June Issue

End of an Era:

Farewell to the

Class of 2012

Thomas Jefferson High School June 1, 2012 ● $1

Senior surveys,

music flashback,

and more

INSIDE

Steady as the beating drum:

Taiko drummer, Kato-San, makes noise at TJ

Student small businesses:

Sadie Shoaf and Lia Meden have already begun

preparing for the job world

TJHS teacher’s road to WPIALS:

Mrs. Karcher leads her 2012 Lady Indians to WPIALS

the statesman

Cover Stories Page 6: Taiko Drummer Kato-San’s skillful drum-ming captured the interest of many students during his assembly. Page 7: Music Flashback Take a trip down memory lane with the songs that have topped the charts since your diaper days. Pages 10-11: Student small businesses Two students have taken getting a high school job to a whole new level. Page 17: Mrs. Karcher leads her Lady Indians to WPIALS As a first year coach for Pe-ters Township’s high school varsity softball team, Mrs. Karcher has fought her way to the top.

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Elise Meszaros

Elizabeth Lowman Serena Audley

MANAGING EDITORS

Brianna Bowman Elise Meszaros Serena Audley

COPY EDITORS Elise Meszaros Serena Audley

MEDIA EDITOR Michelle O’Brien

NEWS EDITOR

Brianna Bowman

OPINIONS EDITOR Sandhya Purighalla

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Abby Stedding Angelina Ortoleva

Lauren Andros Mary Lancaster Michelle O’Brien

Ritwik Gupta Sam Robbins

WEBMASTER Ritwik Gupta

ARTIST

Connor Marshman

REPORTERS Adam Miller

Alexandrea Dalton Alyssa Gephart Anthony Rash

Antoinette Yelenic Brianna Bowman Elise Meszaros

Elizabeth Lowman Lauren Andros Liam Barrett

Mary Lancaster Sadie Shoaf

Sandhya Purighalla Sean Saputo

Serena Audley

ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Rebecca Coopie

ONLINE MEDIA EDITOR

Alyssa Gephart

ADVISOR Naomi A. Beres

2 THOMAS JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL ● THE STATESMAN

June 1, 2012 On this day in 1938, Superman, the world’s first super hero, appeared in the first issue of Action Comics.

Photo courtesy of

usa.gov

Thomas Jefferson High School

Inside Pages 12-13: 2012 marks the end for several TJHS teachers After decades of teaching, four of TJ’s finest educators end their teaching careers, and begin a new chapter in their lives. Page 16: Gralyssa TJ’s star sports couple sits down for a question and an-swer session.

ONLINE For polls, blogs, and follow up stories visit:

www.tjhstoday.com

SOCIAL MEDIA Follow us for constant updates inside the walls of TJHS

@TJHSToday WRITE TO US For comments or responses email us on Yahoo

[email protected]

6-1-12 ● TJHSTODAY.COM 3

On May 1, 2012, students experienced a piece of Asian culture while attending an assembly by Taiko drummer, Kato-San. Pic-

tured above is Kato-San with some of the students that participated in, and attended his performance. Bottom row (left to right):

Casey Chuderewicz, Kato-San, Jonathan Veres, and Meghan Poljak. Middle row (left to right): Hanna Salmon, Sean Ray, Evan

Mason, Mike Capolupo, Sam Green, Shoueb Mamoor, Brett Grimes, Alexander Reitmeyer, and Jonathan DeFazio. Top row (left to right): Mrs. Beres, Korey Edmonson, Chris Serrao, Mr. Ware, Mr. Mirabella, and Mr. Haselhoff.

Photo taken by Sam Robbins.

New Elective Will Shape Minds at TJ

Next year, AP Euro and Global Studies teacher Mrs. Sydeski will be

offering a new class entitled Shaping the Modern World. This class fo-cuses on the last century and current events, as well as

emphasizing areas such as Africa and Asia that are fre-quently neglected by the high school history curriculum.

“This will be a truly global class,” says Mrs. Sydeski. This elective is also a great oppor-tunity, as it will count for three

credits at Du-quesne University. The students will have the opportu-

nity to attend lec-tures at the univer-sity, something that is rarely given to high school stu-dents. Mrs. Sydeski also hopes to even-

tually be able to give students the opportunity to travel abroad. Only juniors and seniors are

able to sign up for

this class. It is an elective, so a US History, European History, or Global History must be taken as well. As

of right now, only

three people have signed up. Unfortu-nately, ten students must be enrolled for

Shaping the Modern World to be offered. If you are interested in current events or learning about other countries, you can still schedule Shap-

ing the Modern World with your guidance counselor. In summary, Mrs. Sydeski says, “Students will leave

the course with a

better understand-ing of their current global world and acquire the skills necessary to project foreseeable future

events.”

By Elizabeth Lowman

Cartoon by

Connor Marshman


● STAFF EDITORIAL ●

Growing up and growing apart: One chapter comes to a close

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

-George Bernard Shaw

This year, two-hundred odd seniors will march down an aisle, retrieve their diplomas, and throw

their caps into the air in celebration of the most significant event of their lives so far.

