wagner world

8/6/2019 Wagner World

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Volme 1, Issue 2

WAGNER WORLD

Latin Fair 1

International Festival 2-3

Poetry 4

Advice Column 4

France Travel Journal 5

SEW’’s Le Mis 7

And more...

Inside this issue:

On the nights of February 11th and 12th, students of Wagner High felt an overbearing mixof anxiety and excitement as they awaited their names to be called on stage. This peculiar feeling felt by the students is characteristic of those who participate in Wagner’s annual Inter-national Festival. International Festival is unlike any other night in our school, for the excite-ment stirred amongst the students was the product of their passion and eagerness to perform.

During International Festival, various student clubs showcase dances, songs and fashionsfrom across the globe. This three hour show attracts hundreds of viewers who flood the audito-rium on both nights. This year, the audience was attracted to festival by delicious food made

by the clubs and most importantly, by the performances. Of the clubs participating were DanceTeam, Russian Dance, Asian Hip Hop Dance, Christian Club Dance, Break Dance and manymore. The Festival began with the opening song “We Are The World” which was then pro-ceeded by the Fashion Show. After the Fashion show came the individual club performances.

Preparing for International Festival is no easy feat. Clubs assemble as early as October tochoreograph and design their costumes. For many people, International Festival results in ex-tended school days, increased stress and inevitable tiredness. Though International Festival brings many hardships, it is truly all worth it. The memories made during International havemade strangers into friends and clubs into families. On a chilly winter night in Staten Island,you can find hundreds of students celebrating their cultures and identity while embracing theuniqueness of other cultures. To appreciate other cultures and identities, you don’t need totravel vast distances, look no further than Susan E. Wagner High School’s International Festi-

val.

In-depth coverage on pg 2

International Festival By MYLISA NOGRA

The Student Newspaper of Susan E. Wagner High SchoolStStaten Island, New York

Latin Fair 2011: Come For the Pig, Stay for the MonstraBY TRAVIS GONZALEZ

The lights dim. Theaudience grows quiet. Thehost comes out in a toga?Welcome to Latin Fair 2011, the fair that takes my-thology and turns it into a

musical extravaganza.

This year’s wascentered on the Roman Dayof the dead, and was filledwith vengeful sibling ri-valry, invasions by mythol-ogy’s most gruesome crea-tures, and an abundance of reptilian hairstyles. Thisyear’s show, like last year’s,

represented student-createdskits, dances, and songs inone continuous story. The performers were on the ball,embodyingtheir Roman

characterswhile at thesame time putting on amodern twiston the oldtales. One of the mostunique as- pects of theshow was

this modern spin, doing

things like creating a

contd on pg 6

Wagner World is theofficial Newspaper of Susan E. Wagner HighSchool; it is written com-pletely by the students.Wagner World is ourmedium to express, in-spire and inform.



International Festival 2011

PAGE 2 WAGNER WORLD VOLME 1, ISSUE 2

Being a part of the Celtic Society was one of the mostamazing experiences of my life. It was great to be able to makenew friends while also emerging myself into the rich Irish culture.Our choreographer, Eric Zhuno, was literally inspiring. The wholeclub was super talented and really made my whole experienceworthwhile. I'm really looking forward to next year's InternationalFestival.

- Lauren Kaufman

The Step Teams performance at Interna-tional sealed the unification of a team bigger and

better than any other year. One sound, one body,one mind is what we wanted to accomplish andthat's what we did. We tried new things this year and new concepts and incorporated a small storyline to really show what a real stepper can do.

Truth is, a real stepper can do anything.

