Tiger Talk
Volume LIV, No. 2 November 2018
Tiger Talk Goes Digital!
After 54 years of printing paper copies of our school newspaper, Tiger Talk has gone digital and is now online. There were primarily three reasons for this change. First, Tiger Talk is going green, and we will save a few trees by not printing on paper. Second, this move will save the school money. Finally, more and more people get their news online and are used to receiving the district newsletter in this form. For some, this is an exciting, new change. For those who still prefer a hard copy and something physical or tangible in their hands to read, there is an pdf option to print our newspaper out on paper. What will not change are the excellent reporting and quality writing done by our Central students in continuing the long tradition of Tiger Talk!
Welcome Miss Fesinstine
We would like to welcome our new French teacher, Madame Fesinstine. She is very excited to be teaching at Central Middle School. She is a former student at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. Interestingly, before coming to Central, she lived in France for a year and taught English to French children. Outside of school, Madame Fesinstine is a softball pitcher, and also enjoys watching action movies. She was delighted by how welcoming the Central School staff and student body have been to her. She grew up in Long Valley, NJ, not so far from Long Hill Township. We are glad to have Madame Fesinstine teaching French at Central School and hope she stays with us for a long time.
Central Competes in Consortium Chess Tournament
On Tuesday, October 16th, six students from Central participated in the annual New Jersey School Consortium Chess Tournament. They were Jasper Bontamase, Georgia Fishteyn, Dominick Laviola, Anton Levonian, Ivan Nilsen, and Ivan Pankratov. Five other schools from the county came to compete including, Delbarton, Morristown-Beard, Morris Plains Boro School, Oratory Prep, and Ridgedale. Each student played five matches and was awarded zero points for a loss, one point for a stalemate, and two points for a win. The person with the most points after the five matches was the winner, and there were also team awards for the most points. Central sixth grader, Anton Levonian, placed 3rd overall and earned a trophy! Everyone had a fun time meeting other students from different schools and playing some chess. The event was hosted by Mr. Gillespie in our school library.
Problem Solving
On Tuesday, October 30th, Central Middle School sent five students to an annual Problem Solving Consortium at Morris Plains Boro School. Two eighth graders, Clara Ma and Madison Moran, and three seventh graders: Sunayana Navuluri, Reagan Salvo, and Katerina Sicard, competed. They were chaperoned by Mr. Gillespie. At the consortium, they were separated and placed in to seven groups with schools in the area. They were given a variety of brain-teasers and trivia questions at different stations that they had to solve within their groups. There were problems involving math, history, science, sports, culture, and more. Groups received more points if they answered the steps to the problems correctly. Madison Moran’s group tied for first place with the highest score, and Clara Ma’s group earned second place.
Student Council Elections
The results from our school 's election to student council are in! The voting and speeches occured on Friday, November 2nd. The candidates for President were Daniella Russotti, Nick Seyda, and Trenon Stanard. The candidates for Vice President were Aadya Bharadwaj and Joe Oleske. There were no candidates who ran for the position of Secretary. The candidate for Treasurer was Elizaveta Noraev. Only 7th and 8th graders are able to run for President and Vice President, and students can only represent their grade level. The student council helps decide what needs to be done in the school to make it a better place for everyone. It lets everyone have a voice. Student council also helps develop leadership skills, so one day students can become future leaders. In the real world, you need to vote to choose who you want to represent you, and the student council election follows this format. This year, student council has a new advisor, who is Mrs. Barth. Congratulations to Nick Seyda (President), Aadya Bharadwaj, (Vice-President), Daniella Russotti (Secretary), Elizaveta Noraev (Treasurer), Matt Lombardo (8th Grade Representative), Gavin Eggers (7th Grade Representative), Armaan Lerner and Caroline Roberts (6th Grade Representatives), and Alex Galati (Public Relations Officer).
Central's Cross Country Team
Central’s cross country team had an incredibly successful season, and each player improved very much. The team had their last meet in Greenbrook on October 24 against Greenbrook, Warren, and Saint James. Central’s cross country team had an extensive list of members, including Xavier Abeijon, Tessa Apuzzo, Taylor Carn, Tabitha Chon, Juliana DeFazio, Michael DiSarno, Whitney Donohue, Michael and Vincent Falzari, Ethan Gallic, Lucas Garcia, Kate Howell, Abigail Koham, Matthew and Sam Lombardo, Dermot McGuire, Allan Mehler, Joseph Mele, Christina Monty, Madison Moran, Ethan Moran, Ivan Nilsen, Liani Rosado, Durga Shylesh, Ava Slimowicz, Kelsey Unchester, Elizabeth Vreeland, and Lizzy Yautz. Many of these runners were familiar faces from last year, but there were also many new sixth grade runners. Along with new runners, Central’s cross country team also had a new coach this year: Ms. Aimette. Ms. Aimette was the cross country coach six years ago, and she decided to pick up the mantle again and become coach this season. She enjoyed her experience as coach very much and stated about the team’s performance: “Each runner improved individually by at least 20%.” Great job this year's team!
The Masked Messenger
By CJ Barritta
For centuries, people have been making masks out of various materials. On Thursday, October 25th, the Masked Messenger came to Central School and gave the 7th graders an interesting presentation about masks, their creation, and their history. The presentation done by the “Masked Messenger” was extraordinarily unique, and I am personally looking forward to seeing him again, at one of his many presentations. The performance was interactive with the audience and very humorous, yet it still taught us about masks and body language. Before this presentation, I did not know that you cannot speak in a full face mask, Also, I learned that masks could be worn on top of your head to impersonate a “hunchback.” Masks are amazing forms of art and culture. The timing of this event was perfect, because the 7th graders in Mrs.Dunn’s art class are making masks. We would like to thank the PTO for bringing in this cultural assembly.
Happy Thanksgiving
Wondering what everyone is talking about this November? Well, it's Thanksgiving - the holiday dedicated to giving thanks for our blessings! Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 by the Pilgrims who had just arrived at present day Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims were joined by the Wampanoag Indians. The first Thanksgiving meal included corn, porridge, venison, and wild fowl, whereas today's Thanksgiving meals include turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Occasional side dishes include sweet potatoes, cornbread, and green bean casserole. So when you are surrounded by family and friends over the long holiday weekend, ask yourself, what you are thankful for?
Robotics Club Sweeps the Competition
The Robotics Club is off to a new season, and they are already doing very well. Starting last April, the teams for Long Hill Robotics Club have been gearing up for competition. They programmed, engineered, and drove their new robots, and soon they were ready. On Saturday October 27th, the 4 teams brought their robots to Roselle Park High School to compete.
By the end of the competition, four out of five awards were taken by the middle school teams - awards for Skills, Teamwork, and Excellence were won by team MAK (Mechanics: Michael O’Hara and Armaan Lerner; Programmers: Armaan Lerner and Kevin Feinstein). The design award was given to team Chatter-Bots with Amiran Lerner as the mechanic. The programmers are Colin Belfield and Durga Shylesh. On the Elementary side, team “Hubskateers” took home the Excellence award. (Jason Zeng, Tadas Vilematis, and Zavier Shyers.) The other team, “JJJellybeans” took home the Skills and Judges awards. (Justin Li, Juliette Laufer, and Janna Han). Please join the Robotics Teams as they they host their 2nd Annual Long Hill Robotics Tournament at Central School. Great job to all of the students and good luck!
Members of Tiger Talk
Comic strip by David Youssef
Word searches by Hannah and Samantha
Advisor/Editor - Mr. Gillespie