WIZARDS WEEKLYMarch 20, 2015Volume # 10 WIZARDNATION

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Sports - Prepping For

Spring by Jakob Woods

Upcoming School Events **Order your yearbooks @yearbookordercenter.com !3/23/15 Wizards Against Cancer Club Cut-a-Thon !

Editorials - Bo Knows by Jack

Jennings - Tricks of the Trade

by Stephen Lynch - Crossing Into

Adulthood by Hannah Sheboy

News Stories - Choral Day by Daniel Sanin - FBLA Teams Up With Saint Judes

by Matt Mendez - New and Improved Evening

Academy by Liana Bratro - Y2Kids by Katherine O’Leary - Most Likely To… by Liana Bratro - Curtain Call by Brandon Toledo

Upcoming Sports Events !Stay tuned for updates on upcoming sports events.

Profiles - The Life of

Trainer John by Jakob Woods

Feature - Rockin’ the OC

by Katherine O’Leary

Chelsea Appiah-Kubi, member of the FBLA, hands out shamrocks. Photo by Matt Mendez.

THE LIFE OF TRAINER JOHN BY JAKOB WOODS !

Regardless of the sport or season, there is one person who is a staple for all Washingtonville High School athletes: Trainer John. During any game injury the screams for “JOHN!!!”, “Somebody Get John!” can always be head. This man named John is the Wizards high school Athletic Trainer. !John Kosowicz is the man to see if you are injured during a sports season. As a track runner in high school he knew that he wanted to be around sports. He attended Dominican College in Orangeburg New York, with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training. He has a wife and two children. !As a hometown guy who lives in Washingtonville the job meant a lot to him when it opened up. ! Continued on page 2

John Kosowicz, athletic trainer at WHS. Photo by Jakob Woods.

ROCKIN’ THE OC BY KATHERINE O’LEARY

Ethan Levy, Adam Alpert, Tom Messina; a keyboard, the drums, and a guitar. That is all it takes for good music. The Washingtonville oriented band Ghostwalk is rocking the tri-state area. On Saturday March 14th, 2015, !G h o s t w a l k p l a y e d t h e c l o s i n g s p o t a t Motorcyclepedia’s Live To Create event, where fans of the band gathered to watch their friends and favorite band perform. !“Basically what it [a ghostwalk] is, is a person who doesn’t know where their life is going.” says Alpert about where the band name Ghostwalk came from. “If we were to all go on a ghostwalk to find our passion, we would find it’s music.” explains Messina. Continued on page 2 FBLA TEAMS UP WITH SAINT JUDE’S

BY MATT MENDEZ !

The FBLA, under the guidance of Mrs. Hartford, has teamed up with St. Jude Children’s Hospital. The club has been selling Shamrocks during all lunches for the past week as a means of raising money; some of the money will be added to the FBLA scholarship fund while the remainder of the money will be donated to the prominent children’s hospital. Mrs. Hartford credits Ryan Stack, the co-President of FBLA, with not only developing the ideas for the fundraiser but also for writing the proposal and following through with the idea; presenting it to Mr. Connolly and seeing it through Board approval. FBLA has raised over $450. A portion of the money will goes to the FBLA team for their scholarship and the rest goes to St. Jude’s children. Ethan Levy, Adam Alpert and Tom Messina, members of the

band Ghostwalk. Photo by Katherine O’Leary

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NEW AND IMPROVED EVENING ACADEMY

