The StannerVol. 57, No. 8 Archbishop Molloy High School APRIL 2014

Int. Day draws bigger audienceBy Liana Liang '15 The annual celebration ofMolloy's ethnic diversity, Inter-national Day, on March 30 drewlarge crowds who for two hoursate diverse cultural food andwatched performances fromMolloy's ethnic clubs. "This year we had about 1,200people attend," said Interna-tional Day organizer Ms. SabinaKobinski. "That's about 500people more than last year." Featuring such specialties ascannoli, gelato, borscht, andfreshly made waffles, food fromover 13 countries was offered inthe Marsloe Gym courtesy of stu-dents' families. Junior Tim Safos described hisfood sampling as his "pilgrimageof gluttony." His favorite was the Koreanmarinated beef that he broughtin himself but he also enjoyedthe Greek food. "The Greek mini-gyros weregreat," he said. "I could eatGreek food for a very long time." After a year's absence, a wholeroast pig returned as the high-light at the Filipino food tableand, as always, the Italian foodtable was most popular among

all the guests. Senior Joshua Cajas said,"The food was excellent. I lovedpiling my plate with all the in-ternational foods. I particularlyenjoyed the Italian food, espe-cially the cannoli gelato. I'venever had anything like thatbefore so it was pretty snazzy." Following the food, a show inthe Jack Curran Gym hosted bysenior Ryan Quigley featuredPipes and Drums, Irish Club,Dance Club, Ebony Club, AsianClub, West Indian Club, BoysStep Team, Indian Club, ItalianClub, Spanish Club, GreekClub, and Girls Step Team. "We had a record number ofpeople attend and the perfor-mances were great," said Ms.Kobinski. "I have to say that RyanQuigley did an excellent jobMC'ing the event and I thinkthat is something I will remem-ber because he was so calm andconfident on the stage." she said."Everyone I spoke to only hadgood things to say. Overall, I amvery pleased with the day." Junior Nicole Jimenez dancedthe merengue and bachata withthe Spanish Club.

"I was pleased with our perfor-mance," Jimenez said. "Thecrowd was lively and screamingfor us. It was the usual excitedreaction to Spanish Club. "I watched the other perfor-mances and was impressed bythe Asian Club and the StepTeams. They were lively andhad everything planned and insync," Jimenez said. Indian Club President, seniorAmelia Singh, said the club be-gan practicing its performanceof Bollywood dances and a clas-sical Indian dance in November. "The moves were extremelyhard for us to get at first but wedanced on stage as if we've beentrained in Bollywood dancing foryears!" said Singh. The audience got excited dur-ing their performance, "whenthey saw we had boys dancingalongside the girls!" Singh said."There's always a romantic feel-ing during Bollywood danceswhen you have boys and girls aspartners! I think the audiencefelt that." At the end of their perfor-

mance, Singh was in for a sur-prise when her boyfriend seniorRyan Sukram prom-posed toher with a bouquet of red flow-ers to the thunderous roar of theapplauding crowd. "I had no idea what was instore for me that day," she said."We were all supposed to pose inour spots for the finale and Iclearly remember Ryan drop-ping to grab the flowers, and Iremember thinking 'Oh no, he'sruining the ending!' but he com-pletely caught me off guard. Ithought I was going to cry," shesaid, smiling. Cajas said, "Other than In-dian Club, I liked Asian Clubthe best because it had the mostvariety." Asian club presented a perfor-mance of Chinese yoyo, tradi-tional Tinikling, and a combina-tion of the martial artsTaekwondo and modern K-popdance. "I had a sense of nationalpride and sentimentalism formy country when I saw the per-formance," Safos said.

The Asian Club prepares to perform Tinikling, a traditional Filipino dance.(Photos by Shoma Nath ‘16 and Justin Gardner ‘17)

Seniors Darien Dey and Chinyere Okogeri, left, and Ryan Sukram and AmeliaSingh, right, perform with their clubs on the Jack Curran Gym stage.

Molloy seniorshave a magicaltime in Disney

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Molloy bleedsto give hopeto others

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The StannerVolume 57, Number 8

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

Production Staff: Reynerio Rubio; Phillip Barsamian;Sophia Savvides

Moderator: Mr. Charley McKennaPublisher: Bro. Thomas Schady

My mom always says that ev-ery Sunday should be seen as alittle Easter, a celebration of ev-erything you have and love. Butnothing beats the real thing.Lent's over, rich foods are eatenagain without guilt, and muchcandy is consumed. If you want to eat Easter din-ner out, I recommend Bamonte'sRestaurant at 32 Withers St. be-tween Lorimer and Union Ave. inWilliamsburg Brooklyn. Like any good joint, Bamonte'sis old, having opened in 1900, andso it went through a speakeasyphase during Prohibition. Like many Brooklyn restau-rants, it is rumored to once havebeen affiliated with the mafia.And like any place I frequent, Icould go there for the decor alone. The walls by the entrance arecovered in photos both of celeb-rities such as Harrison Ford andWoody Allen and regular custom-ers from the neighborhood. The dining area's color schemematches its Italian cuisine withmaroon carpeting and cream col-ored walls. Golden chandeliers ornamentthe ceiling and illuminate old, clas-sic paintings. If you've never had handmadepasta, come here. It's worldsaway from Barilla. The ravioli, with its soft and

chewy exterior, is sumptuouslystuffed with ricotta and mozza-rella and smothered with savoryred sauce. After you finish dinner, walk sixand a half blocks down Lorimerand east on Devoe St. toFortunato Brothers Bakery at289 Manhattan Ave. where I'vebeen going since I could walk. Coincidentally, it also suppos-edly had mafia ties, but, ya know,dat's Brooklyn! I can only recommend theswan-shaped creme puffs be-cause they’re the only thing I'veeaten there for over a decade. But I have observed the I'm-in-heaven faces of those who biteinto other confections, so feel freeto try anything that looks good. But if you are eating Easter din-ner at home this year, may I pro-pose you make an egg-shapedcake for dessert? Here's a recipe I found atmarthastewart.com:Ingredients:1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus a hand-ful more to dust pans2 teaspoons baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt2 1/2 cups packed sweetened shreddedcoconut6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter,softened, plus more for pans1 1/2 cups sugar3 large eggs1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milkSeven Minute FrostingPiped Spring Flowers

