. by InterMat Wrestling, has been named to compete in the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic, to be held on Sunday, March 17 at the University of Pittsburgh. He will be wrestling No. 3-ranked Domenic Abounader of St. Edwards; this will be the third time the two wrestlers have met and each has defeated the other.

            Morris finished his senior year with a 37-0 record and his high school record stands at 148-15. He has won two national prep championships and is a four-time Prep All-American. He also won the 2013 Pa. State Prep Tournament championship and helped lead the Blue Knights to the 2013 state team championship and a second-place finish at the National Prep Tournament.

            In addition he is a four-time FILA Cadet All-American and a 2011 USA Cadet Greco national champion; he also has won two gold medals at the 2012 USA Pan-American Tournament in freestyle and Greco-Roman.

            Morris will continue his academic and athletic career at Harvard University in the fall, wrestling at 184 lbs. for head coach Jay Weiss in the NCAA Div. I Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association. He is the son of the Rev. and Mrs. Mark Morris of Mechanicsburg.

PHOTO CAPTION: Wyoming Seminary senior wrestler Eric Morris has been named the 2013 NHSCA/GTM February Athlete of the Month. Seen following the award presentation are, from left: The Rev. Mark Morris, father; Carol Morris, mother; Eric Morris, Wyoming Seminary award recipient; Jaime Ferraro, NHSCA Director of Operations; Scott Green, Wyoming Seminary head wrestling coach; Karen Klassner, Sem director of athletics; and Jay Harvey, Sem dean of Upper School.

            Jason Curtis of Cape May Courthouse, N.J., Hannah Gabriel of Forty Fort, Pa. and Henry (Gus) Smith of Mountain Top, Pa. received Finalist honors. They now have the opportunity to continue in the competition for about 8,300 Merit Scholarship Awards, worth more than $34 million, that will be offered this spring.

            Curtis has been named to the Dean’s List with High Honors and is active in the Chorale and select Madrigal Singers. He is also a member of the Sem Orchestra, Mock Trial, and Model United Nations. He is the captain of the junior varsity soccer team and played a leading role in the 2012 school musical “Pippin.”

            Gabriel has been named to the Dean’s List with High Honors and is active in the school theater as an actress, stage manager, counselor and assistant director. She is also a member of the softball team, select Madrigal Singers and Chorale and her church choir. She was selected as a Wyoming Seminary representative in the Junior Leadership of Wilkes-Barre as well as an NFCA scholar-athlete.

            Smith has been named to the Dean’s List with High Honors and to Cum Laude, the national academic honor society for college preparatory schools. He is an award-winning member of the Science Research Group and is co-founder of the school’s Robotics Club and Film Club. He also is active in cross-country, Stage Crew, Model United Nations and Peer Group.  In addition, Smith was the winner of the school's creative writing prize last year.

            Three types of Merit Scholarship awards will be offered in 2013. Every Finalist will be considered for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships that will be awarded on a state representational basis.

Wyoming Seminary is an independent, coeducational day and boarding college preparatory school located in northeastern Pennsylvania; it enrolls 420 students in grades nine through 12, as well as a postgraduate year.

PHOTO CAPTION: Standing from left: Jason Curtis of Cape May Courthouse, N. J, Hannah Gabriel of Forty Fort, Pa. and Henry (Gus) Smith of Mountain Top, Pa. recently were named National Merit Finalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship competition.

       The Sem team will represent Region 5 in state competition in Harrisburg on March 22-23. This is the fourth time in six years that the Sem team is competing in the state tournament. The competition will feature the top 12 Mock Trial teams in the Commonwealth.

            Two members of the Sem team were honored with special awards. Co-captain and senior Caroline Reppert of Kingston received the Outstanding Attorney Award, while junior Salvadore Diaz of Avoca received the Outstanding Witness Award.    

            The competition, sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, provides high school students with a firsthand experience of the American judicial system.

            Mock trial teams argue a case before a judge and are evaluated based on their presentation, opening and closing arguments, direct and cross examination, poise and articulation, control of facts, and knowledge of Mock Trial rules of law and exceptions. Competitions involve two opposing high school teams who apply real-life statutes and case law to fictitious situations in a simulated trial setting.

            In this year’s fictitious case, titled “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Tatum Zillias,” a prominent real estate developer in Philadelphia is on trial on charges of third degree murder. The developer’s crane, in operation during a period of high winds from a passing hurricane, crashed while lifting heavy roofing panels to the top of a major urban renewal project. Two people died as a result of the crash, and the commonwealth has brought murder charges against Zillias, asserting the defendant had willfully disregarded the health and safety of the workers and other people at the job site.

            The Wyoming Seminary Mock Trial team is seen with the Hon. Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, following the Regional Mock Trial competition held in Scranton; standing from left: senior Leah Goldberg, Wilkes-Barre, team co-captain; senior Caroline Reppert, Kingston, team co-captain; junior Salvadore Diaz, Avoca; freshman Sara Edgar, Coopersburg; senior Alaina Schukraft, Dallas; junior Alxis Boyle, Canadensis; senior Spencer Norris, Mountain Top; and junior Christina Thomas, Drums. Not present for photo: Adam Carlisle, teacher coach; Justin Naylor, teacher coach; Sem 2003 alumna Nicole M. Santo, Esq., Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn P.C., attorney advisor; Clancy Boylan, Esq., Fellerman & Ciarimboli Law, P.C., attorney advisor.

Dr. Kathleen Carlisle, Wyoming Seminary school psychologist, will discuss how a child’s brain changes between the ages of 8 and 18, what changes in the brain as new information is received and mastered, how the variety of subjects taught in middle and high school help brain development, and the potential impacts of technology on the collection and integration of new information. Audience members are encouraged to bring their SMART technology, such as smartphones, iPads or tablets or other similar devices to observe how technology can be incorporated into an educational experience.

This lecture is part of a monthly series presented by the Louis Maslow STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) School at Wyoming Seminary and developed by Rachel Bartron, STEM School director. The lectures are intended to show the integration and application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics across disciplines and within society. For more information contact Bartron at rbartron@wyomingseminary.org.

The Louis Maslow STEM School at Wyoming Seminary seeks to engage and inspire students interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through holistic and integrated paths of study. Students in the program will be prepared for collegiate study and able to respond to rapidly changing global challenges and advances in technology in today’s world.