Tiger Talk
Volume LVIII Issue 2 November 2023
Problem Solving Together
By Aza Chang
On Wednesday, October 25, seven Central Middle School students attended the Problem Solving Competition at Morris Plains Boro School. They included Aza Chang, Taras Folk, Anya Jain, David Nicolette, Ilia Pankratov, Camila Rodriquez, and Leo Yao. Mr. Gillespie was the chaperone. In this competition, problems included math, social studies, geography, vocabulary, logic puzzles, brain teasers, and science, just to name a few.
The way problem solving works is that when you enter the building, you are divided from your school and placed in teams from other schools to work together to solve challenging problems. The more problems you solve correctly in the given time, the more points your team earns. At the end, winners are determined by the team that has the most points.
This year, there were 6 teams in total of students from Central, Delbarton, Morris Plains Boro, Oak Knoll, and Ridgedale The team Leo had participated on had placed 3rd, while Taras' and David's team won 1st place!
At the end, everyone's adrenaline was up, and they were laughing and pleased with their participation. If you are interested next year, you can sign up and join us on the adventure of problem solving!
See photo below.
Welcome Mr. Crowley
By Anya Jain
Mr. Crowley is the Physical Education teacher at Central Middle School. He teaches sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students. Mr. Crowley attended Towson University in Maryland. While in college, he majored in English. Prior to working at Central Middle School, he worked as a special education teacher at High Road School, Maryland for six years.
When Mr. Crowley is not in school, he enjoys hiking and playing guitar. In fact, he’s been playing since he was a teenager. He enjoys watching movies, and one of his favorite directors is Wes Anderson. Mr. Crowley’s favorite food is the Chicken Deluxe Sandwich from Chick-Fil-A. He likes the Spring, and enjoys listening to folk and acoustic music.
His favorite things about CMS are the great community, and the friendliness of the students and staff. In addition, he says he is excited to start his journey here. Three words Mr. Crowley would use to describe himself are: ‘humorous, caring, and a father’. Some advice he has for students is: to hang in there, and that middle school doesn’t last forever.
See his photo below.
Central Theater Arts Club Announces Spring Show
By Anya Jain
The Theater Arts Club has been busy in the first few months of the school year! In October, the Theater Arts Club organized a Halloween Dance to raise funds for the upcoming presentation of Finding Nemo Jr. The drama students set a goal of raising $500 and they blew it out of the water by raising $750 in ticket sales. More than 170 students attended, many participated in the costume contest which was judged by former Long Hill Superintendent Dr. Rene Rovtar. $240 in door prizes was given away and students won other prizes in games like Mummy Bowling and Cauldron Bat Toss. The dance was supported by the generosity of parents and teachers who contributed their time, creativity, money, and baked goods.
The Theater Arts Club will continue their fundraising through the winter by offering concessions during home basketball games. If you are interested in helping to sell snacks during the games at CMS, please see Ms. Pattan in room 4 or email apattan@longhill.org.
Auditions for the March production of Finding Nemo Jr. will take place the week after Thanksgiving recess - November 27-29. All audition materials can be found in the Theater Arts Google Classroom (join code: 5ehv7uh). With something for everyone, the show features rolls for singers, dancers and running crew (no singing or dancing).
Finding Nemo Jr. will open with a 5th grade preview performance on Thursday, March 21st and will be followed by an evening performance on Friday, March 22nd and a matinee on Saturday, March 23, 2024.
The Students are in Charge Now!
By Aza Chang and Anya Jain
If you are unfamiliar with how Student Council runs, here are the basics. Students have the chance to run for an office and are voted for by their peers. The offices are President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. This year we have included a new role to be Director of Communications. This position would have the student read the morning announcements everyday on the speaker.
Any students in 6th to 8th grade can participate in Student Council. This year, members include Damien Bernzweig, Aza Chang, Joseph Durso, Anya Jain, Shelby Lipman, Emily Spencer, Leo Yao, and Emilia Yushyna joining us on this learning experience adventure. Mr. Helfrich is the faculty advisor.
As part of the Student Council you will be able to donate to charities, hold food drives and even adopt animals. Along with the challenge to try to get the whole school engaged with these projects in fun and creative ways.
This year’s election results has been announced! Leo Yao was elected student council president, Aza Chang was elected vice president, and Shelby Lipman was elected secretary. Due to a competitiveness of the school's position for president, vice president and secretary, no one ran for treasurer or Director of Communications.