Baking Directions: Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Butter and flour 9-inch, egg-shaped cakepans, tapping out excess flour. Whisk to-gether flour, baking powder, salt, andone cup coconut in a medium bowl. Step 2: Cream butter and sugar witha mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggsand almond extract, and beat until in-corporated. Beat in flour mixture withcoconut milk. Step 3: Divide batter between preparedpans. Bake 40 to 45 minutes until goldenbrown and a cake tester inserted in thecenter comes out clean. Let cool in panson wire racks for 30 minutes. Invertcakes onto racks. Let cool. Step 4: Trim flat sides of cakes with a

Fooducation: by Alexandra Caruso ‘14Try going out for ravioli and a tasty creme puff in Brooklyn on Easter Sunday

serrated knife to create an even surface.Dab some frosting in the center of a serv-ing platter or cake stand. Place 1 cakelayer, rounded side down, on top of frost-ing, and spread 1 cup frosting on top. Topwith remaining cake layer, flat sidedown. Spoon 1/4 cup frosting into a pip-ing bag fitted with a small star tip andreserve. Working quickly, spread re-maining frosting over entire cake. Pipea decorative garland around circumfer-ence of cake with reserved frosting. Presspiped spring flowers gently into the frost-ing to decorate if desired. Mound remain-ing coconut around cake. Step 5: Cut cake into slices about 2inches thick. Cut each slice in half verti-cally, and serve.

Many Stanners have neverheard of a multinational companycalled Monsanto, even though itsproducts affect the daily lives ofall Americans. Monsanto is an ag-ricultural biotechnology firm andthe leading producer of geneticallyengineered seeds. Currently about 60 countriesrequire companies manufactur-ing genetically modified organ-isms to label them as such but theU.S.A. isn’t one of them. Most Americans would like toknow if the food they eat is ge-netically modified but Monsantohas worked very hard to makesure that hasn't happened. Monstanto spent millions of dol-

lars to defeat California’s Propo-sition 37, which would have re-quired companies to label geneti-cally engineered foods, to prohibitthem from labeling those foods asbeing "natural," and to define “or-ganic meat” to mean that not onlywere the animals not geneticallyengineered, but they are not fedor injected with genetically engi-neered substances. In Washington state, Monsantospent millions more to defeat Ini-tiative 522, which would havemade labeling genetically modi-fied foods mandatory. Thanks in parts to its connec-tions with public officials in theFood and Drug Administration[FDA], the Environmental Pro-tection Agency [EPA], and eventhe Supreme Court, Monsantocontinues to be able to makeenormous profits from possiblydangerous products. Monsanto's former Vice Presi-dent for Public Policy Michael R.Taylor worked for the FDA be-fore joining Monsanto, then re-turned to the FDA as the SeniorAdviser to the Commissioner. Linda Fisher was an assistant

administrator at the EPA, thenjoined Monsanto, and then wentback to the EPA as its Deputy Ad-ministrator. Now she’s back inthe chemical industry working forDuPont, another manufacturer ofgenetically modified seeds. Supreme Court JusticeClarence Thomas, a formerMonsanto attorney, joined thecourt's majority in a patent deci-sion favoring Monsanto. Monsanto’s influence in govern-ment agencies has allowed it todistribute its products withoutmajor testing or labeling in theUnited States. Americans have the right todemand the food we eat be la-

beled so that we can tell if a prod-uct contains genetically modifiedorganisms and make an informedchoice about whether or not wewant to buy it. Monsanto does everything in itspower to suppress America’sknowledge of what products con-tain genetically modified organ-isms so as not to put at risk itsmassive profits. If the majority of Americans be-comes cognizant of the increasingpresence of genetically modifiedproducts in the food industry, themajority can work together toovercome Monsanto's obstruc-tionism.

-- Katlin Stath '15

Monsanto: don’t fight labeling modified food

The name of the SADD mem-ber in a photo in last month’s is-sue was incorrect. She is MatisseScibelli. The photographer wassophomore Shoma Nath. Chris Mesa’s name was mis-spelled and 17-year-old CarlaHanna’s age was incorrect in theNicaragua photo and story.

Corrections

Bamonte’s Restaurant is a Williamsburg institution and the Fooducatorsays it’s a perfect choice for an Easter Sunday dinner.

‘Find Your Marist Path’ is Lenten themeBy Christina Gaglio '16 Campus Ministry sponsored avariety of Lenten activities lead-ing up to the Holy Week Serviceon April 16 in the Jack CurranGym. Each activity followed thetheme “Finding Your MaristPath” in light of this year’s fo-cus on Marist Vocations. The Holy Week Service willbegin at 8 a.m. rather than at10:45 a.m. as it did last year. Campus Ministry Director,Mr. Mike Germano urgedStanners to “please come andexperience the fun!” Leading up to the service,Campus Ministry sponsoredweekly Lantern prayer servicesin the Chapel. “Our goal was to bring a pieceof Esopus to Molloy,” said Mr.

