PrinciPal’s corner:commitment: 1. the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc 2. an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action.

Two million minutes and too many commitments is the story of most highschool students. In case you do not know, two million minutes isapproximately equivalent to four years or from the moment a studententers ninth grade until graduation. I referenced the two millionminutes of high school during the last few salute speeches.

(continued on page 3)

March 2015 Volume 1 Issue 2 March Upcoming Events 2nd Student Job Fair (at HSN) 3rd HSS Washington Seminar Parent Meeting, 7pm 3rd-5th HSPA Testing 5-7th Spring Musical 7th Rescheduled PTSA Practice ACT/SAT test 7th & 8th Catalyst Boot Camp 10th BOEd Meeting, CMS 7:30pm 19th HS Volunteer Fair, 4pm 10th-14th HSS Washington Seminar 12-16 HSS Senior Trip 18th PTSA Genr’l Membership 730 20th International Night 24th BOEd Meeting, CMS 7:30pm 27th SAASA, HSS , 6pm 29th HSS Band Dinner 4:30 pm & Concert 6:30 pm 30th End of Marking Period 3 In This Issue.... Page: Editor’s Note 1 PTSA Corner 1,2 Principal’s Corner 1,3 HSS Course Scheduling 3 New Band Director! 4 In The News 4 Students As Teachers 5 Post Prom 6 Class of 2015 7 Class of 2016 7 Class of 2017 7 Class of 2018 7 Out Smart The SAT 7 Sports Pages 8,9 HSS Tips and Tricks 4 HSS Has Heart 10

P.T.S.A NewsletterMessage FroM The ediTor I am so glad to be on our second Newsletter, especially after the success of the first newsletter. As a team, we promised to bring you what was hap-pening at High School South every month, and this month is no different. If you know a student who enjoys writing, or would like to be part of our newsletter team, feel free to send an email to wwphssnewsletter@gmail.com

Pierre-Antoine Frotte

PTsa PresidenT Hello South Families, It feels like the cold winter days will never end, but thanks to your particpa-tion in PTSA events you have warmed the hearts of many . Over $2,300 of Mini-Grants were awarded to the following clubs at South: *ESL Chinese teacher, Ms Zhao; *Science Club, Dr. Sharma; *Waksman Club, Dr. Bhattacharya; *HSS Media Center, Mrs. Marinski; *Help Club, Mr. Daniel (continued on page 4)

West Windsor Plainsboro High School South

PTSA CORNER PAGE 2

UpComing Events:

*Practice SAT / ACT test (3/7/15) *Catalyst SAT Boot Camp (3/7 & 3/8/15) *PTSA General Meeting - Mindful Stress (3/18/15) *Volunteer Fair - (3/19/15) *International Night - (3/20/15) *Princeton Ed Network - College Workshop (3/30/15)

We want to thank the following committee’s for their hard work and dedication to the PTSA, we are lucky to have so many amazingvolunteers making HSS PTSA a successful one: *Food Drive - Robin Valentine, Beth Greenman (student), and Anish Puligilla (student) *Mini Grants - Jay Sloan, Jen Hsia, and Tiffany Hsia (Student) *Bake Sale - Tracey Balestrieri, and Gena Maher

We appreciate all your support to help make HSS a great school for all our students,

Kathy Modi HSS PTSA President

PTSA Message Continued from page 1..

Show Your Pirate Spirit Order South unisex clothing. Contact: Uma Sogani usogani@gmail.comUma Vejendla vejendla2@hotmail.com

Donate to JWAC for the new year. Consider showing your support for the PTSA by contributing to the “Just Write a Check” program at South. The donation form is on the PTSA website. www.southptsa.org

JUST WRITE A CHECK CAMPAIGN

HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH & TARGET HS South participates in Target’s School Fundraising Made Simple Program, which is a terrific fundraiser for us. Simply charge your purchases on your Target Credit Card with HS South designated to recieve 1% back. Applications are available at Target stores or go to their website, www.target.com, and click on the guest card icon. Our ID number 74388. To change your designate, call 1-800-316-6142.