Sure, they graduate high school, but on a sadder note, they grow up. They’re no longer a children. Well, age-wise any-way. Because deep

down at heart, they try to stay young…right? Ladies and gentle-men, we are getting older. This has certain perks, of course, such as the extended curfew

and…yeah. But it also

comes with a healthy dose of downsides. For those who like to dodge responsibility,

congratulations! Be-

cause you’ve won a lifetime’s worth. And for those that don’t…you see my point. But it’s not just the slackers that get the

short end. Truth is, life’s a drop in the bucket, and all

we’re left with are fleeting memories. However, that doesn’t mean that that’s necessarily a bad thing. Senior

Kendra Kozel fondly remembers “not hav-ing to give a crap about anything….I re-member playing on the playground during re-cess and the weird

stuff, like losing teeth.”

Certainly, we all miss things about our childhoods. Hot Wheels cars, Barbie

dolls, GI Joes, Toy

Story, ice cream, fre-quent candy stops, Stomp Rockets (if you can remember those), and many other things top the list of Stuff We

Wish Would Still Hap-pen/Play With/Be Around. Looking back, these things are fondly re-membered, no doubt

about that. But con-sider the following set of blurbs from stu-dents. “Summer doesn’t feel so long anymore. My main priority now is

-I’m not even worried about like hanging out with friends, I’m more worried about making money.” Toni Yelenic, Senior. “Now that my

brother’s gone, we

don’t even do anything [for the holidays],” said junior Elise Meszaros.

Seniors (one of the

authors included), if there’s one thing you take from this, be glad that things happen the way they did. Look back on childhood. Say

“Yeah dude, I totally had all the monster trucks ”or “My doll col-lection was in the sex-tuple digits!” Never let that go, because we’ll

never have it again. Cherish these memo-ries. Underclassmen, you have at least an-other year left here, and as depressing as

that seems, you’ve got to scramble to get eve-rything you can get your grubby paws on. You will not have the time with friends or family you do now;

you will not be playing with Hot Wheels; and the only time you’ll watch Toy Story is if you have little siblings. Make time for them,

because as we grow up, we grow apart. Actually, that goes for everyone. Learn from this. Cherish it. Because time keeps marching forward, and

we just get pulled be-hind for the ride. “The times, they are a-changin’.”

-Bob Dylan.

“Make time for them, because as we grow up, we

grow apart.”

“And even if you

found yourself in

some prison,

whose walls let in none of the

world’s sounds --

wouldn’t you still

have your child-

hood, that jewel

beyond all price,

the treasure

house of memo-

ries?”

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Picture: Toni Ye-

lenic (left) and her

sister, Kelly (right).

Photo courtesy of

Toni Yelenic.


● OPINIONS ●

Four years ago, when I enrolled in Tho-mas Jefferson High School, the school did-

n’t seem like a very welcoming place for the students. Every day, I en-tered the same build-ing, with the same stu-dents, and the same

sea foam green walls reliving the day to day motions of my eight class peri-ods. Thomas

Jefferson High school was lacking some-thing impor-tant. That something

was school

spirit. When someone in the high school would make an attempt to get the students ex-cited for something, which seemed to be a

rare occasion, the stu-dents would have no desire to participate. The real question was why? Did the stu-dents feel embar-

rassed? Did they think that they wouldn’t fit in if they actually sup-ported something in regards to our school? Or did they just not

care? What I’ve

learned is that the school year will be more fun and things will actually be in their favor if they just sup-port the school and its

By Antoinette Yelenic

Breaking through the glass ceiling: Why TJ’s school spirit must continue

clubs rather than dis-courage them. Each year, something that reflects student’s par-

ticipation and support

is the outcome of the junior and senior prom. Last year numbers for students attending prom were down from

the averaged 300 stu-dents to about150 stu-dents. Student’s claim

this was due to

the expen-sive price of tickets, after prom,

and the

fact that venues changed. This left the incoming senior class starting out in debt leading us to believe that prom could possi-

bly be held in the high school gymnasium. With that being said, this past year, school spirit has raised to a point that it hasn’t

been at in years. Between the crowded football games, pep rallies, spirit weeks, and school dances, the senior class has trans-

formed Thomas Jeffer-son High School into a place where time can be enjoyed rather than dreaded. Senior Alyssa Frankenfield said,

“Going into senior year, everyone was afraid our prom would end up in the gym, but

after seeing everyone’s

support and participa-tion this year, every-one’s fear is now ex-citement.” This year, Prom Committee has coordi-

nated two separate spirit weeks, an im-press for less up-cycle sale, the first annual zombie run, the first annual Mr.TJ pageant,

and candles and Sarris chocolate fundraiser sales. Some seniors even fundraised so much money into their ac-count that their indi-

vidual ticket, along

with their date’s ticket was paid for in ad-vance. TJ was also named the winner of the Century III “Rock Your Prom” and re-

ceived a check of $250 and $500 worth of prizes. The senior class worked hard to get the school board, along

with the community, to eliminate after prom. After many sur-veys and opinions, it was decided that there would be no after prom this year.