Germano of the services. Students had the opportunityon April 8 during their Religionand Gym classes or free periodsto receive the sacrament of Rec-onciliation from 10 visitingpriests in the Theater. The goal of the annual Fast-A-Thon, which attracted 201participants on April 9, was toteach students to appreciate thefood they may take for grantedevery day and to raise money forMarist Missions. Senior Theresa Arcidiacono, aCampus Ministry Leader whohelped plan many of theseevents, said she hoped that"each student will receive astrong sense of community fromthe events and that the eventswill help people remember whatLent and Easter are about.”

Eucharistic Minister Christopher McGee, A senior, will be part of Molloy’sHoly Week Service in the Jack Curran Gym. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

The third marking period sawa seven percent decrease in thenumber of students who quali-fied for the Principal's List byearning an overall academicaverage of 99 or better. A total of 114 Stanners madethe List for the third markingperiod, nine fewer than in thesecond marking period. Only 89students qualified in the firstmarking period. Perhaps senioritis has struckeven the best students in theClass of 2014 as just 21 seniors,seven fewer than the previousmarking period, qualified. The list of sophomores contin-ues to grow from 40 in the firstmarking period, to 46 in the sec-ond and now 49 in the third. Juniors had four fewer stu-dents on the list with 31 andfrosh had 13, one fewer than lasttime. Here is the Principal's List forthe third marking period: Frosh: Clarissa Gosine; MargaretGrigg; Kyle Hoosein; Jillian Hubert*;Sandra Ilkkan; Caroline Jaipaul*;Donna Kim; Francesca Lapinta*;Stephanie Lechki*; Katelyn O'Hara;Calista Requijo; Anne Marie Romain;Angelo Tsoulos. Sophomores: Maria Aliberti*;Vincent Antignani*; ChristopherAutera; Marissa Campano; ShaniaChua*; Andrew Chui; Tiffany Daniel*;Christy Dey; Alexandria Dominguez;Jordan Fierek*; Luke Geraci; MichaelGillooley; Maria Goetz*; Jaila

Guevarra; Maria Gulino*; KellyHuang*; Daniel Jimenez; CarolineKelly*; Lucia Lin*; Siobhan Loftus*;Harshani Luknauth*; Oliver Mai;Charles Maisano; Peter Maisano*; RoseMaisano*; Jack Mangin*; AlessandroMarkovic*; Jane McNoble; IsabellaMercado*; Harris Mohsin*; MatthewMotylenski*; Christopher Ortega;Emily Peckham*; Victoria Perillo; Aus-tin Pizzella*; Kleanthis Plakas;Samantha Racan*; Carissa Rahaman*;Mikayla Roberts; Sophie Robinson*;Shibangi Saha*; Jamison Silva;Harmanveer Singh; LaksumiSivanandan*; Keyana Smith; PetraStiglmayer*; Hailey Tom*; BrendanWoods*; Matthew Zwolak*. Juniors: Jafar Ali*; Bianca Basone;Izidora Bozic*; Gabriella Bruno*; AlwinJoshua Chico; Katherine Coleman*;Enrica Cotellessa; Lucas DoNascimento; Lauren Durante; VidaEkhlas; Justin Esposito*; GerardFernandez*; Angelica Frisari; MatthewGardner*; Ewa Gerlak*; RaphaelJafri*; Patryk Jakubowski*; ZacharyKurre*; Liana Liang; Deanna Lucci*;James McGuire*; Andreea Muntean*;Julia Remache; Joseph Schauer; Shan-non Scott; Katlin Stath; Joelle Tirado;Lauren Urbano; Stephanie Yost;Kangyi Zhao; Claudia Zurek. Seniors: Dhanesh Binda*; ThomasBrinskelle*; Alexandra Caruso*; Tif-fany Dial*; Camilla Herbin; Edrean-Neil Kabigting; Katherine Kilkenny*;Emily Lewis; John Mancini*; DeannaMayo*; Louiza Molohides; KristianMosquito*; Taylor Moss; DanielO'Reilly*; Cristina Otano; Neil Patel;Shayanna Roman; Samantha Sattler*;Matthew Spataro; Evangeline Szpylka;Tiffany Villacis*.* third consecutive appearance onPrincipal's List

114 make Principal’sList in third quarter

Lanyards, not pinsat junior ceremonyBy Anna Poulakas '14 With seniors thinking aboutthe future after having re-ceived their college acceptan-ces, Molloy's junior class isstarting to be seen as the newleaders of the school. The Junior Leadership Cer-emony, which takes place at8:05 a.m. on May 1 in the JackCurran Gym, bestows thatnew role on the members of theClass of 2015. “This ceremony is a tangiblesign of their leadership in theschool,” said Ms. Mary PatGannon, who is organizingthe event with Mrs. AdeleSolari and Ms. JeanneLongerano. Juniors will be encouragedto dress up for the event andinvite their parents. The third annual ceremonywill feature a major changethis year as every junior willreceive a special class lanyardat the suggestion of the Jun-ior Leadership Committeerather than a class pin as inprevious years. The committee designed thelanyard to have "AMHS 2015"on one side and a Walt Disneyquote, “If you can dream it,you can do it” on the other. Committee members felt thequote represented their beliefsand so was fit to grace theirlanyard. The ceremony will be verysimilar to last year's. Programs featuring thenames of all juniors will be dis-tributed to the audience withbold faced names for students