BY LIANA BRATRO !The Evening Academy is a program offered after school to all students at Washingtonville High School. Classes normally runs from 4p.m. to 7p.m. and are primarily in place to help students who are failing classes and are in jeopardy of graduating. !However starting next year the Evening Academy will be offering new and interesting learning activities that can’t generally fit into a regular school day at WHS. !While the Evening Academy is typically for students seeking credit recovery, Mr. Lerner expresses that the courses are open to any student who finds any of these electives interesting. !The specific days and times for these courses have not yet been determined. Washingtonville has put together a survey that will help them establish which courses will be offered soon after the data is collected. Mr. Lener, states that this survey is to gain feedback from the students and is not required for them to take. "We want to know what you may or may not like. This is not to say you're going to sign up or not, we would just like some feedback", says Lener. !However, the underclassmen are highly encouraged to complete this survey. !Lerner hopes that "... At least 10% of the student population will fill it out and that might be enough to gage interest.... Not every student is going to take part in the a Evening Academy so 10% would be a good base line." !A majority of the electives listed in the survey are ones that are not offered during a traditional school day schedule because the school day is already so condensed. These courses include Animation Programming using Alice, Exploration in Jazz, Architectural History and Theory, Food for Fitness and Life, Chemistry of Food, Exploring Italian Culture, Better Living through Environmental Stewardship, Astronomy and Sports Journalism. With a total of nine options, each different from the next, these courses can offer a lot to students interested in different fields. !In one of the electives, Animation Programming using Alice, students will cover the basics of computer programming and object oriented design through the 3D visual platform of Alice. This course is project based and work to create and interactive program/game. Another elective, Exploring Italian Culture, students will watch video clips and movies, listen to music as well as use apps all to learn about Italian language and culture. Both very different to each other.

CHORAL DAY BY DANIEL SANIN !

The Washingtonville School District’s music department hosts an annual event called Choral Day, in which all choral groups from both the high school and middle school collaborate in the high school auditorium. !In the middle school, there are three chorus groups; the 6th grade class, the 7th and 8th grade class, and a 7th and 8th grade select chorus. !The high school also has their own three choral groups; concert choir, treble choir, and the chamber choir. Each chorus performs anywhere between 2-5 songs of classical genres, latin, and even modern pop music. !Ms. Narkin and Mr. Groth, the chorus directors in the middle school, have always been ones to pick latin or hebrew, uplifting songs for their students. These songs tend to be pretty simple, however for such a young group of kids, it can be a challenge that they deal with spectacularly well with. !As Ms. Narkin said, “We’re incredibly proud of how young these children are. They’re always growing and improving, and for such a young group, that’s going to continue happening for the foreseeable future.” !After these children go through the middle school and complete their required music classes, they enter the high school in which music is an elective course. There area variety of different choruses one can be a part of, such a chamber choir, women’s choir, and concert choir. The middle schoolers have the opportunity to hear these various groups preform in order to understand what course they may be interested in taking. !Choral day is an opportunity to show the middle schooler’s the variety our high school offers in terms of choral classes, and to get them excited about their move to the high school. !According to Mr. Wurster, “We’re really relying on the the youth in this district to keep it alive.” !Overall, Choral Day was an opportunity for students from both school to showcase their talents, sing together, and enjoy the common denominator of music.

TRAINER JOHN… (continued) !Once I saw the job open up I knew that it was something I wanted to do. I always wanted to work at a place where my kids could go to school in the same “district and see them grow up in life and athletics as well.” !Kosowicz is not actually hired directly by the school. His employer is Orthopedic Associates for Dutchess County. Washingtonville has a contract with them to bring in an athletic trainer to Washingtonville for athletic events. He

has been contracted to the school for five years. These five years have been a long time of keeping everyone in great health. !“I normally come in the school around 1 or 1:30. Once everybody starts their practice I am at my prevention phase where I tape, stretch and just really try to prevent anyone to get hurt.” !These activities can range from anyone to any part of the body. “Not one injury is more commonly seen. Every injury happens depending on what is and isn’t required from the sport. During basketball season I see more ankles and during football I see anything from breaking of bones to pulled muscles.” !For Kosowicz this is easy as he is very good at his craft. He routinely gets calls from coaches to come check out injuries and in the snap of a finger he is there. !Kosowicz’s office is the local hangout spot for the sports teams as his office is right next to the locker rooms. Some believe that he is the best trainer in Section IX. I would have to agree with them. He not only can tape an ankle extremely quickly but his personality makes you want to be around him more and more. Kosowicz is the backbone to Wizards sports.

