Paw PrintsJune 2010 Perth Amboy, New Jersey

Photo from www.msluffa.wordpress.com

Charity Starts in AmboyBy Bianca Velez It is clear that Perth Amboy High School is working hard to sup-port the relief effort in Haiti financial-ly and emotionally. On Saturday, May 1st, a fair, spear-headed by Mrs. Bar-rios, was held at Perth Amboy High School. Everyone who attended the fair paid a $5 entrance fee and enjoyed food, drinks, face painting, and games throughout the school. There were ap-proximately 140 paid attendees at the fair, and Mrs. Barrios stated that she believes the school raised $1,200 for Haiti. The money raised will be given to the International Surgical Health Initiative (ISHI), a humanitarian group that performed volunteer work in Haiti. Besides Mrs. Barrios, many students and teachers volunteered their Saturday afternoon to help raise money for Haiti as well. Other faculty participants at the fair included Mr. Bouchard, Mrs. Dowd, Mrs. Klein-Burns, and Mr. Garb and their organi-zations. A participant at the fair stated that the live music and dancing in the auditorium was a crowd pleaser. “The fair was an absolute success,” Mrs. Barrios said, “There were a lot of free programs going on for all ages to enjoy.” Besides raising money, Perth Amboy High School students have been communicating with some of the volunteers from ISHI. Dr. Asha Bale, Dr. Leonard Mason III, Dr. Nina Regevik, Jhoselyn Thomas R.N., and Diana Eagen R.N. were all part of the team of doctors and nurses that Ms. Slomko’s AP Language and Composi-tion class blogged with. A couple of times a week the students would get together and send questions to the team or read the team’s answers to their questions. Lorenza Jerez, one of the students in Ms. Slomko’s class that blogged, stated, “It was an interesting experience to be linked to someone so far and in such a catastrophic environ-ment. It gives you a reality check and hope at the same time. I loved it!” On Thursday, April 29th, the team visited Perth Amboy High School and spoke to Ms. Slomko’s

class and some other students about their experience in Haiti. Along with a visually-filled slide show, the team spoke about the conditions in Haiti and the patients they assisted. Dr. Bale and the rest of the volunteers stated that they wanted to go to Haiti because they all had a “need to help.” Nohely D’Oleo, another student in Ms. Slomko’s class, stated, “The presentation with Dr. Bale and her dedicated team blew me away. I had no idea how the people in Haiti were coping with their situation. It made me happy to know that despite all the troubles the people in Haiti have been forced to go through, they continue to strive and live their lives.” The medical team volun-teered at a hospital made out of tents in Port Au Prince. Each tent served a different purpose—triage area, emergency room, intensive care unit (ICU), and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). On an average day at the hospital, there were ten surger-ies, two hundred fifty triage patients seen, and fifty emergency room patients cared for. Nina Regevik stated during the presentation that she was touched when she saw a 7-year old girl caring for her mother, who had been stuck under a crushed building for three days and is now paralyzed. Although the people in Haiti are suffering, they are still in good spirits. On the ISHI website, Jhoselyn Thomas R.N. states, “The culture is such a happy culture; they sing and pray and dance even though they have nothing, even though they have pain and have lost their family, friends, and independence.” The ISHI team ended their presentation by explaining how they plan to continue assisting Haiti. They left a message for the students and staff of Perth Amboy High School. Just because Haiti is not in the news anymore and you cannot see it from where you are living, the people are still trying to rebuild their country and their lives, so the best help that one can give is to not forget about Haiti.

Scholars HonoredBy Bianca Velez As the year comes to an end, it is time to honor those who have excelled academically. Perth Amboy High School has eight different honor societies. Each honor society has its own specific require-ments.The World Honor Socities held their induction on May 18th at 6pm in the school auditorium. The French Honor Society, re-quires students to have an “A” average in French and a “B” average in all other sub-jects. The French Honor Society induct-ees included: Mamadou Bah, Christina J. Gano, Rosa Rosa, Lorenza Jerez, Darline Rosa, and Danivia Zuniga. In order to be inducted into the Spanish Honor Society, students are re-quired to have a 3.0 GPA or higher, a “B” average or higher in Spanish, a recom-mendation from a teacher ,and community service hours. The Spanish Honor Society inductees included: Jordan Adames, Brenda Almanzar, Amanda Almodovar, Yeraldine Alvarado, Noely Baez, Miguel Brito, Roshelly Brito, Tilson Brito, Yenci Canales, Rachel Collado, Lindaliz Coria, Carolina Cruz, Kenny Cruz, Diego Del-gado, Daiana Diaz, Yulidy Diaz, Yineiry Duran, Carlos Eduardo, Fernando Fernan-dez, Heidi Fernandez, Leslie Fernandez, Lizetty Flores, Yineisi Gonzalez. Victor Hernandez, Yessenia Hernandez, Irma Leonardo, Katherine Marte, Jose Marti-nez, Francis Munoz, Anyelina Nunez, Jose Nunez, Kevin Nguyen, Michelle Pinales, Yuddy Pineda, Amanda Plata, Disneiry Puntiel, Gabriella Puntiel, Ambiorix Ramirez, Janibell Rodriguez, Luis Rodri-guez, Jennifer Roldan, Andreina Rosario, Jady Ruiz, Christian Salazar, Sergio San-chez, Giselle Sena, Alfredo Taveras, Ana Kaury Valdez, and Yosmeris Valdez. The German Honor Society induction requirements are: three years of the language taken, a GPA of a 3.0 or higher, have “A’s” every marking period, and an overall good German student. The German Honor Society inductees includ-ed: Changyang Cheng, Roberto Cardoso, Emily Gonzalez, Brandon Knight, Jorge Ramblas, and Richard Scafe. The Italian Honor Society re-quires students to be enrolled in Italian for 3 years and have an overall “B” average in Italian. The Italian Honor Society Induct-ees included: Mayra Aburto, Yefri Baez,

