WESTFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2020/2021 Student & Staff Accomplishments

ELEMENTARY Submitted by K-5 Principals: Susan DuBois, Kevin LaCoste, Lori McDermott, Scott Middlemiss, Chris Louis Sardella, Hilary Sturgis • The elementary school leadership team is pleased to present you with our accomplishments for the 2020-2021 school year. • The team worked throughout the summer to safely and successfully plan and welcome back students to school last fall after the shutdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff participated in two weeks of professional development at the start of the year. This preparation allowed for a smooth transition from full in-person instruction to the hybrid learning model and the Remote Learning Academy model. We made several pivots throughout the school year to reassign students between classes according to their learning model preference and geographic residential location. In February, we pivoted again and planned for the full return of students on April 5, 2021. Students and staff were thrilled to be back to school full time! • As part of the reopening plan, in the fall, students in grades 3-12 were surveyed to identify and determine the level of support they may need to actively participate in school and their learning. In the spring, K-2 many teachers completed the Panorama Teacher Perception of Students Survey for each of their students. Based on this data, social emotional interventions were implemented to address the social-emotional needs of our students utilizing resources within our school and community. Teachers had access to a Playbook in their Panorama accounts providing a valuable resource complete with lessons in targeted areas. • We also streamlined our focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. A district wide BARWE (Building Anti-Racist White Educators) program was started and individual school groups were also initiated in which monthly building based meetings were held by volunteer facilitators. A full day of professional development in May was devoted to cultural proficiency with Dr. Kalise Warnum. In the afternoon, we met in discussion groups to process the presentation and learn more about how we can integrate this new knowledge into our work with students. We also viewed and discussed ADL peer leader activities. We look forward to continuing this important work. • We celebrated our grade 5 students as they prepared to move on to the Blanchard and Stony Brook Middle Schools. Fifth grade teams across the district planned fifth grade fun days and completion ceremonies. The school teams also planned transition activities for grade 2 students moving on to 3-5 sister schools. Principals visited second grade classrooms to provide an overview and answer questions. This was followed by small group tours of their new school as well as virtual presentations for parents. • This year we implemented a new tool in place of the Everyday Math (EDM) end of the year assessment, the iReady Math Diagnostic Assessment. This resource is research-based and nationally normed. It is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions based on students’ performance. The results provide actionable data that give teachers a foundational understanding of students’ strengths and areas of need-making it easier to determine next steps for instruction. In addition, as we move forward next year with its use, we will be able to track student progress and growth. • Kindergarten through fifth grade teachers were trained in an updated way to think about reading comprehension. The staff created a district definition of reading comprehension. They then used this knowledge to explore a new reading assessment called Next Step in Guided Reading. Through this training our goal is to develop a common language districtwide when discussing a student’s comprehension abilities. • We are focusing our discussions around students’ strengths or areas of need in vocabulary, background knowledge, summary, and analysis and evaluation of text. Many teachers are piloting the assessment this Spring. In grades 3-5, students all take 2 whole class comprehension assessments three times a year. This helps us to determine who will receive a Reading Assessment Conference for more detailed information on the student’s comprehension skills. Teacher feedback has been positive as class patterns in strengths and areas of need have emerged. In grades K-2 teachers will be assessing students’ listening comprehension in a whole class assessment three times a year. Teachers will then use this information to guide which whole class read alouds and discussions to facilitate with their class. They will also have a reading assessment conference with each student to determine their instructional level of reading.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS Blanchard Middle School - Submitted by Principal Tim Hislop • Anya G. initiated a fall food drive. Students and staff at Blanchard were incredibly generous with their donations and provided food for many families in need. pg. 1

