Congratulations to Latin students Elisa '25 and Daniel ‘25 for their recent achievements!

Elisa won first place in the New York Classical Club's Recitation Competition. There were over 30 competitors this year. Elisa's flawless rendering of a passage from Vergil's Aeneid dazzled both the judges and the competitors. She will be honored at the upcoming NYCC's spring lecture where she will perform the winning recitation. This is the second year that Elisa has earned an award at this competition.

You may read more about Elisa in a profile published earlier this year.

We also want to acknowledge the other members of the talented recitation team. The judges were genuinely impressed by all of the student performances.

Prose Recitation: Will ‘25, Eli ‘27, Ines ‘27, Geneva ‘27

Poetry Recitation: Elisa ‘25, Alex ‘27, Mia ‘27, Samantha ‘27

Daniel won third place in the New York Classical Club's Translation Competition, Ovid Division and he will be honored at the upcoming NYCC's spring lecture.

We also want to acknowledge the other members of the fantastic translation team. Upper Schoolers worked diligently in preparing for the competition. Although many schools do not allow underclassmen to participate in this competition, Friends believed that even our youngest scholars were up to the challenge! 

Caesar – Division I: Aliyah ‘26, Mia ‘27 , Finn ‘27 

Cicero – Division II: Wesly ‘26, Jonah ‘26

Ovid – Division III: Will ‘25, Daniel ‘25, Elisa ‘25

Vergil – Division IV: James ‘24,  Zaylen ‘25

Horace – Division V: Jenny ‘24, Reza ‘24, Hayden ‘24

Last March a group of eight Upper School students, accompanied by Kirsti Peters and Peter traveled 2,500 miles to Vancouver Island off Canada’s Pacific Coast to examine the balancing concern for the environment with the realism of humanity’s need for natural resources. The week-long trip, which was organized by Friends’ Center for Peace, Equity and Justice, focused on the logging industry in and around the area and the tensions and challenges facing the Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, and Coast Salish bands of First Nations. They engaged with professional foresters, urban farmers, and aquaculture experts as well as leaders and storytellers within these Indigenous communities. The spring break program was at once a calming departure from bustling New York and a unique opportunity to connect and bond with each other in a deeper way outside of school. 

On the first day, students enjoyed a beautiful ferry ride into Victoria in the morning and spent the day exploring the area. They split into groups for a scavenger hunt around the area and their guide shared the history of the First Nations people in Canada. The next day the group headed to Nanaimo where, with the help of Canadian guides, they dug further into the history of First Nations people. The following day students visited an artisan store that specializes in selling eclectic indigenously-created artwork made by First Nations people, as well as a museum featuring a collection of artifacts from all over the world. The visit inspired insightful and critical discussions on how indigenous work and artifacts are shared and displayed, and how individual collectors and institutions treat them.

Mid-week, Upper Schoolers enjoyed a guided tour through an 80-year old forest and logging area by a second-generation resident to Vancouver Island. He encouraged the group to explore their own ideas around what we think the purpose of the forest is, the usage of land and how people perceive its history. He also shared indigenous ways of thinking about our needs and purpose in life. Afterwards, they visited an urban farm where they planted vegetables, plants and created a home for bees. The trip concluded with kayaking, canoeing, and a memorable whale watching experience in addition to historical walking tours and thrifting.

Rabia ‘26 explains, “I thought that the trip to Vancouver was amazing because it was well planned, the perfect size, a good balance between seriousness and fun, and it had a variety of activities and good discussions based on those activities. I think that one of my favorite parts of the trip was when we walked along the trail of a logging site in silence. We spaced out so that we were together, but we were allowed to be in our own minds. I think that another aspect of the trip that I really enjoyed was the conversations that were sparked from these activities as well as the down time afterwards. Overall, I loved the trip so much and would love to go on another school trip again before I graduate!”

The Friends Global Education Program encourages Upper Schoolers to think of themselves as participants in and shapers of a complex and ever‐changing world. The Program strives to foster real world engagement through strategic partnerships and global immersion experiences based on values of mutual respect, cross-cultural understanding, equity, and justice while teaching the value of travel for the purpose of education, perspective taking and connection.

“I am deeply appreciative to Kirsti and Peter for encouraging our students to leave their home environment and comfort zones and supporting a meaningful experience for this curious and intrepid group of students. I am also deeply impressed by these students! They brought curiosity, flexibility, critical thinking and open minds to this journey that truly resulted in new discoveries and perspectives.” explains Kara Kutner, Director of the Center for Peace, Equity and Justice.

For the third year, 14 juniors and seniors in Jesse Pasca’s Advanced Studio class exhibited a diverse array of works at the Caelum Gallery in Chelsea on May 9. This culminating show reflects a range of deep and considered work. The students explored a variety of materials, interrogated the larger culture, asked questions of themselves and their own identities and produced beautiful and provocative works. 

