OMS Scoop
March/April 2018
Springtime at OMS
We are ready to showcase everything we have learned on the MCAS but honestly we are more ready to look out our window and now see this...
Shrek the Musical Jr. by Alexsandra Lada
SHREK THE MUSICAL JR.
By: OMS 6th Grade Reporter
Aleksandra Lada
I went to go see Shrek the Musical JR. on Friday with my family. I was really excited to see the students that spent 2 days a week working on the musical perform. They would be singing, dancing, and acting (The cast is listed below). After watching the musical, I was astonished.
In this write up, I will be reviewing everything that happened in the play, scene by scene. I am also including all my favorites!
Scene One is at a Swamp, where the story begins. Shrek is now seven and his parents are telling Shrek to go out in the big world alone and find a place of his own. His parents are singing about a great and beautiful world out there, but not for ogres like Shrek. It is a very nice song and a great opening. It really grabs your attention. This scene includes Mama Ogre, Papa Ogre, The Storytellers, Little Shrek, and Older Shrek.
Scene Two is when the Fairy Tale come into the Shrek’s Swamp. They were sent there by Lord Farquaad who doesn’t want any freaks in his kingdom of Duloc. Shrek is outraged that there are people in his swamp because he lives alone. Then, the Fairy Tale Creatures break out into a sadder song, Story of My Life, about how much it sucks to be a Fairy Tale Creature. Shrek was desperate to get those creatures off his swamp, so he agreed to go find Lord Farquaad and tell him to move everyone off his swamp.
Scene Three is when Shrek runs into Donkey. Shrek is looking at a map, trying to get to Duloc. Shrek finds Donkey running away from one of Lord Farquaad’s guards. Shrek scares the guard and let Donkey show him to Duloc.
Scene Four is at the Kingdom of Duloc. Lord Farquaad has turned all the citizens into robot-like-people. They all look the same and do everything the same way. All the Duloc Performers sing about how great Duloc is and how great Lord Farquaad is.
When Lord Farquaad enters, he brings in Gingy as a prisoner. He forces Gingy to tell him where he can find a princess to marry. Lord Farquaad wants to be king, but he can’t be one without marrying a princess. Gingy tells him where Princess Fiona is. Lord Farquaad had to choose someone else to rescue Princess Fiona when he heard she was in a tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon. After Shrek comes into the scene with Donkey, Lord Farquaad chooses them to do the job. Lord Farquaad told them that all they have to do is rescue Princess Fiona and bring her back. Then, he would give Shrek his Swamp back. So Shrek and Donkey set off on their big adventure.
Scene Five is one of the best! It is a flashback to when Fiona was a young girl, a teen, Donkey come into the scene running. The dragon comes running behind him and they scream, “Run!” Shrek and Donkey go running off stage and back again while Fiona comes to and then right now. Young Fiona, Teen Fiona, and Fiona sing a song called I Know It’s Today. Ever since Fiona was seven, she was sent to the tower to wait for her true love to rescue her. Everyday, Fiona would sing the same song to her dolls and toys. She would read story books hoping that today will be the day that her prince will save her. The song is absolutely beautiful and has lots of expression.
Scene Six is when Shrek and Donkey are on their way to rescue Princess Fiona. Donkey has made it clear that he loves road trips. He thought it would be fun to sing a song as they go called, The Travel Song. It is a really funny song. By the end of the song, they end up at their destination.
Scene Seven is in the Dragon’s Lair. Shrek leaves to go rescue the princess, so Donkey is all alone. Knights in chains come into the scene. They are the Dragon’s prisoners that she kept because they sing back-up. Then, the dragon enters! She sings the song Forever. The dragon is saying that Donkey will stay, Forever. The dragon is misunderstood. All of the Knights came to rescue the princess, but they didn’t even think that she needed rescuing too. Donkey though, cuts her off saying he doesn’t even want the princess. He gains confidence and gets away.
Scene Eight is the Tower. Shrek walks up to the tower and when he gets up, he finds Fiona “in a coma”. She had heard him coming up and pretended to get a true love’s kiss. Instead, Shrek shakes her awake. Fiona goes on about how he is her true love and they need to make this moment romantic. They got down the tower and they hear a roar.
“You didn’t slay the dragon?” Fiona asks.
“It’s on my to-do list!” Shrek replies and they run off.
the front and sings, This is How Dreams Come True. It is a very sweet song that she sings. Fiona knew this day would come and she pictured it a million times while she was in that tower.
Eventually, Shrek and Donkey slay the dragon. Fiona praised them and asked Shrek to take of the helmet from his head. Shrek had no getting out of it and took it off. Fiona freaks when she finds out that Shrek is an ogre. Then, Fiona realizes that it is almost dark and says that she needs to find somewhere to sleep. They find a cave for Fiona and say good night.
