February 15, '11 edition of OPEN - Oratory Preparatory School

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OPEN
Photo by James O’Hara
The special
assembly program
on Monday,
January
31 featured
audience
interaction.
Anthony
Perrella, a
junior, tries to
stump the
mentalist and
Andrew Kontra
and Ms. Alissa
Kacar , above,
assist him.
Oratory Prep’s Electronic Newsbits February 15, 2011
Return “Mentalist” Wows Crowd
W
hen entertainer
Robert
Channing made his
return engagement
at OP during Catholic
Schools Week,
some of the seniors
were waiting for
him. They planned
to trip up the entertainer.
With his eyes
taped shut, he
donned an eye
Robert Channing amazes the audience at the entertaining
assembly.
mask, and then asked
for currency from the
audience. Little did he
know that one of his
helpers Andrew Kontra
grabbed a bill that wasn’t
American. Not only
could Channing describe
what the bill
looked like in color, the
face on it, but could recite
the serial numbers.
At one point of the
show, Andrew’s mouth
flew open and he muttered,
“Wow!”, expressing
the emotion of the
audience.
Channing tried to explain
how he “does it”
by saying part of it is
ESP, which he said
stands for “extra special
people” and “the rest is
dumb luck.” For student
audience members, it
was purely amazing.
With Heart
M
rs. Susan Preston
shows senior Harrison
Allen the delicately
carved miniature heart
pendants by Alex
McDonald , a sophomore.
Modeled and incised
in clay, they depict
the “Heart of Oratory.”
Alex was inspired by a
necklace, the “Heart of
Philadelphia” by the designer
Lagos, which was
worn by his art teacher.

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PAGE 2
Bridge Tournament Brings Dual Winners
O
ratory's annual
bridgeplaying
tournament
was held on
Monday, 1/31/11.
Junior Christian
Knight and sophomore
Nagarjun Yarlagadda
finished the
tournament tied for
first place.
This was Christian’s
second win in the three
years the tournament has
been run. Both players
will receive trophies and
nationally-recognized
"master points" through
the American Contract
Bridge League.
Four players were tied
for third place: senior Dan
Sommer, junior Kieran
Windorf, and 7th graders
Andrew Vita and Matt
Muoio.
The winners broke
through on the sixth board,
when Nagarjun and his
partner, Dan, playing the
Getting ready to play the opening hand, the boys listen moderator
Dr. Peter Astor asks, “Now what would your next play be?
North-South hands, bid
3NT and made 5NT. The
game was anxiously observed
by the other players
who had finished playing
their boards.
Cheers broke out when
the winners were announced.
All participants
received T-shirts and kudos
from instructor Robin
Gillette and moderator Dr.
Astor.
Mr. Gillette indicated
that these same hands were
being played in the NJ
State tournament, open to
all school children who are
members of the ACBL.
“I’m not really sure what
to do next,” sophomore
Jon Bahr tells seventh
grader Andrew Vito
who looks over his
shoulder in practice.
Miss America 2004 Speaks of Diversity and Inclusion
I
n
honor of Black History
Month, Ericka Dunlap, Miss
America 2004, was the
surprise guest speaker on
Thursday, February 10, 2011.
Her message to the student
body was simple, according
to D.J. Toft, senior. “She had a
good message—that Black History
Month is an important part of America’s
history and that we should know
that there were lots of Caucasians who
fought for the Civil Rights movement.”
He enjoyed her presentation because,
“She has a great personality and
was easy to follow, so it made it good
to listen to.”
Senior Shane Schwarze echoed
his enjoyment. “It was fun having her
here,” he explained. “She introduced
us to the respect and effort put into the
Civil Rights movement, and what was
done to further the cause by people
of all color.”
After Ericka spoke of her Miss
America experience and what she’s
doing now, she met with a small
group of student leaders.
Miss American 2004 speaks to a group of
the school’s leaders.
Conor Orr tries on the Miss America crown.
Photos by Joe Ghio

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FEBRUARY 15, 2011 PAGE OPEN 3
The senior team named “The
Operation,” pictured below, became
the top of the teams vying
for bragging rights of the first
annual handball tournament for
charity. he has embraced for
years.
Photo by Joe Ghio
Senior Brandon Deger blocks the shot, above, as
Ryan Murray, left, takes aim with Michael McHale,
eighth grader, guarding the goal.
Handball Tournament Caps
Off Catholic Schools Week
Teaming Up for Charity
These are some of the sixteen
teams that participated
in the tournament.