- Evelyn Cooke

We always overcame everything by juststicking together and remembering to have fun, be-cause that's the true meaning of International Festi-val. We might be a small groups, but certainly notin diversity and differences. Somehow those differ-ences took us beyond the member-to-member rela-tionship and into something we all like to call'family'

- Fiona Dang

The beauty of belly dancing is one that is incredibly diffi-cult to capture. This traditional Middle Eastern style dance requiresgrace, elegance, and the ability to isolate body parts, flawlessly. Thisyear’s Middle Eastern team danced to a mix of Lebanese songs atSEW’s annual International Festival and proved to Wagner’s audi-ence that practice really does make perfect. Challenging choreogra- phy by Captain Grace Chamoun, with the help of Co-captain OsayiOdia, was picked up quickly by our diversely cultured teammatesAshley Joy, Medhini Kasuni, Amanda Briggs, Geena Inzerillo,Yesenia Flores, Irene Zhang, Diana Kim, Corianna Givens and even

Wagner’s Mr. International, Eric Zhuno.

-Girls, I want to thank you all for making this year a memorable one.I absolutely could not have wished for a better group to work with.

Love you all!



A Mind Boggling NightBy MADHURA NADARAJH

As part of Key Club my fellow members and I

helped set up, serve food, and clean up. Key Club’s motto

is to serve our school and community and when the leaders

of key club asked us to help with international festival we

all signed up. What I like most about Wagner and Key Clubis the good teamwork everyone puts in; we all try to help

each other in every way possible either big or small. The

Key Club members arrived three hours prior to the show

and within those hours Wagner’s cafeteria was transformed

to an international cafe. As part of setting up, we placed

different colored table covers, stacked up on massive

amounts of water, and arranged the food in the group they

belonged in. Serving food was our favorite part. The food

ranged from the traditional Indian samosas to Middle East-

ern desserts and to my favorite Filipino chicken adobo.

When everyone was done eating, the show began. Everyone

did an amazing job with their electrifying dance moves and beautiful costumes. When the show was over, Key Club

remained to help clean up. The Key Clubbers were happy to

help the participants and teachers who put in hard work

preparing for the show. International Festival 2011 was a

mind boggling night to remember!

PAGE 3WAGNER WORLDVOLME 1, ISSUE 2

Anime Club loves to perform in International Festival,we love to be a part of a special event such as this in our school and be able to entertain all of the people who

come and watch all the clubs perform. We work hardand practice, practice, practice so that we can do our best and make people smile and cheer. We don’t aim tostand out in the long line of performances, but we aim toentertain and that’s our main goal. We feel the heat inthe room the nights of each performance and that’s whatwe love and that’s what we thrive for. I hope that wecan keep up the good work in the years to come. Gam-

bate Minna! Do your best everyone!

- Elizabeth Porchiazzo

Russian Club 2011 was the ultimate InternationalFestival experience. From getting to know other students withthe same culture to entirely putting together a Russian dance, itwas the perfect mix of fun and hard work. In the past couple of years, Russian Club has nearly doubled in size, and hopefullywill continue its reputation as one of International Festivals

most energetic and friendly clubs.

- Jessica Yakobashvili

" It was such awonderful experience, we'll

be practicinghard for aneven better show next

year."

- Sam Adesla

M o v e,

m o v e,

b a b y

d o n ’ t s

t o p i t



WAGNER WORLD Volume 1,

“Harboring “

By Anne

The sandHas the same texture, graininess,

As I remember.Its uneven scattering on the board-walk is the same.

Daydreams are a veil,Blocking out the sun from my eyes,And the water from my fingertips.

They all say they want everything,So they’ll never feel lost, ever Or deprived.

They don’t know, until they’ve Breathed themselves into the sky-lineOnce it’s the wink of dawn

They’ll never know.

To be a distracted driver means to have your eyes and mind off of the road. Whilea driver is texting or using their cell phone they are not only putting themselves at risk butalso everyone around them.

In a study done during 2008, it was proven that over 80,000 Americans have usedtheir cell phones while driving during the day. Almost 6,000 Americans died within theyear as well. As of November 1, 2009, texting while driving has been banned from NewYork, as it has for many other states. Anyone that is caught using their cell phones whiledriving will be fined up to $150. It is proven that out of all cell phone related tasks, such astalking, dialing, internet surfing, ect, texting is considered to be the most dangerous.

