Chieftain Issue #2

Chieftain - December

the

Sewanhaka High School - 500 Tulip Avenue - Floral park, ny 11001

Volume 20 iSSue 2 ~ December 2009

CHIEFTAIN

Hom

ecom

ing

Pages

8-9

Homecoming edition

2Chieftain - December

SEWANHAKA HIGH SCHOOL

500 Tulip Ave.- Floral Park, New York 11001

CONTENTS

Monthly Update.........................................................3-4Student and Teacher Feature.......................................5Editorial........................................................................6-7Homecoming Special................................................8-9Teacher Feature...............................................................9Editorial........................................................................8-9Teacher Feature............................................................11Editorials..................................................................12-13Entertainment.........................................................14-16Sports........................................................................17-19

THe CHieFTAiN

Editors-in-ChiefKetsia Saint-Armand

Joseph Platia

INPuT EDiToRSCourtney Balgobin

Mary Jane Dumankaya

PHoTo EDiToREmtiaz Uddin

Layout EditorArmaghan Behlum

StaffNancy Agyeman-Duah

Sara ButurlaRheanna Ceglia

Stephie-Anne DuliepreMaryam EsmailElsa Gimenez

Karen GimenezMarianela Gimenez

Anna HarshamAnthony Jean

Courtney MacManusAndreas Pavlou

Stephanie SaisanasElissa Sanci

Katrina SimonSerena Yaqub

ContributorsMikhail GilbertJeffery JosephAmy Zacharia

ADViSoRMr. Alfino

PHoToSYearbook

Stephie-Anne Duliepre

Greetings from the Editors:

Hopefully, everyone has seen and enjoyed the first Chieftain Issue. Our plans for the next few issues can only be achieved with the help of our student body. You, as a student, should attend events and activities, and those who don’t should stay informed.

Be a part of your school.

Be a part of your Chieftain!

Student Government

The Chieftain

The Student Council has kicked this year

off with great success! Cur-rently, they are involved in their largest project of the year: the Elementary School Holi-day Children’s play. This is an event that the Student Coun-cil hosts every year. Children from the community elemen-tary schools come together to put on a spectacular play. The play this year was held on De-cember 7. This year’s play was written by Emtiaz Uddin and is being produced by the Ex-ecutive Board of the Student Council.

The Student Council also assisted with the

Blood Drive, which was held on November 19. Ms. Amaris, the Director of Student Activi-ties, organized and coordinat-ed the event with the help of other teachers. This year The Sewanhaka Family donated 86 pints of Blood. The Student Council volunteered their time to serve on the Blood Drive Committee, and would like to thank all of those who contributed either by giving blood or just helping out.

Currently, the Student Council’s focus is to

get more students involved. As of this year, the meetings have been open to the entire student body. If you want to get involved in your Student Council, come to the meet-ings! The next meeting will be at 2:50 P.M. on December 18 in the Chorus room.

Courtney B algobin


monthly update

AP’s Corner

Maryam Esmail

Staff-development which was held on Tuesday, November 10th, included a variety of workshops from Curriculum and Instruc-tion to Health and Wellness. The faculty pictured here par-ticipated in a cooking workshop, “Cooking Light- Making Healthy Taste Great”. The staff explored various ways to make their favor-ite recipes healthier by making simple substitutions. At the end of the workshop recipes were exchanged and healthy eating sug-gestions were offered.

Ms. D. Amaris

Two teachers enjoying the Cooking Light workshop

Model United Nations

Model United Nations is a club in the So-

cial Studies Department that provides its members with an opportunity to simulate actual United Nations procedures and debate issues similar to those discussed by the UN; hence its name. Advised by Mr. Sakowich, the club recent-ly sent a delegation to the Rut-gers University Model United Nations Conference, which is run by the Institute for Do-mestic and International affairs and is open to schools nation-wide. Representing Sewan-haka as Australia, Kieran and Rory O’Reilly won the award of Distinguished Delegates in the Economic and Financial Committee, which graduate Kurban Lokandwhala and current senior Ketsia Saint-Ar-mand also won last year while representing India. Congratu-lations on continuing Sewan-haka’s winning streak!

Ketsia Saint-ArmandMs. N. Williams

Staff development

Skills Usa

In the words of Presi-dent Barack Obama, “Young people need to pull their pants up.”

During the Presidential election of 2008, when our current President was running for office, he sat for an inter-view with MTV News, when the reporter, Sway, presented the issue of self-respect and code of dress. The interviewer referred to a new bill being in-troduced in the city of Atlanta forcing young men to wear their pants at the waistline or be subject to a fine. The Democratic nominee smiled and said he understood young people and, the need for self- expression through the way they dress, however, the issue was more about Self-Respect.

I have had the joy of work-ing with young people for 15 years. The question I am often asked is, “How does the way I dress have to do with how others treat me?” My answer, and if I may speak for the President of the United States (although I may be questioned by the FBI after they read this column) is, the way you pres-ent yourself to the world will have a direct effect on how people treat you.

