The Avon Record

The

Avon Record Volume LXXXIV, Issue 5

Th e student newspaper of Avon Old Farms School

Friday, May 27, 2011

Congratulations Avon Old Farms Class of 2011!

Courtesy Tim Stay ’97

The class of 2010 toss their caps as they finish up their Avon careers. The class of 2011 will celebrate in the same manner on Sunday.

On the Inside...

3

Underclassmen awards

7

Teacher discusses importance of film

11

new editorial board gives its verdict

2 News

Friday, May 27, 2011

Avon by the numb3rs Grandparents attend classes A mathematical look at Avon life 2... Days until commencement

123...

Seniors graduating this Sunday 6... New editors for The Avon Record 3... Months summer vacation

of

367... Days until 2012 commencement 12:45... The hour at which this issue was finished 0... Number senior exams left

of

44... Number of seniors playing sports in college next year 149... Number of days until the next predicted rapture

Annual tradition deemed a success R.J. Fiondella ’12 Staff Writer

On May 11th, Avon Old Farms held its annual Grandparents Day. According to Mr. Kirschner over 350 grandparents attended this year. This day is now a tradition that students and grandparents look forward to throughout the year.

The day started with a breakfast reception in the refectory while grandparents awaited their grandsons, some of whom attended first period class. At 9:00, grandparents and grandsons departed for their E period class.

Each grandparent attended three abbreviated classes.

This allowed the grandparents an opportunity to see what it is like to go to school here at Avon. In some of the classes, grandparents were asked to participate, such as Mr. Sweetland’s AP US History class. He asked the grandparents to recall what it was like when they went to school. Such topics include sports, cars, and music of their day. That approach impressed grandparents very much because it gave them an opportunity to share memories with the students.

Teachers will often prepare a special assignment or extra credit activity for grandparents.

In Mr. Ketcham’s physics class a special in-class demonstration and PowerPoint presentation was prepared for the grandparents. The activity involved everyone in the

room; most of the class worked on measuring the distance needed to catch a swinging pool ball in a fivegallon bucket after the string holding the pool ball was cut. Meanwhile, other students described the experiment with a PowerPoint presentation and discussion to inform the grandparents about what the other classmates would be doing.

In Mr. Volo’s Music Appreciation/Advanced Guitar class, the discussion focused on the shift to Baroque music post-renaissance. My grandfather, Bob Fiondella, was surprised at the depth of music history we are exposed to here at Avon. It reinforced the fact that our education encompasses all fields: academics, athletics, and the arts.

The classes were followed by a concert and remarks by headmaster Kenneth LaRocque. Prior to the concert, awards were presented to grandparents who have been especially involved in the development of Avon Old Farms.

This year the the Louise Adams Medal went to Grandparent and Chairman Eric and Anne Ferguson.

The concert featured the Chorale, Honors Chorale, Riddlers, and a special Grandparents Day Band. This year the concert was preceded by poetry recitations by Tyler Wieland ’11 and Colin Tiernan ’13. One thing that stood out for many of the grand-

parents was the development of the school’s musical talent over the past three years. Going to the Grandparents Day concert each year is a great way for me to track the progress our performers.

After the concert and awards, the grandparents had a chance to have lunch in the fieldhouse with other grandparents and their grandsons. The lunch preceded an afternoon of athletic competition. Also, prior to the start of the games, grandparents could get a guided tour of the our campus.

One of the annual features of Grandparents Day was the opportunity to have a picture taken with our grandparents. Both students and grandparents relished the chance to share a memento from this great day.

Grandparents Day is particularly important to those grandparents who do not live in the area.

Their proximity to Avon makes it harder for them to see athletic events or to take part in the Avon Old Farms experience. But with Grandparents Day, they have the opportunity to be a part of campus life at least once a year and measure our growth from freshman year to senior year as well as the value of our education. Regardless of how far away some grandparents are from Avon, none of them would miss the day for anything.

New Avon Sound records first CD Jack Oberg ’11 News Editor

In years past, the Riddlers have produced a CD showcasing some of the vocal talent in our music program. This past spring, however, the school provided an opportunity for our instrumental program to shine.

In early winter, the New Avon Sound was informed that they would have the opportunity to record a full-fledged CD scheduled for release during Parents Weekend 2011. This set would include the best songs from the entire year, all compiled onto one disc.

Mind you, this would be no cheesy, do-it-yourself album; Avon alumni Eric James will professionally produce this CD and help out during recording.

Eric brought in industry standard audio equipment to ensure that the best audio fidelity would come through.

When the time to record finally came around, the challenge seemed daunting to many of the students involved, myself included. Seemingly over night, the Sharp Performing Arts room we all knew and loved was transformed into a maze of wires, sound absorbing carpets, and audio equipment.

Each performer had his own microphone to capture every

minute detail. The recording lasted a full seven days, including two five-hour Sunday sessions.

Many of the soloists had to put in even more time to ensure the quality of their improvisations.

During that week’s enrichment periods, each soloist recorded several takes with guidance from Mr. Volo, and then they picked

section was spot on, the horn section added to the ominous vibe, and finally, Santiago Bohmer ’12, and Harry Price ’11 nailed two fantastic solos. Immediately after the take, Jack Williams ’12 summed our performance with: “That was sick.” In order to create a true quality production, the band had to sacrifice some songs. Some favorites, like Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” never quite materialized, and were excluded. Still, the set list shows tremendous range from the band of upperclassmen with songs ranging from the loud and staccato “Hit the Bricks” to the smooth “Sambeando”.

On the last day of recording, Eric played back the best takes of each of the songs that would go on the CD. Although each song sounded great, Eric James ensured the band that it would only get better with the help of advanced audio software.

All in all, the process ran very smoothly. In only one week, the New Avon Sound managed to record several great takes whilst maintaining a great attitude. We are all anticipating the Fall 2011 release of some of the best that the New Avon Sound has to offer.

“When the time to record finally came around, the challenge seemed daunting” the cream of the crop. Jeremy Ross ’12 had this to say about the time commitment involved in recording: “The whole ensemble put in a lot of time and effort into the CD; I know all that work will be well worth it when the album finally comes out.”

The week of recording had its highs and lows. Some days the vigor just was not there, and few of the takes were up to par. Other days however, yielded some spectacular recordings; the energy in the room was palpable.

I can recall one specific take of “Night in Tunisia”. The rhythm

News 3

Friday, May 27, 2011

Underclassmen awarded for academic efforts for both Moral Philosophy and English 3, and Will White. For history, the winners were Will White, Nnamdi Amilo ’12, and Maxym Prybyla ’14. For Latin, the winners were Ian Spolarich and Colin Sullivan ’12. For Spanish, the winners were Sung Han Kim ’14, Janos Lobb ’14, Wei-an Chen ’12, and Nnamdi Amilo. For French, the winners were Colin Tiernan ’13, David Dietrick ’12, Joaquin GarciaQuiros ’14, and Obumneme Njeze ’14.

For math, the winners were Marco Wong ’14, Charlie Chen ’12, Guobiao Li ’12, Matt Detora ’12, Edward Arnheiter ’14, Byunghoon Kwon ’13, Markus Donahoe ’12, and Panyachote Ketungyoenwong ’13. For science, the winners were Siyuan Chen ’12, Charlie Chen, Guobiao Li, Eric Depner, Janos Lobb, and Nnamdi Amilo won the Bausch and Lomb award for the highest average grade in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. For visual arts, the winners were Fernando del Rosal ’13, Min Kim ’13, Walker Owen ’12, and Lane Valimont ’13. For excellence in chorale,

the winners were Gavin Touponse ’14, Edward Arnheiter, and Panyachote Ketyungyoenwong.

The ceremony then proceeded on to the academic rosettes, given to students who achieved Headmaster’s or Dean’s List for the first quarter, first semester, and third quarter. Following this, two new awards were presented, the Hetherington Cup for the most outstanding freshman athlete, given to Mickoy Nichol ’14, and the Higgins Cup for the most outstanding sophomore athlete, given to Jihad Pretlow ’13.

The most prestigious awards of the night followed, the college book awards. The winner of the Cornell Book Award was Matt Detora. The winner of the Middlebury Book Prize was Jeremy Ross ’12. The Trinity Book Prize was awarded to Michael Gagnon ’12. The Hamilton Book Award went to Colin Tiernan. The University of Pennsylvania Book Award was given to Ben Casella ’12.

The Yale Book Prize winner was Connor

Doyle ’12. The winner of the Darthmouth Book Prize was Dylan Shamburger, and finally the Harvard Book Prize went to Nnamdi Amilo.

Despite the fact that the underclassmen awards ceremony came to a close, there are still several awards to be given to underclassmen at the senior awards ceremony. These awards include the Cline Award, for students who have demonstrated the highest level of earnest and persistent effort in the classroom, on the athletic field and in service to the school community, and the Jennings Cup, given to the top athlete in the junior class.

Finally, the Louise B. Adams is presented to a junior for excellence in citizenship and devotion to Old Farms, as the highest award to an underclassman. Also, during the Cum Laude portion of the program, it is customary, though not guaranteed, for the top junior to be inducted into the Cum Laude Society.

and commands throughout the Vietnam War proved a catalyst for his future career advancement.

His initial general officer

This year the Avon Old Farms assignment was as Deputy Director Class of 2011 will be privileged to be of Operations in the US European addressed at commencement by retired Command. Then, in 1991, he served four-star General Anthony Zinni. as the Chief of Staff and Military Zinni began his service in the United Coordinator in Operation Provide States Marines upon graduation from Hope, a relief mission for the former Villanova University in 1965, and Soviet states, and then was transferred continued to serve until his retirement to Somalia and promoted to Director in 2000. He is also a graduate of John of Operations for the same mission.

F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center During his commission as Commanding and School, the Amphibious Warfare General of the 1st Marine Expeditionary School, the Marine Corps Command Force from 1994 to 1996, he served as and Staff College, and the National the Commander of the withdrawal of War College. He holds a bachelor’s United Nations forces from Somalia, degree in economics and two Master known as Operations United Shield. of Arts degrees, one in international Zinni had two stints in United relations and another in management States Central Command, first, from and supervision.

September 1996- August 1997, when

Zinni first garnered respect as he served as Deputy Commander in an exceptional Marine in 1970, when Chief, and then, in his final tour from he returned to Vietnam as a company September 1997- September 2000, as commander in 1st battalion, 5th Commander in Chief, United States marines, at which time he was wounded Central Command in MacDill Air in combat. His subsequent assignments Force base in Florida. During this time,

he organized Operation Desert Fox, a series of air strikes on Iraq in 1998.

General Zinni has remained engaged in American society after his retirement in 2000. Re-entering the world of academia, General Zinni has held the positions of Stanley Chair in Ethics at the Virginia Military Institute, the Nimitz Chair at the University of California at Berkeley, the Hofheimer Chair at the Joint Forces Staff College, and the Harriman Professorship of Government and membership on the board of the Reves Center for International Studies at the College of William and Mary. He has also worked with the University of California’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation and the Henry Dunant Centre for humanitarian dialogue in Geneva, and he is currently an instructor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. In this academic vain, he has also written three best-selling books on his military career and foreign affairs: Leading the Charge: Leadership Lessons from the Battlefield to the Boardroom (2009),

The Battle for Peace: A Frontline Vision of America’s Power and Purpose (2006), and Battle Ready (2004), General Zinni also serves on the advisory boards of eight different companies, including a security test firm and Mu Dynamics.