At first thought teenagers are usually to blame for all texting while driving acci-dents; however adults are to blame just as much. The Virginia Tech Transportation Insti-tute ran a study proving the dangers of texting while driving. One of the results was thatabout one fifth of experienced adult drivers are guilty to sending out texts. According tothe study there has been a 400% increase in time spent off the road because of cell phoneusages. However that still does not leave teenagers off the hook because everyone is re-sponsible for their actions on the road.

In all, that "Hey what's up :)" from your best friend can make the difference of

your safety. It's not just you who would suffer the consequences, think about the people

who you, the distracted driver, might possibly crash into. Would you be able to live with

yourself after injuring someone? Don't make you or anyone else a statistic and keep your

eyes on the road, not on a cell phone.

Don’t Be a Distracted Driver By LAURA SCARIMBOLO

No matter what you do in life, you are never going to be able to pleaseeveryone. There is always going to be that person or those people who no matter how hard you’re trying, will always find faults, always find something to criticizeyou about, find something to use against you. There are many out there that havetheir goal aimed at bringing you down. This world contains people that are so insa-tiable that they won’t be satisfied until they’ve made your life a little harder for their own personal enjoyment. So what’s the point of trying so hard? What’s the point of bending over backwards just to try to please others? The goal in life is tocreate yourself. To mold your own, distinct person who’s going to stand out andleave a footprint in this world. When you’re trying to “fit in” or be perfect, youlose yourself, you lose that image that you’ve fought so hard to establish. Be your-self, 100% of the time and if people don’t like it… that’s their own fault, their ownloss. They can either take you as you are, or watch you as you go; but if you’re

yourself, because then at least you’ll have no regrets. In this world that we live in,it is so easy to lose yourself and everything that you stand for. It throws obstaclesat us constantly, to test us, to make us mess up, to make us fall flat on our faces, but most importantly, to make us learn and grow. Our past struggles dictate the people we become today and if it wasn't for all that heartache we'd still be cryingover paper cuts and people stealing our toys. Out of everything bad comes some-thing good and even though it feels like theres nothing beneficial coming fromyour pain now, know that it's only helping to make you ten times stronger and ten

times wiser…

Advice ColumnBy GRACE CHAMOUN

Origina l A rtwor k b y

Sa ba h Tariq



by: REGINA THOMAS

Day 1- The Magnificent City of Lights…. PARIS! Our first city that we visited was the New York City of France, Paris. Parisians use our version of a subway which is called “metro”in France. Our tour guide took us to the Arc de Triomphe where Napoleon had his soldiers march through. Inside the monument isthe eternal flame, which burns in memory of the dead who were never identified (in both World Wars). For the rest of the eveningwe walked around and go to see the beautiful city at its best, at night.

Day 2- ParisSightseeing this morning included the Place de la Concorde, the Latin Quarter and a tour of Notre Dame. Notre Dame was abso-lutely breathtaking from the moment anyone set eyes on it. It was also a great place to get the French delicacy, crepe (a pancake withfilling) In the afternoon, we visited the Louvre which houses the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci.

Day 3- Rouen and Honfleur We took a bus ride along the River Seine to Rouen. We had a chance to experience the French marketplace, site of Joan of Arc'smartyrdom on May 30, 1431, and the streets of Rouen with their 700 timbered houses. Finally we arrive in Honfleur, the great me-dieval port at the mouth of the Seine. The town was filled with boats everywhere and peacefulness, in contrast with Paris.

Day 4 – Arromanches and St. MaloToday we visited D-Day beaches and learned about Operation Overlord and how it was a turning point in WWII. In the evening wearrived in St. Malo, perched on seaside cliffs and still surrounded by ramparts built in defense from Corsair pirates.