Consider this for a mo-ment- Jay-Z even ditches his trademark jeans and New York Yankee baseball cap, for a suit and tie when the occa-sion warrants. How can he walk into a corporate board room and garner a multi-mil-lion dollar deal with his pants sagging?

Now, many of our young men in the building may think I am just picking on them. Alas, no! I am quite sure if I called the White House I could get a quote from First Lady Michelle Obama regarding the importance of young women covering their stomachs, not wearing extreme mini-skirts or pajama pants to school. To this day, I have yet to see the Obama girls wear blue and white pajama pants with “My daddy runs the White House!” printed all over as the Secret Service drives them to school.

As you get dressed for school, or go on a job inter-view, ask yourself this ques-tion: If I saw myself walking the hallways of Sewanhaka or if I am presenting myself for a job interview, what would I think of me? We of-ten talk about wanting respect from others. If we refuse to “check” ourselves, the man-ner in which we dress, the way we speak to others, and with whom we choose to surround ourselves, we will continue to receive treatment from others that shows disrespect.

Please do not misinterpret my message. I am not telling everyone to put on a tie every-day, or wear heels and a dress to school. However, let us try to display love for ourselves by taking pride in the way we look. Illustrate care for oth-ers by speaking well of people and choosing words carefully. We should continue to be a community of learners, who do the small things everyday to prove we practice self-re-spect, but we care enough for others to be masters of mu-tual respect.

Skills USA is an organi-zation that promotes

leadership skills and contrib-utes to the community. Dur-ing the month of October, members raised over $3,000 for the Breast Cancer Society, and they also participated in the Breast Cancer Walk.

They recently went to a Fall Leadership Con-

ference in Frost Valley. Skills USA also did a patriotic salute

to the veterans for Veterans Day. In addition, they plan to raise money for the coalition against domestic violence and with the money; they will buy food for their pantry and buy toys for the children around Christmas time.


moNTHlY uPDATeBreast Cancer Walk

Su n d a y morning

was a busy day at Jones Beach. Young or old, athletic or not, all came on this windy, gray au-tumn day. “It was rainy,” says Denise Ramirez, a Sewanhaka senior who went to the walk herself. And indeed it was. The rain did not cease from sunrise till sunset, but the crowd of more than seventeen-thousands perse-vered, cheering as Breast Cancer survivors passed by.

This event is sponsored ev-ery year by the American Cancer Society, along with more than 150 of its kind, scheduled every weekend around the country. It raises $2.8 million annually for breast cancer medical research, advocacy, and education pro-grams, said the organizers.

Marchers defied the early morning’s 40˚F temperature and began assembling at Jones Beach

before 8 a.m., the scheduled opening. Many p a r t i c i p a n t s gathered around a mourning fam-ily, marching on the boardwalk while sing-ing songs and

chanting slogans. An 80-year-old woman in a wheelchair, who

lost her daughter two months earlier, was one of the first to ar-rive. Kenny Shaw, a marcher from Glendale, Queens who lost his grandmother to breast cancer 11 years ago said the weather w o u l d n ’t have kept him away. As a whole, the march-ers had but one purpose: to make a differ-ence.

Seventh Grade Elections

Recently, the 7th graders held their annual fall

elections. This year there were four positions up for grabs. Those offices were President, Vice--President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The candi-dates for President were Tif-fany Chaverra, Sumaiyah Ali, and Andreas Pavlou; Tiffany De-war and Kristina Mazzamuto for Vice-President; Aleena Imran for treasurer; and Sandip Sandhu for Secretary. After completing an election process, each candidate

read a speech in front of the en-tire 7th grade.

Despite all of the hard work the results

came down to this: Andreas Pavlou as President; Tiffany Dewar as Vice-President;

Aleena Imran as Treasurer, and Sandip Sandhu as Secretary. Congratulations to all of the can-didates!

Andreas Pavlou

Stephie-Anne C. DuliepreBlood Drive

The fall 2009 blood drive

took place on Thurs-day, No-vember 19, 2009. Over a hundred vo lunte ers gathered to help save lives in our very own a u d i t o r i u m t h r o u g h o u t the school day. Manyteachers, such as Student Activities Direc-tor Ms. Amaris, and Ms. Dehler, help our blood drive by organiz-ing and supervising it. At this time last year, we had a blood drive in which we collected 85 units of blood, in March of 2009 we collected 96 units. Unfor-tunately, in this year’s fall blood drive, we didn’t break the record, but still amassed an impressive 86 units of blood. It’s impor-tant to consider donating every time the blood drive comes to

Rhenna Ceglia

Lupus walk

The annual Lupus walk held at Eisenhower Park

goes on rain or shine. Registra-tion began at 8:30a.m. and the walk officially started at 10a.m. It wasn’t exactly the nicest day for a walk but the large turnout surprised many. Over a hundred people showed up in the morn-ing alone, including members of Sewanhaka’s FBLA with their advisor, Mrs. C. Licastri.. That morning was freezing with heavy wind and slight rain.