• Blanchard’s PRIDE Alliance was formed with advisors Kevin Merrigan and Kelly Wolber and held monthly virtual meetings throughout the school year. • Blanchard’s AMC Math Team had a successful year! Congratulations to Adam G., Katrina Y., and Krish B. for earning top three AMC 10 scores at Blanchard. Katrina was also awarded a Certificate of Distinction for her impressive score. A special congratulations to Adam G. for earning Honor Roll of Distinction honors and for becoming the first Blanchard Middle School student to qualify for the AIME invitational and earn multiple perfect scores. • In the spirit of giving back during these challenging times, Harlow C. suggested we show our gratitude to local healthcare workers. A link was provided for any interested student to submit an electronic thank you letter (or attach photos of art). Students also wrote handwritten notes. • Señora Brumbaugh and her 8th grade students invited Gloria L., mother of Ian H., to present remotely in three classes. Students learned about her trip to Gijón, Spain and some unique holiday traditions that are celebrated in Spain. What a wonderful opportunity to learn from one of our Spanish-speaking community members! • Blanchard teamed up with students from in a food drive that collected enough food to fill an entire car. • In November, students donated Halloween candy and created handmade cards for troops overseas. • Blanchard and Stony Brook sent 10 students to the Virtual Eastern District Music Festival. Students auditioned virtually, creating videos that were then presented via Youtube for the district judges to evaluate. Over 550 students from the Eastern District auditioned and only 305 were accepted to perform in the virtual band, jazz band, chorus, and orchestra ensembles. The following Blanchard students were chosen to participate in this highly competitive music festival: Joanna F., Joshil N., Stephanie P., Hailey P., Emily W., and Helen Y. • Frau Gillett hosted remote cooking classes for her German students demonstrated from her kitchen. As she spoke exclusively in German, students watched, listened, and were able to cook up some of their own German mac and cheese! • Blanchard’s Cradles to Crayons clothing drive led by Westford’s Project 351 Ambassador, Anya Gesin was a success. Blanchard students and staff donated 16 bags full of clothing to help children in need. • Congratulations to the following seventh and eighth grade Blanchard students: Isabela A.P., Allison Y., Karthik B., Krish B., Anya G. and Orion S.! These A World of Difference peer leaders participated in a Virtual Peer Leadership Summit sponsored by the Anti- Defamation League. Students attended inspirational keynote speeches and workshops to increase their understanding of the causes of prejudice and its manifestations such as name-calling, bullying, and cyber-bullying. Thank you to AWOD advisors Amy Bailey, Catherine Pastore, Meg Ryle, and Kelly Wolber! • In collaboration with students and staff, the PTO created the 2020/2021 Blanchard Yearbook. Many students submitted entries for the yearbook cover and poetry contests. Congratulations to front cover artist Sahana V. and back cover artist Isak B.!. The yearbook will also feature original poetry from Tanya D. and Mairead C. • Congratulations Mrs. Benschneider, Mrs. Ottesen, Mrs. Garino, and Mrs. Mejia! On April 7th, Westford was named one of the Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation. More information about this outstanding achievement is included below.

Stony Brook Middle School - Submitted by Principal Chris Chew • The middle school Anti-Defamation Leagues’ A World of Difference program continued to have a significant impact on Stony Brook and was able to extend that impact to the entire district during our May professional development day. Student members created very insightful videos modeling some of their activities as well as their discussion protocols for the entire district staff to watch and discuss in small groups Under the direction of faculty members Mrs. Amy Bailey and Ms. Meghan Ryle, Stony Brook students representing both seventh and eighth grade became peer leaders in fostering courageous conversations that promote respect and empathy through their work with the Anti-Defamation Leagues’ A World of Difference campaign. The 2020-2021 A World of Difference Peer Leaders were returning eighth graders Pranav Bala, Ajok Bul, Noah Bramanti, Addie Chandler, Sarah Cunnife, Sahil Dua, Keira McPhee, Alana Parks, Lara Rodruiguez, and Carissa Wong; new eight grade members Varnika Alla, Jordyn Brooks, Deepa Gautam, Andrew Mejia, Nicholas Scarano, and Elena Wu; seventh graders joining them were Maggie Burt, Elyse Holmes, Viktoria Kariuki, Harshata Krishnakumar, Aanya Krishnamurthy, Ava Mascarenhas, Stella Mourtzinos, Hayden Pelta, and Bao-Nhi Vu. • Stony Brook Theatre Arts produced Puffs in the spring of 2020. Although the production began live rehearsals in February, once the schools went virtual, our rehearsals did as well, and SBTA's first ever virtual production went "live" online in May of 2020 in the Educational Theatre Guild's Virtual Festival. SBTA also produced a virtual talent show in May 2020, allowing students to come together in a time when we all felt so far apart. In September of 2020, Jessica Materazzo (Elsa) , Todd Moore (Olaf) and Sabina Mora, Ella Trethaway, Maggie Burt, Molly Ford, Maeve O'Toole, Aubrie Rose, Carissa Wong, Natalie Weinberg, Isabel Rana, Ruby Davis, Lauren Soucie, Olivia Bernier, Carissa Schutt, and Megan Metivier (Snow Chorus) were honored with awards for the previous year's performances in Frozen, Jr. from the METG's Marquis Awards. In the fall of 2021 Elyse Holmes was pg. 2

