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Join Central's
Home and School
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We're here to support
Central students, parents and staff with our time, talents and dollars. Let's help
each other make Central High School
an even greater place for our students to learn and grow.
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Early Dismissal: Thursday & Friday,
May 2 & 3, noon
Report Card Conferences: Thursday & Friday,
May 2 & 3,
12:30-3 p.m.
HSA Meeting:
Wednesday,
May 8, Spain Conference Center, 6:30 p.m.
276 Orientation: Thursday,
May 16, Auditorium,
5:45 p.m.
CHS Earth Day Celebration:
Friday, May 17
Central Night at the Phillies: Friday, May 17, 7:05 p.m.
272 Class Trip:
Monday, May 20
School Closed, Staff Only: Tuesday, May 21
School Closed, Memorial Day: Monday, May 27
Art Show: Wednesday,
May 29, 4-7 p.m.
Spring Music Concert: Thursday,
May 30, Girls High Auditorium, 1400 West Olney Avenue, 6 p.m.
Dodgeball Tournament: Friday, May 31, Main Gym,
3:15 p.m.
Athletic Awards:
Tuesday, June 11
272 Nature Outing: Wednesday,
June 12
272 Senior Prom: Thursday,
June 13,
Crystal Tea Room, 100 Penn Square East
Community Service Luncheon:
Tuesday, June 18
272 Graduation: Thursday,
June 20,
Kimmel Center,
10 a.m.
Last Day of School:
Friday, June 21
Last Day for Staff:
Monday, June 24
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HELP WANTED
Newsletter staffers:
Interested in working
on the newsletter? Contact
Dave Kalkstein
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Bring Your Photo ID
Just a reminder:
When you come to visit Central High School, you must have a photo ID.
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Welcome!
Just before writing this, we read about the future of robots in the Inquirer. Who is leading the way? Central's newest Lindback "Teacher of the Year" award-winner Dan Ueda and the RoboLancers. Congratulations to all involved!
More congratulations to Julia Bugayev, 272, for placing first in Microbiology at the Delaware Valley Science Fair (and winning a scholarship to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia). Joining Julia are winners Puja Upadhyay, 273, took away a Janssen Biotech Biotechnology Award, and Jessica Yee, 272, who received an honorable mention in Behavioral Science.
For a glimpse of Central students active elsewhere, check out R.J. Cherry, 272, and the Legacy Youth Tennis and Education Center's work in Haiti.
Not to be outdone, Catherine (Kit) Zauhar, 272, has won a Silver Key in the 2013 National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for Poetry, as we report below. Also in the arts, Louis Lobron, 272, was recognized as "Best soloist" for his guitar work as part of Central's Jazz Band's stellar performance at the Neshaminy High School Jazz Festival on March 22. Music teacher Michael Franchetti has taken the jazz band to numerous festivals throughout the school year. Look for more on Central's Jazz Band next month. We will also be reporting on Central playwrights' achievements.
We would also like to salute Central tech leader Alesia Brown, whom we wrote about last month and who has been working to advance computer systems at Central for 30 years. Here is a great story about her.
So enjoy the stories along with the wonderful Spring!
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'Hairspray!' Rocks Central
An enthusiastic crowd of 500 plus students and staff greeted each night of this year's candy-colored production of "Hairspray!" which ran April 11-14 in the Central High auditorium. Tracy Turnblad-Alexa Wilder and Brianna Stumpf , alternating lead performances-and her band of dance enthusiasts tackled prejudice head-on in the Baltimore summer of 1962, with teased high hair and fashionable dress. Nicholas Marshall and John Deswert, as Tracy's parents, Edna and Wilbur Turnblad, charmed with their version of "You're Timeless to Me," as did Alexa Wilder, Alex Dittmar, Molly Noble and Jahvaska Thomas Tracy as Link, Penny and Seaweed, singing "Without Love." Link and the Council Boys sang a crowd-pleasing version of "It Takes Two." Sarah Noonan-Ngame and Ayanna Woods, alternating nights as Motormouth Maybelle, sang a moving version of "I Know Where I've Been."