Scene Nine start off with a fun song called Morning Person. Fiona has woodland creatures around her and she is singing about how much she loves the morning. She was really awake because she had six cups of coffee. Right when the song ends, Shrek and Donkey walk in and get ready for a trip to Duloc. Fiona and Shrek then get into the conversation of how rough their lives where. They break into the song, I Think I Got You Beat. Both Fiona and Shrek each sang about all the dreadful things that happened to them.
It gets dark again and they make camp again.
Scene Ten is the funniest scene. Donkey comes on stage and sings, Make a move, with the storytellers in the back as back-up singers and dancers. Donkey knows that something is up with Shrek and Fiona. He knows they have feelings for each other. Donkey is telling Shrek to “make a move” before they get to Duloc and Fiona would marry Lord Farquaad. While Donkey is singing, in the corner, Shrek and Fiona are by a fire. Shrek was going to tell Fiona how he feels, but he couldn’t do it. So Donkey goes to get more firewood and exits offstage. When he comes back, he thinks Shrek and Fiona are together and he goes to check on them. He found something else.
Fiona had a secret. After dawn, she would turn into an ogre. Donkey was startled by Fiona. Then he realized that Shrek and her have a lot in common. Fiona tells Donkey to keep her secret. Donkey promises. Fiona then says,” how could anyone love such a hideous beast.” Shrek overhears her as he was walking to go give her a flower and thinks she was talking about him. He drops the flower and walks away.
Scene Eleven starts as Fiona walks out and picks up the flower Shrek dropped before and sings the reprise of Morning Person. Later, Shrek comes in and Fiona stops him. Shrek tells Fiona that he overheard her and Donkey talking about “such a hideous beast”. He also had a gift for Fiona.
Lord Farquaad comes in on a broomstick-horse and asks Fiona to marry him. Fiona says a small good-bye to Shrek and they head off to the castle. Then, the fairytale creatures come in. They were just kicked off of Shrek’s swamp. The fairytale creatures turn on SHrek for not getting them back into Duloc. Next, they sing a song called Freak Flag. It is a really nice song. They sing about how they made them feel like outcasts and “freaks”, but now they want everyone to embrace their flaws. “Let your Freak Flag Wave!” This song helps build up their confidence. Shrek, Donkey, and the fairytale creatures huddled and before you know it, they were off to Duloc!
Scene Twelve is the last scene of the musical. It starts off with Fiona and Lord Farquaad’s wedding ceremony. Fiona is trying to hurry it up before the sun goes down and she will turn into an ogre, but before thy could finish the ceremony, the fairytale creatures along with Shrek and Donkey stopped the wedding. Lord Farquaad was outraged! Shrek said that Lord Farquaad was only marrying her to become King and that he wasn’t her true love. Shrek sang a slow reprise of Big, Bright, Beautiful World. Fiona knew what she had to do. She ran off just as the sun set. I was shocked to see Fiona run out of her wedding, but not as surprised to find out that Lord Farquaad is part fairytale creature too. Lord Farquaad’s father, the dwarf, comes on stage and reveals that Farquaad wasn’t perfect either. It was really funny when he also revealed that Farquaad was living in his basement until he was 28.
Fiona comes back on stage as an ogre. Lord Farquaad was disgusted to see Fiona as a beast. Shrek was shocked to see Fiona like this, but he looks past her looks just as she did with him as she got to know him better.
Then they had their true love’s kiss!
It was supposed to change Fiona back into her normal self, but it didn’t. She was good with it though. Shrek reminded her that she already was beautiful.
The last two songs were the Finale song and I’m a Believer.
NOW TO MY FAVORITES!
My favorite scene was Scene Ten! I just really love funny scenes. If we aren’t talking about anything funny, then I really liked Scene Eleven. The song, Freak Flag, is so inspirational. I love it a lot. I think it is so cool that they were able to boost Shreks confidence and attitude with that one inspirational tune.
My favorite song is I Know it’s Today. I’m pretty sure that a favorite among the crowd too. Fiona has spend her whole life waiting for that one prince that will save her. She had been counting the days as she sang the same song everyday. It was beautiful and breathtaking.
My favorite costume was Lord Farquaad’s costume. I especially thought that the tiny legs that were attached to his costume were excellent. Everything else looked really fancy and looked like a king would wear it.
My favorite line from the Musical was,“Let your Freak Flag wave!” That line is from the song Freak Flag. It has a really good message to always be yourself and to let you shine though even if you’re not perfect. And no one is perfect. That’s why it is so good. It relates to everyone! Not to just a few people. I think that everyone who went to go watch or who is reading this understands that it’s ok to be different.
