Classic newspaper Volume 20 Issue no. 5

Page 1

Vol. 20, No. 5 Spring 2004 •

asstc Townsend Harris High School at Queens College

149-11 Melbourne Avenue, Flushing, NY 11367

Variety Show works its magic for a worthy cause by Andrea Gavora The auditorium was filled with cheering fans and supportive teachers, parents and friends at the first annual Free the Children Variety Show on the evening of March 5, 2004. What began with plastering many colorful posters with clever slogans on school walls ended with the grand finale of raising a great sum of money for a worthy cause while putting on a great show at the same time. Hosted by juniors Kristopher Imperati and Iaisha Smith, the Variety Show, entitled"LifeisaCabaret,"combined the talent of Townsend Harris students with a fundraiser to raise money to accomplish the club's goal of building a school in Sierra Leone. Since Sierra Leone is one of the most unstable countries in West Africa and was recen tly labeled the poorest and worst place to live in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index, club members chose to donate their funds to this country. By choosing to build a school there, "we are attempting to help break the cycle of poverty and exploitation of children through providing educat ion for both boys and . . " .. . . . . .. . g1rls, smd JUniOr Nessd French, the. founder and director of the THHS chapter of Free the Children. The Variety Show was a two-hour melange of various acts ranging frorri instrumental performances, singing, and dancing to comedy and a documentary starring THHS students fron1 all grades, some or whom are part or the club and others who just came to show off their .

skills and help a good cause. "Most of the acts in the talent show were very unique," said junior Sara Corbett. "I never knew how funny or talented many of my peers could be." While the auditorium was packed with many students eager to support their friends, some attendees were doubtful of the event's potential success . "Personally, I thought coming to the show that night was going to be disastrous," stated freshman Linda Li, :• "but boy was I wrong. I hope Free the Children will do another Variety Show next year." Overall, senior Sara Hochrad enjoyed the show, saying, "All the

apathy and proved that kids like our- was only about a month to plan it," said selves really can help improve the sta- Kris. "Imagine what the club could do tus quo around the world ." The Variety with, oh say, five months?" In addition Show had such a good turn out because to time constraints, there were other dif"everything just kind of fit," said Nessa. ficulties. According to freshman and "THHS students are so talented and they club member Carolyn Santiago, "The just needed a hardest part of putting the Variety Show chance to display together was selling tickets . One person that, while Free said to me, 'Why should I pay just to go the Children see bad karaoke?'" needed an opporDespite the numerous obstacles faced tunity to raise by the club, everything worked out in money." theend. "Iwasproudofthewaytheclub In total, was able to put together such a profes$1 ,800 was sionallookingshowinsuchashorttime raised from ticket frame," said math teacher and club adsales, the bake visor Stephen Mazza, who together with sale during the science teacher Rosemarie Eaton, adintermission, and vised the show. The club members were pledges to the unanimous in stating that the show was "Giving Tree," a big success. "I thought that the Vari:: which allowed ety Show went really well, especially guests to place a with the time restraints we were given," ] donation and said freshman and club member have their name Alexandra Stark. "Everyone really E' added to one of helped out and gave it their all; in the ~ the tree's many end, it showed ."

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leaves . Free the

The Variety Show, while a first time

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Children has no"':

event a~. THHS, hopes to become an

L•~d~ ~•chman ~umor .Jen~•f~r Fogel),. raised a total of . . . . . poses With her mammcleh (jumor Andrea . $4 ·-380 from .their Tawk sk1t. It Wds Gavora) after their Cawfi•e Tmvk comedy skll. hilarious." proceeds from Everyone who attended the Variety the Variety Show and their booth at the Show agreed that the performance was Winter Carnival, leaving t_hem just shy as much a fundraiser as it was a night of of the $5,000 needed to build the school fun and entertainment. "I feel like I in Sierra Leone. helped accomplish something," said While the show turned out great, junior Michael Frenkel. "Not only did there was a lot of work put in_to creatour school collect money, but we also ing the final product. One maJor probspread a message that helped eliminate lem that the club faced was time . "There

annual flx~ure and perhaps even att~m the same fame, acclmm, and standmg . . . .

acts were great, but

I was particularly fond of the Caw fee

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as the Festival of NatiOns and Smg! ~ccording to Mr. Mazza, "The Vanety Show was a success on two le.v els . First of all, ~he club was able to ratse a great deal of mo.n.e y for a great cause. ~ow­ ever, even 1f no money had been ~atsed, the show was a su~cess because tt went well and a lot of people had a good time." .

Festival of Nations travels around the world ... in two days by Jennifer Bhuiyan and Alexis Serra Students, faculty members, relatives, and friends tlooded the au<:Jitorium and fastened their seatbelts as they experienced the annual Festival of Nations and circumnavigated the globe in a mer e total of six hours . Organiz~d by Assistant Principal of Foreign Language Lisa Mars, the event took place on Wednesday, March 30, and Thursday, March 31 in order to accommodate the many stops on a tour of global proportions. The grand, Star Wars-inspired opening by co-host Windell Cadelina, junior, as well as Thursday's free-style rap performance by co-host Shanay Freeman, senior, gave a unique twist to the

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annual show. A creative skit by co-hosts Shivraj Bhosle and Priti Malik, seniors, which was presented on both nights via video projector featured the two students, dressed in traditional Indian garb, garnered many laughs as they simulated a typical tlight from India to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, ultimately arriving at the auditorium in time for the Festival of Nations. Opening up what was bound to be an interesting and informative Wednesday night was an original rendition of the African American National Anthem, sung by the chorus and accompanied by their teacher, Florence McKinley, on the piano. Subsequently, the audience was

tickled by the humorous skit and medley of the Hebrew songs "Bashana Haba'a" and "Eretz, Eretz, Eretz " by the Hebrew classes, a dramatic interpretation of Ruben Blades' "Ligia Elena" by the Advanced Placement Spanish class, and a musical number by the French class that brought the audience directly to the city of lights and related what "Ia vie dans un cafe" is all about. Also, the Hawaiian dance served to soothe the Harrisites and ease them into their nearing Spring Break, while Educate to Elevate's perfonnance reminded all attendees of the diverse languages and cultures that can be found in our schooi.Wednesday's show was .also a

night of Festival of Nations firsts , including the first-ever presentation of traditional and modern Irish step-dancing. Both evenings' events captured the spirit of Asia, featuring an assortment of Persian , Uzbekistani, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, and Indian cultural displays . Junior Melissa Cheng, one of the performers in Wednesday's Chinese Harvest Dance said, "Participating in the Festival of Nations was a fun experience and, although it was a lot of work, I look forward to doing it again next year." Several students performing traditional and modern Chinese fan, ribbon, and Kung-Fu dancers also

continued on p. 7

New Locker Policy

Commentary: Terrorism in Madrid

New Teachers

Athletic Profile: Louis Elrose

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