named winner of the METG Middle School Monologue Contest, while Molly Ford, Hradini Shinde, and Lara Rodriguez were given Honorable Mentions, and Megan Piendak was given an Honorable Mention in the Middle School Technical Theatre Contest for her costume designs. Additionally, Grace Hinkle was named the Winner of the first ever Middle School Monologue Writing Contest. In November of 2020 Stony Brook Theatre Arts produced an online cabaret of songs, scenes, and monologues centering on the theme of rising up against adversity titled Rise Up! This spring, Stony Brook Theatre Arts was able to produce two live productions. The first, Baalzebub, was a one-act play that served as Stony Brook's entry in the METG Festival. We performed one night at Stony Brook's newly reclaimed outdoor amphitheatre, and travelled to Westford Academy to perform the next day alongside Westford Academy Theater Arts and . The students received a live adjudication after the performance, and we will find out who will be named to the METG All-Star Company before the end of the school year. The second production was High School Musical, Jr., and this production performed in the Stony Brook Amphitheater on June 10th and 11th at 7:30pm. • Four Stony Brook students were selected to participate in the 2021 Virtual Eastern District Junior Music Festival in March 2021. Students auditioned by creating and submitting videos that were presented via YouTube to district judges for evaluation. It was quite an undertaking and we couldn’t be more proud of the students who auditioned. Over 550 students from the Eastern District auditioned and only 305 were accepted to participate in the virtual performances of the band, jazz band, chorus and orchestra ensembles. The four Stony Brook students were Nicholas Berthold, Daniel Engdahl, Sarah St. George, Julia Zhou. We are all extremely proud, not only of these students, but of all the students who had the courage and dedication to prepare for and submit these videos for this rigorous audition. Additionally, we extend our gratitude to Mrs. Vicki Garino, Mrs. Julie Ottesen, and Mrs. Andrea Watson for all of the wonderful work they do with the students in our music programs on a regular basis. • The Stony Brook MathCounts Team was able to compete remotely for the 2020-2021 season. Stony Brook had 19 students participate in 6 rounds of online math practice and competition. 15 of the 19 participated in the Mathcounts Chapter Competition and 5 qualified for the Invitation Competition: Daniel Wang, Hansen Shieh, Jeffrey Xu, Julia Zhou and Nikhil Byrapuram. From that level, Hansen Shieh and Jeffrey Xu advanced to the State Competition.

HIGH SCHOOL Westford Academy - Submitted by Principal James Antonelli Class of 2020 Co-Valedictorian: Grace Xinyi Pu Co-Valedictorian: Isabella Xu

Most Worthy Representatives 2020 Elizabeth MacKenzie, Elle Whitehead 2021 Connor Fitzgerald, Abigail Rosenthal-Pitts 2022 Kiani Barnard-Pratt, Sydney Harding 2023 Aria Chambers, Jaxson Jozokos

2020 National Merit & Achievement Programs Semi-finalists: 12 Commended: 39 National Hispanic Program: 2

2020 AP Performance In May 2020, 475 students took 951 AP exams in 17 subjects. 96.6% earned scores of 3 or better. AP National Scholars: 10 AP Scholars with Distinction: 85 AP Scholars with Honors: 49 AP Scholars: 63

Business/DECA • DECA: Advisors John Rogers & Sarah Ricard along with Co-Presidents Emily Carey and Diya Godavarti spent their Spring and Summer completely transforming the WA DECA Business Club into what could be called: WA's "Social Distancing Business Club. DECA is operating 100% remotely this year to best deal with current conditions and communicates and interacts with members through Google Informational Meets, online resources, remote training, and virtual competitions. 252 WA students signed up for DECA in the Fall. The club concluded its participation in its first fully virtual conference, competing against 9 other District schools with

