Legally Blonde is more than just a musical; it is a hero’s journey with a persistent theme of positive transformation. We could forgive Elle Woods if, swimming in a powdery puff of pink pixie-dust, she never imagined she could offer more than an emphatic “Omigod!” to the world.  Even her own father says that she’s not “serious” enough, and the messages from her peers ring equally hollow.  Elle’s conundrum is that her family and friends underestimate her to such a point that she is incapable of estimating herself.

In this show, she sets out on a quest to reconnect to lost love. As she tackles stereotypes, snobbery, and scandal in pursuit of her dreams she instead finds how she can love her true self. Empowerment through truth and the authority of genuine voice are the messages this show brings to us. This energetic musical fills the stage with memorable songs and dynamic dances.

The amazing ensemble is dedicated to sharing Elle’s story with an intensity that matches the show’s demanding pace.   There is nothing more I could ask for than what I’ve gotten from this cast and crew. They are fully committed, willing to take risks and to learn, and trusting in each other and the directors.

This year the Business and Finance classes and the Finance Club are currently playing a game called The Stock Market Game (SMG). There are a total of 12 teams participating, split up between different classes. We play this game in order to learn more about the business world and how it works. Steve Kautz is teaching this class and has had his classes play the Game for the past ten years at Waynflete.  He has an incredible amount of knowledge about this subject material. As a matter of fact, Steve is one of the top financial educators in the State.  In an effort to learn more about The Stock Market Game, I asked Steve some questions.

First, I asked Steve why he includes this particular game in his Business and Finance curriculum.  He answered that he wants to promote both financial and math literacies. “Playing The Stock Market Game immerses students in numbers. Those who are already comfortable with math can use their skills for in depth analysis, modeling, and decision making.”

Then I asked him what he wants his students to learn from the game.  “Students will gain some specific stock market research skills like reading charts, understanding ratios, calculating yields, and making predictions.  Also, I want them to get a feel for the risk/reward trade off inherent in investing.”  Steve’s ultimate goal is to “demystify the stock market.” He thinks that The Stock Market Game it is a very important tool with which students can use to learn and practice skills.

I am currently participating in The Stock Market Game as a student in Steve’s Business and Finance class. I am really enjoying it. Currently, my team is not doing so well, but we invested in a lot of stocks, so I am hopeful that our ranking will go up. I also love the subject material overall in this class.  I think I will draw on the knowledge and skills I learn in the class for my entire life.

Our last field hockey game at NYA wasn’t successful score-wise – a 5-1 loss – but the score is not what mattered to me. Success isn’t always determined by a team’s win-loss record at the end of a season. It can be determined by the team’s effort and increasing ability to meet the challenges it faces. This year was a pioneering year for the Waynflete-Catherine McAuley field hockey co-op team. As the goalie of the Varsity team, I would say it was a success.

At the end of last year, with a small number of players scheduled to return, the Waynflete field hockey team had a meeting and we were given three options: to compete at only the Junior Varsity level, to make a co-op team with Catherine McAuley. or to not have a team at all. Of course, we weren’t going to not play at all, so the decision was between playing only Junior Varsity or making a co-op team. Many people, including me, didn’t want to limit ourselves to only playing at the JV level, so as a team we decided the best option was a co-op team with McAuley.

Semhar Yehdego defends against an opponent

Going into pre-season, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I knew things were going to be very different because, in addition to playing with 12 brand new teammates, we had a new head coach, Stacy Sevelowitz.  But after only two weeks of pre-season, the team was already becoming cohesive as we bonded by working hard during practices. We even scheduled team bonding activities outside of practice.  We threw ourselves a pool party and attended McAuley Homecoming as a team.

The future is bright.  Besides being well bonded, our team is young, consisting of mostly freshmen and only one senior, so we have lots of room to improve. Even though our season wasn’t the best in terms of our record, it was a successful year considering the challenges we faced and me. Not all seasons are winning ones, and if they aren’t, they still can be determined successful by team effort and cohesiveness.  

After a year hiatus, the Upper School is resuming our Veteran’s Day tradition of inviting a veteran of the armed services to speak at assembly.  The assembly will take place on November 3.

This year’s speaker is Sergeant Helaina Lake.  Sergeant Lake enlisted in the Army Reserves in July, 2006, shortly after graduating from Livermore Falls High School in Western Maine.  She served with the South Carolina National Guard’s 133rd Military Police Company and was deployed to Afghanistan in November, 2011.  As MPs, her Company’s role was to conduct joint force presence and combat patrols with their assigned Afghan Uniformed Police Substation.

On June 20, 2012, Sergeant Lake was severely wounded.  The Channel Six News coverage of her homecoming is linked here. Since being injured, she has undergone 41 surgeries, with more pending.  She is now medically retired.  She is living in Livermore Falls with her son Aden, going to school, and pursuing her life long passions for horses and physical fitness.  Hers is a story of extraordinary resilience.

Helaina, her siblings, and her parents are long time friends of Upper School Director Lowell Libby and his family.

Helaina and her siblings at the beach with Spencer (’06)and Anna (’09) Libby.

Helaina as a girl riding on the hill behind her house.

Several times a year, the Upper School invites alums to speak at assembly about what they are doing currently and how their Waynflete experience relates.  The purpose of this speaker series is not only to inform our students of some of what our graduates are doing in the world but also to help them to see some of the various ways that their Waynflete experience can play out in their future lives.