who have shown exemplaryleadership skills throughouttheir first three years at AM. Among the speakers will beMolloy President Mr. RichardKarsten, Principal Bro. ThomasSchady and other administra-tors. The Junior Leadership Com-mittee will vote to select one ofits members to speak at the cer-emony. National Honor Society mem-bers will announce the name ofeach junior as he or she re-ceives a lanyard. Juniors who purchased classrings will receive them after theceremony while light refresh-ments are served in theMarsloe Gym for juniors andtheir guests. The food will be freshly bakedmuffins courtesy of the BakingClub as well as store boughtcookies. Junior Daniel Ramirez saidhe is eager to dress up to attendthe ceremony, receive his classring, and celebrate with his par-ents and friends. Ramirez said going back toclass after the reception ends at9:45 won't be hard; in fact hethinks that his classmates willlook forward to turning eachother’s rings and wearing theirnew lanyards. Mrs. Solari said that the com-mittee is trying to get a bannerto put on stage for the cer-emony. Other decorations will in-clude balloons, flowers and pos-sibly bows at the end of eachrow of seats.

Imagine not being able toreach half the things located inyour own home or being underthe height requirements forriding alone on amusementpark rides, or always having ahard time finding clothes youlike that actually fit you. This is reality for me and theone out of every 30,000 peoplewho are born with Achondro-plasia, a genetic growth disor-der that produces a short stat-ure with short arms and legs. This disorder never stoppedme from doing things other kidsdid but I always wanted to betaller. So at age eight I had myfirst limb-lengthening surgery. Fast forward 10 years and 10surgeries later, I am now nineinches taller than I would havebeen had I not undergone limb-lengthening surgeries. My final surgery occurred lastAugust and if it had gone theway all my previous surgeriesdid, I would have returned toschool last fall with external

fixators on, but still have re-mained relatively independent. I soon realized that this wouldnot be the case when twice withinthe month of September, I had tohave emergency surgeries. With the help of many prayers,I finally was back on the road torecovery and ready to return toMolloy. Yet I wondered what my senioryear would be like because I knewI would be returning in a wheel-chair and would have to dependon my Molloy family to help methrough. I was petrified at first butthanks to all the help I received,I realized I had nothing to fear. Soon I discovered the perks tobeing in a wheelchair, such as tak-ing the elevator and being pushedthrough the halls by friends atwhat seemed at times like 95miles an hour. I would be treated like royaltywhen I was ushered to any seat Iwanted at basketball games. When it once seemed as if I

would be stuck on the second floorwhen the elevator stopped work-ing, Mr. Ken Auer and Mr. PatRizzotti arrived to carry me downthe stairs in my wheelchair. Luck-ily for them, the elevator re-sumed work just in time. One of my fondest memorieswas being able to go on my Se-nior trip to Disney World wherea scooter was provided for me soI could keep up with everyone.Being tall enough to ride everyride was priceless. Now I know how an actress feelswhen accepting an Oscar andhaving to thank so many peoplethat made a difference in her lifein such a short period of time. I would like to thank Bro. TomSchady, Mrs. Kathy Forgione, allthe teachers, guidance counselors,and staff at Molloy for making myreturn such an easy transition. Whether it was sending assign-ments home, pushing me in mywheelchair, helping me catch upwith the work I missed, openingthe school back door in the morn-

ing so I didn’t have to roll all theway to the Cafeteria, or justasking me how I felt or if Ineeded anything, your kind-ness and compassion will al-ways hold a big place in myheart. To my constant companion,Nicolette, who was with me somuch that people would ask usif we were twins, I say that Iwould have never made it with-out you. To Alyssa and Dominick, whocarried me in and out of the carso many times in the rain andsnow, I will always be grateful. Finally, for all my friends, oldand new, and for all those whodidn’t really know me but wentout of their way to ask if Ineeded help, your kindness hasmade my final year at Molloyone I will always treasure. Not for school but for life.Each and every one of you willbe forever in my heart.

--Gabby D’Angelo ‘14

A big thank you from a little lady

By Shibangi Saha '16 andLaksumi Sivanandan '16 Stanners donated 178 pints atthe annual Blood Drive on April1 in the Jack Curran Gym, twomore pints than last year and 38more than 2012, but short of therecord of 206 set in 2009. A total of 179 students, 14 fac-ulty members, and two walk-inssigned up to donate. But only 154 people were al-lowed to donated blood, as 30were turned away for variousreasons and 11 were no-shows. The equipment and personnelfor the drive were provided bythe Long Island Division of theNew York Blood Bank. Mrs. Kathy Forgione, theschool nurse who ran the drive,was very pleased with this year’shigher total from past years. Senior Amelia Singh was in-spired to donate blood by hergrandfather. “He had surgery when I wasyounger and needed blood,” said

Singh. “I loved knowing that astranger was able to help himwhen he was in need of blood soI wanted to return the favor tosomeone else in need.” Donating blood was on seniorAlbert Hasan’s bucket list. “I wanted to help people outthere who need blood,” he said.“Donating blood is something solittle that can help others insuch a big way.” Yet Hasan admits doing agood deed is not always easy. “Having my blood drawn wasvery unnerving,” he said. “I feltreally hungry and tired after-wards.” Singh, however, didn’t feeltired at all after donating blood. “I felt fine,” she said. “This wasmy second time donating blood,so I knew what to expect.” Mrs. Forgione thanked every-one who donated blood and whohelped the day go smoothly. She asked everyone who do-nated to continue to give blood

to help save lives. "It is a verygood cause,” she said. Singh encouraged Stanners todonate blood next year. “Since we're all so young, I

Blood Drive tops totals of past 2 years

sometimes feel like there's notmuch we can do to help others,”she said. “But the Blood Driveis something everyone can par-ticipate in to help save lives.”

