Kelly Anderson

After more than 20 years of providing Sidwell students with a forum to show off their talents, the school’s monthly Arts Guild open-mic night has broadened its appeal by attracting different kinds of performers and performances, according to organizers. “Recently students have made it more inclusive and a safer place to perform as opposed to having to be super proficient at [their act],” says David Merlin-Jones, the current faculty adviser for the event, which is considered a student-led club. “We have people who are refining their act and just want to perform in front of other people something they wrote, and there are also people up there who have never sung in front of an audience before and they’re just getting over their fear of speaking in public.” Started in the 1980’s by a small group of students, the event originally only featured folk acts, and was largely reserved for upperclassmen to perform, says Merlin-Jones. More recently, however, it has grown more diverse in th...

Kenny Coleman '16 spent long hours knocking on doors, sorting through loads of paperwork, and talking to voters who were not always receptive to hearing about why they should support Hillary Clinton – but the 2016 Sidwell graduate says it was worth it. “I learned that grassroots organizing for political campaigns is very tough,” Coleman said. “I remember being yelled at and doors being slammed in my face. But I also learned the power of one -- the idea that getting one more volunteer involved, one more person registered, or one more person committed to vote can go a long way. So although the campaign trail can be tough, I was always inspired to continue working because of how high the stakes are in this election.” Coleman was one of a handful of recent Sidwell graduates who spent the summer working on political campaigns. Like Coleman, Lee Doyle ’16 volunteered with the Clinton campaign in Virginia, helping to register voters, make calls for phone banks, and canvassing neigh...