Jonathan Carrasco, Melany Cruz, Saman-tha Henriquez, Padgy Padgano, Ashelyn Polonia, and Adriana Tapia. The Math Honor Society requires students to be enrolled in Calculus with an overall mathematic’s average of a “B+” or be enrolled in PreCalculus with an aver-age of “A-”or above. The Math Society will be inducting students this month. The current members include: David Carceres, Cynthia Dominguez, Beata Matusewicz, Jimmy Nguyen, Juliana Ortiz, and Mario Sazo. To be inducted into the Science Honor Society, the senior students must be in honors or AP science classes and have a “B+” average in those classes. The junior students must be in honors or AP science classes and have an “A” average in those classes. The Science Honor Society mem-bers are: Gary Alva, Cinthya Dominguez, Tito Mantilla, Katiuska Nunez, and Nancy Olvera. The English Honor Society requires students to have a 3.0 GPA overall and a “B” average in English. The induction ceremony took place on March 26th. The inductees included: Yefri Baez, Jonathan Carrasco, Rony Cepeda, Cheng-yang Chang, Megan Cruz, Melany Cruz, Nohely D’Oleo, Karina Delgado, Jessica DeJesus, Crystal Dilone, Cinthya Domin-guez, Christian Hernandez, Lorenza Jerez, Stephanie King, Zsofia Kocsis, Marleni Marte, Beata Matusewicz, Javier Morillo, Jimmy Nguyen, Jennifer Resti, Alfredo Rodriguez, and Adriana Tapia. The most prestigious honor society is the National Honor Society. Students must have a GPA of over 3.7; they have to be involved in extracurricular activities; they must have community ser-vice hours; and they need to have had or currently have a leadership role in school or at work. The National Honor Society held its ceremony on May 26th. The senior inductees included: Megan Cruz, Melany M. Cruz, Crystal Dilone, Yesenia Feliciano, Heidy Grullon, Francheska Jiminez, Walkiria Leonardo, and Katiuska Nunez. The junior inductees included: Elias Benitez, Rony Cepeda, Changyang Cheng, Nohely D’Oleo, Jessica DeJe-sus, Karina Delgado, Lorenza Jerez, and Jasmine Johnson.

Fond Farewell Retiring FacultyBy Melanys Perez Students come and go through this school in four years. They are taught and nurtured by a dedicated staff. How-ever, just like seniors are taking their final steps in Amboy High at the end of June so are some dedicated faculty members. From the social studies depart-ment, Mrs. Siglinda Gallagher is retiring. She has taught here since 1982. Mrs. Gal-lagher is a graduate of Rutgers University. “ I am going to miss teaching students who are eager to learn and lunch discus-sions with my co-workers,’’ she shared. During her retirement, she plans to read and volunteer at her church. From the bilingual department, Mrs. Vivian Argemil is also retiring. She graduated from Elizabeth High School and attended Kean University. Mrs. Ar-gemil has taught in five different schools in the Perth Amboy district over 37 years. The last ten years she has been at the

high school as a bilingual specialist. After retirement, she plans to catch up with her reading on her Nook, travel a little bit, and catch up with friends and family. And even though she is retiring, she isn’t truly leaving; she plans on substituting in the school. Another retiring staff member would be Mr. Richard Shouldis, the video production teacher and PATV producer. Mr. Shouldis has been working in the district for nine years. When asked about what he plans to do after retiring, he said, ‘’ spend more time on my ‘bucket list’. ‘’ Some things he has on his list are to create a dining-media room in his new house, travel with his wife, read all the books he wanted to read, catch up with friends and relatives, become more environmentally active and go back to Iceland and get some great shots while the volcano is still erupting. See Fond Farewll, Page 7

June 2010 Page 2

Student CommentariesBan Red Decals!

By Crystal Dilone Kyleigh’s law was enacted after 16 year old, Kyleigh D’Alessio, a star athlete at West Morris Central High School, was killed in December 2006. She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her 17 year old friend. Both teens were killed when the driver lost control of the car and crashed into a tree. As a result of her daughter’s death, the griev-ing mother had been on what some would call a “crusade” for teen drivers with decals. “She worked to get legislators on board. She worked to get teens to under-stand this. She’ll talk to anyone who will listen,” said Pam Fischer, director of the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety, as stated in the Star Ledger. As of May 1st, young drivers under the age of 21 with permits and provisional licenses are now required to place red decals on the upper left corner of both the front and rear license plates. Also, instead of the previous midnight curfew, all young drivers under the age of 21 with permits or probationary licenses are no longer allowed to drive past 11p.m. Kyleigh’s Law has been a large source of controversy. These decals literally raise a “red flag” to all police officers, and leave room for age discrimi-nation. Young drivers should not have to identify themselves while on the road. Are teenagers expected to wear gold stars to identify them walking in public too? Statewide, thousands of drivers are pulled over for an abundance of reasons, whether it may be due to speeding, run-ning red lights and stop signs or talking on their phones. A small sticker will not improve any of these infractions. The red decal should not be placed on a person’s license plate because of their age, but rather if they are a ter-rible driver. For instance, citizens holding suspended licenses, DUI charges (driving under the influence,) or numerous points do not need decals. In fact, according

to the “Your Advice & Education on Reality Development website, in 2001, about 1,461 fatalities occurred in crashes involving alcohol-impaired or intoxicated drivers who had at least one previous DUI convictions. Would it not be more effective to warn police about these dan-gerous drivers than young ones? Not only do these decals raise the attention of police officers, but what about child predators? Since young teen-agers are to be identified, their safety is now put at a higher risk simply because they are more prone to being taken advantage of. Carjacking has become one of the most prevalent crimes. For teenag-ers, having a noticeable decal on their license plates, they are attracting atten-tion to themselves and raising awareness to criminals. Parents will buy these stickers for their children, but the teenagers can easily pull over and remove the sticker once they leave home. Of course this is not right, but it’s bound to happen. Just as students can leave their house dressed one way, and arrive at school or any other destination and change, they can park around the block and remove the decals. Personally, I do not understand how having a red sticker will prevent an accident from happening or is sup-posed to “protect” us. If you are driving recklessly, then it is just that, you are driving recklessly. This decal is not going to magically stop you from hitting a tree, running a light, speeding, nor prevent your death. I am an 18 year old driver, and I have never been pulled over by a police officer or been in an accident in the year I have had my license. Why? Simple, I follow the laws already intact; no red de-cal will make me a better driver. This is the same for many teenage drivers in the past, present, and most likely the future.

Excuse Me For Walking!

