Redhawk Report Vol. 8, Issue 3 (Winter Recap) A chronicle of the excellence at Parsippany High School Hello RedHawks, MARCH 2018 Sooner or later, it will stop snowing and we’ll be able to go outside again… Until then, enjoy reading the latest edition of the RedHawk Report. Despite the cold, it has been a busy winter for our students and staff. We have some great academic accomplishments (Merit Scholars, Robotics, and ACDEC State Championships), rewarding service opportunities (Service Nights and Toy Drives) and athletic feats (Cavaluzzo goals, Marks medals, and States for Boys Swim, Girls Hoops & Wrestling). All great stuff! As always, thanks for reading, Dr. Mulroony APRIL ACADEMIC HONORS & AWARDS 2-6 Spring Break 9- Boys Lax vs PHHS
ELLIE XU NAMED 12- Family Science Night
NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLAR 13- Girls Lax vs PHHS 20- PHS Junior Dinner Congrats to Par High senior Ellie Xu who 24- Service Night (Trivia!) was named a National Merit Scholar. Of 25- World Lang Honor Society the approx. 1.5 million juniors who take 26- Mr. PHS the PSAT each year, the top 1% are 27- AAC Movie Night eligible to become a National Merit Scholar. Ellie was selected from among MAY that 1% for this prestigious honor. 2- PHS Jazz Café BENNETT WINS NATIONAL 3- Student vs Faculty Hoops SPANISH SCHOLARSHIP 4- Baseball vs PHHS 5- ICC Big Show Congrats to PHS senior Claudia Bennett who 8- PTSA Mtg won a $1,000 scholarship from the National 17- NHS Inductions Spanish Honor Society. Claudia competed 22- Service Night against Spanish Honor Society students from 23- Band Spring Concert high schools nationwide for one of twenty- 24- GCC Coffee House five awards. 25- AAC Sushi Dance 31- Choir Cabaret Concert
SHUBA PRASADH WINS JUNE PROGRAMMING AWARD 2- Redstock & Powderpuff 6- Solo/Small Ensemble Concert Congrats to Par High soph Shuba Prasadh 7- Senior Prom who was the New Jersey recipient of the 12- Senior Awards Night NCWIT Award for Aspirations in 14, 15, 18, 19- Final Exams Computing which honors girls in grades 9- 21- Graduation 12 who have demonstrated aptitude in the fields of computing and programming. IN THIS ISSUE: Page 2 ACDEC & RedBots Page 3 Scholars of the Month Page 4 Science Olympiad Page 5 Service Nights Page 7 Hall of Fame Page 8 Wrestlers make states Page 9 Marks bowls to 3rd in State Page 10 Cavaluzzo hit 150 Page 12 Student Walk-Out Page 13 Senior Superlatives ACDEC WINS 5TH CONSECUTIVE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
The Parsippany High School Academic Decathlon (AcDec) Team recently participated in the New Jersey State Competition. The competition was held at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes on Saturday, March 3. Parsippany High School’s team placed first in the state and won the Super Quiz. As State Champions, Parsippany High School will advance to the National Competition April 19- 21 in Frisco, Texas. This is their 6th State Championship.
Eight team members and nine alternates competed in the State Competition. Team members who participated were: Daniel Kuo, Hugh Kwong, Andrew Lie, Alice Limanova, Anthony Martucci, Shiv Dipak Patel, Adam Ye KAKIRDE WINS and Ellie Xu, Overall, the Parsippany High MODELING School team took home 57 awards and honors COMPETITION for the Regional Competition. Congrats to sophomore team Academic Decathlon is a 10-event scholastic member Aneesh Kakirde who competition for high school students. The took 1st place in the On-Site events include Math, Science, Social Science, Modeling Competition. We’re so Literature, Economics, Art, Music, Speech, proud of Aneesh who has worked Essay and Interview. This year’s theme is so hard on robotics and Africa. Team coaches are Nancy Lennon, programming! Science Teacher and Stacy Cozin, Media Specialist. ROBOTICS TEAM HAS TV PRODUCTION CONTEST AMAZING SEASON
Five PHS TV Production 1 & 2 students (Kenny Robotics: Congrats to our Slaman, MJ Sinatra, Kandarp Ajvalia, Matt Follow Parsippany High School Robotics Afonso and Jared Osgood) are producing an “Humans of Par team, The Redbots, who advanced independent original short film which will be High” on Instagram to the Eastern US Super Regional submitted and screened at the annual NJ High Tournament this winter. The team School Film Competition & Workshop event at consists of Joyce David, Neha Six Flags on May 24th. Good Luck guys! Deshpande, Neil Deshpande,
Jaswanth Duddu, Yash Garala,
Aneesh Kakirde, Tej Moradia, Neer Patel, Adarsa Pedada, Rithvik Ramineni, Aarav Shah, Abhi Sheth, Chaitanya Trivedi, Ronak Vaghela, Ayush Vyas. What's so impressive about the Redbots performance is that they are only in their second year of existence. Many thanks to Mrs. Effner who serves as their advisor, and to Mr. Kakirde, who spearheaded the creation of the program.