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online testing, remote roleplays and business presentations. Top 6 qualifiers from each event category go on to the MASS-DECA 62nd Annual State Career Development Conference (SCDC) to compete for scholarships. Competition runs from after February break through the first week of March. • DECA’s annual (but first 100% remote) International Career Development Conference - Twenty thousand high school students, advisors, businesspersons and alumni gathered virtually from around the globe to develop knowledge and skills for college and careers and compete for recognition, awards, and scholarships. 225,000 international members competed during the school year at District and State (or Provincial) levels to qualify for the opportunity to participate in this culmination of the DECA year. More than 1,000 business professionals served as expert judges to evaluate DECA members in their mastery of business concepts. In addition, some members were registered to participate in DECA’s Emerging Leadership Series, which helped them attain 21st Century Skills in the areas of collaboration and teamwork, communication, critical thinking and problem solving and creativity. Westford Academy highlights. Finalists (Top 3) in their event with a final, live Zoom presentation this week: Alison Chen; Braneeth Dayan; Kush Gami; Diya Godavarti; Andrew Lin; Charles Lin; Angela Wang. Top 10 score in an event activity: Alison Chen – Exam & Role Play; Braneeth Dayan – Role Play; Kush Gami – Role Play; Pranav Rajaram – Exam & Role Play; Arsh Sharma – Role Play; Raj Taylor – Role Play. All of the WA DECA students presented themselves professionally in their conduct and performances on the world stage. Please join me in congratulating these fine representatives of our school and community.

English • The Ghostwriter - The Ghostwriter attended the National High School Journalism Conference virtually. The students attended a variety of keynote speeches and workshops where they learned from journalism advisers and professionals from across the country. Part of this conference allows students to compete in media contests. This year two of our students were awarded top honors in this national competition. Srinithi Raj won a first-place award for News Writing. Only three students were given this award this year. Kristen Su won a first-place award for Review Writing. Kristen was the ONLY student to achieve this top honor in her category this year. • The Ghostwriter staff was also recognized for their COVID 19 coverage by the New England Scholastic Press Association's fall localizing contest. Divya Sambathkumar, Keertana Gangireddy, and Melanie Duronio were recognized for articles they wrote regarding the pandemic. • SEALOEarth Global Essay Contest - Alette Bernier (grade 11) won First Place and Alyssa Guglielmo (grade 11) and Grace Smith (grade 11) won Honorable Mention in the SEALOEarth Global Essay Contest in April 2021. They wrote their essay for Mrs. Ingerslev's English 11 CP class.

Fine and Performing Arts • Music Department – We would like to congratulate the 27 students listed below from the Westford Academy Music Department on their acceptance to the MMEA Eastern District Senior Festival. This year, in lieu of live auditions students were required to submit videos which were scored by judges utilizing much of the same criteria as a live audition. Students who were accepted and were also in the top 50% of their particular instrument or voice part also received an All State recommendation. These students have an asterisk after their name. Congratulations to all, including our outstanding Music Faculty: Karen St. George, Kenneth Culver and Michael Soo! Chawla, NIharika, band; Donescu, Julia, choir; Finney, Davina, choir*; France, Maximillian, choir; Franklin, Alexander, choir*; Guo, Alice, orchestra*; Huang, Justin, orchestra; Iyer, Kavya, orchestra; Kuo, Mia, orchestra*; Maloney, Caitlin, band; Margetts, Amelia, orchestra*; Mattila, Anne Marie, choir; Mejia, Alejandro, choir*; Oliver-Minor, Emma, choir; Owen, William, choir; Patel, Rahi, choir; Quan, Felicia, band; Ramesh, Adharsha, choir*; Redmond, Cordelia, choir*; Ren, Ivan, orchestra*; Ryan, Charlotte, choir; Sacco, Marissa, choir; Sanders, Thomas, choir*; Shea, Taylor, band; St. George, Jillian, choir*; Ullrich, Torsten, band*; Zheng, Marvel, orchestra* • Westford's Music Education Program Receives National Recognition for the 8th Consecutive Year. Westford has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education for the past 8 consecutive years. Now in its 22nd year, the Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all students. • To qualify for the Best Communities designation, Westford answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and community music-making programs. • Since the passage by Congress in 2015 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and a stated emphasis on a well-rounded education, many school districts have re-committed to music and arts education programs and found that in this time of a national pandemic, provides a valuable way to keep students engaged in school. • Research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music. Everyday listening skills are stronger in musically trained children than in those without music training in addition to social

