The Knightline
Welcome to The Knightline!
The Knightline is the Upper School's new parents newsletter, featuring short items, images and videos that offer useful information and lively images of community life at Sem. Published in the first few weeks of each term, the Knightline will offer a view of upcoming events, glimpses of life at Upper School and links to information you can use. And be sure to visit Sem's website on a regular basis to keep up with today's class schedule and the activities, arts and athletic events happening every day at Sem.
Life at Upper School
For information and images about activities, accolades and events at Upper School, click on the links below...
Wyoming Seminary named a Round Square International member school…
Wyoming Seminary community collects funds for hurricane relief…
Upper School completes TBG Week with Community Day of Service…
Wyoming Seminary wrestlers compete at Cadet World Championships…
Important message for parents
Sem's student support team would like to note that September is National Suicide Prevention and Awareness month. While our students' wellness is a year-round goal, we believe it is a great opportunity to talk about suicide and destigmatize it in our community.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10-24 years. While suicidal thoughts are fairly common during the adolescent years, they should not be minimized or ignored as they can indicate a serious mental health condition that requires treatment. If your child is not experiencing suicidal thoughts, it is likely that a friend, roommate, teammate, or peer may be. We all can help by being aware of the warning signs, risk factors, and resources available.
Talking with your child about suicide won't cause suicidal thinking. Instead, it offers your child a chance to let you know what their experience is or has been and the understanding that you want to support them. NAMI, The National Alliance on Mental Health's website, offers important information that will help you be supportive, educated and prepared to help.
A local NAMI representative, joined by two NAMI volunteers, will be on campus offering information and resources to interested students at Sem's wellness fair in October. Our faculty will also continue conversations of prevention and awareness with students throughout the year.
If you are concerned about suicide and would like to talk with a counselor who is available around the clock, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). As always, Jessica Montrella (ext. 2185, jmontrella@wyomingseminary.org) and Denny Barber (ext. 2124, dbarber@wyomingseminary.org), the school counselors, are available to help you or your child with any questions or concerns.
Seminar on paying for college coming in October!
Learning strategies to pay for your child's college education without going broke will be the topic of a free workshop to be held at the Upper School on Saturday, October 21 from 10:00 a.m.-12 noon in the Stettler Learning Resources Center, North Sprague Ave., Kingston, and is intended for parents and guardians of children of all ages from infancy through high school.
The workshop, sponsored by Sem's college guidance department, will feature Bradley Wood, a professional financial planner with The College Funding Coach. Titled "Little Known Secrets on Paying for College," the workshop will offer strategies to deal with many of the worries parents have about sending their children to college. Concerns such as how to avoid jeopardizing retirement nest eggs to pay college tuitions, effective ways to simultaneously save and pay for college, strategies to pay for multiple children attending college at the same time and ways to recapture out-of-pocket college costs will be among the topics covered in the workshop.
Registration is recommended; register online and click the Workshops button. For more information contact Elizabeth Frosini, Sem associate director of college guidance, at efrosini@wyomingseminary.org.
The Scoop from STEM
This month Sem's Maslow STEM School is offering two exciting events:
Wednesday, Sept. 20, 7:00 p.m., SLRC: STEM summer presentations
Saturday, Sept. 30, STEM Saturday features the Keystone Mobile Glass Blowing Studio on campus. Morning sessions open to all; registration required for afternoon, hands-on sessions.
Meet Lauren Streifer!
Sem has a new Vice President for Academic Affairs, a position created earlier this year when Academic Dean Randy Granger announced he was returning to teach full time. Lauren Streifer, most recently a resident of Panama City, Panama, was named to the position last spring, and began her duties in early August.
A native New Englander, Lauren came to Sem from the International School of Panama, an independent school of 1200 students in prekindergarten through grade 12 representing 50 countries around the world. "Working abroad was an amazing adventure, both professionally and personally," she says. "I grew a lot just in terms of understanding the world, understanding people, understanding different perspectives, and developing a global minded perspective."
Sem's international community is one of the aspects of the job that interested her. "With so many different nationalities represented in a school, everyone comes at a question or a problem with their own perspective, and being empathetic to that and working within that environment is at the same times invigorating, fascinating, and intellectually challenging. I'm really looking forward to supporting how SEM capitalizes of its diversity to enhance each student's experience."
Another aspect that drew Streifer to Sem is that since the position is new, it will be a challenge and will evolve over time. "Broadly it is overseeing and shaping our academic programming for toddler through postgraduate, and aligning it with our mission and vision," Streifer says. "Since I'm new to Sem I'm really excited about working with parents, students and teachers as a community to help shape that academic vision, to be the 'rudder of the ship' and have the global lens of where we want to be."
Streifer is enjoying the start of the new school year. "I think any time we start a new school year, people are both excited and a little anxious. This is accentuated for me because I'm in a new place and in a new role, but I feel everyone has those same feelings regardless if you are a parent sending your kid to school for the first time or a teacher who is returning for the 30th year in the classroom. We all feel the same way."
And, she says, it's nice to be back in the States. "It's home, and there's no replacement for that. It's the little things like not having to deal with congested city traffic, having three grocery stores within a mile, all the little things we take for granted."
She'd love to meet members of the Sem community. "I'm excited to meet everyone and I encourage the community to share their Sem experiences with me," she says.
Feel free to stop into Streifer's office or contact her via e-mail: lstreifer@wyomingseminary.org.
The Arts at Sem
Coming in October and November:
Sem Presents! The Limon Dance Company:
Wednesday, Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m., KCCA. Tickets: adults $40, students $20.
Sem Dance Weekend: Friday-Saturday, Oct. 13-14; watch your email for more details
NEPA Film Festival: Sunday, Oct. 22; watch your email for more details
Sem Players present "Urinetown," Friday-Saturday, Nov. 3-4, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 5, 2:00 p.m., KCCA. Tickets $4 in advance, $5 at the door