MR. JFK IS CROWNED The much antic- ipated “Mr. JFK” com- petition took place on Febru- ary 6, 2015. The compe- tition fea- tured the most eligi- ble “bachelors” in school. The con- testants had to be hand- some, tall, and had to have a picture-perfect smile. Okay, well maybe that was exaggerated—although the boys who competed were all handsome, that was just a plus to the viewers. The compet- itors were nominated by teachers and coaches. The contestants had to be seniors to be consid- ered. Other requirements were: involvement in athletics and/or extracurricular activities, good grades, and overall good student status. How could you be chosen to represent JFK Memori- al High School if you didn’t excel in the “Three A’s,” as Mr. Cilento would say? The boys began the event by walking onto the stage, escorted by Alexa Novoczynski and Emily Patten. The audience was given background information on the contestants. JFK PERFORMS ‘GODSPELL’ Spring 2015 PARCC TESTING BY TONEKE GRAHAM On Page 4…. NHS INDUCTIONS [NHS… the “perfect bal- ance between academics, voluntary work and good character.” ] BY MEHAK FARRUKH On Page 3…. MR. JFK [The overall winner of Mr. JFK was Madhav Patel. Madhav also won… Most School Spirit…”] BY LAURYN MUHAMMAD AND RIYA SHARMA This year, New Jersey, along with 18 other states, has re- placed the K-12 Standardized As- sessments with the new PARCC test. The PARCC test is a com- puter-based assessment of lan- guage arts/literacy and math. PARCC was administered during the weeks of March 23 to March 27 and April 13 to April 17. Dur- ing the first tested week, blocks one and three were tested while blocks two and four were tested the following session. Both weeks consisted of language arts on the first three days, followed by two days of math. To accommodate PARCC testing, the time schedule of each block was adjusted, result- ing in the extension of those time slots. During the weeks building up to the testing of the PARCC, many students and teachers felt a sense of anxiety. Most of their worries were due to the level of difficulty of the test. Some felt that the test would be difficult, and that the expectations were set a little too high. Others also felt that the biggest challenge with administering the PARCC, would be adjusting to the use of comput- ers for standardized testing. How- ever, after taking and administer- ing the test, the general population of students and teachers were more comfortable and relaxed with the PARCC. Enough time was given for students to complete each section, while some even had time left over, and everything went smoothly with few to no hitches. Overall, this test was an examination of a student’s critical- thinking skills, and focused on how the student solves the prob- lems rather than focusing com- pletely on just the answer itself. Instead of the standard fill-in-the- blank “bubble questions,” the PARCC gives students the oppor- tunity to solve problems on their own and evidence their though processes. BY JENNIFER MORA AND SAMANTHA HEYER This year’s school production was God- spell. The cast turned this rock opera into a show to remember and a glorious final memory for vocal director Ms. Verrilli. The very talented Mikey Perez, who performed the star role of Jesus, dazzled on the stage with all of his closest friends performing by his side. The entire cast used their talents of song and dance to really bring this play to life. If you weren’t able to make a performance, you really missed out. A highlight of the night was Madhav Patel, portraying Regina George from Mean Girls. Every member put their whole hearts into their performance and it really showed. They all wanted it to be the best and they truly succeed- ed. Amanda Fiore lit up the room with her per- formance of “Learn Your Lessons Well”. It was truly spectacular. Another great moment of the night was Dolly Maharaja’s performance of “Bless the Lord”. She did a phenomenal job and really reached those high notes. Godspell has been on Broadway multi- ple times and JFK’s student cast truly did the play justice. Godspell made the audience dance in their seats and was most definitely a great last memory for all the seniors involved. On Page 4…. EASTER EGG HUNT [The event comprised of various stations and activi- ties to participate in…] BY MANSI SHAH AND SHIVANI DESAI BY LAURYN MUHAMMAD AND RIYA SHARMA The cast of Godspell enchanted the audience with their songs and acting. Flashing a winning smile, Madhav Patel poses as the new Mr. JFK. Continued on page 3
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Transcript
MR. JFK IS CROWNED
The
much antic-
ipated “Mr.
JFK” com-
petition
took place
on Febru-
ary 6, 2015.
