VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 OCTOBER 2, 2015
TOWSON HIGH SCHOOL The Towson Pride INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
STARS to our Staff, Parents and Students STARS- Weekly 1 Accolades for Staff, Parents, and Students Each week, individuals will be recog- Junior Classical League. make-up work after an nized for their contributions to the Thank you for your hard absence from Latin 4! Featured Article 2-3 school. Staff members are encour- work and leadership! aged to submit accolades that are STARS to Alex Duncan for
worthy of the General’s Star. demonstrating integrity. Stars to Chengrui Fu Have You 4-9 Our staff and students strive for Heard? excellence on a daily basis. The and Walker Miller- STARS to the Project Citi- comments listed below represent Breetz for taking zen Team for all your efforts Project Citizen 10- some of the recognition for our staff mathematics courses at towards the Statewide Cam- 25 and students. Towson University and paign to combat heroin/opioid Johns Hopkins University addiction. See article on page Canned Food 26 STARS to Jacob during their senior year. 8. Drive Flyer Buchman for creating STARS to Mr. Stange, Ms. an outstanding organiza- STARS to Patrick Hut- Music Boosters 27 M. E. White, and Ms. Col- son, Walker Miller- Flyer tion system for both Latin bert for all your efforts with 3 and his other classes! Breetz and Mason Anti Bullying 28- the Citizen Project team and Miller-Breetz for an the October 1st event with Week Flyers 29 STARS to Madison awesome It’s Academic the Lt. Governor and other Math Help 30 Annis for creating and performance. dignitaries. Calendar maintaining and ex- tremely organized section STARS to Orion Jen- STARS to Ms. Colbert and SAT Practice 31 in her binder for Latin. kins-Houk and Even Ms. Debra Rowland for do- Flyer Flickinger for sup- ing such a fantastic job of keeping our school clean. PTSA STARS to The 2015- porting the It’s Academic 32 team as alternatives. 2016 Latin Honor So- STARS to Donna Lauten
Alumni Corner 33 ciety’s Officers: Con- and Patti Sengebusch for STARS to Amandra suls Jacob Mader and their efforts with preparing to Wright for her hard work Orion Jenkins-Houk; showcase Project Citizen. Opiod Overdose 34 and consistent sttend- Senators Syd Miller Response Flyer ance at Coach Class for and Alex Chrvala. STARS to Felicia Latin 1! Zvagelsky for sharing her These students will lead STARS to Audrey Byars Giant 35 Towson High School’s talent with our visitors. Fundraising for super-fast completion of chapter of the National
Upcoming Events 36 VOLUME 3, ISSUE 3 P A G E 2 News From the Athletic Department
he road to college for athletes is program designed by Rick Wire, Presi- no longer lined with traditional dent of Dynamite Sports, a Pennsylvania T mile markers. It used to be that -based corporation, is the father of 9 batting averages, points per game or yards year NFL veteran Coy Wire. This semi- per carry paved the way for sports nar will provide families with infor- stars. Nowadays, one more percentage is mation about the availability of athletic carrying more and more weight. It’s called scholarships and the realities of the col- the grade point average. lege recruiting process.
The days of athletes dreaming to “Be Like According to his press release, Rick Mike” and parents’ dreams of having it Wire found himself looking for answers pay for an education and a lucrative future when his then 8-year-old son, Coy, start- for their child-student-athlete have vastly ed talking about being a college football changed over the last generation or so. In star. Wire hadn’t attended college him- fact, there is a lot more work to hitting a self and decided he had better start pre- home run than just hitting home runs. paring for the future. He questioned other parents who had been through the A seminar to prepare parents and athletes process, looking for pros and cons and for the recruiting road ahead — complete ways to prepare financially. In the end, with all its bumps — will be held on his son Coy earned his scholarship to Wednesday, November, 11th at 7:30 pm play football at Stanford Universi- in the Towson High School Auditorium. ty. Then in 2002, Coy was drafted in “Guiding the College-Bound Athlete” will the 3rd round of the NFL draft by the provide information and topics for every Buffalo Bills where he played for 6 sea- student-athlete in middle and high school sons and then finished his career for the and their parents to educate and prepare past 3 seasons as a captain and player them for opportunities and careers after rep with the Atlanta Falcons. graduation. Many student-athletes who aspire to play at the college level are not Rick used his study to become a speaker familiar with the ins and outs of academic and expert in college athletics and its requirements and eligibility as they need recruiting process. Then, he created the to be in order to pursue their goals. Dynamite Sports Educational Recruiting System, which combines academic prep- “Guiding the College-Bound Athlete,” a aration and athletic training with market-
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ing and recruiting strategies to navi- Our speaker will present an hour-long gate through the process. The plan seminar starting at 7:30 pm in Towson provides direction to high school ath- High auditorium. Interested partici- letes and parents, and staff develop- pants are asked to come early, if possi- ment training and resources to high ble, to receive a number of handouts school coaches and counselors to and watch a powerful pre-program vid- help all parties make knowledgeable eo. Attendees will receive a FREE SAT/ choices and decisions in college ath- ACT Prep DVD valued at $250! letics and recruiting.