Even before 9/11, General Zinni warned of the dangers of terrorism in the Middle East, and his opinion on the matter continues to carry much weight. Similarly, as an opponent of the Iraq invasion and a proponent of the surge in Afghanistan, his military expertise continues to be significant after his retirement.

During his service, General Zinni was highly decorated, including decorations of the following: Defense Distinguished Service Medal with 1 oak leaf cluster, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Bronze Star with 1 award star and valor device, and the Purple Heart. It is truly and honor and privilege for the Avon Old Farms community to welcome General Zinni.

embarked out on tour of the northeastern United States after recording their new CD. The group traveled to New York and New Jersey promoting the CD that came out the following fall.

The Riddlers are looking forward to their trip, leaving on June 3rd for Sweden. While in Sweden, the group will travel throughout Stockholm singing at several different venues. The Riddlers will be living with host parents while in Sweden. Tours of Stockholm and other sight-seeing ventures will provide insight to the Swedish culture. They will also be combining with an all-girl choir f rom Sweden to perform a few numbers. The group will be in Sweden for about a week and will then travel to Estonia to the city of Tallinn. There, the Riddlers

will perform for about four days and then travel to Finland via overnight ferry. The group will perform there and then travel home, arriving in the United States on June 15th.

This trip has been made possible in part by the Riddlers new CD “Brothers Sing On!” The CD has traveled around the world due to alumni. “This trip gives us a chance to spread the word about the group and will help us in the future,” said Keith Boratko ’12. Bryan Zaros looks to bring the Riddlers “to the international stage.” With this tour, the recent performance with the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and another CD coming out next year along with a performance with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the group looks to gather publicity and fame throughout the world.

Denton King ’11 Staff Writer

The last full week of school is dedicated to sending the senior class out the right way. While the seniors have their awards ceremony on Saturday, May 28, Sunday, May 22 was the night to recognize all of the academic achievements of the underclassmen. Following the invocation from Mr. LaRocque, rosettes were awarded to those men who had served either as a monitor, or on student council.

Next, Will White ’13 was awarded the Woodwell Leadership Award. The Earnest and Persistent Effort Award is given to a member of each class; this year’s winners were Will Rinaldi ’14, Eric Depner ’13, Dan Palazzo ’12 and Evan Phillips ’12.

The meat of the ceremony followed, with the academic book awards given to the top performer in each discipline. For English, the winners were Ian Spolarich ’14, Dylan Shamburger—

Avon welcomes graduation speaker General Anthony Zinni Noah MacMillan ’11 Staff Writer

Riddlers to tour Scandinavia in June 2011 Harrison Wasserbauer ’12 Editor-in-Chief This June, the Riddlers will be crossing the pond on a European tour through Sweden, Finland, and Estonia.

The Riddlers, led by their conductor Mr. Bryan Zaros, have been working hard to get prepared in order to sound their best. This year, the Riddlers are the largest they have been in years; twenty-seven members comprise the group. Mr. Zaros commented on the size of the group, saying, “I came here with a specific vision for the Riddlers: previously, they were a small group.

I am turning the group into a larger ensemble capable of singing in larger venues, and more major works. This April, for example, we combined with the Manchester Symphony Orchestra and Chorale to perform Mendelssohn’s Second Symphony where we provided the majority of the male voices, something that the Riddlers could not

“This trip gives us

a chance to spread the word about the group...” have done two or three years ago.”

The Riddlers are no mystery to the world. They have been making a name for themselves ever since their first European tour in the summer of 2008. The group performed throughout Germany and was praised by their audiences extensively. In the summer of 2010, the Riddlers

4 Features

Friday, May 27, 2011

Club TED introduced to Avon campus Matthew Liptrot ’11 Staff Writer

This year has seen many new clubs but few have been as vigorous as the Club TED. New Avon faculty members Mr. Harris and Mr. Green created this organization towards the middle of the school year and since then; it has had more meetings than many yearlong clubs. Each week many Avon students take time out of their busy schedules to meet in Major Bourgault’s pelican classroom. There, amidst the military posters and wall-length printout of the front page of the December 8th 1941 newspaper, the students engage in a communal discussion on many and varied topics. Each meeting begins with a video selected from the myriad posted on the TED website chosen by Messrs. Harris and Green. The TED site is a repository for great ideas whose intended goal is to spread these ideas among the global village. Each year TED hosts conferences across the world, from Glasgow to New York and beyond. In these meetings the world’s leading thinkers and doers are invented to come speak to the conference and share their ideas.

Some of these “worthies” include Bill Gates, Taylor Mali, Salman Khan. Each presenter gives a

speech which is then posted online for free public consumption. These ideas include the complete revamping of the school system based around videos, spelunking, interpretive dance, liquid filled eyeglasses, to name a few. After the videos, the TED clubs members gather then discuss the ideas that were presented to them. They talk about how the ideas could be implemented either in the “Avon bubble” or in the wider world. The group attempts to determine what affects the ideas’ implementation would have on both the small and large scale. Mr. Harris says that TED is “great because there is so much fascinating stuff that is not covered in the normal high school curriculum. Club TED allows kids to ‘fill in the gaps’ and make connections between school and real life, thanks to visionary and inspiring people from all sorts of disciplines.”

In the past year, Club TED has grown from an idea to one of the best attended extracurriculars on the Farm. But as we all know, anything that does not grow stagnates and ultimately collapses. So what is next for club TED? According to Mr. Harris “We are currently in the process of forming a committee to write out our mission statement for next year and beyond. Ultimately we’d like to host our own TEDx conference at Avon, but in the meantime we will just be making sure we have everything laid out for a successful 2011-2012 school year.” A TEDx conference is an independently organized TED event. Instead of a massive conference with scores of speakers lasting days, a TEDx event is shorter and mixes live presentation with TEDTalks videos. The goal of these events is to stimulate conversations and connections on the local level. With faculty members Harris and Green at the helm, Club TED promises to continue to grow in the coming year.

“Club TED promises to continue in the coming year.”

How The Record is made Avon spotlight: Senior photo Gerard Hampton ’11 Features Editor

There are many misconceptions about how The Avon Record staff goes about creating each issue. Before we get into weeding out the fact from the fiction, we need to start from the beginning: the writing process.

Students are assigned topics from the editors. The newspaper is divided into the following sections: News—John ( J.B.) Jackson ’11, Features—Gerard Hampton ’11, Opinions—Tyler St. John ’11, and Sports—Andreas Biekert ’11. As an editor, attempting to find a willing participant to write for you is an extremely difficult process. On some occasions, The Record is so low on writers that it is necessary to threaten students or even lock them in a room and force them to write for you. I have admittedly done some things that I am not proud of to just get a couple of publishable words.

The content of each article depends on what section a student is writing for. In the News section, writers write 600 words on how exciting a certain speaker was or how the most recent community service event went and other such recent events. In the features section (the best section), writers write—well they get to write 600 words about something, but I am still uncertain about what. In the opinions section, writers are not restricted by the tyrannical oppression of creativity from the editor. Students can write anything they feel like writing about and send it in for publishing. These articles can range from student’s love for the tenth amendment (Iverson ’10 Loves the Tenth) to a calling for all students to wear bow ties (The Bow Tie: An

Upcoming Trend for Students). In the sports section, writers are told to write about a specific team. These writers typically just copy and paste the sports synopsis that are already located online and attempt to submit it. Regardless of what section the writers write for, they typically send the editor’s emails giving us permission to change anything we like and apologizing in advance for the quality of their work.

This brings us to the editing process; layout is done on Monday and Tuesday nights in Mr. Lampe’s classroom, who is also The Record’s advisor. In addition to the editors mentioned above, Editor-in-Chief Joseph Cusano ’11 and Photography Editor Durst A. Breneiser ’11 are pivotal to the overall creation of the newspaper.

The editors gather around 6:45 pm and edit until around 11:30 pm. During this lengthy period of time, all of the editors are frantically searching for three day late articles and writing for their own section because of last minute pullouts from writers. While all of the editors are writing and editing, the Editorin-Chief is transferring the edited articles into adobe “InDesign” program in which The Record is created. After hours of work when the record is finally completed we send the paper to Stepsaver, the company that prints the paper for the following Friday. It is difficult after hours of arduous work to receive comments such as, “We have a school newspaper?” or “The Avon Record makes good kindling!” However little gratification The Avon Record editors or writers receive, we enjoy producing our only school newspaper and hope the readers enjoy it too.

Durst Breneiser ’11

Features

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Last Hurrah for the Hampton family Jihad Harkeem ’12 Photography Editor

I can remember all the way back to my freshman year here at Avon and all the talk of an apparently legendary family-The Hamptons. Having actually never formally met a member of the family until the Winter Diving Season, I honestly regret not meeting them sooner. The first person I met was the father, Mr. Christopher Hampton ’79. He served as my form of transportation to and from Miss Porter’s for my first year on the swim team. Shortly after that, I had the opportunity to meet Bridget, the only girl in the family (other than their mom), when she made the trip with her dad to bring me back to campus.

I remember Mr. Hampton telling me about his sons, mainly Gerard ’11 because he was only one grade above me, and how much of a character he was.

It wasn’t until the fourth academic quarter of my freshman year that I actually met Gerard.

I was walking from the Brown Student Center, and he was coming from the Ordway Science Center; We were bound to cross paths at the Headmaster’s Office.

When we met, I said, “Hey, Gerard! You don’t know me, but I know your dad and sister, and they both say that we’d totally get along--oh, and I’m Jihad.”

I’m pretty sure that at first he was a little startled, but after it all settled in, he responded with, “Cool”--an awesome first impression. That summarizes my contact with Gerard during my first year.

When I returned as a sophomore, and Gerard returned as a junior, contact between us was still minimal. We only talked in passing, but I am comfortable saying that it was all good between us. Having heard so many great things about him, I really wanted to be able to hang out with him, but we never really got around to it at all that year.

There was only one year left for me to get to know Gerard.

On the first day of classes of the 2010 - 2011 school year, my prayers had been answered, not only did I get to actually talk with Gerard, I would be spending the entirety of the school year with him in Mr. Rice’s AP Environmental Science class. On the surface, I was quiet, but inside, I felt like my goal had been completed.

After spending a whole year in his company, I’ve seen the many colors of Gerard Hampton.

From his whining about the substantial amount of work over just about every long break, to his debates with Mr. Rice over the one multiple choice answer marked incorrect, but proven to be correct according to the

textbook, Gerard did in fact prove to be a true character. And I would be a fool to let his choice of attire go without comment;

with their parents’ vehicles.

All in all, my experience with Gerard Hampton has been a great one and I am truly thankful

5

feel sorry for you. However, you do have hope, maybe he will make a special guest appearance at one of the ever so popular Hampton

Timothy Stay ’97

The Hampton family rejoices as Pat Hampton ’10 graduates last year.