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benefits including conflict resolution, teamwork skills, and how to give and receive constructive criticism. Congratulations to our Music Department faculty on this outstanding achievement! • Art Department - 2021 WA Art Club Calendar - Please join the art department in congratulating the following 14 student artists: Alycia Gopen, Ciara Chan, Hana Usmani, , Rosamond Mumma, Kelly Kim, Sithara Sonnathi, Anna Kifor, Mikayla Wagner, Taylor Campbell, Sarah Wiszt, Logan Davighi, Danya Jung, Stephanie Chang, Yirou Guo. • Please join the art department in congratulating WA senior Margaret Lepeshkin. Based on receiving a gold key award from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at the regional level, Margaret's painting was judged at the national level where it was just awarded a gold medal. Margaret is now invited to take part in a series of online events celebrating this year's national medalists. Congratulations, Margaret! • Westford Academy Theater Arts' production of SECONDARY ED was named WINNER of the Preliminary Round in the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild's State Festival. With this recognition, WATA will advance to one of seven Semi Final sites across the Commonwealth and perform at in Swansea on Saturday March 14 at 1:30 pm. In addition to the production's advancement, eight WATA students were recognized for their outstanding individual achievement and were named to the All-Star Company including: Paul Davis and Sadie Green for Excellence in Technical Design: Lighting Design; Alex Franklin and Cordelia Redmond for Excellence in Technical Design: Original Music Composition; Alex Ross for Excellence in Acting; Thomas Sanders for Excellence in Acting; Jaramie Cataldo and Lucy Xiao for Excellence in Ensemble Acting. Westford Academy Theater Arts students were amongst the first professionals in the industry to perform in a ZOOM Theater production in the Boston Playwrights' Theater's annual Boston Theater Marathon in May, 2020. Given the digital medium, their production of Room 221 drew audiences across the country and around the world. This yearly event unites Boston area professionals to generate funds for the Theater Community Benevolent Fund. In 2020, the BTM raised over $100,000.00 for artists who were out of work due to Covid-19. The student's work was recognized and crystallized in a publication of the fifty BTM plays produced in 2020. • Please congratulate two Westford Academy musicians on their acceptance into the National Association for Music Education 2021 All Eastern Honors Ensembles. Students are selected based on their All State audition score the year prior, in addition to other selection criteria which makes this an extremely selective process. The ensembles are composed of top musicians from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington DC and Maryland. There were over 1200 applicants for participation, and two students from Westford Academy were selected. Both are both part of the Westford Academy Choral Program: Adharsha Ramesh, selected for Treble Choir (one of 11 students selected from Massachusetts); Alejandro Mejia, selected for Mixed Choir (one of 20 students selected from Massachusetts) Congratulations to both of these students and also Karen St. George, director of the Westford Academy Choral program. • Eight Westford Academy musicians were accepted into the Massachusetts Music Educators Association 2021 All State Festival. Students from around the state are eligible to audition for All State if their Senior District score is in the top 50%, which is extremely competitive especially during this unprecedented year. The following students were accepted: Alex Franklin, chorus; Alice Guo, orchestra; Mia Kuo, orchestra; Amelia Margetts, orchestra; Alejandro Mejia, chorus; Adharsha Ramesh, chorus; Jillian St. George, chorus; Marvel Zheng, orchestra Congratulations to our students and also to Karen St. George and Kenneth Culver, directors of the Westford Academy Choral and Orchestra programs. • Please join me in congratulating the following musicians who auditioned and were accepted into the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Junior Festival, which is composed of students in Band, Orchestra and Chorus in Grades 7-9 from the Eastern District of Massachusetts. With over 550 students auditioning, only 305 were accepted this year and include the following Grade 9 students from Westford Academy: Emma Ditmars, Orchestra; Yiwen Lin, Band; Corleigh O'Connell, Chorus Congratulations to Kenneth Culver, Michael Soo and Karen St. George on their outstanding work! • CONGRATULATIONS to our ALL NATIONAL Honor Choir participants! Adharsha Ramesh (Alto) and Alex Franklin (Bass) participated in an online music festival with music educators and students from all over the US and have submitted recordings for a virtual performance coming this spring. Guest clinicians for the event last week included Eric Whitacre and Wynton Marsalis. • CONGRATULATIONS also to Adharsha Ramesh (alto) and Alejandro Mejia (bass) for their selection to the ALL-EASTERN Treble and Mixed Choirs, respectively. They will participate in virtual programs in March and April. All-Eastern Music Festival includes all states along the eastern US seaboard. • Please join the art department in congratulating the following student artists for the awards they received in the 2021 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition. Alison Chen, grade 10: 3 Silver Keys, 2 Honorable Mentions; Diya Godavarti, grade 11: 1 Honorable Mention; Dawoon Jung, grade 12: 1 Silver Key; Margaret Lepeshkin, grade 12: 1 Gold Key; Hana Usmani, grade 10: 1 Silver Key; Mikayla Wagner, grade 10: 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key; Patrick Zheng, grade 12: 2 Gold Keys, and Best in Sculpture. pg. 5

