A  chronicle  of  the  excellence  at  Parsippany  High  School  Vol. 6, Issue 3 (March 2016)

Hello  RedHawks,    It  is  77  degrees  outside  (in  March!)  as  I  type  this  newsletter.    It  looks  like  we  survived  the  long  and  cold  winter.    Despite  the  frigid  elements,  our  students  and  staff  have  been  very  busy,  garnering  accolades  in  the  fields  of  academics,  music,  athletics  and  service.    Needless  to  say,  no  one  should  be  surprised.    Thank  you  for  all  of  your  support  and  for  taking  the  time  to  read  this  newsletter  that  recognizes  the  excellence  of  your  school.    It  is  going  to  be  a  great  spring  at  PHS…..  

Dr. Mulroony

March 16 - African American Club Movie Night 16 - Model Congress 17 - Key Club Senior Night 19 - AAC Game Night 24 - ERASE Multicultural Show 2:45 28, 29- No School 3/30- 4/1 – Spirit Week 31 - Spring Musical

April 1- 2 Spring Musical 1 - Spring Pep Rally Student 11 - 15 - Spring Break 22 – Jr. Class Lip Sync Battle 27- World Language Induction 7:00 28 - Dodgeball Tourney 6-9 30 – Peer Buddies Spring Dance

May 4 - Jazz Café 7:30 5 - Mr. PHS 7:00 6 - AAC Sushi Tea Dance 10 - PTSA Meeting 7:15 12 - GCC Stand Up Event 12 - Student Council Elections 13 - Junior Dinner 14 - Interact Car Wash 18 - Choir Cabaret Concert 7:00 19 - Peer Buddies Spring Dance 20- ICC Show 7:00 24 - NHS Inductions 30 - Memorial Day- No School  

ACDEC WINS 3RD STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IN A ROW

The Parsippany High School Academic Decathlon Team won the New Jersey State Competition at Ramapo High School recently and punched their ticket to the National Competition in Anchorage, Alaska. This was their third straight ACDEC State Championship! Overall, the team took home 109 awards from the Regional and State competitions.

The full team includes nine members and seven alternates. The nine members are Will Chen, Anne Cheng, Joyce David, Miki Hansen, Rohan Khajuria, Nikita Kolotov, Hugh Kwong, Katherine Yang, and Adam Ye.

The seven alternates are:

Ellie Xu Spencer Huang Sejal Muthy Sagar Patel Alice Limanova Andrew Lie Nicholas Lim

In This Issue… p. 2 Senior Glammies Results p. 3 Wrestling Season Recap; Gohn makes States again p. 4 Girls Winter Track wins Sectional Title p. 4 M. Wang Nat’l Scholar/Bernauer swims at MOC p. 5 FBLA & Science Olympiad Honors p. 7 Healthy Relationship Conference p. 8 Scholars of the Month p. 9 Michael Wang Math Honors; PHS Hall of Fame p. 10 Lauren Marx wins Bowling County Title  

CATEGORY GIRL BOY Best Smile Arianne Abreu Jordan Farrar Nicest Eyes Emaan Khawaja Junid Homsi Class Scholars Marine-Ayan Ibrahim Aibo Michael Wang Class Couple Stef Konboz JeffinVarghese Class Couple That Never Was Cat Lanigan Zach Granet Best Dressed Sherleen Ng Steven Patracuolla Best Laugh Jaleesa Tinord Steven Dechert Best Gal Pals Gabby Ferguson Liliana Ferrara Best Bromance Jordan Farrar Dev Lad Best Bud Girl/Boy Juliana DeIntinis Sujay Busarajan Most Changed Julia Krevis James Kinzer Least Changed Jessica Phillips Michael Wang Most Likely To Succeed Ally Schlosser Declan Devens Talks Least, Says Most Jessica Slevin Michael Wang Talks Most, Says Least Jen Strano John Lee Class Musicians Lyla Evans Dev Lad Class Actor/Actress Lyla Evans Marcus Ng’Oche Class Clown Cat Lanigan Nick Ebel Class Mom and Dad Allie Davanzo Alex Rodriguez Girl Next Store/Boy You Bring Home to Mom Danielle Jae Declan Devens