Rescheduled Test Date: Saturday, March 7th, 2015 Test Time: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Check-in: Start from 9:30 a.m. Where: High School South, 600s area near Math Dept. Bring: Pencils, calculators, water bottle, and a snack

Students looking for a summer job should attend hs north onMonday, March 2nd; From 7pm - 8:30 pm Upper dining hallfor job fair. Bring 10 resumes. A resume template is available on the district website under Virtual Backpack.

Join us for South’s 1st Annual International Night on Friday, March 20, 2015 from 6-9 PM at HSS to showcase the diversity in our school and community, a night filled with cultural food, games, and a show. If you would like to help be a part of a dynamic team to help our community learn about different cultures and witness extraordinary talent from our very own students, email kmodi25@gmail.com

INTERNATIONAL NIGHT

RESCHEDULED ACT/SAT COMBO TEST

HS NORTH PTSA JOB FAIR

And I implored the Jaguars turning Pirates “to make the most of each minute.” For the most part, South students accepted the challenge to make the most of each of those two million minutes. However, in the desire to make the most of high school, some students have forgotten the value of making and honoring a commitment. While South provides numerous academic, athletic, and artistic experiences, no one student can be part of all of these or even many of these programs. Sometimes I wonder if students participate in certain programs only to pad a college application. I would like to think students participate basedon their passions not padding. The names of the activities can never replace the experience of the activities. The activities only offer value when they help us learn about our world and our place in it.

When students commit to a team, club, or program, they need to recognize the time and energy they need to commit. They have tounderstand they will need to balance their social life, academic life,athletic/ artistic life with sleep and their family commitments. When one commitment interferes with another, it is important for the person to work out a compromise or recognize they cannot par-ticipate because they are already committed to some other activity.

Let me be clear, I am not suggesting a limit to activities, but I am imploring students to honor their commit-ments. For example, when students join a team, a club, or activity, they should not plan on missing any games or practices. Missing a practice or competition is not an option because they made a commitment. On a rare occasion when there is a conflict, students must realize they have to work twice as hard to make-up for their absence. So, I implore our students to think about their willingness to commit before deciding to join a club, team, or activity since the experience is only worthwhile if they are passionate about their involvement. After all, no one has control over the two million minutes, but all students have control over their commitments.

Principal’s Message Continued from page #1....

PRINCIPAL CORNER PAGE 3

Mr. Dennis LepoldHSS Principal

As we reported last month, students attended presentation concerning course selection for next year to learn about classes being offered for the next school year. Beginning on Sat., Feb. 7th, 2015 you may vew a con-tinuation of your child’s current academic program for the 2015-2016 school year; please note these courses may or may not be the courses for which your child is eligible, as ourlined on Page 9 in the High School Program of Studies. Visit www.ww-p.org/Guidance/program_of_studies Final course eligibility will be deterimined when student meets with Guidance counselor or the IEP team. Beginging the week of Feb. 9th, Guidance counselors will meet with all students to review course eligibility, verify course requests, and ensure graduation requirements are being fullfilled. The schedule for these meetings is: Rising Seniors (Class of 2016) Feb. 9-27 Rising Juniors (Class of 2017) March 2 -13 Rising Sophmores (Class of 2018 March 16-27) After your student has met with guidance counselor or IEP team please review final course request via Infinite Campus. Any questions please contact your student’s assigned guidance counselor or case manager. If you wish to appeal course eligibility, you may request a Course Eligibility Review, which can be applied for on the district web site under Guidance/Program of Studies. Deadline to submit a Course Eligibility Review ap-plication is April 1st, 2015.