Because of the student’s support and cooperation, prom tickets were able to be a very reasonable price and the venue chosen was the beauti-

ful Grand Concourse in Station Square. Our numbers are up to 264

students which is a

very positive increase from last year. Now the point of this editorial is not to praise the senior class for their hard work and dedication (although it

does that, too), but rather to inspire the juniors to enter their senior year with care and determination. Leaving as a senior

and looking back at the school spirit four years ago, my advice to the juniors is that if you want something to

happen, you must take it upon yourself to do

so and if you support your school and your fellow classmates, “your dreams really will come true.”

Mr. Ware was instrumental in

the success of this year’s pep

rallies, spirit weeks, and other

prom committee events. Photo courtesy of Antoinette

Yelenic.

“Thomas Jeffer-son High school

was lacking something impor-tant. That some-thing was school

spirit.”

Come in on Teen Tuesdays for an extra 20% off !


Steady as the beating drum: Taiko drummer makes noise at TJHS

By Alyssa Gephart

● STUDENT LIFE ●

make donations to his country, Japan, due to the horrific and

devastating

earthquakes that took place last year. As the drum line helped him in acquiring dona-

tions, he pre-pared for his first song enti-tled “Bonding”. It was truly

the perfect opening.

The song was upbeat, playful, and funny. “Bonding” was so funny, that laughter even played a major role in it. Kato laughed and laughed until the beat

of the drum faded out,

concluding the song. The next song that we would be hearing was named “Thoughtfulness”, fol-lowed by, “The Japa-

nese Mind”. This piece was very diverse con-sidering that the re-nowned Taiko drummer would be playing, de-scribed it as, “calm and

soothing.” It was a peaceful song with a sweet melody and showed that the Japa-nese mind thinks peace-fully and calmly. The final song of the

show was “Challenge”, on flute. This was most definitely a favorite. This song was complex and filled with high in-tensity. It displayed his true talent of Taiko

drumming and was per-fectly entitled. “I was amazed by the amount of stamina he held,”

said Mr. Haselhoff, “You

could not only see his talent was there, but also his hard work and determination.” This brings up another qual-ity trait of Kato’s. Dur-

ing his final song, he proceeded to perform a trick in which he threw up the drum stick and caught it. However, his first two tries failed due

to the auditorium’s lights in the ceiling. He did not give up, however, and, when he tried for a third time, he

succeeded. As the song ended, the crowd hon-ored him with a well deserved standing ova-

tion. Overall, everyone

in the audience not only enjoyed the perform-ance but also learned about the art of Taiko drumming. Teachers and stu-

dents sent Kato- San with good wishes and much luck at his next big event, playing with Stevie Wonder’s band in L.A., and also described

as what will be the “highlight of his career”, performing for the Japa-nese Emperor on Sep-tember 29th.

The beats of the drum echoed the full auditorium. All eyes focused on one man

and his talent. Kato - San had the spotlight shown on him for 40 minutes here at Thomas

Jefferson High-school on May 1st. Not only was he tal-

ented, he was what most of the students and faculty here at TJ would call kind and good hearted. The per-formance began with

our own TJ drum line honoring Kato-San with one of their own songs. Mike Capolupo, who plays quads, introduced the members of the drum line and thanked

Kato- San for honoring them with his perform-ance. Then it was Kato’s turn to take the stage.

First he thanked everyone for coming to see him perform with

the help of his transla-tor, Ms. Kurasawa from Pitt University. Next, he asked everyone to

During Kato-San’s presentation and per-

formance the audience was able to do-

nate funds to help his country.

Throughout Kato-San’s performance he demonstrated

many different emotions and facial expressions.

Photos taken by Angelina Ortoleva.


● STUDENT LIFE ●

2011: Rolling In The Deep- Adele 2010: Not Afraid- Eminem 2009: Boom Boom Pow- Black Eyed Peas 2008: Take A Bow- Rhianna 2007: Makes Me Wonder- Maroon 5 2006: Bad Day- Daniel Powter 2005: Hollaback Girl- Gwen Stefani 2004: Burn- Usher 2003: In Da Club- 50 Cent 2002: Foolish- Ashanti 2001: Survivor- Destiny’s Child 2000: Maria Maria- Santana (Feat. The Product G)

1999: Livin La Vida Loca- Ricky Martin 1998: My All- Mariah Carey 1997: Hypnotize- The Notorious B.I.G. 1996: Always Be My Baby- Mariah Carey 1995: This Is How We Do It- Montell Jordan

1994: I Swear- All-4-One

*According To Billboard.com

2012: We Are Young- fun. (Feat. Janelle Monae)

NOW PLAYING

By Adam Miller

As the class of 2012 prepares to graduate, The Statesman takes a look back on

the Billboard Chart’s number one hits for the past eighteen years.