Gerard’s somewhat unique sense of style is definitely something to remember--his vast collection of pins on his blazer lapel, his wide variety of school pants, and most importantly, his signature springtime shorts that closely resemble Vilbrequin bathing suits. One memory that I will never forget is Liam Cardon and Gerard’s bumper car games--

that I had the opportunity to finally get to know him. As we all know, he graduates this spring to join his brothers, Chris ’09 and Patrick ’10, at John Hopkins University. For those of us that have been graced by his presence, I feel comfortable saying that we have all enjoyed it; for everyone who never had the chance to meet or spend time with him, I

bonfires next year. With that being said, the Hampton legacy on the Avon campus will be taking a break after this year, ending with the youngest.

Another great year for Old Farms actors Durst Breneiser ’11 Photography Editor

The Avon Old Farms Theater Company has had a very successful year. In the fall, Avon’s production of William Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night, took audiences back to the sixteenth century. In the winter, the Company took on the biggest musical undertaking since Footloose.

Avon’s production of West Side Story was a massive success. In the Spring, three student directors produced three separate short plays: Family 2.0, Anatomy 101, Commercial Success.

With great senior leadership, the theater department thrived this year.

After the last Avon production of William Shakespeare, A Midnight’s Summer Dream, the Company was determined to outdo itself. The production of Twelfth Night did not disappoint.

William Shakespeare employed the classic plot of mistaken identity when Viola (Caroline Clark ’11 of Miss Porters) is confused with her twin brother, Sebastian, (Tim Liptrot ’12) by Countess Olivia (Savannah Chandler ’11 of Miss Porters). Chaos ensues as the Countess Olivia falls head over heels for Viola while the jealous Duke Orsino (Sehan DeSilva ’11) also seeks Olivia’s hand in marriage.

The show had positive reviews f rom Avonians; clearly the timeless comedy

had not lost its humor even in today’s society.

In the winter, Shakespeare’s work appeared yet again. West Side Story is a modernized, musical version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

West Side Story is considered the defining musical of its time, with music composition by Leonard Bernstein and with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a script by Arthur Laurents. The show required a lot of direction, which was provided by the head director Mrs. Robinson, vocal and orchestral director Mr. Bryan Zaros, and choreographic director Ms. R e b e k a h Wilcox.

The actors had to be versatile, having to act, sing and dance. In the gang rivalry between the Jets, a rambunctious, American teenage gang, and the Sharks, immigrant Puerto Rican teenagers, violence is imminent.

The leader of the Jets, Riff (Keith Boratko ’12) seeks the help of his long time f riend and cofounder of the Jets, Tony (Durst Breneiser ’11) to help clear the Sharks out in one, all out fight. Yet

prior to the fight, Tony catches sight Maria (Ariel Fernandez ’11 of Miss Porters) the sister of the Shark’s leader, Bernardo (Sehan DeSilva ’11). There is love at first sight, and while Tony and Maria try to begin a new life, their old allegiances test their love as death and revenge swirls about them eventually leading to Tony’s death. In his death, the gangs put their differences aside and find a peace. The classic tale and all-star cast, including M i c h a e l Gagnon ’12 as Action and Izzy Scapp ‘13 as Anita, awed students and critics alike as the show was featured in The Avon Patch.

In fact, a bus full of forty girls had to be turned away on Saturday night show as it was standing room only.

Avon theater continued to thrive into the Spring season. Tyler Wieland ’11 and Stephen Driscoll ’11 wrote, directed, and starred in Commercial Success, in which they portray a small time strip club comedian

“With great senior

leadership,the theater

department thrived this year.”

and a local commercial actor who head to Hollywood with dreams of making it big. Anatomy 101 written, directed, and starring Tyler Eve ’11, is the story of two college f reshmen, AJ Bauer ’11 and Tyler Eve ’11, who endeavor to convince their female counterparts to “study” with them. Family 2.0, directed

by Sehan DeSilva ’11, is a critique of the typical American dream of a white picket fence, one son, one daughter, Leave It to Beaver style American household.

Overall, it was a great year for Avon theater. The shows varied in time f rom the sixteenth century to the nineteen fifties to present day.

The senior leadership greatly helped enhance the productions. While the senior thespians will be sorely missed, next year’s senior thespians, Keith Boratko ’12, Michael Gagnon ’12, Tim Liptrot ’12 and Michael Nicolia ’12, will not let the bar drop as possibilities for shows such as Rumours, The Importance of Being Earnest and even Les Miserables are being considered for next year. Avon theater is on a roll that no doubt will continue to grow in the years to come.

6 Opinions

Friday, May 27, 2011

Avon campus: A second home for many Alija Hogans ’11 Staff Writer

Avon Old Farms is my second home. The Crocker family and teachers like Mr. Deckers ’90 have made me the man I am today. I competed with my newfound family members, won and lost with them, but no matter what the circumstance, the bond was still the same. While here at the Farm, I had some pretty interesting moments: moments ranging f rom late night food fights to large scale cheering at epic games. I will always remember the late night snowball fights. As a tiny f reshman, I was surrounded f rom all sides by giant, hulking seniors all armed to the teeth with snowballs all too often packed excessively.

Although the snowballs made contact with many delicate parts of my body, I still relished the sport of it all. These were my brothers. We all laughed as we launched giant blocks of snow at

each other and helped the wounded with the care of a true family. We cheered as other dorms joined into the fierce battle and generally enjoyed each other’s company.

Later that night a couple of us scavenged trays f rom the dark depths of the refectory. We marched to the athletic hill, the dread of our daily lives, and proceeded to slide down it.

Unfortunately for us, the snow barely covered a thick layer of ice. Once we reached the bottom of the hill it was nearly impossible to climb back up. Students like Connor Doyle ’12 and Blaise Driscoll ’08, along with a multitude of others, found themselves stuck in a hairy situation. Even so, we all laughed at our misfortune. We had each other, and like many hardships to come we overcame it together.

We crawled up our own version of Mt. Everest together and laughed as others slid back down the icy slope.

Another night at the Farm

that I will never forget is the absurd food fight that took place in my f reshmen hall in Pelican. Hall mates such as Mark Naclerio ’11 and Eric Naclerio ’11, Rob Decosmo, Taj Herrera ’11, and Zack Minsk ’11 all took part in a night of pure, perfect laughter. As each of us launched skittles and M&M’s over the doors we could hear the candy shattering contact with the winter screens over our windows. Soon other treats were added to the arms race as we gathered all the snacks we could. Milky Way bars and even Pound cakes were added to the on-going battle. Taj landed the knockout blow of the night when he made solid contact with Zack’s face with a full pound cake. As Taj and I hollered with laughter we could hear Zack’s outrageous laugh, peppered with pain f rom the contact and force of the pastry. It was a great night for all. Although it ended with Eric being fed up of the loud noises and tossing

Zack’s entire mattress out of the room (sheets and all), and the infamous Renee’s breaking up the first Pelican Food War, it was a grand night.

Although many of us complained about morning meetings and the complete non-existence of the female species, I’m going to miss this place. The f riendships I made here will last me forever and I’m going to miss the brotherhood. The opportunities given to me by AOF changed my life and I’m more then thankful. The kind souls who allowed me to come back to the Farm, even after having terrible grades f reshman year, are the men and women I want to thank for never losing faith in me.

I was a boy when I came here, but the values instilled in me made me the man I am today.

go fishing with their f riends at the pond. In addition to fishing, students also like to dive into the pond water.

Although the water is cold, on hot days there is nothing more ref reshing.

Many faculty members also go down and enjoy the pond. Mr. Nentwig, a math teacher, has been spotted a few times fly-fishing off the dock. One can also find Ms. Robinson reading and jogging down at the pond on nice days. When asked about the pond, a student replied “It ’s awesome, I wish I had more f ree periods to go down and fish,” and “The water’s cold, but it ’s so worth it. The thrill of running off the dock and being greeted by the f reezing water is just what I need after a long, stressful spring day at Avon.” The pond sees most of its action in the spring and fall; the pond is fairly vacant during the winter with the exception of some hockey players

playing pond hockey.

Whether it ’s jumping off the dock or fishing with f riends, Beaver Pond serves as a student and faculty “Hot-spot.” This spring, some work is being done to Beaver Pond, such as the reconstruction of the dock and the reconstruction of the bridge over the river. The reconstruction of the dock is a wonderful opportunity for Avon to improve our campus. Some seniors removed a large section of the dock as part of the senior Community Service Day. The section they removed was posing a safety hazard; there were boards that were broken, and it was extremely bent. The Avon community is hoping for a new dock to arrive and be installed for the students’ use next year. The dock extends 10-12 feet into the pond, where many students jump into the pond, enjoying the thrill of the cold water.

The second renovation of the pond is the reconstruction of the bridge over the river. This bridge is vital to access the pond, creating a walkway across the river that runs down f rom the waterfall. The gravel is being filled in, and safety precautions are being put in place to ensure that no accidents happen. Freshman Jamie Bell commented on the reconstruction of the road across the river by saying, “This reconstruction is very important; every time I walk over that bridge, I can’t help but imagine some terrible accident happening because of the potholes and the bad state of the guardrails on the bridge. I’m glad that we’re making strides to make Beaver Pond a safer place for us!”

Freshman praises Avon’s most beloved hangout Matthew Williamson’14 Staff Writer

Throughout the years at Avon, there has always been one place where students can enjoy themselves in lush, beautiful scenery. This place is Beaver Pond, one of Avon’s most beautiful settings. On a regular basis, students travel down to the pond to fish, swim, and relax. Ms. Robinson, the f reshman English teacher, stated, “I’ve seen a lot of kids go down there every now and then, sometimes during their f ree periods. As far as I can remember, it has always been a popular hangout for students and faculty alike.”

There are a number of activities for students to enjoy at the pond.

Fishing is a fun and relaxing hobby for many students at school. When students find themselves with enough f ree time, it is common for some to

The 2010-2011 editorial board would like to congratulate the Class of 2011 for a great year.

Aspirando et Perseverando!

Opinions 7

Friday, May 27, 2011

Senior privileges: A necessary reward for many

Jack Oberg ’12 News Writer

The month of May is a very important time for Avon Old Farms.

The campus is prepared for graduation, the fields are abuzz with athletic competition, and the seniors finally receive their privileges. Unlike most schools, seniors at Avon only receive their privileges towards the end of the year. At Avon, privileges are used by the administration to reward hard work and effort put in by the seniors during their final months. This also means that Avon seniors have to be on their best behavior to receive the privileges they have looked forward to their entire careers here.

The road to privileges this year was smooth and straight for the 2011 class. Unlike past years, waves of new tiles came in every day, and soon every piece was glazed and ready to go. Very much like last year though, the tiles show a wide range of artistic prowess.

Some are simplistic, just names perhaps, but some look fantastic, full of color and detail. In past years, attendance at morning has been a problem for seniors, this year however the class of

2011 was determined to getting their privileges as soon as possible. The only minor delay came from school jobs, or rather the fact that some seniors owed work from previous skips. Even so, the seniors got their privileges much earlier than normal, about mid-April.