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Photo by JKan, 272, @Den Sweeney Photography
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Erika Nolan and Seya Fadullon, alternating as Amber von Tussle, and Rachel Meirson, as mother Velma von Tussle, effectively waved the prejudice flag throughout several songs, including the especially wicked "Velma's Revenge." The support crew, led by music teacher Steven Wilensky, included the orchestra directed by music teacher Ben Blazer, set designers mentored by art teacher Ben Walsh, choreography by Summer Eikerenkoetter, direction by Larry Smiglewski and sound engineering by Kelly Martin. Aruna Arjunan was the stage crew manager; Tom Greene did the lighting; Amber Uffelman designed the poster; costuming was by Louis Palena and Jordan Brennan-all in all, a hard-working crew of over 100 Central students. Congratulations!
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Central Students Develop Smartphone Tutoring App
Under the auspices of Temple University and the Navy's Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program, Central students Iyasu Watts and Zuliesuivie Ball, both 272, teaming with several other local high school students, have developed a mobile app that might be a great help for many other students in their work.
Workstream, an online-tutoring app, won first-place honors-not to mention $5,000 in seed money-for the high school team at Switch Philly.
Workstream connects users to prospective tutors, other students and adults who can lend a hand by responding to challenging academic questions or problems by text or video. It could be a huge help to students who have a smartphone but lack computer access. As Iyasu pointed out in his presentation of the team's project, more young people have smartphones than have broadband at home, especially in lower income urban areas.
It also works for the tutors, who can parlay crowd-sourced Workstream ratings to market themselves.
Isayu, Zuliesuivie and the other students devoted their Saturdays to work on the project at Temple, where they had access to support and tools. Under the MESA program, Temple works with about 375 area high school students on Saturdays to develop their interest in science and technology in a variety of tracks, including mobile apps.
Lucky Temple University-both Iyasu and Zuliesuivie plan on taking up studies there next year.
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National Poetry Honors
Catherine (Kit) Zauhar, 272, has won a Silver Key in the 2013 National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for Poetry. Her work, "I Want to Learn to Love the Dead," was among 230,000 submitted.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have an impressive legacy dating back to 1923. Kit will join a noteworthy roster of past winners including Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford and Joyce Carol Oates. Judges look for originality, technical skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.
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Kit has been writing since the first grade, led by a "wild imagination" finding in her poetry a wonderful emotional outlet. "The whole Central community has been nothing but kind about my writing," she said. "Ms. Toliver has been my main writing mentor and she's been absolutely tremendous. Without her, I would never have entered . . . . She has been one of the greatest advisers about my writing and life in general over the past two years."
Kit is excited to be heading to New York in the fall to attend the New York University Tisch School of the Arts for film. We will no doubt hear more from her in the future.
She and her teacher Rachel Toliver, 256, will accept the award in New York, at Carnegie Hall, on May 31. In celebration of its 90th anniversary, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards will webcast this ceremony live for the first time ever at 6 p.m. Eastern time. Everyone is urged to sign up to watch.
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Central Mock Trial Team Shines at State Level
After finishing first in the Philadelphia Bar Association's Mock Trial Regional Competition, Central's team has topped off a stellar year with their highest placement ever, fifth, in the Pennsylvania state championship.
Central's six-member team of Talia Charme-Zane, Danielle Williams, Alexis Smith, Melissa Melvin, all 272; Marvin Barnhill, 274; and Jeannette Yust, 275, competed in Harrisburg on March 22-23. Nearly 300 teams took part in the statewide contest, one of the largest programs in the country.
Guided by MG Department Chair Ronald Romoff, 227, and volunteer lawyer coach Julian Thompson, 262, Central has enjoyed top regional honors for years.
The contest pits student lawyers and witnesses against other teams in a trial scenario judged by attorneys and judges. Each year, the "case" that students role-play alternates between a civil and a criminal issue. But the experience isn't just about the law. "Since statistics show that the No. 1 phobia of students is public speaking, this program gives students an opportunity to practice and then deliver a structured argument to overcome that phobia," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Kaufman, who co-wrote the problem case this year. "This has value in any future profession."
Central Mock Trial Team co-captain Danielle agrees: "The public-speaking aspect is what drew me in," said Danielle, who plans to spend next year working with City Year.
"It is like being a member of a small community within a very big school," said Talia, the other co-captain, who is headed to Stanford in the fall. "It is very cool to see other kids come out of their shells and come up with these amazing arguments."
The team works hard all year, starting when the case problem is announced in November, culminating in the spring competitions.
Romoff calls his team "extraordinary" and is extremely proud of their best-ever state finish. The club has become so popular that he entered two teams in the regional competition, with a second team of mostly freshmen and sophomores also performing well.
