Student/Teacher
Spotlights
Cedar Novak - 9th Grade Student at WDS
The man, the myth, the legend. You know him as the lead in the Woodstock Day School musical. Cedar has loved music and performing since he was a little boy and now he has fulfilled his dream of becoming a lead in a minor musical. Q:Tell me about yourself? A:My name is cedar novak, I'm 13 years old and I love acting so I auditioned for the WDS student musical, little shop of horrors and I got in. Q:What do you do? A:Well Robyn, I didn't just get into the school musical, I got the lead role in the school musical. Q:What do you hope audiences will take away from your portrayal of seymour? A:Since the musical was announced and I first saw the cast list, I saw that the character of Seymour really reminds me of myself so I think I can bring a lot of my personal experience into the role. Q:Are there any themes in the play that resonate with you? A: There are not many themes in the story that resonate with my life but I find the idea that you should be careful what you wish for makes a very interesting story. Q:What made you love acting? A:As a child growing up in a co-housing community, I was always putting on small plays with my neighbors. But what really got me interested in acting was when I was 7, my mother signed me up for an audition to marry poppins and didn't tell me until the day of, I got the role of michael banks. I had a really great experience and i've loved being in musical theater and ever since then I have loved to act Q:How old were you when you did your first role? A:7 Q:Take me behind the scenes for a second, what are your relationships with fellow actors like and what is the environment for the cast? A:The environment is really great. I honestly like staying afterschool for the musical more than going home because when you are not on stage having a great time acting you can be having a great time practicing and hanging out with friends. My Co-stars, CJ and Ruby are both amazing as Audrey and you can see us perform April 19-21st. Q:What inspires you as an actor? A:My entire family really, but my grandma especially loves and supports my acting career and whenever I enter a room she stops what she's doing to yell, “THE ACTOR!” Q:What's your favorite musical? A:Little shop of horrors Q:Do you think you could pursue acting outside of Woodstock Day School? A: Yes Q: And finally, why should people watch the play and what should we expect from our lead actors? A:I think that people should watch our play because we give so much effort in performance, our lead actors have given blood, sweat and tears to make this possible and it's gonna be great.
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Georgia Amenoff - WDS Alum
Q: What is your name? A: My name is Georgia Amenoff Q: What grade are you in and how old are you? A: I am in 12th grade and I'm 18 years old. Q: What’s your favorite utensil? A: Tongs, those are funny. Q: How did you get into fashion? A: I’ve always loved fashion and have been inspired by seeing people dress in experimental ways and doing so myself so I’ve always been passionate about it. Q: How did you get into singing? And how are you such an amazing singer? A: I don’t know how I’m amazing at it, It’s just a gift. My grandmother and my mom are also great singers so it may have been passed down. I’ve always loved singing but I really started to show my singing off around 9th grade. Q: What do you want to do professionally? A: I would either want to be a fashion stylist/designer or a singer. Q: What is your current favorite album or musician of all time? A: My favorite musician of all time who I’m also in love with is Bruno Mars. Some of my other favorite artists are Amy Winehouse, Ye, Bob Marley, Young Thug, and Mac Miller. Q: What childhood tv show or movie do you feel spiritually connected to? A: Jesse. Which teacher has helped you the most? Dana and Elisabeth Perez Which middle school grade is your favorite? 8th grade and the preschoolers. Do you have any advice for people going into highschool? Make sure you Have fun! Do your homework! ( Especially for Elisabeth Perez's class) and don't rush yourself, be a kid for as long as you can because highschool and life goes by very fast so take it in while you can!
Wyatt Reu - Middle & Upper School Spanish Teacher
Q.What is your favorite snack and/or food? A. My favorite snack is chips. I’m a chip addict, I love kettle brand air-fried chips particularly. My favorite food right now are Turkish eggs (Two poached eggs over a bed of greek yogurt and garlic and dill, with chili olive oil on top, and a side of crusty bread.) If you haven’t tried them, I highly recommend it. Q. If you could talk to/eat lunch with anyone in the world, alive or dead, who would it be? A. Dead, maybe Socrates or Confucius. Alive, Barack Obama, I’d have a lot of questions about being president. Q. What subjects do you think you could teach (besides the one you do) and why? A. I think I could teach Philosophy, probably History, and Gym. I think Gym would be lots of fun to get to teach. Q. What is your favorite part of being a teacher? A. The students. Q.Why is education important? A. To quote John Dewey, education is life itself. I’d say it’s a structural part of education, one of the great joys of life. Q.If you hadn’t become a teacher what career path would you have followed? A. Maybe a writer or a translator. But I do think if you choose to follow one job you won't do that forever. Q. What was the last song you listened to? A . A neo-grunge song by the band Superheaven, I can’t recall the name. Q. What have your students taught you? A. I think what I'm learning from my students is the value of being prepared and seeing how much is possible in a 45 minute class when students are eager and ready to learn. Q. What was one of your classes’ funniest moments this school year? A. The funniest was a joke about “artesanias”—it's hard to explain but my 10th graders will understand. The funnest was speed dating on Valentine’s Day with made up characters. Q. What keeps you going through the day? Caffeine, sugar, the promise of a free period, all of the above? A. Caffeine and going outside. I love that there’s so much sun.
