September 30, '10 edition of OPEN - Oratory Preparatory School

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OPEN
OPEN
Oratory Prep’s Electronic Newsbits September 30, 2010
Oratory Prep’s Electronic Newsbits September 30, 2010
I F Y O U H A V E I N F O F O R O P E N , C A L L S U S A N D O U G H E R T Y , X 4 6
National Merit Semifinalists
B
ecause of their stellar scores on PSATs in 2009,
three seniors—Tobi Kraft, Harris Hoke and Christopher
Kraft—have Meritorious
been named by the National
Merit Scholarship as National Semifinalists. They will continue
on in the competition for prestigious Finalist status.
Mr. Owen McGowan is pictured, at left, with the seniors.
Hoke at NJ Governor’s School
M
any apply, but few are selected.
Last spring, Harris
Hoke, senior, applied for
the prestigious Governors School of
New Jersey in the field of Environment.
Dr. Katherine Steciuk, Director
of Guidance at OP stressed how
fortunate Harris was to be selected.
“The Governors Schools which
were eight or nine in number in
past years have been pared down
to only three: Environment, Science
and Engineering. They take so
few students now.”
Harris spoke about the two
weeks of studying and learning
through the program. “After a
morning of classes, we were given
some free time one afternoon and
it was amazing that we all
wound up on the same
river, swimming at the same
spot. We got to talking
about the environment
around us. There were students
who talked about the
PH and acidity of the water
and it seemed like everything
that we had been discussing
in class was right
there before us,” he said.
Senior Harris Hoke, right, conducts
an experiment at the Jersey
Shore as part of his two week
stint with the Governors School
for Environment at Stockton College.
Juniors may apply for this
prestigious program in the
spring.
Summer Academy 2011 at OP
Plans are in the works to offer enrichment classes. Please complete
the survey on Edline to make your voice heard. See Mr. Bill Martin or
Mr. Matt Klarmann for more details.
National Commended Students
Dean of Academics Owen McGowan shakes the
hand of Kwame McCain, and offers congratulations
as well to Colin McReynolds and Daniel Fitzpatrick
on their being in the top 5 % of students
taking the 2009 PSAT s.
Submitted Photo

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PAGE 2
D
r. Katherine Steciuk, Director
of Guidance, was notified
recently that 27 of our
students have earned AP
Scholar Awards in recognition of their
exceptional achievement on AP Exams
they took last spring.
Only about 18 % of the more than
1.8 million students worldwide who
took Advanced Placement Exams performed
at a sufficiently high level to
earn an AP Scholar Award.
Dean of Academics Owen McGowan
told the teachers at a meeting in August
that impressive averages were achieved
in two specific areas.
“The average AP score of our students
taking AP Chemistry with Mr.
Rob Crum was rose two full points,” he
said. He cited Mr. Frank Kearns’ students’
average score for AP Language
and Composition that was 4.2 out of a
possible 5.
OP’s AP Scholars Named
Mr. Kearns was quick to praise his
students who took AP English in their
junior year with him. “This senior class
is academically amazing.”
Six students qualified for the AP
Scholar with Distinction Award by
earning an average score of at least 3.5
on all AP Exams taken and scores of 3
or higher on five or more of these exams.
These students are:
Daniel Canziani ‘10
Christopher Kraft ‘11
Tobias Kraft ‘11
Joseph Macri ‘10
Kevin McGovern ‘10
Jamie Mac Rae ‘10
Four students qualified for the AP
Scholar with Honor Award by earning
an average score of at least 3.25 on
all AP Exams taken, and scores of 3 or
higher on four or more of these exams.
These students are:
Brendan Bakst ‘10
Timothy Dore ‘10
H. Nicholas Luther ‘10
Edwin Suarez ‘10
Seventeen students qualified for
the AP Scholar Award by completing
three or more AP Exams with
scores of 3 or higher in three or
more exams. These students are:
Scott Badger ‘10
Malcolm Bare ‘10
Nicholas Barresi ‘11
Brandon Deger ‘11
Michael DeNigris ‘10
Daniel Fitzpatrick ‘11
Harris Hoke ‘11
Brandon King ‘10
Marcus Laroche ‘11
Alexander Martynetz ‘10
Kwame McCain ‘11
Colin McReynolds ‘11
Matthew Pigott ‘10
John Plantemoli ‘11
Michael Rosato ‘11
Daniel Sommer ‘11
Robert Vander Meulen ‘11
Back - to - School Dance Draws Hundreds of Teens
A
t the first Student Council-sponsored dance
of the year, invitations go out to students
from Oak Knoll, Mt. St. Mary’s and other
girls’ schools in the area to join in the fun. The
packed gymnasium is turned into a deluxe night spot
with colored lights and booming speaker system
from the DJ.
OP boys show
their moves on the
dance floor , above, while in
the lobby, Operation Smile
Club sells bracelets and
glowsticks to raise money
for the charity that supports
life-altering operations for
children in third world nations
who have cleft palates.