ROCKIN’ THE OC… (continued) !Both Levy and Alpert are Washingtonville High School graduates; Levy graduated in 2012, Alpert in 2010 and Messina is a senior at Washingtonville and will be graduating this June of 2015. !As of now their plans for the future are, performing locally this spring and summer, also releasing their new EP on March 27th, 2015. They are selling Ghostwalk gear, CDs and more; you can check the merchandise out on Ghostwalkband.bandcamp.com. !Make sure to check out Ghostwalk on social media sites as well as making it out to one of their gigs. Ghostwalk’s instagram and twitter handle is: @ghostwalkny, and make sure to check out their song Ground Break on YouTube!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER6wnrOYJ7c

Students can find this survey on the high school website titled Evening Academy Electives Survey. Rating their interest in the course on a scale one to five. One being no interest and five being high interest. The interests collected from this will thus be taken into great consideration to determine the courses that will be offered to the students in the Evening Academy. !http://www.ws.k12.ny.us/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=5GU2G2&dasi=222 !

Trainer John taping up a student ankle after school. Photo by Jakob Woods.

NEWS STORIES

Ghostwalk t-shirt. Photo by Katherine O’Leary.

PREPPING FOR SPRING BY JAKOB WOODS !

The Fall and Winter has passed although, the weather has not, Spring is upon us. With Spring we get all types of new sports and new aspirations for championships. These sports include outdoor track and field, softball, baseball, and golf. !I spoke with softball Coach Joe Bucco about the upcoming season. His thoughts were “We are coming back with our starters but we are still a young team.” When he was asked about his expectations were he said “To compete, compete in games that we weren’t able to compete in in the past.” The girls do have a young team and only have four seniors. !Staying on the diamond, the baseball team is looking to come out and win some games this season. Joey Tecklenburg, a senior captain for the Wizards, stated that “We didn’t lose much talent from last year so we have a lot more talent.” His outlook on what the team can possibly do this year is “We should be able to compete in our division and possibly win our division.” The team is working hard as they have early morning conditioning each school day. !Lastly, the boys golf team started up this past week with their meeting being held on Monday the 9th. Coach Rose commented on the upcoming season by saying “ We have a nice group of returners… This is Blake [Waaland’s] turn to be our leader and our captain this year. Hopefully we can challenge for the division title.” Rose was extremely upbeat about having all of the young guys back and was looking forward to coaching them this upcoming season. !All three teams are still in tryouts and the team’s are not set in stone at this date. We hope to watch everyone achieve their goals and each team win the division. Good luck to all Wizards spring sports on your quest to become champions and leaving your mark at Washingtonville High School.

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CURTAIN CALL BY BRANDON TOLEDO !

The Masque and Mime club finished up their production of Pippin last Saturday night. The play is about the life of a boy named Pippin. The lead roles were portrayed by Preston Davis, as Pippin, and Jacquelyn Ambrosio as the Leading Player. !In the play, Pippin tries to find his place in life. He traverses through many different phases of life, trying to find his “corner of the sky,” al the while being lured by the Leading Player toward a “better life” and a perfect climax. Yet he comes to realize that this does not necessarily exist, and that perhaps he has found his corner in the woman he loves and her child. So he has to stand up for what he wants. !Mrs. Davis believes that this theme of finding oneself is very relevant to the lives of young people today. !Overall the show was a great success. The show ran smoothly and overall great job by Masque and Mime and everybody else who helped with the production of the play. !According to Mrs. Davis, the play’s Director, “In live theater there is always room to grow from show to show.” !Some things that she thought that could’ve been improved was the tech part, but they “lost out on over 40 hours of rehearsal time...” due to the inclement weather this winter has brought. As for the performers, Davis thought they could improve on the “volume of their singing.”