From All-4-One to fun., Nicki Minaj, to Ricky Martin, here are the songs you won’t

admit you danced to.


“En realidad las cosas verdaderamente difí-ciles son todo lo que

la gente cree poder

hacer a cada momen-to.”

-Julio Cortázar You probably couldn’t read the above quote unless

you knew Spanish, which is not an easy thing to do. That goes for learning lan-guages in general. Of course, getting

an A in three straight semesters of a foreign language class is not short of Herculean. Yet, on May 14th, forty-four fine students

were inducted into the

TJ’s newest bilinguals: Spanish students inducted to honor society

By Liam Barrett

● STUDENT LIFE●

Spanish Honor Society, and to gain entry to this prestigious organi-zation, the above re-

quirement must be

fulfilled. The TJ chapter, just one of over 1,700 chapters around the world, is named the Roberto Clemente

chapter. Spanish teacher Ms. Floyd es-tablished it in 2007, feeling that the name was fitting, given TJ’s reputation for sports

culture and philan-thropy. Seniors inducted into the Spanish Honor Society should be fairly easy to spot at gradua-tion, as they will wear

bright red and gold

cords as they march down to get their di-plomas, and this color scheme is lovingly bor-

rowed from the Span-

ish flag. I bet that quote is bugging you. It means

“In reality, things that are truly difficult are those that people be-lieve they can do any

time.” A fitting quote

for the Spanish Honor Society.

The Great American Road Trip

Who: Juniors and seniors of the 2012-2013 school year, chaperoned by Mrs. Geary, Mrs. Peiritsh, and Mr. Kaszonyi Where: Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, and Pennsylvania Amish Country When: March 22-29, 2013 How much: approximately $1150.00 Important Dates: May 2012 - $50.00 refundable deposit September 2012 - $350.00 December 2012 - $350.00 February 2013 - remaining balance *If their plans continue as planned, the teachers hope to take this trip every year in order for all students to have the chance to participate.

Senior Spanish members pose with the Spanish National Honor

Society banner after inducting their newest group of members.

Left to right: Peter Schoemer, Rebecca Coopie, Aditi Shah, Ashley

Cusick, Rachel Suppok, and Connor Marshman. Photo taken by Ritwik Gupta.

412-650-5555 840 Gill Hall Rd.

Jefferson Hills, PA 15025

bananapepperscatering.com

We offer catering services for all gatherings including graduation

parties, school activities, and other special events.


● STUDENT LIFE●

Custom ordered and hand painted shoes

for Maddie Savage, $45.00 (above).

Photos courtesy of Sadie Shoaf


Homemade hobbies turn profitable: Two students thrive in the down economy

By Brianna Bowman

● FEATURES●

Money can be tight these days, so many high school students step up and get part-

time jobs. But a few TJ students have found a way around the hassle of a strict job

environment and controlling schedule and created businesses of their own.

Senior Sadie Shoaf has taken her creativity to the next level, by re-purposing

old fashions and add-ing her own personal touch to put them back in style. Shoaf just started her business in April and has already made a profit of ap-

proximately $300. When asked what made her want to start this savvy business, “I always really liked clothes and I noticed

how much people spent on them. I thought I could offer

items to people at a lower cost.” Since Shoaf first created her account on

Etsy, she has had or-ders from people in California, Australia,

and England who are fans of her infamous forever young shirt. She has also re-

purposed for about twenty of her peers in the school. Her prices range from $20 shirts, to shorts that at the high-est are $40. Shoaf also

makes custom orders, and you can visit her Etsy account at www.etsy.com/shop/11thDimension?ref=si_shop.

Though Shoaf is going off to California University in the fall,

she plans to continue her re-purposing busi-ness.

Hand painted “Evil eye shorts” $35.00 (above).

“Fate loves the fear-

less” tie-dye fringed

tank for Katheryn

Rotthoff. $20.00

Made to order and hand painted American flag

shorts, $30.00 (above).


● FEATURES●

Junior Lia Meden has taken her love for cooking and

baking and turned it

into a small local busi-ness. Meden relates that her mother inspired her cooking, “My mom is seriously the best cook EVER, so I

was practically raised in the kitchen around a food oriented fam-ily. I’ve always loved baking and have been baking since I was a

little girl. When I was younger, I baked chocolate chip cookies galore! My parents got me a cupcake cookbook for Christ-

mas in 2011, and that

is when my love for baking cupcakes truly began!” She decided to use her cupcake business as her graduation pro-

ject over the summer and realized what a good money maker it

was. She sells her

cupcakes at the Pleas-ant Hills Farmer’s Market in the parking lot of the Presbyterian Church every Thurs-day in the summer from 3 P.M. to 7:30

P.M. Every week at the Farmer’s Market, Meden offers four dif-ferent choices of cup-cakes. Her cupcakes

run for $1.25 each, $7 for half a dozen, and $14 for a dozen. She also takes special or-ders at the Farmer’s Market, or via e-mail

and phone. Look out

for Lia at the market this summer due to her success last sum-mer.