Class Daydreamers Eileen Vivanco Andrew Atienza Class Singers Lyla Evans Marcus Ng’Oche Class Artists Monique Mendoza Alex Wang Class Optimists Liliana Ferrara Alex Rodriguez Class Pessimists Jenna Walstedt Mike Martucci Life of the Party Jen Strano Steven Giambrone Class Athlete Ally Schlosser Declan Devens Class Flirts Autum Foley James Kinzer Nicest Hair Marisa Giordano Kendan Hornberger Class Cuties Monique Mendoza Ryan Homler

 

KEY CLUB MAKES DONATION TO PARSIPPANY FOOD PANTRY

The Key Club donated $450 to the Parsippany Food Pantry. Club members raised some of these funds at the annual Key Club Coffee House. Students enjoyed watching their peers perform while being served coffee and sweets by Key Club members. The club also held a canned food drive and collected over 200 cans for the Food Pantry.  

PHS GLAMMIES PHS Student Council hosted the annual Senior Superlative extravaganza that is the Glammies in January. Hosted by John Burk and Gianna Arnaldy, the event featured performance acts by multiple PHS students including Malcolm Green, Cat Chiarolanza, Raquelle Rocco, etc… and the recognition of dozens of PHS seniors for the various ways that they are awesome. Many thanks to Ally Schlosser for organizing and the Tech Crew for all of the amazing technical support in creating the videos and animation for the event. Here are the winners: DEVENS HOOPS SCHOLARSHIP

Declan Devens was awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Morris Coaching Legends Foundation. The award is given each year to four student/athletes from Morris County. The student/athletes are first nominated by their coaches and then reviewed and researched by a committee. Declan and the other three recipients were honored first at a dinner and then at half time of the finals of the Morris County Boys Basketball Tournament.

2015 ROTARY AWARDS Congrats to Mr. Greg Dalakian, our talented Band Director, and senior Samantha Gurth who were recognized at the Annual Parsippany Rotary Awards Dinner in February. Mr. Dalakian is a dedicated Band Teacher and also serves as the Director of our Marching Band. Mr. Dalakian has led the Marching Band to a National Title this fall and has facilitated several great experiences for the band including a performance before a Jets game this December. Samantha Gurth is the President of Interact and has made it a priority to make a difference in the school and community. Samantha works hard to perform service in the school and facilitates various service projects.

ASIAN AMERICAN CLUB BIG SHOW The PHS AAC is proud to report that we raised $476 for Operation Smile through our annual fundraiser, the Big Show! Thanks to all who participated as performers or audience members in making this year one of our most successful  ever.  We really enjoyed bringing the beloved story of Mulan into 2016, and we hope you did,  too! The AAC looks forward to entertaining you next year with a new theme when  we once again showcase our talents for a noble cause.  

SOPHOMORE LOCK-IN A SUCCESS After a one-year hiatus, the annual Sophomore Lock-In was back this February. Thanks to Mrs. Wong and Mrs. Lazzari, the sophomore class advisors, who coordinated the event. The Lock-In was attended by about one hundred sophomores and was hosted by a group of twenty outstanding seniors. The students opened up with ice-breakers and games and then moved on to tournaments in volleyball, soccer and dodgeball. Meanwhile, students had access to unlimited food, movies, video games and hanging around (but no sleep). Thanks to all of the local businesses who donated food to the cause.

2 HOURS 2 MAKE A DIFFERENCE. 2 Hours 2 Make A Difference was held in February as monthly Service Night. Overall, approx. 80 students donated their time and efforts and raised $185 to help orphanages in South America feed their children. In addition, we wrote a ton of cards to orphans for the "Light a Candle" foundation, filled two carts at the Parsippany Emergency Food Pantry, and opened a crazy number of calculators for the Math Dept.  

