“SMILE!” calls theater director Eric Severson from the audience. On stage in the Sarah Converse Auditorium at the SPA Goodrich campus, the Summit Centennial Singers smile even harder as they dance through “Climbing Over Rocky Mountain” from The Pirates of Penzance. Wearing matching white dresses and holding parasols, the ensemble runs through their final rehearsal before performing for alumnae during the September 10th Summit School Centennial celebration.

In honor of the anniversary of the founding of the Summit School in 1917, the group performed a pageant based on the book Summit School: An Affectionate Reminiscence. Including a traditional French carol, “Il est né, le Divin Enfant” and a portrayal of the school’s slightly intimidating founder, Sarah Converse, the performance required dedication and hard work from all members of the ensemble.

“We’ve been rehearsing a lot before school, during X-periods tutorials and even during advisory so we’ve been putting a lot of effort into the rehearsal process.  We started to learn some of the music last spring, but the performance aspect wasn’t brought in until the first week of school,” says senior and Summit Centennial soloist, Maya Shrestha.

After the draining rehearsal process, the Summit Centennial Singers walked on stage with high hopes.

“I’m really excited to put this show on for the Summit alumnae,” says Dorienne Hoven, also a senior and soloist, “[Choir director, Anne] Klus has joked many a time that we’ll bring tears to their eyes, and in a way, I hope we do because that means we’ve touched them with our performance and brought them back to their days at the Summit School.”

Graduates of the Summit School reunited during the final piece of the performance; the original Summit School Song, “Summit Glorious,” and sure enough, tears were shed. The event held great significance to alumnae of the school, who wondered at the changes the campus has undergone, greeted their high school friends, and laughed at pictures of their old teachers. The celebration also marked the importance of the role that the Summit School held in the development of women’s education. “Even when the schools were split by gender, the women in the Summit School had progressive thinking for the time and this performance is a celebration of all of the women who were a part of that,” said Shrestha.