Central's Cross Country Team
The 2023-23 Cross Country team had a wonderful season this year! Our most improved girl was Fiona Murphy. Furthermore, Katie Robertson has become quite the runner along with Fiona, running every year, and becoming dynamic runners in the process. Elif Akgungor always had a smile on her face and ran up hills with determination. Marley Jablonski trimmed minutes off her mile, and Beatrice Palmer and Julia Barrance’s stamina greatly improved. Celine Apuzzo got better with every race and was one of our top runners. Brittany Cruz never complained and ran almost two miles with a wonderful attitude, as did Ollivia Dos Santos. Gina Gall and Kayleigh Fleming were delightful and could be counted on to finish with conviction.
As for the boys, Jacob Sutphin was the most improved, and a super speedy runner, earning him a top consortium score. Dylan Braverman was a truly significant part of our team, and Tristan Chang really became a sixth grade star. Selim Yilanlioglu was a natural, and was one of the swiftest boys on the team. He was new at the sport, but you would never know it! Sixth grader Noah Puchalski made running look easy and allowed his teammates to feel championed to finish once he did himself. Seventh grader Tommy Girards was a pure delight to see mature as a runner, and he sprinted his way to the end, always to be counted upon to finish as a top male runner. Jack Flynn was a true transformation from sixth to eighth grade, and is a true role model for being a runner who consistently stuck it out all three years, all the while developing his gait, cadence, and stamina. Seventh grader Grayson Ting morphed into a serious runner and has a future in this sport. William Droin and Franklin Clark provided laughs and finished strong. Finally, Vir Patel was steady, and his times indicate that his “thinking man’s approach” to running not only has strategy, but style.
The cool photo below is of the runners' water bottles at practice.
Central Girls' Soccer Team Makes the Playoffs
By Camila Rodriguez
The girl’s soccer team started their season off incredibly well, bringing home six victories for the school! The first game was against Greenbrook, where Central won the game 8-0, starting the season off with good spirits. The next opponent was Bernardsville. This time the girls dominated the game winning with 10-1!
This year’s soccer team is coached once again by Mr. Hockmeyer. The 8th grade players on the team are; Maddie Falvey, Bella Harrington, Camila Rodriguez, Serena Sabbatella, Amanda Shatz, Dierdre Vanderstreet, and Anya Wills. The 7th graders were Eloise Guarin, Riley Hall, Alessandra DeFazio. The 6th grade players were Sienna GIll, Raegan Paviolitis, Kenzie Miller, Cameron Lawrence, Sofie King, Kiera Vanderstreet, Ella Giambrone, and Saylor Simo. This year, our primary goalie for most of the season was Ella Giambrone.
In the third game, due to previous grudges with Mendham, the Central girls came ready for anything, and beat Mendham 4-0 in yet another win. In the fifth game, the team beat Florham Park 1-0. That game was difficult, yet they still managed to win.
The soccer team qualified for the playoffs and beat Lincoln Park in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, the girls faced once again Florham Park. In the end, the game was tied, so it went to penalties. After three close rounds of penalties, Central lost, and that was the end of the season. This year, the girls had a fantastic season, with everyone playing incredibly well!
Checkmate!
By Aza C.
On Tuesday, October 17th, Central hosted the annual School Consortium of NJ Chess Tournament. This year, Central's chess players were Amos Chang, Aza Chang, Canaan Gill, and Ilia Pankratov. This competition consisted of five matches played against other schools. The more someone wins, the harder opponent they get. The schools that competed included Delbarton, Morris Plains Boro, Our Lady of Peace, and Ridgedale.
See photo below.
Are you interested in chess?
Then join the chess club! Don't know how to play? Don't worry, you'll be instructed step by step, and by the end of the day you'll be an expert at knowing your pieces. This club is for experienced and inexperienced students to practice and learn about chess. Learn openings, and sneaky tactics against your opponents. Feeling rewarded after every class. Chess club is on Thursdays from 3-4 pm after school.
Are you bored, and just want to have some fun?
Then join the Games Club! You can play a variety of board games with your friends after school, under the guidance of Mrs. Stepanian. Like she said, "It's all just fun and games!" This year we are lacking participants, so if you are free, come play and have some fun with your friends. The club meets once or twice a month after school.