WRESTLING CAPS ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON The PHS Wrestling Team completed yet another successful season, finishing the year with a record of 12-6 in Coach Joe Dasti’s first year. They qualified for State Sectionals winning their first match versus Whippany Park before bowing out to Lenape Valley in the semifinals. The team finished, 2nd in the Conference, 3rd in the District Tournament, 2nd in the Parsippany Holiday Tournament and 2nd in the Hopatcong Tournament. They advanced 9 of 14 wrestlers to the Regionals and junior PJ Gohn took 2nd in Region 3, who advanced to the State Tourney for the 2nd year in a row. The team was led by its seniors, particularly Kevin Jones (120) who placed in every tournament he entered this year and Junid Homsi (220) who was one of the best upper weights in the area. Individual honors include: 106- Richie DeMary: 2nd District, 3rd Parsippany Tournament 120- Kevin Jones: 4th Region, 2nd District, 2nd Morris County, 1st Parsippany Tournament, 2nd Hopatcong 126- PJ Gohn: 2nd Region, 2nd District, 4th Morris County, 2nd Parsippany Tournament 132- Brandon Leibfred: 2nd Hopatcong Tournament 138- Naseem Sawalhi 145- Tyler Grieco/Paul Scalchi 152- Steven Giambrone: 3rd District 170- Abdul Homsi: 3rd District 160- Michael Ilic: 2nd District, 4th Morris County, 2nd Parsippany Tournament, 2nd Hopatcong 182- Nigel Feliz: 2nd District, 4th Morris County, 3rd Parsippany Tournament, 1st Hopatcong 220- Junid Homsi: 4th Region, 1st District, 4th County, 3rd Parsippany Tournament, 1st Hopatcong 195- Kyle Braen HWT- Ahmed Homsi: 3rd District  

WINTER TRACK HAS HISTORIC SEASON The girls Winter Track & Field Team made school history by winning Parsippany’s first State Sectional Title. The girl’s tied Hanover Park 68-68 for the title. Top Scorers included Kathryn Campbell, Cristina Fernandez, Michelle Herrera, Nicole Herrera, Kati Hsu, Ally Schlosser, and Olivia Shoshan. These girls advanced to the State Group Meet. Ally Schlosser then advanced to the Meet of Champions and finished 12th overall in NJ State in the 1600m with a time of 5:10.77. New school records were set in the shot put by Kathryn Campbell and in the 800 and 3200 by Ally Schlosser. The boy’s had another successful season. They finished 2nd overall in the State Sectional for the second year in a row. Kwaku Agyemang broke the school record in the 300 and 400. John Burk broke his own school record in the shot put. We advanced the following 8 individuals to the State Group II Championships: Kwaku Agyemang, John Burk, Soloman Crawford, Nick Lim, Chris Lupo, Steven Patracuolla, Hamza Qureshi, and Eric Schlosser. Kwaku Agyemang and John Burk then qualified for the Meet of Champions. Ally Schlosser and John Burk were both named to the All County Team! The team looks forward to a successful Spring Track & Field season!  

GIRLS HOOPS HAS BEST SEASON IN YEARS

The Par High Girls Basketball Team had a lot of success this season. Led by three seniors: Autumn Foley and captains Karli Diaz and Nicole Hill, the Red Hawks finished with a record of 9-18. The team started strong with a 6-6 mark, until injuries slowed the group in the middle of the season. The team finished the year strong with wins over Elmwood Park, Dover and North Warren; ultimately ending their season with a highly competitive State Tournament game against the #4 seed Rutherford. The Red Hawks were led offensively by 1st Team All-Conference Center Nicole Hill and All-Conference Honorable Mention Salena LeDonne. Junior Alexis Smith as well as Sophomores Luisa Barone, Ragan Kelley and Tia Ayton were key contributors throughout the season. Some defining moments this year were Autum Foley's buzzer-beater to beat Dover, Salena LeDonne's 16-point performance vs. North Warren, Nicole Hill's game winning shot to defeat Trinity Christian, Ragan Kelley's 15 point game in a win vs. Sussex Tech and Luisa Barone's 13 point effort in taking down conference-rival Madison. Despite graduating three tremendous seniors: Karli Diaz, Autum Foley and Nicole Hill, the team returns a large number of contributors. The future is bright for Red Hawks Basketball!  

BERNAUER MAKES MOC FOR SWIM TEAM The PHS Swim Team had another competitive and spirited season in the pool, winning the All-County Sportsmanship Award. The team also had a huge victory over Park Regional by over 20 points in their last duel meet of the season! The captains for the 2015-2016 season were seniors Cat Lanigan and James Kinzer. Kate Bernauer became the first PHS girl to qualify for the Meet of Champions (MOC's) in almost a decade. She qualified in the 100 meter butterfly and competed at the MOCs at Gloucester County Technical Institute. Individual honors include Daily Record Honorable Mention: Kate Bernauer, Catherine Lanigan & James Kinzer.

NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP FINALIST ANNOUNCED

PHS has just gotten word that Michael Wang, a senior, has met all the requirements to advance to Finalist standing in the National Merit Scholarship competition. Out of approximately 15,000 finalists, Michael now has a chance to be one of the 7,400 winners of up to three different types of National Merit Scholarships – one of which is worth $2,500. Scholarship offers will be mailed home starting this month, so we look forward to hearing even more good news very soon. Way to go, Michael!  

Name Event Place Shivam Patel Accounting 1 1st Shivani Pipalia Accounting 1 2nd Rushil Desai Accounting 1 3rd Jay Jani Accounting 1 5th Yati Awasthi Accounting 2 4th Anish Patel Accounting 2 5th Sarah Ansari Accounting 2 6th Niyati Boghani Accounting 2 7th Vaibhav Pothireddy Business Communication 4th Rahul Shah Business Communication 6th Farhan Kazi Business Law 2nd Adit A. Patel Business Law 3rd Shyam Vyas Business Law 4th Sujay Busarajan Business Law 6th Alex Wang Future Business Leader 1st Amit Bhatnagar Introduction to Business Communication 1st Kevin Weiss Introduction to Financial Math 7th Dev Shah Introduction to Information Technology 6th Yash Patel Personal Finance 1st Dhara Patel Personal Finance 2nd Ryan Weiss Personal Finance 8th Suraj Shah Word Processing 1st Janaki Vekaria Word Processing 2nd Anil Bhatnagar Kati Hsu Xue Ting Lin

Marketing 4th

FBLA 2015 REGIONAL COMPETITION RESULTS & NATIONALS Congrats to following students on their outstanding performance in the 2015 FBLA Regional Competition:

NATIONAL CHEM EXAM The following AP Chemistry students took the National Chemistry Olympiad Exam on March 8. Thanks to Mrs. Riley-Lazzari for coordinating the test. Sarang Amin; Anil Bhatnagar; Antonieta Ferrou; Sammy Gao; Victoria Gu; Miki Hansen; Spencer Huang; Craig Hunt; Likitha Mamillapalli; Deepika Nagabhushan; Pratibha Myshadham; Christine Padula; Heenal Patel; Mohit Pathak; Salman Rizvi; Riley Rosa; Deepika Saravana Somasundaram Saraswathy; Abhinav Sinha,; Kevin Tsai; Michael Wang  

NJAC WINTER LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

On December 3rd, twelve PHS students attended a Leadership Conference at Randolph High School. Students shared ideas about student activities, service projects, school spirit and leadership. The following students attended: Brielle Amato, Jaquan Eke, Sameerah Khan, Sebastian Abreu, Shyann Cheney, Khushbu Shah, Maria Birth, Thomas Mercado, Connor Preston, Ally Schlosser, Suhayl Maqsudi and Daphne Nelson.

UNSUNG HERO AWARD Morris County Professional Counselors Association honors an "unsung hero" senior from each high school for their annual Caring Student Award. PHS senior Allison Davanzo was selected this past month for her sense of service, kindness and compassion. Way to go Ally!    

In addition, the following FBLA members qualified for Nationals: Business Communication: Vaibhav Pothireddy: Marketing Team Competition: Anil Bhatnagar Xue Ting Lin Salman Rizvi  

PHS BOOK CLUB

The dedicated bibliophiles of the PHS book club convened for the third time this year to discuss/analyze/enjoy their latest literary consumption: Feed by M.T. Anderson. In addition to all of the robust insight and thoughtfulness, they also ate some ice cream and fruit. Our next book is a classic, The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier. See Dr. Mulroony or Mrs. Record if you’d like to join!

GOVERNOR’S SCHOOL & NJ SCHOLAR FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

For the first time in five years, the same two talented students were selected as PHS finalists for both the Governor’s School and the NJ Scholars programs. Congratulations to Miki Hansen and Christina Xu for being selected as finalists from PHS to attend either the Governor’s School Program or the NJ Scholars Program next summer. Miki Hansen is our finalist for the Governor’s School for Engineering & Technology at Rutgers and Christina Xu is our finalist for the Governor’s School in the Sciences at Drew University. If selected, they will be considered Governor’s Scholars and attend the prestigious 3-4 week Governor’s School Program with approximately 90 other students from around the state. Final decisions from both Governors’ Schools should be announced in April. Congratulations again to Miki and Christina and we look forward to hearing even more good news in the coming months!  

