VOLUME #1, ISSUE #3, 1 MAY 2018

Trojan Tribune GCSD COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER

Hello Students and Parents, May 2018

As we come to the close of the 2017-2018 school year, I can’t help but look back and reflect upon the last 10 months. Here are just some of the many highlights of the school year thus far:

The creation of our Community Closet and Food Pantry to benefit our families in need.

Our student leaders who provide updates each month to the Board of Educa-tion about the great things going on at Athena.

The numerous Students and Staff who were recognized as our “Students/Staff of the Month!”

Our student and staff volunteer opportunity and tour at Food Link! Our many fundraisers, which benefited those less fortunate, along with the

many community organizations that we raised money for. Our assemblies and guest speakers, which enhanced connections for students

between the real world and the classroom. Our talented musicians, singers and dancers who put on such incredible per-

formances, including our School Musical, throughout the year. Our many extracurricular clubs and activities, including Student Council,

Yearbook, NHS, Masterminds, Robotics Club, Mosaics and this Newspaper to name a few, all of which our students are involved and committed to!

Our talented student-athletes and the success of so many of our Athletic teams Our talented Artists who showcased their work in this year’s Art Show. The way so many students demonstrate the Assets of being Respectful, Responsi-ble and Productive on a daily basis.

Here are some key dates to take note of regarding the beginning of the next school year:

10th – 12th grade packet pick up will begin on Friday, August 24th

9th Grade Orientation will take place on August 29th 10:00am – 12:30pm

1st day of school is Thursday, September 6th

Open House/Curriculum Night will be Thursday, September 13th from 6-8 pm

I have been very fortunate to have an opportunity each day to work with so many talented students and staff. It is truly an hon-or to be the Principal of Athena High School and I thank all of you for your support and encouragement. Throughout the sum-mer, I will be working with my staff to prepare for a successful

2018-2019 school year. As always, if I can be of assistance please don’t hesi-tate to call (966-4043) or send me an e-mail (david.richardson@greececsd.org).

Finally, I hope you are able to find an opportunity this

summer to relax and enjoy some quality time with your

friends and family. Go Trojans! Mr. Richardson

IN THIS ISSUE:

Community

Support

Accomplishments

Memories

Accomplishments

2 Perspectives on Culture by Amani Taher (‘21) Maram Abdullah (‘20) Marwa Abdullah (‘21)

We are from a beautiful country called Yemen, which is in the Middle East. Yemen was facing and is still facing problems like civil war, which impacted our lives. Because our country was not safe to live in, we decided to go to a safer country, America. We faced many changes that occurred while moving from Yemen to the U.S.

We grew up together in the same country, city, and even in the same house. We have always been together in the difficult and cheerful times. A typical day to us includes: wake up in the morning, get ready, wear our school uniforms, and go to the same school. In Yemen we stay in the same room for all of our clas-ses and each teacher rotates to a different class each period. At the end of the day we go home to do our school work, then we go outside to play. All the kids on our street gather and boys and girls separate into two groups; boys play soccer and girls play a game from Yemen called “ Go Go Ashreen.” After we finish play-ing outside for a couple of hours, we go home and all of our family gathers togeth-er to eat dinner. When we lived in Yemen, we loved to go a small market called “ Rayad”. This market means a lot to us because we used to go there every day since we were four years old.

One day in the middle of the night ( about 3:00 am) we heard a shooting, and all of our family woke up scared and shocked, especially us kids because we never heard shooting before. All of our fami-ly went to the basement and we stayed up the entire night because of the loud shooting. Over the next couple of months the shooting continued to get worse. One morning we heard our parents saying that a war is starting in our country and we can not stay in Yemen anymore because it is not safe for us. Our parents decided that we needed to go to a safer country. Maram and Marwa’s parents decided to go America since their father was already there, however, their cousins, Amani’s family, decided to go to In-dia because their application for a U.S. Visa was not ready yet. This was the hardest day and moment for all of us because it was our first time separating. We were disappointed that we were going to separate. In the meantime, we realized that each one of us was going to a safe place and we knew that even though we were separated, we would be together in our hearts.