Y2KIDS BY KATHERINE O’LEARY !

Every year, the fifth grade students in the Washingtonville School District journey to Stewart International Airport to attend a mini job fair. It is called the Y2Kids Career Fair, and this year it is being held on March 18th. Various tables are set by local businesses so that the students can see what types of jobs are available in the Orange County area. !All of these career specialists are volunteer only, and talk to about 3,000 kids in a span of about two days. This event cost nothing to participate thanks to generous sponsors. !Kids also have the opportunity to go inside a massive C-5 cargo plane. High school students from BOCES are also at Y2k volunteering to show the kids the crafts they are learning, such as cosmetology and culinary works. Showing young children of the community the multitude of careers they can choose from as they get older can greatly benefit these students and helps them gain knowledge about some careers they may not have known about before visiting Y2kids.

MOST LIKELY TO… BY LIANA BRATRO

!Senior year- the most anticipated year of a student’s high school career. With graduation and college up and coming, there are traditions each senior class is entitled to, one of them being superlatives. Senior superlatives are titles awarded to the students as to what they are seen as by their peers, such as "Best Hair" & "Most Likely to Become President". !Back in February, the senior class voted for the

classmates they wanted to win various titles. Students talked around the school questioning who to vote for, because students were not suppose to campaign for a certain superlative. Being that it is March already and there are only three months left of school, the votes have been counted by the yearbook staff and within the next few days the results will be shared with the senior class. !This year there are thirty-one superlatives that will be included in the yearbook. For just about every category there will be a male and female student deemed the winners. Exceptions for this are "Best Bromance" which will have two boys as winners and, "Attached at the Hip" which this year will be two girls. Along with these two superlatives, there are a few other new and creative titles that the yearbook club members created. Such are, "Most Charitable", "Most Likely to Win the Voice", "Most Likely to Have Their Own Talk Show", "Most Likely to Serve Their Country" and "Best Nickname". !The senior class this year is over 300 students, thus making a variety of winners. While some may be the obvious choice, while others may be a surprise. Either way it goes, senior superlatives are a fun tradition many students look forward to. !If anyone is interested in helping create the 2014-2015 school year yearbook, meetings are held every Thursday in room 227. New members are always welcome. Students can speak to Ms. Carnright or Mrs. Lynch with any questions. Make sure to order your yearbook soon!

The turnout for the play was not bad for the play according to Davis, “the crowd got better as the play went on. We do the play on Thursday night which is always kind of low, but we do for the people who are going away for the weekend so they can still have a chance to see the play...” She also states that, “we also have a much smaller cast, with the cast only being 54 that means there are less family members but that also meant there were more outside people coming to see the play which was nice.” !Its a bittersweet for the seniors in Masque and Mime because this was their last play of their high school career. Way to go out with a bang!

Senior, Stephen Lynch, having a good ‘ol time at the spring musical, Pippin.

Masque and Mime members pose for a picture during an intermission at the spring musical, Pippin. Photo

by Stephen Lynch

A correction: In our 3/6 newsletter we stated that the Village mayoral election was November 3, however the election took place this past Wednesday, March 18.

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BO KNOWS BY JACK JENNINGS !

