The StannerVol. 57, No. 9 Archbishop Molloy High School May 2014

By Harry Singh '16 For the first time, the NationalHonor Induction Ceremony willbe part of Molloy's annual Aca-demic Awards Ceremony onJune 11 in the Jack CurranGym. In previous years, the NHSceremony was held in October ofthe inductees' senior year butnow it will come at the end oftheir junior year. The members of the Class of2015 who applied for NHS mem-bership will be selected based onfour criteria: leadership, service,scholarship, and character.

Earning membership will beharder for juniors than it was forthe members of the Class of 2014as the scholarship criteria hasbeen raised to require appli-cants to have an overall aca-demic average of 95, up onepoint from last year. During the ceremony, the newNHS members will receive NHShoods and their academic awardpin while the rest of the studentswill receive the pin. Until this year, Molloy's Aca-demic Awards Ceremony hadbeen held in May; last year itwas on May 2.

Moving the ceremony to June,which Assistant Principal Mr.Ed Cameron said will be a per-manent change, not only allowedfor the inclusion of the NHS cer-emony, but freed the gym to beused more often for other schoolactivities and allowed for easierplanning for the May A.P tests,which are held in the gym. Laksumi Sivanandan, who isa sophomore, likes the idea thatthe ceremony has been moved toJune because it will help stu-dents do better academically inthe fourth marking period. “Many students mentally feel

done with school after the Aca-demic Award Ceremony," shesaid. This year, 309 students willreceive an invitation to the cer-emony after earning an aca-demic average of 95 or higherfor the first three marking peri-ods, 14 fewer than last year. Students from each gradewith the highest average ineach academic subject will alsoreceive awards. “I am really excited for thenight to see such great academictalent in one room,” said Mr.Cameron.

NHS induction is moved to June

Senior Prom moves to Leonard’sBy Liana Liang '15 For what will surely be a nightto remember, attendees can lookforward to a venue with glamor-ous decor, a delicious menu, anda new addition this year, a photobooth at Molloy’s Senior Promon Wednesday May 28 atLeonard's of Great Neck. For the last few years, the Se-nior Prom venue has beenmoved around to different loca-tions such as New Rochelle,Howard Beach, New Hyde Park,and now Great Neck, where itwas held in the 1990's. "Many of the students hadbeen to some of the venues forsweet sixteens and other par-ties,” said Ms. Liz Murdocca, Di-rector of Student Activities whoorganized prom. “I wanted to trysomething different andLeonard's has been completelymade over and refurbished sincethe ‘90's." Other venues in the city wereconsidered, but expenses andlocation soon overrode the plans.Taking into consideration itscapacity, outdoor space, conve-nient location, decor, variedmenu options and cost,Leonard’s seemed like the right

choice to Ms. Murdocca and theSpirit Leaders. “Its glamorous decor is very inline with a prom setting," saidMs. Murdocca. The DJ will be Molloy alum-nus Matt Lavanco and the promwill feature a Sassy SeniorDance presentation. The favorsfor each guest will be "a sur-prise," said Ms. Murdocca. Although there will not be a

professional photographer atthe prom, there will be a photobooth that was "a hit at the Hal-loween and Spirit WeekDances,” said Ms. Murdocca. About 430 tickets at $140 eachhave been sold so far. The Spirit Leaders haveworked hard with Ms. Murdoccaby selling tickets, collecting de-posits, and making some designchoices such as the decor and

the color of the napkins. "Ms. Murdocca is constantlyasking us what we think of herideas for prom and is constantlyasking us for own opinions,” saidsenior Spirit Leader DanielaFazio. “She wants this night togo well for everyone just asmuch as we do. "We have spent so many after-noons and mornings with Ms.

Continued on page 7

The limos hired by the Class of 2014 for the Senior Prom will pull up to Leonard’s of Great Neck this year.

Seniors winSpirit Weekcompetition

Page 5

Gondolas andgelato makeItaly fun

Page 4

"Cheese curds?" When my unknowing Americanself first heard of cheese curdswhile on Prince Edward Island inCanada, I imagined the sourlumps formed in expired milkbobbing along the watery surface. Yuck. But what I received at thatroadside food stand advertising"POUTINE!" was actaully quiteamazing. Poutine (pronounced "poo-TEEN) is a Canadian dish featur-ing french fries with hot gravyand melted cheese curds, andwho doesn't like melted cheese? So after that enlightening expe-rience, I started my own GreatPoutine Hunt in New York City. My search led me to PommesFrites at 123 2nd Ave. between7th St. and St. Marks Pl. in theEast Village, which has myblessed poutine! But even if you question the ap-peal of cheese curds, you must goto Pommes Frites to satisfy yourcraving for French fries. NotMcDonald's. Not Five Guys. Thisplace. Besides frying up fresh, firm,seasoned, crisp fries, PommesFrits offers about 30 differentsauces (for a bit extra cash) fordipping. There's classic ketchup,of course, but why bother withthat when there's Parmesan Pep-

percorn or PomegranateTeriyaki Mayo? The fries are thick and some-times as long as a pencil, so theportion size is perfect. If traveling into Manhattansounds as unappealing to you ascheese curds (and in both casesyou are wrong), may I suggesttaking the N or Q train to the laststop to visit Sal, Kris, & Charlie'sDeli at 33-12 23rd Ave. in Astoria. Stacks and stacks of Italianbread wall the deli before beingtaken to the cutting board to bestuffed with meats, cheeses, veg-etables, and condiments. These sandwiches are each thesize of my arm, fingertip to elbow