Those 3.2 miles that every-one had to walk seemed

like a lifetime away. Between everyone’s umbrella’s getting

Stephanie Saisanas

the school. Each day in the New York/New Jer-sey area, about 2,000 pints of blood are need to serve over 250 patients. All of the blood is do-nated to Long Island Blood Service, from students, teach-

ers, parents and staff here at Sewanhaka.Mr. Roesler, who donates at every blood drive we have, donates because

its his way to give back, since he has close members of his faimly that have benefitted from blood transfusions.

As long as you’re 16 years of age and in good

health, that one pint you do-nate could potentially save 3-5 lives. Don’t worry about missing pint of blood, because within 24 hours that blood has already been replenished. So why wouldn’t you donate your blood to save someone else’s life? You have nothing to lose.

flipped over and people getting soaked, the trek across the park seemed like it would take forever. Reaching that finish line felt glo-rious, especially when we found out it only took 20 minutes! Af-ter the walk, everyone was able to get a snack before lunch and meet the two event coordinators, Joanne Quinn and Nancy Beder, two friendly women who were thrilled to help the cause. The NY Islanders and Ricola USA were even there to hand out free giveaways. Greg-T from Z100 made it and everyone was able to listen to music. Over all, people had a great time and a lot of fun that day, with our school raising $200 for this cause.

Blood Drop and Escort visit a Classroom to discuss the importance of giving blood

Marchers braving the wet and windy weather

Pledges of Breast Cancer Walk Volunteers


A Cut Above the Rest

Dedicated. Modest. Brainy. These three

adjectives precisely describe Sewan-haka senior Martine Norgaisse. In her se-nior year of high

school, Martine is able to handle more work and responsibili-ties then most upperclass-men. Ranked fifth in her class and an A.P. student, Martine manages even the toughest of jobs with ease. Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, she has shown promise since a young age. Asked who has inspired her throughout her

Teaching classes, ad-vising photo club,

advising the yearbook , coaching Jr. High Field h o c k e y —Ms. Gal-lacher does it all. Miss

Allison Gal-lacher was born

on August 12, some decades ago, in Anchorage, Alaska. She was the firstborn child of two architects, she has two younger brothers. When she was 9, her parents decided to leave Alaska, and move to Clinton, upstate New York. Ms. Gallacher was able to adjust to her surroundings, and in high school, became a 3 sport athlete. She played volleyball, field hockey, and ran track. Throughout her childhood and until her senior year in col-lege, Ms. Gallacher was a dancer.

After high s c h o o l ,

she moved on to Baruch College with plans of be-coming a veterinarian. However, a year of veterinary studies changed her mind, and Ms. Gallacher decided to switch her major to Art, specifically photo silk-screen print mak-

ing. After completing her undergraduate degree, Ms. Gallacher studied Graphic Design at the Pratt Institute. Graphic design wasn’t for her, so after three years of working as a recruiter for cre-ative industries, she turned her passion to teaching. She taught 2 years of preschool, obtained her masters, and

became a student teacher at Sewanhaka. She was ul-

timately hired and has been teaching here

for the past 4 years. Ms. Gallacher not only has a passion for Art, but loves the outdoors. She

has hiked in the wilderness, skied

in Colorado, and zi-plined in Belize. This Alaskan native has made herself at home at Sewanhaka.

From Alaska to Artlife, Martine answered, “My mother. She was a single mother who raised two chil-dren on one income.” That determination and dedica-tion has made Martine into the productive citizen she is today. Not only is Norgaisse is a part of Sewanhaka’s aca-demic crème de la crème, but she also participates in activ-ities like SADD, TAG, var-sity volleyball, and March-ing Band as drum major. She continues to be an ac-tive force outside of school, volunteering over 200 hours in Franklin General Hospi-tal and Winthrop Hospital. With a “duty first, self sec-ond” mentality, Martine has aspirations to become a pe-diatric cosmetic surgeon.

Top Scholars

The valedictorian and salutatorian

of the Class of 2010 have been announced! Ranked first in the class is Michelle Balgobin, with a 101.4% average, and second is Dan-ielle Brogna, with a 101.3% average. Hoping to attend Boston College, Danielle Brogna describes herself as a friendly, happy person. Music has been a great influ-ence in Danielle’s life, and she hopes to be involved in music in college, but as a career, she hopes to pursue

Elissa Sanci

something in the mathemat-ics field. Michelle Balgobin, who describes herself as op-timistic and dedicated, and is leaning towards St. John’s University’s pharmaceutical program.

Anthony Jean

Mary Jane Dumankaya

STuDeNT AND TeACHeR FeATuReS

Ms. Gallacher as a toddler

In her outdoor gear

Ms. Gal-lacher as a

high school senior.

