Hills Idol - Half Hollow Hills

Half Hollow Hills High School East
Issue 3, June 2007
So Long, Mr. Kindelmann
By: Stacey Goldberg
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
2007 will be a memorable
year for nearly 400 High
School East students because
they can always look back on
this year and say “I was a member of the graduating class of
’07.” To these students, 2007
will be a year of graduation,
happiness and liberation,
yet for Mr. Kindelmann, the
High School East Principal,
2007 will be remembered for
something much different.
Unfortunately, for those who
have yet to hear the news,
this is Mr. Kindelmann’s final
year as Principal here at HSE.
His leadership, guidance, and
love for the school will be
continued by Dr. Woodberry
beginning in the 2007/2008
school year. Although such
news of Mr. Kindelmann’s
retirement may bring sadness
to many students, teachers,
and parents, Mr. Kindelmann
is not the type of man who
would leave such a position
and move on without being
involved in the field of education to some degree. His love
for the school is far too great
to ever be suppressed by the
overwhelming excitement of
retirement. When asked if he
has enjoyed his time at HSE,
it took almost no time for the
word “absolutely” to
come streaming out!
Mr. Kindelmann
has been working as
an educator for 37
years. After realizing
that he had an interest
in one day becoming a Principal, Mr.
Kindelmann graduated Iona College
and became a dean
in 1987 here in HSE
(as well as a basketball coach). In 2002
Mr. Kindelmann was
promoted to Principal, and after 5 years
at this position, he
has decided it is time
to retire. His wife, who currently works in the Huntington
School District, is also retiring
this year. When asked what his
plans were for after retirement,
Mr. Kindelmann eagerly responded that he would like to
improve his golf game!
As Principal, Mr. Kindelmann has made many numerous contributions to HSE. He
feels his vision of a diverse
school has become a reality.
Additionally, he has successfully maximized instruction
and enhanced the methods pertaining to how students learn.
He has turned this large high
school into a safe and friend-
Hills Idol
By: Jessica Repanes
SECTION EDITOR
Saturday, May 19, marked
the beginning of a district annual event, Hills Idol. This
PTA sponsored event featured
high school students from
both Hills East and West who
competed against each other
to see which student was the
best singer. Auditions accommodated numerous amounts
of students, but only fourteen
contestants from each school
were selected to participate in
the Semi Finals.
For the Semi Finals, each
student selected one song
to perform for the audience. Genres of music were
not limited, as they included
Rock, Pop, and everything
IN SIDE
THIS ISSUE
in between. Crowd favorites
included “You Give Love a
Bad Name” (sung by Chris
Barnes), “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (sung by
Brittany Mignanelli), and “I
Hope You Dance” (sung by
Dana Putterman). The competition was being judged by
John Piazzia, Nikki St-James,
and Gary Saint.
Of course, what would an
Idol competition be without
audience participation? Set
up outside the auditorium
were jars labeled with each
contestant’s name and picture.
Audience members were allowed to place a dollar inside
their favorite performer’s jar.
The contestant with the most
Continued on Page 9
ly learning environment. He
finds the greatest solace in seeing former students return to
the high school as mature and
happy adults. For example,
Mr. Kindelmann specifically
makes reference to the class
of 1983 and the 9/11 memorial
in the HSE courtyard as one
of the most memorable moments in his time here at the
high school. Another joyous
moment for Mr. Kindelmann
came this year when Richard
Mills, a representative from
the New York State Board of
Regents, made a spontaneous
visit to the high school. Mr.
Mills was extremely impressed
by the academics, worldliness,
and orderliness of HSE and
even said that this is an “all
embracing school” (congratulations fellow classmates)!
Mr. Kindelmann’s vision for
the school is to continue to
grow and stay environmentally friendly. Mr. Kindelmann
eagerly demonstrated that all
of the little things, such as
unplugging unnecessary electronics when not in use, can be
the most beneficial!
Looking towards the future,
Mr. Kindelmann is excited
about Dr. Woodberry becoming the new Principal. “Dr.
Woodberry has it all” Mr. Kindelmann said. “He is a terrific
listener, he has good values,
is an excellent communicator
and is a terrific role-model.”
Mr. Kindelmann is also excited with his decision to make
Mr. Bongino the new Assistant Principal. Mr. Bongino
Continued on Page 11
By: Rebecca Harris
STAFF WRITER
On May 11th the Hills East
Thespian Society presented its
first annual “East in Lights”
talent show, showcasing the
wide variety of talent in our
student body. All of the proceeds were donated to Relay
for Life, hosted by the American Cancer Association. This
is a charity event to raise
money honoring cancer survivors, pay tribute to those who
have passed on, and to help
fight the disease. Participants
have the power to support the
American Cancer Society’s
progress in the battle against
cancer. The ticket money, as
well as donations, went directly to this fantastic cause.
The Thespian Society put on
a great show, with many dif-
Soupa Saturday: POST-GRADUATION PLANS
HSE at the
Where are our Hills East Seniors
Soup Kitchen
Going After Graduation?
PAGES 6-7
PAGE 2
ferent performances. The Dixettes did a great routine. Also,
students Katrina Moise, Ilana
Ventura, Jackie Ruggero, and
Lisa Ruggero displayed their
HSE spirit through dance.
East’s musicians included violist Lace Abelbey, guitarists
Melissa Karmel and David
Barnstone, and pianist Russell
Feinstein. Many of our talented singers wowed the audience. They were Gina Amico,
Jordan Kugler, Aurielle Satterthwaite, Andrew Kirschner,
Ashley Kotkin, Sami Jurman,
Joe Bernardo, and Dana Putterman. They really amazed
the audience with their strong
voices and powerful tunes.
Two of Hills East’s greatest
bands rocked the stage. With
More Tales from
Behind the Scene:
Concession Stands
PAGE 11
energy and flair, they got the
audience on their feet. They
included Andre Doughty, Ryan
Kober, Gabe Kirshoff, Jon
Mackey, and the titled group
“Blueprints for Mankind.” Students showcased their comedic
side when Amanda Holder,
Melissa Mayard, and Aurielle
Satterthwaite performed “You
Don’t Need a Man.” In addition, Melanie Levine’s Beverly “Dix” Hills was a great way
to make the audience laugh.
To end the show, the chamber
choir sang a beautiful rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled
Water.” It was a very memorable night, filled with joy and
fun. Congratulations to all the
Thespian Society members on
a job well done!
Movie
Madness
2007!
PAGE 9
[2] Thunderbird
“Soupa” Saturday
By: Lauren Greenberg
STAFF WRITER
HSE 5th
Fashion
Show
By: Rebecca Harris
STAFF WRITER
On Friday March 23rd,
2007, the Hills East Fashion
Club presented its 5th annual
Fashion Show. Students, as
well as teachers, modeled
clothes from many stores
including Estelle’s Dressy
Dresses, Lacrosse Unlimited,
Hot Topic and Tight N Up.
The purpose of this fashion
show was not only to have
a good time, but to promote
the United Nations’ goal of
making fresh water accessible everywhere around the
world. This program is called
Magenta and the Magic
Cloth. Magenta symbolizes
the beauty that exists among
diverse cultures. The “Magic
Cloth” represents the association one can make when
exploring the differences
among those cultures. The
money made from the fashion show goes straight to the
House of Children in Peru,
where families are building their own water troughs.
People in this area are suffering from multiple diseases
due to bacteria in the water
and poor hygiene. As stated
in the program, “By next
year, we hope to have the entire district involved in Magenta and the Magic Cloth.
Magenta may be the way in
which we weave the cloth
of friendship between ourselves and the world…” All
of the models looked beautiful as they strutted down the
runway with style. Teachers,
including Mrs. Bongiorno,
Mr. Mayo, Miss Rivera, and
Dr. Woodbury all sparked
loud cheers from the audience. The female students
truly showed off the clothes
well, while walking with attitude. The male models kept
the audience entertained and
smiling. The show went very
smoothly and was a big hit
among students and parents.
A great job was done by all,
including Ms. Patricia Gordon the advisor, Lisa Ruggero and Diandre Decaro the
Co-Presidents, and all the
officers.
In a place like New York
City, it is nearly impossible
to lack diversity. With so
many types of people, one
is bound to encounter a variety of lifestyles. Just
like anywhere else, the
streets of the five boroughs overflow with
people who carry their
own load of benefits and
dilemmas. Unfortunately,
in an area with such diversity, as inevitable as it
is to find prosperity, it is
just as common to come
upon complete suffering.
No matter how some may
succeed or fail, people often require some form of
assistance from someone
other than themselves.
Those who do not prosper, and cannot support
themselves, do require the
help of those who can.
A homeless man begging
for change on the corner of
a busy crosswalk, or a hungry woman who rummages
through trash cans in the
park are oftentimes difficult
sights to see. In fact, the
people who are not suffering, or have more to their
names than the needy ones,
tend to look the other way.
It is entirely common for a
person to walk past someone
who is in need and turn his
or her back on him or her,
literally and metaphorically.
From a young age, some
children are taught never to
give coins or attention to a
pleading person in need, for
fear that the provided money
will be used to commit acts
of destruction. Understandably, some people also believe that those who go without a meal, or do not have a
thy for those in need. Maybe
the eyes of those who can
provide for themselves fall
short of the ability to view
such sights of agony. Perhaps society cannot even
look upon the faces of those
whose lives have taken
a turn for the worse, let
alone provide for them.
Luckily, for those who
care to seek out the help
they may need, there
are some locations that
provide a warm feeling for those who are
normally locked out in
the cold. Soup kitchens,
shelters, and fund raisers are out to help those
who have lost the ability
to help themselves. One
soup kitchen with a particularly warm heart and
bowl of soup, is located
at the Village Temple, in
Greenwich Village of New
York City. If one were to
view the actual room where
the cooking and distributing of food takes place, it
would be hard to imagine
place to sleep, have brought
these problems upon themselves, and therefore do not
deserve any pity. The reason
for these ideas and actions is
not necessarily derived from
a lack of concern or sympa- Continued on Page
Goodbye to the Class of 2007
By: Rachel Scall
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Four years ago an army of
freshmen arrived at Hills East,
giant backpacks and all. Year
by year the backpacks got
smaller and the freshmen got
bigger. It may be hard to believe, but now that army of
book-toting freshmen have become the senior class of 2007.