and I'm 6 feet tall; I have longarms. "The Bomb" and the "ItalianCombo" are my two favorites andboth consist of a wide variety ofmeats, cheeses, roasted red pep-pers, tomato, and lettuce. I suggest buying a cold Man-hattan Special coffee soda to gowith your sandwich, plopping it allinto a good-sized bag, and takingthe N or Q train into Manhattanfor a picnic in Central Park. Trust me, these sandwiches arethe bomb. Last summer my parents and Itraveled to our fourth NationalPark: Acadia on Mount DesertIsland on the coast of Maine. The

nature grabbed our attention im-mediately, but soon we turned tothe go-to foodie hubs I that hadresearched. The Jordan Pond House isknown for its popovers and so wewent to eat these fresh, puffy,souffle/roll/Yorkshire Pudding-esque goodies served with butterand strawberry preserves. I learned that they were notonly delicious, they are so simpleto make. There's a special popover panwhich you can buy if you want thepremium popover experience,but you can just use a muffin pan. Here’s the popover recipe writ-ten down directly from the Jor-dan Pond House:Ingredients: 2 large eggs 1 cup milk 1 cup sifted all purpose flour 1/4 tsp. salt Speck of baking sodaDirections: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Beat 2 eggs until lemon colored. Slowlyadd 1/2 cup of milk and beat until mixed. Slowly add dry ingredients and beatuntil well mixed. Add remaining milk. Beat until batter is smooth and has thethickness of heavy cream. Pour batter into well greased popoverpan, filling cups half full. Bake on middle shelf of preheated ovenat 425 degrees for the first 15 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reducetemperature to 350 degrees and bake 15-20 minutes longer. Popovers are best served right out ofthe oven. Serve with butter and jam.

The Fooducator recommends Pommes Frites, located in the East Village inManhattan, for cheese curds along with traditional french fries.

The StannerVolume 57, Number 9

Editors: Joana Capistrano; PamelaDecolongon; Daniela Salazar;John Fenner

Production Staff: Reynerio Rubio; Phillip Barsamian;Sophia Savvides

Moderator: Mr. Charley McKennaPublisher: Bro. Thomas Schady

Humans are biased. It’s no se-cret that we all have our personalprejudices and preferences.When these biases are seen in themedia, should we even be sur-prised? So when the media beginsto talk of how the United Statesshould get involved in militaryaction, should we listen? Ever since elementary school,the history we’ve learned oftenhas been romanticized in an al-most “storybook-like” re-tellingof events to influence our percep-tion of the United States. Early in American history, asmall mob began harassing agroup of British soldiers and theyresponded by shooting into thecrowd. Revolutionaries quicklytook advantage of the violence,twisting the facts to convince colo-

nists that the British were tyran-nical and their only response wasto support the revolution. Theycalled it the Boston Massacre. Newspapers began to circulatethose inaccurate reports, and citi-zens grew more opposed to Brit-ish rule, which led to more acts ofrebellion such as the Boston TeaParty. Newspapers helped createa domino effect that led to thebirth of our nation. Media bias continued in theCivil War. With the invention ofphotography making newspapersmore attractive to readers, pho-tos of the destruction left in thewake of battles were popular.However, some photographerswere accused of staging photos toadd to their effect. On the brink of the Spanish-American War, journalists, in anattempt to get more circulationfor their papers, sensationalizedthe supposed atrocities beingcommitted in Latin America bythe Spanish monarchy and pub-lic support in the U.S. for wargrew. Journalists jumped on thestory of the U.S.S. Maine, whichexploded while docked in Havana,

Cuba, spreading the idea that theSpanish had placed bombs on theMaine. However, most historiansbelieve the Maine blew up by ac-cident. Without this media hype,it’s possible that the war could’vebeen avoided. The media promoted other fab-ricated situations, such as a sup-posed attack on U.S. gunboats inthe Gulf of Tonkin and the sup-posed presence of weapons ofmass destruction in Iraq, to helppush our nation into two wars. Even now, with a civil warbrewing in Ukraine, journalistsare speculating whether or not theU.S. should interfere militarily orbegin a second Cold War with

Russia, with several commenta-tors claiming the situation isworse than the actual Cold Warin the 20th century. With the power to exaggerateevents that pull on our emotions,the media has the power to in-fluence national opinion. When we read or watch a newsstory, are we unconsciously lean-ing toward the opinion of thejournalist to the point where webecome part of a common view-point? Next time you read orwatch a news story, keep in mindits purpose is to make you think,not to think for you.

-- Liana Liang ’15 andRobert Dittus ’15

Fooducation: by Alexandra Caruso ‘14The fooducator bids adieu by recommending pommes frites and going to Acadia

Media bias pushes U.S. into war

Correction Maryanthie Linaris's first namewas misspelled in the photo cap-tion of The Stanner Players. Deanna Mayo performed soloon only one song, "Green Finchand Linnetberg," at the SpringMusic & Arts Festival.

For the fifth straight year, andsixth time in the last sevenyears, Molloy's student newspa-per, The Stanner, won the Gen-eral Excellence Award as thebest Catholic high school news-paper in Brooklyn-Queens atThe Tablet's 2014 High SchoolPress Awards on May 1 in ParkSlope. The Parmentier of St. JosephHigh School in Brooklyn wassecond, The Mariel of The MaryLouis Academy was third whileThe Skyline of St. Saviour HighSchool received Honorable Men-tion from among the sevenschools in the competition. Senior Anna Poulakas becamethe first Molloy reporter to wintwo first place awards in thesame year. Poulakas won the Best NewsStory award for her article"Georghiou saves chokingfriend" in the March issue andthe Best Sports Story award for"AM soccer: we are family" in theNovember issue. "Anna has been a great re-porter for us for four years," saidMr. Charley McKenna, the mod-erator of The Stanner. "She vol-unteered to do any type of storywe needed to have done and shecame up with great story ideason her own, such as the two forwhich she won her awards. I wasreally happy for her." The Stanner won a record 15

