Maroon and White Celebrates Spring Athletes
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- Written by Carly Glickenhaus
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Thunderstorms descended on Scarsdale late Tuesday afternoon, just in time for the Maroon and White barbeque to honor spring athletes. The dark clouds forced the event inside-- and the threatening weather was reminiscent of the spring season. Between sudden downpours and astounding rises and drops in temperature, the athletes faced a tough spring and learned to work through unfavorable conditions. After long days at school preparing for finals, it took leadership and morale for teammates of all sports to motivate each other at practice in preparation for fierce competition. All teams had successful seasons, and many athletes were awarded individual honors at the local and state levels.
Here are photos of the senior athletes and season highlights from each team:
The Boy's Golf Team had a season that will be difficult to top next year. For the second year in a row, they were named Section I Champions. The team sent three players to the state tournament in Ithaca this past weekend to play the championship match at Cornell's Golf Course. Josh Goldenberg, James Nicholas and Anthony Scarcella were among nine players on the team representing Westchester, Putnam and Duchess Counties and came in first in the event.
The Girls Lacrosse Team was 10-7 this season. Julia Ross was awarded All League and All Section Honorable Mention, Olivia Romano was All League, Lindsay Repp was All Section and All League. Both Julia Ross and Lindsay Repp were Golden Dozen. Since all these girls will be graduating this year, their talent will surely be missed, but this will also motivate younger athletes to step up next spring.
The Boys Lacrosse Team will graduate seniors James Felix, Brandon Schweikert, and Nicolai Ferraris. Their team was 9-9 this season.
The Girls Track Team has already proven themselves dangerous to their competition this season, placing 2nd at the League meet ... and they are not finished yet, They will compete in three events at the New Balance Nationals from June 13 -15 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The 4x800 relay team will be Helen Clapp, Laura Cutlip, Maggie DeRosiers, and Nicole Feibelman. Livvy Meyers, Maggie OʼKeefe, Rebecca Kearns, and Hailey Thornton will run the 4x100, and Maggie OʼKeefe, Maggie DeRosiers, Livvy Meyers, and Rebecca Kearns will run the Speed Medley Relay.
The Boys Track Team also placed 2nd at Leagues, behind New Rochelle, and will also send a relay team to Nationals. Brian Somar, Anito Akuetey, Marcus Holloway, Kavon Hueston, and Raza Khan are looking forward to competing there.
The Baseball Team was 10-11 this season. Frank Schwall was All League Honorable Mention, Grant Goodman All League, Will Eisler All League Honorable Mention, Tyler Mandell All Section, and Raj Palekar All Section.
The Boys Tennis Team also had a stellar season with an overall record of 9-2 and a league record of 8-0. The team was league champions, conference champions and finished second in the section for the team competition, losing to Byram Hills in the finals. Two doubles teams qualified for sectionals: Jonny Dorf and partner Sam Gray and Zack Shulman with his partner Richard Bennett. All league players: Jonny Dorf, Sam Gray, Zack Shulman, Rich Bennett, Dan Markowitz, Alex Johnson.
Girls Rowing: Although several of her teams' races were cancelled, Senior Rower Melanie Norman says the team trained hard and progressed. The girls rowed with the Pelham Community Rowing Association which has qualified as a scholar-athlete team for the ninth consecutive year by the New York State Scholastic Rowing Association.
Tuesdayʼs event was a bittersweet moment for seniors. Even for those athletes who will continue playing in college, Maroon and White brought a close their four special years as Raiders.
Police Search for Armed Robbers
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Greenburgh Police are asking the public to assist them in finding two suspects who held up the employees of Radio Shack on Central Avenue at gunpoint on Saturday night May 24th. Shown here, a male suspect entered the store and displayed a silver handgun. He ordered the two female employees to go to the back of the store and open a rear door where another man entered. The two suspects tied up the employee's hands with duct tape and then stole electronics and cash. They fled through the back door with the stolen items and money.
The first suspect is a black male wearing a grey jacket with a blue hold and black writing on the left sleeve. He was wearing a baseball cap with silver sticker on the lid, blue jeans with flaps on the back pockets, maroon underwear with a black elastic waistband, grey and white sneakers and blue latex gloves.
The second suspect was wearing a gray hoody, blue baseball cap, blue jeans with flaps on the pockets, a white belt, dark shoes and blue latex gloves.
Anyone with information regarding this incident should call theGreenburgh Detective division at (914) 682-5325.