Posing for a quick photo on the way to class


School Spirit Is Alive and WellKetsia Saint-Armand

At high schools across America, this fall marked the 99th year since the inception of Homecoming. A tradition beginning at the University of Illinois in the fall of 1910, Homecoming originated as a means for alum-ni and students to join together for a weekend of celebration, with a football game at its cen-ter. Here at Sewanhaka, we celebrated our seventy-ninth Homecoming on October 17. Attended by the Rockettes, the Color Guard, the Cheerleaders, the Marching Band–who both recently attended competitions, by the way—and students who were avid supporters of their football team, Homecoming show-cased the unity of our students and the zeal all Sewanhakans—past and present—have for their school.

Our pomp was unrivalled by the other team’s, and our school spirit shone through the rain misting down, in contrast to the dour and mostly quiet Manhasset section of the bleachers. It was a day of pride for the purple and white, despite a disappointing loss for the SHS Indians on the field.

School spirit is an integral component of any school, as it provides an impetus for students to coalesce in support of a common cause. It is a shared sense of pride, and stems from the very human desire to sim-ply belong. Without it, schools would be inhosiptable places po-poulated by self-serving individuals only in-terested in furthering their own agenedas.

1. Dismal participation in school activi-ties, 2. a general disaffectation with the idea of pride in one’s school, 3. a repudiation of belief in a greater ideal and common mission for the entire student body, and 4. pervasive of apathy. In a school without school spirit, the same small group of people would partici-pate in all school activities, while the majority would have no desire to get involved in any-thing run by their school.

Thankfully, here at Sewanhaka, that is not the case. We had a great turnout, with

excited (dare I call them rabid?) fans wildly wav-ing pom-poms dis-tributed by the Student C o u n c i l . The Booster club ea-gerly served the hungry crowd, and alumni and parents seemed delighted to see that their school was doing so well. There is no doubt in my mind that these people cared strongly about the wellbeing of the school and the preservation of Sewanhaka’s already robust school spirit. Quite frankly, it’s impos-sible to imagine Sewanhaka as anything but a fount of school spirit and goodwill in these dark times for high schools all across America, in which school spirit is seen as “uncool” and not worth the effort. I don’t believe that there is a single stu-

dent at Sewanhaka who would espouse such a preposterous idea. In this dismal economic clime, Sewanhaka is a bastion of school spirit and provides us with a sense of pride that requires no money.

Students here participate in a wide variety of activities,with our very own varsity quarterback being a member of the academic Model United Nations Club. Members of the track team double up with Mock Trial, and Science Research members moonlight as writers for the Chieftain. Al-though to some, this may be an example of the same students doing all of the activities, to me, this reflects the diversity of our inter-ests and views, and how we have used them to increase school spirit in varied ways.

And this school spirit extends beyond our exuberant Homecoming celebrations, as

clear examples of students helping one another in the name of school pride abound:

S t u d e n t Council meetings are attended by caring students from grades 7-12 assemble to dis-cuss issues of vital importance. At

the last meeting alone, a member from the Youth Council took down a list of our concerns, allowing

us to express our worries about school lunches (someone had recently found a moth in their salad) and our desire to have the train whistle that announced the last minute to the late

bell changed to some-thing less jarring. We were small in number but not in spirit, and if we had no school spirit, sure-ly no one would have brought up these points at the meet-ing.

It’s re-freshing to see our strong sense of pride in our school reflected in the community, as well. The Veterans’ Day Parade was watched by eager citizens from their door stoops and along the parade route. Our assmblyman, Tom Alfano, was present at our Homecom-ing parade, as was our Town Supervisor Kate Murray. With such support from the com-munity, it is fallacious to say that we, a group of proud Sewanhakans, are in anyw way lack-ing in school spirit.

editorial

The cheerleaders lead the crowd in a rousing cheer at the pep rally

Rockettes perform for the excited crowd


editorial

School Spirit—More than Just a Trend?

Smells like team spirit.We’ve all been to those events. Either

after school or on the weekends- we go to support a team or club function. This is what you may consider school spirit.

Or is it?First of all, what is school spirit? Well,

it’s not really something you can put your finger on. It’s that feeling you get when you enter a school, attend a game, or watch a pep rally. The feeling that everyone is proud of their team, their school and the students that attend there from past, in the present and in the future. It’s a palpable excitement in the air, an invisible electricity that seems to emanate from everywhere. It’s pride, it’s camaraderie, and it’s the involvement of everyone in the community. It’s what sets some schools apart, it’s what makes school memories so precious, and even though you can’t define it in one word, you know it when you see it, hear it and feel it. It’s what possesses some people to paint their faces in their school colors, wear outrageous wigs, tattoo animal footprints on their bodies, or do a wave dance in the stands. That’s school spirit.

Some will point immediately to events that grab the attention to young students. These “time wasting” activities include homecoming, spirit day, pep rallies, and even seasonal games. The definition of “school spirit” is vague. An online database described it as “emotional support for one’s educational institute. This can apply to any type of school, from grade schools to universities. It can be manifested in the exhibition of school colors in dress and decoration, attendance of athletic events, or verbally in the form of chants or cheers.”

My definition of school spirit is an event in which students attend not for the sake of our school or cause, but for a far more intense social bonding time with their friends or teachers.