awards at the ceremony at theBrooklyn Diocesean Office, in-cluding a record seven firstplace awards. "Editors Pamela Decolongon,Joana Capistrano, DanielaSalazar, and John Fenner haveworked long hours to maintainthe high quality of our newspa-per throughout their tenure,"said Mr. McKenna. "They did agreat job this year despite beingmoved into a cramped office onthe gym balcony where theworking conditions were lessthan ideal. Pamela, Joana, andDaniela will graduate fromMolloy knowing they did theirpart to continue our tradition of

excellence at The Stanner." Other award winners were: * Senior Alexandra Carusowon first place in the Best Col-umn category for "Fooducation." * Junior John Fenner won firstplace in the Best Feature Storycategory for "Vocation Weekcomes to Molloy." * Senior George Gulino wonfirst place in Best Op-Ed Articlecategory for "AM needs com-puter science class." * The Stanner editors won firstplace in the Best Front Pagecategory for its December issue. * Junior Liana Liang won sec-ond place in the Best Personal-ity Profile category for "Sam is

big on Japan." * Sophomore Sylvie Williamswon second place in the BestFeature Story category for"Chem Lab: safety is first prior-ity." * Decolongon won second placein the Best Multi-photo Displaycategory for "Stanners makeChristmas Toy Drive a success." * Senior Jordi Sevilla won sec-ond place for Best Photo for hisBlood Drive photo. * Frosh Michael LaBella wonthird place in the Best SportsStory category for "Spring'shere; time for baseball." * Junior Giovanni Vittozziwon third place in the Best Op-ed category for "Catholic schoolsdeserve $upport." * Senior Daniel Delgado wonthird place for Best EditorialCartoon for "Frosh survivaltips." * Sevilla won third place forBest Multi-photo Display for hisintramural football photos. "The moderators of the othernewspapers at the ceremony areso impressed when I tell themwe put out 10 issues a year andthat my reporters and photo-graphs don't miss deadlines,"said Mr. McKenna. "Otherschools put out far fewer issuesand their staffs are not as hard-working, responsible, and reli-able as Molloy's editors andstaff."

The Stanner’s streak continues

The Stanner Editorial Staff poses with The Tablet Youth Editor AntoninaZielinska after receiving 15 awards at the High School Press Awards.

A look back in gratitudeBy Pamela Decolongon ‘14 Archbishop Molloy HighSchool has been one of thegreatest blessings of my life. I want to take a moment, as Iam editing the last edition ofThe Stanner that will featuremy name and those of my class-mates Joana Capistrano andDaniela Salazar in the staff box,to thank all the teachers atMolloy who helped shape meand the rest of the Class of 2014into to the young, educatedleaders we are today. Thank you, Mr. Matt Kilkelly,for forcing us to read philosophi-cal novels which taught me howto look at life differently and totreasure every moment we havewith the people we love. Thank you, Mr. Jim Sheldon,for being the absolute best biol-ogy teacher a frosh class couldever ask for. I hope you know youare the reason why practicallyour whole class signed up for APBiology as seniors. Thank you, Mr. CharleyMcKenna, for giving the best

advice to all your students, rang-ing from careers to dating. Thank you, Mr. ChrisDougherty, for trying your bestto make time for every studentat Molloy and teaching us thejoys of charity. Thank you, Mr. GlennDaGrossa, for sharing your mu-sical and artistic talents with usand always lending your ears tostudents in need. Thank you, Mr. Brian Kelly,for your speech on the last dayof sophomore year that taughtus how we can accept the crazi-ness of life and still be happy. Thank you, Ms. JeanneLongerano, for being one of thebest teachers at Molloy by help-ing us understand the wonder-ful world of math and alwayshaving extra help on the morn-ings before tests. Thank you, Mr. Eric Stolze, forbeing a very funny chemistryteachers who always loved ourloud, quirky class. Thank you, Mr. Mike DeMarcofor helping our poor AP Biology

souls push through 56 difficultchapters with lots of laughs andmemories along the way. Thank you, Mr. MikeHarrison, for all your cornyjokes in World History, for al-ways keeping in touch with yourstudents, and for reminding usevery day to “Get out there andget educated!” Last, but certainly not least, Iwant to thank the Class of 2014.Our high school path has notalways been easy. We’ve hadour share of hardships, from bro-ken friendships to troubles athome. But we’ve found realfriends who genuinely cared forus through the highs and lows. My time at Molloy has been afour-year rollercoaster ride andI thank all my teachers andclassmates for being a part of it.Even after our last time to-gether at graduation, we’ll re-main a community, a supportsystem, a family of Stanners. Good luck in college, Class of2014. You’ll always have a spe-cial place in my heart.

Pamela Decolongon poses with mu-sical mentor Mr. Glenn DaGrossa.