I would like to say good job to everyone who helped put on this magnificent musical! Everyone did an amazing job! I would also like to recognize our very own Ms. Bauman and Mrs. Crowley for putting everything together as head directors. For my first year seeing a middle school play, it was a great!
I can’t wait for next year!
If you want to relive the moments on stage, go check out the pictures!
Cast
Shrek- Daniel Nascimento
Donkey- Vince Nguyen
Princess Fiona- Sandra Awad
Lord Farquaad- Jayden Tolbert
Dragon- Mia Hannaford
Gingy- Julie Powers
Pinocchio- Drew Cesario
Storytellers- Brittney Riley, Carmela Brown, Riana Gomes
Mama Ogre- Mia Hannaford
Papa Ogre- Immanuel White
Little Ogre- Mason Page
Captain of the Guards- Eli Hochberg
Big Bad Wolf- Jack Perry
The Three Pigs- Samantha LaFarge, Claire Morgan, Sarah Horner
The Wicked Witch- Emily Hoang
Peter Pan- Anthony Vitiello
The Ugly Duckling- A Dion
Mama Bear- Riana Gomes
Papa Bear- Marcell Espinoza
Baby Bear- Hannah Lambert
Young Fiona- Marybeth Oggiano
Teen Fiona- Nazirah Fannoney
Puss in Boots- Isabella Ferrera
Knights- Eli Hochberg, RJ Resurreccion, Mason Page, Immanuel White
Pied Piper- Patrick Toli
Dancing Rats- Natalie Freedman, Olivia Tran, Emilia Lada
Bishop- Patrick Toli
Dwarf- RJ Resurreccion
Duloc Performers- Janesha Andre, Ava Goulston, Monalisa Khatiwada, Emilia Lada, Mason Page, Katrina Varnum, Natalie Freedman, Eli Hochberg, Emma Katzen, RJ Resurreccion, Olivia Tran, Carmela Brown, Victoria Leyva. Brittney Riley, Patrick Toli, Immanuel White
Stage Crew- Jack Carr, Julie Richardson, Stephanie Rubin, Baron Ho, Chris Patel. Kylie Nguyen.
Teacher Spotlight
Donovan Kusi interviewed Dr. Hoy about retirement
Dr. Hoy: Fifteen years as a college professor of philosophy and psychology, then forty years as a mental health psychologist, the last 20 here at OMS.
Donovan: What will you miss the most?
Dr. Hoy: All those thoughtful, wild, sad, confused, yearning, earnest, bright young faces in the cafe, the hallways, and all around OMS - the best place I ever worked!!
Donovan: What is your favorite memory?
Dr. Hoy: A very successful, inventive, and admired doctor of psychology saying that she learned more about real psychology in her internship here at OMS than anywhere else.
Donovan: What are you looking forward to in retirement?
Dr. Hoy: My great grand children (6 so far) visiting us in our winter ocean home and summer lake cottage in Rhode Island where I live.
Donovan: What do you plan to do?
Dr. Hoy: Something exciting that will be waaaaaay second best to OMS
Dr. Hoy: Keep magic in your life. Give the best you can every day at OMS. You are human, not perfect. When you screw up or slack off, get up and start over fresh. No one can ask more of you. And you will treasure your years and yourself here, your whole life. This is a great school.
Student Corner
Question of the Month: How do you balance school and extracurricular activities?
Anonymous 6th grader- USE TEAM TIME!!! Team time is the best. I can get most of my homework done and not have to think about it when I get home. Now I can do all of the activities I wanted to do. The hardest part is making sure that I get my homework done on enrichment days because I do not get to do my homework in school. Sometimes I have to rush home to get my homework done or stay up a little later but most of the time it works out well.
Anonymous 7th grader- I have dance basically every day of the week so it takes up a lot of my time outside of school. I have to make sure that I do my homework during team time and right after school because if not I end up staying up really late after dance to try to get it done and then I am really tired the next day. It usually is not a problem to get my work done right after school but if we have a lot of homework or a project then I might be up late.
Anonymous 8th grader- The best thing I ever did was ask how much of a time requirement my extracurricular activities would be. I know about how much homework I have each night and I can plan other activities if I know how much time I have or need. I could only sign up for an activity that makes sense for my schedule. I had to choose to not do some activities during certain season as well because I would not be able to give my all to each activity.
Anonymous Staff member- I would stress that school work should be the most important thing when planning your time. I do believe that extra curricular activities are necessary, they should just not detract from your school work. From talking to students, I find that the students who have the most success are the students who use their free time in a purposeful manner. Team time is a great time to get homework done so that after school you can focus on a separate activity. Planning your after school time deliberately would also be a good way to make sure that you have enough time to get everything done. Teachers are always available to talk through some of these strategies and to help make sense of your workload in school so that you can better focus on an outside activity.