Meden’s

most fa-

mous cup-

cake flavor is Straw-

berry Swirl.

Each one is

garnished

with a

freshly

sliced

strawberry

and red

sprinkles.

Meden fea-

tures a few

different

flavors of cupcakes

each week.

Some of her

most popu-

lar flavors

include

Boston

Crème Pie

and Straw-

berry Swirl.

Meden sets up shop and sells her homemade cupcakes each

summer at the Farmer’s Market. Photos courtesy of Lia Meden.


On June 6th, Lucy Fortino, Carleton “Doc” Young, Donna Cirinelli and Penny

Caswell will walk the halls of Thomas Jef-ferson High School a final time as staff. Both Mrs. Fortino and Dr. Young have taught at Thomas Jef-

ferson High School for over 3 decades, start-ing on the same day in 1976. The two have stayed on as teachers from that day, edu-

cating thousands of students over their thirty-six year em-ployment. Mrs. Cirinelli has taught at Thomas Jefferson

High School for six-

teen years, and Ms. Caswell has taught within the district for three. For Mrs. Fortino, teaching was her first passion. "My grand-

mother taught in a one room school-

at Thomas Jefferson High School, but, in the 1980s, he was

asked to teach all Eng-

lish classes. He adds, “I have enough trouble speaking the language, let alone teaching it.” He’s even educated some current TJHS teachers, including Mr.

Fluhme, Mrs. Hannon and Mrs. Wetzel. An avid lover of history,

house. I played school as a child using an old desk and very old school books that she

gave me," says Mrs.

Fortino, "I can't imag-ine doing anything else. I love school, and I love languages and travel. I could never work in a business."

She started at Thomas Jefferson High School as a Latin grammar teacher three months after graduating col-lege and has stayed at

this school district since that day. While here, Mrs. Fortino has added Ital-ian, Spanish, and even French to the list of languages she under-

stands. In this school

year alone, Mrs. Fortino has taught all three of the offered languages at different levels. Latin student, and sophomore, Ritwik

Gupta describes Mrs. Fortino as “a really passionate teacher,” adding that she “really

loved all the subjects that she taught,” a trait that Fortino ex-

presses every day both

inside and outside her classroom. Fortino has taken multiple trips to Europe, through school related tours and for her own enjoyment. Dr. Young has pri-

marily taught history and psychology career

Bidding farewell: Four of TJ’s finest move on to a new chapter

By Serena Audley

● FEATURES ●

Fortino, who plans to use her new free time to “travel, travel, travel…” has taken many tours to Europe with and without her stu-

dents. She says retiring will mark the first time in fifty-three years she won’t be returning to a classroom— as a student or a

teacher. The photo above it her from her first trip to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Photos courtesy of Ms. Fortino.

Doc has taught history and psychology at TJ for over three

decades. Most would not know that for all of those years,

he’s packed a lunch each day. Photos courtesy of Ms. Fortino.


Dr. Young says he chose to teach because there wasn’t “a real big job market to do much

else with history, ex-cept teach in a col-lege.” Following his retirement, Dr. Young plans to finish his famed Civil War book,

“and try to catch up on

36 years worth of missed exercise time.” His lengthy time on TJ staff wasn’t planned, however. “I hadn’t expected to stay

long [at TJ],” he says, “but it [teaching] just kind of grew on me.” Senior Alyssa Franken-field says, “Although I had Doc for an elec-tive, Psych quickly be-

came my favorite

● FEATURES ●

class. He is soft-spoken but knowl-edgeable and truly cares about his stu-

dents.” Mrs. Cirinelli says that her biggest chal-lenge was making sure she was knowledge-able enough to keep

her students well edu-

cated, a trait that Jun-ior Mary Lancaster admires her for. Mary says that Mrs. Cirinelli is “a really hardworking

teacher, really kind to all of her classes, who tries really hard to meet our needs.” Dur-ing the May faculty meeting that doubled as a goodbye party for

the retirees, Mrs. Car-

sone tearfully ex-pressed just how much Mrs. Cirinelli will be missed, describing her

as quiet, but an excel-lent professional who is a friend and a confi-dant to those who truly need her. Mary adds, finally, “I’m really glad

I’ve had her as a

teacher this year.” Penny Caswell, cur-rently employed as gifted support, was hired first in the late nineties as an art

teacher. "I've always enjoyed working with children. They continu-ally surprise and chal-lenge you," she says. She adds that “seeing all the students that I

knew as young chil-

dren turning into young men and women” will be what she’ll miss most about Thomas Jef-

ferson High School. Sophomore Ben Brletic says, “Ms. Caswell was always willing to lend a hand. She and Mr. Giger would even allow me

and a friend to go to the

gifted support room to do homework.” So, on June 6th, as the Class of 2012 take their final stroll across the field they’ve grown

to know so well, these four teachers will sit amongst and watch, for a final time, students they’ve had the chance to affect.