SCHOLARS OF THE MONTH FBLA ATTENDS CONFERENCE
Every month we recognize students that are performing at a We are very proud of the following students for their high level, are giving extra effort or who have demonstrated accomplishmen t at the FBLA State Leadership Conference this February: Neil Shah (3rd place in Word tremendous passion for or improvement in a specific subject area. The recipients are awarded with a bagel breakfast in Processing) and Vraj Shah (4th place in Word June. Processing). They will compete at the National Leadership Conference in Baltimore this summer. DECEMBER English: Yessenia Villota Math: Andrew Hsieh Social Studies: Olivia Leon World Languages: Angeline Jiju Science: Riley Ferguson Music: Richa Iyer Physical Education: Kaitlyn Sklow
JANUARY English: Skylar Schey Math: Kevin Weiss Social Studies: Fiona Celli Science: Dev Patel World Lang: Isabella Cacciottolo Foods: Rainie Li, Elia Ariana Maceda Chavela
FEBRUARY English: Bhumi Patel Math: Andrew Lie Social Studies: Olivia Johnson Science: Ryan Crooker World Lang: Rachel Wang Phys Ed: Riya Nayini Applied Tech: Julia Kloss WORLD LANGUAGES DAY AT TROY HILLS SCHOOL
On Feb. 9th we sent twenty seven senior Spanish, French and Italian students to take part in the Annual World Languages Day at Troy Hills School. The students prepared and delivered presentations on various countries and world cultures for the elementary students at Troy Hills. As usual, they did an amazing job.
ESL POETRY GRANT Thank you the Parsippany Ed Foundation, for sponsoring an amazing poetry workshop for our ESL students with Ms. Marcia LeBeau! Beautiful words were created and shared by our ESL students. Thanks to Ms. Liu for pursuing and facilitating the grant.
THANKS TO… Mrs. Russell for donating bags of personal supplies to families in need. Jared Hurta for providing assistance to a student in need… SCIENCE OLYMPIAD SUCCESS
The Par High Science Olympiad Team placed 6th overall out of 20 teams at the Regional Competition in January earning a trophy in the process. Congrats to the following team members who placed: • Neha Deshpande & Anish Balamurali-Game on: 6th place • Neha Deshpande & Nick Lim- Mousetrap Vehicle: 5th place • Joe Koo & Andrew Hsieh-Rocks and Minerals: 3rd place • Andrew Lie & Hugh Kwong-Write it/Do it: 4th place ONCOLOGY OLYMPIAD The team competed in the State Competition on March 15. They placed 22nd out of 27 Congratulations to our four students who participated in the Rutgers teams and earned 2 medals. Oncology Olympiad in January: Sejal Murthy, Anjali Ramesh, Arjun • Mousetrap Vehicle: 5th place Ranade and Ria Shah. The academic competition focused on cancer (Nicholas Lim and Neha diagnosis, treatment, symptoms, genetics and health care specialists. Deshpande) The Oncology Olympiad seeks to raise awareness about cancer and • Rocks & Minerals: 4th place to support the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Many thanks (Andrew Hsieh and Joseph Koo) to senior Sunaina Mukjerhee who helped them prepare for the The members of the Science Olympiad competition. Team are: Anish Balamurali, Steven Chang, Karni Dechoian, Neha Deshpande, Marc Hoeltge, Andrew Hsieh, Aneesh Kakirde, Joseph Koo, Hugh Kwong, Andrew Lie, Nicholas Lim, Sunaina Mukherjee, Sejal Murthy, Zill Patel, Shuba Prasadh, Anjali Ramesh, Arjun Ranade, Samantha Shimabukuro, and Philip Varghese.