Curriculum Focus- LEGO EV3 Battle Bots
In Mrs. Murphy’s 8th grade class, we learned about coding and learning how to code using LEGO bots. LEGO bots are robots made out of LEGOs, motors, and sensors that can be compatible to do many things. Our goal was to code the brick, or the main frame of the robot so that it can battle another robot while saying in between the black lines. Programming the robot was hard at first but after a week or so it got easier. It was so much fun playing with the robots and doing obstacle courses and even just doing fun little tricks with it. The class was put into groups and then everyone got their own job. There were 3 jobs- coder, builder, and piece collector. Every job was essential because someone had to build the robot, someone had to collect the pieces and make sure everything was neatly put back, and someone had to code the robot. Learning how to code and how to fix little errors in coding and using the Engineering Design Process throughout the program was a great experience.
Written by Gabby Zola
Curriculum Spotlight- Historia Antiqua
On March 27, my classmates and I went to the Library Media Center and took part in Historia Antiqua (mini-museum). Our “tour guide” was Mr. Doug Ryan. When we got to the mini-museum Mr. Ryan gave us a presentation on the items that were on the tables. He showed us Greek pottery, and many Greek sculptures. Some things I had seen was a piece of Greek pottery called a Pyxis. It was used to store a women's jewelry. It had a picture of a woman's face on the cover. I also saw sculpture of Apis, the sacred. He was a god of the 1st dynasty. It was made out of black basalt.
There were also many sculptures of gods such as Salus, the goddess of health, Hermes, the messenger god, Mercury, who was the god of Mercury. Some exhibits I saw were the Greek vases, the Roman Military, Ancient, and Greek pottery. My favorite replicas were the ones of the Greek glass pottery. I really loved the colors of the pottery and the shapes of the vases. We went down to the mini-museum to see many replicas of famous artifacts, and many more things from the ancient world and it was very fun. So in my opinion Historia Antiqua was a very fun and informative experience.
By Katherine McLaughlin
Stoughton Women's Club Spelling Bee
The Stoughton Woman's Club's 58th Annual Spelling Bee took place at the O'Donnell Middle School on March 29, 2018. Nearly 50 students in grades 6-8 participated in the event, organized by Principal Matt Colantonio and Assistant Principal Hallie Burak. OMS's Julie Linehan moderated the event, and Corie Brookshire and Patty Gorman served as judges.
1st Place: Zachary Mandosa-7C
2nd Place: Weronika Kasperkiewicz-6A
3rd Place: Devin Ural-6C
Twin Day
Boston Sports Day
Women's History Month- Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman
By: OMS 6th Grade Reporter
Aleksandra Lada
March is Women’s History Month. When I think of strong women in history, I think of Harriet Tubman. She was an African american slave in the 1800s. She helped many slaves escape to the North to be free. I could have written about Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton who both helped women get the rights we have now. Though, I chose to write about Harriet Tubman.
Harriet Tubman holds a special place in my heart. We had to research important people in history and make a poster about them in second grade. I loved that project. After that, Harriet Tubman kept coming back in lessons and activities. She completed something that people dreamed of achieving… Freedom. This story also ties into Black History Month.
Harriet Tubman was born as Araminta Ross as a slave on a plantation in Maryland. Later. She took her mother’s name, Harriet, when she was thirteen.
Life as a slave was difficult. Harriet first lived in a one-room cabin with her family that included eleven children. When she was only six years old, she was loaned out to another family where she helped take care of a baby. She was sometimes beaten and all she got to eat was table scraps.
Later Harriet worked a number of jobs on the plantation such as plowing fields and loading produce into wagons. She became strong doing manual labor that included hauling logs and driving oxen.
When Harriet was Thirteen, she received a horrible head injury. A slave owner tried to throw an iron weight at one of his slaves, but hit Harriet instead. The injury nearly killed her and caused her to have dizzy spells and blackouts for the rest of her life.
During this time there were states in the northern United States where slavery was outlawed. Slaves would try to escape to the north using the Underground Railroad This wasn't a real railroad. It was a number of safe homes called stations, that hid slaves as they traveled north. The people that helped the slaves were called conductors. Slaves would move from station to station at night, hiding in the woods or sneaking onto trains until they finally reached the north and freedom.
In 1849 Harriet decided to escape. She would use the Underground Railroad. After a long and scary trip she made it to Pennsylvania and was finally free.
Harriet wanted to help others, including her family too.She joined the Underground Railroad as a conductor.
Harriet became famous as an Underground Railroad conductor. She led nineteen different escapes from the south and helped around 300 slaves to escape.
Harriet was truly brave. She risked her life and freedom to help others. She also helped her family, including her mother and father, to escape. She was never caught and never lost a slave.
OMS Scoop and Knightly News
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