Westover Celebrates Centennial

Centennial celebrations beginning in April 2009

10/21/2008

Westover Begins its 100th Year

MIDDLEBURY --Westover opened for its 100th year on Sept. 2nd, a year that will lead up to the formal kick-off of its year-long Centennial celebrations beginning in April 2009.

At the School's Convocation on Sept. 4th, Head of School Ann Pollina reminded students, faculty, and staff members present in St. Margaret's Chapel about Westover's upcoming Centennial by reading a description of the School's opening days in April 1909, taken from the soon-to-be-published book Westover - Giving Girls a Place of Their Own. A history of Westover's first 100 years, it is written by alumna author Laurie Lisle '61.

For the past decade noted author and alumna Laurie Lisle '61 has been busy gathering research on and writing the history of Westover's first 100 years. The book will be published in January 2009 by Wesleyan University Press. Laurie is the author of two biographies, Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O'Keeffe and Louise Nevelson: A Passionate Life, along with several other books.

In her remarks, Ann called on today's Westover community to reflect and preserve the rich legacy of the School's founders who had the vision to found "a beautiful community of women consecrated to the sacred work of education."

Westover's Athletic Director Tiz Mulligan (P'06, '08) was this year's Convocation faculty speaker. Tiz recalled the "sparks" present in her own high school experiences -  teachers and coaches whose love of learning, challenging natures, and open support - were "the kind of spark that lights connections and creates relationships." During the coming school year, Tiz told the students, "Let your intellectual curiosity be ignited, light the desire of a challenge, fire the furnace of competition, and most of all the spirit of compassion and care for your fellow human beings."

Jenna Littmann '09 was this year's Convocation student speaker. Jenna spoke about the experiences she has had in her first three years of Westover that have helped her to become more confident and to be more open to taking risks. "After my experiences during my freshman and sophomore years," Jenna noted, "I realized that risk is not always as risky as it seems. Had I not made some uncomfortable choices, I know I would not be who I am today." She encouraged her fellow students to have a goal this year: "try at least one new thing this year and see how you like it. Join a new club or try a new sport ... And until you try, you will not know yourself."

The School opened for its 100th year with a total of 206 students, drawn from 18 states and 18 countries. In addition to both day and boarding students from around Connecticut, American students have come from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and Vermont.

Foreign countries represented among the student body include Australia, Austria, the People's Republic of China, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, and the Netherlands.