Wednesday, November, 11th 7:30 pm
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Yearbook Exciting news from Sidelights, the Towson High Yearbook! Now is the best time to buy your copy of the 2016 edition of the yearbook, currently at its lowest price of the year. Please visit www.jostens.com to purchase yours today! Parents of Sen- iors: Don’t wait until the last minute to purchase a recognition ad for your sen- ior. Make sure that your senior is remembered forever with a recognition page in
the 2016 edition of Sidelights. Ads can be purchased and designed online at www.jostens.com. The editors, staff, and advisor thank you for your continued support of our yearbook!
It’s Academic!
We had a very early start to our season and it might just be the best one yet! After a really tough first round of "Starts with A", the boys took the game in hand and nev- er let go! They dominated every round, and Patrick even got to pop the balloons when we won the bonus. (Watch, and you'll see what I mean.) It airs October 3rd at 10--set those DVRs now!
It was an all-time high score....at least during my tenure. Be sure to congratulate Patrick Hutson, Walker Miller-Breetz and Mason Miller-Breetz when you see them. They were awesome.
Thanks to Ms. DiMino, Ms. Travis and Mr. Bussel- man for supporting us!
Patterson Mill 250 Annapolis 280 Towson 745
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It’s Academic!
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Avid Induction Ceremony
Friday, October 2, 2015 was our 7th annual AVID Induction Ceremony. New AVID stu- dents and families were welcomed to the program.
Inductees Steyo Anastasiades Sam Beatty Brian Bell Josh Bowser Steph Carass Brianna Carter Talon Childress Kayla Cichan Marrisa Dyer Milo Fisher Sydney Fringer Bridget Hayden Emma Kelly Will Kleeman Joey Mooney Olivia Moos-Meyer
Sophie Poremski Carson Reed Emi Romero-Cano Elisabeth Sampson Oona Schreur Garret Shipley Jules Slaysman Tabby Tomas Jessica Torales Clay Trimble Tristan Arias Roman Gimignani Cole Katz Sam Laich Andrew Gorzsas
International Thespian Society Founded in 1929, the Inernational Thespian Society (ITS) is the student honorary division of the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), the professional association for theatre educa- tion. Each thespian inductee has completed over one hundred hours of excellent work in thea- tre arts and related disciplines. In doing so, they have acquired essential twenty-first century life and career skills that include creativity and innovation, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and effective communication. The following list were current students in the 2014-2015 school year. Congratulations!
Admiraal, Lucas Hula, Brennan Sheedy, Alexandra Alexis, Krystal Hunt, Jordan Tancredi, Christina Amann, Ellie Lawler, Jacob Templeton, Hannah Amberger, Sophie McCord, Jeremy Wittenberg, Ilona Anderson, Tyler Moreau, Basile Yu, Richard Brooks, Everest Moreau, Eliott Brown, Julia Murphy, Aisling Cammarato, Ella Pinckes, Jake Davis, Gabrielle Roulet, Celia Hall, Cristen Salahvarzi, Miriam Hill, Hailey Sarbanes, Leo Hill, Madison Schuh, Genevieve
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Towson High School Magnet Program October 16, 2015
Towson High School will be showcasing its magnet program for interested students and parents on Tuesday, October 6th, 2015. The doors will be open here at THS at 5:30 and the program will begin at 6:00 p.m.
Magnet Application Deadline November 30, 2015
Another important date to remember is Monday, November 30th, 2015. All magnet applications must be completed and submitted to the Office of Magnet Programs by November 30th, 2015 in order to be considered. New, this year, magnet applications can be submitted ONLINE. Visit the Office of Magnet Programs Website (www.bcps.org/offices/omp) to find out more info.