Good Morning Perth.......By Nohely D’Oleo “Good Morning Perth Amboy High School!” says the announcer on PATV each and every morning during homeroom. Although there are students who actually are serious and dedicated to the morning announcements, their efforts have become ill-received among the student body. In the beginning of the year, I’ll admit, I did pay very close atten-tion to the morning announcements. In September and October, the morn-ing announcements were considered something new, which caused a stir of excitement and enthusiasm throughout the student body. The buzzing sound of students asking, “Did you hear the Morning Announcements?” could have been clearly heard through the halls of Perth Amboy High School. Now, how-ever, that excitement has surely died down. Even the students working on the morning announcements seem to have lost their luster. Looking back to freshman year, the morning announce-ment video clips seemed to have so much more excitement to them. The students in front of the camera were happy and well prepared to declare the morning announcements. The video clips themselves had better quality graphics and a more colorful appear-

ance. I can even remember they used to have little jingles and songs made by the students. However, the bright light I remember so well has dimmed down. But, why? Well, sometimes, the morning announcements provide a picture, but no audio, or vice versa. There are some classrooms that have yet to see a morn-ing announcement video clip, which fails to benefit the students. All the technical issues make it very difficult for the students to get excited and crave the morning announcements as well as motivate those broadcasting them. So if we have all these technical problems that make viewing the morning an-nouncement so difficult, why have them at all? The morning announcements are a very positive way to get the word out to the entire school. However, if the students are not able to receive the nec-essary information, what is the point? If the morning announcements are so crucial, the school should highly consider improving the technology used to run the program. As for the students in charge of the program, they should be more creative when trying to make the video clips more engaging like they used to be.

By Jennifer Resti When students and faculty of PAHS are outside of school, like every-one else in the world, they understand what society deems acceptable when it comes to behavior and etiquette. Whether it be driving etiquette or dining etiquette, everyone knows the basic ways to act in day to day life. But a strange occur-rence happens when students and faculty members step foot into the PAHS halls. Instantaneously, some individuals walk-ing etiquette vanish, and apparently all the etiquette they practice on the outside becomes a foreign concept. Walking in the halls of PAHS, at least once a day, you’ll come across a group of kids in between classes who stop directly in the center of the hall. They are, for some reason, oblivious to the rush of on-coming traffic. Then, to make themselves look even more foolish, when someone speaks up and asks them to move, they turn around with a shocked look across their faces, as if the massive amount of walking students appeared out of thin air. “I’ve gotten louder and meaner when asking these kids to move. They just stand there in the middle of the halls like they’re the only ones there,” senior and aggravated student Jessenia Remigio states. There is a system of properly mov-ing in the halls and some of us know it. It’s time to teach these rule breakers some etiquette. There is a side to the hallway. Open your eyes and you’ll see it. Go there to talk!

It’s not only students who lack the etiquette of the halls. There are teach-ers who are just as guilty, especially those with their rolling bags. Now not all teachers with the convenient bags lack eti-quette, but there are definitely some who need to roll faster or watch where they are rolling their bags. I’ve seen some teachers even go as far as rolling over someone’s foot and not apologize. How don’t you notice a bump like that is beyond me. So, teachers lets keep the bags close by and watch where you’re rolling. Another big issue that plagues the halls of Perth Amboy High School is the flow in the staircases. “It’s like these kids were never taught how to walk. It’s a known fact that there is one side to go up and one to go down,” Jaritza Maldonado said. “It’s common sense that if you see a group of kids coming down one side of the stairs, you don’t walk up that side!,” she continues to say avidly. Again all you people who lack the knowledge of stair-well etiquette, there are two sides. You go up the right side and down the other without stopping! Knowing the etiquette of the halls at PAHS will undoubtedly remove most of the frustrating congestion in the halls. It’s understandable to see freshmen making these mistakes the first week of school. But sophomores, juniors, seniors, and teachers? You all should know better. It’s common sense. There’s a system. It’s there for a reason. So, let’s all do our part and use it.

Stop! Drop Those CigarettesBy Alvin Kendrick Who does smoking affect more teachers, students, or the environment? Although it is banned on our school grounds, we still see people doing it, especially the staff. Smoking shouldn’t be taken as lightly as it is. The scent of ciga-rette smoke permeates the air in many of the stairways and hallways in the school. Despite laws banning smoking in public places such as SCHOOLS, it is becoming more of a norm than a crime. First off, these teachers and staff members should be setting an example for their students by not smoking on school grounds because it is a rule. Instead they are doing the opposite. All day long teachers and staff heavily enforce school rules about sagging pants, cell phone usage, cursing etc. but yet these same people aren’t even following the LAW of no smoking on school grounds. How can they be quick to tell students they are doing wrong when they are not doing right either? Carlos Estrada stated, “I feel it’s contradictory to what the school is pushing for and the no smoking on school grounds rule should be enforced more

heavily.” Something like this is also a health issue for the students and can be for fellow staff members as well. Many students in the school have respiratory issues like asthma. They also have to walk through the hot, humid hallway where the air is so dense to begin with and now, they have the smell of the lingering smoke to add into the mixture. This really doesn’t help the students and fellow staff with breathing problems. School is a place where the last thing teachers, staff, and students should be worried about is the smell of smoke. If people feel the need to smoke, they should do so where there are not hundreds of teenagers trying to learn. Teachers and staff should ask themselves, would you want your kids in such an environment? What can be done to spare the students of Perth Amboy High from choking on smoke filled stairwells while attending school? Maybe we should start having the students watching for the teachers break-ing the rules. Or better yet, everyone should just follow the law!

Page 3 June 2010

Student Commentaries

Holy Pirate, It’s Batman?By Argelia Morales The release of the most anticipated 2010 comic book series, Batman: The Re-turn of Bruce Wayne, hits shelves this summer. Those of you who thought his so-called “death” was bad, (oh, for those of you that don’t quite keep up, the Bat was french fried by an Omega beam in an earlier issue of the series) you won’t believe what DC Com-ics has in store for him now. DC Comics has been planning to smack fans right upside the head with TIME TRAVEL. Yeah, you read correctly, TIME TRAVEL. I’m not quite sure how they’ll pull this off. Let me remind you, this powerless crime fighter would be just about useless if it wasn’t for his never ending money supply, but creators have been conjuring up this little plot point even before he “died”. So what would this “time traveling” Batman series consist of, you may ask? Simple. Cavemen, Pirates, Pilgrims, and Cowboys. Yeah, I said cowboys. So if you never expected to see a Caveman Batman or a Cowboy Batman, you better brace your-self Robin because here he comes. The Batman is stuck in the past, and he’s trying to work his way back to present day. This plot brings about an air of nostalgia doesn’t it? Hmm, whatever could it be? Oh yeah, Back to the Future .Though, I doubt there would be a time traveling car and an old guy named Doc, but you’ll never know. With Omega beams and now time travel, anything seems possible. Perhaps this new storyline seems a bit childish at first glance and is just ask-ing to be made fun of, (don’t get me started on the series of “Brokeback” jokes that came to mind with a cowboy Batman), but I’m sure it will turn out to be good because Grant Morison is writing the series. Grant Morison is the comic book super star that is responsible for the most action packed and brooding versions of Batman. I’m sure he’ll come around and astonish us with a surprisingly engaging comic. And if he doesn’t, it will still provide the reader with a good laugh after all deciphering the meaning of a few scrunched up remarks from the Batman and the simplistic remarks of his fellow cave-men, in the first issue, was entertaining enough. So far, the images leaked from the series seem really put together. The colors are intense and the pencils are awesome. Nobody would expect less from the cover artist Andy Kubert. Once you’re done gawking at the beautiful cover art, scoot over because the real kick comes from the character designs! The pirate Batman screams Pirates of the Caribbean! Watch the third movie and look at a particular tentacle face, and then, you can tell me who Batman’s character design looks like. Okay, so by now, I’m almost positive a good majority of you are worried that you haven’t read any of the series, so why read it? Am I right? Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret; you don’t have to be an obsessive reader, such as myself, to join this Bat-wagon. We let new riders hop on at any time. And lucky for you, every detail you need to know is within the pages! Keep your eyes out. Engage yourself in an oddly captivat-ing story that will make you rethink the limitations of the Bat-universe or just simply make you laugh. Either way, it’s sure to entertain.