Educators in primary and secondary education often associate proper behavior with school spirit, especially in the context of situations when students are outside the school itself. Because student behavior reflects on the school, representing it well shows a degree of student investment in their institution’s good name. This definition of school spirit is closely associated with good sportsmanship

Joseph Platia

among students and their families at sporting events and is loosely based upon encouraging each other.

The information that I found while searching the topic is untrue to the standards that we have at Sewanhaka. At Sewanhaka we feel being on a team or in a club will help us feel cool. Landing a leadership position or being on the “A” team will boost our confidence. These are not terrible things that students are doing. In fact, I encourage it as the Student Council President. However, if you are not participating in school events, what are you doing?

After advertising and recruiting in many schools, there are still not enough people that care. Sewanhaka’s students are prime examples of individuals who care. These people show there concern for our school and show their school spirit and support. For me it’s not attending a football game, it’s attending meetings that will better your school. No one will remember if you lost the third game of the season, or if you attended that same game. Sewanhaka’s history is led by the people who care for it. It may be the kid who helped put Tribal Grounds together, or the person who complained about our school’s lunch and had it changed. These students will be the ones who live on in our legacy, not the ones who go home at 2:45 to watch their television show. It is the individuals who care that uphold Sewanhaka’s spirit.

I spoke with an alumnus of Sewanhaka and here were his words:

“I went to college right out of high school, and I’ve often thought that

I couldn’t, at that age, really appreciate the gift that was being given to me. Only much later in life did I come to fully understand the doors that continued to open to me because of my high school education. My gratefulness toward the teachers who taught me also increased dramatically the older I got. If I were to take the same classes now, my education would be much different. Going back to school as an adult gives you a definite advantage. You bring life experience and wisdom to the classroom and what you take away is enriched by your maturity. For me, that’s what school spirit is all about. It has nothing to do with sports, and everything to do with caring about your school.”

The words that where spoken to me sent

goose bumps through my skin. I see my peers everyday walk down the back of the bleachers and walk to their homes. Never having the thought of care, these same people complain about our school and mock the lack of creativity that has been created from our past. Those individuals must look themselves in the eyes and say, “If I want change, I must be a part in the problem firsthand.”

The next time you watch a game or go to a club activity note that you are there for a reason. Do not attend such events to hang out with your friends. Be there for your school and support it no matter what the outcome is. Our school is filled with many activities that should be seen and taken advantage of. A student who has built enough courage to dance at international night should be cheered upon and not be made fun of, even if she did mess up. Sewanhaka school spirit is about the compassion of it and its students and not if we win or lose.

The biggest challenge I face as student body President is the sincerity of people. Don’t go to an event if you will sit and talk to your friends the whole time. Either get involved or support what your peers are trying to show you.

The only bad experience that I’ve had as a Sewanhaka Indian is the limitations of a reward that was well deserved. As a winner of the state leadership conference last year for FBLA, we were invited to the national leadership conference where schools and districts meet to compete and show off their school, district, and state spirit. Our expenses where extremely high. Appreciative as we were, we were only granted a five day stay at nationals, while other schools stayed for 10. We didn’t understand why. We spent hundreds and hundreds of hours studying, we felt that a greater reward was deserved. We cared enough to win for our club and school, and yet these limitations were discouraging. As an involved student, this almost had me reconsidering if the juice was worth the squeeze.

Even with the limits that some proud students may deal with, I am deeply proud to call myself a Sewanhaka Indian and will always feel this way in my heart. My message is to reinforce school spirit to those who try to abuse the system just to further their social lives.


Homecoming Special

This year, Students and Teach-ers Against Cancer presented

their banner at the Homecoming parade. One of the few clubs to do so, it did not lack any school spirit with its vibrant purple ban-ner. “We tried to incorporate all the classes,” said Mrs. Wichard. On their banner, one could eas-ily see that, since they included the themes used by all the classes: C h r i s t m a s , Halloween, and Inde-pendence Day. “We had a lot of fun walking and we’re glad that the weather held out,” said Mrs. Wichard as she was accompanied by the two STAC co-presidents, Timi Mathai and Bincy Thomas, and Mrs. Bolton, co-advisor of STAC.

Stac

With hearts everywhere,

the varsity cheerleaders were "Send-ing love your way." Lead by captains Kayla Fritz, and Alexandra Tumminello the cheerleaders chanted and cheered during the Homecoming parade. Their "Valentine's Day" theme banner took second place. Similarly showing school spirit, the JV cheerleaders were lead by captains Angela Edwards, and Olivia Iannuzzi."Reaching for the Pot O' Gold", the JV Cheerlead-ers took first place on the banner contest with a "St. Patrick's Day" theme.