By Sargam Mehra '16 Forty-three students and fourchaperones took part in Molloy'strip to Italy during Easter va-cation and all involved said itwas a huge success. Stephen Velez, who was mak-ing his first trip to Italy said, "Iloved being able to get gelato onbasically every street that youturned on to." The group left for Italy onApril 16 and visited Venice, Flo-rence, Assisi, and Rome beforereturning home on April 24. “My favorite place wasVenice," Velez said. "It wasamazing that it was built onwater and it was amazing to ex-plore." Salvatore Liarda, who hadbeen to Italy previously to visitfamily in Sicily and Sardinia,said what he liked most on thetrip was seeing things that werethousands of years old, such asthe Coliseum in Rome, and be-ing able to walk through them. “The most unusual thing I sawin Italy," Liarda said, "was thecity of Venice, where the streetsare canals of water and there areno cars." The cost of the trip for studentswas $4,000. "I would definitely recommendstudents take a trip to Europe ifthey get the chance," said Velez."I made so many new friendsand memories on this trip. It’s agreat experience that is hard topass up." Liarda also recommendedStanners take a European tripbecause “it'a such an amazingopportunity to see differentpeople and cultures.” The four chaperones on thetrip were Mr. Jim Sheldon, Mr.Bill Niklaus, Mr. Carlo Dionisiand Mrs. Palmina Dionisi. Mrs Dionisi, the trip's orga-

Stanners love that Italian style

nizer who was making herfourth trip to Italy with Molloystudents, said, “It was the larg-est group I’ve ever taken and themost enthusiastic group. "The weather was perfectthroughout the trip. The oneday it rained in Florence, stu-dents were attending a demon-stration in a leather factory anda jewelry show. As soon as wewent outside, it stopped rainingand the sun was out," she said.

“Many of the students whohave studied Italian in the pastand those who are currentlystudying Italian were able topractice their language skillswith store clerks, vendors, wait-ers, hotel workers, and with me,"she said. Mrs. Dionisi said she most en-joyed going to the city of Assisibecause of “the simple beautyand spectacular views. It is homeof St. Francis of Assisi, the pa-

tron saint of Italy." One of the surprises of the tripoccured in Rome. “When we were at the SpanishSteps in Rome, a news crew fromChicago from NBC news inter-viewed me and Mr. Sheldonabout the canonization of PopesJohn Paul II and John XXIII,"she said. "That interview wasbroadcast here in New York onChannel 4 the next day.” Liarda said, "My favoritememory was St. Peter's Basilicabecause it was so much biggerthan I had imagined. It was alsoa very extraordinary and beau-tiful church. "The funniest thing that hap-pened,” Liarda said, “ was someof the seniors, such as AnthonyWalsh, Liam Moyles, and An-drew Mercatante, were singingpatriotic songs on the water taxiback to the hotel in Venice.” Liarda said the only downsideto the trip was “the flight backhome, which was almost a ninehour flight.” Liarda learned that the Ital-ian people "and the way they dothings are very similar to theway we are in the United States.But the pace of life in Italy isslower than what we are used tohere.” Ms. Dionisi said, “I hope thestudents were able to appreciatethe rich history, culture, and artof Italy. Although we onlyskimmed the surface of Italy’sartistic treasures, it is my sin-cere hope that they will returnto Italy some day and spendmore time there enjoying andappreciating its artistic master-pieces. “I also hope that when they re-turn, they will enjoy the gastro-nomic specialties and all thenatural beauty that this coun-try has to offer," she said

Italian gelato was a daily treat for Stanners as they made their way throughVenice, Florence, Assisi, and Rome during Easter vacation.

During their eight-day trip to Italy during Easter vacation, Stanners enjoyed shopping for pastries at a local market in Florence, left, and riding in agondola in Venice, right. The Molloy traveling party poses as group at a bridge in Rome. (Photos by Mr. Jim Sheldon)

Senior spirit slays sophomoresBy Shibangi Saha '16 &Laksumi Sivanandan '16 Seniors easily defeated thesecond place sophomores to earnthe prize of a dress down day onMay 2 awarded to the class win-ner of Molloy's fifth annualSpirit Week from April 7-11. Senior Albert Hasan, who par-ticipated in the Stanner Games,was glad to see the Spirit Weekcompetition among the fourgrades return to Spirit Week af-ter a one-year absence. “The competition brings out afeeling of pride in your grade,”Hasan said. “It also unites agrade as a whole and gets stu-dents more involved.” Spirit Week was filled with funactivities and daily contests withthe most popular events includ-ing dodge ball, karaoke, StannerGames, and the Senior-Facultybasketball game. “I feel like this was a very suc-cessful Spirit Week," said Ms.Liz Murdocca, the Director ofStudent Activities. "I don't thinkany one Spirit Week is more orless successful than another.They have all been different andfun. Remember, Spirit Week hasonly been around for five years,so it is a relatively new ‘tradi-tion.’ We are still working outthe kinks.” Juniors finished third in thegrade competion while the froshwere last. “I was slightly surprised theseniors won," Ms. Murdoccasaid. "It was a race between thesophomores and the seniors.The sophomores were better atfeats of physical skill and

strength like dodge ball and tugof war, but the seniors domi-nated in the artistic and match-ing contests.” Ms. Murdocca was not disap-pointed the frosh finished last. “Just from my encounters withthem at Freshman Camp andthe Halloween Dance, I can seethey are a very energetic andspirited group!” she said. This was the first Spirit Weekorganized by Ms. Murdocca “For a first year, it felt prettygood, stressful, but fun," shesaid. "There are things I will dodifferently next year. I will beasking the faculty and SpiritLeaders for specific feedbackand I have some of my own ideasfor effective changes.” Sophomore Christian Horanparticipated in the StannerGames and Molloy Idol. “They were both tons of fun!”he said. “They both had a largerturnout than I expected. TheTheater for Molloy Idol was al-most full and it was great to hearthe singing talents of Ms. [Sh-annon] Winters and Ms.Murdocca.” One change this year was thedecorative homeroom door con-test was replaced by ahomeroom poster contest. “I have to admit, during theprocess I wasn't sure if this wasgoing to work," said Ms.Murdocca. "I made a lastminute change to hang them inthe first floor hallway ratherthan above lockers near thehomerooms. When I saw thegreat talent and creativity pre-sented by the homerooms, I was