The compe-
tition fea-
tured the
most eligi-
ble
“bachelors”
in school.
The con-
testants had
to be hand-
some, tall,
and had to have a picture-perfect smile. Okay,
well maybe that was exaggerated—although
the boys who competed were all handsome,
that was just a plus to the viewers. The compet-
itors were nominated by teachers and coaches.
The contestants had to be seniors to be consid-
ered. Other requirements were: involvement in
athletics and/or extracurricular activities, good
grades, and overall good student status. How
could you be chosen to represent JFK Memori-
al High School if you didn’t excel in the
“Three A’s,” as Mr. Cilento would say?
The boys began the event by walking
onto the stage, escorted by Alexa Novoczynski
and Emily Patten. The audience was given
background information on the contestants.
JFK PERFORMS ‘GODSPELL’
Spring 2015
PARCC TESTING BY TONEKE GRAHAM
On Page 4….
NHS INDUCTIONS
[NHS… the “perfect bal-
ance between academics,
voluntary work and good
character.” ]
BY MEHAK FARRUKH
On Page 3….
MR. JFK
[The overall winner of Mr.
JFK was Madhav Patel.
Madhav also won…
Most School Spirit…”]
BY LAURYN MUHAMMAD
AND RIYA SHARMA
This year, New Jersey,
along with 18 other states, has re-
placed the K-12 Standardized As-
sessments with the new PARCC
test. The PARCC test is a com-
puter-based assessment of lan-
guage arts/literacy and math.
PARCC was administered during
the weeks of March 23 to March
27 and April 13 to April 17. Dur-
ing the first tested week, blocks
one and three were tested while
blocks two and four were tested
the following session. Both weeks
consisted of language arts on the
first three days, followed by two
days of math. To accommodate
PARCC testing, the time schedule
of each block was adjusted, result-
ing in the extension of those time
slots.
During the weeks building
up to the testing of the PARCC,
many students and teachers felt a
sense of anxiety. Most of their
worries were due to the level of
difficulty of the test. Some felt
that the test would be difficult,
and that the expectations were set
a little too high. Others also felt
that the biggest challenge with
administering the PARCC, would
be adjusting to the use of comput-
ers for standardized testing. How-
ever, after taking and administer-
ing the test, the general population
of students and teachers were
more comfortable and relaxed
with the PARCC. Enough time
was given for students to complete
each section, while some even had
time left over, and everything
went smoothly with few to no
hitches.
Overall, this test was an
examination of a student’s critical-
thinking skills, and focused on
how the student solves the prob-
lems rather than focusing com-
pletely on just the answer itself.
Instead of the standard fill-in-the-
blank “bubble questions,” the
PARCC gives students the oppor-
tunity to solve problems on their
own and evidence their though
processes.
BY JENNIFER MORA AND SAMANTHA HEYER
This year’s school production was God-
spell. The cast turned this rock opera into a
show to remember and a glorious final memory
for vocal director Ms. Verrilli. The very talented
Mikey Perez, who performed the star role of
Jesus, dazzled on the stage with all of his closest
friends performing by his side. The entire cast
used their talents of song and dance to really
bring this play to life. If you weren’t able to
make a performance, you really missed out.
A highlight of the night was Madhav
Patel, portraying Regina George from Mean
Girls. Every member put their whole hearts into
their performance and it really showed. They all
wanted it to be the best and they truly succeed-
ed. Amanda Fiore lit up the room with her per-
formance of “Learn Your Lessons Well”. It was
truly spectacular.
Another great moment of the night was
Dolly Maharaja’s performance of “Bless the
Lord”. She did a phenomenal job and really
reached those high notes.
Godspell has been on Broadway multi-
ple times and JFK’s student cast truly did the
play justice. Godspell made the audience dance
in their seats and was most definitely a great last
memory for all the seniors involved.
On Page 4….
EASTER EGG HUNT
[The event comprised of
various stations and activi-
ties to participate in…]
BY MANSI SHAH AND
SHIVANI DESAI
BY LAURYN MUHAMMAD AND RIYA SHARMA
The cast of Godspell enchanted the audience with their
songs and acting.