Improving Communications at Scarsdale High School
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- Written by Rosanne Underweiser
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The Scarsdale High School PTA held its annual spring luncheon general membership meeting on May 8th. Communication was the theme of the popular gathering attended by parents, staff and administrators. The meeting began with a warm welcome from PTA President Angela Manson, thanking the many tireless PTA volunteers and the outgoing board members. She specifically made note of recent initiatives in improving communication within the greater high school community, including Principal Kenneth Bonamo's new quarterly updates.
The PTA Scholarship Fund recently received a generous gift from the Class of 2013, and former Fund president Valerie Abrahams gave a pitch to attendees to consider scholarship fund gifts as a great way to say thank you to teachers. The STEP (Student Transfer Education Plan) organization represented by President Valerie Abrahams and host parent Nan Berke gave a brief report on what STEP does; it takes students from "under sourced high schools" and places them with local families. Current STEP student Robert Lee, who is from Memphis, said it is a "life changing experience leaving your home and family" and made note of the generosity of the high school community in supporting the students who participate in the program.
The meeting quickly covered a number of other topics including a series of rapid fire committee updates presented by PTA vice president Linda Doucette-Ashman. It was abundantly clear that the high school is filled with committed volunteers. Some highlighted groups were the College and Career Center that provides a plethora of information and support for students and parents on behalf of the Counseling Department. The PTA Summer Activities Fair for Students sponsored 49 vendors and raised a record amount over $8,000. The Safety Committee presented a nationally recognized speaker, Jacy Good, on driver safety earlier this year. The Multicultural Committee addressed Issues unique to international families with events such as the Deans Question and Answer sessions.
Principal Bonamo introduced the main portion of the program speaking about collaborative goals undertaken by the High School administration and the PTA during the past year. Then Principal Bonamo and English teacher, Stephen Mounkhall, with an assist from technology teacher Greg Leong, presented the luncheon's main program about recent communication initiatives. They began with a brief overview of a communications survey conducted in March by faculty and PT Council on the premise of "if you had an issue who would you go to?" The complete survey results will be available this fall. This is part of an ongoing project to enhance communication between school and home. The goal of the survey is to eventually create a flow chart on the district's website which gives parents clear directions on who to turn to if you have a question or problem. Of the high school survey participants, 78% said overall communication was good.
However, the presenters wanted to know "are we addressing questions you have?" Parents suggested providing opportunities for further feedback and involving students in the survey process too. Both presenters and parents mentioned how high school communication is different than middle school communication. In high school the first step is the student trying to resolve the issue with the teacher, but few know where to go if that doesn't work. Mr. Mounkhall brought up a common problem, 15 students want to see him in one day, and the less determined student just gives up. We need to make sure he keeps trying. Unfortunately, not all teachers are as available as others. This emphasis on enhancing communication protocols is an attempt to make the awkward situations between teachers, students and parents less awkward.
Next came a demonstration of the survey given to the teachers. Hand held voting devices "clickers" were distributed to everyone at the meeting in order to record responses remotely. First question: "Which transition is more difficult for you as a parent?" A) Elementary to middle school or B) Middle school to high school? Most responded "B" but many parents said it depended on the child and there should have been the choice of pre-school to kindergarten. Mr. Mounkhall said that this survey made him think about what it means to be a parent in this district, not just look at things through his role as a teacher. Principal Bonamo noted how structures change from middle to high school. Students go from a house structure to a having five academic subjects with different academic departments. Lots of people don't even know that there are department chairs. One parent brought up how the 10th graders were participating in a civil rights program that they as parents weren't told about until the day of the event. Many mentioned that communication in the high school can be inconsistent and occasionally untimely.
The second question presented was "As my child gets older, I rely more on their reports of what's going on in school." A) Very much so; B) Kind of; C) Not so much. Although most parents chose "A" everyone concurred that teens are unreliable in reporting what's going on in high school. Many parents said information comes from other parents more than from their own children. Some brought up what so many teens like to say when pressed for information, "you over react" so I don't want to tell you anything. Mr. Mounkhall suggested try not reacting in the moment. Another suggestion was to schedule a time per week to talk about academics with your child.
The third Question: "I contacted my child's teachers most often in" A) Elementary school; B) Middle school; C) High school. Most responded elementary school as expected. The consensus was it was easier to get in touch with an elementary school teacher and more developmentally appropriate too.
The fourth question generated a great deal of discussion. "The overall relationship between the faculty and the community is positive." A) Strongly agree; B) Agree; C) Disagree; D) Strongly disagrees. Most chose "B" but many said the question was poorly worded. The question should not have used the word "community" without defining the term. Did they mean teachers, staff, administrators, and people outside the high school? This deliberation engendered a new question replacing the word community with parents and the word teachers for faculty. The result was still mostly "B".
