On Saturday, Dec. 15, Alex Li auditioned successfully for All State Chorus!  This is an amazing accomplishment, especially for a 10th grade student. As a result of his successful audition, Alex has been invited to join the All State Chorus at the Festival, Feb. 28-March 2.  The Festival includes two jam-packed days of rehearsals culminating in a concert in Boston’s Symphony Hall the afternoon of Saturday, March 2.

Catherine M. Kay
Widdigers Director
Chamber Orchestra Director
Middle School Chorus Director

Editor’s note: Read more about Li and two other students who were accepted to Massachusetts district festivals earlier this month.

The cast list for The Laramie Project is listed below. I can say without a doubt that we have compiled a group of terrifically thoughtful and passionate actors who are prepared to share this incredible story with our community.

The following students were not assigned roles. In The Laramie Project, there are 62 characters presented in a number of vignettes the playwrights call “moments.” The play is designed for actors to play multiple roles (it was originally done with eight actors) so each member of our company will play three or four roles.

January 25-27, the cast will also have a weekend intensive workshop with Scott Barrow, a New York-based director and member of the Tectonic Theater Project (the creators of The Laramie Project).

Emily B. Ditkovski
Director of the Williston Theatre

Editor’s note: The Laramie Project runs from April 25-27 and May 2-4 at 7:30 pm in the Williston Theatre.

The Laramie Project Cast

Laura Aptowitz
Gabe Byrd
Oliver Demers
Melissa Falcone
Brendan Hellweg
Kat Kaisla
Zack Maldonado
Denison Marsland-Rello
Laura McCullagh
Livvy Milne
Mairead Poulin
Harry Shea
Alex Starzyk
Matt Steinberg
Calvin Ticknor-Swanson
Persis Ticknor-Swanson
Rachel Wender
Ryan Wilkie
Ezra Wool
Mackenzie Zehring

Congratulations to Haoshu Xu ’13, Alex Li ’15, and Cara Hudson-Erdman ’17!  After auditioning for the  Western Massachusetts District Festivals, held at Westfield State University and sponsored by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association, Xu was accepted into the Western Massachusetts Senior District Orchestra; Li to the Senior District Chorus; and Hudson-Erdman  to the Junior District Band.

Xu, Li, and Hudson-Erdman will now spend two Saturdays practicing with their respective groups before performing in concerts at the University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center on January 12 and March 16, for the senior and junior districts, respectively.

Continue reading →

by Nate Gordon ’16

As the final horns sound on this 2012 Fall Athletic Season, let’s take a look back at how Williston’s teams did this season. Williston competes in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) in District D-4, along with rivals Deerfield Academy and Loomis Chaffee.

Overall, at the varsity level, Williston teams had a combined 46 wins and 39 losses, giving us a .541 winning percentage. “Each season brings its share of successes and challenges, but I thought we had more than our share of successes,” says Mark Conroy, Director of Athletics.

Williston is the only Class B school in Western New England that had both their Varsity Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer teams and Varsity Field Hockey team qualify for the NEPSAC Playoffs.

Continue reading →

Christian Knapp ’14 was recently among 28 students from Massachusetts to be elected to two-year terms on the statewide youth council to replace outgoing members. Knapp will represent Hampden County.

Knapp told the Springfield Republican that he “wants to work on some suggestions to increase high school graduation rates, reduce youth violence and bullying and increase youth access to the governor and legislators.”

Read the full article.

Each week the Athletic Department honors “Athletes of the Week”. Players are nominated by coaches for their efforts and performance the previous week. Please extend your congratulations to these athletes of the week!!

Meg Fay ‘15 – Varsity Field Hockey
Bailey Gawron ‘14 – Boys Varsity Soccer
Maisy Glick ’15 – JV Field Hockey

To read more about these athletes, please go to the following link:
http://willistonblogs.com/athletics/