HIGH SCHOOL COURSE SCHEDULING 2015-2016

IN THE NEWS PAGE 4

SOUTH HAS A NEW BAND DIRECTOR:Mr. Jesse Argenziano, formerband director at Hackettstown High School, is the band director at High School South. He leads three concert bands, the marching band, the jazz band and the pit orchestra. Mr. Argenziano is also taking the band program on a tour of Spain in mid-February.

PIRATES PRESENT...LEGALLY BLONDE, THE MUSICAL Harvard is hit by a storm of pink in this fun, upbeat musical about self-discovery. Based on the adored movie, Legally Blonde: The Musi-cal is ridiculously enjoyable from start to fin-ish. Elle Woods appears to have it all. Her life is turned upside down,however, when her boy-friend dumps her so he can start getting serious about his life and attend Harvard Law. Deter-mined to get him back,Elle uses her charm to get into HarvardLaw. At school, she struggles with peers, professors, and her ex-boyfriend Warner Huntington. With the help of friends Pallett and Emmett, though, Elle quickly real-izes her potential and sets out to prove herself to the world.

Save the dates below for a performance you won’t want to miss! March 5 @ 7:30 p.m.. March 6 @ 7:30 p.m., March 7 @ 2 & 7:30 p.m.Tickets will go on sale the week of the show at lunch and will also be sold at the door.$10 students, $12 adults.

Pirate cast includes Emma Kothari(Elle Woods), Adam Bachir (Emmett Forrest),Matt Deslatte (Warner Huntington II),Daisy Chase (Vivienne Kensington),Robin Slothower (Margo),Cheryle Chong (Pilar),Shirley Hecht (Serena),Dan Stoddard (Professor Callahan),Sophia DiLeo (Paulette Bonafonte),Kara Benerofe (BrookeWyndham),Vanessa Huang (Enid Hoopes),Lora Riehl (Kate), Katarina Karris-Flores (Chutney Wyndham),Tristan Wiemer(Kyle/Pforzheimer),Fil Filipovic (Aaron Schultz),Austin Meo (Sun-deep /Niko), Dan Puma (Carlos),Taylor Hoogsteden (Delta Nu Sister), Ryann Myers (Delta Nu Sister),Sam Schonberger (Delta Nu Sister),Brittany Washington (Delta Nu Sister),Eric Simon (Grandmaster Chad/Kiki), Justine Labang (Grandmaster Chad), Christine Strange (Whitney), Jake Rona (Elle’s Father),Sahib Srivastava (Lowell), Carolyn Campbell (Store Manager), Adrienne Kaplowitz (Store Clerk). Ensemble includes Sophie Bramnick,Sara Cvetanovic,Bethany Greenman, Maddie Kartoz, Joice Kim, Lisa Maina, Isabelle Meiers, Kritik Mirg,Jenna Paritee, Grace Sawyers, Esha Sunthankar, Anika Vincent Orchestra, Brian Starace, Angela Gao, Claire Paul, Sarah Chen, Ben Shrager, Harry Meadows, Caroline Bromberg, Tommy Liang, Kevin Xie, Zaibo Wang, Matt Wong, Nova Friedman, Ashwinee Manivannan, Neeraja Aravindan, Vineeta Muth Uraj, Janet Ho, Allie Cohen. The crew responsible for managing the stage, costumes, props, and behind the scene include Gabriella Alvarez, Maggie Boyle, Koleen Hernandez, Jordan Hoogsteden, Ryan Linskey, Keely Lyons, Alisa Rubinstein, Alex Valen and Nancy Zong.

EARLY DISMISSAL FROM SCHOOL

To be excused from school early, student must turn in a signed note to the attendance office. In addition, when your child is picked up, he/she must sign out at the attendance office. If a note was not turned in on the day of early dis-missal, it must be turned in the following day.

