Happening on Campus

HAPPENING ON CAMPUSand off!

“We must strive to do ordinary things extraordinarily well. ” VENERABLE CATHERINE MCAULEY

WMA students showcase their talents outside the classroom through a full range of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities.

Tiger Pride Weekend

Our community united in Tiger Pride and celebrated school spirit from all over the greater Philadelphia area!

In place of our traditional Homecoming Saturday, we suggested that our families and alumni take the opportunity to spend outdoor family time together and offered a list of activities -- recommending everything from hiking local trails to pumpkin carving! We even sent Flat Stripes home with students so he could join in the family fun. Of course, we made sure he was equipped with his very own mask to stay safe and healthy!

“Even though we are new to Waldron and haven’t had the opportunity to participate in other Homecoming events, it was really nice to have Sudaan so excited to go out and show his Waldron pride, ” reflected Rochelle Humphrey-Burton, whose son is in second grade. “We typically go for family walks on the weekend, so it was fun seeing how we could incorporate Flat Stripes into our activities. We are looking forward to future years when we can celebrate with our new Waldron family. ”

In the spirit of Homecoming, we asked our families to get competitive and display their WMA school spirit through pumpkin decoration and scarecrow construction contests. The winning scarecrow was built by the Stadelman family (third grader Maddie and first grader William) with an honorable mention to Mrs. Kristine Maletta, her pre-k son Joey, and her youngest tiger cub. The award for the most WMA pumpkin pride went to second grader Leah Barrett and her family, with honorable mention to pre-k student Catriona Lake and family.

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Embracing Differences

Schoolwide Effort: Beautiful Christmas Pageant

Dr. Mykee Fowlin, a psychologist and actor, took our sixth to eighth grade students on a journey during a virtual performance of his program “You Don’t Know Me Until You Know Me. ” As part of our ongoing commitment to educating our students to embrace inclusivity, this moving presentation used storytelling to teach our students to celebrate differences and to use their individual talents for good.

The students learned through a mixture of poetry, costumed characters, and Dr. Fowlin’s personal stories of learning from his own ignorance and getting to know people from different walks of life over the years.

“I learned to be myself, ” reflected eighth grader Jaron McKie. “He portrayed characters and did impressions but was really being himself. If you stay true to yourself, you can make it far because you know who you are. ”

Dr. Fowlin ended his presentation with important words for the students: “Your pain can be transformed and used to make other people heal. You are not alone. Your life has more purpose than you see in the tiny box of now. ” We know our students will take these words to heart as they continue their educational and emotional journeys. We were happy to invite parents of our students to attend the program to foster conversations at home in addition to the teacher-led discussions held in classrooms.

We celebrated the birth of Jesus in a new way this year - with a pre-taped Christmas Pageant! It was a beautiful rendition of our typical on stage production that was able to be enjoyed by the entire community.

In years past, only our middle school students were involved in the Carol Night pageant. This year, the main narration and

portrayal was handled (as is tradition) by our eighth grade students. Students in first grade through eighth grade contributed by recording the songs played between scenes. All of this was done outside, while following our COVID safety protocols.

The communal spirit was felt by our students. “Recording our singing was fun, ” reflected eighth grader Kayla Strite. “There was more teamwork than usual. The whole grade was depending on one another, and that felt really good. ” Above: Eighth grade students create the final tableau. Left: A peek into sixth grade’s song recording process. Students were recorded outside for health and safety reasons!

School Store Goes Online

the Spirit Store is a Wear Store has moved…online! For the first time, the Spirit Wear solely virtual operation. Although the store was previously online for a brief period, families still overwhelmingly visited the store in person. This year, due to our strict safety precautions it was necessary to move our store online and has allowed us to increase our offerings and reach more alumni families across the country. Items are delivered to student homerooms, and picked up by, or mailed home to distance learners. New items are added seasonally. Show your Tiger pride by placing your order today at waldronmercy.org/school-store.