Class Spotlights
Featuring News from this year's
High School and College Graduates
Congratulations to Westfield's Class of 2020 graduating HIGH SCHOOL this year! We've been in touch with them and they'd like to share some of their news.
Olivia Arnold '20
Asked about any favorite Westfield traditions or memories, Olivia expressed, "My favorite tradition was probably Field Day or the Easter Egg Hunt. I also enjoyed going to Meeting for Worship every Wednesday."
As advice for current Westfield students, Olivia offered, "I would say just to enjoy your time with your friends and make a lot of memories with your class before you move on to high school."
Julia Brown '20
Julia currently attends Moorestown Friends School where she is involved in the Swim Team and STEM Club. While she has already finished her 50 required service hours, Julia has plans for more volunteer work, as she told us “I am going on a service trip next month to Peru where I’m volunteering in a village.”
In regards to college, “I have two options that I’m looking at right now, but I am waiting on a few more acceptances. I will probably major in Environmental Studies and go Pre-Law.”
When asked about her favorite traditions or memories, Julia said “I really liked Quaker Fridays and Mrs. Cope’s 6th Grade Science class.”
Julia hopes that current Westfield students will “take advantage of the small community and make friends with everyone because it really goes a long way, especially as you get older and enter into bigger communities.”
Silas Canelas '20
Silas currently attends St. Joseph’s Prep where he plays lacrosse, is in the Spanish and Latin Honor Societies, and
received first honors for his high GPA. To achieve his school’s service requirement, Silas went on an immersion trip to Texas where he worked with migrants across the border.
Regarding college, Silas plans to attend the University of Miami in the fall where he will major in either Finance or Computer Science.
Some of his favorite Westfield memories and traditions include field trips to Williamsburg and Washington D.C., making paper chains for Christmas, and having Pre-K buddies. 
When asked to give advice to current Westfield students, Silas responded, “Appreciate the education you’re getting. You’ll be prepared for high school. Take advantage of the education you’re given.”
Aurelia Harp '20
Aurelia currently attends Camden Catholic where she is very involved in the Performing Arts. “I am in the theater program, choir, and a bunch of music stuff.” She also holds a leadership position in the Green and White Society. To fulfill her school’s service requirements, Aurelia canters at school masses, helps with summer camps, and goes on retreats.
As for college, nothing is set in stone for Aurelia. “I’m not sure exactly where I’m going, most likely either Syracuse or Penn State, but not confirmed. I want to study Music Education.”
When asked about her favorite Westfield memories or traditions, she responded, “I really liked our school trips in Middle School and our Middle School dances; I thought that was a fun way to bond with smaller groups of people rather than the entire school.” 
The advice that Aurelia would offer to current Westfield students is to “cherish your time there because it may seem like it's taking forever to be an 8th grader, but really it goes so fast. Cherish all of the memories you make there.”
Ian Morley '20
Ian currently attends St. Joseph’s Prep where he plays rugby and is involved in two different film clubs. His school requires 75 service hours, and one way he met that requirement was through a service trip. “Last summer I got to go to Arizona to the Navajo Nation. It was for a week and we volunteered at a summer camp at St. Michael’s Indian School where we helped out around the campus. It was called a service trip but it was honestly a lot of fun too.”
Although he is waiting to hear back from a few schools, Ian has an exciting prospect. “I have an interview with Columbia for this international program. I’m kind of surprised they invited me for an interview but I hope that works out well. If it does, I’ll spend the first two years in Dublin, Ireland at Trinity College.” He hopes to study film and economics.
When asked about his favorite Westfield memories or traditions, Ian expressed, “I’d definitely say the Christmas plays and the variety shows—those are some of my favorite school memories.”
Ian suggests that current Westfield students “Take every day as it comes, even if you feel stressed out about school work. Just remember that it all goes by so fast; I’m a senior right now and it does not feel like I graduated eighth grade four years ago. It feels like it was yesterday. I can’t say I have any regrets, but I would definitely say that they should all just remember how fast the time goes and take advantage of every moment they have.”
Landon Smith '20
Landon currently attends Holy Cross Prep where he plays soccer, lacrosse, wrestling, and golf. He is also on the board for the National Honor Society. He achieves his 12 required service hours in many different ways. “We can help teachers, sign up for the open house and walk parents around. We also do mum sales for soccer, make sandwiches for the homeless—there’s a bunch of stuff.”
Regarding college, Landon shares, “My two options are between Loyola in Maryland or Rutgers New Brunswick. I’m going to apply to business schools. And then after, probably law school.”
Landon thinks fondly of his Westfield science classes. “When we did labs in science class, that was fun.”