All Gold Key work is currently being reviewed at the national level by a panel of creative professionals. • Congratulations to Westford Academy students: Sadie Green, Laurie Lee, Kyla Schultz and Thomas Sanders for having one of their new plays selected for production in the Boston Playwrights' Theatre's prestigious Ten-Minute Play Festival, The Boston Theater Marathon. They will now collaborate with Boston area theater companies to realize their work in a month-long event that celebrates New England Playwrights and generates revenue for a very worthy beneficiary: The Theater Community Benevolent Fund. Their plays will be produced alongside the work of nationally renowned playwrights including: Melinda Lopez (Huntington Theater Playwright in Residence); Kirsten Greenidge (Playwright Laureate of Boston); and Lowell's own, Jack Neary. In addition to the honor of a professional production, Sadie, Laurie, Kyla and Thomas will have their plays published in the BTM XXIII anthology that will be released later this year. Please join me in congratulating their remarkable achievement and be on the lookout for their work! Sadie Green's, ONE CREAM, ONE SUGAR; Laurie Lee's, OKAY; Kyla Schultz', TADPOLE TO TOAD; Thomas Sanders', ON LOCK.

Health and Wellness • The Herren Project - Please join us in congratulating two amazing juniors for their work with the Herren Project. In the fall Urvi Sehgal and Lauren Whelan were both named Youth Ambassadors for the Herren Project's board of 16 students from across the country! They both wrote a piece for the Herren Project - Urvi wrote "Why Showing Yourself Love & Appreciation is Important" - and Lauren wrote what "BE YOU" means to her! If you would like to check out their pieces and photos on the Herren Project website, click here: https://herrenproject.org/category/youth-ambassadors/ If you would like to know more about what it means to be a Youth Ambassador for the Herren Project, click here: https://herrenproject.org/youth-ambassadors/ • Melanie Jozokos (WA) has been identified as one (1) of ten (10) people nationally by The Herren Project that truly represents the "Power of One - One Vision - One Person - One Family - One Community - One Decade". This theme is part of The Herren Project's annual appeal. Melanie and Westford Academy have been identified to represent the community piece. Melanie and Westford Academy have been an integral part of The Herren Project's prevention message since the beginning. Melanie recently participated in an interview with The Herren Project, where she shared a little about herself, her journey with The Herren Project, and what The Herren Project community means to Melanie. • Kaitlyn Rybicki (WA) was recently named the 2021 Spirit of Purple Winner by The Herren Project. To read more about Kaitlyn and her contributions, as well as her accomplishments, please visit The Herren Project's website and The Spirit of Purple 2021 section of the website.

Social Studies • Modern American History teacher, Christopher C. Gorham, signed a deal in May with Kensington Publishing for his forthcoming biography of Anna Rosenberg, a confidante of President Franklin Roosevelt who became the second highest-ranking woman ever to serve in the U.S. government. The previously untold story will be released in late 2022/early 2023.

