Video by Emoni Barrett
International Night
International Night
by Haley Garafola
What is International Night? It’s a night for students and teachers from all different cultures to come together to share foods, their culture, and overall learn about one another. These nights are to students together no matter how different they are.
International Night is widely celebrated in a variety of schools and colleges across the country. Each of these schools has a unique way of showing their heritage once a year for a night.
Walter Johnson High School states in its newspaper that “International Night is an event put on every year to showcase the best and most interesting parts of different countries and their cultures.
It is held in the cafeteria and the spectators can walk around and visit the different countries’ tables, while also watching the performances from different groups.”¹ . They don’t keep it to just the languages that are offered in their school but rather all over the world. They showcase the traditional culture of each country. This includes traditional dances, songs, and food. They wanted this day to bring everyone together under one roof to celebrate their culture. Another school that is 30 years strong with International Night is called New School Montessori. They have been doing this to show students that wherever you're from you are always welcome there. Their main purpose is “to encompass peace curriculum topics and continue to promote tolerance, cultural sensitivity, and acceptance of individual differences.”² on their website. They also want their students to recognize and develop an appreciation for everyone's culture along with its geographical aspect as well. “Each year the students, teachers, and volunteers go above and beyond to transform their classrooms into showcases celebrating the countries they have been studying all year,”² where they do presentations, eat delicious traditional food, explore artifacts from that country, and their music.
This goes for colleges as well! In a Tennessee a college that goes by the name Austin Peay State College. They hold international nights to celebrate cultures around the world. “APSU's International Night is a chance for students, faculty, staff, and community to experience diversity, try ethnic food, and learn about different countries. The event takes place at the Memorial Health Building (Red Barn) every year in November during International Education Week. There are no entrance fees, no cost for food, no cost to have a table showcasing a country”.³ The best part? It's completely free! Yes, you heard right free. Another college goes by the name of Montgomery College.
“But International Night at Montgomery College proved to be one of the best, most enjoyable, and jam-packed events at MC this year. Most talked about and the prominent school club Great Minds collaborated with the Ethiopian Student’s Association to organize International Night in order to create a sense of unity in diversity. The event successfully celebrated many different cultures alongside each other.”⁴ The students and staff all have a great time doing this night to show off their amazing culture.
Here at Comsewogue, we celebrate International Night in the cafeteria around 6 o’clock. We have our language honor societies running the event. Before it was called international night, we had Italian heritage night, Hispanic heritage night, and french heritage night all on different days and they did their own thing. The language department got together and decided to combine all of the heritage nights into one, therefore, International Night was born. This was the first year that Comsewogue hosted International Night. The night was a great sight to see. You had food from each country the honor societies represented and a family who came on by and set up their table for their culture. The administrators supported this to help students express their culture to people and to get to know how diverse our school really is.
²Julie. (n.d.). International Night. Retrieved May 15, 2023, from New School Montessori Center website: https://www.montessoricenter.org/community/international-night/#:~:text=The%20purpose%20was%20to%20celebrate
⁴Noriega, A. G., & Valancia, C. (2018, April 14). International Night: Celebrating Different Cultures. Retrieved May 15, 2023, from Montgomery College Excalibur website: https://mcexcalibur.com/1014/news/international-night-celebrating-different-cultures/
³Peay, A. (n.d.). International Night. Retrieved May 15, 2023, from www.apsu.edu website: https://www.apsu.edu/study-abroad-exchange/events/international-night.php
¹Pitch, T. (2016, March 23). International Night shows unique aspects of different countries. Retrieved May 15, 2023, from The Pitch website: https://www.wjpitch.com/feature/2016/03/23/international-night-shows-unique-aspects-of-different-countries/#:~:text=International%20Night%20is%20an%20event
Photo Property of Nick Tokman
Nick Tokman REturns
Nick Tokman REturns
to Comsewogue
to Comsewogue
By Jenna Levine
On May 24, Nick Tokman returned to Comsewogue, stopped in a few classrooms, talked to the students about his life experiences, and gave some general advice.
First Tokman stopped in a marine biology classroom. The students asked him a ton of questions related to his experiences on "The Deadliest Catch." His catches range anywhere from halibut to the different colored king crabs. He also informed the students about the differences between each of the different crabs he named.
He also informed the students that his favorite part about his experiences on "The Deadliest Catch" was, “Getting on the boat that got me to Alaska. That was pretty surreal for me. The goal for me was not to get on the show, but to be a successful crab fisher.”
After the questions about his largest catch and some talk of intense moments that happened while on the show, Tokman talked about how he started speaking to the younger generation during his off time during the show. Tokman describes his speeches as a “way of giving back.” He, “Did it and loved it, and felt like I was making a difference. I didn’t really know what— I just felt like I was giving back.” He also adds, “I wanted to prevent some of the students from ending up like some of my friends— in a bad spot in life.”
In addition to the marine biology classroom, Tokman also visited some of the business classrooms and informed the students about how he started his own business of going into schools and making speeches, as well as teaching them how to be successful in life. He listened to some of their business proposals and gave them advice on how to make them better and how to be successful with their ideas.