Day 5 - Saumur This morning our group visited the great island abbey of Mont St. Michel. The story goes that the devil and St. Michael had a com- petition to see who could build the best castle in one day. The devil and St. Michael both worked very hard but the devil’s castle paled in comparison with St. Michael castle. St. Michael, as cunning as he was, offered the devil his castle. The devil foolishly took the castle but didn’t pay attention to the fact that the castle was made out of ice. And so when the morning came, the devil’s castlemelted away.

Day 6- Saumur Our group started off with a visit to Usse, known for its fairytale-like château. Then we went to the "photographer's dream," the châ-teau of Azay-le-Rideau. In the afternoon, we traveled to Sainte Maure de Touraine, the town that produces one of France's most fa-mous cheeses of the same name. We also had the chance to partake in a fromage tasting, and experience goat birth!

Day 7- Back to ParisBefore heading back to Paris, we visited, King Louis XIV’scastle, Versaille! Versaille had a hundreds of rooms but wewere only allowed to visit a tiny portion of the palace. Fromwhat we could visit, this castle was tres magnifice! Our lastevening consisted of major shopping and visiting the world fa-mous Eiffel Tower. Our group had the privilege to go up to thetop floor and view the City of Love! At night, when we were in

the tower, it started to light up and sparkle! It was a scene out of a movie, excitement truly filled the air.

Day 8- Au Revoir Paris, Hello New York LOn the way to the airport, we all had a chance to reflect on thetrip and to see how privileged we were to take this trip witheach other and have such amazing chaperones. Paris 2011 willforever be alive in our hearts!

WAGNER WORLD Volume 1, Issue 2



PAGE 6 WAGN ER WOR LD VOLME 1, ISSUE 2

Contd from p 1

skit about Medusa based off a song like “Forget You” by Cee LoGreen. The show was also not without its share of dancing, prevalent in every-thing from a dance-off too an original fan dance created by the talented chore-ographers. The choir was also another force that brought down the house, per-forming an a capella song in Latin. Let us not forget the banner either, spreadacross the bottom of the stage, beautifully representing the story that was about

to unfold.

Latin Fair is a performance that rises to higher prominence with each passing year. Its an event truly worth attending, one that comes purely from theminds of your friends and classmates, and one that finds a way to combine popculture, with ancient culture. As a Latin Fair Director, I can’t truly express inwords how proud I am of everyone who participated in the show this year. Toall of the directors, all of you worked to create something that was truly spec-tacular and it wouldn’t be possible without your leadership and dedication. Toall of the performers, artists, backstage crew members, congratulations on anincredible job! It was an amazing experience to have worked with each andevery one of you, and I hope you participate again in an event that gets better

and better every year! Here’s to Latin Fair 2012!

O u r Pe r fo rma nce w i t h

a Jazz Lege nd

By: NITA PRELVUKAJ

After a year of hard work the Wagner jazz band put ontheir annual Jazz concert. This year the Jazz band was told theywould be playing with JAZZ LEGEND Frank Lacy. The jazz prepared 6 songs including a song written by Mr. Corn called

“Permutations of the Soul” and a song written by Frank Lacycalled “Settegast Strut”. Frank Lacy is a world renounced jazztrombonist. He spent a year-and-a-half as music director for ArtBlakey's Jazz Messengers. He currently plays with the MingusBig Band in the Manhattan and has played with many of thegreats including Dizzy Gillespie and Slide Hampton.When Frank walked in through the band room doors we were allleft speechless. I was told by many people in the audience thatthey had different expectations of Frank Lacy. Many expectedfrank to come out dressed formally, just as the jazz band haddressed. Frank, however, strutted on stage with a lot of energyand a big smile. He dressed casually in an African dashiki andgreeted the audience affably.

In my opinion Frank Lacy truly embodies music. Whenhe plays his trombone the music flows from deep within and outhis horn. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak with frank and play with him. I noticed that when he spoke, hechose his words carefully. However when he picked up his trombone he made bold statements. He has a sound that travels farther than anyone I have ever heard. He played a fierce solo that nightand left the audience as well as myself in awe. I was honored byhis presence.

