Friends' campus is buzzing with activity! To view more photos of campus events, visit the School's website, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin.
Friends Seminary Celebrates Middle Eastern/North African/Arab-American (MENAAA) Heritage Month
In April as part of the celebration of Middle Eastern/North African/Arab-American (MENAAA) Heritage Month, students and the Friends community gathered in the Gallery for a poster making event. As viewers walked through the Gallery, they were able to learn more about notable MENAAA writers, scholars, artists, policymakers, teachers, scientists and athletes.
Grades 8 and 10 students in Joseph Sills’ Arabic II class honored the contributions of Americans who have ethnic origins from the Middle East, North Africa and Arab speaking countries during the Middle School Meeting for Worship. Presented first in Arabic, then with translations provided for the audience, students portrayed the beauty of the Arabic language while educating their peers about important figures in the arts and sciences, as well as the business and sports worlds.
Later in the month students studying Arabic at Friends across all grades shared their skills through the 2nd annual Arabic Culture Night. The night began with performances from each class including a dabke dance, singing, skits, and a beautiful rendition of Betwanes Beek on the oud by Safira ‘26. The celebration concluded with food, calligraphy and henna.
Friends Seminary Celebrates Jewish Heritage and AANHPI Month
In May activities celebrating Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage and Jewish Heritage Month included luncheons led by affinity groups and culture clubs, guest speakers and a joint poster making event hosted by the Asian Culture Club and Jewish Culture Club.
On May 17, CPEJ and the Asian Culture Club hosted award winning author Min Jin Lee for an Upper School assembly. Moderated by leaders of the Asian Culture Club, Jenny Levine ‘24 and Jyotirmoy Dasroy ‘24, Min shared her experiences growing up in Queens, her inspiration for writing, as well as her motivation to write her New York Times Bestseller, Pachinko, which was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2017. During Upper School lunch, community members who identify as AANHPI were invited to a special affinity lunch with Min Jin Lee. A special Korean meal was catered, and the Asian Culture Club continued their conversation with the author, discussing topics pertaining to what it means to be Asian American in this country. Over 30 students and faculty from the Middle and Upper Schools were in attendance.
Author and former Friends Business Manager, Joseph Gosler, spoke to the Upper School about his book, “Searching for Home: The Impact of World War II On A Hidden Child.” Among his many achievements at Friends, Joe developed a Financial Aid program and a Faculty Enrichment Fund. The financial aid program was established with Director of Admissions Emerita Harriet Burnett and focused on supporting African American male students entering Grade 9.
This visit was made possible with support from the Isaac Rauch '08 Fund for Literature.
Friends Seminary Celebrates Black Excellence
Black Families at Friends, in connection with the Parents Association Diversity & Inclusion Committee (PADIC), hosted their first-ever community Black Excellence Celebration on May 21. The event was first proposed by Ashley Shaw, Director of Special Events, who worked closely with parent Melissa Smith and parent and alum Helen Rhim '93, and others, to create programming to lift up the many talents and accomplishments of our Black students, families, faculty and staff. It was an evening full of love, joy, food and celebration! During the event Seniors were honored and received graduation stoles, and The Larry Carter Legacy Fund was introduced as a new endowed fund to provide financial aid to Black and Latinx students.
Lower School News
Head of School, Bo Lauder welcomed Kindergarteners from Judy Anderson’s '66 and Ellen O’Connell’s Kindergarten classes to his office for a special read-aloud of “The Alphabet Tree.” This annual tradition, a partnership between Bo and Judy, will come to a close this year as Judy retires in June after 52 years of service to the School (the longest tenure in School history!). “The Alphabet Tree” tells the story of individual letters represented as separate leaves of a tree that face adversity, but gain strength as they come together as a community to form words, and then again to form a sentence with a message of peace for the world.
2024 Grandparents Day
On May 10, Grandparents and Special Friends of students in Kindergarten through Grade 2 visited campus and watched a Lower School concert in the Meetinghouse. Following the show, the guests visited with their grandchildren and special friends in their classrooms. Click here to view photos and video from the day.
Grade 1 Post Office Project
The Grade 1 Post Office Project took place throughout the month of April. Through stories, conversations, and life at Friends, Class 1JB considered many ways in which they have or can make connections within their community. Students, faculty and staff by writing and sending letters through “Friends Mail,” with special stamps illustrated by Lower School students. After the letters were collected and placed in the mailbox on the second floor landing, students then sorted and hand delivered the mail to the school community.
Middle School News
Science Night
On May 16, Middle School students proudly shared their projects during Science Night. Students presented an array of experiments from physical to life science projects. The annual Middle School Science Night is a hallmark presentation of scientific endeavors our students complete over the course of the final trimester of the school year in science. In addition, our Upper School Advanced Physics students join the night’s presentations sharing their carefully crafted large scale carnival game models as a culmination to their work in the course and to which community members are able to engage in as they run testable trials at the event.