pleasantly surprised. It was verydifficult judging. "I had several teachers andfaculty put in their votes. Someposters were so good that teach-ers wanted them for their kids.Matt Low's ‘Frozen’ poster is nowframed and hanging in Mr.Auer's house,” she said. Sophomore Shania Chua, whoparticipated in Disney Triviaand the Dodgeball Tournament,enjoyed the various dress downsduring Spirit Week. “My favorite dress down wasthe Disney-themed one," Chuasaid. "I was dressed as Sully fromMonsters Inc., and I loved all thestares I received in the hallway.” Even though the DodgeballTournament had a larger turn-out, Chua said, “The game of tugof war between the sophomoresand the teachers was the best.” Junior Joseph Gilfeather’s fa-vorite memory of Spirit Weekwas “not wearing my uniform forthe majority of the week.” Senior Natalia Dyer said, “Mybest memory was drawing theDisney poster for my homeroom.Although we didn’t win, I’m gladthat I was able to do it and seeall the other beautifulhomeroom designs. The stu-dents that were dressed up asDisney characters also were soamazing to see in the halls.” Stanners had many sugges-tions for next year’s Spirit Week. “I would love to have a Flagtournament next year,” saidHoran. Dyer would like to see “morethemed days, like Twin Day,Pajama Day, or Prank Day.” Gilfeather suggested that thegrades compete for a day off fromschool rather than a dress downday, while Chua suggested thatno tests and no detentions begiven during Spirit Week. Ms. Murdocca’s favorite part ofSpirit Week was the enthusiasm

and excitement shown by theStanner Family. “I loved how much effort manyof them put in to the dress upand dress down days," she said."There were a lot of very creativeoutfits!” Her favorite memories ofSpirit Week were watching thesophomores win the Tug of Warand singing "I will Survive" withMs. Winters at Molloy Idol. Ms. Murdocca thanked all theSpirit Leaders for “making it allhappen by working hardthroughout the month and thencleaning up after each eventduring the week.” Her Spirit Leaders are seniorsFrancesca Bello,Justin Bertea,Rosemarie Casano, Bea Cruz,Daniela Fazio, Jordan Foster,Kaveta Ganness, MadeleinGlaeser, Felicia Mendoza, LiamMoyles, Emily Noblesala,Nerissa Ragnauth, AmandaRodriguez,Sabrina Sergio, Kim-berly Torres, Klea Tzaka,Ashley Vascellaro, juniorsDeanna Aliperti and RobertBartels. Ms. Murdocca also thankedBro. Tom Schady, Mr. Ken Auer,Mr. Ed Cameron, Mr. BrianKelly, Ms. Lauren Kemmerer,Mr. Brian Klimas, Ms. SabinaKobinski, Ms. Jessica Pastore,and Mr. Mark Sweeney. Here are the winners of someof the Sprit Week contests: Disney Trivia: Juniors Dodgeball: Sophomores Match Faculty to Pet: Seniors Silhouette matchup: Seniors Stanner Games: Sophomores Molloy Idol: Josephine Pepa 3H andMary Dugan 3C. Candy count: Ansh Mehra, 3G Walk-a-thon shirt design: 1. MattLow, 4F. Homeroom poster: Overall winner:4D. Grade winners: 4D, 3F, 2H, 1D. Name the Mascot: 1E, 1G, 1L, 2B,2H, 3D, 3G, 4A, 4J, 4K, 4L. Final scores: 1. Seniors 4,717 points;2. Sophomores 3,653 points; 3. Juniors2,611 points; 4. Frosh 2,066 points.

Stanners try to match Molloy faculty members to their pets to earn pointsfor the Spirit Week class competition. (Photos by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

Student Activites Director Ms. Liz Murdocca, right, and Teacher AssistantMs. Jessica Pastore show off their costumes on Disney Dress Up Day.

By Alejandro Montoya '16 Molloy's second annual SpringMusic and Arts Festival on May4 featured for the first time 10

members of the Theater Artsand Improv Club entertainingguests as they roamed throughthe first floor of the school look-ing at the artwork and listeningto musical performances . The club was added to the fes-tival lineup at the suggestion ofPrincipal Bro. Thomas Schady,who pointed out that theater alsofalls in the category of art. Club members dressed in cos-tumes and got into character toperform improv for the guests asthey moved between the Cafete-ria, the Jack Curran Gym andthe Theater during the festival. Starting at the Cafeteria, theactors would go up to guests andask questions which led into animprov skit while they remainedin character. Club Moderator Ms. ShannonWinters was particularly im-pressed with junior ChristianMartinez because of his perfor-mance of the “Friends, Romans,Countrymen” speech fromShakespeare's “Julius Caesar”during the festival. “Joanna Troyanos and AlexaKober impressed me because oftheir consistency in character,”Ms. Winters said. "Overall, I feltthe club worked very well, espe-cially with the lack of time theyhad to practice and rehearse.” Originally, the club plannedskits to perform as a group butdue to a lack of time during thefestival for it to perform, ChorusDirector Mr. Jim Sheehan sug-gested the actors work on char-acters and then do improv. The actors performed through-out the day whenever there wasa pause in the performances ofthe Band, String Ensemble,Junior-Senior Chorus, andFrosh-Sophomore Chorus.