“ the key to his success is preparation and opportunity”. - Frank Lacy

An Evening of Jazz

By ALEX RODIER

The Wagner high school auditorium was packed tight

full of eager students and adults on a Wednesday night, waiting

to listen to the very talented Wagner jazz band. The night was

not any ordinary performance by their jazz band though, be-

cause a special guest named Frank Lacy, a “trombone legend”

joined in to play with them. This was not only a pleasure for the

audience, but for the fellow musicians where it could be a once

in a lifetime chance to stand next to a legend like Lacy. After the intermission, the audience returned to their

seats only to see an empty stage with a man and a drum set.

After a few minutes, the stage was filled with Frank Lacy and

his own little jazz group. This group did not only bring instru-

ments onto the stage, they brought their souls. The performance

put on by this group was not only a great experience for the

young musicians but for anyone there. After two hours of fun

and energetic jazz by both the students and Lacy’s group, there

was a big round of applause.

An Evening of Jazz BY ALEX RODIER



Les Miserables from the Perspective of “Éponine”By: TRAVIS GONZALES

PAGE 7WAGNER WORLDVOLME 1, ISSUE 2

We’ve all heard its music emanating from the auditorium. We’ve all seen its posters.The Wagner theater department’s performance of the renowned play Les Miserables

promises to be a night to remember and a showcase for the talented performers of Wagner High School. While the show builds hype and anticipation from outside thewalls of the auditorium, one can’t help wonder what’s going through the minds of the actors and actresses metamorphosing into the characters of “Les Mis” behindthose walls. Éponine is one character who has taken the time to share her thoughtson the journey she has made on the road to the opening performance.

When Éponine isn’t performing on the stage, she goes by the name SylivaMaisonet. When sitting down with Sylvia to ask about the show, she emphasized theconnection she shares between herself and the young daughter of M. Thérnadier.“The love story is relatable,” She said. “[And] Éponine is passionate, dedicated, anda really good friend.”

In many ways, Éponine is the symbol of

secret love (Her feelings for Marius), aswell as sacrifice, despite the fact that herlove might not be reciprocated. From atechnical stand point, Éponine faces theobstacle of successfully becoming this im-passioned girl, and also being featured in

thirteen of the show’s songs, one of which is a solo in the world famous num-ber, “On my Own.” Sylvia has dealt with all of this with confidence, profes-sionalism, and a smile, stating that the role has been, “Challenging, but notthat hard.” It’s clear that Sylvia has enjoyed walking in Éponine’s footsteps,for she says that the, “Music is amazing and [the show] a good experience.”

Sylvia’s hard work and dedication give the average viewer a glimpse into the world of theater, and the journey

each actor and actress must take to form connections with the characters they become. Sylvia’s background of Frenchand opera classes have made her the perfect match for Éponine, and when this show is behind her, she plans to con-tinue to use her talents to become a singer. So, in conclusion, I offer the reader this challenge: Watch Les Miserables,and cheer on a rising star. Watch Les Miserables and see a truly fantastic performance by your peers. Watch Les Miser-

ables and determine for yourself who will steal the show.

Are you tired of getting intense turf burn when sliding on the football field because your sneakers or cleatslost traction? What about tripping over the obnoxious bumps and cracks on the track? Or stepping in puddles after itrains? Fortunately, these problems will cease to exist after June of 2012. From that point, our ancient track and field(the track is 30 years old, the field 15; the entire facility was built in 1978) will become modern and state of the art.

There are many changes that will be made.The football field will be fully replaced with new, stronger and more durable turf.The track oval will be fully replaced with new synthetic material that will not crack. The new track will also be

regulation size.There will be space for all track and field events.There will be space for a full softball track that will not go onto the track.The entire complex will be shifted towards the Nursing home.2 fences will be replaced (the one facing Brielle avenue and the Retirement home).