Movies Provide Good Break from SunBy Erica Szkola As we all know, the time of the year we have all been anticipating is vastly ap-proaching. Summer! It is literally around the corner! While most of us are ready to pack our coolers, roll down our windows, and go soak up the sun, there are some of us who just want to stay cool. So, if you want to take a break from the sun, there are some cool summer movies hitting the big screen this summer.

The Karate Kid-June 11 Yes, it is true. This movie is indeed a remake of the original Karate Kid from 1984. Many believe that a classic should never be remade. The age differences of the characters and the setting are quite different in this version from the previous one, which might disappoint viewers. But, I think a remake might actually be worth it. The kids in this movie are actually extremely talented, which makes it more exciting to watch. Will Smith’s son Jaden, plays twelve year old Dre Parker, who was uprooted from his home in Detroit to Beijing, China. Parker forms a friendship with Mei Ying. However, Cheng, the class bully, resents this friendship and will stop at nothing to make Parker’s life miserable. With no one else to turn to, Parker confides in the maintenance man, Mr. Han (played by Jackie Chan). Parker find out that Han is a Kung-Fu Master and seeks lessons from him. If you enjoy martial arts, then this movie is for you.

Toy Story 3- June 18 This is the 3rd sequel. The gang of toys are reunited in this 3D adventure! As Andy is preparing for his departure for college, Woody, Buz, and the rest of the toys find themselves accidentally being boxed up and shipped off to a daycare center! Although the gang manages to make acquaintances with seemingly friendly toys, it isn’t long before they plan an escape back home. So, if you are looking for some good laughs with awe-some special effects, this should be right up your alley.

Eclipse- June 30 This is the highly anticipated third installment of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. Bella (played by Kristen Stewart) once again faces decisions that potentially can change her life forever. Following the numerous murders within the cities, Edward (Robert Pattinson) and the Cullens are led to believe that Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) is assem-bling an army of newborn vampires. To assure Bella’s safety the vampires and the werewolves join together to fight a common enemy. In the midst of it all, Bella is once again forced to choose between her love for Edward and the life of immortality that she so desperately wants, or her friendship with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), which will obviously continue the struggle between the vampire and werewolf. The question is will she choose life or death?

Beastly- July 30Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Neil Patrick Harris star in this modern day version of Beauty and the Beast. Based on a novel written by Alex Flinn, Beastly is already said to be a hit! Kyle Kingston had it all, or so he thought. Although he had the looks, the opportunity, and the wealth, he spent his time preying on his unattractive classmates. He soon would learn that looks aren’t everything. After con-vincing Kendra, a gothic girl at his school, to accompany him to an environmental bash,

he blows her off. Unfortunately for him, she is a witch. Kendra casts a spell on him that makes him repulsively disgusting. To remove the spell he must find someone who will truly love him for who he is. So, if you’re looking for an interesting twist on a romance, check out this movie. This summer’s movie lineup seems to have a little something for everyone. So if you are tired of the sun, a movie is a good alternative.

Time for a Food RevolutionBy Alexandra Perez What you consume, as far as food, plays a huge role in your lifestyle. Whether you are a vegetarian, vegan, or omnivore, food is something that has become a part of your everyday life. When parents send their children to school to learn, they are under the impression the school lunch being served is healthy. ABC broadcasted Food Revolu-tion, starring Jamie Oliver. He gave you an insight into what the school lunch program is really serving students. Jamie Oliver, a food guru, isn’t afraid to let America know what they are truly eating. According to Oliver “It’s the food that’s killing America.” According to www.jamieoliver.com, Oliver states “I believe that every child in America has a right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat!” Jamie Oliver travels to different schools and inspects their lunch meals. He gives the school insight on what they‘re really serving their students, and he makes changes to the menu to offer more wholesome food options. According to the washing-tonpost.com, when Oliver went to visit the elementary school in Huntington, West Vir-ginia, known as the fattest city in America, some of the lunch ladies acted very hastily towards him. The lunch ladies felt there was nothing wrong with what they were serv-ing. Oliver felt otherwise. He didn’t feel “breakfast pizzas” were nutritional. As the time passed, Mr. Oliver made a few tweaks to the menu to make it healthier. Homemade chicken served with brown rice was his idea of healthy eating for a proper school lunch meal. This is one of the many things Mr. Oliver has done to make school lunch healthier for the students. If you missed the show, you can catch the episodes on ABC.com, and if you want to learn more about eating healthy, check out Oliver’s website. Jamie Oliver is truly making a food revolution!

