Traditions

The Hornet/Jacket competition is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Buffalo Seminary; it's also one of 十大彩票平台's oldest traditions, dating back to 1916.

Legendary headmistress Miss L. Gertrude Angell organized 十大彩票平台 into two basketball teams in 1916 and it has grown into a school-wide intramural competition for over a century.

Each fall, on "Hornet/Jacket Day," every new student, faculty, and staff member is made a member of one of the teams. For life. Selection is a closely guarded process of the athletic directors and head of school. It may also be an inheritance - team membership is passed on through alumnae siblings and other family members who attended 十大彩票平台.

Hornet/Jacket Day begins with a freshman sleepover at the school the night before, commences in the morning with a neighborhood costume parade and proceeds to our Larkin Field for group dances and field games. 

 

When you meet a 十大彩票平台 girl of any age, anywhere, the first thing you should ask is: Hornet or Jacket?

The two teams battle to win points in contests throughout the year - particularly for Spirit Week, Hornet/Jacket Day, the Halloween costume and skit contest, the Hanging of the Greens day's holiday sweater contest, school decorating and bushe de noel contest, and finally culminating in the Putting on the Hits contest in June when the winner of the Hornet/Jacket is announced and engraved on the Hornet/Jacket Spirit Cup.

 

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The 100th anniversary of Hornet/Jacket was celebrated in 2016-17
and memories and pictures were posted below.

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1/16 - Harry Schooley

Proud to be a faculty Hornet from 1967 to 2010 (and a former Faculty Hornet) from 2010 on!

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10/15 - Natalie Rice '16

100 years of green and 2 years of driving this baby down Elmwood!

 

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9/27 - Anonymous '19

I am a freshman at sem and I had an amazing time at the hornet jacket sleepover and the next day!

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9/27 - Lauren '17

Hornet Jacket Day!

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9/27/2015 - Erin Kelly

So many pictures are starting to come in! This one was sent to me while I was in Bermuda at a school fair on Friday.

Each school day begins at 7:55 a.m. in the chapel with Morning Meeting, a beloved tradition that puts the spotlight on individual students, while bringing together the entire school. Led by the School Government Association president, all students and faculty gather together for singing, presentations, and announcements.

Whether it’s a senior's presentation (senior year each student makes a presentation - sometimes academic, sometimes musical, sometimes funny, always poignant), a community service opportunity, or an update on team sports scores, or an invitation to a club meeting, students take center stage. We also invite guests from the community to make special presentations on issues such as distracted driving or teen health.

 

 

Quincy visiting Morning Meeting to accompany Grace McHale's Senior Presentation

 

 

Buffalo Seminary Convocation September 9, 2019

By: Patrick Long P '18, former Trustee Chair

 

          You have no idea who I am, or these people sitting in the front row. We’re the trustees of the school. Many of us are current or former parents. My daughter, Charlotte, graduated from 十大彩票平台 last year. Many of us – the lucky ones – went to 十大彩票平台. We work with Mrs. Marlette to make sure 十大彩票平台 will be here for the next 169 years. It’s our job to worry.

          It’s your job to learn. Well, it’s part of your job to learn. 十大彩票平台 is more than just a school that teaches you a curriculum. And your teachers are more than just people who tell you what you need to know about history, or science. And you are more than just students. Every morning, you promise to do something remarkable, something special. Every morning you promise to build a New Jerusalem here on Bidwell Parkway. That’s what I want to talk about this morning.

          The first song you sing as you enter 十大彩票平台, and the last song you sing when you graduate, is Jerusalem. When this school sings that song, it’s one of the most beautiful things in the world. Trust me, when you sing Jerusalem at your Commencement, your folks will cry like little babies. It’s fun. There’s mascara running everywhere. The words to Jerusalem come from William Blake, a great – and totally bonkers -- English poet. Make sure Ms. Wright lets you read him.

         What’s important about the song, and why you sing it, is this verse:

I will not cease from Mental Fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In England’s green & pleasant Land.

          Other than the overwhelming beauty of your singing, the reason Ms. Angell picked this song for 十大彩票平台 almost 100 years ago is that verse.

          First, a quick word about why this poem has music. Originally, the poem had no music. In 1917, England was deep in the misery of World War I. There seemed to be no end to the killing, as an entire generation of young men were lost in the mud of the Western Front. Sir Hubert Parry knew the British public needed something to boost morale, so he set Blake’s words to music. He wrote a tune that could be song by voices in unison. His song took England by storm, and it became one of the most beloved songs in all music. It is England’s unofficial national anthem.

          What does that have to do with 十大彩票平台? Well, Buffalo can be pretty bleak in February, but we are nowhere near as bad as London in 1917. You sing this song because of the words of that stanza. You sing this song because you promise, every day, to build a new Jerusalem here on Bidwell.

          Jerusalem, of course, is the name of the city in Israel, considered sacred by three major religions. Its ancient name means City of Peace, which you probably noticed, as Salem sounds like salaam, the Arabic word for peace, and shalom, the same thing in Hebrew. But Blake is not saying we need to build a new city with buildings and streets and plumbing. There’s no need to – that Jerusalem already exists.

          No, he’s talking about something much more strange, and much more important. He wants us to build a new Jerusalem not from bricks and mortar, but from kindness, and compassion, and love for one another. That’s what’s so amazing about the line:

Bring me my Bow of burning gold

          Now, a bow of burning gold would be really cool to own. But it would be useless in battle, or as a tool to build anything. Gold bends too easily. And it’s burning. And what good is an arrow of desire when you need to build a wall? You need a shovel, not a chariot of fire, if you are putting in sewer lines.