World Language • Jen Ganley and Kristin Morris have once again volunteered to partner with a visiting teacher who has been selected for the US Department of State's Fulbright Teacher Excellence and Achievement Program. They will be collaborating for 6 weeks with a teacher from Argentina and one from South Africa while these teachers are visiting UMASS Lowell. Their guest teachers will virtually attend 5 WA classes and will also teach some lessons for our WA students. We appreciate Jen and Kristin's willingness to share their time and expertise and their openness to learning from these highly skilled educators from other countries. • Westford Academy participated in the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy program for the second year. This award recognizes students who are biliterate in English and another language. This year 19 seniors were awarded the Seal of Biliteracy and the Seal of BiIiteracy with Distinction in the following languages: Arabic, French, German, Latin, Portuguese and Spanish). • World Language students participated in the National German, Latin, French and Spanish Exams once again this year. Gold and silver medals were earned by 35 Freshman, 34 sophomores, 23 juniors and 17 seniors.

Class of 2023 • The Class of 2023’s Thanksgiving Pie Fundraiser was a huge success! With the support of our generous Westford community, we were able to contribute to our local economy by ordering over 350 pies and breads, ninety of which were donated to Westford families in need and the Open Food Pantry of Greater Lowell. On behalf of our Class Officers President Eric Plankey, Vice President Todd Bonica, Secretary Sophia Keang, and Treasurer Krishna Vasiraju, the Class of 2023 extends our heartfelt thanks to the Westford community! Class of 2023 Co-Advisors Scott Cruikshank and Amanda Everett

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Ghosts & Goblins • Ghosts & Goblins was started by Betsy Murphy years ago and Melanie Jozokos took over as the coordinator 3 years ago. We weren't sure if this program would even run this year. However, after several planning meetings and countless emails the program began on December 15th and will run until April 13th. Students interact in small groups with Ghosts (WA students) as mentors and Goblins (Day school students) once a week for 45 min to 1 hour while Trish Sampson and Melanie Jozokos are in a central Google Meet for questions and drop into the breakout rooms randomly. There are currently 82 students involved! The high school students have really taken this leadership role seriously and are getting as much (if not more) out of the program than the elementary school students. It is truly wonderful to know that these students are all getting to interact and have fun instead of being isolated.

Athletics Westford Academy Winter & Fall2 2021 Athletics Accomplishments • Swim & Dive - WA Girls continued their dominance winning another DCL Championship! CONGRATULATIONS!! The WA Boys also had tremendous success finishing 2nd in the DCL. • - WA Gymnastics completed a great season by being co-Champions in the DCL! Several school records were broken this season. Freshman Maggie Murphy was named the DCL Gymnast of the Year! Congratulations to all our WA Gymnasts!! • Alpine Ski - WA Boys team won the DCL Championship! CONGRATULATIONS!! Both the Girls & Boys Alpine teams had great seasons. We are so lucky to have Nashoba Valley Mountain in our hometown. • Nordic Ski - WA Girls & Boys Nordic Skiers were out on the trails enjoying the great winter weather. The Meets were different this year but the athletes competed and did a fantastic job. • Girls – Our Girls Volleyball team competed in the Fall2 season. Even though spectators were not in the gym, the energy level was high for every game. Fortunately, the season was capped off by a memorable “senior game” in front of their senior families! • Football – WA Football finished 3rd in the DCL with a 3-2 regular season record and completed a safe season. It was great to see and hear Trustees Field hosting football with spectators, cheerleaders and the WA BAND in attendance. Thank you to the WestfordCAT for televising our home games live TV. • Indoor Track - WA Indoor Girls & Boys Track finished their “outdoor” Fall2 season and competed in a few “virtual” Track Meets. It was great to see our athletes training to get ready for their Spring season. • – Our WA Cheer team showed great school spirit at our football games. Their “Game Day” halftime performance highlighted their athleticism and creativity. • WA Athletics successfully televised games on WestfordCAT and live streaming on Instagram. WA Athletics will continue to increase media visibility on various social media outlets including Twitter @WAGreyGhosts, WestfordCAT (live broadcasts & YouTube channel as well as on Instagram @wa_live_sports

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