Advanced Studio is the Visual Arts Department's capstone course, designed for motivated students interested in any artistic discipline (photography, film, painting/drawing, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, fiber) and eager to fully explore their creative potential. Upper Schoolers began the year with two exercises, a memory project and an exploration of a randomly chosen contemporary artist. These exercises helped to form a foundation of experimentation, critique, and a broadening of their conceptualization of what they might explore for their own vision. Interwoven into these exercises is the close analysis of a diverse collection of modern and contemporary artists, transecting race, gender, and geography, that stimulate discussion and drive students' personal investigations. 

By the start of the second semester, students worked towards defining a Concentration Project of their own design that explored an area of artistic inquiry for the remainder of the year. This Project was a deep-dive into an area of personal interest for the student and allows for the full development of both conceptual ideas, processes, and materials. The work they exhibited is a testimony to their persistence, dedication to the creative process, and intellectual curiosity. Their range speaks to their individual voices and approach, and prompted a multitude of questions to consider.

Jesse Pasca explains “In the spirit of the community we forged together in the classroom, I want to thank the students most of all for showing up for themselves and each other as they recognized the importance of art and the power it has to help shape our perception of the world. I want to acknowledge the privilege I have had in teaching these artists this year, but our whole department is a part of their excellence. These artists are committed to being a community that challenged and supported one another.”

Below are the featured artists and their statements.

I have always found fountains fascinating. The contrast between the movement of water and the unchanging, fossilized vessel in which it flows. While fountains are usually beautifully ornate sculptures that complement the organic flow of water, I was more interested in creating tension than balance. Read the full artist statement here.

My collage is composed of trash. Covering each collage is a flap, also made of garbage. I am interested in both environmental concerns (how if we continue to fill our world with trash and be wasteful, much of the beauty of our world will disappear) and how to transform the trash itself into beauty. Read the full artist statement here.

In my embroidery series, I delve into the enigmatic realm of the red string theory, where the interconnectedness of human lives is woven into the very fabric of existence. Each piece in this series is crafted entirely from red string or shades of crimson, embodying the essence of this mystical concept, also known in Chinese as yuan fen. Read the full artist statement here.

Throughout this project, I aimed to explore the lens through which I saw the world as a child. Each of my drawings is inspired by a specific memory, and how it has warped over time. But this is not necessarily about memory, but about rediscovering artifacts of perception to explore how moments and experiences are lost over time and what it means to reimagine them. Read the full artist statement here.

Throughout my high school experience, my identity changed from a girl to a woman. I have been really interested in investigating how my identity has shifted over time. All my art aims to represent some part of this journey - both of my own maturation, and of the female experience. Read the full artist statement here.

Walking through New York City, I wondered about universal experiences for all its inhabitants. With millions of people witnessing the same trees, how do we each individually recognize it as such? There is no singular and essential symbol of “tree,” yet upon hearing that word, a static image comes to my mind. How does this association work in terms of recognition? In constructing this giant “stump” from cardboard, I explored how the greater form of a “tree” translates as well as finer details like color variation in bark and roots come through separately. Walk around. What do you recognize? Read the full artist statement here.

For this work, I have been exploring themes of nostalgia and memory, and how reality and imagination can be blended within someone’s memory of the past. I wanted to make pieces that skirt the line between truth and fiction, both in terms of memory as well as physical reality. Read the full artist statement here.

I am really interested in hands, and how they can express meaning and affect people. I experimented with a lot of different places to put the plaster hands on the mannequin, and I want to use each hand as a message whether it is one of the larger hands resting on the shoulder of the mannequin or a differently colored hand reaching from the waist. Read the full artist statement here.

With this piece, I delved into exploring the idea of my private life being viewed through the public eye. Read the full artist statement here.

I want to bring attention to the mask that women feel the need to put on. I have always been drawn to the 1960s because of the style, the music, and the art of the time. However, this era was also marked with toxicity in beauty standards and ideas of what it meant to be a woman. Read the full artist statement here.

Through the creation of this collection of pieces, I aimed to visually represent some of my specific fears. I have generalized anxiety which greatly impacts my experience of the world and often affects my ability to do any number of tasks. Due to my condition, I have always had certain fears, specifically, the fear that inspired this project, fear of the dark. Read the full artist statement here.

My thesis project is an exploration of Dominican heritage and identity. I specifically wanted to focus on Dominican culture in New York because that’s the culture I’m most familiar with and because I think it’s an extremely interesting dynamic. Read the full artist statement here.

For this work,  I use prints and patterns to play with how the viewer sees depth and perspective. I experiment with simplistic 3 dimensional forms, flat space, and large, angular images. I used the prints to flatten out the image that was originally conceived within three-dimensional perspective. I am interested in what is changed with both the bold colors, the use of negative space, and the flattened out perspective. Read the full artist statement here.

In recent years, more than 5,000 books — in particular, books like "Beloved," "Maus," and "Gender Queer" that focus on marginalized communities — have been removed from school districts around the US, and made unavailable to millions of students. Concerned about the impact this has on children, acclaimed producer Sheila Nevins who at the age of 84 is making her directorial debut – responded with “The ABCs of Book Banning,” which has been nominated this year for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. The film centers the voices of young readers, revealing their poignant insights on the dangers of book banning and their feelings about the outsized impact it will have on their access to reading material of all kinds. 

