Holiday Season Celebrated at Numerous Assemblies

December 14 – This past week, WCDS celebrated the December holiday season in a number of different ways. Monday, there was a special assembly that included the lighting of the Advent candles, after which, Head of School Kathleen Grove spoke about the origin and meaning of Hanukah. Then, a select group of Latin students read the Nativity story from the Gospel of Luke in Latin, accompanied by slides of famous works of art illustrating the story. Then all Latin students assembled on stage to sing “Adeste Fideles.” Latin teachers Mrs. Welby Griffin and Mr. John McMahon next recognized the students who attended the Virginia Junior Classical League competition, where they won 110 awards!

Wednesday, December 12th, the school held its traditional Christmas Revels assembly, with school co-founder Mrs. Lynn-Tucker returning to lead the students in their merry-making. Following a prayer and the lighting of the Advent candles, the seniors took the stage to conduct “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” With much enthusiasm and laughter, the Class of 2008 led each grade in singing a verse and pantomiming the meaning. The first grade rose and sang, “A partridge in a pear tree” with arms held aloft and hands joined above their heads, the second grade then rose and sang “two turtledoves” while moving their hands in a flying fashion, and so forth, with the seniors modeling each verse. By the end of the song, all were laughing and cheering. “The Lord of the Dance” followed and concluded this traditional assembly. The upper school students lined the auditorium with joined hands, creating arches, and lower school students then joined hands and wove in and out, while everyone sang “The Lord of the Dance.”

Wakefield Country Day School Celebrates Christmas Around the World

Angels, wise men, shepherds and reindeer were but a few of the visitors to Wakefield Country Day School last Thursday evening. Led by WCDS’s talented music teacher Regine Roger, instrumental music teacher Mark Moccio, and accompanied by pianist Emma Sue Amos, the music department presented “Christmas Around the World” for the listening pleasure of a standing-room-only crowd of parents and friends who gathered in the Cowherd Auditorium on December 13th. The songs presented included holiday favorites from theUnited States, England, France, Germany,Italy and Spain, as well as traditional songs in celebration of Hanukah. Students in kindergarten through seventh grade sang their hearts out, joined at different points by the Wakefield band and the upper school’s show choir, the Wakefield Singers. The evening’s festivities opened with Joy to the World, and included such favorites as O’ Christmas Tree, Deck the Halls, Mele Kalikimaka, White Christmas, Silent Night, and Silver Bells. The evening’s singing ended with, We Wish You a Swingin’ Holiday.

College News

Congratulations to Marguerite Beattie who was accepted at both Reading University and Glasgow University in the United Kingdom, Joy Heddleston who has been accepted at Liberty University, Derek Perry who was accepted at Virginia Tech, and Katherine Russo who was accepted at Tulane University and awarded an $80,000 merit scholarship.

This year, eight WCDS students had winning entries in the Samuels Library Holiday Writing Contest: Grace Seaborn, Kathryn Phillippe, Tatumn Vaught, Monica Marciano, Brier Clough, Torri Sanders, Rachel Paulish, and Audrey Speer.