There isn’t one senior
who can say that each day of
By: Carolina C. DeLeon and father came to this counDear Mr. President,
First, I’m going to state how
I admire the fact that you’re
willing to help a country under
distress, and willing to help
them fight for independence
from a strong, powerful, and
cruel dictator. Although many
people have disagreed with
the war in Iraq since the start,
I am not ashamed to say that
I did agree with us fighting
the war and fighting for what
this country strongly believes
in: liberty and freedom. I
do understand that you are
under a lot of stress because
what a president needs most
is the support, understanding,
and patience from his nation,
which I am sure you may feel
like you are not receiving
right now. As a President, I
too would feel tense and disappointed because it is either
fighting for what I believe in
or doing what the citizens of
my country believe I should
do. As you read this letter, I
ask that you see yourself not
as the President of the United
States but as a hard-working
middle class citizen of the
United States.
Before I start talking about
the main issues, I wish to inform you a little about my
background. Both my mother
try when they were in their
early teens from the Dominican Republic. They came
to this country looking for a
better opportunity to succeed
and a new beginning. My parents struggled very hard to get
what they have, and to this
day, they still struggle. I am
very proud of my parents because I have yet to suffer cold
nights without a blanket or sit
at a table with an empty plate.
My parents love the land
where they were born and I
too have learned to love that
land. That land I speak of is a
land full of suffering, poverty,
hunger, and violence, but I
still manage to see their eyes
glow from happiness. Those
are some of the most grateful
people I have ever met in my
life, and I have learned to appreciate what I have because
of them.
This, which is my land, is
land full of hope, a way to
give back to my ancestors and
prevent the future generations
from suffering as they did.
By: Rebecca Harris
& Melissa Tierney
STAFF WRITERS
On June 2nd through June
3rd Half Hollow Hills High
School West will host the community’s first American Cancer Society event called “Relay for Life.” “Relay for Life”
is an overnight fund-raiser for
cancer patients and survivors.
Teams of 8 to 15 participants
will be assigned a portion of
land at the High School
10
This is a land full of riches
and prosperity. I have seen
this country come together in
the time of need and stand by
each other. They would lend
a shoulder to cry on when
needed and give a bandage
to those who are wounded.
I’ve watched tears fall down
our eyes as we lowered our
flags and removed our caps as
we watched the Twin Towers
collapse. It no longer mattered the race or color of the
skin; we were all Americans,
and we all felt the pain. I ob-
served as people were crying
and begging for help as they
searched for their loved ones.
I watched as the soldiers got
ready to say good-bye to their
loved ones and get ready
to fight a war. We all felt so
powerful but at the same time
so powerless. At first, everyone believed we should fight
and show that these colors indeed do not run. It happened
September 11, 2001. Now, 5
years later and we are still in
Iraq fighting what seems to be
an endless war.
As an American, I am proud
of my country’s ability to
show that we can fight a war
and not back down. At the
same time, I feel embarrassed
to say I’m an American. President Bush, my intentions are
not to offend you in any way
but to help understand why
many people oppose the war.
The major reason we entered
the war was to show that we
are not scared and get somewhat even with the attacks on
the Twin Towers. After we
proved to them that we are a
strong nation, we also heard
some news that we will stay
in Iraq because they have
some very dangerous missiles
that are a threat to the world.
This was proven to be false
because they couldn’t find
Continued on Page 11
high school was the happiest
day of his life, but there also
isn’t anyone who can say that
there weren’t any good days
at all. Sure, we all complain
about backstabbing rumors
and snobby cliques, but when
we look back on our days at
HSE, we’re going to miss our
friends, our favorite teachers,
and, of course, spicy chicken.
Together we have perfected
the art of copying homework,
terrorized the librarians, made
school bagels their own food
group, overcome school IDs,
and re-defined laziness. Right
now it is safe to say that not
only are we ready to graduate,
but the administration is probably ready to hand over those
diplomas.
This year we played in our
last indoor soccer tournaments. We plotted out our last
elaborate cheating methods.
We stole our last posters from
the library and our last chocolate milks from the cafeteria.
Now we are getting ready
to say good-bye to our best
friends, some of whom we’ve
known since kindergarten.
We are no longer little freshmen, concerned with looking
cool despite our meter wide
backpacks. Believe it or not,
no matter how often we still
visit Toys R Us to buy play-
doh and coloring books, we
have grown up.
No senior will leave HSE
unaffected. We have left our
mark on Hills East and Hills
East has left its mark on us.
Each of our moments in high
school, good or bad, was a
learning experience that cannot, and will not, be taken for
granted as we move on in life.
Congratulations Hills East
class of 2007, and good luck.
Relay For Life A Bit About Mr. Barros
Mr. President: We Need to Talk
STAFF WRITER
Thunderbird [3]
HHH High School East
Q: Why is it being done?
A: To raise money for
cancer patients and survivors.
Q
: Where and when is it
taking place?
A
: It is being held on
High School West track. It is
district wide. You need to be
registered and part of a team.
There will be performances as
well such as the kickline and
band. There will be a fun
activity
portion
open to everyone,
but the actual relay is
for registered
members.
By: Nicole Nagler
STAFF WRITER
Mr. Barros has been a
Physical Education Teacher
for the Half Hollow Hills
school disctrict for 34 years.
He taught 9 years at Signal
Hill, 13 years at Hills West
and for the past 12 years he
has been teaching physical
education classes here at
High School East.
Mr. Barros was inspired
to become a teacher because
he enjoyed learning and felt
it would be nice to pass the
knowledge along to others.
His favorite class to teach
is badminton due to the enthusiasm shown by the students. Mr. Barros’s favorite
tournament was the first
indoor soccer tournament
that he ran by himself, before he was given help from
the other physical educa-
from the students and everyone always enjoyed the
tournaments. He did not
have one most memorable
experience; however, he
will always remember the
students’ enjoyment of all
their classes.
Even though Mr. Barros
won’t “miss getting here at
6:00 am to set up the gym
and to take care of other
daily routines not connected to teaching, he will miss
all the classes that showed
enthusiasm for the material
that was being taught.”
After he retires, Mr. Barros plans on doing what
ever he wants to do. His
time and efforts which he
has put into his work for
the last 34 years have had
a great impact on the district, and he will always
be remembered as an excellent physical education
teacher.
probably have an account
with a couple hundred thousand dollars stashed away
for you. Therefore, never,
ever, complain about your
expenses.
Second, beware the “Greek
Week.” You may think you
want to join a fraternity or a
sorority, but do you want it
enough to get held in place
while someone puts a branding iron on your a-… uh,
arm? Do you want it, need it
enough to do twenty shots,
so that even if you survive
you’ll wake up in the morning and you’ll still be drunk
until dinner? If your answer
is yes, then I guess I’ll be
seeing you at the next AA
meeting.
Third, you have not yet
studied once. For some of
you, that’s more literal than
figurative. Chances are you
don’t know how to study (I
include myself especially in
this category) and will be
surprised when natural ability doesn’t slide anymore.
Also, you won’t get away
with writing the sentence
“Please give me an A” on
your essays in lieu of actually writing a substantial essay. Do that in college. I dare
you.
Finally, always remember
that everyone thinks he is
unique when he goes off to
college, but only a few actually are. You’ll know exactly
who I’m talking about when
you get there. You think
you’re awesome when you
run around drunk and naked
in the halls, but they’re the
guys who show up to class
wearing a black cloak and
Guy Fawkes mask. Also, they
answer to all who ask them alliteratively, just because they
happened to see the costume
from V For Vendetta in their
closet. They’re the ones who
go on the college radio and
talk about various uses for
vegetable oil for twenty minutes, just because they saw a
commercial on TV. In short,
you are no match.
tion staff. The tournament
created a lot of enthusiasm
Tips for the Real World
West track
where they will pitch a
tent to spend the night.
The evening begins with
Opening Ceremonies. This is
when the community’s cancer
survivors walk a victory lap
around the track. The second lap is dedicated to those
whom were most supportive
and helpful to the cancer survivors. Throughout the rest of
the night, there is at least one
member of each team on the
track at all times. Dr. Woodbury is involved in this event,
and below is an interview
with him.
Q
: What is the Relay
for Life?
A
: It is a cancer fundraiser and awareness event
through the American Cancer Society…to help people
fighting the disease. It is an
overnight relay. You assemble a team and walk for an
hour. You get people to sponsor you to raise money.
By: Brian Kotkin
STAFF WRITER
Q: Who is organizing this?
A: The American Cancer
Society, specifically for our
Half Hollow Hills community.
Q
: Who are you hoping
will get involved?
A
: Hopefully as many
people as possible from the
community. There are already two faculty teams of
fifteen organized. We are trying to get all the clubs and
activities from the schools
involved. Anyone can donate
money.
Q
: How will it be advertised?
A
: There is information on
the district website. There are
also flyers around the school.
My fellow seniors are all
going off to college (or most
of them anyway), and I have
come to realize that despite
your good grades you have
the common sense of a goldfish and the survival instincts
of a sponge (the one you use
for cleaning, not the one that
lives on the seafloor; that one
can still feed itself). Knowing this, I decided I’d help
you out with some things you
should know before you (almost) go out into the world.
First, please remember that
most of you live among the
top 5-10% of the country, financially. The proof is that a
low cost house around here
costs at least $500,000, and
that’s really low-balling it.
Thus, no matter where you
go, you are going to be one
of the “rich kids,” even if you
think you aren’t. Most of the
people in college can only
afford it because of scholarships and loans; your parents
[4] Thunderbird
Issue 1, November 2005
An Interview With:
‘07 Career
Dr. Morris Day at HSE
By: Courtney Hartman
STAFF WRITER
By: Ian Schwartz
STAFF WRITER
I was talking with one of
my friends during the last
few weeks and we were discussing up coming things
that we had to do. I told
my friend that I had an interview with Dr. Morris for
my Hollywood and History
class the next day. Immediately my friend said to
me, “Who is Dr. Morris?”
At first, I thought he was
kidding. How could he not
know who Dr. Morris is? It
turned out that he was not
joking around. It also turned
out that my friend was not
alone. I proceeded to ask
some of my other friends if
they knew. So, who is Dr.