ROTC Celebrates 30 Years of ServiceBy Erica Szkola Perth Amboy High School’s honorable NJROTC celebrated the 30th anniversary this year on May 14, 2010 at the ZPA. The ceremony was held in honor of Mr. Edmund Hmieleski Jr., who was a founder and large supporter of holding such a program here at our high school. The program was fully estab-lished in 1980. Thanks to dedicated instructors, supporters, and of course the past and present cadets, this program has brought Honor, Courage, and Commit-

ment to the school and community. Since the beginning, the Perth Amboy NJROTC unit has actively partici-pated in various activities and community service events around this town. They are proudly recognized for their accomplish-ments including winning 2nd place overall at the MLK Regional Drill meet at Linden High School this year. The awards they earned at the meet included: 1st place in Squad Inspection, 2nd place in armed see ROTC on page 7

Look How We EvolvedJune 2010 Page 4

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Look How We EvolvedPage 5 June 2010

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Club Spotlight: Animal ActivistsBy Janzie Feliciano The Animal Activist Club is led by Mariana Correa the club President and advised by Mr. Bouchard. The club meets afterschool every other Wednesday. Its main role is to help animals in need. The club has over fifteen members. The club members volunteer early mornings on weekends at the Woodbridge Animal Shelter. The club is always looking for more members, and students are welcomed to join all year round. “There’s a lot to do while working at the shelter. We mostly work with cats. We help groom, feed, and walk the animals. We really do most of the dirty work,” said Mariana Correa. Club members also help in finding each animal a loving home. The Woodbridge Animal Shelter is always looking for people to adopt animals because of their limited space. In order to adopt a pet you must be 21 years of age or older, have proof of identification and address, and most importantly have a safe and loving home. The Woodbridge Animal Shelter is located at 2 George Frederick Plaza. So, if you know anyone interested in adopting a cat or dog, please tell them about the animal shelter. If you can’t adopt an animal but would love to spend time with one, join the Animal Activist Club.

Make Summer Fun High school is supposed to be about learning and preparing us for col-lege. But the summers, on the other hand, should be about fun and there are plenty of fun things to do. A cheap way to have fun is to hold a boys vs. girls football game, either at water stadium or at the waterfront. Boys are often competitive, but they don’t real-ize that girls know how to bring it on, too. Simply contact some girls and boys from your class, make sure each team has its own color “uniform”, and head out to the field or beach. Make sure someone brings a football, a first aid kit (Just to be safe!) and of course some H2O. If your group of friends prefers soccer, or even baseball, you can do that as well. After the game, head over to Stella’s or go downtown for some Crown Chicken. Make sure to get the losers to pay! Once the weather gets nice and hot, everyone wants to get wet and wild to escape the heat, but not everyone can get money or a ride to Hurricane Harbor or to Mountain Creek. So, what do you do when you can’t go to the water park? Bring the water park to you! A cheap and inexpensive way to have fun with water is to have a water balloon fight. To make the water balloon fight unforgettable, make sure to contact as many people as you can and to purchase enough water balloons to keep it going for at least fifteen minutes. There are a few Important things to keep in mind. One, it is your group’s respon-sibility to clean up the balloon remnants. It may sound like a drag but make that one of the stakes – whoever loses cleans up. Also, make sure that you buy the right type of balloons. Regular balloons will NOT pop when thrown and WILL leave bruises. (We have learned this the hard way!) If throwing balloons is not for you, another option is replacing the balloons with water-guns or buying a Slip-n-Slide. If you are lucky enough to have more freedom from your parents, a trip into the city with your crew will definitely be a blast. The train from the Perth Amboy station to Penn Station in NYC runs about every hour between 4:30 AM and 1AM and costs $15.75 per person round trip and

with your ticket comes discounts. Deals like 20% off at Big Apple Sports Palace, and $6 off Madame Tussauds, which has a life-size wax copy of every music artist and actor you can think of. In addition to these activities, shopping, visiting tourist attractions, or catching a Broadway show are all viable options. Amusement parks are usually on everyone’s to do list. Whether it be enjoy-ing the Go Karts at nearby Keansburg or journeying off to the exhilarating coasters at Six Flags Theme Park here in Jackson, New Jersey, a great time with your friends is guaranteed. A great concern about visit-ing amusement parks always comes down to food. No need to worry though. Right before the Six Flags Amusement Park, there is a quaint small plaza with both a Burger King and that famous McDonalds we all love. As thrilling as an amusement park may be, sometimes one would rather just to relax. If the end of the school year is becoming too stressful and you are up for a day of relaxation, then the beach is where you want to be. Belmar is not too far, a 45 minute ride. Entrance fees this year are set for $7 daily, $50 for the season, and free for those 16 and younger. You can enjoy the riding the waves or lis-tening to those crashing waves while you catch a nice tan laying out on the sand. Just make sure to bring that sunscreen! If you’d prefer a more exciting beach and boardwalk, you can add 30 more minutes onto your trip and hit Seaside Heights. Wildwood, New Jersey is known for being a great summer release and for some an escape. One can enjoy not only the beaches but also a series of activities such as arcades, parasailing, miniature golf, water parks, boat rides, the wonder-ful boardwalk, and Morey’s Pier, with its spectacular fireworks on Friday nights! Classes are soon to be out, and summer is going to begin. With all these countless options, make sure not to waste away a summer of fun sleeping in and being a couch potato. Now that you have your brain filled with ideas, get out there and have fun!

By Melany Cruz and Crystal Dilone

Student Liaison Bids Farewell

Must See Summer ConcertsBy Marleni Marte Summer is right around the corner, and no one wants to be stuck at home when the world is gravitating towards exciting events. For all the music lovers out there, here are some great artists performing in our area this summer. Like every year, Six Flags always hosts a series of summer concerts with paid admission in the park. Pitbull will be hitting the stage June 22nd, as well as Kat Deluna and Bachata Heights on July 17th to start the summer off with a little Latin flavor. Later on in the summer The Maine will be performing on August 2nd. With their soft-rock and great vocals, it’s surely a concert to attend. Surprisingly, Meadowlands Park and the Izod center are not going to host as many concerts this year, which is a bit of disappointment. However, the artists that are actually performing are simply amazing. Aventura, the Bachata phenomenon, will be performing July 10th and tickets are starting at $39. For all you rock fans, Slayer and Megadeth will be out there on August 12th. The ticket prices are at a crazy $7! And for the old souls Bon Jovi and Kid Rock will be taking the stager at the new Meadowlands Stadium on July 9th. On June 6, Hot 97s’ Summer Jam entered Meadowlands Stadium; however, for those who missed it, don’t worry. You can catch the tour again in Philadel-phia on June 16th. Performers like Drake and Trey Songz will be hitting the stage there. You definitely don’t want to miss the show this time around. Atlantic City will be on fire this summer. Lady Gaga will be charming us all on July 14th. The tickets are bit pricey, starting at $117. With the height of her fame, this show is of great expectations. The six-time Grammy winning group the Black Eye Peas is performing on the Boardwalk Venue on August 7th. These tickets can be grabbed for around $64. MGMT is rocking in Atlantic City too! On August 21st head down to the Borgata. These tickets will be starting at $69. If going a few miles from home is not of a burden to you, there are many artists performing nearby as well. Who wouldn’t mind a small road trip to see Rihanna? She is playing in Manfield, MA, accompanied by the up and coming Ke$ha on August 8th. Tickets are starting at only $42. Looking for a smoother approach to summer? Then, head on over to Uncasville, CT. Michael Buble will be taking the stage. His tickets are on sale now for $75. Other artists coming to NJ this summer are Adam Lambert, Kings of Leon and even Justin Beiber. Always remember there are free summer festivals hosted down at the Waterfront. So, it is time to find a concert and jam out your summer in style.