The festival drew a crowd ofabout 450 people and was greatfun for all the musicians, artistsand actors who participated. Frosh actor David Kemp saidhe was “glad that we were rep-resenting the club at the SpringArts Festival. It is best for us toget involved in the festival as

Improv joins Spring Music & Arts Festival

By Sophia Savvides '15 andPhillip Barsamian '15 Molloy’s Talent Show, whichwas held on May 2 in the The-ater, provided its four mastersof ceremonies with expandedroles this year. “The MC’s had a larger role byinterviewing the performers onstage before revealing their tal-ent,” said the show’s organizerMr. Frank Gambino, who alsowas in charge of the show’ssound system. Seniors Joshua Cajas andEdrean-Neil Kabigting and jun-iors Olivia Kielczewski andMelanie Santos were the MC's. About 60 people attended theshow, whose lineup of more than20 performers was selected bythe MC's and faculty. There were many new faces on

stage because not all the per-formers had performed at thetwo previous Open Mic shows. Mr. Gambino said he enjoyedall the performers; however, headded, “since I am partial tostandards, I liked 'Paper Moon'performed by senior AlexandraCaruso [with Kabigting] and thepiano playing of junior AlinaObruchnikova.” Junior Maryrose Seno, whomade her third appearance inthe show, said Mr. Gambino’s twoprevious Open Mic shows weregood warm ups for the TalentShow. Seno, with Obruchnikova, per-formed “If I were A Boy,” andthen sang “Hurt” by ChristinaAguilera but Seno had mixedfeelings about her performance,saying her “voice cracked” while

MC’s take center stage at the Talent Showon stage. Seno said she was impressedby sophomore David Delgado'sperformance of the song"Stripes" because “he had a re-ally good voice.” Mr. Gambino was very pleasedthat the show went smoothlywithout any complications. Faculty as well as studentstook the stage during the show. Mr. Gambino performed anoriginal song, “Every Year TimeGoes by Faster,” while Mr. JimSheehan accompanied seniorviolinist Aerin Toskas on pianowhile she performed her piece. Junior pianist ConstantinaTsouklidis, who in her third ap-pearance in the show sang thesong “Human” by ChristinaPerri, said she was “somewhat”pleased with her performance.

Frosh Justyna Jablonska withObruchnikova performed“Skinny Love.” Juniors Obruchnikova andAnais Rodriquez performed“Gravity.” Junior Fredric Jean-Josephperformed “Wish You WereHere.” Senior Jennifer Desamerosang “Make You Feel My Love.” Senior Daniela Franceschetti,accompanied by classmateAbigail Singson, performed“King Of Anything.” Kabigting, Cajas and Ryan Liperformed “It’s Time.” Seniors Jessica Kraker andKaterina Vuectic performed“Come On.” Toskas, and senior AllisonTerranova performed a medleyof Disney songs.

Christian Martinez performs at theSpring Music and Arts Festival.(Photo by Ms. Laura Sawyer)

Thirteen seniors won 2014Scholarships for Academic Ex-cellence from the State Educa-tion Dept. of the University ofthe State of New York. The scholarships, formerlyknown as Regents Scholarhips,were for $1,500 and $500. Kristian Mosquito andSamantha Sattler won $1,500. Dhanesh Binda, ThomasBrinskelle, Tiffany Dial,Samantha Grech, GeorgiosGulino, Edrean-Neil Kabigting,Felicia Mendoza, LouizaMolohides, Daniel O’Reilly,Matthew Spataro, and TiffanyVillacis won $500 scholarships.

13 seniors winscholarships

Art students create a senior mural

Mrs.Terri Burke’s advanced art class poses with its senior class muralin the Art Room. (Photo by Pamela Decolongon ’14)

much as possible.” Ms. Winters hopes the clubwill be more a part of future fes-tivals. “I hope I will be allowed tobring in more students to par-ticipate in the event and that westay a part of the festival in theupcoming years,” she said.

By Caroline Jaipaul '17 andJoanna Rizzo '17 Archbishop Molloy repre-sented Security Council mem-ber China at the annual ModelUnited Nations Conference inManhattan from May 15-17. In Model UN, high school stu-dents from all over the countrycome together to role-play asdelegates representing differentUN member nations on variouscommittees. The opening ceremony washeld at the United Nationsbuilding on May 15 but the con-ference itself took place on May16-17 in the Hyatt Hotel a fewblocks away. Molloy's Model UN 30-mem-ber team was led by club presi-dents Anna Poulakas and SarahYunus, vice president ChrisAlmeida, and secretary NataliePicon, all seniors.

Team members were dividedup into groups of two or more torepresent China on various UNcommittees and the SecurityCouncil. These commities cover issuesthat come before the United Na-tions, such as human rights, sus-tainable natural resources, andimproving public health. Ms. Sabina Kobinski, who is inher first year as club moderator,said, “It’s a learning experiencefor me. But for most of the se-nior members, it’s their thirdtime at the conference, so I wantthem to do their best but alsohave fun.” Yunus said while going to theconference is very exciting, it isalso intimidating becxause ofthe large number of studentswho come there from around thecountry and who take the eventvery seriously.

“It is very competitive becauseeveryone wants to be the star ofthe conference and win someawards in the end,” she said. Poulakas said she learned a lotby attending previous ModelUN Conferences and she “en-joyed working with others to findways to resolve the problemsmany people around the worldare experiencing every day.” Yunus and Poulakas workedtogether this year on theUNICEF committee, which hadbeen their dream committeesince they joined Model UNthree years ago as frosh. Poulakas and Yunus said theydid extensive research beforeattending the conference onChina and its role on this com-mittee. They had to submit aposition paper with informationregarding China's stance on acertain issue.