Junior Aidan Leavens donates at the Blood Drive. (photo by Mr. Joe Sommo)

By Michael LaBella ’17 The Bookstore is the place atStanner High to buy all types ofitems and the long lines itattract throughout the schoolyear attests to its popularity. While the store is small,Manager Bro. James Vaganhas “hundreds and hundreds ofdifferent items” for sale. “New clubs each year suggestdifferent products that they

would like and I work with myassociates to add new things tothe store each year,” he said. Molloy sweatshirts are the topselling clothing item but thebookstore’s primary business isselling books. Thirty Stanners interviewedagreed the bookstore is reallygood but several suggestionswere made for how to improve it. Having someone work with

Bro. James when the bookstoreis open each morning andafternoon topped the list ofsuggestions. “A second person should beadded behind the counter toreduce the lines from being solong,” said frosh Anne MarieRomain. “It would be moreefficient and quicker.” Frosh Robert Berrios sug-gested the store start selling

official Molloy ties. Frosh Dervla Connaughtonwants the store to stock moresize small clothing “becausemost students buy the smallersizes so they run out often.” Bro. James said he is open tonew ideas and students can stopby the bookstore any time tosuggest a new item for sale oroffer any ideas to improveservice.

Student suggestions to make bookstore even better

By Liana Liang '15 During Molloy's St. Patrick'sDay/Walk-a-thon holiday week-end, 101 seniors and nine fac-ulty members went to WaltDisney World in Orlando, Fla. "It was the best Senior DisneyTrip I've had in all three years,"said Mr. Mark Sweeney, orga-nizer of the third annual SeniorDisney Trip. The participants stayed atDisney's Port Orleans Resortand enjoyed four days at all ofDisney World's theme parks:Epcot, Animal Kingdom, MagicKingdom, and Hollywood Stu-dios. The trip cost each student$1,100 which included airfare,hotel accommodations, park ad-missions, meal coupons, and t-shirts. Other than one of theairplane's minor delays due totire troubles, the trip was "in-credibly smooth and just per-fect," said Mr. Sweeney. "Theseniors really had a lot of fun." Senior Joshua Cajas, who hasbeen to Disney before, enjoyedhis freedom at the park in thecompany of his friends. "Most of the time, we were wait-ing on lines," he said, chuckling."But four days were more thanenough at Disney. We got to doeverything." Senior Matthew Spataro saidfour days were more thanenough, perhaps almost toomuch, to spend at Disney World. Senior Miranda Steinbergsaid, "I would've liked an extraday. But the four days we hadwere perfect. Physically, it wasreally tiring. We did a lot ofwalking." Cajas' favorite park was Epcot,specifically the Japan section.When asked what he would im-prove about the trip, he sug-gested, "the freedom to go parkto park. I would've liked to spendmore time at Hollywood Stu-dios." While the group didn't have asmuch freedom of movement assome would have liked,

Steinberg said, "We could stayup super late and have fun with-out the teachers. We had a lot offreedom." Spataro hadn't been to Disneysince the Theater Arts &Improv Club's Disney trip dur-ing his sophomore year. "I spent time with two groupsof friends," he said. "We took lotsof pictures and went on lots ofrides." His favorite ride was “It's aSmall World” because "whenyou're laughing and joking

around with your friends on theride, it's the best." While hanging out with hisfriends during the “Fantasmic!”nighttime water and fireworksshow at the Hollywood Studiospark, Spataro said, "Suddenly Irealized that I was a senior nowbut it was also like a new begin-ning, too." On their first night at the ho-tel, Steinberg discovered that"Florida water tastes really bad.So my friend Bokey [Wong]boiled the water for us every

night. On the first night, theboiling water started to smellreally bad so we put the coffeemaker outside the room. Mr.Sweeney came to check on usand he noticed the bad smell.Right afterwards, our showerflooded. It was hilarious becauseit all happened on the first day." Steinberg spent time with herfriends and went to see attrac-tions such as the "Beauty andthe Beast" musical. Like Cajas, Steinberg spent alot of time waiting on lines. "We played [the smartphonegame] 'Heads Up' when we werewaiting and that was a lot offun," she said. "Other peoplestarting asking about the appand we could see everyone onlines playing the game. It wasreally cool." She says her favorite memorywas on the last night, when theseniors were allowed to stay atMagic Kingdom until 2 a.m. "It was simple, but special,"she said. One problem she encounteredduring the trip was her con-stantly dying phone as she wastrying to find her friends at thevarious parks. "We'd have to stick to one per-son who had like 20 percent bat-tery left and try to find every-one," she said. Cajas recommended that jun-iors definitely go on the seniortrip next year. "If you know what is good foryou, go on this trip!" he said. Spataro agreed, saying, "It'samazing. Go!" Steinberg recommends thatjuniors who go next year shouldchoose a good roommate, down-load the application "My DisneyExperience" to plan, bring moremoney than they think they'llneed, don't over pack to leaveroom to bring home souvenirs,take a phone charger every-where in the parks, wear sun-screen, and don't buy souvenirsuntil the last day. "It was amazing and worth allthe money," she said.

AM seniors take on Disney World

Seniors Evangeline Szpylka, Viviana Villalva, Miranda Steinberg, and BokeyWong pose in front of the famous castle at Magic Kingdom.

