Tiger Talk
Volume LXIII Issue #2 Nov. 2024
Central 7th Graders Hear and See Holocaust Survivor Via Zoom
By Connor Brehm
On Wednesday, October 30th, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
sponsored a Holocaust Survivor virtual event hosted by Mr. Viturello and Mr. Gillespie. The speaker was Ernie Brod. Central's 7th graders had the opportunity to see and hear him while they ate their lunch during Guide.
This survivor of the Holocaust had much to share and gave insight on what is was like to experience the Nazi takeover of Austria, his home country, and its takeover of their family's film business. He spoke of the arrest of his father and grandfather. He was Jewish, and sadly, his father was killed.
Unlike years past, the survivor was not held in a concentration camp, but it was still an interesting story. Everybody was respectful and open to learning about his experiences. Some students asked questions that Mr. Gillespie typed into the chat feature for the moderator to ask. We want to thank the museum for connecting with us for this conference and Mr. Brod for sharing his story.
Central Students Compete in Consortium Problem Solving
By Niya Raghu
On Tuesday, October 29, forty-one 7th and 8th grade students from 5 schools participated in the friendly - but not necessarily easy - competition of different skills, teamwork, and the resourcefulness of different students’ combined wits. The schools that participated in this Problem Solving competition were: Central Middle School, Delbarton School, Morris Plains Borough School (who hosted the event), Oratory Prep, and Ridgedale Middle School. Each school sent 8-9 students to participate. The students from Central were Kaya Dadich, Kiran D'Sa, Tim Hansen, Maggie Kelly, Ilia Pankratov, Hailee Patel, Niya Raghu, Lena Stohrer and Sophia Viegas. Done differently than most years, this time, students from each school were put in groups of 5 or 6 in order to challenge the participants to have to think and work collaboratively with people who they had never met before.
This little “experiment” caught the students by surprise and stretched their comfort zones, but in the eyes of the people running the competition, it was a success. It pushed the students to think differently and use their strengths in a way that complemented their groups. Some of the problems students had to solve were using map skills, finding an odd one out or which one came first, questions about human anatomy, word puzzles using common phrases or sayings, and a “mystery” using process of elimination. The problems each had a set amount of points, and the amount a team earned was based on the number of questions the team answered correctly. After all the rounds were finished and the students had become familiar with each other, the points were counted and the winner was announced. There were 8 teams in all, and the winning team was Team 8. The student from CMS on that team was Niya Raghu. This was a new and interesting experience for all, as students learn a life skill, - collaborating to solve problems.
See photo below.
CMS Character Ed Assembly Inspires Students
By Connor Brehm
On Thursday, November 14, an inspiring man came to our school and shared his amazing life story. He climbed Mount Everest, got struck by lightning, and even climbed the 7 tallest mountains on each continent. His name is John Beede. He came to share his story and explain why having goals in life is so important. Mr. Beede said that we need to show courage and bravery even in scary times. When he was climbing Mount Everest, he had to walk slowly because it was so tiring. The fastest he could walk was 1 step per 3 breaths in order to have enough energy to even move! He eventually learned that his oxygen tank was almost empty, so his Sherpa guide, who called him, “John sir,” went to this place called the balcony, which is the only flat place on the mountain. Climbers leave extra supplies there as tradition, in case others may need it. He thought his jacket turned gray and his leg was stuck, but he was deprived of oxygen, so that's why that happened. He finally made it to almost to the top, about 200 feet away, before he was almost out of oxygen again. So, he headed back. But, an old friend met up with him, who fixed his air tank, which had frozen. John Beede made it to the top of Mt. Everest. He proved that nothing is impossible, and that was his message. The students enjoyed this assembly and presentation.
Central's Theater Arts Club
By: Alina Belfield and Nicole Pinto
The Theater Club is directed by Ms. Pattan, and the school play this year will be The Wizard Of Oz. Auditions will be held after school on December 2nd-4th. The main characters you can audition for are Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion. If you want a role that has speaking, but not as much as the main characters, then Glinda, Professor Marvel, The Doorman of Emerald City, and Toto are great choices. The ensemble character roles you can audition for are the Munchkins, Jitterbugs, Winged Monkeys, Winkie Guards, and Ozians.
If you want to audition for Dorothy or Glinda, you have to sing Over the Rainbow. For Scarecrow and Tin Man, you have to memorize the Tin Man’s song. The Lion will have to sing If I were the King of the Forest. All the characters mentioned above including Professor Marvel, Toto, and the Wicked Witch will have to memorize lines. If you want to audition for any of the characters, it is mandatory to sing the Munchkin Song.
In order to audition for a part in the play, you will have to fill out a form posted in the Theater Arts Google classroom. More details about the play are listed in the Google classroom. If you have yet to join the classroom, the code is szu4yb5. Stay updated on the classroom for more information.
Cross Country Season Wrapped Up
By Selim Y.
The 2024 Cross Country season for Central Middle School was enjoyable for all of the members of the team. We had a total of thirty-seven runners, with twenty-two girls and fifteen boys. While some individuals were fast, other ones were good at pacing themselves, which allowed for the skills of everyone on the team to stand out.
The coaches were Central teachers, Ms. Aimette and Ms. Shipon. They created
a new system, including new forms of drills to try out during practice. They also added team captains, who were Ryan Fortino as head captain, and Selim Yilanlioglu and Marley Jablonski as the co-captains. Their jobs were generally to pick how to warm-up, along with occasionally choosing what to do during practice. Meanwhile, the coaches also added new drills for the team to practice on the field behind Central Middle School, which were different from the usual drills, such as laps around the building and jogging up the hills.
At the end of the season, Central's Cross Country team enjoyed a little party, where they all received pizza and juice boxes. The coaches handed out certificates for specific members of the team, as well as mentioned the names of the eighth graders who had been on the cross country team since sixth grade. Although the season only lasted for two months, it was still quite fun and valuable to the members of the team.
Club Advisors and Coaches at Central
By Owen Ruano & Luke Li
Choir - Mrs. Shulenburg
Consortium Events - Mr. Gillespie
Community Service Club - Mrs. DeBiasse
Cross Country - Ms. Aimette and Mrs. Shipon
Environmental Club - Ms. Aimette
Games Club - Mrs. Stepanian
Horizon Art - Mrs. Dunn
Jazz Band - Mrs. Shipon
Mandarin Club - Mr. Zhang
Model UN - Ms. Aimette
Student Council - Mrs. Russo
Theater Arts- Ms. Pattan
Tiger Talk - Mr. Gillespie
Yearbook - Miss Corke
Boys' Basketball - Mr. Hockmeyer
Girls' Basketball - Coach Marchese
Boys' Baseball - Mr. Simo
Girls' Softball - Mr. Hockmeyer
Track & Field - Ms. Altebrando and Mrs. Felix
These are the teachers who coach these sports or run these clubs. We hope this will help you join, and participate, in more clubs/ teams.
Happy Thanksgiving!
What are you thankful for?