The senior privileges this year consist of mostly the usual candidates.

Day students can leave during lunch to enjoy off-campus food. Seniors can now go to breakfast in the refectory in casual, saving them from having to fumble around in the wee hours of the morning attempting to button a shirt.

Continental breakfast, the perennial favorite, makes a triumphant return this year, allowing seniors to enjoy a layout of beagles, cereal, or waffles. Also a popular privilege is out-door grilling.

Seniors can bring grills, charcoal, and a variety of meat to be enjoyed in pre-determined areas. On the topic of food, seniors now have access to a special senior line at the Hawk’s Nest, a fancy term for cutting the line. School jobs also got the axe for seniors, being replaced by Mr. Playe’s army of workers all looking to get a better job next year.

Seniors also do not have to attend Vespers for the remainder of the year.

On a more social side to

privileges, seniors can miss study hall, and instead opt to take movie runs or buses to the Simsbury Commons. The final, and most important to some, privilege allows those students with an A- average in a given class to be exempt from that exam. Some seniors have great grades in every class, and are pretty much done with school a few weeks in advance. Andy Biekert ’12, had this to day about not having exams: “School has a much more relaxed feel to it now, being exempt from exams has allowed me to fully enjoy my last few weeks here”. This relaxed vibe around campus has sometimes caused problems for the seniors in the past. Last year for example, seniors had their beloved continental breakfast taken back thanks to a poorly conducted “skip-day”. This year’s seniors have to be wary about not losing their privileges to petty violations of rules. Rumors of senior “skip-day” never really materialized into anything, and passed unnoticed.

The class of 2012 seems determined to ensure that privileges stay and continue to provide a relaxed atmosphere. The privileges will continue to allow the seniors to make the most out of their final weeks at Avon.

Avon News Briefs: Senior Day and Cum Laude Society Eric Mack ’12 Staff Writer

On Friday May 27, 2010, the entire class of 2011 boarded the Avon Old Farms school buses for the last time. Usually when boarding these buses, their destinations would include the movies, Wal-Mart, or sporting events; however, this time the seniors were departing for High Meadows for the coveted Senior Day.

In recent years, Senior Day has always been the Friday before commencement at High Meadows. It is a day where seniors get to kick back and enjoy a fun-filled day without classes, study hall, parents, or any other commitments. It is the last day of the school year that the seniors get a chance to simply “bro-out” as students for the last time in their Avon careers.

This year’s Senior Day was, without a question an enjoyable experience.

What made this incredible day so enjoyable was its location. High Meadow is a facility that hosts a number of events ranging from birthday parties to, obviously, high school senior days. This facility includes many features such as minigolf, basketball, tennis, beach volleyball, and regular volleyball courts; as well as a full size and wading pool, and a bunch of fields. It was the perfect place to go for a “bro-sesh.”

This year’s Senior Day definitely followed Avon’s hope to “send the class of 2010 out in grand style.”

T.J. Dougherty concluded, “Although High Meadows was an awesome place for Senior Day; I don’t think it was the reason today was so special. It was probably the laughs and memories that we will share at reunions to come that makes these final days so important.”

Paul Mimms ’11 Staff Writer

The Cum Laude Society has been honoring achievements in the scholastic realm since 1906. Cum Laude is Latin for “with praise” and is given to the top students of each graduating class. At Avon, usually less than a dozen students reach this honor, as well as the occasional junior. In 2010, Andreas Biekert ’11 won this award as a junior.

Achieving Cum Laude means attaining academic prowess in all the student’s years at Avon.

The Cum Laude Society’s mission is to recognize the achievements of students in secondary schools who promote their motto, “Areté, Diké, Timé.” This motto is Greek for excellence, justice, and honor. It seems that if a man were to follow Theodate Pope Riddle’s motto of Aspirando et Perseverando

to its furthest extent, it could lead to acceptance to the Cum Laude Society. What makes this award so prestigious, according to Mr. Art Custer, is the, “Culmination of academic success over a student’s career at Avon.” If you are the recipient of this award, you are also most likely to be accepted to a top tier college. Current Cum Laude Scholar, Andreas Biekert said, “Out of all the academic achievement awards given to seniors, I feel that Cum Laude is definitely one of the most important ones.

Instead of just calculating a GPA, students are evaluated by their teachers not only based upon grades, but also strength of schedule. I think that makes the people in the society more deserving.”

Not only is this award an accomplishment for seniors, it is something for underclassmen to aspire towards.

FACULTY VIEW Mr. Lampe’s ...

Mr. Lampe Calls For Film Class

The world has changed. I t continues to change. When I was in high school I didn’t have e-mail yet. I got my first e-mail address my senior year of high school as a joke. Not that long ago cell phones were synonymous with privilege and excess, owned only by Wall street power brokers and Beverly Hills socialites. Today they are ubiquitous. Logging on to the internet used to involve hooking a computer up to a phone line. Today most people can do it on their phone. Education is also changing. I never saw a smart board until long after I had graduated from college, and now they occupy a central position in every classroom.

The educational system however still follows an out of date paradigm. The main subjects of study at the high school level are the same as they have always been: math, science, English, history, foreign language, music and art. Sadly the last two on that list often fall victim to budget cuts, but they are widely accepted as integral parts of a complete education. I would never argue for a moment that any of these subjects should not be included in a modern curriculum, but I do believe that film studies should be included.

It is a misconception that the only people who should study film are those who intend to become film makers. The study of film has a wider benefit. As an educational institution we find value in the study of novels recognizing that the vast majority of students will never even attempt to publish one of their own. It is no different with film.

Critics of film education are also inclined to undervalue the medium itself.

They tend to view film as mere trivia, trash, pop entertainment, fluff, and definitely not the stuff of serious academic study.

Nothing could be further from the truth, for three reasons: first the same was said of Shakespeare in his time, second films like Citizen Kane, the Godfather and Casablanca stand out as some of the greatest works of art of the twentieth century, and third film is currently the primary story telling medium of our culture. It is today what the novel was a hundred years ago. Our students watch films; it is time we started giving them the tools to fully appreciate them.

Moreover, making videos has become so simple that virtually anyone can become a film maker. Our own students have shown their film making acumen in the Green Cup challenge, and beyond.

Film has permeated our society. It has found its way into all corners of our culture.

Businesses use videos to advertise, to train new employees, and communicate internally.

Teachers often use videos as teaching tools.

Film making is a method of communication with virtually limitless applications. It can be used to persuade, to educate, to pay tribute, and to enlighten. Our students are already experimenting with film making, it is our duty as educators to help them.

Continued on page 14

8 Opinions

Friday, May 27, 2011

St. John ’11 examines decision to attend Avon Tyler St. John ’11 Opinions Editor

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed my four years at Avon, I have to admit that my decision to come to the school was strongly “encouraged” by my parents. They gave me a choice of Avon or Westminster, to be determined by a tour of each school.

While my tour at Avon took me class to class with a student who introduced me to his teachers and f riends, who in turn invited me to hang out and watch their games, my tour at Westminster consisted of a walk through the rain with some kid who whined to me about how he didn’t have any f riends.

While both of the schools obviously had me hooked, Avon won out after my second visit.

I remember that I was vehemently opposed to attending this school my f reshmen year, the Saturday classes and lack of girls only

serving to validate my complaints.

The first thing I noticed was the stark contrast between Avon and my old school. My teachers now casually swore at us when the time called for it, not on one occasion threatening violence or public humiliation; one of my teachers even made good on an ongoing threat and snipped away a lock of some kid’s hair after he didn’t stop playing with it. The lack of girls now allowed for outlandish comments made without fear of judgement and in-class punishments such as holding another students hand for the rest of the class if you got into an argument.

With the long list of sports teams I was able to finally try football at the thirds level. I never stuck with the sport, but I would have never had the opportunity to play football, and I ended up meeting about thirty members of my current class, including the majority of the kids I enjoy hanging out with now. I

was also able to try squash and track.

If I had stayed at my public school I would be going home as soon as the last bell rings, but since I came here I was able to participate in three sports that don’t even exist back in my hometown. I can fondly remember throwing footballs at a concussed teammate to keep him awake during a game, celebrating with my squash team after we won our only match of the season, and sweeping every event in track on our way to win the 2008 New England Championship.

I can also recall showering after a game and immediately singing in a concert afterwards, still sharing the highlights of the game with the other kids in the stands. In addition to singing in concerts with my classmates who were just as inexperienced me, I remember hiding in the woods before games with these same kids, dressed in women’s clothing and covered in body paint, before stampeding

onto the sidelines and belting out outlandish cheers and chants along with Captain Avon and the entirety of the student body for the whole game. This juxtaposition of activities is something you will not find very often at a public school; back where I went to school the singers never hung out with the athletes, let alone participated on the team with them.

For all of my complaints about the new school I was being pushed into, I cannot deny that it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. Listening to a fellow student speak in the chapel twice a week to traveling three hours in a bus to support our hockey team in the finals, my experience at Avon has been incredibly unique, and every other senior will tell you the same.

junior year. While hockey is his main sport, where he shines on the ice, he is also a big part of both the football and lacrosse programs. When looking at the athletic aspects of Shamburger’s impressive career at Avon, one can see he is an all-around “stud.”

Although Shamburger is well known for his impressive athletic skills, he also excels in the classroom. He is a Dean’s List student. As impressive as his grades may be, they do not come with an easy workload; his two AP courses and two honors classes are no walk in the park. The work ethic that Shamburger demonstrates in athletics and in the classroom is admirable.

Away from the spotlight Shamburger is known by his peers as an all-around great guy. He is always friendly and joking around with his friends. On the weekends you will often find him taking a jog through

the woods with his “toe shoes.” When he is not hanging out with his peers you will often find Shamburger with a female companion, as his good looks cannot keep them away. Despite the number of varsity sports Shamburger plays, he still finds away to get in the weight room and train hard and work on getting better. Shamburger enjoys kicking back and relaxing playing Call of Duty whenever he has some free time in his busy schedule. It may not come to many as a surprise, but if you put a controller in his hands he is good at that as well.

With his impressive record at Avon is was nothing of a surprise that Shamburger was recently elected to be the Warden of Avon for next year.

Shamburger has an impressive record with the student council, and it was an easy decision for the class of 2012 to pick him as their leader. He has

great leadership qualities and is always involved in community service, which makes him a great choice.

Shamburger displays all aspects of the ideal Renaissance man. He is a great public speaker who will represent the school well in many areas. Whether it’s sports, academics or most recently as Warden, Shamburger is a prime example of the core values we follow at Avon. He is a picture perfect “Avon Guy” and with one year left at Avon, it will be exciting to see what he will have to offer. Shamburger now has the reigns and he will do anything for his fellow students to meet their needs and wants. There is nobody that is better fit to be in the position Shamburger has.

As one commercial states, “He is the most interesting man in the world.”

Dylan Shamburger ’12 elected to Warden position Grayson Pollack ’12 Staff Writer

As the school year is coming to an end and awards are being given out to students, it is hard not to mention Dylan “Shammy” Shamburger ’12.