ANTI-BULLYING PSAs

After completing their unit on Night, Mrs. Maucione's English I classes worked on creating 4-5 minute PSAs speaking out against bullying, and the damaging effects of being a bystander. Several members of our faculty and administration helped the students prepare these PSAs, offering a wealth of information and statistics.  

SCIENCE OLYMPIAD PHS students attended the State Science Olympiad Tournament at Middlesex County College. Spencer Huang and Miki Hansen placed 2nd place in “Wright Stuff” and Andrew Lie and Hugh Kwong placed 3rd place in “Write It, Do It “event.  

ICE HOCKEY RETURNS TO STATE PLAYOFFS Congrats to the Parsippany Regional Ice Hockey team on another successful season. The team’s final record was 11-11-2, and they advanced to the semifinals of the Haas Cup Playoffs for the 2nd year in a row. More impressively, they qualified for the State Tournament for the second consecutive season, something the program has ever done. They were led by Captains Marc Farrell and Steve Krolian, Asst. Captains Rich Martin and Christos Caminis and senior Anthony Gerardo. Alex Cavaluzzo and Christos Caminis led the team in scoring, filling up the net on a regular basis.

REDHAWK SOCIETY

New Assistant Principal Mr. Bush, in an effort to help PHS clubs and organizations coordinate their activities and service projects, has created the RedHawk Society. Meeting every month, each club and organization in the building is required to send a representative to RedHawk Society meetings in order to share ideas and coordinate schedules. This will be a huge help as we begin to plan for Redstock in June. The RedHawk Society is under the direction of the wonderful Udhay Khullar and Samantha Gurth.  

BOYS HOOPS OVERVIEW The Boys’ Basketball Team completed a competitive season and finished the year with a record of 6-16. They qualified for the State Tournament for the 2nd consecutive season and lost a tough game to Newark Central. Highlights of the season included big wins over Boonton and a sweep of the season series over Madison. They also thrilled a capacity crowd by defeating PHHS by a score of 51-35. They were led by leading scorer Declan Devans, the versatile Tommy Nowicki and sharpshooter Derek “Sweet Dee” Principe. Shout-outs to seniors Vinny Nardella and his return from ACL surgery, Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez, Kyle Giles and Stephen Adkins. The future looks bright for the RedHawks with a great season by the JV Team.

REPUBLICAN IOWA CAUCUS If you heard shouting coming from the auditorium in February it was due to Mr. Kyle's Civics classes and spirited their Iowa Caucus. Students were assigned specific Republican presidential candidates and had to research their candidate's platforms in depth. The students, representing their specific candidates, then faced other history classes during multiple question-and-answer sessions. The exciting part came when, after presenting and debating their issues, the members of the audience endorsed the candidate of their choice by moving to specific sections of the auditorium.

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS CONFERENCE MK Relationship Conf + STARS: On February 23rd, 30 students were selected to attend the Teens For Healthy Relationships, the 4th Annual School-Based Leadership Conference hosted by Morris Knolls High School. Active student members of the school community were chosen by peers and teachers to help promote awareness of what it means to be in a healthy relationship using self-confidence and a positive mind-set. Each year, more than 150 student peer and athletic leaders join together for this one-day leadership conference to prevent dating abuse. The day was filled with guest speakers, a theatrical performance (the “Yellow Dress” presented by Deana’s Educational Theater, Inc.), and student-centered creative projects on how to bring back the message of creating an atmosphere in our school community that being in healthy relationships is important and an integral part of a person's growth. The conference gave students the drive to put together a presentation for our faculty (which will be held in March) to promote awareness of dating abuse policies for faculty members. The students are also planning to hold a Jean Day for the faculty to wear Yellow and pay $2 to donate to the JBWS (Jersey Battered Women's Shelter). Before attending this conference, a small group of students felt very strongly about this issue and decided to start their own club (led by juniors, Raquelle Rocco and Pooja Manhas with advisors Ms. Aimee Doyle and Ms. Dana Maucione), STARS (Students Talking about Relationships). This club stresses the importance of being in healthy relationships, and looks at different aspects of relationships including, gender roles and bias, peer pressure and stereotypes. The students are hoping to hold a movie night in the spring to bring more awareness of the club, wanting to donate needed items and/or money to JBWS (Jersey Battered Women's Shelter).  