TSUI & BHAVSAR EXCEL FOR DECA Congratulations to senior Gary Tsui and junior Dilan Bhavsar who qualified to compete at the NJ DECA Conference in Atlantic City. Both students were required to take a general business test and then execute various role play scenarios in front of a panel of judges. While at the conference, Gary and Dilan were able to meet fellow business students from across the state and interact with a variety of business and education-themed vendors. BABY DIGIORGIO VARSITY JACKETS PHS is exclusively working with Cozy Embroidery in Morristown for Varsity jackets. Congrats to Par High Math If you have earned your Varsity letter and would like to purchase a jacket, please visit Teacher Mrs. DiGiorgio their Morristown store, located at 151 South Street. You will need to bring your who welcomed her son Varsity letter and a $100 deposit. Alexander Mies DiGiorgio YEARBOOKS on January 15, 2018. Yearbooks: 2017-2018 yearbooks are still available to purchase for the low price of $80! Please visit: ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter code 12157718 to order your copy online. FEDO WEDDING Congrats to Ms. Fedo (now PLANNING FOR REDSTOCK Mrs. Hakim) who was Redstock: Our annual community festival is scheduled for Saturday, June 2nd. If you th married on March 9 . are a local business owner or know a local business that would like to reserve a booth during festival hours (12:00 - 3:00), please contact [email protected].
DECEMBER: KEY CLUB MOVIE NIGHT Key Club Movie Night: Thanks to the 200+ big-hearted Par High Students at our December Service Night. Interact and Key Club hosted a Movie Night, made holiday cards and collected over $200 for UNICEF.
JANUARY: PROJECT GRADUATION LETTERS Thanks to the 120+ Par High students & parents who knocked out about a gajillion letters for the Project Grad mailing at Service Night last night! Remember, Project Graduation is a parent and community sponsored program to provide a safe night of celebration after high school graduation.
FEBRUARY: KINDNESS ROCKS Our February Service Night was dedicated to "Service Rocks." Approximately 100 students donated their time by painting rocks and writing inspirations messages on them. The rocks will be placed around PHS and other schools to beautify the campus and to help inspire those in need. Thanks to Mrs Bush & Mrs Youngs for organizing and facilitating Tuesday’s PHS Service Night for #kindness rocks.
SPANISH HONOR SOCIETY TOY GREAT KINDNESS WEEK DRIVE CHALLENGE
Our Spanish Honor Society As part of Kindness Week, Par High officers and Mr. Duhl guidance counselor, Mrs. Letsch delivered and wrapped toys organized The Great Kindness from the PHS Toy Drive at Challenge. Students had a week to the Northside Center for challenge themselves to complete all of Child Development, the items on Kindness Checklist. Students NYC. Thanks to everyone could stop by "kindness stations" located who donated for making the in both cafeterias and the media center drive a success. We raised during lunch to help them accomplish 360 new toys for needy some of the tasks. Participants were kids. Khalid Alzubi won the rewarded by giving and receiving acts of basketball wrapping kindness all week long and were entered contest. #skills into a drawing for a Dunkin Donuts gift card or PHS gear.
HUNGER CONFERENCE VISIT TO 8TH GRADERS Thanks to our positive relationship with The Community Food Bank of New Jersey, we were invited to bring twenty students to As part of a revamped freshmen transition program, the Hunger Conference held at Seton Hall Prep. Students attended Ms. Doyle coordinated a group of Par High juniors various workshops to learn about different ways that can help and sophomores to meet with incoming 8th graders fight the plight of hunger in their world. Thanks to Mrs. Stapp for at Central. Topics included academics, chaperoning the trip. relationships, extracurriculars, peer pressure, drugs and alcohol, etc... Thanks to Jared Hurta, Angelo PAR HIGH CAMPUS CONNECTIONS Cascio, Chris Hall, Tyler Wyka, Kevin Weiss, Absolutely loved hearing from and connecting with some Ryan Suchocki, Amon Sharafi, Ryan Crooker, Parth amazing and successful Par High alumni at PHS Campus Rana and Andrew Hsei for being great role models Connections. Thanks to Mrs. Van Wingerden and the Student and adeptly answering questions from the 8th Council who organized and facilitated the event. We had graders. representatives from over twenty colleges including: FDU, Hofstra, Loyola, Monmouth, NJIT, Penn State, Ramapo, Rowan, Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. Joseph, St. John, Stockton, Syracuse, TCNJ, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, University of Miami, William Paterson
BAND NEWS The PHS Bands have had an exciting winter! The following (ANOTHER) STUDENT COUNCIL students successfully auditioned into the top NJ Honor AWARD Ensembles: Area Band: Ethan Kaplan (tenor sax) and Hugh Kwong (clarinet) The PHS Student Council won a NJASC Top 10 Region Band: Ethan Kaplan (tenor sax) Award for our "Kill Em With Kindness Project." Region Orchestra: Amanda Chen (violin) and Lawrence Yu The members also ran three workshops at the (violin) NJASC conference: Kill 'Em With Region Jazz: Ethan Kaplan (tenor sax) Kindness, SPIKE and The Glammies. As always, All State Band: Ethan Kaplan (tenor sax) we’re so proud of the leadership our Student Council continues to display… In addition, Ethan Kaplan and RJ Paguntalan were both honored as "Music Student of the Month" at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown for Outstanding Band Member (October 2017) and Outstanding Percussionist (January 2018) respectively. For the first time in almost ten years, the PHS Bands will be performing in the Region Concert Band Festival later this month at Parsippany Hills HS. The bands will come together to perform for professional adjudicators who will give the band a rating of Gold, Silver, or Bronze. We are looking forward to showcasing our instrumental music students in this competitive environment.