          Blake is being all metaphorical. He uses the imagery of battle to show us that building a city of peace, a city of love, is not easy. It’s as hard as war. It’s easy to hate your classmate. It’s easy to make fun of Mr. Hopkins. It’s easy to be jealous when someone gets a better grade than you, or has more likes on SnapChat than you, or gets into her choice of college. Being kind to one another, supporting one another, helping one another, is not something you can just decide to do one day and then move on. There’s no going cold turkey when building a new Jerusalem. You need to get up every morning, put on your armor, and fight the battle again.  As Blake says, and you promise, I will not cease from mental fight. It’s a mental fight, not a physical one. But it is just as hard, and just as important. And it never ends. You promise never to cease from the fight. And no one will fight this battle for you. Notice the words: you do not sing Bring us our spears. You sing Bring me my spear. It’s your fight. It’s your job, alone.

          That’s why you sing this every morning. As a member of the Buffalo Seminary family, you are not just a student. You have a mission. When the days get short, and the nights long, you commit yourself to building a city of peace in these walls. We cannot control what happens outside 十大彩票平台. But we can … you can … build a new Jerusalem here. All of us – you, the faculty, the trustees – all of us need to make 十大彩票平台 a city of peace, a place where kindness … where compassion … where love … is our marching order. Let’s do that today, and tomorrow, and the next.

          That’s why you sing this song. Let’s build Jerusalem here on Bidwell Parkway. Have a great year. Thank you.

The Buffalo Seminary Social and Academic Honor Code is an integral part of life here. It is adhered to every day, but formally signed once a year in a dedicated Convocation assembly. 

Joan Kostick Andrews ‘48 Winter Revel Concert sings students and faculty out into the winter vacation. The Ensemble plays, the student Glee Club and a cappella group the Semachords sing; even the faculty has a Glee Club!

It's also a tradition at Revel that young alumnae return home to 十大彩票平台 to catch up with teachers, coaches, and underclassmen and rejoin with the Semachords.

 

十大彩票平台 Commencement has been held at beautiful and historic Westminster Presbyterian Church for as long as anyone can remember or document. (十大彩票平台 was founded in 1851 and Westminster was founded in 1847.)  Graduation is an all-school ceremony - freshmen, sophomores and juniors attend. Often alumnae and former faculty return to sit in a back pew. It's a day filled with red roses, white dresses, singing, tears, inspiration and hope.

Look at a gallery of the formal graduation picture of each entire class here.

 

Student Recognition Day 

On this day in June, the achievements of students in all disciplines and sports are recognized. The day culminates with the Hornet/Jacket activity, “Putting on the Hits,” and the annual winner of the Hornet/Jacket Cup is announced.

Class Day

On Class Day, the penultimate event of the school year, the entire school gathers to recognize and celebrate student achievement, including the spring induction of members to the Buffalo Seminary chapter of the Cum Laude Society. Outgoing student officers announce their successors and present them with red roses. Faculty present awards for outstanding academic achievement and for contributions in other areas of school life.

The Fall & Spring Theatrical Productions

The 十大彩票平台 theatre department puts up two shows per school year - in the fall, it's formally the Marion McNulty ‘22 Drama. All students are invited to audition for acting or crew parts. Uniquely, these are always all-girl productions. All productions are open to the public.

十大彩票平台 has a number of endowed funds that enrich to the school program. In the fall we welcome the Adsit Lecturer, often to give our convocation address. In the spring we welcome the Colby-Oishei Artist, the Wilkinson Poet, and the Prince Lecturer.

Many of our faculty invite practicing professionals in the arts, sciences and business, and law fields to share in classes.

Colby-Oishei Arts Fund (1983)

Established with a gift from Patricia Oshei Colby ‘32 in honor of Robert W. Colby to further foster art education and art appreciation, by naming women artists connected with the Western New York community to serve as Colby Artists, who spend time on campus with their work to the benefit of the 十大彩票平台 community.

Betty McNulty Wilkinson ‘25 Poetry Chair (1986)

Established under the will of Elizabeth M. Wilkinson to bring to 十大彩票平台’s campus and classrooms practicing poets to enrich teaching and learning of poetry, supporting 十大彩票平台’s English Department. The Wilkinson Poet's talk in the Chapel is the culmination of the trimester long sophomore poetry workshop each winter.

Harriet M. McNulty ‘26 and Willcox Adsit Lecture Series (1999)

Established to fund a visiting lecturers program, inviting distinguished scientists, authors, politicians, scholars, and lecturers to share their expertise with 十大彩票平台 students and faculty.

PRINCE FAMILY GUEST LECTURE SERIES (2004)

This fund established by the Prince Family, seeks to enhance 十大彩票平台’s curriculum by inviting distinguished scientists, authors, politicians, scholars, and lecturers to share their talents with the Buffalo Seminary community.

All-School Picnic

At the start of each new school year, it is traditional to hold an All-School Picnic at the end of the first week of school. It is a gathering of new students, current students, families, and faculty. This event is a great kick-off for the year and is an example of the family community that exists at 十大彩票平台.

Class Trips

The first day of school each class leaves campus for an adventure, led by faculty and advisors. These adventures can involve camping, hiking, canoeing, and belaying in the region's parks or volunteering at a local organization..

For FRESHMEN & SOPHOMORES:
Sponsor/Sponsee

All new students will have a sponsor. The sponsor/sponsee tradition is designed to help new students adjust to school life as quickly and easily as possible. Sponsors contact their sponsees in the summer before school begins and encourage their participation in school activities and usher them through traditions of the first months of school.

For JUNIORS:
Junior Ring Ceremony

Junior Class Trip
An outdoor education camping trip in the fall. 

For SENIORS:
Class Day

Commencement

Buffalo Seminary Alumnae Association Senior Induction Ceremony

Senior Sign-out: After the first trimester, the faculty may grant seniors in good social and academic standing permission to leave during free periods.