Jeannette, a freshman team member who participated in school plays in middle school, said, "I joined because I wanted a different acting experience." She played the roles of two witnesses in the state competition and found it "interesting to see the difference in preparation between teams. Some teams were very factual but we were more theatrical in a uniquely Philadelphia way." Jeannette will be back next year: "We are excited to compete again and do even better."
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RoboLancers March Madness Runs into April
Central's elite robotics team won a third Engineering Inspiration Award at the Mid-Atlantic Robotics FRC Region Championship at Lehigh University April 11-13.
RoboLancers' FRC Team 321 engaged in two qualifying competitions in this year's Ultimate AscentSM game. This game is played by two competing alliances, consisting of three robots, trying to toss as many discs (Frisbees) into their goals as possible during a two-minute-and-fifteen-second match. The RoboLancers, whose robot was able to operate autonomously, score and climb a pyramid, won the Engineering Inspiration Award, FIRST's second-highest. The team also brought home a second Engineering Inspiration Award from the second competition.
Earlier, the RoboLancers' FTC Gold Team #5320 and Crimson Team #6676 competed at the March 2 FTC State Championship at Millersville University. When the dust settled, Gold #5320 won the Connect Award, celebrating the team's outreach, which has such a positive influence in the Philadelphia community.
The next destination for the RoboLancers was the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis. Team president Ben Ehrlich, 272, rallied his team with these words, "This year, we are going to be great. Our success can only get greater. The love for team can only get greater. Let's go RoboLancers, this is the time to work harder than we ever have before."
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FRC World Finals
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Said coach Dan Ueda: "I am proud of every student that has graduated from our team-not because they designed and built a two-axis articulating manipulator, but because of who they became. It's extremely wonderful to receive awards like the Engineering Inspiration Award and the Connect Award, but the true reward is intrinsic."
Check out the action and other coverage here.
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Home and School Supports RoboLancers-and Don't Forget the Tiles!
The CHS Home and School Association approved almost $3,000 to help the RoboLancers travel to St. Louis for the 2013 FIRST Championship competition. This is just one example of the Central student activities supported by Home and School. Our financial support is even more important than ever given the "Doomsday Budget" just presented to the School Reform Commission.
In other news, the Home and School Association will be holding elections for the positions of Treasurer and Vice President for Membership at our meeting on May 8. Come and cast your vote for these important positions.
It's also time to order commemorative border tiles for 272 graduates. This is the sort of thing that becomes more important with time-you can often see visiting alumni and parents searching out student tiles. It is both meaningful to students and families and a great way to support the Home and School Association. Here is more information.
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Class 276: Talk it Up
If you know a great 8th grader-smart, honorable, creative, hardworking, energetic and fun-who is trying to decide between Central and someplace else, speak up! That child needs to be at Central! Central's continuing reputation as an excellent school depends on attracting the best and the brightest of the city's students.
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Prom Dresses
Prom time is quickly approaching, but prom can be very expensive. Central High School has a closet full of donated prom dresses, all sizes, and your daughter is welcome to come down to Room 144 to check them out.
Do you have some dresses of your own that are just sitting at home? Please consider donating them to the CHS prom closet. Contact English teacher Nicole Gaughan.
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Support Central Baseball
The Baseball team has a new fundraiser - caps for $16. See any team member or contact Coach Weiss.
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Central Night at the Phillies
This exciting event has been a huge success for the past 5 years and we plan on continuing the tradition with another night at the ballpark. Join us May 17 at 7:05 p.m. to cheer on the Philadelphia Phillies as they battle the NLC Champion Cincinnati Reds. Students, parents and alumni are welcome to purchase tickets for $25 until May 1. After that, tickets are $30.
Don't miss this opportunity to show your support for the Phillies and our Central High community. Act quickly, tickets are limited and will sell out fast!
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Help Wanted
Newsletter staffers: Interested in working on the newsletter? Contact Dave Kalkstein.
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Thank You
Thanks for reading our newsletter!
Our writers this issue were Nancy Winter, Kathie Conrad and Sue Patterson. Mary Sweeten and Tamar Magdovitz gave us our fine form, grammar and spelling. Thanks also to Dr. Jenny Yu, who clued us to the poetry of Kit Zaubar, 272.
This newsletter is sponsored by the Central High School Home and School Association and would not be possible without the support of the alumni, parent volunteers, along with the staff and teachers of the school.
If you have news, tell us!
Dave Kalkstein and Dan Cason, Co-Editors
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