Flashing a winning smile, Madhav
Patel poses as the new Mr. JFK. Continued on page 3
Page 2
The world uses Google. We use it to look up random
facts, the answers to our homework, and of course, research.
However, now we are also using it in the classroom! Google
Classroom is a tool that is newly being utilized in every class-
room in school. It’s basically a platform that allows
teachers to post assignments and conduct student
activities. The students get to turn in their work
online, leave comments, and interact with each other
as well. It is, in fact, now a requirement to use
Google Classroom at least twice a week in each
class. This new technology sounds great but using a
new learning tool can also be difficult to adapt. After
interviewing and asking a few questions to some
teachers at school, we have gathered the following
responses.
We asked Mr. Ridgeway, French teacher at
JFK, what are the advantages and disadvantages of Google
Classroom. He gave the following response: “It helps me with
homework assignments and efficiency. Some assignments re-
quire simple short answers that I can give on Google Class-
room and then I don’t have to worry about photocopying them
and so forth. I give more open-ended assignments, however,
and I don’t like to sit at a computer and grade. Students don’t
like to type in a foreign language. They prefer to write on pa-
per. But for simple short-answer assignments, it’s beneficial.”
We asked Mr. Hugelmeyer, history teacher, the same
questions and here was his response: “The advantages of
Google Classroom is that all the information for a course from
handouts to PowerPoints, links to videos, can be streamlined
through one place where students can access it every day at any
time. It’s also an open forum for students, under the guidance
of the teacher, to put up information that they found, as well
with the learning that we are currently doing in the course. So,
it is social media for the classroom. A disadvantage would be if
there was a problem with the internet. That can always cause a
little bit of confusion. With Google Classroom, I always found
that there are elements that don’t necessarily work for every
single internet format.”
We asked one last teacher, Mrs. Espada,
math teacher, the same exact question. She responded
by saying, “For students, it’s technology that they
know and already use— although not necessarily
Google Classroom. You are of a generation that grew
up with computers, cell phones; you are easily inter-
faced with this type of equipment. So I think for you,
it’s just another way of using what you normally use
in some other manner. For a teacher—I think in my
case—I grew up in a very different situation where
we didn’t even use calculators. So, it forces me to go
beyond what I know and have done my whole life. I have al-
ways tried to reach beyond what’s easy for me to do and em-
brace new technology, though. I would say for a math teacher,
it is not as easy as it would be if I was teaching history. In math
there are math symbols to take into account. Another challenge
is giving students partial credit if I use multiple choice. It’s not
as well suited for math compared to some of the other sub-
jects.”
In addition, we also asked the teachers if they would
continue to use Google Classroom in the future. All three of
them agreed and said that they would continue to explore and
use the website. Ultimately, there are both advantages and dis-
advantages to the new change. We are all going to have to
eventually embrace new technology. It is in our best interest to
keep up with the future.
NEWSPAPER STAFF
CLUB ADVISOR:
Mrs. Vitali
LAYOUT & DESIGN:
Jake Jellison
Anjali Patel
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:
Kareena Adnani
Charu Arya
Priyanka Bansal
Pamela Canelas
Heena Champaneri
Shivani Desai
Sharmin Doreen
Mehak Farrukh
Jake Jellison
Toneke Graham
Samantha Heyer
Jake Jellison
Cheshta Kundra
Taffy Lashley
Clarissa Mercado
Jennifer Mora
Lauryn Muhammad
Anjali Patel
Darshini Patel
Hiral B. Patel
Niki Patel
Bijal Rana
Mansi Shah
Riya Sharma
David Smeal
Mathew Sylvester
Manvinder Talwar
Spring Sports Awards June 2, 2015
Parent Faculty Fo-
rum
June 3, 2015
Senior Prom
June 5, 2015
Graduation June 18, 2015
Project Graduation June 18, 2015
BY ANJALI PATEL AND CLARISSA MERCADO
DISCLAIMER
The Torch is produced four
times a year by the students of
John F. Kennedy Memorial
High School. Any views ex-
pressed in The Torch are those
of the individual writers, and
not necessarily those of the
Torch Editorial Board, John F.
Kennedy Memorial High
School, or the Woodbridge
Township Board of Education.
