Ms. Kolb’s eighth grade Theater class performed at the Folger Secondary Shakespeare Festival on Tuesday. The students in the course performed a 25 minute Macbeth that they have prepared over the last two quarters. Lucien Anderson earned a “Distinction in Acting” award in his role as Macbeth, Amaya Tatum earned a “No Small Parts” award for her performance of Lady MacDuff. Theo Greiff won a “Commitment to Character” award for playing the doctor and Duncan. The witches, Sadie Young, Neida Cabrera and Helen Ruggiero also nabbed a “Stellar Sisters” prize for their haunting spells. Chloe Megeath performed the role of Lady Macbeth and Lucas Roemer played MacDuff. The play was directed by eighth grader Philip Horrigan. Other students involved in the performance included Jia Fleming, Kenneth Howard, Kamau Jackson, Nick Mazza, Seamus O’Brien, Catherine Serrano, and Griffin Smith. The students will also perform the play in April at the school.
The Honors Choir and the Latin Voices choir will travel to New York on Thursday to perform. The students will sing at St. John the Divine and Symphony Space. Along with our regular concerts, pep rallies, and assemblies, Washington Latin’s various choirs have performed at various spaces including public schools, colleges, Nats Stadium, and various places of worship. Ms. Nevola and the choir will stay in scenic Secaucus and return to Washington, D.C. on Saturday.
The middle school student basketball team will play the faculty afterschool on Thursday. Comical flyers featuring athletes and dancers have adorned the hallway all week, as seventh grade English teacher Mr. Green has stoked the student-teacher competition with witty barbs. The faculty is undefeated in this competition, but the middle school team is pretty competitive this year, so we will see which team scores the most swishes this year.
The eighth graders took a field trip Monday to Lincoln’s Cottage and Frederick Douglass House. They had the chance to consider the lives and lifestyles of both men, viewing the homes where they lived, learning about their families, and learning about their work and philosophy. This was the first time the eighth graders took this trip, and it coincides with their study of the Civil War and their memorization of speeches given by famous historical figures in Mr. Anderson and Ms. Coppola-Klein’s classes, including Douglass’s speech on Independence Day and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
On Tuesday’s upper school Cultural Unity assembly, the choir opened the event with the song “Tshosholoza,” and sang “”Stand By Me,” and “My Soul is a River.” Arabic teacher Mr. Porcelli spoke about his own experiences with various ethnicities and faith, developing his own spiritual identity. Ms. Barroso and Ms. Foster spoke on behalf of the ninth grade teachers honoring freshmen Ryan Bradley and Dante Belcher with merit awards. Mr. Martin and Mr. Hotchkiss honored Lily Stettler-Eno and Mantas Antoine with merits on behalf of the tenth grade teachers. Sophomore Maya Woods-Arthur spoke about her experiences attending the moral majority march in North Carolina and the importance of fighting apathy by standing up for others, even when our own lives or rights are not directly on the line. Ms. Collins and Mr. Hagerty presented merits on behalf of the eleventh grade teachers to juniors Madison Childs and Joshua Jackson and Mr. Clausen and Mr. Porcelli and Ms. Richardson honored seniors Carmaya Humble and Jasmine Starr. Ms. Smith closed by noting that we are working hard to create a world where people can exist in peace with different people who have different stories and beliefs, but noted that this is not easy work, and it requires all students’ efforts to fight injustice and use our words for solving conflicts.