As you can see, there will be major changes to our track and field. Fortuitously, the changes do not stophere. In the near future, there is a very good chance that we will have a full baseball stadium that will also be stateof the art. The baseball stadium would be built in the woods behind the Nursing home.

Wagner Moves into the 21st Century!By MICHAEL GARBER



1st for the 600-meter run, and 2nd in the55 meter. Bart Gadek got 2nd in polevault, and Bilall Cela scored 2nd placein the high hurdles. The girls were therunner-ups on the island, and also took home some outstanding individual

wins! ChristinaMelian took 1st for the 3000-meter run, 2nd for the1500, and 3rd inhigh jump. NinaGorglione, Cath-erine Nasella, and Samantha Corullagrabbed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for polevault. Elaine Minew finished 2nd in

shot put, along with Zarifko Bilali fin-ishing 1st for shot put, and 2nd for the 55

hurdles. Wagner overall did an out-standing job at this year’s indoor track borough champs, and certainly made animpression on the island! The Falcons

continue to show commitmentand dedication to their team,and school, and it shows off attimes like these. Fly Falcons,

Fly!

The Susan Wagner Track teamscored an amazing victory at the Indoor Track Borough Championships in theArmory this past February. The boystook home 1st place, defending Curtiswho were the previous reigning bor-

ough champions, and also grabbed ex-cellent individual wins for Wagner.Benjamin Ezike scored 1st in triple andlong jump, along with Colonel Fa-korode scoring 2nd place in triple, 3rd place in long jump, and 3rd in the 55high hurdles. Lucas Titolo grabbed thegold for high jump, Blerim Pocestatook 1st for shot put, and Alexander Park got 3rd. Javrielle Turner finished

Ready, Set, Dance off!!! Led

by Mrs. Burg, the Assistant Principal of

the Science department, Susan E. Wag-

ner High School started its fundraisingcampaign for the March of Dimes with

a Dance off. The March of Dimes, an

organization whose mission is to im-

prove the health of babies by prevent-

ing birth defects, and premature births.

Students faced each other on the Wii

video game, Just Dance 2. 12 students

competed against each other, dancing

to a different variety of songs from

different time periods. After every

round, the winner would compete

against the winner of the other round,

until only one was remaining. In this

case, that person was Ashley Pernice.

The winner of the Dance off received a

$5o gift certificate to the Falcon’s Nest.Each person had to pay $5 to compete

and $3 to watch and hang out. Refresh-

ments were provided to all. Even with

the low turnout of 13 people, including

me, we all learned to make the most of

it and enjoy our self while raising

money for the March of Dimes. At the

end of the event, Mrs. Burg and the

students who organized the event raised

$75 for the March of Dimes, which put

a smile on Mrs. Burg’s face. She later

said that there were more fundraising

events for the March of Dimes, which

begins May 1st. Be sure to keep a look

out for Mrs. Burg and her students, for

you never know what she may be plan-ning next. For more information of the

March of Dimes, and how you can take

part in it, visit marchofdimes.com or

marchforbabies.org

Grace Chamoun

Nita Prelvukaj

Alex Rodier

Sarah Adamo

Olivia Morello

Michael Garber

Joanna Del Priore

WAGNER WORLD STAFF

Mr. Ilkowitz………. Faculty Advisor

Mylisa Nogra……….Editor-In-Chief

Kristina Lam….Head Photographer

Travis Gonzalez

Regina Thomas

Sahan RatnayakeLaura Scarimbolo

Anne Le

Madhura Nadarajah

Sabah Tariq

Sylwester Zawada

Wagner Falcons: Indoor Borough ChampsBy SARAH ADAMO

Let’s Dance!!! By: Sahan Ratnayake

PAGE 8 WAG NER WOR LD VOLME 1, ISSUE 2

Flly Falcons, Fly!

http://c/Users/amelia2/Downloads/marchofdimes.com


http://c/Users/amelia2/Downloads/marchforbabies.org




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