Shamburger has numerous abilities and brings so many different aspects to the Avon campus. He takes control and leads the way with his actions, never looking back. Dylan is known for his talents on the field, in the rink, as well as in the classroom. To headline his current list of accomplishments, he was recently selected to lead the student body as the Warden for next year.

Shamburger is a tri-varsity athlete in football, hockey, and lacrosse.

He has been a member of the varsity hockey team all three years at Avon, and football and lacrosse during his

New outlook through musical expressions Bohmer and the Navarros find passion in jam-sessions Santiago Bohmer ’12 Staff Writer This year of 2010-2011 has been a quick one. It was full of lessons and opportunities. For me, it was a year of drastic and eye-opening changes, all of which came f rom one jam session in the jam room. I have been playing bass for 8 years now and really enjoyed every minute I have spent on my instrument. Music flows easily through me and has been a big part of my life. My musical training consists of little reading and structured music, but mostly figuring out what I wanted to play by myself and jamming to it. At Avon, I struggled to find people with the same musical background as me. I started to lose interest in music and focus on football, which, while lot of fun, is not as fulfilling.

My perspective changed one November day. I had known Gabriel Navarro ’12 and Eduardo Navarro ’12, but I had never played with

them. I was aware that they listened to similar music and that they played pretty well. This November day, I was listening to a Soda Stereo CD I really enjoyed and wanted to play a little. I went downstairs to Gabriel’s (the guitarist) room and chilled with Eduardo, his drummer cousin.

I asked them if they wanted to jam, they said “why not?” We set up and started jamming on a Soda Stereo riff. We stayed on that riff for a good hour, just jamming out to that kicking song. It all clicked. It was the most amazing experience I have had in my life. It was as if I found two long-lost brothers who understood me completely and knew where I was coming f rom. The connection between me, Gabriel, and Eduardo was so intense that we could not help but laugh. It is a peculiar thing, that when musicians are jamming and someone plays something amazing, the reaction is to laugh.

From that day on, we have been jamming regularly. The next

jam session, Gabriel wanted to try a reggae song so we gave it a whirl.

The riff was so amazing, that all of us just played for 3 straight hours.

We have tried to get that intensity in every jam session we play in. It is truly amazing how one event can really shape your life. Since the first jam session, we have matured as a band and are are slowly developing our own sound. The way our band works is very loose and disorganized, perfect for creativity to sprout. We all have enough musical knowledge to simply start something and go with it. All the songs we play start like this; Gabriel does something on the guitar, then Eduardo and I shape it into a song. We have several of these “songs” we can go to and all the time we are trying to come up with something different and new. It ’s a perfect system for sparking creativity and exploring ourselves as musicians.

Both concerts we have played we started with absolutely no plan at all.

We can just start with something, and

can end up with something completely different.

This kind of exposure to music helped me realize what I want to do in my life and what I want to study. I stopped focusing on football and started to really work hard on the bass. I know I have a long way to go, but I am seeing results both in the band and individually. We joined Rock Band with Mr. Harris, who really helped put forth the idea to the school and showed that this school did not have to be all athletics all the time, and Mr. Volo is always available and ready to help put concerts together and make us sound great. He has given me valuable lessons, expanding my musical knowledge and applying it to real life situations. All in all, it has been a transformative year.

Opinions 9

Friday, May 27, 2011

Sorrell ’11 reflects on Avon experience Euan Sorrell ’11 Staff Writer I have been asked to share with you a favorite memory from my time at Avon. Having spent four years here, I have quite a lot of material to draw on. As the year is really winding down, I had already begun reminiscing, but it seems that being asked to choose a favorite is actually rather hard. So I have decided to stretch the idea of a memory a bit further than it may have been intended. My favorite memory at Avon has to have been my senior year. It seems weird to talk about it now in the past tense, but that is really what it is.

I plan to aim this article mostly toward the rising seniors, juniors, and sophomores, as they are the ones who perhaps need to hear this most. Senior year is when you have finally made it to the top. After three long years with the label of underclassman, is your time to lead. At Avon, students run many facets of the school on their own, and now it is time to realize that the buck stops at you. Step up to this challenge and do your best to lead. I found myself as the leader of the Sing’ed Beavers this year and quickly realized that there was no one above me telling me when to rehearse or what songs to do; all of the responsibility fell to me.

At first this responsibility scared me and I became worried that I wouldn’t do as well as the seniors who founded the group last year, but what I discovered was that I would just have to run things the way I felt they should be run.

My next piece of advice is one that I believe is particularly important. Have just as many firsts as you do lasts. This year I really decided to get involved and try new things.

I had not always been the best student so I worked harder and made Headmaster’s list for the first time. I wrote for the Avon Record, the Winged Beaver, and the Hippocrene for the first time. And now as I write my last article I am particularly appreciative of the effort I put in because it paid off many times over. Of course, I’m not saying you should wait until senior year to participate in extra curricular endeavors, but just understand that it is never too late, and you always have the opportunity

to gain some ground.

Finally, just enjoy senior year. It is a time that is ripe with opportunity for fun and new experiences, so let it come to you. While most people, myself included, closed their eyes and bulled through the stresses of junior year, do not wish your final year away as it really will go fast enough. This will be your last year with kids that have gone to class with you, won and lost games with you, and have gone through all of the unique rigors of an all guy’s boarding school, I can promise you that you will want to savor every moment you have with these kids, you don’t have a lot of time with them.

Even though it has yet to happen, I know that walking across that stage at commencement will be my most cherished memory at Avon. This will not be because I will be itching to leave, it will be because I will really feel that sense of accomplishment that comes with four years of hard work and the turning of a page onto an entirely new part of my life.

“Have just as many firsts as you have lasts.”

A day in the life of an Avonian: Just ask Bill Murray Andreas Biekert ’11 Sports Editor

I want to take this opportunity today to talk to you about Bill Murray and my favorite movie of his. Bill Murray is a comedic actor who, objectively speaking, has starred in some of the best movies ever; if you didn’t know that you have some movies to watch tonight during study hall. Of Bill Murray’s seemingly infinite catalogue of awesome movies, which is my favorite and the one I am going to be talking about? It’s not Caddyshack, nor is it Ghostbusters. It’s not even Zombieland.

My favorite Bill Murray movie of all time is Groundhog Day.

Let me explain to you the premise.

Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, a downon-his life reporter stuck with the job of

going to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the groundhog’s weather prediction for the fourth year in a row. As if he is not already frustrated enough with the assignment he just completed, Phil’s day becomes even worse when a snow storm forces him to stay in the town he loathes for an extra night. He awakens the next day to find himself reliving Groundhog Day again; it was as if the previous day had never happened. And then it happens again. And again. The rest of the movie explores Phil’s actions as he comes to understand he’s living the same day over and over.

The reason I love Groundhog Day so much is because I understand exactly how his character feels; going to Avon is a lot like experiencing the same day over and

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over again. A blogger estimated the exact amount of time that Phil is stuck in the same repeating day based on his actions and skills by the end of the movie, coming up with a total of around 34 years. To quote Mr. Callaghan, “boarding school years are like dog years; multiply by seven.” So four years at Avon are really like 28 years. We’re working with a similar amount of time here.

What does Phil do when he realizes that nothing he does matters and the day will reset in the morning? He gives up. That same blogger estimates around 64 days of trying to break the system and to escape the loop. After those days, Phil goes on to tell off the people he dislikes and break driving laws to spend a night in jail; then he kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil,

the object of his wrath, because he realizes that he won’t be held accountable for any of his actions. Yet the very actions he chooses as a result of that freedom leave him unfulfilled. It takes him just a few months to realize that breaking the rules aimlessly and without consequence becomes boring pretty quickly.

Phil also happens to have a love interest; his new producer Rita. Without any repercussions to his actions, Phil begins to learn things. He learns to play the piano to impress a girl. He learns the French language to impress a girl. He learns medicine to fix the back of an old man and greatly improve his quality of life—that one’s out of the kindness of his heart.

Avon spotlight: Rock band

The Avon Record Contact Harrison Wasserbauer at wasserbauerh@avonoldfarms.com for more information

Durst Breneiser ’11

The Rock Band jams out down at Beaver Pond.

10 Opinions

We, the editors of the Avon Record, are proud to present the fifth and final issue of the 84th volume.

In producing the last issue of our Avon careers, we are presented with an interesting and relatively unknown perspective: all we have to do is look back on our work and critique it. For most of our lives up to this point there has been a next time, a next year, a next issue; however, graduating from high school marks the first major culmination and termination of the status quo that we have experienced. With the lack of continual chances to change our performance, we are faced with actually critiquing our successes and failures and accepting our shortcomings. No longer can we simply say that we will make a better issue next time. As a result, the only mark we can leave on the future of the Avon Record is through choosing new editors and the advice that we give them.

As is tradition, next year’s editors are taking part in the production of this last issue. At this time last year, we were all extremely enthusiastic about working

Editorial

Friday, May 27, 2011

on the newspaper. Journalism seemed invigorating and the editorial process was new and interesting to all of us. Once the year started and the responsibility set it that enthusiasm quickly diminished, as is evident in our struggles throughout the year. We see the same initial enthusiasm in the work of the incoming editorial board; however, knowing them personally we predict that their enthusiasm will be sustained throughout their time on the job and will quickly outdo us in quality and quantity of issues.

The major problem that the newspaper faces is interest. By interest, we do not simply mean readership; we mean participation. Finding willing students to write articles was a painstaking process that we are happy to pass on and no longer have to accomplish. It seems that a major obstacle to student participation is that they “don’t know how to write an article,” or “wouldn’t be good at it.” It is safe to say that all of us thought that at first. We were all intimidated by the prospect of having the entire

school read our writing. However, the pride that we then felt in seeing our writing in print vastly outweighed our initial fears of humiliation. As a staff, we urge you to take that first leap and try your hand at writing for The Avon Record. Your motivation can come from anywhere: do it as a favor for your friend on the staff, do it for extra credit for a teacher. Whatever it is, just do it. We promise you, you will enjoy it in the end. Having a adequate number of writers is key to making the editorial process easy and smooth and will make next year’s staff’s lives much more stress free and allow their enthusiasm to remain.

The editorial staff is proud to present the fifth and final issue of the 2011 Avon Record. Our time here is done and we expect that next year’s paper will be even better. We encourage you to submit opinions, articles, or letters to the editor next year. We hope you enjoy reading The Record as much as we enjoy producing it.

-The 2011 Editorial Board

The Record’s Verdict Graduation

Rainy Spring

Final Exams...

...Final Exam Exemptions

Senior Day

Tony Zinni

The Avon Record

The Avon Record

Editor-in-Chief Joseph Cusano ’11 Editors J.B. Jackson ’11 Gerard Hampton ’11 Andreas Biekert ’11 Tyler St. John ’11 Durst Breneiser ’11 Faculty Advisors Joseph Lampe

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Opinions 11

Friday, May 27, 2011

As the new generation of Avon Record editors, we are proud to present the fifth and final issue of the 83th volume of the Avon Record. As our graduating editors impart their trade to this new generation, we are both reminded of our changing roles. It is beginning to dawn on our seniors that they really won’t be coming back next year, while we juniors are coming to embrace our new role in Avon’s society.

