Ridgewood Reporter

March 1997

Volume 12, Issue 5

The R.H.S. Drama Club performed My Son Is Crazy-But Promising, a play by Tim Kelly, on March 6th, 7th, and 8th. The play was a farce about the complications that arose when a zany group of guests, including a spy, newlyweds, a gangster, and a crazy old lady, invaded a quiet lodge in rural Arizona called the Ritz Apache.

The entire cast and crew worked extremely hard on the production under the guidance of director Angee Lewandowski. Set construction was coordinated by Mr. Rick Shulda, and the stage crew kept things running smoothly both before and during the performances. Those who attended the play were entertained by the acting of Sarena Olsen, Annette Tylka, John Zukowski, Anna Wasilewski, Sharon Dopak, Mike Pauley, Laura Manrique, Mike Dicillo, Sanja Stevovic, Mike Favia, Kristina Tunzi, Heather Sinkovits, Danny Swibel, and Tina Gjondla.

Thursday’s performance went on despite trouble with the sound system and the illness of Mike Pauley, who was cast in the role of Bud Granger. Mrs. Lewandowski stepped in to read his part. Things improved on Friday with Pauley’s return, and the production came to a close with a solid performance on Saturday. Mrs. Lewandowski gave special recognition to the graduating seniors and thanked everyone who made this year’s play possible. Next year’s production will be a murder mystery written by RHS’ own Mike Pauley.

On Monday, March 10, National Honor Society went to breakfast and had a planning meeting for the Induction ceremony which will be held on March 18. There are a record number of inductees this year. They are Matt Altschul, Mike Amato, Elizabeth Bundalo, Joe Chabura, Mary Jo Chrabasz, Kathy Conneely, Tonio Crudele, Emily Delvalle, Brian Floral, Deanne Guagenti, Purvi Joshi, Tom Jurczak, Kristin Keglovitz, Stefania Larricchia, Lorraine LoPresto, Susan Micek, George Mueller, Becky Nielsen, Bill Peterhansen, Chris Popieluszko, Tonio Raimondi, Slawek Rokita, Kathy Rozek, Adam Sammartino, Jay Shah, Dan Swibel, Joanna Szyndlar, Colleen Thesen, Heidi Vertelka, Anna Wasilewski, Marie Weeks, and Monica Zawislak

March 25 is Arbor Day, and NHS will plant trees in honor of this day. NHS may also visit children in hospitals this spring.

On Saturday March 8, RHS competed against 13 other schools and took second place at the Suburban Prairie Conference Art Show. This competition is RHS’s first art competition for this year.

Ewa Prochowska took first in neutral drawing, Mike Klita took first in water color, and Sylwia Halasik took second in textile design. Honorable mentions were given to Harriet Kowal, Kristine Perez, Janet Pozdol, and Andy Nunn.

The following students participated in workshops: Jadwiga Bator, Agatha Gotfryd, Sylwia Halasik, Vince Ho, Tom Kacprzynski, and Ewa Prochowska.

Creative Waves is a literary magazine full of poems and short stories written by Ridgewood students and published once a year by the Creative Waves Editorial Board. Creative Waves literary magazine was created for students and all others who appreciate the finer things in life. The Editorial Board thanks you for the many submissions they received. The editorial board spent hours reading these submissions.

"We liked the submissions so much that it was very hard to decide which ones to put in the literary magazine," said Mrs. Micklo, advisor of Creative Waves. Currently the editorial board is editing, typesetting and preparing the selected submissions to be published in the literary magazine. The magazine will be out sometime in April or May.

FBLA members are working their hardest ever. They are preparing for State Competition in Springfield on March 20-22. Students have been working individually and on teams to complete the necessary preparations. The written events have already been submitted, and now students are preparing for their oral presentations. Each student has to compete in at least one event, and they are working toward the goal of competing at nationals in Anaheim, California, this spring. Ridgewood FBLA is going to show the rest of Illinois what we are made of!

Ms. Giese is the new permanent substitute here at Ridgewood. Ms. Giese was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. She attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She liked it so much there, she even named her cat Madison. She previously taught French at Waunakee Elementary School. She also taught French at the Kids On Campus program at the College of Du Page and has taught ESL.

Ms. Giese enjoys Ridgewood because "everyone is friendly, the staff and the students, everyone." Her favorite times so far at Ridgewood include the time she talked to an Italian 4 class about "Grand Amore," and she also enjoyed the Pep Rally on March 4th. People make her happy when they say "hi" to her in the hallway.

