Warrior News    

      A Community of life­long learners                                                                                March 27, 2015  

 

Footloose by: Michaela Cabral and Louisa Hammond 

 On Friday, March 13th, in the Seekonk High School Auditorium, the Drama Club’s production of Footloose had its opening night. Footloose follows the story of Ren McCormack (played by Jimmy Kappatos), a troublesome teen from Chicago, who moves to the small town of Beaumont. There, he struggles to fit in with the town’s restrictive rules, including a ban on all dancing. Beaumont native Ariel Moore (played by Cayla DiSano), the daughter of the pastor who created the ban (played by André Martin), is also fed up with the unvarying way of life in the town. They come together to rebel and fight the unreasonable ban on everything enjoyable, especially dancing. (contd A2)

  

 Teacher Spotlight 

   

Culinary Arts: a mouthwatering profession 

by: Rachel Harrison  

It is no surprise that Mrs. Dahmer has her hands full. Besides teaching Foods/Nutrition and Culinary courses at Seekonk High School, she also takes on the role of educator of Fashion Design. Spending her childhood and adulthood in the kitchen has led her to taking on a career she’s always dreamed of. Students enjoy taking her classes just as much as she loves sharing her lifelong interest of cooking. Mrs. Dahmer’s love for cooking began at the age of six, however, she says that she became more committed (contd A2)

 

   

 

 

 Photos courtesy of Chris O’Halloran 

 “Credit for Life” 

 by: Madison George and Mae Perrino  

On Thursday March 19th at Seekonk High School, the “Credit for Life” program taught the juniors what their lives could look like a few years from now and how to budget their money in preparation for that time. The “Credit for Life” program was organized by Mrs. Fitzgerald and sponsored by Bay Coast Bank. The event took place in the gymnasium where students chose a profession that interested them and they then received an income based off of studies online that showed what their profession would make. Students also got a credit score, which was based off of their attendance in school.The students were then invited to walk around the gym visiting certain booths that represented certain necessities in life that a twenty-five year old person would need to budget for. Booths included the topics of education/ training, credit and lending, clothing, health and nutrition, personal luxury, furniture, insurance, savings/ retirement, transportation, reality check, community service, and last but not least housing. The idea for this program came to Mrs. Fitzgerald after she visited a “Credit for Life” program at Attleboro High School. Although Mrs. Fitzgerald did not participate in a program like this (contd A2)

  “Take the Challenge” By: Rachel Harrison and Elaine Joubert 

 On Wednesday, March 11, 2015 a selection of Seekonk High School students, accompanied by their parents, attended “Take the Challenge Night.” They were introduced to AP and Honors courses and were informed of the many opportunities that come with these learning experiences. The purpose of the “Take the Challenge” night was to encourage students to challenge themselves and do this “in an inviting way” to make students feel comfortable with the transition. “I remember being clueless in high school,” said Dr. Jones. This night was to help inform students about the academic opportunities available to them before making their course selections for next year. A selection of teachers and student volunteers made up the panels for this year’s “Take the Challenge” night; the topics of the panels included how to calculate your GPA, how to access academic support and stay organized, and the myths and realities of upper level classes. After asking Dr. Jones about his favorite part of the night, he replied that many people showed a high level of interest in “taking the challenge.” (contd A2)

Spring Sports by: Austin Amaral and Jacob Taylor 

 Spring Sports at Seekonk High have gotten off to a slow start thanks to the ever unpredictable New England weather.

The snow from January and February is still here in March, and it’s a major eyesore for spring sports teams trying to start up. For now the spring sports teams are forced to practice inside the school with limited space to share. The coaches have adapted their routines to suit the indoor conditions and are hoping the snow melts as soon as possible so the teams can get to work. Mr. Berwick is both a teacher, and a coach at Seekonk High. Mr. Berwick

 Spring Sports 

has coached many sports, including stints as a volleyball coach in the fall, followed by track in the winter and spring. He has a lot to look forward to this year, except for the weather. With spring track already underway, and the track outside still covered in snow, Mr. Berwick has had to adjust to practicing inside the friendly confines of the SHS hallways. But, he is not concerned, as he is still expecting his team to be near the top of the South Coast Conference standings, and even could see Seekonk becoming conference champions near season’s end. Mrs. Kozlowski, the school’s psychologist, and assistant softball coach, expects much of the same. She too has to practice inside until the snow melts off the softball fields. Kozlowski used words like “terrible” and “unfortunate” to describe the transition. When practicing inside, you have to use different equipment, including different balls and bats. It seems like when the snow melts, the games will start, so they will have to transition quickly to be prepared for the outside game. But in the long run, Mrs. K likes where the team is. She likes the youth of the team, combined with the experience that the seniors bring. She has high hopes that the team will make a return trip to the state tournament.

As for the student athletes’ take on the weather, seniors Mat Medeiros and Nicole Mowry both expressed their frustration toward the weather and field conditions at the moment. Mat is the senior captain of the varsity baseball team while Nicole is the senior captain of the outdoor track team and both are hoping for a good season. It’s an unfortunate situation for two senior captains to not be able to hit the ground running and start off their spring season strong. If anything is to be done about the snow it should be done quickly so that the teams can get started.