SAVE THE DATE:ITALIAN The CLUB March MOZZARELLA Band & Choir Concert DAY has been rescheduledThe Italian to Tuesday, Club hosted March Mozzarella 27, at 7PM! Day Admission in February is FREE. Mrs. andDeCandia refreshments invited will her be family served members after the inperformance. to demonstrate We hopehow to youmake will mozzarella be able to joinfor us the for students. an exciting Needless night of to music! say, it was a delicious afternoon.
LAYUPS 4 LIFE 2018 HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS
Layups 4 Life is a charity basketball tourney that will be held We held our annual Par High Hall of Fame on Sat. April 28 at the PAL Building from 10:30 to 6:00. People Inductions in February. Congrats to our 2018 can get involved by playing, volunteering, donating or Parsippany High School Hall of Fame Inductees: sponsoring. For those interested in signing a team up, making a Mike Yesunas, for his 44 years as a student & donation, becoming a sponsor or interested in volunteering teacher/coach at PHS, and Andy Ladas for his please visit layups4life.org or email [email protected]. extensive acts of service in the Parsippany Thanks to the Layups 4 Life founder, Dan Exter, for speaking community and beyond. We are so proud to have to our Boys Basketball teams this winter. This is a terrific these impressive people representing PHS forever. program! As always, if you know if someone who you think deserves to be in the PHS Hall of Fame please send Dr. Mulroony an email with the name and some information.
ANTI-VALENTINE DINNER-AND-A- MOVIE NIGHT
The Junior Class held an Anti-Valentine Dinner-and- a-Movie night. Thanks to Parsippany Applebees for the generous (and delicious) donations.
MR. PHS Thursday, April 27th at 7:00. Be afraid. Be very afraid… SPIKE 2 IS COMING… We will be holding out 2nd annual cross-town double-elimination volleyball tournament charity fundraiser with PHHS on Friday, April 13th. Last year we raised over $2,000 for charity; this year’s charity is America’s Grow-A-Row, and we want to raise even more. Sign-up information will be coming soon… ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Congrats to our BALDWIN PIZZA Athletes of the Week for the Fall Sports season:
Alex Cavaluzzo (12) – Ice Hockey Ralph Jean-Francois (12) – Basketball Madison Miller (11)– Basketball Sameerah Khan (11)– Indoor Track Sean Gentile (12) – Wrestling John Krevis (12) – Wrestling Lauryn Patracuolla (12) – Swimming Justin Wellman (10) – Ice Hockey Lauren Marks (11) – Bowling Natalie Donda (9) – Cheer Dominick DeIntinis (10) – Wrestling
All honorees received an Athlete of the Week t-shirt, a RedHawk pin and a $5 gift card to Baldwin Pizza. Thanks to Baldwin Pizza for generously sponsoring this program at PHS.
SWIM TEAM RECAP: BOYS QUALIFY FOR STATES! The PHS Redhawks had an amazing season with a lot of growth and speed. Our girls tied and came close to winning their first meet in the programs history! It was a nail bitter to the end with Morristown Beard! The boys team came very close to winning their first meet of th e season against Whippany Park, but just fell short, even though they swam their best meet of the season. Speaking of our boys, they qualified for the Team States Tournament and swam against Madison High School in the preliminary round. Quite the accomplis hment boys! We had quite a few freshman come out this year and had a team of 39 (including our three statisticians). Best of luck to our seniors next year; Lauryn Patracuolla, Kate Bernauer, Alice Limanova, Angeline Jiju, Miguel Maquiran, and Albert Chen. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to the team. Great job Redhawks!