Karen Gimenez


Cheerleaders

Red, white, and blue crêpe paper? Check. Life-sized

cutout of Uncle Sam? Check. The help of two amazing advisors? Check. The dedication of a few hardworking students? Check! The sophomores received “the Fourth of July” as their theme for their float this year, and they ran with it, winning first place. With the help of advisors Ms. Leventelis and Mr. Mewhinney, the Class of 2012 pulled together a stunning float, complete with a Declaration of Independence and an American flag. When asked about the float and the sophomore’s victory, Rory O’Reilly, President of the Class of 2012, answered, “With the help of Mr. Mewhinney and Ms. Lev-entelis, the class board crew, and a lot of hard work, we pulled off an awesome float. We congratulate the other grades on their floats, and thank everyone who helped us.” Vice President Shana Brouder added that “it was a team effort, and we couldn’t have pulled it off without the help of each and every person. Ms. Leventelis said proud-ly, “It takes a dedicated handful of people to pull off a float worthy of first place.” Congratulations to the Class of 2012!

Elissa SanciClass of 2012

“It was a job well done. ,” said Garett Tracey, President of

the Class of 2013, of the float. With a theme of the Chi-nese New Year, lead by freshman supervisor Mr. Quinn, the float received fourth place. Students realized it was just a practice for next year. All classmates agreed that it was fun working together and participating on a new experi-ence. Jennifer Dirusso claims that it was, “hard, but I had a wonder-ful time working together and meeting new friends.” They all look forward for more helpers and classmates to join and support for next year’s upcoming theme.

Marianela GimenezClass of 2013

This year, the senior class took the challenge to

construct a New Year’s Float, the perfect way to celebrate all that 2010 will have to offer. The float was constructed at the Buturla family’s house. Work was done two to three times a week, starting on the first week of September, and going all the way until the day of Homecoming, October 17th. Although the building of the float started off a little rocky, the Class of 2010 quickly began to work

d i l i g en t l y. By the sec-ond week of September, all of the major pieces were con-structed and c o m p l e t e , this includ-ing the two

party hats, the “2010 glasses” and the noise maker. In order to do so, Mrs. Foley, the senior class advisor made sure no detail was overlooked. Despite techni-cal difficulties with the seniors’ main attraction, the New Year’s Eve Ball, the class marched in the parade with pride. Although the class of 2010 placed third in the float contest, senior advisor Mrs. Foley remains positive by stating, “Working on the float this fall was a nice way to kick off senior year. I hope to see more students involved as we plan upcoming events.” There’s always the spirit day hallway competition!

Sara ButurlaClass of 2010

The Junior Class of 2011 had a great time working their

Christmas float for this year’s Homecoming.

The Bahan family offered up their house for the 3rd year

in a row and the juniors thank them greatly! Every day since school started, the juniors have been working on this float after school and all their dedication has paid off with winning 2nd place at Homecoming!

As her first year as a class ad-visor, Miss Poyer was a huge

help along with Miss Morratto with their brilliant ideas and ma-jor dedication after school hours and helping us create this out-standing float!

Courtney MacManus

Class of 2011

Class of 2014 and 2015

This year’s seventh and eighth grade

banners were festive. The seventh graders effort was a noble one for their

Members of the Class of 2014 with their float

Thanksgiving themed ban-ner, which included hand-

made turkeys. They’ll have a better chance at winning the competition next year, as proven by this year’s eighth graders. The class of 2014’s ‘Hallow-Homecoming’ banner got the crowd excited for the then up-coming holiday with a wide array of Halloween themed images.


Homecoming SpecialParadeStephanie Saisanas

Saturday, October 17, 2009, was the perfect day

for the Sewanhaka Homecom-ing parade, which started around noon right in front of the high school. Although that day wasn’t

exactly warm, the excitement was enough to satisfy those who attended. The parade traveled down the streets of the neighbor-

hood, as townspeople gathered round to watch, wave, and oc-casionally ring a bell. Between the cheerleaders, who were full of school spirit and pepping up the parade, and the senior class counting down to “Happy New Year” because of their New Years’ Eve theme, the crowd was very enter-tained. The floats were very well put togeth-er and ev-eryone enjoyed seeing them, as did the hardworking students who helped build them walked alongside with their dedicated advisors. The parade then trav-eled onto Hempstead Turnpike, where the parade got many honks from drivers on the road. Little

children waved at the Home-

c o m i n g King Amit P e r s a u d and Queen

C h r i s t i n e G a r c i a . T h e

marching band played the Jour-ney classic “Don’t Stop Believin’,” which greatly excited the crowd. The parade was very entertaining and will continue to be a tradi-tion for the townspeople to en-joy. the Homecoming parade is a highlight of the fall season!

Serena Yaqub

The notion of the Pep Rally goes back over

100 years, when college and high school students would gather to show support for their school as it prepapred to face off against its “rival.” There are many great traditions that trace their roots back to Pep Rallies. Texas A&M spends weeks creating a 15-foot-story bonfire that is lit the night before the Texas/Texas A&M game each year. The University of Florida and the University of Georgia play their rivalry game in Jacksonville, Florida, at a Neurtal site every year and it’s called The World’s Largest Cocktail Party.

