State of Service at SEM

Kyle Hopkins, Community Service Board Faculty Advisor

June 4, 2018

Adapted from Kyle Hopkins's Community Service Awards address in Morning Meeting on May 30. The state of Community Service @ SEM is good! And, there were a lot of new things happening! This year, with Katie Gibbons at the helm, the Community Service Board launched a new initiative - Servi...

We Liked It, and Put a Ring on It!

Tess Rine, Contributor

May 21, 2018

Class rings are one of the most traditional and iconic aspects of someone's high school experience. Whether it's Danny giving his ring to Sandy in Grease or SEM juniors giving each other rings there is great meaning within that hunk of metal. The concept of class rings has a 183-year long history ...

Who Done It? SEM Freshmen Know

Grace Heidinger, Contributor

May 7, 2018

Friday, May 4, the Class of 2021 hosted the first ever murder mystery party at SEM. Eva Maines, along with the help of her class officers, wanted to do something nice for their class as the year winds down. So, they organized a murder mystery party. The class collectively voted on Beauty Pageant Mystery...

When in Pittsburgh… And You’re Not on a College Tour

Grace Heidinger, Contributor

April 23, 2018

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also known as "The Steel City" and more recently "The City of Champions" is filled with everything from unique neighborhoods to tasty restaurants. As for the geographic aspect, three rivers flow through the city: the Ohio, the Alleghany, and the Monongahela. Where there are...

Licensed to be Independent

Tess Rine, Contributor

April 9, 2018

High school is filled with milestones: college acceptances prom and graduation, to name a few. The biggest milestone currently underway for many SEM students is learning to drive. To be licensed is to be independent. Many SEM seniors enjoy the wind in their hair during free periods but how did they...

Babel Book Babble Sparks Spirited Discussions of Nguyen’s “The Refugees”

Jocelyn Yang, Contributor

April 9, 2018

One of the rites of this spring in Buffalo is to meet Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen when he reads from his short story collection The Refugees at Just Buffalo Literary Center's BABEL series on Friday, March 23. at Kleinhans Music Hall. Born in Vietnam and raised in California, Viet Thanh ...

Student-Organized Protest for the National School Walkout

Tess Rine, Contributor

March 19, 2018

On January 14, 2018 Nikolas Jacob Cruz, age 19, attacked Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Flordia with a AR-15 style semi-automatic weapon. In the end,  17 people were dead at the hands of a mentally-ill former student with a gun. Unimpeachable facts. America is once again left in...

First Song by Caroline Smith Is Only the Beginning

February 5, 2018

Caroline Smith '18 started writing songs in her sophomore year at SEM. She recently released her first song, Memories, produced by St. Joe's senior Jack Ohle. The song is part of her demotape for college applications she made in the fall. "Creating the melody is the hard part," Caroline said. She pla...

Surprise Student Breakfast

Melanie Jaskolka

February 5, 2018

  Last Wednesday, SEM students enjoyed the fruits of a successful fundraiser for the SEM annual fund.  Chef Alex treated them to muffins, pastries, yogurt, and yes,  fruit. Before the winter break, the Development Office challenged parents to raise at least 50 gifts for SEM's Annual Fu...

Buffalo News Stories by SEM Students

Erin Kelly, Managing Editor

January 22, 2018

The SEM Weekly publishes the work of the journalism class and other interested student contributors. Some of them also contribute to NeXt, a section written by teenagers that runs once a week in the Buffalo News. Who are our NeXt contributors? Julia Beck '20, Peyton Wagner '21 and Elisa Yi '18. They...

How Bazaar!

Tess Rine, Contributor

December 18, 2017

December 9, 2017 SEM's Holiday Bazaar took place. Bazaar, an annual festivity, allows both local and SEM student vendors to sell small items that are perfect for seasonal gifts. Bazaar supports local artisans and SEM clubs - it is the only official time a year that clubs can fundraise. Baza...

Snowball: Did the Playlist Ice it?

Tess Rine, Contributor

December 12, 2017

Snowball, formerly known as date dance, took place in Buffalo Seminary's chapel on Saturday, December 2, from 7 to 10 pm.  Since then it has been the talk of the school. While many students raved about the experience, others said the night was a disappointment - all because of the playlist. A...