Ms. Giese enjoys playing the flute, walking, and reading French books at night. She also likes aerobics and watching aerobic videos. She has two favorite music groups- Counting Crows and the Cranberrys. She also likes U2.

April 24, 1997 will be Take Our Daughters to Work Day, sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women. Millions of girls, ages nine to fifteen, will participate in this national event. You are the next generation of women who will work in the world and change the world. More information about participating in this day will be in the morning announcements.

Speech Club competitions are already over for the year. "Competitions only run from January to March," Ms. Lindenfeld said. "We only get one shot at it, and if we do well, we move on to the state finals. This year we did well, but we didn’t make it to the finals. I’m hoping we can do better next year." Hey! Dying to join the Speech Club next year to compete? See Ms. Lindenfeld for more details.

The Boys’ Varsity basketball team had a great 96-97 season under the coaching of Lou Benedetto. They were 18-11 and clinched the regional conference title on Friday February 28 by defeating Montini. They are only the second team in thirty seven years of Ridgewood history to achieve this.

They won against the team they had lost to last year. Coach Benedetto said, "This team loved to win, they hated to lose. They played a very hard schedule, and they proved themselves to be winners."

Coach Benedetto said, "I was very high on the team this year because we had a couple of starters back from last year, and I thought we would do good this year."

Benedetto will retire this year after twenty-five years of coaching, four as Ridgewood’s head coach. When asked when he started to think of retiring, he answered with a smile. "I thought of the possibility at the end of last season and throughout this season. Finally I thought it was the best thing to do."

Summing up he said, "It was fun. I think that future teams can do even better." He reminded me that I had forgotten to ask him who was the best player he had ever coached. His answer was Mike Bujalka.

On Saturday April 26, you will have the opportunity to dunk Mr. Kunio and throw pies into teachers’ faces! Where? At the Rebel Riot, Ridgewood’s fun fair, which Student Council is holding as a fund-raising opportunity for the clubs and classes.

If you would like to help, the fun fair committee meets on Wednesdays after school in the Honors Commons. There is a lot to do in order to make this a success. All profit clubs are required to participate, and non-profit clubs are encouraged to take part.

Elections for Student Council offices are on March 17th. All those who are running for a position in the elections on March 17 or for the class council elections in May are required to be on the committee, so don’t forget to come.

The girls’ soccer team’s second season officially began March 10, 1997. The girls started conditioning after school twice a week in January. They increased the number of miles they can run non-stop. They have also started working on foot skills like dribbling the ball under control. They have two weeks to train hard before their first game. Mr. Bolanos is the head coach. This year there are enough girls out for soccer to qualify for two levels of competition.

Snowball and R-Stop members have been working really hard to prepare for Snowflake. Snowflake is an anti-drug/alcohol program for the seventh and eighth graders of the local grammar schools.

Snowflake will be held on March 15, 1997. There are two major skits planned, and many other fun activities and games designed to instill self esteem and instruct the youngsters about the adverse effects of drugs and alcohol. There will also be a dance with a DJ at the end of Snowflake.

There are a total of 18 Ridgewood High School Students involved: Catia Bolognini, Nicole Ciefredo, Mike Dicillo, Christine Gebala, Maggie Georgiou, Diane Guth, Jasmine Herman, Dana Jones, Angela Karcinski, Anna Kritikakos, Stephanie Malmi, Antonette Nardulli, Lisa Perna, Agnes Skoropad, Amy Thorn, Laiza Martinez, Samantha Young, and Maria Zaccaria are among those helping to guarantee that this day will be a success.

The Class of ’99 has been very busy. We had bake sales for Triton night school. Also we sold concessions for the play. For the Fun Fair Day at Ridgewood High School we are having a dunk tank for which Mr. Kunio, Ms. King, and a surprise teacher have volunteered to be targets. The class is also planning a community service project.

By: Scott Shudy

A total of forty-four physics students (many juniors) will be going on a field trip to Great America in Gurnee on May 15. Students will have a chance to earn extra credit while doing packets and learning about how physics works on the different rides at Great America.

The Senior Class is presently putting the finishing touches on their Prom plans. Prom tickets go on sale in April and will cost $70. Prom is May 24. Now is the time to get involved with YOUR Prom!