Contact
Julie Kromsky is the Magnet Coordinator/Liaison for THS. You may contact her at [email protected].
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AP Boot Camp
This summer, Towson High School hosted our very first AP Boot Camp. Mr. Simon Briggs, Stu- dent Counseling Department Chair and Ms. Debbie Richmond, World Languages Department Chair, facilitated the boot camp as a way to bring students together to introduce them to AP classes. Two (2) days this summer were preparing for the AP courses; expectations of those courses; as well as strategies to be successful.
The group will come back together periodically to check in on their progress. The main message of the group is “We are all in this together. Everyone supports everyone. That’s how we move forward together.” To further reinforce this message, the group wanted to create t-shirts. The winning de- sign (by peer vote) was submitted by Daja Alexan- der, 10th grade.
Another AP boot camp will be held next summer. If you are interested in taking AP classes next year, please talk with your counselor. Winning T-Shirt Design By Daja Alexander
The First AP Boot Camp Group
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Congratulations to the following students for making the list of “Commended Students in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Program.”
Johanna Admiraal Margit Maple Jonah Salehi Ariel Barbosa Emily Melia Shea Sandifer Ellen Beaudry Natalie Miller Anna Shors Evan Blanpied Oscar Moylan Elora Strom Caroline Bohnenstengel Aisling Murphy Jason Varghese Joseph Boozer Marc Nagib Mattie Wasiak Sophia Darwin Madeleine Pekosz Adam Wright, Jr. Orion Jenkins-Houk Michael Pelekhaty Richard Yu Luke Jones Daniel Rivkin Xinhao Lei Abigail Robinson
Towson High School’s Semifinalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship Competition:
Catherine Della Santina Walker Miller-Breetz Chengrui Fu Vaughn Parts Mark Kreynovich (Not pictured) Leo Sarbanes
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Project Citizen
Thursday, October 1, 2015, Towson High School hosted an event called “Showcase of Project Citizen.” This event was used as a platform to announce the beginning of a statewide public ed- ucation campaign to combat heroin/opioid addiction; as well as an opportunity to review re- search and public policy recommendations made by the Project Citizen team of students.
Students had the opportunity to showcase their efforts with Project Citizen. Project Citizen pro- vides students with the opportunity to influence policy, the community, and society at large with the intent of bringing about positive change.
The following dignitaries attended the event: James Brochin, State Senator Ben Cardin, U. S. Senator David Marks, Councilman Dr. Penelope Martin-Knox, Assistant Superintendent BCPS Barbara Mikulski, U. S. Senator Dutch Ruppersberger, Congressman Boyd K. Rutherford, Lt. Governor John Sarbanes, Congressman Jack Smith, Interim State Superintendent Penelope Thornton Talley, Deputy State Superintendent and MSDE’s agency representa- tive for the Governor’s Heroin and Opioid initiative John White, Chief of Staff, Maryland State Department
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Mary Elizabeth White, Social Studies Department Chair, Towson High School
Congratulations to our Project Citizen Team for being recognized in such a public manner for all of their hard work and dedication!! Team members are: Mohammed Abduljalil Kabir Bagchi Erin Benson Taylor Blair Kush Bulmer Luca Cellucci Megan Garvin Jackson Hays Ariel Hopkins Morgan Jemison Maya Jones Dalia Kassas Natalie Marx Ryan Miller Sonali Rawal Rey Sasaki Hannah Weinstein
Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford
Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Project Citizen
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Thanks to Sky Zone in Timonium for providing passes to use as incentives for our students!!
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Come out and support TEAM BCPS as we work to fight against bullying in our schools and communities. When: October 5th - 9th Colors and Word of the Day
Day Color Word
Monday Blue Kindness
Tuesday Green Equity
Wednesday Yellow Empathy
Thursday Red Respect
Friday Purple Positivity
PARENT UNIVERSITY PRESENTS Parent/Student Evening Presentation: When: Monday October 5th Location: Loch Raven HS Auditorium 1212 Cowpens Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21286 Time: 6:45- 8:30 pm Agenda includes: Welcome from Dr. Dance, Keynote and performance from Meredith O’Connor and a Gallery Walk
Topics include: Girl Bullies, Cyberbullying, Surviving MS/HS Bullying - a Student Perspective, Resilience/ Confidence and community resources will be available.