One question has always resonated amongst sporting fans alike, who is the greatest player of all time? Now this question is often debated about players in their respected sport . This p layer has the most championships, another has the most touchdowns, the next is the most influential in their sport. The debate that we are going to discuss is which player is the greatest of all time, not just in one specific sport, but in all of sporting history. !To be able to do this we must first define what it means to be a great player. In my mind when I think of the greatest players there is one common thread between them all, athleticism. Sporting events are, by definition, athletic competitions so it is only fitting that the most athletic players are the best of all time. As far are athleticism goes, there is only one name that sits atop the rest, Bo Jackson. !Bo Jackson is famously known for being a two-sport professional athlete. Jackson played running back for the Oakland Raiders and outfielder for the Kansas City Royals. Jackson is the only player to ever make an All-star team in two different sports. !In my mind, athleticism is made up of many different aspects that players want to have. The most important of these aspects is most definitely speed, and Bo Jackson sure had plenty of speed. To this day Jackson has the record in the 40 yard dash for the NFL combine with a scorching time of 4.12 seconds. Jackson was also in consideration for the U.S. mens Olympic track team, but he decided to focus on baseball and football. !Jackson is known for his acrobatic -- almost video game like -- catches in the outfield. One play that sticks out was when Jackson was chasing down a ball and after he caught it he was going so fast and was so close to the wall that he simply ran up the wall to slow down. This man was a freak of nature. !Many people say that the greatest player must have great stats in order to be considered the best. Well Bo Jackson has the stats to back it up. While playing part-time in the NFL he ran for 2,782 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry, the best career per-carry average ever by a running back. In eight seasons in MLB, he hit .250 with 141 home runs and 415 RBIs. It’s safe to say Jackson had what it takes.

!Unfortunately, like many great athletes Bo Jackson was plagued by injury and in 1991 during a playoff game with the Raiders was seriously injured forcing him to have a hip replacement. This was a career ending injury for Bo Jackson the football player and it changed his baseball career forever. !Even though Bo Jacksons professional careers were ended early, the sporting world was still able to witness an athlete in the true sense of the word (Not to mention destroy each other when they played as him in Tecmo Super Bowl for NES). Jackson gave us highlight after highlight of miraculous plays and left a legacy behind that won’t soon be forgotten.

Unfortunately, this would not change the underlying problem; age does not equal maturity. !I know adults that act like kindergarteners. I know eight-year-olds who act like they are middle aged. !The difference between a seventeen and an eighteen-year-old is simply that the eighteen-year-old has more rights and responsibilities. But that does not mean that the eighteen-year-old will handle the rights and responsibilities well. !Perhaps, instead of having an age where you are granted adulthood, there should be a test that you take every year. The test will evaluate how you make decisions and how you communicate with others. In simple terms, it will test your maturity. When you can get above a certain score, only then, should you become an adult.TRICKS OF THE TRADE

BY STEPHEN LYNCH !!We all have dealt with blemishes or pimples, but I have found a few strange beauty tricks that work. Sometimes the weirdest tricks are the ones that work best. If you have tried every facial creams or hair products under the sun, you might want to try something new. !The first trick is one of my favorite tricks that I will cover. !Trick 1: Fade scars with a raw potato. I suffer from acne like many people in Washingtonville High School. Acne can often leave scars on your skin after the pimple has gone away. To help get rid of these scars, try putting potato juice on your face. It sounds crazy, right. I learned that potatoes have enzymes which can make your skin become healthy skin and reduce scarring to happen on your face. To do this simply cut a potato in half and rub it all over the relevant area, let the potato juice cover the skin. !The second trick is for your teeth. !Trick 2: Whiten your teeth with crunchy vegetables. Did you ever wish you had whiter teeth? Fruits and vegetables can help brighten your smile. Dark foods with bacteria from food particles can lead to yellow stained teeth. Eww- Gross! However, eating crunchy fruit and vegetables such as apples, celery, and carrots can get rid of staining and whiten your teeth.The crunchy fruits and veggies can help to give your teeth a post- meal cleaning. It removes the bacteria and removes stains from your teeth. !For anyone who has blonde hair, this is for you. !Trick 3: Rejuvenate blonde hair with Ketchup. Have you ever had a hair dye disaster? Did you ever spend too much time in the pool, that your hair is turning greenish? If you have blonde hair and have had a problem like this you can rejuvenate your blonde hair color by the help of your new best friend Ketchup.