Our impending status did not truly dawn on us until we began putting this issue together. We had been completely consumed by the ongoing battle that is junior year academics, only able to fantasize about the coming senior spring, but not fully grasping what being a senior means. As we convened for the first time and began to gather articles, learning the ropes from the graduating editors, it dawned on us that next year we will be the leaders of the community.

We may not yet be lords of our own domain, but responsibility for many aspects of the school will

Editorial

rest with us. Not only will the class of 2012 run the Avon Record, we will also lead most of the clubs. Our representatives will lead the student government. We will run the fundraising for Toys for Tots. A member of our class will even represent us in the Disciplinary Committee, the only body with the power of expulsion.

The proverbial buck will stop with us.

Also foremost in our minds as the year ends is the prospect of senior spring. However, as we drool over the tantalizing prospect of next to no classes and few exams, we should keep in mind that before we reach senior spring we will have to pass the gauntlet of senior fall.

We can’t reach senior spring until we finish applying to college while working through one of our most important semesters. Remember, Senior spring will come much faster if you do as much of the college process over the summer as possible.

Furthermore, senior year is always the most dangerous for a class. While they are all receiving their

diplomas this year, we would do well to remember the folly of previous generations of seniors, some of whose casualty lists extended into the double digits. If we lull ourselves into a false sense of security watching the full senior class graduate, we may not find all our classmates walking with us a year from now. That is not to say that the 2011 senior class does not deserve to be imitated. Not since 1986 has the entire senior class reached graduation, and they gained their senior privileges before any class in recent memory.

As always, we are proud to present this issue of the Avon record. As usual, we encourage any submissions in the forms of opinion pieces or letters to the editor from students, faculty, parents, alumni, or any friends of the school. We hope you enjoy reading the Record as much as we enjoyed producing it.

-The 2012 Editorial Board

The Record’s Verdict Proms

Fast Five

College Process

Our Readers

The Class of 2011

Being Seniors

The Avon Record

Seeking Writers

Editor-in-Chief Harrison Wasserbauer ’12 Editors Jack Oberg ’12 Keith Boratko ’12 Ben Casella ’12 Tim Liptrot ’12 Jihad Harkeem ’12 Faculty Advisors Joseph Lampe

Come write for The Avon Record next year

We want you!

12 Sports

Friday, May 27, 2011

2011 AVON OLD FARMS COL- Track achieves modest accomplishments LEGE-BOUND ATHLETES Morgan Mullen ’11 Athlete John Boland

Sport Baseball

College Attending Georgia Perimeter University Andrew Coffey Baseball Marietta College Robbie Cordisco Lacrosse Bryant University Matt deVaux Baseball Endicott College Will Diamond Lacrosse Rollins College Jamison DiGeroni- Football Westfield State Univermo sity Ethan Enriquez Lacrosse Rollins College Mike Flynn Hockey Trinity College James Forster Tennis Hobart and WilliamSmith Colleges Edwin Foster Lacrosse Ohio Wesleyan University Kyle Foster Lacrosse Salisbury University Sam Funnell Lacrosse University of Vermont Sean Garvey Football Valdosta State University Dan Gauvin Hockey Providence College Tom Geraghty Football Merrimack College Mike Gibbons Baseball Wheaton College Christon Gill Football Western Carolina University Matt Goldman Lacrosse Providence College Greg Gozzo Hockey Harvard University Cam Hatch Baseball University of Maryland Alija Hogans Squash St. Lawrence University Makoa Kaleo Lacrosse University of Vermont Bronson Kelly Lacrosse Johns Hopkins University Dave Kent Baseball St. Anselm College Jeff Kim Lacrosse Trinity College Harry Lyons Football Bryant University Bobby MacDonald Lacrosse Gettysburg College Chris Madera Baseball Georgia Perimeter College Will Mason Lacrosse Gettysburg College Allando Matheson Soccer University of Connecticut Noah McMillan Football College of Holy Cross Reggie Mills C r o s s - C o u n t r y, Lake Forest University Track and Field Paul Mimms Lacrosse Ohio State University Kieran Morris Lacrosse Rutgers University Eric Naclerio Hockey Connecticut College Mark Naclerio Hockey Brown University Blaise Rosati Football Central Connecticut State University James Sconzo Lacrosse Trinity College Conor Shanahan Lacrosse College of the Holy Cross Adam Spracklin Baseball University of North Carolina at Asheville Guy Talarico Lacrosse St. Joseph’s University Alex Velardi Baseball Mount St. Mary College Max Weiner Baseball, Soccer Union College George Welles Hockey, Lacrosse Hobart and WilliamSmith Colleges

Staff Writer

The Track team found itself in a tough season, going head-to-head against some of the strongest teams in New England. Still recovering from the tough loss of top-tier competitors like Patrick Creehan ’11 and Latif Rivers ’11, Avon started the season off staring down a very imposing schedule. However, Avon track stems from a winning tradition and never retreats from a difficult challenge. Coached by the always dedicated and always competitive Major Bourgault ’80 and led by senior captains John Galloway and Reggie Mills, the Winged Beavers marched straight into the heart of the season.

Avon started with two early season losses, one occurring in the tri-team meet against the Taft and Choate schools and the other in a duel against Loomis. While competing bravely the young Avon team simply lacked the experience and age of their opponents. However, the young team was quick to learn and bounced back against Hopkins, carried by the supreme effort of their captains.

Indeed, Avon seemed a team of bounce back wins. After suffering a tough loss to Hotchkiss and Trinity-Pawling, the Winged Beavers recovered in their next match, earning second place against Suffield Academy and Williston-Northampton. The last challenge of the season came in the New England tournament where Avon placed eleventh overall, a solid achievement for a supposed rebuilding year.

Balancing early season setbacks with a solid win over the Hopkins school, Avon successfully established itself as an imposing team in the New England arena. This win, while certainly a team effort, was possible because of the supreme ath-

leticism and desire of Reggie Mills ’11, captain and participant in the 400 event, among others. Mills, the last runner on Avon’s relay team, had the baton handed to him while the first place runner raced 100 yards ahead. In an action of supreme will and athleticism Reggie not only managed to catch his opponent, but blow by him, securing the event for Avon and generating influential points for the final score against Hopkins: 79-57. Other season highlights came in the New England Championship, where both the 4×1 team and Mickoy Nichol ’14 placed. The 4×1 team, consisting of John Galloway, Jihad Pretlow ’13, Karl Jennings ’13, and Nick Castillo ’12, placed sixth overall, a not unexpected result considering their superb regular season play. Nichol, a competitor in the long jump, placed third in New England, a fantastic result and possible contender for season highlight.

While top-tier finishes and eleventh place teams in the New England tournament are a matter of great pride for some athletic teams, the truth is Avon stands at the end of a rebuilding year.

For a team who has recently won New Englands, eleventh place may appear bittersweet. Sweet because the NEPSAC league stands as one of the most prestigious and talented leagues available at the high school level, but bitter because anything less then the best always seems bitter for Avonians. However, the experience and skill derived from this season promises to make the team of 2012 one of the most competitive and talented in New England.

Mr. Lampe emphasizes need for film education

Continued from Page 7

One might also argue that our students are already experts in film, and that there is no real need to devote class time to it.

Sadly this is also untrue.

Most young people today are only familiar with the films of their generation.

They have virtually no concept of the history of film, or the development of the medium.

Simple concepts like, parallel editing, cutting within the action, and f raming are foreign to unstudied viewers. A simple overview of the

fundamentals of film making would change

enough. While this class incorporates elements of film study it is at its core a history course. The study of film is different than the study of other subjects, just as movies are different than books.

What our students need is a course devoted purely to film analysis.

A basic understanding of the language of cinema is an essential part of a complete education in today’s world.

It is my hope that in the near future Avon and high schools everywhere will embrace film study.

“Most young people today are only familiar with the films of their generation.” the way our students look at film, and enable them to develop a critical eye.

Film is already a part of our curriculum. Mr. Custer teaches a popular course on the Civil War in film and fiction. This is a great way to start, but it does not go far

Sports 13

Friday, May 27, 2011

Lower-levels teams warrant accolades Brad Seeber ’14 Staff Writer

As the 2011 spring season comes to a close, the varsity teams are beginning to finish up their grueling practices and their clustered schedules.

The men of these teams are hardworkers and have the mindset to be great in their preferred sport. These boys had to make their way up to where they are now and at the high-intensity varsity level. However, all of these men had to start on the lower teams of JV and 3rds.

Though these teams don’t get talked about as much as the varsity squads do, it’s vital to know that these players are the future of the team in the upcoming years. JV and thirds are the beginning stages of the young men, before they can make their journey to the varsity squad. This spring season has been a very successful season for

all of the lower teams, highlighted especially by a 13-0 thirds lacrosse team.

Starting with the lower level baseball teams, the JV and thirds teams have a combined record of 20-7—each team contributing 10 wins. Both of these teams consist of numerous talented freshman and sophomores, including varsity swing players, Mike Castellani ’13 and Neil Kozikowski ’13. These two guys are sure to have a profound impact on the varsity squad in the years to come, along with other talented sophomores Brandon Moss ’13 and Colin Tiernan ’13.

Because the tennis program does not have a thirds team, coaches Coons ’71, Cugell, and Albert rely on the JV team to nurture upcoming talent. Posting a very impressive record of 7-3, with wins over Kent, Salisbury, and KO, the members of this team are sure to be extremely helpful to Coach Coons and Coach Cugell in the

future.

The Varsity Golf team has been a consistent contender for their league title every year, continuously posting impressive records. This year the team is especially young, yet the JV promises more talent for the future, including Eric Depner ’13 and Alec Mono ’14. This year they posted an astonishing record of 10-0 including huge wins in a tri-meet versus Hotchkiss and Salisbury. Hopefully the Golf team will be able to keep this very impressive win streak going.

Two of the most successful teams this season are the JV and thirds lacrosse teams. These two teams had a lot to live up to after both had astonishing seasons last year, in addition to the national reputation of the Avon Old Farms varsity team.

This year the thirds team has been led by very talented freshman and sophomores, including Seamus O’Brien ’13, Ryan Woelfel ’13, and Kyle Malley

’14, who has had a phenomenal season thus far backing the team up in goal.

Their overall record is 13-0 with big wins over Taft and the always tough Deerfield. After an undefeated season last year for the JV team, this year they have also posted a respectable 9-3 record. The team has been led by and relied upon Josh Egan ’14 and Pearse McEneaney ’13, who leads the team in points. Many of these JV players are sure to be seen playing on the new turf for many years to come.

As this season ends, there will be a long wait until the first pitch, faceoff, tee shot, and serve before the next spring season comes along.

Certainly the many talented players of these teams will make the jump to contribute at the varsity level in the future.

has consistently won, even against the toughest of opposition. As the returning captain of the team, his experience and leadership provides valuable structure for the younger athletes of the team to grow as tennis players. More valuable experience comes from seniors Connor Cottrell, John Jackson, Jason Lally, and Colin Bernard.

