Prom!

Noella, Senior Boarder from Rwanda

This past weekend, we had our Junior/Senior prom. The prom was hosted at a beautiful venue in Waterbury named La Bella Vista, and was equipped with an amazing DJ and an unimaginably delicious buffet! Our class (class of 2013) were happy to be the test class for the new pick three prom idea where instead of just one date, we were all allowed to bring three. So if your boyfriend and your brother and his best friend wanted to come, no one had to be left out! As someone who was not even planning to go to Prom, I can wholeheartedly say going was one of my best ideas. I danced the night away with my entire grade, and was reminded of how much I love my girls of 2013. Prom felt like what would be one of our last celebrations and made us see just how numbered our last few days at Westover are. I could not have spent a greater night with greater people!

 

 

From Shanghai to Westover!

Jessica, Sophomore Boarder from Shanghai, China

On December 17^th, I made presentation at Westover School, Connecticut, U. S. A., on Shangde Experimental School, my alma mater in Shanghai.  I briefed to my teachers and schoolmates my alma mater.  Apart from the general information, I showed the Westover Community the pictures/photos I have gathered over the years at Shangde. To be sure, pictures of Shangde campus were the most impressive. My schoolmates and teachers were very much impressed—or surprised—that at Shangde, we have a super big campus and a grand total of 4200 students!   I heard an exclamation from the floor, “Wow!” Shangde is quite different from Westover. There is a Music-and-Arts Studio at Shangde. Arts, I mean, a wide range—fine arts, music, painting and drawing, and even Chinese calligraphy.  I told my fellows: I had piano lessons in junior high for Music; I had Chinese painting and calligraphy for Art.  We had a huge School Theater, which can accommodate 5000 people!  It’s a three-story building. We had a student lounge called “Shangde Square”.   It is also the place where we had fairs, bazaars, and all sorts of extracurricular activities.   At Shangde we have 3 big dining halls, 4 gyms.  Between my alma mater and my present school there is a big difference:  In China, we remain in the same classroom for all classes while our teacher come to us; at Westover we have to run about find the classroom for different courses.   At Shangde we have our own swimming pool! The pool is for the students.  At Shangde nothing is impossible! We have our own School guesthouse for teachers, parents. Believe it or not, there’s even a spa in the guesthouse, but of course only for our teachers.

Let’s skip other differences between Shangde and Westover.  Both schools have one thing in common: My teachers and schoolmates at Shangde and Westover are genteel and nice. They are like family to me. I thanked my fellows at Westover for sharing my feelings and experiences at Shangde. To view my presentation please visit our global exchange page.

Thinking Ahead to College

Stephanie, Junior Day Student from Middlebury, Connecticut

At this time next year, I’ll probably know where I’ll be going to college.  That fact should probably scare me a little bit.  It doesn’t; that may be because I can’t quite realize it yet, or because I know I’m going to be so well prepared.

The junior class has recently just set the ball rolling on the college process.  We’ve taken our first SAT (with scores being released on Valentine’s Day, so much love right there), have gotten into the routine of weekly college seminars with our college counselor Corky, and are prepping for the first ACT.  Although when I first got our college handbook and skimmed through it’s pages, the whole process appeared to be quite daunting.  When Corky saw my lowered jaw and wide eyes, she made sure to reassure me that it’s a process, not a jump, and most importantly, that she’d have my back the whole way through.  On my Westover revisit day three years ago, I attended the college counseling open house and was so impressed by everything that was said.  It’s so hard to believe that I’m now living what was described to me so long ago.

I just yesterday sat down with my parents and decided how I was going to utilize my two college days in the Spring.  Every junior is given two college days where they are excused for Westover commitments to go and visit a college so we get to see them while they are in session.  I’ve seen a few colleges so far, but I can’t wait until I walk onto a campus and feel the same way I did when I first saw Westover and knew it was exactly where I wanted to be.

Dorcas Fair

Paige, Junior Day Student from Watertown, Connecticut

On Sunday, January 13, Westover’s junior class held their annual Dorcas Fair. Because all the money raised from the fair goes to charities of the junior’s choice, the Dorcas Fair is named after a woman in the Bible who was known for her generosity and kindness to others. Each year, the juniors choose a fun theme to design the fair around (past themes include Harry Potter and Super Mario), and this year the theme was Alice in Wonderland. Every junior dresses as a specific character related to the theme and helps with games, food, and merchandise. Some of the activities at the fair this year included tie-dye, flamingo croquet, ring toss, and a photo booth. Westover girls especially love coming to Dorcas because they can relax with their friends while playing games and eating delicious food. The Dorcas Fair is truly a family event and it’s a super fun experience for the entire community!

Photos by Stephanie Crudele ’14

Senior Dinner

Alisa, Senior Day Student from Waterbury, Connecticut

On this year’s Parents’ Weekend, Red hall, our classrooms, and the dining hall were at full capacity with eager and intrigued parents trying to get their dose of Westover student life. Having parents on campus is always eventful and interesting as they participate in and observe our classes directly and meet our faculty, staff, and friends. In addition, a performance featuring dance, drama, and music and final senior home games on the volleyball court, soccer field, and field hockey field bring together our community to support our artists and athletes.

Specifically for senior families, parent’s weekend includes one of many senior events, senior dinner. Senior dinner is a dinner hosted by our head of school, Mrs. Pollina, for seniors and their families. Not only was the food delicious, but the dinner was another chance for me to gather and bond with my class. Everyone looked classy and beautiful in their formal attire, and the night definitely made us sentimental as our days together as Westover students become limited. I look forward to the fun and memorable senior events and traditions to come.

Mountain Day!

Courtney, Junior Boarder from Lakeville, Connecticut

On Thursday October 18^th, the whole Westover community traveled to Sleeping Giant State Park to climb Sleeping Giant. It overall was a great success and everyone had a lot of fun. It was a gorgeous day for hiking and the views were unbelievable. It was nice to be able to hang out with your friends without the pressure of school and homework. There were three levels that a group could choose; challenging, intermediate, and steady. My group team chickadee was in the intermediate group. It was a fairly nice hike with a lot of viewpoints to take pictures. Once we made it to the top we ate lunch and were able to explore the tower on top of the mountain, and we took more pictures. After we all made it to the top and ate lunch and explored the tower we took a group picture and started to head down as a school on an easier path. Mountain Day was a lot of fun and it was a great way to get outside with the whole school.

 

      

Fall at Westover

Mary Kate, Senior Boarder from West Cornwall, Connecticut

Now that it is October, soccer season is in full swing. This is my fourth year on the varsity soccer team and it is shaping up to be my favorite year. I love being the captain of Westover athletes because they have such an incredible work ethic and determination. Yesterday we played a make up game against Cheshire Academy and came out with a 4-0 win! It was a fun game for everybody, we all go to play different positions, and I got to play some forward which is always fun after playing midfield. Paired with our 3-2 win over Millbrook on Saturday, I am super excited about the teams confidence going into a tough game against Hopkins.

Though fall means soccer to me, it also means starting new classes! This fall I am taking my first humanities class about the history of Spain. What is unique about the class is that we spend half our time with Mr. Havery studying the history through music and the other half of the classes with Ali Hildebrand studying the history through art. So last Thursday, my humanities class paired up with the AP Spanish class and took a field trip down to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and to the Hispanic Society to finally see the pieces we have been studying in person. It was great to finally see these pieces in person because it gave us such a better sense about the painting, the artist, and how it related to what was going on at the time in Spain. It’s always fun to head to NYC for field trips because it gives us an excuse to get all dressed up!