The Wessex Wire (April 2010)

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The Wessex Wire The Student Newspaper of West Essex Regional High School

Vol. XLIV No. 3

West Essex High School, 65 West Greenbrook Road, North Caldwell, N.J.

April 2010

Nor’easter floods Fairfield by Camille D’Elia ‘10

Photo courtesy of Paul Rando

At the end of the “Wessex Apparel” round of Mr. West Essex, contestants take a moment for a picture before the “Q&A” round.

Doelp crowned Mr. West Essex by Lacy Tell ‘11

The Class of 2010 raised $5,600 at Mr. West Essex Competition on the Wed., Feb. 24. Boys from the Senior who competed for the title of Class Mr. West Essex were Brandon Rossi, Tommy Gasbarro, Jon Miller, Doug Geraghty, Ryan Soroka, Tom Black, Pete Doelp, Mike DiGulio, P.J. Castiglia, Ryan McCormack and Rudi Hughes. The Senior Class Council, Senior Class Adviser Mr. Christopher Benacquista, Ms. Amanda Procaccino and Ms. Andrea Mondadori organized and ran the event. Pete Doelp was crowned Mr. West Essex, while P.J. Castiglia and Mike DiGulio finished in second and third place, respectively. The Mr. West Essex competition consisted of various portions including swimwear, formal wear, West Essex wear, a talent contest and a question and answer session. Some of the talents included a re-creation of the infamous Youtube sensation, The “Yes Dance,” by Doelp and Black, a show-stopping performance of Bocelli’s “Por Ti Volare” by Miller and a jazzercize mimicking of a Richard Simmons aerobics class performed by Rossi, Castiglia

Inside This Issue:

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News

and McCormack in leotards and tights to the tune of “Call on Me.” “I really loved working on the talent portion of the show. We had a lot of fun coming up with the steps for the Richard Simmons workout,” Castiglia said. All the participants put a lot of time and effort into making Mr. West Essex an enjoyable evening. “It took some hard work and dedication to achieve this, but the outcome was epic,” said Black, “it was a group of very fine men.” Procaccino brought Mr. West Essex to our high school after witnessing its success at the collegiate level. “My college had a competition called Mr. SJU, [Saint Joseph’s University]. When we needed to come up with a new fundraiser here at WE for the Senior Class, I immediately thought of Mr. SJU as the guys had a blast doing it. It is basically a fun spin on the Miss America pageants, but for men,” said Procaccino. Mr. West Essex was a huge success for the Class of 2010. “We hoped the event would raise us a lot of money, and it did. Now some of the senior events, such as Senior Ball which cost $90 last year, will not be as expensive as they were in the past,” said Benacquista.

Fairfield Officer Shot Lockdown Blood Drive

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Opinions

Bathroom Lockdown Sexting Potholes

A Nor’easter that hit during the weekend of March 12 dumped at least six inches of rain across northern New Jersey, causing massive flooding and affecting local residents. The rain, accompanied by gale-force winds, caused trees and power lines to fall and resulted in power outages across the four towns. However, Fairfield residents experienced the worst of the storm as rivers rose above safe levels. Those in the most affected areas were forced to evacuate as flood waters and overflowing sewers reached the levels of mailboxes and caused thousands of dollars in damage. Due to the flood, West Essex students had an early dismissal on Mon., March 15, followed by a school closing on Tuesday and a delayed opening on St. Patrick’s Day. The attendance policy for those three days was suspended for Fairfield students. Senior Luciana Contuzzi was one of the many Fairfield students affected by the storm. “On Monday, my sister and I left school around 10:30 a.m. We had to walk through the water with boots on to get to our house and we were stuck at home Monday through Wednesday,” said Contuzzi.

“The water in the middle of the street was waist-level. The National Guard came on boats to evacuate a few families across the street.” Many residents decided to venture out into the new landscape. “On Tuesday, my sister and I went down the street in our neighbor’s row boat,” said Contuzzi. Senior Zac Minden and his brother Ben, a junior, also took out a small craft in the flood waters. Although they weren’t directly affected by the damage of the storm, the brothers, from Roseland, made it a point to do their part. “During the flood, we went to a friend’s house in order to try and remove some valuables,” Zac Minden said. “Unfortunately, the house was locked and we were unable to retrieve anything. The good news was that we were able to help an elderly woman escape her house during the flooding and get her safely to shore.” While on the boat, they saw mailboxes, cars and garages all submerged, as well as garbage floating in the streets. Of his experience, Minden said: “It was great to know that we were helping people and making the flood a little easier on them. It really put things into perspective and made me realize how fortunate I am to have all that I have.”

Mistu Yasukawa/ Star-Ledger

Zac and Ben Minden coast down a Riveredge Drive in their boat after the Nor’easter caused massive flooding in many areas of N.J.

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Features

Poetry Outloud Prom Date Dos and Don’ts Diner Review

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Arts &

TK Award Shows Recap Culture Alice in Wonderland


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