WRESTLING TEAM MAKES STATE SECTIONALS; GENTILE HAS MONSTER SEASON
The PHS Wrestling team qualified for the State Sectionals yet again and won the cross-town rivalry versus PHHS. They also finished 3rd in the Districts and advanced six wrestlers to the Regions including two champions: Dominick DeIntinis and Sean Gentile. The team was led by seniors John Krevis, Ahmed Homsi, Richie DeMary and Sean Gentile, who put together an unbelievable season by placing in every tournament he entered and qualifying for States down in Atlantic City. Several great seasons were had by multiple wrestlers; individual honors include:
113- Richie DeMary: 4th place Morris County, 2nd place Hopatcong Tourney 120- Cameron Weissberg: 3rd place District 5, 3rd place Parsippany Tourney 126- Anas Sawalhi: 2nd place District 5, 5th place Morris County; 2nd place Minutemen Tourney, 3rd place Parsippany Tourney, 3rd place Hopatcong Tourney 132- Sean Gentile: State Qualifier; 1st place District 5, 4th place Region 2, 1st place Parsippany Tourney (Outstanding Wrestler), 3rd place Morris County, 2nd place Hopatcong Tourney 145- Dominick DeIntinis: 1st place District 5, 5th place Region 2, 2nd place Minutemen Tourney, 2nd place Parsippany Tourney, 1st place Hopatcong Tourney 152- Naseem Sawalhi: 4th place Morris County, 3rd place Minutemen Tourney, 4th place Parsippany Tourney, 2nd place Hopatcong Tourney 220- Ahmed Homsi: 3rd place District 5, 4th place Morris County, 2nd place Minutemen Tourney, 3rd place Hopatcong Tourney HWT- Jon Krevis: 1st place Hopatcong Tourney, 1st place Parsippany Tourney, 4th place Morris County, 2nd Place District 5 BOYS HOOPS RECAP MARKS PLACE 3RD IN STATE!
Boys Basketball finished the season with a Congrats to Par High junior Lauren Marks, record of 5-10. The senior-led team was very our very own bowling legend. After placing competitive throughout the season with some 3rd in Morris County and 10th at the very close games versus tough opponents. The Sectional competition, Lauren bounced back team was paced by senior captains Khalid to finish in 3rd place at the State Alzubi, DJ Pico, Dan Ruggiero, Michael Championships to bring home the bronze DeMonico, David Ton and Ralph-Jean medal. As always, we are so proud to have Francois. Both David and Ralph were chosen one of the best bowlers in the state as a Honorable Mention All-Conference. RedHawk! In case you didn't know, Lauren is also a two-time Morris County Champion.
BUDNEY DOMINATES ON THE MAT
Congrats to Par High junior GIRLS HOOPS QUALIFIES FOR STATE TOURNEY wrestler Hailey Budney who The Girls Basketball finished the year with some momentum going in to next season, was the 2018 New Jersey qualifying for the State Sectionals and giving a tough Verona team a great game. USAW Girls State Congratulations to the graduating seniors (Skylar Schey, Tia Ayton, Luisa Barone and Champion. This was the Ragan Kelley) who provided leadership, maturity, and guidance for the team highlight to another throughout the season. Senior captain Tia Ayton earned Honorable Mention All- incredible season wrestling Conference and All-Academic Team with a GPA of 3.8! Good luck to Luisa Barone independently in various who will continue her soccer career at Wagner College. tournaments. Hailey also took
2nd place in the Maryland WINTER TRACK RECAP Girls State Championship and The indoor season went well and is promising moving forward with placed 3rd at the USAW countless personal records throughout the season. On the girls side Middle Atlantic Girls Olivia Shoshan placed 3rd in the 55 meter dash and 4th in the 55 meter Folkstyle Championship. hurdles and Sameerah Khan, a captain, placed 6th in the 1000 meter race at the Morris County Championships. Olivia Shoshan also placed at State Sectional Championships and moved on to the Group Championship for hurdles and the 4x400 relay. Olivia Leon, a senior and Captain, had her best jump of the season in high jump of 4 feet 8 inches at State Sectional Championships. The boys have improved their times which many have come close to school records and certainly have the possibility to break them in the future. Anthony Colasuonno placed 15th in the 300 meter dash, with his fastest time of the season, at the Morris County Championship. Vincent Colantoni also a sophomore ran his fastest mile time of 4:38 at the Morris County Championships placing 14th. A freshman, Carlos Ortiz won shot put at the frosh-soph championships. It was exciting seeing the team come together and showing excitement about improving. Moving to the outdoor season we look to continue get better and set more personal records. Morris County Championships results: Olivia Shoshan - 5th place in the 55 meter dash and 4th place in the 55 meter hurdles; Sameerah Kham - 6th place in the 1,100 meter race; and the 4x400 relay team of Olivia Leon, Amanda Ribiero, Olivia Shoshan and Sameerah
Congrats to Parsippany Regional Hockey senior Alex Cavaluzzo who had 2 goals and 2 assists in a win over Park to gave him 150 for his career!! An amazing accomplishment by an awesome guy.