Molloy Seniors enjoy the annual Senior Trip by posing with characters such as Buzzlightyear and Cowboy Woody (top); also with Cinderella (left).Differerent parks were visited such as Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. Senior girls pose in front of the Magic Kingdom’s entrance (right).

Band plays classic movie themesBy Maria Aliberti '16 When Molloy holds its secondannual Spring Music and ArtsFestival on Sunday, May 4 inthe Jack Curran Gym, the Bandand Frosh-Sophomore Choruswill perform a themed showcalled "At the Theater" by sing-ing and playing songs from well-known movies and Broadwaymusicals. The Band will play six fullpieces, including “The PinkPanther Theme,” a medley fromthe Broadway musical "Wicked,"and a medley of the work of com-poser John Williams, who wrotethe theme songs for "Star Wars,""E.T.," "Jaws," and the Olympics. Sophomore Stephen Velezsaid that the John Williams col-lection was his favorite piece inthe show because “they are fromclassic movies most people arereally familiar with. They’re alsothe most challenging pieces toplay.” Senior Grace Ahn, who playsthe flute, will have a solo whenthe Band plays the theme from"E.T." Junior Frederic Jean-Joseph,who plays the alto saxophone,will be a student conductor dur-ing "The Pink Panther Theme."

The Frosh-Soph Chorus willsing songs such as "Seasons ofLove," and "Rhythm of Life,"from the musical "Rent," andsome songs from Andrew LloydWebber’s "The Phantom of theOpera." The chorus will feature threesoloists during its performance,including frosh JustynaJablonska, who will have a soloduring "Phantom." Ms. Ya-ting Yang, the Band'sdirector, said the other two solo-ists have not been named be-cause she is still “playing withdifferent ideas.” Rehearsals for the show beganin mid-January and Ms. Yangsaid they have gone pretty well. “We lost some time for re-hearsal and were thrown offschedule because of all of thesnow days we had this winter,”she said but added that the stu-dents in the Band and Chorusare "good at working together.” Appearing along with theBand and Frosh-Soph Chorusare the Junior-Senior Chorusand the String Ensemble. The order of appearance hasnot yet been determined but Ms.Yang will meet with the Admin-istration soon to discuss the de-

tails and plan the schedule. Sophomore ChristopherAutera said that “preparing forthe spring show is much easierthan the Christmas show be-cause we have more time to learnnew songs, perfect our playingtechniques, and polish thepieces to perfection.” Autera said the Band is morecomfortable now since it's al-ready performed together at theOpen House and the ChristmasConcert and has gotten into aroutine that works for it. Velez agreed with Autera inpreferring to perform on a Sun-day as opposed to a weekday. “It is a good change because itallows more people to come see

us, and that allows us to show-case the Band’s talents for morepeople,” Velez said. Ms. Yang did not notice muchof a difference in attendance lastyear when the band's spring con-cert first was moved to a Sundaybut hopes for an increase inattendence this year. Ms. Yang likes the idea of in-corporating art with the springconcerts “since music and art gohand in hand.” Ms. Yang said the Spring Mu-sic and Arts Festival is a “goodchance to watch the Band’s per-formances and enjoy everyone’sart,” and she invites all Stannersto come out and experience thisexciting day for themselves.

Ensembles to play rock classicsBy Viviana Villalva '14 andMiranda Stienberg '14 The advanced members of theGuitar and String Ensembleswill show off their skills at thesecond annual Spring Musicand Arts Festival. The guitarists selected to per-form are seniors Joshua Cajas,Freddie Jean-Joseph, Edrean-Neil Kabigting, MatthewManeri, Michal Szymanski, jun-ior Mark Perkins (bass) andsophomores Gaetano Modic andMaria Goetz. The String Ensemble consistsof senior Pamela Decolongon onviola and violinists seniorsAerin Toskas, Jordan Foster,

Abigail Singson, Irina Arias,Brandon Lau, Jonathan Roy,sophomores Patrick Medalla,Amanda Tracey and froshKristen Allen. Junior Alina Obruchnikovawill play piano with ModeratorMr. Glenn DaGrossa on drums. Singson is looking forward tothe Music and Arts Festival be-cause it's her last at Molloy. Jean-Joseph said he's anxiousabout the concert because theensembles have been "havingcreative differences." However, despite some con-flicts, Singson said rehearsalshave gone relatively well. "Adding Mr. DaGrossa's

drums to the violins and guitarsmakes the music interestingand fun," she said. Jean-Joseph said, "The stringshave never sounded better thanthey do this year. It's not too dif-ficult to play together becausewe're such a small group ofpeople, but, of course, there arestill some difficulties. But I'mexcited to see how everythingcomes together." Mr. DaGrossa said, "The en-sembles practice to grow as mu-sicians and to get experienceplaying together. The concert isour way of showcasing whatwe’ve done so far and how we’veall improved and grown. “All the students in both en-sembles have shown immenseamounts of dedication and we’reall looking forward to the con-cert to show everyone how farwe’ve come," Mr. DaGrossa said. The set list will include moremodern songs and classic rockhits such as "Hedwig’s Theme"from "Harry Potter," GreenDay's "Boulevard of BrokenDreams," Journey's "Any WayYou Want It" and "Don’t StopBelievin'," Evanescence's "MyImmortal," the Rolling Stones'"Paint It Black," "The James

Bond Theme," and "Over theRainbow." Mr. DaGrossa said, "We chosethese songs mainly because wewanted to do a more modern se-lection of songs and arrangedthem for strings, guitar, drums,bass, and piano." Singson's favorite song to playis "Boulevard of BrokenDreams" because it's not tooeasy or too difficult. "The modern songs that weplay are considerably easierthan the classical music I'm usedto playing," said Singson. Last year the Spring Concertbecame the Spring Music andArts Festival and Mr. DaGrossa,who teaches art, is happy withthe change as over 100 works ofart will be displayed throughoutthe first floor of the building. "Students have worked veryhard on their artwork and areexcited to see their work show-cased and show their relativesand friends what they’ve accom-plished," he said. Mr. DaGrossa's and Ms. TeriBurke's art students submittedwork for the festival and a posi-tive review from both teachersdetermined what work would bedisplayed.