Some advice that Nick Tokman would give to students trying to follow their dreams is to, “Do one thing a day for yourself. Build a relationship with yourself. So, just doing one thing a day.” He adds, “It could be going out for ice cream, hanging out with your grandparents, going to the skatepark… just one thing a day for yourself, because you’ll be building a better relationship with yourself and you’ll be more likely to figure out what you want to do.”
You have never seen Frozen like this
You have never seen Frozen like this
By Emilia Franti
Pictures property of Emilia Franti
Picture property of Music Theatre international
Frozen Musical Live is here at Comsewogue high school. Performing arts is a class where the students can put together their show. They decide which Musical they want to work on together and perform it later for family and friends. “Frozen JR. is based on the 2018 Broadway musical, and brings Elsa, Anna, and the magical land of Arendelle to life onstage”
This year the students voted for Frozen Junior the Musical. The show takes place in Comsewogue's auditorium on June 2nd. The students are performing two shows, one for the elementary school and one show for families and friends. Micheal Lettitch plays Hans in the show and quotes, “Frozen is not the worst show to go out with”, ”I like my part, and I like the story of it. I think overall it's an excellent show; I think the kids are really gonna enjoy it.”
Michael explains how this year they had to decide between Frozen, Wizard of OZ, and Grease. “I was hoping for Wizard of OZ. Frozen won out, but I wanted Wizard of OZ. I like the story. It's just a classic story; you can't beat it”
Ms. Johnson is the teacher of the class, and she explains how the performing arts class used to be an English class, and the students read scripts together. Ms. Johnson, later on, decided to turn the class into what it is today. It quickly became very popular among the students.
Nick Trubia, grade 12, has been in the class for three years. Trubia plays Kristoff in the show, one of the leads. “At times, putting this show together as a student can be a little stressful" But overall, it's just a good experience, so it's worth it”
The class is not all independent and is run by students. A question the students get asked a lot is if the class is possible without a teacher at all. Michael Lettich, grade 12, explains, “I don't think any class is possible without a teacher, but we are a very independent class, and that's kinda how it's presented to us” Ms. Johnson let the students do the blocking of scenes, working on the songs and dances. “I'm not gonna say that it's not possible without a teacher, but it is a class that's very self-sufficient, like if she's not there one day it's not a big deal, we know what to do and we are able to do it.”
The audition process is run but the students too. Laurel Press plays Olaf in the show and has been in the class all four years of high school. “We start it off at the beginning of the year in the chorus room, so we kinda vote as a class on how to get what role, and we are all kinda a part of the audition and choosing what roles, which I think is really cool and you don't always get that experience” She explains how it's a little scary at first, but once you're comfortable with everyone, it's alright
The performing arts show is a smaller production than the mainstage school musical. Laurel Press comments, “So the mainstage musical takes place after school, it's a bigger production, we have a bigger show type of thing, we spend a lot more time on it", “But in class, the performing arts one, it's really good if you don't have time after school, or if you're in a sport”
Anna MacQueen, grade 12, plays the lead role of Anna. She has a lot of solos and lines, but Anna doesn't feel more nervous or pressured than anyone else. “I wouldn't say I feel more pressure, I think everyone's role in the show is important, cause we all play the same amount.
Pictures Property of Disney Wiki. Video property of Michael Lettich and Emilia Franti
But as a senior, she usually gets more blocking, the upperclassmen help the younger classmen. “We show them how it's supposed to work.” Anna is lucky she got to perform all through high school, and that she can continue through college too.
Both Laurel Press and Nick Trubia agree that this being their last show as seniors is bittersweet. Laurel, “It is pretty sad cause I have been doing shows like this since I was like 4th grade”. The seniors are getting a nice little send-off to college and spending their last show around their friends. Laurel, “I'm happy I get to spend my last show with these people because some of these people are my best friends.”
Video by Tyler McGill
The pride of a warrior
The pride of a warrior
By: Tyler McGill
Here at Comsewogue, we hold many events to bring our community together, the most recent being the Warrior Weekend event. The event was held at the high school and open to anyone wanting to express their warrior pride.
The event was set up and organized by one of our amazing teachers here at Comsewogue, Mrs. O’Hara, and the Girls Leaders Club. She explained to us the origin of the event, “Last year was Comsewogue's 50th birthday, Mr. Mosca and Dr. Quinn wanted to put on a celebration… and it was a hit. So Dr. Quinn and the School Board thought we could make this an annual event.”
We also interviewed students David Colocho and Jovanny Diaz who attended the event. David told us, “I had a great time and everyone was there!” Student Jovanny exclaimed, “It was really fun and brought the community together.” Another big goal of the Warrior Weekend event is to express warrior pride and love for our community.
We asked attentive students about their definition of warrior pride and what that means to them. David Colocho told us that warrior pride to him is, “Representing my school” We also asked Jovanny Diaz about what being a warrior means to him. He told us, “Being a warrior means never giving up and standing up for your Comsewogue Pride.”
And finally, we asked both students if the event was successful in its goal of bringing the Comsewogue community together. Jovanny explained, “It brought Comsewogue together and overall. It was a really fun event.” We also asked David this question and he stated, “Everyone was together. Everyone was there.”
In conclusion, the Warrior Weekend event was a big success and helped bring everyone in the Comsewogue community together for an overall fun time. Can't wait to attend next year!
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