Morris? For starters, Dr.
Morris is the Director of the
Social Studies Department
in our district. He is a hard
working, dedicated educator who loves his job almost
as much as he loves history.
Growing up in Great Neck,
Dr. Morris found his love
for history at a very young
age. Since he was little,
his family would take vacations to historical places
and talk about different
history events. In school,
social studies was his favorite subject. “Teaching was
for me,” Dr. Morris stated
as he re-lived his past. After graduating high school,
Dr. Morris attended Buffalo
University. He then received
his Master’s Degree at C.W.
Post and also received his
Masters and Doctorate at St.
Johns University.
One thing that sets Dr.
Morris apart from most other people is his belief in the
importance of film in our
social studies curriculum.
He is a very strong supporter of Hills East’s Hollywood
and History class, which
explores historical events
through movies. With the
help of Dr. Morris, the teachers of Hollywood and History, Mrs. Bongiorno and
Mr. Scorcia, have been able
to go to “new heights” this
year with their classes and
really teach their students
the difference between historical fact and Hollywood
fiction.
I had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Morris to talk to him about his
opinion on film and the importance of it in our education. Here’s the interview:
Q : What is your favorite
historical time period/ historical event?
A: The Holocaust.
Q : What is your favorite
historical movie?
A: There are so many…
I really couldn’t even tell
you.
Q : Do you think it’s important to have classes like
Hollywood and History as
a part of everyone’s schedule?
A: Yes, I think it is important to understand the facts
in movies. Certain films can
have big impacts on your
life or society. For example,
the movie ‘Birth of a Nation’ arguably started the
civil rights movement.
Q : Do you think Hollywood movies do a good
job of portraying historical
events?
A: Yes and no. There are
many Hollywood movies
that do an incredible job at
showing different events,
however, I think it is also
important that students
watch documentaries that
really show all the facts.
Hollywood movies give you
a base. Documentaries give
you more knowledge.
Q : Are movies in classrooms really a good idea?
A: Yes, many students
and even adults learn better from visual aid and not
only hearing facts. All social studies classes and not
just Hollywood and History,
should show a movie once
in a while. We should look
to film as a barometer, an
important visual aid.
Q : Is it a problem that
many Hollywood movies
add events that didn’t happen during a historical time
period?
A: Well, that all depends
on the viewer. It is up to us,
the viewers, to decide what
is junk and what is good
information that we should
remember.
Q : Where would you like
to see this class go in the future?
A: Hopefully, we can
eventually expand the curriculum of the class to include modern era films,
explore film makers and
Academy Award winners,
and maybe even watch some
foreign films.
For those people who
didn’t know Dr. Morris, I
hope this got them a little
familiar with him. However, this incredible educator,
who is such a big part of our
everyday educational lives,
deserves much more than an
article in our school newspaper. Dr. Morris has shown
me what it really is to have
a passion about something.
He loves his job, movies
and history more than anyone I have ever met. No one
matches the support that Dr.
Morris gives Hills East and
our Social Studies Department. So, next time you’re
in the social studies wing,
and you see Dr. Morris, say
“Hello”, and thank him for
everything that he has done
to make our educational experience at Hills East that
much better.
If you were able to get
through the mad rush of anxious students racing to get the
last free pen or lollipop you
would have been able to gain a
plethora of information about
possible future careers at Career Day.
Every high school student
has had the conversation with
an adult that began with the
awkward question of, “So,
what do you want to be when
you grow up?” If you were in
the majority, then you would
have answered either “I don’t
know. I’m still thinking,” or
even lowered your eyes and
pretended not to have heard
the pressing question. We
know there are so many opportunities in the world and
so many interesting careers;
however, it is often hard to
settle on just one.
Career Day was a chance
for students to learn about
many different jobs directly
from the people who have
them. Students were exposed
to the ever-popular lawyer,
librarian, teacher, politician,
but also the more obscure
jobs of dress designer, graphic artist, and electrical engineer. All of the representatives were more than eager to
answer questions or explain
their job. They tried to make
students interested in their
areas of expertise by revealing all of the aspects of the
job that attracted them. There
were pamphlets and fliers
that highlighted the different careers and students were
able to take them so they
could learn more about the
job qualifications and what
that career would entail.
Did you know that if you
ever become a salesman the
first rule of thumb would be
to know that “The buyer is
a liar”? Or, say you’re one
of those people who carries
around a camera with him at
all times, just in case a good
photo opportunity pops up,
then you might be interested in
a career as a professional photographer in which you could
be involved with numerous
areas of photography which
include magazines, greeting cards, weddings, or even
crime scenes. A “Dunkin Donuts” representative was present offering information on
the ownership of franchises,
and giving out free samples,
of course. A very intimidating
sergeant was there discussing
his association with the Marine Corps and how to become
involved with the military. The
local politician, Susan Berland,
also took time from her hectic
schedule as a councilwoman to
talk about her work.
The success of Career Day
has helped many indecisive
students have a clearer view of
their future. Everyone who attended was able to find something that interested him or
her. The extensive list of professions attracted many students who, otherwise, would
still have no idea what their
future career goal would be.
Now, when asked the question
“What do you want to be when
you grow up?” many kids from
our school will be able to answer with a more conclusive
response rather than the conventional, “ I don’t know.”
THUNDERBIRD STAFF
Editors-In-Chief:
Stacey Goldberg
Rachel Scall
Layout Editors:
Section Editor:
Staff Writers:
Andrew Kessler
Kevin Kong
Jessica Repanes
Rebecca Harris, Adam Girgenti, Brian Kotkin, Ian Schwartz,
Melissa Tierney, Amanda Ostuni, Nicole Nagler, Courtney
Hartman, Spencer Fogel, Lauren Greenberg, Carolina
Cid DeLeon, Jessica Minassian, Essence Thomas, Hilary
Weissman
Advisors:
Mrs. Fluger
Mrs. Davis
Disclaimer:
The Thunderbird herby states that the opinions
within this publication are those of the writers and do
notnecessarily reflect those of the staff, administration, or school community. We thank you for reading
the thunderbird and hope you enjoy our content!
E-mail: Thunderbirdhse@gmail.com
Thunderbird [5]
HHH High School East
HSE’s First National Art Honor Society
By: Jessica Repanes
SECTION EDITOR
The National Art Honor
Society (NAHS) was officially established in Hills
East this school year (20062007). The club is designed
to bring together students who are dedicated to their art and want
to share that passion
with others in and out
of school; its advisors
are Ms. Corazón and
Mrs. Uttendorfer.
The National Art
Honor Society is an organization which was
founded in 1947 by the
National Art Education Association. Over
time, the NAHS has
established more than
1250 chapters; there are currently 73 in New York.
To clarify how the NAHS began in Hills East, Ms. Corazón
said, “in the school’s Activities
Booklet, the NAHS was listed
as a club, but I knew we didn’t
have official chapter membership in the National Art Honor
Society. There was never any
induction ceremony or required
service hours for its members,
so the club wasn’t functioning
as a true Art Honor Society.
When Mrs. Uttendorfer came
[to our school], she asked if we
had an Art Honor Society and I
said ‘no, not officially, but I’ve
always wanted to establish a
chapter at our school. If you
are willing, we could run [the
Anna Boyd and Web Master
Stacey Goldberg. Together,
the advisors and the club’s
thirty one members participate in activities to promote
art in the school and at school
related events. The members
Senior Banquet, display artwork in the HHH District Art
Show and are currently putting
the finishing touches on a mural of the solar system located
in the science wing.
As an NAHS member, every
club] together.’ She loved the
idea … and so did Mr. Kindelmann and our supervisor, Mr.
Randazzo.”
Of course, the club could
not run smoothly without its
dedicated officers. They are
Co-Presidents Jason Berkenfeld and Samantha Schulman, Vice President Remy
Goldberg, Treasurer Kimberly Wirth, Secretary James
Rigano, Public Relations
Lindsay Stetzer, Historian
assist the Art Club with their
projects and have recently
painted a replica of Van
Gogh’s Starry Night mural
that will take part in the district’s Relay for Life. “Painting the murals are so much
fun; it combines my love
of art with developing new
friendships” states Samantha Schulman. In addition,
the members helped to operate Safe Halloween’s Haunted
House, set up decorations for
student is required to complete
a minimum of two hours of art
related service each month.
The students must also maintain an overall B grade point
average, and an A average in
their art classes.
To officially declare the National Art Honor Society a Hills
East Club, and to commend
the participating students for
their efforts, the National Art
Honor Society’s 1st Induction Ceremony took place on
May 21st. All of the inductees were dressed in black and
white, as in the true tradition
of an Artist’s Ball. After many
discussions, the advisors and
officers decided that black and
white would be our chapter’s
official colors; this is
ironic because black and
white are not colors, but
achromatic colors: neutral
tones without a hue. “We
chose black and white
because black and white
represent the extremes in
art… [when put together],
the two opposites complement each other and make
a visual balance (like
yin and yang), and that’s
what we were trying to
convey” explains Jason
Berkenfeld. A lot of effort
went into the formation of the
Induction Ceremony, including
creating the club’s invitations
and writing numerous speeches. Special thanks are in order
to the Co-Presidents, Samantha Schulman for creating the
beautiful invitations, and Jason
Berkenfeld for writing the Four
Pillars, a fundamental part of
the ceremony.
The officers had high hopes
for the Induction Ceremony,
Continued on Page 8
HSE’s ‘Sound of Music’ Remembering:
By: Rebecca Harris
STAFF WRITER
On Saturday April 28th and
Sunday April 29th the Half
Hollow Hills High School
East Players performed the
classic musical, The Sound
of Music. It is a wonderful story of an aspiring nun
who falls in love with a man
and his seven children. Love
and perseverance
keep the family
together amidst
the harsh German and Nazi
influences taking over their
home of Austria.
The
fabulous
musical drama
conveys the universal theme of
freedom.
The
Hills East performers did an excellent job
of portraying such a meaningful show.