Here are the Molloy delegateswho represented China on vari-ous committees at the ModelUN Conference: GA Third: Ewa Gerlak, Carla Hanna. ECOSOC: Stacy Kanellopoulos,Juliana Distant. WHO: Candice Forrester, Jordan Fos-ter. IMF: Andy Salim, Austin Samaroo. FAO: Samantha Morgan, HarrySingh. UNESCO: Connie Raptis, MattZwolak. Peacebuilding Commission:Connie Zhao, Peter Maisano. UNEP: Jackie Burgos, MichellePontino. HRC: Rebecca Singh, Amina Majeed. UN Women: Natalie Picon, CyrusMowdawalla. UN Office of Drugs and Crime:Tiffani Lopez, Angelica Rosa. UNDP: Enzo Persic, Jenna Mulett. UNICEF: Anna Poulakas, SarahYunus. Security Council: Chris Almeida,Diana Barrios, Amanda Tracey, SalDiPaola.

Molloy represents China at UN

Continued from Page 1Murdocca trying to get every-thing perfect. We want this to bea night to remember and wewant everyone to enjoy them-selves. It's a night that we willlook back on for the rest of ourlives. We're trying to make sureeveryone has a good time andwill make memories that will lasta life time," said Fazio. The prom takes place on theseniors' last day of classes andprecedes the four-day weekend. "Teachers won't have to worryabout end of the year assign-ments or the classic case of

'senioritis.' The seniors can justrelax, enjoy the night, and thenenjoy the weekend," said Ms.Murdocca. Abigail Singson expects thatmost seniors have planned along post prom night together. Singson said she has her ownafter-prom celebration with her"awesome group of friends." Seniors can look forward to aglamorous night of dressing up,dancing, eating, and fun. "I am very much looking for-ward to prom,” said Ms.Murdocca. “I think it will be alot of fun."

Prom moves to Great Neck

Molloy sweeps B-Qoutdoor track titles

William Pabitero, left, finished second in the 110-meter hurdles and LiamRock was second in the 400-meter hurdles at the Brooklyn-Queens meet.

Juniors Jared Lovelace,Deanna Lucci and Mary EllenWoods were all double winnersas Molloy swept the boys andgirls team titles at the 2014CHSAA Brooklyn-Queens Out-door Track and Field Champi-onships on May 13 on Randall'sIsland. Lovelace won the boys tripleand long jumps, Lucci won the100 and 400-meter hurdles, andWoods won the 400 and 800-meter runs. Molloy beat Mary Louis by 34points to win the girls team titleand St. Francis Prep by 25points for the boys title. Other gold medal winners forthe girls were sophomoreCarolyn Crocker in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, froshShauna D'Arcy in the discus,

senior Allison Terranova in thejavelin, and sophomore SarahKowpak in the high jump. Kieran Rock won the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the boys. Here are Molloy's results:

Boys B-Q Championships 110 hurdles: 2. William Pabitero, 16.3;3. Zachary Kurre, 16.9; 4. Liam Rock, 17.2. 400: Pat Cashin, 54.1. 400 hurdles: 2. Liam Rock, 59.2; 5.Oluwatomide Alao, 1:05.4. 800: Ray Henry, 2:07.1. 3,000 steeplechase: 1. Kieran Rock,10:59.8; Justin McBride, 12:12.8. 3,200: 2. Daniel Saczyk, 10:29.5; 5. Aus-tin Pizzella, 11:14.6. 4x100 relay: 3. Molloy, 46.8. 4x400: 2. Molloy, 3:41.7. 4x800: 3. Molloy, 9:21.8 High jump: 1. Jared Lovelace, 6-0; 5.Daniel Murphy, 5-6. Triple jump: 1. Jared Lovelace, 46-3.5;2. David Stachnik, 39-2.5; 3. DanielMurphy, 39-2. Long jump: 2. Matt Cazilas, 18-11; 5.David Stachnik, 17-5.

Discus: 3. Jeremy Jones, 110-3. Shot: 4. Jeremy Jones, 38-8.

Girls B-Q Championships 100: 3. Sarah Kowpak, 13.8. 100 hurdles: 1. Deanna Lucci, 17.4; 2.Jenna Piller, 17.9; 3. Shannon Pizzella,18.2; 4. Dorothy Watters, 18.8; 5. JessicaSzymeczek. 400: 1. Mary Ellen Woods, 59.2; 3. JillianHubert, 1:04.9. 400 hurdles: 1. Deanna Lucci, 1:08.2; 3.Shannon Pizzella, 115.5; 4. Jenna Piller,1:20.0; 5. Dorothy Watters, 1:21.3. 800: 1. Mary Ellen Woods, 2:28.9. 2,000 steeplechase: 1. Carolyn Crocker,7:47.6; 3. Michelle Armogen, 8:32.5. 3,000: 3. Mikayla Roberts, 11:38.9; 4.Garielle Fata, 12:28.9. 4x100 relay: 5. Molloy, 58.8. 4x400: 2. Molloy, 4:33.4; 3. Molloy, 4:41.6. 4x800: 2. Molloy, 10:59.3; 4. Molloy,11:47.0; 5. Molloy, 11:56.2. High jump: 1. Sarah Kowpak, 5-0. Triple jump: 2. Urbi Tucker, 32-5; 3.Laura Williams, 30-8. Long jump: 3. Urbi Tucker, 14-11; 5.Laura Williams, 14-1.5. Discus: 1. Shauna D'Arcy, 89-6; 5.Natasha Sanchez, 65-9. Shot: 3. Shauna D'Arcy, 31-1. Javelin: 1. Allison Terranova, 93-2.

* * * Sophomore Sarah Kowpakand junior Mary Ellen Woodsset girls school records at theGlenn D. Loucks Games atWhite Plains High School on

May 4. Kowpak set a record of 5-feet-2 while finishing fourth in thehigh jump and Woods set arecord of 59.5 seconds while fin-ishing 27th in the 400 meters.