XU, IBRAHIM AIBO EARN NATIONAL SPANISH HONOR SOCIETY

Congrats to Marine-Ayan Ibrahim Aibo and Christina Xu who were named to National Spanish Honor Society this winter for their outstanding performance in foreign language study.  

GUIDANCE NEWS In the "realm" of guidance the Juniors have been very busy! In addition to teaching two separate classroom seminars to the students and having a parent night, the counselors will providing an additional information evening on April 7 at 7:00 to discuss the college application process. There will be a guest speaker on hand to give tips on the Common App and how to make a strong application in general.

BALDWIN PIZZA ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Congrats to the Winter Athletes of the Week. Each honoree receives an Athlete of the Week t-shirt, a Redhawk pin and a gift card to Baldwin Pizza. 12/14 Malcolm Green – Cheerleading 12/21 Ariana DiFilippo – Cheerleading 12/28 Nicole Hill – Basketball 1/4 Lawrence Lin – Swimming 1/11 John Burk – Indoor Track 1/18 Derek Principe – Basketball

Tyler Grieco - Wrestling 1/25 Declan Devens – Basketball 2/1 Alex Cavaluzzo – Hockey 2/8 Autmun Foley – Basketball 2/15 Kate Bernauer – Swimming 2/22 P.J. Gohn - Wrestling

FOLLOW PHS ON TWITTER @ParHighMulroony (Dr. Mulroony)

@ParHigh (Student Council) @ParHighVP (Mr. Rizk, Asst. Principal)

@Mr_Bush_PHS (Mr. Bush, Asst. Principal) @RedHawksSports (Mr. Borges, Athletics)

@ParHighMediaCtr (Media Center) @parhighguidance (Counseling Dept.)

@PHSbands (Band)

PHS SCHOLARS OF THE MONTH Congrats to these outstanding PHS student scholars. All of the monthly recipients will be honored at a bagel breakfast at the end of the year.

NOVEMBER Science: Isabella Gomez Math: Marvin Atienza English: Alexa Weissberg Applied Tech: Anish Patel PE: Olivia Bucciarelli Social Studies: Katherine Yang World Language: Jyotsna Ramaswamy

DECEMBER Science: Marcus Ng’Oche Math: Kate Bernauer English: Nehali Patel TV Prod: Mike Colasuonno PE: Haley Pignatelli Social Studies: Jennifer Huang World Language: Marine-Ayan Ibrahim Aibo

JANUARY Science: Kiera Lewis Math: Marine-Ayan Ibrahim Aibo English: Kiera Lewis Electives: Sean Anderson PE: Kaitlyn Sklow Social Studies: Yang Fu World Language: Yang Fu

FEBRUARY Science: Daniela Chernyavsky Math: Salman Rizvi English: Juliana Davanzo Arts: Juliana DeIntinis PE: Autum Foley Social Studies: Kendrick Slaman World Language: Megan Wang

WINTER CHEER RECAP This winter season has been very exciting. Our team has grown very close this season cheering on our Red Hawks on the basketball court. We love hanging out with our team off the court too. This season we went ice skating at Mennen Arena for our seasonal team bonding night. Our team bids farewell to our two senior captains, Ariana DiFilippo and Shreeya Sawant. Both ladies have cheered for Red Hawk Basketball for four years. We will miss them very much.

WORLD LANGUAGE STUDENTS PRESENT AT TROY HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

For the third year in a row, seniors from Spanish, French and Italian classes went to Troy Hills Travels Day and delivered presentations about the language and culture of various nations. These presentations included Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Belgium, Canada, Madagascar, and Italy. The Troy Hills Students said that the presentations were "fun, interesting and informative. "  

HUMANS OF PAR HIGH If you get a chance, log into Instagram to check out "Humans of Par High." Humans of Par High, inspired by the popular "Humans of New York," features photos and interviews with the interesting, inspiring and unique students and staff of Parsippany High School.  SERVICE NIGHTS ROLL ON

Our monthly Service Night continued on through the winter. With an average attendance of between 80 and 100 students, we completed service projects such as stuffing envelopes to help request sponsors for Project Graduation.  

CUPCAKE WARS Mrs. Collado's Foods classes held their annual Cupcake Wars this past February. After weeks of practice and training, each class worked in groups on their unique creations in preparation for the big day. On competition day, guest faculty judges came to class to hear presentations about each cupcake and to taste each creation. Cupcakes were judged on appearance, taste, presentation, etc...  

