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Spring Showcase Never Disappoints!
audience clapping

Emma Willard School’s Spring Showcase returns to celebrate our students’ pursuits during 2025–2026 school year with an exhibition of Signature projects, Emma Artists performances, and a Jestermester retrospective.

Signature offers juniors and seniors a capstone experience to deepen their knowledge in an area of their choosing. Students devote the year to research and experimentation, culminating in a tangible deliverable and a Spring Showcase presentation to the entire school community. During the showcase, students explain their original goal or hypothesis, how the project evolved throughout the year, any conclusions, and what they learned throughout the process. To learn more about the 72 Signature projects presented at this year’s showcase, click here. Be sure you click on the categories to view the students’ posters and follow the QR codes to see more details about their work!

 

A woman speaks into a microphone in front of a large screen displaying a video clip, with a laptop on a stand before her, all set against a backdrop of large windows.

Yoonah L. ’27 presents on her documentary film project, Before We Arrive: The People Who Sustain Emma. She interviewed many of the “behind-the-scenes cast” who make Emma work.

 

A woman presents her final deliverables on a screen in front of an audience, with a laptop and microphone on a stand.

Juliet P. ’27 talks about her deliverables for her project, Chronic Illness Diaries: Helping to Navigate the World With a Chronic Illness Diagnosis.

In the foreground, three young women sit at a table with name tags, while a large projection screen with a geometric pattern fills the background.

Abbi P. R. ’26 fields a question about her project, The Dominican Diaspora: A Study of How American Race Relations are Projected onto Latin America

 

The Emma Artists program is for talented students in music, dance, theatre, and the visual arts who wish to advance their studies. Klingentstein Concert Hall was filled with dancers, choreographers, instrumentalists, and vocalists, while Bennack Theater played host to a film screening. Visual artists hosted a dessert reception during which they made themselves available to talk about their creative process. Each student shared their background and inspiration for their pieces in their artist statement, which can be found here. 

A young woman plays a grand piano on a wooden stage in front of a black curtain, with an audience visible in the foreground.

Shutong Phoebe Z. ’28 delivers a spectacular performance of Rachmaninoff’s Prelude, Op. 23, No. 5.

 

 

a dancer in a black and blue ensemble

Kamryn D. ’26 performing an original dance she choregraphed entitled "Waive," featuring "Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer," composed by Stevie Wonder and performed by James Blake

 

Two young women examine artwork displayed on a white wall, with a blurred hallway visible in the background.

Students study the art on display in Dietel Gallery.

Jestermester, which occurred the first full week of March, was filled with excitement, ingenuity, and a curiosity for learning. During Spring Showcase, students and faculty presented their experiences to the community. The excitement was contagious as students, parents, and faculty filled Kiggins to hear detailed explanations and see photos and outcomes. To read more on the Jestermester showcase, click here.

 

 

A young woman with brown hair sits at a table with a laptop and water bottles in the foreground, while other people stand and sit behind her in a room with wooden paneling.

Katya B. ’27 represents the “Art from Art” Jestermester, sharing a slideshow from the week.

Four young people in baseball caps pose in the foreground with a blurred poster in the background.

Gemma R. ’27, Hazel L. ’27, Keemayaa J. ’27, and Shayla B. ’27 display stuffed sheep, remembering the many, many sheep they encountered on their biking trip through New Zealand—Lord of the Bikes: The Fellowship of the Bike.

Two young people stand in the foreground holding robotic devices, with a projector screen and wooden stage in the background.

Annie P. ’27 and Nigel L. ’27 show off the aquatic SeaPerch robots they built in the “Marine Mavericks” Jestermester.

 

Congratulations to all students who presented or performed at this year’s Spring Showcase—your work is an inspiration to our community!

 

Continue to explore the Spring Showcase here and find more photos from the day on SmugMug. 

Special thanks to Liz Lajuenesse ’91 and Communication Committee members Jihyo J. ’27, Michelle L. ’27, and Maela N. ’26 for their assistance with the day’s photography.

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