PRINCETON PONG 2015 TOURNAMENT Princeton Pong is hosting the Princeton Pong 2015 Winter Open Tournament on February 28th. There are events for all skill levels, plus under 10 and under 14 age events. Everyone is welcome. Register on line at www.princetonpong.com

IN THE NEWS PAGE 5 THE HAPPY MUSEUM

The second annual HAPpy Museum at South was a huge success. Community members of all ages came out to view exhibits designed by human anatomy and physiology stu-dents. Supported by teachers Kate Heavers and Chris Trefz, students worked very hard on exciting, innovative and inter-active exhibits which demon-strated their knowledge of the human body. By the looks of attendees faces, it was clear to see the students reached their mission to awe, enlighten and educate others on the science of the human body.

COSMIC BOUNCE, DANCING, BOXING, Wii GAMES, BAKE SALE AND MORE!! Join us Friday, February 27th from 7:30-10:00pm at BOUNCE U in West Windsor! Tickets will be sold during lunch 2/23-27: $10 to bounce $13 to bounce and for 2 slices of pizza and unlimited amount of drinks $11 at the door to bounce $15 at the door to bounce and for 2 slices pizza/drinks ** BEFORE buying a ticket you MUST get a waiver from the Main Office/Facebook and have it FILLED OUT by a PARENT!** Sponsored by HSS PTSA

POST PROM PAGE 6

Support Post Prom 2015 this year by submitting your McCaffrey’s receipts marked “Post Prom 2015 Mc-Caffreys Receipts” . Drop off/send HSS Front Office.

Dear Senior Parents, February is upon us and it may seem like May is so long in the distance, but it isn’t! There are only 116 days till Post Prom! These next few months will be kicked into high-gear. Everyone’s help is still needed.

Decorating is meeting Monday’s from 7-9pm and Saturdays from 9-11am. Come out and see those friends you haven’t seensince the elementary school days of class parties and such! Help us plan the biggest “class party” ever!

We would like to “Thank” those who assisted with the Mendoker’s sales in December. That fundraiser raised nearly $2,000 for Post Prom. Thank you’s go out to Lori Balin (Chair), Diane Chan, Sherryl Leon, Maureen McKay, Lisa Sheffield, Anjali Agrawal, Liz Boyle, Terri Car-dulla, Ilene Case, Linda DeMilt, Ajitha Gadanji, Cynthia Goldner, Priya Gupta, Louisa Ho, Lori Janick, Ying Li, Maria Maffei and Doreen Meo.

Fundraising is still going on. We have the Dress Sale on Saturday, February 28 at 10am at HS South Commons 3. The Bake Sale will be Monday, March 23-Friday March 27. There are also South Travel Mugs, Luggage Tags, and South Window Clings for sale.

We are in need of someone to Chair the ChazMa Tazz Tuxedo rent-als. Please contact Gina- orangenna@aol.com if you are interested. ChazMa Tazz rents out the tuxes and collects them at HS South after prom! Very generous of them!

There will be a Video Montage at Post Prom and we are looking for photos from you! Please send up to 4 photos of your child when they were young, in Middle School and High School. They can be alone or with groups of friends that are part of the Class of 2015. Pictures can-not be larger than 3 megabytes. More info to come.....

Class of 2015 DVD sales have begun. Don’t miss out on the memo-ries of your child’s Senior Year. DVD includes Prom, Post Prom and Graduation.

Last, but certainly not least, please do not forget to send in your dona-tion to Post Prom 2015. Fundraising has been going well, but we do still need your donations. HS South Post Prom is celebrating 30 years of keeping students safe! Do your part to keep this tradition going and send in your donation today!