The most recent speaker was Jonny Asen ’05.  Jonny began his talk by reading a progress report from a teacher who expressed gratitude that the baseball season had finally ended, which he hoped would allow Jonny to shift his attention from his beloved New York Yankees back to the math problems at hand.  Jonny went on to recount his somewhat serendipitous journey from being a Waynflete “Lifer” to Trinity College, five years in the White House, and back to Maine where he lives in Portland with his wife Annie Reiner ’05 and works in Augusta as a senior advisor to Maine Speaker of the House Mark Eves.

I asked two USNOW staffers to reflect on Jonny’s talk.  Here is what they had to say.

Christian Brooks ’18:  

After listening to Jonathan Asen speak at assembly, I began to understand his story of success. After spending 14 years at Waynflete School, Jonathan said he was ready to move on and get out into the real world. Looking at his young career, one could say that Jonathan has already been very successful, not only working in the White House, but also obtaining a very important position as the Senior Advisor to Maine House Speaker Mark Eves.

 Something I really grasped from what Jonathan told us was how luck and good fortune presented him with great opportunities for his career. That being said, Jonathan also expressed how important it is to take these opportunities when they arise, especially those that take you out of your comfort zone. After working as an intern for Senator Obama’s presidential campaign, Jonathan was invited to work for the presidential campaign in the fall of 2008. However, he reached a crossroads. Should he move to D.C. or finish his college education? Finishing school was the final decision for him.

Although he didn’t get the internship he had wished for right after college, Jonathan continued to search for more opportunities and ultimately did become an intern at the White House mail room. Many people in this position would be eager to move on quickly and continue their careers, yet Jonathan was able to appreciate the situation, and his experience reading the letters that were sent to the White House continues to impact him today. Even after being offered a position with a labor union, Jonathan decided to continue his internship. As Jonathan had humbly stated previously, luck plays a huge part in anyone’s success. Through a good friendship made with a fellow intern in the mail room, Jonathan was eventually offered a higher job within the White House.

Looking back, Jonathan recognized that his Waynflete education gave him a good foundation and helped him in both his life and career. Looking ahead at my own future, I am grateful that I was able to hear Jonathan’s story, but more importantly, hear the main ideas that he believes helped him to become successful. It is important to take the opportunities that present themselves to you, even if you are unsure of the outcome, for you never know what could become something valuable for yourself. As of right now, I am interested in many different fields and possible careers that I could pursue, however I haven’t found a true passion yet. Taking Jonathan’s advice, I will continue to be open to new experiences and opportunities. Perhaps with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, an opportunity seized could even develop into a successful career.

Shuhao Liu ’18:

Jonathan shared his experience growing up in the Waynflete community and working as an official at the White House. From his story, I learned that  he was not sure about his career at first. He said in his high school years, he was not overly involved in politics. But this did not get in the way for him to find out later on that he really wants to be a politician.  After 14 years at Waynflete, Jonathan was fully prepared to step out of his familiar neighborhood and discover himself.

I think this is a very significant thing that his years at Waynflete have brought to him. As a teenager, I often found myself confused about my future career. Now I realize that the most important thing for me is not to have a clear path to the future, but rather to build a heart full of passion for the unknown challenges in the future. A high school education should give a student a good sense of all the aspects of life. At the same time, it should help the student to build a mind that is always eager to learn and explore. If a student is prepared as such, like Jonathan, it is okay for him to be unsure about what he is going to do in the future. As long as he has the desire to learn, he will not be afraid of the unknown and will always keep going forth. This spirit can lead him to discover more and more about himself and eventually to find out who he really wants to become.

So now I know that the most important thing right now is to have the passion to try new things. By doing this, I will not only gain a better understanding of all the different career paths open to me, but I will also gain confidence that will help me to discover myself in the future. In my first year at Waynflete, the School is already providing me many opportunities to learn about myself. I am preparing for the school’s play and working on a robotics team project at the same time. I feel fortunate that Jonathan Asen shared his experience with us. That helped me to change the way I look at my time at Waynflete and the future.

Lorry Stillman, who was Jonny’s Upper School advisor, Sarah Plimpton, and Jenny Alfrey listen in.

• Complete a paper order form and write a check to Waynflete. Return both to the Upper School office.
• Order online here.

The Mask You Live In – Film Screening

South Portland High School

October 22 |  6:00-8:30 p.m.

Free

Waynflete is pleased to sponsor the screening of “The Mask You Live In,” a new film aimed at promoting dialogue and awareness about masculinity in our culture and the social pressures boys face. We encourage parents to attend as an excellent chance to learn how adults can support positive identity and self expression for boys and young men. Students welcome (ages 17+ recommended). Register here.

Jonny Asen ’05 will speak at Upper School assembly on October 20. He grew up in Portland and attended Waynflete for 14 years. He received his bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.  He was a history major.

While at Trinity he took time off to work on then Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. In 2009, he moved to Washington and worked at the White House for five years.  He served in various capacities in the Office of Presidential Correspondence, the Chief of Staff’s Office, and the Office of Legislative Affairs.

Jonny moved back to Maine in January to work as the Senior Advisor to Maine House Speaker Mark Eves. Jonny lives in Portland with his wife Annie Reiner ’05. They met at Waynflete.

At the Upper School assembly, Jonny plans to talk about his path from Waynflete to the West Wing and back to Maine.  We look forward to his homecoming at Waynflete.