Freshmen Must-Sees

Andrew Friel, Managing Editor
August 30, 2016

With yet another class of freshmen entering WA, the Ghostwriter has decided to put together a list of must sees for freshmen for the beginning of the school year. As a freshman, you may feel as though you should not care about school events when you are just a “frosh”, we believe from experience that being involved in school events early on in your high school career can help make this tough transition fun and enjoyable.

Sports

Of course, one of the easiest events for all WA students to attend is sporting events. As the year begins, sports such as football, soccer, field hockey, and girls’ volleyball have already begun. Football is by far the most attended regular season sport among all WA sports. With a decent playoff run last season, as well as returning star quarterback Connor Deganhart, the Ghosts should be poised for another run.

You can also always count on boys’ and girls’ soccer to make a break for the playoffs, as well as provide substantial entertainment throughout the regular season. Often times, both teams will host a doubleheader when playing rival opponents, charging admission and such to create more excitement around the game. However, soccer also has many late afternoon and early evening games providing the same level of excitement for free, as well as a chance to enjoy the fall weather. These facts also ring true for field hockey, and both varsity teams play on the recognizable Alumni Field.

Girls’ Volleyball also has great timings for their games, often hosting their best games for a price but have a long schedule to begin the year. With the excitement surrounding boys’ volleyball last spring, the girls’ should expect a larger crowd than usual. This fast paced sport is more exciting than many realized initially.

Sports are an easy way to begin your involvement in the culture at WA, and they often bring the school together like nothing else.

WATA Events

WATA (Westford Academy Theater Arts) generally puts on one main production and one Black Box theater production in the first few months of the school year. Last year, the comedy “Young Frankenstein” was insanely popular with all students, drawing large crowds of all kinds of students and parents.

The Black Box is a small classroom sized theater next to the flag lobby, and often hosts entirely student run productions, with seniors directing the lower classes in these small plays. Last season,  now graduated senior Maia Cataldo directed the student run production of “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds”.

This year, the first main production will be The Servant of Two Masters and the first black box play will be Ride, directed by senior Emily Trantanella.

Overall, WATA is an amazing theater program that has excelled in the last few years, and you can expect nothing less in the upcoming production season.

Music Department Events

The fantastic WA music department hosts a variety of events throughout the school year. Some of these events include Listening Lunch and the Winter Concert.

Listening Lunch is one of the more unique events hosted at WA. As long as there are enough participants, students are welcome to bring their lunch upstairs to the library to listen to a variety of musical acts. Anything from solo singing, to bands are welcome to perform, and any student can attend during their lunch block. This is both a great way to get involved as well as see what hidden musical talent lies within WA.

While later on in the year, the WA bands, chorus, and orchestras showcase their talents in December of most years. This three hour concert showcases not only the honors version of most music courses, but also the CP classes as well, so that students can see a wide range of abilities and music. The concert is often a mix of Christmas and holiday themed music, as well as regular concert music.

The music department at WA can often be overlooked with sports and WATA in the way, but freshmen should take note early of the utmost quality of this department and their school events.

Club Events/Other events

There are events that are either connected to a club at WA, or are just run by the school but are just as quality and are must dos for any freshmen!