Basketball schools all over the nation gather in their

areanas one night each year for at midnight to kick off the season. It’s called Midnight Madness

Sewanhaka is as tradi-tion-rich as any of those

schools, opening its doors in 1930, and this year marks its 79th

Pep Rally!

Students and teachers were thrilled about the fall pep

rally, whether they participated or not. As usual, Sewanhaka hon-ored its fall athletes, but this year promises to be full of excitement. The marching band’s rendition of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believ-ing” evoked positive feelings as others sang along. The Rockettes and cheerleaders also gave great performances under new cap-tains, who are really stepping it up a notch. The Rockettes paid tribute to Michael Jackson, while the cheerleaders chose to dance to “3” as well as to other songs. The homecoming court was headed by Amit Persaud and Christine Garcia.

Battle of the IndIansEmtiaz Uddin

Prior to Saturday’s Home-coming game against

Manhasset, The Sewanhaka In-dians were still trying to shake themselves off from their first loss of the season to Lynbrook. When asked about the loss, QB James Wighaus replied, “Lynbrook was a tough game to swallow because we were really close and we played our hearts out”. Although Man-hasset isn’t an easy team to beat, the Indians knew they couldn’t af-ford to lose another game.

The Homecoming game fea-tured the Sewanhaka Indians playing the Manhasset Indians. Manhasset needed the win to say above .500. Sewan-haka needed it to avoid losing two in a row. After losing the coin-toss, the Sewanhaka defense had to hold down Manhasset. Luckily, they were able to force a punt on the ensuing drive. The game had many highlights. One was a long pass from QB Wighaus to WR Miller. Unfortunately, the Indians weren’t able to capitalize, and the game would remain scoreless after the first quarter.

The game was a tale of quar-ters. In the second-half, Manhas-set would dominate with their offense, giving them their biggest lead, 14-0. However, the Indians would respond. Ending the half, the Indians were able to score a TD, making it 14-6. There run would continue in the third quar-ter, thanks to two more TDs by Brian Wint. This would give them a 20-14 lead to end the quarter.

Like the Indians, Manhasset would have their own run too.

In the fourth quarter, The Indian Defense had no answer for Man-hasset’s offense. Manhasset would come back and take a 21-20 lead. However, they were not done yet. Their defense proved to be wor-thy after recovering a fumble, resulting in another TD. After a blocked extra-point attempt, the Indians only had 4:01 remaining. Although the team played hard to comeback in the third quarter, they began to collapse late in the game, emotionally. Late in the game, the ball was spiked too high for Wighaus, resulting in a sack. With only a few seconds left, the ball was given to Brian Wint. Af-

ter running past many defend-ers, he would be stopped, and the Indians would lose, 20-27.

After the game, QB James

Wighaus responded to the loss with, “The game was just upsetting because we beat ourselves. We felt like we were better than them and we just didn’t execute and do what we needed to do”. Although the Indians lost their second straight game to Manhasset, they would come back with a win in their next game against Valley Stream South.

The Sewanhaka Indians fin-ished the season 5-3, losing in the first round of the Nassau County Conference II playoffs to Hewlett. However, it was a fantastic season and we are proud of their effort and hard work. Thanks to Coach Kasimatis, Coach Roesler, Coach Patterson and Coach Lamarca for all their hard work all season. We look forward to more success on the gridiron next season.

PeP rally turns 79


Arts and Entertainment

Featured artist: Mikhail A. Gilbert

“When I draw someone’s portrait, I try to see past the surface. And although I draw only what people see initially when they pass that person in the hallway, there is a lot more be-hind the surface of the paper and it takes a true artist to see that.”

Dying to Live...Or...Living to Die?

It’s more than a sayingAnd it’s more than just a lineIt’s more than just wordsThat are flowing in one’s mind.

I strive to achieve and die for what I believeDetermined since day one, could care less what I receive.Am I dying to live?Or am I living to die?Do I live my life as a rectified story?Or a lie?

Influenced by many others to stay strongAnd live longBut the truth is everyone leavesWhen they play the final song.

-Jeffery Joseph

Poems and Artwork by Sewanhaka’s Students

You can be published in the Chieftain too! Submit your poems and short stories to us in Room 228 or to [email protected] for a chance to become our Fea-tured Artist.

HoroscopesKatrina Simon

Aries- Reaching a goal has you extremely proud. Celebrate your victory to its fullest ex-tent.Leo- Being open to new activi-ties will help you live a balanced life and make new friends.Sagittarius- Be careful around influential people. They may take advantage of your vulner-ability.

Taurus- Looking to others for inspiration and advice always

leads to good things happen-ing.Virgo - Organization always helps when you’re looking for something you have lost.

Capricorn- Your instincts have a history of usually being right, so follow them when you have doubts.

Gemini- Patience is always a good thing. If somebody doesn’t get what you’re saying

Football Quarterback James Wighaus

By Mikhail A. Gilbert

contemplationBy Amy Zacharia

at first, it may take some time.

Libra- You’re long overdue for some fun. Taking one day off to have fun never hurts.Aquarius- Making new friends is always fun, and people will enjoy your spontaneous nature.