Landon directs his advice to current Westfield Middle School students. “Stay friends with each other when you go to high school. Even though you’re in Middle School, schoolwork still matters. Maybe figure out what you want to do—see what subjects you like a lot and what you want to do in the future.”
Congratulations to Westfield's Class of 2016 graduating COLLEGE this year! Here is news from some of the graduates.
Jeremy Girgis '16For high school, Jeremy went to Bishop Eustace. He expresses that he enjoyed his time there. “Definitely got experience for college, the teachers were great, and I had some friends from Westfield come as well so that was nice. It also had the faith and religious aspect to it, so that was nice.”
He now attends the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy through Saint Joseph’s University. While he enjoys studying pharmacy, he is not entirely sure of his future path. “With pharmacy, there’s so many different ways to go about it. There’s so many different avenues you can go into and I haven’t been exposed to all of it yet, so I haven’t been able to get a good grasp on what I want to do yet.”
Jeremy thinks fondly of his time at Westfield. “Here and there I think back on Westfield and how grateful and blessed I was. In the moment you never really realize it, because I was so young. I just really enjoyed my time.” Some of his favorite memories and traditions are theater productions, Meeting for Worship, field trips to Williamsburg and Washington D.C., Field Day, Pre-K and 8th-grade buddies, Quaker Fridays, and music presentations. 
When asked about what advice he would give to current Westfield students, Jeremy said, “Really give in to the community and the love around you, and to build a friend group and build a connection with the teachers. That sense of community was just really important. And of course, be studious, pay attention, do the work because it’s beneficial and it just builds for the future. You don’t think it does, but it really does. The lessons you learn when you’re younger are definitely building blocks for the future, for sure.”
Alexandra Kinsey '16
Alexandra attended Moorestown Friends for high school. She now goes to the University of Delaware where she studies Cognitive Science. Alexandra is heavily involved in one of her school’s service projects, UDance. “It’s a year-long effort that culminates in a 12-hour dance marathon and throughout the year we have smaller events to raise money for the Be Positive foundation, which is a local nonprofit in Delaware and we raise money for childhood cancer. I’m actually one of the co-executive directors of UDance this year. I started off my freshman year in the freshman program and then I was on a committee; last year I was on the executive board and now I’m leading the executive board. It’s an amazing experience.”
When asked about her plans after college, Alexandra explained, “I’m taking a gap year before going to grad school. The plan is to either go for occupation therapy or physical therapy. I’ve taken all the prerequisites and they kind of cross over so I just have to decide what I want to do. I’m starting to look into different grad school programs. Over winter break I worked as a physical therapy aide at an Ivy Rehab clinic back at home and that’s what I’m going to be doing during my gap year as well.”
About her favorite Westfield memories and traditions, Alexandra mentioned, “I definitely always looked forward to Quaker Fridays, especially when it got to be 8th grade and we got to lead the groups. And of course, the Williamsburg and Washington D.C. trips were so much fun–especially the D.C. one.”
She suggests that current Westfield Middle Schoolers not be too hard on themselves. “It’s hard to understand at that age but, especially in 8th grade, I was really hard on myself, because most of the high schools people go to you have to apply and take a test to get in. So, I think I put way too much pressure on myself as a 12, 13-year-old to be thinking “oh if I don’t get into this high school, then I’m not going to get into a good college.” I was just thinking way too far ahead of it, so I would just say live more in the moment and just enjoy your childhood while you still have it.”
Zachary Kowalski '16
For high school, Zachary attended Bishop Eustace. He mused “It was kind of similar to Westfield in some ways—like smaller class sizes and we had something similar for Meeting for Worship once a month.”
He currently attends Whittier College in California where he double majors in Business Administration and Digital Music Production. At school, he helps out at the recording studio and plays pickleball.
Regarding his post-grad plans, Zachary says he will most likely explore “something to do with audio/sound design or audio engineering or audio mixing.”
Zachary’s favorite Westfield tradition is Field Day. He exclaimed, “It was the best day of the year!”
When asked to give advice to current Westfield students, Zachary offered, “Notice and appreciate the values they’re teaching you there. The values of being open to other people’s perspectives and being patient with other people were something they taught a lot at Westfield—just being good to other people. That skill alone has opened so many opportunities for me and led me on so many adventures—being patient with other people, giving other people a chance, being accepting.”
Catrina Laughlin '16
For high school, Catrina attended Bishop Eustace. She now goes to the University of Delaware where she studies Nursing and is in a sorority. She takes part in other co-corriculars as well. “I’m in the student nurses organization. I’m a part of UDance which is really cool. I used to work here at the student health center—that was a lot of mental health awareness but also physical health, and we did a lot of tabeling events which was cool.”