On Friday, February 23 The Center for Peace, Equity, and Justice (CPEJ) welcomed Nevins to the Upper School for a screening of “The ABC’s of Book Banning,” followed by a conversation moderated by Ruby ‘27 and Sam ‘26. During the screening, the audience was introduced to 101-year-old Grace Linn as she squared off against the Martin County School Board for banning 84 books, including The Storyteller, a novel about the Holocaust that chronicles the growth of anti-Semitism and fascism in Nazi Germany. According to officials, this book ban was the district’s effort to comply with a Florida Department of Education directive as part of the implementation of the 2022 House Bill 1467. Linn is a symbol that “it’s never too late to do anything,” Nevins divulged. “She never says ‘I can’t.’”

Many of the books that have been restricted or banned that are highlighted in the documentary are books that have homes in the CPEJ and Friends Seminary Libraries, including Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb,” Art Spiegleman’s Maus, The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas and children’s picture book And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. 

Nevins ended the assembly by taking questions from the audience on her research and creative process. “Ban nothing, discuss everything,” Nevins explained.

Afterward, students gathered in the CPEJ classroom during lunch to write letters to government officials about book banning laws across the country. 

CPEJ is grateful to parent Liza Barnett Fefferman (a producer on the documentary) for bringing Sheila and her film to Friends. 

In today’s rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world, Friends is dedicated to interdisciplinary programming founded in open dialogue, deep connection, and knowledge-sharing. To teach these important global competencies, Kara Kutner, Director of the Center for Peace, Equity and Justice, is spearheading a new approach to global education on 16th Street. 

This past fall, the School welcomed five exchange students from Colegio Sant Ignasi in Barcelona, Spain. These intrepid students were hosted by students Ayla ’26, Bode ’26, Clara ’26, Jeff ’26, Jane ’25, and Safira ’26 and their families. Visiting students enjoyed Upper School classes and immersed themselves in the Friends community and traditions like the God’s Love We Deliver bag decorating event, Meeting for Worship, and the Thanksgiving assembly. Students also visited Leading, the new James Turrell skyspace, providing a spiritual setting conducive to silence and contemplation.

They also took in many of the City’s cultural attractions with a trip to the United Nations, a Circle Line cruise, a visit to the Statue of Liberty, holiday ice skating at Brooklyn Bridge Park, and an evening of theater watching Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway. Exchange students also spent the Thanksgiving holiday with their American counterparts.

Kara and her counterpart in Spain worked diligently to find the most compatible pairings that would support each other fully. One of those pairings was placing Carlota with Jane ’25 and her family. For Carlota and Jane, this new Spanish Language Exchange program provided an exceptional opportunity for friendship and formal and informal learning opportunities both in and outside of the classroom. Not new to exchange programs—she studied in Ireland as well—Carlota noted the distinct difference in the programs and the care in connecting her with a host family. Carolota saw a “big sister” in Jane. 

“My dream has always been to study in New York,” Carlota explains. She was keen to attend an American school and fully enjoyed her full Friends’ schedule of English, Chemistry, Algebra, History and Visual Arts classes.

Next month Jane will travel with five other Friends to reside with their host families, attend school daily at Colegio Sant Ignasi, explore the amazing city of Barcelona and work to hone their proficiency in Spanish. 

Jane explains “Attending school there will be a new and different experience unlike anything I’ve done before, and a good way to improve my Spanish.” Jane is an avid language enthusiast. In addition to her French classes at Friends, she continues her life-long study of Spanish outside of the School, visiting Chile last summer as an effort to build her intercultural competencies and language proficiency. 

Reflecting on the success of the program so far, Kara shares, “It has been really impressive to see how both the Sant Ignasi and Friends Seminary students are not only experiencing language immersion and cultural exchange, but really learning to lean into the challenges of this kind of experience—especially at the start—with open minds and generous hearts.”

Activists and Friends students Reza ’24, Elinor ’24 and Jahzara ’25 are at the forefront of positive change past 16th Street. 

They are members of the Youth for Equity and Solidarity Council (YES Council), the NYC Commission on Human Rights’ council of young leaders who are interested in working on human rights issues in New York City. They work alongside other young leaders to advise the Commission on how to expand engagement with young people and help guide youth programming and events by providing feedback on workshops and trainings, informing the Commission of issues and incidents related to bias and discrimination, and planning youth-related events. Their hope is to build long-term engagement with young people interested in and committed to the mission of the NYC Commission on Human Rights, and to empower young people to become actively engaged in fostering environments of inclusion and respect. 

On Wednesday, December 6 the United Nations celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The celebration featured the three students, and their fellow peers were able to attend their presentations alongside other members of the YES Council. Topics ranged from addressing mental health to educational inequity. 

Jahzara ‘25 explains, “Children shouldn’t have to change for the system. The system should change for them.”