Congrats also to Shawn "Moose" Wellman who had his 1,000th save in only two seasons.
HOCKEY RECAP
When it comes to athletics, we are typically measured by wins and losses. Whether coaches or athletes are considered great depends on how many championships they’ve won. As a team, we had goals of making the playoffs and again being in the state tournament, but unfortunately we fell just NCAA SIGNING DAY short of those goals this year. Based on this measuring stick, our season could be looked So proud of our four RedHawks who were recognized at their College at as a failure, but for anyone who truly Signing Day on February 8th. They're terrific student-athletes with bright understands the dynamics of sports knows futures ahead of them. Luisa Barone - Wagner, Soccer; John Krevis - Pace, that there is so much more to a team’s legacy Football; Faith Preziosi - Iona, Soccer; and Daniel Rodriguez - NJIT, than just statistics… Soccer. Thanks to Mr. DiBernard who organized the pictures with their
Half way through the season, we had some parents and coaches. key injuries and a few players were playing More college information coming soon…. different positions daily. The team had every opportunity to stop fighting and give up, but our seniors and leaders wouldn’t let us. We continued to improve every day in practice and build on our chemistry as a program. The players and coaches genuinely care for one another, which resulted in us battling not for ourselves, but for each other. Due to this hard work and dedication, we tremendously improved throughout the season. We tied the #1 team in the conference, battled until the very end with the #2 team, and upset the #3 team. For those attending our games, they saw a completely different team the second half of the season. As coaches, we preach to believe in the process, work to improve every day, and by doing these things we were able to compete with the top teams in the conference. COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF NJ This season should not simply be measured by our record alone, instead by the character and Thanks to all of the students who attended our annual trip to the fight of these incredible young men and Community Food Bank of NJ. As usual, it was a rewarding women. experience for everyone. We helped to sort and box food that will be delivered to food shelters and soup kitchens around the state. Thanks If we continue to build off of our team also to our wonderful nurses Mrs. DeMarco and Mrs. Skibitski who chemistry, relentless attitude, work hard and helped by chaperoning the trip. support one another like we have since day There will be another trip to the Food Bank this summer. Keep your one, we will be competing for another ears open for information and the date…. Conference Championship next season!
WINTER CHEERLEADING
Our season was jam packed full of fun and excitement as we cheered on our fellow Red Hawk Girls and Boys Basketball teams. The squad choreographed a few different halftime routines and rotated through them throughout the season. Natalie Donda was named Athlete of the Week as she proved herself to be a fearless leader on the team. We ended our season with a delicious Hibachi banquet the night before SNOWMAGEDON. We will miss our seniors very much. Millie, Gabbie, Malcolm, Julia, and Karissa - Good luck in all that you do!
CHOIR NEWS…
The PHS Choir has had a great first half of the year! We have our largest group in 8 years at 62 members. We also have additional singers that participate in our after-school choirs such as our Chambers, Women’s, Men’s, and A Cappella ensembles.
We performed for the annual VNA Tree Lighting/Celebration of Life Event in Morristown on November 16th. We also performed with the PHHS Choir at our town’s annual tree lighting on December 2nd. These performances were a great way to start off the holiday season and to serve the community. In addition, we sang at Barnes and Noble on December 2nd.
We also performed in our Band and Choir Winter Concert on December 13th. The CMS Eighth grade chorus performed with us, and we also performed for the eighth grade at CMS on December 20st.
We had thirteen students who auditioned and were selected for the Morris Area Honors Choir. They performed in January at Randolph High School. Congratulations to Abby Sanchez, Stephanie Hernandez, Juliana Smith, Richa Iyer, Chelsea Aboagye, Karen Shih, Kenny Lee, Aidan Lafuente, Chloe Budd, Karmina Wall, Jazmin Lee, Liz Cogan, and Philip Varghese.