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Going the Distance With Cross Country
T
he OP Cross Country Team,
under the leadership of E.J.
Cronin, who has coached at
our school for the last eleven years,
and assistant, Oratory grad Bill
McCrystal, are blazing trails. Junior
Joey Mascolo, who runs both cross
country and track , said he enjoys running
in general, but this time of year
PAGE 3
SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 OPEN
Students Give Artistic Care
Sophomores Ryan Montalvo and Alex Pena, left, and
Liam Freivald with Tim Esteves, above, assist seniors with
sharpies, water color and Chinese stamps in learning the
technique of Chinese brush paintings.
specifically. “Cross Country is great
to run through the woods and in
the open spaces as opposed to running
around in circles on a track.”
Kenny Mika
Scott Miller: Golf Champ
O
n Thursday,
September
23, six students
and art teacher
Susan Preston went
to CareOne at
Livingston, a senior
care facility, to complete
Chinese Brush
Painting with a
dozen of the residents.
“I like doing
this kind of thing—
helping people,” said
Alex Pena.
OP senior Scott
Miller won the 2010
Men’s Club Championship
at The Madison
Golf Club on Sept 25 &
26. Scott became the
youngest member in
the club's history to
win the event which
consisted of four
matches over three
weeks ending with a
36 hole final which
Scott won 5 & 4. Congratulations,
Scott!
Joey Mascolo
Mapping the course. E.J. Cronin , center, charts the route to senior
Mark Weinhoffer while assistant coach Bill McCrystal, Jr. shields his eyes from
the blazing sun at Memorial Field in Summit on September 21.
Photos by Joe Ghio ‘11

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Students and Parents Meet New Teachers
M
ake Room for
New Music
Program
A new room, a new teacher and a new
course: BAND. Offered two periods a
day, the band program raises the roof
daily. Housed in the freshly painted and
newly renovated room adjacent to the
art room, the music room is the new
home of Dr. Cliff Whitelegg, musician in
his own right and teacher. Our jazz ensemble
teacher last year with the after
school program, Dr. Whitelegg’s teaching
responsibilities this year also include
teaching the music appreciation classes,
as pictured here with some of the seventh
graders.
During the Scavenger Hunt, seventh graders, like
Andrew Standing, get to meet the new teacher of
English Ms. Diana DeLorenzo, a graduate of Seton
Hall University from which she received her B.A. and
M.A.
Certified in social studies, elementary
education and supervision, Mr. Rich
Garibell, right, may be new to OP,
but is certainly not new to education.
His last job, from which he retired,
was president/principal at Paterson
Catholic. He serves as a mentor for
new school administrators through
the NJ Leader to Leader Program
and will share that expertise with
teachers here. Additionally, he
teaches one class of history at OP.
Ms. Elizabeth DeMichino,
a graduate of George
Washington University,
speaks to the parents of
boys in biology.
Administrator Rich Garibell
Giacomo Fiorenza, a seventh grader, gets to
meet new teacher Mrs. Michelle Gribbin with
the Carlton Fellows’ activity on the second day
of school.