Half Hollow Hills was certainly alive with the sound of
such breathtaking music and
vocals. Lead roles were performed by Jordan Kugler as
Captain Von Trapp, Samantha Jurman as Maria on Saturday, and Rachel Berman as
Maria on Sunday. Children of
the Von Trapp family included Brittany DeCicco, Jason
Rosenberg, Gina Amico, Jacy
McDonough, Jared Glazer,
Hailey Brosnan, Dana Putterman, Melody Agrillo, Rebecca Weiss, Melinda Eller,
and Brittany Nadler. The
children especially shined in
their unique rendition of The
Lonely Goatherd.
Other memorable actors included Ryan Kober
as Rolf, Taylor Sokol as
Elsa, Stephanie Berland as
Frau Schmidt, Travis Miecnikowski as Franz, and
Andre Doughty and Gary
McKenna as Max Detweiler. Fantastic voices rang
through the audience thanks
to a great group of nuns including Nicole Honovich,
Jaclyn Vingan, Ilana Saltz,
Sarah Shapira, Lorraine
Asti, Kerry O’Reilly, and
Rebecca Frank.
Special thanks to a group
of very talented musicians,
HSE’s pit orchestra. The
show would not be complete
without the great student directors, parents, and other
adult helpers including Jared
Glazer,
Rebecca Weiss,
Kimi
Greer,
Lisa Ruggero,
Fayth Berman,
Larry Jurman,
Adam Kugler,
Allyson Sokol,
Lori Horowitz,
Vivian DeRosa, Peter Amico, Denise Honovich, Chris
Creevy, Victoria Reres, Mike Weiss, and
Frank Berman. Additional
thanks go to the stage crew
and lighting technicians. .
Congratulations to directors
Kita and Gary de Sesa on
a truly brilliant job making
this show come alive. An
amazing job was done by all
cast and crew members, and
thanks for such an enjoyable
production!
Jackie Robinson
By: Spencer Fogel
STAFF WRITER
On March 27th, Mr. Frankel’s Sports in American
History and Mr. Carey’s
Amnesty International Club
took a field trip to Suffolk
Community College. Both
classes had an opportunity
to see a Jackie Robinson exhibit and discuss the importance of Jackie Robinson.
Stanley Glenn was a speaker at the presentation. He
was a catcher who played in
the Negro Leagues for the
Philadelphia Stars, the same
league as Jackie Robinson.
Glenn never got a chance
to play on the same team as
Jackie Robinson, who was a
Kansas City Monarch. He
laughed as he told us he had
the opportunity to call Jackie “Rookie.” Glenn never
got a chance to play in the
major leagues due to racism.
During a tryout, a scout
from the New York Yankees
heard about Glenn’s talent
and came to watch how he
played. When the major
league scout arrived, he noticed that Glenn was black
so he left without watch-
ing him. The question and
answer session began after
he finished talking about
his life. When asked how
racism affected his play at
bat and in the field he responded, “It didn’t, baseball was my sport, I loved
it then and I love it now.”
His love for baseball and
fellow comrades was complimented when he told the
audience about his admiration of Jackie Robinson and
teammates. It was further
expressed when he told the
audience that he was deeply
saddened when he found
out about Jackie Robinson’s
death at age 53. Glenn also
took the time to talk to us
about the release of his new
book, Don’t Let Anyone
Take Your Joy Away: An inside Look at Negro League
Baseball and Its Legacy.
The book is about his career in the Negro League
baseball and the history of
the time period and how it
affected his teammates and
him. In the last chapter of
his book, he emphasizes
the importance of joy, and
Continued on Page 9
[6] Thunderbird
Issue 1, November 2005
Thunderbird [7]
HHH High School East
HSE SENIOR GRADUATION PLANS
A Abel-Bey, Lace: Penn State
Afati, Omid: Arizona State University
Ahern, Catherine: Middlebury College
Albert, Dana: University of Rochester
Anastasio, Cara: University of Richmond
Anderson, Jess: Pace University
Antoine, Vanessa: Binghamton University
Arora, Shivani: NYIT
Atkinson, Shanah: College of New Rochelle
B
Barnstone, Jamie: Quinnipiac University
Bekheet, Raymond: The Cooper Union
Belodolf, Aaron: Nassau Community College
Berkenfeld, Jason: Harvard College
Bernstein, Jordan: Cornell University
Berman, Brett: University at Buffalo
Bhasin, Nikhil: NYU
Blatt, Spencer: American University
Boccio, Eric: Washington University in St. Louis
Boehm, Allison: College, Undecided
Brancato, Briana: Northeastern University
Brock, Kenny: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Brower, John: University of Maryland
Brutus, Jessica: Binghamton University
Bryerman, Corey: University of Wisconsin
Buck, Jocelyn: University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Buckley, Juliana: Dowling
Burgazzoli, Jeff: West Virginia University
Butler, Shanelle: St. John’s
C Cai, Diane: Brown University
Carrieri, Samantha: C.W. Post
Callender, Brandon: Boston University
Carle, Gary: Five Towns College
Chiarenza, Rosario: SUNY Binghamton
Chin, Liana: Cornell University
Cid, Arlina: Plans to travel
Clark, Melanie: Binghamton
Clemente, Stephanie: Wesleyan University
Cohen, Danielle: SUNY Albany
Cowan, Chelsey: Emory University
Fogel, Sarah: Cornell University
Fowlkes, Naja: St. John’s University
Friedfeld, Sam: Indiana University
Friedman, Hailey: Emory University
Frigenti, Nick: University of Hartford
Fuentes, Isai: Suffolk Community College
Fung, Stephanie: University of Buffalo
G Gans, Zak: Indiana Bloomington
Garyn, Lindsey: University of Tampa
Gebhardt, Michael: Northwestern University
Gerber, Dan: University of Deleware
German, Brett: Hofstra
Giaime, Brian: Digipen Institute of Technology
Gill, Brian: University of Maryland, College Park
Gill, Pasha: Carnegie Mellon
Gobourne, Ashlee: Stony Brook
Goldberg, Remy: Emory
Goldstein, Alex: University of Wisconsin, Madison
Gordon, Alex: Dickinson College
Gordon, Nikki: Undecided
Gottlieb, Ariel: Towson University
Graynor, Kyle: NYU Stern School of Business
Greenbaum, Melissa: Onondaga College
Greenberg, Matt: Malloy College
Griffith, Troy: Farmingdale, then transferring to Tampa
Grosskurth, Thomas: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Gutterson, Glen: Duke University
Guzman, Elizabeth: Traveling to the Dominican Republic
FEATURED SENIOR
Alexandra
Hochstrasser
“Do not stress too
much to be the best,
enjoy high school
because once you’re
gone you never go
back.”
D Daibee, Anil: Boston University
DeCaro, Diandre: University of South Florida
DeStefano, Dana: Boston University
DeRosa, Laura: Laboratory Institute of Merchandising
Desnoyers, Ronald: Long Island University
DiSanto, Brian: Loyola College in Maryland
Dorn, Erin: SUNY Purchase
Dresner, Meredith: Johnson and Wales University
Dubato, Christina: Adelphi University
Dubicki, Alex: Stony Brook
E Edelmen, Hannah: University of Wisconsin
Eller, Samantha: Adelphi
Engelhardt, Andrew: CUNY Baruch
Esposito, Jarrett: Adelphi University
FEATURED SENIOR
Sarah Fogel
“I learned that hard
work is worth it in
the long run—the rewards are great, still,
you owe yourself
some fun as well.”
F Fackler, Alyssa: University of Buffalo
Farber, Zachary: Indiana University
Fisher, Louis: Columbia University
Flerx, Erika: Towson University
H Hale, Gabe: New York Institute of Technology
Halperin, Greg: Duke University
Hamrah, Zelikha: Hofstra
Handlin, Ashley: SUNY Plattsburg
Harrison, Colleen: University of Maryland
Hasan, Syed: New York Institute of Technology
Hochstrasser, Alexandra: Long Island University, C.W. Post
Hoenig, Randi: Binghamton University
I
Idrovo, Jorge: Nassau Community College
Israel, Katharine: University of Tampa
J Jacobs, Jay: University of Miami
K Kadioglu, Erol: Iona College
Kasan, Blake: Brandeis University
Katz, Stefanie: Towson University
Kessler, Josh: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Kim, Jen: Tufts University
Kim, Sam: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kirschner, Abby: SUNY Albany
Kirschner, Andrew: SUNY Stony Brook
Kochman, Julie: Princeton University
Koppell, Steve: University of Maryland, College Park
Kotkin, Ashley: Hofstra University
Kotkin, Brian: Bard College
Kowalski, Catherine: Mercy College
Kresofsky, Kevin: University of Tampa
L
LaGrange, William: University of South Carolina
Landress, Marisa: Syracuse University
Lefkowitz, Rebecca: Binghamton
Plotkin, Alyson: SUNY Cortland
Portnoy, Chelsea: Indiana University
Posillico, Christina: Towson University
Pratt, Amanda: The University of Rhode Island
Press, Samantha: Towson University
Price, Josh: University of Maryland
Q Qiao, Liz: Duke University
R Rae, Stephanie: St. Joseph’s College
Compiled by Rachel Scall
Leifsson, Diana: Tompkins
Leitman, Ben: Syracuse University
Lisse, Fabian: Going back to Germany
Lituchy, Sam: Syracuse University
Loony, Chris: SUNY Albany
Lopez, Nelson: College, Undecided
Loughlin, Jimmy: Binghamton University
Lovett, Ashley: SUNY Stony Brook
Lustberg, Matthew: Syracuse University
Lykos, Juliann: SUNY Cortland
M Maiman, Zach: Lynn
Malik, Shamli: University of Connecticut
Manjares, Kasandra: SUNY Cortland
Many, Renzy: CUNY Brooklyn College
Marchessault, Sean: Boston University
Marchon, Daniel: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Marquis, Titi: Pace University
Mastrocola, Joseph: Boston College
Mathew, Alex: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Mayard, Melissa: Stony Brook University
McAlpine, Amanda: SUNY Albany
McCann, Mike: Lehigh University
McEnaney, Rob: SUNY Oneanta
McNeil, Gene: US Navy
Meyer, Lexi: Princeton University
Meyer, Zach: Washington University in St. Louis
Miecnikowski, Travis: Penn State University Park
Milber, Dan: Penn State
Mincone, John: James Madison University
Mlawer, Emmy: University of Maryland
Moehring, Kristin: SUNY Albany
Mohamed, David: Stony Brook University
Morris, Melissa: University of Wisconsin
Munoz, Oscar: University of Hartford
Myles, Duane: Suffolk Community College
N Nackenson, Josh: Tufts University
Nagler, Nicole: Sacred Heart
Nagvenkar, Sonia: CW Post University
Nemeroff, Michael: CUNY Baruch
Ng, Melissa: SUNY Oneonta
Nieder, Brigitte: Boston University
Nobile, Nicole: Providence College
Nomani, Junaid: SUNY Binghamton
O O’Brien, PJ: Buffalo State
O’Garro, Anderia: Pace University-Pleasantville Campus
Oji, Aku: SUNY Old Westbury
Oren, Ori: NYU
Ostuni, Derek: Penn. Tech
Ozen, Deniz: Boston University
P Padover, Andrew: University of Florida
Pagano, Maddy: Pace University
Park, Joe: Stony Brook University
Parziale, Vincent: Stony Brook University
Pellegrino, Tom: Suffok Community College
Pennino, Carolyn: St. Johns
Pesso, Lindsey: Buffalo State
Petersel, Zach: College, Undecided
Piep, Nathyn: SUNY Geneseo
Pierre, Patricia: Connecticut Culinary Inst.