Anya Kosachevich, Richa Iyer, and Bobby Wilson were accepted into the NJ All State Mixed Choir last April, and performed on November 11th in Atlantic City, as well as at the NJPAC on November 19th. Bobby was also SPIRIT WEEK accepted into the NAfME All National Honors Choir. He spent four days in Florida (November 26th-29th) rehearsing and performing with a renown Thanks to our Student Council for putting composer. They learned so much and had two incredible experiences! together our Spring Spirit Week! In January, we had eight students accepted into the North Jersey Region Monday: Meme Day... dress like your I Honors Choir. They performed at Bloomfield High School on January favorite meme OR create a meme to 27th. Congratulations to Claire Alleyne, Chloe Budd, Stephanie represent yourself and wear it with pride! Hernandez, Richa Iyer, Jazmin Lee, Maya Ng’oche, Juliana Smith, and Tuesday: Socks & Sandals Day Philip Varghese. In addition, we have ten students auditioning for the Wednesday: Mismatch Day New Jersey All State Choir in April. Thursday: Jersey Day Friday: Class Color / PHS Day & Pep We are looking forward to many more great experiences this year, Rally including our choir trip to Broadway, and a lot more performance opportunities!
NATIONAL STUDENT WALK OUT (article originally posted in Parsippany Focus by Frank Cahil on March 14, 2018)
In the wake of the tragic events that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, a grassroots movement has emerged promoting a National School Walkout on March 14, 2018. This movement has gained support from students across New Jersey and in Parsippany-Troy Hills, as well. Student leaders at Parsippany High School and Parsippany Hills High School expressed their desire to stand with their peers from across the country on March 14. The goal of the students is to gather to honor the lives lost in Parkland school shooting and to raise their voices in a call for action to promote safety for all students in America’s schools. At Parsippany High School the walkout was ultimately held in the auditorium due to snow. Students were given the chance to speak on gun violence, there was a moment of silence, and they watched a video of the student activists from the Parkland shooting on the walkout. There was a 17 minute walk out to recognize the 17 lives lost at the parkland shooting. There was a high turnout and it was a positive experience for all the students attending. The experience gave the students a chance to address the issue of gun violence/mass shooting and show our solidarity. “The walkout really did give students at my school the chance to feel heard. I feel so lucky to attend a school that keeps an open dialogue on the things that matter. While many students that attended the walkout certainly disagree on specific gun policy prescriptions, the important thing is that we all rallied behind the idea that something needs to be done. We had the chance to express how passionate we are about the issue which unites us and made the walkout a success,” said Junior Bella Rocco. Parsippany Police was present to ensure security and to assist in closing off access to the school during this time. Visitors will not be permitted to enter the campus between 9:45 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. to provide for the safety of our students and staff. Parsippany-Troy Hills Superintendent Dr. Barbara Sargent said “The Parsippany-Troy Hills Township School District has developed a comprehensive Strategic Plan which strives to produce students who are problem-solvers and self-directed individuals, and to help all students become adaptable, confident citizens who embody self-awareness and strong interpersonal skills, capable of responsible decision-making and managing their emotions and behaviors. Toward that end, our schools support students who wish to participate in a peaceful and organized Walkout on March 14.” Parsippany High School students organizing the event were Caitlin Crooker, Nicole Dugan, Emma Suarez, Bethany Goordman, Fiona Celli, Tyler Becker, Amanda Stover, Sarah DiPippa, Riley Ferguson and Kenny Slaman.
SPRING MUSICAL ANOTHER HIT
I hope that as you read this you are one of the lucky ones who got to see this year’s Spring Musical Nice Work If You Can Get It. As usual, it was amazingly entertaining and featured a talented cast, a hilarious script, and wonderful music. The singing, dancing, acting and music were a testament to the talent that our Par High students possess. Thanks to Director- Mrs. Musilli, Choreographer- Mrs. Laux, Vocal Director- Mrs. Wilson, Costumes- Mrs. Champion, Technical Director- Mr. Lau, Pit Band Director- Mr. Stella and Stage Crew Manager- Adam Welch. In addition, thanks to our talented senior cast members (Talia Wynzel, Sean Van Vliet, Thomas Diez, Jannel Ateinza, Malcolm Green, Jacob Ponce DeLeon, Kaitlyn Sklow) for all of the amazing performances. Finally, thanks to the Stage Crew, Technical Crew, and all of the parents who supported the show by making the set, selling snacks and everything else…
MARCH BAND & CHOIR CONCERT As usual, our March Band and Choir Concert was a tremendous success (after a snow-induced delay..). We were treated to performances by the Concert Choir, Men’s Vocal Ensemble, Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, Women’s Vocal Ensemble, Chamber Ensemble, Combined Band and Combined Band & Choir. Special thanks to our wonderful music teachers- Mr. Dalakian, Mrs. Neglio and Mrs. Wilson- and to our outgoing musical seniors who have dazzled us for for years. Special congrats to Ethan Kaplan for making the North Jersey Region Jazz Ensemble as 1st tenor sax.