Middle School Science Teacher and Department Chair, Dr. Shayri Greenwood shares, “Overall, students enjoyed communicating their research and findings to peers, faculty, staff, and families and did a wonderful job presenting their work to the community!”
2024 Model Congress
On Saturday, May 11, thirty-six students in Grades 6-8 competed at "Model Congress" at the Chapin School with students from eleven other schools. Middle Schoolers prepared for the competition beginning in December with weekly meetings to craft their own legislation, preparing speeches, and building their debating skills. Friends students in 11 of the 18 committees received awards as distinguished legislators.
Five Friends students' bills were selected for debate in the competitive "Full Session" on Saturday afternoon, a great success. Finally, six Upper School students from Friends served as Chairs of Parliamentarians among the 18 committees, and one received high honors as an exemplary chairperson. Each student wrote a bill and researched the content of that topic to be able to argue it effectively at the competition.
Some of the bills that were proposed included: An Act to Provide Technical Programs in Prison, An Act to legalize MAD (Medical Aid in Dying) as well as An Act to Abolish Book Bans on LGBTQ + Topics among others. A really important part of the Model Congress is that Upper School students who were former Model Congress participants acted as mentors for Friends Seminary students, and did a great job. Language Teacher, Joseph Sills shares, “I am proud of students for spending much time and energy to create legislation to make the world a better place. To see them engaged in the exercise of democracy at this age gives me hope for our future.”
Upper School News
On June 6, the 77 students of the Class of 2024 graduated from Friends Seminary in Central Park. Through the celebration of music, speeches from teachers, students, as well as Head of School Bo Lauder, they took their place on stage as adults in front of friends and family.
We proudly celebrate the great college destinations of the senior class, which can be found here. The schools selected showcase the wide range of talents and interests of the class, from Berklee School of Music to Princeton, across the country to Stanford, the University of Michigan, and so much in between. Congratulations to the families of all the remarkable graduates!
Friends Announces 2024 Youth Philanthropy Initiative Grant Recipients
On June 3, 2024 during the Day of Service, Friends hosted its annual Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI). CPEJ, in collaboration with the History Department, has developed this opportunity to engage our students in the philanthropic sector. YPI is an international multi-award-winning youth service program, and throughout Friends Seminary’s partnership with YPI, students have connected to dozens of NYC nonprofits and awarded over $75K in grants. This service-learning initiative is a capstone experience for our ninth grade students.
For this important project, students were divided into teams and charged with selecting and researching a nonprofit organization that is addressing a social issue in New York City. Each team researched their nonprofit’s mission, history, programs, and impact. They conducted in-person and virtual site visits and interviewed staff and clients of the nonprofits. In presentations to their peers, each team shared what they have learned about the role the philanthropic sector plays in addressing social needs. In the last phase of this multi-step service-learning project, seven finalist teams advocated for their nonprofits to their classmates and other members of the community.
At stake was a $5,000 grant awarded to the winning team’s nonprofit from the Toskan Casale Foundation. Two runner up teams were awarded grants of $1,000 each for their nonprofits, generously supported by the Friends Administration and Parents Association. The judges awarded a $5,000 grant to Families for Freedom, represented by Lottie, Crismary, Delilah and Jacob. A $1,000 grant from the Friends Administration was awarded to Grassroots Grocery represented by Wilhelmina, Finn, Jaeden and Liam. A $1,000 grant from the Parents Association was awarded to Girls Education and Mentoring Services, represented by Mia, Sabrina, Madison and Henry.
Owl Sports
This year the sports teams at Friends displayed amazing commitment and a wide range of ability:
Varsity Softball upset the #1 seed Staten Island Academy to advance to the ACIS finals against Saint Ann’s. They finished the season as the playoff runner up after a tough 17-7 loss.
Varsity Baseball made their first appearance in the playoffs after a number of years. They faced Saint Ann's in the semifinal round and were defeated 5-0. Friends ended with a 4-3 record in league play. The future is bright!
Varsity Volleyball finished off the season on a high note after earning a convincing win over Staten Island Academy. They look forward to working towards their first playoff berth next season.
Varsity Tennis faced some tough competition after finishing with a record of 3-3 in league play. Friends had some really exciting matches throughout the season with one student advancing to the NYSAIS Singles Tournament at Columbia Tennis Center. Spencer '24 gave the # 1 seed from SIA a challenging match but was defeated in two sets.
The Varsity Track teams are leading the way! The Girls team won their second consecutive ACIS Championship, and the Boys team finished in 3rd place with two students advancing to New York State Federations. Congratulations to James' 26 and Ben '25.
The Golf team made their mark in the ACIS. Nicky ‘25 and William ‘26 competed in the NYSAIS Golf Championship on Tuesday, May 2 at Hudson Hills Golf Course in Ossining, NY. Nicky ‘25 finished in 4th place and advanced to the New York State Golf Federation Championship. The Championship was held at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, NY on June 9, 2024. Nicky '25 shot an impressive 83 after 18 holes.
Congrats to all the Friends athletes!
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