Pisano, Stephanie: Stony Brook University
-
Reckner, Alex: St. John’s College
Reddy, Pavan: Emory
Reddy, Pooja: University of Virginia
Regan, Nick: University of South Florida
Ricciuti, Jesse: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Richard, Mia: University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Rigano, James: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rodriguez, Jonathan: Boston College
Rogove, Matt: University of Florida
Rosedale, Becky: University of Maryland
Rosenthal, David: Suffolk Community College
Ross, Samantha: SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry
Rossi, Samantha: Suffolk Community College/St. John’s
Rufer, Chris: University of Delaware
Ruggero, Lisa: Pennsylvania State University
FEATURED SENIOR
Kevin Kresofsky
“You can’t take anything in life too seriously because you’re
only here for a limited time.”
S Sachdev, Sandeep: College, Undecided
Sanit, Justin: University of Maryland
Satnick, Ally: SUNY Buffalo
Sawyer, Michelle: Duke University
Scall, Rachel: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Schenker, Matt: Culinary Institute of America
Schneck, Susan: Siena College
Schulman, Samantha: CW Post
Schwimmer, Lindsey: Towson University
Scott, April: Georgia State University
Seiden, Tara: SUNY Binghamton
Seifter, Allie: University of Rhode Island
Silverman, Ross: NYU
Simon, Brandon: Northeastern University
Simon, Derek: NYU Tisch Film School
Singer, Julie: NYU
Sommermeyer, Kristin: Centenary College
Sookhu, Sanjay: Stony Brook University
Sprance, Alexandra: Wood Tobe-Coburn
Stern, Ethan: Emory
Stetzer, Lindsay: Syracuse University
Stolzenberg, Andrew: Lafayette College
Stolzenberg, Zach: Dartmouth College
Streisand, Michelle: Herkimer Cty. Community College
Struhl, Jason: Elon University
Sung, Brian: University of California at Berkeley
Swaby, Leon: Adelphi University
T
Tager, Ali: Marist
Tager, Samara: Indiana University
Tantillo, Ariana: Providence College
Teufel, Sarah: Northeastern University
Tobias, Ariana: CUNY Hunter
Tom, Erika: NYU
FEATURED SENIOR
Susan Schneck
“One
Important thing I have
learned is life
is too short to
be anything but
happy.”
V
Vanella, Lauren: Boston University
Venezia-Walerstein, Jason: University of Maryland, College Park
Verma, Shawn: Iona College
Vignola, Elicia: Johnson and Wales University
Vinokur, Brett: Washington University in St. Louis
W
Walker, Elizabeth: Suffolk Community College
Wan, Nicholas: Temple University
Wang, Jeremiah: Stony Brook University
Warmbrand, Matt: SUNY Oneonta
Warren, Carly: Syracuse University
Warshaw, Rachael: Boston University
Wasserman, Alison: University of Michigan
Weiner, Alyson: Northwestern University
Weiss, Stephen: Towson University
Winkler, Jordan: SUNY Geneseo
Witter, William: The Cooper Union
Y Yu, James: Stony Brook University
Z Zacharia, Ilana: Lehigh University
Zarett, Rebecca: University of Rochester
Zelen, Ryan: Brown University
Zeman, Ryan: St. Joseph’s College
Zimmer, Brittany: Johns Hopkins University
Names and colleges were culled from senior surveys. The
names of those who did not fill out the surveys (or those
that filled out ambiguous answers) were omitted. Featured
seniors were selected based on best commentaries.
2007 Senior Reflections & Memorable Quotes
Q: What is your favorite high school memory?
“Winning Suffolk County and Long Island Championships for golf
in 2006.” -Matthew Lustberg
“Playing croquet with Mr. Pitman.”-Kenny Brock
“The roar of the crowd when my ninth grade indoor soccer team
upset the number one seed at the indoor soccer tournament.”-Michael Gebhardt
“Hearing that Alex Dubicki got into Princeton!”-Jordan Bernstein
“Being part of the We the People Team.”-Jason Berkenfeld, Lexi
Meyer, and Zach Stolzenberg
“Mr. Rahbari non-chalantly saying, ‘Oh no, that’s chlorine gas…I
can’t feel my legs.’”-Joshua Nackenson
“HHH East Varsity Roller Hockey ’05-’06 Champs.”-Brian Gill
“Running across the lawn while being chased by school security to
avoid going to class after AP tests.”-Nicole Nobile
“Winning Volleyball County Champs.”-Ori Oren
Q: What are your post-graduate plans?
“I hope to become a traveling musician.”-Ryan Zelen
“Traveling to Dominican Republic and Disney World.”-Elizabeth
Guzman
Q:What is one important thing that you learned
in high school?
“People are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”-Brian Gill
“The most important people in life are your friends.”-Hailey Friedman
“An appreciation for real toilet paper.”-Derek Simon
“High school kids cannot drive.”-Joseph Mastrocola
“Everyone you meet has something to teach you.”-Michelle Sawyer
[8] Thunderbird
Issue 1, November 2005
News About the Less Fortunate
By: Essence Thomas
STAFF WRITER
Once my mother I were
walking down 6th Avenue
in Manhattan. I was blasting
my Ipod so I couldn’t really hear much, when out of
the blue this hand stopped
me. I quickly pulled out
my head phones and said
“ What’s wrong with you,
what are you doing?” This
guy looked me and said “
I’m sorry if I frightened
you ma’m but can I get a
little bit of change? I’m really hungry”. All of a sudden this feeling of sorrow
and pain came across me.
It seemed like all the emo-
tions this homeless man
was feeling, I some started
feeling. I felt a sense of
pain, loneliness, neglect,
and depression. I felt like
a failure in life. I went into
my pocket and pulled out
twenty dollars. I was skeptical at first, but I couldn’t
resist but give this man my
only and last twenty-dollar bill. He was so happy.
He had a big million-dollar
smile on his face. I would
never forget that feeling.
This is one homeless
man out of a million other
homeless. Homeless people
are adults, teens, kids, and
even babies. The homeless
Summer Jobs
By: Melissa Tierney
STAFF WRITER
School’s almost over so
it’s time to figure out what
you are going to do for the
summer. In between camp
and vacations, a great idea is
to get a job for the summer!
Not only will your parents
be happy that you’re doing
something productive with
your summer vacation, but
you will make money to
possibly save up for a car
or buy whatever you want!
Now you have the dilemma
of where to work. Here are
just a few ideas of great
summer jobs for teens.
One good place to work
at is Ralph’s Italian Ices.
Ralph’s is extremely popular during the summer so
they are looking to hire
teenagers to work there.
Another good place to
work at is the mall or movies. Most teenagers that
don’t go to camp during
the summer go to the mall
and movies, therefore, they
are always looking for new
recruits. Not only do you
get to work at a place you
go to all the time, but you
may get to see some of your
friends there.
One of the best places
to work is at the beach. If
the beach has a concession
stand or needs parking attendants, the staff hires
teenagers. Also, the beach
is the most popular place to
go to during the summer, so
they are going to need all
the help they can get.
Not only is getting a
summer job a great way to
make money, but you also
meet new friends and aren’t
simply sitting on the couch
all summer. If you need
something to do this summer, getting a job is a fantastic idea!
Organic vs Conventional
By: Jessica Minassian
STAFF WRITER
Does it matter, organic or
conventional? Many people
say it does and others say it’s
all the same. Organic foods
are less processed which
do not contain any
chemically altered
ingredients such
as preservatives,
and hydrogenated oils, and high
fructose
corn
syrup. Also, many
organic products
aren’t really organic. If you choose to buy
an organic product, please
read the labels carefully.
Conventional foods are
good, however, may have an
impact on your diet. Some
foods, especially fast foods,
use an oil that makes you
want to eat more. Organic
foods do not have that oil,
but as mentioned above, read
labels carefully. I believe
organic foods are better
for you. They look
fresh. I drink a
lot of milk and
eat
organic
foods. The organic milk is
said to be
from cows
that aren’t
fed hormones.
Also, there are organic
meats that are from animals
that weren’t fed hormones
and were only grass fed. Organic foods are truly better
than conventional.
shelter Rebecca Website
says that the main cause for
people to end up homeless
or less fortunate is because
at some point in their lives,
these people were abused,
sexually, emotionally, and
mentally. Most runaways
end up homeless too.
There should be more shelters. Shelters should be in every state, every country, every city, and every borough.
We pay enough taxes in this
country to afford
a place for these
people to stay. It
makes me really
upset to have to
go into the city
every weekend
and see more
homeless. There
are
homeless
people who have
not had a hot
meal in months
or years, haven’t
had a hot bath
for days, weeks,
and months!
It’s depressing to see all
these big time
“rappers” driving around in
these big cars
and bragging about all the
money they have, when human beings just like them
are dying of starvation.
Even on the new MTV
show, “My Super Sweet
Sixteen,” you can see all
spoiled boys and girls who
have all this money and
can’t spare at least twenty
dollars as I did.