At this May’s faulty meeting, the four retirees were recognized with cake, tearful speeches, and an impersonation of Doc Young by

Mr. Fouts. From left to right: Ms. Caswell, Ms. Fortino, Mrs. Cirinelli, and Doc Young have each dedicated numerous years to Tho-

mas Jefferson High School and to the education of their students. Photo courtesy of Ms. Fortino.

A review

● ENTERTAINMENT ●


Marvel’s Avengers dominate the box office

By Sandhya Purighalla

For the avid fans of Harry Potter, it seems like there is nowhere to go. The movies are

finished, the books

have been written. Yet J.K. Rowling is keeping the magic alive with Pottermore. Pottermore is an online Harry Potter

experience. The site takes details of the books and puts them as challenges online. There are summa-ries of each chapter

and activities that take place at Hogwarts (brewing potions, practicing spells) and

outside of the school (shopping at Diagon Alley).

Pottermore is a gateway to Harry Pot-ter with currently with 2,473,314 students

enrolled in Hogwarts. The impact and anticipation of the site was made known last year. Pottermore opened to beta tester

who participated in the

magic quill challenge by answering a ques-tion about a Harry Pot-ter book corresponding

to a certain day ex: day 1 was the Philoso-pher’s Stone.

The small and lim-ited beta user numbers made the site super anticipated. However,

now after the users had been through book one and did all the spells, and brewed all the potions and went shopping they were

done.

The site is now again gaining users due to the fact that, on April 14, 2012, it was

opened to the public. The site currently only has the option to ex-

plore the first book but the site will be adding books 2-7 within the following months.

For millions of wayward Potter fans, Pottermore is just the potion for what ails them.

By Mary Lancaster

Pottermore: an online world of magic

Total sales for the Avengers have reached

over $523,907,202 as of May 28, 2012.

Six super heroes. One Movie. That just blew

your mind. As if one super

hero wasn’t enough, the highly anticipated The Avengers became a huge success amongst almost all viewers. With egotisti-cal humor and the

thirst for justice, and destined to clash per-sonalities actually made for perfect chemistry. The movie follows

Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruf-falo), Black Widow

(Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy

Renner), as they try to find the tesseract, an immense power source like no other, stolen by Loki.

They receive their call of distress from Nick Fury, the director of the agency

S.H.E.I.L.D. Although they are very reluctant

at first, the six band together, to fight for the Tesseract, but through their petty

arguments that are conjured from narcis-

sism, self absorbency and other synonyms of Tony Stark.

Even without that

the movie still has startling graphics, an edgy plot and a 93% approval rating from critics and a 96% ap-proval rating from viewers.

Every component that made The Aven-gers flowed together as the personalities of each character empha-sized the impact of

every battle, and every explosion, it made it tough to find open theater seats. So, now it’s time to demote the first item

on your summer to do

list to number two and hurry to theaters to see The Avengers.


● ENTERTAINMENT●

It’s the Sixties. The upper classes slam the car doors of their Jaguar E-types,

adjust their cuff links,

and stroll up to their apartment for a party. Norah Jones plays on the radio…wait, what? Little Broken

Hearts, the new re-lease from the singer-songwriter, is a pleas-ant bit of anachronism for sure. The album presents an overhaul

from the old “Snorah Jones,” as she’s been ragged by critics, who discovered a hit with her single “Don’t Know Why.” This may be due in part to pro-

ducer Danger Mouse,

who was also respon-sible for The Black Keys’ 2008 album Attack & Release. This new release is certainly a so-called

“breakup album,” but

the difference here is that Norah Jones exe-cutes it with a smooth, glassy edge. Tracks

such as “Say Goodbye” and the title track are

a harsh goodbye wrapped in a cocktail-bar fur coat. The pity is

reserved for “Good Morning” and “She’s

22,” which are ‘why hast thou forsaken me’ kind of songs. You don’t need to have

a broken heart to enjoy this album, however;

it’s good chill out music with the pretext of a love gone sour. Really,

it’s good for any situa-tion; thinking, relaxing,

A review Who broke Norah Jones’s heart?

By Liam Barrett or hosting a nice party. It fits the bill for all of these. The aura coming off the

album is a kind of six-ties-era class. Think

Mad Men, minus all of the risky behavior. It’s easy to imagine a Don Draper montage to this music.

I’m a sucker for sixties-era stuff, so this album strikes a chord with me. Norah Jones is able to pump emotion into the cocktail lounge-jazzy

music, which takes some considerable tal-ent. But it goes into a semi-modern style smooth rock kind of music, and it’s this clash of modern and

sixties culture that makes for an awesome

album altogether. Anyone who’s a fan of some smooth music should pick this album up.

Must-see movies of 2012 Prometheus (Sci-Fi) released June 8th Starring Noomi

Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Fassbender

Ridley Scott, director of the Alien series, returns to sci-fi in this thriller about a team of

scientists who believe they’ve found the clues to the uni-verse, but soon find out they’re dead wrong.