Looking forward to completing this journey with you! Gina

Gina Finnie 2015 Post Prom Chair orangeenna@aol.com 609 275 8812

CLASS OF 2016 CLASS OF 2017

Hello Freshman Parents, The Class of 2018 is currently working on two fundraisers: a Recycling fundraiser and a Travel Mug fundraiser (pic-ture right) . The high quality stainless steel travel mug fea-turing a closing mechanism to prevent spills is packaged in a gift box. Support freshman by sending a check for $15.00 each, made out to WWPHSS Class of 2018, to the HSS front office (attn: Ms. Walsh & Mr. Siegel.) Include your name, email address and phone number. Ques: Michelle. Walsh@ww-p.org or Joshua.Siegel@ww-p.org Send in your empty ink cartridges to their attn for the recycling fundraiser. Upcoming events; Movie Night and Dinner Out. Best Regards, Binu Johnson, Sharon Rajaro and Cindy Alvarez Freshman Liasons

CLASS OF 2018

CLASS OF 2016, 2017, 2018 PAGE 7

Stay tuned to upcoming spring event details. Thank you for supporting Class or 2016 & 2017 Junior Liasons: Kathy Lane & Jessica Julius Sophmore Liasons : Uma Sognai, Uma Vejendla, and Emily Josephson

The Catalyst SAT Bootcamp is a two-day seminar for students that provide strategies for every question they’ll face on the test. A prep-eration class designed by instructors who have earned multiple perfect scores on the actual SAT. The SAT Bootcamp is designed for studnets taking the SAT before the Spring of 2016. Top-ics include how to: Shortcut math questions that stump more than 90% of test-takers. Compose a perfect-score essay no matter what question the SAT asks. Spot hidden clues that instantly reveal the main idea in long reading passages. Avoid the four sneakiest ways SAT grammar questions try to trick students. Location: WW-P High School South Schedule: Saturday, March 7 from 9am-1pm and Sunday, March 8th from 9am-1pmCost: $175 Unfortunately, we cannot accomodate walk-in students. For more information or to enroll, visit www.CatalystPrep.com and click the Boot-camp Sign-Up tab on the website’s menu bar. The deadline to enroll in this special SAT prep opportunity is Wednesday, March 4th. This event is sponsored by the High School South PTSA and a portion of the proceeds ben-efits HSS PTSA.

“Road Map to Success- College Applications”

Presented by Princeton Education Network

March 30th, 2015 - 7 PM

High School North Auditorium

OUTSMART THE SAT!!

* Sign up for Morning Announcements via Tracy Jones at tjones@ww-p@gmail.com

*Make sure you are receiving eNews via Guidance department

*Signu up for Twitter emergency text alerts by sending text “fol-low WWP_Notices” to 40404

*Get sports schedules, reminders and link onto your personal calendar via http://wwphs.sharpschool.com/h_s_s_activities/south_calendar/

*Check out our very own South calendar: http://wwphs.sharpschool.com/h_s_s_activities/south_calendar

HSS ORGANIZATIONAL TIPS PRINCETON EDUCATION NETWORK

WINTER SPORTS PAGE 8BASKETBALL

SWIMMING

FENCINGStefano Lucchette, Kevin Gao, and Frank Huang won the district boy’s saber champi-onship 30-3. Lucchetti won the individual title for the district. Gao placed second, Huang took fourth. Anna Akkara took bronze individual girl’s epee title. They will advance to the state squad championship. Lucchetti is also an international fencer, placing 1st in the Jr World Cup in Tehran, Iran last month. He’s ranked 5th among Jrs in the world. Joey Dachevsly and Jade Rowland are the teams captains. Jade placed 3rd at Jr Olympic in foil and is 5th European Caded Circuit. Victoria Xu, girls saber fencer, has the best team record. Pirates have a new coach this season, Rebecca Lehman and Assistant Coach Richard Chang supporting the team.

Jonathan Klines scored 23 points and Tom-my Hussson scored 11 points as South de-feated North, 58-33. Danny Borup scored 19 points to lead South to a 59-55 vicotry over Trenton. Girls team Alyssen Rivers scored 11 points to defeat North. With 48 seconds left Madigan Kelly hit a shot to five. In the final seconds Rivers sealed the win with a free-throw. Rachel Goldfinger and Rivers each finished with 6 pts. Kelly

4 pts. Coach Fisher, “Our team goal is to continue to grow as a group. The challenge is always the same, can we stay focused and committed to the task at hand each and every day. We need to continue to pay atten-tion to detail and support each other in these last few weeks of the season.”

