On April 12, Jocelyn Rodriguez ’20 was recognized by the Portland Rotary Club for her outstanding community involvement, service, and leadership. The Rotary Club’s Youth Service Award is bestowed upon students who go beyond academics and traditional school activities to improve the community through volunteer activities.

Click here to read teacher Sue Stein’s introductory remarks from the event, which detail the many activities in which Jocelyn has participated (including “Planting Compassion,” a group she envisioned, designed and then executed in the Lower School).

Jocelyn embodies the Rotary motto of “service above self.” Her efforts have made a profound difference in our school community.

Photo: Jocelyn with her parents and teacher Sue Stein.

Partway through his second year at Bennington College, Hamish Haddow finally acknowledged what had become clear—he was being pulled in a new direction. His Waynflete teachers had instilled in him a love of composition, which had prompted him to pursue an undergraduate degree in English. But Waynflete had also taught him about taking risks, and that while it’s fine to make decisions based on the information you have, it’s also OK to look back and think, “that was the best choice at the time, but now my plans have evolved.” “It’s hard to know exactly what you want to be at age 18,” he reflects today.

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Thank you to all the students, teachers, and parents who helped make the fourth annual New England Youth Identity Summit a big success! This year’s program, which focused on “Voices Across Generations,” featured dozens of workshops (most of them student-led) and drew over 400 attendees from 30 different schools. Our keynote speakers’  funny and moving presentations were well-received by overflow audiences in Franklin Theater (thanks to Nicole Maines—LGBTQ rights pioneer, activist, and the first transgender superhero on CW’s Supergirl TV show—and our very own Phuc Tran—Latin teacher and author of the forthcoming memoir “Sigh, Gone”).

Photos – Friday night performances
Photos – Saturday Summit
Video – Friday night performances
Video – Phuc Tran keynote address
Video – Nicole Maines keynote address

Six Waynflete freshmen competed in the Seacoast SeaPerch competition at the University of New Hampshire on April 5, along with close to 50 other teams from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Our ninth-graders designed and built underwater ROV robots to compete in three events:  the Mission Challenge Course, the Obstacle Course, and the Scientific Poster/ Presentation.

Our “Flyers1” team placed third overall, while the “Flyers2” team placed fifth. Congratulations to Cat Sullivan, Jacob Curtis, Henry Wagg, Julia Werner, Elijah Gallagher, Liam Slocumb, along with coaches Stephanie and Tom Dolan!

Check out this interesting read from the New York Times: “High School Doesn’t Have To Be Boring.”

A great description of what brings learning to life in a high school—a close match to who we strive to be!

Waynflete students recently competed in the annual Lion’s Club Speak Out contest at the University of Southern Maine.  Students write a 4-6 minute speech on an issue they care about. After presenting, students are asked questions by judges and are scored by a three-person team.

Linguo Ren, a sophomore and an international student from Shanghai, China, spoke on stereotyping and how respect is needed to overcome it.  He came in third place.  Christine Odia Wa Ngalamulume  spoke about the need to feel uncomfortable in order to learn.  She placed second.

Pictured above: Linguo Ren, Levi Lilienthal, Audrey Orenstein, Sylvette Dupe-Vete Congolo, and Christine Odia Wa Ngalamulume.

On Friday, March 8, Waynflete competed in the Maine LifeSmarts Competition at Unum in Portland. Led by captain Ben Lualdi, team members included Sam Yankee, Hannah Babcock, Tabarak Al Musawi, and Haoming Ma. LifeSmarts is a consumer challenge competition whose goal is to educate young adults to be intelligent consumers. Some of the material is immediately applicable, some will help in the near future, while other material will help students long-term. The five core content areas are personal finance, technology, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibilities, and the environment. The format of competition is in a game show style, with two teams competing against one another at a time.

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On February 27, 15 students descended on the University of New England’s campus to compete in the Titan Challenge, a daylong business simulation competition. The Titan Challenge is an immersive peek into the business world, in which students—in teams of three—work with a mentor from the business community to guide a start-up, fledgling company through the virtual ups and downs of the market. Through simulated business rounds, groups decide on price, production, marketing, research and development, and charitable giving. The choices made ultimately lead to the success or failure of their virtual company. The Titan Challenge draws on a number of skills each team member will need to become a meaningful contributor in tomorrow’s workforce: creativity, finance, collaboration, strategy, leadership, and more.

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Chilean students Constanza and Juan Pablo arrived in Maine yesterday. The pair will attend Waynflete for the first month of their sophomore year (they live on the other side of the equator, so—hard to imagine—they are just finishing up their summer break!).

While in Maine, Constanza and Juan Pablo will stay with Waynflete host families, attend Upper School classes, and assist the Spanish teachers in all three divisions. They have 21 classmates living with host families and attending six other schools in Cumberland County. This is the 19th year that students from Colegios Padre Hurtado y Jaunita de los Andes (sister schools in Santiago, Chile) have come to stay in Maine.  

Thank you to the Goods and Warners for hosting Constanza and Juan Pablo!