    

 

Footloose continued from A1

Although the play went smoothly, the weeks leading up to the play were anything but easy. The snow caused the cancellations of eight crucial rehearsal times, as acknowledged by Cayla DiSano. DiSano, the senior student director of Footloose, commented, “This year was little more stressful [compared to other years] because of all the snow days.” The beginning of the play-making process is always stressful, though, because of all the steps needed to produce a play. It starts off with getting the rights to the play, which was especially difficult this year. After they get the rights, the cast perfects each act and character in a thorough manner. Miss DiSano noted that the director, Ranee Csigay, cast “all the parts appropriately." Mr. Kappatos said that this year’s production helped the drama club members evolve into better singers and actors. This could be because the whole team has a “family aspect” to it, creating a positive atmosphere to help encourage and support one another. All these steps are underappreciated by most viewers. Mrs. Hellmold, Seekonk High School’s drama teacher, can reiterate this fact by saying, “I know how much the students go through to get ready… I always feel pride when a student has been in my class and I see them up there.” She also commented on the complicated process of perfecting staging and choreography. Her favorite staging moment was when the Reverend acts as a puppet master pulling the string of all the adults in the town. Student reaction to the play was also positive overall. Junior, Corinne Poirier, said her overall thoughts on the play were that it was well put together; she enjoyed the acting more than the singing. Senior, Nicole Mowry, thought overall that it was great and enjoyed both the singing and acting aspects of the play. When asked to compare the movie and the play, Miss Mowry said, “I saw both movies, and I thought they did very well. It was true to the original script.” All in all, the drama production this year was another success. Regardless of some trouble the members had to go through to get to the finale, it was all worth it because the majority of those who came to see it had only good things to say.

 

  “Take the Challenge”

continued from A1

He also enjoyed the student panel and video that was put together for the night that informed students and their parents about the experience of taking AP and Honors classes. A simple “five point” survey was given at the end of the night where the events were ranked from one to four, four being the highest rating and results hovered in the three to four range. Dr. Jones believed the “Take the Challenge” night was a huge success and both students and parents benefited from the night. Students also enjoyed the night’s presentation as they learned about the classes they would potentially take next year. Perry Joubert, a sophomore, was intimidated at first, especially about the workload. By the end of the night, however, she felt more confident after talking to students who were currently in AP classes. Her favorite part of the night was the student panel and each student was a “representation of each AP class.” Ms. Joubert revealed that the panel gave some advice to the parents, such as “don’t stress your child out” when getting a low grade because of the challenging work. Ms. Joubert also learned about the “flexibility” of the teachers and how they try not to put too much pressure on the students. Ms. Joubert said that the presentation helped her choose her courses and encouraged are to take AP European History and AP English Language. Parents found “Take the Challenge” night very informative and felt they had a better understanding on what AP classes are. “I learned how it will benefit and challenge my child,” said Deborah Barchi, a mother of two, one of which is entering their Junior year. Mrs. Barchi also stated that the presentation went into depth on why it was important and how it will prepare the students for college. Mrs. Barchi’s favorite part of the night was the video of teachers and students clarifying what AP is all about. “[It showed how] students were able to reach the bar,” said Mrs. Barchi, “though it was challenging, it was not so overwhelming that they could still succeed.” In the end, “Take the Challenge” night was a huge success. Parents and students were both pleased and intrigued by this years presentation. In the next coming years, there is a hope that more students will step-up and sign up for AP and Honors classes.

 

     

“Credit for Life” continued from A1 

while she was in school, she wishes she had been able to. Also she hopes that this program helped the students prepare more for their future and think about how the choices you make can affect your future. When we asked Mrs.Fitzgerald about which booth she thought was the most important she said “that although the kids enjoyed the reality check, the personal luxury was most relatable because it made kids realize what you need versus what you want.” When asked if there were any booths she would like to add in the future, she said she may want to add in one dealing with child support/ child care because some kids may not know how much it really is to take care of a child. Overall Mrs.Fitzgerald thought the Credit For Life had a positive outcome and she said “all the students all had positive comments about the experience”. Students interviewed for this article seem to back up Mrs. Fitzgerald’s conclusion. Erika Costa said that she really enjoyed the experience because it let her get an insight as to what she would pay for when she graduates high school and how life would be on her own. She also said, “Although it may not have been the profession we wanted and not the most accurate thing, it gave us an idea of how to manage our money.” Another student, Kyra Kearns, stated that she really enjoyed the experience because it made her realize that she can “make a living and be happy with the career.” Based on the response from both the students and the teachers, hopefully the “Credit for Life” program has a bright future at Seekonk High School and will become a tradition for the junior class.

A Mouthwatering Profession continued from A1

around the age of nine. She learned how to cook from her mother, who is a big influence in her life. Another influence was participation in a 4H group. Similar to the modern Girl Scouts organization, Mrs. Dahmer participated in multiple cooking contests.

At fifteen years old, Mrs. Dahmer entered a contest for food preservation. She ended up winning state championships and moved on to represent the state of Rhode Island in nationals. She describes it as a “life changing experience,” and says, “it helped my self esteem and helped me to define what I wanted to do.”

When asked to describe the craziest thing she’s ever eaten, Mrs. Dahmer replied with…frog legs. As a child she traveled by boat with her father to Quebec, Canada where she was brave enough to try this unordinary cuisine. Later on in life, she worked as an assistant chef which also took place on a boat. But one of the most memorable meals she put together was just two years ago. Think about how difficult it may be to prepare a meal for a big family... now imagine having to put together six whole courses! This is exactly what Mrs. Dahmer was faced with two years ago when she fixed up a Downtown Abbey inspired dinner, based on the television show. After finding a cookbook containing recipes from the “Edwardian England” era, she played the role of chef for twelve people, to fundraise for Mount Hope Farm. Now that Mrs. Dahmer is a food/culinary teacher at Seekonk High School, she uses the skills she’s accumulated throughout the years to pass on her knowledge of cooking to her students. She explained that her favorite memories of being a culinary arts teacher are when former students come back to visit and tell her that they continue to make the recipes from class with their families.

Mrs. Dahmer’s experiences gave rise to her enjoyment and love of cooking and shaped her to be the chef she is today. She never stopped chasing her dream and is a reminder of how hard work pays off.