After one year, we finally met together because Amani and her family came from India to the U.S. and Amani began living with us and going to the same school called Athena. At first when we came to America we faced many challenges because most of the things were different from our country (Yemen). All in all, traveling from Yemen and India to America was a good experience even with the challenges we had faced. Also, we have learned and we are still learning a lot about America’s culture.

VOLUME #1, ISSUE #2, FEBRUARY 2018

Same Different

Teenagers like music.

Teenagers like sports

Teenagers love their cell phones.

Weather—Yemen’s temperature can be above 98 and

there is never snow.

School—Yemen teachers move classes & US students

move classes

Language—challenge to learn content & new language

Facts:

Oldest Arab country

One of the 7 Gulf States

Language is Arabic

Includes more than 200 islands.

Yemen

3

ATHENA HIGH SCHOOL TROJAN TRIBUNE

Class of 2018—Seniors

Class Advisors: Pam Vail and Sheryl Hugh

Class Council: Maci Prinzing, Kate Sidoti, Bryan Testa, and Lexi Forte

Senior Ball on June 8 from 7 pm-11 pm.

Class trip to Darien Lake is June 11. Bus leaves Athena at 9 am and will return about 6 pm.

Senior Banquet/Bash is June 15 from 6 pm-12 am.

Tickets for Darien Lake and the Banquet/Bash will be on sale May 21-25 in the College

and Career Center.

Class of 2019—Juniors

Class Advisors: Andy Hilton and Steven Walther

Class Council: Gianna Palumbo, Alison LeFebre and Evan Anderson

Tumbler fundraiser. Tumblers can be ordered with the Greece Athena Trojan logo, or the logo of your favorite professional or collegiate sports team.

The Junior Prom is on Saturday June 2nd from 7-11 PM at the Whittier Party House.

Class of 2020—Sophomores

Class Advisors: Nicole Berardo-Nitsch and Amy Leopard

Class Council: Megan Plaskocinski, Isabella DeRubis, Kaitlin DeLoria.

This year, the sophomore class has held fundraisers to help make upcoming events the best

they can be! Thanks to all of the students who purchased candy canes during the holiday

sale or flowers for Valentine’s Day.

In addition, we are starting to look into prom venues and themes for next year. Please share

your ideas with our class council! Ideas can also be emailed to the President of the Class of

2020, Megan Plaskocinski at mp001125@greececsdstudent.org.

Class of 2021—Freshmen

Class Advisors: Larry Frisa and Pam Vail

Class Council: Hannah Harris, Tashawna Martin, Ny'Ashiah Arias-Batzing, Sehansa Kurukulasuriya,

Trinity Bohrer, Chloe Hamil, Korra Chan, Audrey Coons, Madison Hall

See board between room 137-139 for news and announcements.

Meeting every other Thursday during Advisement. All are welcome to attend

Athena Class Comings and Goings

4

Italian. . .MORE THAN JUST A LANGUAGE CLASS by Evan Anderson (‘19)

One of the great joys of traveling throughout Italy is re-alizing that it is truly a dream destination. From the Ro-man Colosseum, to the Sistine Chapel, to the canals in Venice, we truly did have the trip of a lifetime.

The Italian trip is just one of the unique activities the Greece Central Italian Language Department partici-pates in annually. Prior to the trip, the Italian Depart-ment wanted to do something special for local children at the Golisano Children’s Hospital. For the second year in a row, the Italian Department hosted a pasta fundraiser with profits benefiting the Golisa-nos Children ‘s Hospital. Like the year prior, the fundraiser was a success! Over $2,000 was raised to help the needs of children staying at the hospital. Not only this, but the food was amaz-ing and was cooked by the Greece Central Italian teachers. Wegmans and other local business-es like Doan Fiat, Aldi’s, BJ,s, Tops and The Brookhouse chipped in with food donations for the event.

The Italian department has done some other awesome things as well. The seniors in AP Italian attended a field trip to RIT to further enhance their language skills and cultural knowledge. A cool thing about taking Italian is that the Italian Government pays the AP exam fee to encourage more stu-dents to study the language. This is a big help for students who take several AP courses. When you’re a junior learning is interesting as well! Level four students learn the culture, vocabulary, and grammar by watching interesting films such as Stanno Tutti Bene, Il Postino, and our favorite, Cinema

Paradiso. Not to mention, we do awesome projects too!