EDITORIALS It may not be appealing, but it works. It can make your hair shiny and golden. Apply the ketchup in your hair and leave on for 20 minutes and then rinse off and shampoo as normal. !Changing your pillowcase weekly will improve your skin. !This brings us to Trick 4: Change your pillowcase or hat. Both pillowcases and hats store banks for sweat, grease, and grime ( which is dirt building up). Since these objects are in contact direct contact with your forehead and have a good amount of pressure that can clog pores and lead to acne. Changing and washing the pillowcases or hats weekly will prevent the clogging in your pores. !Have you ever tried you using a cleanser? !Trick 5: Is switch to a cleanser as opposed to just soap. Regularly washing your face is a great way to reduce acne, but if you wash your face too much it can leave the skin dry and irritated. !The last and final trick is about eating right. !Trick 6: Eat Healthier. Antioxidants and vitamins are found in healthy foods that can clear up your skin. The antioxidants reduce redness and swelling to prevent breakouts. The vitamins can help strengthen and improve your immune system. The immune system

CROSSING INTO ADULTHOOD BY HANNAH SHEBOY !

At sixteen-years-old I can drive a car, but, I cannot see a rated R movie in the theatre without my parents. Strangely, that changes the second I blow out the candles on my birthday cake. !One day changes the way the world views my maturity. !At eighteen-years-old, I can choose to die for my country and pick the next president. Unfortunately, I cannot run for president until I am thirty-five-years-old. !In our society, children become adults the second they turn eighteen-years old. This is the age where they are expected to make good decisions and live in the world shaped by past generations. They become responsible. Or, at least, they are supposed to be responsible. !Some people mature more quickly than others. !There are young adults who are capable of making exceptional life decisions. These young people know how to conduct themselves in a mature manner. These people are outliers. !Many neuroscientists have come to the conclusion that the human brain is not fully mature until you are around twenty-five-years-old. In fact, several neuroscientists have suggested raising the age of legal adulthood.

Introducing the new Editorial Staff for Wizards Weekly. Search #WizardNation on iTunes to listen to their podcasts.

Liana Bratro is the current Editor-in-Chief for Wizards Weekly and a senior at Washingtonville High School. She is one of the newbies around these halls as she transferred here last year and remained under the radar. This year she is a dedicated member of the Yearbook and Wizards Against Cancer Club. She is a hardcore music and concert lover. Bratro has dreams of majoring in communications/journalism and someday writing a New York Times #1 Bestseller. #WIZARDNATION

Katherine O’Leary is a senior at Washingtonville High School, who plans on graduating this June and next year is going to further her education at a 4-year University. O’Leary is a Wizards cheerleader, wanna-be southern belle and Bachelor enthusiast. She loves dogs, warm weather, swimming, and watching football & baseball. #WIZARDNATION

Daniel Sanin will be attending SUNY Albany in the fall of 2015, and is planning on majoring in communications & media or social welfare and minoring in business. Purple and gold are his favorite colors, so that’s convenient. He’s been part of Masque and Mime here at WHS for his

entire four years of high school and plans on continuing a similar tradition up at college. College will also consist of every Mario Kart game in existence. #WIZARDNATION

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MEET THE STAFF

Matt Mendez is a senior at Washingtonville High School who aims to get a career in accounting or journalism. He wants to become the greatest DJ of all time by the age of 22. Matt spends his time after school practicing his DJ’ing skills and playing whatever sport is out there. Matt hopes to go to a four year university to pursue his career.#WIZARDNATION

Jakob Woods is a senior at Washingtonville High School. He was a varsity football and basketball captain for your Wizards. He loves to talk and play all types of sports. He will soon be playing football in college. The college that he chooses is still unknown but he will decide soon. He also enjoys hanging with friends and playing video games. #WIZARDNATION

Brandon Toledo is a senior at Washingtonville High School. He is planning on attending s 4-year college to pursue his career in cyber security. He wrestled throughout high school. He loves to watch soccer on the weekends. He likes to DJ in his spare time as well. #WIZARDNATION