* * * Molloy won three gold medalsat the CHSAA Girls Frosh-Sophomore IntersectionalChampionships on April 27 atNassau Community College. Shauna D'Arcy won the froshshot put, Jillian Hubert won thefrosh javelin and Sarah Kowpakwon the sophomore high jump. D'Arcy was second in the froshdiscus while Jenna Piller fin-ished second and third in thetwo frosh hurdle events. D’Arcy also finished second inthe frosh discus while JennaPiller finished second and thirdin the two frosh hurdles events. The sophomores finished thirdin the team standings behindHoly Trinity and Kellenbergwhile the frosh were fourth be-hind Holy Trinity, St. Anthony,and Notre Dame.

By Miranda Steinberg '14 The Boys Step Team this yearhas performed at a high levelmore consistently than any pre-vious team in Molloy's history,said team members and mod-erator. The team has won every com-petition it has entered except forone, where it finished second.

“This year’s step team hassoared farther than any otherteam in Molloy’s history,” saidteam moderator Mrs. AnneLonergan. Senior co-captains NikkoTonolete and Allen “Ace”Sanchez are extremely proud tobe the leaders of Molloy's beststep squad.

“Honestly, this year’s team isthe best it’s ever been," saidSanchez. "Some would call usthe Dream Team.” Tonolete said, "As captain, I’mproud of how far we’ve come thisyear and I’m proud to leave thislegacy.” Molloy has won the Queens,Manhattan, and BrooklynYouth Step competitions, theBreak The Stage competition,and a step competition hosted bya local college sorority. Its only second place finishcame at the Regional YouthStep competition in April. “We had a feeling we didn’t winbecause the crowd didn’t act toohyped for us.” said Tonolete. Molloy is one of just 20 teamsto earn an invitation to the Na-tional High School SteppingChampionships on May 24 atHarrisburg (Pa.) High School. “This year, the nationals is ourmain focus," said Mrs.Lonergan. "If we do well, it will

By Anna Poulakas '14 Electrified excitement couldbe felt throughout the JackCurran Gym on April 11 for theannual Senior-Faculty Basket-ball Game. After the seniors won, 75-67,there was a huge celebration onthe floor. Senior Sam Carter said thatevery time he stepped onto thecourt he felt a rush of energy. Senior Connor Martinez said,“We were all encouraging eachother, we all came together towin it, and it really helped see-ing all our friends out there inthe crowd cheering us on.” While the faculty won the pre-vious two athletic contests insoftball and fooball, the biggestgame of the year is the basket-ball game because it draws thelargest crowd and caps off SpiritWeek. "We had an awesome turnout,"said Mr. Chris Dougherty, thegame's organizer. “We soldabout 800 tickets and about 285were sold to seniors.” Some of the money raised byticket sales will be used to helpfinance the St. MarcellinChampagnat Society's annualtrip to help the sick in Lourdes,France. A team of 22 seniors, coachedby senior Varsity basketballplayers Jayson Cethoute, C.J.Davis, Wade Neblett, andGabriel Kilpatrick, took on thefaculty.

Seniors enjoy defeating faculty

Step team heads off to nationalsbe a huge accomplishment.” The synchronicity of the StepTeam's moves requires an im-mense amount of practice, so thesquad has practiced every Mon-day through Thursday from 2-4p.m. since school began in Sep-tember. The team's routines are de-signed by committee. “It’s a collective effort when itcomes to choreography,” saidSanchez. “Everybody brings hisideas to the table and we takeinto account all of the team’sconstructive criticisms.” No matter what happens re-garding the national champion-ships, Mrs. Lonergan said, “Ilove these boys like my own sons.There is never going to be an-other team like this one.” Senior Andy Salim said, "I feelthe Step Team not only bringsjoy to the school, but a sense ofpride. When people ask 'Who’sthe best step squad?,' we all knowwe’re the best step squad.”

“They executed well through-out the entire game, even thetimes the faculty started to catchup,” Davis said of his team. Kilpatrick said, “I was veryproud of all of them. They wereall supporting each other andcheering from the bench. It wasan energetic collective effort.” Mr. Dougherty said that thecrowd was 100 percent support-ive of the seniors because everytime the seniors scored the crowdwent wild; however, a facultybasket was greeted by silence. “I was very pleased with theway we played," said Mr.Dougherty. "It was a valiant ef-fort, we kept coming back, but wecould never handle Sam Carterand the rest of the crew.” Mr. Dougherty was also im-pressed by the play of Max Hsu,Emmett Reilly, Eric Alerte,Dhanesh Binda as well as fac-ulty members Mr. Dan Quinn,Mr. Will Armstong, Mr. Ed Sh-annon, Mr. Don Mooney and Mr.T.J. Laible. While Varsity basketball play-ers were ineligible to play in thegame, many of the seniors whodid play had played for Molloy’sFrosh and JV basketball teams. “This is one the best teams wehave faced in years,” said Mr.Dougherty. “Every year you’rea year older but the kids you'replaying are always 17 or 18years old.” Cethoute said knew the se-niors would win, “but I have to

admit that at some points it didget very close.” Hsu said, “The game gotpretty intense when the facultystarted to gain on us.” Between quarters of the game,the crowd was entertained bythe Step and Dance Teams andthe “Sassy Seniors,” along withhonored guest Stanley theStannerly Lion.

Liam Moyles had a blast play-ing in the game and performingwith the Sassy Seniors. “It was a great game and oneof the best parts of senior year,”he said. Mr. Dougherty said the danceafter the game was just as ener-getic because, while some somestudents left after the game,most remained.

Sassy Senior Justin Bertea performing during a break at the Senior-FacultyGame won by the seniors 75-67. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

Senior co-captain Allen Sanchez, left, Brian Agulo, and the rest of the BoysStep Team perform at International Day. (Photo by Shoma Nath ‘16)