The annual trip to Italy is definitely the highlight of the Italian de-partment. The almost 10 day trip over spring break took myself, Gianna Palumbo, Jamie Hayes, Skyler Whipple, as well as other students from Arcadia, Olympia, and Odyssey to almost every major city in Italy.

We flew to Paris and then onto Milan, Venice, Assisi, San Gimignano, Florence, Rome, and Pompeii. Some highlights of the trip included visiting the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Vatican, taking a gondola ride, and the amazing food!

VOLUME #1, ISSUE #1, NOVEMBER 2017

VOLUME #1, ISSUE #2, FEBRUARY 2018

5 A Unique Italian Trip 2018 by Skyler Whipple (‘19)

My trip to Italy will be a moment in my life that I willl never for-get. Small towns like San Gimignano and large cities such as Rome created remarkable memories that will remain with me throughout my life. What made the trip so distinct was the fact that three generations; my mom, my grandparents, and my-self, were all able to travel together. My mom had previously traveled to Italy with Prof. Wilder when she attended Greece Athena High School. She had stayed with a family in Bologna where she was exposed to the pure Italian lifestyle. As a junior, she was able to tour all the famous features of Italy, attend school and live with a family as an exchange student for a brief time. Our trip to Italy this year was a reminiscence of that experience and the best part for her was that she was able to share it with me and her parents, my grandpar-ents. My grandparents have perpetually thought about going to Italy but had never had the chance to go. Then the opportunity was available this year. Thanks to Prof .Wilder , EF tours, and the teach-ers who organized the trip, it became a reality. We visited a majority of the same noted places and we were able to capture pictures of us all where my mom was once standing. Our favorite places would have to be St Peter's Basilica, Venice, Pompeii and San Gimignano. Every place was beautiful but these were the ones that stood out to us due to the astonishing views that we would never to able to see here in Rochester , New York. I’m forever grateful for this experience to my mom, grandparents, Prof. Wilder from Athena, Prof. Errigo from Arcadia and Prof. Pizzolanti from Olympia. It was a once in a lifetime experi-ence!

6

ATHENA HIGH SCHOOL TROJAN TRIBUNE

Athena supported Autism Up inside and outside

of the building during the month of April.

AutismUp aspires to provide the very best in autism

support programs and services in the Greater Rochester and surrounding areas

and aims to support peak performance at every age and ability. The motto of

AutismUp is "EVERY GREAT CLIMB BEGINS WITH A STEP UP."

April was Autism Up Month

Students show support of Autism

every day of the week.

Monday—Sign the pledge to sup-

port autism awareness

Tuesday—Wear blue day

Wednesday—Puzzle piece guess

Thrusday—Wear “the spectrum:

9th-Red

10th-Orange

11th-Orange

12th-Green

Staff-Purple

Friday-Hat Day

Students design, create, and decorate many of the

trees that surround the campus with coverings of

blue canvas and puzzles pieces.

Student safety is the top priority at Athena High School. To ensure a students safety, we practice different types of procedures and drills for students to follow.

Shelter-in-Place: to shelter students/staff inside

the building.

Hold-in-Place: to limit movement of students/

staff while dealing with a short term emergency.

Evacuate: to evacuate students/staff from the

building.

Lockout: to secure buildings/grounds during

incidents that pose an imminent concern outside

of the school.

Lockdown: to secure buildings/grounds during

incidents that pose immediate threat of violence

in or around the school.

Emergency Responses by Cameron Cooney (‘21)

7

Mindfulness

by Alexis Woods (‘21)

Mindfulness Matters

Mindfulness is a strategy used to cope with the increas-

ing stress, anxiety and depression that teens face. This

year a groups of 9th grade girls were chosen to come

together weekly during advisement to focus on being

more mindful in their everyday lives.

Strategies learned & practiced by students at Athena:

Mindful minute-when your life is in chaos take one minute to stop,

focus on your breath and clear your mind.