The season began with a difficult 0-7 loss against Taft, but the team quickly rebounded to defeat Kent and Canterbury 6-1 and 7-0, respectively. The team also went on to dominate a match against TrinityPawling, sandwiched between losses to Loomis Chaffee and Cheshire academy. The team then went on to lose against Salisbury, before winning matchups against Pomfret and Suffield.

Hotchkiss and Kingswood-Oxford both stole wins from the Winged Beavers, but the team rebounded to

defeat Williston Northampton in a dominating performance. The team then lost a close match to Westminster.

Most recently, Avon defeated the Gunnery 5-2, restoring their .500 win percentage.

Left on the schedule for this season is a solitary match against Choate. A win in their last match would give the tennis team an opportunity to improve their record to a winning one, ending the season a successful note.

Also, an opportunity at the NEPSAC championship remains for some players, who hope to perform well at the postseason tournament.

In addition to the aforementioned seniors, the team’s roster includes Ben Charette ’13, Brendan Conry ’13, Jeff Greenberg ’14, Lincoln Lau ’13, Scott Mcleod ’12, and Pelayo Navarez ’13. With so many returning players available for the next

year, Avon’s tennis program looks poised for growth throughout future seasons.

Despite sometimes struggling against their opponents, the team worked hard to improve themselves every day at practice, and continued to go to every match with a spirit of a winning team. They improved greatly as a team and as individual players, constantly working up to their full potential at the different facets of the game. The Avon Old Farms 2011 varsity tennis team can definitely be ranked as an up-and-comer—a hardworking and determined group of young men who will continue to improve their game and become a strong and competitive team in the coming seasons. As always, the team hopes to count on the continued support of Avonian fans in all of its future endeavors.

teams have played their home matches at Farmington Woods Country Club, located approximately ten minutes f rom campus. According to Coach Peter Deckers ’90, Farmington Woods “provides a challenging layout and design for all golfers.”

Despite all the history that comes with Avon Varsity Golf, the 2011 team is among the most underappreciated spring teams on campus.

The Winged Beavers are silently putting together an incredible season.

Members consist of postgraduate Patrick Leddy ’11, Zach Rubenstein ’12, Alejandro Tapia ’11, Taylor Stone ’12, Jackson Tucker ’12, and Sam Ravech ’13. This season, the team has surrendered only one loss—a second place finish in a three team match. Avon came up a mere six strokes short of Westminster, while defeating Hopkins by twenty-three strokes. Besides this one minor slip up, the team has been perfect, defeating every team they meet by a relatively large margin. The team opened its season with a home

meet, in which they scored 203, while Choate Rosemary Hall came in at 214, and South Kent brought up the rear with 255. From there the team rolled, including a five stroke victory over Salisbury at their home course, a first place finish over Hotchkiss, Trinity Pawling, Deerfield, and Canterbury, and most impressively, a winning the

League Championship and the New England Championship within a span of four days.

So what is their secret? Most teams would credit such a successful season to team chemistry, coaching, and a little bit of luck. All of these things apply to Avon—especially the coaching. An Avon graduate himself, Peter Deckers ’90 returned to campus in the fall of 1995 after graduating f rom Bowdoin College. Now just finishing his thirteenth year as head coach of the varsity golf team at Avon Old Farms and possessing a career record of 177-33, Deckers has guided the team to unprecedented heights. He and team are coming off a successful 2010 season, with a final record of 20-7. Furthermore, AOF Golf placed sixth in the Founder’s League Championship and second in the Coppola Cup tournament. Winged Beavers finished their strong season by placing second in the New England Championship. Stuck with the role of filling such large shoes, Deckers and the team are hoping to wrap up a collection of hardware in 2011.

Tennis team sets new standard for the program Ben Sherbacow ’13 Staff Writer

The Varsity Tennis Team has posted greatly improved performances from last season. Posting a record of 77 in the season thus far, Avon’s up-andcoming tennis team certainly holds a lot of promise for the future. With continued hard work and practice, Avon’s younger tennis players have the opportunity to transform into a competitive team in the Founders League.

The 2010-2011 team, led by Coach Henry Coons ’71, was made up of some amazing players who really stepped up from last year and went head-tohead with some New England’s finest.

The number one player, and by far the most valuable member of the team, was James Forster ’11. Continuing his strong performances from last year, Forster

Golf team swings to another great season Matthew Jadovich ’11 Staff Writer

The golf program at Avon Old Farms has a rich history of success in the Founder’s League. Varsity golf has earned several Founders League, Coppola Cup, and Kingswood Invitational Tournament, the match which decides the New England Championship, titles over the years.

Avon golfers have gone on to compete both at the collegiate and professional levels, representing the Winged Beavers far and wide.

In preparation for the season, Avonian varsity players and candidates traditionally take spring trips to warm weather. Recently, Avon golfers have traveled to California and Florida to play some renowned championship courses, such as Pebble Beach and private clubs such as Cypress Point and Medalist. Most recently, however, the team took a weeklong, golf-filled trip to Panama to play at the Golf Club de Panama. “It was absolutely incredible,” says post-graduate and Furman University bound Patrick Leddy ‘11, “we were able to play in some great weather, and really bond as a team.”

In the recent past, Avon golf

“Most teams would credit

such a successful season to team chemistry, coaching, and a little bit of luck.”

Coppola Cup over Kingswood Oxford, Suffield Academy, and Loomis Chaffee. This two-day tournament was the Winged Beavers’ first real test approaching tournament week, during which they will play for the Founders

14 Sports

Friday, May 27, 2011

A Year in Review: Avon enjoys success in athletics Ben Casella ’12 Sports Editor

Avon’s prestigious, competitive, renowned athletic department looks to close another year on May 25, and the tough question is, how do we measure the success of it? Sure, as a school, we could look at win-loss records, championships, and league rankings, but these figures only give us the data for a single year and do not tell the story of the coaches, graduating leaders, underclassmen wunderkinds, and everyone in between who contributes to the Avon Old Farm’s athletic department.

This fall season closed with the football team going 4-4, the soccer team going 3-8-5, and the x-country team finishing 3rd in the Founder’s League and 8th in New England. While for many teams such records against such impressive competition would be impossible, at Avon, a school accustomed to winning or something very close to winning, this season seemed average.

However, “average” never describes Avon athletics, especially when one considers the colossal achievements of several of the varsity athletes.

On the football field, one immediately notices the talents of Sean McQuillan ’11and Christon Gill ’11. This quarterback-receiver duo gave Avon the competitive edge in many a game, particularly the Trinity-Pawling tilt where a beautiful seventy-yard pass landed in a streaking Christon Gill’s outstretched hands.

Another example of spectacular play occurred in the Hotchkiss game where Hotchkiss lead Avon 20-0 at the start of the 4th quarter. However, inspired playing by Avon allowed for a spectacular win, with key plays including a 75 yard pass by junior quarterback Connor Doyle and a 70yard run f rom Christon Gill.

On the soccer field, Avon suffered a series of crippling ties, which kept the team f rom the great potential it possessed. The Taft game embodies this f rustration, as breathtaking goaltending f rom Max Weiner ’11 and devastating offense f rom Allando Matheson ’11 allowed Avon to take an early lead but a last minute goal f rom a Taft corner quick resulted in a clinging tie.The rest of the season shared this f rustrating tendency for ties, but inspired play f rom young players such as Johan Venema ’13, Rob Higgins ’13 Gavin Clark ’12, A.J. Johnson ’12, and Elliot Howe ’12 leaves room for optimism regarding the upcoming season.

The cross country also experienced success this year, as seen in its impressive New England finish. With strong senior leadership f rom Reggie Mills, who always represented Avon at the f ront of the pack, and reinforced with young runners like Will White ’13 and Sean McLaughlin’14, Avon grabbed a rewarding 2010 season that promises to develop into a very successful 2011 season.

The winter season resulted in the f renzied and familiar appearance of Avon teams in the New England tournaments for both basketball and hockey and a national

appearance for the wrestling team.

The Basketball team ended the season with a 10-13 record that ended with a tough playoff loss to the Canterbury School. However, such an end gives little justice to the well-rounded, competitive, and driven varsity basketball team. Lead by an elite senior class comprised of sharpshooters such as Dominic DiGenova, Kyle Foster, and Christon Gill and Matt Jadovich, Avon took an edge into every game. Supported by underclassmen such as Captain Jihad Pretlow ’13 and Jack Sundberg ’12, the Winged Beavers possessed the talented depth of a top-tier basketball team. And of course with the driven, and imposing, Coach Roller at the helm, Avon maintained its commanding tactical advantage.

Over in the world of wrestling, Major Bourgault ’80 led his team to yet another New England appearance. A combination of experienced coaching and seasoned veterans always makes Avon a feared opponent. A round of applause certainly goes to seniors Aaron Alexander, Trent Wilson, Eddy Consuegra, Dom Andre, Sean Garvey, John Galloway, and Harry Lyons, all of whom placed highly at Western New Englands, a tournament at which Avon placed second overall. Special accords go to Aaron Alexander who had an amazing 11-0 regular season record. After Western New Englands, Avon advanced to New Englands, where the Winged Beavers placed sixteenth overall; notable achievements including Janos Lobb’s ’14 third place finish, Vincent DeBlasio’s ’13 seventh place finish, Dom Andre’s eighth place finish, and Harry Lyons sixth place finish. DeBlasio, Lobb, and Lyons all advanced to the ultra-competitive National competition, a tournament where only a handful of schools f rom New England are competitive enough to compete. All three wrestlers competed bravely, winning as many as they lost—quite the accomplishment at the National level.

The legendary Avon Old Farms School hockey program once again proved why they deserve the reputation they have. Finishing the season 17-6-2, Avon doled out a beating throughout the prestigious New England League, resulting in the now familiar play-off appearance, which ended in a heartbreaking loss to St. Lawrence. The team, led by seniors Gregg Gozzo, Eric Naclerio, Mark Naclerio, Cam Hatch, Mike Flynn, Denton King, Morgan Mullen, George Wells, and Paul Mimms, showed experience, talent, and dedication rarely seen on a single team. Talented underclassmen such as Dylan Shamburger ’12, Erik Mack ’12, and Michael Santaguida ’12 helped propel Avon through the thick of the season. This impressive core pitted Avon against the best teams in New England in the prepschool division one tournament, and while losses are always devastating, Avon can’t win it every year, right?

In other sports, the riflery

team shot its way through a successful season propelled by talented shooters Miles Riley ’12 and Jung Su Park ’11.

Jung Su led the team consistently, shooting particularly impressively in the Prep School Gallery match with a score of 188. Miles Riley also achieved great success in this tournament, shooting 198 out of 200—a score so impressive Olympic shooters would envy it.

The Skiing Team ended the season on a high, a particularly noteworthy achievement being Jack Williams’ ’12 fifth place finish out of 77 racers in the BSL Slalom championship. Seniors Euan Sorrel and Jason Lally also finished well— eleventh and twelfth, respectively.