All I’m asking is to
spare some change for the
needy. You can visit shel-
ters and help out. You can
make a difference in this
world. Help other adults,
teenagers and children less
fortunate than you. You
can give the less fortunate
a reason to look forward
to living, for tomorrow,
because, everything you
have can be gone tomorrow. Just a simple visit to
the to the website, www.
homeless.org.au.com can
be the perfect start.
National Art Honor Society
Continued From Page 5
“…our goal was to stay Mrs. Uttendorfer says, “Hope- We have an opportunity
along the lines of a regular fully next year, we can accom- to make art an important
induction ceremony, but to plish some of our other goals, part of our school and
add an artistic flair as well for example, implementing an our community” declares
… like an artist’s reception, art auction, creating a student Ms. Corazón. The adviincluding the slideshow of art gallery, and connecting sors and members were
our artwork and having the with the community through happy to participate in the
string quartet [play at the outreach…these are all great NAHS’ Induction Ceremoreception] in order to begin ideas, and they will take time ny, since it will make this
a tradition. Everyone will to develop.”
club a permanent addition
love it!” deto Hills East.
clared Schul“We’re
the
man.
first school
“I think the
in the disInduction will
trict to have
go very well
a
National
because
we
Art
Honor
have very comSociety, so
petent people
this is a very
running it, and
special night
organizing it… The NAHS Banner Created by Stanley Hamilton. for
everyand it will be
one...It is my
very momentous because
Both advisors agree that hope that we are leaving a
this is the first year of the one of the best things about legacy for those that come
NAHS, and we want to the NAHS is the interaction after us” continues Ms.
start off with a bang!” said between staff and students. Corazón. The effort this
Berkenfeld. The officers’ “I enjoy working more indi- year’s members put into
expectations were met and vidually with the students, the NAHS has created a
then surpassed at the night hearing their opinions, and foundation that will ensure
of the Induction; it was a developing new ideas togeth- a solid future for the club
memorable occasion for er of how we can artistically in the years to come.
everyone.
enhance the school” states
For more information
The advisors and current Mrs. Uttendorfer.
regarding East’s National
members are excited to contin“It’s an honor to work Art Honor Society, visit the
ue with NAHS in the fall, and with such talented and website at:
they already have an agenda. dedicated young artists.
www.hsenahs.co.nr
Thunderbird [9]
HHH High School East
Remembering:
Jackie Robinson
Continued From Page 5
if you don’t have your joy,
you have nothing to live for.
His presence and his story
were both greatly appreciated by the audience.
After the question and
answer session, the students and I had the opportunity to see the Jackie
Robinson Exhibit.
The
exhibit was composed of
several panels, as well as
showcases. The showcases
contained two replica Jackie Robinson jerseys and another contained old Jackie
Robinson baseball cards.
One panel showed Jackie
stretching with
some of his
gram were both interesting
as well as educational.
On April 4th, former AllStar slugger Ken Griffey Jr.
asked Commissioner Allan
“Bud” Selig to wear Jackie
Robinson’s famous retired
number 42 to commemorate
Jackie Robinson’s legacy,
and he was granted permission. Selig went on to lift
the retirement of Jackie’s
number 42 for that day only.
The Los Angles Dodgers,
the Pittsburg Pirates and St.
Louis Cardinals were among
the teams that had all of their
players, coaches, and managers wear Jackie’s 42. On
April 15th, all
of the Ma-
tolerant teammates, such as
Pee Wee Reese. Tacked to
another panel was a picture
of Jackie in his military
uniform. The last, most
influential panel, showed
some of the hate mail that
he received prior to the
game. That panel helped
depict some of the hateful
feelings of some men and
women during this time period. The exhibit and pro-
jor League teams that were
playing celebrated Jackie
Robinson’s 60th anniversary
since the breaking of the color
barrier and playing for Branch
Rickey’s Brooklyn Dodgers.
The biggest ceremony took
place in Los Angles. In attendance were broadcaster Vin
Scully and Rachel Robinson,
who made speeches on behalf
of Jackie Robinson. Jackie
Robinson was a true pioneer.
Hills Idol 2007
Continued From Page 1
money in his/her jar by the
end of the Finals received a
special prize.
After all twenty-eight
contestants performed their
best, the judges selected
the top fourteen singers to
compete in the Finals competition, which will be held
on June 9 at 7:30 pm in the
Candlewood
Auditorium.
Finalists include: Crystal
Cimaglia (HSW), Annette
Gershovich (HSE), Brittany Gray (HSW), Andrew
Kang (HSW), Shanay Kibler
(HSE), Brittany Mignanelli
(HSE), Dejanae Mitchell (HSE), Alisha Nelson
(HSW), Melissa Passarelli
(HSW), Dana Putterman
(HSE), Corey Regensburg
(HSW), Gina Salvia (HSW),
Sarah Schapira (HSE) and
Natasha Zaveri (HSW).
As for next year’s expectations, Ms. DiFiore anticipates, “… [Hills Idol] will
take on a life of its own, and
next year’s event will be even
bigger!”
All of the proceeds made
from this event will contribute to the Half Hollow Hills
Scholarship fund and to the
Half Hollow Hills PTA counsel activities. Congratulations
are extended to everyone who
participated, and all are encouraged to attend the Finals
Competition to support their
classmates.
Movie Madness
By: Amanda Ostuni
STAFF WRITER
Grab your wallets, hop in
your cars and head on over to
the theater people. Buy your
ticket, get your popcorn and
sit down to the latest movie
because boy has Hollywood
been busy. There are a ton of
hotshot movies that came out
during the month of May. It
seems in recent years many
movies are being made into
trilogies, for whatever reason, but all of these trilogies
had very successful original and sequels.
The three movies, third in their
series that came
out in May that
everyone rushed
to see are Spiderman 3, Pirates
3, and Shrek the
Third. Spiderman
3’s release day
was May 4th.
In the latest addition of
the
Spiderman
story,
Spiderman faces many
conflicts
with
people
around
him as well as
within himself.
His newly firm
love life with MJ
is already being
threatened by a
former
flame.
Two new bad
guys are after
him and Peter’s
best friend is
highly
suspicious of his true
identity.
Peter
has to carry the
weight of keeping his love life
together, keeping a friendship,
and keeping himself alive, all the
while trying not
to lose himself in
his own pain. The
cast still had the
same three starsKirsten
Dunst
returning as MJ,
Tobey Maguire
returning as Peter
Parker and James
Franco returning
as Harry Osborn.
There are new additions in
this movie. Topher Grace,
along with Thomas Haden
Church, make an appearance
as new bad guys and Bryce
Dallas Howard appears as
Peter Parker’s former flame
and threat to his relationship. There were mixed reviews about this, as well as
supposed rumors of a fourth
and final Spiderman. There’s
no telling what the deal is
with that for sure yet.
However, we do know
that Shrek The Third is not
the last of its tale. Rumors
say there are 5 Shrek’s in the
planning. Shrek 3 came out a
week after Spidey. Speaking
from personal experience,
the movie was hysterical.
However, they made it a
little more for an older audience than the original Shrek
had aimed at. There was
plenty of humor for all ages,
but then there was also much
humor that little kids would
not understand or that they
shouldn’t hear. Shrek brought
in a lot more money its first
weekend than Spiderman 3
which could be surprising to
some. It is questionable that
Pirates will beat Shrek, but
it is supposed to be VERY
big. Pirates 3, formally
called Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World’s End.
The movie is the final chapter of the struggle to save the
pirating way of life for old
pirates such as Jack and new
pirate Will. They engage
in a battle against different
forms of evil, a struggle for
survival. It is the last in its
tale, which is sad but at least
they don’t run the risk of
getting the criticism of being
too dragged on and outliving
its fame as Shrek
and Spiderman are
running the risk of
by continuing. Pirates’ release date
was May 24 at 8
pm.
These three are
not the only trilogy talked about
movies coming out
in 2007. There’s
Oceans’ Thirteen
[the third of its
kind] with the return of its amazing cast, due out in
June. Then, there
is Rush Hour 3
with the reappearance of the two
unlikely cop partners Carter and
Lee [Chris Tucker
and Jackie Chan]
coming out in August. Also due out
in August is a third
Bourne story, the
Bourne Ultimatum
with star Matt Damon. Those are just
some of the talked
up movies that
are a 3rd installation of a story. Be
sure to check those
all out as well as
other non-triologies, like the long
awaited
Harry
Potter 5 as well as
the sequel to Bruce
Almighty… Evan
Almighty. Apparently, the latest
thing in Hollywood
is to, instead of
making new movies, just make new
ones that continue
old stories. An especially favorite number of
movies seems to be 3. Is it
too much? That will be determined by all you viewer’s
out there and your reactions
to these movies. So get to
those movies and decide if
trilogies are going to be the
new thing of Hollywood or
not. Happy Viewing!
[10] Thunderbird
Issue 1, November 2005
Put it in Reverse! “HOT FUZZ”
By: Rachel Scall
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
on, dead man” repeatedly
when played backwards.
The mystery of backmasking does not stop with The
Beatles. When listened to
backwards, Nirvana’s Smells
like Teen Spirit is no longer a song about conformity,
Wikipedia defines backmasking as “an audio technique in which sounds are
recorded backwards onto
a track that is meant to be
played forwards.” Although
backmasking was first used
in the late 1950s as part of
an avant-garde genre of electronic music called musique
concrète, it has been adopted
by various artists throughout
the past fifty years.
Backmasking began to
stir up controversy when, in
1969, a radio DJ received an
anonymous call telling him
to play gibberish, spoken
at the end of The Beatles’
“I’m So Tired”, backwards.
When this was done, instead
of sounding like a series of
mumbles, the track plays
“Paul is dead man, miss
him, miss him.” Today, it
is still unknown whether or
not this backwards message
was recorded intentionally.
John Lennon was known to
purposely backmask certain
tracks, such as Tomorrow
Never Knows and Rain, but
many other Beatles tracks
have now been found to
have backwards messages.
On YouTube, videos have
popped up examining a multitude of Beatle’s tunes, continuing to raise the question,
“Did The Beatles do this
purposely?”