The Band will perform a variety of songs from movies and Broadway shows.

The String and Guitar Ensembles under the direction of Mr. Glenn DaGrossaperform at last years’s Spring Music Festival.

By Perry Chresomales '16,Stacy Kanellopoulos '16,and Maria Gulino '16 March is already full of excite-ment with the arrival of springand NCAA March Madness, sothe return of Molloy's MathAwareness Week after a one-year absence just added to thefrenzy. Over 100 Stanners put theirmath knowledge to the test fromMarch 24-28 with the chance towin iTunes or Dunkin’ Donutsgift cards in the third Math Dept.sponsored event. Seniors Jonelle Reyes andAlyssa Mohammed tied for firstin the geometric design art con-test on March 24 with seniorMatthew Tibo getting thirdprize. The scavenger hunt on March25, which required students tosolve a puzzle to advance to thenext room on the route, was wonby the senior team Tiffany Dialand Grace Anh. Junior Izidora Bozic won theSudoku contest on March 26,successfully defending her titlefrom 2012, with seniors GabrielCaamal second and Ryan Lythird. A new event, the Amazing PiRace, was held on March 26 asMs. Lauren Kemmerer, with thehelp of Ms. Jeanne Longerano,Mr. Brian Klimas and the restof the math faculty, modeled the

event after the show "The Amaz-ing Race." Contestants had to complete atask in order to “move” to newcities throughout the race. Seniors Kristian Mosquito andSamantha Sattler finished firstwith seniors Ly, ThomasBrinskelle, and Andy Salim tiedfor third. The week ended on March 28with the original song/poem con-test won by senior LouizaMolohides, who finished secondlast time. Senior Brian Hurleywas second and sophomoreAlexa Abrams third. "I've always liked expressingmyself," said Molohides, "sowhen it came to math, I had notrouble talking about my feel-ings toward calculus. And I wasshocked when I won first place." Said Abrams, “I wrote a poemabout math. I enjoy writing po-etry so I picked this event be-cause I knew I was good at it andwould enjoy it. "At first it was for fun, but itturned out to be difficult to thinkof a good topic in math to writemy poem about. I wanted to fo-cus on geometry," she said. Mr. Klimas said the week is de-signed “so anybody can partici-pate as long as they have a ba-sic knowledge of algebra. Mathis all around us and you can ap-ply it to things that aren’t justproblem solving.”

Mr. Klimas said the goal ofMath Awareness Week is to tryto get students more confidentwith their math abilities and hehoped everyone had a fun expe-rience and maybe even made afriend. "I think math is really fun,"said Abrams. "I usually tellthose students who dislike maththat it's fun to solve the prob-lems. It's even better whenyou're good at that particulartopic.” Molohides enjoyed math weeka lot. "It was challenging but fun,"

Molloy Math Madness in March

she said. "Everyone was runningaround trying to answer thesemath puzzles in order to win.Trust me, there were some longand tedious math problems. "I actually really love math,no matter what I say about it tomy peers. I can understand whysome people would hate math ifthey are not good at it. Butnever give up! My best advicefor those students is to just tryhard and ask questions. Theyshouldn’t worry about askingquestions since every mathteacher enjoys taking their timeanswering it,” Molohides said.

Senior SamanthaSattler and Kristian Mosquito won The Amazing Pi Raceduring Math Awareness Week. (Photo by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)

By Giovanni Vittozzi '15 Most Stanners agree thatthey typically study for what'sgoing to be on a test and thenforget all they've learned onceit's over. Is the real Molloy motto “Notfor school, but for points,” as Mr.Jim Sheehan jokingly says, orare students just so over-whelmed with information thatthey just end up forgettingmuch of it? “You can’t make generaliza-tions about Molloy; however,there is a tendency to put moreemphasis on grades [than onlearning],” said Mr. Sheehan,chairman of the English Dept. Junior David Van Aken said,"You try to get a good grade inclass just so you can get into agood college but that doesn'tmean you've learned [the mate-rial]." Junior Christian Martinezsaid, "Molloy students havemore pressure from their par-ents and teachers to get aca-demic [college] scholarships and

‘Not for school, but for points’because of this pressure, theythink that if they don't get goodgrades they won't have goodlives." English teacher Mr. MattKilkelly said that part of ateacher's job is to make studentscare about the subject matterbeing taught as much as theycare about grades. “There’s nothing wrong withstriving for good grades," hesaid. "That is how students arejudged and how they advancethemselves. What teachersshould do is show the impor-tance of this subject beyond meregrades.” The consensus among teach-ers is that Stanners are prima-rily motivated by grades but inthe process they do learn. However Martinez thinksteachers might be fooling them-selves. "When teachers see goodgrades they think that studentsare learning the subject matterbut in reality, they don't," hesaid.