Pirates did a great job in both the Mercer County Tournament and State Championship. The girls went to the first round. Boys made it to the second round. Pirates finished with a 14-2 re-cord, including two wins and a season sweep over HSN, who finished 7-6. Head coach Anthony Bartolone is very proud of the teams accomplishments this year .

WINTER SPORTS PAGE 9

WRESTLING

HOCKEY

Pirates won back-to-back CVS Valley Division Title as well as the Bachner Cup (North Vs South). This gives South’s hockey team the best winning percentage in CVC history since inception of the hockey team. We finished 9W-2L-2T for the CVC season...back in 2001-02, South had 10W-3L-2T record...they played 1 more CVC game. This year’s team has the lowest losses (2) of any South Hockey Team ever...big congrats to all the players for this achievement. Individual accomplishments include Brian Tso achieving his 100th assist with the 6-3 win over Steinert. An assist means more to him than goals because he is helping others score. Brian also broke Joe Cangelosi’s (Class of 2011) all time HS South scoring record by attaining 75 Goals; 101 Assists and 176 points (season not over yet). Jon Matthews has attained 100 points this season. Support ourPirates, 3 pm Wed., Feb 11 at Mercer County Ice Skating Rink in West Windsor, during the prelininary round of the Mercer County Tournament.

The Wrestling team had two wrestlers take first place at counties and one third place finish. Sean Thompson and Nicholas Maher captured MCT crowns. Rob Ar-mus, finished third capturing a medal. It was the first time the school has had two champions since 2003. Last weekend South defeated Lawrence and Steinert High schools. This puts the team in position to be CVC Colonial division champs. .

TRACK

Pirates excelled at the CJ IV Meet! Kathryn Schoenauer won the 55m hurdles in 8.63. Pirates took the top three spots in the long jump. They won by 49 pts. Schoenauer named MVP of the event. Christina Rancan wins 1st in the 3200. Nikhil Puli mood wins 3200m. Pirates are moving on to the State Championship then to the Meet of Champions at the end of the month.

HSS HAS HEART PAGE 10

Thank you to students and coaches that shared photographs and information with The South Source. The source for South news! Interested in joining team? wwphssnewsletter@gmail.com

Co-Chairs: Cindy AlvarezKamana Misra

WW-PSA HELPING THE COMMUNITYThe West Windsor-Plainsboro Service Association is supporting the community by collecting much needed items for the Animal Placement Agency of the Wind-sors during the month of February. The WW-PSA is comprised of the district secretaries, bus drivers, bus aides, bus mechanics, instructional assistants and cafeteria/ playground aides. If you wish to contribute item we need Pup-Peroni (any variety), Purina Little Bites, Purina Puppy Chow, Alpo Snaps (any variety), Target Rawhide Blue Stripe, Peanut Butter (Creamy any brand). Checks can be made payable to APAW. Each WW-P District School will have a donation box located in their main office through March 1st, 2015. Questions email Sherri.Bailey@ww-p,org Thank you!

THE SOUTH SOURCE TEAM: Pierre-Antoine Frotte

Matthew Jacobson Simrun LaroiaZaina Shariff Yukti Sharma

Shivangi Sogani

FACULTY BUBBLE SOCCER

High School South Faculty Bubble Soccer was a fun filled event to raise funds for Christine’s Hope for Kids. Faculty members in-cluded Mr. Daniels MC’ing the event, Mrs. Nagle, Ms. Brady and more had the courage to join teams.

PTSA BOARD MEMBERSPresident Kathy Modi Exec Pres. Janet Greenman VP Fundraising Binu JohnsonVP Programing Heather NielsonSecretary Uma SoganiTreasurer Anjali Sharma Visit web site: www.southptsa.org