Melany Cruz It is only a few days until graduation and it hasn’t yet settled in that life as I know it will never be the same. For the past four years, I have been eagerly awaiting the moment I would leave these four walls to attend a university and live away from home. Now that the end is near, I cannot help but be anxious. Homecoming, football games, junior prom, and senior prom are just some of the dozens of memories that I will cherish forever. When I came to the high school in the

fall of 2006, many people told me that I would find myself in high school, but in reality, high school found me. The experiences, both academically and personally have transformed me into a person I am proud to be. Although I have a lot to look forward to, I’d like to praise a few people who made my time at Perth Amboy High School remarkable. The first person I would like to honor would be my student council advisor and teacher of the year, Mr. Bouchard. Although I only spent my senior year with him, his encouragement and unconditional support with all the Stu-dent Council projects this year was something I never expected. He did a lot of the leg work for our events, including getting hundreds of cans of whip cream for our “pie-in-the-eye” event to bringing in his son’s kiddy pool for the duck pond at the international festival. He proved to be someone I could rely on. I would also like to thank the four AP teachers I was privileged to have. My AP psychology teacher Mrs. Campbell is a great example of a teacher who stepped outside of her job’s boundaries to provide for her stu-dents. With a small class of twelve students, she was able to give me indi-vidual attention in the areas of the subject I struggled with and even supplied the class with bagels and yogurt during the Saturday morning AP study sessions. Ms. Slomko and Mrs. Doherty, my AP English teachers, both facilitated my writing and made English my favorite subject. Ms. Slomko helped me pass my AP English test with a 5, and I hope I am that success-ful this year. Lastly, my AP history teacher, Mr. Fraraccio, is certainly one of the teachers that guided me to excel in my academics by pushing my studies to the limit. Being an influential educator means more than embodying excellence in the classroom; it means committing to and becom-ing involved in the life and a dream of the student and setting them up for success. These teachers definitely rose to the challenge. Without the experiences I went through at Perth Amboy High School, I wouldn’t be prepared to go off to Rutgers next year. I will always look back and be thankful for everything the school has done for me.

Page 7 June 2010

Paw Prints StaffStaff Writers: Ednal Avalos, Richard Banna, Estibaly Bencosme, Nicole Correa, Melany Cruz, Crystal Dilone, Nohely D’Oleo, Octauris Espinal, Carlos Estra-da, Janzie Feliciano, Alvin Kendrick, Angelina Lugo, Marleni Marte, Argelia Morales, Nelson Oyola, Enmanuel Pena, Alexandra Perez, Melanys Perez, Jessenia Remigio, Jennifer Resti, Erica Szkola, and Bianca Velez

Illustrator: Argelia Morales

Adviser------------------------- Stacy SlomkoOpinions expressed in the paper are not the consensus opinion of the staff and do not reflect the views of the adviser or the school.

Slam Dunk for FreshmenBy Melanys Perez The boys basketball teams had slam-dunking seasons. The school has three basketball teams, freshman, junior varsity and varsity. The freshman team was coached by Mr. Kregeloh. Mr. Hor-rowitz coached the J.V team. Last but not least, Mr.Santana coached the varsity team. First of all, let’s congratulate the freshman team for its outstanding sportsmanship and winning the Middlesex County Freshman Championship. The record for the freshman team was 24 wins and 1 loss, by one point stated Coach Kre-geloh. Coached Kregeloh said the most memorable moment was after a game that they lost. The team was in the locker room together, and Coach Kregeloh said, ‘’ if we’re going to lose one game, I’d rather it be now than later.’’ That was last and only

game that the freshman team lost. Accord-ing to the freshman coach, the team had two star athletes, Jonathan Rodriguez (aka JD) and Fernando Rosa. Coach Horowitz said that the J.V team had improved from last year. All of the players worked hard and gave their best effort. The J.V team record was 11 wins and 10 losses. Coach Horowitz believes in team unity. ‘’No player is more important than the team,’’ said Coach Horowitz. Anthony Jones (25) was the point guard. When he was asked how he felt about the next season, he said, ‘’I’m hoping to play varsity ball and make a great impact on the team next year.’’ According to the NJ.com, the varsity team’s home record was 11 wins and 16 losses. The team’s away record was 4 wins and 12 losses.

Fond Farewell continued from Page One Tom Gorka, is a retiring teacher from the math department. Mr. Gorka gradu-ated from Kean University, but he also attended, Rutgers University and the College of New Jersey. He has been teaching in the district for 41 years, twenty-six years at the high school and fifteen at the middle school. Mr.Gorka is going to miss teaching and is undecided as what he plans on doing after her retires. Two teachers retiring from the language arts department are Mr. Robert Tarr and Mrs. Linda Schmelzer. Mr.Tarr is a graduate from Louisiana State University and has been working in the district 20 years. Prior to teaching in Amboy, he taught at New Roads Louisiana, Poydras High School and Rosenwald High School. Mr. Tarr stated he is going to miss ‘’walk-throughs and CAPA visits the most.’’ His plans upon retirement are to lose weight and find a stressless job. Mrs. Schmelzer, is the reading specialist. She received her under graduate degree from Montclair University and her graduate degree from Rutgers University. She taught for seven years and six months in Newark and has been at the high school for 22 years here. Mrs. Schmelzer said she is going to miss her colleagues and students. She plans to travel and become a substitute after she retires. From the guidance department, the memorable Mr. Alvin Williams has de-cided to retire. Most of us know Mr. Williams for organizing college trips and career advice that he ahs provided students for 16 years. Prior to working at the school, he worked for the State Department of Education in the Division of Field Services and as a diagnostic evaluator for DVR and DMR at a rehabilitation facility. Mr. Williams received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Mississippi Valley State Univer-sity and continued his education at New York University, Cornell University, Rutgers University and Kean University. Upon his retirement, Mr. Williams plans to travel back to Africa, specifically South Africa and Freeport, Bahamas, to work in his gar-dens and possibly to create a fish pond. Mr. Williams really doesn’t feel he is saying goodbye because he plans on returning back to the school for all the events. “Amboy High is part of my family,” he shared. Another faculty member who is retiring after many years of service is Pat Tiseo, one of the school’s dedicated custodians. Also, faculty members who already retired this school year were Ronna Silberberg, Toni Terrel, Walter Migrala, and Deb-bie Barella. Amboy High wishes all retiring faculty members a peaceful and relaxing retirement.