However, junior JoannaTroyanos disagrees, saying, "Ithink students remember atleast some of what they studiedbecause if you really work hardto study something, then thesubject will stay in your mindfor a while." Mr. Sheehan pointed out thatsome subjects, such as English,teach skills such as writing andanalysis, while other subjects,such as history or biology, focusmore on facts. As a result, in the more fact-based courses, students have atendency to cram for exams. For junior Vince Viola, historyis one subject he has troublewith “because there is a lot ofinformation and it’s hard to re-member it all.” Van Aken said, “I’m prettygood at history because I canstill remember a lot of thingsfrom eighth grade. It seems thatfor most students, the hardestsubjects to remember are his-tory, foreign language, andsometimes science."

Social studies teacher Mr. DanQuinn said, “I feel that cram-ming information a day or twoprior to an exam in order to geta good grade is not always thebest way to retain knowledge forthe future.” Some Stanners work as hardafter a test fighting for points asthey do before a test studying. “I respect students who fightfor more points," said Mr. Quinn,"but for me they need to have alegitimate argument. I don'tthink it wears me down and itcertainly doesn't give them anyadvantage over someone whodoesn't complain.” Van Aken said it's worth com-plaining because “most teachersadmit when they’re wrong.” Were Stanners more inter-ested in learning years ago? “I studied and tried to do wellin all classes," said Mr. Quinn,who graduated from Molloy in2000, "but some classes I wasnaturally more interested in,which made the subject easier tolearn.”

By Harry Singh ’16 For the first time in ten years,the Molloy Junior Prom will beheld off campus as the Class of2015 will celebrate on a yacht onSaturday, May 17 instead of inthe Jack Curran Gym. Student Activities DirectorMs. Liz Murdocca said thejuniors will bus from school intoManhattan to board a three-deck yacht, provided by Del RioYachts, at the Chelsea Piers atW. 23rd St. and the West SideDr. to sail around the harbor. “The Junior Prom will not belike just any other prom ordance,” said Ms. Murdocca. Juniors seem to agree as they

bought tickets in unprecedentednumbers since they went on salein February for $115. In the past, only about 150-170 tickets were sold but thisyear junior bought over 300tickets, exceeding expectations. “I was really hoping to sell 200tickets,” said Ms. Murdocca. Ms. Murdocca said using busand a boat will ensure safety bymaking supervision easier whileallowing juniors to experiencesomething fun and new. Del Rio Yachts will provide thedinner with the music providedby a DJ. Ms. Murdocca said the yachtwill not require Stanners to put

up decorations as it is alreadyluxurious, which was plus. Kaela Coppinger is lookingforward to the prom. “It soundslike a lot of fun,” she said. Ryan Wecera is excited to bethe first to experience a Molloy

Junior Prom on a boat. “I trulyhope it won’t rain,” he said. Three of the yacht’s floor decksare indoors to ensure shelterfrom any rain. “We don’t plan tolet the rain stop us,” said Ms.Murdocca.

Junior Prom moves from gym to a yacht

By Phillip Barsamian '15and Sophia Savvides '15 The Junior-Senior Chorus willperform at the second annualSpring Music and Arts Festivalon May 4 in the Jack CurranGym with some of its seniormembers returning from theSenior Encounter in Esopus justin time for the show. With each of the school's fourmusical groups performing, thechorus will perform fewer songsat the festival than it does at itstwo-hour Christmas concert. The Junior-Senior Chorus willsing medleys from the Broad-way shows "Les Miserables" and"Sweeney Todd," with the "LesMis" songs being new for thisshow. Alto Daniela Franceschetti, asenior, said rehearsals are going

well and “I enjoy singing the'Sweeney Todd' medley the mostbecause it sounds really coolwhen all combined.” Senior alto Rebecca Wagneragreed, saying “I like the'Sweeney Todd' medley the bestbecause it is so upbeat and re-ally good and funny.” The Music and Arts Festivalreplaced the Spring Concert lastyear and Chorus Director Mr.Jim Sheehan said it went welllast year. “It is hard to do because thereis not enough space to make ev-erything work smoothly," Mr.Sheehan said. "It will be evenbetter next year once we workout all the little things.” He imagines a future festivalformat that has the school's fourmusic groups performing more

than once on the same day. The fact that the festival is ona Sunday while the previousspring concerts were on week-nights is also an improvement. “It makes a festival out of itand parents don’t need to comeout two different nights if theyare seeing multiple Molloy stu-dents,” Mr. Sheehan said. Wagner said that performingon Sunday last year meant thatmore parents could come to theshow. “It became a whole festival andnot just coming for one thing andleaving,” she said. She also likes that all thegroups perform at the sameshow and student artists’ workis displayed. “It is a good way to show offwhat Molloy has to offer,”

Wagner said. Unlike in past years, no con-cert assemblies for frosh andsophomores are scheduled be-fore the festival. “There were so many interrup-tions this year because of snowand professional days that wedecided we’d just leave it outthis year,” Mr. Sheehan said. Several seniors will have solosat the show. Maryanthie Linaris will be fea-tured on "I Dreamed a Dream,"as will Deanna Mayo on "GreenFinch" and "Linnetburg," DanO’Reilly on "Master of theHouse," John Mancini on "Sud-denly," and Emily Avila-Hernandez on "On My Own." Franceschetti and senior MattSpataro will perform a duet on"A Little Priest."

Jr.-Sr. Chorus to sing a Broadway melody

‘You Can’t Take It With You’

Robert Dittus, Harry Singh, Matthew Spataro, Mariyanthie Linaris, Mark Perkins, Christian Martinez, and RoseAnn Sapia perform a scene from theStanner Players’ production of the comedy “You Can’t Take It With You” in the Theater from April 3-6. ( Photo by Jordi Sevilla ‘14)