Another project for the seniors is the end-of-year Nucleus paper featuring the senior class. Share your thoughts and memories with class officers at your class council meetings. Help put together your class history. Meetings are Thursdays after school in Ms. Lindenfeld’s room.

April 26 is coming up. What’s on April 26? The Fun Fair That’s what! Come help your class to prepare for this big event. Have any bright ideas? Come to class meetings on Wednesdays at 7:30 in Room 209 to tell. It’s not too late to start thinking about the prom and other important stuff.

Do you like to run? Well then track is for you. Even if you don’t like to run, there is something for you to do. Get involved in a sport. In track, you could run, jump, or throw shot put. For further information you can talk to Mr. Hill. They are practicing on the second floor till the weather improves.

The music students are finalizing plans for their trip to St. Louis on May 16, 17, and 18. There they will be competing in "Music in the Parks," a competition for music groups from all over the United States. They will also have the opportunity to visit places like Six Flags and the Gateway Arch.

On March 22, Northwestern University is hosting a solo and ensemble contest. Ridgewood will have band and chorus representatives in both categories, as well as some duets.

Finally, all band and chorus members are busy preparing for the annual Pops Concert, which is Wednesday, March 26 in the gym. In addition to the band and chorus numbers, selected solo and ensemble contest participants will perform and, as always, so will the RHS Jazz/Rock band.

Varsity R awaits coats

By: Melissa Guynn

Coats are coming, don’t fret. There is only one problem. In order to get your names and all other inscriptions, everyone will need to bring in an additional ten dollars. If you decide you don’t want your jacket after all, see Mr. Kalina. If you have any questions, contact Mr. Kalina, Jenny DelAngel, and/ or Kelly Dziwulski.

We celebrate Scholastic Journalism week with an understanding of how the press has helped to develop and how it has been the beneficiary of many newspapers that all Americans enjoy. Newspapers provide readers with what they want rather than with information controlled by the authorities. For example, they tell us about the events of the day, daily and weekly stock reports, court records and cases, book reviews, letters to the editor, etc... just to name a few. With the paper’s emphasis on emotional reporting of news events, people find themselves involved with the issues of the day. Life would be impossible without the development of newspapers. That is why we celebrate Scholastic Journalism week.

Nationally, Illinois has been targeted by the tobacco industry to pass legislating not allowing local municipalities to adopt and enforce tobacco control ordinances. Tobacco lobbyists also want to repeal any local ordinances adopted since June 30, 1996.
Taken from a Cook County Department of Public Health news release

Sixteen Ridgewood students advanced to DECA national competition at the state conference in Springfield March 7-8. Ridgewood students took four first-place medals, one second-place medals, and seven third-place medals. Ridgewood also received the DECI Diamond Chapter Award. The chapter thanks Mr. Kalina and Mrs. Paredes for the help they gave the students developing their skills.

Wrestling season has come to an exciting end this 96-97 season. Our success began on Feb. 15 when six of our wrestlers qualified for the Mahomet Seymour Sectional. The six matmen are Otto Barbanente, Joe Buttita, Brian Floral, Tony Marti, Lou Mezzano, and Peter Wojtow. Sectionals started on a Friday afternoon and lasted until Saturday evening. The competition was tough, but in the end, three of our wrestlers placed, qualifying them for the State meet.

On Feb. 20, Tony Marti (130 lb.), Brian "Bubba" Floral (160 lb.), and Otto Barbenante (171 lb.) departed Ridgewood for the State meet. The finals were held in Champaign, Urbana where our wrestlers were up against the best of the best. Tony Marti placed third in state, something that had never been accomplished before in the history of Ridgewood. Congratulations to all of them and good luck next year.

Four Ridgewood Wrestlettes assisted at meets and cheered the team throughout the season: Pia Davies, Sharon Dopak, Kristi Marx, and Michelle Paszt. The team was coached by Sam Wasserstrom and his assistants Jim Sikora and Cody Strub.
Peter Wojtow also provided information for this story

This year Ridgewood had ski trips for students for the second year in a row. The students went to Wilmot Mountain and Devil’s Head ski resorts. Old members and new had a great time on these trips. Both beginners and advanced skiers participated. Skiing is a great way to make friends and keep in shape during the winter months. If you would like to get involved, see Mr. Koranda or Thomas Stranc for more details.

The Ridgewood Reporter Staff

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