On a track such as “Revolution 9” from of The Beatles (more commonly known
as The White Album), it is
hard to believe that backmasking was not purposely
recorded. The song, which
lacks a recognizable melody
and instrumentation, clearly
forms the phrase “turn me
but rather a song about hate.
Queen’s Another One Bites
the Dust reveals drug messages when played in reverse
and Led Zeppelin’s Stairway
to Heaven is said to contain
a backwards message revealing the band’s affiliation with
Satan. Robert Plant, the lead
singer of Zeppelin, says of the
backmasking accusations that
“To me it’s very sad, because
Stairway to Heaven was written with every best intention,
and as far as reversing tapes
and putting messages on the
end, that’s not my idea of
making music.”
For a long time it was rumored that all of these backmasked messages were in fact
subliminal messages, meant
to subconsciously influence
listeners. This myth has been
rejected, as scientific evidence
has shown that backmasking,
when listened to forwards (or
how many acts of kindness
are achieved in such a small
space. Every single Saturday morning, rain or shine,
the Village Temple prepares
for and feeds at least two
hundred hungry people,
which is approximately
twelve thousand people per
year. What began in 1987
as a few volunteers distributing home made sandwiches, has blossomed into
a successful, well working,
and organized soup kitchen.
Despite its title, the Village
Temple certainly provides
far more than just soup. Volunteers prepare sandwiches,
deserts, salads, fruits, and
much more on a weekly ba-
sis. Nonetheless, their nutritious and delicious soup is
what they are famous for.
All volunteers are entirely
friendly and united, as they
each contribute to a positive
workspace. The only sadness that is ever expressed
is solely from the tears produced by the chopping of the
onions! Those onions can be
quite powerful.
There are many other charitable organizations spread
amongst the globe, helping the needy members of
society. Although one may
believe that the suffering
of a complete stranger isn’t
of importance, it is necessary to help those who can-
as intended), produces no effect on the listener.
While the backmasking of
some artists has become an ongoing myth, that forever leaves
fans wondering whenever other
artists have taken advantage of
the recording style to poke fun
at those who believe everything
that they hear (or think they hear)
on a backwards track. On Pink
Floyd’s Empty Spaces (on The
Wall), Roger Waters decided to
play around with some backmasking just to have some fun.
A portion of the track played
in reverse reveals the message
“Hello, hunter(s)...congratulations. You’ve just discovered
the secret message. Please send
your answer to Old Pink, care
of the funny farm, Chalfont...
Roger! Carolyn’s on the phone!
Okay.” The message refers to
Pink Floyd’s former lead singer
and guitarist Syd Barrett. Waters is known to have purposely
recorded other backmasks on
some of his solo albums.
The mystery of backmasking
in rock and roll will remain just
that: a mystery. Backmasked
tracks are readily available on
YouTube. You decide whether
or not you believe the hype.
“Soupa” Saturday
Continued From Page 2
not help themselves, despite
who they are or what they’ve
done. If one were placed in
the position of a needy person, all human beings would
wish for support from another. Maybe, too many people
assume that changing one
person (most likely themselves) isn’t going to better
the issues of people across
the entire planet. However,
this world is solely composed of a large mass of
individual people. Anyone
who provides a helping hand
towards a significant cause
is assisting our world on its
path to excellence. Changing
one person is, in fact, changing the entire picture.
By: Brian Kotkin
STAFF WRITER
Are you tired of cliché action
films with a near-invincible protagonist and some evil villain
with lots of lackeys and tons
of firepower and explosions?
Well, so were these guys. Actually, they love that sort of thing
and probably watched every
action movie ever made prior to
filming this and now think they
actually are action stars.
Rather than trying to turn a
formula on its ear, they simply
take that formula and introduce
the sort of wry and dry British
wit you’d expect from the creators of Shaun of the Dead. For
instance, our hero is no longer
located in crime-ridden London;
rather, he has been transferred to
a small village that hasn’t had
any reported crimes in 20 years.
As a result, our hero, Chris Angel (you’ll recognize him from
his role as “Shaun”) is something of a fish out of water.
However, while this little
town has had no crime, it has
had an inordinate number of
accidents. Angel, as a suspicious city boy, decides to investigate, and from there the
absurdity grows and grows.
There is no moment that is
not funny, and unlike other
comedies, it just goes with
the flow, as though the actors
had no idea they had said or
done something absurd. For
instance, they have a meeting
of the Neighborhood Watch
Council in which they talk of
the dangers of The Living Statue (a man who paints himself
gold and stands still for people
to take pictures with him) to
the community. They’re afraid
he’ll bring jugglers to the village.
The acting is superb, the
jokes are hilarious, and the absolute absurdity of the whole
thing culminates in the last
twenty or so minutes. I don’t
want to ruin it, but it is perhaps
one of the most brilliant (and
most awesome) action/comedy
sequences I’ve ever seen. There
are no words to describe it,
because no one has ever done
anything like it before, and they
pull it off perfectly.
There is no reason you
shouldn’t go see this movie, so
why are you still reading this?
Go on, go see Hot Fuzz, I assure you it’s worth every cent
of admission (though maybe
not worth the concession stand
prices).
Rush Hour 3
By: Adam Girgenti
STAFF WRITER
When you think of the great
tandems in buddy cop movies,
what names come up? Turner
and Hooch, and Starsky and
Hutch are names
that usually come to
mind. Not too long
ago many people
considered Lee and
Carter to be at the
zenith of that group
as well. However, after contract talks fell
through, it seemed
doubtful that there
would be a third installment of
the series. Now, six years since
Rush Hour 2, Rush Hour 3 is
set to hit theaters August 10th,
2007. Both Jackie Chan and
Chris Tucker will be reprieving their roles as Chief Inspector Lee and Detective James
Carter, respectively. Also Tzi
Ma, who has gained some
fame for his role on 24, will be
portraying Consul Han.
The movie is based in Paris,
but starts out in New York.
While in New York, Chief
Inspector Lee’s job is to protect and escort Consul Han.
Han is prepared to give a big
speech concerning the ubiquitous Tri-Ads in front of the
World Criminal Court Summit in New York. While giving
his speech, an assassin shoots
Han and flees the scene, almost killing him. Meanwhile,
James Carter, who has recently
been demoted to a traffic cop,
happens to be listening to the
radio when the tragedy occurs. He rushes to the scene
to help, but instead interferes
with Lee’s pursuit of the culprit, as he always seems to end
up doing. Carter teams up with
Lee to gain back his honor and
to track down the perpetrator.
They follow a trail to Paris,
France, which is a unique setting for this series. This is because the first Rush Hour took
place in Los Angeles, Carter’s
home, and Rush Hour 2 was
located in Hong Kong, Lee’s
home. In Rush Hour 3, both
Lee and Carter will be “two
fish out of water” in a new
location: Paris, France. Rush
Hour 3 looks to be a funny, action-packed movie to hit theaters this August.
Thunderbird [11]
HHH High School East
Mr. President: More Tales from the
We Need to Talk CONCESSION STAND
Continued From Page 2
evidence that made this statement true. We kept fighting
to help liberate their country
from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, who I might
add we conquered. We captured him and sentenced him
to be hanged but our soldiers
remain in Iraq. The question we now ask ourselves is
“Why are we still in Iraq?”
Many of the soldiers who
are in Iraq are young men
in their twenties. They have
their whole lives ahead of
them. They are the future of
this country, and now they are
on the other side of the world
basically fighting for their
life. About more than 3,000
soldiers have died fighting in
the war. As I stated earlier,
I am a Hispanic American as
well as many of the soldiers
fighting. One of the questions
I really hope to receive an
answer to is, “Why is it that
in order for you to participate
or complete many things in
this country you have to be
a citizen but to join the army
and be sent away to fight a
war for this country you do
not have to be a citizen?”
Many families have been
torn apart because parents,
uncles, or grandparents have
been deported to their countries. I believe that instead of
spending millions of dollars
on what has become a pointless war, we can help provide
aid to those countries that
need help and maybe it will
help control the number of illegal immigrants coming into
this country. It’s truly a heart
rendering sight because what
many of them do come for is
a job so they can provide for
their family; many of them do
not wish to do any harm. We
can also help provide within
our own nation and help fight
poverty.
I’m not only against the
war just because of the
thought that we have no business being there anymore but
also because of all the economic problems and emotional problems it is causing.
As you are well aware, funding for the war is very expensive. Taxes have increased
and gasoline prices have increased too. When gasoline
prices increase, the prices of
many products we depend on
also increase but the one thing
that doesn’t seem to increase
is the amount of money that
is written on the checks that
are received weekly. I can
only imagine all the money
spent on campaigning and
commercials to encourage
people to join the war. The
money spent on all that can
go to better things such as
campaigns to encourage kids
to do well in school, or programs to help them express
their feelings so they won’t
turn to violence as an answer
to their problems. I understand that the army is there to
protect our country, but there
wouldn’t be any country to
protect if the citizens in the
country aren’t doing well. In
order to receive a good job
you need to be in good mental health and receive a good
education. Before we go out
and fight a war overseas we
should extend a hand here
and help fight our own war
against violence, gangs, and
help encourage kids to stay
in school.
I might be only 16 years
old and I do understand that
this letter is one of the many
letters you receive. I also understand that I can’t change
the world, but my voice
counts and I will not rest until
my voice is heard. I hope that
today it will be heard. I speak
for all the mothers whose
hearts are filled with so much
pain and sorrow that they are
too weak to speak. I speak for
all the husbands and wives
who no longer have a partner
and can’t stop replaying in
their minds the moment they
once said “till death do us
part”. I speak for all the children who no longer have a father or mother to raise them,
to give them a hug when they
cry, or to help them recognize right from wrong. Most
of all, I speak for the soldier
who is either fighting or once
fought the war, living everyday with fear that this might
be his last day. Those soldiers
have such great courage,
strength, and a heart to fight
for this country. Although
this war will one day be over
and someday be called history, these soldiers will always
be heroes, and part of what
makes them a hero is putting all their dreams aside to
fight for something only you,
President Bush, can understand. As a voice for all these
soldiers, mothers, fathers, uncles, cousins, and most of all,
citizen’s of the United States,
I ask that you take my letter
into consideration and bring
our soldiers back home.