MICHAEL WANG CONTINUES DOMINANCE Michael Wang qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination for the fourth year in a row. The invitation is based on his performance in the American Mathematics Contest taken by all members of the Math team on 2/16/16 and only the top performers in the country were invited to take the AIME. The AIME is a three hour, 15 question exam and, if he does well, Michael will be invited to the USA Mathematical Olympiad for the second time. Congratulations and good luck to Michael.   2016  PHS  HALL  OF  FAME  CLASS  

 Parsippany High School inducted their 2016 Hall of Fame class at a ceremony on Thurs. Feb. 4th at 5:00 in the PHS Media Center and was before the boy’s basketball game at 7:00. The PHS Hall of Fame recognizes and honors PHS graduates and staff members who have distinguished themselves either during their time at PHS or during their careers in their fields of work or service. The 1999 PHS Redskins Basketball Team went 20-7 and is considered the best basketball team to ever represent PHS. Under the leadership of Head Coach Joe Flanagan, they were North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 Champions, Group 3 Champions, Overall Group 3 Champions and advanced to the Tournament of Champions as one of the final six teams left in the state (that’s a lot of hardware). Clarence Curry III graduated from PHS in 2000. As a Redskin, he participated in football, basketball and track in addition to Student Council and Choir. After a banner high school athletic career in which he accumulated several school records, All-Area Awards, and led his teams to County and State championships, Clarence moved on to Villanova University where he was a starter at cornerback for four seasons leading the team to the #1 ranked scoring defense in the nation and an appearance in the I-AA National Championship game. Following college, he was signed to the NFL by the Arizona Cardinals and spent a few seasons with the organization. As an English Teacher, Coach and Advisor, Ann Greiner devoted over 30 wonderful years to PHS. She impressed her colleagues and peers with her impeccable teaching skills and her dedication to students. She was a skilled educator with great insight into both literature and how students learn. At various times during her career she was an advisor or coach of: Pep Club, Cheerleading, Totem, Varsity Club, Student Council, Steering Committees, etc... Ann rarely missed dances, trips or sporting events; she had such pride in the school and genuine affinity for her students. Everyone loved that Ms. Greiner always wore red and gray on every Friday. Nancy Russo Petryna (1980) was a standout student-athlete during her time at PHS. She earned 9 varsity letters in both Gymnastics and Track & Field, but truly excelled as a sprinter. Competing in the long jump, 100, 200, 400 and 4x400, Nancy placed in every race she entered and graduated high school holding records in each event. Her 4x400 team consisting of her and classmates Sue Cammon, Cathy Plath and Lisa Pesci went undefeated in dual meets for four years, advanced to the Meet of Champions in 1980, and 36 years later, still hold the school record with a time of 49.2. Following high school, Nancy moved on to Bucknell where she continued to run and was named Outstanding Athlete upon her graduation in 1984. Dr. Jon Molinare graduated from PHS in 1980. During his time as a Redskin he was a standout student-athlete, earning multiple varsity letters in wrestling and football, including a role in the undefeated 1977 football season. Jon then moved on to Southampton College and majored in Marine Science/Biology before earning his medical degree from Temple University. He then opened a private dental practice, which he has operated for the past twenty-seven years. Most impressively, Jon took part in the Healing the Children Dental Mission to Madagascar in 2007 and 2009, treating over 1,500 children in the process.  

   

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A H.S. STUDENT The Junior Class hosted a new event at PHS in February called "Are You Smarter Than A High School Student." AYSTAHSS featured four student teams being pitted against a team of erudite and beautiful teachers in a series of questions covering math, science, history, and trivia. At the end of the competition, the team of Those Who Can’t… (Eric Schlosser, Ryan Hoeler, Salman Rizvi, Jackson Wolfe and Zach Imp) was crowned champion and received eternal fame (among other prizes). Thanks to Lexie Tmiku and Matt Michalik for hosting the event.  

WINTER VOLLEYBALL TOURNEY

The Freshmen Class sponsored a school-wide Volleyball Tourney in February. Fifteen teams competed in the tournament. In the end, That’s What She SET (Mike Colasuonno, Alia Hakimi, Jake Marlowe, Autum Foley, Jeff Wear & Joey Radler) came out on top, winning the championship.  