The conversation then turned to additional questions. A free flowing dialogue included topics such as why the curriculum in one class differs from another. This led to the suggestion of doing annual department presentations with parents in the future. The openness of the parents, administrators and presenters made for a lively and constructive discussion on communication in the high school.
As one parent put it "This was the best PTA meeting I've been to in 20 years."
Tenure Awarded to 18 Scarsdale Faculty Members
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The May 19 School Board Meeting was a cause for celebration for 18 members of the Scarsdale faculty who were granted tenure upon completion of their probationary service. In addition to the teachers, Eric Rauschenbach was appointed Director of Special Education for three years of probationary service, and Christopher Renino was given tenure as an Assistant Principal at Scarsdale High School.
There was lots of applause from the faculty as the announcements were made by Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Joan Weber and each of the newly tenured faculty were given a rose by Board President Suzanne Seiden.
Here is a list of those who received tenure:
- Christopher Renino –Assistant Principal at Scarsdale High School
- Stephanie Pinto -Elementary
- Michelle Tyrrell- Elementary
- Jennifer Adler – English as a second language
- Alyssa Scala- Foreign Language
- Lindsay Cadman - Elementary
- Desiree Baez -Elementary
- John Calvert -Elementary
- Christine Knopp -Elementary
- Megan Matthews -Special Education
- Anna Lopez -Foreign Language
- Jeffrey Williams - Science
- Gregory Apostle - Mathematics
- Elise D'ammora - Mathematics
- Marcy Flamholtz – School Counseling
- Wend Gu -Foreign Language (Mandarin)
- Lisa Scavelli - Art
- Karine Schaefer - English
Scarsdale Boys Lacrosse Team Suffers Narrow Loss to Mamaroneck
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- Written by Megan Shelton
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In a very close game against the Mamaroneck Tigers, the Scarsdale Raiders lost 8 to 10 on Monday May 5th. The Raiders had an early lead in the first quarter with goals made by sophomore Elliot Graham and junior Michael Casden. Captain James Felix then made a goal right at the buzzer of the first quarter, giving Scarsdale the lead with 4 points (Mamaroneck had only two).
The Raiders manage to keep their twogoal lead going into the second quarter, with yet another two goals scored by James Felix again as well as junior Casey Kravit. In the third quarter, the Raiders continued their twogoal lead with two more goals scored by freshman Cooper Schneider and junior Thomas Cooke. By the end of the third quarter, the score was eight to seven.
Then in the fourth quarter, what looked like a done deal turned into a devastating defeat. The Raiders lost their lead and, eventually, the game.
"In general we played great team offense and communicated well on defense against a great classA team," says junior Casey Kravit, who plays attack. "Brandon Bank, David Muller, and James Felix led the defense along with good goaltending by Jeremee Bornstein."
The players agree that the loss was upsetting, but they are very happy with the way they played. With every new quarter, junior Thomas Cooke had a better and better faceoff. Juniors Brandon Bank and David Muller played "stellar" defense against some of Mamaroneck's star varsity players, and junior Jeremee Bornstein played well in goal.
This year, the boys varsity lacrosse team is six for seven, but this isn't getting them down! "This is my second year of varsity lacrosse," says defenseman David Muller. "It's really fun to play...and I love close competition between towns. I feel pretty bad about the loss today, but the team played really well and it was an amazing accomplishment only losing two points to Mamaroneck. They are a really good team."
In other news, the varsity baseball team played against White Plains Monday and lost their game fifteen to fourteen in extra innings. The varsity softball team played against Eastchester today and unfortunately lost seventeen to eight.
Show some Raider pride by coming to any of the upcoming games this week! There's a varsity baseball game at 4:15 on Friday, May 9 against Horace Greeley at Horace Greeley High School and a softball game at 4:15 against Saunders High School on Monday, May 12 at Saunders. At 4:30 on Monday, May12 at Scarsdale High School, the girls' varsity lacrosse team plays their most important game of the season their Pink Game. Proceeds from the raffle and bake sale at the game will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. They hope to see you all there if not for the sport, then for the cause!
Go 'Ders!
Contributor Megan Shelton is a junior at Scarsdale High School and loves her honors English class. Megan spends her free time writing, reading, exercising, hanging out with friends, and doing work for the Epilepsy Foundation Club, the American Red Cross Club, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Club. Megan is going to take AT English and Creative Writing in school next year, and she hopes to focus especially on writing while in college.