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PAGE 4
Mock
Trial
Team
M
oments
before
their
second night of
trials in the Union
County Courthouse
in Elizabeth,
the Oratory Mock
Trial Team gathers
in the Rotunda.
Mr. Bill Martin,
right front, is the
moderator of the
team which he
started at Oratory
eight years ago.
Court is Back in Session
Dreams Overruled
W
ith yellow legal pads in hand, sharpened pencils at the ready,
notes galore and hours of preparation, the 2011 Mock Trial
Team of Oratory met their first opponents in two trials in Elizabeth
on Monday, January 31. Two snow days later, the team trekked back to
the Union County Courthouse to face opposition to their goal of being
county champions for the third consecutive year.
But on that night, the dream was snatched from them by Cranford High
School. “Cranford has come a long way,” moderator Bill Martin said of the
event. “The boys really put their heart into it and are disappointed,” he continued.
Senior Chris Kraft, the lawyer for the defense said, “The woman judge ruled
against us, but I admit the girls’ (from Cranford) cross examination was really
good.”
Senior Harris Hoke said that it was a close decision of only one point difference
with the two judges deliberating for more than a half an hour.
Thinking outside the box...Harris Hoke, Tobi
Kraft, Stephen O’Loughlin and Wyatt Craig
serve on a jury while the team of Nick Barresi
and Chris Kraft defended Ben Goggins,
above center.

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W
ith the winter
snow storms and
frequent school
canceling,
adoration,
scheduled
for January
was moved
to early February.
After Mass
at 8:30 in the
morning, all
religion
classes that day walked to
Newman Hall’s chapel for a
time of reflection. Under the
guidance of religion teachers,
PAGE 5
A Time for Reflection
Meaningful quiet is experienced by
sophomores
the boys had time to sense
the presence of the living
Christ.
Religion
teacher Jonathan
Gordon
prayed with
the boys,
“Lord, help
us to see
who you
are.” He reminded
the
boys that
“through adoration, we see
the body, blood, soul and divinity
of Christ” though the
Eucharist.
Guest Priest in February
A
respite from the
rest of the world is
found in the religion
classes held at the
chapel in Newman Hall on
the day that we celebrated
adoration.
Fr. Bryan Page, Chaplain at Rutgers
Newark, NJIT and UMDNJ, was the guest
priest for our February Mass where he told
the teens, “We’re always building relationships...they
get more meaningful as we spend
more time with people.” He urged the young
men to deepen their relationship with Christ
during adoration during the rest of the day.
National Merit Finalists Named
From 16,000 Semifinalists
named in the Fall, Tobi Kraft,
Chris Kraft and Harris Hoke
were recently named Finalists
in the 2011 National Merit
Scholastic Achievement Program.
Fewer than one-half of
one percent of all high school
seniors who took the PSATs
achieve this prestigious status.
The teens are now being
considered in the upgraded
status for scholarships from the
national organization.

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PAGE 6
Phone: 908-273-
1084, x 46
If you have information or photos to
share, please send them to OPEN
editor Susan Dougherty
PR Coordinator
E-mail: sdougherty@oratoryprep.org
Warm Feet
Thanks to
the plan of
sophomores
Rob Browne
and Matt
Munro, hundreds
of pairs
of socks were
donated to
Bridges.
Through dress down day donations, students
brought in the necessity that we take for
granted. Shane Schwarze , and other seniors ,
above, helps load the Bridges truck .
‘Souper Bowl’ Continues
hen Christopher
W
Darcy ‘09 started
Oratory’s “Souper
Bowl, ” a donation
drive for people in
need, he didn’t
know how its
popularity would
grow.
The winning homeroom for bringing
in the most donations was the Student
Council homeroom (not pictured)
who will receive a free dress
down day and a pizza party.
“This is our yearly
drive,” said Mrs.
Cathy Marshall, the
coordinator of the
Campus Ministry. It’s
been in existence
since 2006.
“Is the ‘Souper
Bowl’ still happening
here?” Chris asked
on his last trip to
Oratory.
You bet! Under
the direction of
Richard Montalvo,
Connor Reilly,
Bobby Vander
Meulen and Jon
Schwolsky, it’s
thriving!
In conjunction with the Super
Bowl, Oratory runs a yearly
drive for canned and boxed
soup for local charities like
Bridges. Volunteers, left , cart
of Ramen noodles.
Eighth Graders Win General Knowledge Consortium
W
hen the
middle
school
boys
returned from the General
Knowledge Consortium,
adviser Mrs.
Irene Crum only had
one thing to say: “We
beat Delbarton, Morristown
Beard and
Newark Academy by
over 50 points!”
Grade eight varsity
team placed first out of
the 11 participating
teams. The proud winners
are pictured at
right.
Mrs. Crum said that
her seventh graders,
Jonathan Batista, A.J.
Pope, Matt Lerner,
Aaron Grundy, Mike
Weinhoffer, Charlie
Arnedt, Ian Barry made
a good showing in their
division. “This is always
a great experience for
the boys,” she shared.
Middle School Consortium
is a yearlong
series of events.
Eighth graders Warren Lee, Alex Pompetzki, Eric Kleppinger, Don
Koomar, Mrs. Irene Crum, Brian McReynolds, Andrew Coder and
Bobby D’Angelo proudly display their plaque.
OPEN FEBRUARY 15, 2011