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Math Help Calendar
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PTSA or PTSO? What’s the difference?
If you heard my brief remarks on back-to-school night, you may remember that the Towson PTSA Board met over the summer to research the possibility of separating from the National, State, and Local PTSA to become an independent non-profit organization 501(c)3 or PTSO. You may won- der why we would consider such a move so I am providing some basic information.
Here are some details to consider:
Our present PTSA is affiliated with the National PTA which has State and Local chapters to whom we are held accountable. We must abide by their Bylaws and surrender $4.75 of each $10.00 in membership dues we collect. Every other THS parent/teacher/student support organization (Music Boosters, Sports Boosters, and Theater Boosters) is unaffiliated with any “umbrella” or “parent” organization and, there- fore, keeps 100% of all dues for work at our excellent school. Aside from a small savings in liability insurance, National, State, and Local PTA do not provide direct support in any substantial way to our parent/teacher/student organization here at Towson High which is run 100% by dedicated volunteers. For the 2014-2015 school year, almost $1800 was sent out of Towson High to support State and Local PTA and their paid staff. Since our overall budget is not large, a savings of almost $2000 each year represents a significant sum available exclusively to our amazing THS teachers, students, and school programs.
Your PTSA Board invites you to join this discussion and explore the option of forming an inde- pendent PTSO at Towson High. A committee is forming to move forward to draft articles of incorpo- ration and Bylaws for a proposed PTSO.
We need your input and help to make this happen. This is not something that can be decided by the Board alone. We must have a 66% majority of PTSA members to physically attend a meeting to vote for this change. Are you for or against this? Please contact me with your thoughts on this pro- posal at your earliest convenience.
Best regards, Cheri Bond Pegues THS PTSA President [email protected] 410-227-6773-cell
2015-2016 Student Directories are now available for a $5.00 donation to the PTA.
Pick yours up today!!
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Class of 1965 Class of ’65 was amazed at the changes that had been made to the building since they graduated 50 years ago. Did you know that THS was a “Senior” high school and housed only grades 10-12? Did you know that they graduated close to 700 students in 1965?
The Class of 19765 returned home to THS on Saturday, September 19. They toured the building and shared sto- ries of their days at THS. Did you know that the rooms across from Guidance were Home Economics rooms? Did you know that is WAS a tradition for the Senior Class president to have a master key to got passed down through the years? Did you know that they had almost 700 in their graduating class? How times have changed.
The Class of 1965 visited on September 26.
Class of 1975
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Towson High School ID#01245
Dear Parents:
Welcome to the start of a new school year and a year of A+ School Rewards. Beginning October 9, 2015 through March 17, 2016. TOWSON HIGH SCHOOL ID #01245 will
have the opportunity to earn cash through the Giant A+ School Rewards Program.
All you have to do is:
• Log on to www.Giant.com/aplus to designate our school online using your Giant Card, OR • Call the A+ Hotline at 1-877-275-2758 for assistance
REMEMBER: If you registered your card last year, you DO NOT need to re-register this year. You can visit the website to verify correct school assignment. Also, don’t forget to encourage your friends and relatives to do the same. It could mean more CASH for our school.
After you register your card, each shopping trip at Giant using your Card earns CASH for our school. Each month, the amount of CASH awarded will be updated on the Giant A+ website. You can track the amount of points you earn for our school by checking your grocery receipt and online when you create an account at www.Giant.com. Our school will receive a check at the end of the program and the money can be used for any of our school’s educational needs.
Thanks for supporting our school!
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UPCOMING EVENTS
October
5-16 HSA Exams 6 Magnet Showcase (6:00 pm) 8 Parent-Teacher Conferences (2:15 pm—4:00 pm) 14 PSAT Test, grades 9-11 only (At School) 14 Senior Assembly/Senior Panoramic Photo 15 Freshman Magnet Breakfast (7:50 am, Senior Cafeteria) 16 No School for Students 19-23 Spirit Week 20 Freshman/Sophomore Planning Night (6:30 pm, Auditorium) 21 Music Boosters Fall Fundraiser (6:00 pm, Greene Turtle) 23 Homecoming Pep Rally 24 Homecoming Dance (7:00 pm, Cafeteria) 26, 27 Senior Portrait Make-ups (Auditorium)
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Towson High School 69 Cedar Ave Towson, MD 21286 PHONE: 410-887-3608 FAX: 410-583-1375
THE TOWSON PRIDE