Senior Ben Crocker had a personal season best in the meet against Suffield Academy, Kingswood-Oxford, and Loomis Chaffee, where he finished

season highlight presented itself in the Gunnery match where Avon triumphed 5-2. Senior leadership gave Avon its killer edge in the form of James Forster, Connor Cottrell, and Colin Bernard. The tennis team looks to finish its season on May 25 with a game against Choate.

Over on the fairway, the always-competitive golf team looks to wrap up an impressive winning season. The Winged Beavers finished first in all of their matches with one exception and always finished in a dominant fashion. Seniors Patrick Leddy and Alejandro Tapia always finished well, and augmented with talented underclassmen Zach Rubenstein ’12, Sam Ravech ’12, Taylor Stone ’13, and Jackson Tucker ’14, the team is a formidable opponent, especially considering the depth provided by young players who look to fill spots in upcoming seasons.

On the lacrosse pitch, Avon currently stands 12-7 with its final game against Loomis on Wednesday.

Season highlights are the St. Anne’s Belfield game, where a group of newly assembled Avonians played a top 25 nationally ranked team f rom Virginia—a team who had several more weeks of preparation than the Winged Beavers. However, Avon competed as only men of Avon can and pulled off an upset win, 10-7. Another big win occurred against Trinity Pawling, where Avon recovered f rom a five-goal deficit and rallied around a superior Bronson second place. Furthermore, Avon Kelly ’11, who scored five goals, swept up in general in this race; Jack pushing the game into an overtime Williams finished third, Euan Sorrell victory for Avon. This Wednesday fourth, and Jason Lally ninth.

Avon faces Loomis, and if Avon wins

In squash, Avon took a small and Westminster loses to Hotchkiss, beating in the win-loss category, but Avon claims the Founders League its end of the year finish left no doubt Championship. as to its talent and passion. Finishing Another major addition to the first place in New Englands for the success of the Spring Season is the class C division, Avon fielded a baseball team. With a season record competent team that left quite the standing at 15-1 with two games left, impression on its opponents. In the the team is already champions of first spot for Avon, Alija Hogans ’11 the Founder’s League and Colonial finished fifth, second spot Santiago League. A particularly wowing game Moran ’12 finished second, third was the KO match, where Avon hit sport Colin Bernard ’11 finished first, seven home runs, which resulted fourth spot Jeremy Ross ’12 finished in a demoralizing 15-0 loss for the first, fifth spot Andres Galindo ’11 dragons. Such feats of athleticism finished first, sixth spot Jack Brady and passion well represent the talent ’11 finished second, and seventh spot and character of all the spring teams, Kritt Pranich ’13 finished fifth place. as is evident f rom both winning Overall, this first place conclusion records and the player’s enthusiasm for the squash team represents their for their game. determination, enthusiasm, and The passion and drive of spirit of competition—a spirit that Avon athletics produces scholar ultimately triumphed after a tough athletes who compete with a fierce regular season. sense of camaraderie for love of the Now, with the conclusion game. It is no surprise that with of spring, Avon looks to wrap up its this mindset Avon teams succeed athletic season on a powerful note. marvelously in the athletic arena.

The Track team finished eleventh Whether it is in hockey, lacrosse, in the NEPSAC championships at baseball, squash, or riflery, Avon Deerfield. Nnamdi Amillo ’12, John always competes hard and competes Galloway ’11, and Reggie Mills ’11 well, and to all the graduating seniors made powerful appearances, ending who have contributed so much to the their 2011 season in a way befitting school, you leave behind a legacy of the storied history of Avon Old excellence and passion that defines Farms School.

Avon as the best school for boys.

On the tennis courts Avon

currently has an even distribution of wins and losses, standing right on a .500 win percentage. Notable wins for the team were the Trinity-Pawling match, where the Winged Beavers smoked their opponent 7-0. Another

“The legendary Avon Old

Farms once again proved

why they deserve the reputation they have.”

Friday, May 27, 2011

Sports 15

Chapel Speech continued (page 9)

-Durst Breneiser ’11 Karl Ravech and John Kruk visit Avon campus

He also learns how to ice sculpt to impress a girl. Avon doesn’t have a lot of girls. That gives you a really good opportunity to embarrass yourself learning things so you can impress them later—see? No consequences.

But wait, didn’t we already establish that none of Phil’s actions have any effect? So what’s the point of learning all of these things to impress someone if they’re just going to forget about them later? Sure, he must have realized at some point in his 34 year stay in Punxsutawney that learning things wasn’t really ever going to be about the results; but there’s not much else to do when every single day is the same. To me, it’s actually odd that Phil had to wait until there were no consequences to his actions that he began to take an interest in learning new aspects of life. Learning shouldn’t be about the ends or results of a skill; sometimes I want to do something just for the sake of doing it.

When I become too fixated on a goal, it’s easy to just tick off the days until I achieve it. At Avon, there’s things I can do to make the days go by, and most of the time I want to do those things. After all, 28 years is a long time. But then again, does it really feel like 28 years, or is it just four after all? I can say one thing for certain; one day I’ll wake up in a bed that’s not that same bed and experience a day that’s not that same Avon day. And just maybe, some part of me will wish it was.

Record Sports Inside: A Year in Review To D.C. Goes Warden INSIDE:

Varsity Baseball with an impressive finish Andreas Biekert ’11 Sports Editor

title. With two games left on the schedule, Avon has posted an impressive record of 15-1, remaining on track to outperform even last year’s incredible season. Certainly, the team has shown that they have the ability to remain repeated contenders among the elite baseball programs of New England. To that end, the team looks to close out its

last two games with positive performances and results.

Avon posted impres The Avon Old Farms sive results right f rom the beVarsity Baseball team has ginning of the season, shutting had an outstanding season, out Cushing and Hotchkiss living up to the impressive before earning wins against expectations set during the Westminster and Loomis 2010 season. With some very Chaffee. Avon defeated Looconvincing results along the mis again before traveling to way, Avon clinched both the Kingswood-Oxford for anFounders League championother impressive victory. In ship and the Colonial League perhaps their most antici pated match up of the season, Avon posted their most impressive result, earning a 10-3 win over archrivals Salisbury.

Still, the team did not let up, earning victories over Choate, Kent, and Taft. With a 25-4 victory over Trini t y - P a w l i n g , Avon clinched the Founders League title.

Durst Breneiser’11 The Founders Cam Hatch ’11 fires a fastball across the plate for a strike.

League record is determined only

by results between Founders League teams in their first meetings of the season, which is why the team managed to secure the title with plenty of games left in the season.

In the following game, Avon received their first, and so far only, loss of the season, coming in a 4-6 game against Taft. Avon recovered well, beating Westminster, Loomis Chaffee, and Hotchkiss, only letting up a combined 4 runs and scoring 34. In their most recent game, Avon again defeated Trinity-Pawling to clinch a league title; their 103 victory secured Avon’s top spot in the Colonial League.

Avon’s impressive record is certainly a product of consistently outstanding performances f rom many of its players. Captain Cam Hatch ‘11 led the pitching department with several outstanding performances before an injury disrupted his season, but Dave Kent ‘11, Captain Mike Gibbons ‘11, Adam Spracklin ‘11 and Mitchell Leeds ‘12 also demonstrated their skill on the mound throughout the season. Offensively, the team has had many standouts throughout the season,

including Chris Madeira ‘11, John Boland ‘11, Dan Palazzo ‘12, Matt DeVaux ‘11, Connor Doyle ‘12, and Alex Velardi ‘11.

With an impressive amount already accomplished this season, Avon looks to close out its two remaining games, against Choate and Kent, with victories. John Boland commented, “I’m definitely happy with what we’ve managed to do so far this season,” adding, “we need to work hard to win our last two games and close out well.”

In the past fifteen seasons, Avon’s baseball team has earned a Founders League or Colonial League title in ten, affirming its status as an elite baseball program in New England. The Varsity squad has certainly lived up to the lofty expectations of Avon’s baseball program and even has left itself room to be remembered as a great team in Avon’s rich baseball tradition.

Of course, the team looks for the continued support of Avon’s fans as it closes out the season.

Varsity Lacrosse closes out impressive season Wilson Meyer ’13 Staff Writer

Coming from California where lacrosse is just getting popular, I had never seen a full game of lacrosse till this year. I did not know what the normal score was or what an LSM was, but after watching the Varsity’s successful 12-7 season, I know more about lacrosse than I could have imagined. With six games having a one-goal difference, this season was very exciting to say the least. In the renowned New England Prep School Lacrosse League every team is packed with talented and driven individuals, and no game can be taken for granted.

However, Avon started their season far from the frozen hills of New England. Taking time out of their March vacation Avon traveled down south for an intensive ten day trip to Virginia and Maryland, and D.C. Their, Avon played against some of the top ranked high school teams in the country. Balancing wins and losses in a 2-3 preseason record, highlights occurred in the Western Reserve Game where Avon trounced their opponent 10-4 and the St. Anne’s Belfield match where the Winged Beavers beat the reigning Virginia State champions in a hard fought 10-7 tilt. The Season continued back home

where Avon leaped into the season with a string of wins against Exeter, NMH, Berkshire, Tabor, Bridgton, and Choate. Following Choate Avon lost a heartbreaking double overtime match to Westminster, 8-9. Throughout this match, Avon players played like men possessed, with outstanding offense coming from Bobby McDonald ‘11, Will Diamond ‘11, Kyle Foster ’11, Bronson Kelly ’11, and Eddie Foster ’11. Intimidating defensive play by Makoa Kaleo ’11, Kiernan Moris ’11, and George Welles ’11 matched a dynamic Westminster offense.

Spectacular goalkeeping came in the form of James Superka ’13, who stood on his head in order to keep Avon in the game. Unfortunately, a questionable overtime penalty gave Westminster an extra-man advantage in the second round of overtime, and Westy managed to sneak one in the net.

On May 11, the winged beavers played Trinity Pawling at home. The varsity lacrosse team was losing by three at the start of the fourth quarter, but this did not affect the players in anyway. With a minute to go, Bronson Kelly scored two goals to tie the game.

The overtime did not disappoint.

Rob Cordisco ended the intense twominute overtime with a clutch goal.

After the Trinity Pawling game the

Durst Breneiser ’11

Kyle Foster ’11 rips a shot against Northfield Mount Hermon’s goaltender.

season unfurled with three tough losses to Brunswick, Salisbury, and the National powerhouse Deerfield.

Sadly, the senior’s last home game was a devastating loss to Salisbury. The beavers lost by only one in what Skip Flanagan called, “a classic New England prep match up.”

With junior goalie Will Ryan leading the defense in a manner representing a wall and Bronson Kelly and Emmet Rogers leading the charge in the midfield, Avon kept this game close

and exciting. With only four seconds left Salisbury scored a crucial and gutwrenching goal leaving the final score 7-6. However, losses should be left in the past, on May 25, Avon plays Loomis, and if Avon beats Loomis and Westminster loses to Hotchkiss, the Winged Beavers will claim their second consecutive Founders League Championship, something the Seniors can take with pride when they depart from Avon Old Farms.