Respectfully,
Carolina Cid DeLeon
By: Brian Kotkin
STAFF WRITER
Last issue, I wrote about
working at a concession stand.
Well, now that I’ve had some
more experience, I’ve decided to write up a list of rules
for the next time you decide
to bother the kid behind the
counter.
1We don’t set the prices, the
available to the public at a
relatively low cost; in other
words, stop eating like you’re
hibernating for the winter.
We are not here to make
5
sure your family meets its
daily nutritional requirements.
Therefore, do not expect us
to have hamburgers, pizza or
fries. If it’s not on the menu,
we don’t have it.
people who run the
Corporation do. The
prices are set in the
computer. Therefore,
don’t yell at us if the
prices are too much for
you. You didn’t have
to come here, and you
already knew what you
were getting into. After
all, you’ve been to the
movies before.
We won’t give
2
you an em-
4
out with $75 in change, and I
am not here to be your personal bank. I know you get your
money from the ATM in twenty-dollar bills, so don’t bother
me with massive bills unless
that’s really all you have. By
the same token, don’t pay me
in nickels, dimes, and pennies
when you don’t have any bills
left. I know I’m supposed to
take them, but I don’t like
taking the time to
count all the money you dumped out
of your piggy
bank.
To the old-timers (and to some extent the
middle-aged people): a quarter can’t buy you lunch anymore, so don’t reminisce to
me about the old days when
you could get into a double
feature for a dollar and
you got popcorn for
a nickel. Production
costs for movies are
up, thus rights for
obtaining movies
is up, gas is higher
in cost than ever,
so please don’t tell me
we’re robbing you. I don’t
have a gun, after all…yet.
3Don’t tell me my
This applies primarily to
my theater, but yes, the sizes
are that big. If you want to go
on a diet, go to Jenny Craig.
Otherwise, be satisfied with
our fatty foodstuffs or just
don’t buy anything. Also,
don’t tell me you have a thyroid condition. Synthroid is
I can break a hundred, theo8retically.
However, I only start
9
ployee
discount, even if
you say “pretty
please with sugar on
top.” Also, my managers do notice when
stock goes missing,
so no, I’m not going
to let you have something just because you
don’t want to pay.
prices are too expensive and then take
your money out of a
designer purse or wallet. You’re just justifying the Communists
that way.
less than 30 feet from your
current position; at the Concession stand, there is one
within 10 feet to your left and
right. Take the 10 steps in the
given direction to throw your
stuff out so I don’t have to.
10
This is to all of the people line for 10 minutes, complain
6in this
school to whom I have about how long you’ve been
Finally, do not stand on
a passing acquaintance who
have seen me in the theater: I
will NOT give you free tickets. Deal with it.
There is no part of the the7
ater where there is a trashcan
standing on line, and then
tell me you don’t know what
you’re getting. The prices are
listed right above my head, so
tilt your head 30 degrees up
to read it. We have corrective
lenses now, so use them.
P.A. System and new plans
to use cell phones as a means
of communication are being
devised. HSE will continue
to practice evacuation drills
and has received tips from
the experts as how to properly
evacuate the building in case
of any emergency.
It is unfortunate that such a
loved and well-respected Principal will be stepping down
from office this year. Mr. Kindelmann’s legacy will always
be present in the HSE building
and the future administrators
will be sure to take his advice
and continue to make HSE a
terrific place to learn. On behalf of the entire Thunderbird
staff, we would like to wish Mr.
Kindelmann a happy retirement
and to welcome the new staff of
2008. The guidance and leadership that has been provided in
the past will certainly emanate
into the future and continue to
provide HSE students with successful futures and wonderful
high school experiences.
So Long, Mr. Kindelmann
Continued From Page 1
was formerly a student here at
HSE and is very committed to
the school. Mr. Kindelmann
is very proud to announce that
Mr. Gitz will become a head
administrator and there will
be two new assistant principals who have toured the
school and are excited to begin
work here next fall! After the
Virginia Tech. incident, Mr.
Kindelmann assures the HSE
students that HSE is a safe
building. The administrators
are always ready to utilize the
[12] Thunderbird
Issue 1, November 2005
HHH Dance Takes
Hills East
JV and
Varsity
Baseball
Championship
By: Hilary Weissman
STAFF WRITER
Three of the district’s
dance teams made it to the
coveted
Championships
hosted by the Long Island
Kickline Association. The
Hills East Dixettes, the
Hills West Wranglerettes,
and the West Hollow Middle School Kickline ventured to Nassau Community
College on March 11th to
claim their trophies after
three preliminary competitions. The Dixettes took
first place on Long Island in
the Pom category, the Wranglerettes took first place in
the Dance and Hip Hop categories, and West Hollow
took third place in the Middle School Dance category.
Each team experienced
many firsts throughout the
competition season. While
the Dixettes has consistently won first place at the preliminaries for a few years,
they ultimately outscored
nine other pom teams on
Long Island to be invited to
Championships. The Wranglerettes, who are regulars
at winning in the Dance
Category and even competing at Nationals in Florida
each year, this season was
their first at competing in
Hip Hop, and they proved
to be more than capable in
their new category as well.
West Hollow’s Kickline
team has also undergone
quite a transformation this
season. They took on a rigorous practice schedule,
along with learning different styles of dance, in order
to prepare themselves for
the entirely new experience
of competing. These measures clearly paid off in that
they received a spot at the
Championships. All three
dance teams had excellent
performances and are very
proud of themselves. Congratulations to all of the
dancers!
Boys JV Lacrosse
By: Nicole Nagler
STAFF WRITER
The Hills East JV Lacrosse
Team is mainly made up of
sophomores and is coached
by Mr. Thearle. Record wise,
this season has been up and
down, finishing with 7 wins
and 9 losses. The season was
successful in many other
ways. The players on the
team have shown tremendous growth and improvement, both as individuals and
as a team.
This year’s team has several key players on the offensive end and defensive
end. Offensively, Frank
Disanti,
James Ahearn,
Mike O’Donnell and Mike
McLaughlin have all been
major scorers throughout the
season. Defensively, Sam
Goldfarb, Jake Goldfarb
and Shariff Saad-el-din have
stepped up to fill the much
needed goalie position. Matt
Saul and Ali Erdem have
been a rock on defense and
have stepped up to be team
leaders on the field. Other
key contributors to this year’s
success were Paul Zafferiou,
Sean Bowman, Conner Meyers and Steven Graziano.
The players have gained a
lot of knowledge this season
both as players and as athletes. Mr. Thearle feels that
the season’s success can continue into next season.
By: Nicole Nagler
Girl’s Softball
By: Amanda Ostuni
STAFF WRITER
The T-bird logo was proudly worn this year by Hills
East’s Girls Softball, JV and
Varsity alike. At the head
of the teams was returning
coach, Coach Hogan. We
welcomed on to the coaching
staff 2 new coaches- Coach
Silvestro, the new assistant
coach for Varsity and Coach
Guariella, who replaced Peter Basil as JV coach. Both
teams had a wonderful group
of girls this season. The roster for JV is this:
Katie Austein, Brittany
Bass, Brittany Bloom, Lauren
Dollinger,
Amanda
Dryer, Vita Fiore, Anna Keneveskya, Jackie Kosloski,
Elisabeth Linde, Alex Oliverio, Amanda Ostuni, Sam Romoff, Jackie Silver, and Sam
Weinberg,
Varsity’s team consisted of
the following people:
Melissa Baker, Diedre Bruno, Michelle Cartwright, Elizabeth Giambalvo, Samantha
Goetz, Mary Johnson, Krista
Marzano, Jen McNaughton,
and Mary Navarra.
Three very talented 8th
graders were also brought up
to be apart of the Varsity team.
They are: Alexa Goetz, Taylor
Dreitlein, and Bria Green.
They also helped out the JV
team by taking turns pitching
for us. They were a great addition to the high school softball
program and we look forward
to having them with us for
their high school career. Although we say hello to these
new comers, we must sadly
say goodbye to our seniors:
Samantha Carrieri, Lindsay
Garyn, Katherine Kowalski,
Allison Seifter and Brittiney
Sorrentino.
They have been a great
help to the teams and Coach
Hogan is proud to have seen
them grow in their high
school careers. On behalf
of all the softball players,
coaches, and fans we wish
them good luck in their college careers as students and
athletes. We hope college is
a grand slam for them. The
Varsity team finished out
with a record of 9 wins and
10 losses, a very even record.
Well done! JV performed
nicely too. Their record
was 6 wins and 11 losses.
The team had many players
new too the game and they
progressed very well. We
struggled at first, but we finished strong. Coach Guarriella says, on being a coach
for the first time, “I enjoyed
coaching very much and was
very proud of the team.” The
softball season was a success for everyone and we
can only hope it’s even better. Until next season fellow
softball players, well done,
see you next season on the
diamond.
Congratulations to the
HSE Fashion Club!
See page 2 for more details
STAFF WRITER
The Half Hollow Hills
High School East JV
Baseball Team is one of
the most popular sports
at HSE. The baseball
team is made up of
freshman and sophomores and is coached
by Mr. Rizzo.
When
talking to Mr. Rizzo,
he said he feels that the
boys have definitely
had a successful season.
Day in and day out, the
team gives 100% of itself. This year’s success
came from hours of hard
work,
improvement,
dedication and determination that the team put
in.
Mr. Rizzo thinks that
this year’s success will
definitely carry out into
next year. This year’s
team included a group
of young team members who gained a lot
of valuable techniques
and memories and much
needed playing time.
Many of the older boys
will be looked upon next
year to step up and fill
a senior-loaded varsity
baseball team, which is
unfortunately graduating this year.
This year’s team had
several key players.
Maxx Gold was a valuable pitcher and one of
the best on the mound!
He also learned a new
position at 1st base this
year and became very
successful.
Another
valuable player, Mike
Lykos, has been a solid
defensive center fielder
as well as a lead off hitter. This year’s captains
are Maxx Gold, Mike
Alaveri and Billy Liolis,
all who have made valuable contributions to the
team and the team’s success. Next year, Tommy
Delasandrow and Anderw Dowskin, who are
two freshmen, will be
looked upon to lead the
team to future victories.
The team finished with
a 9-7 record - great job
guys!