ROTC continued from Page Three platoon, 2nd place in unarmed platoon, 2nd place in New Cadet Squad, and 3rd place in New Cadet Color Guard. The new chain of command for the ROTC has been appointed. The new officers are: Commanding Officer - Enmanuel Peña, Executive Officer - Max Roman, Command Duty Offi-cer/Academic Team Commander -Jason Soto, Operations Officer -Jacqueline Acevo, Female Supply Officer -Yantna Richardson, Administrative Department-

Amanda Vega and Jennifer Diaz, Drill Team Commander - Joel Batista, Color Guard Commander - Christopher Diez, Physical Training Commander- Orlando Ruiz, Master Chief Petty Officer - Jaressa Thomas, Male Supply Officer- Manaury Castro, Public Affairs Officer - Karina Urena, Information Technology Depart-ment- Antonio Patino and Shawn Barber, VHP Chairperson - Venancio (Ben) Rivera , and Cadet Advisor/Retired Commander/T-DT - Luis Muñoz

Going, Going,Gone!

Panthers Swing the IronsBy Nelson Oyola As the spring started to blossom, the golf team started its season. The 2010 golf team’s record was 0-19. The 0-19 record does not truly reflect the team’s lack of hitting the greens but of the team’s loss of eight strong seniors, who played on the team since their freshman year. With such a loss, the team struggled. This year’s team had 4 males and 1 female. Parkhurst stated, “Angelica Polio, the only senior and female, was the team captain and very responsible; Brain Herrera, a junior, was enthusiastic and very good at times; Christian Saucedo and Manny Grande were very equal players, and Alexis Esquivel, who had never played golf before, made 15 strokes, which is very good.” Mr. Parkhurst has been coaching the team for two years now. Coach Parkhurst encourages any-body to join the team, even those with little experience. Coach Parkhurst trains all his players on the purpose of the clubs, how to grip the clubs, how to properly swing the clubs, and much more. The team practiced and played their matches at Raritan Landings in Piscataway, New Jersey. The season for the 2010 golf team did their best due to the circumstances of losing good senior players from the year before. the team hopes to improve their record next year since it will have more experience under its belt.

Grapplers Control the MatBy Estibaly Bencosme Clearly, this wrestling season turned out to be one of the most successful seasons like many in the past years. The team ended the season with a record of 10-13, placed 2nd in the GMC tournament, and finished first out of 26 teams in South Plainfield. Coaching for 28 years, Coach Giordano (Coach G) has done a wonderful job with his grapplers this year. Team captains were Matt Cumber and Ryan Moskwa. Some other team members were, Luis Nunez (112-119), Jeremy Mendez (160-171), Yasel Coporan (103), and Anthony Aviles (119). The school sent wrestlers to the state championship held in Atlantic City. Her-iberto Quintana (119) took 2nd place, Joel Perez (215) placed 8th, and Ryan Moskwa placed in the top 12 in the heavyweight class. The team also had five district cham-pions, Luis Nunez, Heriberto Quintana, Carlos Rosario (151), Joel Perez, and Ryan Moskwa. Coach G stated the hardest obstacles of the season were “injuries and discipline issues. We lost six starters as the season went on.” Overall, the team had a solid season. “I think we will surprise people next year,” stated Coach G.

By Richard Banna The Panther Varsity baseball team ended its season just a few weeks ago with its traditional final game against the Perth Amboy Vo-Tech. The team had improved from their previous season. The team had 11 wins, seven of them being in the white division, out of the 25 games. The majority of the players this past season were juniors, which may give Coach Kregeloh an advantage for next year. Coach Kregeloh has been coaching the team for 3 years now, and has coached a lot of decent players. The three team captains were Anderson Rosa (catcher), Juan Upia (2nd baseman), and Amilio Calderon (1st baseman). They are all juniors and plan to return for the next season. Coach Kregeloh is proud to point out specifically that Rosa and Upia are both honor roll students, along with other players on the team. “Academics are very important,” stated Coach Kregeloh. Coach Kregeloh stated the team needs to improve clutch hitting and lower-ing the amount of walks. The team’s losses were tough, but the team fought hard. Coach Kregeloh recalls a memorable victory. “The team had a very tough game against number one ranked South Plain- field. The team was down by 3 in the final inning and came back to win in extra innings.” “I’m going to hold high expectations for the players, and they should expect long prac-tices and to work twice as hard as this past season,” stated coach Kregeloh about next year. Coach Kregeloh pointed out that he would like to see more of the student body to come out to watch the games and support the team. It would boost their confidence.

Lady Panthers Maintain a Solid PaceBy Angelina Lugo Being dedicated and showing hard work is what the Lady Panthers track and field are all about for 2010. With Ms. Dakelmen as the coach this team is inseparable to victory. According to Senior Clara Musso (shot put), “it’s been a good year although we had a couple losses. It didn”t stop us from doing better the next meet.” Over the spring break, the team had a couple of meets, and they were quite victorious against Colonial and J. F. Kennedy. When I interview Ms. Dakel- men stated, “our girls track team is steadily improving, and we are hoping to go over 500 (wins of 50%) of our dual meets. We have a tough competition coming up at the Penn Relays.” Ms. Dakelmen wants to recognize the efforts of some of her dedicated athletes. Senior, Demi Mendez shot discus and threw the javelin. She was consistent in all her events. Junior, Regina Brack specialized in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters. Junior, Vicky Nunez was a great addition to our shot put and discus events. Freshman, Kristina Clark did well in the 400 meters, but was an outstanding 1 mile and 2 mile runner. Lastly, but certainly not least, freshman, Kenya Adams had a wonderful year in the 100 meter sprint but excelled in the 400 meter. Keep up the good Work Lady Panthers.