The Amazing Spi-der-Man (Action) released July 3rd Starring Andrew

Garfield, Emma Stone and Martin Sheen Columbia Pictures'

reboot of Spider-Man features Peter Parker back in high school, struggling to figure out

the truth behind his father's mysterious disappearance. His search leads him deeper than he'd expected, to his father's former partner, Dr. Connors.

The Campaign (Comedy) released August 10th Starring Will

Ferrell, Zach Gali-fianakis and Ja-son Sudeikis In North Carolina,

Cam Brady and Marty Huggins both want one thing: a seat in the United States House of

Representatives. The Campaign follows their battle to the office and the chaos that ensues.


Alyssa Frankenfield and Greg Schneider may not have a

Maddox, Pax, Knox,

Vivienne, Zahara, or Shiloh, however they are TJ’s star super cou-ple. Frankenfield re-ceived a scholarship to Kent State University,

where she will pitch for the lady Golden Flashes. As a sophomore, Schneider signed with the University of Pitts-

burgh. He will pitch for the Panthers next year as a freshman. They met in ele-mentary school and

Frankenfield recalls that “he had a charm-

ing personality.” Schneider says that he’s “always liked her.” They don’t give ad-vice to each other be-

Gralyssa: TJ’s Brangelina TJ’s celebrity sports couple

By Sadie Shoaf and

Sean Saputo

● SPORTS ●

fore games. Instead, they discuss things after games, specifi-cally how their games

went. Frankenfield

relates that, “It’s easy to talk to each other after a bad game and be understanding be-cause we play the same position. At the

same time, it’s hard because we pitch dif-ferently.” Schneider proclaims that, “It’s more good luck we give than advice. Our

talks are post-game not so much pre-game.” With both being seniors and parting ways to different schools in August, one

may ask, will Gralyssa

stay together in col-lege? Frankenfield did-n’t hesitate to say, “There is no reason for Greg and I to break up, Kent and Pitt

aren’t that far away

and we can definitely make it work.” Schnei-der replied with, “Yes we will stay together.

Communication will be

key, trust is every-thing, and patience is a virtue.” With sports taking up a lot of time for both Frankenfield and

Schneider, these two stars need some time for one another. When it comes to the pair’s dream dates they Frankenfield answered

with, “My dream date with Greg would be a McDonald’s dinner.” Schneider, on a more-romantic note stated, “My dream date with Alyssa is a sunset walk

on the beach in Ha-

waii.” Finally, if a Maddox, Pax, Knox, Vivienne, Zahara, or Shiloh was to be on its way in the in future, what would

he or she look like?

“The baby would defi-nitely have my looks and Greg’s ability to pitch” Frankenfield

said. While laughing

Schneider answered, “It would be a boy, I would make him be-come the best athlete and the best at every-thing, he would throw

99 miles per hour, and Tyler Martier would be the uncle.” Now, all that we can wonder is what will happen in the future.

Will Gralyssa be to-gether as long as they think they can be? Will we see these two star pitchers pitching in the major leagues of their respected sports? Will

Alyssa get that McDon-

ald’s dinner she dreams about having with Greg? Lastly, will their possible “super baby” have Alyssa’s good looks or Greg’s

superstar capabilities?

Left: Greg hurls the ball at some of the highest speeds in the WPIAL, which helped him pitch twenty-seven no hit games.

Middle: Greg and Alyssa accompanied each other to this year’s prom at the Grand Concourse in Station Square. Right: Alyssa

shows great form as she pitches in one of her playoff games earlier this season. Photos courtesy of Alyssa Frankenfield.


“I don’t like fluff.” Physics teacher, Mrs. Karcher, likes no funny business when it comes

to softball and her Pe-ters Township Lady In-dians. After accepting a job as the head coach for Peters Township this past fall, Mrs. Karcher has coached her players

to their first section and WPIAL title in 21 years. Mrs. Karcher’s suc-cess with softball did not begin this year; it has been many years in

the making. As a high school athlete, Karcher played softball for four years in a wide range of positions including shortstop, left fielder, and pitcher. Following

graduation from high school, Mrs. Karcher walked on as a fresh-

Batter Up! Mrs. Karcher swings big for Peters Township

By Elise Meszaros

● SPORTS ●

man at Penn State Uni-versity. As a freshman, she started at first base, and continued

her success into her

sophomore year. How-ever, Karcher’s softball career temporarily ended after her second season in order to bet-ter focus on her stud-

ies. In late 2011, Mrs. Karcher was finally given another chance to continue her com-petitive softball career.

“I’ve wanted to coach my whole life,” said coach as she tied a Pe-ters Township ribbon in her hair, preparing for an afterschool game. Karcher’s winning

team did not come

without months of dedication and prac-tice.

With limited time to prepare her new players for their up-coming season, Mrs.