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Fall Fashion Show Nears
Committee Heads: Kathleen Hoke, Robert Vander
Meulen, Jeneen Perrella and Doreen Beninati.
“It’s not really the Year of the Ram in
the Chinese calendar this year,” explained
Bob Vander Meulen, president
of the Parents’ Guild, to parents
at Back to School Night, “but we’ve
borrowed that phrase for the fall
fashion show.”
At the November 11 event, senior
boys will model tuxedos, moms will
model fashions and faculty/administrative
volunteers will
strut their stuff on the runway.
Donations for the all-school event
are now being accepted. Check
Edline for more information on volunteering
for one of the many committees.
Spirit to Spare
“I’ve made many career decisions in my
life, Mr. Bob Costello told the parents and
guardians at the September 21 Back to
School Night, “but coming to Oratory was
by far the best I’ve ever made.”
Alumni Moms Return
T
heir
sons may have graduated
last June, but Terry Macri and
Gayle Khoury, mother of Joe
’10 and Bobby ‘10, respectively, still
find time to volunteer for their son’s
alma mater by manning the Spirit
Shoppe’s table at Back to School
Night. They report that Bobby loves
Gettysburg College and Joe is having
a ball at Boston College.
OPEN SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

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PAGE 6
If you have information or photos
If you have information or photos to
to share, please send them to:
share, please send them to:
OPEN Editor Susan Dougherty
OPEN Editor Susan Dougherty
PR Coordinator
PR Coordinator
Phone: 908-273-1084, x 46
Phone: 908-273-1084, x 46
E-mail: sdougherty@oratoryprep.org
E-mail: sdougherty@oratoryprep.org
Boston Bound It’s not too early to find
out more details about the spring trip to Massachusetts.
Contact Mr. Bill Martin to find out the details!
Just Around the Corner
• OP Golf Outing — 10/04
• Mass—10/7
• Spirit Week 10/12—15
• Father/Son Breakfast — 10/24
• Blood Drive—11/2
• Fall Fashion Show –11/14
’ Got Ya Covered
Y
earbook
editors
Brandon
Deger and Jon
Schwolsky got a
chance to meet
with the Jostens
yearbook company
artist on Wednesday,
September 22
in Tinton Falls, N.J.
at a yearbook
cover session.
As the top editors,
the senior boys
were able to articulate
the journalism
class’s ideas for the
Send pictures to
the YEARBOOK!
Go to Edline
and follow the
link on the right
hand side to
submit candids.
theme of the Aries,
the school’ s
annual, to artist
Krista Keller who
then sketched a
few options. Jostens
will do a formal
mock-up for
the class to evaluate.
The journalism
class, in its second
year, is taught by
Mrs. Michelle Gribbin,
new teacher
of religion, creative
writing and journalism.
Thinking of Others
Campus Ministry Does a Bridges Run
Students sort toiletries that included
toothbrushes, toothpaste and soaps that
were donated by Oratory families.
M
aking sandwiches for
homeless people
through the Bridges
program is just part of what our
campus ministry, under the directorship
of Mrs. Cathy Marshall,
does throughout the year.
On Friday, September 24, the
boys made bag lunches after
school and then sixteen students
distributed the food as
well as the baggies of personal
toiletries in New York City that
night on what they refer to as a
“run.”
All in this Family
Joe, Michael and Chris Nunn,
front, pack sandwiches for
Bridges. The three brothers
were on hand to help with
the after school activity . Mrs.
Marshall was pleased that
Bridges seems now to be a
family tradition.
With Jostens representative Paige Hackett overseeing the process, right, artist
Krista Keller talks with Jon Schwolsky and Brandon Deger, Aries co-editors in
chief, about the fonts for each word on the cover.
OPEN SEPTEMBER 30, 2010