KREVIS RECIEVES SCHOLAR SPRING PEP RALLY ATHLETE AWARD
Congrats to senior football player John Krevis Our Spring Pep Rally was a great opportunity to bring the school for being named to the Morris County Scholar together to recognize our Spring Sports Teams and to have a little Athlete team. fun. After a grand senior entrance, we enjoyed a dance by the ICC Club and crowned Aqif Mahmudi the musical chairs champion. Thanks, as always, to Mr. Bush for emceeing the event. GLAMMIES
We held our annual Glammies Night in January where we announced all of the winners for the Senior Superlatives. Thanks to the Student Council for facilitating the event and thanks to all of the presenters, performers and the technical crew!
Best Smile: Sebastian Abreu & Dunya Mohamed Best Eyes: Harris Ansari & Riley Ferguson Best Hair: Steven Rodriguez & Isabella Nicoletti Class Scholar: Ethan Kaplan & Ellie Xu Best Laugh: Marc Hoeltge & Julia Kloss NATIONAL ART HONOR SOCIETY Class Actor/Actress: Sean Van Vliet & Talia Wynzel Class Clown: Matt Strumolo & Julia Kloss Congrats to all of the new National Art Honor Society Best Girl Buds: Maliha Mannan & Shakzoda members who were inducted in January. NAHS just Rakhimova recently organized Art Appreciation Week and did a great Best Guy Buds: Max Johnson & John Krevis job of beautifying the school. Their current focus as a club Best Girl/Guy Buds: Matt Strumolo & Camren is creating an Italian mural that will be located in the World Fitzsimmons Language wing of PHS. It will be the club’s third World Class Artist: Jacob Ponce De Leon & Rachel Wang Language mural, and has cemented itself as the main focus Class Athlete: David Ton & Luisa Barone for our club. Rachel Wang is the current NAHS president. Class Optimist: Sebastian Abreu & Sarah DiPippa Class Pessimist: Rahul Mody & Hailey Amato ENVIRONMENTAL CLUB Class Flirt: John Krevis & Jannel Atienza Least Changed: Everton Scott & Luisa Barone Most Changed: Jason Finkle & Sam Lee The PHS Environmental Club has been busy making the Talks Most Says Least: Alex Serben & Maliha Mannan world a little greener. Club members have been collecting Talks Least Says Most: Elijah Crawford & Annie plastic film (such as grocery bags, bread bags, case Zhong overwrap, dry cleaning bags, newspaper sleeves, ice bags, Class Daydreamer: Mike Demonico & Olivia Leon produce bags, bubble wrap, cereal bags, etc.) since Best Dressed: Hamza Naqvi & Savannah Cerrato December and have saved over 40 pounds of plastic from Class Cutie: Jared Bazaral & Kaitlyn Holler going to landfills. Instead, this plastic will be recycled into Class Musician: Anthony Martucci & Isabella high performance composite Trex boards. The collection Cacciottolo will continue through April, so please send in any clean Class Mom/Dad: Rachel Hoffman & Adam Welch plastic film. Class Singer: Phillip Varghese & Isabella Cacciottolo Most Likely To Succeed: Ethan Kaplan & Ellie Xu Club members also helped local homeless animals by Social Butterfly: Ali Ozdemir & Sarah DiPippa conducting the annual donation drive for the Parsippany Boy To Bring Home/Girl Next Door: Enzo Ferrara & Animal Shelter. Thanks to all who donated! Picture below Rachel Hoffman are club officers with some of the donations. Couple That Never Was: Bon June Koo & DJ Pico Class Couple: Ethan Kaplan & Bella Nicoletti
AAC CLUB
Thanks to everyone who attended the Asian-American Club’s Annual Big Show in February. With your support, we donated over $550 to Operation Smile. Come hang out with us some more. We have a Game Night on Fri., March 23, a Movie Night on Fri., April 27 and our Annual Sushi- Tea-Dance on Fri., May 25. All are welcome- we hope to see you there!