Ruby Bar-Illan - Senior at WDS
Q. What’s your favorite subject? Why? A. My favorite subject is music because it feels personal to me and its how I express myself. Q. What’s your go-to daily lunch? A. Honestly chicken. My mom always makes chicken and there’s always chicken in our house. Q. What do you love about WDS? A. I guess the small classes. I came from a public school where it was 30 kids to a class. Q. How would you describe your fashion style? A. Baggy? I don’t know, I just grab whatever’s in my closet. Sometimes I color match. Q. What’s your favorite event of the school year? A. I have two. Prom, and Adelia’s Senior Project Class. Q. What’s your dream career? A. Something music related, or ceramics. Music-art education. Q. What’s your favorite musician/songwriter/artist? A. The Beatles and Tyler the Creator. Q. What’s your secret talent? A. I can wiggle my ears. Q. How would your friends describe you? A. Ruby's friend Adelia: She's very nice, like the nicest person ever, and forgiving, very calm and a nice presence to be around. Q. What book are you currently reading? Do you recommend it? A. I don't really read books, but Love and Gelato is a great book. I would recommend it if you’re looking for romance books, and Ivy and Bean is great too. Q. What are you planning for your senior project? A. Emotional power of music, how it affects our emotions. I wrote two original songs and I’m having a concert. Q. What advice would you give to upcoming seniors? A. Honestly just enjoy your senior year. You probably will want to get out of this school, but make memories with your friends and have fun.
Adelia Bream - Senior at WDS
Q. What’s your favorite subject? Why? A. Art electives because that’s what my main interest is. Q. What’s your go-to daily lunch? A. Usually an egg salad sandwich. Q. What do you love about WDS? A. I like the inclusivity and the teachers' relationships with students are good. Q. How would you describe your fashion style? A. Normal? I don’t really think about my fashion style. Q. What’s your favorite event of the school year? A. Right now, probably Ivy’s 5K run, I walked and got a medal. Q. What’s your dream career? A. I want to be an art teacher. Q. What’s your favorite musician/songwriter/artist? A. Frank Ocean. Mostly r&b. Q. What’s your secret talent? A. Horse-back riding. Q. How would your friends describe you? A. Ruby BI: She’s very bubbly and very kind and funny as well. Q. What book are you currently reading? Do you recommend it? A. I’m not currently reading any, but I recommend Long Way Down by Jason Renalds. Q. What are you planning for your senior project? A. For my project I researched the effect of how our education reflects K-12 students. Q. What advice would you give to upcoming seniors? A. Take time with your work and make sure you put effort into it.
Lexi Kasper - 10th Grade Student at WDS
Q. What’s your favorite subject? Why? A. Math, because it comes easily to me even if I’m confused and it’s a new subject and it gives me a confidence boost. Q. What’s your go-to daily lunch? A. I struggle with lunches but always a lettuce bag, with EXACTLY three pieces of lettuce (plain, romaine lettuce) in a ziplock that you pinch close, a main course and some snacks, but it varies. Q. What do you love about WDS? A. A lot of things! The music programs are VERY nice, unlike public schools where they stunt creativity classes like ceramics and it's an open campus which is amazing. Q. How would you describe your fashion style? A. I like to say I have four moods: emo goth, stereotypical gay man, cowboy, and androgynous hippie. Q. What’s your favorite event of the school year? A. I’m torn between the musical and concerts. Q. What’s your dream career? A. My dream career is s musician/actor (musical specifically). Q. What’s your favorite musician/songwriter/artist? A. It changes daily, but currently Slip knot, cave town, basement dweller. Mostly alternative and indie. Q. What’s your secret talent? A. I’m good at keeping things hidden. I’m also really good in the forensic field. I’m generally good at ways to not get found out. Q. How would your friends describe you? A. Gratia: Lexi is the kind of person that when you see them it makes you want to smile. cedar: she’s short. Q. What book are you currently reading? Do you recommend it? A. I just finished reading Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and the Iliad. Q. How long have you been acting? A. I’ve been rehearsing for the musicals since 7th grade but unfortunately I got covid the weekend before tech week so I couldn’t be in the Adams family. My first acting in the musical was in Shrek jr. playing Lord Farquaad. Q. What would be your dream musical/role? A. I unfortunately only know 8 musicals, but I think my dream musical would be Noel from rye the cyclone because he’s a gay man and I really like playing gay men.
Gratia McTigue - 9th Grade Student at WDS
Q. What’s your favorite academic subject? Why? A. You know, I really like science, it’s fun. I like it because I like learning about how your body works and how the world works and I think Beckett is a great teacher. Q. What’s your go-to daily lunch? A. Peanut butter and Nutella sandwich Q. What do you love about WDS? A. The community is great, its like a family. Especially when you’re in a small class. The teachers are great and everyone’s so kind. Q. How would you describe your fashion style? A. My fashion style is basic, comforting, functional clothes. Q. What’s your favorite event of the school year? A. The musical. Q. What’s your dream career? A. Performing in any way—dancing, singing, acting. Q. What’s your favorite musician/songwriter/artist? A. You know-Jordan Fisher Q. What’s your secret talent? A. Forging people’s handwriting. Q. How would your friends describe you? A. Cedar: Gratia is a very talented person. A lot of talented people are bad people, but Gratia is the opposite. She’s very honest and kind. Q. What book are you currently reading? Do you recommend it? A. I'm reading the Bible for English, book of genesis. Read it if you want to, I don't think it should be forced upon you, it’s a hard read, if you have the right mind and headspace for it you should read it. Q. How long have you been acting? A. I’ve been acting since I was in 2nd grade. 2nd grade was the first time I did a musical and it was robinhood. I was a mermaid in Blackbeard the next year, which was really fun. Q. What would be your dream musical/role? A. Eurydice from Hadestown or—well, the accent would be tough but Jenna from Waitress.