Mindful Walks– while walking, look up, take note of your sur-

roundings and look up from your electronics.

Think with your senses—use all 5 senses to focus and relax

Creation of glitter jars—jars filled with water and glitter used to

relax the mind

VOLUME #1, ISSUE #2, FEBRUARY 2018

9th Grade Conferences by Alexis Woods (‘21)

Problem

solving

using

Breakout

Boxes

Teambuilding &

cooperation games

9th grade conferences on March 14th was a day for team bonding

and to prepare for the future for the Class of 2021. Freshman individ-ually presented to staff their goals for high school. These presenta-tions replicate the senior portfolio that is an Athena graduation require-ment. This process encouraged students to reflect on their progress, set goals for their future and practice formal presentation skills.

Also on this day groups of freshman rotated through various stations and worked on problem solving, team-building and get acquainted ac-tivities. Some of the stations were: break-out boxes, unroll a ball of plastic wrap with oven mitts, yoga ball, volleyball etc.

8

ATHENA HIGH SCHOOL TROJAN TRIBUNE

Basketball, Unified Head Coach: Nick Defendorf &

Ashley Green

Baseball

Head Coach: Jason Bunting

Captain: James Sciortino and Ryan Ballard

JV Coach: Mike McLaren

Captains: ____________

Golf Head Coach: Mike Butler

Captains: Greg Palermo

Lacrosse, Boys Head Coach: Andy Hilton

Captains: Joe Wegman, Paul Forte and

Matthew Peters

JV Coach: Brian Donnelly, Ron Messmer & Alex

Saavedra

Captains: Tyler Roxstram, Jake Hill, Josh

Mitchell

Lacrosse, Girls Head Coach: Kyle Norton,

Chris Passamonte

Captains: Emily Benham, Shah

Murphy, Alyssa Ballou, & Madi

Bodnar

JV Coach: Lindsay DellaGloria &

Mariah Hettel

Captains: Jazmyn Walker, Nicole

Taylor and Madison Lockhart

Spring Sports Capsules

Softball

Head Coach: Nichole Blackwell

Captains: Mary Andreano & Katie Holzmacher

JV Coach: Sara Boily

Captains: Brooklin Cardon, Sam Weiss, Aman-

da Calberg, and Skylar Zapatta

Modified Coach: Gabe Moore

Captains: ____________

Tennis, Boys Head Coach: John Clifford

Captains: Pat Donlon

Mod A Coach: Wil Spencer

Track, Boys Head Coaches: Rob Cerone, Justin

Mull

Captains: Shane Pease, Giovanni Greer, Nvayo

Ndongwa, Elian Garcia, Lucas Switzer

Track, Girls Head Coaches: Jean-Paul

Scott & Thomas Talone

9

Greece Youth Hall of Fame

The Youth Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Greece Regional Chamber of Commerce, recognizes 11th and 12th grade high school students who have

demonstrated leadership and community spirit through exceptional personal achieve-ment or employment.

James DiMora, Jacob DiMora and Emma

Doyle were inducted on May 3 to the

28th Annual Youth Hall of Fame.

VOLUME #1, ISSUE #2, FEBRUARY 2018

On May 30th, the lives of those who have fought in the wars will be remembered. This includes all of the World Wars, the American Revolution, the Civil War and any other major conflict. Memorial Day is observed everyday on the last Monday of May. We observe this day by hosting parades for multiple groups to march in, including the local marines, police force, and fire department. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials to honor those who have lost their lives in combat. This day was originated by president Lyndon Johnson in 1966 to honor those lost in the Vietnam War. This day has become a national holiday. Although many Americans are regrettably lost in these wars, it’s best that we always re-member them.

Memorial Day by: Cameron Cooney (‘21)

10

ATHENA HIGH SCHOOL TROJAN TRIBUNE

Trojan Twitter Pics

11 ATHENA “NEW TO YOU”

CLOTHING BAZAAR &

VOLUME #1, ISSUE #2, FEBRUARY 2018

Athena Middle/High school is having a Clothing Bazaar featuring clothes to

suit most ages, sizes and seasons.