When asked about post-college plans, Catrina says “Right now I work at Jefferson in Center City as a nurse externist. I’ve been applying in the Philly area, so I might work at one of those hospitals maybe—Jefferson or Penn or Chop— I’m not sure yet.”
Catrina thinks fondly on her time at Westfield and has many favorite memories and traditions. “Me and my siblings still talk about Westfield today. I think it was such a good way to grow up and so many people didn’t have that. Probably my favorite things there were when we did plays for the holidays—Christmas and Thanksgiving and stuff. I also really liked having a buddy. And then Quaker Fridays where we would get together and do a different thing each Friday. I vividly remember around Christmas that Quaker Friday specifically was hanging up those decorations and those chains out of paper—that is ingrained in my mind forever because those were the best days of my life.”
Catrina hopes that Westfield students today appreciate their small class sizes. She notes that hers was only 20. “But I think looking back, it was such a privilege, almost, because I still talk to so many people from my grade now, frequently, or I see them around. I try to keep in touch. So I would say appreciate the closeness that the school gives you and the values it teaches you—I feel like I learned a lot of values from that school too. Looking back, it definitely gave me a great foundation growing up.”
Ishaan Mediratta '16
For high school, Ishaan attended Bishop Eustace. He enjoyed his time there.“It’s kind of like Westfield in a way since it’s smaller and you get to know people more personally.”
Ishaan now goes to The College of New Jersey where he majors in Interdisciplinary Business and minors in Economics. He likes the size of the school and how close it is to home. “I really enjoy it. It’s a little bit on the smaller side for college, but not super small. I really like the community feel here; it reminds me of Westfield in that sense.”
After college, Ishaan hopes to work in football operations. “I have a development series with the Eagles coming up and I’m hoping that leads to something. Last year I worked for the Phillies in baseball operations and at the same time I interned at an NFL player agency where I got to deal with the contracts of players.”
Ishaan thinks fondly of the traditions he took part in at Westfield. “Quaker Friday was definitely my favorite tradition; I feel like every Friday that was something I was looking forward to. And then the holidays– pumpkin carving, Christmas decorations–I really enjoyed that.”
When asked about what advice he’d give to current Westfield students, Ishaan suggested, “The time really flies by fast and it was so much fun. You meet a lot of great people and get to spend time with them every day, so you should take it in and enjoy it. Even if you’re there from Pre-K to 8th grade—10 years–it’s a long time but it doesn’t feel like that. I feel like some of my best memories were at Westfield, so I recommend just cherishing it and staying in the moment. You don’t realize how good it is until you’re done with it. I look back on it now and I am so happy I got to go there.”
Connor Reed '16
For high school, Connor attended Bishop Eustace where he really appreciated the atmosphere. “One thing I would often tell folks when I would help out open houses was that it was the perfect size for people coming from Westfield. It was a great size, I had fantastic faculty, and I think they embraced a lot of the same principles that Westfield embodied like community building and bonding.”
Connor now goes to American University where he studies Data Science for Political Science. “I’m staying an extra year to get my masters in Public Policy with a Health Policy concentration.” He has also interned on Capitol Hill for three different members of Congress.
After college, Connor plans to stay in Washington D.C. He will continue his work at his current job at Country First Academy—a program that helps individuals run for office.
Connor enjoyed his time at Westfield greatly, stating that his favorite traditions were around the holidays. He thinks fondly of the Christmas plays, the Nativity scene, and decorating the school’s Christmas tree. He also loved the mock presidential elections that occurred every four years; he thinks that this, along with Mrs. Parry’s history classes, helped him decide that he wanted to work in the political sphere.
When giving advice to current Westfield students, Connor hopes that they can be authentically themselves, stand by what they believe in, and embrace their creativity and passions.
Matthew Stone '16
For high school, Matt went to Bishop Eustace. He now attends the University of Minnesota Twin Cities where he stays involved on campus.“I’m involved with the undergraduate student board, the alumni board, and the Pre-Med club. I also volunteer at the university hospital and a nonprofit organization called Open Arms which is in the Minneapolis area.”
After college, Matt plans on going to medical school. “I plan on applying this upcoming cycle so I would matriculate Summer/Fall 2025.”
When asked about his favorite Westfield memories or traditions, a few came to mind. “I really like when we did the Spring cleaning—the outdoor cleaning. That was my favorite Quaker Friday for sure. The trips we took in Middle Schoool—Williamsburg and Washington D.C. — those were great memories too, especially the river boat cruise.”
Matt hopes current Westfield students will appreciate their time.“Take it all in and slow down. Life gets even realer after you graduate. Take the time to enjoy it and not worry about other things; just have fun.”