GOOGLE CLASSROOM
Page 3 School News
This year marks the 50th anniver-
sary of John F. Kennedy Memorial High
School and to celebrate this momentous
occasion, the idea of a 50th anniversary
concert proposed by JFK students came to
life on March 27th. The idea was the
brainchild of seniors Matt Sylvester, Jen
Mora, and Jordan Wells, who are mem-
bers of the music group Classic Collective
Company (Jen manages the group). The
project was aided by Mrs. Dilonardo and Mr. Bergondo, but
ticket sales were mostly sold by students. It took a lot of hard
work and determination, but the concert turned out to be a suc-
cess.
The 50th anniversary concert was hosted by senior Tyler
Hudson, whose charisma and charm kept the crowd enthused.
The first performers were the singing and guitar duo of
Georgette Stillman and Kayla D'alerta, who sang three songs.
With Kayla’s vocals and Georgette’s acoustic and electric guitar
skills, the duo received warm applause after their third and final
song, “Lesser Things” by Barcelona, which was also sung as a
birthday gift to junior Katelyn Poisler.
The next performance was the band “To Vanish Tomor-
row,” featuring JFK students Aidan Fengya and Reynold Bea-
ton. They performed four songs and got the crowd hyped and a
few on their feet. With a combination of acoustic soft rock and
alternative/screamo metal, the band’s first huge gig went pretty
well.
The last performance was from the CCC themselves.
Shortly prior to that, Matt Sylvester and guest rapper Matt Hol-
bert performed a short rap with catchy beats. Afterwards, Jen
Mora came out and introduced David Rosner, the manager of
Quad Studios in Manhattan. He congratulated the CCC on their
work and gave them a recording deal—a session in their record-
ing studio for four hours! This probably was the motivation be-
hind the CCC’s explosive performance soon after and the audi-
ence saw their talent shine. One of the CCC members also made
a thoughtful prom proposal using a song to which the recipient
said yes! Overall, the concert celebrated JFK’s 50 years by
showcasing phenomenal musical talent from our very own stu-
dent body, and was a greatly coordinated student-organized
event. Here’s to another 50 years!
BY TAFFY LASHLEY
JFK’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
MR. JFK CONTINUED
JFK’s Reynold Beaton (left), Aidan Fengya (right), and their band ‘To
Vanish Tomorrow’ rocked the crowd with their performance.
BY LAURYN MUHAMMAD AND RIYA SHARMA
Following this was the “Who Knows JFK” facts section,
where the boys were booted off of the stage as soon as they got
a fact about JFK or the Staff incorrect. Next was the talent por-
tion in which the contestants’ performances ranged from rap to
Irish dancing, juggling, and instrumental love songs. Finally,
they had to answer an open-ended question, picked at random.
The boys had to answer the question aloud without preparation.
This was their last chance to awe the judges. After the contest-
ants answered their questions, all of the boys lined up across the
stage. Finally, the judges announced the winners for best hair,
best smile, best personality, best talent, etc.
The overall winner of Mr. JFK was Madhav Patel.
Madhav also won the category of
“Most School Spirit,” and he says that leading “Running in the
Halls” might have had something to do with it. Marching Band
is his most momentous extracurricular, but he also does Chorus
and is in several clubs. For the talent portion, Madhav really
stole the show when he performed a cover of “Anaconda” by
Nicki Minaj. He even got up onto the piano. In our exclusive
interview, he said that he was so nervous about it, and that he
didn't tell anyone that he was doing it. When he got up onto the
piano, he also thought that he'd give his chorus teacher, Mrs.
Verrilli, “a heart attack if [he] somehow broke it.” Also in an-
ticipation of the event, Madhav says that he and another con-
testant, Andrew Wallin, learned almost everything about JFK
for the talent portion. Madhav truly does deserve the title of
“Most School Spirit,” because when asked about his favorite
part of the school, he said that it was the teachers because they
go the extra mile for the students. Congratulations Madhav!
The candidates for 2015 Mr. JFK (from left to right): Joe Egri, Peter
Conde, Andrew Wallin, Madhav Patel, Anthony Capurso, Ari King, Mikey
Perez, Keiran Williams, Bobby Williams, and Max Tahzib.
Classic Collective Company (CCC) was the final performance at JFK’s