DALAKIAN GETS KEY TO THE CITY Congrats to Mr. Dalakian who was awarded the Key to Parsippany by Mayor Barbierio. Mayor Barbierio came to PHS to deliver the key himself in February. After presenting Mr. Dalakian the key for his accomplishments as Band Director at PHS, the Mayor picked up the drumsticks and jammed out on the drums a little.

WELCH WINS MATH CONTEST Adam Welch was the 1st place winner of the AMTNJ (The Association of Mathematics Teachers of NJ) “Math in Art” contest. In October, Adam created a picture of an elephant using his iPad. His entry was entered among many other students from PHS and he was competing against high school students from the entire state of NJ. His 1st place work was displayed at the NJEA Convention in November   and   is   currently   displayed   on   the  AMTNJ  website.  

BOWLERS, MARX MAKE HISTORY PHS entered bowlers into the Morris County Bowling Tournament this past January. Four bowlers entered the competition: Tommy Pogoda, Kevin Weiss, Ryan Weiss and Lauren Marks. In a shocking twist, freshmen Lauren Marks came out of nowhere to win the girls individual championship with both the highest game and the highest series. It should be noted that Lauren Marks was the driving force behind starting the team.  

PEER BUDDY NEWS The Peer Buddies Club has been busy throughout the winter. They held their 9th Annual Peer Buddy Winter Ball on January 28th and had an awesome night. In addition, transitional Super Seniors chaperoned Rockaway Meadow students on a trip to TD Bank on February 19th and hosted students from Lake Par on February 11th where the students completed a service project, making valentines for residents at St. Francis Assisted Living.

NEW BABIES AT PHS Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Lazzari on the birth of the 2nd child, a baby boy named Jack Matthew on March 12th. Jack will join his big sister Mackenzie at the Lazzari household. Congrats to Assistant Principal Keith Bush and his wife on the birth of their first child. Russell Robert Bush was born on March 2nd at 10:11 pm. (Russell, for the record, was born wearing a red and gray bowtie.)  

 

 PHS BAND NEWS (AND LOTS OF IT!)

The PHS Band & Choir just held their second concert of the year on Wednesday, March 9, 2016, at PHS. The students did an outstanding job and the performance was enjoyed by all in attendance. Our upcoming concerts include the Jazz Café on May 4, at 7:30PM, the Choir Cabaret on May 18, at 7:00PM, and the Spring Band Concert on June 1, also at 7:00PM. We had several student honors over the last few months. The following students successfully auditioned into Regional and State Honor Ensembles: Cinthia Brown (Grade 11; Region Orchestra, English Horn) Amanda Chen (Grade 9; Region Orchestra, Violin) Miki Hansen (Grade 11; Region Band, Trumpet) Ethan Kaplan (Grade 10; Region & All State Band, Tenor Sax) Eric Lai (Grade 11; Region Band, Mallet Percussion) Lawrence Lin (Grade 12; Region Band & Orchestra and All State Band, Clarinet) Daniel Wang (Grade 11; Region & All State Band, Flute) The following students were honored as a Mayo Performing Arts Center (Morristown, NJ) Music Student of the Month: Michelle Inn (Outstanding Band Member - January) Daniel Wang (Outstanding Wind Player - February) In addition, the PHS Marching Band was awarded a Proclamation by the District 26 State Legislators on March 15, 2016, at the Parsippany Municipal Building for their accomplishments this past season, becoming USBands Group IV-A NJ State & National Champions.  

CHOIR NEWS The PHS Choir is having a fun and exciting year! We just performed in our second concert of the year last night. Our after school choirs such as the Chambers, Women’s, and Men’s ensembles continue to thrive and grow. We had ten students who were accepted into the Morris Area Honors Choir Concert in November. They performed in January. We also had seven students accepted into the North Jersey Region I Honors Choir in January. They performed on January 30th. We will also have several students audition for The New Jersey All State Honors Choir in April. I am so proud of all of my students’ hard work and dedication to their craft! We are looking forward to our Cabaret Concert in May, as well as other performances that we will participate in!

Seniors enjoying the Senior Lounge on a beautiful March day.

“The only place where success comes before hard work is in the dictionary.”

- Donald Kendall

“There’s a big, wonderful world out there for you. It belongs to you. It’s exciting, stimulating and rewarding. Don’t cheat yourselves out of this promise .”

- Nancy Reagan