Cancer- Your friends have been clashing lately, for peace, you need call everyone together for a talk.

Scorpio- You should save your high energy for days you will really need it.

Pisces- As much as you just want to help everyone, it’s im-possible. Stick to more logical goals.

You can be published in the Chieftain too! Submit your poems and short stories to us in Room 228 or to [email protected] for a chance to become our Fea-tured Artist.


Boys Soccer

He kicks ! He shoots! And he fails, as Se-

nior Oscar Corrado makes another great save. “ I be-lieve him to be the greatest goalie in the conference, he is an amazing captain and teammate.” This is what Coach Anderson shared about senior Oscar. Lead by seniors Gregory Alexis, Eric Alvarado, Diego Acosta, Sebastian Correra, Stephen Pink, Richy Remaris, Derick Lajoie and Raymond Co-rona, the boys finished their season holding a record of 3 wins, 4 losses and 2 ties. Several of the players earned Nassau County Honors and awards

Coach Anderson however states “The

Boys Varsity soccer team this year was the most resilient, tough, and dedicated group he has ever had the pleasure of coaching.”

Elsa Gimenez

Sports

FootballCourtney MacManus

Cross-Country

Having paced their way into an excit-

ing season, the Sewanhaka Cross Country team doesn’t want the fun to end. Sadly, the team did not make the county championships, but this goal can be saved for next year. The team is very


Girls Volleyball

The Sewanhaka Girls Volleyball team end-

ed their season with a 7-7 re-cord, placing

5th in their Confer-ence. Senior captain Ka-tie Johnson said, “It was a phenom-

enal season. I’ve never had a season with so much heart and unity. This was definitely a great team to be captain of, since everyone stuck together and helped each other out.” Coach Mallon “can’t wait till next year.” Although seven seniors will be leav-ing, she knows that their big shoes will be filled .This was sure an unforgettable season for both the players and Coach Mallon. The girls fought hard in every contest and never gave up. Their dedication to each other was evident. Many teams in the conference now know that Sewanhaka Volleyball is a team to be reckoned with and the future is bright for Ms. Mallon’s squad.

Although they will be losing great seniors

like Johnson, next year will be... game..set..match

Karen Gimenez

Field Hockey

“Hoka Hay” has been Varsity

Football’s motto this season and it sure has been good luck for our boys who fin-ished the season 6-2 and are on their way to the playoffs! Coaches Kasimatis, Roesler, Patterson, and Lamarca and captains John Miller, Devin McRae, Miguel Ponce, Jef-frey Joseph, John Marco

Militano, and James Wighaus have lead their team supurbly

this season scoring more than 35 touchdowns! That’s an average of 4 touchdowns per game! Brian Wint, ju-nior, has made a huge im-pact during this season scor-ing the most touchdowns for his team. With the help of Wint, the Indians made it to the playoffs for the third consecutive year! As stated by Senior Kicker, JP Tuber-quia, “As the kicker for the Indians, I can make a part of the team successful but as a unit we all put in a lot of effort, dedication, and time into playing together as a team and making his-tory for Sewanhaka. There is not one team out there that experienced what we did and hopefully it all pays off in the end.” Go Indians and Hoka Hay!

The Varsity In-dawhawks finished

with a 4-9 record, winning their last game against Great Neck South. Juniors Mary

Jane Du-manka-ya, Mi-chelle Mon-

giello, and Ashley Dudine all received All-Conference. Rosie Grogan received All-League, while sophomore Jessica Santoli was honored with Unsung Hero. The team will miss their senior goalie, Rannia Alcindor. Coach Kelly is very proud of her team, exclaiming that “This season was full of ac-complishments. I am very proud of these girls, their enthusiasm, dedication, and commitment to the sport.”

The Junior Field Hockey team ended their season undefeated. The JV ‘‘In-dahawks’’ gave a strong ef-fort, but unfortunately did not prevail in meeting their goals.

Mary Jane Dumankaya

sad to have 3 seniors, two of which have been on the team for four years, leav-ing us next year. Zakiyah Woodson, Stephie-Ann Du-liepre and Steven Vargas will greatly be missed! However, the team plans to recruit many new runners for next season. Coach Fanning is very proud of his team and cannot wait for the next sea-son to begin.

“Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.”- H.Jackson Browne

Sewanhaka Central High School District

A Nationally Recognized District of Excellence

Mrs. Debra Lidowsky - Principal

Mr. Warren A. Meierdiercks, Superintendent Of Schools

Board of Education

Jean Fichtl - President

DavidT. Fowler - Vice President

Joseph Armocida

David Del Santo

Laura Ferone

Lorraine Ferrigno

Michael Jaime

Joan Romagnoli

Hank Logerman Award

American Scholastic Press Award NEWSDAy H.S. jOurNALISM AWArD

2009 QuILL yOuNG PEOPLE PrESS AWArD

Chieftain Issue #2

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Transcript of Chieftain Issue #2