If you or your family are in need of clothes but

can’t spend the money to buy those clothes,

come to the Bazaar. Athena’s Closet has the

following items and hopes to add to the closet

as time goes on.

SEL (Social Emotional Learning)

Social and emotional learning (SEL) “enhances students’ capacity to integrate skills, attitudes,

and behaviors to deal effectively and ethically with daily tasks and challenges.” (CASEL.org)

RESPONSIBLE DECISION MAKING—The ability to identify and solve problems, ex-

amine social/ethical responsibility to a community, and

personal reflection.

5 Steps of Responsible Decision Making

1. Define the Problem

2. Brainstorm possible solutions

3. Consider the consequences

4. Make the Decision

5. Evalutate the decision

April 25th May 23rd June 20th

Times: 3:00-7:00

Forum Room

Athena Cares

12

ATHENA HIGH SCHOOL TROJAN TRIBUNE

Trojan Pride: Athena Students of the Month!

Mr. Vreeland, in cooperation with Athena’s PBIS

Team, facilitates the selection of monthly Athena

Students of the Month. This program recognizes

students who go above and beyond typical aca-

demic and/or social expectations. Nominations

can be made by any member of our Athena

School community. The student’s picture and

nomination are proudly displayed in the glass

case outside of the Forum room.

Students of the Month

March

“Trojan Pride” continued on the next page.

Celeste Lott

Molly Sexstone

Calvin Sloan

Charlie Wolcott

Zachary Harnischfeger

Andrew DelRegno

Matthew Lindsley

Raffaella Shutt

Sanaa Speed

Alexis Windom

CJ Austin

Kathryn Holzmacher

Ariana Lehmann

James DiMora

Jacob DiMora

Patrick Meisenzahl

Omar Morales-Lopez

Shane Pease

Kelcey Roe

Robert Stirrup

Juniors

Seniors

Freshman Sophomores

Page 13

NEWSLETTER TITLE

Students of the Month

April

Freshman

Jared Burns

Brooklyn Cardon

Alex Holloway

Hannah Harris

Zachary Dierna

Sophomores

Juniors

Seniors

Camryn Bader

Hannah Brooks

Andrew Gruver

Shawn Mou

Zachary Smith

Alan Van

Andrew Doan

Anthony Hudzinski

Leanza Gibaud

Brian Pendar

Cassidy Pestell

Andrew Teall

Mandy Huynh

Allison Yuna

Chad Yuna

14

VOLUME # 1, ISSUE #2, FEBRUARY 2018

Blood Drive

National Honor Society sponsored a blood drive for the American Red Cross on April 12. Jaylen Kelly & Lindsay

Fink, co-chairs, worked with a committee that planned appointments & organized volunteers in the canteen &

registration tables. Twenty-one units were collected from seniors (whohave donated since they were first eligible

at age 16)& first time donors, that we hope to see again.

Trojan Pride

Welcome to the Trojan Tribune!

We hope you enjoyed this issue. The Trojan Tribune is the mighty Greece Athe-

na’s student-generated “School Community Newsletter.” Our purpose is to

keep all of our important stakeholders aware of our successes and achieve-

ment from a wide range of curricular and extracurricular activities.

Any student interested in writing for the Trojan Tribune team, should come see

Ms. Scamacca in room 143.

Story ideas and/or feedback are welcome and should be forwarded to

Michelle Scamacca at <Michelle.Scamacca@GreeceCSD.org>

Trojan Tribune Staff

Editor: David Richardson

Faculty Advisors: Michelle Scamacca

Student Contributors: Cameron Cooney, Andrew Latona, Alexis Woods, Evan

Anderson, Skyler Whipple, Amani Taher, Maram Abdullah and Marwa Abdullah

Proofreading: Deb Bauer

Non-Profit

Organization

US Postage

PAID

Rochester, NY

Permit No. 1365

Administration:

Principal: David Richardson

Assistant Principal: Jennifer Ficarella

Assistant Principal: Susan Fix

Assistant Principal: David Hoffman

Athletic Director: Josh Lacy

http://www.greececsd.org/athena-high.cfm

Keep up with Athena High on Twitter:@ATHDRichardson

@AthenaHigh @AthenaLibrary