Extracurricular Activities at Sem - Wyoming Seminary

Making Memories:
Extracurricular Activities at Sem
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” goes the old proverb, but that’s
a condition few Wyoming Seminary Upper School students need to fear. Sem
students do work hard every day in the classroom, but the school’s extensive and
diverse extracurricular activities program allows them to play hard as well.
In the process, Sem students develop the time
management skills, talents and interests, discipline and
enthusiasm that enable them to succeed in their colleges and
universities, and later still in life.
Just ask Iain Flannery ’07, a senior literature and
religious studies major at Stonehill College, who credits his
involvement with Sem’s theater program, fencing club and
the Chorale and Madrigal Singers with teaching him timebudgeting
skills and discipline. In addition to serving as a
resident assistant and one of Stonehill’s Skyhawk mascots,
Flannery works as a teaching assistant for French literature,
as a tour guide for the admission office, as an organizer for
the college’s annual service trip to New Orleans and as a
coordinator for the Civic Ambassador organization which
brings in speakers.
International Food Night is an annual event at which
students prepare native dishes to share with the whole
school community.
Or Hannah Frantz ’09, a sophomore English major at
Gettysburg College, who spent a lot of time singing with
the Chorale and Madrigals and performing in the orchestra
and other ensembles while at Sem. Now she serves as the
program coordinator for Big Brothers, Big Sisters in the
Center for Public Service. She performs with the college
orchestra and chamber ensembles, works in a tutoring
program and takes master classes in flute.
“Being so involved in music at Sem helped me a lot,” she
says. “I learned to be responsible for doing what needs to
be done, how to appeal to and work with other people and
how to earn their respect. Those skills helped me get the job
I have now and put me a step ahead of my peers.”
“The value of my experience at Sem became apparent in
the first weeks of my freshman year. I felt very comfortable
in college because I had the discipline to maximize my time
and to choose what I wanted to do,” says Flannery.
Extra-curricular activities have been an important
aspect of Sem school life since at least the early 1900s,
when societies such as the Independent and Plattonian held
literary events and debates, and many students worked on
major publications like the Opinator and yearbook. Other
activities were athletic teams for boys and girls, public
speaking competitions, fraternities, sororities, and chapters
of the YMCA and YWCA.
Today the Upper School offers more than 60 clubs,
publications, and service and arts organizations to students;
students attending the Upper School are required to complete
a minimum of one participation (Excolo)credit per year.
In addition to nurturing students’ time-management
skills, Sem encourages students and teachers to create clubs
that reflect their own interests. The result is that Sem has
clubs and programs that are hard to find elsewhere.
Just a few examples of these include a cricket club,
which competed against a local Penn State team; the film
club, which hosts a film festival and has helped some
2