ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO TATTLE October 2014 • Estd. 1892 • Vol. 122 #7 • Published Monthly • www.ihstattler.com Ithaca High School, 1401 N. Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY 14850 • FREE
In This Issue
Say No to Knee Defender
Remembering John Kozak 8
Teacher Feature: Mr. Carver 15 Collage Concert
20
XXYYXX and Joywave
20
Classical Music Playlist
22
IHS Football
24
IHS Cross Country
24
Ask the Admins: Part 2 By KALIL HENDEL This is the second article in a recurring question-and-answer series with administrators, teachers, and other members of IHS. Have a question that you would like answered? Send an email to news@ihstattler.com. All questions will be asked anonymously. This issue: Mr. Powers.
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By DIANA KELLY
IHS student John Kozak died at the age of 17 on September 9, 2014 in Southwest Golisano Children’s Hospital, just one month after being diagnosed with leukemia. He was about to begin his senior year at IHS. John attended South Hill Elementary School, where he played tag at recess every day for many years, built Lego battleships, and sat at the peanut-free table. It was amazing how many of his South Hill teachers and classmates attended his calling hours. Many of his high-school teachers attended as well. Many described him as the perfect student. He was always on time, always had his work done, and always understood what was going on; he was IMAGE PROVIDED John Kozak: 1997–2014 determined to do well despite being out sick a great deal. Chemistry in particular really clicked with him—according to his friend Alex Sisouphone, John wanted to be a chemist someday. In all of his classes, John would help whomever was sitting near him if he could. John loved video games, Batman, Superman, and Star Wars. He was good at imitating his favorite characters, Yoda and Batman, and had a great sense of humor. He could even imitate characters from movies he had never seen, exemplified by when he imitated the classic line from Crocodile Dundee, “That’s not a knife; this is a knife.” According to his friend Talia Turk, John’s favorite band was Imagine Dragons. His favorite song was “Already Home” by A Great Big World. John was the loving son of George and Mary Ann, and brother to Genevieve, Wendy, Scott, Jeremiah, and Isaiah. Well-grounded and spiritual, John was also a person who loved to spend time with his family. According to his childhood friend Kevin Smith ’15, one of John’s favorite activities growing up was wrestling with his older brother Jeremiah. He enjoyed cooking and watching the Cooking Channel with his sister Wendy as well as helping his little brother Isaiah unlock all of the characters in his favorite video game. John was a quiet individual, often shy, but even those who did not know him saw that he was always helping others, always smiling, always kind. Those lucky enough to have considered him a friend were truly touched by him. John was one of the kindest human beings ever to have walked the halls of IHS. A wonderful person, he will be sorely missed. IHS is much emptier without his smile.