Page 8 June 2010

Panther Sports Review

Panthers CreateWavesBy Marleni Marte Perth Amboy High School had the honor of introducing a swim-ming team to the sports department this year. The team consisted of both boys and girls. They practiced and competed at the new YMCA, on New Brunswick Ave. The captains of the team were: Stephen Konopka, Jason Soto, Megan Cruz and Veronkia Tueros. “The Originals”, as the team liked to call themselves, ended the season with a 0-5 record. Since this was the first year for the school and city to have any type of swimming team, the team had many obstacles to overcome. “It was difficult in the beginning because of our swimming level ability. It was hard to get everyone into shape to swim. We could barely swim two laps in a row the first week but got up to 25 in a row two weeks into the season, which was a really big accomplishment,” ad-mitted Coach DiTomasso. From barely moving along, the team managed to almost win their last meet. According to the coach, everyone on the team was able to drop his/her time. Being a swimmer since the little age of three, Coach Ditomasso is no stranger to the water. From being a swimmer in high school herself, to coaching at the college level, and even having experience as a life guard, swimming is definitely a comfort zone for her. “I think my swimming experience is an advantage – I learned a lot about coaching from being part of a high school team and also from being an ocean lifeguard,” she stated. With the season now over, preparations for next season is the main priority. “This summer they should swim as much as possible – whether in the pool, ocean, or lake. Lifting and running is also impor-tant to build muscle and gain endurance,” shared Coach DiTomasso. High expectations are already forming for the upcoming year. Most of the swimmers from the previous season are planning on returning accord-ing to Coach DiTomasso.

Spare TimeBy Nicole Correa Perth Amboy High School has a lot of sports. One team that goes unnoticed is the bowling team. The returning players this year were: Christopher Acevedo, Wilson Aponte, David Caceres, Mario DeLa-Paz, Katina Garcia, and Jaclyn Soto. The new comers to the team were: Genesis Arteta, Alexander Brown, Andrew Gerena, Guillermo Jimenez, AnaRosa Martinez, Beata Matusewicz, and Angelica Polio. According to the coach, Mr. Van Liew, both the girls, and the boys bowling team “did the same as last year”. The boys team ended its sea- son with an 11-11 record and the girls team concluded the season with a 0-20 record. Coach Van Liew said he “enjoys being the coach of the bowling team.” His favorite part about being the coach is “helping the begin-ners and those who are having trouble on certain obsta- cles.” The high-light of the season was when the boys made the championship round in the Joe Romer Tournament. Coach Van Liew encourages students to join a school sport. “If they have the time, it makes the whole school experience more enjoyable,” stated Coach Van Liew. If you really like bowling, there is a program this summer called “Kids Bowl Free.” Go to www.KidsBowlFree.com/Woodbridge and register. You will be e-mailed weekly certificates to bowl two free games at the Woodbridge Bowling Alley.

Driving Down SpikesBy Janzie Feliciano This is the first year Perth Amboy has had a competitive volleyball team. The team was coached by Henry Romero. The team had a 5-1 sea-son. Romero could not be prouder of his team. “Being a part of the school’s history is something that these players will never forget,” Coach Romero shared. The team members were Luis Carillo, Kelvin Ixim, Robert Ortiz, Luis Rivera, Luis Orengo, Wellington Mena, Piotr Matusewicz, Brigaham Luna, Jason Soto, Ihtisham Naeem, Joseph Rodriguez, Angelo Nieto, Ken-neth Reyes, Christopher Diez, Orlando Ruiz. “Everyone was willing to pitch in when needed in games,” stated Coach Romero. One may think being on a new team may be difficult but the play-ers didn’t think so. Kelvin Ixim said, “I think that being on a newly formed team provides the element of surprise since the other schools don’t know what to expect!” Coach Romero also agreed with Ixim’s point of view. Piotr Matusewicz said, “It’s actually pretty fun, and it’s good to know that we’re actually winning our games as a first year team.” Many of the team players, except for the three seniors on the team, are planning on trying out for the volleyball team next year and are hopeful that they will make it as long as the school keeps the volleyball team. Coach Romero hopes he will have eleven players returning but is always looking for new team members to help represent our team and school.

Pigskin ReviewBy Alexandra Perez The Panthers kicked off their season with a 38-0 victory against Marlboro and fought hard to end their season with a 4-6 record. Coach Giordano (Coach G) stated, “4-6 has been our best record since 2002.” Perth Amboy’s wins were against Marlboro, South Plainfield, Bayonne, and Carteret. Coach G stated, “We won our last three games. For the first time since 1989, Amboy won three in a row.” Their losses were against Monroe, North Brunswick, New Brunswick, Colts Neck, Edison and JP Stevens. Coach G commented, “We have improved. We lost 5 of the 6 games by a grand total of 30 points. With a little more luck, those losses could have been wins.” The MVP of the year went to senior Matt Cumber. Matt Cumber made All Division and All Area for Middlesex County. Coach G said, “He led by example and made tackles in every game. He played his heart out.” According to NJ.com, Cumber is listed as making the All County third team as well. Some pivotal players on the 2009 team were: Senior Jordan Aquino (LB,FB); Senior Manny Ceballo (OT, DE); Senior Matt Cumber; Senior Wilson Diez (OG,DE); Junior Robert Brown (RB, WR, DE); Junior Ryan Moskwa (LG, kicker); and Junior Lonnie Rawles (LT, DL). Coach G stated, “We should have a successful season next year if we play hard and don’t make mistakes. We should have several players returning with experience.” There are four returning players from Vo-Tech High School. They are Rashaad Adams, Robert Almanzar, Ray Arce, and Robert Brown. The returning players from P.A.H.S are Andrew Camilo, Tyler Maisonet, Ryan Moskwa, David Nieves, Lonnie Rawles, Elias De la Cruz, and Faustino Saucedo. “Next year is the year!” shared Coach G.

NBA Champion PredictionBy Octauris Espinal With the NBA playoffs underway, who will crown themselves with the prestigious title “NBA Champions”? Will the Lakers and superstar Kobe Bry-ant repeat last year’s outstanding underdog triumph to the championship? Will Kobe Bryant be one step closer to reaching Michael Jordan’s record champion-ships by getting his 5th? It seems that this will happen as the Lakers and Kobe Bryant have made it into the finals beating the Thunder, Jazz, and Suns. The Lakers will go up against the Celtics which is a rematch of the 2008 NBA championship, in which the Celtics beat the Lakers 4-2. The Celtics and their Hall of Fame trio of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce possess the talent to compete. Although they have outstanding players, I think their age is slowing them down. I think Bryant, who is coming off his 4th NBA championship, is not showing signs of slowing down. In fact, he looks hungrier than ever for a championship. Another reason why the Lakers are going to win is because of Coach Phil Jackson. He has won 10 championships throughout his career. He coached Michael Jordan and the Bulls to their 6th championship. He truly possesses the experience it takes to win the finals. The Lakers are my favorite to win. It will be a close series but Kobe Bryant and his Jordan-like attributes will conquer the Celtics Hall of Fame trio.