Karcher got to work

sharpening and fine tuning hitting, offen-sive skills and defen-sive skills. Coaching for an-other school has been

tough for Mrs. Karcher, “The time commitment is big, I had to give up my lunch, cover AM bus duty, I leave early

sometimes, and I’m often away from my family. It’s a lot easier for teachers that coach sports here [TJ].” The long hours and hard work have paid

off for the team and

their coach, who can boast a 15-5 record. Mrs. Karcher’s great-

est hopes for her team have come true. “My first goal was to win the section, which we did,

now our next goal is to

get a bid for states,” said the enthusiastic coach. Thomas Jefferson softball coach John "Hoppy" Mitruski is said

to be retiring after TJ’s softball season ends this year. When asked if Mrs. Karcher would ap-ply for the job she was hesitant, “I got a lot of

respect from the ad-ministration at Peters, and I have loyalty to my team there.” Junior Alex Hasis warned, “Regardless of which field Coach

Karcher walks onto next

season, she will leave other teams in her dust.”

Mrs. Karcher poses with her fellow softball teammates and the famous Nittany Lion statue on the Penn State campus. After years

of playing in high school and college, Mrs. Karcher has finally been given the chance to coach her very own softball team at Peters

Township. In case you couldn’t find Karcher, we made it a little easier with the arrow. Photo courtesy of Mrs. Karcher.


● SPORTS ●

The Jaguar Men’s Vol-leyball season finished up not too long ago, and now, All-Conference

player Adam Miller is

talking about the sea-son, the team, and ex-pectations for next year. [The season]… “was a learning curve. We

had a lot of young play-ers and first year play-ers.” Despite the fact that there was a new team, with fresh faces, and vacated spots from

the previous season, there was plenty of team chemistry and a stable locker room ac-cording to Miller. “We had a very cohesive group. There was no

animosity between any-

one on the team. We

got along.” And with these fresh faces, came fresh talent and poten-

tial. This was Adam’s first year playing, and despite this, he was

named to the All-Section Team. Miller recalls that, “it was a shock and an honor to

have made all sec-tion. Being my first year playing I would have never expected to have received this honor, but thanks to all

of my teammates and coaches I was able to develop my skills and become an asset to the team.” As the season reaches its end, Adam

and the team look to next year, and what it

will hold for them. “I expect us to win the

section champion-ship. We have a lot of guys coming back and I feel that having a

whole offseason to work on getting better will get us to where we

need to be.” In addition to Miller’s position on the

All-Section team, Senior Connor Kooyers re-ceived an honorable mention. With this

much talent and poten-tial, Coach Staffen will no doubt have an even

more successful 2012-13 season.

By Anthony Rash

Men’s Volleyball looks ahead to 2013

The men’s volleyball team is taking a short break before they

begin to prepare for next year’s season, where they hope to win

a section championship. Photo taken by Michelle O’Brien

Walker Printing

The official printer for

Thomas Jefferson High School’s newsmagazine, The Statesman. Copy and Fulfillment Services

Brian Walker

Owner

307 Richfield St.

Pittsburgh, PA 15234

412-606-3328

412-882-7835

[email protected]

Open 24 /7 all of your copy center needs.

Color copies as low as $.15 a page.

Black and White copies as low as $.03 a page.


63%

94%

Have you ever been cheated on by a signifi-cant other?

Have you ever had a crush on a

teacher?

Which year of high

school was the

hardest?

Which political party do

you see yourself in?

Have you ever tried

tobacco products?

Have you ever

consumed alcohol?

66% have cut

class.

Class of 2012 BY THE 100 seniors surveyed.

support gay marriage.

are happy with their plans for next year.

numbers Have you ever been in a car accident?

49%

have.

49%

have not.

*Two did not answer.

81% have.

16% have not.

*Three did not answer.

67% say

they have.

33% have not.

34% have

been cheated on.

16%

have cheated.

9th 10th 11th 12th

6% 6% 79% 9%

48% have had a

crush.

31% 29%

40%

Have you ever cheated

on a significa

nt other?

By Alexandrea Dalton

Amanda Manko: It’s over...yay!

Travis Churilla: stripes,

scrumdiddlyumptious, friar Bryce Churilla: “I eat more”

Meghan Poljak: yolo, swag,

opera Jordan Lysinger: never give up

Kyle Miller: bubble shooter,

return man 2, cubefield Carson Hines: unexpected,

exciting, eventful

Photos and article by

Mary Lancaster and Lauren Andros

● 2012 in three phrases or less ●

Jacob Drnach, Freshman:

Selko, theater, Kaszonyi

Nicole Kurka, Freshman:

Stressful, different, fun

Ms. Fortino, retiring department head: Veni, Docui, nunc me oportet exire

Dan Terpin, Sophomore:

Challenging, quick, rewarding

Mr. Salopek, art teacher:

Stop, drop, and roll

Mrs. Barker, department head:

Audacious, chaotic, exhausting

Corey Lostetter, Senior:

Long, stressful, senioritis

Missy Wagner, Sophomore:

fun, exciting, eventful

Carmen LoPresti, Junior:

fun, busy, chaotic

June Issue

Documents

Transcript of June Issue